Riley stifled a yawn as the sliding doors to SDN Claremont opened with their usual clunky motion. Three months since those old things had broken and they still couldn't get a repairman out to fix the problem. The Chief Dispatcher gave his usual quick salute to the reception desk as he strode towards the elevators. Once inside, his quiet demeanor fell away. Keep his coffee thermos in a death grip, he felt himself gently punching his forehead with his free hand.

"Jesus... How'd it get to six years?" The chief dispatcher muttered to no one in particular. To an outside observer, it would seem as though Riley had built a decent career for himself. Since joining SDN a little over six years ago, he'd managed to rise through the ranks and become a chief dispatcher at one of the branches. That being said, the circumstances that head lead to Riley getting this position were far from ideal. Had it been up to Riley, he'd much rather be out on the streets using his powers for good, but life had other plans for him. It usually did.

The elevator dinged at the second floor and Riley shielded his eyes from the flourescent lights overhead. Even on a good day, standing under those just made him feel like more and more of a corporate drone. Taking a sip from his thermos, the thirty-something year old navigated to his desk; currently littered with various small gadgets he worked on between calls. A sticky note on his computer reminded him he had a meeting with James in Hero Development today. Something about finding a new partner for Lightning Girl. Apparently it was becoming "more profitable" to send heroes out in duos. The public LOVED a team effort after all...

As he was about to put on his headphones, Riley's boss Katherine walked up carrying a stack of files. Judging by the Phoenix Program logo on the paper, this was going to mean more work on his end.

"Good morning, Riley," she said. Her cheery demeanor a mask for what she was about to drop on her main dispatcher. Having a former spy and spec ops hero as your boss usually meant she was VERY good at hiding how she really felt."I know it's Monday, but I'll need you to run through these new candidates for Phoenix Program. The main office downtown thinks they'd be a good fit for our branch. Given your team recently had some dropouts after that incident with the British girl, they fall to you for training." Riley took the files and casually flipped through them.

"So the good people downtown think we need new talent?" Nothing in the files exactly gave Riley a vote of confidence. We've got a thief, a former Red Ring dealer, and... Lunara?"

"Nothing more on that one I'm afraid," replied Kat. "Her "arch-nemesis" Solaris brought her down last week and asked that she be placed in Phoenix Program. Poor girl even took a transfer to our branch to keep an eye on her." Kat chuckled and shook her head. "I still think Phoenix Program's a bad idea, but with crime getting worse, we need all the bodies we can get on the streets. I've taken the liberty of adding these three to your hero pool. Just try them out today and see if you can make any progress."

"I'll... see what I can do, boss." Riley forced that last bit out with resignation. Setting the files on his desk, he turned his attention back to booting up the monitor. Putting villains on the street would have been unheard of even a decade ago. Desperate times really did make people do crazy things. While Kat walked away to address other Dispatchers, Riley placed on his headphones and addressed the new team members.

"Morning, Alpha Team. This is your Dispatcher Riley Rider checking in. Since losing Tsunami and Meta-Man last week, we've got new team members joining us. Feel free to say hello and make them feel 'welcome'"

7:19am in 91711

James Speight

The alarm clock hit. Another grotty morning. Covers thrown, slippers on.

Toothbrush, spit, shaver, stubble wicking off. Wash face. Revealing a pale, brown-red haired Mancunian who was on the wrong side of 30 last time he checked. Off-grey shirt and grey trousers on, vaguely outdoorsy looking black trainers, designer prescription glasses, smartwatch, and already, James could feel the braincells vaguely come back after a late last night of prep work for this morning.

Sophie had already left, opting to get moving this morning early. He could tell from the suit that was taken from the wall in the corridor.

And the burn marks she left by the bare cables she'd made by ripping out a 110V plug to get her morning dose for the commute in. Like a Tesla, Sophie needed power to fly, and saw a simple solution to electrocuting herself, barely made safe now by a couple of rubber prongs.

She still used that setup, James remarked. That was classic her. Landlord would throw a fit if he found out though.

Despite trying not to get electrocuted this morning, James had to say that he appreciated crashing at hers in her little 2-bed house in a quiet bit of suburbia, this little slice of Devore Heights on the very edge of LA doing its job for now. While he looked around for places to lease, the spare bedroom would do. He barely stopped for breakfast, sipping down a bottle of strawberry Kefir from the fridge, taking it with him to the car. He didn't stop for a coffee, or anything else. He was in his routine.

He'd caffeinate with some tea when he got in so he could be alive then, as he turned on the radio, the Civic turning over easily into life on the drive, the automatic making it pretty much a continued bleh to drive into work as he put it into drive. And like that, his playlist began.

Soundtrack: The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored

The traffic choked the streets almost immediately on the Interstate. Sitting inside the grey Honda Civic he'd barely bought last week and discovered the air con didn't work in, the lack of warmth in the morning at least didn't add to his woes of being sunburnt all the time. He'd already gotten a nasty amount of trucker tan on his arms, as he sighed, sitting in traffic on I-15.

