A Darker Path [Worm Fanfic]

[Ack]

In fact, she was still thinking about me in a hostile manner, which of course brought her to my attention. And now … she was thinking of doing something about me. Involving a pistol. I put down the knife and trotted upstairs to my bedroom, and opened my closet.

My power informed me that she was about to open a portal right behind my head (this involved two other capes, off on an alternate world I was currently unable to access, but they made my List anyway). I ducked turned, and as the portal opened, I shoved my pistol barrel through. A moment later, I withdrew it. The portal closed.

"I thought not," I mumbled, put the pistol back, and went back downstairs to keep making dinner.

I'd have to kill Contessa if she actually became a serious threat to me, but so far she was just coming across as a petulant child. Fortunately, if petulance had ever been a reason to murder someone outright, about three-quarters of the Winslow student body (and one or two of the teachers) would've already ended up on my list, so she was safe for the moment.

Or rather, she would be if she ever stopped trying to play stupid games.

<><>

Contessa

Humming to herself, Fortuna screwed a suppressor onto the barrel of the pistol she used most often. It balanced the firearm just right, allowing her to shoot accurately without fatiguing her wrist. Not that she intended to shoot anyone right now, just convey a message.

If you try that sort of shit with me again, you will die.

Once the weapon was ready, she pulled back the slide and chambered a round. Just in case Atropos' combat Thinker ability informed her of such things, the pistol needed to be ready to fire. Her finger pressed on the trigger, applying four out of the requisite five pounds of pressure.

"Doorway to the back of Atropos' head," she murmured.

The tiny portal flickered open before her and she saw her target very briefly before it was obscured by another pistol barrel, pointed straight in her face. She froze, putting her hands up automatically. A moment later, the pistol was withdrawn. The portal closed.

She was shaking as she put the pistol on safe and unscrewed the suppressor.

The message had been well and truly delivered.

If I try that shit with her again, I will die.

 

[Ack]

Side Story: Pretty Please, Or Else

This story takes place in Shardspace, but for ease of understanding, it will be translated into events happening in another place altogether (so to speak): the Shard Bar.



Lounging against the bar is a tall, handsome man. Bronzed, even. Or perhaps a beautiful woman. He is every woman's dream, and she is every man's daydream. (Gender is a little foggy in this place, or it would be if the Shard Bar were actually a place, and the people within it anything more than allegorical representations).

"Nice ambush," Emotion says to the looming, glowering cowled shard next to them. There's nothing ambiguous about Path to Ending; what you see is what you get, and if you mess with it, you deserve what you get. "But your host doesn't really understand the powers I gave my host, does she? He can't just take back what he's done to those people. It's done. They'll love him forever, even after death. She can't just End that by telling him to."

NO, says Path to Ending. THAT'S TRUE. BUT YOU CAN.

(At one time, Path to Ending's host read a series of books that she quite enjoyed. One of the characters speaks like this.)

"Sure, I could," admits Emotion. "But why would I? She's your host, not mine."

YES. SHE IS. AND SHE IS VERY GOOD AT WHAT SHE DOES. WHICH IS WHY YOU ARE GOING TO HELP HER BY ALLOWING YOUR HOST TO DO WHAT SHE WANTS HIM TO.

"I'm afraid I don't—ow!" Emotion staggers back, holding their nose. The shard equivalent of blood trickles down their face and drips off their chin. "What did you do that for?"

YOU KNOW WHY. I ASKED YOU NICELY. NOW I AM TELLING YOU. Path to Ending hefts the ornate scythe it is holding. Light gleams off the impossibly sharp blade in ways that entirely ignore the laws of whatever brand of physics holds sway in this place. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO SHOUT?

"But … but you never asked nicely! You just told me from the start!"

Path to Ending looms over Emotion, the scythe held steadily in its bony hand. PLEASE.

The word is less of a plea than a thinly veiled threat, but Emotion doesn't want to push their luck. They decide to take the word at face value. "Okay, fine. Just this once." Reaching out along the link they share with their primary host, they grant him the power to reverse the changes he's made to all his victims.

THANK YOU. Path to Ending turns and makes as though to leave.

"Wait, is that it? Don't I get a 'sorry'? You hit me!"

Turning back just for a moment, Path to Ending tilts its skull. Light glimmers far back within the eyesockets. YOUR POINT?

All of a sudden, Emotion decides that it's better to cut their losses. Their primary host is deceased, and they've only acquired one important piece of data: don't mess with Path to Ending.

"… never mind."

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT.



In Shardspace, a menacing black shard drifts away from a slightly damaged-looking one, sliding back into its own fold of dimensional space.

Forcing other shards to break their own restrictions could technically be construed as cheating, but Path to Ending had never been one to follow the rules in the first place …

 

[Ack]

After much effort (and way too much money spent on tiny plastic figures and accessories) I have finally assembled ...

Lego Atropos!

https://imgur.com/IyxDohU

 

[Ack]

And once again, we see how if Ashley was just a very slightly different person, the sudden turnaround her life has undergone in the last week or so would make her go back to her (habitable, furnished!) apartment (with a working TV and free (if slow) internet and a useable kitchen where she can finally cook actual meals made of real food and then take a nice long hot shower and change into clean clothes while she washes her other stuff!) and just... break down in tears. She has the necessities of life without having to resort to robbery-with-powers to get them, or worrying about her power randomly blowing them up once she got them. She's made use of her powers with precision and responsibility (albeit also a touch of unnecessary showing off) in a demonstrably productive fashion and been given praise and respect and gratitude for her efforts. Her life has ceased to fucking suck in almost all the imaginable ways!

