Some Who Wander Are Lost (IC)

[Dariusprime]

"Still something you could do for some extra money," Mona said after restarting her own dessert experience. She didn't react at the mention of Avenger being 'weird and creepy', even if she did mentally agree with that assessment. Instead she added, "Assuming your normal schedule matches."

"Sounds like a cool couple. That says a lot that they're completely comfortable with you. I've never met Phantom, but I've heard she is really nice. Some sort of mage isn't she? Which makes sense considering what happened when Viktor read one of them." A glance around suggested most patrons had lost interest in the two heroines, except for one couple at a booth in far back.

After a sip of soda, she asked, "Who is your boyfriend? I apologize if you already mentioned him by name. I know he is heading off to FCU."

[Electra]

Erin colored a little at the question, but she didn't look defensive, exactly, more along the lines of normal teenage embarrassment. She even smiled a little as she said, "Oh, um, I don't know if you know him. His name is Trevor, we go to Claremont together. He's really smart, an engineer. He's been teaching me how to do stuff like fix my own truck when it breaks, basic auto mechanic work. He's already set to enroll in an advanced program at the university, and he's going to do really well." She was obviously very proud of that. "And he's got a lot of money and a really big house," Erin admitted, "but that almost makes things even more complicated."

[Dariusprime]

Mona couldn't help but smile a little as well. No, no, not the smile or even the embarrassment. The subtext really pointed itself out to her. If it wasn't already pretty obvious!

"No, I don't recall meeting a Trevor," she replied, taking a sip of her drink, "at least anyone by that name. What is his heroic name?" Assuming he was a hero, she thought to herself.

For a moment or two, she just watched Erin before saying, "If he is already an engineer, and really smart, then he won't just do really well but great. The big house and money is a mixed blessing though. From what you said earlier, sounds like you walk on some thin ice around his family."

"Sounds like you two are serious." came the coy little add-on.

[Electra]

Erin hesitated a moment. "He keeps a secret identity," she said somewhat awkwardly, "so I don't know that I should really say without clearing it with him first. Not that I don't trust you to keep a secret or anything," she hastened, "but it's more like it seems like something I should ask him about." She shrugged, hoping Mona would understand. "Secret identities are hard, it's kind of why I'm so bad about keeping mine."

She looked down, surprised to see how much of the pie she'd already eaten. "Anyway, his parents are never around, they live overseas or something, but his grandpa... it's more complicated. I made a bad impression on him back when we first met and I don't really know how to turn it around. I would like him to like me, but I don't really know what to do to fix things. Trev and I have been dating for a long time, months now, and I think it is serious, but I don't know exactly where it's all going."

[Dariusprime]

"Completely understandable. I'm sorry for asking. Tend to forget about secret identities myself. As you can imagine." She pointed her fork at the couple in the far booth, both of whom were watching them intently. "Secret identities are difficult I agree. I've just heard stories from the Interceptors. You're not alone there."

Mona continued listening, nodding occasionally, and finishing off her cheesecake bite-by-bite. After slowly chewing a large bite, she replied, "I can only speak for myself, but you may not be able to do much to help him like you. Trevor may have to take the lead on that one and reintroduce you." A light laugh delayed her next response. "Not knowing where your relationship is going is completely natural, Erin. I'd be worried if you had a game plan lined out."

Then the cheesecake was gone, all in one last, satisfying bite.

[Electra]

"No worries there," Erin said, somewhat ruefully. "If I knew what I was going to do with the rest of my life in every other area, maybe things would be clearer. It gets easier after high school, doesn't it?" she asked Mona. "Not the having to work and earn money and feed yourself part, but the knowing where you're going and what to do. I'd just kind of like to get to some point where I feel like I have got a plan, and that things are on the right track, instead of just, you know, sort of flailing around."

[Dariusprime]

"Well, do you want the truth or the bold-faced lie?" asked Fulcrum as she leaned back in her chair. The chair creaked in protest. She chuckled and sipped her drink. "Nothing particularly bad or good, just realistic."

