He let out a long sigh, obviously not wanting to admit that, because it was easier to only focus on the debt. “All I care about is getting us out from under this. Whatever the reasons behind it are, that’s none of my business right now. I’ll square things with whoever is responsible for the explosion once the dust settles some, no sense in sticking our necks out now.” He cleared his throat. “In the meanwhile,” Thraex sat up straighter, “try to look professional, we need to get the word out more that you’re back in the science game in town.”
She blinked at him in surprise. “Thraex?” She took on a serious tone, breaking hard news to him. “No one is going to hire me for anything.”
“You don’t know that…” He began.
“Yes,” she nodded, “I do. I genuinely do. And so do you.” She looked down at her hands. “This makes, what? Five deaths I’m associated with? Six? To say nothing of...” She trailed off. “…You and me.” She whispered.
He waved a dismissive hand. “Folk’ll forget all that. They’ll forget if you make’em. Shove your greatness down their throats, so they have no choice but to accept you.”
She looked at him with tired eyes. “What greatness, Thraex?” She asked softly. “I’ve never done anything.” She rested her face in her hands, unsure of why she was even telling him this. “I can’t even install a security camera without it being a disaster…”
It was probably the heat.
The city was having one of the worst heat waves in history, and she never reacted well to heat. She wasn’t sure why it was hot though, since it was December.
And also the “heat wave” only seemed to be impacting this one particular neighborhood. Once you past its borders, the weather returned to the ordinary holiday chill.
That didn’t help matters here though. It had hit 102 yesterday and that temperature didn’t seem to be dropping.
No one could explain it.
Only in Reichelt Park could you be sweating in December.
As typical of the residents though, they denied any outside offers for help and stubbornly insisted that they could handle the heat wave themselves.
She found herself staring across the river longingly, wishing she could relocate to the snow visible in the distance, rather than remaining in this scorching town.
It had been ungodly in Central City, which at least had its location as an excuse, but that was nothing compared to this.
The unseasonable heat left her feeling hot and sweaty and maudlin.
She couldn’t even hold minimum wage jobs now.
She absently watched the shadows created by the hot wind as it blew through the limbs above her, doing nothing to cool anything down, just cooking the scene like a convection oven.
The oppressive trees hung low over the park, making you feel trapped and claustrophobic. Hiding things from you and making every shadow a mystery. Keeping you focused on the other people imprisoned here and the decaying ruins of past greatness which surrounded you.
Reichelt Park was a town with problems and secrets all its own, no matter the weather.
“There was a short in the trans-dimensional shifter.” She whispered softly.
He frowned at her in confusion. “Huh?”
“The Deneuves.” She explained, not looking at him. “It was my first time out in the field, and we were helping the Deneuves with a project.” She swallowed. “I forgot about the Leiber Effect. And when I hit the button… I transported pieces of my friends across a dozen different dimensions, then fused their remains with the sidewalk at the corner of W 50th and 7th Ave.” Her voice broke. “I killed them because of a simple math mistake. Just one decimal point off. The extra energy I didn’t account for, strained a $2 piece of pipe, and…” she snapped her fingers, “gone.” She cleared her throat. “I had been taking pills to stay awake, because it was important. The mission was important for the Foundation, so it needed to be completed on time. There was a potential partnership with the Freedom Squad to consider, and… and I don’t know if that’s what caused it, or if I just wasn’t as smart as I thought I was. Either way, the result was the same.” She looked down at her hands, unseeingly. “They trusted me… and I murdered them.”
“Somebody prolly sabotaged it.” Thraex defended. “Or Kurtz mighta…”
“No, I looked at the math. It was me.” She choked out, trying not to cry. “…It was me.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“You push the limits of science and sometimes the limits push back, Sasha.” Thraex tried softly. “Your daddy taught us both that. It’s life. And shit happens in life. If livin’ was easy, we’d all be able to do it forever.”
But Sasha wasn’t even hearing him. “…Then I found a man who treated me the way I thought I deserved to be treated. And I watched as he ruined everything I had and ever wanted.” She let out a soft breathy sound. “I helped him. Helped him… break me down. Showed him how best to do it. And so he whored around… and mistreated me… and burned through every penny I had. He made me a laughingstock. And I thanked him for it. I was pathetically grateful to be humiliated and treated like dirt. Because that’s what I thought I deserved.” She gestured to their surroundings. “And then… and then he died. And I went to jail. And then came back here.”
Thraex ran his hand through his hair, looking uncertain of what to say.
“And now…? I’m not a fool, Thraex. I know I’m not doing anything important. I haven’t invented anything worthwhile in years. I’m… obsolete. At one time, I had promise, but… it didn’t turn out that way. Nothing ever turns out the way it’s supposed to.”
“Who gets to say how things turn out?” Thraex arched an eyebrow. “My daddy is a demon god, his whole dimension jumps when he says ‘frog,’ and I don’t want that kinda power. No one should have it. That’s not how livin’ is supposed to be. Life is supposed to be takin’ your chances and doin’ your best. Nothin’ means nothin’ unless you work for it.”
“But I have no control over anything.” She shook her head. “I’m… I’m part of The Window Seat Tribe now.”
