Road Trip: Chapter 7

I came awake slowly, nestled in a hollow of blankets. Despite the lingering pain from yesterday, it was so comfortable here. Snug and warm in my bed.

Wait.

Forcing myself to move, I looked around seeing I was in fact in my bedroom. Before I could think on it however, my door opened and Penny's head peeked in.

"Good, you are awake," she said, walking in.

"Howserit?"

"Eloquent, Renée," Penny snickered.

Burying my head back under to blanket, I mumbled, "I hate you."

"Oh no you don't, I need to check your injuries. Up you get."

Groaning, I let her pull me from the cocoon of blankets and into the cool air. Thankfully my shiver only made my bones ache and not outright scream in agony. Seemingly satisfied with my compliance, Penny unwound the wrap around my body.

"Looks good. You're still going to be sore and probably a bit weaker than usual. No heavy lifting and use the skin cream I have in the bathroom for bruises. Yours faded some in the night but you still look like you got the crap kicked out of you."

"Alright," I agreed. "How did I get in here? Didn't I fall asleep in the chair?"

"You did, and Danny brought you in here. It was soo sweet."

"Penny," I whined.

"What? I made sure he didn't try anything. And he didn't. He put you to bed and tucked you in." She replied innocently completely missing the point. "Danny was a complete gentleman. Even turned me down when I offered to let him sleep in my bed. Slept on the couch instead."

Sighing, I shook my head. She didn't miss anything, she just didn't care and had her own thoughts on things. Moving the topic along -and purposely not thinking of what Penny meant when she 'asked' Danny that- I asked her, "Has Sam showed up yet?"

Penny nodded, "Yeah, he's in the kitchen waiting on you stealing some of the boudin I cooked for you guys."

"Alright, let him know I'll talk to him once I get dressed."

"Sure, but remember, don't push yourself. I won't trust whatever knitting your body's done to you for at least another week."

"Alright."

"Seriously, Renée, no more fights for a while," Penny stressed.

Smiling, I nodded. "I'll try."

She rolled her eyes.

Getting dressed proved to be an effort, but didn't take as long as I feared. The welcoming smells of food greeted me as I left my bedroom. Danny was sprawled on the couch one our spare blankets half covering him. He couldn't be comfortable with his legs hanging off the side like that but he looked sound asleep.

Not sure why, I paused a moment to right the blanket over him. Other than a murmur and shifting he didn't seem to notice. By the time I walked into our kitchen Sam was making inroads into his second sausage while Penny playfully chided him from the stove where it looked like she was making coush coush.

"Morning," I greeted the duo, keeping my voice low enough to not wake Danny. He had a rough day yesterday. "Did you get everything, Sam?"

"Would I be here if I didn't?" he asked playfully.

"Depends on if you knew Penny was making breakfast or not," I answered honestly.

"True," Penny chuckled from the stove.

Chuckling, Sam nodded good naturedly. "That's a good point, but yeah, got everything you need. Your airboat is waiting for you at the same pier we always use. Mike's on this morning and he'll keep tabs on it until you get there. Make sure none of the supplies go missing."

I nodded chewing. Mike was a good guy. "I didn't know he worked there."

"Well, he got into a disagreement with his old boss about, dunno, couple of weeks ago? Month maybe?" Sam said uncertainly before shrugging. "Anyway, he needed work and wanted to stay legit since his girl's about ready to pop, if she hasn't already. He didn't say when I talked to him this morning. Well, we asked around and found out Roland was hiring. Mike likes it there and it's nice to have one of ours there for things like this."

Danny chose that moment to walk in, looking a bit rough from his stay on the couch. Snickering at the older man's gruff morning as he went in search of coffee, Sam made his exit citing he'd see us when we got back.

By the look in his eyes, I knew me specifically. I nodded back letting him know I got the message. Satisfied, Sam left. Danny took the open seat, unfocused eyes looking at his cup of coffee like it was his lifeline.

Breakfast moved along in a quiet chatter provided by Penny. Obviously trying to take advantage of Danny's partially awake state to continue grilling him for information. Being a good sport, Danny mostly went along with it but I stayed quiet.

