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I'm not a slave ...







Gabe did not miss the hint of irritation the demon's brow portrayed, after all, he was an actor, body language was one of the most vital aspects of his job and if he wasn't able to pick up on it he wouldn't be nearly as successful as he happened to be. Not to mention he constantly kept his eye open for details in the event he chose to mimic someone's form: he was a con man after all. He had to get the persona and body movements to go with it or he wouldn't be convincing at all. There was a degree of research and effort required in order to utilize his ability to its full potential: it was a challenge he welcomed and prided himself in. Convincing people he was something he wasn't was a game to him, one he enjoyed playing and took the time to hone his skill in. It was why he enjoyed making a living out of it.

Though Gabriel was most certain every word Dahlia uttered to him was issued with utmost sincerity, he was unphased by her threat to completely dismantle his body. It wasn't the first time he'd had his life threatened and likely wouldn't be the last considering patience seemed to be nonexistent from the realm Dahlia came from. His initial reaction to her death threat against him was nothing more than a pleasant, dashing smirk. "Surely if I'm so insolent you shouldn't even take the time to be bothered with me. Though I do wonder ... what purpose does wearing a tongue around your neck serve? Don't they rot after a while and become foul? And bones, those don't seem like they'd be the most comfortable to sit on. You certainly do have strange customs, demon queen Dahlia."

"It was," Gabe assured with a mischievous grin, "a sincere statement. You came from ... that violent circle place so how am I supposed to know if they take the time to read or not? I'm an ignorant mortal that knows nothing of your demoney ways so I am attempting to educate myself by asking questions. Not to mention where you live it sounds like you're so busy fighting that becoming literate didn't seem like it was something you'd make a priority or possibly even have the time for. Which leads me to inquire ... how the hell do you keep books down there? Or is it not all hell firey like religions like to portray it to be and books can survive down there ... Wow this ended up spanning into a much longer tangent than I meant for it to be ... Anywhoo ..."

"It means," Gabriel proceeded to explain matter-of-factly as an adult would to a child, "to calm down, take it easy and not be in such a hurry. In simplest terms it means stop. It's called a figure of speech: humans tend to use them a lot." He realized, however, that his explanation was likely being ignored or half listened to considering the fact she was glaring at him. Similar to Dahlia, he did not take the woman's (if he could even consider her one when taking into account her maturity level) glare seriously. And when she proceeded to claim she didn't have to listen to him because he wasn't the team leader, he merely put his hands up in mock surrender. "Touche, you got me there, barnacle breath."

The last thing Gabe was going to do was waste his time arguing with a child stuck inside the body of an adult woman. Children were irrational, bratty, stubborn beings that didn't give a s**t what people who knew more than them had to say. He'd been one once, he knew all too well how it worked. She'd have to learn on her own that he was right and when she cut her foot on glass or stepped on a needle and contracted an illness he'd warned her about he would simply say he'd told her so. After all, he wasn't hired to be her personal baby sitter. He also happened to be terrible with children so he was certain they'd never be a good match up in any sense of the word.

When the Atlantean proceeded to delve deeper into explanation of why she didn't require shoes, Gabriel quite literally tuned her out. Instead of listening to Lola, his eyes had already wandered over to the strange yet beguiling woman that boldly approached Deacon and began to, what Gabe had lack of a better term for, flirt with him (Isis). She had some confidence and spunk to her, that much was already apparent. He liked that. Plain janes like the blonde (Elke) that walked in soon after the palm reader just bored him. Of course, he was going off a minor introduction so he couldn't fully judge her yet but she seemed rather tense and lackluster. At least her codename, Noir, seemed to suit her personality thusfar.

Gabe never missed the opportunity to potentially stir the pot or at least bait others into potential reactions. Here he chose to experiment by answering Dahlia's question in regards to palm reading to judge just how seriously this Gypsy took the superstition. "People can't read palms. It is a scam for money. They look at your palm and pretend the lines on it are life lines and career lines and butter you up with bullshit about how successful you are going to be in your future and when you'll get married, how many kids you'll have and a bunch of other nonsense along those lines. Sad part is people actually pay for it and some get readings and s**t like that done on a weekly basis when all they do is ask questions and pry into your life in order to try and get a tiny bit of insight and hope they can make some vague statements that their client will keep buying into."

