-Legion*** Taylor ***Legion-
The ride home was boring without Amy to talk to; the only thing to occupy my attention was trying to see how many bugs there were still around despite the cold and damp. As I expected, there were many still inside the buildings and in the sewer tunnels and storm drains, but what surprised me was just how many I could sense inside the cars and trucks that were on the road with the bus, as well as those parked nearby.
When I got home, the first thing I did was check to see if there were any new messages, but there weren't, so after that I hung up my coat and put away my boots and then sat down, booted up my computer and went on line. Checking my email first, other than some spam that I deleted, my inbox was empty. I took a moment to think about how it would look to Amy's mom, then I wrote her a short email, first telling her that I was home safe, and just waiting for dad to get back from uncle Kurt's, after which I thanked her for spending some time with me and for her help making dinner. Closing out my email I wished her a good night and told her I would talk to her later.
Logging off the Internet, I decided to work on my OOP programming course until dad got home, or 10 o'clock, whichever came first.
As I worked on my programming course, I found that I had no problems with reading and comprehending the two books as well, the cat handled one book while I read the other book. When I tried to add another book, a PDF e-book this time, in another window, I found that I could read it just fine, but that was my limit though, simply because of how long it took to look back and forth between the different books. The one that the cat was reading was actually the easiest and fastest to read, so I closed up the e-book, and carried on. I laughed as I pictured myself living in a house with 30 cats, all of them reading different books. I did wonder if it was possible to use audio books, a different one in each ear, at a higher speed than normal. That would be a test for a different day, possibly when I had more money to work with.
I finished up my work and put the cat outside since I didn't have a litter box yet, and wasn't sure if I wanted get one, since the cat wouldn't run away when I let her out. Once she had finished her business, I brought her in and sent her downstairs to sleep in her box.
After putting away all of my school work, I washed up and finished the last of the beef stew and garlic toast. Then I divided up the lasagna so that dad could have some for his lunch and I could have the rest for snacks during the day. That still left about half of the original lasagna, which I divided into quarters, sealed up and put into the freezer to have later when I was in a hurry.
I put the crockpot and lasagna pan to soak while I put away the clean dishes, cleaned up the counters and started to lay out the ingredients of a chili verde that would slow cook all night, because I had found that it, like regular chili, tasted best when allowed to slow cook for a long time. In between doing all my prep work, I scrubbed out the crockpot liner and lid, and put everything in so that it could begin its simmer. I was just starting on the lasagna pan when dad finally got in. Thankfully, he took over scrubbing out that pan, while I got to sit down and listen as he told me all about his evening; it turned out that several other friends from the Association had come over, and it seemed that they all had a good time, playing cards and just getting a chance to relax. In return, I gave him a highly edited version of our night, making it sound like we both just relaxed and talked about books, movies, and music. Which we did, at least a little.
The next morning before dad left for week, he said he would call home before bringing the freezer by.
"Dad, how big is the freezer? You said it was large, but no dimensions, and I want to make sure we have enough room for it downstairs."
"Hmm? No, I didn't did I, sorry about that. But it's a fairly large sized chest freezer, I think Steve said it's a Fridgidaire 18 cubic feet, which should fit right next to the dryer."
"Oh, okay. I'll check its dimensions online, and will make sure to clear the spot, and I think that there's an outlet close by that we can use. I'll start looking into grocery sales so we can stock it up this weekend, okay?" I asked.
"Sure. Start a list; make sure you indicate which stores have which items. That way we can actually plan out the trip for the most efficient use of our time."
With that, he gave me a hug and kissed me on the forehead and left for work.
I decided that the freezer was my first priority and went down into the basement to see what needed to be done. I only had to move a few boxes filled with what looked like old woodworking tools, I thought that they may have been my grandfather's, so I carefully moved them next to the stairs to go through later. I swept and mopped the area that the freezer was going to be in, then decided that if I was going to clean up down here, I might as well do it right, so went ahead and swept and mopped the whole basement. While I was doing that I sorted a lot of trash and bagged it up to be picked up on Monday.
By lunch time I had finished as much as I intended to, and begun planning how I could use the extra space for some of our experiments and to give us a place where we could train and store the weights I had asked for. The windows were tiny and mostly blocked by the shrubs, so I thought we could cover them and have complete privacy for anything we wanted to do.
It wasn't until I was looking around, trying to imagine how we could arrange things that I realized that I had never turned on the lights, but could see perfectly well.
"Well, I guess the low-light mods Amy gave me seem to work fine. I wonder how it will look when the lights are on?"
When I turned them on, I saw that other than replacing a couple of bulbs, it would work out fine. I also noticed a small door in the back corner by the driveway, which closed off a tiny room that I had never noticed before. Once I went in and looked around, I decided that it had probably been a store room for the coal furnace when the house was originally built, it was only 3 feet by 4 foot, and about 5 feet high; not very big, but still big enough to be useful.
