Disclaimer: Nothing. I own nothing.
AN: Since we don't have a ton of background on Raquel, I'm basing her home city (Dakota City) on the Dakota City in Static Shock.
Driven
Raquel crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. "Exactly how sure are you about this?"
Icon chuckled softly. "I'm glad to know my protégé is so trusting of my capabilities."
Gesturing toward the rundown apart in which they stood, she continued, "Some of the worst gang leaders of Dakota City are coming together to make an alliance, and they're meeting in a crack house."
"Neutral turf," he countered. "One of the few spots in the city not under control of any gang. Plus, least likely to draw the attention of the police. All three leaders have outstanding warrants, and if this deal is to be successful, it needs to be done as quietly as possible."
"Hey, you said you have the intel, I believe you." She straightened her back. "Now, let's go kick some baddie behind."
Only a step forward, she felt Icon's hand settle on her shoulder. "Not quite."
"Not quite what?"
"You can't come with me. Not all the way, at least."
"What?" Pulling away, she whirled around to face him, but she took a deep breath before she continued-they were on the job, after all, and shouting was not the best way to keep their presence unknown. "I thought I was your equal!"
"You are, Raquel. But there are going to be at least nine men with guns in a single room, and you are not bullet proof. They are dangerous, and they will not hesitate to kill, and I cannot risk your safety like that. Your powers are not meant for such a confined space."
She bit her lip. As much as it annoyed her, he was right. "Fine. Then what do you want me to do?"
"Wait on the first floor. There's only one stairway, which means if any of them get away, they'll have to face you. And worst case scenario, there are civilians living here, and I want an element of surprise if they are somehow involved. Is that fair?"
Thinking it over for a moment, she relented, "I guess. But next crime we stop, it's all mine."
"Absolutely."
They approached the building, and Raquel wrinkled her nose at the rats nesting near the front door and the few needles haphazardly discarded. "I'll try to make this quick," Icon said once they stepped through the doorway. "Be on guard."
"Am I ever not?" she returned with a smirk. "Now go on, I have your back."
She watched Icon until he disappeared from her site, kept her eyes trained straight ahead, just in case. Every muscle in her body was tensed, and her fingers twitched with anticipation.
Slow movement in her peripheral vision nearly sent her jumping out of her skin, and she almost turned when the gun shots began. Gritting her teeth, she gave herself ten seconds before any criminals would make their way to her, so she dared to swivel her head. A little girl, wearing only an oversized shift that dangled right above her feet, was inching her way over.
Heart thundering in her chest, Raquel quickly closed the distance between them, noticing how stiff the girl become. "What are you doing here?" she whispered, voice nearly drowned out by the gun fight eight floors above them. "You need to go back to your parents, okay?"
The girl just continued to look at her.
Her mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do, because could she risk her position to figure out what was going on? This girl must have lived in one of the apartments, but which one? Were her parents even there? And if they were there, were they busy chasing a high?
There was screaming and pounding above her head, and Raquel hissed a curse and began nudging the girl back down the hall. "I'm real sorry, but you need to get away," she instructed as gently as she could. "Stay away from the front, okay?"
No response, but she hadn't expected one, and honestly, now was not the time to be worrying about that. Frantically returning to her spot, she planted herself at the base of the stairs. Two men came barreling down, nearly tripping over one another, and Raquel released a single energy blast that sent them flying into the wall.
"Rocket?" Her mentor's voice boomed, and she heard his footsteps, oddly heavy.
"I got 'em, no worries. Just those two?"
"Yes. I have the others." He appeared at the landing, holding three of the criminals in his arms while the rest were draped over his shoulders, and she couldn't help but laugh quietly. "I have alerted the police to come pick them up." Glancing at the two men she had incapacitated, he casually dropped his. "We will wait here, to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Sounds good to me." She glanced to where the little girl had disappeared, but she did not bring it up to Icon. He was strictly by-the-books, and she didn't know enough about the situation to involve him. Not right now, at least.
Once the cops had come and gone, Icon said, "I believe we can wrap it up for the night."
"You still owe me my own crime!" she protested, hands on her hips.
"It's nearly two in the morning, and you have combat training with the Team tomorrow. Now, don't give me that look-next patrol, the very first fight is all yours."
"Alright, fine." She jokingly poked a finger in his chest. "I'm going to hold you to it."
"I would expect nothing less. Are you going to get home alright?" At the scowl on her face, he continued, "I will take that as a yes. Good night, Rocket."
"'Night."
They went in opposite directions, at least until Icon was out of sight. Then Raquel turned on heel, back to the apartment. If that little girl was still there, she had to do something. Plus, she was owed her own crime...
