Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Three
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"You feeling better now?" Justina asked as the stall opened and Terrence walked out, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
"Not really. I need to not be covered in blood," he said, scrubbing his hands clean with several pumps of foamy soap. Drinking from the tap, Terrence rinsed his mouth and spat into the sink, turning the water off again.
"Can I hug you now or what?"
Terrence frowned at her question. "Why?"
"'Cause you were traumatised, saved like thirty kids, and it's been a goddamn day."
"All right, bring it in," Terrence said.
Justina hugged him firmly, both giving and receiving comfort in return. "Thanks, Terrence."
"Same. C'mon. I think I can handle Ida's hospital room now. Maybe."
"How about we go get food for everyone instead?"
"That's a much better idea," Terrence said in relief.
Justina grinned. "Thought so."
Terrence and Justina left the bathroom and headed back to the foyer in search of food. As they passed the elevator, it opened to reveal Honey, Connor, and Victor.
"Go see Ammie in the bakery. Tell her I sent you. Hyacinth is in there," Honey said, then pressed the button to close the elevator doors again.
"You could've just texted!" Terrence called as the doors closed.
Justina laughed. "Where would be the fun in that? C'mon. Oh, Zach, Eth. You want to see the bakery with us? I'm starving."
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. Um, not literally," Zach added at Justina's horrified expression.
Her expression morphed to a grin. "Don't worry, I know the saying. It's still a horrible saying though. Same as the one about beating a dead horse. Ugh."
"Imma puke again if you don't shut up," Terrence groaned.
"Is that the second or third time you've thrown up? Either way, you'll need to replace your fluids. I'll check if there's any drinks with electrolytes at the bakery for you."
"Thanks, Eth," Terrence said, knowing Ethan's brusque manner was his way of showing his worry and that he cared. "If there's a blue one, I'll have that."
"I like the purple ones."
Justina frowned at Zach. "I didn't think they made purple!"
"They don't. I mix the blue and red together."
"Eww."
"Hi, Hyacinth. How are you?"
"Good. How are you?" Hyacinth asked, looking between them and taking in their pale skin, their dilated pupils, and the specks of blood that covered Terrence's clothes. "What on earth have you been doing?"
"Nothing that would get us tried by the Maxville Super Supreme Court," Ethan said truthfully; they'd probably be tried by the International Court of Super Justice.
Hyacinth raised an eyebrow. "That is both a very specific and very vague answer, Mr. Damsale."
"Yes, it is. I'll check that drink for you, Terrence," Ethan said, heading over to the large drinks fridge.
"Can you get a lemonade for me, please?" Zach called, his attention already on the baked goods. "Holy shit, these are seriously detailed."
"Thanks!" Ammie said brightly from behind the counter.
"Are we really doing this?" Terrence asked, looking at his friends in disbelief.
"Doing what?" Ethan asked, frowning.
"Going from... what we did today to looking at cupcakes? It's too damn surreal, man."
"We didn't do as much as you, or see as much, really," Ethan said. "You could ask Donny to help?" he suggested, holding out a blue electrolyte drink for Terrence and leaving money on the counter.
Terrence took the drink, his hand trembling, and shook his head. "Nah, he's gonna have his hands full with the kids. Don't wanna add to it."
"Are you all right? Should I call someone to help?" the blonde woman behind the counter asked, looking alarmed as she stopped focusing on Zach's questions about the cupcakes and saw Terrence.
"It's not my blood," Terrence said. "Honey sent us," he added quickly.
The woman frowned. "I don't know that I want anyone's blood near my cupcakes."
"No one does. C'mon, Terrence; let's go find a change of clothes for you," Ethan said, realising that he was looking nauseous again with all the reminders and mentions of blood.
"Mmkay," Terrence said, letting Ethan lead him away.
"I call dibs on the otter cupcake! What? It's cute," Justina said, drawing the adults' attention away from her friend.
"I can't decide between the penguin and the octopus. Did you see his little eyepatch?"
"Oh, just like the Captain from Bill, Chimp, and Plati. Cool."
Ammie watched the interaction between the two teens like a tennis match, somewhat amused, and somehow feeling like they were putting this whole thing on to keep her mind off the blood-covered teenager that had been in her bakery only moments ago. "Wait, you said Honey sent you?" she asked, eyes wide. "I've got the order ready for her. You know where room 638 is? She said it had to be up there at 1pm."
