Time: 11:48. Location: Metroville (Metroville Memorial)
The soft beeping of the heart monitor slowly pulled her out of whatever deep sleep she was in. Jeanne blinked several times and her eyes slowly adjusted to where she was and her heart raced immediately. She was in a hospital, and there was an IV in her arm, wires on her chest, and her right hand was bandaged up meticulously.
Carefully glancing around the room that was lit with the soft glow of the sunlight, her eyes landed on the clothes she remembers wearing the night of the fire.
Her eyes trailed over the room and she nearly jumped off the bed after she saw someone who she has never met laying on the couch on the other side of the room. All she could see was a turquoise leotard, black boots, and bright teal hair that fell down over the side of the small couch. A soft snoring sound could be heard and Jeanne squinted in attempt to try and see if she recognized this person, this... Super that was in her hospital room.
But then, a memory struck her. The day that an attack on the city up north took place and Supers were under deep control by the ScreenSlaver. This was one of them that saved the day... This Super was going to be at the exoneration.
Jeanne squinted again but immediately squeaked in pain and jerked forward, a spike of pain shooting up her spine and in the back of her skull.
The noise was apparently loud enough to wake the sleeping soul on the couch. The super jerked upward and with the very un-smooth motion, knocked herself off the couch and down onto the floor with a loud thud. Teal hair stuck up a little from the slight wetness, due to her drooling in her sleep.
Voyd immediately recognized how dumb she looked and leaped back up to her feet, attempting to smooth out her hair and coughing nervously.
"H-Hi, I-I-I'm glad you're awake..." She stuttered with her large, bright white teeth showing a nervous smile. Jeanne responded by rubbing the back of her skull with her still undamaged left hand.
"D-Do you know which hospital this is?"
"Metroville Memorial. You're pretty close to your apartment. Well, what's left of it anyway." Voyd giggled nervously as her face turned a deep pink that went unnoticed on Jeanne's behalf.
The seconds seemed like full hours to Voyd. She didn't want to push any harder but she needed answers from her; that was why she was still here. The police wanted her to find out how the fire started.
"Ma'am... I know th-that this is probably hard for you but... I need to ask you a few questions..." Voyd noticed her whole demeanor change and she slowly sat up, pushing down on the bed with her left hand to raise herself.
"Okay... I'll answer anything I can."
"How did the fire start?"
"Um... I...I think..." Jeanne slowly rubbed at the front of her head and flinched a little when she felt a bruise on her temple.
Then it struck her. "It was me... I... I started the fire... but it was an accident! I swear! I just... Just finished my art project and blew out the candles... I thought I latched the balcony door closed... But when I woke up... My apartment was on fire... I'm sorry... I didn't..."
Jeanne immediately began to tear up at the thought of putting others lives in danger and her heart rate began to rise quickly. Voyd let out an audible gasp and noticed her heart rate raised to 120 beats per minute and with a shaky touch, she placed her gloved hand on top of the blonde's and stroked her thumb over the back of her skin.
"Hey... It's okay. Nobody was hurt... Except you." She said it like the words weighed 20 pounds and looked down at the floor, the asymmetrical cut of her hair obscuring her eye.
"W-well... As long as it was just me... Oh no, my projects! All my photos..." Then the tears fell. All of her work had most likely burnt up with the apartment.
Voyd seemed to have a nervous and shy look on her face as she reached behind her on the table next to Jeanne, her gloved fingers tracing the glossy figure on it's surface.
"I... I don't know if... if it helps but... I found this... I'm pretty sure it's yours?" Jeanne reached out with her bandaged hand and carefully grasped the photograph of the swallowtail butterfly and a smile curled up her lips.
"Heh... It is... freshman year... I got a B minus," She giggled weakly as a tear streaked down her cheek and gently rested the photo on her lap. "Just... I can't believe it's all gone..."
Voyd stood there and reached for her forearm, looking down at her small feet in worry. It was a lot to process; her whole life went up in smoke and she didn't even know how to test the waters, or even decide whether or not swimming was the best option at the moment.
"I know this must be hard... I mean... I think anyway... It-It's never happened to me." Voyd offered her a large toothed smile which Jeanne returned with a high pitched giggle.
"I suppose you'll need my name... Jeanne. Jeanne Hathaway. Not that it matters, I have no insurance..."
Those were not good words. Without any insurance, she will be put under collection. Which is something nobody wants to be in.
Voyd's thoughts were cut short when the door opened. She turned around to see several police officers and she took a step to the side as they began to talk to Jeanne about the incident.
"H-How did I get out of there? I was on the sixth floor." Jeanne looked at the cops who were totally silent and exchanged looks of confusion.
It wasn't until Voyd spoke up that they finally got an answer. Her hand went up in the air and she gave a nervous grin.
"Th-That was me. I, uh... used my power to save you." There was a sense of pride in her voice that seemed to radiate off of her. Like she's never said those words before. Her eyes sparkled as they landed on Jeanne and she had a look of slight confusion but mostly adoration for the Super in her presence.
After Jeanne gave the police her statement, they left the room and Voyd continued to stand there, feeling like a scared teenager in the shadow of a fragile kitten.
