Electra

Erin is a very excellent swimmer.

Erin glared at the Strongman, then reached out and gave his chair a little nudge, straightening it so he'd hit the water upright and not in a tumble unless he started flailing or shooting again. That was all she could or would do for him, especially since the stupid villain was still shooting at her, so she left him to hit the water on his own and curved her body into a diving position, then took one last deep breath as the water approached. Her entry wasn't Olympics-clean, but she'd been diving from a high board, and it was substantially better than the fellow next to her.

"That's what I want to think," Stesha told Ace sincerely, "that the things Jack says just don't matter because he knows they aren't true, so they just don't even bother him. But I don't know if I can really believe that until I talk to him. And I didn't want to talk to him yesterday," she admitted, "because I was so upset about everything, I wouldn't have been able to sort it out. But I should talk to him, and to Taylor, and make sure that we all understand each other. It's too important not too, for a lot of reasons." Coming to that conclusion seemed to make her feel a little better, and she started eating again. "You were right," she told him. "This is very good."

With the parachute creaking alarmingly, the water beneath them, and her opponent still clutching a blaster pistol, it was becoming rapidly clear to Erin how untenable her position was. She took a quick deep breath, then released the grapple by collapsing the bat. "Can you swim?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she ripped the parachute lines away from the chair, sending it flapping away like a released bird. As her stomach rose from the acceleration, Erin pushed herself away from the chair and prepared to enter the water at rather a higher speed than she liked.

Erin rips the parachute lines away from the chair. Spending an HP to stunt the Swimming power off super-strength, preemptively.

"Here's hoping," Stesha agreed, rising as well. "Let me know if you find out anything, or if there's anything I can do to help." She left a dollar on the table for the busboy and walked outside with Taylor, into the somewhat busier streets of the Theatre District at night. "Take care, I'll talk to you later." She hadn't brought her car, but it was only a short walk to the nearest park.

"I am happy," Stesha assured him softly. "Just kind of confused, I guess. It's probably stupid to wonder why your boyfriend isn't pissed off about a nasty lie someone told about you, but it sort of worries me. It makes me wonder if he's a little more different from everyday people than I thought. We have to talk about it, but I wanted to get my thoughts in order first. Because he really does make me happy." Admitting that much was a little embarrassing, but Stesha was getting used to having friends who could always make her say more than she'd planned. "It's just a little bump, I'm sure. How is your garden doing?"

Her face fell again at that, though she tried to hide it by concentrating on her food for a minute. It really was delicious, even if her stomach felt even less like eating than usual. "He's fine, I think," she finally said. "I haven't talked to him since yesterday, but... I don't know, he didn't seem to care at all. And it's not like there's any past to judge," she added hastily, "at least not between Jack and I. We never did anything for even a paragon of morality to be upset about. Jack just put it crudely to try and derail the conversation, I think. I don't think Dark Star is angry... I'm not sure he even noticed."

"Ace was just trying to keep us on target," Stesha replied, needing to come to the defense of at least one friend tonight. "He jumped to the wrong conclusion, but it's hard to blame him, with the way Jack made things sound. If Ace hadn't gotten us back on track, I might have just stormed out, and we wouldn't have accomplished anything. That would've been even worse, and more embarrassing. Trouble with that sort of situation, it's hard to correct misconceptions without going way off track and getting into way more detail than you want in mixed company. It was better that we just moved on from there. But anyway, it's done now, and I think everybody's cards are on the table." She drained her tepid tea, now mostly sugar at the bottom of the cup. "I probably shouldn't keep you any longer, I know you don't get much time off. But you can call me if you ever need to talk or anything," she offered, knowing it sounded a little lame.

"I guess it really is pointless to just keep worrying and worrying about it now," Stesha agreed. "We're doing everything we can, and Moira is strong-willed enough that if there's any way she can help from her side, I'm sure she's doing it." She managed a smile that, though it was small, was more genuine than the others she'd had that day. "I'm really glad you're here and helping," she told Ace. "You can cut through all the other stuff, and make it easier to see what I actually should be focused on. And I think you must know everybody in the city, even more than Moira does."

Stesha closed her eyes for a second. She hadn't really considered that the first thing Taylor would do would be to go and talk to Jack about the whole thing, but it made sense from a certain perspective, she guessed. She didn't bother to ask Taylor to keep her name out of it, there were only so many sources for this information. If Jack was going to be pissed at her... well, she would have to deal with that. She was a big girl now, she didn't need to hide behind Moira, or behind Derrick, for that matter, if he would even step up for her. She took another sip of tea "That's all I want, that you are aware and not just clueless and naive about what he's like," she said with some resignation. Stesha raised a hand and rubbed the side of her neck where the hickey he'd given her had taken days to fade. She hadn't mentioned that because it was just rude, not necessarily malicious. It was totally none of her business whether Taylor wanted to go out with a guy who was a lousy kisser. "I know we haven't known each other long enough for you to trust my judgment, but at least I feel like I've done all I can. And gotten a chance to apologize for the scene yesterday."

