[color=orange][center][h1][i][b] Tuesday 21:01 The Cowl Inn Downtown Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Earth to Sky[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] (Collab with [@Pragia12]) It was dark out now, Fenom was not the best at parties, but the conversation with his lookalike cutout was a highlight of the night. It was always good to find people who could relate to him, and while some would say that he had the personality of cardboard, he thought that he had far more interesting things to say. Things were winding down as he looked through the window. Alcohol didn’t really have any impact on his superhuman physiology, but the expectation was to drink, so he did. The bright orange of a mango daiquiri reminded him of his tropical island vacation weekend. ___ And the last beer was finished, Lightning Girl waved goodbye to Blackstar and Asteroid. Oh, they were a thing. It wasn't like how maybe they thought her and Eclipse were. No, it was so obvious. It was basically there, and well, as Lightning Girl leaned against the bar, she watched as Asteroid stumbled and Blackstar held onto him, leading him home, before leaping up into the sky. As she also headed out, she was nearly the last one left, seeing Feno also following her out, having enjoyed a fruitful mango daiquiri, from a time well spent. Feno. Jeez, the guy was a lovely character, and while he had even less about him than Phenomaman did about how people worked, he was nothing but the model hero, if you stripped away perhaps some of the human factor. A smile cracked on her face, before the drizzle picked up. “See you tomorrow, Pheno. I’m gonna go enjoy the stars a little bit. You probably travel faster, don’t you?” She said, a little blue after all of what happened earlier and now everyone was gone, putting hand over face to stop the rain from soaking her chin that almost had a static look to it, soaking her more and more as she stood outside, the grey and white hero illuminated by the blue lamplight of neon and streetlighting. She zipped up her little hip pack with her phone away, and cowl attached to face. Fenom took up most of the doorway, looking up for a moment and considering “Yeah, but it’s harder to know where you’re going when you’re faster.” he says simply. “It would still take a couple days to get there.” he seemed unconvinced she could get to the stars for the night. Lightning Girl laughed, broken from her little routine, smiling, the man pure innocence. Holy shit. He was just like that. And while every hero looked up to Phenomaman, well….the pre-breakup one, Feno just seemed like a copy that reminded her of the old times. She wanted to go into the sky away from this, even after it was all said and done. But, Feno was right. “Then maybe come with me. Maybe slow down. I’ll show you what I enjoy seeing.” Lightning Girl said, sparks flying from her hands, gesturing for him to follow. Fenom’s brow would raise, it was all too easy for him to say “What is it?” he’d offer as he leaves the entryway, effortlessly floating up a few feet above the cars. Lightning Girl smiled, looking up at the gaps in cloud. “I like trying to get some perspective. Looking on the city from afar. I can’t go as high as you I’m afraid. My lungs would give out.” She replied, knowing Feno might not fully understand perspective. Of the sentimentality of it all. If only he knew what lungs were in any way that mattered “Then how do you go to the stars?” he seemed sympathetic, if a bit confused. Lightning Girl realized maybe he hadn’t quite understood. Nothing like a little bit of awkwardness, but given the day’s events, she was hardly one to talk. “Not uhh…literally. More just within the atmosphere. The bit I can breathe in. Not sure what would happen to me actually, if I went into space. Never tried.” She noted, putting a hand out to Feno before he offered. “I’d rather not find out tonight though. I wouldn’t be able to work tomorrow if I died because I can’t breathe. Maybe.” Okay, she was broken herself, laughing, at the entire evening’s antics and looking back up again. “Right. I’m not enjoying this rain much….ready?” He seemed unphased, but his grip was measured when he took her hand, he did know how to manage his strength to some degree. “We will need to try sometime, I breathe alright up there, but as you wish!” he says, a small smile on his face, he thought she was being playful. There was a gnawing thought in her head. Why ask him to join? Well, as she leapt up, and just clambered, and clambered, and clambered, she felt like that wasn’t the point. Fuck it. May as well not be completely alone on the commute home. Lightning Girl punched through cloud, and kept going, and going, the static burning behind her into darkness illuminated by starlight outside of the light pollution, the ozone and vapour fading the higher she climbed, as she didn't stop, knowing Feno had no challenge at all keeping up. She didn’t stop. Maybe she was trying to leave the planet. She felt like if she had earlier, she would have given how she felt. And she hadn’t been kidding to Feno either, she had no idea of what her body would do beyond the atmosphere. Cosmic -derived powers maybe did something to that end? Who knew. She kept going, and going…. Until it felt cold enough for her to, and the urge stopped. The energy felt steady state. Any more and she'd run out of anything to hold her. This would be nothing to Feno, who was elegant, poised, able to fly into the planets and stars without much thought. But to her, this was everything. And high in the skies, far above clouds and earth, was a certain kind of quiet. And she could just hold. Stay static, barely thinking, able to enjoy it all for a moment without pushing to hard from her hands and feet. The oxygen was thin. She had no idea how high she was, her watch seemed to freeze with all the water she'd accumulated, turning to ice as she felt the shiver be reacted to by her heart palpitating, like what Eclipse had experienced. She