Changed the rating to M, not really because of anything in this chapter, but I figured that due to the dark tone and some of the thematic elements I was using, it was probably better this way. On that note, warnings for the fic are now at the first chapter, though if there are any chapter-specific ones, I will put them in the authors notes for those chapters. Also, it has definitely been a hot minute. Sorry about that. Grad school happened, and it's been very busy.

Chapter 4: Another Day, Another Destiny

Breakfast passed awkwardly. Anna kept noticing Aunt Clara and Ash trying her best to pretend that staring intently at their embarrassingly tiny bowls of oatmeal the entire meal was normal.

"So, how are the magic tricks going?" Anything to defuse the tension, right?

Anna's comment was met with stony silence. Right. Time for a different tactic. "I bet we got four inches last night," she said. Nothing. As to be expected from a baldfaced attempt to make the moment a bit less uncomfortable. "What am I even doing," she muttered, not even realizing she was speaking aloud.

Both Aunt Clara and Ash froze, then turned to face Anna. "Sorry," she said. "I'm just tired. Had a tough time sleeping last night." Anna tried to ignore the static-y tension building in the air.

"So, I'm going out towards the edge of the snow today," Anna said in another attempt to redirect the conversation. "Since you seem a lot better, I was wondering if you might want to come with. I know you were wanting to get out of here pretty quickly, but I wanted to make sure you got out fine. You gave us a bit of a scare earlier." Also, it would let them make absolutely sure Ash had left. Anna liked the woman, but the thought of having someone who was probably another Epic around for any longer than strictly necessary was not one she liked to entertain, even as harmless as she seemed at the moment.

"I am perfectly capable of-"Ash stopped, the expression on her face suddenly changing. "Actually, that probably isn't a bad idea. When are we leaving?" From her tone, she sounded almost too excited to be leaving town. On the other hand, Anna thought, anyone would want to skip town after seeing what it's like here.

"I need to double check the spare pair of skis we've got, but it'll be pretty soon after I'm done with that. So, noonish?" Anna said. "Not that it's really easy to tell time around here. I think we might have a sundial somewhere, but that's about it."

"I'll be ready," Ash said, poking at her food and obviously trying not to make eye contact with everyone. "Not as if I have much else to do."

After the dishes were cleaned and Aunt Clara was was safely out of the room (though not without a glare from her at Ash as she left), Ash turned to Anna. "So, I did some practicing last night with my card tricks after you went back to bed."

Before she could stop herself, Anna said, "So, you get the right card half of the time now?" Sparks, sparks, sparks, she thought. This is what is finally going to get me killed. A smart remark about an Epic's terrible card tricks.

Ash sputtered with laughter. "You know, I'd have to say about a quarter of the time, but I'm glad you have faith in me." Anna resisted the urge to wipe away the droplets of sweat that were forming on her brow. "Anyhoo," she said, attempting to pull the cards out of her sleeve with a flourish, but getting it stuck on the edge of it before finally pulling it free. She fanned out several of them and offered them to Anna. "Pick a card, any card."

Anna tentatively grabbed a card from the center of the fan, a seven of clubs. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice it was sticking out a good two inches from the rest of the fan. Right idea, anyway, she thought. If poor execution.

Ash cleared her throat. "Have you had a good look at it yet?" She put her hand out to take the card back.

"I think so." Anna gave Ash a tentative smile and handed the card back to her.

With a flourish, Ash shuffled the card back into the deck, then spent a good twenty seconds searching through the deck before finally pulling it out again. "Told you I'd get there eventually," she said. "Seven of clubs, right?"

"I have no idea how you do it," Anna said, trying not to let a smile show on her face.

"Practice. Which I apparently need more of."

"It seemed fine to me," Anna lied.

"Nah, I could see it all over your face."

"It was better than last time."

"You know what? I'll take it." Ash looked down, the smile falling off her face. "You're scared, I get it."

Anna considered lying, but thought better of it and decided to sidestep the question instead. "You don't think I should be."

"Nah," Ash said, looking down at the floor darkly. "Scared keeps you alive."

"Alive, yes," Anna said. She wanted to go on and try to refute Ash's point, but realized it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Because I'm scared, she thought. Ironic, right? She cleared her throat. "Anyway, I have a bit of work to do before we leave. See you in a bit?"