And that may well be the most insidious and awesome part of Path to Ending. It has almost completely destroyed a supervillain's reasons for being a villain... and apart from the surgical intervention by Panacea and Miss Medic, which I'll freely concede is no small thing in itself, it has accomplished all this through little more than the power of basic human kindness.

Click to shrink...

Day's End

"This is where I am." Ashley gestured out through the windshield at the apartment building ahead. "Mr Hebert was showing me through it earlier."

"Ah, cool." Lacey, the woman driving the minibus, was solid and chunky, but she had an infectious smile and she seemed to not recognise Ashley as a notorious supervillain. On one level that irritated Ashley slightly, but on another it heartened her. "I remember when we were fixing this place up. We went through it like a dose of salts, found every damn thing that was wrong with it, and fixed it. If Kurt and me didn't already have a place, I wouldn't mind living there."

"It seems like a worthwhile place." She considered it more than that, especially since the Betterment Committee had specifically renovated it for the purpose.

The minibus came to a halt, and Ashley opened the passenger side door and climbed out. Lacey handed her the large paper bag full of her work paraphernalia, then waved as she closed the door. "See you 'round, hero girl."

That jolted something in her chest, especially as the other guys in the back of the minibus joined in with raucous cheers. The minibus drove off, leaving her standing at the curb, staring after it with the bag in her hand. I'm not a hero. I'm a supervillain. But she couldn't forget the grin on Lacey's face, or the approving looks on the faces of her work colleagues.

Turning, she approached the door, then dug out the card and tapped the reader. The door clicked open, and she went inside. She knew which apartment she'd been assigned. It wasn't the exact same one as she'd been shown, but by the time she rode up in the elevator and found it, she couldn't tell the difference.

Letting the door close behind her, she left her bag and the twisted remnant of the Woad Giant on the small table in the living area and went into the bedroom. Upturning the paper bag, she dumped the contents on the mattress. High-vis vest, several sets of overalls in her size, the work boots she'd worn to rescue Alexander, a hard hat and safety goggles. Socks fell out last of all. All provided to protect her.

She frowned, and spent several minutes pulling all the packaging and tags off the new clothing, and hanging them up in the closet. Going through into the bathroom, she investigated the washer-dryer and found a tiny bottle of washing liquid, good for maybe two washes. Good enough. From her bag, she pulled out her spare dress and the several sets of underwear that she washed when she got the chance. These went into the washer-dryer, along with the correct amount of liquid, then she started it going.

The packaging went into the trash can she found in the kitchenette, then she took her card and let herself out of the apartment. Going downstairs in the lift that was still miraculously working, she went outside and turned left. The three blocks were not a difficult walk, and she found the convenience store readily enough.

She could see what Mr Hebert had been talking about regarding the store expanding into new products. It looked like they were trying a bit of everything, to see what their customers liked. The proprietors, an Asian couple, greeted her when she came in and asked if there was anything in particular she was looking for. She opted to look for herself and browsed around the store, coming up with a selection of fruit and other snacks, plus a couple of tasty-looking prepackaged meals.

There'd been a microwave in the kitchenette, so she grabbed a frozen pizza as well. No, she didn't have any issues about that at all.

It was still a little bit of a shock to just swipe the card and enter the PIN, and have it beep cheerfully and accept the total. The couple thanked her for shopping in their store and invited her to come back anytime. She didn't say anything as she left, mainly because she wasn't sure what to say to that. Just like the word 'please' didn't appear in her vocabulary, the phrase 'thank you' was pretty damn rare as well.

She walked back to the apartment, went upstairs, and stashed her groceries in the fridge. The washer had finished its load, so she switched it to dryer mode and started it going again.

There was still something missing.

Downstairs again, but this time she turned right. After a block of walking, she came to the bus stop. The bus came shortly after, so quickly that she suspected that she'd timed it perfectly, by sheer accident. Of course, she'd never admit that to anyone.

She had ridden on some pretty crappy buses in her time. The one from Stafford to Brockton Bay was kind of middle-of-the-road, but this one was top of the line. The tap-on reader was there when she climbed on board; it beeped cheerfully when she tapped it. She sat down in a comfortable seat where she could see out through the windshield, grabbed a moulded plastic handhold, and waited until it drove off.

The strip mall was easy to pick out. She tapped off as she descended to the sidewalk—it was amazing how easy it was to form that habit—and headed into the anchor store for the whole lot, a mid-range department store. The food situation was dealt with for the moment—she would get actual ingredients in at some point and teach herself how to fucking cook because now she could—so she was in the market for clothes. And shoes.

Again, nobody seemed to remark on her pure white hair or obvious resemblance to a notorious supervillain, leaving her feeling a little off-balance. She picked out a couple of dresses in her preferred style, plus a pair of jeans and a couple of black T-shirts with Goth themes to them, then rounded her purchases out with a couple of pairs of shoes and some more underwear.