"You're right. Life gets somewhat easier after high school. You realize a lot of the stuff that you thought mattered doesn't, and things that seemed pointless are central to who you want to be in the future. In time a plan will show up. Flailing about won't happen as often, but I'll be honest with you, feeling like you're on the right track is an off-and-on again proposition." A thoughtful, happy look came over her face. "If nothing else, life becomes a lot more unpredictable, sometimes in a good way. You probably won't have a right 'track' as a general direction, and the best of life will happen when you deviate from the direction."

Sitting up, she shook her head, "Okay, as if that makes any sense or I'm being philosophical. Yes, some things get easier, some harder and you'll figure out at least the basics of where you want to go in time. Don't give up."

[Electra]

"Come too far to give up now," Erin said ruefully. "I mean, I've got it pretty good, really. We went the other week and pulled a version of me off Anti-Earth who didn't come from there. She came from my world, it was like we were the same person, and then reality hit a fork and I ended up on Prime and she ended up on Anti. Now she's in Blackstone because she's too crazy and dangerous to let out, but she's happy because they're feeding her and nobody is hurting her. What have I got to complain about in comparison to that?" She shrugged. "I guess it's all perspective. But it's nice to think that eventually I'm going to get things figured out." She scraped up the last of her pie and finished her drink. "That was really good."

[Dariusprime]

"You will, Erin. You will. I have complete confidence in you," Mona replied quietly.

She shook her head. "A real shame what happened to your counterpart. Have you heard anything about her prognosis? A little human kindness, among other things, would probably do her wonders." Her brow furrowed in thought a moment. "Strange how two, well, 'copies', for a lack of a better term, ended up in different universes. Inter-dimensional travel must have it's own set of rules. Flexible rules at that."

To Wander's mention of the dessert, Mona nodded and nibbled a crumb off her fork. "Absolutely. Do you want anything else? My treat."

[Electra]

Erin shook her head, "I'm stuffed," she admitted. "I won't need to eat till the end of the week after this." She shrugged at the mention of universal rules. "I know a lot of the universes around us mirror Prime pretty closely. The place I'm from did, till it fell off the rails. I guess some interuniversal pressure nudges the different universes, so even though they don't unfold the same way, things are pretty close overall. You should ask Doktor Archeville," she suggested with a half-smile. "I mean, if anybody knows, it's going to be him, right?"

[Dariusprime]

"Something like the 'initial conditions' debate in physics I wonder? Would be fascinating to learn about extra-universal influences on the physical laws of a particular universe such as ours," she said, drifting off into an airy, almost philosophic tone. "Then again maybe it's more like physicists are considering of late, that our universe didn't have specific initial conditions per say but instead the properties of the universe itself helped to bring out favorable conditions for us to be sitting here talking about it."

"Which begs the question: why would we be 'Prime'? What is special or unique about this universe that others mirror it. Or in fact, do we mirror or create equilibrium among other universes?" Finally she chuckled and finished her drink.

"Dr. Archeville know a lot, I'm sure, but I heard Phantom is a walking library on dimensions and their properties. Besides even mentioning other worlds to Viktor would probably result in a Time Machine-like contraption to fly through space-time. Not a bad idea in some ways...hmm..."

[Electra]

"We asked Supercape to take us," Erin said matter-of-factly. looking up as the waitress dropped off the check. "He owed me a favor, so he dropped us off and picked us back up again. That's probably the best way to go if you want to see other dimensions. It always makes me kind of nervous," she admitted. "Prime's a nice place to live, you wouldn't want to get stuck somewhere else and not be able to find your way back or something like that. And thank you for lunch, too," she added, remembering her manners. "This is a cool restaurant."

[Dariusprime]

"Supercape huh? Haven't met anyone by that name. Sounds like he knows his stuff if he can jump dimensions safely. You're right. Having someone back home as an anchor or external ticket home would be safer. Never know when you could have trouble. Good thinking." She glanced at the check before smiling up to Erin.

"You're welcome. Yeah, I love this place. The food is good but the memorabilia is world class." For emphasis she pointed around at the many cased items, from posters to capes to autographed pictures. "We could spend half the day just reading these plaques let alone visiting the Museum."

[Electra]

Erin actually chuckled at that one. "Yeah, I know. I've been here before with Edge, he knows the history of pretty much everything on all the walls, and he wants to make sure everyone else does too. It's interesting, for the first twenty minutes or so." She stacked up her dishes neatly, just as though she were going to bus her own table, a habit from school. "Should we go take in the museum now? We've probably got a couple hours before the after-school crowd comes in and it gets busy. And before there are hundreds of kids staring at us, she added silently.

