by P. S. Power
“Alright. Well, I guess I'd rather not have a girl's name. I always caught shit about looking too girly and soft at home growing up and it's an issue for me.” He turned and went to sit back down, only to find everyone was staring at him when he did.
“What? Oh! Sorry, I meant to say I always caught guff over that at home. It was a lot worse than that, so, yeah, there you go, push that button and I won't be able to play nice. I'd guess the psych people know that already, so this is probably someone's clever way of trying to get me killed.” Probably Marcia or the Director, but no one said anything for a moment.
“How about Gabriel? Like the angel? That's got a ring to it and everyone likes angels.” This came so softly that Denis nearly didn't hear it. He winced and turned to face the little green and black man that had said it.
“Kind of another girl's name.” He said, trying to keep the ass out of his voice as he spoke, the little man grinned.
“That's Gabrielle, but really... I know. I'm making fun of you. The last time we met you tortured me and a half dozen other people for nearly ten minutes. It really hurt. I deserve to get some payback.” The little man looked down, very shyly, but didn't take back the words.
He had? That... Denis had no memory of it and said so, which got everyone else to shrug or look at him funny, Jay just nodded though.
“Oh, that makes sense, you were given a drug to put you out by one of the doctors, Midazolam? Something like that. It's basically the junior cousin of Rohypnol, you know, the date rape drug? It wipes your memory of events for a bit. Doctor Clinton said that it would keep you from forming long term memories of the event. From what I heard though you kind of did a number on a bunch of people then opened all the way up on Proxy, not holding anything back at all. Luckily the doctor was there or Brian would have probably just killed you. It sounds like it was pretty close really.”
This got a general agreement from around the table.
Well, that was fucked. Great, so he had to apologize for that too now? He didn't even remember it at all. Damn. No wonder the guards turned into such dicks to him, off torturing people. Fucking hell. Why would he be doing that? Even if they were kicking his ass he wouldn't have done it.
Would he?
“I don't remember it, not in the slightest, but um... I'm really sorry if I hurt you or made you uncomfortable. I promise not to do it again.” It wasn't much, and Denis kind of expected the man to come at him across the table or use whatever power he had on him. It would be fair. He forced himself to relax and decided to just take whatever the guy threw at him, as long as it didn't kill him. Instead the man just nodded.
“S'alright. Not your best day. Happens.” The little man didn't smile, actually he looked down at the table a little embarrassed.
Marcia raised an eyebrow.
“I'd chime in on a new name but all the things I can think of are just as bad. Anyone else have anything?”
No one did for a while, so they kept talking about the plan.
“We send in Denny here with some physical backup, me or Argos, the rest of you hold back out of sight. Then we pacify the crowd, got it Den? Peace, love, all that kind of thing, then we bring out Karen and Ichabod here to chat the crowd up and get them all to go away. Clark, you're Karen's physical backup, so that means you protect her with your life if need be. Kare, try not to go all blue girl on us if possible. Everyone knows what it means and there's been talk about you being able to drive people insane after the whole thing with Brian. That could be used as an excuse to treat your little love ray as a dangerous weapon.”
The boss looked at the short multi-colored guy and took a deep breath. There was just a hint of a wince in it. Denis could tell. He got why when she spoke.
“We basically have to hide you Tobin, sorry about that. Maybe get you to a bullhorn or something in case it hits the fan. You can sing them into submission that way. I hate to do it but...”
The small guy, Tobin, nodded and spoke gently, softly.
“Yes. If the monsters see me, it could be an excuse to frenzy.”
“Pretty much.” Marcia looked at him directly.
Denis took a deep breath and fought to not talk. This whole thing was a fucking set up and basically hinged on him? What kind of genius based an entire, nationally important, plan on a single guy, especially one that was locked up in prison at the time, he wondered.
“Then I guess I better practice up on being all peace and light.” He said, hoping it didn't sound stupid. He'd mainly focused on really obvious effects though and it really did take a bit to master new sensations for broadcast.
