Disclaimer: Short and straight. Don't own, don't sue.
:}
Monday arrived, the day after the special police training, and Jade walked through school feeling broken. Maybe she hadn't given in, not completely, but this was her goodbye tour of the school. The place that encouraged her to be herself. The place she'd come to love. After nearly dying that last weekend, she had no doubt, this was goodbye. 'They've been dying to take this away from me, and now, they have their excuse.' She reminded herself, just one more time, before she started trying to soak in the memories. Things she felt she'd need to help remind herself of what she'd lost.
She stopped to look wistfully at the various things she enjoyed about the school, including the freedom to eat from the grub truck, the many rooms she could use if she just signed them out, and her locker. She even took the time, while in class, to look at her friends, enjoying a memory or two about how much fun they'd had together. Even Tori got a moment or two as she privately said her goodbyes.
Jade didn't bother trying to focus in class that day. Her grades were, to her, dead. She was just taking in what she enjoyed about the school. She'd linger outside an advanced music class, listening in to the sounds that drifted out. She walked past the rooms of her writing teachers, each of whom had helped her, encouraging her to write her own truth, even if it could be terrifying at times. Finally, Jade stopped to personally thank those faculty she felt she owed. She thanked Sikowitz, Lane, and even Helen for giving her a chance. Only the principal was confused by her actions.
The one thing she didn't do was try and speak with her friends. She knew, they had to move on. 'Cat will miss me, and Tori, she'll date Beck, like almost immediately. Hell, they may be dating already… Not my concern now. I have to be strong, survive, cause otherwise, how will Masters get his jollies?'
After the school day ended, Jade found Eric waiting for her with the same subcompact car. She sat in silence as he drove her to the police headquarters. Neither said a word, letting the moment linger as they drove off towards what Jade knew would be the end of her freedom. Her life, as she'd known it, was now over. 'Maybe I won't die, but I'll never have the experiences I was supposed to.' She told herself. 'No, focus, You can catch up, if they don't break you completely. Gonna be hard, but...' Her exhausted mind wasn't able to do much more then dread what was to come, even as she tried to focus on anything positive. It wasn't happening. Her only victory, to her mind, was she didn't break down and cry, again. 'Kids at school would have loved to see me crying. I just, I managed to avoid anyone seeing. So, big fucking victory, I maintained what was left of my rep. Too bad it never meant anything...' Her mind wasn't letting go, and if she wasn't so tired, she knew she'd be crying.
Once at the police building Jade thanked the man who'd tried to be there for her, as much as his limited clearance would allow. "Eric, you seem like a decent guy, so I'm gonna miss getting rides from you. Kinda wish this was because I was getting my car back, but we both know I don't have that kind of luck. No, today my probation is gonna change, get so much worse, and there's nothing anyone can do about it."
"What did you do?" The man asked.
"Bled when I wasn't supposed to." Jade replied, once again wishing that her armor hadn't partly stopped the shell, thus saving her life. Dead would have, potentially, kept her end of the deal, freeing her family from the burden she was now sure she'd become. 'Grandpa, my brother can still be your redemption. I, I'm not done yet, maybe I'll find a way. Just, for now, I need to focus on getting through, cause no dreams can survive in this hell.' She'd walked away, so as to avoid both making things worse by being late, and having to explain anything to Eric.
The whole time entering the project looked and felt the same as it had been the last couple of weeks. The elevator ride down was it's usual quiet, and even the guards in their "Police Tech" powered armor were where she expected them to be. It wasn't calming, the consistency, but it did help her focus just a bit. steeling steeled herself for the worst, Jade pushed forward, ignoring whatever snide comment the guards might have for her. She just wanted to get this over with, so started looking for who would be the one to break the news to her. She walked into the main t raining area, looking for Rose, cause that woman seemed to enjoy her torment. However one of the boys from the lab might be there to start things off, or even someone new, given her suspicions of what they had planned for her. However, they weren't there. In fact, she didn't recognize anyone on duty except a few of the techs. Not even the main scientists were present. Not even Doctor Smith.