[Dariusprime]

"'Too much of a good thing', isn't that how the saying goes?" quipped Mona. "May have to tour with him once just for the heck of it."

"Well...," she started before looking over the lunchtime diners. Literally, considering her height even while seated. "Since we did pay for entry, may as well take in a few of the attractions. I hear that a new exhibit opened but I don't know what it is to be honest."

Standing and snagging the check, she headed off the waitress and paid their bill. Included a nice gratuity as well, but that seemed more like standard practice than anything unique. A few moments later she held the interior door to the museum open.

"After you."

[Electra]

Erin had worried that she'd spend most of her time feeling self-conscious about being in uniform, but as it turned out, it wasn't really that bad. Fulcrum attracted a lot of attention, of course, but she herself was able to blend into the background a little more, especially with her jacket on. They saw some exhibits that she hadn't seen before, and some that she had seen and had liked before. It was strange and a little bit surreal to see a couple of pictures of herself in a mini-exhibit on Young Freedom, but even there she blended into the background next to her flashier teammates. There was certainly nothing wrong with that, she decided as she studied the pictures.

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum enjoyed the exhibits, attention grabber or not. The mini-exhibit on Young Freedom drew a particularly enthusiastic response. She too studied the pictures. Some of the faces were familiar, some not, but she knew for courtesy sake that knowing their names would be helpful in the future. A bit of a smile showed on her face whenever Wander popped up.

"Looks like you have quite a team there. I know they're graduating, but any plans to keep part of Young Freedom active?" While Wander's plans were known, her comments suggested Young Freedom stared straight at Team Extinction. Not a pleasant place to be, as far as Fulcrum was concerned.

One eyebrow quirked, the male heroes of Young Freedom were scrutinized. While she respected Wander's decision to protect Trevor's privacy, that didn't stop her from speculating on the identity of her boyfriend. But which one?

[Electra]

The complement of Young Freedom had changed a few times over the years of its existence, but there were few bad choices as far as its male members went. They were certainly a handsome group of heroes. Breakdown had been out of school and off the team for some time, so obviously wasn't a contender, and it was semi-public knowledge that Alex Albright was involved with the strapping Phalanx. Erin had mentioned visiting Champions with Edge before, and he was both handsome and friendly, so that might be a possibility. Geckoman didn't seem quite the type, and it was hard to tell much of anything about the mysterious Midnight II. Wander was standing next to Hellion in several pictures, and that young man carried himself with an air of almost unconscious aristocracy. He could be the Trevor with a lot of money and a big house. It was hard to say, but entertaining to wonder.

"We're auditioning some new members," Erin told Mona, "but keeping it low key. Sage and Cobalt Templar are already sort of junior members of the team, and they're not graduating. If we find a few more decent candidates, and maybe they check out who comes in during the fall, they could refill the team pretty easily. I would hate to see it just go away, even if it was a team we formed more on accident than by design. It's a good team," she said pensively, looking at the pictures.

[Dariusprime]

Tough! Really tough! Hellion came off as the strongest first contender, but Edge did have a certain flare that could involve money. Phalanx didn't rate for reasons she'd heard. Breakdown's leave put him out too, and she briefly wondered what he was doing. Midnight II could be him for all she knew, which proved hard to say. The darkly costumed ones liked their mystery and secret identities.

Now which one of the two? True, Hellion had an aristocratic air about him, but her intuition didn't really point to him. Possibly, once she thought it over, because Trevor sounded down-to-earth. More down-to-earth than Hellion looked in that picture. Not that the young man looked bad mind you. In fact she had to remind herself to focus, as the handsome guys were almost distractingly so.

Before her thoughts could mature further, Erin spoke up and she turned to her, "Yes, it's a very good team. I hope they can regroup and keep the spirit alive. Be a great motivator for the younger students. Something to strive for: Young Freedom! Not to mention the history that could be continued." Her brow furrowed before adding, "Never met Cobalt Templar. Sage seems like good people, from what I've seen of her. I know she is cool under pressure. Probably a real asset in combat."

