[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]One to One Wrap Ups[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[@Pragia12]

What a question from the huge, burly clone. What a question. Holy shit. James didn't expect that, but well, he could answer the other aspects first.

"They'll get to know you. You're....well, learning everything here. And we are all going to the bar tonight. So you can maybe get closer to everyone then? I imagine they'll get to know you, they'll understand more about you. Same as you will them. They're a nice bunch." James replied to his first comment, trying to cheer him up, but that second part, man, was that something.

Did he like the team?

"Sure, they're a nice team. Everyone is really good at what they do. Everyone is different. But it makes things interesting. Thanks, Feno. Appreciate your time, but I've got the next person in a moment."

[hr]

[@Auragreedia]

Eclipse's response was difficult. 

James sighed, breathing out, his head almost slumping back, genuinely, honestly, stumped by his last comments, as he shrugged.

"I'll ask management. But be prepared to hear a no, okay? Actually, on that note....there was, a few decades back, this controlled drugs programme in the UK, you familiar with it? Kinda like Portugal's right now." James replied, leaning forwards, putting his hands on the table. He didn't pay attention or crack nerve with Eclipse. He clearly wasn't opening up. He wasn't interested. But he might be in the story he had to tell.

"It meant that if you had a heroin addiction, you took microdoses of it. Small, controlled, batches that were prescribed to you by a Doctor, not by a dealer. Tiny amounts. They switched to Methadone and it instantly got worse, so the junkie problem went out of control, and now, heroin is stronger, cheaper, and more powerful than ever before in the UK. Then coke came in, and it's so cheap, and it beats inflatio. Crazy how it works. We're lucky we didn't get Fentanyl, and.....what you create is nuclear compared to even that. So we need to get you off that drug, before it kills you. And you know I'm right. The addict in you can't tell, but it's smart enough to know if you hit that hard, you'd be dead, so you're controlling it before it overwhelms you. But I think we both know that it's bad for you and that shit is gonna end badly and ends with you sucking dicks from old men for ingredients. I'm thinking we find a method to control it. You don't want to send yourself to hell, Eclipse. I've looked at your history. You're so much more capable than that." 

James was talking from a personal experience of a police officer who had told him that story. A bit of humour injected in there too, knowing Eclipse was one dark bastard, quite literally, and it would cut through to a drug addict's fear, albeit among a serious message. His friend watched the war on drugs fail. So, Eclipse was maybe lucky that he wasn't in front of any other dispatcher, but someone who could see to his core. Even if he hated this, and James knew right now, Eclipse had no reason to trust him, he had to try and break that wall down.

"No guarantees they'll say yes and if we do this, it has to be on my terms, and any more than that, I will come down on you. In the meantime, you're doing good work. So keep your head up. I'll let you get back to it." 

[hr]

But Madcap's one to one couldn't have gone worse.

Madcap raved, screamed, yelled. Grabbed James, and he stayed silent, all the time through it. Letting him rave, before being dumped down.

He tried to give nothing away. Was it possible he saw the link? Must have. But fuck him, as he reached across the table, hands on desk.

"Calm down, Madcap! I'm trying to protect you! Do that again, and you can kiss this chance goodbye...we're not talking about other heroes, we're talking about you! You think I don't talk to her or any other hero, and get her to write letters of apology, disciplinaries when they mess up like you did, you think it's just you that gets to decide right and wrong, you think I'm singling you out? Why would I do that, think for a second! I don't have any bloody powers, so yeah, I'm doing the best to help you so you can, but you do that again, we're done!" James yelled back before he left, interrupting him, making clear that he wasn't going to be put in a box.

Lightning Girl opened the door, looking in, the shouting match increasing the volume beyond the limits as Madcap stormed out, Sophie ready to step in and protect James if she had to from the commotion and the noise that exceeded that of the noise-cancelling glass.

"Everything alright here? I heard...." She added, Madcap still promptly walking past, the presence of Lightning Girl's height able to maybe dissuade Madcap from trying anything. And besides, he wanted to get away from James. After that match, it made sense.

"We were done." James replied, as Lightning Girl looked at the messy desk, and at Madcap, staring with a calculated, certain look back over her shoulders, not having heard the conversation, but the scuffle. She took the door and shut it behind her, being next in queue.

[hr]

Sophie sat down with him, shutting the door behind, breathing out.

"Fucking hell. He's a liability." James added, as Lightning Girl helped put the desk back in place, pushing it back up to where the others were.

"What did you say to him? Your shirt is all....scruffed." 