breathed out, metabolising the air that felt barely 10% of what it was below, and taking a photo of how small LA looked from this high, from between the clouds. It was like a distant dot, the way an airliner might look down, but even further. A quiet, lonely moment. Yet one not left totally alone. Lightning Girl was quiet, almost unnervingly so, and Feno was like a spectre holding her hand. She supposed he didn’t have as much of a need for noise, he had almost the same serenity as he was in the thick of the bar. Lightning Girl looked right and sighed, looking back on it all, wondering how to put it to him. He was innocent. Almost incapable of understanding it at all. Emotions, feelings, all of it. It all came so easy. And yet he almost didn’t know what came on the other side. “Why do you call me Sparky, Feno?” She interrupted those thoughts with a question, realising she genuinely had never asked it. Never had really come out to query him over it. He was the only one to call her that, after all. His shrug didn’t help much “You’re sparky.” he said simply “Names are hard to remember.” he never really used names with anyone, even aliases didn’t stick. She chuckled, smiling as she shook her head, nodding. “I suppose they are.” She replied, as she flicked off her mask, keeping it in hand, knowing Feno wouldn’t remember. Or share. She remembered looking over James’s shoulder once upon a time and well, Feno was an experiment. A product, but, he was still sort of flesh and bone but all charm. And that he wouldn’t give her away. Neither her work self…..or this. “Well…..I’m Sophie. Behind that mask at least.” She said, knowing even Eclipse didn’t know from earlier, and that was probably for the best. She didn’t know him that well, nor Feno, but the latter at least might not remember. But, she felt in some weird way, up this far, looking from almost 100,000 feet above sea level, like showing her face and name to someone who couldn’t quite share. The cowl was icy, and her hair seemed to follow it, even if given how insanely thin oxygen was up here, it wasn’t affecting her speech. Of all people, given that knowledge she had, Feno probably wouldn’t spill the beans, she hoped. “Though…..don’t say that over the comms. That one is me. Sparky is…..well, someone I suppose I play at. I suppose that’s what I wanted you to see.” She chuckled, smiling to him, a co-worker, someone after her two more beers, she was now more tipsy and open toward. Fenom’s expression would soften some. He understood the significance, but the glassiness in those eyes didn’t really go away. “Sophie.” he started, before stopping himself, something was itching at the back of his mind with a brief flinch “Why play at someone when you can be someone?” he asked, it was, as always, so painfully simple to him. “Is Sparky a bad thing to be?” Sophie dwelled on that question longer than she would like. Longer than she would want to, by a lot more than her usual self. “Most of the time I love it. But….sometimes it isn’t easy.” She left the sentence unsaid, thinking to herself about earlier. And all of it. She’d already had one intimate chat for a night. She wasn’t sure how much she could handle another. “I guess it’s part of work. Separating the human me from this.” She replied, sincere, looking over to his gaze, the alien clone the last person she wondered she would be pouring her heart out to. Like Madcap, but hey, at least he….knew some boundaries? Maybe? “It’s important to have boundaries. Like how you went to Hawaii. Enjoyed the sunshine and melon buffets. But it’s not so simple for me.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Okay, even when it looks like it is. Fine. But you’re also adjusting.” “Its a good thing to be Phenomaman.” he said flatly, almost rotely. There wasn’t nothing going on back there in his mutton-chopped head. To him, it was that simple. “Boundaries get in the way too much.” he said, the last boundary he had an issue with was punched through without much issue. Sophie chuckled, finding him almost a bit more endearing than Madcap. Okay, sure, maybe didn’t quite understand, but, she had to at least respect that he was still learning certain things. Things that maybe most hadn’t fully understood, and had the grace to know when to maybe not go insane on people. “Yeah……I mean, I kicked in a door today and failed. You opened up a car. What is a boundary if not…..fixable by heroes.” She shook her head and chuckled, looking out on the distant lights of the city far, far below, the white haired heroine fixing her cowl back on, glad to have a little bit of a deep talk to enjoy this with. “Well, a door is more of a boundary than a car. Maybe heroes are worse at dealing with boundaries.” It was almost annoying how glib he seemed to be, but Fenom wasn’t one to really know the wisdom of his own words. Sophie could at least see it, but hey, he was learning that. Or at least, beginning to pick things up, but, well, he did drop a dime like that. She was sure he would pick up more as more time was spent about, as Lightning Girl looked back at the sight of it all, thinking on that in the relatively dry atmosphere out of clouds. “Yeah. Maybe.” She was perhaps being a little too indirect, at least, by his standard, as she let go of his hand, realising she had to adjust herself to stay up, as Feno was naturally a lot more powerful. “Shit, sorry! You are…..a lot better at this…..flying thing than I am.” She said, staticing back up to his level, holding passively, wiping the ice from her watch, trying to get it to work again. Fenom was more of a static fixture in the stars, holding himself still. “I might need to head back. Home is that way. Where is home for you, Feno?” “I live at SDN, have a room in the basement.” he says simply, not seeming to think much of it. “They don’t want me in my own apartment.” It seemed pretty obvious to her why, but to him it was a mystery. The gears turned for Lightning Girl, realising she hadn’t quite understood it