However, there was someone new waiting for her, someone not in any way affiliated with her usual gang of tormentors. Instead, there was a man in a decent if inexpensive brown suit waiting for her, someone she swore she'd never seen before. "Miss West, I'm Kevin Gonzales, your new probation officer." He flashed her a bright smile while offering her a handshake. Jade didn't move, her mind to tired, to confused to even return the simple gesture. Seeing that, he continued. "Glad to meet you. I hope to be an improvement over the tenuous relationship you had with Michael. You know, Mister Masters?" Jade nodded almost automatically. Inwardly she was convinced this was a trick. His voice shifted, sounding sheepish, nervous. "Also, before we go talk to the new head of the program, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor. See, I have a heavy load of clients, all youth offenders, and I need to stay on top of all of them. Would you be upset if I asked Eric to take on some of my supervising duties down here?"
"Sure, but let me ask you this, where are the various weapons to batter me down until I'm all torn up?" Jade asked. She was almost surprised at the look on the mans face, since this was the normal she'd come to expect.
"You are far to valuable commodity to be handle the way Mikey did." Mister Gonzales assured her. "No, while the information he gathered was useful, there was minimal practical application, at least towards our goals. Also, he knew your limits, and pushed you past them, just to see how badly you'd get hurt. Just because you can use some of your energies to heal yourself don't mean we should try to injure you. No, that was wrong, and that's why he's suspended until there can be a full investigation."
"And after he's been cleared?" Jade jumped in, impatient to know how long until he was supervising her breaking again. 'This has to be a trick. Masters is either somewhere watching, probably in his office, of he's out, and this fuck is here to watch me bleed.' She focused away from even the slightest glimmer of hope. 'There is no reprieve from hell, and Masters is determined to make sure I know that. So, where the fuck is he?' she thought as her voice failed, which she would soon find was a blessing.
"Masters is not coming back." The man sighed, nervous and sorry and showing every emotion except for the disdain Jade had been fed for the last few weeks. "The mayor, he.…" A pregnant pause, with the man fidgeting, seeking what he could tell her. "Looks, I hate to spill the tea, but lets just say, he had no choice…" The struggle continued playing out on the mans face and in his posture. "Okay, it's like this. The Feds, they somehow found out about yesterday, and they acted, like fast. They started claiming the incident, you getting shot, it was a mix of a gross mishandling of a valuable commodity, and us lacking the resources to properly develop said commodity. They made it very clear, all over the course of the last sixteen hours or so. Basically, they said we don't have what it takes to help someone like you. So the mayor, everyone involved, they found out, in order to avoid being forced to turn you over to the Fed's, we had to agree to remove him as head of this program, install someone more qualified in dealing with Metahumans. See, even if he were to return, somehow get cleared and approved to come back, he'd be answering to our new head." Kevin started walking, leading her to the hall that she knew led to the former office of mister Masters. "I really can't explain this, but I can s ee, you do need some more convincing, Maybe the new chief? Yes, it's probably past time you met the woman who, from now on, will be in change of your training. She was the only qualified person we had, and as I said, the feds, they wanted qualified." His skittish attatude faded as the distance did, more comfortable in letting this mystery woman deal with the damaged, nearly broken girl he saw before him. Mister Gonzales was experienced in dealing with damaged childre, including how dangerous that damage could make them. However, he'd never dealt with anything like The Black Dahlia, and it made him nervous. "Of course, while rehabilitation isn't in her background, she's an expert on metahuman children, teens included, and can be counted on to keep the balance of threat and reward. Her code name is V."
