Family Portrait (IC)

[Electra]

"Heh, I don't think buying a mansion is going to exactly be in my budget anytime soon," Erin admitted. "But since they're both stepping back from actual hero work, hopefully neither of them would mind us still using the HQ. It should be used for something, not just sitting there gathering dust again." She dug into her knapsack and pulled out an apple, wiping it carefully with the edge of her shirt. "And I don't think we want to do anything really obvious, like open tryouts or anything like that. That sort of things invites showoffs and competition, and that's not really what Young Freedom's about. I'd rather see people who are interested in heroing because it's the right thing to do, not to show off how badass they are."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Secret tryouts," said Mark grandly, "and secret adventures. Good call on the publicity thing. That was our problem early on with people like Breakdown and the rest," he said frankly. "People who are in it for pats on the head and attention, not to save the world. The people who want to do the showy stuff, they can be on Next-Gen with the other, uh, dramatic types. That's why I've kept a secret ID, so I can be known for what I do in public, not who am I in private. You have the best ideas," he told Erin. "Just think of it, we could have like a clubhouse ritual at the end, where we secretly induct the best!"

[Electra]

Erin smiled a little, not sure she and Mark were exactly on the same page, but glad to see the shadows seeming to lift from him. Distractions, especially neat heroic distractions, were usually pretty good for that. "Well, maybe only sort of secret," she offered, "and sort of just informal. Things could get weird if we were making a big show of sneaking around being all secretive. That can draw more attention than you would if you just went and did something without making a big deal of it. But I mean, if we're going to pass off control of the headquarters and all that, we should at least make sure that there are some trustworthy new people to hand it off to. Gonna miss the teleport beacon," she admitted wryly.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well," said Mark automatically, "I've been testing my powers and I can go a really, really long way when I do the colored dot thing, and I can do it really fast. So even after we graduate, you can just call me and I can come get you wherever you need to go. I wouldn't do that for just anybody, but we're friends, right? And I know you wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." He hmmed. "You're right, we can't just hand it off to anybody. I think between all of us, we can put something together. Will Trevor be joining us, or is he still not technically a Young Freedom member? I know he's not handing his house off anytime soon."

[Electra]

Erin shrugged one shoulder, not losing that small smile. "He just doesn't like to be identified as part of a team, but he really is and we all know it," she pointed out. "He might not come to like, an official induction ceremony if we do decide to have one, but he'll probably give us a hand in picking out people who might be good for the team. I'm the first one to admit that I don't always see less obvious skills, or keep in mind what people can do the way he does. He might see somebody that we'd miss."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Trevor's smart and perceptive," agreed Mark. Even if he'd thought otherwise, he certainly wouldn't say anything different in front of Erin. "Maybe if it's you, me, and Trevor evaluating people, we can make the assessments for the next year. Give Corbin and Eve a vote too, since they'll have to work with these people. Yeah, it'll be great." He was already up on his feet, distracted, if not swayed, by what Erin had suggested. "We can leave a legacy that matters, one that really belongs to the new kids without being taken over by a bunch of freshman chumps. Hey, did you see they have a divine Norse student starting next year? I got briefed on it with the other Golden Age legacies as a precaution. Wild, huh?"

[Electra]

"That's weird," Erin allowed, "I always thought the Norse gods or whatever were all bad guys. Didn't they fight for the Nazis or something?" Erin shrugged, aside from what she'd learned in her one Claremont class on hero history, she didn't really follow that kind of thing. Mark was the go-to guy for any question about that stuff. "I haven't heard anything about the incoming class," she admitted, not above a little bit of gossip. "What else have you heard?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh, all kinds of stuff," said Mark artlessly. "Ms. Harcourt was saying something about modifying the science lab to accommodate insectile hands, so maybe we're getting some kind of crazy bug as a student, and from all the new cybertech, maybe a robot or a cyborg. Well, besides Blue Rogue, but she's hardly around so I don't think she counts." He hmmed. "And there was something in the gym about equipment for someone who was permanently very small, but I don't know what that's about. Maybe it's the bug person, and they're like a swarm. Or maybe it's just a really tiny student!" He shrugged. "Either way, it's gonna be a great class."

[Electra]

"Sounds like a pretty weird class," Erin said, sounding a trace skeptical. "Or maybe one or two students who are weird in a lot of ways, I guess. Be interesting to see how it plays out, at least if we're not too busy with other stuff. Maybe we can stop by sometimes in the fall and check in on how things are going, how the team is shaping up and stuff." Her voice was a little uncertain; Erin knew that once you graduated, it was kind of weird to spend much time hanging around high school, but the idea of losing the focal point her life had revolved around for two years was more unnerving the more she thought about it.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Tell me about you and Trevor," said Mark suddenly, realizing this subject was making Erin nervous. "Is he going to apply to the new League, and be on a team the way his grandpa was? It'd be pretty great if the two of you could get hired to the same team. I know most of the Next-Gen who the League picked up still work together these days, so you guys could wind up fighting alongside each other even after you graduate." He smiled. "I think you guys are lucky. You..." His smile faltered a little, but didn't go away, "You have ties that'll keep you together and close by here even after you graduate. Not everyone has relationships like that in high school. That's pretty special."