Of course the most lackluster of the group would also be the only one who happened to recognize him: how irritating and just after he thought he might be able to fly under the radar in his natural form. He immediately felt the urge to tense but fought it off. It didn't matter if they knew he was famous or not, it wouldn't make a difference one way or the other. He was in the league regardless and fame wasn't likely to change that. The funny part, however, was that the blonde talked about him as though he wasn't there at all but somehow deaf to her inquiry. "Over privileged rich brat, huh?" Gabriel repeated with clear amusement. "My mother always taught me never to judge someone before getting to know them, shame on you, Ms. Elke. Perhaps the Noir is a depiction of your heart colour? I'm not feeling the love." He winked at her and proceeded to await her response.

In the meantime, though Elke had already done so for him, Gabriel decided he might as well introduce himself before he was harassed to do so by someone else. "As you already probably heard Ms. Elke say: I'm Gabriel. ChesIre's the alias I have chosen to take up residence with. And being a celebrity hopefully does not change anyone's opinions about me joining the league, if so, that's unfortunate for whoever poses issue with it."

After offering a generalized two cents to Lola and everyone present about his celebrity status, he was eager to shed himself of the spot light as quickly as possible.The moment Dahlia made mention of having known a Goliath was an opportunity he seized to distract from himself. Not to mention the topic her question revolved around was something he'd always been interested in: dismantling hardcore Christian people's dreams. Of course, to have knowledge of the bible and its stories he'd had to read it. The bible wasn't the portion of the religion he posed issue with, though, more so the intolerant, moronic people that took the readings literally. The people that persecuted and terrorized others. Those were the aspects of the religion that bothered him in particular. Upon Dahlia's announcement of her encounter with Goliath, he immediately perked up and began questioning her, "Are you talking like David and Goliath giant Goliath or are you just talking about some typical oaf named Goliath?"




And I'm not a slave to a ...

"The death of one is a tragedy. The death of a million is just a statistic."

Aurelio could not help but smirk at Savanna's response to his showering her with compliments as he was ought to do. Naturally, he was completely honest with her, as she was quite the beautiful woman and he had no reason whatsoever to lie to her just to flatter her. Sure, Aurelio was a flatterer and a bit of a flirt, but if he did not actually think she was beautiful, he would not have said so. He barely noticed her less than ideal state, or simply did not consider it a factor that detracted from her beauty. Still, as a sorcerer, words were his weapons, and though he did not lie for the most part, he was perfectly fine with embellishing his words for maximum effect. It was practically a requirement. "My dear," he said simply, "Any woman that, at her very best moment, looks even half as beautiful as you do in your current sweaty state, as you put it, is a true vision of loveliness indeed." Flattery at its finest, but not at all untrue. Aurelio always waited to reserve his real judgment on a woman's physical appearance until after he'd seen them at their worst, for if they were beautiful at their worst, when they weren't covered in make-up and other such trivial things, then they were a true, natural beauty indeed.

Another woman seemed to walk in after Aurelio, and this one had her own physical appeal as well. She also seemed to exude an air of confidence that was not entirely undeserved and did not seem unnatural or as if it was making up for something she lacked, but seemed natural as the air they breathed(though he did have his doubts about the air in this world). He offered her a smile, taking his hat off to her and giving a slight bow in her direction. His eyes followed her form as she grabbed some food. Eventually she introduced herself as Isis, following it up with her chosen code name of Gypsy. Interesting, as there was a heroine by the name of Gypsy in his home world; he had several news clippings with her picture on his wall among the hundreds of others he had of the many superheroes he followed almost religiously, chief most being his favorite, the Green Arrow. She stretched out her hand toward him, offering him a handshake. He took her hand and shook, but also bowed slightly again and offered the hand a gentlemanly kiss before letting it go. "It is a genuine pleasure to meet you, Isis." Isis was an interesting name, and one that the wizard was more than familiar with, given the goddess of the same name's association with magic. She was a frequent invocation of his, and he owned several hand-made tyets that he often used in his rituals and spell work.