[Electra]

"They both are," Erin agreed. "They could use some seasoning, but I mean, we all were like that when we started. Even me, and I'd been fighting for years. It takes time to get used to working on a team." Despite her youth, Erin spoke like someone perfectly confident in her own training now. And heck, she'd probably earned that confidence. "Young Freedom and Next Gen are both going to be having building years next year, I guess. Gotta make sure kids are being trained up for the League and the Interceptors and all that." She laughed, but it was a little hollow, since she was still feeling the sting of not making the League herself. "Your roster still all the same?"

[Dariusprime]

Fulcrum patted Wander on the shoulder. Her voice quieted, both for a bit of privacy and for the sensitivity of the topic. "Don't feel bad. Lots of heroes in the skies and only so many teams hiring. If you think about it, Next Gen and Young Freedom are in the same boat as the other teams: looking for recruits. They'll build up, work like a well-oiled machine and replace members as needed. Your time will come."

To Erin's question, Fulcrum nodded, her face lightening up, "Yes and no. The core group is still there, and we added a new member, Jill O'Cure. Well, unofficially added anyway, but I think she'll be on one of your teams officially. Do you know her from school? Just transferred in?"

"Learning to fight as a team is tough. I'm not lying when I say working with the Interceptors has been the most difficult and rewarding time of my career thus far." Glancing at Erin, she thought a moment and turned back to the exhibit, "You're always welcome to apply to the Interceptors. We could use someone with your credentials."

[Electra]

"Yes, I know her," Erin replied, "we've talked a few times, but she doesn't spend much time on campus. I invited her to hang out sometime, but I guess that's how it goes, people are busy. But she's nice, and I hear she's pretty good. If she weren't graduating, I'd say she'd be good for Young Freedom except I'm pretty sure she graduates this year too."

She shrugged, then pursed her lips at Mona's next suggestion. It was tempting, just to have a job with a built-in place to live, but... "I appreciate the offer," she said sincerely, "but I just don't think I would fit in. You guys have a style that really works for you, and it's kind of loose and easygoing and stuff. I think I need something with more discipline, just because that's sort of how I am, especially when I fight. Getting onto a team and failing would be worse than having to wait," she admitted.

[Dariusprime]

"Fair enough. The offer does stand though," said Mona as she nodded in understanding. "We do have our own style for better or worse. Maybe one of the satellite teams would be a good fit for you. To be honest I hadn't heard of anything like that until you mentioned them. I'll have to look into them myself." Through all of these conversations, she never mentioned that, while she'd like to join the Freedom League, she never applied. She couldn't answer the why even now.

"Is she graduating already? Amazing, just amazing!" She laughed lightly and shook her head. "I still remember when she didn't even come up to my knee. A graduating senior and superhero on top of that is just too much." A mental note went up to ask about Ellie about Young Freedom, and that's when she realized her mistake. She grimaced and whispered hopefully, "Oops. You didn't hear that from me please? Speaking of identities and all."

[Electra]

"Hear what?" Erin asked with a half-smile. "But yeah, she's really super-secretive about the secret ID thing. Usually at school we just use each other's names and stuff, and are like normal people, but she won't tell anyone her name or where she lives, any of that stuff. I guess maybe it's because her brother's a hero too, she takes it more seriously because he does or something." Erin shrugged ignorance of such motives. "Anyway, if you look into the Freedom League, you'll probably make it on no problem. You know people on the team, and you have pretty much my same powers without the reputation. They'd be nuts not to put you on a team."

[Dariusprime]

Mona just chuckled via way of thanks and said, "I think that does have something to do with it." Left unsaid was the implication that her super-secretive brother had everything to do with it. "Coming into school late probably influenced her as well. She hasn't had the chance to develop the comradery like your class. I'm sure she'd open up more if given the opportunity."

At Erin's comment on the Freedom League, Fulcrum sighed and looked at the exhibit before replying, "You want to know the funny thing about that? Maybe it sounds conceded but I wondered if they'd ever approach me. If nothing else to scope out this supposed Centurion legacy. A little silly in hindsight?" She strolled down the hallway and examined the other displays.

"Yeah, well, talk to Dark Star about reputation. I have this feeling he thinks I'm some sort of brute. I don't hold that against him though," she quipped at the latter.