ic Family Matters

[Avenger Assembled]

"Oh my god," said Richard, looking appalled. "Jeez, that's about the worst thing I ever heard. If Paige hadn't felt it in her head, I'd have said it was some crazy illusion." He looked down through the hole in the roof at where his wife was still bending over the pitiful remains of her father, and bit his lip, momentarily at a loss for words. The sound of arriving sirens, and heavy vehicles that had to be Freedom City's STAR Squad, told him they'd better get on the ball fast. "I've...never actually met Jack Wolf, but from what I heard I don't think he'd up and kill somebody either," he reluctantly agreed with Tesla. "But you're gonna bring him back down, right?" he said with a gesture to the distant Goodman Building. "Mind-controlled or not, somebody who isn't Chase Atom is gonna have to prove he wasn't in his right mind if he killed somebody." 

 

"He'll speak to law enforcement," agreed Tesla, "but not like this, not when he's recovering, and certainly not down here. He's an old man, and two Scarab-level psychics penetrated his conscious and unconscious mind." Like Argent, Tesla didn't seem to have the same hostility towards Richard that she felt towards the other member of the feuding clan. "Our grandfather is scanning him now for any further signs of tampering." 

Meanwhile, Argent was looking at Kit, half-torn, before Richard said "Hey...hey, Carolyn, right? Or is Gwendolyn?" He smiled a little sheepishly and took a tentative step towards her. "Paige can tell you guys apart even in the pictures, but I never could. Just my luck, I guess," he said with a shrug. "Listen, I'm not real good at making speeches, but you don't just have family wherever your cousins went just now. Maybe you'll have to deal with the cops," he admitted, "but you won't have to do it alone. You've got family here, and friends too. You and your kid." He'd made that leap fast enough, for all that the implications sickened him. Not again... 

Carolyn Psion licked her lips nervously, cradling the baby in her arms. "It's...it's actually Julie's," she admitted, her voice full of shame. "Gwendolyn and I can't. My grandfather thinks it's something to do with us being twins. That's why I can't leave," she finally said, looking almost apologetically at Kit. "Not till I know the baby is going somewhere safe, and not until I know why Jack Wolf murdered my grandfather." She looked down through the hole in the roof too and said, "My grandfather told us you got Aunt Paige hooked on marijuana and cocaine and prostituted her on television for money." 

Richard's cheeks flushed at that but he went on, "No. She got _me_ to stop using cocaine. She's really great. Come down and meet her," he offered. "We'll make sure she doesn't run off," he added to Tesla and Maximus. 

"Come with me?" Carolyn asked Kit, still looking a bit uncertain, as she looked down at the future that awaited below. 

[Blue Rose]

Sam spends most of the conversation playing connect the dots with people's names as she's flooded with new proper nouns, and eventually gets it mostly straight. She thinks. Hopefully. The ongoing soap opera, though, that's harder to track. But potentially useful, and she's well-enough trained to not simply tune it out, no matter how much of a headache it's giving her to try and keep it straight.

Still, things seem to be going... better? Maybe? Hopefully? She gives Argent... Carolyn... the artist formerly known as Trench Coat a nod, dropping her hand and accepting her decision.

[Electra]

For a few minutes, Paige was alone with the body, or at least solitary enough to pretend. There were a few people moving around in the stands, police officers, she supposed, or the ghoulish sorts who liked to see destruction and gore. There'd probably be photos on the internet by evening, pictures that she would be hard-pressed to explain while keeping her public identity and her buried past entirely separate, but for once she just couldn't care. There was a heavy weight on her chest, in her head, and it made her feel unutterably tired and numb. She murmured her way through what she remembered of the Shema Yisrael, a surprising amount after all these years, stumbling over the line, "and you shall teach them diligently to your children." That one was a bit too fraught in a lot of ways. 

