ic The Grey Areas

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy took a pair of sunglasses that she’d had on her head and put them on covering her eyes as she considered how best to talk with the children.

 

“I think here will be fine it gives them option to walk away if they don’t want to talk, we want them to feel they have control after all.â€

 

She walked across to them making sure that they could see her approach and stopped a short distance away from them. She offered them a friendly smile and introduced herself in her normal tones.

 

“Hello there I’m Lucy I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?â€

[Electra]

Both children turned to look at her, their fingers clasping tighter together as they watched her with eyes that were too weary and wary for any child. Caelyn straightened her back and took the lead, obviously ready to protect her younger comrade in arms. "You're not from Homewood," she said, a definite note of accusation in her voice. "if you were, we would recognize you. What do you want?" While Caelyn was speaking, Micah was busy looking around, seeking possible escape routes, adult allies, or perhaps something else entirely. But they weren't running away, at least not yet. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy crouched down so she was at the same level as the two kids and tried to speak to both of them at once, though it was obvious who would do most of the talking.

 

“Well I’m not but there could have been I was born a very long time ago in 1897. In my world I went to sleep and when I woke up eighty years had passed.â€

 

She drew a breath, though she didn’t need to, if she was going to connect with these poor children now would be the time.

 

“When I woke up everyone I knew and care for had gone. My mother, father and all my brothers and sisters.†the sadness in her voice was very genuine.

[Electra]

Micah looked confused, even a bit sympathetic, but Caelyn scoffed. "Nobody goes to sleep and sleeps for eighty years! That's just something that happens in stories. You would die of not eating and drinking. Plus you're not even old!" She glared at Lucy. 

 

"But she's sad," Micah murmured, his voice all but inaudible. "Maybe it was bad magic." 

 

"She's trying to trick us," Caelyn muttered, squeezing Micah's hand until her knuckles went white. The little boy flinched, but didn't pull away. "She isn't from here. She's going to try and take us away somewhere, and we'll never see each other again, or anybody we know. But we won't go!" 

[Tiffany Korta]

“That very astute of you, and quite right. No one could sleep that long by choice. I’ve been cursed by bad magic that and unfortunate circumstances to spend that time asleep.â€

 

She lifted up her sunglasses showing them both the black pits that were her eyes. If they were going to be spooked it was probably now, she hoped they were curious enough to stay though.

 

 

“I was cursed by a very bad man who wanted me to act against my nature, but I managed to defy him and use my gifts to try and help people.â€

[Electra]

Both children gasped at the sight of Lucy's eyes, but they were tough kids and neither of them bolted just yet. Caelyn wrapped her arm protectively around Micah and stared into the attorney's blank black eye sockets. "What do you want from us?" she demanded. "You can't make us go anywhere." 

 

"Do you got powers?" Micah unexpectedly piped up. "Like Miss Fleur, she can make plants grow and she can disappear and come out of flowers and trees? She gots weird hair like you got weird eyes. Can you do that stuff?" 

[Tiffany Korta]

“I can promise you I don’t want anything from you. I only want to help all of you find a new home in my Freedom City and thats only if you want to, I won’t force you to do anything or split anybody up.†she spoke matter of factly treating Caelyn like an equa to earn their trust she’d have to know that Lucy was speaking the truth

 

So much was she focusing on Caelyn she was surprised by Micah’s question and she couldn’t help but smile

 

“Nothing quite as impressive as Fleur I’m afraid. I’m very strong, I can lift a trolley car, fast and I can recover from almost any injuries really quickly. As do these clothes I’m wearing as a matter of fact, here let me show you.â€

 

She tore the sleeve of her jacket and showed them how the fiber’s magically knitted themselves  back together.

[Electra]

That was distracting enough to have both children fascinated for a moment, Micah poking curiously at Lucy's sleeve to see if the repair was just an illusion. "My mommy got hurt real bad and she died. She had blood on her clothes," he informed Lucy, his eyes wide and sad. "There was bad bugs and they stung people with their mouths and we had to run away. But we walked through the big flower and came here and the bugs here are good and they don't hurt anybody but I'm still scared of them," he confided. "They're real big." 