Stesha badly wanted to argue, but she bit her tongue. Arguing wasn't going to do any good if Taylor was infatuated, and she suspected it would only lead to more hurt feelings, and maybe Taylor being even less cautious in the future. The best Stesha could do was pass on a warning and hope it made Taylor pay attention to what Jack was like, and not just what she wanted him to be like. She silently apologized to Moira for not leaping to her defense and spent a few moments stirring her tea instead. "I know you think I'm a biased source, but the story you heard probably isn't from someone objective, either, or someone without a strong motive to lie to you. I didn't tell you all of this because I wanted sympathy, for me or for Moira. I'm telling you because I would feel more than terrible if he did something to you that maybe you would've seen coming if I'd spoken up." Looking up from her tea, Stesha met Taylor's eyes, held them. "It's easy, I think, for people who have so much power to feel invulnerable in certain ways. It's like nothing bad could ever happen to them because they have power, and they would stand up, or they would fight back. So maybe they don't pay enough attention, or they get into a situation they might not go into if they were being cautious. But we're all just people, under the costumes, and it can happen to anyone. I just want you to be careful, all right?"

"But other heroes come from other dimensions," Stesha protested. "That's what everyone says about the Centurion, that he came here from another dimension and that's why he had the powers he did. They can't all get sent back. She has to find a way to bend the rules. It's like you were saying the other week, Freedom City needs all the heroes it can get. I don't think Mount Olympus needs one more goddess who's really mostly human anyway." She sighed and fell silent as their wine and appetizers were served, then picked at her food with her fork. "It just doesn't seem fair. There are enough bad guys trying to get into this world to keep Taylor busy all the time. You'd think no one would mine a good guy living here."

Stesha set down her tea. "Well, like I said, Jack and Moira were the only superheroes I knew at all, much less knew in town. It's kind of a small world for people who do hero work. I was talking to Moira about something else, and the thing with him came up. I was upset about it still, and we talked about it, like women do, you know, over cheesecake and wine. It turned out she knew him, so she had some context for the whole thing. We both had more to drink that was smart. I hadn't been drunk since college, I actually didn't realize I still could get drunk, but Moira said this wine was special, that it could get a god drunk or something like that. I think that's the only time she ever mentioned gods before, before yesterday. Anyway, she got the idea that we should go and see Jack, because it's not right to break up with someone over the phone, and I should tell him how he'd hurt my feelings, or something like that." Stesha shrugged self-deprecatingly. "Things get really blurry for me after that for awhile. Neither of us should've been driving, but Moira was in a little better shape than I was, and we made our way over to his house. I think I told him he was a jerk and passed out on his front lawn. Moira wasn't too much better off, I guess, but she was at least awake. Jack's not stupid, though, he had to know she wasn't in any condition to, you know, to do anything. He came back to her house with us, and he got Moira into bed. She barely remembered it afterwards. We all know Jack's not so green that he doesn't know when someone isn't sober enough to give consent. That's what really made me mad yesterday," she admitted, "when she talked about her being a creature of her appetites, like he was trying to make things her fault, or blame her for drinking and then not saying no. I wouldn't have called him at all, except I think he really owes Moira, a lot more than just an apology."

"I've been thinking about that," Stesha admitted, studying the ice in her glass. "It's just one more thing to worry about, I guess. I probably will call her and talk to her, because I owe her an apology too. I know it made her upset, and she was already upset. I don't even know if I understand why," she admitted. "I mean, I know she's a guardian of dimensions, but Moira's not a criminal, and she wasn't doing anything wrong. She's a hero, she helps save people! And she was taken out of this dimension, against her will. I don't see why Taylor would get in trouble for helping us get Moira back, just because she gets her powers from having birth parents who happen to be gods, rather than all the different ways the rest of us get into it."

There was a quiet moment while Stesha spooned up a bit of tea and let it trickle back into the cup. "The thing with Jack and I wasn't really that much, I guess, looking back on it. He came in to get flowers for some creepy weird party his friends were throwing, the sort where they say it's one thing, but when you get there, you realize it's a lot different. Black roses for a baby shower, yeah right." That last seemed more like an aside to herself than anything. "Anyway, after I told him how expensive everything was going to be, he started chatting me up, which isn't exactly unusual, but he seemed more sincere than the guys who feed me lines so I take a little off the bill." She shrugged. "I gave him my phone number... and the discount. We went on one date, which went really weirdly and got cut short. It happens, I guess. Anyway, he didn't call and didn't meet me when I dropped off his flowers at what looked like some kind of orgy parlor, with this chick who purred at me that I should put the flowers on this antique velvet couch because that's where the "cake" was going to be served." Stesha made a face. "That kind of skeeved me out, but I don't actually know anything about it, or what happened. After the flowers were delivered he called, did the not-you-me thing, and that was pretty much the end. Except that I knew he had powers, because I'd seen him use them during the date, so he was one of the only two people I knew in town who had them." She took a sip of tea and realized she was rambling. And this time she couldn't even blame wine, so maybe it was just stress.