 

By the time she finished, people were flying down from the roof, coming to land not far away. Paige vaguely recognized one as a Freedom City heroine, one who'd been around a little while but whose name didn't immediately spring to mind. The other was familiar, if only from photographs. "Carolyn," she said in a thick voice, wiping her face with the heels of her hands. "And that must be Jimmy?" Damned if she was going to call the baby Gimel, that was just sick, and how could she still be so angry with Parker Psion when he was literally dead at her feet? "Are you all right?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

Less than a year old when her parents had died, Carolyn didn't look much like Paige's oldest brother except around her deep brown eyes - instead, with her willowy body, short stature, and high cheekbones, she looked like Karen Wu, the Chinese-American esper from San Francisco who had herself died only two years after meeting the oldest son of Parker Psion. "I can still hear Gwen," she said reflectively. "Just a little, wherever they are now. She's worried about me and Ember, but I..." She seemed to stiffen her back before she spoke. "I saw it happen, while she was watching. I saw everything. Jack Wolf pulled a gun and he shot Grandpa, Aunt Paige! He killed him for nothing, without even talking, right in front of Gwen! The blood was everywhere; it was on her face, in her mouth, and the first things the Atoms did was rescue Jack Wolf! It was everything Grandpa ever told us would happen if we ever became lost in the flatscan world." 

 

---

 

With Ember stirring, Solar Sentinel flew down to the STAR Squad wagon to drop off his prisoner - and just in time, as Frankie Psion woke up as the power-nullifying cuffs were placed on her. The uniformed officers weren't at all gentle with the prisoner, roughly moving her around once they were absolutely sure the manacles were in place. Ominously, she didn't protest despite her temper and the feelings Henry knew she had about humans. Her body couldn't burn, but her eyes could, and she fixed a gaze of murderous hatred on Henry as she was loaded into the back of a heavily-armored paddy wagon. "None of you are safe anymore," she said in a voice like a smoldering bonfire as the doors closed in front of her face; her icy fury putting a sizzle in the air as she disappeared from view. 

[Thunder King]

Henry ignored her. It was pointless to engage in taunts with someone like that. He was not in the mood to put up with any of this junk. Hateful people, tearing at each other over a years old grudge. Putting the lives of innocent bystanders in danger. He had a low opinion of both the Atoms and the Psions. There were several ways they could have handled the situation. They knew it was a powder keg, and not one of them expressed concerns over lighting a match. Their expressed concerns about the bystanders seemed to be an afterthought.

 

He knew this fight had gone on for generations. Parker Psion wanted the grudge to continue on, long after he was dead, even past the death of his children. Breeding generations of hateful, crazy children for some twisted goal. He was sorry that the Psions lost their grandfather. He was sorry that they had to watch the gruesome murder of an old man. He himself had seen more death than anyone should have to, and it was worrying how little it affected him.

 

Still, from the few minutes he saw the old man in action, he saw a man who was twisted by hatred and madness, who pulled his entire family down with him. He was sorry that they lost him, that they saw what they saw, but he was certainly not sorry that the twisted bastard was dead.

 

He returned to where the rest of them were, on the off chance they needed help in another fight.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Thunder King

[Electra]

Paige shuddered a little bit at the mental image Argent's words evoked, but seeing her niece and great-nephew actually helped her pull herself together. There was too much to be done for her to lose her composure now. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that," she told Carolyn sincerely. "That's not the way heroes act in Freedom City, hasn't been for decades. I know it's little comfort, but the superhero community is going to be vitally interested in knowing what happened here. No superhero, no matter how well-connected, can get away with cold-blooded murder." 

 

She rose to her feet as a squad of policemen began to diffidently enter the arena. The FCPD were trained to not interfere in metahuman combat situations, but the forensics team needed to do their jobs before the body could even be covered. Best to let them work. Paige turned her attention to Kit. "I'm sorry," she said in a quiet, distantly polite voice. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Hologram. Are you with the League?" 

[Blue Rose]

"I'm Kit," Sam introduces herself. She considers her real name, but if Hologram really wants it, she can just Google her. And the plainclothesd kid who left her dime store domino mask a few floors down should protect her oh-so-secret identity on the job. Plus, it's just professional courtesy.

Though considering how much this woman just tipped her hand in her mourning, if she really wanted, Sam could probably do a bit of research and find out. But that would be rude. And unnecessary. And pretty useless to her.

"I'm a free agent." She leaves the statement to that. No need to drop her life story. Again.