"Hello?" she whispered, practically on tiptoes as she walked down the hall. "Hello?"
"Hi."
The suddenness of the response, even though it was barely audible, made her gasp in surprise. A few moments of her eyes adjusting in the poor light, she saw the little girl again, sitting against an apartment door.
Collecting herself, she put on her best smile and knelt down. "Hi, there. My name is Rocket. What's your name?"
"Jada."
"That's a very pretty name. How old are you?"
She held up three fingers, and Raquel felt her stomach twist. By three, she should be saying more, right? Maybe she was just shy. Hopefully.
"Three-years-old?" Keep up the happy voice. Don't scare her. "And out here all by yourself? You must be sleepy. Does your mommy and daddy know where you are?"
Jada tapped the door, then held a finger to her lips. "Shh. No, no."
"No, no?" Raquel repeated. "Why?"
"Mommy takes her medicine. Mommy and her friends. Shh. Shh."
"Are you always out here when she takes her medicine?"
"Yeah."
"How often does she take her medicine?"
"Night."
"Every night?"
Jada pursed her lips, like she was thinking. "Lots of nights."
You need to call the police.
"You know, it's not right that your mommy sends you out here when she takes her medicine," Raquel said gently. "It's not safe for you to be out here all alone."
"Big girl."
"Oh, I know you're a big girl. But even big girls need their sleep. And you can't like being out here all the time, right?"
A small shrug.
"So how about we talk to some nice police-"
"No."
"No?"
"No police." Her hands clenched into fists at her side. "Police bad. No police."
Raquel fought back a grimace. Of course her mother would have taught her that. "Jada, that's not true. The police are the good guys."
"No. Take mommy and me away. Lock us up."
"They wouldn't do that to you. They would make sure you had a nice place to live."
"No!"
It was a shout, and Raquel hastily placed a hand on her mouth to prevent another outburst. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she whispered. "No police, okay?"
Silence for a few moments. "Promise?"
"Yes, I promise. Listen, how about instead, I take you home. So you can get some sleep."
The words were spilling out of her mouth before she could think them over, but there was no way she could just leave Jada here. Besides, all she had to do was gain her trust, and then she could go to the police.
"You?"
"Yeah, me." Raquel knew she was treading into stranger danger zone, and she could only hope that Jada's mother hadn't been too vigilant about the matter. "A nice big bed, all to yourself. That would be nice, right?"
Biting on her lower lip, Jada looked down at her hands.
"When was the last time you got to sleep in your own bed, hm?"
Tilting her head in thought, Jada answered, "With Grammy. But I don't gots a bed no more."
"You don't have a bed?" Raquel felt her throat get tight. "Then where do you sleep?"
She patted the floor. "Here, lots. And the chair."
"Where does your mommy sleep?"
"Her bed."
Inhaling deeply though her nose, fighting to keep herself calm, Raquel pressed, "Jada, you're going to come home with me, okay?" After a moment, she cupped her hands out in front of her and formed a small force bubble. Jada gasped and reached out for it. "I'm a hero, don't you know?"
"A super hero? Like Superman?"
"Mhm." She let the energy disperse, being careful to release it slowly. "Just like that." Note to self: next time, start with the hero-bit first.
Fiddling with the hem of her shirt, Jada was silent for a few moments. "Good? You're good?"
"Yeah, Jada, I'm good," she promised softly. Kneeling, she held out her hands. "So you'll come with me?"
Jada glanced at the door, then back to Raquel. "Yeah." Standing, she walked into Raquel's embrace, and the older girl let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
The apartment was only a ten minute walk to her house, but to Raquel, with the gravity of her decision suddenly hitting her, it felt so much longer. What she was doing was kidnapping, 100%, and no amount of throwing her hero status around would change that. Even ignoring the legal ramifications, she had now brought it upon herself to look after Jada, all without getting caught-if her parents, or even anyone on the Team, found out what she was doing, the three-year-old would be taken by the authorities. The people who are actually able to care for her, she reminded herself, shifting Jada in her arms. Honestly, I should just walk right to the police station and call it a night.
But as logical as that, and as much as she knew it was the best thing to do, she couldn't do it. She had made a promise, and to a little kid, that meant the world. Just a few days to gain Jada's trust, and then they would go to the police, and all would be well. Piece of cake.
