Sorry for the delayed update, busy with upcoming tests and such.
The Hub/No POV
Two days have passed since the party and the fight with the Sentients (which ended in a victory despite everyone being tired) and then another fight with the Vandals (Sage felt as if she had jinxed the team with her thought about said alien race) and it had been quiet besides that. Too quiet for Tezz to even handle. He tried calling Camellia or Tyler to see if he could go over, pass the time, but no one picked up. Not even when the others called, nothing. He was starting to get a bad gut feeling. What if she (meaning they) hated him (meaning them) for leaving early at the party? She seemed to understand the urgency, the need to leave and protect the Multiverse from impending doom from the Sentients (and not so much the Vandals since they have sort of given up the whole conquer over the Multiverse when the Red Sentients came in). Tezz sat in his room bored. The Splitwire was all up to date, there was nothing scheduled for today, unless another attack which he highly doubted, and everyone had sort of dissipated around the Flats. Zoom of course went to the diner to spend time with Grace, Vert and AJ were working on a side project in the garage, a sand runner of sorts, Stanford was well, being himself and trying to get a tan in, Agura was in her room reading, Sherman and Spinner had gone out to the Albuquerque for a technology run which left Tezz where he is now. He for one couldn't believe he was bored. With an intellect as great as his he should be working on a devise to help the team or bring world peace. He scoffed at that last thought. World peace would come when everyone in the world became geniuses and realize the mistake of what they do. He reached for his phone and dialed the familiar number. It rung, and rung, and rung until finally voicemail caught it. "Hey, this is Camellia. If it's something work related, just send it to me, if it's personal, just send it to me." He always chuckled at the message. The tone went off and he was about to hang up when the phone was suddenly picked up.
"Hey, woah! Tezz, you there?" Tyler answered, as he usually does. Only once did Camellia actually pick up her phone when he calls (and if you'd like to know, he's called about hundreds of times).
"Yes, Tyler." He replied back, pressing the phone to his ear.
"Hey, what's up? Sorry we couldn't call you back and all. Pretty busy on this end."
"That is understandable." In his mind Tezz thought; Probably 100 missed calls.
"Yeah… So I guess you want to stop by?"
"Would it be all right?"
"Oh yeah sure. You might even be able to help us if it's ok with you."
"It won't be a problem." Far from a problem actually. It would be something to help preoccupy his time.
"Greatness. Just come on over. I'll be out there to retrieve ya."
The two hung up and Tezz stood and walked towards the center point of the Hub. There he met with Sage who gave him the Sentient Chip needed to power his car. "Going out to help Camellia?" Sage asked innocently.
Tezz paused. "Yes." He merely replied. The Blue Sentient nodded and continued on with her work. Tezz got into the Splitwire and drove off, glad to be rid of the palace of boredom. He drove up to Talent Technology to see the parking lot packed, literally packed. He stopped and the Splitwire gave a lurch. When Tyler said they were busy they were busy. Tezz's eyes moved to some movement coming towards him. It was Tyler. He jogged over to the passenger side and motioned to the inside of the car. Tezz gave a nod and Tyler went into the Splitwire.
"Oh…" Tyler exclaimed. "Nice car…" Tyler shook his head. He was dressed professionally, suit and tie and hair slicked back. He looked over to Tezz. "Drive around the left side of the building. Over there." Tyler pointed across Tezz. Tezz followed his instructions and saw that there was a garage entrance on the side of the building. The door was open and was huge; big enough to fit a military tank. "Drive on in." Tezz slowly drove down the path that led to the garage. It was like stairs. It was sloped then it leveled off and turned and sloped again. He probably circled around one and a half times before he got into the garage. When he got down he noticed that the garage had been changed. Now instead of being spread out like it was before, there were more larger equipment, including a car lift (it being up with the HSE sitting on top of it) and even one of the machine that are on the factory floor. Tyler noticed Tezz's face and laughed. "She's getting more hands on now. I thought she was crazy when she asked for all this stuff to come down. You can park right here. It should be fine." With that he got out and Tezz soon followed after he turned off the Splitwire. Tezz heard Maroon 5 play in the background and he noticed Camellia under the HSE. "Miss Talent, Tezz is here." Tyler said, going back into his work state. He picked up a Revolution and started to tap the screen with a pen.
