Interlude: Secret Identity
The soft ringing of the doorbell was heard even from the outside as Legend patiently waited.
That same patience was starting to wear thin as he was now waiting close to fifteen minutes at that point when he looked at the watch on his wrist. He forgone the need to wear the tights for this venture, knowing that this entire neighborhood while discreet in nature, was still very public and open.
Especially since there were a lot of joggers at this time of day, and he did not need to jeopardize his friend's safety by having them pull out their phones and start taking pictures.
He currently wore a simple white polo shirt with some dull gray slacks and against the heat of the current Los Angeles weather, he felt very comfortable with his current look.
Alas, he was starting to get annoyed even with his typically patient nature because he was starting to get very worried about the issues transpiring with his friend. Even more so with the fact that she had effectively left the public eye both in her guise as Alexandria and that of Rebecca Costa Brown, Chief Director of the PRT.
Of course, she was not truly hiding or doing her best to not let people know her current location, but it felt like she was keeping herself away from everything, including that of their little secret group meetings.
Yes, the first time he had heard about it from Doctor Mother's own mouth, he was essentially shocked. It had been a week now since her disappearance and it felt so surreal that the same Rebecca whom he knew to be too much of a hard case and overly serious with her responsibilities was now neglecting them entirely. This was so out of character that he asked the others if she was possibly Mastered in some shape or form.
The only response that led to an ultimate conclusion was from Contessa, who told them simply and without any fanfare that "she needed space". Doctor Mother asked more about this current condition of their top brute, but the fedora-wearing woman merely shrugged in response, almost as if her undeniably strongest Thinker Power had no other solution on how to "fix" his friend's current predicament. Not that she looked too serious about it though, she seemed disinterested in the whole affair and was instead putting all her resources on a single man that was still out there doing God's work.
Admittedly he was also curious about the world's current man of the hour. In just a short few days, going upwards to a week, he had now dethroned almost every hero on Earth when it came to reputation alone…
However, he was not here for that man. He was here for his friend.
Both as an obligation for himself and their friendship, but also on orders from Doctor Mother who specifically told him to get "Rebecca off of her ass". He winced when he first heard those words, especially with how irked the woman had been. It was almost as if she was angry that her very dutiful child was now becoming erratic and disobedient.
He shook his head at those thoughts as he leveled a sigh in exasperation.
Clicking the doorbell again he decided if it was going to take much longer than this, he might just cut the door's locks and force himself inside discreetly because this was becoming ridiculous.
And he knew that she was in there given that there were reports of a Rebecca Costa Brown walking down this neighborhood for three days straight holding groceries in both arms. Some reports from the local PRT and police even told him that she nearly bought out the entire supply of a liquor store near downtown.
Which was odd. Given that Rebecca never got drunk. It was a quirk of her current condition.
So why the hell was she getting an untold number of groceries and liquor into her barely lived-in suburban home?
He huffed in annoyance at that, knowing that there was something wrong about this entire thing. He wanted to invite David in as well to talk to her, but he grumpily and admittedly said that with only two of the Triumvirate currently active, he needed to show face in order to keep everything in check.
Deep down however he knew that the man simply had no mood for it given his own, uh… issues with the current state of the world.
"Damn it." He muttered as he now thought about knocking on the door for one last attempt at this before doing what he thought of earlier until he heard the door's lock unlatch from the inside.
Immediately he calmed down and straightened himself with a smile in order to greet his friend but what welcomed him was something he did not wholly expect…
Like at all.
"Meow."
Keith blinked at the one who opened(?) the door of his friend's home.
"Uh, hi." He said as he stared at a cat.
A goddamn cat.
"Meow." Said the feline as if replying to his shock as it walked outside and started rubbing himself affectionately against his legs. "Meow."
It was strange enough that Rebecca now had a pet, but what made it stranger was that the blue cat had a costume on that was colored in a brightly colored red against black…
And it had a red glowing ring worn near the edge of its tail.
"Meow."