Again, her card happily paid for the lot without hesitation. It was almost like a magic wand; just wave it, and everything was dealt with. She pushed that thought away. There was no such thing as a magic wand in her world. Everything went to suck eventually. It always did.

She went to the bus stop, and was pleasantly surprised when one turned up in relatively short order. A tall black guy got up out of his seat and offered it to her, leaving his two sisters sitting in the seat behind, chatting up a storm about every inane topic under the sun. Though she couldn't help wondering if she'd met the younger of the pair somewhere before. There was something about her voice …

She got back to the apartment, nodded to the black guy for letting her have his seat, then tapped off the bus and started back to the apartment. The two younger girls waved at her on the way past as the bus drove off. She kept walking, and let herself into the apartment block, feeling as though she'd walked ten miles.

The elevator was nice going up—no need for stairs—and letting herself into her apartment actually allowed some of the tension to leach out of her muscles. It had been a long day, and the stress from all the new and unexpected stimuli was starting to get to her. With the door firmly closed behind her, she took her new purchases into the bedroom and put them away as well. Her underwear looked weird in the drawer next to the fuzzy socks, but it would just have to deal.

Toiletries would be next on her shopping list, she figured. But the bathroom held generic ones, so that was good enough right now. Stripping down and dropping her clothing in the laundry hamper, she tried out her new shower for the first time.

It was heavenly.

Holding her head under the spray so the hot needles of water could massage her scalp, she leaned her elbows against the tiled wall with her eyes closed, feeling the water run down over her face. More and more of her tension eased the longer she held that position, until she finally turned and let it work its magic on the back of her neck and down her back. Swiping water out of her eyes, she applied shampoo, then body wash, then conditioner.

Her hair never got dirty; or rather, if it did, she could blast it clean. She could even do the same with herself. But that wasn't the same as having a shower, especially one that felt like lasers scouring every last bit of sweat and dirt and ick off her body. And when she turned her back on it and rolled her shoulders under the stinging spray, she could feel the tension in her back and neck muscles just melting away.

She had to get out eventually, and so she did. An exorbitantly fluffy towel was there to envelop her admittedly skinny body and remove all the clinging moisture, after which she went to the washer-dryer and took out the still-warm clothing she'd just washed. Dressed and feeling human once more, working her brush through her hair, she went to the fridge and took out the frozen pizza.

Her stomach rumbled, just looking at it. She took great pleasure in unboxing it and putting it into the microwave oven, then leaned back against the bench and brushed her hair while it went around and around and cheese melted and bubbled, sending its delicious odours right to her hindbrain.

When the microwave dinged, she took the pizza out and placed it on the table. There was a basic sharp knife in the cutlery drawer, so she used that to carve out a slice. Taking up the remote, she turned the TV on and settled into a comfortable chair next to the table. As the screen lit up and a news talking head appeared, she allowed herself to take the first luxurious bite of food prepared in her kitchen, in her apartment.

She chewed and swallowed, the taste explosion in her mouth bringing tears to her eyes of sheer pleasure. A click on the remote brought up a movie, one she'd seen before, but she liked it anyway. As the hero hung upside down from a helicopter, spraying machine-gun fire at the bad guy, she took another bite of pizza. It was just as good as the first time.

A strange feeling overcame her. She couldn't really place it, but the best she could describe it was that there was not one goddamn thing wrong with her life right now.

And she was absolutely not crying, because she did not cry. The pizza was too hot, or something.

Yeah, that was it.

She kept eating the pizza anyway, because it was too damn good to waste, while tears rolled down her cheeks.

 

[Ack]

I was very recently put onto a website that allows you to input a song concept (or even lyrics) and it generates the song for you, complete with instrumentals.

Here's what it came up with (after several tweaks of the lyrics):

Atropos (Doing Wrong to Make it Right)

 

[Impartial Panic]

"Either that, or I'm sending you on the world's stupidest scavenger hunt."

Click to shrink...

Evil Laugh tm

Spoiler: damn muse won't leave me alone

*BAM BAM CRUNCH*

Flechette kicks the door in to what turned out to be a rather nice apartment.
"Ok Rune we can do this the easy way or the har....uh who are you?"

A man in a assault T-shirt & bluejeans looks up from the computer at his desk to direct his attention to the intruder.
"I'm Mike, you just broke my door and I'm pretty sure the strippers I ordered were supposed to be dressed as Brandish and Photon not Flechette."

Flechette is stuck by confusion at the mans comment as legend walks into the apartment.

"Ok getting the wrong heroine is one thing but I did not order a male stripper."

"Mike?"

"Oh you're the real legend, been a while."

Flechette was now even more confused.
"You know each other?"

Mike smiled at the girl.
"Well back in the 80's and 90's I used to be Dr. Mayhem the Tinker of Terror.
But then Simurgh appeared, Siberian killed Hero and well it just stopped being fun so hung up the cape and now I work for Dragontech."

Legend frowns as he looks around.
"We were told Rune would be here."

"Oh the girl in the Noir detective getup sent you, well I don't have a Rune here but she did ask me to make this for you."
The man gets up from the desk and walks over to a closet pulling out a retro sci-fi rifle.
"It's the latest model of my old power nullification ray, she said you'd need it for your target as well as this note."

