Pressing Concerns [IC]

[Electra]

Stesha set aside the remainder of her eggs, since she was mostly eating them to be sociable anyway. "Maybe I will suggest that Derrick talk to him then. It sounds like it would be right up his alley, especially if it means staying in the city. Do you want to take the test now," she asked, switching topics without a bobble, "or would you rather take it home with you and have some privacy?"

[alderwitch]

Taylor shrugged good naturedly, her equilibrium somewhat restored by a meal and a cup of hot tea.

"I really don't expect anything of it, Stesha. The odds are so astronomically against it that its nearly impossible. Certainly impossible without some sort of metaphysical intervenion. I'll just take it and then we can go on with the days plans. I don't see any reason to make a big deal out of it."

Taylor took her directions and dutifully headed into the restroom. She was out a few moments later with the capped test in hand and set it on a napkin while they waited on the results. Taylor looked up at Stesha instead of the test, "We could go see a movie."

[Electra]

"That sounds like fun," Stesha agreed, following Taylor's lead and pretending to ignore the test. "It's been awhile since I've gotten out to the theater. I've heard good things about the Sherlock Holmes movie that just came out, I've been thinking about dragging Derrick out to see it. But I figure that if I go to see it twice, I won't have to be disappointed if he gets called away in the middle for some crisis or other. How were the holidays with your family?"

[alderwitch]

"We pitched in and got my parents a trip for the holidays so my siblings and I didn't get together for it. The folks got a vacation and we got low key holidays so it was a win-win, really. It was just Jack and I for Christmas which was a nice way to spend it. Decorated the tree and exchanged gifts, then terrorized some muggers as Phantom and Avenger. It was nice," Taylor said, arms folded and her ankles crossed as she leaned against the couch. "What about you?"

She asked the last as she finally uncoiled and strolled back over to look at the test. Taylor frowned at it and dug around for the instructions before she frowned again and shook her head slowly. "That can't be right. I think I'm reading this wrong."

Taylor scowled at the plus sign on the test and set it back down to fully read the instructions. From the way she was scanning the pamphlet, she was reading the portion in the other languages too. Just in case. Could have been a printing error. Or something. Anything.

[Electra]

Stesha got up as well, picking up the test and looking at it. "That's... that looks pretty definite," she ventured, looking at Taylor with concern. "And these tests are supposed to be as accurate as you can get at home. Maybe you should make an appointment with a doctor. Ace would probably know someone with the, hmm, special qualifications you'd need."

[alderwitch]

Taylor made a strangled noise that could have been anything from agreement to 'Oh, dear God, no.' It wasn't the most easy noise to interpret but if Stesha had to venture a guess, though, it was probably closer to the 'Oh, God' end of the spectrum. Taylor turned that sickly white shade again and for a moment, Stesha had grave concern for her carpet but instead Taylor sat down bonelessly in the chair and picked up the test to stare at it again like she could change it with the pure force of will.

Finally, she settled on a muttered, "It could still be a curse."

She turned it over in her hands a few times, her face studiously blank, "Either way, we have definately strayed beyond the realm of my expertise."

[Electra]

Stesha put a hand on Taylor's shoulder then gave her a hug, pressing her cheek against Taylor's hair as she, too, studied the damning test. "It'll be okay," she promised. "If there's something wrong, we'll figure it out, otherwise... well, we'll figure it out. But right now, we need to get some more information. Ace will know somebody, or know somebody who knows somebody. There have to be a couple of OB/GYNs who sideline in metahumans." She took a long breath. "Do you want me to call Jack for you?"

[alderwitch]

"Oh, God," Taylor said finally and buried her face in her hands. She took a couple of steadying breaths then shook her head, "No, I can call him. I don't want to get into it over the phone anyways. I'll call him while you call Ace."

Taylor reached up to squeeze Stesha's hand and gave her a shaky and misty eyed smile. If it was true it would at least explain why she'd been so uncharactaristically emotional at least, "Thanks, Stesha. You're such a good friend. I'm really glad you're here."

She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and flipped it open, pacing away from Stesha and dropping her voice to little more than a whisper as she crossed the room. Unsurprisingly, she got Jack's voice mail. His 'work' kept him more than a little busy, "Jack, it's Taylor. I need to talk to you. I'm visiting Stesha. I'll leave my phone on, I guess." She paused, hesitating before she added, almost sadly, "Love you."