“Do that.” Marcia said, not even showing a hint of a smile.
2
When the meeting broke up, Denis felt a little lost. It was too early for dinner and really, if he could make it happen a real shower and some fingernail clippers would be nice. If he didn't reek it was probably because he'd gotten used to the smell of his own sweat and his fingers looked like they were ended in talons practically. He didn't even know if he had a room anymore. Before he could dwell on it too much Karen came over, smiling sweetly.
She looked good. Of course about now all women did, but with her it was a real thing, constant. Her trim body practically begged to be...
Denis stopped the thought and tried to smile back. There were at least three people in the building that could read minds and while no one had said his thoughts had to be perfect, he didn't want to force anyone to tattle on him either. Clean, or at least nice, thoughts only. As best he could at least. Fucking telepaths.
“Hi!” The red-head said brightly, “you're down on nine with the rest of team three, I don't know if anyone told you? Brian asked me to make sure that you got settled alright. He'd have done it himself, but he has training all afternoon. Marcia's off to fight with him right now. Do you want me to lead you down?”
It was only meant as a kind offer. Even Denis knew that, but it wasn't like he hadn't lived there for years. All he'd need was a room number. When he asked it turned out that the bright haired and lightly freckled girl didn't know at all.
Grand. That meant checking in with Chris, who at the best of times couldn't stand him. Probably the strongest telepath in the place too, if not in the whole world. After all, she was a class five and that meant a lot for someone that basically just read minds. He'd never figured out how that was supposed to work and hadn't asked. Really Denis figured he didn't need to know, since it probably had to do with the fact that she could get nuclear codes on a whim or something like that. Well, it had to be done and not facing her wouldn't make things run any smoother later. Denis mentioned all this in a hushed voice to Karen, who just grinned. At least it was a sympathetic one, her compassion leaking through.
“I can see how that would be daunting. I'll go with and run interference if you need, besides I want to change before the daily afternoon press fiasco.” Still smiling she winked at him.
“Brian and I are dating. He said I should tell you right off so that you didn't accidentally hit on me or something. We share a room down there.”
Things really had changed then. Well, good for Yi. Karen was definitely a catch.
“Alright. Thanks for the warning, because otherwise I totally would have been hitting on you by the end of the elevator ride. Instead you can just point me toward all the still single girls. Well, if I can manage to not be a complete...” He stopped just before the bad words came out. It still wasn't easy, but he felt like he was getting a little better now. “Um, you know, how I was before?” He ended lamely.
A firm hand pushed him from behind. Lady Glory wasn't huge, about five-six, so actually shorter than he was by a tiny fraction of an inch. Denis reveled in the contact, but didn't say anything. After all, he knew for a fact that Brian could and would, kick his ass if he stepped out of line.
They used the elevator which was an express if not as fast as the one from the jail area and rode in silence. It was safer that way, he decided. He'd just keep his mouth just fro
m then on, as much as possible and hope that no one pushed him too hard about anything.
They didn't get ten steps off the elevator before someone did push him. Literally, and without warning. It wasn't Karen, since he'd let her go slightly ahead of him, not wanting to seem bossy or anything. The force took him all the way to the ground, and he'd felt the hands on his back, but when he spun no one could be seen. Sighing he tried to keep his cool and get up.
Penny. No one else he knew was either invisible or had as good a reason to be mad at him, not really. Maybe Clari from the make-up department, but she didn't have a power. Unless make-up skill counted that way and if it did, she still probably couldn't make herself invisible with it. Maybe ubber camouflage though? Moving his left arm under him and trying to stand only got him kicked in the ribs until he fell again. Karen looking on at him baffled as he rolled in a ball and tried to protect his head.