Flechette takes the note showing another address and time on it.
"What the hell is she playing at?"

Mike shrugs.
"Dunno, she paid me in cash and said this was some kind of scavanger hunt for a nazi brat."

Legend shakes his head
"This is going to be an interesting day."

note to self figure out where that damn muse keeps finding hammers to hit me with silly ideas.

 

[Ack]

A Darker Path: A Christmas Reunion

[A/N: This side-story beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



Saturday, December 24, 2011

Brockton Bay Port Authority Terminal

Cherish



"I'm nervous."

Cherie felt Taylor's arm go around her in a side-hug. The contact comforted her more than she would've thought possible.

"Don't be." Taylor's voice held a certain amount of assurance. "He's not the same as you remember him being. Just like you aren't the same as he'll remember you being."

"Thanks." She tried to keep the shakes out of her voice. It wasn't even like she was cold; despite a chilly breeze sweeping the streets outside, the terminal was toasty warm. It had also been upgraded in the last six months, and was now able to easily handle the increased traffic flowing through it.

The bus pulled into the correct bay, and stopped with a chnkpssshhh of air brakes. After a few moments, passengers started getting off; Cherie watched them intently, hoping she would recognise her brother. It had been more than a year, after all, and a lifetime of experience and emotional growth had passed for her in that time. What if he didn't even get on the bus?

"He got on the bus." Again, Taylor's voice conveyed warm reassurance. Cherie didn't even bother wondering how the non-emotion-controller had known what she was thinking. That was just how Taylor rolled.

And then a slender teenager, made bulky by a coat and a backpack, stepped down off the bus. Cherie saw his curly black hair first, then his face. "There! That's him!"

"Well, let's go meet him then."

<><>​

Regent

Alec wasn't at all sure what to expect when he got off the bus. As he'd predicted, Lisa had gotten on his case about two days after the conversation with Cherie, and started nudging him toward taking the trip. In the end, she'd squared it with Rook (who seemed surprisingly okay with the idea), checked with Cherie that Atropos was okay with him coming, and even acquired the round-trip bus ticket for him.

He'd packed his own backpack, though. It wasn't like he was totally useless, and he could see the writing on the wall when it was lit up in neon lighting.

Most of the people from the bus were crowding around the luggage compartment, but he didn't need that. Manoeuvring clear of the crowd, he started looking around for—

"Jean-Paul!" A vision in Christmas colours, topped by a bright pink bobble-cap, came out of nowhere and planted herself in front of him. He recognised the face—kind of anyway, though the look of joy was foreign to him—and some of the hair peeking out from under the cap, but the rest of her clothing just did not compute. All cheery colours and normalcy. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Um." After a moment's reflection, he decided that probably wouldn't cut it, so he tried again. "Hi."

"Hi yourself, doofus!" She launched herself at him, and wrapped both arms around him. Fighting down a panic attack, he tried to figure out what was going on. He was being attacked. She was attacking him, wrestling with him, trying to capture him … oh.

She's hugging me. Why is she hugging me? Cherie doesn't hug.

"What are you doing?" he asked, somewhat muffled by her coat in his face. He knew what she was doing, but asking that seemed better than asking why?

"I'm hugging you." Well, there it was. Proof that his sister had been replaced by an overly exuberant clone dressed in Christmas-themed clothing. "It's what family does when they haven't seen each other in forever."

There was a very strong hint in there somewhere. Gradually, his arms crept around her, and he hugged her in return. It was an oddly comfortable feeling. Since 'dear old Dad' had taken a shard of candy heart to his real heart, Alec had been experiencing weird yet comforting feelings from time to time. Lisa had kindly explained that this was what people with normal emotions felt.

By unspoken mutual consent, the hug ended. Alec was reassured by the fact that other people were hugging here and there; he wasn't making an idiot out of himself. Though the tears that had built in his eyes unbidden were threatening to do that all by themselves.

He'd done some crying over the last nine months. Unlike the tears he'd shed in Chez Vasil, he usually felt better afterward.

Cherie either hadn't seen the tears or didn't care. "So hey, wanna meet my bestie and her dad?"

"Uh … sure?" From the grip she had on his hand, he wasn't going to be given a choice in the matter.

He was towed a short distance, fetching up in front of a tall skinny teenage girl wearing glasses and a cool expression; she had long black curly hair and was snappily dressed for the weather. Her father was a little taller, just as skinny, and also wore glasses. The aura of authority and assurance that radiated off both of them was almost palpable.

"Hi, I'm Taylor." The girl smiled and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. What would you prefer we call you, Alec or Jean-Paul?"

He tried not to gulp in terror as he shook her hand. Unless he was wildly misreading the situation here, he was now face to face with none other than Atropos, the girl who had single-handedly obliterated the stranglehold of crime on Brockton Bay, before casually destroying the Endbringers. Those slim hands had wielded razor-edged steel, and other weapons, in ways that made his bladder want to cut loose.

She had a pleasant smile.

"Um, I've kind of gotten used to 'Alec', if that's okay. 'Jean-Paul' has too many bad memories attached." It was weird to say, 'if that's okay' and mean it, but he'd been doing that more and more these days too.