before but it now had become fairly simple. Yeah, that tracked. Damn. This felt a bit morally weird. A hero that was…..well, she had no idea how Feno was here. Almost part of her felt like she wanted to ask, but she felt like that was a conversation for another time. It had been too heavy tonight, and well, she was sure they’d catch up again. The night was getting late and she was feeling the electricity in her body begin to fade a little, dripping away from the transformer she’d earlier peeled power from. “Ahh, that was your door near the gym. I always wondered. I suppose in LA, it’s cheaper rates than whatever I pay for.” She joked, inside her not wanting to probably state any of the obvious. He laughed with her, seemed to understand it on some level. God (or James) knew how he managed his money, or more likely who managed it for him. “It is easy to get to work.” he says with a grin. “And I can go where I want.” he explained, they trusted him enough, or more likely they couldn’t really stop him. Lightning Girl laughed, nodding, getting that. “And the gym is next door. That is a good point. Maybe I’ll have to move closer.” She replied, pointing out in the far distance, just behind a cloud, into what seemed like the middle of nowhere, where her house was, or at least, was beyond a blur this high up at the very edge of LA. “Because commuting sorta sucks. But, could be worse!” She grinned, sighing as she drifted away, looking over her shoulder, white hair blustering a bit, reflecting on everything. Falling for Quickdraw at the club. The failed dispatch. Tsunami punching James, and her nearly killing Tsunami over it. And then talking to Eclipse. Now this. It felt like a blur. Probably a sign she needed a bit more power, or at least, to turn off the switch at the plug for this version of her. “I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for joining me.” She smiled, hands to strap as she gently tightened it.He remained up there, looking down to her with a nod “See you tomorrow.” he repeated, his gaze drifting to the city as she fell from the heavens. She cracked a final smile back to Fenomaman, before tumbling down, her watch-linked phone app giving her a rough direction of where to face and where to fall. It didn't take much energy, and with the mask back on, she closed her eyes, and let go from her hands and feet, and fell. With her arms and legs put out in a tracking position, she could cover the distance, and fall gracefully, her cape fluttering, falling like a dart towards earth. Towards home, no power needed. She could save that to break her fall. It was time to get some sleep and hope tomorrow would be a better day. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b] Thursday 12:15 Claremont SDN, Claremont [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Return to Work[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] With the taxi dropping him off, James wondered on in, backpack on, waving to Samson as he wondered towards the lift. With a ping, the lift carried him up as he sipped hard from his thermos, drinking coffee, reluctantly, this time at least something Sophie brought home from the UK. Italian coffee. It hit like crack. Ding. The doors opened, as James had headed in, early as usual, where Kat was waiting for him as she chatted to Martha, dressed in her usual business attire, white and black striped shirt with black trousers, turning and smiling, the Branch Director cheerful as ever. Cynical she was, sure, sarcastic, but that meant James and her worked well together. It wasn't some scary relationship, given James didn't see her as a "boss", but someone who let him do his work and in turn, happened to luck out with him staying here to look after her A-Team. So having him back from his day off, recovering from being punched in the face was of course, a pleasure. "Hey, James. Damn. Didn't ruin your face completely then." Kat joked, as James nodded, both of them shaking hands, the story not quite out as to what specifically happened, but Kat knowing enough. Shapeshifters always did. James didn't lie, but damn, did he make sure the story didn't gain traction. "Yeah. It's healing better than I thought. I wanted back in rather than feeling sorry. Alan's pills helped." James replied, as Kat smiled, nodding, out here because there was another eason. "Good, good.....listen, hate to drop this on you on short notice, but Valerie is coming over. "Oh, fuck." "She's fine. Listen. We go way back. She's coming over as a favour to me." "Right?" "And I may have hurt her feelings in the budget in the process of keeping you. I'll handle it. I wouldn't have you otherwise." "Well, thanks Kat. Appreciate it. I didn't want to get on her bad side....." "Yeah, well, you deliver results and I ain't got anyone else. Look sharp." The team would hear the elevator ding, and what appeared to be a black haired, black and silver business suit wearing, Viking queen of a woman emerge. She looked like she fought bears and won. A luxury, designer leather bag around her side, and she stank of Espresso coffee, vanilla and Chanel, almost to a point where it felt like you could taste the rose and caffeine. She was literally overwhelming every single sense, even taste, given how strong that perfume was. Valerie Halliday was the Regional Director for SDN's operations in Los Angeles, and a thousand years of being alive, killing literally everyone from Danish people, Greenlandic people, indigenous tribes from coast to coast of North America, the French, Spanish, Mexicans, English, Americans, Germans, Cubans had finally mellowed out into a woman that now seemed about aged into her 40s and about past her bloodlust, with an Americanised accent that stuck. She seemed to almost shake a loose table as she walked. The joke about legs stopping traffic seemed to die because it looked like Valerie could kick anyone in the office into orbit. It was likely she had. Kat shapeshifted up, her entire body growing as she hugged the Regional Director, something James found weird. Shit, didn't know they knew each other that well. "Val, good to have you in. Valerie, this is James Speight, are you...." "We've met." "We've met." Valerie answered, looking to Kat as the Claremont Director shrank, back to normal size. James did know her. James knew her well. "Good to see you, Kat. It seems like you are enjoying retirement. I was always surprised you picked Claremont, but hey. A quiet life is respectable." Valerie added, it indicating just how menacing she was given her own form not shifting down. No, she continued to dominate, as every single head and eye would be turned, heels clacking on carpet. The three walked through the office, and headed immediately to a meeting room. Ms Halliday had plenty on her hands, and a buzz of her BlackBerry looking phone gave James and Kat respite, but only for a few minutes. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b] Thursday 12:35 Rooftop Claremont SDN [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Another Rooftop[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJzcqO77sW0]ABBA- SOS[/url] [/b] Lightning Girl's commute in the post-storm, blazing sunshine was one she could smell all that post-rain petrichor in. A song from James's playlist, that she was playfully singing along to. A white-haired girl and ABBA were a match made in basic bitch heaven. Especially when she had more juice than a block party in her for the way in. An easy day before had made it at least easier to deal with her literal up and down of emotions, and James reporting he was okay made her at least rest easier last night. He was back on the mend, back in work even, given every day he didn't work was a day unpaid. She was unsure why he still lived at hers. A hotel, anywhere else, surely it would be within range? Maybe he just liked company. She didn't know her own brother entirely, but had to guess at least that from how he had been looking, his priorities were work, and keeping everything turning. Classic him. Fucking workaholic. But then again, so was she, because it was a gloriously lovely sunny day in Thursday in the City of Angels, or rather, the City of Trees and PhDs. Flying low, she could inhale all the pine trees, and it was beautiful. It was the small things really. And there it was. Work. The usual timing, as the song began to cut, and she noticed a grey-armoured figure on the roof. She set down by Eclipse. She floated on electricity, standing upright, before falling down, sitting down right by him. "This is my schtick. You saw me on the roof thinking you could do it. Admit it. You're a little envious." She chuckled, giving him a little nudge, looking out at the city streets below, people going about their day, knowing that if they were subscribers, they were one phone call away from a hero coming to save their day. She dipped her hand into his Cheetos packet and chewed away, wiping the dust off her gloves, giving a chef's kiss, smiling back. "Yum. Thanks. And....cheers for the other night. I wasn't all myself. But, you probably saved me from doing something really stupid." She retorted, smiling to him, looking out. "I appreciate that. Very heroic of you. Bet you fucking hate it, don't you. You wanna be nothing but shadowy rather than that. You would fit in perfectly in Manchester with all of how grey it is and people don't talk as much as me." She poked through his armour almost with that, knowing she'd seen another side to him. Another side that maybe he hadn't quite yet gotten to. Lightning Girl enjoyed the view of the midday sun, cape fluttering a little, bouncing off his suit, as she yawned and clambered up, realising it was about that time. Not coffee time. Electricity time. "Best you stay back for a second...just need a top up." She walked across the roof, and with a leap, across to the adjacent block, finding the transformer she usually threw herself against. And in a manner that Eclipse would probably find disturbing, she put her hands to both ends, and was spat away, feet above it, being physically shaken like a cocktail in a bartender's hands. And Lightning Girl took on power. A power that seemed to pick her up off her feet, and she seemed to almost pulsate, turn white-hot, before releasing, and letting go, dropping onto the floor, her eyes paled out, before the semblance of any colour and grey returned with her pupils back in. "Better. Sorry. Flying takes it out of me." She replied clicking her neck. She didn't hide what she was. Not after a flight like that. She needed a stab of power. Eclipse had to deal with withdrawals. So did she, but at least they didn't hook her. Maybe they had more in common than they liked to admit, she thought to herself, as she looked to him before walking down, foot up on a grate, cape fluttering in breeze, cowl on, silhouette near perfect. If you had to frame a grey-suited, heroine that filled the suit she had with power and poise, it would be it from Eclipse's point of view. "I appreciate what you said you'd be willing to do. You don't have to do that for me.....but....thanks. See you at work." Sophie almost appreciated him a little, he was more than what that faceplated helmet would ever allow. What she was was someone vulnerable. Someone who needed help. And as a heroine, well, she couldn't help herself. But she had other things to do, and a work that required saving people. She dropped down and seemed to take no fall damage, going in before Blackstar met Eclipse on the roof, making sure she was as ever, on time. No gym today, just a bit of pre-work admin. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b] Thursday 12:38 Meeting Room Claremont SDN [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]SLACK: RD Meeting[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] The meeting room was dominated, as Valerie finally put the phone down across from Kat and James who sat at the opposite end of the long meeting table, her jaw bouncing, scowling almost. Even in spite of distance, Valerie made it look like she sat across from them. Fucking hell, she was one batch of steroids from looking like the fucking Hulk. "Fucking, maggots." Valerie seemed almost, as she leaned in, sitting down in the chair at the end, still enormous despite however. She was still angry after her call. "Kat, why are we paying this grifter so much money? He don't have eight arms, he can't be that good, so why is he on my budget? Even if Max and Sarah talk good...." "His numbers are impressive. About the only thing I have holding the Phoenix Programme locally together. And I told Payroll to put him to Central, not East. We talked about this." Kat stated, breathing out. "I told corporate we need him, and Max agreed it. Right now, I cannot hire any dispatchers worth a damn. You gave me that at least, otherwise we look like those jerks in Pasadena." Kat was blunt, and defensive of James, all things considered, stuff he appreciated. Kat was ex-Special Forces, Detachment Delta, from what James understood. As capable with a gun as she was in shapeshifting. Someone who killed people in cold blood, but right now, knew how to tame that to not be overbearing. Especially not in front of her boss, and it seemed, a close work colleague. Defending James was certainly principle she was a good egg. Valerie, ehh, not so much keen. "Well, and I appreciate you understand being in the room, James, but, this is a lot of money and it's on my fucking pile right now. Kat, you know he ain't cheap. At least we need him on something......else." Valerie almost barked, as James spoke up. "Look, if you're committing long term because you need dispatch services, I'm sure I can disc..." Valerie stared daggers at him, as she put hands to table, not needing much force to spill tea all over his shirt. "I ain't interested. The other dispatchers find out what I'm paying you, you're gonna get so much worse than a broken nose, that's the fucking point." Valerie retorted, before looking to Kat. "Well, look at the numbers first. He makes us way more P&L than we had even with Riley. We're doing miracles, so all I'm saying is, take the hit in your budget and you get results that offset the problem." Kat reminded Valerie, the warrior queen not exactly flexing a ton of intellect, but enough to at least listen to someone she had respect and time for. Whipping to her suit jacket and a pair of extremely expensive designer reading glasses were on. She took the paperwork, and silently, ominously, went through them, before putting them down, listening to Kat, talk away. "And, he is temporary, so yeah, we all agree, it isn't gonna last because James has better things to do. I'll get him to train the next dispatcher when I get someone who ain't gonna fail assessments....but I ain't got much. Not with this ratio of Phoenix Programme, which, I may remind you, you sent here because Pasadena and DTLA turned up their noses at.....and Madcap. We need to talk about him." "Fine. Are you happy your P&L looks this good?" Valerie asked, as James did not dare reply. Fuck me. She needed one hard look and she'd break his nose again. "We happy." Kat chuckled, Valerie cracking a smile at the Pulp Fiction reference, as she breathed out, sighing as Valerie leaned back into her chair. "Madcap ain't my fuck to give. He's a liability. But out here, he can't fuck up too hard because the DoJ told us it's gonna cost them too much to keep him down. Anyway. That wasn't the reason for my visit. This asspit of LA is so fucking far from DTLA that a quake there ain't even making it here, but I am noticing an uptick in performance beyond Prince fucking Harry, [s]Andrew,[/s] Charles, Charming whatever the fuck, and you, Kat, are achieving." Valerie gave a significant tongue in cheek, but seemed to also be a little serious. "Team's performing well." James replied, pointing to the very obvious. Hoping Kat would jump in. She didn't. Valerie was on it, leaning forwards and mocking. Valerie was rough, rough as a Viking shieldmaiden could be, with zero chill for anyone. "'Team's performing well' yeah, no shit. Kat hires good people and you send those pricks out to do the dirty work, and they haven't yet fucked up completely. You ain't personally doing it. No offense, you ain't got powers, biggest thing you've moved out of the way's a suitcase." Valerie added, not letting James take any shine off of Kat's achievement. James nodded to Kat, the latter knowing it was a team effort, but, Valerie was ruthless. That dig at moving around as a consultant was particularly brutal. Kat took the lead. "Thank you. Powers or not, we're acheiving it. But you know that anyway, so, what did you want?" Kat replied, sipping down more coffee, Valerie leaning across. She liked Kat. A fellow warrior. Different. But, Kat knew the meaning of hurt. Of making people suffer. Kat was perhaps kinder, warmer, nicer in her retirement, but Valerie, had a literal millennium of breaking people into tiny pieces and was only just about starting to relish in maybe not doing that. Corporately though, maybe she had a millennium of it to go. "I thought I'd just.....swing on by. See a friend. And because everything seems addicted to going to shit in this world, I need some wins.....I came here thinking you'd be able to make some time to show off your success, Kat. And more importantly, give some higher ups need some good news. The kind that the A-Team......and James have made. The SDN DTLA-Hollywood Gala is on tomorrow evening." Valerie started, slurping down the rest of her Espresso, reluctant, but at least admitting it. She was cold, icy, shitty, but she wasn't a total bitch. You didn't get to Regional Director without making enemies, but it paid dividends to have friends. It wasn't worth putting people on hills to die on, just, a usual ribbing to send a reminder. "And I need some heroes who ain't a bunch of miserable pricks, including some Phoenix Programme heroes who aren't gonna go feral when I put them in a suit. Not some shiny, fucking