 

"What did you want to talk to us about, then?" Caelyn asked. She was playing tough, but there was a sheen of tears in her eyes from Micah's reminiscence. 

[Tiffany Korta]

She had once been told, by the creature that led to her creation, that her emotions made her special. She wasn't sure about that but at times like this she wished she didn't feel anything at all. No that was untrue but right now they didn't seem like advantage. What she couldn't she a tear anymore her face still showed that the poor boys story touched her heart.

She took a second to recover her composure before replying to the girl.

"All I ask is that you come see my Freedom City for a couple of days. If you like what you see I'll try to arrange for you to live there permanently, both of you together if that's what you wish."

[Electra]

The two children exchanged an inscrutable look for a moment before both of them turned their attention back to Lucy. "Are we all gonna go?" Caelyn asked, and there was a thread of interest running through the great caution in her voice. "Mr. Daniels and Josie and Pop-pop..."

 

"And Renee-an-Ben-an-Tessa-an-Libby!" Micah put in quickly, running the names together into one long rush. 

 

"...and all of us?" Caelyn finished. "We have to stay with the group. We promised."  The set of her chin suggested that this promise was not something to be trifled with. "They all want to go back to Freedom City. They don't like it here cause it's got no modern 'veniences." 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy allowed herself a moment of happiness at the kids keenness, the potentially bad news could wait a few more moments. She lent in as close as she dared and spoke in a stage whisper.

“To be honest I’m a bit of a city girl myself, though this is a nice place to visit.†she lent back with one final smile before becoming all business again.

“Whatever happen I promise you that I will always be honest with you. It’s going to take time to arrange this, especially as I’m not going to stop until everyone one who wants can live in Freedom City again. All I can promise you is a few days to visit every now and then. Anything else could take weeks.â€

 

She hated to dash there dreams so quickly but  she didn’t want them to get there hope up to much too quickly. And it wasn’t much but there was a slither of hope in all this, she just hoped it was enough for them.

[Electra]

"Do you have cartoons?" Micah asked curiously. "And Sugar Bombs cereal, and bikes to ride on sidewalks? I had a blue bike with a horn and a bell, and it had training wheels but I almost didn't need them. But it's gone now cause of the bugs..." He trailed off, looking stricken all over again. 

 

"You can't think about that stuff," Caelyn reminded him sternly, pulling the little boy into a fierce hug. "Don't think about what's gone, none of that stuff matters anymore. We just have to forget it and think about everything happening now." She rested her cheek on Micah's head and looked at Lucy with old, tired eyes. "We have to stay with the group. If some of them are going, we'll go too. But we don't go places by ourselves." That was obviously part of the aforementioned promise, judging by the stubborn set to her mouth. 

[Tiffany Korta]

“Caelyn’s right you know, people alway come first. But...†she turned to Micah and gave him a wide grin “...we could arrange for some care packages to be delivered here I’m sure, though we’ll have to clear it with Fleur.â€

Micah was easier to win over than Caelyn but she was hopeful that she was getting through to her. If she did then the others would hopefully be easier to convince.

 

“And you all get to stay together Caelyn, I promise you all or nothing.â€

[Electra]

"Okay, then," Caelyn agreed with a sharp nod. She did not seem excited, nor afraid, just resolute. Settled on a course of action, and determined to live up to obligations much too heavy for a seven-year-old to carry. "We've gotta go inside now. Recess is over and it's time for math. We'll get behind if we're not there." She hesitated for a second. "Um, if you send a care package, could it maybe have toys in it? Like real toys, Barbies and Legos and Squiddy-Widdy and stuff?" 

 

Micah nodded vigorous agreement. "And candy?" he suggested. "Chocolate?" Both children looked over as the teacher called to them, summoning them to the schoolhouse. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy gave the two little kid a little wave as they left for class, she was pretty sure that she was starting to make some connection with them. Getting up she brushed herself down before walking back over to Stesha.

 

“I’m no expert but those poor kid have gone through a lot, you’ll have to tell me the full tale at some point. All they’ve had is each for so long and want to stay together.†she gave a frown at that news “Getting them all over together is going to make things much tougher, but not impossible. I did arrange something that might help them a little until we can sort things out care packages of things they miss from home, we’ll get a list and I can put some together, as long it’s not to much a strain on you powers.â€

[Electra]

Stesha had the little green-haired girl on her hip as Lucy walked back towards her, their two heads bent close together over something the little one held clasped in her hands. As Lucy approached, Stesha gave the girl a kiss on the forehead and set her down so she could run off after the other children.

