Disclaimer: I don't own. So, now what?
:}
To those in the know, Hollywood Arts now felt off, different, like the whole world wasn't the way it was supposed to feel. To the gang, while they had different reactions, each and every one of them now understood that school wasn't just the place they went to learn things. It was an extension of their false sanctuary, where they were expected to be alert, and at the same time, be steeped in the new world they all now somehow existed in.
"Guys, relax." Andre assured his friends. "Derrick has this. We're safe enough, cause as long as the bad guy isn't flinging flour, we're all good."
The others all side eyed their friend. Still, they all understood, he couldn't come right out and say it, remind them how many meta's were at the school, or worked near by. No, they school wasn't the safest place around, but it had solid security. Derrick, he was comic relief, there to lull the faculty and families into thinking the school is so safe they can have a marginally competent security guard watching over them. He was a safe enough guy, working his job, blissfully unaware of how deep the police's influence affected the school. But while Derrick wasn't the best security guard, he was what they needed, a very public uniform to distract anyone who might wonder how safe the school really is. It was Festus, and the others, who were the real security at Hollywood Arts. Four that Holly knew about, plus maybe a couple of more brought in by Helen when she took over running the school.
"Yea, that flour gets everywhere." Beck agreed. "So, plans for the weekend?" He smiled, eyeing his friends, but also very aware of the others around the school.
"Research." Cat sighed. "I need to find me something, cause my roommate, she wants in. Not sure how cause I have no idea how we got here, but I'll do what I can to help, cause Sam, she means well…"
"Got me a date." Beck told them. "I plan on taking it slow, cause it turns out, my last girl, much harder to move on from her then I thought. Of course, we had to break up, cause fate, it had other plans. But I feel, my next girl, she's gonna be the normal I need to anchor my life, to counter the weird and wild my Hollywood lifestyle is gonna entail, so I'm not rushing. Figure, take the time, let it build naturally."
"Saying I rushed things?" Jade growled.
"No, cause your romance was years in the making." The handsome boy controlled the moment. "It's more my goal then my bane. I want what you have. I just, gonna take a lot of work, to make up for the little bit of luck you had in having your romance find you."
"Yea, luck." Tori nodded. "So, Trina's still hanging with Meredith, even after that big confession." She tried to shift topics.
"Yea, but it's all right." Cat assured them both. "I've had Rob monitoring everything, just cause he's hooked into the nerd gangs here at school, and they have the best ability to snoop up some gossip."
"Only been a few days, but I think Trina is starting to feel a lot more secure about herself." Rob reported. "That, and there's nothing like a new toy to help distract. Trina and Meredith got the same type of motorcycle, and it looks like a matching set. Everyone is talking about that, just not making the connection, cause Meri, never once dated a girl here at Hollywood Arts."
"You want one, don't you?" Jade teased.
"My mom won't let me ride a motorcycle." Rob confessed. "What would she say if she knew how that one performed?"
"You mean it flies?" Beck joked.
"Cold." Cat chided the boy. "Jade, why don't you have one yet? It so fits you."
"I thought about getting one, except me and Lenard, not close enough yet for me to ask." She made sure her arm was resting over Tori's shoulder. "Plus, our other source, don't wanna put too much pressure on her, cause we don't need her to feel like that's all we see her as good for. No, friendship requires a bit of give and take, so I'll take my time, and let her be."
"Yea…." Andre sighed. "I like her looks. Girls hot, and she's tall, and exotic, and she likes some of the same foods I do…"
"And she can make all kinds of nifty time saving devices." Jade finished for him. "Date from the safe end of the gene pool." A hand slapper her shoulder. "Hay, you're safe." Another slap. "What? I'm the deranged, dangerous one in the relationship. Even your mother thinks so."
"Maybe, but what girl likes to be called safe?" Tori asked.
