by wildbow
But he was still Oliver. Whatever gradual transition his power was offering, it hadn’t changed the person at the core of it; an insecure, socially stunted teenage boy. In a way, it had made it worse. Oliver’s face and body changed according to his basic perception of attractiveness, and that changed a little every time he saw a new face. In little ways, his face changed day by day, to the point that it wasn’t always easy to recognize him.
Fuck you, Simurgh, Krouse thought. They’d all been forced to deal with their individual tragedies. Noelle’s went without saying. Jess hadn’t gotten to walk, Luke hadn’t gotten to fly, Oliver got a physical and mental overhaul without any fixes for the real problems, and Marissa had been thrust into the situation she’d fought so hard to escape, where she was forced to pursue a life she didn’t want.
Krouse’s tragedy was waiting for him inside.
As for Cody’s…
Oliver helped Krouse move the body out of the passenger seat.
They grunted as they carried it through the front door. Krouse double checked nobody was observing. He’d parked briefly to remove his costume, then swapped himself and the body for people in another car before continuing en route to their current hideout. It was the middle of the day, and virtually everyone in this neighborhood would be at work or at school, but he feared some college student or elderly person would just happen to be outdoors or walking a dog. It would make things complicated.
Accord wasn’t so wrong on that subject. Things were better when they were simple.
Krouse and Oliver dragged the body to the middle of the living room. It joined two others. Each was different in the mutations, in the distortions and impurities. Each of the three bodies was Perdition. Was Cody.
He looked at Ballistic, Jess and Oliver. “Three? You’re sure?”
“Sure enough,” Ballistic said.
“How’s she?”
“Upset. You’re going to have to talk to her, calm her down.”
Krouse winced, nodded.
They all stared at the bodies. This would be the third incident. Or incidents three through five, if he wanted to count it that way.
“How much damage done?” Krouse asked. “Anyone hurt?”
“A bunch hurt but nobody got killed by the one I went after,” Jess said.
“Yeah, a few hurt,” Ballistic said. He paused. “One dead.”
“Fuck,” Krouse said. “At least two dead at the hands of the one I stopped. Not as bad as last fall.”
Ballistic shook his head.
“We… we can’t let this happen again,” Jess said.
“That’s what we said last time,” Krouse noted.
“She’s getting stronger,” Jess said. “And more volatile.”
“We’ll fix her,” Krouse said, his voice a touch hollow. “We’ll fix her, and we’ll get home.”
Just words. How can they believe me when I don’t even buy it?
“Where is he?” he asked, breaking the lingering silence.
Ballistic pointed in the direction of one of the ground floor bedrooms.
“What happened?” Krouse asked.
“We don’t know. Neither Cody or Noelle are saying.”
“Fuck. Okay. I need a smoke, then we’ll resolve this.”
“Krouse—” Luke said. But Krouse was already out of the living room, pushing his way through the front door.
He stepped outside, sat on the front steps, took his time in getting his cigarette and lighting it. He finished the first, started on the second, and gave serious consideration to having a third after that.
He shut his eyes. Just need a moment of calm, a few minutes to organize my thoughts.
“Krouse.”
He resisted the urge to sigh. Marissa was there, coming down the path from the driveway. “Mars. Glad you did okay with Accord. Sorry to leave you like that.”
“It’s okay. It was better that you went to deal with the situation. I couldn’t have. I don’t have it in me, even knowing they aren’t real.”
Krouse nodded, closed his eyes.
“He said I wasn’t perfect.”
Krouse froze, turned to see her leaning against the railing just beside him. She’d changed into civilian clothes. “You burned his place down, then?”
“No,” she said. “He said I wasn’t perfect, but that he saw what you meant. He said I was trying, despite myself. I… I don’t know if that was a compliment or not.”
“Ah.”
“Um. He wants you to see him tonight. Nine sharp. And, um. He said that if I’m not the problem, he fully expects you to bring the real culprit. Did he mean Noelle?”
“Cody,” Krouse said. “Shit. Not the way I wanted this to go.”
“What!? Krouse, he’s going to kill him.”
“Probably.”
“We can’t!”
“We may have to. If we don’t give him a scapegoat, he’ll send assassins and homicidal underlings after us. We need someone to blame, not just for intruding on the meeting, but for the three very violent scenes that erupted in his territory earlier today. Not to mention that we can’t afford to pack up shop and move right now, not while Noelle’s as upset as she is. Between the two of us, I think we’ve charmed Accord enough that I’d bet we can get away with giving him Cody and paying him a fair sum. We do that, we can stay for ten days. We’ll gather some funds and give Noelle time to quiet down.”
“You’re talking about killing a teammate.”
“He was never a teammate. He was one of us, yes, but he never cooperated, never worked with the rest of us.”
“We made a pact, a promise. To stick together, no matter what. To do what it took to fix Noelle and get home.”
Krouse shut his eyes. “I know. Not an hour goes by that I don’t think about it.”
“You’re breaking that promise if you give Cody up.”