 

"I don't know the whole story," she admitted, "not much more than I've already told you, really. Their parents were killed in the timeline they come from, but they stayed with the group of survivors they were with and eventually I brought them to Sanctuary. It was meant to be temporary, to get them clear of the immediate pressing danger, but their timeline got unwritten while they weren't in the world. The timeline that replaced it is objectively much better, but not for them, because they aren't a part of it. I would want to help them anyway, but I do feel very responsible about what happened to them." 

 

She sighed, but the idea of the care packages seemed to brighten her a little. "Not at all, I'd be happy to bring over anything you'd like to send. I'm in Freedom City several days a week anyway, and getting some presents would definitely brighten up their lives. I know it isn't going to be easy to get them all onto Prime, but the alternative is them spending the rest of their lives here, so I suppose we have some time." 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy was still chewing over everything that she’d found out in the last few moments, it wasn’t like anything else she’d been dealing with since becoming a lawyer. And that included convicting a villain stopped by a Mystery man.

 

“It might be easier if we deal with them as a whole, and they’re not going to be happy travelling singularly, there a displaced from their home Freedom City. It’s not our Freedom City, or isn’t now, something like this must have happened before.†Lucy shook her head and gave a smile “Time travel and alternative world never fail to amaze and confuse me.â€

[Electra]

"I know how you feel," Stesha agreed with a smile. "Phantom and I were best friends back in the day, before she and her family moved away to one of the less welcoming dimensions. She gave me the whole primer on alternate dimensions and timelines, but I'm not sure everything was exactly accurate. More than enough to give me a headache, anyway! And I don't know anything at all about time travel, except that it wasn't really supposed to work the way it did for that bug world. Somebody had already come along and messed it up and we made it right, but we broke a lot of eggs in the process. I didn't even know it was time travel!" she protested, the hint of a wail in her voice. "It looked like a dimensional portal into a weird basement, by the time we realized it was like 1925, it was too late to not change things, even if we'd wanted to." 

She sighed. "Anyway, you've met the kids, and some of the adults are going to be in having lunch. Do you eat food? Special for today is macaroni bake, I think, that's pretty good food. We grow lots of wheat here, and the cows give the milk for the cheese. We have a lot of pasta around here." She led the way into the cafeteria, where several dozen adults and older teenagers were eating lunch at crude plank tables on tree-stump stools. The plates, cups and silverware were the sort of extremely cheap plastic and thin metal common in institutions and the napkins looked like they might be homemade, but the air was full of good cooking smells and nobody was going hungry. 

[Tiffany Korta]

“I can eat though I’m not sure what happens to it after than. It goes in but never come out if you get my drift. Maybe there a dimension out there somewhere with seas of coffee and lands of Szechuan chicken.” she gave a little chuckle

“Since I’ve returned though my taste buds have been numbed, my sense of smell as well. I can only taste strong flavors, I think I’m the only person who misses Bathtub Gin. Then again I’m probably the only person who remembers Bathtub Gin...” she gave another of her broad smiles.

[Electra]

Stesha made an odd face at the idea of encountering the dimension of Lucy's already-consumed food, but managed to dismiss it from her mind before it could root too deeply. "I have been very curious to know, what is it like to come from the time when you lived into the present of Freedom City? It seems like it would be such a big adjustment to make, but you've gone back to work, and you're doing hero work, and seem to be settled in so well. Have you found it very difficult? Were you able to find people to help you?" She was curious to know more about Lucy, but also curious in general how people could make the leap to Freedom City life from much less technological societies. She had future college students to think of, after all. 

[Tiffany Korta]

There was a pause as Lucy considered carefully what she was going to say next.

“One day it was 1927 and I’d won the case of a lifetime, the next minutes it was 2011 and everything I knew had turned to dust. The first couple of weeks were pretty rough as I worked out that it wasn’t some strange fever dream of a dying woman. I was lucky to find the Our Lady of Mercy shelter it gave me a place to gather myself together and make sense of it all, I still help out there to pay back a little for all they did for me.”