Jade was led into the office by her new social worker. He opened the door, and urged his new charge in. Inside she saw someone she knew. Behind the massive desk her former probation officer uses sat Holly Vega, a woman she'd seen so many times over the last few years, just never expected to see in a situation like this. "Jade, so nice of you to join us. Let me start by saying we'll try to keep the weekend trainings to a minimum. However, they will happen. Hell, trainings like the one you just went through will happen. But our goal in those exorcises will be to both help prepare the police for dealing with metahuman threats, and to build a trust between you and the men and woman you'll be working with in the future." The woman was nodding as she spoke. "So, for now, your work here will mostly consist of law, police procedures, the works. Think of it as the extended, slow version of the police academy. Only, as you can guess, we'll be mixing in training your metahuman abilities. That is, once we think you're ready."
"Why do you keep saying metahuman?" Jade wondered aloud. Inwardly, she was too shocked to believe this. She was convinced that she'd broken, and was living some kind of fantasy that would break any moment to reveal Mister Masters having her raped in order to help her learn her place.
"Scientific term." Holly said with a shrug. "I'm a geneticist. Worked on projects for the police before, and now, due to my experience, I'm here working with the police again. Part time, for now, cause I do have a family. However, while I won't be here every day, I will be in contact with the various people who will be, and they'll keep me up to date on everything." Her eyes turned a touch more fierce, and she looked into the young goth. "Also, and this is important, we need to get your grades up. I know, today was a loss, but starting tomorrow, you're making school one of your top priorities."
Jade was too broken to fully process whats she was hearing. Emotionally broken. Physically and mentally close to breaking, cause the damage from the various injuries she'd endured may have healed, but the shadows of those scars took time to erase from her mind and body. As a result, Jade wasn't ready for what she'd been hearing, let alone what came next. "Now Jade, I want you to spend this week getting to know the staff. Other then that, and a little training, I'm not having you do much more then whatever extra credit you can beg out of your teachers." The matronly figure seemed to glow like an angel, offering her a shot out of hell. "Also, stay in contact with your mentor. He says you're losing sleep, and that cuts into his training regiment, as well as whatever damage it's doing to your control of your powers. Honestly, from what Dante tells me, mystics need to stay focused, so as to best use their full power. Also, after what happened yesterday, your mentor has agreed to teach you some shielding spells. Gotta bolster those defenses of yours, help respell whatever attacks or threats you may face. It'll help cover a couple of your weaknesses." Her face got serious again. "See, your imbalance, offense verses defense, it's kinda worrisome, and again, too valuable to send into the field without some decent defenses." Her serious face melted into that warm, motherly smile. "However, for today, your gonna go meet a few of the staff, then you're gonna take a nap. Honestly Jade, you look exhausted." Holly watched the goth, waiting for the pale girl to react. "Well, go to it. That is, unless you have something to say to me."
"Down here, I'm the Black Dahlia." Jade said. It was about the only thing she could think of, the only words that she had. Inside, she felt for sure this was another trick, and as soon as she did whatever, tried to rest, she'd get time added to her sentence.
"Okay, Dahlia, you have a load of missed mentoring sessions with Mister Abra, so go, nap, and learn. But first, I want you to meet the nurse who'll be tending to your wounds as time goes forward." Holly stood and led her out the door and to another door Jade had never been through, assuming it was off limits to her. The medical facilities down there were as good as any clinic in the state, with a nurse practitioner Jade didn't know waiting to help her out. "Dahlia, this is Kimberly Shapiro, Robbie's cousin. Since I did full background checks on all my children's friends, it was easy to hire one of their family who we knew could be trusted to work for us. She just got her nurse practitioners license, and is here part time, about four hours a day. Ironically, those will be the same twenty hours a week you're here. I'll move her to a more on call roll once you're out working, and we fill this place up with a few more metas… Sorry, I fully intend to expand this program, and fill it with successes. Now go, take a nap. I'll introduce you around later, once you're more able to remember things, like peoples names. I swear, that does help build teamwork, knowing each others names." She sighed. "Kevin will show you where your room is, and no, we won't be locking the door. You're not a prisoner. Not as long as you follow the program."
