The Velvet Glove [IC]

[Cyroa]

He shrugged. "What about family and friends? You being 'out' kind of exposes them as well." He never worried about it since given his last name, he was 'out' by default. "Heroes work with the government all the time without revealing who they are. As for ethics...you're way too ethical," he said with a smile. "Questioning them is just silly. But I know there are plenty who aren't. And there are plenty of other who use their massive psychic brains without being questioned. They're just that goodie-goodie. Not that that's a bad thing mind you," he said quickly. He'd never be that good but someone had to be.

[alderwitch]

"Everyone needs a check on their actions, even me," Alex said with a chuckle. She paused to take out one of the largest piles of leaves they'd come accross, scattering them with cheerful kicks of her ladybug print rainboots. She was breathless and her cheeks were flushed when she scampered back up to James' side, laughing softly, "As for my family, Mike is just as much a registered factor as I am. My mom's and grandad are both retired super heroes. I think the secret identity as safety is false comfort, really. Even out, my parents are more likely to die in a car crash than at the hand of an archenemy. Even here in Freedom City."

[Cyroa]

He nodded. "Oh, I understand. It's a thin protection if someone really tries to find you. But I think of it as a spam filter on your email. Keeps out the stupid stuff from getting through. Or at least that's my theory since I've never done the secret identity thing either. Were your parents out when they were active/not retired?" He knew they were supers of course though not much about them in particular. If Mark was here, James was certain that the luck controller could regale them with dozens of battles and events for each. James never spent that much time learning that stuff.

[alderwitch]

"No, they were both underground. My mom was active during the heyday of the Moore act and my grandad was more of a street hero. Neither of them had powers, just training. I'm the first one to have powers in the family thanks to the Terminus," Alex said with a shrug.

She tucked her hands into her pockets to warm them up as they came to a meandering stop in front of the dorm rooms where she paused and looked up at the building as she annouced in a bit of a bizarre change of topic, "I'm glad we didn't have to really hurt you. It wasn't a call Mark could have made, and I really didn't want to. I would have, though, you know. If we had to really stop you, it would have been me and Erin."

[Cyroa]

James chuckled. "'Thanks to the Terminous'. Kind of an odd and unusual thing to say but works in your case."

He gave a weak smile. "Me too. Sorta. If it would have stopped it all or prevented me from hurting one of you guys, I would have been totally ok with it." He gave a little nod. "I know. The others aren't quite as hard. Good guys. The best. But sometimes, you need a more...pragmatic view. 'Sides, you could have killed me but it wouldn't have stuck. Good ole dad doesn't or won't let that happen. I keep coming back. Back when I first found out what I was, I didn't adjust too well right away. I've died 3 times now I think. First was deliberate. Was kinda freaked out. But being in hell that long was on heck of a wake-up call. The other two were accidents/risk taking things." He shrugged. "Knowing death isn't permenant, generally speaking, takes the fear out of dying."

He scuffed the ground a little. "I tried to do that you know. Make it permenant. Holy stuff, like real faith kind of things, will pretty much do the job. That's why I was at the church you know. Because I thought if I lost, I'd die. And if I died there, considering it was 'blessed', it would be permenant. Sort of a suicide I guess. Didn't work out any way I look at it. Live and learn I guess, right?" He had learned. The hard way, but he had learned.

[alderwitch]

Alex thumped his shoulder the same way James had often seen her whack Mike affectionately when he'd said something she considered rediculous.

"Well, hopefully you've learned that lesson finally to get help solving your problems. That's what friends are for, silly," Alex beamed up at him before she streched up to press a sisterly kiss against his cheek, "Because if you ever try something like that again, I'll turn your brain into a pretzel and leave you with Eddie's fashion sense as a reminder."

[Cyroa]

James gave smile grin and winced at her words. "Hey now, that's just getting nasty. Though it works for some obviously," he said, not mentioning Alex's future daughter directly. "I suppose it could be worse. You could leave me with Chris's. But no, I'm good. No brain wiping needed. I may not be the brightest bulb, but I learned."

[alderwitch]

Alex shook her head with a sweet smile and told him with a grin, "No, nasty was when I threatened Eddie's ability to reproduce if he hurts my daughter. This was just plain and simple honesty. I'd probably even feel bad eventually and put you back together right. But not before pictures."

