Nothing Else Matters

"Local PRT and one of the state Protectorate teams has Dust Devil here as active, but on sabbatical, so the story checks out, Sheriff." The Deputy handed the paramedic tending to Ray another roll of gauze as he spoke aloud to the Sheriff.

"And, sorry but I gotta ask again, what are you doing with four thousand dollars cash in a motel room in the middle of nowhere?" The Sheriff was short and built like a barrel, she sported a lot of muscle but her face showed a parent's concern plastered across it.

"My patrol partner is getting out of prison early and figured I'd be there for her. Cash is to cover essentials until the PRT calls for us to come back." Ray sat in the sheriff's office with his arms lifted while his chest was bound up for the bites that raked his back.

The Deputy, tall as he was skinny, looked over to the Sheriff, "Only prison in these parts is the Youth Commission lock up."

"And that puts her square in the care of the Youth Guard, Mr. Devil. So we got an older guy, on extended leave, waiting to pick up a teenage girl fresh from prison with a not so small bundle of cash. Add to that he just finished fighting in a motel full of innocent bystanders literal monsters, whom you say only left because they weren't having any more fun? Now I have to say things are not looking good for you."

Ray dropped his arms as the Paramedic finished taping him up. The Paramedic put both hands on Ray's shoulders as he stood up, he inspected Ray's head scars occasionally probing a hard knot of flesh, "Hey, most of those are old from my trigger. Some are newer and healed a bit, I'd say something if I had new new ones... honest."

The Paramedic shrugged and without a word shook the Sheriff's hand and headed out of the building.

"Look, I look big and ugly because of my power and how I got it, but I assure you I'm a teenager too. We worked together on more than one occasion, and she helped pick out my costume. She gives me all the shit in the world for being new to heroing but I'd trust her, and have trusted her, with my life."

The Sheriff's look of concern didn't break.

"I'm sure you know what it's like to have someone have your back - your deputies and the like. I just want to show her I'm still with her too. And in all honesty, the Youth Guard doesn't patrol with us, they aren't out there when we're getting punched and shot at by gang members and attacked by other capes. We're all we got until PRT units and cops show up to cuff the perps. So I'm sorry if I forget Youth Guard looks out for the younger heroes."

"Four grand, though?" The Deputy asked.

"We work a lot, we get stipends for expenses, and we don't really get time off. Four thousand and a chance to blow it on my best friend is a no brainer", Ray was only half lying.

The Sheriff sighed and shook her head, "Deputy here is lucky if I buy him lunch for his birthday."

Deputy smiled and sat down at a desk, he started typing before he piped up again, "System says the Detention Center's release time is 930 AM."

Sheriff stood up and opened an empty cell, "This bed's free for the next few hours. Rest up and we'll see about getting you some clothes, plus a ride in the morning."

Ray's eyes widened in surprise, "Ahh, thanks Sheriff. I appreciate it."

~~x

An extremely pale man stood outside the detention facility, dark hat, leather covered aviator sunglasses with hammered brass side panels around the eyes, a dark suit and shoes more in line with funeral attendance than court proceedings. Shadow Miser had volunteered to serve as legal counsel for Sophia should she seek emancipation, in the interim he was acting as Youth Guard representative for picking her up from the detention center.

"Mr. Pendelton", Ray acknowledged.

"Ray?", The attorney asked in surprise. "What happened to you? I heard you were either taken or died during an attack on one of the Asylums."

"Kidnapped, drugged, and then finally attacked last night before they let me go."

"I'm so sorry, Ray. I'll contact the PRT once I pick up my charge, they'll be eager to know you're alive."

"So, no one bothered looking for me?"

"Honestly, a lot of things cropped up with your case and got in the way. Making any progress in finding if you were among the dead or let alone out there alive extremely difficult."

Ray nodded wearily.

"Ahh, from your clothes it looks like you made acquaintance with local law enforcement."

"Yeah, patched me up and got me some clothes after they found me messed up at the motel. They dropped me off when they found out I was waiting for a friend to get released."

"Speaking of, she wasn't slated for release until her eighteenth birthday yet she's being suddenly released early... And you knew about this?"

Ray stood there in his white Sheriff's Deputy Trainee shirt and blue training pants with the county sheriff logo on the thigh, and then shrugged, "Kidnappers cut me a deal if I did what they wanted then Sophia wouldn't just be safe but would be let go."