In fact, if I drilled a hole in the wall nearest the backyard, my ants could make a tunnel straight into their lair, so that the Black Widows could commute regularly between their work site, and their sleeping/eating chambers. If I could find some simple designs for stretching and weaving cloth on, I could build and install them in the coal room so that my Widows could work while being hidden
Taking a last look around, I turned off the lights and went upstairs to have lunch. I took a quick shower to wash off all of the basement grime that I had gotten covered in while cleaning up down there. Freshly washed and wearing clean clothes, I went down for lunch. Because of my basement adventure, I had to catch up on my cooking and baking after I'd eaten, and decided that my school studies could wait until tomorrow, that today was just going to be for catching up on housework, chores and working on food lists and menus.
After getting dinner started, the kitchen cleaned up and a load of laundry started, I pulled out the list of meals I had started and the Sunday paper to go through all of the flyers to start my shopping list. As I started writing it I made sure to cut out any useful coupons, stacking them in groups for each of the four stores I planned on going to. About 2:30 I finally finished my lists, including how much I thought each was going to cost.
As I went back down to finish the laundry I realized that after everything that I had gone through, and was still going through, I had become thoroughly domestic. I cooked, I cleaned, I did the laundry, I was even planning on making my own clothes; I was pretty much the perfect 1950's housewife, although fortunately not married with children, yet. I wasn't ready to rule them out; I knew that I would love to have a daughter or two someday.
Bringing the dry laundry upstairs, I sat down on the sofa and began sorting and folding the clothes, hoping to finish before dad showed up with the freezer. As I worked, I thought some more on how much my life had changed, especially since I got away from Winslow and the bitches. No matter what, I was far better off than before. Dad and I were closer than ever, I was learning more and faster than in school, and, thanks to Amy, I was strong, healthy, and much happier.
After putting away the clean laundry, I did a quick cleanup of the upstairs bathroom, hall and my bedroom. Before I finished, the phone rang, and dad told me that he and a couple of friends were on their way with the freezer. I told him that there was a clear path from the back door to the basement, and I would make sure it was unlocked for them.
Not long after dad called, I saw him pull to a stop in front of the house, while uncle Kurt's truck backed into the driveway almost all the way to the back door. A few minutes later dad, Kurt, and another man that I didn't recognize, brought in a big freezer using a big dolly and some heavy straps, and carefully took it downstairs. I followed behind them and watched while they put it down and plugged it in.
After they finished, I waited to follow them up and turned out the lights as I went. They were all sitting down at the kitchen table, which looked seriously small with three big men sitting around it instead of just me and dad. Not quite sure what to do next, I finally decided to at least offer drinks.
"Thank you very much for bringing the freezer in, it's going to be a big help. Would any of you like something to drink? We don't have coffee, but we have tea, juice, and soda, if you'd like."
Dad looked at the other two with a raised eyebrow, and Kurt said, "I'll take a coke, if you have any? Jimmy?"
"Tea would be great, thanks." The man that uncle Kurt had called Jimmy, looked at me with a puzzled look and opened his mouth to say something, but just shook his head and stayed silent.
"Dad?" I asked, as I got a bottle of coke from the fridge and filled a large glass full.
"Tea for me as well, kiddo. Thanks."
"Okay." I put the glass of coke on the table and turned the burner on under my tea kettle. Getting out three mugs, I turned and asked, "Any preference for type of tea? I have black, green, Earl Grey and Lemon Lift."
Dad asked for Earl Grey, big surprise there, I could never get him to try anything else. His friend, Jimmy asked for green, which I also chose for myself. Pulling out the appropriate bags, I dropped them in the mugs and passed them out, placed the creamer and honey jar on the table, and took a seat myself and just listened to them chat, while I waited for the tea kettle to heat. When there was a pause in their conversation, I decided to ask Jimmy a question.
"Jimmy, you looked like you wanted to ask me a question earlier, so go ahead, I promise not to be offended."
Dad and uncle Kurt froze, and Jimmy looked very uncomfortable, but finally asked, "Umm, look I'm really sorry, but I, well everyone really, heard that you were badly hurt at your school, and in and out of the hospital…but damn, excuse my French, you look just fine, perfectly healthy. What's up with that?"
I giggled and said, "That's not a problem, I've heard much worse. I really was a wreck, but I was fortunate enough to healed back to perfect health by Panacea. She was able to fix everything wrong with me, for which I am very grateful."
He looked between dad and me, and then asked, "Can I…can I ask just how bad it was? If you don't mind I mean?"
I sighed, "I don't mind, I lived through it, and with Panacea's help, I'm much better, and past it. As for how bad it was? Very, very bad. Without her help, I would be dead by now. I could even show you some pictures of what I looked like, but I suspect they would ruin your appetite…for the next day or so."
Dad snorted his agreement, saying, "She's not kidding. She was…bad. I just thank god and Panacea that I have my Taylor back again."
Uncle Kurt spoke up, tightly controlled anger in his voice, "What about the ones who did this, and let it happen Danny? What's gonna happen to them?"
Dad looked at me for a long moment and then said, "They will ALL get what's coming to them, I can promise you that. There is a very thorough investigation being conducted, and the guilty parties WILL be charged, and with any luck at all, go to prison for a good long time. I can pretty much guarantee that there will be no cover up or pressure from high places this time, Taylor."