Ash stared at the giant windmill outside the Carpenters' house. The blades on it were blowing around rapidly in the wind. She turned to Anna. "I guess that answers my question about you guys having power," she said. "I'm still surprised it's as regular as it is."

Anna shook her head. "It's nowhere near what they get in some places, I've heard. Barely enough for heat and some lights."

"Still, most places this far out have nothing at all."

"I am kind of proud of it. Wanna know the secret behind why it's so stable?" she said, barely pausing for Ash to respond. "I managed to trade for a used power cell from Newcago before the snows came. Nobody cares about the old ones since generating power's such a pain nowadays, but they're actually some of the best power storage I've ever seen."

"That is a lot of work for some shaky lights and crappy heating."

Anna shrugged. "It means we don't need to trade for as many candles or go out looking for as much firewood. Seems like a good tradeoff to me." She tossed a sleeping bag into a makeshift sledge attached to her bike. "Also, it's fun." Anna bounced slightly on her toes, slipped slightly on the icy ground, but managed to flail around enough to regain her balance.

Ash shook her head. "You are a total nerd."

"Sorry," Anna said, throwing in a tent. "I get excited about things like this."

"Hey," Ash said. "There's a bunch of worse stuff you could be into." Like most of the stuff she'd done. Not that Anna would ever have to know any of that. "I'm surprised it's still standing," Ash said, trying to draw attention back to the windmill.

"What do you mean by that?" Anna asked, a touch of annoyance in her voice.

"People get jealous. Especially if they're people like Permafrost."

Anna sighed. "People don't mess with the only doctor in a hundred miles. I have mixed feelings about it, but it has been helpful."

"Hey, take stuff where you can get it."

"Anyway," Anna said, straightening her posture. "We should probably get going soon. The daylight isn't going to last forever."

Anna checked the sledge she had been preparing earlier that morning, then both she and Ash put on the cross country skis that Anna had set out. "Ready?" she said, looking out in the direction they were going. Ash followed her gaze. The buildings in the town quickly thinned out after Anna's house, growing ever more sparse before the distant mountains. One or two plumes of smoke came up from them, but even at a glance Ash could see how few people were there.

Ash turned to face Anna. "Ready as I'm going to be. I hope you know the way?" Anna tilted her head in an 'of course' expression, and they started on their journey.

Anna jabbered almost the entire way, pointing out buildings along the way and what they had been when the town was in better days. Despite the smile on Anna's face the entire time, Ash found it kind of depressing. And this is why I stayed away from the smaller places, Ash thought. Big cities, it's easier to forget how much has changed. Not that she really cared much before about things like that, though. Back then, the important part was her ability to blend in. As fun as lording her power over innocent townspeople was, the really powerful people had rivals. And rivals meant a much higher chance of taking a fireball to the face. Again.

Ash looked away from Anna to the wasteland around her. That was over now. And, to be honest, Ash was almost glad it was. No more innocents will die because of me, she thought. Except one. Though one could argue that she had been dead for some time now. I'm sorry, Julie. If you're still able to listen, don't worry. You won't be suffering much longer.

A sudden change of subject from Anna interrupted her thoughts. "So, I bet you've been all over. What's the rest of the world like?"

"Slightly less of a dump than this corner of it is. Or quite a bit more. Depends on where you are, really." Ash grimaced. "Then there's places like Newcago. Best example of urban turd polish I've ever seen."

"I'd personally give my left arm for a place with reliable warmth and food."

"Hence why it's a polished turd." Ash shook her head. "Never liked the place much, even before Calamity. Now, it's way worse. Way too easy to have people with way too much power out for your head."

Anna briefly looked back, lowering her eyes. "You wouldn't know that from experience, would you?"

Ash grinned. "Me? Never." And that was a complete and utter fabrication. Oh well. At least most of them thought she was dead now. "I'll tell you this, it brings a completely new meaning to the phrase 'where the Sun don't shine'."

Anna sputtered a bit, as if she were trying to hold back a laugh, then exploded into a full-on giggle. "I haven't actually heard that one before," she said. "Most of what I've heard about the place is Ed complaining about how hard it is to get stuff out of there."

"You're really not missing much."

"I'm going to see it one day, you know?" Anna asked. "When Permafrost is gone, and I don't have to worry about here."

Not that this town had a lack of things to worry about even without an Epic like Permafrost running things. That said, there was a much larger elephant in the room. "So what, you expect him to starve to death before all of you do?"

