Monday
18:45
Vanderstenk Labs, Claremont
As Princess battered Xylotam, he was clearly weakened, the hit from the hulking form of her quite something. Holy shit, Lightning Girl thought to herself. That was before Hat Trick intervened. And spoke to him, in his native tongue. Xylotam replied, half understanding it, desperate, panicking, terrified.
"I want out of here. I wanna....I wanna go home!" The noise sounded broken, but Hat Trick and Princess, might, might have just understood it. To Lightning Girl, it sounded like garbled vowels thrown at a wave of consonants. Not even human, really, because Xylotam wasn't.
The big rock figure seemed curious as Hat Trick approached, while Lightning Girl spat one massive bolt from the side.
Hat Trick would no doubt be pissed, as the bolt recoiled across Xylotam and particularly made the crystal frazzle. Distracting and holding him in place enough.
And with it, Lightning Girl ran around the back, the stone golem shocked, as Lightning Girl realised the gentleman of the group wasn't gonna do this. She'd climbed before and the running gag was that the rockface had a "crack" in the wall. It took little to a reader's imagination to understand what on Xylotam, this crack this meant.....
So she launched herself at Xylotam's lower back, and pulled down at the crystal and gave it everything, a massive almighty electrically fused punch, and suddenly the massive stone construct yelling, and with it, freezing in spot.
The British heroine stood up, dusting herself off, holding the crystal, her electricity interacting with it, really, really fucking weird.
It made her glow purple for just a second.
"Ooooo.." She added, sliding it across the floor, not wanting to fuck with that all. That felt like sentience. That felt like someone was in there with her brain. Lightning Girl had heard Xylotam inside her for a moment! Screaming!
She didn't want that so proceeded to fuck off that mythic horror right away, crystal out of hands. So eviction it was, as the purple crystal sat on the floor, four haz-mat clad Vanderstenkers running in with lots of pokey-sticky things to contain it again. Was the crystal where he was? Or the body part of it? The golem was stuck in place, mid expression, as if trapped in what it had said, implying it was crystal.
They were not researchers. They were heroes. And it was disaster averted if there was a lab leak, as Lightning Girl turned to the other two, dusting her fingerless gloves off. Vanderstenk were not arbiters of morality. But they did pay SDN, and as heroes, that was what they were there to do.
"Nice one on distracting him." Lightning Girl hadn't realised that Hat Trick was trying to talk him down.
It sank in a bit more as she looked the frozen rock. Maybe, they could have done this more civil. Politely. So she thought that maybe Hat Trick might be a little pissed at her for that, as she looked at the crystal. "Sorry.....I uhh.....bad memory of another one a few weeks back just got me. Didn't think you could speak to him." She said, realising what he was trying to do. Understanding. Halfway to a thought.
"But! I think Xylotam is in that crystal! I heard him in my head when I pulled it out. I think they tried to see what would happen if they got a drinking buddy. And uhh.....maybe they'll realise it when we send them the report? We do have to do some paperwork on a Red Grade incident." She tried to patch up a situation, shrugging, knowing that it wasn't the most heroic thing to do, but saving lives outside was much more important than the risk that could have come from it. Maybe Hat Trick would be mad that she overrode him, but in some way, she knew being a hero was never perfectly black and white. You just did the best you could.
And she could not afford another Meta-Man and Tsunami situation. Not again. No more fuck ups. She had to get this right. Hat Trick and Princess might not have been happy, but for her sake, for her own conviction in herself, that had to happen.
"Right. Shall we go back to base? Princess, mind shifting back so I can carry you?" The British heroine asked, the size of Princess a bit too much for Lightning Girl to handle at this point,
"James, situation at Vanderstenk Labs is uhh, clear. Golem thing is no longer a flight risk."
"Copy that, good work. Sounds like you handled that without any serious collateral damage."
Lightning Girl looked at the car alarm going off, then craned her neck up at Princess. Well, she could speak for herself, not for her colleague, who....
"Uhhhh......"
Monday
18:45
Claremont College Dorms, Claremont
Team 2 had finished up. Watching on the CCTV, James opened his mouth. Holy fuck, Lunara opened a can of whoop ass on them. Maybe she could have talked them down, but with that many students, and only two of them until cops arrived on scene, now really one given Madcap had been destroyed by....Kevin, it made sense she went all in. And terrified the shit out of. Okay, that James admitted, was worth it. Not policy, sure, but if they had been taught a lesson, it was taught by a villain who knew how to hustle. 100 boxers or a gorilla? 20 students versus one Lunara seemed unfair when she had her lunar power to hand.
She reached up to click her earpiece, and simply said "Subjects were uncooperative. 'Reasonable' Force has been applied, might want to call an ambulance or two." She looked down at Madcap... and added "And wake up the company therapist."
"Copy that Lunara, well contained. Damn. They didn't really listen, did they?"Jamed would say that was a success. Not a critical one or how he saw it going, but the situation was contained and the terrified students weren't gonna be terrorised anymore. Lunara had just chosen to beat the crap out of everyone. Madcap was pretty hurt though, his invincible posture a bit dented.
"Help Madcap to RTB, would you, Lunara? I think we're nearly done. He doesn't look so great. And I think he might need cheering up that you both did good."
Monday
18:45
Shipton Railyard, North Pomona
"We all in one piece? Eclipse- that fire was real close to ya- you good?" He looks back at Eclipse as he's blindly digging around Pyress's arms for some sort of release for the fuel valve. When his fingers catch on it, he yanks the hose off. He then zip ties her arms together behind her back, waiting for some sort of transport to pick her up.
"And not a drop spilled."
Team 3 had also, just sorted out the situation. Pyress was in custody, stripped out of her armour and with a punk red mohican and a lot of leather gear beneath the SWAT-team's worth of armour she'd brought to the heist, was being taken out of the action along with two very sight-damaged goons that had tried to drive the train out of sight. James was a little more impressed, despite Eclipse's fuck up, they'd salvaged it nicely.
"Nice work, Team 3. We're done there. Close call with Eclipse though. I'll go through it tomorrow." James replied, looking on as the acid was safe, all perps were arrested, and that was a good day of work.
