500 Miles Hellfire 2
By Princess Alexandria
Raven sat at the table, working on her sketch as waiters and diners bustled around the busy restaurant. It helped to pass time as she waited for her dinner and the page started to fill with mutant diners. It was at times like this, when there were so many obvious mutants around her that Raven felt she needed to record this because never in her wildest dreams did she ever believe a place like this could exist.
She never wanted to leave and go back to hiding what she really was.
The voice at her table was a surprise, as Emma interrupted Raven's work. "They say the wait for a table is at a half hour." Emma moved to slide into the seat across from Raven. "I'll buy your dinner if you don't mind sharing your table."
"That's hardly a fair trade, since you'd make me lose my appetite." Raven stared coldly at Emma, but the telepath just gave her a knowing little smile.
"So did you see the poster Ellie put up at the gym?" Emma ignored her jab. "I think the picture of you drawing will pull in a lot of the gym crowd that knows surprisingly little about your talents."
"It was hard to miss it; she put it directly behind the main desk." Raven had been a little embarrassed to see the picture of her concentrating over her easel. People had started to talk to her more, to ask about her art and training after they'd seen that.
"Yes, I heard that you've visited Italy and Paris to hone your skills." Emma stole Raven's lemonade and took a sip, making it seem so natural for her to do that. It was some sort of childish game to Emma so Raven refused to rise to that bait and argue over something like that.
"I've studied everywhere I've been." Raven sighed as she thought about her less than typical education, but she'd seen art departments in a college and she now believed her education was better. Not that she'd get the same respect for it. Raven's eyes narrowed a little as she stared at Emma, sending her invitation for Emma to leave nonverbally.
"You're wasting your skills in the Market." Emma was staring at Raven's sketchpad with the partially done sketch. "You make it seem so effortless."
"Practice." Raven tired of the polite conversation. "Just what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm about to have dinner." Emma waved the waiter over and Raven had to wait for Emma to order, without even getting a menu, before Emma spoke to her again. Raven just shook her head in irritation at Emma's stupid little games starting up again. The two weeks of relative freedom from this was apparently all Raven would get. "And you had looked so lonely and out of place sitting all alone here."
"I was just fine. I'm used to it." Raven replied, and then almost cringed at what that revealed about her. She managed to keep her body from betraying her discomfort at Emma knowing how alone Raven tended to be. "Don't pretend to give a damn, you just like to torment me."
"Well then, perhaps it was because I didn't want to sit alone, especially when I saw someone I knew was already here." Emma let out a sigh. "You over estimate my sadistic qualities Raven. I really don't and didn't enjoy hurting you." The blonde stared into Raven's eyes. "I'm sorry I whipped you. It was either Sebastian or I for that, and with him being considerably stronger than I, I decided it would be best to do it myself." Raven's jaw clenched as Emma spoke. "It would have been Tessa if I hadn't tricked you into disobeying her. I didn't want her to have to do that. It was clear Christy took comfort in Tessa's presence and I saw no reason to upset that." Emma paused. "Do you know why Christy was so drawn to Tessa?"
"No." Raven lied with a cold expression on her face.
"I was always curious." Emma took the glass of something that the waiter brought by without even glancing at him. "Tessa seemed a little attached herself, not that Sebastian seemed to care. He likes to test loyalty like that. To make us prove ourselves his, in spite of the pain it caused us."
Raven didn't know what she could say that that. To seem to care herself would be a red flag, where if it were just Christy that cared it could be attributed to the world few others knew much about. The silence was punctuated by Emma's taking a deliberate sip of her new drink, as if she knew Raven wouldn't have anything to say.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about this in public." Raven glanced around at the diners, the families and couples, the groups of friends at all the other tables.
"Yes well, waiting for you is tedious, and there really are fewer people here to divert their attention than at the club. You really don't know how many of the men and women at the club watch you. I'm surprised you aren't dating all the time with the level of interest that flies around in the gym." Emma smirked just a little. "If there is anyone you're interested in, I could check and see if they are a member of your fan club."
"Don't." Raven glared at Emma to stop the teasing about such a sensitive topic. A movement out of the corner of her eye drew Raven's attention to a boy delivering her meal and looking slightly confused about an unexpected second person at the table. "Would you make that to go?" Raven addressed him, "I've lost my appetite." The barb was aimed at Emma while Raven's eyes weren't.
"Yes ma'am." He moved with the plate back towards where he came from and Raven watched him a moment before turning to Emma.
"You really don't have to run you know." Emma didn't look too pleased.
Raven stood and leaned over the table, her eyes glaring into Emma's light blue ones, "Oh I know I don't have to," Her voice held a quiet threat, "I want to." She then turned and walked toward the waiter, not waiting for him to return. She took her box and gave Emma an arrogant nod as she left the blonde to pay for it.
As Raven stepped outside she smiled just a little, feeling a bit smug in being able to snub Emma and that it had clearly bothered the telepath. It wasn't often that Raven got a reaction out of the woman. She took her boxed lunch and moved toward the boardwalk, where she could eat and watch the ocean.
………………….
The fair was bigger than Raven thought it would be, she looked around at the other tables as she sat down. Her portfolios were on the table and someone had created a large banner naming her booth Raven Christine in a classy script style, gold lettering on black. Raven was definitely going to make sure to slip that banner out with her when she left.
She could see various other booths being set up, and one other woman from the Market as well. The school gym and the hallways to it were filled with booths, games, and people. There was a small stage at one end of the gym, which Raven had a decent view of from her incredible spot in the middle of all the action.
She was starting to be glad she had agreed to do this, as she started to work on drawing a cute young couple that dared to be the first customers of the day, before the event even officially opened.
Raven's hand moved quickly over the canvas, her eyes darting between paper and subjects as the challenge of doing her art well and fast became fun. She smiled as she handed yet another drawing to someone and took the money while another subject took a seat unasked and a small group which was actually the line up for her art watched.
"I told you that you would be popular." Emma's voice interrupted the flow of the evening and Raven glanced over at the woman before looking back to her subjects and continuing to draw. "The raffle tickets for your painting are selling very well."
"Good." Raven's hand moved over the canvas, but she was listening to Emma. "I could use a cash drop. I don't feel comfortable with my cash box that full."
"I could take it for you." Emma offered while walking around the table and into Raven's working space. Raven stopped drawing for a moment to look over at the telepath while considering it.
"By yourself?" Raven asked, not sure how she felt about that. There was no reason to think Emma would steal from her, but to have Emma walking around with that kind of money, well it could be dangerous. Especially if anyone here decided to become a mugger, because they all would know Emma had money on her when she walked away.
"I won't rob you." Emma's eyes darkened in anger and Raven looked away with a sigh.
"That's not it."
"Are you actually worried about me?" The hint of amusement in Emma's voice drew a glare from Raven.
"Hell no. I'd suggest you play in traffic if I thought you'd do it." Raven put down her pen and grabbed the cash box, quickly moving money into a bag while trying to not let anyone see how many twenties were going in. She left just enough to make change and handed the rest over without counting it, but she did use her pen to sign the paper bag that had been for her meal, while the sandwich and apple were set beside the cash box.