"Oh, my god. It's not even one in the afternoon yet? Why do I feel like it's eight at night?" Justina groaned, Zach wrapping an arm around her and patting her comfortingly.
"Jet lag's a bitch. C'mon, let's get this order upstairs. We can eat some on the way, right?" Zach asked. "I'll take the drinks if you take the... giant serving cart."
Justina and Zach both stared as Ammie pushed out a trolley covered in boxes filled with cupcakes and mini cakes and finger food of all shapes and sizes.
She held out a box and grinned. "Honey said this one's for you two to share, and not to eat the others, all right?"
"Okay. Thanks... uh, didn't get your name?" Zach asked.
"Ammie. Short for Amaryllis. If you call me by my full name, I'll bake you into a pie."
"Surname Sweeney?" Justina asked with a snicker.
"I thought that was his first name? Isn't Todd his surname?" Zach asked. "Thank you, Ammie," he added, handing the box to Justina and moving to push the cart.
"I know, but who calls their kid Sweeney? No wonder he killed people," Justina said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, Ammie. Seeya, Judge Salt," she called over her shoulder.
"They didn't answer you about knowing where the room is," Hyacinth said, shaking her head. "I'd better go help them," she said, standing. "Thank you for the lovely food, Ammie."
Ammie smiled and waved goodbye, wondering if the Judge was really going to help them or if she was going to keep an eye on them. Hopefully she would do both.
Ammie grabbed the bucket and mop to clean her floors, not knowing what the teenagers had trekked in after whatever they'd done earlier that day. As she mopped, Ammie was pleased that they'd liked her joke about Sweeney Todd, but was seriously reconsidering letting Corvin go to the party in room 638, after all. He needed more friends his age, Ammie didn't deny that, but seeing kids in what looked like tactical gear and covered in blood... Well, Corvin would probably love it, which didn't make her change her mind.
"They're just kids and Corvin needs to be around kids his own age without glaring them into the ether. If they're covered in blood, they can probably handle him being a sarcastic bastard," Ammie said to herself fiercely.
"I heard you talking about me, Ma. You and Dad were married when you had me, if you'll remember?"
Ammie spun on her heel, careful not to slip on the wet floor, and glared at her son for scaring the shit out of her. "After twelve hours, I remember every damn thing about your birth, Corvin. Now, help me carry this up to room 638."
Corvin grinned and kissed her cheek as he passed by, sure footed and precise. "So, which kids and whose blood were they covered in?"
Ammie groaned and rested her head against the mop handle. "Go upstairs and find out for yourself. I need to close up in here."
Corvin laughed and grabbed two of the boxes with the care that they deserved. "All right, if I have to."
...
Ida looked from the last two children to the rest still lying silently on their beds. "You can leave your beds, if you like. You're not going to be restrained to them, I promise," she added, a few children looking over in a mix of fear and confusion. "You don't even need to stay in here; this is just where I wanted to check you all over at once. It's the only room that could fit all of the beds and machinery," she added. "There are two rules: stay inside the building and stay to the apartment levels during the day."
No one moved, as though it was a test they had to pass, and Ida sighed softly. Honey had warned her it would be a long time before any of the children believed any of the adults, especially after what they'd been through. She couldn't blame them, honestly, but she also wanted them to trust her a little, at least as their doctor.
"There's food and drinks in room 638. Sixth floor, use the elevator or the stairs, or even shift if you want."
The prospect of food - or perhaps shifting - got their attention. A couple of children sat up cautiously, one biting their lip as they pondered a question.
"We can really shift?"
Surprised at the question from one of the children she was attending to - the smaller one that the grumpy one was continually trying to protect - Ida nodded. "Of course. Today, you can shift and go wherever you like. Monday, you'll need to stick to the rules because that's when the building is open to the general public. Don't worry, they won't be able to access the apartment levels; you need a swipe card. Honey's got all of yours with your papers."
"What day is it now?"
"Saturday."
"Date?"
Ida looked over at the child who had asked, curious as to why that one word was asked with so much fear. "October eighteenth," she said, adding the year after a moment.
The child's eyes widened. "Almost four months. Fuck."
"Do I... need to call someone?" Ida asked, confused by the prospect.
Weren't these kids orphans?
The child shook their head. "If I contact her, they'll kill her."
"Come on, there's food upstairs, and it's not gruel," the seer added, several children following him automatically.
"Not too much sugar," Ida called after them, a few more children leaving at her comment and talking in whispers about sugar, one walking with their IV bag hung on a pole with an anti-grav disc holding it aloft.