I sat there in shocked silence at his words until the kettle whistled so I got up, took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water in the mugs, and placed the kettle on a trivet in the middle of the table. Deciding to ignore the whole set of legal issues for now, I then took my tea out to the living room and sat down at my computer to continue my studies. Booting it up only took a few minutes, and then I started on some of my online work, of course checking my email first. Other than a short note from Amy, letting me know that everything was fine, that her Aunt Sarah had talked with Carol, and that she hadn't actually been angry, just worried since she didn't know in advance that Amy had permission from her father to be at a friend's house, and since she was home well before even a school night curfew, she finally just let it drop. She did say that Vicky kept giving her weird looks when her Aunt had mentioned that I had escorted Amy home, and that she had spent some time before bed teasing her about her 'guuurll friend'.
Overall it seemed that Amy was doing okay, even after we had our little meltdowns. I had to admit that I certainly felt pretty good, all things considered. I sent her an equally short note, letting her know that everything was going well on my end, and mentioning that dad and some friends had just brought home a freezer, that I was hoping to fill at least part way on Saturday.
I was looking up some of the requirements to cultivate different types of coral for sale, as well as the prices I could expect, when dad stuck his head in to let me know they were leaving and that he'd be back around six, as usual. I saw them all out, refilled my mug and went back to work.
The rest of the evening was pretty quiet, though after dinner, I did spend some extra time working on my programming studies before finally wrapping it all up for the night.
-Legion*** ***Legion-
Saturday was a big day, dad and I started at Costco, picking up a lot of bulk staples like rice, flour, sugar, frozen veggies, canned tomatoes and sauce, things like that. We also picked up a variety of sealable containers, both for left overs and to store things like flour and rice. Even though I could keep any insects out of the house, dad didn't know that, and protecting them from moisture was still a good idea.
We decided to go home, unload and have lunch before heading out again. Our next two stops were at two different grocery stores, so we could shop their sales for miscellaneous items like toilet paper, soap, condiments, fresh fruits and vegetables and deli meat. Our last stop for the day was actually just outside of town, at a wholesale butcher shop where we got almost 100 lbs of assorted meats. There was also a coop dairy store next to the butcher shop, so we picked up 25 lbs of assorted cheeses, six dozen eggs and four gallons of milk. Besides buying in bulk, the unit prices was between 1/3 and ½ the normal cost. I hadn't expected to get that much, but dad wanted to get the freezer filled up as soon as we could, so that we could really spread out our grocery bills.
Even having unloaded much of the stuff we had bought earlier, it still took us until almost ten o'clock to finish putting everything away in its proper place. I was really glad that we had ordered some pizza to be delivered rather than taking time to cook some dinner. I had made a point of ensuring that all of the leftovers were finished before Saturday, and was enjoying the idea of having plenty of choices when it came time to write up my menus.
Sunday, both dad and I slept in, and when I woke up, at almost 7:00 am! I decided to make an actual brunch for the two of us since I wasn't meeting Amy until 1:00pm at the Brockton Bay Maritime History and Art Museum. Amy had suggested it, both for a change of pace and to keep Vicky from trying to follow us, which, according to Amy, was something she liked to do. She hoped that the museum would bore Vicky, and I actually liked history, so it sounded like a good idea all around.
Just after noon, I left to catch the bus downtown, figuring that I could walk from the plaza to the museum. The weather was definitely warming up, and spring seemed to have finally arrived in full. Some of the trees were starting to turn green and flowers were beginning to bloom, here and there. As I had hoped, Amy was waiting just outside the front doors of the museum, even though it was still five minutes before the museum opened.
"Hey Amy!" I greeted her as I ran up the steps of the museum.
A smile bloomed on her face as she spotted me, "Hi Taylor, I'm glad you made it. Any problems?"
"Nope, I actually had extra time, so I walked here from the plaza. It was nice to see the trees and flowers showing some color, after this last winter. I don't ever remember it being this cold and snowy before."
Amy frowned for a moment and said, "I know, I've heard that some people think that Behemoth and Leviathan are actually changing global weather patterns, but that they don't know if it's long-term or not," she shook her head and went on with a determined smile, "That's way beyond me, and I would rather just enjoy the museum with you."
I nodded, and seeing a museum attendant opening the doors, nodded and said, "Me too, let's head in since they're open now."
Amy and I went in and showed our student ID's which let us get in free, since it was Sunday. Even though I was now being homeschooled, I still had my old Winslow ID, and for this I was willing to use it. Although I supposed that I'd have to see about getting something from the city for next year, since my Winslow ID would have expired, unless I was in college by September.
We were able to enjoy the museum in relative quiet, since only a few people had decided to come here to be inside on one of first really nice days of the spring. In fact, aside from a couple of college-age adults who seemed to be very interested in the early days of Lord's Port, we pretty much had the museum to ourselves.
Amy seemed to really like the paintings, many of which were by artists who had either originally come from Brockton Bay or had lived and worked here. I found the sculptures and an exhibition of glass, both blown and stained, that was on loan from some museum in Virginia, to be both fascinating and beautiful; they had most of the pieces cleverly lit, using tiny spot lights which really made the colors shimmer and glow.
As we moved into the glass gallery, Amy asked me a question, "Taylor, this stuff really doesn't interest me as much as the paintings, so would you mind if you extended your links and let me 'echo' off of you? I'd like to see if I can install some of the armor sheathing that you have around my organs and blood vessels. I doubt we'll have time today to grow the sub-dermal armor, much less the muscle and nervous system upgrades. But I want to get some of it done, every time we meet, alright?"