Camellia got out from under the HSE, wearing her work clothes with a smudge of oil on her cheek. Tezz suppressed the urge to go over and wipe it off with his thumb as he walked over to her. "Thank you Sham." Camellia said as she smiled at Tezz and picked up a cloth. She wiped off her cheek. "Hey Tezz. You don't mind helping me with something?"
"Hello Camellia. And no. I don't mind."
Her smile grew slightly. "I need you to take me to a shoot/interview in about ten minutes. Usually Tyler takes me but he needs to stay here and watch over and take care of business."
"Taking care of business, everyday! Taking of business and working overtime, whoa-oh." Tyler sung out from across the room.
She giggled and rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't be a problem would it?"
"No. Why would it be?"
"Great." She sighed and turned to the HSE. She went back under the car and Tezz followed her, curious about the undercarriage of the car. It actually was like a regular car's, not that interesting at all. "Yeah I know. Not very interesting." She said, reacting to his facial expression. "I was running a check. It all came out great."
"And the seatbelt problem?"
"Fixed. Hasn't reacted since. The car was made to be really safe and the damn seatbelts kept on not working. I left a note in the HSE's folder that it's a loose screw that causes it."
He chuckled once. "Something as simplistic as a loose screw."
"Yeah I know right. Just like the tube for the Enforcer." She walked back out and placed her rag on a table. Tezz came out and she lowered the car lift down and shut off the lift before retrieving her stuff. "Tyler, I need you to do me a favor while I'm gone if you would be so kind."
"Yeah?" Tyler called.
"Make sure the engine gets finished and bring the first one off the line down here, make sure they only make one in case something else is wrong."
"Gotcha. Can do capitán."
Camellia grabbed her purse and her phone. "Make sure they don't get in trouble."
"Right. I'll make sure no fires start and that people who want to see you wait until tomorrow and the calls get recorded."
Tezz and Camellia got into the Splitwire and drove off to Santa Fe, a good three hour long drive going and coming, that is, if the traffic isn't horrible. "Busy day today." Tezz started.
"Yeah." She said simply.
Tezz pressed on. "Why is it so busy today?"
"We opened our doors for inventors wanting to get their product out."
"Sounds interesting."
"More like boring." She sighed. "Hundreds of people trying to make the world a better place with pointless inventions that Talent Technology doesn't want. Then they get pissed at us for telling it like what it is and complaining on how far they had to come to pitch their ideas. Just rooms filled with pissy people."
Tezz raised a brow. "And you left Tyler there?"
"He actually likes being there. He especially loves to tell people their inventions suck balls. He has one bad evil side."
Tezz shook his head, a small smile coming onto his face. "And you don't?" He joked.
The girl beside him laughed. "Just drive. God…" They talked continuously during the drive, Camellia singing along with the radio (yes, the Splitwire has a regular radio). They reached the photo shoot building at around one and they went in. They were welcomed by a short female assistant with short brown hair.
"Hello Miss Talent." The assistant said. "How was the drive?"
"Perfect." Camellia answered.
"Who's this?"
"Tezz. He drove me here and he'll drive me back."
"Oh." The assistant said rather inquiringly. "Well Tezz, if you would like you can walk around or sit here and wait for Camellia to come out."
Tezz nodded. "Thank you." He watched as Camellia was taken away into one of the side hallways and he sat down. Not long after he sat down a man with slightly graying hair walked down into the hallway quickly. From the hall he could hear some commotion. He recognized Camellia's voice and a man's voice. Presumably the man who had just run down the hall. The same man came out and spotted Tezz. He walked over and Tezz stood. The man stood half a head taller than Tezz and reeked of expensive cologne. He wore a gray suit with black shoes.
"You are Tezz no?" The man asked in a thick French accent.
"Yes." Tezz answered. The Frenchman moved back slightly at his accent. Annoyed Tezz asked "What is it?"
The man blinked quickly. "Talent had requested that you stay with her during the shoot." He rolled his eyes at Tezz's shocked expression. "The little wench completely hates me." He said. "She said something along the lines of security. I don't care. As long as I get paid of course."