The team had returned in, with one last minor job for the night- a final patrol of the college campus after the break ins, the bars, and the train station to make sure all was alright at each. Which it was. James called it there.
"All teams, RTB and call it in. We're done for tonight." James could see the sight of another dispatcher coming in, grabbing a seat and immediately grabbing his headset, another team of heroes ready for the night shift. B-Team. From 7pm till 6am. They were just getting told they had a long night, until Ontario SDN would pick up the slack for the morning. He breathed a sigh of relief, as he got out of his chair, checking his phone for notifications, seeing outside the sight of heroes returning.
They all came back in, as James made sure to head down to the break room, actually seeing the team for the first time. Before they scattered, he addressed them all, knowing they were done, and had no need for big words.
Even for Madcap. He was looking fairly broken. Hurt, and right now, hitting him with paperwork over the old lady was the worst. That was tomorrow's problem. Even James had empathy there.
Then there was Lunara, who had kicked a lot of ass. Looking all noble in her black and grey silhouetted armour, her and Solaris, her counterpart, doing a solid for him today. Efficient. Lunara was scary, but, Solaris was more than he could ask for.
Eclipse, who had started the day well, not ending it great. He was looking worse for wear, but, it was nothing a hero couldn't restore for tomorrow, though the singed marks on his armour implied he'd gotten a bit more than he could chew with that flamethrower.
And Princess, quiet as she had been, at least, had put herself to work. A shapeshifter was a handy thing to have. Even if the report had to include her throwing a full sized electric car at a rock being.
Asteroid had come in clutch. A strange first shift, but by the second, he'd really kicked some ass and come in clutch, as did...
Payback, who seemed to still have her resting bitch face, not playing at costumes or anything at all, just looking perpetually annoyed. And currently, literally repulsing Lightning Girl away through her innate magnetism.
Hat Trick rounded the group, and well, James appreciated that too. A man for many seasons. Charisma and violence. Hockey player special.
To them, James was just anyone else in the office. He didn't wear an SDN shirt, sure, but he also wasn't in the line of fire. Not in any danger. Making calls behind it and knowing that with everything he sent them to, they'd be putting their lives on the line for the citizens (and companies) of Claremont and it's neighbours.
"Thanks for tonight. Appreciate that wasn't ideal, but you stepped up today and I know SDN doesn't do you enough service for what you achieved. But you all did great. We'll go again tomorrow, and you can set your alarm clocks later. We'll start at 1pm." James said to the crew, with little else to say. He had to keep spirits high, and in the midst of crap, you ended it with a nice note.Lightning Girl nodding in response, as she didn't have much to say. Headed to the clock out machine, no timecards, but an old-school RFID chip did its work. For all the tech....
The machine bleeped, as she checked off, shift complete, leaving it behind, looking to everyone else left behind, that hadn't driven or flown in.
"See you all tomorrow afternoon. Unless, anyone wants a lift?" She literally pointed to her rubber-gloved hands, willing to pick anyone up that couldn't fly or otherwise rapidly disappear and reappear at will- quite literally or metaphorically, if needed. Even Hat Trick.
----
As James let Lightning Girl chat to the others, he got a phone call back from the number he'd dialled earlier. A small favour. But one he wanted to sort.
"They still there?" James asked, as murmuring could be heard over the line.
"Sweet. Alright. I'll be over in ten."
Monday
18:59
Sophie's House, Devore Heights
The night was stunning, as the fluttering of Lightning Girl's cape clattered against her back, the static pouring from behind, as she flew across the sky, above the scattered clouds, turning over mid-flight to enjoy the stars, before pitching back down, spotting her home like a hawk spotting prey.
She let herself drift, gently letting go of her powered flight, and used the last reserve to stop her from hitting stony rock at 50mph, gently setting herself down in the back garden patio of her bungalow.
The music stopped pouring from her ear, as it came from her phone, as she let it play, and got inside, static bouncing on the doorhandle.
It was rather downbeat compared to her usual style.
Sophie in the meantime had peeled her mask off, breathing out. Halfway to.....her.
She looked out of the window, the house on the hill in Devore Heights a long, long, long way away from DTLA. The skyscrapers so far they weren't even really visible beyond the hills and lights.
Thinking about it all. The day had gone well. But why did she feel so much guilt? Come on, Sophie, she told herself. They were fine. Definitely fine. And the team were okay. They just.....was it her? Too loud? Too much? For Americans? Maybe. But she was powered up. That made it okay, right? Or they were just criminals, just crooks? No sense of humour. No want to do this. Maybe that. She couldn't think straight. Was Xylotam's....uhhh, de-eggplanting the right thing? Fuck knows.
Her phone buzzed, as she saw the list of missed messages she hadn't even gone through, with another coming in.
The ball had been rearranged for Friday.
"Operational Reasons" it said. Because Pasadena had a lot of issues, that still, she wasn't hearing about. Red Ring infiltrating the place? Something worse? She didn't want to think on it. Work was occupying enough of her mind.
Her therapist had told her to stop worrying about it, but Sophie knew you couldn't fix the girl who couldn't be normal in this skin or the other one.
But, maybe something good could come from this. The ball being rearranged, she refocussed herself, meant she could maybe go.
"Well, shit. Damn, I am gonna need a little cover for that night...." She replied, smiling, going over to her wardrobe, seeing the gleaming silvery dress that sat in there, as she threw the suit she was half out of across the room from her remaining leg, and put on some more casual clothes, sliding into a cardigan and a pair of tights, gloves thrown off as well. One last step.
She headed back outside, and she put her hand to the metal handrail at the back door, into the crappy, rocky garden that made up the back of the house, with the hills in the background full of empty nothing.
The metal handrail was her usual point to call it a day. Lightning Girl no more.
She just held tight. For a solid minute, until she could feel all of the electricity just pour out of her. It took so much concentration. So much to do. It wasn't a big event, it just....vanished.
But it left. And immediately, she felt all that giddiness, all that energy, the fucks she gave, heroism, all of it, leave. Like the skin she wore that Lightning Girl was made of, all of it, every excess electron zapped with not a single sound into the grounding point.