Did he mention that the cat was also glowing in red and was now floating while affectionately rubbing itself on his chest?
"W-What in the hell?" he muttered as the cat settled into his arms and was now relaxing in it.
The cat had a loving-looking collar on it too which was written in such a strange way.
"Dexter… where are you, girl? I don't want you pooping on my sofa again." He suddenly heard from inside the house as finally, Keith had heard that familiar voice. It was also strange to hear that familiar voice from Rebecca being as soft as it was.
Inevitably her friend finally arrived at the door and opened it in full as they now met face to face, with her cat in his arms.
"Oh. It's you… Legend." She said with a bit of embarrassment. He even saw her blush a bit.
However, it was probably due to what she currently looked like.
"Rebecca… you uh, look well?" he asked almost with a wince to try and cheer her up, but with how she looked, he knew he pretty much gave out the opposite effect.
Her entire look was in disarray to the point that if you compared Rebecca before and this person now you would not think that they were one and the same. She was heavily disheveled. Her straight and familiar beautiful hair was in a fritz, held together by a hairclip in a disastrous attempt at a ponytail. Her face which while beautiful to most people was now brought down by heavy bags under her eyes and a pale complexion against her Hispanic skin tone. Her eyes themselves were a bit red, either caused by crying or sleep deprivation.
Even her normally straight posture had deteriorated into a slight hunch.
He cursed inwardly, as he also noticed that her clothes were also a victim of her current circumstance. She wore an unclean-looking beige tank top that was riddled with stains of different kinds that Keith did not want to question. She also wore some slightly loose black shorts that were equally stale as her tank top, and both were curtained by a strangely light-colored pink bathrobe that clung to her shoulders.
She even had a pair of white fuzzy slippers on as the woman attempted a small smile with how he was definitely judging her appearance.
"I look like shit don't I?" the woman said as Keith immediately realized he needed to change tactics.
"No… you're uh. You don't look that bad compared to David on his bad days." He said trying to cheer her up. It again had the opposite effect as Rebecca frowned.
"You don't have to lie straight to my face about it. I… I would appreciate if you didn't lie at all if we're being honest." She admitted as she crossed both her arms and leaned against the doorframe.
"Meow." They both heard the cat say as it floated out of his arms and landed on his friend's own.
Oddly enough Rebecca affectionately rubbed the cat's head and even kissed it. She even whispered something to herself about the cat as she tightened her hold on it within her arms.
"So… what do you want?"
Keith straightened up as he sadly looked at his friend.
"We need to talk."
"Do we need to?" she asked with a yawn as Keith immediately smelled the onset of alcohol and a whole set of other scents from her breath. It reeked, but he did his best to not show it.
"Rebecca, please… I just want to help." He said with affirmation and enough sincerity to make it clear to her that his concern was genuine.
"I don't know if I want to talk to anybody right now, Keith. Especially you. I… I really don't want you and David to see me like this." She admitted with embarrassment as she looked away while petting her cat's ears.
Without any hesitation, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as they met eyes.
"Please. We don't have to talk about what's going on around the world. We can just talk like friends… you know, like old times."
A small smile quirked on the edge of her lips but she still looked unsure.
"F-Fine…"
He was glad to hear it as he saw her welcome him to her home.
She shut the door behind him as she started walking away, the cat still in her arms as she urged him to follow.
Later that day, he would realize that he had made a mistake.
TO BE CONCLUDED IN CHAPTER 3
AN: I honestly made this in order to flow into the upcoming chapter much more smoothly. Especially when you factor in that Alexandria will also make an appearance there (not the main viewpoint but she will still show up).
Anyway, if you want to ask why she is like that in this interlude, I can only say that this is a consequence of her being 'healed' in the last chapter. Oh, for sure her brute abilities are still there, but she's probably no longer in stasis. I'll leave it at that.
Also, the idea of Rebecca being a cat lady with our cute Dex-Starr was just hilarious in my head… I mean look at the guy. He's so cute. (For reference go search Dex-Starr the Red Lantern)