He looked over at a spitfire pixie of a girl that everyone was seemingly trying to get to wear shoes. The woman had a curious electricity about her that Aurelio naturally found quite amusing and charming. The girl was seemingly ignorant of what it meant to live on the surface in this world, though to be fair he did not fare much better, as he himself was still getting used to customs in this timeline; although humanity was much the same no matter what world he was in. She, however, was an Atlantean; it was very understandable she would not understand much of the ways of the surface dwellers, as he knew from experience that the sea-dwelling race had very different ways. He remained quiet as the two men argued with Lola about her lack of shoes and tact, which while they had a point, he could not be bothered to enforce such things. If the girl did not want to wear any shoes, she should not be forced to. But she could speak for herself on the matter, as he did not want to butt in where he was not needed. Elke then walked in and he offered her a nod in acknowledgment. After introducing herself, she asked about one of the newer members and apparently he was some kind of celebrity? Great. Another one, he thought to himself. He did not hate celebrities to be exact, he simply hated the overinflated egos they tended to have much of the time. But maybe this one was different; after all, Judy Garland was not half the b***h he always heard she was. She even gave him the very hat he currently wore.

The demoness eventually introduced herself to the gathered team, and he raised his brow. Her story was certainly a fascinating one. She said she was trapped in the mortal form, but it did not seem to be any form of possession he'd ever seen. He did not feel a human soul's presence within that body, so it wasn't like Dahlia was feeding upon her or anything. By all accounts, she felt like she belonged inside said body, and is if nothing out of the ordinary was there, physical demonic traits notwithstanding. It was dark magic that bound her, but as long as she did not cause any problems he would not try to banish her; even the darkest creatures deserved a chance. Many years ago in this universe the Justice League had taken a chance with Etrigan and Amazo, and they probably did not regret it to this day. Still, it paid to be at least somewhat vigilant. Every demon deserved a chance, he completely believed that and would defend the idea with his life, but their nature could not be denied; they were, after all, created for the express purpose of spreading evil, though they were just as morally complex any human. Kat introduced herself to the newcomers, and Lola followed up with her own introduction. "Is Orin still your king, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked Lola, genuinely curious, since a lot could happen in such a long time. "He is a great man."

The subject for several of the people turned to palm reading, after the demon Dahlia expressed confusion of the concept. Isis explained to the demon, but Gabriel quickly stepped in to offer his two cents on the subject, indirectly proclaiming Isis to be a fraud on the matter. Her response elicited a smirk from the young mage. Still, this was a matter that he did have at least some authority on, so he saw no reason to hold back. "Though there are many charlatans out there who would gladly take your money in exchange for false readings, I can assure you that palm reading, among other forms of divination are a very real thing. Personally I prefer the Tarot," he said, taking off his hat and holding it before him. He grabbed his cane just under the bloomed rose-shaped handle, pointing it downward at his hat and twirling it around counterclockwise. After a moment, a deck of cards wrapped in a rather ornate ribbon literally jumped out of the hat, hovering over it for a few seconds . The deck unwrapped itself and spread in an arc to show it was real before wrapping itself again and falling back into his hat and disappearing once more. He placed his hat on his head again. "Although I only use it for emergencies. I tend to avoid divination in general. The future, no matter how minute the details, is dangerous knowledge, especially for a time traveler like myself. Not that I look down upon your ability by any means, of course; I do respect the tradition deeply."

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Lirio xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Zambak

xxxxxxxxLiliexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxGiglio xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxLiryo xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Llirixxxxxxxx

Lilija xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxLiliaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lelixxx

Name: Lily Crane
Codename: Babel
Location: Tower
Thoughts: Time Skippin'

Inviting Mason into her room, she fought the urge to roll her eyes as she made her way over to the dresser. He seemed hesitant to enter, no doubt because of some fear that she'd be working in the nude and he'd be greeted by an eyeful of Lily's birthday suit. Supposedly, the very thought repulsed him so much that she couldn't show any skin without the thought entering his brain. That had to be why he was constantly chastising her for her choice of attire, when no one else seemed to care one way or the other. Whenever she brought all this up to him, he joked it off like he was just trying to look out for her, but Lily felt like she knew the truth.