James had to admit, he didn't remember much of his commute in. Nobody ever did. But there was always something new, a consultant never stayed still, there was always some project he had to deal with, some bullshit that went badly wrong, some hero that needed a 1-2-1 and James knew how to deal with them. Even if he didn't have powers, envying forever any hero that could fly, like the green-caped fellow he saw in his mirror that was headed deeper into town on his morning commute. Did he have to worry about traffic? No. Course that fucker didn't. James was glad he didn't have to deal with the bullshit that came with having powers. But sometimes, he wondered how much easier it must have been for Sophie to just throw electricity at most of her problems. She'd carried him into work a few times, back when he was new and waiting to sort the car- but now, he didn't want to be dependent on her, certainly not when she decided to get up even earlier than he did.

James put it back in drive, as the traffic finally got moving again, and he indicated to get off on the freeway ramp. LA was incredibly boring, so much for DTLA, this was the reality of it. Not even Compton or Long Beach, the gangster rap was so far it was barely audible in this mild, boring bit of suburbia that he wasn't quite sure how Sophie had landed on. Desperation? Or just an offer gone wrong? He hadn't actually figured that out. A massive yawn closing out his commute followed, as he put the turn signal on.

Driving up to the gate and swiping his card at the sensor, he found a spot in the parking underneath the building, at last, getting a spot that would be in the shade later. He was early, really early. SDN Claremont. A small, provincial branch in a massive network, Superhero Dispatch Network, to be precise.

And once again, James was putting his "Visitor" parking pass in his window. He wasn't an SDN employee. He was "Other", and strangely, despite knowing more about the company than some who worked there, he wondered how five years had gone by this fast contracting. But in week two of working in sunny Claremont, he could see what Sophie meant. Sunny California. No sea breeze, but from the San Bernadino Mountains, from the outside in, he could just about get it. This was the high life. Real heroes. Even for this early, a few other heroes were in, going to the gym like Sophie had, or just getting set up in their usual routine as he walked through the glass-fronted doors into reception, seeing the lifts come to the bottom.

Running inside, he waved to reception and signed in (something the others didn't have to do) and therefore he missed the elevator. It made him divert to a different stint of the lift with a group of other employees, the small talk absolutely dead. He leaned against the side, waiting for the two-pronged ding to indicate the floor, and stepped on out onto carpet and wood, his lanyard still on around his neck with his name, face and title.

James Speight, Hero Development Consultant, Speight Hero Consulting.

He had work to do. Kat was too busy to see, but he had his own affairs. He basically worked almost without a boss, at least, he seemed to be thrown around like a ragdoll between SDN's HR, Training, Marketing and Dispatch centres on a daily basis. Never a part of any office really, just there to fill in the gaps nobody could actually figure out how to hire for.

The work kept him busy, as he finished his bottle of Kefir, crushing the plastic bottle and hurling it across the room, bouncing it off the rim of the bin. Joining two others that the cleaner hadn't gotten to removing this week.

Morning Brew

Earpods in, James kept through the morning grind, having worked before Riley had come in, and a little through Riley's meeting with Kat.

Soundtrack: Maribou State- Kingdom

It was a frantic early morning. Mostly answering calls, updating his spreadsheet and sitting in the boardroom, as he didn't have a desk at this time, the spot next to Riley occupied for now. Some shit had gone down in Torrance, but he was taken off that job really fast. Burbank had recently done some redundancies, but, for the most part he just had a few heroes to call into, check in with and see that they were put under new dispatchers and "happy" with their careers. And Denver had some work left over (given they were on MST, rather than PST), where a couple of heroes and their dispatcher were at odds. So, he made some reassignments and wrote a small memo to recommend why he was changing them, within the first 30 minutes. It felt strange getting on Zoom and asking how people felt, when nobody really bothered James at all and asked him how he was.

Dead inside.

So, tea time it was, much earlier than he could continue to deal with this bullshit, Riley likely having to meet the team for the morning anytime soon. So he got up to his usual ritual. Keep the Chief Dispatcher happy, you could do anything, James reasoned. He might have a thermos, but more coffee wouldn't hurt a man who loved his nanites, probably.

Peeling the teabag out, James took a sip and drank the thing black, a tasting sip, the kind to check it was about right, even though it scathed his tongue. Again. He took the other mug that had a tiny amount of milk and sugar in it, as Lightning Girl ran in, mask and cape on, yoinking her cup in gloved hand, already dressed for work and having been at the gym in the office this morning, to just make sure she was still up to it. She'd drained a bit of herself already doing it, but then again, you did not keep up her figure without a bit of pre-morning crunch.

"Thank you!" Lightning Girl called out. Nobody had actually put two and two together that they were brother and sister, at least, not obviously. They were two Brits in the same office. Perhaps it was like a shittier version of Lunara and Solaris, in a more crap, sort of disappointing way. He poured out the black coffee from the press, taking it in his now spare hand, looking back to her, as she sipped it down, already soothed with the warm taste of Earl Grey.

"You're welcome. You know, you should really be getting a disciplinary for...." James began, as they walked and talked, Sophie rolling her eyes as she looked over her shoulder.

"I know, water and metal don't mix with high voltage. I already wrote up my apology. And Kat said it was fine. It was an unfortunate collateral, you know I totally didn't mean it!" Sophie replied, as James sighed, realising Sophie had left a bit out.