Taylor closed the phone with a click and pressed the cool metal to her forehead. It could still be a fluke. That made as much sense as anything at this point. As Stesha began to dial Ace, Taylor headed back into the bathroom with the remainder of the tests, a determined expression on her face.

[Electra]

Stesha waited until Taylor was done with her call before she picked up her own phone, then waited till Taylor went back in the bathroom to dial. God, what a mess. How could this even have happened? Jack sure as hell wasn't fathering any children these days, and Stesha wasn't about to disbelieve Taylor when she said Jack was the only man she'd been with. That left a mistake with the test, some kind of serious illness, or other alternatives that were even more unsavory. Everybody had heard stories of the occasional supervillain who could and did do seriously messed-up things to women, their bodies, minds, or both. And Taylor dealt with a lot of bad guys who might hold grudges. Not to mention being married to a guy who could manipulate her mind if he wanted to, and who showed little compunction about using people to get what he wanted... no, she wouldn't ascribe that even to Jack, not without some kind of evidence first.

Pushing all those worries aside, she pulled Ace up on her speed dial and called. "Hi, Ace, it's Stesha," she said immediately upon hearing the phone pick up. "I have a big favor to ask."

[angrydurf]

A bleary eyed Ace Danger slid silently from bed as he saw who the caller ID was krept into the front room as he answered staring out over the city from the top of Pyramid Plaza.

"Your wish is my command mon cheri." Ace slyly replied as he flicked on the coffee maker and settled onto the couch.

[Electra]

"It's kind of an odd favor," Stesha began, tucking her legs up under her on the couch. "And I kind of need you to do it in the blind, at least for right now. But I figure if anyone would know, it would be you, since you know everybody." Well, that was disjointed, wasn't it. Marshalling her thoughts, Stesha got straight to the point. "I'm trying to find a doctor who specializes in treating metahumans. A doctor for women," she clarified, "an OB/GYN. Do you know anyone like that, anywhere?"

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded with a soothing sigh as she expressed concern over the odity of hte request etc. In his lifetime it was virually assured he'd heard and made odder.

When she finished he smiled, not so odd after all, nor surprising that she would want a specialist given her own unique physiology. "Well I know just the man for the job and he can be quite descrete when needed as well." he replied calmly, "If its a specialist in metahiman physiology you need theres none better than Doctor Archeville. Let me get you the direct number, ever since Archtech got started its been impossible to get to him through normal channels." Ace flipped quickly through his addressbook looking for the good Doctors number. As he did so he gently inquired, "So? Do you need anyone to come with? I can clear my schedual if you need."

[Electra]

"Oh, no, it's all taken care of," Stesha told him, looking towards the closed door of the bathroom. Even if Taylor couldn't get ahold of Jack, Stesha would go with her. She rather doubted that Taylor would want Ace along, no matter how solicitous he was willing to be for the occasion. "But I knew that you would know who to talk to. I really appreciate the help." She thought for a moment, trying to place the name he'd given her. "Doctor Archeville, he was at Taylor's party, wasn't he? He sang the funny song about biology." That was good, Taylor was obviously already acquainted with the man, so it would be easier for her. "He should be perfect."

[angrydurf]

"No worries." Ace replied as he found the number and quickly passed it on, "Archeville is really the preeminant man in the field of metahuman studies I'm sure he'd love to have the chance to see you. Let me know if there is anything else you need." and with that dealt with and a rather sultry request from his bedroom Ace hung up.

[Electra]

Stesha opened her mouth to explain that it wasn't a visit for her, but Ace's abrupt disconnection meant she didn't have a chance. Well, there was no harm in it, she guessed. Heck, it was probably a number she ought to hold onto for the future, just in case. Rising from the couch, she went to the bathroom and knocked gently. "Taylor? I got the number for Doctor Archeville, Ace says he's the best. You okay in there?"

[alderwitch]

Taylor dumped the tests into the small trashcan. Clearly the entire box was contaminated. Or something. She let her head hit the door with a soft thump and muttered, hopefully too softly for Stesha to hear, "No. I'm freaking out. That's what I'm doing."