Despite Holly's promise, the room was a cell, of the more modern type, so it lacked bars but still had cold concrete walls and a lockable door with a small window they could use to keep an eye on her. The toilet was hidden in a corner, next to the sink, all of which was in a six by eight space. Jade, not sure what else to do, fell onto the bed with a thud. Sleep descended on her overtaxed mind, a form of release she hadn't fully giving herself for days. Jade had slept, in small doses, but only the deep sleep that kept her functioning, and even that came in smaller doses then she liked, or needed. This was the shallow sleep of dreams, opening herself to her mentoring. Jade was out in a moment, and when she awoke, several hours later, she felt even more run down.
"How long…?" She asked the guard waiting outside her room. He was standing there in the Policetech armor, waiting for her. Meanwhile, the reality of the situation was hitting her, making her feel even more out of it as she tried to wrap her exhausted mind around the whole newness of her life.
"Three hours, give or take." The modulated voice said. "You hungry? We have a break room, and there's always something to eat."
"I thought I wasn't allowed." Jade said, feeling uncomfortable with how weird this whole new relationship was feeling, even if it was an improvement in her life. 'Just a mater of time before some hardliner convinces the powers that be that the old way is better. Or maybe this was always the plan, and they used that jerk to soften me up before Misses V took over, maybe buying my loyalty?'
"Things are changing." The man said, his armored shoulders giving a shrug. "The food, we always have too much, so it's no big giving you a bite. Besides, I'm not really sure what we're supposed to be doing now, except we're under orders to treat you like a human being, and a potential ally. So, food?"
"Sure, lets eat." Jade said, allowing herself to be led to another formerly restricted room, and a kitchen full of stuff. Cautious optimism seemed to come more easily now, and she suspected it had everything to do with her time with Sikowitz. Even if she couldn't remember it, she knew he'd done more to eae her troubled mind then anything anyone could have done. That was, except for whomever made the Federal government get involved, and thus saved her from being pulled from Hollywood Arts
"That fridge," The armroed guard pointed at a largish stainless steel refrigerator, with a bottom freezer, "is usually for us to store whatever food or lunch we bring, but we have a pantry full of stuff. Can and dried goods mostly, but it's something." He opened a bread box. "Why don't you make yourself a sandwich."
"What kind of meat do you have?" Jade asked, taking some bread out and placing it on a plate. "Um, we wash our own dishes?"
"Yep." The man said. "Sorry we only have sourdough."
"Hay, it's food." Jade shrugged it off, ignoring how un-Jade-like it sounded to just accept what she had as good enough. 'Was a time I'd have thrown a fit for them not having my preferences. Never rich, but god, I was so spoiled…' She focused on the task at hand. "So, meats?"
"In the pantry, we have a second fridge, smaller, that holds the communal chiz. We also have a top opening freezer for whatever. I say you should go see for yourself, while I find the condiments, and set things up for you to have yourself something. Meanwhile, I'll have them start that Eric guy go through security, so he can come down here and pick you up." The guard felt like he was looking at her sideways. "So, you like that guy?"
"He's too old, not my type, and probably far more helpful as my probation officer." Jade listed. 'He has a girlfriend, but that has nothing to do with my not being into him. Course, if I tell you, then it'll look like I'm crushing on him, and we know that will only lead to a disaster.' Jade thought as she made her way into the small room that severed as the pantry. She found the refrigerator, and inside, a small selection of lunch meats. Taking out some ham, some lettuce, spinach, tomato, and a few other choices, Jade headed out to make herself something to eat. Her sandwich quickly came into shape, and she put her leftover fixings away before devouring her food.
"You know, this may be the first time we've fed you." The armored man said. "Probably should have last weekend, so you could have kept your strength up. Sorry they confiscated your lunch yesterday. I hope it didn't have anything to do with you getting hurt."
"I think telling me I had to provide my own food, but wasn't allowed to bring anything from home, or go get anything, probably did contribute to my energies failing. My armored clothes spell is a minimal drain, but requires some of my energy, and once it all failed, I was vulnerable. I'm just glad I was able to pull enough out to heal myself. Then again, I'd been storing some energy up just for that purpose, since I figured I was gonna get hurt during the exercise." Jade vented. "Wait, you weren't there, where you?"