“I don’t even know what that means, Miss Sasha.” He told her softly. “If that’s some kinda literary reference, I’ll remind you that I was never really much for book learnin’.”
Sasha rearranged herself in her chair. “My father… he had a saying, he said: ‘Never let them put you in the seat by the window.’ See, tradition says you can’t fire someone in our community. It was against the old code of personal honor and social standing, it was seen as ungentlemanly.”
“It would almost certainly cause that fella to turn to mad science and get revenge on you, is what it would do.” Thraex corrected. “Your daddy just liked to complicate explanations for simple things, is all. That’s a habit with all Westgate folks, in my experience.”
“In either case, if someone in your lab wasn’t working out or if they screwed up in some monumental way, like… killing their friends in a failed experiment… rather than firing them, you’d just put them in a quiet corner somewhere and forget about them. Away from the center of the action, off by a window. Sometimes, you’d have a few of them there, a group of failures, forming their own little mini-team of the uninvolved. Like quarantine, to keep their failure from infecting the rest of you.” She met his eyes. “Dad liked to call those people ‘The Window Seat Tribe.’ Every group or company has people like that. The obsolete members who can’t be trusted with the important tasks or with work which could have any kind of impact. Can’t be allowed to do anything at all, but aren’t worth the trouble of firing. Failures. So, The Window Seat Tribe sits by themselves, humiliated with boredom, ostracism, and obsolescence until they quit. Because you have no use for them and never will.” She looked down at the table again. “I’ve been staring out the window for years, Thraex.”
“But you haven’t quit yet.”
“I don’t have enough pride in me to quit. Not anymore.”
“Westgates don’t quit.” He stated it as if
it was unequivocal fact.
“I think you’d be surprised what Westgates can do if they’re pushed.”
“I’ve seen firsthand what Westgates can do, Sasha.” Thraex informed her softly. “Don’t sell it short.”
“We’re shadows, Thraex. This world is just…” She trailed off. “If I had any guts at all, I would have killed myself long ago. Just… end it.”
“I tried that a few times.” He said softly. “Turns out, ‘the end’ don’t end shit.” He took her wrist and pried her hands away from her face so that he could meet her gaze. His eyes were glowing a soft bluish color, one she’d never seen before. “Listen to me good, Darlin’: you kill yourself and I will pay or strong-arm every single sorcerer and voodoo priestess in this city until I can find someone to mojo you back into this world, Sasha Westgate.” He shook his head, his voice dead serious. “I’m not done with you yet.”
She looked down at her hand in his, then back into his eyes.
The moment stretched into two.
Then she became aware of the fact that they weren’t alone. Across from them in the park, Alden and Alannah Aldridge were watching them, whispering.
Sasha immediately pulled her hand free of Thraex’s grip, pretending like she hadn’t been holding hands with her former step-brother.
The pair didn’t look convinced, and continued walking down the pathway, whispering about what they’d seen.
It’d be all over Reichelt Park within the hour.
She wasn’t just a murderer in people’s eyes, she’d now also be a whore. Again.
Thraex’s expression darkened, glowering at her for caring about something like that. “Don’t know what they’re so excited about.” He remarked, sounding tired. “Their mama is just their daddy’s female clone. He cooked her up as an experiment, and decided that she was a mighty fine lookin’ woman and that they had a lot in common.”
Sasha straightened her dress. “That’s just a malicious rumor.” She automatically reminded him. “I’m surprised you’d even know about it.”
“It’s a small town. Fella can know everything ‘bout everyone, even if he made no effort to talk to folks.”
“Well, you can’t believe gossip.”
“Maybe. But those kids sure seem to prove that there’s not much shade ‘neath that family tree. You ask me, those limbs don’t branch much.” He snorted, dismissing the entire clan as not being worth his time. “Everybody in this town has got skeletons in their closet, chère. We got nothin’ to be ‘shamed of.”
“Whatever we had… it was toxic.” She whispered, still feeling the sting of embarrassment at being caught. Her mother would be so ashamed by the fact that Sasha was backsliding like this. She thought she’d left all of this mess behind, but here she was, back making all of the same mistakes again. “We were terrible for each other, and you know it.”
“Our history is a bit of horse and rabbit stew, true enough, but I think the rabbit outweighs the horse in the mix.”
“I have no idea what that means and I’d be surprised if you did either.” She squinted in confusion for a moment. “What do you want with us, Thraex?” She asked helplessly, holding up her hands. “Is… is this a revenge thing? Do you just want to sleep with me? Hurt me? Do you just need help paying back your debt to The Farm? Why are you here?”
He stared at her silently.
“Just… just let us go…” She put her head in her hands again. “Please, let us go.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” His voice was tight.
“I know.” She kept watching the shadows. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry we ruined your life… For… for what I did. If I could take it back…” She shook her head again, voice breaking. She wanted to take it back, but she knew if she had to do it over again, the same thing would have probably happened. She’d ruin his life for a second time, because she made bad choices. “I ruined all of our lives.”
He smiled at her softly. “You didn’t ruin anything about my life. Trust me on this: it wasn’t exactly a Crackerjack prize before you got into it, and while we’ve had our ups and downs, I’d rather know you than not.”