With a significant number of children gone, Ida turned her full attention to the two children remaining. Well, one child and one albino bunny rabbit.
"Looks like you're up first, sweetheart. I promise your friend will be safe here, but I'm not a vet, so they'll need to change back so I can do a full scan, okay?"
The grumpy child looked even grumpier at the prospect of leaving their friend alone.
"The sooner you're in the machine, the sooner you're out," Ida cajoled. "You can both go get food, too."
The grumpy child softened at the idea and nodded briefly, slipping off the bed to lie on the scanning bed. They lifted their head to keep their friend in sight until Ida gently reminded them to keep their head flat against the bed.
"Your friend is safe, I promise."
"She'd better be."
It was a combination of warning and fear, but Ida focused on her job and completed the various scans required. She ensured the albino bunny stayed on the bed, and reassured the child being scanned every few minutes, the tension slowly leaking out of muscles and limbs.
The moment she'd finished the last scan, Ida saw the bunny jump off the bed and race across the room to jump in her friend's arms. The child breathed a small sigh of relief and buried their face against soft pure white fur.
"Your turn, sweetheart," Ida said to the bunny. "You heard everything I did for your friend, will that work for you, too?"
Five long seconds later, the bunny was human again. She nodded and squeezed her friend's hand before moving to lie on the scanner bed. "I'm ready."
Ida glanced at her friend, who was standing nearby and clutching a table as though it was the only thing keeping them upright. "Just one moment, sweetheart. I'm getting your friend a chair. You can see her better while you're sitting," she added, hoping to convince the child to sit down rather than fall over due to malnourishment.
The child nodded reluctantly, sitting when Ida pulled a chair over. They let out a yelp when Ida turned the anti-grav discs on, making the bunny sit up to look over, her red eyes wide. She giggled when she saw her friend clinging to the floating chair.
"Is that a better height for you?" Ida asked gently, trying to hide her own smile at the sight of the poor child glowering half-heartedly at their giggling friend.
"Yes." They slowly let go of the chair's armrest and sat properly. "Thanks."
Ida smiled then, warm and bright. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, let's get this over for both of you, and you can go get food."
The child swallowed hard and nodded. The bunny giggled one more time before settling on the scanner bed and letting Ida get to work.
...
"Are you playing mediator, Honey, or just trying to be annoying?" Victor asked over his shoulder, even as she ushered him and Connor towards a room at the end of the hallway.
"Both. Now, move your ass."
Victor rolled his eyes, but followed Connor into the room, Honey following and closing the door behind them. She let them look out at Maxville's metropolis from the floor to ceiling windows, the view making the two men breathless and forget their impending discussion for a moment. Pressing a button by the door, the window panels darkened until it was like they were standing in a room with four black walls. Another button had a landscape scene on the far wall, then she shook her head and pressed the button a few times, jumping from desert to forest to beach to stop at a galaxy filled with supernovas and stars and was just as breathtaking as the view of Maxville.
"Damn, can we get that installed at home? I want one."
"You just want to press the buttons," Honey teased, grinning.
"Not the point, Honey," Victor said, rolling his eyes again.
"Roll them at me one more time and I'll kick you."
Victor sat down and resisted the temptation to roll his eyes again. Connor was already sitting in a chair, his shoulders tense and expression shuttered. It was the colours surrounding him that worried Victor, even more than the blood splattered on his clothes and face and hands.
"Honey, can you get... " Victor began to ask, only to realise that his friend had already left the room. "She'll either come back with what I was going to ask for, or something completely ridiculous. Are you okay?" he asked Connor, uncertain how to ask the question without sounding condescending or insincere.
"I'm fine."
Even without the colours, Victor knew that was a lie. He rolled his eyes again - not at Honey, so it didn't count - and scooted his chair closer to Connor, reaching out to hold his hands when he didn't react or push him away. "We both know that's not true, Con. I want to know. I want to help, if I can. Can you tell me what happened? Or what you're feeling now?" he added when forest green fear swirled around Connor like a hurricane.
"I... can't. I can't explain it to a civilian."
"Try me and I'll try to understand." Forest green fear darkened at his words. "I love you, Connor." The swirling stopped almost immediately and Victor felt relieved at the sight. "No matter what you've done or what you think I'll think of you, I love you. That doesn't change, not here, not now, not ever, if I can help it."