"I think those weren't her all of her words. Careful, yeah? This isn't...you know." James replied, a bit of older brother still coming out, despite the fact Sophie was absolutely more experienced, and knowledgeable here, in perhaps more control, standing tall over him.

"Yeah, yeah. Rumour has it we have some Phoenix Programme on my team. Do you know them? I didn't fuck up that bad, did I?" Lightning Girl asked, walking alongside James as they walked out of the cafeteria, James not really able to answer all of her energy this morning.

"Not really, but hey, give them a chance? One's a thief that really likes magnets. The other used to make meth for supers, I think. Then Solaris and Lunara, they're....uhhh, I don't even get them. Solaris is like what you looked like before you lost all your hair pigment."

"Yes, and went fucking nearly grey. Great. HR is testing me. Half the team decide to get in the way of a perfectly good save, and suddenly, I'm in with crooks." Lightning Girl uttered, as if she carried a slight air of grudge, despite having nothing to do with the Phoenix Programme herself, wondering what on earth she had done so bad to end up here. That would emerge, James would no doubt feel.

"They aren't. Just don't do anything silly, and I'm sure it'll be fine. Have a good shift, yeah?" James added, Sophie shrugging, before heading out to the smoking area, with her having nothing to really add, nodding back to him.

"Yeah sure. Catch up later." Sophie seemed to peer through Lightning Girl's voice, parting away, heading outside to go sort herself out for the start of her shift.

James breathed a deep sigh, as he carried his remaining mug, spotting that the desk on the other side of the cubicle divider to him, and moving quick, putting a coffee in front of Riley, down on his placemat.

"Morning, Riley. We still on for the meeting? Gonna say, your new team are a right bunch of misfits. And you paired them with Lightning Girl. I didn't think she would take it well....but she takes time with these sorts of things." James greeted him, dropping a lot of info on him, as no doubt, he was about to have his morning filled with the new team. He took a seat at the now vacant quadrant, and quickly jogged to grab his laptop, power cable, bag, mouse and other peripherals in a well practiced snatch and grab to put down by the Lenhart machine, setting himself up whilst Riley replied.

---

Shock Therapy

Lightning Girl

"Morning, Alpha Team. This is your Dispatcher Riley Rider checking in. Since losing Tsunami and Meta-Man last week, we've got new team members joining us. Feel free to say hello and make them feel 'welcome'".

The response from Lightning Girl was a bit delayed to Riley's question, the white-haired British heroine a bit....occupied.

"Yeah, yeah, you.....hang on!"

And like that, Lightning Girl hung onto the transformer again, yelling out, not realising she had left comms open. It was a yell of pleasure, probably not far off her hitting orgasm, but getting hit by that much energy just switched on every neuron inside her, a yelp of joy. It was genuinely a bit unnerving, because the electricity picked her up off the ground and held her in a cloud of static after she contacted it, as she proactively *giggled*. She could feel herself going from a bit plugged in from the morning tea and waffle she'd had coupled with five minutes on charge to the wall, to straight up feeling like she could start absolutely fucking blasting. Which she did as she peeled her hands away from the coil, pinging a nearby Lightning rod with her pointed fingers, blowing smoke from the end of her hand like she had a gun.

Not the best move, considering she was still back at the office. On the neighbouring roof. Probably causing the main office to have a slight oscillation in power as the lights flickered inside from her juicing off a distribution cable.

"Shit, sorry that was a bit loud! Left my comms open! Okay, now I'm good....all juiced up, and ready to go kick some arse! Good morning to you too, Riley!" Lightning Girl postured into her earpiece in her transtantic, British hinged accent, standing on the roof, her cape billowing in the wind, standing on the roof of SDN Claremont, looking out. Classic superhero move, but then again, if you felt good, you were doing good. Taking in the city, as if to reinforce her own confidence. Tell herself, you can do this.

Lightning Girl was absolutely not in the morning mood James was. She was willing to go out and do some harm to those who would wish to do that upon people, and her feeling was good. Her white hair blew in the breeze, her cape billowing a little too, the suit squeaking from the time she'd had it resown after a particularly nasty hit. Her Factor 50 was on, her feeling was positively like she was full of lots of amps, and ready to get moving, black carbon mask covering her forehead and eyes, white hair kept loose to her shoulders, leather boots creaking a little, and her teeny little yellow hip-pack sitting on the small of her back where her medical kit, rubber gloves and first responder gear were when she was working with EMTs.

Now she was in a position to reply, adjusting her headset, the adapted device able to survive her running live with current and currently smelling a little of ozone.

"Hi team, I'm Lightning Girl! I'm an electricity based kind of person.....Riley, please send my apologies to Tsunami and Meta-Man if you don't mind. They uhhh.....I mean, I did tell them I could handle it. I look forward to working with you all, just please don't run in front of me if I'm throwing bolts at baddies! I'm just by the smoking area, good to go when you lot are!" She exclaimed, rather excited at first, before turning to the elephant in the room, realising she should probably do something else than stand *magnificently* on the roof, her focus back to her as she dropped down into the smoker's balcony with a practiced ease, looking around for the others, who would no doubt find it impossible to miss her.

Fuckin Superheroes.

