The days had flown by, she had quickly fallen into a routine occasionally broken up with visits from Alex Danvers. Her staring contests with the house door got marginally easier each time she had to go out for an errand or do a school run. The fact Ruby was showing no trouble settling back in was a blessing. It was out of her control for now, she was still not used to the looks and whispers when she was in public spaces. Thinking of Ruby was always the perfect salve for that drilling feeling off being watched or judged from afar. Mrs. Bennet was still pressing her to rejoin the PTA, each time getting a clearer picture that her organisation and ability to get to the point was sorely missed. It was a trait she prided herself on, she was certain it was why Lena hired her and why the FBI had been so eager to throw an opportunity her way. It was good to be in demand.
These idle thoughts floated around her head, she hummed to herself as she pulled into her driveway. The humming stopped when she saw a man leaning in her porch, he watched her intently. She felt a chill on the back of her neck as she pulled into her drive, unblinking eyes looking her over through the windscreen. She patted her side, her phone beckoned. Though tempted to call the police, there was an unsettling familiarity to him that stopped her. The man was clean-cut, wearing a plain hoodie and jeans. Thoughts raced through her mind, the front door was closed and undamaged, this man also showed no signs of panic at her showing up. It was unlikely she was being robbed, though he had an air about him which made her hesitate. Alex would have probably mentioned if someone else was being sent to see her. She took a deep breath, reminding herself she possessed super-strength and a wealth of abilities that meant she was much safer than she was used to. The man continued to watch, unmoving as she sat their deliberating.
"You're on my property," she said in a flat tone. Stepping out of the car but keeping the door open, between her and this potential threat.
"You don't know me," he said, still leaning. Something about his voice stirred in her mind. His intense watching made it hard to focus on it. Though he was relaxed, his eyes drilled into her. It made his casual demeanour somehow more threatening.
"Damn right I don't know you, what are you doing here?" she said. A grin curled up on the man's face and his eyes softened, it did little to ease her quickening heartbeat.
"You can consider me a friend," he said. She looked at him intently.
"I don't know who you think you are…" she began. He cut off her off, with an upbeat tone of voice that came out of nowhere.
"You can call me Spark," he said, standing up straight and giving her a slight nod. She got out her keys and slammed the car door harder than she intended, luckily there was no damage when she checked it with a side glance.
"I'm going to go into my house, if you interfere or you're still here by the time I'm inside, I'm calling the police," she said.
"I have no intention of interfering, I'm here to give you a little advice," he said.
"Well I'm not interested," she said, more and more convinced this was a weird prank. With renewed vigour she walked to her door. She pushed by and did what she could to ignore him. He did nothing to resist, though as the door clicked open he spoke up again.
"Why pick Arias? Did the idea of a memorable name appeal to you at the time?" She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned back to him. "I mean I get why you didn't stick with Jane Doe, hell of a boring name. I mean I guess they wouldn't let you keep it anyway."
Her chest sank, that first chill on her neck immediately sprung back and overtook her whole body. She spoke slowly and clearly, doing what she could to keep her voice from cracking.
"What are you talking about?" she said.
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, a lot can be gleaned from someone's name," he said.
"Explain yourself," she said, sounding out both words distinctly. She stared at him, too uncertain to wipe away the water that started to well up in her eyes. The back of her throat began to itch and she swallowed hard. He leaned back again, disinterested in matching her body language.
"I spoke to someone recently, her name was Jo. A real flower that one, got adopted when she was 16. Happily part of the family and even got a sister out of the deal. No real memory of much that happened before that day though. Hazy pictures of a childhood that seemed to just blur by, no real details seemed to have stuck with her. I'm guessing the adoption thing chose her surname for her, a luxury it seems you didn't get," he said. It was familiar story. Too familiar. Not even Ruby knew about her early life, or lack of one.
"Who are you, really?" she said.
"Like I said, a friend with some advice," he said. She did not know whether confront him or to step inside and slam the door behind her. It was uncomfortable to be gripped by this indecision.