nerds from San Fran, or 'community payback' bullshit from Compton who foam at the mouth when they see celebrities. No. No, I want normal heroes from a real fucking place where real fucking people live, to put in front of the Governor of California, and next to DTLA, A-Listers and Hollywood, so he keeps paying us instead of those bastard nerds, at that motherfucking, ass-eating start up from San Diego. I want heroes who will attend and not cause any problems. Can we do that?" Valerie finished, a reply confidently in turn coming from Kat. "We can do that." It was assured. Kat didn't have any reason, James nodding. Valerie nodded. "Good. James, if any single one of your team screw up, I will break every bone in their body, then your body....personally. Like I did to Torsten the Black when he tried to date my sister without telling me and I blood eagled him. I cannot understate how important this is. It's a a meet and greet, you show up, you say hi, you look good for cameras, leave. I can't understate this, we nearly had to close Burbank because the bean counters are scared we're gonna start losing public contracts with local government. We lose that, we're donzo in LA. Gimme something I can work with." Valerie did not fuck around. Holy shit. What pressure was she under? It meant that Kat had to be dealing with this all of the time, but, clearly they were friendly. The money aspect always got to people. But James knew he was right. He was talked to like shit, but, James knew that Valerie paid him unquestioningly, just wanted value. "Understood." James replied. "Excellent. Get this right, Kat here gets to warm up to the idea of an Assistant Regional Director while she cashes checks, and you, you actually might get a job in SDN that doesn't involve sending Madcrap an' Astrabastard to go wipe some fucking toddler's ass. I want an excuse to make you permanent so my financial line don't look so shitty paying money out of SDN. And I like it when my P&L looks crispy. Fuckers in San Jose are so smug...." The Regional Director was not exactly someone who despite her formal looks, spoke with the highest of formality. James had something to throw back. "It isn't you, but SDN haven't found the right role yet. It's why I'm independent. I've heard it before. When is this happening? What next? No offense, Valerie. It's been said to me a lot. Every Regional Director. Every time. Ends the same. I end up picking up that big heavy suitcase you talk about and walking away." James put it back to her. He didn't like her badmouthing the team, but then again, he was mortal, she was also, a Regional Director and looked like a thousand years of rage were behind her, replaced by corporate retirement. But, James told it how it was. Valerie might run through him, and he was scared. But he was anything if lacking fact that he knew how these things played out. Valerie's fist almost curled, as James held his line, Valerie breaking in before he added anything? "Oh, you ever feel bad about what you do? Milking me good when you're helping heroes?" Valerie asked, as Kat wished in that moment, James shut the fuck up. He should have learned from having his face punched. But as a consultant, he was the jester in the room. Able to tell it as it was. Not just suck up profusely. They paid for results, not for sycophants. James could tell just who Valerie was. He didn't have a superpower. He just knew how sometimes, you had to play a situation. Valerie didn't want weakness. She wanted warriors. Fighters. A Scandinavian level of directness. "I spent the last year running around saving SDN about twenty times what you pay me. Look, let's get down to brass tacks, yeah? Half the computers are running like absolute shit, half of the offices' dilap surveys showing half the place is falling to bits means there's gonna be big moves ahead, which means a shit-ton of logistics for some of the heroes we want to onboard, and to do that, cost cutting isn't gonna help, we need to get investment, and we do that by getting customer retention up. Phoenix Programme means you save money because you aren't paying half of them a living wage, and it takes one really big fuck up, at any branch, and the authorities kill any contracts we have with them in it." James stopped for breath. "I'm here to try and paper any crack that you have, so yeah, I'm working as hard as I can to keep things afloat like I'm inside this thing with as much on the line as you have, because you're right. You could kick me to the kerb and be done with it. Had that happen to me on Tuesday. I don't even get to sit down and have a normal life because I'm fighting wherever you have the worst fire, East Coast, West Coast. You pay me to be a fixer, so I'm fixing whatever it is. So I don't see it as milking you. This is all I have." James half rambled, putting his words back to Valerie, and putting emphasis on it. Fuck.. It wasn't his first time. But with Valerie, he knew she would only understand direct, straight, no bullshit. Even so, fuck, that was a bit much. But he meant it. He actually did. This was all he had. The life outside being this....workaholic, it didn't exist. Valerie laughed, looking at Kat, leaning back as she almost had a twink in her eye. Damn, okay, this is why Kat kept him around. Holy shit, that was funny, and well, bless him, for someone that took a punch to the face from a hero, well, he was a tryer. A fair point, but, she wouldn't have done that if she was in his place. But Valerie, well, she'd entertain that. Fine, let it roll. "He's funny. I like how brave he is for someone a bit more......mortal." Valerie chuckled, looking over. "Sure. Chief Growth Officer position just opened up and I'm expecting to be promoted. Who's to say I can't change things, given you seem to....have a track record in developing heroes. They couldn't. Now I could. I need people I can trust....who also ain't gouging the shit out of me, so, maybe let's change your tune.....if this goes well. But as for dispatching