"Nothing. Tried to kill me. Usual. I know he wouldn't have made it a block before you probably tore the life from his eyes, it's not even the worst I've had after a one to one." He rambled, as Sophie looked him dead in the eye, sighing.

"James." It was one word. One reminder to get back on topic.

"Yeah? Sorry, it's like he thinks I don't treat all heroes equally. He thinks I'm picking on him. Thinks you had special treatment." 

"Okay. Then how hard did you go in on him?" She asked, feet up on table, leaning back, chowing down on a packet of Bourbon biscuits.

"Fairly. As fair as I could. Same as I did to you when you fucked up. And you did fuck up badly. I can't deny that. Everyone gets treated the same because if we had favourites, we'd never make this work. Performance helps when people do well. But when there's a problem, especially numbers, shit changes. Your fuck up is dealt with. He's making one." James sighed, shrugging, this one to one weird, given they were brother and sister. And the dynamic was significantly weirder.

"Okay......so.....maybe he hasn't got the right idea of how to be a hero. Maybe that doesn't mean he's bad at it, and his mistakes come from that? Like, two out of three is good, even if one of them, he got his ass handed to him, the other, he.....did his thing. Maybe, he just needs someone to show him how to do it better because he's copying what he can't do himself. Going on his own, he has no reference level. Lunara was good, but, maybe he just needs someone to keep an eye on him who's a little lighter." She replied, James wondering where this was going.

"Go on? The team's got to be resilient. I can't give special treatment. Especially when I have new starters that need it more, and I know that Madcap is a long termer here. Wait....." James realised what she meant, right at the end, the cogs suddenly spinning as Lightning Girl put it into context.

"Well, how about I go for a dispatch with him? Can you do that?"

"Damn. You'd do that?" James asked, a little worried for her sister, especially after his rant.

"I dropped him off the other day and he seemed to take a shine to me. Before he kicks the shit out of you, maybe we try it? If you did the James shit sandwich special, yeah, Madcap was never going to react well to it. If he badmouthed me here, fine. But give us a job, I'll look after him and show him some ropes. And if he has a problem, he can take it up with me." She asserted, Sophie suddenly revealing a side to her that James hadn't seen.

"You doing my one to one Lightning Girl, or are you just....." James asked, chuckling as Sophie shrugged, not really sure if he was right.

"Eh. Maybe. Anyway, I apparently, can't open a fucking door to save my life. Sorry about that. No. So let me try and least make up for it." Sophie shrugged, almost wanting to redeem herself to her brother after earlier, blushing red again after thinking about it. 

"It happens. We laughed about it more than anything, and there's a whole form we need to do. Better that than the other chaos that could have gone down. But yeah. Think shit through. Slowly. Not everything can be fixed with electricity and violence." James chuckled, as Lightning Girl shrugged.

"True that. But we owe it to ourselves to try!" She joked, as James put his face into his hands, sighing.

"Yeah.....not this time."  

[hr]

[@cosmiccowgirl]

James knew he'd touched a nerve. So, he didn't prod. No point pushing. She had her control, and that was fine by him.

"I understand. Not trying to poke, just don't want you to be scared in case anything happens, is all. If you have any concerns, I'm happy to hear them, my door....shit, sorry, cubicle is always open." James replied, putting a positive, gentle spin back on things with a small laugh, at the end of her response about her identity.

The compliment was nice, at least.

"Thanks. It's not my first rodeo, but, it isn't easy. Deciding what is priority....who matters the most, and having no powers means I trust you completely to do the job. It's not as hard as what you do, out there, as a hero on the frontline. But if I can make sure you get the right job for your skills, I'll do that. Least someone like me can do, and well, I'm sure there will be more. My job is to look after you as well, Blackstar. Make you the version of you that is the best hero you can be." James added, smiling, leaving that one to one on a high note.

[hr]

[@SonnetNSunbeam]

Dispatcher for long? James wasn't sure. But well, what a question back that was. 

"Honestly, I have no idea. But, looks like it will be for the foreseeable. And in a way, being honest with you, the stability is nice. A team to call my usual....it's better than constantly moving. I don't work here ironically, Asteroid, but I know heroes and I know you'll all make it work, even when the going gets tougher. In our industry, it does." James added, realising he  was showing a side of himself he hadn't in any other 1-2-1. Almost a vulnerability, but in a strange way, a trust to the team.

"There might be some harder ones. So just be ready. Keep up the good work, and we'll just have to see what progress looks like." With that, the meeting came to a gentle end, not much said, yet plenty given out.

[hr]

[@Thayr]

The response was surprisingly honest. And given the redhead across from the other redhead in chinos and a shirt had broken ice, James felt honest enough to let down his walls to Payback.