[Electra]

"No, he's going to college," Erin replied, tugging the ends of her own hair as she looked around at all Mark's boxes. "He's been accepted into the accelerated engineering program at FCU. I think like on the first day they got the application, they were tripping over themselves to say yes." She had to smile at that, proud despite any misgivings of her own. "So he'll be like living on campus during the week, doing the secret identity and college student thing. I'm not totally sure how we're going to work around that, but I'm sure he's got some kind of plan. That's sort of his thing, you know? He might join a team when he graduates, I guess."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Well...maybe if you're on the League by then, you'll be on his testing committee," said Mark with a little smile. "You did a pretty good job getting him onto one team." He caught sight of Erin looking at the boxes, and made a decision. "Hey, you know...if you need a place to stay, you're welcome to housesit in my house when I'm in Africa. I mean, if no one's back then. I don't think Trevor would think it was weird if I wasn't living there," he added, not wanting to get a Midnight visit after dark, "and it's a nice house. There's enough money to pay all the bills there for a long time."

[Electra]

Erin hesitated, taken aback for a moment by the sudden offer. She didn't like to take charity from her friends; despite the fact that many of them could easily spare it, she always felt really weird about it. But if Mark was in Africa and no one else was home, someone would have to be looking after the place anyway. A house just couldn't stand empty for months at a time without deteriorating. It would be sort of like doing them both a favor. "That's really nice of you," she told Mark. "I'll have to think about it, but that might work out. I could keep up the place while you're away and stuff. But I guess we don't know right now how all that's going to work out. Your mom might come back," she offered a bit lamely.

[Avenger Assembled]

"She wouldn't mind having company, I bet, and..." Mark flinched away from that topic, thinking about an ever-shrinking, neatly ordered stack of proofs that kept going off to Castle Comics downtown. Just how long had she been planning to leave, anyway? "It's a nice place to live. Even if it's just you. And it might not be, like you said, depending on Trevor and stuff. How's his grandpa, anyway?" asked Mark curiously. "I assume you've got the Original Midnight seal of approval and all?" He'd only had one chance to meet the elder Hunter, and rather wished he hadn't been so distracted at the time!

[Electra]

"Um, I don't see too much of him," Erin said evasively, though it was true. A lot of the time she spent at Trevor's house was just out in the garage, where Travis didn't seem to spend a lot of time. Not that she'd really tried to seek him out, she had to admit. If things with Trevor were going to continue, and she really wanted them to, she was just going to have to find a way to show his grandpa that she wasn't the coward she'd made herself out to be during the zombie uprising. She wasn't sure quite how, but something would come up. There were always opportunities to be heroic in Freedom City. "I'm pretty sure he's doing fine though, keeping busy with stuff."

She shrugged one shoulder, then changed the subject. "Even if you want to put most of this stuff in storage, you can probably go through it and find some of your favorite stuff to keep and display. Some of the younger students would probably think it's really cool."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I dunno. A lot of these kids weren't even alive when the Centurion died. Some of their parents were just kids back when the old League dissolved, I guess..." He hmmed and knelt down, ripping open a taped-up box to look inside. "But I guess some of this stuff is pretty cool. Hey look, the Serpent Mask!" He pulled out a verdigris face mask with a serpentine cast, looking a bit like a Greek theatrical snake costume. "Hmm, I guess this should be locked up. Wanna hold it?" The mask was warm to the touch, and a little scaly, despite its smooth-looking surface. "Just don't put it on. Oh hey, here's..." He settled back on the floor and pulled out a tarnished black bottle, its glass surface pitted and marred with age. "This is it," he murmured quietly. "This is the lamp Jimmy Lucas bought back in 1940. This is...this is how it came to my family."

[Electra]

Erin took the mask gingerly, holding by the edges and wondering if she should ask what would happen if she put it on. "Are these real magical artifacts?" she asked him. "Um, maybe instead of just tossing them in the basement, we should give them to the headmaster and see what he wants to do with them. It seems like it might not really be safe to just leave them laying around, when a really lucky guy like yourself isn't right there to make sure they don't get stolen or something...." She trailed off when Mark pulled out the lamp, not sure what to say. "Does it still do anything?" she finally asked.

[Avenger Assembled]

"No," said Mark, shaking his head. "I guess I could trap another disembodied magical spirit in it," he added with a little shrug, "if I knew Solomon's old magic." He didn't, of course. "The genie of the lamp was freed decades ago, and without him, this is just a nicely carved vessel. It might belong in a museum, I guess. It can't hurt anyone...not like the Mask." He picked up the diabolical artifact and held it lightly in his hands, thinking back to his childhood. "Dad used to use this to roast weenies out back...anyway, yeah, I guess I should show it to Mr. Summers. The League may have let my dad keep this, but they're not going to want it just lying around the school."