Electra
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After a moment, he realized that not only was the floor wrong, it wasn't really a floor at all. His cheek was deep in a carpet of fresh green grass, and the green and gold and brown walls were made of leaves. As soon as he'd noticed that, a door made of a curtain was pushed aside and Fleur de Joie, or rather Stesha Madison, as she was out of uniform, hurried in. "Oh, you poor thing!" she exclaimed. Instantly, vines descended from the ceiling and wrapped gently around him, guiding him carefully back into the bed before falling away. From the bed, Gabriel could get a better look at the strange plant room. A window shaded with a large, thin leaf let in weak green-tinted light on a room that was little more than a bed, a side table with a lamp, and a space heater humming in the corner. "How are you feeling?" Stesha asked him, leaning over him to check on him. "You're looking better, at least."
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"Hello, Barry," Stesha said calmly, folding her hands in her lap. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it? I see they gave you new accommodations after last time when you escaped. What have you been doing with yourself lately?" The whole atmosphere of the prison made her nervous, not to mention facing off with the man who'd tried to kidnap her on multiple occasions, but she slicked a layer of false confidence on over that in an attempt to start with the upper hand.
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"Yes," Stesha agreed with a laugh, "there's plenty of room for everyone here. Next spring, oh, it's going to be marvelous," she promised. "You think the flowers are big and beautiful now? Wait for springtime, when I'm not working against the weather. I'm going to double the size of the livable space here, and it's going to be covered in flowers!" Even now, little flowers were growing in a circle around where she sat, as though summoned by her enthusiasm. "It would be nice if the whole colony could be together for that. I can't tell you to cross your fingers, so just think good-luck thoughts for me!"
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Stesha sat with her back against the couch, folding her hands in her lap. "Derrick hasn't been home in over a month," she admitted with some difficulty. "I've had a few short messages, just to tell me he's okay and that fending off the invasion is just taking longer than he'd planned, but even those have been few and far between. I miss him so much!" She rubbed her hands over her face. "I know this is how it has to be sometimes when you're a hero, or when you love one, but I hate it. And I hate that I'm not getting married this month like I was dreaming, and I hate that it matters so much when he's out there risking his life and that's all I should be thinking about!" The whole thing sort of came out in a flood, everything that had been pent up for ages.
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Puffing slightly, Stesha sat down in the grass to catch her breath. "Tell you what," she told Beatriz. "I'm going to try one more time to find the rest of your colony before winter sets in. If I can find them, you'll still have time to make nests before it freezes. I'll help you get the resin again and it will be okay. But if I can't," she warned, "you'll have to wait until spring, and try to hold it together until then with the boys. I know it's hard, but you're definitely the smartest bee I know. Okay?"
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"I've taken him to the mall a couple of times too," Erin reported, folding her legs crosswise to sit next to JJ. "But it's sort of hard, he gets a little more aggressive. Sometimes he hisses at the other babies, and I've had to go grab him up once or twice. He's pretty good at the park, I think it's maybe something about the sun. Even with the glasses and the sunscreen on, it's like he's a little bit less vampire-y when he's out in the sunlight," she told Taylor thoughtfully. "We don't stay out too long, but he actually plays near other babies and is okay with that. Plus he really likes the merry go round, so that's fun. I hold him on the horse, and we both ride for one ticket. He could do that two or three times in a row. You should take him sometime," she encouraged. "Today was the first time I had any trouble at all, there haven't even been muggers or panhandlers."
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"I understand," Stesha said, jogging a little to keep up with the giant bee as they looked over the giant-flower fields. It was good exercise, but she was getting awfully winded by now, and could've used a little rest. "I want to help you find your queen, but I don't know where to find her and the others. I tried to go to the location you all were telling me about, but there was nothing there. The Beekeeper must have moved everything sometime after you all left the hive. I don't know where they could be now, though, and the Beekeeper is in jail. Do you have any idea where else the colony might have gone from there?"
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"I've been all right, filling up the hours with all sorts of things," Stesha said, just a little bit too brightly. "Look at you, aren't you the cutest thing?" she cooed, getting down on her hands and knees with the baby. "You look so much like your mommy, with your pretty eyes and dimples... Oh! Should he be doing that?" she asked Taylor as the baby latched on and began gnawing on a throw pillow. "I... I don't really know if that's edible or not."