"We were on standby, in case they needed help putting you down." The man said. "But, and I can't believe I never realized this before, we were deliberately dehumanizing you so it would be possible to treat you like garbage. Man, I have a daughter of my own. I keep thinking, how would I feel if someone treated her half as badly as you were getting it? Those officers, they had orders, telling them to manhandle you, so you'd break just a bit more. I have no idea what Masters had planned for you today. But whatever it was, this wasn't it." It almost sounded like he was relieved knowing he got to recover a bit of his own humanity in this new normal, this new way of dealing with her.
"I don't know, this could work..." Jade said, starting to eat her sandwich.
"Except your highly skeptical, meaning treating you with respect is gonna take even longer. You need to know we're not gonna hurt you so you can build trust in us, and we need you to trust in us, in the program, so we can trust you. I mean, the reason I haven't told you my name yet is I'm not allowed to. Not until you go up a level or two. Trust. I want to trust you with who I am, but that would put my family in danger. Once we trust you, know that you won't be placing us in danger, then I'll introduce myself." The guard informed her.
"Then remember honey Ham." Jade said. "I made a honey ham sandwich. Not sure who else will know, but it helps us in that it's something you'll know, for when I've earned the big reveal."
"Something I probably shouldn't tell you, but not everyone in the powered armor are the same as the guards you've been dealing with." The guard said. "We're all fully trained, but some of them were let go, sent to other departments. Misses V just wasn't gonna deal with any of them."
"You ready to go?" Holly asked as she walked into the break room. "You can take your food. It's just, it's time to get you home."
"Eric's through security?" Jade asked.
"Not yet, and once he's done, we're sending him to his other duties." The woman in charge said. "Sweety, I know where you live, so I'll be taking you home today, okay?"
"Ma'am, I'm not so sure about this." The guard said.
"Relax, Dahlia here owes me." Holly assured the guard. "After all, she, along with her her former friends, used to hang out at my house all the time." She smiled to give everyone a heartbeat to absorb that fact. "Besides, she's gonna have questions, and we need to make sure she understands some of the answers. Like boundaries. I want her to remember, at my home, it's all about my family. Got that, Dahlia? You don't come to my home, not unless I send you there. At home, I'm my girls mother. You and I, our relationship is professional, and that means not in my home."
"Got it." Jade said with a nod. 'Not thinking I'm gonna be seeing the inside of any of their homes for at least two years.' She finished packing her snack to go.
"Fine, lets go." Misses Vega instructed, leading the goth out the door and to the elevator. They rode up in silence, but it was an odd, confused silence as the two started to build a different relationship then the one they'd previously had. Jade filled it by eating her sandwich.
They walked to Holly's car, a car the pale girl had seen dozens of times before. Holly beeped it unlocked, and then both of them got in. The older woman started driving out of the parking lot, content to wait for Jade to start the conversation.
"So, you're the new boss..." Jade probed.
"Been a long time coming." Holly huffed. "Masters wasn't good at his job. You cannot just break people, and then expect then to fight for you. No, his methods never produced any good results, not in the many years they had him in charge. That is, if you don't count driving several savable kids away from the program, and any kind of productive life. I'm in charge now, and while I have no guarantees, I think a more even handed approach will work.": She glanced at the pale girl. "Give you a goal, let you earn the goal, that kind of chiz works. After all, this isn't the military. Hell, what he had wasn't the military. Also, you're a highly creative girl, not the kind of person who adapts easily to a military lifestyle. Group homes are strict, but they have fun, show compassion, and give a certain amount of freedom." Another glance at the young woman. "Not saying it's gonna be easy, but mister Alexander and I agreed you'd do far better using an approach where there were achievable goals, and you got some small rewards as you moved on up."
"Lane's a part of this?" Jade asked.