Making fun of his for his choice of words, he insisted that "butthead" was a classic that would never go out of style. As a linguist, she had to disagree, giving him an annoyed look when he insisted that the name was fitting. Postulating that the only reason he was at her door, bothering her now, was because Elke wasn't around for him to play with, he didn't deny it, going so far as to declare her the winner of the day. Her eyes widened, putting on an excited smile as she did a quick, excited hop up and down in place.

"Am I?! Am I, really? What could I have done to earn this honor?" Despite her sarcastic tone, her smile never truly faded which would indicate that she wasn't opposed to the idea of them spending some time together. She'd been locked up alone for so long that she wasn't surprised he was bored - she was one of his favorite people to annoy and pester. Hands found her hips when he stated that they were going to breakfast, and not just down the hall to the kitchen for breakfast, but a real breakfast out and about.

"I guess I could go for some biscuits and gravy," she said simply, eyes going to the helmet he lifted towards her. It seemed like he was being honest, for once, and not teasing her. It was cruel to tease someone about the promise of breakfast food. He urged her to hurry, so they could satisfy their hunger, Lily crossing to her closet and slipping a pair of flats on. "Well, as long as you think I'm dressed appropriately to go out in public and be amongst the masses, I'm ready. Lead the way, Jeeves."

The pair left her room, Mason asking her why she had been in her room in the first place. His guess was that she had been avoiding people, which unfortunately wasn't far from the truth. She didn't feel like she could tell him that, though. All it would do was have him start making fun of her for taking everything that happened on the last mission so personally. "For your information, I was working. And I like the quiet - you're always yammering on in my ear, it's nice to be able to sit and think once in awhile." Brushing a loose curl from her face, tucking it behind her ear, she glanced over at him as they made their way slowly through the hallways. "Besides, it's not like you've been beating down my door to hang out or anything. I haven't seen much of you around either." Her tone was almost accusatory, even though she hadn't meant for it to be.

He started to say something to her in response, only to be cut off by a page sounding through the base. Deacon asked them to come to the kitchen for some reason, the brunette again resisting the urge to roll her eyes. It couldn't be a mission - they would be meeting somewhere else for that. The rumor was that they were going to be getting some new blood, so the polyglot could only assume that this had something to do with that.

"It's like he waited for us to have something better to do than sit around here." The duo veered towards the kitchen where the rest of the group was waiting, Lily's eyes moving from one person to the next as she stepped to the side of the door with her arms over her chest. There were a couple people that she didn't recognize, never doubting for a second that she would be introduced in time. They were an interesting lot, hazel eyes resting on the redhead with horns longer than was likely proper. The girl had to be used to it…maybe not.

"So…hello," she finally said, one hand raising in a small wave before returning to its place over her chest. Some of the newbies didn't seem to be getting on as well with each other as she was sure their leader wanted them to, but thankfully that just wasn't her problem. Lily always liked things that in the end weren't really her problem.


(OOC: Posting feels weird! Sorry!)

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current outfit

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Aiden & Karmen

The sound of a familiar voice caused her blue eyes to search the room for the first time since she’d gotten there. They glowered a bit when they focused on a troublesome cryokinetic who definitely should have been back at the tower, minding his own business. Had he followed her here?! “What… are… you… doing… here?” She asked, every word its own sentence - ignoring the fact that it was partially sweet that he’d cared enough to come all the way to Richmond.

Her father cocked his head to the side, frowning at the stranger - not because he was unwelcome, but because his daughter clearly wasn’t rejoicing to see him, for whatever reason. “You know this guy, fireball?”

“Yes.” She stated flatly, not caring to elaborate.

Brian stood from his chair then, extending a hand out to the man. “Is this your…” he searched for a word that wouldn’t offend his sometimes over-zealous Karmen. She’d always been sensitive about bringing a guy home to meet the family. “Significant other?” He wanted to assume so, who else would meet her in such a depressing place as an ICU wing?

Fire seemed to form in her stare, as though it would make the icy man melt into a puddle on the floor. “No. He’s one of the League.”