And Sophie was back fully. Looking out at the dark sky, sighing, taking in the stars she could see beyond the massive haze of light pollution at the very edge of LA.
Normal.
Human.
Able to touch stuff and not watch it pulsate.
Able to feel vulnerable. Hide. Disappear. Be just another white haired pretty girl on the corner of LA.
It was strange how much a mask changed her, disappeared the parts of her she wanted to. But instead of wanting to run away to Sophie, Lightning Girl was someone she hoped would be enough in time. Sophie was normal, comfortable, but Lightning Girl, she was ambitious, wanted it more. Wanted it all. Sophie liked her because it was that push she should have had, the persona of someone who was better.
But that couldn't be her, not all day. Not unless she wanted to shock more people again. And burn herself out.
Not after a day like that. She left that thought, as she got to work on food and enjoying what little she had left of her evening.
Monday
19:24
Pomona General Hospital, Pomona
As he sat up, Brick, otherwise known as Meta-Man, sat with an IV in his wrist and plenty of burn bandages across his arms. For someone who could manipulate items, getting caught in a duct that then got blasted by Lightning Girl was not one he'd have ideally had planned.
"Hey. Been a fucking while. What brings you here?"
James sighed, shrugging as he put down the packet of Sour Patch Kids and the modest bottle of Jack Daniels on the bedside table, wondering if this was even a good idea. But he'd gone this far, walking into his private room at Pomona General.
"Visiting two people on my roster who are in hospital. Br.....Tsunami's been moved. But they said you were here, so yeah. Thought I'd say hello, given I work with you. You know, courtesy." The off-grey shirt and chinos having Manchester accented redhead started, sitting down in the chair opposite, as the Compton-born super sat up, shaking his head.
"Here to check when I go back to work? Or...."
"I know. For what it's worth, this isn't about you returning to work. That's all to talk about when you're ready. I'm here because I decided I would check in because I care for the team I now have, given Riley's been moved. And because even though you haven't heard it from her personally yet, she apologised." James sighed, looking him over.
"You know what she did? She fucking put a bolt through me; I thought I saw God!" Brick coughed, as he sat up in his gown, holding a hand to the railing. "Come the fuck on, you couldn't lift fucking a wheel of cheese! You know she don't give a fuck, she only cares 'bout looking good, and you're just another idiot making sure I don't push charges on your British friend. What's between us, is between us." Brick replied, as James nodded.
"I'm not here because of SDN. I'm here 'cos it's right. Like I said." James grit his teeth.
"So you done feeling good, Prince fuckin' Harry? Gonna go back and fuck Meghan in the Hollywood Hills after?" James almost laughed, if it wasn't so fucking done with the comparison.
"You're like the sixth person to say it. So yeah, fuck you. I'm not here to feel good. I'm here because I don't want you to leave this hospital and make bad decisions. Leave the Programme and choose something else because that would be easy right now and get your ass handed to you when you do. And because it's my job to look after all the heroes in it. Whether or not that's you, or Eclipse, or Lightning Girl, or anyone else that's on my watch." James said, checking him over. "And because when I found out, I felt responsible about what Sophie did too. That's why it comes back to me."
Brick went quiet, realising for a second who this might just be.
"Oh. Oh, you know her like *that?*" Brick started, guessing romance, before James put an end to that notion.
"She's my sister." James sighed, putting hands in face, a half-face palm. "Look, I thought to tell you that because you probably didn't know Riley's been moved teams, so I'm looking after the A-Team for now. Direct. And that it doesn't change anything, but yeah, I'm not gonna defend her, and I want you to know nothing changes. But I don't want you doing something stupid when you come back."
Brick was quiet for a moment, as James sighed, watching as he sat up.
"You here to clean up her mess? Damn." Barrack laughed, as he turned a grin. "Shit, you're brave comin' in here. Maybe you do got some balls." Barrack could have gone either way. James reasoned he'd go one.
"Yeah sure, drink some whiskey and run through me if you want. No, not quite. It's because I'm running around this fucking country. And she happens to work here, so yeah, you make it make sense." James said, realising Barrack wouldn't get that. "And because seeing the people that get hurt matters to me, even if corporate might not send someone. They looking after you here?" James asked, no visible Doctor in sight this late in the evening, given only a resident was in.
"Oh I'm.....fine. Would be better if I wasn't in fucking hospital. But I get you. You've got nowhere better to be, huh?" Barrack laughed, as James chuckled, shaking his head.
"I do fancy going home, but, I thought I'd swing by. If there is anything you need, just call. I know you're across the city from home. But thought I'd give you the update because it's the right thing to do. You should know, and I trust you with that. But don't tell the team, or I'll know who it came from. Then you two can go kill each other for what it's worth to me, cos she'd fucking murder me first." James was clever in what he knew he'd done. A sacrificial bit of trust. Maybe not the most moral, and Sophie would skin him if it came out. But right now, he needed Barrack to be off his back. And that trust had come, for as long as James knew he would need it for.
"I gotchu. Look, I 'ppreciate you coming, but don't sit there lookin' all sorry for me. I'll be fine." Brick replied, as James walked towards the door, turning back, to say goodbye as Barrack spoke first.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"They got you here on a Phoenix Programme from your Royal Family? Because you are fucking definitely Prince Harry."
James sighed, as the scene cut.
Monday
19:52
Somewhere on Highway 210
The drive was late into night, as James stayed on the freeway, the Honda Civic not exactly as fast as most of the heroes return, and not something most would have considered a modestly paid dispatcher consultant would drive here. But it would do.
The phone rang on the passenger seat, not on his windscreen where it worked as a GPS.
Work phone. Not personal. He didn't normally take calls out of work. Not unless it was an emergency. But it was Kat, so, it had to be, as it connected to the Civic's bluetooth.
"Hey, Katherine." He seemed almost monotone, not sure at this point, what fuck up had hit now.
"Hey James, nothing to worry about. You free, still driving home?"
"Yeah. Free as I can be."
"Wanted to call and say thank you."
"No worries. It's what you pay me for. How's it going?"
"Sit rep in Pasadena calmed down. But Riley's away for a while. Sorry. It isn't gonna be temporary. And with everything, you're the best person I have to look after the A-Team." Kat added, as annoyed to be up this late, as he now likely was.