"I'm going to go ahead and guess someone from the FBI has been checking up on you. Friendly face, has a particular interest in your wellbeing, maybe a little too eager to work with you," he stopped for confirmation, she gave him nothing. "You should be weary because they aren't who they claim to be. This is way above the FBI. Call themselves the Department of Extra-normal Operations or DEO. One thing I can be certain of regardless of what you've been told, is they're far more interested in Reign than they are in Sam."
"Leave my home, now," she said, she pushed the words through a dried-up throat. He put his hands out and backed off.
"I've said what I came to say, tread carefully when dealing with them." He walked off with a skip in his step. She watched him turn sharply onto the sidewalk and saunter off like there had been no issue. She blinked several times, wiped her eyes, sniffed loudly and pushed on through. She quickly rummaged through the drawer she kept Alex's card in. It was disconcerting, her left hand was trembling ever so slightly. The hand that held out the card was firm and steady, it was working as expected but the ever-present detachment from it was more prominent.
She stood still, contact details in hand. Spark had been dead on about her past, it was something she never wanted to dwell on. Her first clear memories were her mid-teens where she had no care for the world, assuming she had been abandoned and meandering from place to place with no real direction. Anything she tried to recall before that was extremely blurry, as if she barely existed. Alone and scared she was reckless in her youth. It was the pregnancy that had her finally seek out the help she needed. The charities she went too changed her life for the better, she was more than happy with what her life then became. Though she knew she was one of the lucky ones, Ruby coming into her life gave her a reason to keep going. She was almost grateful for knowing nothing of life before so had cast it aside, even using the blank slate to forge her own path forward. Her life had been motherhood, education and succeeding in just about every endeavour her careers offered her. Now this Spark person had come out of nowhere and immediately dredged up everything before that. The uncertainty, confusion and emptiness she thought she had set aside for good.
She put Alex's contact details into her phone as it all flooded back. She stopped herself, not sure what to say. Her hand still trembled and it was hard to think clearly. She took a deep breath, it wavered and she inhaled the salty taste of a running tear. She closed her eyes and attempted to focus, wiping her face dry. The prosthetic was less as absorbent than her skin and did little to help as she dabbed at her face. She took another deep breath and ignored the small pain in her chest. Nothing had ever stopped her before, she was not going to let this encounter phase any more than it already had.
She sat at the bar of her kitchen and thought about what to say. She wanted to avoid too much detail, just mention this man that knew too much about her.
She held her breath as the rings went through. Fortunately, the call was picked up quickly.
"Hi Sam," There was very little background noise, hearing her voice was soothing.
"Hi," she said.
"I'm glad you called. To what do I owe the pleasure" Alex said.
She hesitated, breathing a little harder and trying to figure out how to best word the strange encounter.
"Is everything alright?" Alex said, concerned.
"Not exactly," she said.
"What's wrong?" Alex said.
"As you know, the past few days have been pretty normal and I've been able to get on with things. Today a man was at my house…" the words were not coming to her.
"It's okay to take your time," Alex said. She took another deep breath.
"He knew I was Reign," she said.
"Right… did he give you a name? Can you describe him?" Alex said.
"He called himself Spark, and erm… short hair, quite tall…" it had blindsided her and was already struggling to recall what he looked like in any useful detail.
"I'll tell you what, I can swing round and pick you up. Then we can go through this together somewhere safe. I'll also send someone to keep an eye on Ruby," Alex said. Spark's warning about being weary played on her mind, but there was no way she was going to trust this man's word.
"I'd like that, could you keep it discreet, I don't want to worry her," she said.
"I'll see what I can do. Sit tight, I'll be with you shortly. Call again if you don't feel safe or if he comes back," Alex said.
"I will, thank you," Sam said, the call ended. She carefully placed herself on the sofa, she could feel every muscle in her body tense up and her body refused to let her relax into it. Despite her shaking, the prosthetic was still as steady as a rock. A harsh reminder of how normality was doing everything it could to stay out of her life. She checked the time, there was still plenty of the school day left. She wanted nothing more than to get this straightened out without Ruby's knowledge. The last thing she wanted was to put her through more trouble.