"He worked with me in the Blue Generation Initiative." Holly said. "He was also attached to Project Redemption at one point, but a kid named Bullrush hurt him, badly. Broke his back, in a fixable way, and Almost broke his desire to help others along with it. However, what it really did was give him an ax to grind with Masters, who's program turned a scared kid with unusual strength into a rampaging almost monster. Blue Steel stopped him, and the poor boy went to jail, where he was promptly recruited into an organized crime family. Even today he's a part of their enforcement team. Boy's hurt a few people, cause that's the kind of world Masters trained him for. Mans approach just doesn't create heroes, and it doesn't create the totally controlled zombies he thinks it will." She exhaled, focusing for a moment on driving.
"Naturally, when I found out you were put into Masters care, I started looking for an opportunity to take over." The mother of two continued. "You may not believe it, but it was yesterdays actions, things Masters wanted done during the weekend's training, that sealed his fate. You're seventeen, Jade. A minor. Yet his attempts to break you involved humiliation, sexual assault, and it nearly got you killed. I just had to prove to the federal government that he was endangering a major resource, as well as wasting the massive amount of funding that goes into this project, and they hinted they wanted to step in. Then, this morning, I was with the chief probation officer, along with the mayor and several key members of the county commission, going over what Mister Alexander had gathered over the years, proving that mister Masters broke many of the plea agreements with the kids he was suppose to be training. Of course, in almost every case he broke them first, as part of his breaking process. The threat of the federal government taking you, knowing that after just a couple of weeks of Masters care, you'd be interested in getting away from him, even if it meant changing schools, and the mayor was incensed. Threaten a mans turf, and he gets pretty upset, so I made him feel like his turf, all of it, was coming under scrutiny, and of course, he reacted. I got the job, temporally for now, but I didn't lie when I said that Masters is done in the program. Even if I don't get to run things after, he's done. Hell, we've got the feds watching now, so I expect you'll at least get your plea agreement followed."
They were covering distance fairly quickly, but Jade wasn't looking out the window. Holly Vega had her complete attention. The mother of two continued. "I'll admit, I kinda need a win, and soon, cause Masters has a lot of friends. Political friends with a long reach. Still, I suspect you're just the win I need."
"I'll do my best." Jade said, feeling like, even if rescuing her wasn't the goal as much as the means, she did owe the woman for saving her from what was likely to be a fatal training program.
Holly stopped the car outside Jade's mothers home, only she hadn't unlocked the door yet. "Jade, what I said about staying out of my home…." She let the moment drag.
"Don't worry, I totally get it." Jade assured the woman, unlocking the door.
"No, you don't." Holly countered. "I should have said you have to earn that right. See, Mister Alexander's been on my case about your friend problem. Associating with criminals can lead to making bad choices. However, you're isolating yourself, which not only can lead to bad choices as is, but also opens you to being approached by the wrong types of elements. No, you need friends. I'm just saying, you wanna hang out with them, you have to earn that right, and it won't be easy. But at school, since we're making your homework a major part of the program, I'd say you can reconnect. Just, not too quickly. Give them a chance to know you have a touch of free time, and that way they won't feel like their interfering with you rehabilitation." Holly flashed a quick smile. "But, and I mean this, a year from now, when you're in my home, assuming you earn it, I'm just Tori's mom. I'll let you know if I need you to react differently. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." Jade said with a quick salute.
"Good, now go spend some quality family time." Holly ordered. "I know you've had so little time with them, so go, do your homework, spend time with your family, and tomorrow, we start the next phase." She watched the pale girl bound out of the car, heading towards the houses door. 'And unfortunately, convincing my husband that my way, me taking over, is the right thing to do is my next step. David, Tori is a good influence on her. Let them be friends. I'll be watching to make sure she's not a threat. Besides, Mister Abra assures me that Tori's powers are impressive. Might even be a good counter for Jade's. We need that influence if we're gonna be counting on Jade to help make this program a success. Besides, if things work out, then you'll eventually be telling her everything, anyways.'
:}
So, there are consequences for our actions. Thinking Jade may eventually get that message. However, there's a new head of the program, and she's more knowledgeable then Jade expected.
Thoughts?