"Fine. Wasn't expecting anything different."
"Wait, you thought that...."
"Yeah, I prepared. Appreciate you trusting me, but I know SDN enough to know that you wouldn't trust anyone else with some of them. It's all good. I'll be in at 10:30. I spoke with Regional and Growth. Sounds like they like you a lot, Kat to let me not do their projects. Riley's got some big shoes to fill, but you know. I'll help out. Because I think you're not completely difficult to work with." James chuckled in a banter-y manner, under Kat's skin, even though the Director always got the last laugh.
"You just fucking wait till I shapeshift into one of your heroes and scare the shit out of you."
"I look forward to it. With Lightning Girl, you know that I'm now..."
"Yeah, I know. Best to keep it to yourself. They find out, there's gonna be a mess. They might guess it, but fuck 'em. Keep it to yourself for now. We'll cross that bridge when we're there." Kat said, with James not mentioning the fact that Meta-Man now knew. For a greater good? He told himself that. He wasn't a hero. He had to keep the heroes from fucking killing each other.
"Fuck 'em?" James replied, out of turn for a consultant, but on a good rep with Kat. Wondering what she meant.
"Madcap threw an old lady through a glass pane. I saw that report. Holy fucking shit. Yeah, fuck 'em sometimes. Bigger fires to fight generally." Kat added, as she chuckled, as James interrupted in the midst.
"Then, he proceeded to get his ass handed to him by....Kalvin, no, Kevin the Destroyer?"
They both laughed, as James sighed, still in shock.
"Yeah, he's.....a character. I'd put half them in prison if I could. Madcap being sad doesn't help us, but, you ain't his councillor. Guy still did a lot of illegal shit. We're trying to rehabilitate, but this isn't a programme that survives unless we have something good to show for it." Kat replied, as James changed lanes, speeding up, finally back on the interstate.
"But you don't have a choice and corporate like it when you get cheap labour. And you haven't got a pool of therapists so....your dispatchers keep these pricks from the wall."
"You fucking reading my mind, James?"
"No, that's HR's job. No, I'm just aware the American penal system is a fucking joke, Kat, and you have given serious contracts to criminals with powers that border on unnatural..."
"Unnatural? Look, it's the best we can do with what we're given. Same as usual. World ain't full of Sophies or Tylers. Claremont isn't a Tier 1 branch. We ain't getting the best here. So it's better they do some good. And they did today, James."
"I know, they did tonight. Went a lot better than I thought. But, it isn't easy, who knows about tomorrow. Payback is silent as fuck. Eclipse is.....well, okay, he has a right to be pissed, but I get this feeling he ain't happy. Asteroid is ticking over. Princess is fucking terrifying. Hat Trick and Solaris give me hope we have some proper heroes here. Mind you, I swear Solaris and Lunara are the same person. Weirdly."
"Well, you get what you get. So let's make the most of it. Yeah?" Kat asked, as James nodded, as if to nobody in particular.
"Appreciate you checking in. But I'm nearly home."
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll help you with the reports Riley left. But I might need you to pick up some slack. Tyler could help."
"Sure. We'll sort it. Alright. Good evening."
"See ya, bye." The call cut. The consultant sighed.
Nearly home.
Fucking hell, what a day. He'd filled in his timesheet before he left, and it was good pay, but sometimes, he wondered why the fuck he did this. He should just go to the Sierra Nevada and fuck this off. But he'd already spent weeks travelling before Claremont came up. And his US visa wasn't exactly easy to travel on abroad. So, he was stuck. Stuck in a rock and a hard place.
Monday
18:59
Sophie's House, Devore Heights
At Home with the Speights
James lit up the house with red brake lights, before cutting the engine, exhaling hard. He stepped out, and locked up, heading through the door as the keys clinked against the door, and it opened. All a blur.
"Hey." His voice called, the lights on, and one person home.
"Hi." Hers replied, a tired whimper.
It was barely an exchange. Sophie was burnt out, on the sofa, and had already eaten, tidied and cleaned up around the bungalow. So James got himself to work.
A quick air fryer meal. Fries and chicken, squiring a bottle of sweet chili out of the fridge. Sophie was in the lounge, mindlessly watching TV, and James ploughed through the food, forgetting of course to eat at all during his second break, because of how manic shit had been. He normally was a lot more healthy than this, based on the Kefir in the bin, but today was an excuse.
Once that was wolfed away, James was in the next room, crashing on the sofa and sitting against the back, looking across to a regular, everyday, Sophie Speight. Younger sister. And currently, his landlord. Who let him stay for a nominal fee.
"Fun day, right Soph?" James added, crashing in the sofa at the end, Sophie wrapped up in a static-making blanket, watching some rom-com on Netflix, head against a pillow, feet against a table. Work wasn't far from her mind.
"Always fun. You sure about all of this with you looking after us? James, surely this is gonna go to shit. Worse than I said last night. They'll figure it out." She cut straight to it while barely sitting up resting her mane of white hair against the leather.
"Maybe. Like my boss just told me, we'll deal with it when we get there. But I'm nearly out of fucks to give, Sophie." James replied, tired, visibly so, as Sophie chuckled, shaking her head.
"The team really that difficult?" She asked, as James nodded, breathing out, as she offered some Doritos to him, and he took a handful.
"Eh. You know who. And, oh, it is that difficult when you don't taze the wrong people so we don't lose them."
"Hey!" Sophie knew James was teasing, but he took it on seriously anyway.
"Sorry....but speaking about that, I saw Meta Man in Pomona General."
"And?"
"He's looking shook up."
"Guessing he wants to put a brick through my head. Fuck. Not the first person who did today."
"I talked to him. He seems pissed, but, he's....well, the normal. No fucking worse. Might come around."
"Hah. Yeah, no worse." Sophie answered, offering out some Doritos, as James took a handful, leaning back against the sofa.
"Yeah. And yeah, Brick Frog did try earlier and look how it worked for him...." James added, the two chuckling before it faded into silence, the red particles still visible in Sophie's hair. They were looking at what she was watching, then back across at his sister. Parks and Rec was one of her favourite comfort shows.