[Avenger Assembled]

Thanks to the very public killing of a notorious supervillain at the hands of a well-known superhero, all the heroes wound up in an extensive debriefing by STAR Squad detectives, one carried out inside an arena surrounded by journalists eager for a scoop. Richard spent much of his time on the phone with the family's attorneys, making absolutely sure that the network had his back and Paige's back as they dealt with this crisis. Conscious of the mental connection Paige was keeping blocked, he kept his thoughts to himself as much as possible. For all that Parker Psion had been an evil old man whose death would probably make things better in the long run, the reality of his wife's mourning and an already-broken family left devastated by this was impossible to ignore. Things were going to change after this. 

 

- 

 

Back in costume, Kit wound up being interviewed by an AEGIS agent, a gruff middle-aged man with a greying buzzcut who seemed like he might have been far more intimidating if not for her backup - a hard-eyed Eurasian woman in her early forties who introduced herself as Callie Summers. "I'm authorized to speak on the young lady's behalf through her legally authorized educator," she explained, and kept Agent Dumfries from probing too closely into Sam's personal affairs with a few remonstrances the agent's way. 

 

"There's no evidence that Kit had any relationship with the Psions before the shooting," Summers told the agent firmly. "I don't know if you're just padding your expense account, but if you have no relevant questions, I believe Kit is free to go?" 

"All right, just one last question, then," said Dumfries over his pad. "What were your plans for the Psions who were interested in defection?" 

 

- 

 

"Frances Psion will be held at Blackstone in the pre-trial facility for the near future," Detective Molina was telling Paige, the middle-aged ex-boxer's accented voice deep and slow. "She is a suspect in fatal arson cases in both the United States and Canada, and affiliated with an organization on the Meta-Terrorist watch list. Carolyn Psion is wanted for questioning in several robberies and destruction of property involving her family, but so far she hasn't been accused of violence directed against civilians," he admitted. "You have to understand, Ms. Cline, the Psion family has been on an international terrorist watchlist for a great many years. Right now we're trying to figure out exactly what charges the Psions can be held under." 

 

- 

 

"Good Lord," said Henry's debriefer, a uniformed officer named Lawrence with a faint West African accent. "And you're absolutely certain there was no provocation from Psion, no psychic attacks or anything of that nature?" He looked very serious; from his age he was too young to remember the days when the defenders of Freedom City actually killed their enemies. "And the Atoms, what did they do after the shooting?" 

[Blue Rose]

Sam studies this Dumfries fellow in her cold, calculating, measured way, as she was trained. Thankfully, she holds back her preferred response, which could be translated by the lay observer to, 'Snark, snark, nya nya nya.' But that would just mean spending more time in the delightful company of Agent Dumfries.

Instead, she does what any intelligent, law-abiding hero would do.

She lies.

"Take 'em to Chicago. Masque and her associates could help sort out legal and get them on their feet."

She references her guardian, one of the more respected and high-profile guardians of Chicago, and the bankroll for a lot of the Big Onion's crimefighting scene. Definitely a more acceptable answer than, 'Oh, I was gonna jump the country with 'em and cut 'em loose.'

[Thunder King]

"Psychic powers are outside of my abilities, but Jack Wolf didn't seem quite right when he did it. The Atoms, well, they tried to contain the situation. The Psions kinda went berserk, and the Atoms tried to keep things locked down. Then after we stopped the Psions, you folks showed up." He shook his head. "I don't quite know what was going on in their heads, on either side. Looked to me like a blood feud that just boiled over eventually."

[Electra]

"I understand," Paige told the detective, cool detachment a thin veneer over the turbulent emotions inside. "I'm assuming you're going to be ordering a psychiatric assessment for Frances, to determine whether she is competent to assist in her own defense. Her attorney will meet with her there, and I'm sure will ask for testing as well. Carolyn is represented by counsel as well, I'm sure you'll wait to question her until her attorney is present. She's in a very fragile state of mind now, watching her grandfather murdered in front of her eyes."

 

Paige rubbed thumb and forefinger against her own eyes for a moment, steadying herself, trying to remember the words to say, the plans she'd made, back in the day, in case she herself had ever been picked up by the police. Right now a good attorney and no talking was all her brain would cough up. She wondered if she'd have an argument with Richard later over the fact that she'd be paying for the lawyers. "What's going to happen to the child?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Frances Psion has claimed she is a sovereign citizen of 'the metahuman nation', and refused to answer any questions." Molina narrowed his eyes, but nodded in agreement with what Paige had said. "The state will see about arranging a psychiatric evaluation for her, though given her attitudes about race we ma need t secure a metahuman counselor. As for Gimel Psion, Freedom City does have a specialized foster system for metahuman children, made up of experienced metahuman caregivers. Carolyn has asked to care for the baby, but since she's not the biological mother and she's going to be in the system herself for at least a few weeks, that's not going to be viable."