The thought had passed through her head a few times - it was weird to think that yeah, she’d be working with them. It was weird to think that someone, somewhere might eventually mistake her for one. It was weird to think that the whole program was aimed at rehabilitation, even though she hadn’t seen much of that. Yeah, it was all told, pretty fuckin weird. So the thought had gone through her head a few times. The watch she had, a Timex that was old by most standards, was still a weight on her wrist she hadn’t gotten used to.

That’s not to say that there weren’t perks. The feeling of heat from the paper cup in her hands, for instance - that was pretty nice. She’s actually gotten the milk to steam, too, and some little voice said that drinking it would be maybe a little waste. But, hell, there was something wonderful about it. A sip or two, that feeling of perfection and warmth. It was way better than any cell.

But hey, Fuckin Superheroes. She’d seen a few already, sitting on one of the seats in a waiting area before relocating to one of the seats outside. A lot of uniforms here, there - spandex, leather, metal, a bunch of different types. They seemed fucking stupid, the kinds of people who thought they were everything in the world and able to make it all the way they wanted. The kinds dof people who thought they were doing great fukkin work, even if it was always a cop putting someone in a van afterwards, a CO taking them to a cell, a shrink asking them how mom and dad were. Yeah, great fukkin work. They were tools, really, but then again she thought to herself…was she much better? She’d be a tool too, except a cheaper one for a lighter sentence. Yeah, always a time. Another sip of the cappuccino. Was pretty good. Maybe it was worth it.

Her Timex clicked on, the tinny speaker working through its paces.

"Morning, Alpha Team. This is your Dispatcher Riley Rider checking in. Since losing Tsunami and Meta-Man last week, we've got new team members joining us. Feel free to say hello and make them feel 'welcome'".

She stared for a second. ‘Riley Rider’...alright then, Bob Bobberson, Mr Plain-Ass-Clothes. Of course, the fact that they’d lost ‘Tsunami’ and ‘Meta-Man’ was annoying, but the guy didn’t seem too broke about it. Those guys probably just jumped ship for a better job than Claremont. Honestly, probably not too hard. Of course, while she was thinking that another voice came-on, the display saying…’Lightning Girl’. Yeah, alright.

"Hi team, I'm Lightning Girl! I'm an electricity based kind of person.....Riley, please send my apologies to Tsunami and Meta-Man if you don't mind. They uhhh.....I mean, I did tell them I could handle it. I look forward to working with you all, just please don't run in front of me if I'm throwing bolts at baddies! I'm just by the smoking area, good to go when you lot are!"

She stared a bit at that, too. Sounded like a schoolgirl bimbo, really. What stupid lottery was it that people like that got lightning of all things? Sounded British, too. Goddamn it. Then Myla looked up from her seat, up to the roof of that building, to see someone standing there in a…fukkin pose before jumping down to a balcony. Probably the girl? God, she didn’t know. Who the heck just does poses on buildings but some jumped-up kid.

She considered what the hell there was to say to all that before resolving something. Setting the cappuccino down, she began to manipulate the little dial for a return message.

”K.”

SDN Claremont

---

Eclipse was an easy guy to spot, even without his helmet on. While white hair evidently not a rare trait, he was still wearing standard Red Ring colors in a sea of superheroes. Any of his weaponry, aside from his gauntlets, were off until further notice. Something about not being allowed to walk around the office with a weapon. Which was fair, but most the people here were walking weapons considering their powers and all. Whatever, he wouldn't squander a chance to get out of his cell. Starting a fight in a room full of supers was stupid anyways. Plus, he was getting paid.

He squints his eyes, off sulking outside of the waiting room. He was with another villain--red-golden hair and a patterned shirt, though they were both doing their own thing and he was further off in a corner. She was drinking a cappuccino, he was holding his helmet to his chest as he ate Cheetos waiting for something to happen.

His earpiece goes off.

"Morning, Alpha Team. This is your Dispatcher Riley Rider checking in. Since losing Tsunami and Meta-Man last week, we've got new team members joining us. Feel free to say hello and make them feel 'welcome'"

That was a silly name. Actually everyone's name was silly. He was also replacing Tsunami and... Meta-man, of all people. Now that was a dumb hero name. Wonder what happened to them; couldn't have been a villain that took them down, Claremont was much calmer than Torrance. Honestly, he couldn't believe he was eligible for rehabilitation here of all places, but anything to keep him from reconnecting with Red Ring, right?

He swallows his chips, moves a clean hand to his earpiece--

"Hi team, I'm Lightning Girl! I'm an electricity based kind of person.....Riley, please send my apologies to Tsunami and Meta-Man if you don't mind. They uhhh.....I mean, I did tell them I could handle it. I look forward to working with you all, just please don't run in front of me if I'm throwing bolts at baddies! I'm just by the smoking area, good to go when you lot are!"

"K."

Fuck. They talked so much.

And Lightning Girl? Really? He scoffs at the name, only to see someone fly down to the balcony. That was probably her. Superheroes and their theatric, never gets old. And frankly, he was happy he was working with Lightning Girl instead of against. Too much armor. He'd get fried in his suit trying to beat her. Something in his brain clicks--so that's why Tsunami and Meta-man left.

He taps his earpiece to open comms, another hand holding an empty bag.