-Legion*** Amy ***Legion-
She just hugged me close and said, "Oh, god yes, please do. If I walk too fast, or distract you let me know." She let go her hug, but took my right hand and intertwined our fingers, like we seemed to do whenever we were together, and started walking slowly into the gallery. As she did so, I could feel her power expand, the linkages connecting to everything in her range; insects, worms and moles in the ground, squirrel and birds in the sky and trees and all of the thousands upon thousands of insects everywhere.
Working slowly and carefully, I connected to her linkages and began to convert my body fat into the reactive mesh that I was growing around my internal organs. As we walked through the gallery, Taylor pointed out the different pieces that she liked and read the information cards for each piece. Amazingly enough, I was not only able to grow all the modifications without error; I was also able to listen and respond to Taylor at the same time.
Apparently she had been right; that when we 'echoed' off of each other, we could even learn to use a small portion of each other's powers as well. Although, so far it seemed to be only our Thinker powers that we could share; some of my innate understanding of biology and at least a little of her multitasking ability. The future possibilities were mind-boggling.
I was only able to work for about 90 minutes before I exhausted all of my readily available mass and nutritional energy that I was willing to use and wouldn't cause my appearance to change. Slow and steady wins the race. However, in that time I was able to complete sheathing all of my internal organs, primary and secondary blood vessels, and began the initial muscle upgrades.
When I finished up, I looked around to see that we were in a currently empty gallery that looked over a small park with sculptures and fountains in it. Before I realized what was happening, Taylor had sat down on a convenient bench and pulled me down on to her lap. Wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tight she said, "Thank you Amy, thank you so very much for doing this."
I was a bit surprised at both her actions and words, but hardly upset, and I could tell that she was both happy and relieved, returning her hug, I replied, "Uhh … Okay, I was going to thank you, for letting me do this today, but apparently you've been wanting this done as well?"
She nodded and said, "I've been getting really worried that you were too vulnerable, and I didn't know how to bring it up and explain it to you. So when you suggested it, I jumped at the chance to help you."
We sat there quietly for about 15 minutes before we got up and finished walking through the museum. We didn't stop holding hands, though.
We left just as the museum closed at 4:30, and walked back to the plaza, where we wandered around until we found a little restaurant that seemed to offer an eclectic mix of French, Italian, and Spanish (not Mexican) dishes. I had earlier convinced her to let me buy dinner for the two of us in thanks for having me over for dinner on Wednesday; despite her protests, I was insistent so eventually she gave in. I have to admit that I enjoyed out-stubborning her, it just reinforced my belief that, while she might be smarter than me, I was more stubborn.
The restaurant was pretty good; they had two different mixed-cuisine appetizer trays that had a wide variety of tiny dishes, so we ordered one of each and shared them both. The combination was remarkably good, being both tasty and visually appealing, and we enjoyed it immensely.
Because of all the work that I had done to myself, I boosted my digestive system to max, and my metabolism by about 25%. That should be enough to support the progressive changes, without being immediately obvious. When we ordered, we made a point of ordering different entrée's that could be shared, and that were so large that they seemed to have been designed to feed two people each. The extra calories were much appreciated by both of us.
We finished eating around seven, and walked over to the bus terminal to catch our buses home. Because I had no transfers, I insisted that I would be fine on my own, and that she shouldn't worry, but take her own bus instead.
-Legion*** Taylor ***Legion-
I did worry though. I didn't like the thought of Amy being alone and unprotected, I knew that she could take care of herself, and her new upgrades would help, but still…
I finally agreed, and since her bus left first, at least I knew she would be off to a safe start. As I waited for my own bus, I decided that I was going to expedite getting those biological samples for her, and encourage her to continue working on her own enhancements, and maybe some built-in weapons as a last resort. I was starting to feel almost frightened at the thought of her being attacked and hurt by some stupid gang-banger or druggie who was too stupid or high to realize to realize just how much world-class hurt would come down on whoever hurt Panacea. I could see that being enough to bring the Triumvirate to town, and I didn't think even Brockton Bay's capes and gangs would survive a visit like that.
Some things are just unforgivable, and Amy being hurt was one of them. I decided at this point to significantly up my training, even though I had originally intended to wait until I had a chance to use the weights I had asked for. In addition to the Air Force exercises I was doing, I was going to look into developing a isometric or isotonic program to really build my strength. Speed was harder, but I could probably start running at night, suitably covered up, to build my speed and endurance.
Tomorrow I would check the library for any books or videos on martial arts and exercises that didn't use much or any equipment, what kind didn't really matter to me, just something I could work with. Maybe I should check the online catalog first to see which branch had what so that I wouldn't waste my time at the wrong place.
At least for now I couldn't afford to pay for any form of training, so I was going to need to do it myself; even if it wouldn't be as good, it would be better than nothing. I would also need to do some research into how capes got around in cities, I mean I had heard of them running and jumping across rooftops, but how did they do it? Was it powers or practice? Could I learn to do it? I could see that I was definitely going to need to start going out at night, for a lot of reasons, once dad was safely asleep, so that I could push myself and practice some things, like running, jumping, and climbing without holding back.