“But how many people truly get to see the world they helped, in a small way build? And yes there have been many terrible things that have happened but things are much better than they were in the 20’s. I miss the life I had back them, my family my friends my fiance, but I have built a brand new life in the 21st century. It may be a little naive of me but I’ve never bothered to find out what happened to them. I like to imagine that they all missed me terribly but went on to live long happy lives and somewhere my great-great-nieces and nephews are still out there somewhere in the city.”

[Electra]

"That is an amazing attitude to have about everything that happened," Stesha told her, real admiration in her voice. "You lost so much, but you still concentrate on all the things you gained as well. And now you can help so many people in a new time, that's wonderful." The trio got into the short line for their food, and conversation was briefly suspended while Stesha greeted all the kitchen staff and made sure supplies were in order for the rest of the week. Each woman got a plate of baked macaroni and cheese, a salad that looked to be kale and basil with tomatoes, a slice of brown bread with butter, and a bowl of mixed fresh fruit. Stesha led the way to one of the nearby tables, where a group of adults were all clustered together over their lunches, looking rather more ill-at-ease than most of the diners.

She gave them her brightest smile, one that was maybe just a bit forced around the edges. "Albert, Christine, Steve, Devin, Becca, Monica, this is Lucy and Erica. Lucy is the attorney I was telling you about, the one who's going to try and help you get started on Earth Prime. Can we sit down?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

Albert, evidently the spokesman for the little group, looked up and nodded quietly. "Have a seat," he told Lucy and Stesha, the group parting to let them sit down. The little group of stranded travelers all looked rougher around the edges than most of the locals - their clothes were dirtier and more patched, for all that they'd once been made of nicer material, and they all looked a little disheveled. Daniels himself had noticeable shaving cuts around the edges of a goatee that had become longer and more bedraggled every day on this planet. "So," said Daniels, trying to sound conversational, "I hear you're going to get us back to the Promised Land." 

"Are you one of those people?" asked Becca Styles suddenly, giving Lucy a suspicious look. Stesha knew that the round-faced woman had been an outsider even in Daniels' little group; it was her boyfriend who had talked her into visiting the survivalist compound when their group was worried about the Anopheles cult, and after his death on a supply run the administrative assistant had been left with few friends and few prospects even among her fellow castaways. "One of those super-people?" It didn't sound like she liked that idea much at all. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy gave a little shrug “That you but I don’t think I’ve done anything particularly special, most of the undead heroes I’ve met seem pretty well adjusted, we’ll except one and I believe he has a lot of darkness in his past.”

Any details she was about to add were interrupted by Erica bounding back up to them.

“This place is pretty amazing, do you think I’ll be able to arrange some vacation time here?” as they made their way to meet the others Erica waxed lyrical about the beauty of the place, until they sat down to meet the survivors.

“Well Freedom City a pretty nice place but I wouldn’t exactly call it a paradise.” Lucy gave a broad smile at the comment, which she managed to keep despite the next comment made about her.

“I tell you the same thing i told the children, I won’t lie to you in the slightest about anything. And yes I’m one of those people.” she took of her sunglasses to show her black eyes “If I make you uncomfortable I could maybe suggest another lawyer, but few would be able to understand your plight much less argue your case.” Lucy kept her voice level and matter of fact with no anger in her voice or even a boasting tone.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Agh!" exclaimed Becca in reply, grabbing Monica Lucci's hand and visibly flinching. She'd kept it together on the old world well enough, but like others in the group, the long spaces between traumas on Sanctuary made it hard for her to adapt. She stared at Lucy, obviously terrified, but didn't run away or throw something at her, proof that she had gotten better since her initial arrival. While Monica patted her arm and tried to soothe her, Albert did his best to continue the conversation. 

"We knew this was going to happen, Becca," said Albert reassuringly to her. "Leaving this Earth means that we'll have to live in a city with people who don't always look like us. You have to understand," he went on, switching gears as he spoke to Lucy. "Our homeworld never had any superhumans like you. As far as we can tell, the Anopheles cult targeted any humans with natural abilities for destruction almost immediately. The only non-humans we've ever known are the things that killed our world."