Electra

"I work the cemeteries as well," Stesha told him with a smile. "You might have seen my work this Memorial Day, I was out in force that week. It seems hardly fair that the older cemeteries get fewer flowers than the newer ones." She gestured with her hand and a trio of tulips rose in front of a grave, unfolding their petals into pretty orange cups. Plucking one, she sealed the bottom of the stem with the tips of her fingers and handed it to Dead Head. He looked like he needed one. "But you're right, I prefer working cleanup operations. I'm better than I used to be at actually mixing it up, but I prefer the aftermath, when the battle is done and we can set things right."

"Oh, what a mess," Stesha said sympathetically, patting his arm. It was a little gross, but she regularly dug her hands into compost with no problem, and that was inarguably worse. "It sounds like it was all a big misunderstanding, and you having to take the blame for something terrible that happened to someone else. At least everyone is okay, and hopefully things will work themselves out in time. Let me get this cleaned up for you." Stesha turned to her work, walking over the disturbed ground and scattering seeds right and left. Where she walked, the broken sod reknit itself into a well-groomed whole, and the seeds sprang into flowers, a colorful blanket for the sleeping dead. "Do you see a lot of superheroes or villains in cemeteries?" she asked him.

"No, not like that. I mean, if we were normal people, going to normal school. Without the powers, or the weird pasts, or any of it," Erin persisted. "All the TV shows make it seem like it's such a complicated place, and like it's so hard, but I have to think it's got to be easier than what we've got, with trying to develop our powers and save the world and all on top of that. I only went to high school for half a year, but I don't remember it being that bad."

Stesha gave the plot a good looking over while Dead Head spoke, reaching into her pouch to draw out the seeds she'd need to supplement what plants could be fixed. It wasn't going to take very long, but she could see the signs of the fight clearly. She paused and turned to look at him full on when he began having difficulty finding words. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, putting a careful hand on his shoulder.

"So the ice girl broke away from your zombies, and knocked all their heads off, and threatened you as well?" Stesha asked, her eyes going wide. "It doesn't sound like she's the type you can scare away very easily." She tugged the sneakers on and followed Dead Head again, at a better pace this time. "How did you get away?"

Stesha had to laugh a little at the icky simile, but she was still a little worried. "Where did she go? If she thinks you're a villain, she could be a problem for you, couldn't she? Bad enough the way normal people react, you don't need any superheroes getting the wrong idea about you. Just one second." She grew a giant daffodil by the side of the road, then opened the cup with both hands and leaned her upper body inside it. After a moment of rummaging, she came out with a pair of sneakers. "At least ice isn't going to last long in weather like this."

Erin took her cues from Trevor, smiling when he did and staying pretty quiet. Not too many people were particularly interested in her, and those that were generally were content to know that she was a fellow student at Trevor's exclusive private school. She was perfectly happy with that, since it meant she blended in well enough. It was kind of fun, like a costume party that only she and Trevor knew about. They were seated with three other couples of similar age for dinner, and the conversation quickly turned to universities. That was a thoroughly boring topic for Erin, who had no college plans, but it kept the talk at the table going. And the food, as Trevor had promised, was very good and not ostentatiously vegetarian. It was just good. And she figured she'd much rather listen to talk of colleges than how McDonalds was destroying the world. She had enough to worry about already.

Stesha had fallen behind, trying to pick her way along the road without stepping on anything painful or dangerous along the way. She was debating popping home for her shoes when Dead Head started talking about what had happened. Concerned, she stopped entirely. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over. He seemed... well, it was really hard to tell whether he was hurt or not, but all his major body parts seemed to be attached still. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"Long as you're sure," Erin told him. "So, you free tonight?" she asked with a grin. "I haven't had a good Mario Kart tournament in awhile. I think the Wii is getting dusty in there, what with people going home for summer. I bet your reflexes have gotten really slow though, I might have to handicap you a few cartlengths..."

The jets turned on around him, making the steaming hot water bubble nicely. Discreetly, Persephone didn't beam her holographic image into the room with him, instead merely projecting her voice. "That's always true, no matter what world we're in, James! We have so many good times together!" The little robot trundled out of the room with his clothes and equipment, leaving him to soak and relax for the first time in quite awhile.

"Maybe we should make it a costume prom, so we can all go in uniform," Erin suggested dryly. "It sounds like an event with a high probability of everyone's clothes getting ruined, at least. But it should be a night to remember, and I guess that's what it's all about." She closed her eyes for a moment, folding her hands under her head. "Ever think what it'd be like to be in normal high school, with sports teams and real proms and nothing much bigger than that to worry about?"

Erin jumped at the sudden movement and noise, looking towards Fulcrum with new interest. Even if she thought this mentorship thing was likely a waste of time, it wasn't everyone who was willing to stand up to Summers, and without the crazy banshee nuttiness that people like Chris tended to bring to bear. And since Summers was normally a plain-spoken type, yet his previous explanation had been totally nonsensical, she thought Fulcrum was probably right, too. She looked to the headmaster to see what he would say.

"I did a mentoring program already, when I got here," Erin told Mona, craning her neck to look the tall, tall woman in the eye. "It lasted like a month, because I accidentally set her on her ass the first time we sparred. How about we say I'm not planning on getting attached." Her tone was more abrupt than she was with about anyone except Mr. Archer, but it was hard not to let the resentment seep through. Just because she didn't have any adult role models at home, or a home outside the school really, didn't mean she needed to be fobbed off on some stranger for training in things she probably already knew. You didn't get a real mentor because someone in an office assigned you one. She looked towards Summers again, figuring that at least if she got another detention, she was in the right place to serve it.