"Eclipse. Ex-'cook' if you will." He snorts. "Your wish is my command."

Eh, they could probably guess his power. All black, standing off in the darkest corner he could reasonably find. He scratches the back of his neck, another craving. He was starting to miss that drug. Kept him strong. Stronger than now, at least.

Team Talk

Lightning Girl

Lightning Girl was not exactly the most impressed, hearing and then seeing Myla, sipping away at a cappuccino that was no doubt, a poor excuse for anything she would drink coffee wise. Even being British, and dealing with instant herself, American stuff did something else to her. That and Mexican food. Nothing could prepare her for that. But still, Sophie had adapted to America, the British demeanour of being cynical faded when she had this much voltage running in her skin. She might have still been putting on that idyllic image, but Sophie behind it knew that mask kept up what people wanted. Well, until it hadn't lately.

Where was she? Ah yeah, about to try and actually force blood from the stone of the casually dressed younger woman that felt like she was starting to make her dizzy. And non verbal a moment ago.

”K.”

"Talkative today are we? I get it, you're literally repulsed to me. Magnetism is a tricky one with electricity......but I'll try not to be too positive. I get too chatty when I've been zapped." Lightning Girl must have assumed this is who James meant about the thief who was a massive magnet. Trying to spin it positively (she excused herself her internal physics pun).

She could feel her powers interfering with Payback's presence already, almost as if it was trying to push her *away*. Lightning Girl's electrical powers weren't in of themselves, an AC, alternating current style where they just created a magnetic field around her power- they were more direct, less generation, more transmission. Spitting electrons, not brewing.

It was strange that the feeling of polarity was literal, as the other Phoenix Programme hero introduced themselves, actually coming out with more than a few syllables, in his dark corner, the pale white of Lightning Girl's suit almost casing light into the corner and making her want to keep her distance. The armour was dulled, as if itself didn't want to catch any Californian rays.

"Eclipse. Ex-'cook' if you will." He snorts. "Your wish is my command."

Eh, they could probably guess his power. All black, standing off in the darkest corner he could reasonably find. He scratches the back of his neck, another craving. He was starting to miss that drug. Kept him strong. Stronger than now, at least.

She looked him up and down, the dark corner of the office even darker than the boardroom without lights that James had ended up working in this morning.

"Suppose you're a shadowy kinda crack lord." Lightning Girl chirpily observed, watching him. "Straight up vampire, or just umbrakinesis though?" She enquired, genuine, drawing her zip from her hip pack, peeling her gloves out, the black rubber gloves going over her usual fingerless set, as if she was set to "safety". Trying not to electrocute another pair of heroes. It was dawning on her that she was probably unsafe to have around other heroes, so instead, they'd thrown this motley crew around her. It gutted her, but then again, she couldn't work alone. Not when supers had access to endless amounts of weaponry, and these days, augments that made some average villain into a fucking monster.

Then again, putting Tsunami and then Meta-Man out of action was not exactly top of her list. James had already spoken to her too many times before today.

Sophie was absolutely putting on a confident act, trying to play hero, not some part of doubt that was below her skin, the kind that Sophie when the mask was gone would need to worry about. All of her hopes, unravelling. These poor fuckers were here to redeem themselves. And they might just succeed. She couldn't go the other way in exchange. Tsunami could have sued, and that would be the end of her.....but Meta-Man, man, he was from the ends, poverty, and Sophie felt a hell of a lot worse given how unfortunate that was. But Lightning Girl couldn't let it out. Show no cracks beyond her Lichtenberg scars.

"You alright?" She asked, an open question to ask someone in withdrawal from doing drugs, but with a genuine bit of care. She understood it from the ends she'd grown up in, knowing the answer would never be "I'm fucked", not with how Americans were endlessly optimistic. Maybe it would. He wasn't entirely American, she could spot that beyond his armour.

SDN Claremont

---

Eclipse watches as Lightning Girl speaks with Payback. So that's who his other teammate was. Interesting. He squints his eyes at Payback, then looks back at Lightning Girl. There was a big difference between the two, aside from the obvious: one dressed like a hero and acted the part; the other didn't.

He shrinks a bit as Lightning Girl moves her attention to him.

Okay, wow. Either it was the whole electricity thing or her costume, but she is bright.

"Suppose you're a shadowy kinda crack lord." Lightning Girl chirpily observed, watching him. "Straight up vampire, or just umbrakinesis though?"

He stares at her blankly as she puts on a set of rubber gloves. It takes him about 30 seconds before he finally responds. He steps a little closer to the light, just an inch or so, but enough to prove a point. "Just an umbrakinetic. Would you have preferred a vampire?"

"And for the record, I had to quit dealing," he huffs. Phoenix Program paid well, at least, but he made more dealing drugs with Red Ring, "They wouldn't let me in unless I did." He doesn't move back, but the corner's shadows seem to catch up to him; a demonstration of his power, albeit a simple one. Also, he didn't like the stale office lights.

The empty Cheeto bag crinkles a bit. He cleans his hand with a napkin before shoving it into the bag; he'd throw it out later.

"You alright?" She asked, an open question to ask someone in withdrawal from doing drugs, but with a genuine bit of care.

Oh.