"I think you already did well at helping people. Even if you didn't like it. I don't like coming into work either. But, it pays the bills, and right now, sounds like it beats anything else for you, prison, especially. It's a part of normality I guess. We do things we don't like. I won't get prison. But I know enough about the US penal system to know it's a shitshow. There's no redemption there....but there is here. Even if it's gonna come slowly." James replied to her last segment, sipping tea down, leaning forwards.

"And I think we might still find a way to find you work after, even if you like being a thief. If stealing is what you are good at, maybe, let's reframe it. In fact.....I think I might have some ideas. Maybe we just need to find you the right.....thing. Yes, the right score." James replied, a smile on his face. Ice had cracked. He had gotten through to her. And an idea formed in his head, realising all of a sudden, what Payback really was. What a thief really was good at. She wasn't Invisgal. No, she was so much more capable, she was a bullet without a target. Someone who could break security, and put her powers to a terrifying use. And that meant not thinking like anyone else, but finding a new purpose.

She just hadn't realised it yet, but James might have seen from that one little talk, meant he was going to find her that target.

"That's something for another time. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate your honesty. And appreciate this isn't what you want. But I respect your reasons. Don't ever let anyone tell you they're not worthwhile ones. Nobody has their shit all sorted out. Not you, me, or Kat, Lightning Girl, anyone. If you're open with me, I'll do anything I can to help you." James sat up, finishing, knowing it was time to move onto the next.

"Thanks, Myla. That is, if you're comfortable with me using that name...I'll let you go, call in the next." James said to her, the last phrase, most likely to resonate.

Did he know everything about all of them? Of course not. But he could tell, there and then, she wanted to be seen more than a stupid hero. 

James could see her for who she was without those powers and that addition to stealing.

[hr]

[@BigPapaBelial]

Jameds nodded, smiling as Hat Trick just kept talking. Holy shit, he had a lot of energy on him. A lot of mindset. And he liked that. His honesty. His passion. But even he couldn't handle it all, perhaps, like how Myla couldn't. So he smiled.

"Fair enough, Hat Trick. The team needs someone to gel around, and so I appreciate you doing that, as part of this role. There's a team behind you so if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask." James smiled, knowing the big man's donut contribution had kept morale up a bit higher, especially after a couple of not so great dispatches.

"They'll need all the support they can get. Claremont's not been doing great. But, we up our social numbers, and billboards, work, and everything else will flood in. It'll give us more resources. More in the way of help. And even for you, I could see a promotion in your future if you can drum up numbers." James teased, alluding strongly, knowing while he didn't have the power, Kat absolutely could.

"Thanks for this. I'll let you get going." 

[hr]

[@Redking0380]

Nothing he could do. James exhaled. She looked like she was having an existential crisis. He felt like he was having an existential crisis. His packet of Fishermans Friends were, an existential crisis. Nothing he could help. He knew that feeling. And didn't dwell on it hard. Princess was unique, a truly, truly eldrich horror among others. The pretty face masked a beast that had so many different forms that it wasn't worth asking where it came from. But, here she was, cheerfully in programme. And doing some good.

"Well, if ever I can help, I'm here to listen. You're doing good so far, so I just want to make sure this all works out. Thanks, Princess. I'll let you get on."

[hr]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Late Afternoon Stint[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Back in the chair, James sippped down more tea, and put his music back on in his ear.

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAon1zRrAkw]Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro[/url]
[/b]

Typing, clattering, chewing on a packet of Midget Gems that Sophie had brought back from a Tesco in Holyhead, Wales. Part of her usual "grocery" run to get UK based sweets and treats back home. The donuts and snacks from Hat Trick had fuelled him and the team, and he was extremely grateful for it. First beer would be on his personal card though, James thought to himself. That was for later.

Outside, the sun had fully set.

And Claremont's A Team was back on shift, as Lightning Girl leeched some power from the rooftop transformer once again, cackling and floating up, before static flying into a rainy night, no thunder or lightning able to make it really appeal.

The rain had started to ratchet up, and was coming in "waves", sometimes pouring a deluge, sometimes a fine mist. It made visibility poor, but when it rained, it poured. 

[hr]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]When It Rains, It Pours[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

The tasks had gone well, as James clattered away, taking back over from Tyler, a few more high profile jobs coming in. He nodded to Tyler, taking control for this one, comms on private.

"Okay, Lightning Girl, Madcap, I need you at VICE Nightclub. VIP night on and they need support with the doors. Head there and they'll give you high vis vests, comms for their end, and you'll be there until 8pm. Keep the peace and show SDN's public face." James added, sending the pin to them both. Lightning Girl had RTB'd, and looked for Madcap, getting ready to carry him there if needs be.