Erin gave Summers a look as though to inquire whether she really had to, then grudgingly disclosed some information. "I was born in Seattle in another universe. There's another one of me on Prime, but she hasn't got any powers. I came to Claremont for training and to finish high school. My main power is hitting things, and some jumping. I work with Young Freedom, and I like cars." She looked again to Summers to see if she could get away with that much.

"I can understand about working hard," Erin told him. "But as you yourself have told me a few times, there's a difference between working hard and working yourself into the ground. You never seem to have any free time anymore, or any fun. That's not a good way to set yourself up for a long and successful career." She paused for a second. "Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with trying to make up for what happened last November?"

"Her name's Lady Winter, I don't know much about her except that she just moved from Russia. I took her to Alex, Alex is a sucker for hard luck cases." Erin grinned. "She got her set up with a place to live till she can find her feet, keep her from having to spend the nights in a graveyard anymore. And I know you're around if we need you," she told him, equally seriously, "but don't you have enough to do lately? You're doing more work than any three superheroes could keep up with. How long are you going to try and keep up this pace?"

"We don't get to spend that much time in orbit around water planets, you should take advantage of our full tanks while you can," she chided him cheerfully. "Though I suppose if we're staying around here for a long time, that won't be a problem. I can recycle the swimming pool as well. Stellar! And if there's anything you want or need, I'll find a way to do it. I always have before! That's what I'm here for, after all." The little robot that rolled up to take his cup tucked it away in a compartment, then held out its servo arms for James' clothes.

Erin braced herself and hung onto the string of the gigantically massive balloon, looking around for the best way to run if it became necessary. She wasn't sure that holding onto the string would do a doggone thing for a balloon this size, but the string was taut, so she figured it was a bad idea to let go. "Phalanx, can you get your X-Ray eyes up high enough to see if you can get a look at what we're dealing with?" she asked over her comm. "If Hellion goes with you, he might be able to get a handle on whatever it is, if it uses anything like normal fire."

Erin resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Alex for the friendly slam, and instead tried to build on it. "Yeah, if she can listen to us, she can listen to anybody. And Oliver really seems to like you." Even after Mark had set the cat down, Oliver was still twining himself around the boy's legs, purring and chin-marking the sides of Mark's sneakers. "Sometimes not even talking and just petting a friendly cat can help."

"I guess," Erin said, sounding a little dubious. "But a lot of the popular kids are in Next Gen, and they like to make our lives harder. Like Bolt and Daisy. I mean, I didn't want to see Bolt get erased, but he's not exactly been a nice guy, and you know what Daisy's like. Are you really inviting them to help set this thing up?" Erin turned on her side to give Alex a look. "I'm not exactly a social genius, but it seems like asking for trouble."

"I haven't really been off campus that much," Erin told him. "Took a couple solo patrols, went out with Trevor and busted some criminals, but not too much else. Maybe you caught me on nights when I was actually sleeping?" she suggested with a half-smile. "Ended up tangling with that zombie one more time, but he got away with his head. I don't really know if that means I'm improving or losing my touch. It was hassling a new hero in town, trying to scare her with a bunch of skeletons because she dared walk into a cemetery at night or something." She shook her head, then brightened a little. "But Alex is wrapping up work on setting up her company, so she's been around more lately, and Mike too. The whole gang back on campus, at least for a little bit longer."

"Oh my God, Luke!" Stesha crowed, loudly enough for everyone in the parking lot to hear her. "I love your OUTFIT! It looks so realistic! Did Rory do your makeup? I swear, she shouldn't have let you out of the house looking like that, you're going to scare these people." Giving a brilliant smile to the unfortunate middle-aged interloper, Stesha walked over to Dead Head. "Have you ever thought about getting a costume that ah, causes a little less torch and pitchfork reaction?" she asked him in a murmur, a rueful smile on her face. She herself was hardly the poster girl for costumes, in a pink sweatsuit and barefoot, her belt crooked around her waist and her long green hair spilling down her back. "Are you okay?"

Stesha smiled broadly. "Yes, Derrick and I are getting married," she confirmed, the glee of that still evident in her voice. "We're looking at the weekend before Thanksgiving right now, out in Chicago where my family lives." Unable to help herself, she raised her hand to show off her ring. "He just asked me a couple of weeks ago, over Memorial Day. It was wonderful!"

"Dead Head?" Stesha asked into the phone. "Crap!" Extending her senses as jumped up, tumbling the bowl of popcorn as she went, Stesha searched for the nearest plant to Dead Head, even as she grabbed her belt and fastened it on over her pink sweatsuit. In a heartbeat, she'd closed her fingers over the leaves of her hypoestis and was popping out of a sickly dandelion halfway across town. "Gas station, gas station... he's gotta be at a payphone to call collect." She began running towards the white and blue light that said PHONE.

"Um, sure, I know where that is," Stesha told him. "I can be over there in a couple minutes. Is this a problem I should put on my uniform for, or some other kind?" She could envision both kinds of situations befalling the very inhuman-looking Dead Head. There was something to be said for knowing people who looked like normal human beings. "Let's see... that's near a cemetery and a church with a community garden, right?"