When I got home, I greeted dad and headed straight for the computer. I logged in and sent Amy a quick email letting her know that I was home safe, and thanking her for a wonderful time at the museum and for dinner as well. Leaving my mail open, I logged into the library catalog and searched for some martial arts videos and books. There was actually a huge variety of styles available, and I finally settled on Tai Chi and Kenpo, mostly because they were both available at the local branch and I had actually heard of them before. After some quick research at Wikipedia and Youtube, that lead me to some references for isometric exercises, as well as a .pdf copy of the old Charles Atlas workout course 'Dynamic Tension', I decided that this would do to start with, to build on my current exercises. And that the books and videos would at least get my started until I could afford to pay for actual lessons. I reserved one of each, book and video, for each style, for me to pick up tomorrow and logged out of everything except my mail.
I started reading one of my Psych textbooks while waiting for Amy to email back since I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep until she did. It wasn't until almost 11:30 pm that she finally emailed me, by which time I was starting to get frantic, since she had never been this late in getting back to me.
Fortunately for my peace of mind, she hadn't had any more problems with Carol, but instead had gotten called in to help deal with the injuries from a fire in an apartment building. It was apparently one of the many near the docks that were no better than abandoned slums, and somehow a fire got started on the lower floors, so a lot of people were badly hurt getting out of the building. As she explained, she had only just gotten home when she and the rest of New Wave heard about the fire, and they had all responded, helping the Brockton Bay Fire Department get as many people as possible out of the burning building while the Fire Department fought the fire. They had rescued nearly 100 people from the burning building before it got so bad that they had to back away and just let the FD finish the job. Amy had been able to treat everyone who needed help on the scene so she didn't even have to spend any time at the hospital, which I was glad for since it meant that she would get a good night's sleep. I sent a quick reply and wished her a good night before logging off and heading to bed myself.
-Legion*** Amy/New Wave ***Legion-
As I boarded my bus to head home, I watched Taylor until I finally lost sight of her. Sighing, I sat back and just smiled as I remembered everything we did today, the museum might be small, but it had some beautiful exhibits, and exploring them with Taylor made it even more fun. Even doing my upgrades was fun, because I wasn't doing it alone, I was doing it with Taylor. I was also pleased with the restaurant we had found; the mixture of continental dishes were both interesting and tasty, as well as filling and … god, I had it bad. I had just realized that I was picturing everything we had done together, and then comparing it to what it would be like without Taylor. This wasn't a crush, or even an infatuation; I am actually resenting the time I spent away from her, and am counting the hours 'til I could be with her again.
Sitting there on the bus, I decided to take advantage of being alone for a few minutes to think about this; Was this a good idea? I still had no way to block Vicky's aura, and I could feel the shift in my emotions every time she came near. Which meant that asking Taylor if we could date right now was just wrong. I had to figure out a way to fix the way her aura affected me. I did not want to lust after my sister, but every time she came near me I did, I couldn't help myself.
Sighing as my thoughts brought me no solutions, I checked to see how much longer until my stop, then went back to my thoughts, Okay, I can't do anything about the aura, but what about dad? If I talk to Vicky, I bet I can convince her to help me with changing dad's routine, to ensure he takes his meds every day. And after a couple of days, I can slip a tiny correction to his brain chemistry, just to smooth it out a little. Nothing major, Baby steps only.
I pondered just what changes I would make first, then thought that it would be better to check him tomorrow morning before he took his meds, and then just before I left for school and again before dinner; and if I did this for 2 or 3 days I would have a good base-line for smoothing his brain chemistry out.
By the time I had worked out my plan of action, my stop was coming up, so I zipped up my jacket, picked up my purse and signaled for the bus to stop at the next stop. Once the bus had stopped, I left the bus, wishing the driver a nice night and started walking home.
Three minutes later I was stepping through the front door, and greeted my family.
"Hey Vicky, mom, dad. Did you all have a nice day?" I asked as I hung my jacket up in front hall closet.
"Yeah Ames, I did a patrol this afternoon with some of the Wards, only saw a couple of muggers and one convenience store hold up, pretty quiet overall." Vicky said brightly, looking up from the romance novel she was reading to smile at me. As she did, I could feel her aura gently changing me, and I watched very carefully, just as I had been doing for the last week. As always, her aura shifted my brain chemistry towards affection, love and … lust. But being aware that it was externally imposed helped me ignore the effects and act normally.
"The Wards, hmm. Anyone I know?" I asked in a teasing tone of voice.
"Sure, Kid Win and Vista were doing a North-Central patrol route, so I kept them company. It was nice, and like I said, mostly quiet." She replied matter-of-factly.
"No Gallant today?" I asked her a little worried, because I thought he had duty today.
"No, he had to go to New York with his family, some sort of problem with one of his cousins, he didn't say what it was though," she explained.
Dad had looked up from his magazine, and smiled at me, but that was it. No questions, no teasing, nothing. Damnit, I will fix his depression, one way or another, and if I can't I'll find another healer who can and work out a trade in kind. Panacea's willing help, for a non-critical patient should be worth a lot. Like Taylor said, slow and sneaky.
Mom had been watching Vicky and I banter back and forth, and when we came to stop, she spoke up, "So did you have a good day today, Amy?"