By the time she got home, Jada was already asleep, and she took great care to make it up to her room without disturbing the little girl. Gingerly pulling back the covers, Raquel lay Jada down and tucked her in, but she didn't dare lay down beside her. Once her head hit the pillow, she'd be out like a light, and she had too much planning to do that. Combat training was at 10, she had to leave by 9:45 to get to the zeta tube, which left her less than seven hours to figure out how exactly she was going to keep Jada a secret. Taking her to the Cave or leaving her here was not an option. There was a daycare a few blocks away, but she did not know how many hoops she'd have to jump through in order to get a child in there.
Her mind wandered to Ms. Jones, her next door neighbor. When she was young, Ms. Jones would baby-sit her after school. Now, she had her grandkids over every couple of weekends a month. Kids were her specialty. But how to explain the sudden appearance?
Rubbing her eyes in a poor attempt to fight off sleep, Raquel decided to put off the how until morning. Instead, she had to figure out what she was going to do with Jada's clothes, or rather, lack thereof. Raquel knew she needed to get at least a few new outfits, plus underwear and some pair of shoes. The nearest outlet mall opened early on Saturdays, and it was only fifteen minute by car, but the thought of driving Jada without her being in a car seat made the heroine uneasy. Honestly, though, she had no feasible alternative, not at this stage of the game, so she'd just have to be extra careful.
Raquel walked over to her dresser and rummaged through the second dryer, doing so as quietly as she could until she found the envelope of cash. With it in hand, she pulled out her spending money and strained her eyes to see the values. Alright, $156. That should be more than enough to get her some nice clothing. Satisfied, at least for the moment, she set her phone alarm and allowed herself to crawl into bed.
No sooner had she fallen asleep, she was awake, but surprisingly, it wasn't do to her alarm. Groaning, she sat up halfway and glanced at Jada, who was tentatively poking her shoulder. "Rocky?"
"Mmm?" she managed, rubbing her eyes and glancing at her phone. Ten minutes before the alarm went off.
"I gotta potty."
The words took a moment to process, but once they did, Raquel jumped to her feet and picked up Jada, quickly carrying her down the hall. "Can you go by yourself?" she whispered.
"Imma big girl," Jada insisted.
Raquel set her down. "Well, if you need me, I'll be right outside, alright?"
"Okay."
Leaning against the wall, Raquel blinked a few times to try and wake herself up, then thought about her plan. Honestly, it sounded so brilliant the night before, but now she was questioning...well, everything. Plus, she still needed a believable story for Ms. Jones.
There was a flush, then a few moments of silence before Jada poked her head out of the room. "Sink," she said simply.
Raquel entered the room and lifted Jada up to wash her hands. She then reached under the sink to find a spare toothbrush. "Big girls can brush their teeth by themselves, right?"
"Right."
Her hand rested on the tooth paste, and she froze. Was Jada able to use this? Weren't there child toothpastes without fluoride? Or was it with fluoride? Glancing at the little girl, Raquel continued, "You're gonna spit all of this out, no swallowing?"
"No swallow."
It probably wasn't the most airtight promise, but it was the best she was going to get, so Raquel added a very small dot of toothpaste to Jada's toothbrush, then added a thick strip to her own. She had to lift Jada up every few seconds so that she could spit, but the task was completed, and it was a small boost to her confidence.
Grabbing a clean washcloth, she held it under lukewarm water, then gently wiped Jada's face. "Alright, you go back to my room, and I'll be right there, okay? And then we're going to get you some nice new clothes, and then you're going to spend a few hours with someone very, very nice."
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who?"
"My neighbor." Leaning down, she continued in a hushed voice, "I have hero business, you know, so she'll watch you until I get back."
"Oooh. Okay."
She walked back to the room, and Raquel hastily cleaned herself up before joining the three-year-old. Rummaging through her closet, she threw on a sweatshirt, which went well with the outfit she'd failed to take off the night before, and tucked her envelope of cash into the pocket. "Alright Jada, ready to go?"
The drive took much longer than necessary due to her paranoia, but they got there just fine, and then Raquel was in her element. Shopping was one of her favorite pastimes, and she worked best under pressure.
"Alright, Jada, what are your favorite colors?"
"Uh...blue. And purple."
That was more than enough for Raquel, who tore through the various stores, a woman on a mission, and in less than half an hour, she'd found four outfits, underwear, and two pairs of shoes, all on sale to boot. All of that, plus a quick breakfast, nearly wiped out all her cash, but the look of sheer happiness on Jada's face when she changed into a new ensemble made it all worth it. "Thank you!" she cried, spinning around, the polka-dotted skirt twirling gracefully.
"You're welcome," Raquel returned. "Now, let's get you to Ms. Jones, okay? And guess what?"
"What?"
"There might even be some kids there for you to play with."
Jada gasped. "Other kids?"
"Mhm."
"I haven't been with kids in forever."