Emma took the bag without a seeming care to who knew she had it. Of course maybe a telepath would be able to avoid a mugging before it ever started, Raven allowed as she sat back down to draw. "The raffle will occur at nine and then we'll go to the office and work out the money. Your share, the schools share, and of course our illustrious leader who didn't feel that drama or any of the arts deserved the government money."
"At least he isn't using that money against us. I hated paying taxes in America." Raven started to draw again and smiled at her patient subjects before starting to work on a brief background on the page. It was almost done. "To think I helped fund those laws that said I wasn't worthy of life, I was never more glad that I was on the run than at tax time when I didn't have to file." She spoke quietly because Emma had remained right next to her, watching her.
"Yes, well there is that." Emma sounded a little amused. "Well, I'll see you later." There was a pause as Raven heard Emma step around the table. "Oh and Raven," It sounded like a request for her attention so Raven glanced over at the blonde. "I should have tried talking to you while you drew a long time ago. You seem almost pleasant." The telepath's smile was almost gloating. Raven just glared at her and returned to her work, ignoring Emma's laugh.
It seemed to take at least a dozen more drawings before Raven had a moment to breath. She handed off the last drawing, glanced at the people looking over her portfolios and decided they weren't ready yet. Looking around the gym she did see another familiar face and she waved Ellie over. As Ellie got closer Raven became a little concerned. The girl looked tired and sad, but trying to cover it with a small half smile that lacked realism.
"Hey Raven." Ellie glanced around the booth. "Going well?"
Raven's voice became softer as she got off her chair and moved closer to Ellie. "I'm fine." She spoke slowly, making it clear that she believed only one of them could say that. "What about you?"
Ellie gave a tired sigh. "My power is acting funny. I don't understand it."
"What is it?" Raven's concern was clear in her moving even closer to Ellie.
"I think you have a customer." Ellie glanced over at the person standing by the portfolio's looking at Raven.
"You come first Ellie." Raven spoke gently, letting the girl know that she'd close shop immediately if Ellie needed her to. Ellie gave her a grateful look.
"Go, make your money. We'll talk later."
Raven stared Ellie in the eye, her voice very sincere. "Yes we will." Ellie reached out and patted Raven's arm gently, touching, before a small smile came to Ellie's face, but Ellie didn't say anything. She just walked away.
Raven reluctantly got back to work. In spite of her distraction the end of the fair seemed to sneak up on her. As Emma took the stage Raven was finishing a drawing. She put up the closed sign and pulled her portfolios off the table while Emma thanked the crowd for coming. As she was packing up and everyone else was looking toward Emma Raven pulled that black banner with her name off the table and carefully rolled it up, smiling just a little at her new acquisition. It went into her bag with her portfolios and her money box.
"And now for the raffle." A different voice called out and Raven stood politely to watch as a gym membership was given away in one raffle. There were apparently five raffle items and Raven felt a little flattered to see the clear box her own tickets were in, because there were a lot of them in there.
"And for the personal sitting with Raven Christine and a doubtlessly beautiful portrait," the announcer spoke and a few of the people around her glanced at her for a moment, "number 857. That's ticket 857, you have won a sitting with Raven Christine." He said it like she was already famous and Raven blushed.
"Damn." Someone muttered good naturedly nearby and Raven noticed them shoving a ticket back in their pocket. "I didn't even know it went that high. I was 157." It made Raven wonder exactly how many raffle tickets were purchased. She looked back up at the announcer as Emma moved forward and whispered in his ear.
"Very good." He looked amused at Emma. "It looks like our very own Ms. Frost has actually got the winning ticket." Raven's smile fell and she did her best to cover up her dismay as Emma seemed to spot her in the crowd and smirk.
"I heard she bought an entire roll of raffle tickets." A boy whispered to his friend nearby. "I never had a chance."
"Can she do that?" The other boy asked and Raven had to wonder it as well.
"I guess so."
"So Emma, you'll need to arrange for a sitting and let us all see what it looks like when its finished." The announcer was playful and Raven took a deep breath to put a fake smile on her face for those that might look. Emma had played her and Raven hadn't even seen it coming.
"We'd like to thank Raven Christine for her generous gift." The announcer was still speaking. "She helped us raise over two thousand dollars with this raffle alone."
Emma stepped up to take the mike from him. "I'd like to remind everyone that Raven works the Market every weekend, for anyone that didn't get the opportunity to sit for her today."
………………..
Raven sat at a table counting the money she had in her money box, her back a little rigid. She could see Emma working on some paperwork at another table and she wanted to blast verbal abuse at the woman at a volume that would leave no doubt to Raven's displeasure, but there were a few other people in the room. Most likely all the vendors that fell into the partial profits clause, those that sold things like Raven did.
"I'm Ron." The man at the table across from her spoke and Raven looked up to see a man a bit older than her with red hair staring at her.
"Raven." Raven looked back down at her paper and wrote down how many one dollar bills she'd just counted. She'd hoped that her minimal answer and her focus on her work would take care of it, but Ron continued to talk.
"I was amazed at how well I did today." He continued. "I sell t-shirts." He added.
"Cool." Raven started to count out her fives. She didn't even try to make it sound like she was paying attention to him. She wasn't in the mood.
"I still have some left if you want to look through them." Raven looked up from her count, trying to remember where she was with it. "You know, I could see you work from my booth. You're pretty amazing."
"Thanks." She gave him a tense smile and tried to relax, but she could see in his eyes where this was going and she really didn't want to do this now.
"You were non-stop busy." He continued to gush. Raven took a quiet deep breath and continued to count. He was quiet for just a moment. "I was going to go get a late dinner after I got out of here."
Raven's jaw clenched a little, and she looked up to see a smirking Emma working on a calculator, clearly listening in to this.
"Would you like to join me?" The rest of the comment finally came out and Ron demanded Raven's full attention with that.
"Thanks, but no." Raven gave him a small smile to try and ease the rejection a bit.
"Maybe another night?" He tried again and Raven set her money down. She'd lost count.
"I'm gay." She couldn't believe Emma had a front seat for this. Somehow that bothered her more than having to turn someone down.
"I can be a woman." Ron smiled just a little, looking more hopeful. Raven just stared at him a little stunned, sure she'd misheard that. "That's my power, switching genders. Mine or other people's." His smile faded a little when Raven just stared, stuck on that idea. "It's temporary, but I can be a pretty woman." There was a chuckle from Emma's direction that Raven almost turned to glare at, but she stayed focused on Ron.
"Thanks, but I'm really not looking to date right now." He finally left her alone and Raven worked to try and do her count out faster. She took the school's cut toward Emma and dropped it hard right on the papers Emma was working on. Raven glared at Emma when the blonde slowly looked up at her. "You bought a painting, not me." Raven growled out quietly. "I was not and will never be for sale."