I blinked in surprise, because once again, she had spoken to me in a normal tone of voice, no hidden edge, no hint that I must have been doing something shameful or wrong. On one hand, I was waiting for her to lash out at me in her old, cold and subtle way, but on the other hand, it was nice the way she had been treating me lately, and I really didn't want it to stop.
"I met a friend at the Maritime Art and History Museum and spent the afternoon there, and then we went out to dinner at a Continental Fusion restaurant. The food was very interesting and good, but the appetizer platters were amazing."
"Any interesting exhibits at the museum, I haven't been there in years?" She asked, seeming to be actually interested in what I was talking about for once.
"Oh yes! They have a beautiful exhibition of glass, all forms of worked glass on loan from a museum in Virginia, I don't remember which one. Taylor was totally fascinated by the glass and sculptures. I liked them well enough, but much prefer the impressionists and abstract paintings," I explained.
Mom frowned in thought for a moment, then smiled at me and said, "Well, I'm glad you had a nice Sunday off. It's good to see you relaxing and enjoying yourself," with that she picked up the files she had been reading and went back to them.
Vicky and I exchanged puzzled glances, then I said, "Well, I'm going to take a shower and get ready for bed, we have school tomorrow," as I turned and headed upstairs. Vicky waited a few moments, then got up and followed me upstairs.
She slipped into my room silently, and closed the door behind her. After watching me set out my clothes for school, and pick out my pj's and shower things, she spoke up at last, "So did you really have a good time? At a museum?" Her voice, though a quiet speaking volume, let her disbelief that anyone could have a good time at a museum come through, loud and clear.
I just grinned at her and said, "Why yes, Vicky. I really did have a good time, even if it was at a museum. And dinner, don't forget the dinner."
She smirked at that, "Dinner, of course, we can't forget the dinner. Was it really that good? You're normally not fond of restaurant food, as I recall."
"Well, it was a lot fancier than Taylor's cooking, but truthfully, it was almost as tasty. And the appetizers really were amazing." I giggled, and lowered my voice, "Actually, I think she was trying to figure out how to make the different items, so she could try it at home for herself."
Vicky looked at me for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I think I have to copy Clockblocker on this one and call bullshit. No way is a 15 year old kid that good of a cook, not without special training." She pointed a finger at me and said, "And you told me she's self-taught, not cordon bleu trained."
I just smiled back at her, secure in my knowledge of just how good Taylor was, in so many areas. "I've eaten her cooking…and you haven't. Normally she makes simpler dishes, but they are very tasty, and very healthy too."
Vicky opened her mouth to say something in rebuttal, when mom called up the stairs, "Girls, costume up and get ready to go, there's an apartment building fire and Sarah and the others are on their way to pick us up. 5 minutes, so hop to it."
I looked down at my pj's and said, "Well, shit, so much for a shower and early bedtime." I tossed the clean clothes on the bed and headed for my closet, while Vicky zipped out the door and headed to her room.
I pulled out my costume, and with a moment's thought, selected a warm pair of tights and a light gray leotard to wear under my costume, because while it wasn't too cold right now, the temperature was expected to drop overnight, and spray from the firehoses could drop the temperature as well. And I still hadn't installed the climate control mod, as Taylor called it, which would let me stay comfortable in sub-zero temperatures or running from a blazing fire. Oh well, live and learn.
I set the clothes I planned on wearing down, and started stripping out of my date clothes, even if I would never admit that I thought of them that way to anyone but me. I was sitting on my bed, pulling up my tights when Vicky burst back into my room, "Hurry up slowpoke, the cous…" She stopped and stared at me, mostly naked, as if she had never seen me without my clothes before.
I leaned back and pulled the tights up over my white high-cut panties, before picking up the leotard and started slipping it on, ignoring Vicky's stunned look.
Once the leotard was on and I had it adjusted to be both comfortable and supportive, I slipped into my white winter boots, and pulled my Panacea robes on, leaving my mask down around my neck, rather than pulled up like a surgical mask as I usually do. I also grabbed one of my medical kits, the one for fire and trauma.
"Lets go Vicky, times a wasting," I said as I stepped past her and headed for the stairs. She shook her head, and said, "Well, I can see I need to have a good long talk with my sister, but not tonight. Tonight, we have people to rescue and a fire to fight."
We ran down the stairs and followed mom and dad out the front door, just in time for our cousins to come in for a landing in front of us. From long practice, we partnered up so that everyone could fly or be carried to the site of any emergency at very high speed. Aunt Sarah carried uncle Neil, in his powered down state, dad was picked up under his arms by Crystal and Eric, mom turned into her hard light ball-form so that uncle Neil could kind of push her along as aunt Sarah flew, and of course Vicky carried me. As soon as we were properly arranged, we headed for the docks at the highest speed that we could all maintain, which I knew from long testing, was just over 85 miles an hour.
In under 10 minutes we were approaching the building that was on fire. Aunt Sarah called out orders to everyone, though practice and training let us all know what was generally going to be expected of us. We landed just behind the fire chief, and mom and aunt Sarah, Lady Photon, reported to him and got a quick update from him and where we could help him the most.
I went to where the EMT's were treating people, and finding the one in charge, said, "I am Panacea, show me the ones who need help the most, and please organize a triage so I can help you most efficiently. Please continue normal treatment protocols until I can get to them, that is their best hope to get through this okay."