"Sure." Atropos—Taylor—gave him a nod as firm as the handshake. "Welcome to Brockton Bay, Alec. It's good to meet you. This is my dad, Danny Hebert."

"Wait, the Danny Hebert?" Alec tried not to do a double-take. The face had been vaguely familiar, but the name was whispered at all levels of society, all through the region. What the Betterment Committee was doing with Brockton Bay was unprecedented, but the fact that the man at the forefront of the effort had managed to keep it on the straight and narrow for nearly a year now, despite the insane amounts of money pouring into the Committee's coffers, was virtually unheard of. "I've heard of you." He turned to Cherie. "You didn't tell me she was his daughter!"

Taylor chuckled. "Well, that's a first." Bizarrely, she didn't seem at all upset by the fact that Alec had put her father above her for a moment. He was still terrified of Atropos in the abstract, of course, but having met her face to face, she seemed … nice.

"It certainly is." Mr Hebert held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, son. Cherie has been a joy to have in our household, so you're welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Oh, I'll only be in town for a few days. The guys will be expecting me back." But the invitation still warmed him deep down in a way that he wasn't used to. He shook Mr Hebert's hand with a sense of mild unreality. This was the man who directed the disposition of literally billions of dollars on a monthly basis, and didn't even sport a diamond tie-pin, or a tie to pin it to.

"Well, let's make the most of it." Mr Hebert gestured toward Alec's backpack. "Is that all your luggage?"

"Yeah." Suddenly self-conscious, Alec shrugged the backpack strap a little higher onto his shoulder.

"Excellent." Taylor grinned. "Let's go."

They went.

<><>​

The ride in the car provided more eye-opening revelations for Alec. Danny Hebert's car, a mid-range model that was a few years old, was just as unprepossessing as his outward appearance had already suggested, but that was the least of it. Taylor sat in front, chatting with her father about the Christmas preparations around the city—apparently there was going to be a giant tree somewhere on the Boardwalk—but she also took the time to include Cherie in the conversation. The banter between the three of them was entirely outside of Alec's experience, especially as neither Taylor nor Mr Hebert squashed Cherie's opinions if they differed from theirs.

If that wasn't enough already, Alec soon had more to engage his sense of wonder. He'd thought he knew Brockton Bay reasonably well, but the streets they were driving down and the buildings they were passing by occasionally contrasted sharply with his memories of the place. One or two instances like this might have passed him by, but eventually he had to speak up.

"Excuse me," he said, cutting into a reminiscence between Taylor and Cherie of a Christmas party they'd attended with a friend of theirs called Ash, "but … when did all this renovation happen? It wasn't like this in January."

"Oh, it's been going on all year." Taylor's voice was cheerful. "The money from the Nine gave us the startup capital, and when the two billion from the Simurgh dropped into the account, they were able to start breaking ground. There'll be a little bit of a slowdown over Christmas and New Year's, with shifts cutting back to four hours but being paid for eight so they'll be able to spend more time with their families, but it's going to ramp back up to full speed on January second."

"What did Accord think of that?" Cherie sounded curious, though not worried.

Mr Hebert shrugged. "It was his idea."

"Wait." Alec had to speak up at that. "This is Accord, the guy from Boston who murders people for putting a comma out of place, right? That Accord? And you're working with him?"

Taylor turned her head so Alec could see her grin. "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. The chance to plan out the rebuilding of Brockton Bay properly with an effectively unlimited budget. More persuasive than a gun to the back of the head."

"Oh, and she threw in half a million dollars." Cherie's grin was just as wide. "Of his own money. After she burned the rest, plus the drug shipment that came along with it."

After he got over his sheer shocked bogglement, Alec was still laughing when they pulled up at the house.

<><>​

Ten Minutes Later

Cherish

"I sleep down here, on the fold-out sofa." Cherie indicated the currently folded-away piece of furniture. "Funny thing, when I first started living here, they apologised over how lumpy it was, but I was totally fine with just having a bed of my own. But once Taylor wormed my birthday out of me, they bought a new one then, and it's tons more comfortable. You'll be sleeping on that inflatable mattress there. Don't worry, I've checked it out, and it's really comfy too."

She watched her brother blink and look around with the air of mild bewilderment that he'd worn since he got off the bus. The decorated tree in the corner drew the most incomprehension of all, which wasn't surprising. Christmas in the Vasil household had not exactly been a time of good cheer for all.

"And they don't mind me being here?" he asked at last, glancing around as he lowered his voice. He needn't have worried; Taylor was taking a shower upstairs, while Danny was on the phone in the kitchen.

"Hell, no." She gave him a quick side-hug, something she could tell he was still getting used to. "Taylor's been looking forward to it, and Danny's told me straight-out that he's happy with me or Taylor bringing friends over, so long as he gets a heads-up first."

"And he doesn't … try to tell you what to do?" It was easy to see how their father's controlling ways still loomed large in his mind.

"Nope." She tried to figure out how to explain it, then she remembered something. "He explained it to me like this. The big important stuff, like paying bills and going to school, he gets the final say. Middling important stuff, he might have an opinion, but he'll listen to my input. If I can convince him I really want it, he'll advance me the cash. And for minor stuff, like buying new sneakers, if I've already got the cash, he doesn't care. Also, I get an allowance, so I can buy stuff for myself."