"Man, this is taking a bit more to get used to then I thought." Cat lamented. "Just saying, it was easier when we had members who didn't know, cause then we had to be careful what they overheard. No, with the group in the know, I tend to forget other people, cause they're not a part of our conversation. I'm now forced to keep an eye on them, and still watch what I say, and that's no fun. I need someone to come with me to someplace secure, but not the kind of place that starts rumors, and we can talk about all kinds of fight club things. Then, once I get it out of my system, I can go back to using my squeaky toy to text all about our mad adventures."
"You still have that thing?" Tori asked.
"Jade got me a replacement." Cat acknowledged. "Makes it easier when I need to text about our adventures. Not the same, but it helps, and I use my phone for the real stuff I wanna text, and misses V sometimes lets me text her but I have to be careful about whats on my phone, cause I do sometimes forget where it is, or who might be looking. Of course, Sam had something Lenard got me, something to give her editing rights for my texts, so I don't accidentally send out something I didn't want to." Her eyes lit up. "Andre, you should totally date Sam. You're both doing the same kind of job, and she has bosoms, which I'm told boys like. I can even do a test squeak about it, see how the toy reacts."
"Thinking it'd be safer if we just got him some kind of metapowers." Robbie said. "Too bad it doesn't seem to want to work out that way…"
Tori, for her part, was stifling a laugh. 'Cat, she did it again. I know she was being serious, but how can you not laugh? I mean, the whole thing, it follows some kind of logic, and you can totally see how it'd work, assuming any of that worked that way. Just, I wonder, is she doing it for the laugh, or does she really see the world that differently? Either way, Cat adds so much to this group.' She leaned her head on Jade's shoulder, enjoying the banter.
"Dre, just date Puckett, until she decides otherwise." Jade told the boy. "Won't be the worst person you've ever dated. And Sam, since she knows all about Cat here, she might be able to use a friend, or a lover, who understands what she's been going through, keeping that secret."
Andre smiled while looking for any escape from this uncomfortable turn of events.
Twelve miles away, Sam was dealing with her own problem. "No peace ham is gonna shift that fact that you hurt people for a living." She told her cousin, the man standing in her doorway, ham in hand, looking for something from the petite girl. "So, Harry, what brings you to Hollywood?"
"I've been asked to help clean up a mess." The man said. "And for the record, THIS ham is for me. Us, cause it's our lunch, but chiefly for me. So, lets get down to business… I'm not just here because I like to share ham with my family. Melanie, she got the brains, but you, my dear, you got the physical strength. That strength, that toughness, it'll help you become more then you are. I was thinking, I could use an assistant, cause the modern world, not that good to those of us who work alone. Especially when we've been asked to take out someone as well known as The Constable."
"Okay, in what world would you be both capable enough, and dumb enough to go after a police meta like that?" Sam wondered, and in that moment, let her guard down enough for the man to push his way into the building, and set up the ham.
"Been augmented." He tossed out. "And I'm thinking I can share it with you. The original process, expensive, but given how close we've always been, genetically, I was thinking I could get you auigmented you on the cheap, and have you help me out in taking this fool out."
"But the Constable?" Sam again asked, while wondering what this fool was thinking. She did know they didn't look that much like family, which could help him. She was short and blond, while he was tall with darker hair and more of a Mediterranean skin tone.
"Didn't ask why, even though I have a guess as to why." Harry sighed. "My employers lost a shipment of product, and god, they were wazzed. But they lost chiz, and blamed the members of the Los Angeles Police Metahuman Program. Thing is, I don't fancy my odds against The Black Dahlia, and neither do the people who hired me. In fact, they talked about maybe having me go after Blue Shield, except they're pretty sure I couldn't take him. That man is a pro, with loads of experience, and hasn't slowed down much. Add in that he's training The Black Dahlia, and you know he has to have something heavy up his sleeve to control her. Not looking forward to facing whatever he's carrying. Finally, man can fly, and fliers make it harder to catch them unaware, cause you never know when they're gonna head off in an odd direction. Would prefer to shoot him from a distance, but no promise I'd take him out. Also, again, the Black Dahlia. Not only is it probable he's sporting some heavy armor, we have no idea if she could detect the incoming round, and that could lead to all kinds of problems."