Anna froze. Ash saw the same look in her eyes that she had seen when Anna had come into her room earlier. Eyes darting back and forth, looking for the quickest way out of the situation. Her body nearly falling over from how much it was shaking. Fear. Fear of her. She could almost see words forming in her head and being dismissed just as quickly, searching for the exact sentence that would save her from death.

In another life, Ash had seen this look many times. No. This life. I can't run from it. Not anymore. Ash wanted to lie to her, to say that she was safe, no matter what she said. She couldn't, though. Not anymore.

Ash was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly missed when Anna finally spoke.

"I'm going to kill him," she said, her voice high and almost a whisper. Wait, what?

"You're going to do what?" Ash asked. If she was serious, Ash would have to re-evaluate her opinion of Anna. Even saying something like that took balls.

Anna took a deep breath. Probably evaluating whether or not I'm going to kill her if I hear her right, Ash thought. "I'm going to kill Permafrost. D—a friend of mine and I have been planning it from about a month after he took over."

Sweet Calamity's fires. The woman really was serious. If Ash was right, her friend was probably that Dan guy she had mentioned earlier. So much for protecting the names of the innocent. "No offense, but that sounds like an excellent way of dying spectacularly."

Anna shrunk back a bit, but spoke. "We've been waiting for the heroes for six years now. I think there has to be a time when-"

"You get yourself killed pretending you're one?"

"I was going to say we step up and make our own, but-"Anna stopped. When she spoke again, she was holding back tears. "You're right. We could fail. This could blow up in our faces. But it's better than dying without doing anything."

Oh great, Ash thought. A hero. I'll be sure to weep extra loudly at your funeral. Not that she'd be there. Or that there would be a funeral. Or that there'd be many people left to mourn her when her plan inevitably blew up in her face. Or that said plan blowing up wouldn't result in Permafrost killing a bunch of other people in retaliation. Or- Sparks. Surely it wouldn't hurt for her to stay just a little bit longer so she could help.

No. There were a lot of people who would still be alive if not for her butting her nose in. "Whatever," Ash said. "Your funeral, I guess."

She tried to put the conversation they had just had out of her mind. Anna isn't Evan, she thought. And helping her won't bring back any of the people Evan lost.

"So, where are you going next?" Anna asked, her voice shaky, as if she were trying to hold back tears. I suppose I did just take her ridiculous plan she had been working for ages on and told her the one thing she didn't want to hear, Ash thought. Sparks, I'm an asshole.

"No clue. I'll figure it out when I get out there. East looks good." In the light of day, with a hundred miles removed from what she had done, Ash wasn't sure if she could go through with the plan she had in the woods. Maybe I'll try to find an out of the way settlement and live a quiet life. That would be good. At least until she killed the people there, too. Just because she tried not to use her powers didn't mean accidents couldn't happen.

There was another long silence. Ash looked out at the landscape around her. They were getting out of the main part of the city now, and the only details that could be seen in the vast, white wasteland were abandoned houses, many caving in from lack of repair and the weight of snow. No wonder Anna wants to kill Permafrost, Ash thought. This is so depressing even to look at, I don't know how anyone would want to live here.

They rode for a long time in silence. Shadows of apologies continued to form, then disintegrate on Ash's tongue. It's probably better she thinks I'm a bastard anyway, Ash tried to tell herself.

After some hours, they stopped near the ruin of an old house.

"We're at the edge already?" Ash asked. She still wished they had chosen a place further in as a drop-off point. They probably think I'm going to just wander around the snow and get myself into the same trouble they found me in.

"Not quite. I found some good stuff in here on a previous run, but the weather started turning so I had to leave it behind." Anna shook her head. "Stuff like that happens way too often now." She pulled her scarf tighter around her face. "I could probably use the extra pair of hands, anyway. You fine with that?"

It wasn't as if there was anything else for Ash to be doing out here. "Might as well," she said. Ash looked down at the snow on the way to the abandoned house. "Do people come here often?"

"Definitely before, but it's not been that picked over."

"Not what I meant. Look at this." Ash stopped walking and pointed to several sets of footprints leading to the house. She bent closer towards them. "They seem kind of old, but with the wind today, I'm having trouble telling."

