~Look... I understand you are feeling bad, but I'd like to call up Ivy and congratulate her on a successful mission. Can we speed this up?~
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Adam had an apartment on base. He asked for the smallest one they had because he wasn't sure how much he'd be using it and specifically asked for an apartment with roof access. His room was no where near the other rooms that most of the main team or the second stringers had. Since he just moved in, it really had no personality or items in it, still being mostly unfurnished. It had a really nice bed, a desk, a chair, a terminal, a couch, and that was it. He didn't even have a TV.
At the moment, he was lying on the couch with his head on Grease's thigh, occasionally snuffling. They had just been sitting there for the better part of an hour when he abruptly screamed. Grease who had almost fallen asleep sat up bolt straight and threw her hands over her head, "WHAT? I DIDN'T TOUCH NOTHING! I SWEAR!!!"
Adam sat up and looked at her while she panicked and hopped off the couch, "Uh-"
Grease was up against the wall and moving her way around the room to the exit, "Uh! Sorry! Sorry! Look! I'm leaving! Sorry-"
Adam reached out to her, "WAIT!"
Grease froze.
Adam closed his eyes and rubbed his face, "Sorry. Just... a nightmare. Sorry."
~Sigh. Look. FINE. You need to work through this, I get it. Wake me when you are done. I'm gonna get some sleep.~ And with that, Adam felt Jack's presences vanish from the back of his mind.
Grease slowly came back over, "If... I'm making you feel-"
Adam sat up, "No! You... actually I feel better with you here." He sat up, "I'm sorry I monopolized your time." He put his elbows on his knees and rested his face in his hands, "I mean... crud. If you want to leave, you can leave. I don't know what I want."
Grease seemed torn between leaving and staying. She looked at him with a combination of fear and concern. The concern won out and she came back over to sit next to him, "Look... we... haven't really got to know each other, but... I want to help if I can."
"I just don't know if I'm hero material." Adam looked up, "I screwed up. I screwed up bad. I had a plan in my head and just assumed we were the good guys so we couldn't lose and..." he shuddered, "I got shut down so easily. We're alive because the bad guy was arrogant and because I got lucky. That's it."
Grease listened and nodded along. She was quiet for a while, but eventually cleared her throat, "Well... from what you told everyone that happened, you were a goddamn idiot."
Adam looked up and seemed like he might start crying again. Grease stared back, "You want me to lie? I'm not going to. You almost got yourself and everyone else killed." Adam looked at the floor despondently.
"And I couldn't be prouder."
Adam looked up with a single squinting eye.
Grease gave him a smirk and a single shoulder shrug, "Hey. What can I say? I'd have done the exact same thing." She scrunched up her lips for a second, "Well, no. I'd have had a better plan, but one way or another I would have gone in there to save those people." She looked at the ceiling, "I guess maybe that's something we have in common."
Adam sat up to look at Grease, "Really?"
"We both wanna help people... we're both kinda screw ups..." She sighed, "I've... made a lot of mistakes. I've really been a major problem here lately. Everyone thinks of me as a loadstone around their necks, and I can't blame them. I'm just grateful they are all continuing to stand by me, even if they would be better off getting rid of me."
"Why do you do this?"
Grease looked at Adam out of the corner of her eye, "Why? Well, When I was a kid, I was... well... not... athletic." She smirked, "I grew up in Albany. Not exactly a hot bed of activity, but it's still the capital of New York. It got its fair share of villain attacks."
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "I don't know what happened. We were just driving through the city, I had to be eight at the time. Next thing I know, we were upside down and the street was torn up." She frowned, "Damn meninists." She looked at Adam, "The Honey Badgers were trying to level another fertility clinic."
Grease turned to stare straight at the opposite wall, "I couldn't get out of the car. Mom was pinned by the steering wheel. Dad was trying to get free, but his door was crushed. The battle was nearby and everyone was running away. Nobody stopped to check or help no matter how much I screamed." She got a far off look in her eyes, "Then she showed up."
"Who?"
Grease slowly shook her head, "No idea. She wore blue. That's all I could see. Next thing I knew she tore the door off the car and pulled dad out. The dust from the explosions was terrible. She came around to help me and I told her to save mom. She paused, nodded, ripped off my door, then lifted the car up to work on getting mom out. She let me crawl out on my own." She took a deep breath, "Then dad grabbed me as she picked up mom. That was when the woman in blue lead us away from the battle. Dad threw me over his shoulder as he ran." She swallowed deeply, "I got to see a rocket spiral away from the battle and detonate our car."
She rubbed her face and seemed to return to the here and now, "When we ran around a corner, she kicked open a door to a small shop, laid my mom on the floor, then said she had to get back." Grease looked at Adam, "Never found out her name. Never got a good look at her. She wasn't with the responding team. Nobody had ever heard of someone wearing blue spandex even working in Albany." She shrugged, "Wasn't uncommon back then. Twenty oh eight had a lot of freelancers. People were still wary of getting registered so there were a lot of people who just put on masks and helped when they could."