She processed that. “Thank you.”
“No need to go thankin’ me for anything, Darlin’, I got no grudges with your family. That’d be silly.”
“Then why are you doing all of this?”
He was silent.
She peered at him, waiting for an answer. When one didn’t seem to be forthcoming, she decided to change the question. “Can… can we trust you?” She asked, trying to keep her voice level, because she was terrified of the answer. “Can… I?” Her voice broke despite her best efforts.
The moment of silence which followed seemed to go on forever.
He met her eyes again, face falling into shadow. “No.” He said simply and definitively.
She watched him mutely, feeling her heart sink for some reason. And that disappointment in him rapidly turned into anger. “You’re an idiot, Thraex.” She told him softly, but she meant it.
The man really was as self-sabotaging as any full-blood Westgate.
He didn’t reply to that, he simply watched her.
The sounds of the park surrounded them, as people moved through the space and went about their day. Half of them would no doubt go straight home and tell their families about seeing Sasha Westgate falling back into old habits, while the other half had no idea who she even was.
But Sasha Westgate continued to stare into the eyes of her onetime step-brother and current… something.
And she felt sad.
Because the people of this rotting community would never accept either of them.
And although he warned her that he was untrustworthy, and as much as her rational side recognized that it was undoubtedly true…
She still wanted him.
She still wanted that man every time she looked at him. Wanted him to absolutely ravish her, no matter what anyone else had to say about it or how forbidden such a thing would be.
She blamed the heat.
If it wasn’t so hot, she’d be more reasonable than this. If it were ten degrees cooler, she’d never be thinking about sleeping with her step-brother, the uncivilized son of an extra-dimensional demon god, who was currently delighting in humiliating her family.
A dangerous man who had gotten her family involved with super-villains and the murder of a city councilman.
If it felt like winter… she’d be normal. And she’d have normal emotions, and a normal job.
But no one could think normal things when it was this hot.
Heat like this made everyone a monster.
She became aware of her brother Kurtz swearing about something, and she looked up to see him working his way through the crowd towards them.
Thraex let out a long sigh. “Has your brother ever gone anywhere and not made a complete ass of his-self?”
“He’s your brother too.” Sasha didn’t look up from the shadows on the table.
“’Step’ don’t count for nothing in this world.” Thraex argued. “If I actually considered him a brother, I’d be suicidal too.”
“He’s having a crisis of self.” She said, recognizing that the same could be said about herself.
“He’s an emotionally unavailable, womanizing man-child, who hasn’t seen the inside of his own lab this millennium.” Thraex corrected, sounding disgusted.
She swallowed. “He… he just makes bad choices.”
Thraex made a non-committal sound.
Kurtz arrived at the table, dropping the iced coffee and snacks in front of her.
He hadn’t bothered to buy anything for Thraex, but the man didn’t seem to expect him to.
Kurtz plopped his Lost in Space lunchbox onto the table, which he used as a toolbox because… he was an idiot. She’d bought him a dozen perfectly acceptable toolboxes over the years, but he insisted on carrying that lunchbox.
Sometimes she thought everyone in the world was an idiot.
; Especially when it was this hot.
The man rearranged himself on the bench, eating his cinnamon bun. “Christ, it’s hot.” He thought aloud, as if the others hadn’t noticed. “Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas and it still feels like a summer day.”
Colby sat down beside them. “Sorry.” She placed her pet onto the table next to her. “Zoe is from the Serengeti. She hates the cold, don’t you, Zoe?”
Zoe the giraffe gave no indication that she understood the concept of weather patterns.
Thraex pointed at her. “And what’d I say about that, Pichouette?”
“‘Don’t manipulate the weather for the entire town just because you’re cold and want to have a picnic with your giraffe.’” She repeated, sounding put-upon.
“You need to quit it with even talkin’ about it, hear?” He pressed. “You don’t go tellin’ nobody that you done it, you act just as confused as everyone. Mainstreamers don’t much like folks messin’ with their weather, ‘specially not this close to Christmas.”
She nodded, then held up her hand as if taking an oath. “And we promise we won’t do it again, don’t we, Zoe?”
Zoe the giraffe made no such promise.
The table fell into silence.
Thraex stared at Sasha, obviously thinking about their earlier conversation.
Kurtz noticed the man’s silence and far-away expression. “You having a fucking ‘Nam flashback, dude?” He snorted in dismissal. “Christ.”
Sasha set about cutting her snack into two, so that Thraex could have some. “Please don’t start.” She scolded. “Let’s just eat.”
Kurtz rolled his eyes, but didn’t object to that idea. “You know,” he chewed thoughtfully, “I still don’t get why random teenagers would be so set on stealing a spool of Periallian wire? Can’t smoke it or shoot it, and it’s got zero street value. No one but someone in the business would even know what it is or what it could do.” He drank his iced coffee, then added enough gin to it to choke a pirate. “Makes no sense.”
Sasha handed Thraex half of her bun, and gave him her cup of coffee to share. “I’m sure it was just some random thing they grabbed, not knowing what it was.”
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