fucking heroes, you better give me Grade fucking A. Or I'll ask Snakebite to get some Python to eat your dick." Everyone laughed, as the point was made, but in a humerous way. Before Valerie cleared her throat. Holy shit, she was scary. Jesus. She looked like she could go cage fight Feno, and look classy doing it. "I mean that. Punch Up's got nothing on Snakebite's anacondas gobbling up your dick if I tell him to. Make sure it don't fuck up." The room turned to shadow again. Valerie stood as if to break that all, and with it, took the door. "James, me and Kat need to talk. If you would leave." James took the hint. Walking towards, the brute of a Regional Director sat again, and the voices continued, as he sheepishly made his way over to the break room, breathing out heavy, brushing the sweat from his forehead. "Who's that?" Lightning Girl asked, sitting at a table and sipping down tea, ready to go, all geared up with her pack in front of her. "Regional Director. Love of fuck. We need to tidy up, it looks like a shithole." James called, putting cups and mugs away, as Lightning Girl helped at least to try and make tidy, glancing. "Wait. Shieldmaiden? Oh damn, yeah, she is way bigger than the poster....." Lightning Girl looked back to James, even herself, feeling a little intimidated. Shit. It wasn't often someone scared her, but, Valerie had that effect. It was why she was a Regional Director, and not some heroine being deployed anymore. When you were immortal, you tended to give less of a shit about people's feelings when they would die by your hand, or simply be outlasted. She wasn't terrifying like Princess, nor perhaps as potent as Fenomaman was. But, she was by most standards, the blend of intellect, charm, vigor and sheer corporatism that moved gears when people like James and Kat couldn't. Even with what they did tidying, it wasn't fast enough. Valerie hadn't spent long talking to Kat, her steps clacking. On the way out, Valerie craned her neck into the break room, looking around at the state of it, James and Lightning Girl mixed up with clean up. And Madcap. She didn't have words, as she shot daggers at James, for uncertain reasons. It was a break room. What was wrong with it? It was an unannounced visit. Not their responsibility. Valerie would though. It was that Regional Director stare, almost that "I'm mad, but mad disappointed, not angry" energy she had. And she would cast a glance at every single one of the team. This was Claremont's A-Team? A fine bunch. But Kat was always a light touch, looking at each hero in particular, thinking on their file. She always looked at fine print. Well, not finanical, but as a hero herself, she was always interested. The black suited woman with brown hair, with her cowl on and her dark energy. Fear. The other black suited man, with stars on his suit and gravity. Escape. The shorter, armoured looking shadowy figure. Edgy. The obviously Canadian, ice hockey garb wearing Cree. The peacock. Phenomaman's parallel, towering imperfect. Impersonating. The casual looking redhead with her magnetism. Disillusioned. The almost black and white visage of the white-dress wearing shapeshifter. Lost. The muppet in a bug mask. Pretending. And the electricity wielding woman next to James. More than a word. She was in all of their heads. She knew every single one of their pain points. And she wasn't even James, she didn't know them like he did, she had this understating, unnerving ability. The sort of person you would love to have on your side in a fight, because Valerie was like a brick wall against the bad. Who needed more than just good results. She needed a personal reason, after a thousand years, the names all faded when what mattered was those who stayed by her side when it mattered. But against anyone she didn't like, it was terror. Not cosmic, just, the kind that seemed slow and then fast burning. Not even that of the SDN corporate machine, just of a one-woman raid. Valerie looked back to Kat and continued walking, their voices trailing as they left. "Kat, we'll talk later, we'll discuss the quarter at the monthly managers...." The lift doors opened, as James looked around at the assembled bunch, shaking his head. The ding indicating the lift was going down and the doors were shut. "Regional Director. Don't." James said nothing, leaving them to it, wiping the sweat from his head, wondering just what the fuck he'd done. [hr] [color=orange][center][h1][i][b] Thursday 12:44 Dispatcher's Corner Claremont SDN [/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]An Unusual Shift[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [@Auragreedia] James returned to his desk, with Raul working away on getting it back up and running after some problems James called in. The IT technician proudly showed off his work, and it looked more Dia de la Muerte than a workstation. But it would do. He took on the advice, nodding in return, not letting himself get in the way. Raul needed simple replies, nothing more, because he had a to-do list on his Slack that was getting longer and longer. Fucking hell. Work was a pain. But so was paying for food, Sophie's share of rent, and that all needed doing. He wasn't like Americans, work was work, it was a fucking job, but he was rather addicted to it. That made him more like the people in Claremont than he wanted to admit. Every now and then, leaving this behind, taking proper, real time for himself, came to mind. Instead of nearly being killed by Tsunami, and right now, having to tell Valerie what he thought. A suicidal way even by a shapeshifting boss of his right now to start the day, but oh well, James wasn't an ass-sucker. They didn't pay him to do that, not enough, he thought to himself. Oh yeah, Raul. Right. "Thanks. No worries mate, I'll not touch a thing if it keeps it online." James said in his usual northern English accent, Felix purring a little as he greeted Raul and James. "Yeah, I.....I think I was left to look after the kitten. I'll keep it in mind about Samson's. Best the kitten doesn't get overexposed. Lots of people here who are terrifyingly big." James replied, as he sat down, the meowing from the bin below, picking up Felix as he looked confused, unsure, but, increasingly, comfy around Felix. Then Raul's comment about the carnival. Oh, yeah, right. That was today. "Right. That sounds like a chilled day. I have got...." James looked right..... At impressive pile of paperwork developed in his absence, before cutting back to Raul, standing adjacent to it. "That to do. Thanks for passing it on. I'll let you know if there's any issues." James added, nodding as he looked back at Felix, letting Raul go and get on with his busy day of fixing other people's issues. 