“Um, Penny? I'm sorry that I said we were seeing each other when we weren't. It was very rude of me and it won't happen again.” He waited hoping it had sounded sincere enough for the girl, but caught another shoe to the side for his trouble. A tennis shoe it felt like, not a boot, so he thanked goodness for that small favor and tried to protect his head and ribs at the same time with his hands and arms.
He couldn't even use his power to calm her down, her ability to not be seen or heard totally trumped his. Denis needed to see the target, otherwise he couldn't do squat. No more kicking came for a while though.
After about twenty seconds a voice came from within the dining room, hard to hear, but they were near the door, about fifty feet away. Karen helped him up and then held his hand, leading him in. A female voice seemed to be coming from a radio or speaker on a side table that didn't used to be there.
Karen cleared her throat.
“Penny? Would you like to start over? Denis is here now. It was kind of hard to hear you from out in the hallway.” She sounded calm and a little amused, but then it wasn't her butt getting kicked by the amazing inviso-girl either, was it?
Penny may not be Prime in strength or speed, or even Marcia, but the girl had her talents. It was freaking hard to fight something you couldn't see. Denis knew that for a fact at the moment, he'd been worked over halfway well already and hadn't been able to do more than get beaten up.
“I said; I'm not worried about you claiming we slept together you asshole, you tried to kill Brian like three times and nearly got Prime and Charlot killed too! They should have just killed you and buried the corpse in the desert like Marcia said. If you ever go after any of my friends again, I'll personally hunt you down and kill your smug bow tie wearing ass. I have a knife and know how to use it. Understood ass-munch?” The voice sounded cute, if angry.
“Penny? You can talk? How? This is great! Um, about the rest, yeah, I know that I have some fences to mend and that a lot of people will probably hate me. I'm trying to make amends, which is a lot harder than it sounds. I guess I need to talk to Prime and the PR lady too. I did already talk to Brian and we've kind of started to patch things up I think. Those other people I screwed with as well... Great fun. But well, um, sorry?”
There was no sound from the speaker for a while, so Denis waited for the kick to hit him in the balls or whatever Penny had planned. Instead he got a tired sounding voice from the box in front of him about a minute later.
“I'll give you a chance to fix things. Just one though. If you go back to being... you, I will take you out. I may not be some hardcore killer, but I'll protect my friends no matter what.”
Denis wanted to tease her but held his tongue. She could take him out and get away with it too. No camera could see her after all. If she was willing to kill, it wouldn't go well for him. It was so tempting to say something though...
“Alright. If I don't fix my... stuff, you take me out, and if I do manage to keep it altogether, in say, four months? I'll pay for dinner and take you out. Fair?” A smirk started to cross his face but he fought it.
“What?” Penny sounded shocked rather than angry.
“A bet. If I manage, at least roughly speaking, most of the time, within what you think are reasonable limits, not to be a jerk, for four months, you go out with me. If I don't, I end up dead in the desert. Sounds like incentive to me.”
Karen grinned.
“I have to say Penny, that sounds fair to me too. If he doesn't make the grade, well... but if he does he may even be worth spending time on. After all, he looks a lot better now without the silly outfit and clown hair.”
Ouch. Clown hair? That this came from what was supposed to be one of the most compassionate people on the planet kind of hurt. That was just what his hair did, a fairly tight whitey-fro. He couldn't help it or anything. His hair hugged his head as it was, in strange tight waves thanks to it being so short. If he was ten year younger he could have sneaked onto a military base and no one would have thought twice about it.
To his shock, no cursing came over the speaker box on the table, its blue and silver plastic case looking a bit out of place on the beige table cloth.
“Deal. But I will kill you if you screw up too much and I want something actually nice if you make it. A real dinner, drinks, maybe a movie. And I'm not putting out, so don't get your hopes up too high.” She chuckled a little at the end.
“Deal then.” He said seriously. It was too. A date with an invisible girl was better than being dead any day. Plus, his greedy inner self rubbed its little green hands together at the idea. She was a rare commodity, and as such, if he could get her, he'd...