Krouse sighed, took a drag of his cigarette and blew smoke out through his nostrils.
“Krouse—”
“Mars. There’s no reason he’d enter her room and intentionally touch her three times. You know that, I know that.”
He turned around to glance at her, saw her frowning.
“What do you mean, Krouse?”
“I mean he waited until the rest of us were busy, then he entered her room and he enraged her. Because for there to be three points of contact, three uses of her power, she’d have to be the one making the contact. She’d be using her power on purpose, and she wouldn’t do that if she wasn’t berserk. I’m guessing he was badly hurt?”
“Broken arm, broken leg.”
Krouse nodded. He took another drag of his cigarette.
“Why? How?”
“He had a goal in mind, only he didn’t anticipate how fast she moves, how strong she is. He was trying to do one of two things. Either he did something general, said something, with the aim of making her go berserk… or he tried to kill her. One way or another, Cody wanted to end this. End our mission. Free himself. He doesn’t give a fuck about the promise, so I don’t see why the promise should protect him.”
“I don’t—I can’t believe that.”
“You can’t believe that Cody is that self-centered? Did you just come from an alternate universe with a different Cody?”
“No. I… I can almost believe it. But you’re talking about killing. Or giving him to someone else so they’ll kill him.”
Krouse finished the cigarette and tossed it to the base of the steps, crushed it under his toe.
“Tell you what,” he said. “Let me talk to the others. Maybe Cody too, just to confirm suspicions. We’ll see if the others come to the same conclusion.”
“Krouse, you’re talking about sentencing Cody to death.”
“He knew what he was getting into. And whatever else happened, three innocent people are dead because he fucked up. So we’ll talk to the others. We’ll come to a consensus.”
“This is ugly. God, Krouse, it’s still Cody.”
“Yeah. It’s not pret
ty. So why don’t you take a break, clear your mind? Maybe go do a food run for Noelle.”
Marissa frowned. “Hate these runs.”
“We have to, and your turn’s up.”
“I know, I know. But people look at me funny when I bring a cart of meat and only meat.”
“Tell them you’re buying for a restaurant and the wholesaler dropped the ball today.”
“It still looks weird.”
“Maybe find a butcher? We’ve got a backyard here, if you want to get maybe two whole pigs, you can tell him you’re throwing a party.”
“Fuck it,” she muttered. “Keys?”
Krouse fished the keys and the carton of cigarettes from his pocket. He tossed her the keys and tapped another cigarette out of the box.
“And stop smoking. You’re killing yourself, Krouse.”
“I know,” he said.
She was all the way at the car when she turned around and hurried back to the front steps.
“What?” Krouse asked.
“I almost forgot. Accord. He wanted me to pass this on.”
She handed him a piece of paper. There was a number printed on it. Different area code.
“What is it?”
“He said someone was trying to get in contact with you.”
“Who?”
Marissa shrugged.
“For the record, Marissa, with guys like Accord, you can’t almost forget to pass on messages, and you don’t waltz in on a business meeting. Things could have turned out a lot different today. They still might.”
“I… I don’t want to interact with guys like him.”
“We have to. Only way to go about it.”
“I know. I just… next time we run into someone like that, I’ll stay hands off. Keep my distance.”
“Alright. Go, shop. Take your time. Give yourself a break, buy an ice cream or something. You have my permission and my orders to go distract yourself.”
Marissa retreated to the car.
Krouse puffed for a minute on his second cigarette, pulled out his phone, and dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“Accord gave me this number.”
“Then this would be Trickster, I presume.”
“Yeah.”
“I have a business proposition for the Travelers.”
“Well, things have gone a little south with Accord, here, so I’m not quite sure where we stand, but I need to do this job for him before I take on anything else.”
“This is more of a long-term job.”
“We don’t really do long-term. We don’t stay in one place for long.”
“I’m well aware of your circumstances.”
Trickster took a long haul on his cigarette. “That so?”
“I know Accord through a mutual acquaintance. Through this acquaintance and my own resources, I’ve gathered a fairly robust set of data on you Travelers.”
“That sounds vaguely threatening.”
“I suppose it might, to individuals trying to avoid scrutiny. Rest assured, it is just the opposite. I know what issues you face, Trickster, and I am offering you a solution.”
“A solution?”
“I’m offering three things, to be precise. Work for me. Help me achieve my goals and I will allow you to achieve yours.”
Krouse leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. he held the cigarette in one hand and the phone in the other. “What do you know of our issues?”
“I know what the PRT knows. I know you appeared out of nowhere, that a Luke Casseus and a Noelle Meinhardt were admitted for care to St. Mary’s hospital, yet there are no such students on any high school rosters.”
“We’re not from there,” Krouse said.
“Then why did Luke Casseus put down Madison, Wisconsin as a place of residence?”
Krouse suppressed a groan.
“Rest assured, Trickster, there is no need for any alarm. The fact that I know these things is an asset to you. A contact of mine in the PRT has taken over your case file and requisitioned all details on your encounter with Myrddin. That case will not be pursued further.”