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"Put it on!" Erin encouraged with a laugh. "I want to see what it looks like! Mark's additions have a lot of... panache." That had been a vocabulary word last month, and it seemed to fit the situation perfectly. She laid her head on Trevor's shoulder and this time kept it there, relaxing in the warm water and the company of friends. Being able to tease her friends was just an added bonus.
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Erin thought about offering to take JJ to a class, but quickly thought better of it. That might make Mrs. Faretti start getting defensive again because she was too busy. More importantly, the idea of trying to wrangle JJ like a normal baby in a roomful of adult women with their own babies was too horrific to try and contemplate. "Um... maybe you could like take him to the baby playground or the playland in the mall instead?" she suggested diffidently. "No schedule for that, and there's lots of babies and little kids there most of the time. And it's free, too."
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Stesha jolted as the spoon hit her, blinking awake with a small noise of distress. "What?" She looked around, then picked up the spoon. "Did somebody throw a spoon at me?" she asked, bewildered. Setting the spoon on the coffee table, she sat up and rubbed her face. "Sorry, I must have dozed off for a minute. How are things going in the creation of matter department?"
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It was immediately obvious to Miss A what had happened, as soon as Supercape stopped reciting Shakespeare and started babbling. "Some kind of mind ray," she muttered. "Well, it shouldn't effect me, famous last words..." She had to help her colleague, but the first thing to do was to remove the threat! Diving down through the air, she came up behind the distracted simian like an overwhelming wind of justice, wresting the gun from his hairy fingers! "Supercape!" she called. "Are you all right?"
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"He's a good baby," Erin said, even as she pinned JJ down with one hand on his tummy and waved the duck over his head while he flailed at it. "He's really happy most of the time, even if he's kind of... unusual. And he's really smart. Okay, get it!" she called, taking her hand off JJ's tummy. He instantly popped to a sitting position and grabbed the duck, shoving its fuzzy neck into his mouth again. "Good job! You got that mean old duck. And I think your mommy has your reward. Do you want the b-o-t-t-l-e?" JJ brightened instantly at even the spelling of the word, dropping the duck and looking around for the promised sustenance.
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A small snore from the couch broke into the conversation between the two matter creators for a moment. On the couch, their host had apparently given up on following the conversation in favor of having a little nap. It was a very comfortable couch, and the room was nice and warm, so it was definitely a nice place to have one. Maybe it was even better that way, since the less Stesha knew about quantum physics, the more stable her dome would be.
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Miss Americana was out on patrol as well when she heard the call. Supergeniuses like that made all of them look bad, and she didn't just mean the hairy face part! Changing her flight trajectory, she sped over to Liberty Park in a blur of red, white and blue, just in time to see Supercape arrive as well! It wouldn't hurt for him to have some backup, she decided. The simian villain was wily, and might just have a trick up his sleeve! She banked instead, moving to come around from behind and surprise him while he was distracted.
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"I think it's about two now. It's okay!" Erin added encouragingly, going to the toybox and rummaging through it. "She'll be right back, honest. And look what I've got!" She produced a stuffed duck from the toybox, one that had already been mangled a bit by chewing. "It's the duck! It's gonna get you! Quackquackquackquackquack!" She crawled across the floor, menacing JJ with the duck, which had the intended effect of distracting him from Taylor's leg long enough to let go and drop off. Most of Erin's friends would've been startled to see her acting this way, but JJ certainly seemed to like it.
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Stesha hugged her back, taking a quick look at the baby at the same time. "It's so good to see you, it feels like it's been forever since we've gotten together!" she exclaimed happily. "And look how big JJ has gotten! He's a little man now! I've got coffee in the pot, and soft drinks and snacks if you'd like anything. I didn't know if you're in the eating habit anymore these days," she added with a chuckle. "Looks a little bit different from last time you were here, hmm? I've been putting in a lot of time here, fixing the place up. I've got a couple thousand square miles fixed up pretty well now, but the rest will have to wait for spring. Let me show you the house." Stesha's little house was looking very homey now, with a little kitchenette made of wooden cupboards and with a coffeemaker, microwave and minifridge all hooked up to the solar generator out back. There was a little table and chairs for eating, and a conversational grouping of sofa and chairs around a coffee table, set in front of a space heater. A little hallway connected to a small bedroom and a bathroom with a chemical toilet and portable shower. It was only a few steps up from camping, but it was still nice.