Jeanne broke out of her mile long stare and looked up at Voyd who grinned nervously, rubbing at the back of her neck, her teal hair moving in time with her touch.
"So... What's my hero's name?" The question took the super by surprise and she blushed a deep crimson and began to stutter like crazy.
"Um... M-my name is Kar- uh, I mean!" She covered her magenta lips and gave a low whine of agony at her almost identity reveal. "Voyd. My name is Voyd..."
"Well,Voyd... Thank you for saving my life. I..If I wasn't weighed down like this, I'd treat you to a coffee but... Kinda attached to... many things." Jeanne took notice of the heart monitor, the IV, the pulse monitor, and the oxygen tube around her nose.
Jeanne carefully lifted up her injured hand and brushed her long curly bangs out of her face, cringing at the oily feeling of not washing it in who only knows how long. After getting her hair out of her field of vision, she looked up at the television and what she saw was not something she wanted to see.
With a shaky hand, she quickly grasped the remote and turned up the volume, "...After the high proceeds of the exoneration ceremony in Grand Park, the winner of the "Everyday Heroes" contest, Julia Trayyee, announces in her acceptance speech that all donations going to her piece will be put to good use to better the city and the lives of every citizen in Metroville."
"Julia won? Are you kidding me?" Jeanne gave a look of pure disgust and immediately changed the channel to whatever was playing next, which just happened to be a cute baking show, which she could easily calm down with. Turning down the volume, she put the remote back down and gripped the photo in her hand, practically seething as she stared at the butterfly in the glossy paper.
"Wh-Who's Julia?" Voyd stuttered nervously, clearly not liking that Jeanne was so upset.
"Some pompous brat who only wants the money from the reward to better her own life, not others... Guess I'll have to write that letter after all." A look of pure defeat crossed Jeanne's features and she flopped backwards on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Ugh... What a day."
"I um... I can... I can leave if you want to be alone right now-"
"No. I kind of like the company... As long as your not busy, you can leave if you have better things to do, miss Super Voyd." Jeanne smiled at Voyd who blushed in response but shook her head immediately, grabbing the stool that the doctors normally sit on and sat down next to the bed.
The time passed quickly after that. Jeanne answered all of Voyd's questions, and she asked a lot of them. It was cute to see someone who had immense powers and possibly so many better things to do with her time than to humor some random person in the hospital.
Every so often, Voyd would answer one of her questions but then it would immediately go back to focs around Jeanne.
"So what was the Everyday Heroes contest?"
Jeanne flinched a little at the question but it wasn't that hard of a question to answer. She cleared her throat and forced a smile.
"It's a national competition where the applicants submit photos of superheroes to show that they are the forces of good in this world. And the winner wins a scholarship to Hartford Institution of the Arts... It's one of the best art schools out there. And a $100,000 prize, along with a place in the art gallery for years to come..."
"Oh, I've always wanted to go to Hartford! They have an amazing musical program there..." Voyd got lost in her own thoughts and Jeanne looked down at her hands as they began to make the motions of pressing into guitar frets.
"Looks like Trayyee is gonna get there first... As usual. But hey, all water under the bridge, right?" Jeanne shrugged a little as Voyd gave a little giggle in response at how hard Jeanne was trying to be positive even in the face of misery; it was inspiring.
Voyd was soon pulled out of her trance though when the door opened and a doctor walked in holding her chart in his hands. His heavy rimmed glasses glinted in the light of the sun and he had a genuine smile on his face.
"Well, look who's awake! How are we feeling today, miss Hathaway?"
Jeanne smiled and flexed her left hand a little. "Not too bad. But can I have some water? Throat's a little dry..."
"I'll get it!" Voyd immediately jumped up and walked out of the door before the doctor could even respond. A chuckle erupted from his throat at how enthusiastic the girl was to get water for Jeanne.
"Looks like you made a friend. And a Super friend at that!" The doctor looked at her heart rate and carefully inspected her bandaged hand, his fingers gently pressing into her forearm near the inside of her wrist and she gave a soft hiss of pain.
Voyd returned as fast as she could with a cloudy plastic cup and a little bendy straw just for Jeanne who accepted it, sipping the water from the straw like she hasn't had anything to drink in months. After she felt like her throat was no longer a desert of dryness, she put the cup down on the table and gave a little whine as the doctor gently touched her bruised temple.
"You're lucky to be alive, miss. And your recovery was fast, so if you want, we can discharge you in a few hours."
A smile immediately broke out on Jeanne's face and she began to aggressively nod, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I'm going to prescribe a burn cream for your hand that should numb the pain and help it heal smoothly, but other than that, you'll be free to go." The doctor left after that and with Jeanne's happy smile, it was soon replaced by a look of disdain.
"Oh yeah... my house went up in flames." Voyd looked at her like her heart had just been ripped from her chest. Jeanne has nowhere to go now.
"D-Don't you have any friends you could stay with?"
"No. I... Don't have many friends who would do that... I think... I don't... Ugh, damn it."
A sudden feeling rushed over Voyd and all of her insides screamed that she could either follow what her heart was saying or listen to the small rational voice in her brain.
"Wait... I have an idea..."