The EMT didn't even hesitate, he just started snapping orders to his people, and patients on gurneys began forming up in a line in front of me. Because it was an emergency situation, the law allowed me to heal injured people, even if they were unable to give consent, or if I felt that their injuries made them unable to give proper informed consent. I didn't like not having prior consent, but it did make my job easier.
As I healed all of the injuries, burns, smoke inhalation, broken bones and the cuts and bruises due to panic, I also kept half an eye on how my family was doing with the evacuation. After a few minutes, Velocity, Aegis, and a new Ward I didn't recognize showed up. Based on his appearance, I suspected he was a Brute what with his bulging muscles and thickset build.
Fortunately, I was able to easily keep up with the patients as they were brought to me, and I decided to fix a few of their less obvious problems. Things like asthma, arthritis, internal parasites, chronic illnesses. Most of them, I simply reduced to much lower levels, but did not remove entirely; STD's, parasites, and potentially lethal diseases were the only exceptions. I did not upgrade anyone, though I was sorely tempted with some of the children.
At last, just after 10:00 pm, the fire was out, all of the residents had been found and healed, with the exception of six people who had died before we had even been notified of the fire. As everything was wrapping up, I asked the fire chief, if any of his people had been injured, and if I could please check them out just to be certain?
He paused to survey the fire scene, then said, "If you could do that, I would be eternally grateful, firefighters are much too macho for my taste, and they don't always report injuries, especially if they think its 'just a scratch'."
I smiled at him and nodded, "I see that all the time, and it's not just the men; one of the worst offenders for that kind of behavior is a 15 year old girl. Most stubborn person, I've ever met. Anyways, where and with whom do you want me to start?"
He checked the scene again, and called over about eight men who were just getting finished putting away some of their equipment. As they made a circle around us, he said, "Panacea has graciously offered to check out all of us for current and old injuries, I'm going to have her start with me, and I expect that all of you will remember you manners and watch your language, got it?" The last came out in a hard snap, and all of them responded with a chorus of "Yes, boss" "You got it, Chief" and similar responses.
I reached up to the Fire Chief, Captain, actually as I read his badge for the first time. "Do I have your permission to check you for any injuries or problems, and fix them if possible?" I asked him, even as I scanned his body for anything I needed to fix. "And would you like me explain precisely what I'm doing, give a general description or just do it and only mention things that may need to be followed up on?"
He thought about it for only a second before he said, "Give a general description, and if you could, speak loudly enough so the other guys know what to expect."
"Certainly," I said, my respect for him, already high, now climbing even higher.
"Multiple instances of traumatic arthritis in your joints, dissolved, joints realigned and regrown. Severely stressed kidneys due to multiple minor impacts, regenerated. Three ulcers, sealed and acid production balanced back to normal. You will need to follow up on that, because that is clearly job-related stress, I see it all the time. Plaque buildup in many arteries, dissolving and removing. Another follow up issue, proper diet should keep it from coming back. Your heart and lungs are in very good condition, you clearly remember to use your protective gear, and exercise regularly. Returning your eyes and ears to normal, no tinnitus, no more reading glasses. Now for the biggie, you have early stage liver and prostate cancer. Cured, but you need to be checked every six months to ensure that it doesn't come back. If you don't do the follow up checks, I can pretty much promise that at least one of them will be back within 3 years. That's it, all done."
One of the other firefighters, spoke up and said, "Three minutes, twenty-six seconds. That's just unbelievably fast, Panacea, to do so much so fast. Just … wow!"
After that they lined up for me, and it took me only 90 to 120 seconds for each firefighter, though the four women took slightly longer, as I asked each of them some questions that only another woman would appreciate and helped them with some gender-specific issues. Even so, I was finished with all of the Emergency Responders, whether Firefighters, EMT's or just the drivers before my family had finished with their debriefing with the other capes.
When they finished up, we sorted ourselves out again and flew home, a little bit slower this time, since we were all getting a bit tired.
Once home, I let Vicky use our shared shower, and I went and used the one across the hall, while mom and dad used the one in their bedroom. I've seen that bathroom, it was as good as a professional spa, and more than big enough for two to use it at once. When I was done, I put a robe on over my pj's, roughly dried my hair and headed back to my room. As I had expected, Vicky was waiting for me, probably to finish our talk from earlier.
I dropped my dirty clothes in the hamper, moved my clean clothes to my dresser top, and sat down on my bed to brush my hair and tie it up for the night. "Go ahead Vicky, you had started to say something when mom called us down for the fire. If you can remember it, ask it."
She looked thoughtful, then shook her head, "Nah, trying to argue that Taylor isn't as good of cook as you claim is just stupid. Maybe if I ever have a chance to try her cooking for myself, I could decide for myself, but right now I'll just let that subject drop."
I laughed and said, "Good call. So what do you want to talk about?"
She took a deep breath and said, "When you were changing, I noticed that your body had changed, you have dropped body fat, and are building muscle, and…well, your breasts are a little bigger, and seem firmer. What's going on?"
Well, that wasn't a topic I was expecting to have come up this soon, or from Vicky, however I already had a cover story ready. I leaned over to my desk and pulled a ratty looking book out of the top drawer and threw it to her.