Oh.

That was a personal question for someone like him. Was it that obvious? He only looked at his reflection a few times before teleporting here, but he didn't notice any obvious withdrawal signs. Outside the bags under his eyes. And the fact that he was itching for some kind of dopamine hit. And the fact that he was quite literally getting weaker without his homemade drug.

It was that obvious.

He's half ready to blurt out a lie or a non-answer until he hears something he hasn't heard in a long time. Actual, real concern. That was new. And weird. Couldn't even remember the last time someone gave a shit about his health outside of his aging parents, and even then, it's been years since he last saw them.

"No." It comes out as a whisper. His helmet comes on immediately after, his voice now strange and metallic due to the voice changer he installed. "Do you have any more Cheetos?"

Was that the benefit of being a hero? People actually giving a shit about you? Did Red Ring care about him? Did Shroud? As far as he could tell, they did. About the drugs, at least, and he was one of the best dealers around. If anything, he was one of the luckier members, considering his suit didn't fall apart after whatever the hell happened to Shroud. He was lucky to not opt into any of those high-tech augments they offered; he preferred this kind of armor anyway, even if it was a hassle to work with.

Whatever. It didn't matter. As long as he did his job somewhat well, then bare minimum, he might be allowed to produce that darkness drug for himself again. That was all that mattered.

And their vending machine snacks.

He fucking loves the chips they have.

Talking Frank*

Lightning Girl

"Just an umbrakinetic. Would you have preferred a vampire?"

"And for the record, I had to quit dealing," he huffs. Phoenix Program paid well, at least, but he made more dealing drugs with Red Ring, "They wouldn't let me in unless I did." He doesn't move back, but the corner's shadows seem to catch up to him; a demonstration of his power, albeit a simple one. Also, he didn't like the stale office lights.

"Prefer not having teeth in me, thanks!" Lightning Girl awkwardly chirped, watching as the shadow followed. "Cool though." She commented on the shadow not the words, correcting herself awkwardly. "Not the drug dealing bit though! Maybe not that bit. Drugs are...bad? But hey. You're here now, to fight crime, and I'm sure we'll be sound doing it." She added, confident as ever, though her comment on his state was not one she expected to see going.

Hiding addiction was a cue that even Sophie could pick up on, replacing one bad thing with another. He was stress-eating Cheetos like his life was dependent on it, after her question about being alright. He was far more candid than she expected.

"No." It comes out as a whisper. His helmet comes on immediately after, his voice now strange and metallic due to the voice changer he installed. "Do you have any more Cheetos?"

Pulling back from substance was like that. Lacking electricity in her didn't have the same effect, but fuck, if she didn't half understand what it was like to feel stripped down to feeling a bit more normal. She could zap everything out of her, and at that point, if she wasn't chain-drinking Red Bulls, she wasn't alive. At least she could feel human touch at that point without passing out like some diabetic.

Not that it compared. But she almost wanted to laugh, giggle like she was at a funeral, before realising she should probably stop looking dumb and answer. It was that inappropriate laughter internally from his last sentence. She empathised completely on the former. Saw it as probably why he was here. And recovering would take help, to get him clean.

This was serious. She had to tell herself that again. 'Don't make the guy who got high on his own supply feel like shit'. Was that a Biggie Smalls lyric? Something like that. Shit, say something!

".....not....really?" Lightning Girl replied, shrugging, peeking past his bulky armour, realising the vending machines that he had gotten the Cheetos from seemed to have run out too.

"Look, we can probably sort something on first break. Some crisps. Wait, you guys call it chips. I need to get used to that. They'll be somewhere." She added in her usual transatlantic tone, turning around on foot as James came through, bringing mugs back, the shorter red haired office worker addressing Eclipse, not Sophie...

"Eclipse, just the man I was looking for. I'm James, from the Hero Development team. You've got an induction on Shadows in the Workplace later on that you're assigned to. Health and Safety thing. It's crap, I know, but we tick boxes here at SDN so you get paid, people don't trip over eldrich darkness, and so on. Come see me when you get a break on deployment and I'll get you through it so we keep HR happy. I'll be about on comms if you've got questions." He seemed almost effortless as he walked on by, projecting neither too much confidence, nor too much American cockiness. James just seemed to be dry, and unlike Sophie, perhaps on the same level of energy as him. Wanting to get him through it, despite the bullshit of it, rather than actually selling it. He got that they had no interest. He just needed compliance, because with Phoenix Programme, he knew that was at least enough to keep them happy.

And with it, James was back and gone, Sophie watching on as his brother put the mugs in the wash, before heading back across to his desk another way.

"You get used to him. Real dork. Means well, generally." She felt awkward speaking ill of her brother, but hey, it wasn't wrong....right?

(*A pun on an British drugs campaign.)

---

Golden Hour, Fifteen Hours Ago

It felt strange sitting on a pylon. James had long since overcome his fear of heights, because when Sophie decided she had a good spot for them to sit, he'd usually take her up on the option. He was squishy, mortal, and had every right to be terrified. But when Sophie was strong enough to carry him, well, as her brother, he didn't have a say. He'd broke his leg, twice, actually, being dropped, and had a couple of times of being shocked badly. Hence the almost bicep-length rubber gloves that Sophie kept on, as a precaution.