"I was thinking of doing it at my place." Emma looked up into Raven's eyes, "but if you'd rather do it at yours that would be fine as well." The telepath's voice got quieter. "And I never once thought I was buying anything more than a bit of your time and your art."
"That's all you're getting." Raven said it again as she stood up completely and pulled her bag back over her shoulder.
"Here." Emma grabbed a piece of paper and started to write down a number. "Call me tomorrow and we can set up a time." The blonde held out the piece of paper and her voice got just a little deeper with seriousness. "And if you don't call me, I can always drop by one of your jobs, or your home, and we can work it out in person." It was a threat, letting Raven know she wasn't getting out of this. Raven's jaw clenched as she took the paper and shoved it in her pocket.
"I'll call."
"If you're willing to wait a half hour, I could drive you home." Emma offered and Raven just stared at her without speaking. "It's raining. I checked." Emma smirked, "Or you could ask Ron, or is that VeRONica, to drive you home."
"I'll get a cab."
………………
The next day, after she hung up with Emma, Raven folded up the paper she'd written the White Queen's address on and put it in her bag. She felt nervous and twitchy, knowing she'd be there the next day. Just the two of them. If she focused on the art and getting it done as quickly as possible she'd still have hours in that woman's home.
Ellie moved into the break room and sat down heavily in a chair, breaking up Raven's thoughts. The girl wasn't looking any better than the night before. "You want to come home with me for dinner?" Raven asked as she moved over toward Ellie and started to return the favor of so many shoulder rubs Ellie had given her.
"Oh, that's nice." Ellie muttered while leaning forward a little while Raven massaged fragile feeling shoulders. "I have to work until six."
"I could go get some groceries and then we could go." Raven had never invited Ellie to her apartment before. It was a bit out of the way, unimpressive, and well, it seemed kind of inappropriate.
"I'll call my mom and ask." Ellie groaned just a little as Raven worked a knot in her muscles. "You're good."
"I used to be a masseuse." Raven smiled just a little as she moved her hands up into Ellie's hair. Ellie's body shivered just a little as Raven massaged and caressed Ellie's head. "You've been so tense and it looks like you don't sleep."
"You go shopping. I have to man the desk." Ellie reluctantly sat back up and sighed. "Just one more hour." It sounded like a weak pep talk the girl was giving herself.
"So you'll come over?" Raven asked.
"Mom will say yes." Ellie stood up. "She wants me to do things with friends, says I'm too much a loner."
"Okay." Raven didn't want to bring up whether Ellie's mother knew her new friend was a thirty year old lesbian. "I'll be back at six."
"I'll be here." Ellie moved toward the door, but turned around at it before stepping out. "I'm glad you're here Raven. I," Ellie grimaced. "I just am really glad you're here."
"Me too." Raven gave Ellie a weak smile, feeling more concerned about Ellie, since the precog looked like she was fragile and beaten. Even how she stood screamed of something wrong.
Raven once again paid a cab rather than walk. She normally considered the walk home a part of her workout, but Ellie looked too tired and Raven had purchased ice cream for desert.
The cab dropped them off and after Raven took care of paying she turned toward the garage. "It isn't much." She spoke as she started for the stairs.
"The yard looks nice." Ellie smiled at her, looking just a little better. "You said you took care of that right?"
"Yeah, that's my job." Raven smiled and started up the stairs. "I just laid the bark last week." But Ellie wouldn't want to talk about something that boring, Raven reminded herself. "I made some serious money last night."
"Well, you were busy." Ellie stood so close to her as Raven opened the door and stepped inside. She noticed the unmade bed with a sigh. She never invited people over, so of course she hadn't taken care of that.
"If you want to pick some music, I'll get dinner started." Raven moved right for her small kitchen and set her bags down. Her stereo was really nothing special, and her cd collection rather small, but some background noise would be more comfortable. Raven could hear Ellie going through the cd's while Raven unpacked and started up the oven. Soon the soft sounds of K.D. Lang filled the air. Raven almost regretted Ellie's choice, because this was the one cd that Raven considered musical sex.
"Melissa, K.D., yep you're a lesbian. Did you know that?" Ellie teased as she moved into the kitchen area and sat down at the table.
"Really?" Raven tried not to grin as she acted surprised. "Why didn't any of my ex girlfriends ever tell me? I'm Gay?"
"Smart ass." Ellie smiled at her, and it looked better, more real, than a smile had looked on the girl earlier that day. "So," The smile faded, "I've been seeing things that don't make sense." Ellie jumped right into the problem.
Raven finished putting food in the oven and moved to sit at the old table across from Ellie, giving the girl a serious look. "Visions?"
"Visions and readings." Ellie sighed and seemed to slump in the seat. "My precog power works two ways. I get random visions, usually when I'm sleeping or just not focused on something. I don't have a lot of control over those. I also can do readings. I can focus on a person and see things about their future. It's what I did to you when I met you. You were staring at me, and drawing, so I just thought it would be fair to practice on you." Ellie gave Raven a weak smile. "I'm glad I did." Raven reached her hand over the table and Ellie took it, just staring at their hands in silence, almost in mourning from what Raven could see, and it worried her. "Lately, what I've been seeing is horrible, I don't know why I feel it's horrible, but its filled with gloom and sadness. I have visions of broken glass, broken bricks, fire and darkness. Nothing tangible at all, and I see it in both my visions and my readings. I only get glass off of some of the students in my telepathy class, I get broken bricks off of some of the people at the gym, and I get fire or emptiness off of other people. I don't see anything else. I don't see a future anymore." Ellie took her hand back and ran it through her hair in frustration. "This has never happened before." The girl's hands moved away from her head and Ellie stared at Raven. Raven watched tears collect in Ellie's eyes and Ellie whispered. "I'm scared."
"It might not be," Raven stopped talking and stared into Ellie's glassy eyes. She got up and dragged her chair around the table to sit right next to Ellie and then Raven reached out to take her hand. "There are things that can block or trick a precog. Maybe this is just a glitch in reality."
"That makes no sense." Ellie spoke through her clenched jaw.
"I had a friend, a precog, and she lost her daughter's readings I guess you'd call it. She was panicked and upset and it hurt her so bad, but later her daughter reappeared. She wasn't gone." Of course it had been after Irene's death, but that wasn't a necessary part of the story here.
"She lost the readings on one person," Ellie's chin was quivering, so Raven pulled Ellie into a hug and gently petted her wild black hair. "I've been doing reading after reading for days and I rarely get a future off of it. Just a few people, a handful, which is worse than no one, because it makes me wonder why them and why not others." Ellie's hand caressed Raven's shoulder. "I see you." Ellie whispered. "So many paths, still so many. The bright lady stays so strong, fights so hard, cries so silently." Ellie whispered and the hairs on the back of Raven's neck stood up a bit while her eyes widened. She could almost feel Ellie's power while holding her this close. "Like a butterfly out of a cocoon." Ellie was just running with her vision now, her reading, "You'll crawl, but you won't run."