Grease turned to look at the far wall again, "Sass is here because she's got mommy issues. Grifter is here to prove to the world she's not a loser. Wanderer is here because she's exiled from her people. Goldie is here because she's a maniac and nobody else is willing to put up with her battle lust." She turned to look at Adam, "I'm here because I'm a true believer."
She sat up straighter to level her most serious gaze at him, "You know that silly speech they give you when you say your oath to become a cape? I believe in that silly speech. I actually signed on to serve and protect. I'm here to fight the good fight, help the little gal, and maybe leave the world a better place than I found it."
Grease raised a finger and poked Adam in the shoulder, "You go right on running into danger to save someone's life. Fuck the plan if it means abandoning someone to die. Yeah, you took a big risk and it almost went south... SO GET BETTER." She started talking with her hands, "You don't give up just because you weren't prepared, YOU GET MORE PREPARED! You run more! You Work out! You Think Smarter! You Move Faster! You know why?"
Adam blinked and sniffled a little, "Why?"
Grease held up two fingers, "Two Questions when someone's life is on the line. If not me, then who? If not now, then when?" She shook her head, "If you don't have a better idea, then the answer is always Me and Now." She stabbed her fingers into the palm of her other hand, "THAT... is what makes someone a hero."
Adam stared at her, "That's why you ran off with those bomb collars."
Grease blinked at the sudden change in topic. She looked away and rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh... yeah. Well. Didn't really have another choice. Thanks, by the way." She glanced at Adam, "For the boost. Those four would be dead without you."
Adam snorted, "Me? I cost you your arm!"
Grease looked at her arm and flexed it. She felt along the faint scar hidden beneath her sleeve, "Ahh... well... you put it back on, didn't you?" She looked up and smiled at him, "I couldn't have saved them without you." Smiled a bit more, "And I couldn't have reattached it without you either."
Adam frowned, "And if I failed? Your career almost ended right there. If it healed wrong, you would have a stump right now!"
Grease nodded slowly in agreement, "True, but four people got to go home to their families that night. You know, I got a thank you card from all of them and their families." She shrugged, "I think an arm is a small price to pay for five children and three wives to be able to say goodnight to their fathers and husbands." She smiled softly while looking sideways at Adam, "Don't you think?"
Adam stared at Grease.
Grease stared back.
Time passed.
Grease looked around briefly and started pulling away, "Uhh... look-"
Adam leapt on Grease, locked lips with her, and started trying to get her out of her suit.
~Look... I understand you are feeling bad, but I'd like to call up Ivy and congratulate her on a successful mission. Can we speed this up?~
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Adam had an apartment on base. He asked for the smallest one they had because he wasn't sure how much he'd be using it and specifically asked for an apartment with roof access. His room was no where near the other rooms that most of the main team or the second stringers had. Since he just moved in, it really had no personality or items in it, still being mostly unfurnished. It had a really nice bed, a desk, a chair, a terminal, a couch, and that was it. He didn't even have a TV.
At the moment, he was lying on the couch with his head on Grease's thigh, occasionally snuffling. They had just been sitting there for the better part of an hour when he abruptly screamed. Grease who had almost fallen asleep sat up bolt straight and threw her hands over her head, "WHAT? I DIDN'T TOUCH NOTHING! I SWEAR!!!"
Adam sat up and looked at her while she panicked and hopped off the couch, "Uh-"
Grease was up against the wall and moving her way around the room to the exit, "Uh! Sorry! Sorry! Look! I'm leaving! Sorry-"
Adam reached out to her, "WAIT!"
Grease froze.
Adam closed his eyes and rubbed his face, "Sorry. Just... a nightmare. Sorry."
~Sigh. Look. FINE. You need to work through this, I get it. Wake me when you are done. I'm gonna get some sleep.~ And with that, Adam felt Jack's presences vanish from the back of his mind.
Grease slowly came back over, "If... I'm making you feel-"
Adam sat up, "No! You... actually I feel better with you here." He sat up, "I'm sorry I monopolized your time." He put his elbows on his knees and rested his face in his hands, "I mean... crud. If you want to leave, you can leave. I don't know what I want."
Grease seemed torn between leaving and staying. She looked at him with a combination of fear and concern. The concern won out and she came back over to sit next to him, "Look... we... haven't really got to know each other, but... I want to help if I can."
"I just don't know if I'm hero material." Adam looked up, "I screwed up. I screwed up bad. I had a plan in my head and just assumed we were the good guys so we couldn't lose and..." he shuddered, "I got shut down so easily. We're alive because the bad guy was arrogant and because I got lucky. That's it."
Grease listened and nodded along. She was quiet for a while, but eventually cleared her throat, "Well... from what you told everyone that happened, you were a goddamn idiot."
Adam looked up and seemed like he might start crying again. Grease stared back, "You want me to lie? I'm not going to. You almost got yourself and everyone else killed." Adam looked at the floor despondently.
"And I couldn't be prouder."