Then we were leaving. Penny giving us a packed lunch and wishing us luck. Danny drove us to the pier with me giving directions since I was still a bit medicated. He didn't say anything about the cargo on the boat when he saw it. Just helped me climb into the pilot's seat and strapped the few things we brought with us down. He didn't look happy with me driving it, but airboats weren't for amateurs. It wasn't like a single prop in a rowboat.

The trip itself passed in a blur of never ending water soaked trees, winding waterways, gators, and Danny's reactions every time he saw one. I didn't point out to him that he only saw a quarter of the ones I did, and I knew for a fact, I didn't see anywhere near all the ones that were around. But that was the bayou for you.

Massive trees grew straight out of the water periodically. Each towering above us like sad sentinels. Limbs full of drooping green foliage gave way to grey the closer to the water they reached. The water itself thick as pea soup, and just as colorful in places. That boggy and stagnant stench of waste and green permeating the air seemingly making it as thick as the water below us despite our pace.

Interspaced around us passed small islands barely big enough to qualify as speed bumps. Some covered in great ferns while others only in moss. Adorned in a plethora of turtles, swarms of insects, and of course, more gators, which Danny seemed to not like at all.

Part of the reason why Bennie loved it out here. Most of the time, he didn't even need to do anything to those trying to find him. There were plenty of gators more than willing to eat the unwary.

Aside from the loud thunder from our propeller, the ride passed in silence. Danny either recognized I wasn't in the talking mood, or just didn't have anything to say. I figured the latter, but I didn't think on it much. Lost to my own thoughts.

It wasn't until the drooping limbs from two close trees moved that I returned to the hear and now. Watching them unwind I slowed bringing our boat around heading for it. Once on the other side, they moved back, blocking us in. That was fine, we were here.

Bennie's place was everything you could expect in a house located deep in the Louisiana bayou. The house itself appeared one hard wind away from falling over but that was deceiving. Grey brown planks holding up a wooden shingled roof. The land his house sat on didn't extend with the house standing on stilts to keep it out of high tide range. A rickety wooden dock reached out for us to tie off to.

Cutting the engine I instructed Danny how to tie us off, which I found I didn't need to. He listened with an amused look on his face before tying the rope off in a way that was better than I usually did.

While he was doing that, I slowly started climbing down from my seat. "When you see Bogget, don't stare. She doesn't like it when people stare."

"Alright…" Danny said, looking confused. That vanished once he helped me onto the pier.

Twisting vines made up the body lumbering toward us. Twice the width of any man I'd ever seen at the shoulder, she approached us humming a tune with her harsh gravelly voice. Standing easily seven and a half feet, Bogget was an imposing figure. Not even her floral print sundress that worked more like a skirt on her frame or her large plastic sunglasses could detract from it. Though it clearly made an impression on Danny.

"Hello, dearie," Bogget greeted happily.

"Bonjour, Bogget," I greeted back smiling. "Or have you finally decided on a real name?"

"I was thinking Jamie, but I don't think Bennie likes it."

"I think Jamie is nice enough, I'd have to agree with him that it doesn't suit you," I commented easily. "But I'm sure you'll find something that works for the both of you sooner or later. Lots of names out there to pick from."

"Hmm," she cheerfully hummed. "Yes well, oh. How sweet, you brought Bennie things. That was nice of you, hon."

"I hope I didn't forget anything but I had to have one of my people do the actual shopping. I was a bit indisposed."

Hunching over, the hulking figure eyed the side of my face, nodding slowly her voice changing slightly from its friendly tones to more of a growl. "It looks like you were in a fight, dearie."

I nodded, smiling at the fretting mass of swamp vegetation, "I doubt he will do it again, ma chère."

"I hope so. Nice girls like you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of thing. I hope you made sure whoever it was learned not to hit you again."

"I'm sure he got the message," I answered trying my best to not give in to my giggle.

Danny's cough told me he caught the hidden meaning. Unfortunately for him, it also brought him to Bogget's attention. "Oh, who's this? Introduce us dear."

"Of course, sorry about that," I apologize. "Bogget, this is Danny. Danny, Bogget."