A bit more time elapsed. The shift was continuing.

A small job popped up. He knew who might be able to take this on. After their chat, James decided it was best maybe he didn't throw Eclipse too hard at the fire. He'd been on a lot of heavy calls, so maybe, this might be more his angle, and shadows and teleportation seemed ideal for the task.

"Eclipse, I've got a kid in northern Claremont who's lost his balloon in a tree. Yes, I know, but if you could get there and get it back, that would be great. Subscriber is really high priority. Routine chance to show him why we're the best and score some points." James felt he couldn't sell it well to Eclipse, but that would be like selling sand to a Libyan. Someone had to do it, and today, Eclipse was on that task. Private comms had helped at least shield that from the rest of the team, on that occasion.

Then two more. Much, much more serious jobs. Fuck. It had been not too bad up until now, the rainy night being mostly patrols and quiet check ins.

They were both black-scored. The emergency services contact had pegged these as critical priority, and that meant a full response was needed. It wasn't a kaiju, nor a serious heist, but two equally bad situations that were going to be hard to solve.

[b]"Feno, Payback, Blackstar, we've got a high speed pursuit in progress on Interstate 10, suspects headed west in a black Chevy Suburban. Robbery gone wrong, dead civies, will update you in route....recommend you move ASAP. Feno, either you or Blackstar will need to carry Payback."[/b]

The other one felt intuitive in terms of who to send, because it was all he had left.

[b]"Asteroid, Hat Trick, Princess, we have a house fire in San Antonio Heights, civvies at risk. Pin sent, need you there, ASAP." [/b]

[hr]

[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Tuesday
19:15
VICE Nightclub, Claremont
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Electric Atmosphere[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x01uHnALSmo]Bicep- Vale[/url]
[/b]


The nightclub had pounding music that reverbed every time the door opened. A former bank, inclusive of a massive vault turned into the best nightclub in eastern Los Angeles, VICE felt like the place to be if you wanted even a midweek session. A fairly renowned Northern Irish pair of DJs were on the deck, so Sophie didn't even feel like the only British Isles originating person here.

It was a electronica night, and Bicep had decided to grace the world with tunes that didn't feel like they were going to implode Lightning Girl's brain tonight. Her ears were absolutely ringing, but the air felt lit up, and it felt cosy in only the way rave music could. She liked this, of course. But she had a job to do. Make sure the people coming in, standing in a long queue in the rain, super or not, had tickets, had nothing dangerous on them, and weren't intoxicated.

Lightning Girl stood at the front of the queue with a yellow bib over her white-grey suit and a headset for speaking to the Chief of Security, yet she still was taller than most supers and non-supers that were coming in. It seemed strange to put a woman, let alone someone as smile-y as Lightning Girl to be here, a bouncer at this sort of club. But, a mixed detail was always a boon. Women felt awkward being patted down by some burly guy, so, she was there as the friendly face. And having a superhero like her on the cards, well, it made crowd control easier. She was known in this community, after all, she was one of Claremont's easy to show off heroes, a face on a bus there, a billboard which Sophie still hadn't visited, and refused to believe was real, yet.

"Yep, all good." She had patted someone down, searching for drugs, weapons, anything that could cause a bad time. 

She was smiling. This was like a long time ago.

She had that memory. Sophie stopped being Sophie when she saw that guy rest a hand on her. She started being a hero. Realising that power. The fact that when he tried to punch her, she didn't flinch. She just sent voltage back and watched him fly into that skip and break half a dozen bones like a ragdoll.

Power changed everything. It made her realise it was terrifying. But man if it wasn't cool.

"Have a good time!" She added as the lanky man headed in, as the next person stepped forwards in the queue, and so far, Madcap hadn't fucked anything up, dealing with the other queue.

"You doing good, Madcap?" She asked, adjusting her cowl, the cape in the cloakroom. This was Lightning Girl in a more "sporting" configuration, practical, still all the hero that anyone coming to VICE would see. And if they were to cause trouble? Well, she had plenty of juice thanks to a recent substation that had flooded her neurons with power. In the rain, her skin may have hurt, like weird pins and needles, but it was a night that wasn't at least as insane as what she heard over the comms next.

Another club-goer came by, unable to show her phone ticket on her device.
"I got this." And so Lightning Girl gave a gentle zap to the port, smiling back, the noise making it clear that she was trying to be helpful. The device rebooted, and the QR code appeared, as she scanned it and the noise came back. 