"Ellie?" Raven finally whispered into the silence after the reading, hoping to stop Ellie from doing any more. Raven didn't like what she was hearing and how Ellie sounded so lost when she said it.
"I see myself in you Raven." Ellie whispered mournfully. "I," the girl hesitated and pulled away to stare into Raven's eyes. Raven swallowed nervously as Ellie leaned closer and closer. Raven sat stiffly as Ellie's lips touched her own, first tentatively and then a little more firmly. Ellie pulled away after a moment of Raven just sitting there too nervous to respond and stared at the ground. "My first kiss and I stole it. I'm sorry." Raven felt Ellie's tears fall onto her hand and it made her finally move, take in a deep breath.
"No, this," Raven tilted Ellie's face up and smiled into Ellie's confused eyes, "this is your first kiss." Raven spoke gently, softly, before leaning closer and running her lips over Ellie's soft pale cheek, before softly moaning at the way the young girl's lips tasted and moving to slowly consume the breath from Ellie's shaking body. Raven held Ellie a little tighter and tilted her head before deepening the kiss. It was Ellie's first and Raven wanted it to be everything the girl ever dreamed about.
It was the only thing she'd ever been able to give Tessa as well. The first kiss. There hadn't been a law against kissing then and as far as Raven knew there wasn't one here and now.
Raven moved her lips away and kissed away Ellie's tears while doing her best to ignore her own. Now was the time she should tell Ellie it was only a kiss, but Raven couldn't do it. Couldn't ruin it like that. Didn't really want it to just be a kiss on some level she knew she had to ignore. "That's a kiss." Raven whispered, because now she really didn't know what to say. Ellie seemed to snuggle into her arms and Raven just held her.
It took a while before either of them tried to talk. Ellie's voice was more shy, vulnerable, and young than Raven had ever heard it. "Thank you." Raven couldn't help it, she chuckled, but when Ellie tensed up her new smile faded.
"Thanking me for kissing you isn't really, I mean," Raven sighed and sat up a little straighter. "I feel like I should thank you, if we're going to do that." She smiled just a little and got one in return. Raven could see in Ellie the beginning of what would truly be a beautiful woman in a few years. "Do we want a movie? My landlord has a large collection and he lets me borrow all the time." Raven asked to break the awkward silence.
Ellie leaned forward and kissed Raven again, with a little more confidence she slowly pushed her tongue forward to invade Raven's mouth. Raven found herself submitting instinctively, allowing the young girl to control the kiss. She enjoyed the tentative efforts Ellie made at being more confident, more dominant, but her own guilt kept her from needing more than this. She could feel Ellie's hands caressing her shoulders and running down her arms just a little before moving back up. Ellie was afraid to do more.
When the kiss ended Raven took in a deep breath and tightened her hold on Ellie's hips, which were nearly straddling Raven's legs. "Ellie, what do you want?" She finally asked, because Raven was starting to feel partly like an experiment with how Ellie kissed her.
"I want to know what its like to kiss." Ellie nibbled on her own lower lip, unaware of how innocent it made her look. Raven wasn't overly attracted to innocence. It made her look down a little guiltily, rather than into Ellie's eyes. Raven remembered how they got to this. She'd taken advantage of a scared young girl, Raven thought with disgust at herself.
"I'm sorry." Raven let go of Ellie's hips quickly and leaned back to put some distance between them. "I should never have…"
"No, no." Ellie spoke quickly, with a clear attempt to soothe. "I kissed you first remember?" Ellie's hand caressed Raven's bangs, moving them out of the way so she could see Raven. Raven noticed the slight smile and it helped, it didn't look like Ellie had fallen madly in love, but like she was sharing a conspiring smile with a friend. "No one has to know you taught me how to make out."
"That was hardly making out." Raven protested but then blushed as she thought of what else would fall under making out.
"So there's more?" Ellie tilted her head just a little and stared at Raven with a subtle grin, making Raven blush even more.
"I think we should just leave it at the kissing." Raven told her.
"Okay." Ellie moved back to sit back in her own chair and sighed heavily.
Raven got up to check on dinner, but she stayed standing near the chairs and looked down at Ellie with a small smile. "You are a very good kisser. I don't think I could handle you if you had practice." She noticed Ellie smile just a little before Raven turned to the stove.
"Same to you." Ellie's voice held her smile and it took a moment for the teasing to register to Raven's mind.
"Hey!"
Ellie laughed.
When they sat down to dinner they talked about innocent things by silent agreement. Raven learned more about the classes Ellie was taking and Raven talked about her own education in a round about way that left out the Xavier's Institute.
When Raven put the dishes in the sink she turned to look at Ellie again. "Write in a journal, all your impressions from your powers. Everything. Maybe laid out like that you'll see something you hadn't before." It was how Irene had done it after all, and maybe it would be enough to refocus Ellie's powers. Maybe it would help Ellie to see there wasn't anything to be afraid of Raven thought hopefully, but there was still an air of doom she couldn't quite shake.
She wished Irene was still around to ask about this.
Raven called and paid for the cab for Ellie and was very reluctant to let her leave, but she hid it as best she could.
…………………
After spending the entire day at the Market Raven had to pack up her things and find Emma's home. It made the Sunday feel like it dragged on forever, knowing that she had more to do after her busy shift. With a map Raven started walking toward the more affluent end of the waterfront.
Raven found herself standing in a building's hallway, in front of a door, fidgeting a little as she took a deep breath, before reaching out to knock. She could hear some classical music playing on the other side and soft footsteps right on the other side of the door, before it opened.
Emma wore blue jeans and a t-shirt. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was clearly just finished with her makeup, which was impeccable, but still overdone for the clothes. Raven would have to wait to see what Emma expected to wear. Raven held her bag tighter to her side and gripped her easel as she took a breath. Emma smiled at her. "Come in." The blonde moved back and held the door opened. "You found me okay?"
Raven hesitated a little too long, before stepping over the threshold and into a large apartment. Her eyes ran over the large living room, with its windows overlooking the ocean. Looking at the room itself, Raven could see the potential backgrounds and took in the class and style of the furniture. Her eyes moved to barely take in the dining room, and beyond that a kitchen. It was her own self preservation that had her looking toward the hall and listening for any other people she hadn't expected, but she couldn't hear anyone else moving around.
When Emma moved to close the door Raven had to take another step into the room so that the telepath could. It reminded her that Emma had asked something. "No problem. I just asked the doorman if this was where the rich soulless creatures lived." She spoke flatly and Emma's chuckle wasn't really welcome.
Raven took a deep breath and stood a little straighter as she eyed the background she wanted. If she just acted as professional as she possibly could it might be less awkward. The window and the view out of it was gorgeous. It would be even better in the morning, with the sun over the water. Raven looked at Emma objectively, pushing aside her feelings of irritation and apprehension as she looked at the blonde and took in the woman's body, her face, imagined how that hair would glow if the sun were to shine in the window. Emma would look really good on canvas. There was no point in denying that. Her voice took a thoughtful tone. "I'd like to move your loveseat to the window, maybe move the table close to it and put your vase on it." Raven pointed briefly to the vase on the dining room table's vase as she moved toward the place she envisioned her easel. Oh, where did she put it? Raven glanced around and noticed it by the front door, leaning against a dining room chair. "In the morning do you get the sunrise?"