Anna looked over Ash's shoulder at the prints. "Hmm. If I had to guess, they're probably gone, but we should keep our eyes open regardless. Try to make lots of noise, just so we don't startle anyone by accident, okay?"

I wish I had a weapon for this, Ash thought, before mentally kicking herself. She had to stay vigilant, that was certain, but things would get very messy very quickly if she brought violence into it.

Ash hung back behind Anna, even though she itched to be the one to be in front. If there is an ambush, I could be the one in front. I can take a lot more than Anna can. And she could create an even bigger problem when the same powers that allowed her to take those hits caused her to turn on everyone. No. This was for the best. Even if Ash hated it. She was being paranoid, anyways. Not every set of footprints was an attack. I'm going to end up looking like a complete and utter slontze when I come in ready for a fight and it's just some farmer trying to get out of the wind.

Not that there's much to farm out here, she thought, looking at the snow around her.

Anna turned around, seemingly noticing her tension even when her back was turned. "It'll be fine, Ash." She gave a wry smile. "If anything happens, I'll fight them off for you."

Ash suppressed a chuckle. "Sure," she said. Ash could only imagine what passed for Anna's "fighting style". She gestured towards the door. "After you, then."

Even through the cold air that somehow froze all of the smells in it, Ash could smell the mold. She let out a giant sneeze, then looked apologetically at Anna. "Well, I guess stealth is out the window," she said. "Is it always this musty in houses you're searching?"

"Sometimes. This might have some water damage or something like that." Or something might have died in here. Ash looked around at the discolored wallpaper-covered walls. Given how abandoned this place looked, it might honestly be both.

Ash peered into an adjoining room, one that may at some point been a sitting room. "I'd be careful going off on your own."

"What, you don't think this place is going to come down on us, right?" Ash wasn't even sure if she was joking.

"Well that, and-"she broke off, fumbling for what to say. "It's kind of hard to say delicately, but-"Anna broke off again.

"Let me guess, you've found the owners of these houses before?"

"Yeah. Well, what's left of them. Pretty well preserved, too."

Ash grimaced. "I'll keep an eye out."

Anna gingerly opened up a hall closet and started going through its contents. She turned to Ash and shrugged. "Mostly clothes. Most of it's pretty moldy by now. Might be able to get some parts out of this, though." She pointed at a dusty, but still fairly intact vacuum cleaner. "I'm going to go to the kitchen. There might be a junk drawer or something that could have batteries in it, or some canned food that hasn't spoiled yet."

"You first on the food," Ash said. Not that she didn't trust years-old canned food, but, well, she had learned the hard way her healing factor didn't cover a lot of kinds of of food poisoning. Ash stepped into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her.

"It's usually not that bad."

Anna opened a side door, and Ash noticed a dark figure crouching in the next room. A body? Ash thought. She saw the figure twitch. Nope, definitely not dead. The figure, seeming to notice their presence, bolt upright and spun around. It was then Ash noticed the gun in the man's hand.

Ash's mind sprung into action. First: exits. There was a window to the side of the man that she could reach in a matter of seconds if things went south. Good. She wouldn't need it. Anna was in front, and the man was clearly aiming-

Before she could even think, Ash felt her feet start to move. She rushed at Anna, pushing her aside, just as the man squeezed the trigger.

The bullet tore into Ash's shoulder in a flash of pain. This was normal, or at least the normal for any other human. Before Ash could stop it, she felt her healing kick in, knitting together the shattered bone, cartilage, and flesh and cauterizing her mind into an eerie sort of calm. She reached for one of the discarded kitchen implements, what appeared to be a paring knife. Smaller than what she normally had to work with, but it would do.

This man was going to pay for shooting her. And after it, that stupid girl, for making her have to jump in front of her. The man with the gun was frozen in front of her, gun down, trembling in fear. Such an easy target. He almost wasn't worth it.

Behind her, Anna screamed. Ash spun around, knife still in hand. Such an annoying voice she had. The part of Ash that was still Ash forced herself to look at Anna's face. Her eyes were wide and her already pale face had gone almost to the tone of printer paper. "No," she whispered.

Ash's mind went to another house, another person with the same expression on their face. Another quiet "no" after the last gunshot had echoed out. A thought rung out in Ash's head, simple and stark. I made a promise. She forced back her impulse to gut Anna, and focused back on why she had taken the bullet in the first place.

Before Anna could say another word, Ash was gone.