[hr]

[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Tuesday
19:21
Northern Claremont
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]A Single Luftballon[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Eclipse  would find himself outside of a quiet suburban environment, the rainy sky illuminated by the streetlights, and a kid with his parents outside looking up at a tree, before being confronted with a shadowy, armoured up figure. This wasn't Fenomaman. This wasn't even a hero that could fly. Why him? 

"Wow, a hero from SDN! Thanks for coming so fast!" The kid exclaimed, still excited to see a real life hero, as were his parents, proud that their son was seeing a hero for the first time. The rain pattered down, but the helium balloon, with "8" written on it, perhaps an indication of why the balloon was up there in the first place, was not moving.

"Could you get the balloon from the tree? It would be so cool if you could!" He squeaked, pointing up, the conifer at least five storeys tall, and a heritage tree that had been stuck in the environment. It felt like such a low stakes job, but then again, James knew the score with stuff like this. The subscriber was a fairly rich and powerful individual, and on his plan, he had to consider even jobs like this. So, Eclipse it was given the wider situation.

[hr]

[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Tuesday
19:30
Interstate 10
Southern Claremont / Heading twards Central LA
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The John Bunnell Special[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

On the flipside, the gunfire and the high speed chase would be visible on the interstate from the elevated view that Blackstar, Payback and Feno-maman had. Cutting through the "wave" like effect of rainy clouds above the streetlight filled interstate they'd see a car rapidly cutting through dense post-work traffic, as sub-machinegun fire would be blasted backwards towards the police cruisers in pursuit. With gunfire pouring from the Chevy Suburban, stolen, and full of loot from a robbery, they were not stopping for donuts, or anyone. Weaving in and out of traffic on the way down, and unlike the jewel heist from earlier, two people had lost their lives when SDN Ontario hadn't gotten there in time. 

The chase was fast, and the driver seemed disinterested in stopping. Spike strips or ramming seemed the only other option, but given how fast they were going, the robbers were making a move to terrify the police into backing down, or even getting ahead. A police chopper couldn't go in this weather, so, heroes it was.

The robbers weren't supers, or villains, that much was clear. Just regular assholes. But there were civies that were in the crossfire around them, the SUV like a gigantic battering ram. The heists, sure, there were people at risk, but this was something else. James got the message he wasn't happy to hear, but, needed to pass on. The police could back down of course, but given the speed, risks, and everything that had so far gone down in this chase, simply following them, even with supers, wasn't an option. They had to shut this down now, before what was a chase turned into a spree and innocent people getting hurt. 

The tracker moved, as the target did, making the heroes in flight have to reallocate themselves to follow, and pursue as the cops did below.

"Team, local PD has given you permission to use lethal force. You need to stop that car, by any means needed. Civies got killed in the heist that SDN Ontario couldn't stop. Now they're on our turf, we end this now. Repeat, lethal force, if you need it.....arrest if you can but they're armed to the teeth." James had grit in his voice, like he was chewing on granite.

Situations like this could escalate seriously. More people could get hurt. And of all the things at SDN, one thing was critical. Property could be damaged, collateral happened, of course, within reason. But civilians getting hurt, irrespective of where you came from, what you did. 

Another team's failure was not going to be Claremont's.

Moving traffic was tough to manage, but as the black Suburban weaved in and out of traffic, heroes would be under fire if they flew close. But if they didn't, the consequences could be so much worse. 

[hr]

[color=orange][center][h1][i][b]
Tuesday
19:35
San Antonio Heights
[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Fire and Water[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

When Asteroid, Hat Trick and Princess would arrive at the burning house in the hills, the fire department were trying to contain a blazing inferno, in spite of rain, made worse by the fact that all the vegetation behind it was ablaze.

The heat felt like a second sun. It burnt hot, the cladding aflame and starving the oxygen out of the air even from the driveway where the fire truck was parked.

"Thank god you're here! There's civies inside. We can cover you, can you get them out and help put out this fire? There's propane bottles inside, we don't get those removed, it's going to be a hell of a situation!" The fireman asked, respirator over as at this point, no doubt, the heroes. The water was being poured from the nearby hydrant into the hoses they sprayed on the house, keeping it at bay, but this fire was clearly escalating and getting out of hand.

In this instance, ice and fire might have been the obvious approach, but of course, civies were priority and so was stopping this turning into an even bigger blaze. They had to go into the fire, otherwise they'd drown the people they were trying to save, rather counterintuitively.

Heroes were more resilient, more strong. And more than anything, brave. Firemen without powers might have been braver, but without the breathing apparatus and the sheer heat, all three that had been dispatched were going to struggle.

But if ever there was a moment for the two Phoenixes and Hat Trick to make it count, it would be now.