by J. B. Garner
"Whoa, girl, I get it." I gave her a sincere smile and nod. "I'd be happy to arrange that."
The request itself had been simple. All I asked was that she record a video with her phone and pass it along as best she could. The video itself, well, it was a simple message.
"I am out there. I am free and I promise to all of you under the boot of the Crusaders, afraid and lost, that I will stop them. Epic, I'm coming."
Yes, it wasn't much, but it certainly seemed to be a hit with the eleven-year old female demographic. I only hoped that it would be as well-received by all those people out there who needed it.
Chapter 13 Insight
The hardest part about leaving that apartment wasn't the pain in my leg, it was giving up the small amount of peace I had enjoyed there. Most of my adult life had been spent in the constant pursuit of one thing after another and, aside from Eric and a few friends here and there, I had eschewed the peace and comfort human relationships, be it lover, friend, or family, could provide. If you've ever experienced that moment when you realize you have been the genesis of most of your own problems, you would have known how I felt at that point, stepping out of the apartment building.
"Are you sure that leg will hold up?" Stephanya said, glancing at my wounded calf.
"I'm sure it will," I said. "Besides, I've got to get back to work. I'm not prone to making idle threats."
"Ms. Indy," Kathy interjected, having been quiet the entire time I was getting ready to go, "I know you've got a lot of bad guys to stop but can I ask a favor?"
Stephanya was about to say something, but I gave her a slight shake of the head. Kneeling down some to be at eye level to the eleven year-old, I gave Kathy a smile despite the shriek of pain in my leg.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Please find my dad." I had to admire the girl's stubborn determination to not break down into tears despite her watering eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"I promise." I nodded to Kathy, then glanced at Stephanya. "For both of you."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Steph said, wiping at the corner of her eyes. "Now, enough stalling. You had better get moving before you attract the wrong kind of attention." She put her arm around her daughter's shoulders as I stood back up. "Don't worry about us, we'll lay low for a bit. Now shoo!"
"Okay, okay," I smirked, "I'm gone. Take care now."
Both mother and daughter waved after me as I began my painful hike across town.
I stood across the street from the nondescript office building that was our current headquarters. At first, it had just been a stop to rest my aching leg. By some miracle, most likely the strange speed at which I healed post-Whiteout, the wound's dressings hadn't completely bled through yet, but I'd still feel better about it once Brooks had taken a poke at it.
What made me linger there, one street away from sanctuary, was a surge of paranoia. Had everyone else gotten away? Maybe they had been followed. Maybe I was the last one left. I had no way of telling, no information channel, and, as per Rachel's security protocol, the frequencies the radios used would have been changed the moment I was missing in action.
I took a deep breath and let it out. How could I be letting paranoia get the best of me now? It wasn't like I had any other place to go. Either everything would be okay or there would be who knows how many Crusaders and their cronies waiting inside. With that lovely thought, I strolled across the street as naturally as I could manage.
I didn't even bother to try the key I had. The locks would have been yet another thing that Brooks and Choi would have changed straight away. I certainly couldn't fault them for that in this particular situation. All I could do was to place myself right in the view of the hidden security camera and wait to be spotted.
That paranoid kernel of my mind screamed that it had been too long, that I should make a break for it. I pushed that down hard. Nerves could turn seconds into hours and that's all I was experiencing now. Calm was what was called for here, not wild imaginings.
That calm was rewarded after a minute or two when a short buzzing alerted me to the click of the door unlocking. Taking one last deep breath, I opened it and went inside, fully cognizant of the possibility this could all still be some elaborate trap, no matter how stupid that really was.
"I know it sounds funny to you guys, but I was starting to freak out a little." I was sprawled out on an examination table, my injured leg raised up for Duane's inspection.
"I'm going to have to get at least one 'hearty chuckle' out of the way," Quentin said. Everyone was crammed into what passed for the infirmary. Even Mind's Eye levitated in a corner, sitting cross-legged in the air. "I mean, I'll grant you that you had a right to be cautious but -"
"- the way you jumped when I tapped you on the sssshoulder wasss pricelesss." Meds looked like she hadn't slept well these past few days, but at least she had a smile on her face.