Still want more. Always.
That part just didn't change. Denis had to stop himself from taking seconds at meals, even though he wasn't going to eat them. Greed. Everything he did was tainted by it. Even trying not to be a bad guy had to do with that, what could potentially be gained. Every second of each day.
Closing his eyes he tried to do what he did in meditation, meaning listen to the noise in his skull and when he opened his eyes try to relax and just notice the world around him. It wasn't perfect by any means, just a little bit less stressful.
Karen led him away happily, even as he limped a bit from the beating. It didn't hurt that much now, no broken bones, but there would be bruising along the ribs. A little tender, but he'd had worse. Mainly from Brian. His new best friend apparently. Talk about messed up, but still, he'd deal. After months alone like that he'd have agreed to be friends with Attila the Hun.
Chris was in her office, a nice room, frosted glass on the outside, with a cluttered desk piled with folders, a coffee mug and a computer, a desktop built right in to the upper surface, the wood looking fine and worn.
Christian Poures looked good too, well dressed, a light silver chain around her neck with a larger pendant of some kind on it. A big silver circle, shiny and glittering softly under the florescent track lighting above her. Her sweater was soft looking and a bit fuzzy, a light pink and her hair was cut decently short, blond as always and a bit waspish looking, but still attractive. Kind of hot really, and, if it wasn't for the fact that she was dating Mark, who really was a better person than he was, in the right age range.
Denis shook his head. Sorry Chris, not trying to inundate you or anything. It's just been a bit lonely where I was. He thought this clearly, then tried to go all Zen again. It felt harder now, after the bit of excitement with Penny, but at least he was trying. If it would help at all he just didn't know.
The team leader stared at him for a while, her face not changing, her eyes not shifting from his. If it was supposed to be unnerving she didn't quite make it, too pretty for that, and he already knew that she could read his mind at will, she didn't need eye contact for it. She liked to claim that she had an upper range, but the truth was that he'd seen her link to people from all around the world when she wanted. Her deal was that she really just didn't want to. She couldn't help but use her power, but her first mode made her hate being too close to people. Not a social anxiety either, she just didn't like being near
them, she'd explained it to the group once, but Denis hadn't really gotten it he knew. He shrugged and tried to smile. Finally she spoke, her voice even and firm sounding.
“Room eleven. I hope we can make the situation... better for you this time Denis.” Christian didn't move much, no flipping of hair or touching her face. She barely blinked. That was a little intimidating.
“Thanks. I'm trying, for my part, if anyone cares.”
“I know. So far at least. Keep it up. We could really use the help. More than I can say right now.”
Then she waved him away. Dismissive, but a common enough move for her. She liked to be alone as often as not, unless she really liked a person. Karen patted him on the shoulder, as they left the room and then left him to wander over to his own new digs without an escort. The door opened to his thumb print so it was really the right place at least. It also meant that Christian didn't feel like playing games with him over the room assignment. Nice of her really.
The inside didn't thrill him, it was small, about fifteen by twenty, half the size of his old room down the hall, and had only a twin bed in it, rather than a king like they'd given him before. It had its own bathroom, not huge, but no worse than what most people had so he wouldn't complain about that. Really, he couldn't complain about anything. Yeah, it was tiny and yes, it probably had the smallest shower on the whole floor most likely, true. It also had a door he could open and close at will, a real shower with warm water on demand and sitting on the bathroom counter a pile of toiletries, soap, deodorant and thankfully, fingernail clippers. Toenail too and even a little sand paper board thing to smooth them down after he cut them. That he felt slightly thrilled by the idea of basic grooming bothered Denis a little. A person shouldn't have things like that taken away as a punishment, should they? It wasn't humane.
Denis went to work, first trimming his nails, nose hair and everything else that hadn't been tended in half of forever, then he showered, for a long time. Nearly an hour, trying to wash and scrub the stink of captivity off of him.