But he was comfortable now at least. And without friends, family was all he had here. James could sit in the bar and drink on a lonely Sunday night, or have spent the day hiking, but he spent it instead unloading the rest of his crap from the U-Haul he'd returned. He was getting good at moving all his shit, once more, and she wasn't taking no for an answer to give him something else to do. She always knew how to get him away from the bullshit when it was too much.

So it was unusual they were out here. But since James was a new arrival to LA, well, Lightning Girl thought it was best to show him the dusk, on the lone pylon that wove its way down into a canyon above the hills that led to the San Gabriel Mountains. The city sprawled, a haze of white light in the distance of the skyscrapers that made up DTLA. The two sat on the strut of the pylon, James in his casual t-shirt and jeans, Lightning Girl still in costume.

"Why here, Soph?" James asked, the conversation being quiet for a little while as they both took it in. The entirety of LA before them, glowing lights, the wrong side of the Hollywood sign yet the city of filmstars, palm trees and golden sun that never let up.

It couldn't be possibly more different to Manchester.

Lightning Girl pulled her mask away from her face, revealing the pale, rosy skin of James's sister, cape fluttering a little against the metal, spandex and cordura squishing on steel.

"Seriously? You don't think the view is mad? I mean it isn't the Shard, or Snowdon at sunrise but...." She candidly commented, James interrupting.

"Nah, view's good, what I mean is, moving to LA? Generally, why did you go for it? I mean, you always talked America, but here? San Fran or New York didn't tempt you?"

"Cos it's fun? And I mean, the sunshine. It's so good. Feels healing already." She sighed, tapping down her skin to show, before breaking into something else. "It's like that song, Shot for the spot at the top, a girl like me, would you believe I'm in Los Angеles?" She sang slightly off tune in a higher pitch from the Wolf Alice song that James knew was her favourite, both chuckling, taking in the quiet for a moment. "I guess I'm asking that question too given....how it all went down." Sophie added, the reality of Claremont different to that of DTLA. And something else that had happened in the previous week.

James sighed, looking on at the distance, then back to Sophie's worried face.

"You got this. Don't think about it too much. Each day's a new beginning, no matter how bad you mess up, yeah?" He made that reply in regards to the recent events, bridging the gap.

The silence continued, before Sophie broke it, herself staring into abyss.

"Thanks." Sophie tried not to put too much voltage into the tower, knowing it would taze James off it if she let that control go. It wasn't just thinking about how things went to shit with those two heroes. It was wondering if teams weren't for her, try as she might.

Sophie kept quiet still, both of them taking that view and silence on, almost letting herself back down to her more natural, slightly more shy self. James looked right back to her again, thinking through a more pertinent question that slotted itself into his mind whilst gazing in at one of the highways.

"Another thing I guess....how are we going to deal with it in the office, day by day? I mean, it's a poor secret in management. Heroes, or Phoenix Programme find out, it gets messy. Sticky because they think I'm with you now I'm here and not just temporary." His query was one he remembered asking ages ago, but it wasn't that well established. Especially now James seemed to be staying put.

"We'll work it out. Brits abroad happen a lot. And I mean, they'll think it's a red herring. Or something. I dunno. We'll see." Sophie replied, her own response caught in her own tongue, able to be more Anglicised with him. The silence continued a little longer, before she turned to him, breathing out, reflecting back his question from earlier, and perhaps, back to what he'd projected.

"Why are you here, James?" The question felt open, loaded, the bullet in the chamber. "I mean, I know you said there was a much better link to the network. But Claremont's not a mess. You're here because of me, aren't you?" Obvious question, yet Sophie, like James, hadn't really gotten to the bottom of it from earlier. Just that it was a thing, short notice, now here they were, top of pylon, car sorted, U-Haul empty, siblings on the fringe of LA.

The redhead sighed, taking a moment.

"Not the weather, sunshine, or traffic, I guess. That all sucks. Less than Baltimore at least. Fuck that." He quipped, as they both laughed shaking his head, looking out at the bright city lights, then back to Sophie. "Been on the road constantly. In and out of rented accommodation. Never knowing when I might get some security. So, when you said you were here...I guess I took a shot at it. Try and make something of this city. Even if I'm hating it so far." James candidly said, Sophie laughing, wrapping an arm (rubber coated) around him, grinning.

"Yeah, that's what everyone thinks. It's like Paris Syndrome!" Sophie seemed to have an actual moment of insight, which even took the more scholarly James by surprise. The phenomenon seemed to be any cultural shock to someone new to LA, especially the grimier parts that the lenses focussed on Hollywood never showed.

His retort was blunt. "What?"

"You know, you go to Paris, and it's shit, no Eiffel Tower, no beautiful streets, just lots of crime? But behind it....it's still the city of lights! All lit up, so yeah, there's that!" She reiterated with a bit more confidence, hoping James would catch on the meaning, James shaking his head as if he didn't entirely follow the analogy.

"Oh yeah. Except Paris actually has public transport, nice streets, good museums, you know, actual stuff people like for liveability? And here there's.....big hills and endless suburbia? At least it pays." James sarcastically remarked, as Sophie admitted that point for a non-super, beating traffic, that was true.