"When I informed Mr. Voltage that there was no one at our doorstep visible to my psychic perception, your identity was obvious regardless of your attempt at disguise," the Indian seer said in her usual, moderated tones. "I am glad, as are all of us, that you made it back safely after putting yourself in harm's way for our benefit."
"You all would do the same, I'm sure." Despite the pain of Duane prodding the injury, I still managed a smile.
"Of course we would," Frost rumbled. "That is what heroes do. It is an essential part of our natures."
"An essential part of my nature wants me to cuss the shit out of all of you and get you the hell out of my infirmary." Duane stood up as he spoke, reaching for the side table of medical instruments. "This isn't a goddamn high school prom. It's a doctor's office." He swept the room with a scowl before going back to work.
"Duane has a good point, people," Rachel said, putting that steel in her voice. "Let's give him room to work. We'll catch up after Indy's got a clean bill of health, alright?" With a collective grumble, Rachel herded the rest of my friends out of the room.
"So, with the rabble cleared out, how bad is it?" It wasn't that I didn't think that Steph and Kathy didn't do all they could, it was the fact that an apartment's master bedroom and a basic first aid kit did not a surgical theater make.
"Truth be told, Doc, it's not that bad." Brooks gave me a glance as he prepped sutures and needles. "If you hadn't told me otherwise, I'd have guessed an EMT or a RN did this. Obviously this isn't going to get better overnight, but you're going to recover fine."
"I hate to be that person again, but you know as well as I do that I'm going to be ignoring the incoming suggestion to 'stay off the leg and let it fully heal before going out in the field'."
"Well, shit." Duane shook his head as he knelt down again to get to work. "I guess I'll go back to working on my ulcer again." I willed the pain down as he put needle to flesh. As he finished up, once I saw his bald head pop back up, I brought up the one thing I had been wanting to ask him and Rachel since the day before.
"So, Agent Brooks." That got his attention. His normally curmudgeonly expression hardened even more. "When were you going to tell me about the video?"
The hardness faded into confusion almost instantly.
"What video?"
It was a setting that almost felt like the old days had never left. What had probably once been the landlord's apartment had been converted over to a reasonable facsimile of our old meeting room at the Brooks-Choi Foundation building. Some of the faces were certainly different, but there was enough the same that I found myself blinking to clear away what I swore to be glimpses of some of our still-controlled friends.
Rachel finished loading up the video on her tablet, bringing it through the networked projector on to an old portable movie screen. She glanced up at Duane, standing at the back of the room.
"Cut the lights please." She looked across the room from old guard to new recruits. "I'm sorry for the short notice, especially you, Eye, we know how hard it is to recover from those helmets."
Mind's Eye in
clined her head slightly as Medusa put a hand on her shoulder. Though we didn't often get along perfectly, I still felt a lot of sympathy for what the psychic had to be going through. I flashed her a thumbs-up as some small show of support.
"What I'm going to show you is something that shouldn't be and, Irene, something I didn't know existed until now." Her eyes were sincere and her body language was just too tired for her to be lying. I gave her a small smile and a nod.
With that signal, Rachel tapped the 'Play' function and showed the replay of my fight with Epic. As soon as it stopped, Quentin's hand shot up.
"This isn't high school, Q," Duane shouted as he flicked the lights on. "Just ask the question."
"Excuse me for a shred of professionalism," he said with an impish smirk. "Seriously, though, how did that thing get made? I'm assuming from the subject's expression that this is the real deal."
"Perhaps one of Epic's Crusaders?" Frost offered. "Though it would be very odd for one to observe without intervention."
"Even then," Voltage buzzed, "it would be almost impossible to keep that clarity and focus during such high-speed maneuvers. That would be both the target and the camera moving. I've had enough experience with mid-air refueling to tell you those kind of moves are hard enough to do under controlled circumstances. This? This is a chaotic fight."