“And why are you doing this for us?”
“Because I have goals of my own, and I believe one can’t be too careful. When hiring expert help, I prefer that help to be loyal. I will get that loyalty by giving you what you desire. Everyone has their price, and my research into you Travelers has been done with the goal of discovering what that price is.”
“Yeah? Let’s hear it. What’s our price?”
“All the money you require, for one. So long as you’re in my employment, I will pay for whatever you require. Even if it is nearly one thousand, five hundred dollars in groceries per week.”
“How generous.”
“Number two? I will send you home.”
Krouse stopped, the cigarette dangling from his lips.
“A man in power like myself has contacts. Through one of these contacts, I have access to a man who can create doorways between worlds. The caveat is that I won’t have the power, funds or leverage to request assistance from this individual until my own goals are met.”
“So we have to help you for you to help us.”
“Exactly, Trickster. As for your other problem, well, that is a more daunting task.”
Noelle.
“You said you could help.”
“I can’t guarantee anything. I can offer all of my resources, which are considerable, and all of the resources I will have, which are even more so.”
“Sounds pretty wishy-washy.”
“Perhaps. But when making an argument or making a sale, I find it’s best to lead with the second best offer, move on to the weaker ones, and then close with the best. I am offering you one more thing.”
“What?”
The man on the phone told him.
It was another minute before Krouse hung up.
Krouse spent fifteen more minutes sitting on the front steps of the house. It was the first time in a year that he’d had a moment to stop and think and he didn’t reach for his cigarettes.
When he stood, he was in something of a daze.
He stepped back inside.
“Krouse,” Luke said, “we need to talk about what we’re doing with Cody.”
“Later,” Krouse said.
“What’s going on?”
“Going to go talk to Noelle.”
“She’s pissed, Krouse. She’ll flip out on you, and I’m not doing this again. I won’t fucking hunt down deranged mutant clones. Especially not yours.”
“Not an issue. She’ll like what I have to say.”
“Krouse—”
“After, Luke,” Krouse said. He spun around, faced his friend. “I think we’ve got what we’re looking for.”
“What?”
“A way home. Maybe even a fix for Noelle.”
“How? Who?”
“Some supervillain in Brockton Bay. Wants us to work for him for a little while. There’s more, but…”
“But?”
Trickster met Luke’s eyes, “I want to tell her first. Everything that’s happened, I have to.”
“We deserve to know too, Krouse. We’ve been working at this as long as you have. We’ve had our hopes up and had them dashed too. Too many times.”
“I know. I know. Just… I’ll tell you after I’ve told her. I think this is it.”
He caught a glimpse of Luke’s expression as he turned away. A look of deep sadness. Krouse hesitated.
What was he supposed to say?
“Just a few minutes,” Krouse said. “I’ll be back, then I’ll explain.”
He made his way to Noelle’s room, knocked.
“Go away.”
“It’s Krouse.”
There was a long delay.
“What do you want?”
“I want to come in,” he said.
“No you don’t.”
“I do. Please.”
There was a long delay. He took that for assent
.
Noelle didn’t meet his eyes as he entered. He noted the mangled bedframe, the splintered wood from the boxspring, and the mattress torn in two. An oak cabinet had been demolished, and both bedside tables were in ruins. There wasn’t a single intact piece of furniture left.
He turned towards her. “I—”
“Don’t look at me,” she said.
He stopped, then he seated himself on the floor with his back to the remains of the cabinet, his back to her.
“Come to talk?” she asked. “Keep me company?”
“I was planning on doing it a little later. Things are kind of a mess out there, you know. The Cody situation.”
“Nobody keeps me company any more. Only you.”
“Yeah. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“You want to know what happened with Cody.”
“I know what happened with Cody. He tried to kill you.”
There was a long silence.
“I can’t die, Krouse. I’ve tried. Tried to end it. Spare you guys from looking after me. I can’t. Nothing works.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m one of them. Or I’m becoming that way.”
“Maybe.”
“An Endbringer.”
He felt a chill, and it wasn’t the early spring temperature.
“Maybe. Or maybe you’re more like those monsters that were dumped on the street.”
“They could die. You told me that you killed one of them.”
“Probably. But I saw another one die, you’re right.”
“And my power, if I get stronger, if I get more out of control—”
“You won’t.”
“I’ll be just as bad as the Simurgh. In a different way. I touch someone, and then I spit out copies. Uglier, stronger… meaner. I can’t control them. If I got my hands on one of the major heroes? Someone like that Myrddin guy?”
“You won’t. Listen to me, Noelle. I was just talking to someone. We may have an answer.”
He heard her shift position, flinched despite himself.
“You’ve said that before,” she said.
“This sounds like it. He’s not saying he might be able to make something that can get us home. He’s saying he already knows someone who has a way. Someone who goes back and forth. And he knows people. Scholars, scientists, this one girl with powers he didn’t explain, who knows stuff. Like Accord does.”