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Stesha cast one last look around her little sanctuary, making sure that everything was looking beautiful and in order. The leafy walls were awash in fall colors now, giving the place a homey, cozy atmosphere that she liked very much, even if it required more maintenance. The whole place required a little more maintenance these days, the grassy floor was running wild lately with flowers and even mushrooms sprouting up every time she turned around. Must be one last gasp of vibrancy before winter, she supposed. But everything had to look perfect today because Taylor was finally going to see her world! It was exciting and just a little nervewracking at the same time. Taylor was, after all, the guardian of the dimensions, there wasn't much out there she hadn't seen. Stesha just hope she liked this simple little sanctuary. At least it was as babyproofed as Stesha could make it, so that was one less worry!
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Erin kept her bat ready as they walked through the dimension of doors, but her attention was seriously divided. She kept looking over at Ouroboros, trying to make sense of who he was. There was one conclusion that kept popping out at her, and really it shouldn't have even seemed so weird given the people she already knew, but it was. Finally, she stopped and stood in front of the stranger hero, studying his face. "Who are you, anyway?" she demanded.
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"You're just jealous because my boyfriend takes the initiative," Erin maintained a bit crossly. She waved aside the mist anyway to continue the game, her other hand tucked in Trevor's. "Okay, dare, hmm. Has to be a good dare... Oh, I know!" She grinned so broadly it was practically a leer. "I dare you to go get one of Mike's outfits and have Mark help you make it new and more awesome."
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"All right," Erin agreed easily, buckling JJ securely back into his travel system and smearing a bit more sunscreen on him for good measure. "Um, Mr. Faretti said he'll be back around four, I don't know if you got a chance to talk to him already or not. I was planning on staying till then, but I can head out whenever you want me to after we get back." It was much harder, she realized, to deal with Phantom than with Avenger, mostly because Avenger just let her do whatever she felt like she ought to with the baby and didn't say much about it. Phantom, she was pretty sure, had a lot more of her own ideas.
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Erin blinked as the world suddenly went dark, but she wasn't concerned. She could hear everyone around her, and feel Trevor as he slid closer to her, so even without vision, she was perfectly oriented in the world. She let her eyes drift closed as he kissed her, sliding her hands up his arms and onto his shoulders. "Oh," she murmured, her breath warm against his lips. "That's good to know." Her lips curved even as she kissed him back, and she decided that maybe telling the truth was a pretty good bet, overall.
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Erin looked vaguely disappointed that she wouldn't get to stand on her head or something like that, but she gamely leaned back and looked at the group. Either Alex was getting drunker, or Erin's own relaxed inhibitions were allowing the mental link to become stronger. Either way, she was feeling more relaxed than she maybe ever had. "Um, two nice things, huh? Well, one for all of you is that you guys are my best friends in the world, and James too except he's not here. Things would really suck if I didn't have all of you." She looked around and began focusing in for the second round. "And Mark, you always know something nice to say, even if it doesn't make any sense. And Alex, you are the nicest person in the world and I'm glad you're my roommate and put up with me. And Mike, you are awesome at fighting and I totally wish I could fly like you. And Trevor, you are a really good kisser, and I think I might be in love with you." Barreling right onward, she launched into the truth portion. "I don't really know what I want to do with my birthday. I haven't even celebrated since I was fourteen, and then I had a slumber party and we watched movies with kissing to talk about their technique and did up our faces with makeup and stuff. I don't think that's the kind of party I'd go for anymore. Something fun, something to celebrate growing up. Alex, truth or dare?" she added without so much as pausing for breath.
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"Why thank you, Doctor," Miss A murmured back with a smile. "It's very kind of you to notice." Her smile faded as she followed the doctor's glance and saw the altercation forming up. "Oh, and it's just a kid, too. Poor thing. Could you excuse me for just a moment? Go ahead and keep dancing." Miss A closed her eyes, a slight smile on her face as though she were lost in the music and the moment. It was perhaps thirty seconds before she was back, opening her eyes and smiling at her dance partner again. "There we are. Did you know that the failure rate on commercial memory cards is just atrocious? Why, sometimes entire batches are bad, so if you and your cronies have all bought the same brand, who knows what could happen?" she asked conversationally, keeping her voice to a low murmur. "And you never know until after the fact, either."
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"You're keeping a secret identity even from the people at school?" Erin asked with some surprised. "That might make it harder to make a lot of friends," she admitted. "I mean, people understand needing secret IDs and stuff, when it comes to dealing with the public. But we're all sort of in the same boat here, being superheroes or getting ready to be superheroes. Somebody who knows everybody's name but who won't give theirs might come off as kind of, you know, untrusting. But you can maybe work through that once people get to know you, I guess."