 

----

 

Sam's words got her out of the jam with the cops, and Callie Summers followed her naturally out into the stadium's lobby. "There's a car waiting for you, Kit," she said, smoothly guiding the young thief towards the stairs. "Not outside. On the roof," she added, sotto voiced as they reached the firestairs that Kit had noticed in her earlier investigation had no working security cameras. "Your scholarship is paying off. Jump Psion," she said, her voice seeming to flatten out as they walked. "Theories?" 

[Blue Rose]

Sometimes, just sometimes, the authority actually having your back is kind of nice.

 

At least, when they're competent and not mucking everything up.

 

Though the Jump question.  There's a dicey one.  "Something definitely isn't right there, that's for sure," she starts, pondering.  "He's the one who came to me looking for a way out.  That guy who zapped out with Empath... didn't seem like the same person.  Maybe he was ticked the old man died, butthat doesn't really sit right, either.  He had a golden opportunity to get exactly what he was looking for, to get out with the kids and three, maybe four of the others.  Instead, he gave the black hat speech and goes back to exactly what he was trying to get out of ten minutes earlier."

 

She shakes her head, trailing off topic now that she's answered the question.  "Just a few more minutes, and I'd have had half of 'em long gone, kids included, before the crossfire could even happen."  Yeah, she's gonna have to vent her frustrations over that one for days.

[Electra]

"I'd like to take the baby myself, if there's any way to do that," Paige said, keeping her voice firm by force of will. She was coming dangerously near the point where there was no plausible deniability of her own place in all of this, where she'd have to come right out and claim her heritage for the record. She really, really didn't want to do that, but she couldn't let her nephew go into the foster system if she could help it. Of course, the upside was that keeping busy let her avoid thinking about her father and the rest of the family.

 

"My husband and I both have background checks on file with the Freedom League, and we'll submit to a home inspection. He... he could have latent psychic powers," she added, groping for some kind of justification. "It would be better for him to be placed with an experienced psychic, and my home is already shielded. And I'd like to talk to Carolyn when I can, please." 

[Avenger Assembled]

It had become a beautiful sunny afternoon by now, and Carolyn Psion, in a moment's mercy by the cops, was sitting in an air-conditioned STAR Squad van with two female officers as her escort, power nullifier cuffs on her wrists like they belonged there. She was still holding baby Gimel, who by now was looking around with wide buggy eyes that reminded Paige of baby Juliana, who had been a rather unprepossessing-looking baby until her powers had kicked in. "Aunt Paige. I suppose you're here for the baby." It wasn't really a question. "When can I see Frances?" Overhead, a small craft was flying down to land on the grassy lawn nearby - one of the famous shuttles built and flown by the Atoms. 

 

---- 

 

"Very strange," agreed Callie Summers shortly. "Jump Psion has been the weakest link of the Psions for some years now - perhaps he has simply been indecisive." The look on her face showed what she thought of that. "Will trust you will continue handling situation. As for your plans for the Psions..." Whatever she had to say on that was interrupted by new arrivals. "Ah, the clean-up crew." She watched as the Atom shuttle passed by on the roof, then tapped the side of an invisible 'wall' on the roof that opened up into the cockpit of what looked like a mini-jump jet, one still otherwise concealed from sight. "I'll fly you back myself." 

[Blue Rose]

Sam doesn't make a move to carry on that line of conversation. The less stringing you have to do get a line to string you through, the better.

Instead, she tries and keep her had down and follow along like a good little girl. She doesn't actually need a pickup; she could easily just hop right back to her room faster than they could possibly get her back, but... well, invisible jump jets are awesome. What more is there to say?

So, she gets into a passenger seat, buckles up, and gets ready to clear out of this place.

This was supposed to be such a relaxing night, too.