"Where did thisss come from?" Meds said, squinting hard at the screen, as if trying to find something to explain its existence.
"I got it from the mother and daughter who saved my life out there," I said then shrugged. "As for where they got it, all they could tell me was that it appeared on their phones a day or two after the dome went up."
"The point is that we have very few answers as to the origin of this video, just like we have no idea how Irene got that key in the Crusader prison." Rachel clicked off her tablet. "What this tells us is that there is some other player out there, an unknown one."
"Well, sure," Duane said, rubbing his stubble, "but so what? It's pretty obvious they're on our side. That video has got to be an embarrassment to the Crusaders and Epic, not to mention getting Irene free is only bad for them."
"I am not so sure, Duane Brooks." Mind's Eye, silent until now, looked up, a strange look of concern on her face. "Perhaps this is an unseen ally. However, do these events help us or do they simply generate chaos?"
"I don't follow you, ma'am," Voltage added.
"Neither do I. How could having Indy free caussse chaosss?"
"Certainly we have ample proof of what we all knew, that Indomitable is a match for Epic on her own, but spreading this proof frees no one. It simply encourages the populace to resist the Crusaders. Giving Indomitable a chance to escape in no means guaranteed the outcome we hoped for, namely her freedom, especially void of any support. It was only good fortune that Strange, Frost, and Voltage were already there. Even her escape only creates more potential for the situation to spiral out of the Crusaders' control."
The room was filled with quiet, thoughtful faces. Before anyone could do more than begin a murmur in response, the Indian mystic started again in her measured tones.
"I do not mean to put all of you on edge but we must realize that this cannot be assumed to be a new ally. The only thing I feel we can safely believe is that this is nothing more than an indicator of a new enemy of the Crusaders. This can mean both good and ill for our own cause, one whose future I cannot even begin to divine."
"I wish I could argue that, Eye, but you're right," I finally said after a few more moments of silence. "So other than keeping our eyes open, what else can we do but carry on?"
"Right," Quentin chimed in. "So, back to the plan?"
"Yes, back to the plan." Rachel pulled out her well-used notebook. "The files that Voltage pulled off of Doc Bio's computers should let us find a way to crack those helmets at a distance or at the least disrupt them long enough to get our friends free. Good job."
The electric man nodded (I think) humbly at the praise.
"More importantly, Mind's Eye, again, I know it's expecting a lot so soon but -"
"I have already done as you requested," Eye interrupted. Knowing her, the very prospect of having work to do was probably a source of relief from what demons could be lingering in her mind. "As Indomitable suspected, there are more than a few of the Crusaders who have come to realize the excessive nature of what Epic has commanded them to do. It took some care to avoid detection but I have succeeded in making telepathic contact with several of them."
"Are they willing then to join with us?" Frost said. "Surely now that the misdeeds of their former master has been laid bare, the heroic thing to do would be to join our own cause."
"Their thoughts are still confused. They have had their core beliefs rocked by this; these things do not resolve so quickly or cleanly," Mind's Eye said.
I felt myself nod in agreement.
"Understandable." The Whiteout, Eric's betrayal, all of this ... my world had been broken apart into little pieces and didn't fall back together entirely before now. "What are they willing to do then? Do they know where Archer is?"
"They will meet at a neutral spot to see what can be done without violating their own principles. Naturally, the ones involved request your presence in specific, Indy." She shrugged slightly. "As far as the Argent Archer, they have not been forthcoming so far and I have decided not to press. Yet."
"Naturally." I was good, I didn't even roll my eyes. In fact, it only seemed proper that I was being forced to be the center of this. After all, Eric had wanted himself to be at the head of this new reality he created with me right by his side. Archer, well, we'd get him back. Alma too, when the time was right.
"Well, my thought is we try to fry two eggs in one skillet," Quentin said. He opened his right hand. "Dr. Roman and one or two of us meet our possible new allies while the rest of us," he opened his left hand, "see if we can draw out and get the last of our guys back on the right side."
