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[color=ffcb00]”I’m fine.”[/color] It wasn’t technically a lie. It wasn’t technically the truth, either. Leah was always just fine, because that was one of her strengths. Her ability to just [i]deal.[/i] Leah tolerated bad things, and had a higher patience limit than other people, so she just put on a brave face and kept moving forward. That didn’t mean she liked it when things got bad, but she could handle bad.

But this was [i]bad.[/i]

It was easier with Sabine here.

[color=ffcb00]”April’s in there with her family,”[/color] Leah answered. In there with Danni and Dorian, who actually knew how to help her be happy. [color=ffcb00]”Too distracted. He’s too smart to get near her in there, with all those people.”[/color]

Sabine froze for a second, worried that April was with her parents who she had a strained relationship with, until she realized what Leah meant. And Sabine found herself growing jealous, albeit briefly. But she pushed it down deep. That was something to deal with later.

[color=A2797E]”That may be true, but if he’s as bad as you painted him out to be then it doesn’t matter how many people are there with her.”[/color]

Sabine pondered a moment. [color=A2797E]”Going to ask a weird question off-topic, but did anything weird happen during your medical exam?”[/color]

[color=ffcb00]”You mean aside from getting prodded at like a dead body? They said somebody enchanted me with something. No idea what that means.”[/color]

[color=A2797E]”When they did the cosmic test the staff looked…terrified. I can’t imagine why. They let me through though so it can’t have been that bad. I also get the sense I am being watched, but given everything that isn’t surprising.”[/color]

Sabine wondered what enchantment Leah had on her. Was it something from her father or after? [color=A2797E]”Either way, we passed, meaning the competition is still on. But we still need to tell Vision.”[/color]

[color=ffcb00]”Yeah.”[/color]

That sucked.

It was damn near impossible to tell what was and wasn’t part of some plan of his, that may or may not have even existed. Always scheming and plotting, always doing [i]something.[/i]

[color=ffcb00]”Pretty damn funny how this is happening, actually.”[/color] Going by Leah’s tone, it wasn’t actually funny at all. [color=ffcb00]”You spend three years thinking the asshole’s dead, making sure no one ever wonders how you got here and that no one knows you’re his kid… And now we’re in this fuck up. I should’ve made sure he was dead last time.”[/color]

It almost sounded like she was [i]apologizing[/i] for not killing him.

[color=A2797E]”Leah, none of this is your fault.”[/color] Sabine knew those words didn’t resonate usually, even for herself, but they needed to be said. [color=A2797E]”That man is a monster and deserves everything coming to him. I know you think you need to take this on yourself, but you can’t. At some point you need to know this is more than you can handle on your own no matter how strong you are.”

“Hell, look at the Avengers. They rely on each other a lot and no one thinks less of them for doing so. He is not your sole responsibility. Let me take some of that pressure off.”[/color] Sabine put her arm around Leah and pulled her in close. [color=A2797E]”I know these words will probably go in one ear and out the other, but let me help you dummy. Let others help you.”[/color]

[color=ffcb00]”Watch the h-”[/color] Oh, she didn’t even care about that right now. Slowly, she put arms around Sabine too, at the risk of accidentally crushing her ribs. She [i]really[/i] needed to find out if that was suddenly a possibility.

Leah breathed in slowly, breathed out faster. [color=ffcb00]”...Yeah. Okay. This time, at least.”[/color]

Both Leah’s and Sabine’s phones would begin to ping and vibrate incessantly, with the following message taking over their screens, disallowing access to any other functions: 

[center]PLEASE RETURN IMMEDIATELY. I CANNOT SUPERVISE YOU OUTSIDE.[/center]

Glaring down at her phone like she could set it on fire with her eyes, Leah damn near crushed it to dust. She literally [i]told him[/i] she’d be right outside.

[color=fcb000]”That had better mean he’s not talking to someone else right now.”[/color]

[color=A2797E]”He probably has to stay with all of the students. Don’t be too hard on him. Come on.”[/color] Sabine grabbed Leah’s hand and led her inside. Vision was probably one of very few staff Sabine trusted with this information. 

In the middle of the room, Leah and Sabine would see a visibly stressed Vision deep in conversation with a contest of champions employee - the wires in his skull bulging like veins. Their phones would buzz again. 

[center]WE CAN SPEAK NOW. TALK AND I WILL HEAR.[/center]

Huh. Okay.

Leah glanced down at Sabine, then back at him from across the room. 

[color=ffcb00]”Earlier, my dad showed up. I never told anyone here I had any family, because he’s- He’s a supervillain.”[/color] She said this quietly, like someone other than Sabine was right next to her. Her bones were rattling in her chest again.