Tezz blinked at the man. Did he just call her a… Tezz closed his eyes and breathed, his protectiveness starting to come up. "Of course sir." The Frenchman left without another word and Tezz sat back down again. Minutes passed and Camellia came back out again, her hair up and strands of curly hair framing her face. She wore a gray short (above knee) pencil skirt and white ruffled shirt, the matching jacket in hand. Her shoes were black and gray three inch heels with ruffles on the toes.
The Russian genius smiled at her. "You look beautiful." He commented.
She in turn smiled back. "Thanks. Another cover shot. Then one with the interviewer and myself, even though all the questions are already answered." Tezz simply nodded. Suddenly the Frenchman returned and she scoffed softly. "Great… It's Malory."
"It's Ma-Loh-Ree!" The man bit back, his French accent hitting all the words differently.
"Well excusez-moi Monsieur Tremblay." She said sarcastically, mimicking his French accent. "But I had thought that my parents had replaced you like I asked."
"Hm…" Tremblay gave a false sad look towards the girl. "Is that making you sad? I am so very sorry."
"Cabrón con un pene pequeño (1)." She cursed at him in Spanish.
Tremblay gave her a smug look, semi-understanding that. "Come along then. You got the interview shots first." Camellia and Tezz followed Tremblay as he moved to a room that held a white backdrop and two small sofas with a table between them. Real roses sat in a beige colored vase in the middle of the table with some strategically placed past editions of the magazine (Business Technology). The interview already was ready in his seat and Camellia took her spot in the other chair and she immediately crossed her legs. "Talent, don't cross your legs like you usually do. Cross the ankles. Crossing your legs makes your thighs look fat." She gave a face and let her leg slip down. The Frenchman groaned and walked over and bent down before her. "Move your legs back. Do you not know how to sit with your ankles crossed?" He pushed her legs back and to the side and then started to position her body on the chair. Hands on her waist he moved her to the dead center of the chair, went back to fix her legs, took her hands and placed them on her laps, one hand softly placed in the other. Going behind her he pulled her shoulders back while leaving a hand on the small of her back, forcing her to sit upright with chest out and body semi-twisted. He placed a hand on her stomach and forced her to hold her breath. "How much you weigh?" He asked her.
"Same as the last time you asked me ten minutes ago. 112 pounds." She answered through clenched teeth. How she loathed this man.
"Lose 20 pounds."
Camellia scoffed. "As hell I am. I'm perfect for my height."
"Who told you that? A regular McDonald's patron?" She laughed sarcastically. After he was done fixing her onto the sofa he turned towards the man across from her. The interviewer gave Tremblay wry look. "You are just fine my good sir. She just doesn't know any better."
"Sexist bastard with éclair fat." She grumbled. Tremblay went behind the expensive camera and stand. Looking through the lens he ordered the others to fix the lighting. "Could you hurry up? My back is killing me." Tremblay only smirked. She rolled her eyes and looked at Tezz who was glaring into the back of Tremblay's head. She felt a bit better, knowing that Tezz has got her back. "Tezz." She called to him and automatically his head turned to her. "It's all right." She half chuckled out. "He's going to be long gone soon anyways."
"Darling," Tremblay spoke, "you said that last time we meet nearly half a year ago and yet I am still here." Camellia rolled her eyes and handled the rest of the shoot with problems after problems.
Afterwards Camellia changed out of the dress they put her in for the cover, a simple little black dress with color around the belt and in her hair. She walked out of the dressing room and into the lobby where she met up with Tezz. "Hey buddy." She said happily, ready to leave behind Tremblay and get a new photographer.
"Hey Camellia." He answered back.
An assistant came out and handed Camellia an envelope containing a check. "Thanks for coming out Miss Talent."
"No problem." Camellia pulled out the check and inspected the amount. Seeing it fit she put the check back and shook the hand of the assistant before the young woman slipped away. "I'm so ready to go home. You would not believe."
"It's another three hours back."
"I know. But the moment I reach my house—you'll be dropping me off at home by the way—I'm just going to take a shower, eat and crash." The two were making the way to the exit when Tremblay stopped them. "What now?" Camellia questioned as she turned to face Tremblay.
"I just thought you would know that you have been a thorn in my side since I met you about four years ago."