Taking a steadying breath, Taylor sighed and opened the door a crack to peer back at Stesha, "Ace is right. The Doctor is... very good at what he does. If anyone can get to the bottom of all of this, It'll be Archeville, even if he does give me the heebie jeebies."

[Avenger Assembled]

At that moment, Taylor's cellphone over on the counter started to ring. Jack was busy, in fact, wrapped up in an urgent business meeting that would hopefully keep werewolves out of the sewers of Freedom City, but he made a habit to make time for Taylor when she called. Like it or not, when she interrupted him at work, it was usually pretty freaking important. When someone picked up the phone, he said, "Hello?"

[Electra]

Since the phone was still out on the table, Stesha hastened to pick it up before it had a chance to dump to voicemail. Her brow furrowed when she heard Jack's familiar voice. "Bout time you called back," she told him unceremoniously, even as she crossed back to the bathroom. "Here's Taylor. It's Jack," she said needlessly as she handed the phone over.

[alderwitch]

"Hi, Jack," Taylor said in her best 'everything is totally normal' voice, which probably made her sound even more weird accross the speaker of the phone. Bluffing was not one of the skills she'd ever mastered. Especially not to Jack. Continuing on hurridly she added in, "I know you're probably busy but if you can make time to talk to me, I think it's important. I mean, in person."

She made a face and followed Stesha out into the main room of her apartment to poke at the test on the table. It hadn't changed. Taylor frowned, "More than a little important. Like, a lot important."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Uh, sure, I can get over there shortly," said Jack, checking his watch. "Maybe a half-hour with traffic, I'm way over in Ashton and it's game day. What's going on?" he asked her, sounding a little concerned. He couldn't move very fast in daylight, and certainly couldn't use any of his vampiric powers to get him to Taylor any faster.

[alderwitch]

Taylor shrugged although he couldn't see it through the phone of course and her breath blew out with a sigh. "It's nothing I want to talk about over the phone. Its not an invasion, or anything supernatural. Well, it is supernatural, but not a threat. Well, it's not a threat, I think."

There was a soft thump as Taylor rapped the test against the table before it vanished through her fingertips. "I can come to you instead. It'll be a bit faster. I can't teleport at the moment, but I can fly just fine. Let me say goodbye to Stesha and I'll head over."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Okay," said a suspicious Jack, trusting that Taylor would explain everything as soon as she could. "I'll be on the roof of the Roger Office Park on Green Street in...ten minutes." He didn't like wandering out that far into the sun, but it was the most private place in the building he could think of. "Love you. See you soon." Hanging up his phone, worry in his undead breast, Jack headed upstairs.

[alderwitch]

Taylor closed the phone, her expression pensive. If they were a normal couple, this would have hopefully been a happy thing but Jack was physiologically incapable of siring a child the human way. She hoped that Jack trusted her enough to believe her fidelity, but she was mentally braced for the freak out to end all freak outs.

Even more daunting was if the test(s) were accurate, what then was it? Taylor wasn't really human and Jack was even less so.

Taylor squared her shoulders and dredged up a brave smile for Stesha. For once, the reserved mystic hugged her first and suggested with a ghost of humor, "I owe you a movie rain check. I'll have to make it up to you. I'll call and let you know what's going on, I promise."

[Electra]

"All right," Stesha said, returning the hug. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know. I can be there in a moment as long as you're near a plant. It's going to be okay," she said again, and mustered a reassuring smile despite her own worry. "And if he gives you any trouble, just shove a clove of garlic anywhere the sun won't hit it. That'll probably shut him up. And put some ginger ale and crackers into your pocket. My mom swears by them, and she had six kids herself, not to mention midwifing. There's got to be something to it." She stepped back, feeling helpless to do any more at the moment.

[angrydurf]

After the mornings diversion Ace returned to the livingroom. Stesha had had plenty of time to get in touch with Derrick by now if he was in system and if Aces sources were right, and they usually were, the gravtic being was working on a project out at star island. Might as well be the first to congratulate the father to be and offer his support given the concerns Stesha undoubtedly had expressed.

He flopped onto the couch and quickly dialed over to the research lead on the project not wanting to distract Derrick if the experiment was at a delicate stage. After a quick exchange of pleseantries he asked to speak to Dark Star.