Adam looked up with a single squinting eye.
Grease gave him a smirk and a single shoulder shrug, "Hey. What can I say? I'd have done the exact same thing." She scrunched up her lips for a second, "Well, no. I'd have had a better plan, but one way or another I would have gone in there to save those people." She looked at the ceiling, "I guess maybe that's something we have in common."
Adam sat up to look at Grease, "Really?"
"We both wanna help people... we're both kinda screw ups..." She sighed, "I've... made a lot of mistakes. I've really been a major problem here lately. Everyone thinks of me as a loadstone around their necks, and I can't blame them. I'm just grateful they are all continuing to stand by me, even if they would be better off getting rid of me."
"Why do you do this?"
Grease looked at Adam out of the corner of her eye, "Why? Well, When I was a kid, I was... well... not... athletic." She smirked, "I grew up in Albany. Not exactly a hot bed of activity, but it's still the capital of New York. It got its fair share of villain attacks."
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "I don't know what happened. We were just driving through the city, I had to be eight at the time. Next thing I know, we were upside down and the street was torn up." She frowned, "Damn meninists." She looked at Adam, "The Honey Badgers were trying to level another fertility clinic."
Grease turned to stare straight at the opposite wall, "I couldn't get out of the car. Mom was pinned by the steering wheel. Dad was trying to get free, but his door was crushed. The battle was nearby and everyone was running away. Nobody stopped to check or help no matter how much I screamed." She got a far off look in her eyes, "Then she showed up."
"Who?"
Grease slowly shook her head, "No idea. She wore blue. That's all I could see. Next thing I knew she tore the door off the car and pulled dad out. The dust from the explosions was terrible. She came around to help me and I told her to save mom. She paused, nodded, ripped off my door, then lifted the car up to work on getting mom out. She let me crawl out on my own." She took a deep breath, "Then dad grabbed me as she picked up mom. That was when the woman in blue lead us away from the battle. Dad threw me over his shoulder as he ran." She swallowed deeply, "I got to see a rocket spiral away from the battle and detonate our car."
She rubbed her face and seemed to return to the here and now, "When we ran around a corner, she kicked open a door to a small shop, laid my mom on the floor, then said she had to get back." Grease looked at Adam, "Never found out her name. Never got a good look at her. She wasn't with the responding team. Nobody had ever heard of someone wearing blue spandex even working in Albany." She shrugged, "Wasn't uncommon back then. Twenty oh eight had a lot of freelancers. People were still wary of getting registered so there were a lot of people who just put on masks and helped when they could."
Grease turned to look at the far wall again, "Sass is here because she's got mommy issues. Grifter is here to prove to the world she's not a loser. Wanderer is here because she's exiled from her people. Goldie is here because she's a maniac and nobody else is willing to put up with her battle lust." She turned to look at Adam, "I'm here because I'm a true believer."
She sat up straighter to level her most serious gaze at him, "You know that silly speech they give you when you say your oath to become a cape? I believe in that silly speech. I actually signed on to serve and protect. I'm here to fight the good fight, help the little gal, and maybe leave the world a better place than I found it."
Grease raised a finger and poked Adam in the shoulder, "You go right on running into danger to save someone's life. Fuck the plan if it means abandoning someone to die. Yeah, you took a big risk and it almost went south... SO GET BETTER." She started talking with her hands, "You don't give up just because you weren't prepared, YOU GET MORE PREPARED! You run more! You Work out! You Think Smarter! You Move Faster! You know why?"
Adam blinked and sniffled a little, "Why?"
Grease held up two fingers, "Two Questions when someone's life is on the line. If not me, then who? If not now, then when?" She shook her head, "If you don't have a better idea, then the answer is always Me and Now." She stabbed her fingers into the palm of her other hand, "THAT... is what makes someone a hero."
Adam stared at her, "That's why you ran off with those bomb collars."
Grease blinked at the sudden change in topic. She looked away and rubbed the back of her neck, "Uh... yeah. Well. Didn't really have another choice. Thanks, by the way." She glanced at Adam, "For the boost. Those four would be dead without you."
Adam snorted, "Me? I cost you your arm!"
Grease looked at her arm and flexed it. She felt along the faint scar hidden beneath her sleeve, "Ahh... well... you put it back on, didn't you?" She looked up and smiled at him, "I couldn't have saved them without you." Smiled a bit more, "And I couldn't have reattached it without you either."
Adam frowned, "And if I failed? Your career almost ended right there. If it healed wrong, you would have a stump right now!"
Grease nodded slowly in agreement, "True, but four people got to go home to their families that night. You know, I got a thank you card from all of them and their families." She shrugged, "I think an arm is a small price to pay for five children and three wives to be able to say goodnight to their fathers and husbands." She smiled softly while looking sideways at Adam, "Don't you think?"
Adam stared at Grease.
Grease stared back.
Time passed.
Grease looked around briefly and started pulling away, "Uhh... look-"
Adam leapt on Grease, locked lips with her, and started trying to get her out of her suit.