For his part, Danny's face was conflict in duality. As if he couldn't decide if he should be terrified of the monstrous thing before him was going to eat us, or amused at how her demeanor was so out of sorts compared to how she looked. In the end though, Danny once again proved himself to be made of stern stuff as he extended his hand toward the inhuman cape.

"Nice to meet you, Bogget."

"So polite," she muttered. "Nice to meet you as well, Danny. It's always nice to meet one of Renée's friends."

Smiling at how well he was handling her, I asked, "We're here to see Bennie. Is he in?"

"Hmm? Yes he is, honey. Back of the house on the porch, I think. Why don't you say hi while I unload these?"

"If you're sure? We don't mind helping." I tried offering.

"No, dear, you go ahead and see Bennie. I'll take care of this."

"Alright, thank you."

Once we were a bit away, Danny turned to me, "I see why you warned me. She is a very...imposing figure."

"Yeah she is," I agreed. "But she's so sweet most of the time. Because of how she looks, most people wouldn't give her a chance to talk, much less try to get to know her."

"How long has she been, like that?"

"Not even she really knows," I answered. At Danny's confused look I explained. "She's a Case 53. Not sure how much you've read up on capes, but Case 53's are the classification of monstrous capes. Parahumans whose powers changed them in strange ways."

"Like you."

"Yes, and no. There is a common thread between all Case 53's that are similar to me. Physical changes, almost all to inhuman levels are common. No memory of anything before they woke up, and usually it's somewhere off the beaten path in a big city. Bogget for example appeared in New Orleans about eight years ago."

"Sounds exactly like you. You said you appeared here, or rather in New Orleans two years ago."

"Yeah, but there is one big difference," I continued. "Case 53's all have the same tattoo on them somewhere. A kind of weird stylized slightly sideways U or Omega symbol. I don't have anything like that on me. I know, I checked when I found out about them. Thoroughly."

"That is...very strange." Danny muttered. "And very unsettling. How did you learn about this?"

"Public records mostly and the internet. Case 53's don't make up for much of the parahuman populace, but they're far more noticeable for being so inhuman looking. It wasn't hard to find information."

Bogget lifting a huge crate and easily balancing it on one corded shoulder made me add, "Which is just sad because people like Bogget are nicer than anyone you'll pass on most streets anywhere in the world. Sure, she can hurt you badly if she wanted. So can practically every cape out there. Plus you don't need to be a parahuman to be able to hurt someone. People have been hurting people since long before parahumans were even a thing."

Shrugging, I turned toward the house but not inside. Instead I walked along the outer porch which surrounded it eventually carrying me to the back. There, we found Bennie.

Standing next to a large A frame hung three big gators suspended by their tails in the process of being harvested. All three missing hides and split down the middle. On the other side, a smoker chugging away and obviously where the missing meat from the corpse went. Bennie himself stood facing the bayou gator hides stretched out on racks. A huge knife in his hands.

He was maybe five foot and built like a brick. Shirtless today showing his -boarding on dark- dusky skin. Beneath a mop of greasy looking hair, hard intelligent eyes watched closely as we approached.

"Renée," he grunted harshly.

"Bennie," I returned.

"You want something."

Nodding I informed him, "I brought supplies."

"Of course you did," Bennie snarled sourly. "Unlike half the fucks who come see me, you know better than to show up empty handed or bring that green toilet paper they call money."

"People are still doing that?" I winced.

Bennie grunted affirmatively. "Haven't seen you in a while. What did you bring me?"

"Flour, lard, rice, beans, lamp oil, and a few odds and ends you haven't asked for in a while but I thought you might be running low on or broke."

"You want something big then," Bennie muttered, eyes tracking to Danny. "I don't know him."

"This is Danny," I introduced.

"I don't like him."

"You don't like anyone," I said dryly.

"He looks shifty," he retorted completely ignoring me.

"Says the man hiding in the bayou."

"I like the company out here," Bennie grinned. Which was all kinds of disturbing even before he continued. "Gators are more honest than people and no one complains when I eat them."

Chuckling I shook my head at the cankerous man's antics.

"Well," Bennie half growled, "Spit it out. What do you want?"

Taking a deep breath, I took a moment. Even as I slowly let it out, Bennie's eyebrow rose and his eyes glittered knowingly.