[Electra]

"I've asked to be allowed to take him while you're in custody," Paige replied carefully, not yet reaching for the child. "It'll be better for him and for everyone than going into metahuman foster care. I've raised two of my own, I won't let anything happen to him. You're going to be held for questioning for awhile, and you might be charged for this or other Psion family incidents in the past. You don't have to answer anything without a lawyer being present to help you. I've called a friend of mine, someone who understands the family situation and who will be vigorous on your behalf. If bail is set, we'll find a way to pay it so you don't have to stay in jail." 

 

She sighed, looking at the young woman who was stranger and family, enemy but not. With a glance towards the police who were standing nearby, she opened a focused psychic link, reaching into her nieces head to talk. ~What was Father thinking?~ she asked, faint despair in her mental tone. ~Going into what could only become a fight and bringing the babies along? Did he have a plan at all? You could all have been killed.~ Despite herself, Paige was momentarily overcome by a memory of her time in the mountain, running for her life while her father's words of condemnation rang in her ears. She shut the memory down as fast as possible, not ready for that conversation with her niece. 

[Avenger Assembled]

There was confusion, and hurt, in Carolyn's mind, and a distant link to Gwendolyn that was like a mirror at the very heart of her soul. He was sick. Sick in his body, in ways he couldn't fix anymore. Images ticked by, one after the other, of what must have been a slow decline. Parker Psion must have first seriously fallen ill about the time Holly was born, a condition he'd staved off through favors for various supervillains Ember's face figured predominantly in those, and gloating stories about fiery destruction and his own genius. 

 

That's why it was our duty to do what he needed. Because soon he would be gone, and there would be no one left to do what had to be done. He...Paige caught real hesitation in her mind for the first time. He said the babies were there to teach the Atoms a lesson. So that everyone would see the future the Atoms had abandoned when they sided with flatscans over the people who could save them from themselves. 

 

"Just take care of him," she finally said out loud, handing the baby over to her aunt with tears blossoming in her eyes. "Gwen and I take care of the babies when the others are working, since we can't have any and Frances won't do it. She...are they going to kill her, too?" 

[Electra]

Paige took the baby from her niece, cuddling him against her body with the ease of long practice. Jimmy was tense and afraid, but a whispered brush across his mind was enough to remind him of family and relax him a little. "They won't kill her," she promised Carolyn, letting her own certainty show in both voice and mind. "She's being transferred to Blackstone while she's waiting for arraignment. They won't hurt her in any way she doesn't do to herself while attempting to get free. She'll probably be sedated for awhile, she'll probably be put in nullifier cuffs after that."

 

Paige shrugged, a little fatalistic, a little sad. "You know she won't cooperate of her own accord anytime soon, but she needs to at least take a step. I've arranged a lawyer for her as well, but if Frances won't participate in her own defense, she could be held indefinitely." Raising her free hand, she rubbed her face. "If either of you do go to trial, I will testify on your behalf. You're both young women with a lot of life and opportunity still in front of you. I know being a Psion is important to you, but you could be so much more than that, and maybe this is your chance." She leaned in. "When I ran away from home, I was eighteen and scared out of my mind. I didn't know how to be anything but my father's daughter, but I knew I couldn't let him run my adulthood, and I couldn't turn my future over to him. Finding a place in the world was hard and it took a long time, but it was worth it. And I will help you if you want." 

 

Looking at Carolyn's face, she judged it was probably not the time for any more of this discussion. "For now, I promise I'll take care of Jimmy until you can be bonded out. And he'll only be a thought away." 

[Avenger Assembled]

Carolyn seemed to shrink slightly, slipping into a brief silence, and even for Paige it was hard to tell how the girl felt. She remembered the days in the compound well enough, learning how to hide your true self even from those who could literally gaze into your very soul. "You're not anything like how Grandpa said you were," she finally said. "I don't...I don't know if I want to live like you do, but I can't go back to the way things were. None of us can." She folded her cuffed hands in her lap, her eyes torn between Paige and the baby before she finally settled on the former. "I don't want to go to flatscan jail. I'll do anything, take any help I can get, to stay out of there..." She looked like she was trying not to cry, her fatigue and grief triumphing over her fear as exhaustion began to set in. "Just take care of Jimmy. He's a good baby. He didn't deserve what happened today. And tell Sam...Kit thank you."