"If you wanted a workplace comedy where the hot boss lady is trying to hook up with the hot accountant....have you been watching around SDN lately?" James asked, the rough allegory to rumours that always came about, with a certain dispatcher over in Torrance.
"Very meta of you." She replied, as he chuckled, Sophie definitely down on energy before bed. She had to be for reasons James had long since understood.
"Very." He added, words not being exchanged, the two near silent as they watched some more mindless sitcom, killing time before bed. For their years of being further away, it was strange to be close again, and yet, killing time with TV and quiet.
Tuesday
10:55
Sophie's House, Devore Heights
The morning didn't start with James, like the first time at her leased house had started yesterday.
It started with the person who had that lease herself, the alarm on her phone wobbling.
Sophie rolled out of bed, the body one that could be mistaken for an athlete's before the suit was thrown on. A four pack that was nearly there if the cafeteria was hiding that progress behind pastries and high sugar content, a comment extendable to her chest. All that bullshit about electric toners reducing weight, she wondered. Nah, 10,000 volts did fuck all, she thought to herself, as she heard James snore, chuckling. She had arms and legs that weren't some pencil, but made of mass that let her be a human battery. Muscle, corded, the kind that meant she went toe to toe with most strongwomen. Elegant, yet poised, a weapon behind it all. If she was caught outside of work, some might even mistake her for a rugby player.
She wasn't Solaris, let alone Blonde Blazer's grade, but hardly someone who just manifested some bullshit power behind something else. Nah. Lightning Girl had worked for this. She was still in more casual garb, a black sports bra and underwear, yawning in the corridor to the bathroom as she dragged herself through the morning. A massive Lichtenburg scar ran across her leg to her shoulder, turning bronze in places, like braids of a river across her chest and out at her neck where the mouth of it spewed, carving across her side and back. Most of it was mark-free, but those scars seemed to hold a tight vein over what she saw in the mirror in the corridor.
It created power no mortal could contain, a shock that should have killed her there and then. And it was nothing anyone ever saw of her, bar herself, her doctors, and James.
And the few times she'd had bad hookups who saw Sophie beyond Lightning Girl's outfit.
Shower with plenty of shampoo to get rid of the brickish dirt she'd lazily fallen asleep on, brush teeth, a gentle patter of skin conditioner and UPF-50 containing cream to keep her skin glowing, and as usual, a casual static shock from the shavers plug to wake her up. She was still yawning given it was nowhere near enough beyond a sharp kick, as she walked out, the morning light breaking in through the window, as she wore a casual t-shirt in case the mailman decided to knock. She peeled out the overnight oats from the fridge, and proceeded to absolutely demolish it like she didn't really care, barefoot, as human as anyone would be this time of the morning.
It was mundane, but then again, as much as James would be in a morning like this.
Every calorie was taken in despite the majority of her energy to beat her powered down state coming from the wire that she had resting on her side bobbling into her as she ate, sticking out of bare wiring powering the house. It wasn't elegant, but ehh, fuck it, she was at home. Her rules. She needed to commute. Sophie covered the wires before James accidentally got shocked, and considered the next part of her routine. Getting into work.
Suit thrown near the door, Sophie tucked her hair back into a bun and did up the elastic, clicking her hands before opening the suit's zipped and elasticated back up and sliding her t-shirt off and stepping inside, the suit in need of a wash probably soon. One foot in first and then a tight pull up, then the other, like a wetsuit, with the zipper yoinked up and then hidden inside. It did well to protect her from small cuts / marks, but being made of ballistic cordura meant it was sweaty as fuck, especially in the day. A peel of a zip up her collar that helped her breathe inside this thing and it tucked away, the collar popped, the Manchester Bee there as always, the yellow stitching popping on the collar, the mirror reflecting someone who went from civilian to hero. The cape on the hangar across from it followed, peeled over onto two highly magnetic clips in a harness on her shoulders that she could turn and lock, physically connecting them to her costume, the hip bag joining as she stashed it beneath her cape, resting on the top of her lower back and side. The mask was last, kept in her hands as she headed out. Earpods, now, put into her ears.
Soundtrack: Nothing But Thieves- Welcome to the DCCDoor opened, Sophie didn't leave using the front but the back. She checked the phone in her iconic fluro yellow hip pack, as well as her zip ties, and usual hero's kit. SDN pass, check, Flying Licence, check, Hero ID, check, first aid kit, check, GPS, check.
Time to go be a hero. The grey sky did not give her credence to stop, the drizzle visible already on the horizon from the hills above.
It's easier if she flew, she thought to herself. Plus a lot faster too and zero traffic for her. Commuting was seven minutes, not 40.
With an effortless thought, lept into the sky, focussing all of it into the static trail that sizzled quietly in the traffic noise behind her, and turned, earpod in one ear, eyes forward for the rest, as the cape billowed over her back and upper legs, and she nonchalantly headed west. Mask slid over face, power pouring from feet, she put her hands back and used it to point her back up again, and gain lift, below a granite sky.
And with her earpods in, the cloudy sky didn't really stop her, piercing the water that painfully hurt against her neck and back of her head, like a million needles being thrown at her.
Sophie pierced the cloud to beat the drizzle and emerged.
To an infinite sky, blue, with a giant white carpet draped across the Pomona Valley, Lightning Girl leaving a static and steam as she flew out of that cloud, like she had emerged from a bleakness into endless optimism. The soundtrack.....well, sometimes it had a choice of timing.
Cloudbreak, with a grey figure emerging from the grey blanket.
"Sunlit upland....a new planet........enjoy the feeling, let it happen........if you're dreaming, you can have it........if you believe it, it can happen..." She sang to nobody in particular, a lot louder than she realised she had. Was it the excess juice? Sure, let's call it that. But that lyric stuck to her. It was like the hope she had inside her manifest true. Here, at the end of the land of opportunity was a place to make dreams real.
She caught the sight of the skyscrapers in DTLA, far, far away, the sight of commercial jets, and the blue sky at 10,000 feet above ground. The sun at this altitude already beginning to burn her skin, but warmed her fast versus the drizzle below and her cordura wicked away water droplets at her speed that had gathered in the cloud. It was waterproof too, that was handy. Although her hair was sodden.