It was said as a simple fact, but it still made Raquel's heart hurt. "Well, we better a move on then, shouldn't we? But before we do, there's something important for you to remember: don't tell Ms. Jones how I found you, okay? She doesn't know I'm a hero—gotta keep my secret identity a secret, you know. Can you do that for me?"
"Mhm."
"Great. Let's go."
Even though she mentally rehearsed her script during the car ride back to the neighborhood, she still fought against her nerves as she guided Jada up to Ms. Jones's door. With a deep breath, she knocked on the door. Somewhere inside the house, she heard, "Doooooorbell!"
A few moments passed, and Ms. Jones opened the door, a little boy giggling and skipping around her legs. "Raquel!" she said with surprise, a smile crossing her face. Leaning down, she looked at Jada, who hid shyly behind Raquel. "You have a friend. Who's this lovely girl?"
"Jada." She rested her hand on Jada's head, gently nudging her forward. "I'm really in a bind, she's my friend's daughter and she asked me to watch her this weekend, but I totally forgot a group project. It's like 50% of our grade and we have to basically go gallivanting through the city and I just can't imagine dragging her around for all that. It should only be two hours, three tops. Is there any way you could watch her?"
"Oh, of course! Lydia just dropped off her boys, and the others will be over in a bit. I'm sure she'll fit right in." Catching the still-skipping boy around the middle, Ms. Jones said, "Alex, would you like to show Jada where your toys are?"
"Okay!" He grabbed Jada's hand and quickly tugged her along.
Ms. Jones chuckled quietly. "She's going to fit in just fine. Now, go along and get your work done. I'll feed her lunch, too, don't you worry."
"Oh, thank you so much. You're a life saver. I'll be back as soon as I can."
This should have been the hardest part of the day, but Raquel could not shake off the nerves, not even during training. No matter how hard she tried to focus, she could barely pay attention to her teammates, and she lost most of her sparring matches. What if Jada said something that drew suspicion? What if Ms. Jones got suspicion about why her own parents wouldn't watch Jada? What if she got hurt? So many what ifs buzzed in her brain that by the time training was over, her head was pounding.
With a quick goodbye to her teammates, she made her way to the zeta tube and returned home. With every step she took, she felt more and more anxious until she stood on Ms. Jones's porch, convinced that she had been found out. Still, she forced herself to knock.
Ms. Jones' opened the door, and a cluster of children ran around behind her, shrieking with laugher, with Jada right in the middle. "Did your school work go well?"
"Oh, yeah, it was great." She could hear her voice squeaking, the way it did when she got nervous, and she fought to reign herself in. "Was Jada good?"
"An angel! Such a sweet little thing. How long is she staying?"
"Until tomorrow."
"Well, if you need a break, just drop her off again." Glancing over her shoulder, she called, "Jada, Raquel is here."
Skidding to a stop, nearly causing a pile up, Jada came running over, a giant grin on her face, and Raquel could barely believe she was the same girl from the night before. "Rocky!"
She leaned down and scooped Jada in her arms. "You had a good time?"
"Mhm!"
"Well, are you ready to have some more? Because we're going to the park."
"The park?" she repeated, eyes lighting up.
"Yup." Addressing Ms. Jones, she said, "Thanks so much."
"Not a problem, dear. Enjoy the park."
And Raquel plastered on a smile and nodded, but it was hollow, because she knew what she had to do.
She had to take Jada to the police.
Taking care of her like this... it would never work. It hadn't even been a whole day and she was overwhelmed, how did she ever think she would make it a few days? Besides, the longer Jada stayed, the harder it would be to say goodbye.
Still, she owed that little girl one great day, and she refused to disappoint. They played in the park for hours, tag and jump rope and hopscotch, swung across the jungle gym and rolled down hills, and watching Jada laugh and smile was the greatest thing in the world.
And then they were laying in the grass and the sun was dipping behind the horizon and her mom was texting her if she'd be home for dinner, and there was no postponing the inevitable anymore.
With a small sigh, she texted back, I'll be home soon-a little hero business I have to take care of, and turned to Jada. "Look, Jada, there's something very important I have to talk to you about."
"Important?"
"Yeah." Sitting up, she took a deep breath and stared at her hands. "I...What I did...I shouldn't have just taken you."
"But, but you're good."
"I am, Jada. And that's, that's why I need to do the right thing, all the time. And that..." She felt tears building in her eyes, but she blinked them back. "I need to take you to the police, okay?"
"What?" Jada jumped to her feet, and Raquel grabbed her arm to keep her from running. "No, no! You promised! You promised!"