Sabine took a moment, jarred by how Vision intended to communicate with them, but it made sense. Less likely to be overheard. And she was used to talking in people’s minds. [color=A2797E]”He made a pretty big threat against Leah and me. I can share the memory if that makes it clearer. But suffice to say he is a dangerous man. He potentially knows about April too, especially if he is targeting people close to Leah. Either way, he’s around but we can’t cancel the contest.”[/color]

[center]PLEASE ELUCIDATE THE NATURE OF THE THREAT. WHAT MEASURES MUST WE DEPLOY?[/center]

Leah blinked. He didn’t even try to bitch about it? [i]Do you know how dangerous that is, you stupid rock-for-brains idiot? I calculate a 99.99% chance you just killed us all.[/i] That was more or less what Leah was expecting.

And the fact that [i]wasn’t[/i] what came caught her off guard.

[color=ffcb00]”He’s a mutant. He learns things faster than anyone else can. He’s [i]really[/i] good at using just about any kind of weapons, machines, or whatever else,”[/color] Leah whispered. [color=ffcb00]”He probably learns those things faster than you could. It takes him one day to learn how to do things anyone else would spend years figuring out. He takes jobs from people all over the world to kill or steal, or worse. He could throw basically [i]anything[/i] at us.”[/color]

As Leah spoke, Sabine attempted to transmit the memory of Leah’s father to Vision for him to better understand the situation. However, this felt like nothing she experienced before. It made sense as Vision was some technological being and not a human, it was clearly different. Sabine struggled and struggled to push through, but nothing worked.

She let out a long sigh of frustration. She was worried Vision wouldn’t take the threat as serious as they knew it to be. [color=A2797E]”Look, he’s incredibly dangerous. I can’t share the memory with you but if you can’t accept my words, accept Leah’s. She’s had the most experience with him and if she says he’s a threat, he is a colossal threat. I don’t know what measures would work, but all I know is that if the contest is cancelled, he is going on the warpath.”[/color]

There was a slight pause, before the next message flashed across their screens.

[center]WHY WOULD I DISCOUNT YOUR WORDS, MS. BASSARD?

MS. JORDAN, CAN YOU TELL ME HIS NAME, KNOWN ALIASES, ASSOCIATES, HISTORY, and ANY IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS? I WOULD LIKE TO ALERT MY COLLEAGUES IN THE AVENGERS.[/center]

It was tempting for Leah to tell him that was a bad idea. Leah told herself and others that sending the Avengers would be a suicide mission. She bit it back.

[color=ffcb00]”He’s gone by different names… Alain Pavon is his preferred one, though. His “codename” is Imperator, it’s what people call him when they’re paying him. He’s also been called stupid things like the Red Terror or the Blackbird. He’s assassinated at least a dozen leaders from different countries for money, spied on and spied [i]for[/i] more than that… I’m [i]pretty sure[/i] he’s also been to other planets or worlds,”[/color] Leah added. [color=ffcb00]”Like Limbo or Asgard.”[/color]

She fidgeted with her hands. [color=ffcb00]”He looks mostly like I do- [i]Did,[/i] before this stuff happened to me. Brown skin, curls, except his hair isn’t sandpaper, I think. He’s got this ridiculous suit of armor with black wings, like he’s Iron Man. He’s one of those high-end, stupid-expensive mercenaries that you never hear about unless you’re running a country.”[/color]

Sabine allowed Leah to share it all. It was her father and this was her moment, as hard as it was. She gripped Leah’s hand for support as she recounted her father’s war crimes. There was some hope though. If Vision could rally the Avengers, perhaps there was a chance. 

Sabine also wanted to help, but she knew Vision would disapprove. Leah’s father knew her especially, and she was willing to help take him down if it meant a moment of safety for Leah. Even then, Sabine was smart enough to know she couldn’t take on someone like him alone.

[color=A2797E]”The Avengers would be helpful right about now.”[/color]

[center]I CONCUR. I AM CONTACTING THEM NOW. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO ME.[/center]

Leah really didn’t think they would be.

[color=ffcb00]”If the contest gets called off, he’ll blow the school to hell. Or he’ll nuke it, or set it on fire, or [i]something.[/i] He said it wouldn’t be there if I don’t compete.”[/color]

[color=A2797E]”So we compete. We compete and we win and then we take the bastard down.”[/color] There was an undercurrent of rage, try as she might to hide it. [color=A2797E]”Thanks Vision. For trusting us and helping.”[/color]

[center]THE CONTEST WILL PROCEED AS SCHEDULED. MORE HINGES ON ITS COMPLETION THAN JUST THIS. PLEASE ALERT ME IF YOU OBSERVE ANYTHING ELSE.[/center]

Without another word, Leah walked back out. Vision could just track her phone or tell She-Hulk to hover over her shoulder. That would be annoying, but at this point, Leah’s patience was wearing thin enough that she wasn’t going to bitch about it. 