Connor licked his lips, copper on his tongue, and tried to bring moisture back to his dry mouth. He'd never really tried to explain something like this to a civilian, and certainly not one he was in love with. One wrong word, one too-graphic description, and it could be the end of everything they had together. His platoon in the Special Forces had been the ones to help and talk him down at the end of the day, along with Doc, but half of them were moving around the country while the other half were in hiding. Hell, apart from Andy - and now Sport - he hadn't seen any of his Special Forces guys since leaving Mississippi. It wasn't intentional, of course, they'd always made plans to catch up, but it had never seemed to happen, and now, when he needed them most, they were gone.
"Hey. Connor, look at me. Talk to me. Please?" Victor asked, worried about the aubergine anxiety and black depression starting to form.
The broken plea did him in and Connor nodded. "The kids found out about an orphanage, run by the organisation," he began.
Victor kept his gaze firmly on Connor as he spoke, still holding his hands and determined not to let go.
Honey placed a tub of hot water and face washers by the door; it would be warm by the time it was used, but that would be fine. She set a bag of clothes down next to it, a vision of Victor helping Connor wash the blood off his hands and face, and helping him dress. Or undress and then dress? Either way, they had clothes, and that's more than what she wanted to see of her almost-brother, thank you very much.
...
"Super Jesus, that TV's bigger than our swimming pool," Curtis said, stopping short and staring in awe.
"Leave the volume low and subtitles on; we don't want too much noise," Honey said over her shoulder where she was filling a large tub with hot water from the urn.
"Is there a game on later?" Curtis asked curiously, even as he grabbed some finger food and a drink from the large table, half filled with animal cupcakes. "Also, can I steal one of these cupcakes? They're adorable."
"They are, aren't they? Sure, steal one, but make sure it's only one. They're for the kids, not you. You have a cake in the fridge," Honey said, kissing his cheek on her way past.
"I'll leave the cupcakes for the kids, then," Curtis said, leaving the cute elephant and going over to the kitchenette's fridge. He opened the door and his jaw dropped. "That's not a cake, Honey! That's an army's worth of cake!"
"I know! Enjoy!" Honey called back, her voice distant through the thick walls.
"Hey, Curt. Whatcha got there? Ooh, I can have a slice of cake, right, Annie?" Richard asked his wife, grinning.
"A small one, and make sure you scrape... " Anita trailed off when she saw the channel that was playing on the TV.
Richard took the opportunity to eat the piece of cake, icing and all, then looked over to the TV as he was chewing, almost choking.
"Ma, Pa, what're you looking at?" Ethan asked as he came into the room with Terrence, both freshly cleaned and wearing new clothes. He looked over to the giant TV screen and blinked at the sight of Brian Anderson's face and the subtitles.
"Good afternoon, viewers. Today's headlines: Airborne and Earthstone fought earlier today, destroying several historically significant buildings on Westville's Esplanade. Who will pay: the Heroes or Westville?
"In other news, the Mayor is in a medically-induced coma after the Commander punched him; bystanders report the Commander said that the Mayor traumatised his wife. Jetstream and the Commander are unavailable for comment.
"The UN is having another General Assembly to introduce the super representatives to the floor. Has their training at the UN Headquarters paid off or will Babel have egg on her face?
"The answer to these questions and more local news in tonight's Maxville's Evening News," Brian Anderson said with a broad smile.
"Ace, we need Westville footage!" Ethan called out, Terrence already typing a message on his phone to the same effect.
"Got it. From the first minute of footage, I already know you'd better get popcorn. I'll stay down here while Ma works on Layla and Warren," Adam said, his voice amplified from their phones.
"Did someone mention popcorn?" Zach asked, coming into the room with Justina and a cart full of boxes of food and cupcakes.
"What on earth is going on?" Anita asked, looking between her children; Heidi was down at the playground, attempting to rearrange the pirate ship's coordinates or something along those lines.
The lights flickered overhead and she wondered if Heidi was still in the playground, after all.
"Uh, we'll explain later. We've got visitors," Terrence said, nodding over to the door where several bald children were looking in, the seer at the front and looking determined.
"Ethan, we need your name tags, please," the seer said when he saw Ethan.
"Oh. Of course. Here you go," he said, producing a roll of name tags and a marker from Super Jesus knew where.
"You took that with you this morning, too? Super Jesus, Ethan, what were you going to do, label the bad guys?" Terrence hissed.