'Have you tried turning it off and on again'. 'Have you tried turning it off and on again'. Whatever the spiritual equivalent of that was. Felix meeped and made it clear he wanted attention, James cutting his thoughts about Raul's busy day and cutting back to Felix's lack of any perspective. To be a cat.... "Why? Why do I have to look after you? I mean...." James said, as the cat squeaked once more, curling in James's lap, as the Brit sighed. "Ey. You didn't cause any trouble here did you?" A squeak was the only reply, as James gently stroked his teeny little head and body, the mackrel tabby beginning to grow on him, as he got the first bits of his papers together. And on that note, Felix alerted him to the sound of the hero coming up from behind bit soon afetr, popping down the succulent and planter, letting her chat away and enjoy the little cat in James's hands. [@cosmiccowgirl] Blackstar had big sister energy all about her. James knew that because he was the older sibling. "Aww. Thanks Blackstar, me too. I appreciate that a lot. Felix here will love those gifts, too. I'll start him slow on the catnip. He is a growing kitten. Best not hit him with the hard stuff yet." And Felix did love that indeed, purring as he pawed Blackstar, giving an meep, rather than a fully formed meow as of yet. It was amazing how things changed. James, without wanting to say it, was beginning to like his presence. He was a little rascal. Super sleepy, but also, just wanted company. He was a lap cat. Felix loved the little scratcher, and enjoyed Blackstar's scritches, before himself yawning and wanting to leave Felix's hands, going back to the basket, curling up in a way that was absolutely adorable. On her next note.... James yawned as he slid the right form across to Blackstar, giving a thumbs up as he turned in the chair, snapping back to reality as he did so. "When a goon loses an appendage, you fill this one out. If they get killed, use the one on that pile there, and, I'll make sure we have someone from our Wellbeing team reach out. And I'll be here to talk too. Weirdly, it's shorter, as coroners tend to just want to know how to put down the mess they're about to walk into on their forms. We work in one hell of a fucked up business. But, it could be worse." James did not know at all about Blackstar, as he leaned back in the chair, spinning back. "You could be me, Blackstar. With no fucking powers at all, a regional director that looks like she was about to run me through a meeting room wall, and some heroine that got promoted out of her capacity, punching me in the face. Anyway. Woe is me, and all that shit. We'll work through this paperwork together. Have a good shift out there. You're doing really well." James commented, a genuine compliment, given that he had nothing to lose. Nothing apart from at least making his team get out there and do some good even if he couldn't. With it, James put his hand back up to the cat and gave Felix a fuzzy stroke, before putting the computer back on, letting Raul's magic do the trick. It held, and ran nicely, better than before, running on literal hopes and dreams of a cyber-spiritual pep talk. The packet of Fisherman's Friends, with the nice post it from Eclipse was a nice touch. "Aww. You do have a heart after all." He opened the packet, and chewed on a lozenge, the menthol and eucalyptus giving his tongue something to do while he logged in. The headset back over head, he watched as the team's profiles all clicked in, and their trackers came to life. The SDN system was, as he described to Valerie, a pile of shit. But, it was make do and mend. No point crying over it. "Afternoon, team, checking in as we're on the clock. Looks like you're headed off to a carnival. Not much for me to do today, because I have a ton of admin, so this one's your personal bottle episode. Be friendly. Polite. Nice. Show them why you're all heroes. And if you're not social....I don't know. Try and keep some families safe." James replied, sighing. "Just don't be too weird. James, out." [hr] [@SonnetNSunbeam] Lightning Girl smiled, adjusting the headset in her ear, zapping out from the plug, watching Madcap watch the TV again, after all of that. It had been a quiet start. Tea sipped down, a packet of Bourbon Biscuits left on the table (chocolatey biscuits with a chocolate/cream centre to them), it was all rather quaint. Madcap's suit being different was loud enough. He said it was weird, but hey, she wasn't asking questions. The costume was the last thing on her mind about him. "Yeah, yeah." She looked to the group hearing James talk, the buzz coming through on her watch, as she looked across the room, seeing a certain black-costumed hero come through, as she shotgunned her tea and put it in the dishwasher, leaning against the countertop. A powered up Lightning Girl was absolutely more social. She was glad she kept her trap shut around Valerie though. Holy shit. "Asteroid, you want a lift to the carnival? I ain't pooled with you yet." She asked him, offering a hand, knowing while the gravity. "Don't go making yourself weigh loads. Or you are getting tazed." She smiled at him, the charming British heroine adjusting her cape, hearing that cue and the ping to her watch indicating it was go-time.