Sabine felt Leah pull away as her hand fell to her side. She knew Leah didn’t like this, but there was no other choice. People were now in danger and they needed to be protected and that meant calling in reinforcements.

Sabine followed quickly behind. [color=A2797E]”Hey Leah, talk to me. What’s up?”[/color]

Leah didn’t stop walking. [color=ffcb00]”I used to hear this guy talk about how easy it was to deal with the Avengers like he was [i]bored[/i] by them. Vision might as well have just told them to put a gun to their heads, and it would’ve been faster. Oh, and did I mention how [i]fucked[/i] this is?”[/color] She asked. It was a rhetorical question. [color=ffcb00]”I thought he was dead, it took me [i]months[/i] just to stop seeing my mom’s face when I closed my eyes, with blood running down her eyes after he fucking shot her. [i]Everything[/i] is wrong because of him. Now he’s back, like a fucking [i]ghost.”[/i][/color]

She was [i]not[/i] going to start sobbing again, damnit.

Sabine pulled Leah back. Granted, it may have needed to take extra effort but she tried, having Leah face her. Sabine put her hands on Leah’s shoulders. [color=A2797E]”I know this is hard. I know this is a sucky situation. I cannot tell you how to feel about it but what I can tell you is that right now I need you to suck it up. We can cry about it later, lash out, break shit, whatever you need to process things, we’ll do it. But right now we need to keep it together. I’m fucking terrified so I can only imagine how you feel, which is why we need to get a grip. This man has done tremendous damage to you Leah, I get it. And I can see how scary it is to face him now, but, and I will repeat this over and over until you get it through your sandpaper hair and thick skull, you are [b]not[/b] dealing with this alone. I know you are trying to and opening up to Vision felt wrong, but you cannot be the one to handle him on your own. Let others in who want to help, who [i]can[/i] help. Let me help. Because when I see that man when this is all done I am going to melt his brain from the inside until I see it pouring out from his eyes for what he did to you. If you need to let it out now, do it. But once you're done we are going back in there and getting ready for the contest where we will crush it and then crush your asshole father. Got it?”[/color]

It wasn’t that easy for Leah to just let people in. She was terrible at it. She didn’t know when to, didn’t know when [i]not[/i] to, so she just never did. She’d been trying to do that more, lately, but it wasn’t quite the same as this.

If it wasn’t for Sabine nudging her along right now, she would’ve just grabbed a boulder and soared back to Arizona to snap dear old dad in two.

Gently as she could manage with her rocky hands, she held Sabine’s. Leah stared down at her girlfriend as if she could communicate her thoughts to her with just a glance. She stood there, still as a statue, thinking things through without just opening her big mouth and saying the dumbest shit possible. Not like when she was visiting April at C.A.G.E.Not like any other time she ran her mouth and had nothing thoughtful to say.

[color=ffcb00]”I believe you. I’m trying, okay? I’m… Bad at this.”[/color]

[color=A2797E]”I know you are and I appreciate it. It’s ok to admit when you don’t know what to say or what to do. Hell, that’s something I am trying every day.”[/color]

Sabine shut her eyes a moment, feeling the warmth from Leah’s hands meld with her own. [color=A2797E]”I fucked things up with April. I handled the situation poorly and I hurt her more. I was jealous of how close she is with Dorian and Danni and why she felt the need to pull away from me, from us, and that made me think I hurt her more than I ever intended.”[/color]

Sabine shook her head, allowing a sob emit, but she pulled through. [color=A2797E]”See? That was fucking hard, but I did it, because I know I have you and April and Dorian and Danni and Andy and, hell, even Percy and Victoria to some degree. We got this.”[/color]

[color=ffcb00]”Yeah. Yeah, we do. We’ll figure it out,”[/color] Leah said. [color=ffcb00]”I figured it out once before, I’ll figure it out again. And… I thought I’d fly off and leave when he showed up. I thought I’d sneak away and not let anyone worry about me. But you’re going to be there for it this time.”[/color]

They stayed like that for a moment before Leah broke the silence. [color=ffcb00]”Let’s go.”[/color]

Sabine let the moment linger before she followed Leah back in. The emotional weight lifted somewhat. She didn’t want to admit to April, not yet. Win the contest, kill the douchebag, and then have a heartfelt moment. Just like the movies.