[Cyroa]

"Eh, pictures don't bother me. I don't embarress easily. At least I'd be me again after," he said with a smile. "Isn't that against the whole 'good guy morality' thing? Threatening to use your powers on someone and all that. Not that I think you're wrong. It's right up my alley." Vengence and spite were things he understood quite well. "Somehow I don't see Zoe responding well to being grounded by anyone, 'least of all her teenage parents. How's that all going anyway?"

[alderwitch]

Alex gave him a little shrug and said quite seriously, "I never claimed to be morally perfect. That would be arrogant beyond belief. I have a temper and a whole host of other besetting vices, just like anyone really. I'm just a bit more self aware than the average sixteen year old, that's all. Well, a lot more aware, but that's mostly due to my psychic acumen than any native moral compass."

[Cyroa]

He nodded. "You'd know better than I would about how the big times heroes act. Like there's some kind of 'code' or something. You just seem like you'd fit with that level and type of hero pretty well. In a couple years of course." He noted her lack of response about Zoe, though he hadn't thought things were going poorly between the odd mother-daughter pair. He kicked at pile of leaves, before Alex could get there. She kept taking the good ones. "Eh, somehow I see you doing the right thing almost all the time. Just a hunch," he said with a half smile.

[alderwitch]

Alex laughed, and gave a little shrug but she didn't disagree with his assessment. She did do the right thing almost all the time, mostly because it was the right thing to do. Alex flashed him a gamine grin as he 'stole' the pile of leaves, happily crunching the remains under her boots in his wake. After a few moments, she returned to his unanswered question, "Zoe's okay. I worry about her a lot. I think its harder in some ways because I'm not so very different mentally than the mother she remembers. I am more emotionally mature than most forty year olds. Physically, however, I still am sixteen. Plus, she's right at the age to rebel. It makes things... complicated. She gets along better with Mike."

[Cyroa]

James nodded. "She's definitely got the rebelling thing down. Still a good kid at her core though. Just a little...out of sorts." He gave a little smile. "She's a daddy's girl, huh? That's cute, in a kind of bizarre way." He shrugged a little. "She's a little rebel but she'll settle eventually I think. Might take a while though, especially given the odd lifestyle we're in; probably doubly weird for her. It'll work itself out I'm sure."

[alderwitch]

"It's hard not to worry. I can see all the hurt under the surface. She keeps running so hard and fast but she can't run from herself," Alex said a little sadly, her hazel eyes suddenly impossibally old in her pixie face, "She's so manic sometimes that it scares me. I don't want either her or Eddie to end up hurt but I think its inevitable."

[Cyroa]

James nodded a little. "I don't exactly have a lot of faith in the long term survivability of that relationship. Between her hyperabilities, being a teenager, and the trauma, she need to throw herself into something. And Eddie, especially from her point of view, with his music and 'history' is perfect for that. But who knows? It might work out even if I wouldn't count on it. But they aren't like you and Mike though. They aren't bound together." He shrugged. The benefits of seeing too much sometimes.

[alderwitch]

"Is that connection marked on my soul?" Alex asked curiously but she didn't sound surprised. Better than most, Alex understood the depth of that connection forged between her and Mike from the cradle. She tilted her face up at him, her wide eyes more intent than usual on his face, "I think hoping for that sort of connection - although ideal - is unrealistic. I do think that a relationship forged out of the embers of a childhood crush on a rockstar is more unhealthy than I really approve of. For either of them. It could, of course, grow into something true and sweet but I think its just moving too fast to not burn out."

[Cyroa]

James nodded a little. "Yeah, it is. You and Mike. It's like...hard to describe. But there's a bit of you on his and vice versus. A thread, a tie, a connection. It's rare. Soulmates aren't exactly a dime-a-dozen. Or rather, actually finding one isn't an easy task." He shrugged. "I didn't see on one Zoe but...I could have missed it. I only saw hers briefly amidst some other things while I didn't have good control. I don't know. As for the speed thing...I doubt Zoe is capable of operating at anything less than that speed. Fast and intense. Just her way I guess. She just needs to find the right guy and hopefully it'll settle her enough so there's no burn out. We can hope, right?"

[alderwitch]

"Hope springs eternal. Unfortunately, so does worry." Alex said wryly. She paused before adding musingly, "I am very good, however, and don't spy. Not even down the psychic link I've got to her. It is often tempting. I wonder how I stand it in the future."