"Likewise Malory." She said, saying his name with no accent at all."
"It's—"
"Yes I know. Ma-Loh-Ree!" She interrupted with a scratchy French accent."
Tezz took Camellia's elbow. "Come on Camellia. You don't need to take this."
"I'm not done here Russian." Tremblay said as he reached over and snapped his hand away from her. Looking at Camellia, he continued. "I realized from the start that you would be difficult. You're so-called family giving you all these opportunities a woman should not even have an option to. And you believe that just because you are at the top of the heap right now that you are better than everyone you hear yet you fail to see the truth of it all."
"Now see here—"
"No Miss Talent." He said roughly. "You are just a bastard child with a whore mother who pushed herself through the streets trying to make a few extra bucks. As if being kicked out of her true family wasn't enough she wanted more of the little bastards with sons of bitches like your rapist father."
Camellia froze and stopped breathing. She stared up at Tremblay as he glared at her. Tezz's eyes widened slightly and he was about to move when her arm came out and slapped him hard in the face, so hard that the sound of the slap resounded throughout the building. She clutched her burning hand to her chest as tears started to fall. Turning on her heals she ran out the building. The people in the lobby mumbled, shooting glares towards Tremblay and mutterings things as 'You shouldn't have said that' or 'You got what you deserved.' Tremblay chuckled and rubbed his check. "Petite chienne (2)." He cursed in French before receiving a well placed punch to the face on the same cheek Camellia had slapped earlier. The Frenchman fell to the floor and Tezz stood before him, holding himself back from killing the man.
"Let me save her the trouble. You're fired." With that he turned and quickly went to the Splitwire where Camellia leaned on the car, crying into her palms. "Camellia?" He asked softly as he approached her.
"Tezz…" She sobbed out. He got closer to her and she threw herself into his arms. "Tezz…" She repeated, more tears falling onto his shoulder.
He rubbed her back with a soothing hand (the one he punched Tremblay with). "Shh…" He softly sounded. "It's alright." Her sobs shook through her body and his anger boiled inside of him. But now concern was replacing that anger. "It was all lies." He tried, not knowing whether or not it was.
"Half lie." She said quietly. "Mother never became a prostitute, but my father was a rapist."
"Don't let his words get to you. Either way he got a punch by yours truly."
She chuckled and pulled back from him. She wiped her eyes quickly and looked up at Tezz. The man she was quickly falling for. "He did deserve a punch and a slap."
"And I fired him for you."
She smiled softly at him. "Thanks. You're a great friend."
He nodded and rubbed one of her arms in comfort. "Come on. You can sleep on the way back." She nodded and the two went on their way back home. After the three hour long drive the Splitwire parked itself before the Talent house.
Camellia sighed deeply. "Thanks again." She glanced over at him. "For everything."
"It is no problem Camellia. You should know that I—"
The girl leaned over the center console and planted a small kiss on his cheek before quickly recoiling back into her seat. "See you around." She said quickly, the blush tinting her cheeks. She got out of the car and ran into the house.
Tezz blinked after her and he found his hand rising to touch the spot where her lips had touched his skin. A smile formed on his lips. "Defiantly."
The Hub, ten minutes later/No POV
The Splitwire drove into the Hub and was parked in its spot. Tezz got out and walked straight into nine pairs of curious eyes. "So…" Zoom started. "How you doin'?"
"Yeah." Spinner said. "How was the day with Cam?"
"You were gone for a pretty long time." Sherman added.
"Anything juicy you'd like to tell us?" AJ asked. They all spoke slowly and inquiringly. It was starting to get on Tezz's nerves.
"There was absolutely nothing that happened and even if something was in fact to happen why in all of the Multiverse would I ever, and I repeat, ever, want to tell any on you?" Tezz replied, walking past the group.
The group stared after him as he disappeared. "Something defiantly happened." Vert said.
"Yep defiantly." Agura agreed. "A milestone most likely."
Stanford chuckled. "Who knew Tezz had it in him? A girl like Camellia?"
Sage chuckled. "It's not the person that matters. It is the feelings that are there."
Please review and once again, sorry for the long-ish wait.
1: Bastard with a tiny penis in Spanish.
2: Little bitch in French.