Zach snorted and put an arm around Ethan's shoulders. "Probably. Hey, have any of you seen Craig since he left with Jewel, Beau, and Grant?"
"Not it," Terrence and Justina said in unison.
"I'm not looking for them. They can do... whatever they want, I am not thinking about it or talking about it," Zach said, shuddering. "C'mon, Eth, let's set these cakes up. I was thinking of grouping the animals together like a safari."
"Alphabetically would be confusing: do you go by the common name or the genus?" Ethan mused, glad for a task and something to keep him occupied. If Zach noticed that his hands were shaking as he set the cupcakes on the table, he didn't comment.
Anita went to the group of young children, wishing she had some context as to who they were and where on earth they'd come from, and damning Honey for not providing that information with their shopping lists. "Hello... 081? It's nice to meet you," she said, smiling and hoping she didn't look too confused, even as she glanced at the labels on the other children and only saw numbers.
The seer smiled up at her and held up the marker and roll of name tags. "It's nice to meet you, too, Anita. Can you ask everyone to put their names on labels? We can all read, but due to the shorter size of some of us, we would appreciate the tags at shirt hem lines."
Anita nodded and took the offered marker and tags. "That's a good idea, 081. Why don't I introduce you all to my husband? He's the one trying to sneak in food," she said, the seer laughing, loud and bright.
The children followed the seer into the room, looking like wide-eyed frightened ducks. Anita had no idea who had hurt them - the multitudes of bruises were obvious through their white clothes - but she hoped they had been dealt with, and she hoped it had hurt.
Richard stopped trying to sneak cake when he saw Anita bringing over the small crowd of bald children, and dropped down to a crouch to be at their level, grinning broadly. "Now, who did your hair? I love it and I want mine to look just the same," he announced as soon as they were in hearing range.
The seer giggled on seeing Richard, as bald as they were, and the other children giggled along with him when they realised it was a joke. A bad joke, but it was the first they'd heard in years.
Anita shook her head and stuck a name tag to her husband's forehead. "There you are, Richard. This is 081, 205, and 194. These three are... moving too fast for me to read their name tags. I think you have competition for the food," she said, smiling as three children parted from the group to grab several cupcakes, hiding beneath the table with their feast.
Richard looked over at them and waved. "Now, that's an idea. I should've thought of that. We need longer tablecloths so you can hide properly, don't we?"
One child, taking tiny bites as though afraid it was going to disappear, just nodded and continued to take bite after tiny bite. Another child had determined if it was going to disappear, they were going to eat as much as they possibly could, their cheeks bulging like a squirrel. The third was just staring at the food, which... honestly, was a little unnerving, but Richard had probably stared at Annie's feasts the same way over the years: half disbelief and amazement, and half wondering how the hell he got so lucky.
"Ellie's bringing Pat and the frog squad up with Sorcha. Apparently there's more food in Sorcha's car."
"Is hers named Nigel, as well?" the seer asked Terrence curiously.
"Uh, no. Hers is called Brie, I don't get why."
"That must be Nigel with the Brie. It was funny to Brie when she chose it," Ellie said. "My daughter's run off with someone with colourful hair, so I'm assuming it's a new boyfriend she hasn't told me about."
Pat just shrugged.
"I'm still confused about how you have a talking car, let alone one with a sense of humour," Curtis admitted.
"Well, they have to have a sense of humour when traffic's horrible and people don't indicate, and even AI with traffic prediction can't predict all of the stupid things people do while driving. They get a sense of humour, we don't get driven off a cliff."
"Or into an eighteen wheeler. Nigel threatens that on a regular basis, you get used to it," Pat said, shrugging. "He doesn't when Maleah's in the car, though."
Maleah smiled. "That's because I thank him for driving us places and he loves me."
"I thank him for driving all the time."
"Nigel doesn't love you," Najair said, patting Pat's arm consolingly.
"Any bugs?" Kiara asked, looking at the spread on the table.
"In the freezer. It was the only way to keep the crickets quiet," Honey said from the doorway, leading another small group of children into the room.
"Ooh, icy poles, yum! Thanks, Honey!" Maleah said eagerly.
Lorcan was at the freezer before Kiara by a second, and held the container of crickets high above her head. Kiara made a whistling noise and flicked his nose, Lorcan lowering his hands and cursing her.
"Love you, too," Kiara said cheerfully, taking the container from his loose grip and heading back to the table.
...
End of the hundred and fifty-third chapter
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!