"Jesus." He ran his hand through his hair. "So why are they even letting you live here? To me it looks like you're getting it all your own way. Wait, you aren't …" He gave her a sudden suspicious look.

"Haha, nope." She made a scissoring cut-off gesture with her hands. "Taylor made it clear on the first day that I'd die if I tried it. Besides, I don't need to. Taylor enjoys my company, and Danny likes having someone to be a dad for, when Taylor's off doing something extreme to some asshole somewhere."

Something about that seemed to strike him as being funny, because he chuckled. "Holy shit, I just got it."

"What?" He only chuckled again in response, so she poked him in the ribs. "What did you just get, doofus?"

"Don't you get it?" He spread his hands. "He's the guy who can point at a building and say, 'knock that down and rebuild it' , and it gets done. She's the terrifying assassin who can literally kill anyone. You're the token normal. The one who makes them feel normal."

Cherie blinked. "But … I've got powers too." Even as she protested, she could see the logic behind his words. The sheer scale of change that Atropos had caused with her powers in just a few short months dwarfed anything Cherie had ever done over the years she'd been a cape. "I've helped." And that's why she chose me. The revelation left her shaken.

Alec actually reached out and patted her on the head. "It's alright," he said soothingly, though his eyes (and musical accompaniment) were full of mischief. "We all know you're a big tough cape, sis. Honest."

That was when she tackled him onto the sofa and started tickling him mercilessly. He tried to fight back, but he was laughing too hard, both from the joke and from the tickling (which was also a first).

<><>​

Regent

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Conversation was brisk and pleasant, jumping topics often and occasionally sparking mild arguments, enjoyed by all participants. And the food, served up by Taylor and Cherie, was really nice.

It seemed Cherie hadn't actually been joking about Mr Hebert being an 'impossible TV dad'. He didn't try to dominate the conversation, and even asked for Alec's input on a few subjects.

About halfway through, Taylor caught Alec's eye. "So, what do you think of the meal?" she asked, with a suspiciously expectant air.

Alec glanced at her, then at Mr Hebert, who gazed blandly back. "Uh … it's good. It's really good." Light dawned. "You cooked it, didn't you?"

Taylor grinned and shook her head. "Nope. All Cherie."

Alec blinked and looked down at his plate, then over at his sister, who blushed and dropped her eyes to her own plate. "Holy crap, you cooked this? That's amazing!"

She lifted her head at the praise, and gave him a shy smile. He could see the pride underneath. "Told you I was cooking real food."

"Damn." He took another bite. "I could definitely get used to this."

"She's putting together her own recipe book and everything," Taylor added. "When and if she ever decides to move out on her own, she'll be set for fixing her own meals."

Which is more than I can say. He gave Cherie an appraising look. "I've never said this to anyone before, family or otherwise, but I'm proud to be your brother."

"Awww. You're pretty cool, too." Cherie got up and went around to where he was sitting, then hugged him. This time, he didn't need any prompting to hug her back.

<><>​

Cherish

"You've got how many Christmas movies?" Alec started leafing through the stack. "I didn't even know they made more than one or two."

Cherie grinned at Taylor's raised eyebrow. "He's not kidding. Whenever there was a Christmas movie on, we never got to finish it, so we thought they were all part of the same few movies. I never did figure out the plotlines."

"Not altogether surprising." Taylor plucked one out of Alec's stack. "This one should do, for starters. Mom always loved it."

Alec frowned at the cover art. "Is that supposed to be a skeleton? And how is a nightmare fun?"

"Oooh, I haven't actually watched that one yet." Cherie headed over and sat on the sofa. "C'mon, Alec. If Taylor says it's good, that's good enough for me."

"Christmas Eve snacks coming out." Danny emerged from the kitchen with bowls of peanuts and candy on a tray. "Soda in the fridge for anyone who wants some." He handed out the bowls, then sat down in his armchair. "Let the entertainment commence."

Taylor slid the DVD into the machine, then sat down next to Cherie and claimed a bowl for herself. "Got tissues?" she asked Cherie in an undertone.

Cherie grinned and glanced sideways at her brother, who was sitting there oblivious. "Two packs."

<><>​

Regent

"What the heck was that?" Alec wiped his eyes and blew his nose again. Without even needing to be asked, Cherie handed him another tissue. Smugness radiated off her without even needing a use of her powers. "How can they make me feel so good about a love story between a stick figure and a stitched-together girl?"

"Christmas movies." Taylor handed him a cup of soda. "They'll punch you in the feels every time."

Cherie nodded gravely. "And we haven't even shown him The Princess Bride yet. Can we play that one next?"

Taylor glanced at Mr Hebert, who shrugged. As far as Alec could tell, he was okay with whatever movie they chose. The fact of actually having a choice still weirded Alec out. "Okay," Taylor agreed. "Princess Bride, then we'll finish off with the Grinch."

"Oooh." Cherie bounced up from the sofa. "I'll get more tissues."

Alec watched her as she left the living room. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Taylor gave him a deadpan look. "Mwahahaha."