Park Pendelton looked uncomfortable as the morning Sun grew warmer and brighter, he pulled a small umbrella from the pocket of his inner suit jacket and deployed it. "I don't know how to feel about that, Ray. Since I represent Youth Guard and you have been my client in the recent past, I'm not the best person to be involved with this much knowledge without some kind of - do you have a dollar on you, or anything?"

He opened the partially dry satchel and withdrew a twenty dollar bill and handed it to Shadow Miser, "The smallest amount I got on me."

"Alright, that was a lot of cash in that, but fine. I'm your attorney in regards to your kidnapping. Once I report this to the PRT there is going to be a lot going down especially if anything you did was questionable or criminal, we can argue duress, your minor status, the fact you were in the care of a mental health facility when preyed upon. This may impact Sophia's present freedom-"

"Then say nothing. I don't want her locked up anymore", Ray shook his head.

"This is bigger than just you Ray, they killed and took innocent people from the best place they could be for the conditions they were in."

"Then just give me a chance to talk to Sophia first. If she wants to talk let us talk. If she doesn't, then report it right away and I'll do what you say but - just let me see her, at least?"

"I'm going to get disbarred over your Romeo and Juliet fixation, Ray."

"Thanks."

"That wasn't...", the gate to the detention center started sliding open and the gate guard approached the attorney. The two spoke briefly and Shadow Miser was shown inside while Ray stood out in the morning Sun's light.

~~x

7:34 AM the door to her cell slid open, her few personal items: hygiene products, a few magazines Emma and Madison mailed her, letters from her little brother asking about her cape life filled a small box she had on her desk. She picked it up and walked out of her cell. A guard approached and led her through the checkpoints. Jeers came from a few members of The Pods, large open cell spaces that housed between 25 and 50 youth inmates.

As she was a cape with a history of grievous violence, Sophia was relegated to a secure housing unit. Most people would go nuts being alone with just their thoughts for twenty two hours a day, she was allowed an hour of yard time and an hour in the tv room, but it was better than to be stuck with nattering teenagers with their false bravado and gossip mongering.

By the time they made it across the facility it was 8:17 AM. She was made to wait for a female guard to arrive then she was strip searched with the prison nurse watching, should things go too far. After she was allowed to redress, Sophia watched a guard go through her meager possessions. The sole reason she had been keeping calm through the entire farce of a release was a photo in the same envelope of Ray naked and sitting on a filthy mattress in a dark basement. The message on the back was a simple one, Behave until release or he'd be dealt with.

Ray had chosen to take the blame for the fire, and picked the Empire Eighty Eight as a target. That he was a bad influence on her, and that she was blameless. Piggot could see it was a lie but accepted the confession he gave to Dragon. Of course Sophia was punished, monitored patrols, frequent check-ins but The Undersiders captured her when she pursued Skitter on her own. She made the biggest mistake not waiting for Ray to be there and have her back. Piggot had mentioned weeks of treatment and therapy for Dust Devil, mere weeks. But she was impatient and upset at Ray enough as it was - that Skitter was free to roam Brockton Bay and her partner was locked up was beyond fucked.

So here she was, filling out forms with her pasty ass attorney, answering questions about emancipation. Her Mother was done with her after Regent's body snatching antics. The last time she was brought so low it was her new stepfather playing her like a violin, it was an exertion of power in any way he could get away with just because he could. The same revulsion was all she could feel for Heartbreaker's son, and thus she was torn on bringing hell on The Undersiders. Who knows what was done to Ray in his captivity but it looked far from any kind of therapy or treatment Piggot intimated.

Minutes later she was shaking her attorney's hand and he chose to carry her box of belongings during their trek to the gates. Out in the sunlight, just past the chain link fence stood Ray, alive and leaning against the fence, bleeding a bit through his tight white t-shirt.

The gate guard warned him to stay back before the first gate parted open. Her attorney led her to the booth where they both signed out. Her chest felt heavy and her breaths grew tight as if her shadow state was slowly overtaking her lungs. She concentrated on the moment, taking in the prickles of heat on her skin, the sound of the winds rushing past her, the sound of the first gate closing and the second opening up.

He waited a few paces from the outer gate, a brown satchel slung over his shoulder, the strap dug into his flesh and more blood seeped through the tee where it pressed. Her steps widened and her speed picked up as she dashed past the still moving gate.

"Hi, So-, was all Ray was able to get out before Sophia grabbed the front of his shirt with her fists and pulled him close to her. Their faces inches apart she looked up into his eyes, her own madly searching for unspoken answers to unsaid questions.

He wrapped his arms around his partner and trapped her arms between their stayed like that for several moments, as Mr Pendelton stood idly by with Sophia's belongings.

~~x