"I know, I know, I, I wanted to keep that promise, but Jada, this is very complicated, okay?"
"No, no! They'll lock me up!"
"Jada-"
"No!" She tugged frantically, but Raquel kept her hold. "No, you promised! They'll lock me up!"
"No, Jada, no they won't." Raquel pulled her into a hug, even as she fought. "The police are good, and they want to help you. I work with them all the time, okay? They want to find you a family that can give you a real bed and nice clothes. Please, Jada, I'm sorry, but I want to help you, and, and this is how I have to do it, okay?" The tears were back, but she let them drip down her face as Jada started wailing, sobs racking her body.
It was a few minutes before Jada calmed down, and Raquel, unsteadily, got to her feet. "Look, Jada, I...you don't have a whole lot of reason to trust me right now, but, but it will be okay, okay? You, you just gotta answer the police's questions, and they'll make sure you find a nice family that takes care of you right, okay? No more sleeping in the hallway."
Jada just nodded sadly.
Raquel couldn't decide what was worse, the silent drive to the police station or the look on Jada's face as she was led away to talk with an officer. Sergeant Michael, whom she had worked with on multiple occasions, only listened to her story with a raised eye brow, clearly not believing how she had "just stumbled upon this little girl" and yet had time to get her new clothes. He didn't question it, though, only said he'd give her an update, no matter the time, when they knew anything for sure.
Raquel thanked him and returned home, pretending everything was normal. When she got the call from Sergeant Michaels, she calmly took in his report that her mother, Lydia, hadn't even reported her missing, nor seemed aware that she had been missing. A year before, she hadn't even been raising Jada-she'd been "getting clean" while her mother treated Jada like her own. Only after she had passed away from cancer did Lydia take responsibility for her child, which she did by spending her meager inheritance on chasing highs. Jada was with a social worker now, and they would try to get her placed in a foster home as quickly as possible, and yes, he would keep her updated the entire time throughout the process.
And once again, Raquel thanked him and pretended everything was just fine because she was a hero, after all.
Until the next morning, when she went to get the newspaper and saw Ms. Jones doing the same. Flashing a big smile, she asked, "How's Jada?"
And then she was crying, feeling so stupid as she tried to explain what was going on, but she could only awkwardly gesture and sputter short, incoherent phrases. Ms. Jones, alarm clear on her face, hastily guided Raquel to her house, sat her down in the living, and disappeared in the kitchen. By the time the teen had managed to collect herself, Ms. Jones was back, a cup of tea was in her hands. "Why don't you tell me what happened, hm?"
Raquel told her (almost) the whole story, the words coming out in a rush, ending with, "And, and I just wanted to help her, and I failed."
"Oh, honey, you didn't fail." Ms. Jones gently patted her knee. "I know why you did all that." Pointing to a family portrait on the wall, with her, her husband, and five children, she said, "Those two boys on the end? My foster sons. I had plenty through the years, but they were the ones I could adopt." She smiled sadly. "I wanted to adopt all of them, but there was...always something. Trust me, Raquel, I know the feeling of wanting to do anything to help these kids. That, that drive deep inside telling you to do whatever you can. But in the end, you did the right thing. You did not fail her."
She was quiet for a few moments, staring at the painting. "After George died," she began softly, "I didn't take in any more foster kids. I didn't think I could handle it, you know, plus I had my grandbabies to watch, but I'm still a certified foster parent. And I have all this free time now that I'm retired."
Raquel covered her mouth with her hand, not believing what she was hearing. "Are you serious?"
"It's no guarantee, but I'll do my very best."
Standing so quickly she almost sent the cup toppling to the floor, she pulled Ms. Jones into a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much."
"No need to thank me, sweetheart. Just promise me you'll never lose that drive."
It was the easiest promise she ever made. Because Jada might've had people like her grandmother and Ms. Jones in her life, but there were plenty of other kids who had no one to fight for them.
And she wasn't much, not in the grand scheme of it all, but she vowed to be the one who took up that fight.
Neglect is the most common form of child abuse. There are kids all around the world who don't have the basic necessities because their parents are not willing to care for them. Every child deserves to be fed, to have a place to sleep at night, to know that he or she is loved.
Charities like ChildHelp rely on donations to educate about abuse, intervene when there is abuse, or help children heal. Donate if you can. If you can't, write to your legislators demanding better laws against child abuse and an improvement foster care. If you think someone is being abused, intervene, and don't stop until he or she is safe. Do what you think is best, even if it's not the easy path to take.
To all the victims, you are in my thoughts and prayers always. If you need help, get it. Someone will believe you. I do. Don't give up hope.
No more concrete angels.