She caught it easily and looked at it cluelessly, then looked back up at me, "What's this?"
I rolled my eyes, "It's a book, Vicky, open it, and read the first part, okay?"
She did, and she really is a fast reader, faster than me, though not nearly as fast as Taylor, so a couple of minutes later she looked at me and asked, "So, you've been doing this program, and it works that well?" She pointed directly at my breasts.
I nodded, and said, "Yes I have, before I go down for breakfast, and usually just before I take my night time shower. I also do some specific exercises that, along with being very careful with what and when I eat, have let me get the most out of my workouts. Remember, though I can't affect myself with my powers, I can monitor myself."
Vicky got this look of sudden understanding and said, "So you can tell if what you are doing is giving you the results you want as you do them, and change your workout as needed to get it to work perfectly for you, right?"
"Yep. I'm pretty much the best personal trainer in the world, at least for me. I plan to start running soon, so that my wind and overall stamina improves too."
Vicky looked at me and then asked slyly, "But why, you've made it pretty clear that you don't want to be a combat cape, that healing is what makes you happy, so why the working out like this, why now?"
I looked back at her with my best 'little miss innocent' look and replied, "What, I can't just want to be in better shape, be healthier? I have to have some ulterior motive? Vicky, my dearest sister, you wound me with your suspicions."
She just looked back at me and said dryly, "I'm your only sister, so I had better be your dearest one too. Besides, I never said you had an ulterior motive, just that you had another one. So, spill."
I started to blush as she said that, and said, "You know why, please don't make me say it, Vicky, please?" I was almost begging by the end, and she surprised me by sliding over and giving me a side hug.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know why you're doing this. You really like her that much, don't you? Do you know if she returns your feelings yet?"
I shrugged and said, "I don't know for sure, I think she does, but she hasn't admitted it to herself yet. She…she had a really bad time, and is only really starting to fully recover from it recently. I can and will give her as much time as she needs to see what we have together. I won't push her, but I will support her and I believe that it won't take too long. I hope."
Vicky sighed, then said, "I only met her for a couple of minutes, but she did seem nice, but…Dean told me something that I think you need to know, it's not bad really, but, well. Anyway, when I let my aura out that day on the Boardwalk, he said she actually pushed it off and got pissed, really nearly homicidally pissed, and…"
I interrupted and said, "She almost came across the table to attack you, right? She and I talked about your aura after you left, and yes she was angry with you, she thought that whatever you were doing was an attack, an attack on both her and … me. That's why she almost attacked you, because she thought you were attacking me."
Vicky looked even sadder for a moment then said, "So Dean was right, then. But was he also right that as soon as she knew that I didn't do it on purpose, that I was excited and happy, not angry, she calmed right back down to normal?"
I looked at Vicky, and tried not to snicker as I explained, "Vicky, you need to understand something, it's something that actually gives me a lot of hope for Taylor and I actually building a good relationship. When your aura hit Taylor, you made her pretty much fall completely and totally in lust with you, when she was already my friend, and possibly starting to feel more. Which sort of made her feel like she was betraying me, betraying me with someone she had never met before, and when she realized it was from an external source, namely you, of course she was pissed. And rightly so."
"Vicky, I'm your sister, and I love you, but you really need to learn how to actually control your aura, so it only comes on when you want it to, not whenever you get excited. If you don't, I'm terrified that someday, your aura will affect someone badly and they will try to kill you for it. And don't you dare say that you're invincible, you know that your force field isn't perfect, and you can be hurt. So Vicky, please, please be careful. Learn to control your aura, learn to control your temper. Please Vicky, I don't want to lose you."
By this time, I had started quietly crying, and was holding Vicky tightly, because just talking about some of my fears, made them seem more real, and more likely to come true.
Vicky was holding me tightly as well, and then said, "I'm sorry Ames, I had no idea that you were so worried about me. I'll, I'll try to figure out how to somehow control my aura, and I'll talk to aunt Sarah about anger management training, maybe she knows someone discreet who can help, alright? I'll try, I promise, I promise that I'll be careful too. I never meant to frighten you like this, I never wanted you to be frightened at all."
We sat there, just holding each other for a while, then Vicky sighed, sat back and then stood up, saying, "I guess that's enough drama for tonight. I won't tease you about Taylor so much, and I will try to work on the things that frighten you, but Ames, you need to take care of yourself, too. No more walking to the hospital in the middle of the night if you can't sleep. If you absolutely have to go, wake me up and I'll fly you there, and you will stay until it's either daytime and safe to use the buses, or I can come and get you, alright?"
Amy giggled tearfully, and said, "You're too late, Taylor already read me the riot act over that kind of behavior, and I already promised her I wouldn't take those kinds of chances every again."
Vicky had been getting up to head to her own bedroom when I said that and she turned to look at me so fast that she slipped and fell on her butt, with a stunned look on her face. "She did what? No, I don't want to know. But I really want to meet her again soon, and get to know her better, 'cause anyone who can get you to do that is something special."
With those last words, she went to her own room to sleep, and I did much the same, only taking a few minutes to send Taylor a quick email from my phone, explaining what had happened with the fire, and that other than that everything was going very well, before I went to sleep for the night.