"It's the reason I pay the exorbitant rent for this place." Emma looked out the window as well. "You're going to rearrange?"
"No, I want you to help me do it." Raven's eyes narrowed just a little, but she bit back her comment about not being Emma's servant. "The setting here is best."
"You didn't even ask what type of setting I wanted."
"I'm not going anywhere near your bedroom and you will keep all your clothes on for this." Raven spoke firmly. "I won't negotiate on that. It's here by the window or nothing at all."
"Is this how you treat all your customers?" Emma asked while moving to the side of the love seat. Raven moved to shove on the other side until they had it sliding across the floor. "Not all people crave abuse."
"Bitch" Raven muttered just barely loud enough for Emma to hear, "didn't figure that one out until now?" Raven shoved her end of the furniture a bit further back more roughly than necessary, until it was angled the way she wanted. "I'll set up while you change," Raven looked up and stared into Emma's eyes, "into different clothes. Unless you wanted me to do it the way you are?"
"No, I have something in mind." Emma moved down the hall and Raven watched the telepath go into a doorway. Once the woman was out of sight Raven moved to pick up her supplies and started to set up. Emma still wasn't out by the time Raven was done, so Raven slowly started to move around the room, taking in the décor.
While everything was classy, it had an almost unlived in feeling, Raven thought as she moved to look at one of the few personal touches in the living room. A few pictures sat on various flat spaces. They were small and the frames made them blend in more than accents really should. Raven picked one up and looked at it. She felt a bit uncomfortable as she stared at a group photo of several kids and two adults. Emma was smiling, a real smile, as she stood beside a blonde girl that resembled Sam Guthrie, a New Mutant that lived at the mansion. Raven studied that girl for a moment, before letting her eyes wander over a beautiful black girl, and then an Asian girl with a horribly yellow coat. Raven looked over all the students in the line until she reached the last person, Sean. He was an Xman, one that Raven had very little to do with in the past. Unless they lived at the mansion all the time Raven rarely met them, since she had almost never been allowed to go on missions.
These students were the ones Irene told her Emma was going to save. These were the kids that would have died if it hadn't been the Hellions dying. Raven stared at the photo with an empty nervous feeling. It made her decision more real, it hadn't really struck her that a letter she'd never mailed would result in this. She'd known abstractly, but it was hard to accept that the act of not mailing a letter would have such an impact. Raven studied their faces, their body language, and Emma's as well. They looked happy.
Raven glanced at the other picture on the table and did her best to swallow some of her guilt as she noticed another happy looking group of students. She put the picture in her hand down and picked up the other one. Hellions stared at her. Raven glanced toward the hall and didn't see any sign of Emma returning, so she pulled the picture closer and studied their faces.
Which one would have hurt Tessa? She wondered as she looked at them. She also noticed a few that might have gained Selene's unwanted attention. She noticed the way Emma looked over her group with a more superior attitude, the way she seemed to be proud, but still a bit aloof. It wasn't like the Emma in the other picture, this Emma was more closed off. Raven's eyes moved away from Emma and looked at the children Raven didn't save, or did. It really was hard to tell how she should think of it. She'd struggled with that off and on for years.
While Raven had never met these kids, she'd heard of them. Doug and Kitty had mentioned them before. Raven's hand moved out and she used a finger to caress the glass over a girl with purple hair. That would be the most innocent one. Her finger moved over the Native American boy, the one she heard had honor. She set the photo down carefully, aware of how much it must mean to Emma. Among next to no personal belongs, Emma had these photos. They must be like Emma's three bags, the things she held onto no matter what.
When Emma stepped back into the room Raven didn't have the energy or motivation to glare at the woman. Emma wore a formal gown and her make up was done for a night out. At least it wasn't the White Queen garb. Raven really didn't feel like painting now, she was just tired, so very tired.
"So you're going for sophisticated?" Raven bothered to ask. As the artist she'd need to skew her vision of this subject more than normal to get what Emma wanted. Still looking at the telepath it was hard to deny the woman could be sophisticated and beautiful. Emma just raised an eyebrow at Raven's wording, so Raven glanced at the window. "Well, the good thing about this is that no one will be able to tell if it's a sunrise or a sunset, so it'll be assumed the sun is going down." Raven continued to look out the window with a sigh. "The bad thing is that we'll have to do some work very early in the morning to give the illusion of a sunset. I can do some now, but I'll need to see the room and you with the sun on you to get the highlights right." This wasn't how Raven really wanted to do this. She'd hoped to do a marathon session or two and be done with it, but her artistic integrity wouldn't let her do less than her best, and this plan was the best she had.
After ironing out with Emma when they could work on this, and explaining to the woman why they needed to do it this way, Emma finally moved to the love seat. Raven waited until the woman thought she was in position before moving forward to make a few alterations.
"You want to seduce the canvas don't you?" Raven spoke quietly as she took in the way Emma was laying on the loveseat, and then reached forward to adjust the folds of the dress. "I need a pillow." She looked at how Emma was laying and just knew that the woman would have trouble holding the pose without a little help.
"Planning to take a nap?" Emma smirked at her as Raven moved some of Emma's hair, tucking it behind one of her ears. It felt strange to do this with Emma.
"I need to support your back. This will take a bit longer than is comfortable and the longer you can hold the pose the better." She glanced at the glass of red wine in Emma's hand. "And don't drink any of that. You move and the folds of your dress will move." It served as a prop, and one that fit with what they were doing.
"There are pillows on my bed," Emma spoke and Raven mentally grimaced while not letting it show on her face. She should have asked about this before starting to prep Emma. "It's just down the hall, unless you wanted me to get up."
"No, you stay." Raven took a breath and turned to walk away. When she got there the bedroom wasn't nearly as huge as the one Emma had at the Hellfire club. She grabbed the nearest pillow.
"I thought you weren't going anywhere near my bedroom." She could hear Emma call out while Raven was in the room she'd sworn she wouldn't see.
"Bitch." Raven muttered and moved to leave. When she got to Emma she was a little less gentle about putting the pillow behind the woman and shoving Emma back into it. "See, support." She spoke coldly and then readjusted the folds of the dress again. She moved Emma's shoulder back and then changed her mind, moving her a little more.
"I feel like a doll." Emma complained about Raven's posing her.
"Well, if you could do seductive on your own without help we wouldn't need to work so hard at it now would we?" Raven's voice struck out like a slap. "Do you have any idea how much imagination I'm going to have to use to make this work?"
"You don't think I'm seductive?" Emma sounded amused. "I think the lady doeth protest too much. You snap at me and now you're about ready to deem me homely? I'm sorry, but I'm not falling for your act."