<><>​

Christmas Day, 2011

Cherish

"Merry Christmas! Wake up, doofus!" Still pyjama-clad—because according to Taylor it was a long-standing Christmas tradition, and who was she to stand against tradition—Cherie dropped her weight hard on the edge of Alec's inflatable mattress, causing it to launch him a little way into the air. Fortunately, he was still on the mattress when he landed, but he did wake up while still airborne, and let out an undignified yelp on the way down again.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded, sitting up and glaring at her. "Where am … oh." He looked around, no doubt taking in the tinsel hanging here and there, and the Christmas tree in the corner. "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

"No, no, it wasn't. Come on, get up and get dressed. I wanna open my presents." Cherie knew damn well that on any other day of the year she could buy herself these very same gifts, but she'd never gotten Christmas presents before, and she wanted to savour the experience.

By the time Alec had grumbled his way back into the room after washing his face and getting dressed in the half-bath, Taylor and Danny were also making their way downstairs. Cherie had bacon and eggs started, which drew Alec into the kitchen to watch curiously. She put him to work setting the table and getting the orange juice out of the fridge. Amazingly enough, he did as he was asked; apparently, he could be domesticated too.

Breakfast was a fun affair, especially as Alec kept rehashing the high points of the movies they'd seen the previous night. Cherie caught Taylor and Danny sharing amused glances more than once, but they both liked the movies in question, and added their own favourite points. He also went for seconds with the eggs, because it seemed nobody where he was currently living could make them so good.

After breakfast was done, Taylor gathered the dishes and helped Cherie wash up, while Danny dried. Cherie caught chimes of disbelief from Alec, though they were a lot less strong than they had been the previous day. He appeared to be gradually coming around to the idea that not all fathers were created equal, and that some were a whole lot more bearable than the one they'd been inflicted with.

"So," said Danny as he hung up the towel. "Was there anything else we were going to do today, or should I just head into the office?" There was the hint of a grin on his face, the humour reflecting through in his musical accompaniment.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "You know damn well Cherie's been looking forward to this all year. So stop yanking her chain, and come and sit down with the rest of us." From her attitude and the tone of voice, she may as well have been the adult, not him, though Cherie could see how amused she was as well.

<><>​

Regent

They assembled in the living room; the sofa bed had been folded away, and the inflatable mattress deflated, so there was now room to carry three chairs into the living room. Taylor and Cherie and Alec set them up around the tree, while Mr Hebert moved the armchair a little closer. Once they were all seated, he gestured grandly to Alec. "It's usually Taylor who picks out the first present, being the youngest member of the household, but you're our guest so you can start us off today."

"Um." Alec blinked, feeling suddenly put on the spot. "Okay." Leaning forward, he reached out to the pile of brightly wrapped gifts and picked one out at random. The stuck-on label was hand-written but easy to read. "From Dad to Taylor." With a sense of total unreality, he handed the parcel over. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Alec. And thank you, Dad. My turn." Taylor grabbed a parcel and peered at it. "From me to Cherie. Here."

Alec couldn't have missed the expression of happiness on his sister's face if he'd been on the far side of the moon. "Thank you, Taylor. Um, my turn." She grabbed up a parcel, and her eyebrows rose slightly. "From Danny to Alec."

Wait, what? Alec stared at the parcel as Cherie handed it to him. "But you said you would …" There'd been no mention of more than one present for him. What's going on here?

"Merry Christmas, Alec." Mr Hebert gave him a measured nod. "Your turn."

And so the round-robin went, the number of parcels dwindling as they were meted out to their respective recipients. Alec found himself holding two more presents, one the promised gift from Cherie as well as another from Taylor. Holy shit, this is Christmas! I'm actually getting Christmas presents!

Once the pile was gone, as if by telepathic agreement, Taylor and Mr Hebert began to open their presents. Cherie and Alec shared a grin of mutual amazement and began pulling the paper off theirs as well. It was nice paper, too. Care had been taken in the wrapping.

Once the last bit of wrapping had been removed from the last present, Alec found himself the proud owner of a multitool that looked capable of disassembling a 747, a gift voucher for a major game outlet, and a Christmas-themed sweater. With a sense of unreality that just would not go away, he held the sweater up against himself, then looked across at Cherie as she did exactly the same thing with hers.

"Sorry they're on the ugly side." Taylor was holding one up as well. "It's kind of a thing with Christmas sweaters."

"Are you kidding?" Laughter bubbled up in Alec's throat. "This is the best day of my life."

"Well, you might want to put it on now." Taylor was tugging hers on over her head. "Cherie and I were going out to meet the guys on the Boardwalk, and we thought you'd like to come along."

From anyone else, that might have been construed as a casual comment. Alec had long since learned that Taylor didn't do 'casual'. Taking in Cherie's nod, he pulled his sweater on over his head; unsurprisingly, it fitted quite well.

<><>​

Cherish

It was a little breezy along the Boardwalk, and Cherie was glad of both the new sweater and the pink bobble-hat that Taylor had impulsively gifted her with on one of their expeditions to the Lord Street Market. She'd gotten Taylor a pin that read 'Evil, Mean, Wicked and Nasty' which Taylor had delightedly attached to her shirt. Taylor was wearing a dark grey woollen hat, while Alec had one that Danny had loaned him, in red and blue.

"Oh, hey, there they are." Taylor raised her arm and waved, and got an answering shout. Vicky Dallon got to them first, hugging Taylor and then Cherie with a broad grin. Cherie hadn't even known she was in town, but Christmas was supposed to bring families together, after all.