"Seen her." Sam let out. "I was at the beach when Bastion manifested. I saw what that monster could do. Tossed a winnebago like it was a joke, and the Black Dahlia, not as powerful, but she knew what she was doing, played Bastion, distracted and misdirected and maintained control."
"And she managed to rescue the whole shipload of cargo, after the crew made the mistake of trying to sink it instead of finding out if maybe the bosses had another way of getting them safely landed on the mainland." He glanced out the door. "Fuck, they're mad, cause the crew, should have just allowed themselves to be arrested. Then, people in immigration would have deported the cargo, and my employers would just gather them up again, and we'd be back in business."
"Why so interested in this…" Sam hesitated. He'd avoided saying what the cargo was, but thanks to Dice and his connections, she knew it was human trafficking.
"Cause a handful of the women had unmanifested metahuman genes." Harry explained. "People who were ordering them, they know how to harvest that chiz, maybe give someone powers. Someone of their choice. Someone like me."
"How powerful are you?" Sam wondered.
"Not as strong as I wanna be, but more then enough to kill Constable." He chuckled. "And I'll be in the money once I prove I can handle this kind of assignment. You, all you have to do is let the scientist I chose, who works with your mom's plastic surgeon, let them enhance you, then help me take Constable out, maybe handle that midget Velvet Phantom who's been working with him, and you'll be all lined up to make some serious cash. More then enough to keep you in ham for the rest of your life."
"Yea, sounds good." Sam nodded, secure in the fact that this man had no idea she was lying out her teeth. 'I can make so much more money behind the scenes here in Hollywood. Not only working with creative, but thanks to my experience with "Life's a drag", I know how to manipulate the industry. Thinking I'm good enough to maybe, once I'm ready, get me an office and one of those jobs where people pay me to say no to chiz. Won't have to say yes to anything, but I'll be a low level power player in the valley, and mama will be in the money. All the meats one woman could want to eat. Fuck, I could easily find me a couple of gigs, make more money, be in the cash. Don't need the family business to make it in this world. Me and Mel, we're gonna be okay. Only problem, if Harry really is augmented, and not just nuts, then saying no is suddenly very dangerous. No, need to play this smart, and figure out how to have Cat help me without giving away who she is to someone with connections to the kinds of people who do human experimentation. Yea, lets get sneaky, cause this just got bad.'
Sam soon found herself going to visit a doctor, be subjected to some surprisingly easy experimentation, before he told them the results. "Okay, she can be used for short term augmentations. In time, maybe long term, but we're not sure of the side effects. But for now, short term should be enough."
Sam found herself in a very dangerous situation. She was being watched, and her every move evaluated, while her cousin started plotting how he'd take out the police hero. 'Need to get a note to Cat, without them realizing what I'm doing.' Sam felt desperate. However, she was also very clever, and realized the easiest way to let her roommate know what was going on was to just tell her, when no one would know the wiser.
Once Cat was back, while they were both being watched, Sam sprang into action. "My cousin is in town, and wants me to show him around."
"Kay kay." Cat nodded.
"However, before I do, I have a list of things I'd like for you to make me, kind of a packed lunch, in case mama has to go a while between meals." She smiled and presented the shorter girl with a list. 'List is real, just some snacks for Cat to make for me. Just an excuse to get closer.' As she handed the girl the list, she mouthed 'I'm in trouble.'
Cat watched the blonds actions, and somehow figured out to play along, moving her hand along the list, her thumb moving letter to letter, spelling out "Explain". "So, you want all of this?" Cat asked. "Any priorities?"
Sam moved her hand along the list, knowing she wouldn't have time to spell out anything major, and chose "Augmented." "Yea, these are the one's I'd like first."
"Those are all of them." Cat smiled, letting her roommate know she understood.
"But, if you have the chance, I'd like more of these." Sam said as she spelled out "assassin."
Cat's eyes widened for just a moment before she nodded. "Always the meatballs." She sighed at that. "Those aren't nearly as easy to make as you seem to think they are. I'll do what I can, but…"
"Yea…." Sam tried to find it in herself to spell out Constable. Only, she knew she was running out of time.