"Conceited bitch. Nothing changes." Raven left Emma as she was and moved back to her easel.
"I'd say a lot has changed Raven." Emma held her pose but continued to talk. Raven busied herself with mixing paint. "I've changed a lot, but you won't let yourself see that."
"You still use your power, money, and sexuality to get what you want Emma." Raven worked her paints carefully and took some comfort from being on this side of a canvas from Emma. "You use people and you can't even see how horrible it is. I don't know how you think you have the right to invade my life like this after what you've done. How do you sleep at night?" Raven moved to mix another color on her palette in silence.
"I've hurt people." Emma finally answered, her voice somber. "And I've been trying my best to make up for some of the mistakes of my youth. I've sought out people I've hurt and I've tried to make amends. I've had to face many people, and it has been difficult, but none of them had the type of grievance against me that you do, and I wasn't able to find you. Now I have." Raven looked up from her work and stared at Emma.
"I don't want your weak apologies." Raven's jaw clenched and her fingers tightened around her paintbrush. "It could never be enough. You could have saved us, and you just decided to take advantage of the situation. Now I'm supposed to believe you've had this grand epiphany and are seeking redemption? It's bullshit. You've been playing with me just like you did to Christy and I, it just isn't sexual this time, but it's all a game to you."
Emma's jaw clenched and Raven noticed a slight shifting of her body, but it didn't stop Raven from finally putting the brush to canvas. This time it was Emma that was trapped, and unable to move freely. Emma's voice was serious and quiet, "I had never seen anyone use the club the way we did when you were captured. We'd never had an unwilling victim, and I was sickened by what happened to you. You asked how I sleep at night. I can honestly tell you that if I wasn't a telepath and able to manipulate my own mind I wouldn't sleep well at all. Even so I've had nightmares that haunt me."
"So have I." Raven paused in her painting. "Only I don't deserve it and you certainly do. I was trapped inside of my own body, more bound that anything you could have done and I couldn't stop anything. I had to watch as Christy and I were abused and I couldn't do anything." Her eyes watered and Raven hated herself for it. She wanted to appear strong and inspire guilt, but talking about it hurt. "So I'm so sorry if I can't give a damn about your fucking nightmares."
"I doubt the others, well except for Tessa, have any remorse."
"And that is why I didn't kill you when you showed up." Raven's eyes were stone, with the memory of her ability to kill, and with the memory of Christy's ability to kill coldly. She ignored the mention of Tessa and stared at Emma. "but that is all you'll get from me. Forgiveness isn't on the menu." Raven's eyes returned to the canvas.
"So it was you that shot at Sebastian?" Emma paused, "It wasn't Tessa you were aiming at. Not after, well, I guess we could call it her sacrifice. I doubt you would have aimed at her." Her voice dropped. "She was never the same again afterwards. She became even more closed off." Raven hated to hear this, to have this woman tell her about Tessa. "She never did take another slave, willing or not."
"Did you bring me here to talk or paint?" Raven fidgeted a little and readjusted her palette in her hand.
"We can't do both?" Emma's familiar half smirk was flirtatious, and irritating. Did the woman even realize she did this or was using sex so ingrained it came naturally now? "I thought maybe you'd like to know what became of us."
"I don't really give a damn." Raven lied.
"Selene's pets met a sad end. The woman was upset that her dogs both died so unexpectedly." Emma was looking like she was taking credit for that without really saying it. A wave of nausea hit Raven as she remembered that night. She wouldn't mind if the entire club met a sad end.
"How about you don't talk." Raven finally ordered. "Just sit there quietly or I'm leaving." She meant it to. She would just get up and walk away if the woman didn't stop talking about it. Emma must have realized it, because she went quiet.
Once it became obvious that Emma had sat still as long as she could Raven called it a night and moved toward the kitchen to clean off her brushes. She unbuttoned her sleeves and shoved them up a bit so she didn't get paint on her shirt while she worked on the brushes, and ignored the sounds of Emma walking across the kitchen to the fridge. "Would you like something to drink?" Emma asked while looking in the fridge. "I have several very nice wines, a nice scotch, diet coke, orange juice…"
"I could use some orange juice." Raven picked before the list grew any more. Emma poured it and moved to set the glass near the sink while Raven washed her palette.
"Raven?" Emma spoke a bit hesitantly and Raven was surprised to see Emma's hand reaching for Raven's arm. Surprised enough to not pull away immediately, and Emma grabbed Raven's arm and pulled it closer to her, looking at Raven's wrist. "Oh dear," Emma whispered and Raven felt a flush of shame and embarrassment as she realized what Emma had found so interesting, "you didn't." Emma protested so gently as the blonde caressed the sensitive and abused skin of Raven's wrist.
Raven tugged on her arm and got it away from Emma. "Don't touch me."
"You didn't have this before." Emma motioned toward Raven's wrists. "Is the other one like this?"
"I'll be back Tuesday morning. Be ready, we don't have a lot of time with us needing to catch the sun in the right spot." Raven left the glass of juice untouched and moved to pick up her supplies.
"Raven," Emma started and Raven interrupted her.
"Don't. It's none of your business." Raven glared at the woman, but she was embarrassed. Not a lot of people noticed the scars that were thankfully faded.
"You tried to kill yourself." Emma's voice was a bit flat and unhappy with the realization.
"New rule. No talking about anything personal, the past, nothing. I'm just here to paint and all we will talk about is painting." Raven moved to leave the kitchen. She managed to leave the woman's apartment with little else of value being said, but she felt like kicking herself for actually rolling up her sleeves in that place.
………………………..
"What happened to your friend?" Raven's manager asked the next day when Raven was sitting in the break room. "The four armed one that had an appointment with you right now?" His suspicious tone irritated her. She wondered if he thought it was a lover's tiff that cost him the price of a personal trainer session.
"Her husband took her on a surprise anniversary vacation to Italy." He'd found Raven at the Market on Saturday and asked her about where to take Karen for fun and where to avoid even with his wife wearing an image inducer. His power to find people or things and his weak luck power were enough for him to catch Raven during a very rare lull in her work. Raven was grateful for the chance to be able to use her knowledge of another country to help someone out. She liked being able to talk about her past lives in even that general a way. "I couldn't cancel her appointment or she would have realized that she wouldn't be here today. Don't worry, he said he'd pay for the session if I kept it quiet and just took a break." She held up her bagel with a weary and irritated fake smile. "So I'm taking a break."
"Okay, fine." He nodded, but then he moved to sit down across from her at the table for a moment. "You have that booth at the Market. Get a lot of business?" Raven was a little surprised by the attempt at a conversation.
"Yeah, I've been getting busier."
"Do you think if we had a booth about the gym where we sold memberships we'd get business?" He glanced at the bulletin board. "We could put out flyers and information." He looked back at her. "Maybe if we put it next to you, you'd be able to answer questions? It isn't like we'd need someone to just sit there."