"I-we, need to know if we're related. If...if he's my father."

Spitting on the deck, Been wiped his bearded mouth with the back of his hand, "You want a reading."

"Yes."

"I can't read you. You know this."

"I know, but I don't need you in my head," I answered.

Nodding half to himself, Bennie growled, "The blood will tell."

Despite Danny's silence neither of us forgot about him. So when he jumped at Bogget's unexpected entrance by climbing over the netted porch railing, neither of us looked. Well, not at Danny anyway.

Bogget was a different story.

"Everything is put away, Bennie," she said in her gravelly voice.

"What the fuck is on your head?" Bennie growled.

"Isn't it lovely?" The hulking woman preened proudly showing off her new straw hat, complete with a huge artificial lily sewn into the side. "Renée brought it for me."

"It looks hideous."

"You're such a sweet talker," Bogget said softly. Well, softly for her. "I like it too."

Sighing, Bennie shook his head giving me the stink eye. "I told you not to encourage her."

Trying to keep a straight face I said, "I think it's very pretty and it suits her."

And the fact that it annoyed the hell out of Bennie, was just a bonus. I really needed to ask Sam where he found it. There was no way even a tourist would buy something like that, so I doubted he got it from any of the stores he acquired the supplies for my run. It was just the kind of thing Bogget loved.

Grunting sourly, Bennie waved us over to a table not currently cluttered with his tools or bits of gator.

Handing me a knife that at least looked clean, he grunted again, tapping the table on one side. Nodding, I sliced my palm deep enough to allow a trickle of blood flow where he indicated.

Next to me, Danny grunted but didn't say anything. After wiping the blade clean with my shirt, I handed it to Danny. His expression clearly reluctant as copied my action letting his own blood drip on the other side. When he finished, I handed him my handkerchief.

Bennie first touched mine, smearing it over the table with his eyes half closed. A moment later his other hand reached out and worked Danny's similarly. For several moments he just mumbled to himself.

I'd seen him do this before and had an idea it was a quirk of his power. Sometimes the information overwhelmed him and Bogget had to grab and hold him until he calmed down. Sometimes he didn't get much and just cursed. At the moment, I wasn't sure which side he was swinging toward, but Bogget watched carefully the whole time as Danny and I waited for the verdict.

"The blood always knows," he muttered. "Never lies, never cheats, never hates. In the blood you can take a measure of a man's true heart. The stuff that even he doesn't know about himself."

Bennie's hands topped tracing odd patterns with our blood on the old wooden table slats. His eyes opening fully again as he raised his head to us. Unlike how he spoke before, his words were less harsh, and more soft.

"There is a lot of this man in you," he whispered.

Keeping my features schooled and my gut clenched hard, I nodded forcing myself to flatly say, "That was what I needed to know."

XxXGambitXxX

Leaning against the short rooftop wall of my apartment building, I held the silver flute to my lips, letting the soft almost melancholy melody free to explore the night for me.

Usually I'd prefer something more upbeat. A tune you can dance too like any of the numberless people in the city who perform most nights for tips or just for the love of it. Sometimes for the jingle jangle of change being tossed into an empty instrument case or hat. Sometimes just to see appreciative strangers dancing in the streets, moved by their music and the natural care free festive atmosphere my city was known for.

But not tonight. Tonight my thoughts were more...weighty. Heavier with what I now knew. With the things I suspected and the choices laid out before me. I'd been here almost since we got back from the bayou. Playing, and thinking.

It was a long and very silent ride back. Unlike the silence of our first trip, this one was heavy. I know Danny wanted to talk, but I didn't. He didn't question it, seemed to understand and gave me the space I wanted without asking. But that didn't change the fact that a talk was coming.

Fingers slid easily along the keys as I willed. Truth be told, I wasn't very good. At least I didn't think so no matter what Penny said. I definitely wasn't good enough to play with the musicians who worked the streets. But there was something about this I enjoyed. It brought a sense of peace or clarity to my mind which was something I desperately needed right now.