"Right. Yeah, I suppose. Well, here it is. Our slice of the San Fernando Valley. It'll grow on you. Find you somewhere to live. Maybe even someone to anchor you down, you know, someone like Pom Pom might have a thing for geeks like you." Sophie smiled dripping in sarcasm, as the two laughed.

"Yeah, and you someone proper too!" It was a reference that James was making, the heroine clapping back.

"What do you mean by that?" Sophie asked, as James turned, cocky smile on face.

"Well, I am only, just out here, saying, you know, better decisions could be made. You slept with fucking Lioncub when we were in Camden, Lioncub, you fucking absolute frea..."

She gave him a static shock as they both giggled, one very drunk night that James would never let Sophie forget, given a shapeshifting minotaur-like super was the last person he would have imagined Lightning Girl being caught with. As disgusting as that was, they had long since transcended how awkward life was and appreciated their honesty, even back together again. Maybe that was why they were here. It had been a long time since Sophie had James in his ear in London and Manchester.

"Hey, I was drunk. And.....yeah. You're right. Always got my back. Appreciate you being here, James. Even to give me shit. Nobody does that here." Sophie added, as James chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, nobody does yet. New team might...but hey. You get to be your perfect version of you if that's what you wanted here. Live your perfect life and all that...." James insinuated on the end, like it was from an ad, as they both chuckled, the laughter dying down to them both looking to the horizon, once more. Silence for a few minutes.

Soundtrack: Night Tapes - Projections

"Yeah. Well. Shall we?" It felt about naturally right for both of them, the red-haired older sibling breaking the silence, the white-haired younger of the two nodding in reply.

With it, Sophie stood on the bit of pylon she was previously sitting on, mask back on, the strap disappearing behind a ocean of recently postured white hair that flowed elegantly as a mane despite what static normally did to something like that. She effortlessly stepped into the abyss, and whilst still using the static to keep her levitating, drew power from the three-phase power supply of the line. Lightning Girl's eyes beamed white for a moment, as she didn't allow herself too much juice, not before bed, grinning wildly anyway at James.

"Soph, you aren't quite the same on this American electricity. You seem to talk even more shit than usual. And be getting fatter!" James disarmed her with that, as Lightning Girl giggled and broke laughing (the gains in the gym likely also from the insane creatine she'd gotten her hands on that they banned in the UK), rubber gloves back on after that snack of a leech, easily sinking down to where he was.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you're fucking lucky I'm not leaving you here! I'm hitting the gym early tomorrow, so you're right, let's get going." Peeling James into arms, she gave a simple leap, and like that, was away, picking up pace and taking a moment to enjoy it all.

Drink it in. Flying away from the lights, away from all that was down there, all the hubub of heroes in DTLA and probably the night shift of Claremont's weekend squad, the insanity that was Compton and Long Beach, and the recent fires in Torrance. Wrong way for now, but she'd go the other direction soon enough, she hoped. She needed sleep before a big day tomorrow going out doing what she did best.

She listened to the chatter of the comms from outside, took another sip of the all-too-sweet coffee. Yeah, there were benefits, though her eyes danced from one place to another to another. She’d seen most of them lock up their cars, sure, though there were five way-too-expensive electrics in the driveway that had stupid fobs. Yeah, Myla knew she could break those. That was kiddie stuff.

Some part of her wanted to go inside. There were easier things to take there. There were always easier things to take there. People didn’t lock up their desks right, or they didn’t close out a computer properly, so on, so forth. Of course, she’d probably demagnetize someone’s card if she tried anything there. Of course, stealing anything at a SDN station was stupid - there were cameras everywhere. There were always cameras everywhere, and people used to being on their toes instead of being relaxed, calm, existing. Some of the dispatchers were idiots, sure, but a few were ex-Heroes who’d had too long behind a desk where they’ve been itching to get back into the fight.

Her thoughts were half on the conversation. Another sip. Lightning talked too much, Eclipse sounded like a Red Ring fuck who couldn’t get out if they had a C-section, and all-in-all it made her really, really tempted to take the ear piece out. Of course, that would set off all kinds of alarms probably, and some part of her remembered it was a part of the Phoenix Program agreement. But hey, Eclipse was a shadow-guy apparently, and Myla couldn’t help but glance down at her bag. Yeah, she could deal with that pretty easy.

The guy seemed to be having an issue, though…drugs or something. Dealing. Yeah that sounded about right, too. Myla leaned back into the chair, enjoyed the sun a bit more, took that deep breath in. Maybe she could get staplers or…something. Maybe? What’d people leave out on their desks that she could snag. None of it would really matter, of course. It’s not like she could sell staplers, or post-it notes, or fuckin pens, but maybe it was a little statement. ‘I can do this and you can’t stop me’. Maybe that was it…or she just wanted to. Fuck. At least the Red Ring shmuck could blame something outside of himself, Myla just had the issue with her. Issue? No, no. Gift.

Yeah, a gift. Sure. Maybe when the lights turned off Myla could do a walk-around to see what got left out. She sat the coffee down on the chair, painfully started to enter in letters. The other people probably were hearing it on a text-to-speech, but that’s what it was.

”B outside til u need. K?”