"I can't." Raven dreaded the idea of trying to do her art, keep her customers happy, talk with potential customers looking at her portfolios, and having to talk about the gym all at the same time. "You might get some business, but I'm not just cashiering a booth, I'm way too busy to man another."
"Oh," He stood up, looking just a tad embarrassed. "I'll look into someone else for it."
"Ask for a booth in Section E, that'll be near me. In the rare moments that I'm not busy I can help out." Raven offered, "If I had both weekend days off I'd be there for the entire time. Now I miss a few hours of my paid for time."
"Okay." He smiled just a little. "But if any of the others ask, tell them you're backing up the new booth, giving breaks. I don't want to hear bitching about how the new girl got out of weekends." Raven reconsidered her opinion of him being an asshole. Maybe he wasn't that bad. She smiled at him as he moved to leave, then went back to her bagel.
Raven's shift ended at two, since she had the early shift today. It had served to give her a day break before working with Emma all week, ensured she'd miss Emma's work out that day, and also meant she'd need to wait around if she wanted to catch Ellie and see how the girl was. Ellie didn't start work until three.
With time to kill Raven thought she might as well try the sauna. She'd sent people to it, but she'd never really spent any time there herself. Part of that had to do with her own concern that the women there might be upset with an openly lesbian employee hanging out there and she didn't want to have to defend herself from accusations, but Karen had told her that her internalized homophobia was just that, internal, and that she should stop expecting the worst. Sometimes having a Psychologist for a friend was a bit tiring.
She stepped into the steam filled room and saw only two other people in there. It was the slow time of day for the gym and Raven was a little grateful as she sat far from the other two and leaned back against the wall. Her towel covered her nude form and the air was a little hard to breath, but it did feel good. Raven closed her eyes and slowly lowered her shield just a little, letting her powers warm her from the inside as well.
She stayed a bit longer than the other women did and then moved to shower and change, getting to the check in desk just as Ellie was starting her shift. "You look a little red." Ellie said, looking a bit tired and depressed herself.
"Sauna." Raven spoke gently and moved to lean on the desk. "You okay?"
"My power is starting to clear up a little. It's more than just flashes of images. I'm getting some movement, some action again. Maybe soon it will make sense." Ellie sighed.
Raven spoke very softly, aware of the people around them and how they might be out of range to listen in. "I have the next two days off, but if you want you can come by my place. I'll be planting and working in the garden, but you could always keep me company." Ellie smiled just a little.
"I could tomorrow, but my Mom got us tickets to a play for Wednesday. She feels guilty about not being home more. She does this every once in a while."
"Okay, tomorrow it is then." Raven hoped that Ellie's power problem would be over by then. The girl was looking more pale than normal. "Bring your journal and maybe we'll have enough to make some sense of it all."
"That's fine."
With that decided Raven left before she and Ellie got in trouble for standing around and talking. She could see their manager glancing out of his office toward them.
……………….
It was dark. Raven felt the morning chill and the abandoned streets gave the city a surreal feeling and she wasn't at all happy about being up at this hour. Her only consolation was that Emma would have to be up before the sun as well. Hopefully the White Queen hated it even more. Raven shook her head, thinking that if she'd just accepted a different scene idea she would still be in bed.
The poor doorman was actually at the door, drinking coffee and surprised to see Raven step up. "I'm here for Emma Frost." The woman lived in a secured building. Makes sense if you piss people off as much as Emma must.
"And you are?" He moved to enter the building and around the desk to look at a binder.
"Raven Christine."
"Oh yes. She has you listed as able to go right up." He pointed toward the elevators. He also made it sound like a privilege.
Emma answered the door with a cup of coffee in one hand, but other than that there was no indication that the hour bothered her. Raven just sighed as she stepped into the apartment without speaking.
"Would you like some coffee?" Emma offered and Raven stared at the cup Emma just took a sip out of. She normally didn't drink coffee, but she was really dragging and didn't want to have to shake herself awake repeatedly while trying to work. "It's a cup of coffee, not a world trade agreement. Do you want one or not?" Emma snapped at her and Raven, "It doesn't take a lot of thought."
"You used to drug my drinks."
"And Christy knew it. It isn't like I snuck anything in to her." Emma was cranky at this hour, Raven thought with some satisfaction that while the woman looked the part she was clearly hating this hour as much as Raven. Raven watched Emma take a deep deliberate sip of her own cup and then held it out. "You can take this one if you don't trust me. I'll pour a new one."
Raven reached out a little hesitantly and took the cup, pulling it closer to her body and watching as Emma moved to the kitchen. She'd already broken her own rule about not talking about the past. With another tired sigh she took a sip of the coffee. "Good." She spoke quietly.
"It's one of the vices I didn't give up." Emma turned with a new cup in her hand. "Truly good coffee." Raven opened her mouth, about to bring up some of those vices she remembered, but then just closed it and took another sip of her coffee. It was too early for this and she didn't want to waste the sun, which was starting to come up.
"Better drink fast, I need to pose you." Raven was looking out the window as she said that.
"I know you just started it, but I did look." Emma took a step towards the easel Raven had left behind. "I like what you're doing."
Raven moved to look at the canvas as well, and pointed to a spot in the painting. "I want to put the sun there. It'll set off your hair and glisten off the ocean."
"It's a good thing we've been having some nice weather then." Emma took another deep sip of her coffee.
"That was lucky." Raven stood a little taller and stared out the window at the lightening sky. "This view is too pretty to pass up."
"Do you paint anymore or is this an odd occurrence?"
"I paint often. I explored a few styles and subjects, but I prefer to paint and draw people. I like to capture life as it is happening." She stared out at the water. "I think you should get in position. I can get a bit of work done while we wait for the sun to come up enough to place the highlights."
"I need to put on more lipstick." Emma moved to rummage through her purse. "I'll have to wash off all of this makeup before I go to work."
Once Emma felt she was done up enough Raven helped to position her like she'd been before. When she reached out to push Emma's hair behind her ear again Emma stared up at her. "If the long sleeve shirt gets in your way, you could just take it off. You are wearing a tshirt under that aren't you?" The woman glanced at Raven's hidden wrists.
"It's fine." Raven's lips thinned a little as she answered Emma.
"It's up to you." Emma muttered and Raven just moved back to her easel to get to work. They only had about two hours tops before Emma had to get ready for work and Raven planned to go back home and take a nap.
It was relatively quiet as Raven worked as fast as she could to capture as much of the picture as she could while the sun was in the area she wanted it. She was so busy that Emma finally gave up trying to talk, which Raven was grateful for.
As soon as Emma said they needed to stop Raven grabbed her brushes and palette and moved to the kitchen, while Emma moved down the hall to change and take a shower. It felt awkward and too domestic. Raven packed her supplies and moved to stare at the painting when she heard the shower start in the bathroom. She stared at the painting, looking for something in the paintings eyes that told her what was really going on because something wasn't right. She didn't see the cruelty, that's what was bothering her about this painting, the cruelty was gone. Raven hadn't purposely altered anything yet. She searched her mind, remembering Emma looking at her, because her pose had her looking directly at the canvas. Raven finally just stepped away from the canvas. "I'm leaving." She called down the hall. The water stopped at that moment, making her call out louder seeming.