I didn't need to open my eyes to know I had an audience but that didn't stop me immediately. I had a fair idea who it was. It was actually surprising, but in a good way, that he waited as long as he did before seeking me out. When I did open my eyes as I let the last note slowly float away, I saw I was right. Danny Hebert stood a few feet away, staring at me with a strange look in his eyes.

"You...play the flute?" he asked in a strange almost halting way.

"Yeah."

"Where did you learn? If you don't mind me asking."

"I've always known," I replied slowly; shrugging. "Found out one day when casing a music shop for a client. They had one there and the guy let me play it when I asked."

"Oh," Danny muttered. "That really shouldn't surprise me but it does. You're pretty good."

"No need to lie, mon'ami. I'm fair but I don't practice enough to be called good."

Clearly disagreeing with me, Danny shook his head. I bit my lip, keeping my eyes on the skyline instead of him. After a moment of silence, his footsteps brought him closer and back into my peripheral vision.

Leaning against the short roof top wall Danny asked, "Do you feel like talking yet?"

"It's not something we can ignore," I sighed.

"Is that what you want?" he asked neutrally. "To ignore what Bennie confirmed for us?"

"I didn't say that, Danny," I answered tiredly. "But you can't just expect things to radically change just because of what he said."

"You are a very independent young woman," Danny said still keeping his eyes outward. "I respect that. And I'm not asking for you to be anything else."

"I think," I slowly said. "We need to have an understanding about some things before we get too far into this conversation, Danny."

"Alright. What is it that you think I need to understand?"

"I know what Bennie said, and there is enough...strangeness that I can believe it. I was half convinced even before we went to him. That and it doesn't hurt that Bennie's never wrong," I said half heartedly. "But, just because I am physically your daughter, doesn't make me your Taylor."

Turning to fully face me, Danny folded his arms giving me his full attention. I was thankful, as this wasn't easy for me to say but it was something that had been weighing on my mind ever since Bennie confirmed what Danny already knew, and I was strongly suspecting.

"This isn't easy for me, Danny. To know that I exist as I do, when I wasn't supposed to. We don't know how I got here, what happened to me, and we're probably never going to find out. But the thing I do know is that whatever there was in me that used to be Taylor, died in 09'. The day Renée was born."

"What…"

"Taylor was a happy girl from a loving home. A mother and father. Friends, family, school and all that," I interrupted him. "She was a normal girl. Renée was born to a life on the streets. She was alone and had to fight for every scrap of bread she got. What friends she made, she had to help them survive if she wanted to keep them. I've never known anything else but this life. My life started the day Taylor Hebert died."

Danny laughed sadly. "Every minute I see more and more of her in you. You don't remember who you were before, but that doesn't change who you are. It didn't change who you are."

"That is what it feels like to me, Danny," I stressed. "I don't remember what you do. Do you even understand how that makes me feel? Can you?"

After a long moment of silence, Danny shook his head sadly. "No, I can honestly say I can't imagine what that would feel like."

"It's not pleasant," I said, turning away. "Ever since I woke up, all I had was my mind and power. Jess figured my trigger probably wiped my memories because I was too young to deal with whatever it was that caused it. Maybe they're right, but I don't know. What I do know about my power is that I could -with the right preparations- be one of the most dangerous capes in the game. And when I realized just how dangerous I was, it scared the hell out of me."

Danny remained quiet as I continued, "I swore to myself then that I would always keep it in check. I built a code for myself, an image, and held myself to those things rigidly because I was a child who could turn playing cards into grenades. Can you imagine what I could do to a car? Or a building?"

Danny shook his head. If there was any indication that he was shocked or frightened by the scope of my power, he didn't show it.

"But I needed this edge," I continued not letting him answer one way or another. "It was the only thing that separated me from everyone else. It was how I was going to survive, and how I was going to keep my friends alive. So, I vowed, no hurting people more than I had to and definitely no killing. Educated myself to where the lines were, what I could cross and what I shouldn't."

"Exactly what Taylor would've done. I guarantee it. You can't take responsibility for what was done to you," Danny whispered. "And no matter what you think, you are my daughter, and nothing is going to change that."

"But that, doesn't make me Taylor," I whispered back. "It doesn't change the fact I exist in her place."

"What exactly are you saying, Renée?"