Stesha hesitated a moment, but it was hard not to open up to Ace, at least a little. She made a seesawing motion with her free hand, smiling a little ruefully. "I won't say it's been a great day, but I'm doing all right. I shouldn't have called Jack in on things yesterday. You were right that we didn't make a very good showing of ourselves. But it's easier to deal with that sort of thing with distance and perspective and not actually having to talk to the person you don't like." She sighed. "And he did come when I asked, I have to give him that much. I have a lot bigger things to worry about right now. I think I owe you an apology for dragging that whole thing out when I didn't have to. I think I was madder at him than I realized. But if he can help get Moira back, maybe that evens things out, at least a little. Seeing him with Taylor makes me worry, but I don't know if it's any of my business. And if we're trying to get gods to squabble, we can't be doing too much of it amongst ourselves, I guess."

Stesha picked up her spoon, stirred her tea. "I would if I were you," she told her, keeping her eyes on the silver handle. "There's nothing worse than a bitchy ex, right? If it were just about me and Jack, I probably would keep my mouth shut. But he's not a good guy, and I would feel like a bad friend if I didn't say something. I really liked him when I first met him, too, and I wish someone had said something to me. Maybe I wouldn't have listened, but you never know." She paused then, looking like she was trying to think about what to say next, or where to start.

"They made her believe them once," Stesha said worriedly, twisting her glass in her fingers. "They made her believe she didn't have any choice but to go to them, and that no one could help her. That's why she didn't tell anyone ahead of time, I think, because she didn't want us to worry about what she didn't think we could do anything about. Maybe if we can talk to her, we can convince her that's not true. If anyone can do it, you can," she said, something that was simple fact more than flattery. "But the Greek pantheon is so tricky. I don't think they'll let us talk to her if they can help it at all."

Stesha was dressed down for this too, wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt decorated with multicolored frogs. Her hair was up, like usual, but the little roses in it had seen better days. She'd picked some kind of floral-smelling tea over coffee, from the scent of it. "Hi Taylor," she said with a little smile in return, sitting down on the other side of the booth. "I wanted to start out by saying I'm sorry about dragging you into things between me and Jack yesterday. Ace was right, it really wasn't the time to be talking about any of that, but I was really upset, and it's been awhile since I actually had to deal with him. I want... I think I should talk to you about him, but that wasn't the way to do it, and I feel bad." She took the sugar container from the tray in the booth and began pouring it liberally into her tea.

Stesha's face fell, making her reach for her water glass to take a sip and make sure she was going to keep it together. "I know she wants to come back," she told him. "She told me she couldn't live without her mortal family here. Me, Angel, and you too, she mentioned. I know it means something to her, even with whatever they're trying to do to her. I worry that they'll try to make her forget, so she won't know why she didn't want to go in the first place. They're not good people, gods, whatever. And I really do appreciate you and everyone else for dropping everything and coming to help yesterday. I know you're doing everything anyone could possibly do, and that I couldn't ask for anyone better. But it's still hard not to worry."

"There's this little place I like down in the Theatre District, a coffee bar called Aroma. I don't know if you know it, but it's on Greene street, about halfway between O'Neil and the Beckett Theatre. It's mostly an actor's hangout, but nobody's going to be there on a Monday night. The coffee is great, and they have good pastries, too." Meeting in public would be easier than at either of their homes, she figured, and maybe it would make a scene less likely. Not that she really expected one at all... but it was better to be prepared. "Sound okay?"

"Ah, the duck sounds fine, thank you," she told the waiter, unfolding her napkin and putting it in her lap. She was still unused to sitting down and being served in places like this, rather than delivering arrangements for parties, but good manners never went out of style, as her mother said. "I'm all right," she told Ace, mustering up more of a smile than she felt. "I'm worried about Moira, but at least I feel like we're doing something for her. I know it's going to take time, I just can't help wondering if she's all right. I've been... I spent some time last night studying Greek mythology. It didn't make me feel much better," she admitted. "Have you been able to find anything out?"

Oh her end of the phone, Stesha automatically looked at the clock as well. Huh. "I'm sorry," she said, "did I wake you up? I don't want to call at a bad time, it's not very urgent for once. I was just wondering if you had time to talk. Tonight, maybe, or sometime soon. I know there was lots of stuff that didn't get said or got said wrong at the meet-up we had yesterday." She sounded embarrassed, uncomfortable, but determined to power through it.

She had to run two blocks to do it, but Stesha arrived at the restaurant right when she'd said she would for once. One nice thing about the superheroing gig was that it was really starting to get her into shape. It had been a busy morning, but her boss had been more than happy to scoot her off early for lunch in order to talk to a very lucrative potential client. Stesha wasn't quite so sure she was ready to talk to Ace again, but putting it off probably wasn't going to make it any better. Besides, he might have information about Moira, and she wasn't going to risk missing it. The maitre d' led her to the table where Ace was waiting and pulled out her chair for her. She thanked him and sat down. Today Stesha was wearing the same sort of professional clothes she'd worn on her first visit to his home, but today she was wearing a little more makeup and the small roses in her green hair were looking a bit droopy. "Hello, Ace," she told him, giving him a polite smile. "I hope I didn't make you wait."