Ah, an explanation as to why Kate can just clap her hands and perform transmutations. Don't worry, it's much simpler than it seems. ;)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, blah blah blah.
Chapter 2: Check-In at HQ
A few hours past dawn, he heard water running in one of the other rooms. "Ah, you're awake," he called out sweetly. "Took your time, but that's all right, not like I'm especially ANXIOUS or anything for you to put me back together. No, I quite LIKE being a pile of junk, really, I do! Now would you GET IN HERE AND FIX ME ALREADY?!"
No answer came, and he sighed, realizing that in all likelihood, she hadn't heard him at all over the water of the shower. He waited for what seemed like forever, listening to the running water and cursing her every which way for taking her time when she should have been fixing him.
Eventually, the water stopped, and after a few minutes of shuffling and clattering, he heard a door open somewhere in the apartment. Footsteps followed, and after a moment, she appeared in the doorway, a half-eaten piece of toast in her hand, wearing a clean white t-shirt and blue jeans. She leaned against the doorframe. "Morning, sunshine."
He glared at her – or would have, if enough of his face had been intact to make a proper expression. As it was, he settled for sending her the evil eye. "You certainly took your time."
She smiled slightly. "Yes. I thought I heard somebody whining. What's the matter, have bad dreams of junk yards and garage sales?"
"In case you forgot," he snapped, "I can't dream!"
She paused, and he could see in her hesitation that she honestly had forgotten. "Oh. Right. Well, at least you had the rest of the scraps to keep you company."
Barry's pieces twitched furiously. "I'm not a scrap! I'm Barry the Butcher – Barry the Chopper! I live to kill, kill, kill!"
"Good thing for me you can't move, then," she remarked, to his chagrin.
"Well, you're going to fix that – aren't you?"
"We'll see. After all, I don't want you chopping me the instant I repair you. That would be kind of a drag." She kept her tone light, but he could tell what she was really thinking: if she fixed him, he would be able to kill again, not just her, but others, like before. She was second-guessing her actions.
He couldn't let her change her mind. Who else was there to help him? "You know, if you can't fix me, you should just say so…" he said, hoping he'd hit a nerve.
"Psh. Didn't I tell you? I'm the Reconstructing Alchemist. If I can't put you back together, Humpty, then no one can – not all the king's horses, or all the king's men. Fixing disasters like you is my specialty."
"I see. And when exactly were you planning on proving this, hmm? Sometime in this lifetime, perhaps?"
"Mine, or yours?" she shot back, but she took the hint. "I'm thinking of starting tonight."
"Tonight?! Why not now?"
"I told you, I've got to show up at headquarters. Hopefully I won't be home too late." Finishing off the last of her toast, she approached the table he lay on, looking thoughtful again. "But I guess I do feel a bit bad for you… Here, I can do this for you, at least." Sorting through the pieces, she found (with an odd sort of ease, as if she had known exactly what to look for) a few shards which might have belonged to his face. She pushed them close to his good eye. Then she held up her hands, and for a moment he glimpsed a pair of blue tattoos of transmutation circles on her palms; then she clapped and pressed her hands to his face, and he yelped.
There was a flash of blue light, and when it was over, she stepped back to admire her work. "Not much, but that's as much as I trust you with while I'm gone." His upper face, and the top of his head, had been perfectly restored. Now he could see out of both eyes.
"Why… ah, thank you," he said as she headed for the door. "Why not – er, my arm perhaps? Or a leg?"
"See you later," she called over her shoulder, and was gone. He sighed, and had to satisfy himself with daydreaming about his good old days as a complete suit of armor until she returned.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"That's some story," Kate said when Roy had finished the tale of what had happened in Lab 3. "Poor Havoc. Where is he right now? I'd like to visit him when I get the chance."
"He's in room 24, in the general hospital," Roy answered, his face an unreadable mask. She wondered if, like always, he blamed himself for Havoc's current state. She couldn't have known that, as he watched her, he was deciding whether or not to tell her Havoc was paralyzed. In the end, he decided against it, figuring she'd find out soon enough on her own. "There was something odd, though, that happened after everyone cleared out. Barry's body went missing – not just parts, but all of it. It was as if he just got up and walked out of there, but there was no way he could have put himself back together."
"That is odd," she said, keeping a straight face. "What about his body?"
"While it, too, is missing," Roy said, "it is highly doubtful it would have taken the time to gather all the pieces and carry them away. It seemed rather intent on attacking the soul as soon as possible. Besides, we have reason to believe… others… are in possession of the body, although to what purpose is unclear." She didn't have to ask to understand that by "others" he meant people like Lust – Homunculi.
Kate thought it over, trying to seem merely curious rather than nervous. "Perhaps another one like Lust was there?"
"Possibly," he agreed, but she could tell he didn't think too much of that possibility. "Or maybe there was someone else there entirely, someone we didn't notice at the time. Your brother, Connor, says he saw you last night at the lab, only an hour before the incident."
"Connor?" She tried her best to keep her cool, but things were looking a lot less sunny now that her brother was in the picture. "When did you talk to him?"
"He spoke to us last night after the incident. He was worried about you – he wanted to know if we'd seen you during the fight. I told him you were probably home, safe and sound. He didn't try to call you?"
"He probably did," she sighed, feeling a bit guilty. "But I sleep like the dead; I guess I just didn't hear it. I'll call him back later."
"Since you were there, though," Roy continued, before she could rise from her seat and escape, "I've been meaning to ask you. You didn't see anyone suspicious enter the building before you left, did you? Someone who might have been inclined to help Barry get away?"
She hesitated, then hoped he hadn't noticed. "No, not that I can recall. You know me – if I had, I probably would have followed." She smiled weakly.
He did not return the gesture. "Of course." With a nod, he dismissed her, and she walked away feeling uncomfortable, as if he knew exactly what she was up to, even though that was impossible. Even she couldn't have predicted she'd find herself in her current situation; it was downright crazy to think someone might actually expect it of her. No, she decided, Roy knew nothing. Determined not to let it distract her, she headed back out of the building, on her way to go visit Havoc.