"We'll see what we can manage," Rachel said absently, her fingers now gliding over her tablet. "Eye, get back in contact with our new friends. I take it we have no objections over this meeting?"
There wasn't a single one.
Chapter 14 Meet
My calf was still sending jolts of pain up my leg as I gingerly tightened the laces of my boots. Fortunately, this was all planned, at least on my end, to be as non-violent as possible. It was just going to be a peaceful talk with some like-minded individuals. The fact that I was laughing to myself as I thought that spoke volumes as to how likely I thought that would really happen.
"Should I even ask why you are laughing like an idiot while looking at your foot or is it just a private psychosis?" Quentin said flippantly, leaning against the door frame. Unlike me, he was already fully suited-up and ready to go. "Don't answer that. Just letting you know the train is about ready to leave the station."
"It's alright. Crazy is relative anyway." I put some weight on the injured leg. It was going to hurt like hell but I would manage. "I'm about ready." I suppressed the limp as I moved to the bare dresser and picked up my mask.
"Excellent. If this goes as smoothly as it should, we'll be two steps ahead of Epic for once." I could hear him fidget as I brushed on the spirit gum. "I guess that is assuming a lot though."
"Hey, optimism isn't the worst thing to be feeling right now." Carefully, I pushed the mask into place, holding for just a moment to let the spirit gum do its magic. "Before we go out and potentially get ourselves killed, do you mind if I ask something? Call it scientific curiosity."
"Sure, I'm an open book. Well, at least an informative pamphlet." To no surprise of mine, he was smirking as I turned to face him.
"How did it happen for you? I mean, how exactly did you become a Natural?" Ever since I had figured what Quentin was, I was curious. How I came to be made a strange sort of sense and Mackenzie's story dovetailed into my own but I was grasping at straws as to how what I assumed was a short-order cook could have his eyes wedged open to the Whi
teout.
"Oh, that's easy," he said, pushing off the door frame. "The recipe was wrong."
"I'm not sure I entirely follow."
"Well, Dr. Roman, you certainly have to have examined some of your science-y texts since things went White."
"I have and -" That's when it clicked. "Oh!" I snapped my fingers and pointed at the cook. "The recipe was wrong."
"Right!" He rubbed his gloved hands through his close-cropped red hair. "Oh, sure, it was just a smidge off here and a bit more there but it had changed. Something that I had served up every day for three years straight was suddenly not the same." Quentin chuckled. "It didn't help that the rest of the world had gone crazy that morning. It just smelt funny to me."
"I can understand that." I snapped my gear bag around my waist; that was about everything. "Still ... a recipe? I can fathom that but -"
"Hey, you take your science seriously. I take my cooking seriously." He turned to step out of the door. "There's nothing saying that stubborn dedication to one's work is strictly connected to big stuff like that. I'm a great cook and I strive every day to be better at it, even if I have to take breaks to fight bad guys, save cities, and annoying stuff like that."
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it," I offered as I followed him. "In fact, really, it makes a lot of sense when you put it that way. Very enlightening." I was being sincere. Quentin's short-but-sweet statement helped drop a few more pieces of the puzzle into place.
"I am glad I could be so helpful, Doc." He flashed me a smirk. "So, good luck with your Crusader buddies."
"Good luck with saving the rest of my friends. Don't hurt them if you can avoid it; friends are a commodity in short supply these days."
"I'll take that under advisement." Quentin snapped off a short salute as we met up with our respective teams.
The distribution of forces had been quite simple. I needed to be at the meeting so Quentin was in charge of the 'nab our friends' group, splitting our Natural advantages. Medusa's influence over Hexagon was obvious and Voltage would best be able to leverage the knowledge we had swiped about the helmets (crazy Pushtech though it was) with his own powers, so that rounded out Strange's team. As for mine, Mind's Eye had been our point of contact so far, so she was already an obvious choice to go with me and Frost would be able to provide muscle if we needed it. It didn't hurt that she had proven to me to be surprisingly insightful, if a little stuck in the heroic-fantasy mind-set. It wasn't any worse than the other Pushed, after all.