"You could stay for breakfast."
"No, I'm just going to head out. I'll see you tomorrow." It still felt odd to be here yelling through a bathroom door. Raven's eyebrows drew together for a moment before she turned to leave. Emma didn't manage to come out before the front door closed.
The next morning, which she really considered the middle of the night, Raven returned to Emma's door. The coffee Emma gave her wasn't pre-tasted to test for drugs, but Raven took it anyway and moved to sit quietly at the dining table. She was very tired. She and Ellie had worked for an hour on the journal and couldn't figure anything out, so they'd watched a movie, that turned into two, and it was a little late when Ellie went home.
"Was Christy an artist?" Emma asked and Raven looked up to see the woman leaning against the kitchen counter nursing her own coffee.
"No. She went to college and became a teacher." Raven stared at the coffee cup and the dark liquid in it. "And you heard how she was her Emma's head of security, the boss body guard."
"Did you finish college?" Emma asked, but Raven would be willing to bet money that the telepath had already looked into Raven's past. She would have had access if she'd worked with the Xmen. That felt like a betrayal yet again that the woman could walk into what had been Raven's home and look up her history.
"I have an associates degree. By then my mother's boyfriend found out I was a mutant and the Professor came to enslave… I mean save, me." Her words were bitter and made it clear she'd meant the first word. "I spent the rest of my time trying to learn skills that would be useful to an Xman, and they didn't teach those in college."
"Christy really didn't like Charles either." Emma sounded thoughtful.
"We need to get to work." She really didn't want to have to dodge Emma's question of why, why neither Christy trusted the Professor. Christy's reasons wouldn't fit with Raven saying it was how the Professor responded to their rapes.
"I guess we should." Emma set her coffee cup down and moved toward the loveseat. "You told me once that Christy knew who the spy was." Emma spoke as she worked to move into position. Raven just stood near the loveseat to wait for when she'd need to make adjustment. "Is that why she didn't like Charles, or was it a Charles from her own world that made her sound so bitter when she mentioned him?"
"The one from her world was a real piece of work too." Raven said flatly and moved forward to adjust the folds of the dress again. It struck her how submissive that seemed, to arrange the Mistress' outfit. No wonder Emma didn't seem bothered by it, she was probably used to it.
"Would you say the doubles on her world are like the ones here?"
"Some were and others were way off." Raven moved Emma's hair into position with a sigh.
"Did she know a Tessa in that world? Is that why she was so affectionate with mine?" Mine, the word rang around in Raven's mind. Emma said it so casually, that Tessa was hers. Raven's fist clenched just a little and she moved to push Emma's shoulder into place a little harder than she should have. When she stared down into Emma's eyes the woman didn't say anything, she just stared at Raven waiting.
"There, now don't move." Raven ordered and moved toward her canvas.
"You didn't answer." Emma's voice grated on Raven's nerves.
"Yes, she knew a Tessa. Worked with her at times." Raven moved to pick up her palette and studied the colors the just rising sun was bringing out.
"Did she want her? Was she cheating on her Emma with her?"
"Christy was the most fucking loyal person you ever met." Raven glared at Emma. "She never would have betrayed her lover like that. She worshipped her lover." What Christy did with Tessa and with Raven was different. Raven had heard Christy's reasoning for choosing to be with Tessa, and it was solid and never would have happened if Christy weren't so alone and hurting. And Raven, well, it was special and it meant something, but it wasn't exactly cheating.
Emma just stared at Raven for a little too long. "I didn't mean to suggest she was anything but the saint you seem to think she is. I was just curious."
"Yeah, well," Raven angrily mixed her colors. "We're back to the rules. Nothing that isn't about painting, and I'd rather you just shut up completely."
………………
"Raven," The answering machine filled the apartment with Ellie's voice. Raven didn't like the tension she could hear and was pissed at herself for taking that late jog when clearly she should have been hear to answer the phone, "I, well, I think I figured it out." Ellie sounded miserable. "I figured it out at school today. We're all going to die. That's why there aren't many futures anymore. We're all going to die."
Raven dropped the shoe in her hand onto the floor, her eyes widened and she stared at the machine as the silence filled the room for a little too long. "I… Oh God. I just wanted you to know. It seems stupid now, but I wanted…" Ellie sounded tearful. "Raven, I'm glad you let me kiss you. I just wanted you to know that." The message machine beeped and stopped playing. Ellie had hung up.
"Oh Shit." Raven muttered as she moved to her purse to try and find Ellie's number. Hell, if she didn't find it she'd just go over there, no matter what Ellie's mother would think. She did find it and dialed the number quickly, her other shoe was kicked off as she waited for someone to answer.
"Hello?" It wasn't Ellie.
"Hi, I'd like to talk with Ellie." She was polite and if she pitched her voice to sound a little younger, well it would avoid weird questions.
"It's getting late and she hasn't been feeling well today." Ellie's mother was clearly thinking of not passing her on.
"Please, she called me earlier. I need to talk to her."
"Who should I tell her is calling?"
"Raven."
"Oh," She sounded a little more friendly. "Raven, I've heard Ellie talk about you. I wanted to thank you for spending so much time with Ellie." Oh, she wouldn't say that if she knew who Raven really was, Raven thought with some guilt.
"It's no problem. I like her." She played the responsible adult and forgot the young girl routine. "Is she awake?"
It wasn't long and Ellie's voice came across the phone. "Raven."
"Ellie, honey, what's going on?"
"Mom, I'm gonna take this to my room." Ellie spoke away from the phone, but it was still clear. Raven waited to hear Ellie speak to her, and the girl didn't until Raven heard a door close.
"My readings are working again. I've read twenty people today, and they will all die soon." Ellie paused. "They don't die in the same way or in the same place, but they all die." Raven felt helpless as she listened to the hopelessness in Ellie's voice. "And I had a vision, had it a few times. Everyone in my school," The girl's words slowed and stopped. Raven could hear the quiet sobs.
"Ellie." Raven's voice was rough with her own tears, but she couldn't believe it was unavoidable. She didn't want to believe it at all, but Ellie was very good at what she did. "Ellie, we'll figure something out." She spoke, the Xman in her was reawakened for this emergency and she'd figure something out. She could take Ellie and run if she needed to, but she'd try to save these people first. She'd do what she didn't do for the Hellions. "Can you come over tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow." Ellie sounded a little in shock. "Tomorrow. You work."
"I'd call in Ellie. You're more important. This is more important."
"Things are getting worse. What if there is no tomorrow?"
"There will be." Raven spoke softly. Irene always had warning of these things. God dammit, why did Irene have to be dead, Raven really needed her now.
"How do you know?"
"I have another precog friend and she hasn't told me to leave." Raven whispered. Irene would know where she was, wouldn't she? Irene said she'd write for years, and those years weren't up yet.