Cat, however, got it at Con. "Okay, I'll need to head to the store. Wanna come with? Maybe you'll have some more ideas once we're there."
"Sure." Sam agreed, mostly because she suspected she could get a feast out of this bad situation.
Only, as they reached the door, Harry was there, to grab them both and go over the list. "Okay, it's a list of food." He sighed. "Sorry, kinda paranoid." He looked at Cat, deciding if he was going to have to end her or not. 'She's known to too many people…'
He decided, after five minutes with her, that she didn't know anything, and wasn't a threat. "Straight to the store and back." He instructed her. 'Even if she did know something, doubt anyone would understand her. Girls majorly touched. Maybe I can get something out of her before this s done? Yea, lets wait, see what happens.'
Cat raced to the store, where she texted Jade to open some kind of communication, since her symbiotes could easily facilitate mental communications with the goth witch. 'Need to get this message out to her…'
"Okay, whats so desperate that your eating into my Tori time?" Jade thought at the redhead. Cat, for her part, just replayed the memory of her conversation with Sam, emphasizing the shopping list. "So Sam wants food. What else is new?"
Rolling her eyes, Cat sent back "Her cousin, Harry, has been augmented, possibly a metahuman now, and is plotting to assassinate Constable to send a message to the underworld that whomever is behind this is serious. We need to find a way to save her without letting him know about how close she is to the whole Metahuman Internship Administration."
"Oh….!" Jade went silent for a moment. "Oh, okay, so I just show up, take him out…"
"But he hasn't broken the law yet." Cat explained. "And Sam needs you to do it somehow when he's not around her. Make it believable you guys found out without me."
"Let me consult with the spirit world, and figure out what we need to do, and when." Jade told her friend. "But I promise you, we will find a way, even if it involved Bastion turning this guy into an accordion."
"Graphic." Cat sent back, but she was done. The petite girl finished picking up her list of foods, and went back to the apartment, to make as much of the food as possible for Sam. She wasn't, however, ready to have Harry functionally staying with them.
"No offense, little Cat, but I've been thinking, and I decided my cousin will do better if she knows I'm close. So, gonna be sleeping in your living room." The big man explained. "Sides, there may come a chance for us to become more friendly, if you know what I mean."
Cat looked nervous, and thought 'I guess Some men just want to be accordions.'
It took him all of two days to decide on a course of action, and another to find out where the police hero would be. During that time, other forced would be in action, with Jade finding out she needed more contacts on the street. 'Dice is great, but limited to Venice. I need me better contacts, cause this is getting ridiculous.'
Beck, it turned out, was becoming one of their better information gatherers. He'd head up to some Northridge event, and charm some of the girls there. Some of his data came from the love struck girls who wanted the pretty boy all to themselves. But most came from the jealous boys who challenged Beck, only to be charmed by his sincerity and general naivety as to the effect he seemed to be having on the girls. Of course, it was an act, one he'd developed over the years he and Jade dated, to help keep her paranoid. However, with the Northridge boys, it served as his entrance to their trust, and from there, to his gaining information from the rumors and other things they'd heard. Soon, he knew about the plot to kill Constable. "If you ask me, it's so dumb." One boy was saying. "To the average criminal, Constable, Blue Shield, they're not after us. They're after the heavy hitters. And if we're dumb enough to draw their attention, then we deserve to be arrested. Just, get arrested by Shield, man, cause that guys so cool. I mean, he don't judge you or chiz just cause you turned out to be a bad guy this time. Constable, he's starting to see it, how an adversarial relationship don't help none. But Shield, he almost makes it feel okay to be arrested. Almost. Man is total class."
:}
I know, kinda a weird place to end the chapter, but I was getting someplace. Looks like Beck may have a new thing to offer, and the support to learn how to help out. Also, Sam's cousin, Harry, looks to be up to no good. That, or wants to know how an accordion feels. Either way, peoples true identities need to be protected, so whatever will our hero's do?