It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Right after the Lorwardian invasion. Mankind all coming together to help one another after the rampant destruction that the aliens had caused. It was a shining example of the selflessness that humans were capable of in the face of tragedy.
But frankly? Adrena didn't care.
Where was this supposed selflessness when she was still on the street, hungry and upset at the losses in her life?
After that mess with Kim Possible, she couldn't make a decent living. Not even flipping burgers. Oh, sure, they would hire her and give her the job. But everything came with some sort of snide comment, like "Heya Blondie. Make sure that you're flipping the real beef and not the fake kind. I know you have trouble telling the difference". Her former career as a stuntwoman was ruined. She had thought 'hey, who cares if a fake a few stunts here and there?'.
Apparently, everyone.
So Adrena quit all the small-time jobs she could get to keep what little pride she had left and just survived on the street. The meager savings she had were pretty much depleted by the time the Diablos occurred, so she didn't really have a place. She'd learned the hard way the places that were okay to sleep in overnight and the places to go get some okay tossed out food (she refused to think 'garbage').
Occasionally, she would get handouts from some of the kids from that accursed Kim Possible's school. But they usually did it for laughs.
There was one girl...what was her name...Tana? She was the strange one of the group. Actually gave Adrena her entire lunch, untampered, whenever she walked by. That Bonnie one was a queen bitch, giving her spoiled or tainted food for the heck of it and laughing at that 'loser homeless lady'. But that...TARA! Tara was her name. She was nice. Had a strange habit of blushing when people touched her, but eh. Everyone has some sorta kink.
A small cough brought her out of her thoughts. 'Well speak of the devil...'
The very blonde she had just been thinking of was leaning over, a smile on her quickly reddening face, and giving Adrena a quick look. Probably thought that she was asleep.
"H-hey. Uhm...you there?" Tara looked down for a second and then coughed louder. "Tara calling to Lynn. You...you didn't die, did you?"
Ah. Nevermind. The kid had thought that she'd died. It wasn't surprising, really. With the destruction that had happened, it was commonplace to find a dead body in a random place. And it wouldn't have been a surprise that Adrena had died where she was. She was sitting, leaning against a wall in the spot she usually hangs out in. It was a business district in one of the less ritzy areas of Upperton. Which simply meant that it was waaaaaaay above the average person's allowance but too poor for the Richie Rich's of the world to ever be seen at. The ditzy cheerleaders from that stupid school liked coming here and shopping, so she saw the same group wandering around, with Tara usually being in the rear. She was definitely a follower, that one. And a genuine ditz. Which was why Adrena wasn't surprised when Tara began to panic, even when Adrena's eyes were open.
She was surprise when the girl grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her like a mixed drink.
"Hey! Wake up! Don't be dead. Please don't be dead!"
"Whoawhoawhoa!" Adrena grabbed a hold of Tara's arms and tried to get her to stop. Unfortunately, Tara jumped and screamed a little at the move. It got her to stop, but really didn't help with Adrena's balance. Thus her face became even more intimately familiar with the street she slept on.
If there was one thing that Adrena didn't missed about stuntwork, it was faceplanting the sidewalk.
"Oh my gosh! Oh, I'm so sorry." Tara bent down and helped Lynn sit back up. "I was--you scared me when you didn't move or anything. I thought that...maybe..." She trailed off and blushed even harder when Adrena began to chuckle.
"What, you thought that my insides had gotten splattered by one of those creepy tripod things?" She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about having actually been thought of as dead. Or actually getting a reaction out of this girl because of it.
"Quadropod."
"Eh?" Adrena tilted her head to look at the other blonde.
"'Tri' means that there's three of something. 'Quad' means four, like what those robots had." Adrena wouldn't have been more surprised if that naked rat thing had jumped up in front of her, dressed in drag, and then did the hula.
"Huh. Maybe I had you figured wrong."
"Hm?" Tara looked at Adrena, silently asking her to continue.
"I had you pegged as a blonde," she added as she straightened up and cracked her back. "Dang, how long was I laying there?"