"I can't give you back your daughter, Taylor," I answered. "But, maybe, if you had a spot in your life for her estranged sister Renée, I think... I think I could handle that."

Danny's eyes were wet. His smile could have lit bonfires. "As long as you don't mind me occasionally slipping up and confusing you with your twin. I'm old y'know. Memory's not what it used to be."

I smiled softly, very much in uncharted waters but feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. Before either of us could bring ourselves to say something and break the moment, a new voice did.

"Oh, bad time?" Sam asked standing by the door to the steps.

"Um," I hesitated before turning to Danny. I really did need to talk to Sam. "Danny, if I could…?"

He seemed to understand and nodded easily. "Of course."

Looking more uncertain than I'd ever seen him, Sam stepped aside and let Danny pass walking toward me.

"Sit down, Sam," I said quietly.

I told him everything. The Job, Jess's stunt which led me to trying to figure out who Danny was. The feelings Brockton Bay gave me. Everything that led to me coming back to New Orleans with Danny in tow. Bennie. Everything.

Through it all Sam listened. Quietly, never interrupting, seemingly unable to even if he wanted. Now and then, he'd curse in surprise, but otherwise was very attentive as I explained everything. It took longer than I thought it would. By the time I was done, the night around us had deepened to the point it felt like we were the only people awake in the city.

"Mon Dieu, now that is a fucking story," Sam cursed. "Of all the shit I thought was going on, I did not see that as being a thing."

"Right?" I asked hoarsely. Like Sam, I was looking out into the city skyline. Helping the moon keep watch over everyone.

"Can-can I ask something, Renée?"

"You know you can."

"What...what is it like?" he asked after several moments where I wasn't sure if he would.

At my raised eyebrow, Sam clarified. His voice held a soft almost innocent tone I'd never heard come from him before, "What's it like to have a papa like that? A papa that never gave up looking for you. Who loves you so much, that he never thought he wouldn't find you even years later. Wh-who wants you in his life even knowing what he knows about us. What, what is that like?"

Swallowing dryly at his questions, I whispered honestly, "Humbling."

"Yeah," Sam breathed, nodding. "I bet scary too, no?"

Unable to answer, I nodded.

"I never met me papa," Sam confessed. "He could be anyone in the city, or hell, the world. Mamam doesn't remember who she slept with last night, much less who she slept with twenty years ago. You're so lucky, Renée."

Again, I nodded. I was lucky. This wasn't something that happened to people like us.

"You're going with him? Back to Brockton Bay?"

"Once I take care of a few things, yeah."

"Good," Sam said unknowingly repeating what I was just thinking. "People like us, Renée, this kind of thing never happens to people like us. I'd be angry with you if you didn't grab this and make it your own. Life isn't always so...generous."

"I know," I agreed. "Thanks for being so understanding, Sam. I know this is a horrible time for something like this to be a thing…"

"Hey," Sam chuckled, putting his arm around me. "What are big brothers for, eh?"

"You'll take care of Penny for me? Make sure Amos leaves her alone?"

"You don't even need to ask, ma chère. Everyone loves Penny, we'll take care of her."

Letting my head rest on my first friends shoulder, I chuckled appreciatively before sighing, "But even still, I just can't drop everything and leave on a moment's notice. Especially not with...current events."

"You mean Marcus making his play," Sam said knowingly.

Raising my eyebrow, I asked, "You know?"

"People are talking. The guys from the last job, they talk. The people they talked to, talk. Word's getting around. Some of us see the way the wind is blowing. Also, Marcus is being more vocal. Saying stuff about you. Nothing out right bad, just stuff to make people think. You know how slick he can be."

"Yeah," I grimaced, rechecking my phone. Rereading the text message I received earlier. "I do. But I still have a dog in this fight. One last card to play and Gambit doesn't leave until all cards are played."

"Hit me with it."

"It's complicated, and not something you can really help with except by going to ground. Tell the people who don't like the new direction to do the same. At least for a month to give the coming storm a chance to blow over."

"Your dog sounds like she's going to be a big bitch," Sam smirked.

"It's not the size of the bitch in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the bitch," I smirked back. "And mon cher, this bitch isn't happy."