For most, human flight would be beyond incredible. Truly incredible. A lot of heroes even would be deadly envious.
For Lightning Girl, it was Tuesday.
She had to pinch herself every now and then it was the case.
But, you kinda used it day to day, it was just a thing. It was just how you hyped yourself up. Believed you were this. Sophie realised it was the difference between her and some of the guys on the Phoenix Programme. Being a hero took a state of mind, a trust that you were powerful, so anything that came, you would stand your ground and fight. Not run, not hide. You were the main character. And instead of being selfish, you did it so other people could take you in.
So it wasn't long until she had the chance to turn herself over and look at her watch for her GPS, freefalling and applying the brakes, pouring through cloudbase and rain, freefalling through and as ever....emerging into Claremont, the end of the morning once again, this time, a new start to a shift. And right below, the office. And the big helipad-like structure behind the building.
Superhero landing, albeit in line with Health and Safety guidance, onto the pad at the back of work, already smashed in thanks to some fat bastard last week breaking the concrete after hitting it like a truck. It was only a short walk inside, where she was watching the new day shift get back out, after a small morning break. She was adjusting to the new routine, starting at 1pm, not 9am. This was something else. But hey, it was a routine for a reason.
James, would meanwhile, be probably waking up now and be heading to his car, and enjoying a rather quiet commute.
Sophie meanwhile, didn't head for the lifts. That was for plebs. She hit the stairs. Going down, into the basement, not up. No need to get dressed in the rec room, she was already here, hero good to go. Her pass out of her hip pack, she flicked against the gym room, a wave to a couple of heroes heading back up the stairs. Sophie was beginning to vanish. Bit by bit, she was embracing that person that gave hope.
---
Tuesday
11:42
Basement Gym
Claremont SDN
Headed into the gym, Lightning Girl stretched out, mask over her hair rather than her face, while nobody was in. Cape thrown down on a bench. The song shifting.
Soundtrack: Purple Disco Machine, ÁSDÍS - Beat Of Your HeartThe music thrummed in her ear. More of the usual. That kinda electronic music that hit someone electric.
The stereotype that heroes were just this super strong, super powerful, invincible thing without work was a fun myth, because most of the time that scaled up from work behind the scenes, making the gym beneath the SDN Claremont office a routine. For Lightning Girl, that was definitely was the case. Fuck the people who were just naturally strong or roided up or taking augments. That was fucking cheap.
Heroes weren't born. They were mostly made. And electricity pulsing inside her needed to be made to put to work. Put to tearing apart fibres so they would give her gains faster than most got them, even if she wasn't the best at lifting or carrying things, they worked. So she could do more of this work. Be better.
Stronger, more resilient, fuck more shit up, for the people she worked for, but sort of, for own self confidence. Carry more charge. Throw more bolts. Take more bullets. As it was fun to suffer for an hour carrying big heavy weights. It was kinda in vogue these days, and given her metabolism and powers, power followed work.
After all, it was kinda fucking cool being able to pick up a car onto its side, the first time she did it. What next? Well, without being some fucking freak. Maybe she didn't want to look like the Regional Director, who looked more shredded than prime Arnie, but, with great power came great capacity to load weights in the gym. Flambae wasn't sitting there eating bamboo, dude was jacked for a reason.
Someone weak had been here before. So she loaded up the weights to get to her usual. A moth with her powers might try that. But she was going back to her usual hit. Supers did not fuck around. And Lightning Girl wasn't exactly playing. Sophie was gone when weights were in view. The girl that wore that costume was the one that got to use this.
And after a short warm up, stretching, the deadlift sat strained under steel blocks. She slid her hands underneath, and casually picked it up. And started churning. Pumping. James couldn't dare carry something like this.
But as she threw it over her head, the blood and electricity pumped.
One.
The feeling that hit when the comet fragment splatted a bolt out of its purple embrace and threw Sophie against a tree.
Two.
Waking up, and unleashing hell on that hospital ward's ECG machine.
Three.
The size of the fucking burn mark. She sent two people flying. Including her dad.
Four.
Barely being in control of this. Feeling low. Depressed. And then high. On cloud nine when she shoved her hand into a plug socket. Feeling her head physically rattle.
Five.
And then control. Calm. Easy. Breathing. And blasting a pine tree. Until it collapsed.
Six.
Finding her hair was turning white. Paling off. Literally scarred by how much current was in her. Watching the red flecks fall away. And white replace.
Seven.
Getting rubber gloves and learning how to stop electrocuting everyone. James with a smile. A terrified one passing them to her.
Eight.
James bailing her out of the local police station for shoplifting. Again. The chat on the towerblock.
Nine.
The first time putting her powers to good. Stopping that drunk guy from touching that girl in the line to the club and throwing him across the road into a bin. That had no rubbish inside it.
Ten.
The suit. The grey that felt baggy then, and now, seemed to push against her abdomen and her chest, right now, filled in. By the hero she wanted to be. And in the place she was heading towards. The top of the game.
Eleven.
Flying for the first time. And then falling into the Manchester Ship Canal.
Twelve.
Throwing a bolt into Brick Frog's fucking face.
She exerted, holding it tall, looking at that white and grey, from her laced up boots to her white and since last night, blue-tipped hair, all in flow. Hair gently brushing out, collar kept high, suit creaking under her arms at full chat. No spotter, all risk. All feeling, as she roared, passing it down to floor with as best of a squat as she could make.
Wiping the sweat from her unmasked forehead, she cranked up the volume a little on her phone, getting in the leg press and heaping on more pounds. Didn't get thighs that could stop traffic without the work. She then peeled out the three phase power cable and left it against the weight, casually pounding away as almost a reward, for every push, it would pulse her with electricity, and so she kept going, and going.
Till her legs hurt, not spasming, but just feeling like she couldn't hold weight anymore. Gym before work was risky, but she'd recover up before she had to go out. That was why she had a fuckload of electricity, about an office cooler's worth of water, and enough Sour Patch Kids that James had been pinching to fill a black hole for post-workout. Who needed Creatine anyway?