"But I am blonde!" Tara smiled. Adrena just stared at her for a minute or so. "...what?
"...nevermind. So then," Adrena leaned against the wall again, "what brings you to my little broken-down corner of the world? Gonna spare me a sandwich?" It would be nice if she did. Adrena hadn't had a good bite to eat in nearly a week, the disaster keeping the garbages from filling with anything edible. And she absolutely refused to steal something so small. Another point where her pride kept her from doing something that would benefit her.
"Uhm...actually..." There went her face again. Adrena wondered if it might be a skin condition. "Well...my family is--well, we're pretty good with the money and stuff...and everyone's so down about the bad things that happened with the invasion..."
"Bad things?" Adrena looked around at the dilapidated buildings. "Heh. Yeah, I suppose it was pretty bad, huh?" She smiled an actual genuine smile at the girl.
Jesus, now she could be mistaken for a gigantic tomato! What was with her? "We'retryingtohelpwiththepeoplethatweredisplaced...andIwashopingyouwouldjoinus?"
"...kid, if you want me to actually understa--"
Tara stomped the ground angrily. "I'm NOT a kid!" she proclaimed before crossing her arms and sulked.
Damn, she was adorable when she was pouting. "Okayokay, you aren't a kid." Adrena got the urge to and decided to tweak the other girl's nose. "You're a spoiled brat."
Tara opened her mouth to protest, but quickly realized it was a joke when she saw the woman's smirking face. She couldn't help but to smile herself at it.
"Yeah, I guess I am kinda spoiled, huh? Especially looking at your clo--" She clapped a hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Adrena.
"What?" Adrena looked at her clothes. "Yeah, I know. Filthy rags." Her clothes, once considered the ultimate in action fashion, were now merely torn, tattered, and dirty bits of threadbare fabric from the lack of care. "But hey, when it's between eating and clothes, food wins out." She shrugged like it was no big deal, but it hit at her pride a bit to look so...ugh. "You never said what you muttered," she redirected, unconsciously pulling at her clothes.
"Oh! Right." Tara giggled. "Sorry. I do that sometimes."
"I noticed."
Tara giggled harder. "Okay." She straightened herself and sighed before taking a big breath. "My parents are totally letting some of the people that were displaced by the attack in their home and I was wondering if you wanted to stay with my family for a bit? Until you can get back on your feet. Or even longer than that?"
The kid almost sounded hopeful with that last bit. She wanted a homeless person living with her? "Uh...you do realize that I was homeless before the attacks, right?"
"...don'ttellmyparents? Please? Or else they won't let you stay."
And now the kid wanted her to come. Why? The only reason someone would go to these kind of lengths for someone was if they were expecting something out of it or--
Brain fart. Brain freeze. Then reboot.
The kid--this kid--this girl was crushing on her?
Well, it certainly explained the red face...
"So will you come?"
"Huh?" Tara obviously hadn't notice her freeze up.
"Come with me home? I promise, we'll get you food and new clothes and stuff. It'll be fun!" The gigantic smile that appeared on her face certainly made Adrena think it was possible.
Adrena sized up the situation. A hot young girl that had a major crush on her was offering her a nice comfortable place to sleep and eat and bathe as much as she wanted and give her time to get back to her former glory? Let's see...was this something any sane person would give up on? No? Well, Adrena was most certainly not crazy.
A little spark that had gone out in her years ago became relit. A strange excitement, one that took her a second to realize was giddiness, took hold of her. She couldn't keep it down, there was just too much excitement!
"Look out, world! Adrena Lynn's back, and things are gonna get FREAKY!" she shrieked, a manic laughter quickly following her scream.
"Oh joy!" Tara squealed. "We're totally going to be roommates and do each other's nails and everything!"
Hell. Yes.
Another story written for a ship challenge on KP/. Figured that the award ceremony that Drakken was honored at that showed Adrena Lynn in regular garb took place a few weeks after the invasion. That's my thought on it, anyway.
And is it just me, or are all my stories starting to sound the same?