Lacey's exclusive and ridiculously large penthouse, year 2018, 21:00 hours
Wendy had been living in the future for almost six moths now, she knew that if she wanted to prevent not only one but two near apocalypse events she couldn't play sidekick anymore, she had to become a Middlewoman. And so she did, she had plenty of physical and emotional scars to prove it.
After destroying Eagle Eye Wendy was sure that a chance for her to have a normal life was out of the question, there was just too much emotional baggage. She understood now why Colton distanced himself from the outside world, if it wasn't that her friends were catastrophe proof she would have gladly done the same. The thought of him dying broke her heart, when a soul as pure as his is taken by a bunch of freaks, the world does turn a little crappier.
It was a lovely night in London, Lacey's penthouse had a great view of the Thames, though Wendy would have loved to be somewhere else, in the Soho district with Evie fighting an upraise of flesh eating zombies. Evie now turned to Middlewoman was with both of her own sidekicks shooting zombies like a world of carnage videogame, Wendy's favourite.
It was the first time in Middleman history that a hero took two trainees instead of one, Noser's former bodyguards worked so well together, besides it was impossible to decide which one should keep the job since both excelled at different yet complementary areas, it was nice to see the HQ buzzing with activity but with four crime fighters working together things could get a little chaotic.
Still instead of busting some very well deserved zombie ass she was at her friend's place getting her measures done for her new uniform. She now understood that her future self's glamorous stile was a mere result of being Lacey's personal doll, to be dressed at the fashion designer's will.
-"Would you hold still? If the measures don't come right the suit doesn't come right"-
-"Sorry Lace, but I really think I should get going."-
-"Absolutely not "Boss" I know you wanna go with Evie but we talked about this before, the plan for when you go back to the past is ready, soon the amulet will take you back and by the time that happens your protégé will have to deal with saving the world on her own"- one of the sowing needles poked her back.
-"But what if she needs me?"- Wendy pleaded
-"She will activate the alarm on her watch, you know that."-
-"Maybe I should go check the real time recording so I could…"-
-"Burst in the middle of the fight and stop them from handling the situation like you did yesterday? You have to let go that momma bear attitude Dub-Dub, you trained her well she is more than ready."- Lacey said writing down the measurements.
-"Look there's no telling when I'll be sent back, if ever. Maybe the amulet doesn't want me to go back, maybe my mission was to defeat you know who and stay."- She was determined to save Clarence but wasn't ready to let her trainee on her own, it was like sending your child to her first day of school, you know there will be bullies and evil teachers ready to get a piece of them.
-"Idan is sensing some minor disturbances on the time-space fabric, a portal is opening, trust me I'll love you to stay but in less than 24 hours you'll have to go."-
Wendy sighed, sharing these last few hours with her friend was more important than having fun with zombies, there were still many questions on her head.
-"Lace, how did you become a demon? I know about Warren but I still don't understand."-
-"As you know Roxy mentored me for years, when she died I had to take over and as a human that was pretty hard. All the incubi got restless; it was like putting a glass of scotch in front of a recovering alcoholic. When Warren died the idea of loosing my soul so I wouldn't feel that much pain seemed like the best thing to do and for a while it did work. I still feel though, sometimes with more intensity than humans."- A tear threatened to come out of her right eye but she caught it in time.
-"How did you ended up working with Roxy to begin with?"-
-"The Althurians attacked the sublet hoping to destroy you, by then you had already figured out they were immune to all human weapons or technology but magic was a different issue. You showed up with Roxy and begun blasting spells of fire at them and they worked, it was the beginning of the resistance against the invasion. Everyone on the sublet found out about what your actual job was about and most of them decided to help the cause. I was grateful to Wasserman for saving my life, she forgave me about that water spell and I took the job as her assistant. She was key to fight the aliens and I knew I would be more helpful to her than I would be to you, Tyler was already covering that area"- The succubus tried to keep the hurtful thoughts out of her head, a glimmer of red light in her eyes.
Wendy went to the liquor cabinet and drank a not so small glass of primed Cuban rum, Tyler's history would cause her nightmares and pain for years to come. Because of it she found it hard to sleep without any alcohol, in spite of her friends sometimes she felt her only solace was a booze induced stupor. After being faced with the harsh reality of this particular timeline she felt it was her soul that got destroyed.
-"I need a favour Lace, a big one"-
-"What is it?"-
-"I need you to take care of Evie, I get the idea you don't like her that much but she really needs you"- she gave her friend a huge puppy eyes and sighed dramatically.
Lacey shook her head –"Dub-dub it's not like I hate her, Famouse has been trying to form an alliance with the Middleman Company for ages and now we made it. I wouldn't risk all that hard work for a bitch fight."- She could tell her friend was asking something else so she admitted shyly –"I'm not mad at her; I just bicker all the time because I'm jealous. The hero-sidekick bond is so strong sometimes it feels the outside world is left behind, she is your best friend not me. When it comes to priorities your job always came first and I was second"-
-"That's not true Lace"-
-"Yes it is! The bigger irony is that when you first took the job you did it so you could paint but when the shit hit the fan you quit painting. This job took everything from you, your boyfriend, your art, your life! Most of our friends are dead and there's nothing that protect us from being next."- Horns came from the demon's head and her voice begun to sound like it was coming from a hard metal rock band.
-"I'll make it right! When I get back I'm gonna fix all my mistakes and all of you will be safe and alive"- The Middlewoman was shaking now, she clenched her fist so her friend wouldn't see her trembling fingers.
-"And who will save you? When you first got here you were still the old Dubster but now… I don't remember the last time I saw you smile, or paint. The future version of you died alone in that headquarter, are you gonna make sure that doesn't happen again?"-
-"No I won't"- Wendy's voice sounded cold and hollow –"You're right I'm not the smart ass half crime fighter half struggling artist anymore. I quit painting and the slightest hope of having a life outside my work. I'll stop all of you from getting dragged into this even if it means I have to loose your friendship"-
Lacey let a roar of impotent rage and yelled at her
-"You always criticized Colton for sacrificing his happiness to save the world, now you're doing the same"-
-"I know why the Middleman looses his or her name when they take charge, it's because they loose their true identity, their family, their love, their life. Everything that makes them an individual is sooner or later taken away and you turn into an anonymous being with nothing but a mission"-
-"Saving the fucking world so the rest of us don't have to"- Lacey hugged her friend one last time, she dreaded that no matter the outcome she wouldn't see Wendy again.