She consumed all of those from the locker she had emptied out down here, wiping her face with a towel and spraying a metric fuck ton of rosewood-smelling eau de toilette over herself to cover for the sweaty, ozone-y smell that now emanating from her. It masked well enough, but would cover until she got spraying lightning at some poor fuckers, then, it would be a gentle burning smell. Paired well enough to stop people thinking she stank like highschool American Football locker room.
Doing this made her feel alive for the day, and since James and her had worked on it in London as something to exploit from her previously diminutive self (especially as she was now 6"2, a spurt directly attributed to her power). This was a positive, healthy routine to have, she reminded herself. The kind that a hero had to have if they were gonna go kick some ass, and like she thought to herself earlier, part of why she could do what she did, stretching one last time to loosen her joints.
Breathing in. Oh, she was Lightning Girl alright. In that mirror, there she was. No Sophie Speight. No shy girl. Nobody that was weak, quiet, uncertain. No, she was the glow in dark, sparks in pitch. And working to her dream. Every pump had been in service. And even if Claremont was now, in a few more days, she had a Gala she could go to and make some friends at. That was her dream. Maybe not someone else's....
And breathing out. Because she could hear someone else come in. Mask came down back between her nose and to her hair, from the bridge of her nose to the top of her forehead. She wiped herself off, took the cable away, and tucked it into the corner. God's favourite princess? The best little girl scout? Something like that like she always was, cutting the music off. Taking the phone and sliding through settings, giving a cool pose in the midst of the room, cape back on, flexing muscles, arm folded under her chest, grin on face, camera flash capturing her daily gym photo, electricity crackling off her hand. She sent a message in Slack to the rest of the A-Team while she was at it.
“Anyone need a spotter at the gym? Gonna be here another 15!”Other heroes would be here soon enough, ready for the shift to come, or to hit the gym and join her there, either talkative or just in their own routine. So the next visitor surprised her….
—
Collab with @cosmiccowgirlGreat, she was lost. She should’ve known it would happen her very first day…
Alaine turned in a small circle in the middle of the hallway intersection, looking up and down the halls uncertainly and twiddling with her new employee badge in one hand. At least nobody was in the immediate area to see her looking absolutely stupid and un-hero-like.
Was she a hero? No. Yes – trying to be. She didn’t look very much like it at the moment, turning one way then the other in indecision while in full uniform. Might look a little less ridiculous if she wasn’t suited up like someone who should know where they were going, but, oh well.
After another moment of helplessness, she finally picked a direction and started walking. She’d assume the closer she got to the right place the more people she’d start seeing… so the lack of fellow SDN employees suggested she wasn’t going the right way. Not sure what else to do but keep going, Alaine at least slowed her pace a little to focus a bit better on her surroundings in hopes of spotting some indication of where to go.
She thought she heard something up ahead. Moving in that direction, a plaque on the wall read “GYM”. Alaine pushed through the doors, stepping partially in before catching sound of a voice and spotting someone on the other side of the room.
Aw shoot, someone was in there. Her instinct had her immediately turning on her heel before she realized no, wait, that was exactly what she needed. Someone to point her in the right direction.
Taking a breath and straightening up, she tried to fall into character. Blackstar still felt like a character, not quite her yet. She hadn’t had a moniker when she was playing vigilante, before John found her. That had just been her with a mask on, making questionable choices.
Now it was still her with a mask on – just a professional mask, and a star-pattern emblazoned on her chest and a shiny new ID badge in her hand with an intimidating name she didn’t know how to embody.
Her high ponytail, swept together to only hold the undyed portion of her hair free of her suit, bobbed as she made herself step further into the gym. Her uniform’s black boots were quiet on the floor, since she’d taught herself to move without much noise. Which always made it a little harder to speak up… especially since she was currently wearing the bottom half of her two-piece mask. The optional bottom half, as John had called it. He’d also suggested she forgo that part today, but she’d just felt… uneasy.
Better safe than sorry.
The black lens inset in the eyeholes of the top part of her mask hid her blue-grey eyes from view and gave her, she thought, a somewhat intimidating appearance, especially paired with the lower half that completely hid the lower portion of her face. From inside, the material of the mask’s eyes offered no obstruction to her sight whatsoever – some kind of tech John had gotten his hands on for her.
“Um – excuse me.” Alaine – Blackstar – cleared her throat and spoke up as she approached the other woman in the gym. She cringed a little inwardly, doubting that she sounded very hero-y at the moment but persevering anyway. “Sorry to bother, miss…”
No, wait, she recognized her. Lightning Girl, right? It had better be, otherwise she was gonna be super embarrassed.
“Lightning Girl?” She hazarded it anyway. “Again, sorry to bother. It’s my first day, I’m… a little lost.”
Understatement of the century. It was just a stupid office building. And yet, she knew she’d be less lost in the Amazon Jungle.
“I was wondering if you could point me to…” Awww, dangit. She didn’t really even remember where the heck she was meant to go. She’d been too antsy and hadn’t retained the doggone information when the secretary told her. “...wherever the newbies are supposed to go?”
“Yep, that's me! I think you're with us.” Lightning Girl replied, noticing Blackstar walking in, a smile on the chirpy British hero's face as she remembered to put a glove back on, given she had so much current in her at the moment. “You're Blackstar, right? Welcome to the A Team. Best hero team this side of LA.” She added with a smile, Blackstar professional yet having the same first day awkward that Sophie herself had gone through.
“I think James is sorting out your induction upstairs? You know, the usual admin. Just go…ah it's ok, I'll lead you there.” She interrupted herself, opening the door and letting Blackstar go first. And within a few minutes, Alaine would get a feel for a bit of the office. The stairs up to the admin level, then the floor where SDN Dispatch was based. Blackstar had such a cool costume. Even Lightning Girl had nothing on this. Damn.
“So this is where the magic happens. Dispatchers here in the office, and James works in that corner there. Break Room is there, obviously with a great vending machine so yeah, welcome!” She started, with her cheerful approach, liking that in spite of the mask, Blackstar was more talkative.
“This might be it. I'll finish up downstairs but just ask if you need anything. It's a maze, you'll get to know it better soon!” She remained polite but not too much so, just aware she had to finish putting things away downstairs!