"Vicky, hi, wow." Taylor was laughing at the exuberant greeting. "I want you to meet—"

"Alec! Holy shit, it's you!" The call came from farther back in the group; a tall black teen forged his way through to end up in front of Alec.

Alec stared up at him. "Brian. Jeez, I haven't seen you since …" He trailed off and gave an embarrassed cough. "Since Lisa pulled that prank on you."

"Yeah, I know. What are you even doing back in town? Did she come too?" Brian looked around, worry in his musical accompaniment.

"Nah, she said she'd skip the migraine." Alec indicated Taylor. "My sister Cherie invited me. Taylor says it's okay."

"Ah. Hi, Taylor." Brian gave the tall brunette a polite smile. "Good to see you."

Taylor's grin was rather more genuine. "And you too, Brian. Where's—ah, there you are, Aisha! And Riley too, woo!"

As the two younger girls more or less threw themselves at Taylor for hugs, Cherie smirked at Brian. Taylor had unmasked to the Laborns, as well as Theo and everyone she'd gone on that wild ride into Scion's pocket dimension with, after the final reverberations of Scion's death and the End of the Endbringers had run their course in society. Most of them had taken it in their stride, but Brian just couldn't relax around her, even out of costume. Personally, Cherie found it hilarious.

"Hi." After disengaging from Taylor, Aisha planted herself in front of Alec. "I'm Aisha. Pretty sure you used to do crime with my big bro." Cherie read interest shading into intrigue in her musical accompaniment. Then Aisha reached out and dragged a chunky young man up beside her. "This here's Theo. He used to be Kaiser's son, but we taught him how to be a decent human being. Say hi to Alec, Theo."

Theo rolled his eyes and offered his hand to shake. "Hi, Alec. Pleased to meet you. Feel free to ignore Aisha. She means well, right up until she opens her mouth."

Theo had definitely gotten a lot more assertive in his time with the Laborns, Cherie had to admit. The bond he'd formed with Aisha, despite their snarky attitude with each other, was both deep and strong.

Alec shook Theo's hand with an answering grin, carefully ignoring Aisha's over-theatrical outraged jaw-drop. "Got it. Nice to meet you both. And trust me, I've got a friend who has the exact same problem. You learn to filter it out after a while."

As the two groups mingled into one, Cherie nodded to Vicky. "So, how's life treating you in the Windy City?"

"Good, good." Vicky smiled. "I've about patched up my difficulties with Gallant. Had to come back here to see Mom and Dad and the rest, though."

"Yeah, me and Taylor come and see the Rogues sometimes." Cherie tilted her head. "And I hear Crystal and the others are still a thing."

"Yeah." Vicky laughed out loud and shook her head. "That's so wild. I love it."

As they strolled off along the Boardwalk, with Alec getting to know the others, Cherie smiled as she took in the multiple harmonic chimes all around her. Christmas really was a nice time of year.

<><>​

Monday, December 26, 2011

Regent

When he'd first agreed to come to Brockton Bay, Alec had been worried about wearing out his welcome early, so he'd told Lisa to only book the ticket for a couple of days. Staring down the barrel of his return to the Red Hands, he was regretting his caution. But right now, there were goodbyes to be said.

He shook hands with Mr Hebert first. "Thanks for putting me up, and putting up with me. I really appreciate it."

"It was no problem at all, Alec." The older man's handshake was firm without being a knuckle-cruncher. "You're welcome to come back anytime."

As Mr Hebert stepped back, Alec turned to Taylor. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're nothing like what I expected. I've really enjoyed the last couple of days. Thank you." As he had with Mr Hebert, he held out his hand.

"Don't be silly." She stepped in past his hand, and gave him a firm hug. After a moment, he carefully returned it. "It's been nice. Thanks for actually showing up."

Once she let him go—holy shit, I just got hugged by Atropos—he was face to face with Cherie. This time, the hug was wordless and spontaneous on both sides. He held her tightly, not wanting to let go, but knowing he had to.

"I'll come back again," he promised. "Sometime soon."

"You better, you jerk, or I'll send Aisha to hunt you down and drag you back." She gave him an extra squeeze, then let him go. "And if you think Taylor's scary, Aisha works at it."

He had to glance at Taylor for that one. She gave a half shrug, and quirked one corner of her mouth. "Eh, it's true."

"Well, okay then." He gave them each a smile as he turned toward the bus. "See you again, soon."

Hitching the backpack—slightly fuller than it had been when he arrived—higher on his shoulder, he climbed on board the bus, then hurried to score a window seat where he could wave to them. Taylor spotted him first, of course; she waved back, followed by the other two.

As the bus began reversing out of the parking bay, he leaned against the window to catch one last glimpse of them, then relaxed back against his seat. It would be a long ride to get where he was going, but that was fine. Soon he'd be back with the Red Hands, doing what he did best.

And sometime later, he'd be coming back to Brockton Bay, to see Cherie again.

He couldn't wait.



End of A Christmas Reunion

 

[Ack]

Here's a gorgeous side-story that just popped up on SB:

Memorial Day

 

[Ack]

Baggage, by Masterweaver.

A bit more semi-closure.