Alex shrugged and lifted her face to the night sky after a moment, her eyes half closing. It was hard to tell if she was just looking inward or actually looking elsewhere. "I sometimes wonder that if the best thing I could do for Zoe is to help her find her way home. At first, I thought the best place was where she would be loved by at least some version of her parents. Now, I am less certain. Its rare for me to misjudge a situation but not impossible. Merely improbable."

[Cyroa]

James thought about it for a minute. "Well, given that where, or rather when, she comes from her world has kind of gone to shit, I doubt she'd want to go. Nor can I blame her. If it was dimensional, not temporal, I know a certain super who'd probably want her returned. But as is? It's up to you, and her. If she want to go back, I'm sure we could find a way." He shook his head. "But, if it really is just a temporal thing, then we can work to change that event. And doing so would negate the whole issue. Right? But if it never happens, she'd never have come back and none of this would have happened either..." He winced in thought as some of the various possibilities of all that came to mind. "Ugh. Temporal mechanics is not for me. Regardless, if you're not sure, ask her what she wants. Whatever it is, we'll do out best to make it happen." That was simple, direct and to the point. He could handle that.

[alderwitch]

"Temporal mechanics isn't my thing either, although I have tried to do a bit more research into all of that, all things considered," Alex said with a smile. Not only Zoe, but with Erin's occasional musings about her world it was best to be prepared. "Of course she'd need to be in the loop on the matter but a bit of research is never a bad idea. What Zoe saw happen and what really did happen could be actually vastly different situations. I can't believe the entire world is destroyed. There must still be people who love her and are worried about her. If I'm anything like I am now, I would have done my best to ensure that was the case. If one is going to be a superhero and a parent, I think it requires more preparation than just a will and the usual stuff one needs."

[Cyroa]

He chuckled. "Please, I bet you've read enough to publish a thesis or two on it. I'm well aware of who the brains are in our group. But you're probably right. I'm sure she does have others who care for her that didn't live within the blast radius. But her friends? Her parents? Odds are good you/they didn't make it if her memories are even close to accurately happening. Even if the rest of the world was fine, why would she want to return to a point when those that she loved had died?" He thought for a few moments. "I've never thought about that. The whole family-to-be thing. Not something I want to do I think. Raising them and all that. For various reasons," he said. Things could change, he knew that. But considering the various reason not to, it seemed like a pretty sure path at that moment. "I can totally see it for you and Mike though, even without having met the proof."

[alderwitch]

"Best laid plans," Alex teased him good naturedly, before her expression smoothed out into something more thoughtful, "I'm not so sure I'll do it the same way this time as I did in Zoe's time line. I always planned on marrying Mike after college and then having a child after we were established. I know Mike's not doing the college thing but I always planned to. Now, if things work out the way I've set them up, I'll go straight into grad school and be done with that by my early twenties. Things have changed, mostly due to Zoe's presence here and now."

[Cyroa]

He raised an eyebrow. "Why mid twenties? I bet if you applied yourself, you'd finish grad school in like a year or two, tops. Assuming you didn't have to do like an internship or something. The whole 'seat time' thing for school doesn't really work for you. You're too smart for the regular stuff. You could probably finish highschool, if not a regular undergraduate degree by the end of the week probably. Why the slow route? Or is it just for the experience of being in school? I certainly don't mind your company and all, just curious," he said with a wry smile. He doubted he'd be staying long. Once school was done, he had little to no plans for a higher educational institution. There was nothing there for him, outside of being around his friends more. He hoped they wouldn't drift after school; a thought that did cross his mind on occasion.

[alderwitch]

"Probably. I'm going for therapist which has mandated fieldwork hours as part of its requirements. I could probably get some of that waived considering my natural abilities, it's true," Alex agreed with a grin, "As for high school, I think the socialization is important. Especially since Mike and I never attended a regular sort of school after kindergarden. If it was just Mike, I'd stay in for him, of course, but I think you'd all miss me. Erin is doing much, much better but she still needs a little help handling things now and then. So does everyone, really. Equally important, I really do enjoy all of this. So it's equal parts selfish as not."

[Cyroa]

James nodded. Alex was definitely one of those 'together' people who had everything mapped out. But it certainly worked for her. "Of course we'd miss you. And not just 'cause we need your help for the smart things either," he said with a half-grin. "Erin's great. But it's going to take her a while to come around and really settle. I'm not sure she's going to ever completely get over it until she's ready though. But we're here for her, for as long as she needs us and beyond." It sucked for her, cutting her off from life she could and should be living. "Friends are great, aren't they? Glad I found you guys. Or you found me. Whatever."