Oh wow, Lightning Girl knew her title already. Well duh. She was a big hero. Right? She was as far as Alaine was concerned, obviously she’d probably been briefed about who was joining… A-Team, she said?
Even if she hadn’t been told, the black star on Alaine’s chest probably made guessing a name easy.
She smiled back automatically before realizing Lightning Girl wouldn’t be able to see, thanks to the lower portion of her mask; she hadn’t considered that it’d be hard to communicate non-verbal things without plainly-visible facial expressions, but oh well. That was the price to pay for a safely-hidden secret identity.
Because if someone knew her identity, they could find her family.
If they could find her family, they could hurt her family.
If they– oh wait, Lightning Girl was still talking.
Alaine blinked, hurriedly refocusing as this getting lost in thought thing was what had probably made her miss the secretary’s directions in the first place.
“Oh, thanks,” she said swiftly, hurrying to step through the door that was being held open for her. She was keenly aware of how awkward it looked.
James. She noted the name. Even though the secretary had told her that, probably. She needed to remember that. Not that she planned on addressing the guy any more than was necessary because she definitely didn’t want to be annoying but if there was an emergency or something she’d need to know. Also it would be rude just to call him, like, “Dispatcher” or something.
Thank goodness Lightning Girl elected to lead the way herself though. Verbal directions were pretty much useless to Alaine, especially if they included numbers. And, almost embarrassingly, it didn’t take long at all for her to show the new hero to the correct location.
James Corner, Break Room. Alaine noted those things as well, wondering if she had to pay for the vending machine or if it was one of those ID-badge-scanning ones. She was kind of getting hungry, actually. She hadn’t had breakfast. Well, she’d had a glass of orange juice. That counted. Right?
“Oh, thanks,” she said again, as Lightning Girl seemed preparing to leave again; once more painfully aware of her own awkwardness and the fact she’d said that exact phrase already, Alaine cleared her throat lightly and dipped her head to the other woman, admiring the while and blue hair. Kind of made her want to show her own red-dyed hair, but that would be a dead giveaway for anyone who saw her without the uniform. “Thank you, I mean, I really appreciate it. And it was nice meeting you!”
She debated removing that lower half of her mask, just to offer the other woman a genuine smile, but decided against it. Her body language would just have to do.
Extending a gloved hand for a parting shake, she prayed to God that if her cosmic energy decided to act up, the one person who wouldn’t be seriously injured by a dark matter blade to the palm would be Lightning Girl. But she felt calm – as far as cosmic energy went – and it had been a long time since she’d slipped up.
“I look forward to working with you. I hope I can live up to the standard you set.” Because, intentionally or not, the electrically-inclined superheroine definitely set a standard.
“I’m sure you will!” Lightning Girl shook hands with Blackstar once again, smiling, the SDN office having plenty more to offer, as she pointed across. “The team’s a nice bunch. Well, Eclipse and Payback are….quiet, Princess….” Lightning Girl whispered….”does some really crazy shapeshifting stuff, Asteroid is…..like your doppelganger, Hat Trick’s the big native Canadian dude over there who covers stuff in ice, and then there’s Solaris, who’s that big lady in shining armour. Oh yeah, and Madcap, who is…..a character.” She brought her voice back up to normal, walking away,
“There’s plenty of lockers downstairs, but yeah, be right back!” She added, the light grey suited heroine jogging back downstairs, avoiding a few admin workers carrying paperwork, apologising and in a bit of a hurry to fix her mess.
James took his headset off, as he peeked over the corner desk, seeing the black-clad heroine arrive, right on time.
“Blackstar? Ah, perfect, great. I’m James Speight, co…..dispatcher of the A-Team. Got an induction to go through with you. Welcome to the team. ” James added, the other British voice in the office, the redhaired consultant shorter and today, wearing a North Face gilet with an off white-blue striped shirt beneath it, a pair of grey chinos and smart shoes joining that arrangement. He offered his hand out, and with it, led Blackstar to his corner of the office, with a chair across for him.
A new hire needed to do paperwork. This was not the part of being a hero anyone imagined, but one of the three Ds of SDN was Documentation!
And with it, Blackstar had 30 minutes worth of risk assessments, paperwork, and all sorts of other documents to sign. Payroll details, emergency contacts, that sort of thing. This was not likely to be the morning that Blackstar was hoping for. But it was the best James could squeeze before the shift started. The bits she couldn’t fill in about personal information were fine, but everything else needed to be done. SDN was a business after all, and like any good employer, James had to make sure they had a duty of care, within….well, some sort of reason.
American employment law was weird, but man, he’d learned a lot these past few months.
“Alright, that should sort us for now. Normally, I’d get you to do a full day of this, but, we’re in need right now and the Branch Director wanted me to find a way to get you in the fray, so we’ll do the rest over downtime between dispatches. Here’s a earpiece, and a standard SDN transponder. Helps me to track you and talk to you when you’re in the field.” James added, looking up Blackstar’s general want to hide her face, cover up who she was. Most heroes and villains did. But Blackstar absolutely did not want to be known.
“It’s worth saying this isn’t normally how SDN works, but, I’ll try and get things sorted around here. I looked at your record. Impressive, and while there’s gaps….you’ll fit right in.” James replied, knowing there was no point harping on, she’d been interviewed, and he knew her profile already. Just a reminder and a warm one to set the scene.
“So, in terms of what we do, I’ll call out the dispatch, and I’ll send you the co-ordinates, and you help our subscribers with whatever it is they called in. We get started in about 10 minutes, so I’ll let you meet the team, they should all be over there. You’ll be fine.” James reassured her, knowing that a hero needing reassurance must have been odd- but this was a lot for a first day.
Tuesday
12:52
Break Room
Claremont SDN
Lightning Girl ran back up, and was back in the break room, and now a bit more cleaned up after washing her face and reapplying lots of factor 50, already running to the kettle for her second brew of the day. The team would come in, bring in their late breakfasts / early lunches, and be ready for a 1pm start. Mask back on, of course.
"How are we all today?" Lightning Girl asked the group, all gathered up in the break room, just about ready for another early afternoon of dispatches and work.