-

Aiden knew that Karmen wouldn’t be happy to see him. She never was. At least, not on the outside. His face seemed to smooth from any uncomfortable emotion as his shoulders squared, displaying only mild concern as he reached out to shake her fathers hand regardless. He was effortlessly polite, despite the daggers Karmen was throwing his way. He’d long since gotten use to her tiny teeth and claws. He nodded his head formally, keeping the contact brief. “Good to meet you Sir.”

“I wish it were under better circumstances…”

-

Blue eyes glowered at how natural he seemed at this, how he’d managed to veil her father from the fact that he’d followed her over state lines to get here. And really, under ANY circumstances, she didn’t want him meeting her family. Not because she didn’t like him, but it seemed too personal, and she’d made herself a goal regarding him after their first tango. One she was intent upon sticking to.

But her father shook his head, ignoring his daughter’s hateful glares for the time being. Too often she maintained the more fiery of emotions. “As do I, but as the surgeon said, things are looking up. We were about to head for a cup of joe, seeing as you made it all this way, would you care to join us?”

Carmen, the woman that the pyro had described to Aiden some time ago stayed silent for a moment, sizing the man up, and how much Karmen protested his presence. Too much. A small, knowing smirk touched her lips, and she wiped her eyes of the tears that had started to dry on her face. Tugging on her namesake’s hand, she pulled her in the direction of Brian’s footsteps. “Please, pardon my Karmen for being rude -she tends to only have one emotion going on at once - we insist. You can tell us all about your line of work, or what you did before joining the group you both are involved with.”

-

Aiden masterfully avoided the firelit blue eyes that Karmen used as weapons when she was angry. They were like lasers. Like flaming, military grade lasers. Instead, he found it easier to make small talk and simply go with what she’d initially told her family. He was just someone from the League. It wasn’t a lie...But even to his own ears it felt empty, too easy. He really didn’t think she wanted him staying around. He’d made sure she was safe and sound, that was the goal. “Thank you but…”

A woman interrupted, and while he had heard some details about her, he wouldn’t have known to place her face with the name Carmen. She insisted that he stay, her words causing a crooked grin to cross his features for a moment. “If you really insist...Coffee sounds great then, ma’am.”

Briefly he wondered if she would react the same way Karmen had when he’d first addressed her as ma’am. But the firefly didn’t seem to realize was that it was simply the way he spoke. Law enforcement had taught him to always address women respectfully, even in a place like LA.

-

A graceful smile made it to Carmen’s lips and she jabbed the fireball in the side. “Cute, thoughtful and polite, you could do a lot worse.” She murmured to her almost-daughter. “It’s the least we could do for a friend of our little fireball… but you can call me Carmen, and stop all this ma’am nonsense.”

Brian chuckled at that, obviously an inside joke, not realizing that Aiden might already know it from hanging out with his little ray of sunshine. The lines in the cafeteria weren’t long, and Brian footed the bill, picking up things that he knew Karmen would eat after a bit of prodding. They sat - his daughter still sulking - as they tried to acquaint themselves with the handsome stranger. After some time had passed, both excused themselves, more than content to leave what they suspected to be a soon-to-be budding couple alone, especially with how loud Karmen’s objections to his presence were.

She could have tried to melt him then and there. Not only had he stalked her all the way down to the hospital, he’d warmed the hearts of her family and given them hope that practically glittered in their eyes. He was weaseling his way in, despite her best efforts to shut him out. “I’ll ask again and don’t ignore me this time. What are you doing here?”

-

“Yes Carmen.”, he responded, swallowing the ma’am with some difficulty. Her family seemed pleasant, a little like his own. Good people. He’d learned how to judge others pretty easily from working on the force. He’d gone on patrol after patrol to try and earn rank without saying a word against the grungy details that showed up on his desk. Aiden could almost feel Karmen changing temperature while they conversed, and the longer he remained, he feared she might have a melt down.

At least her anger gave her something else to focus on, other than her brother. He would rather see fire in her eyes than tears any day.

“My sisters name is Priya. We’re twins...I’m older by a few minutes, though she’ll tell you otherwise. We’re really close, and it was actually her idea that I leave the LAPD if it wasn’t a good fit. So I eventually ended up with the League. I met Karmen there, day one.”, the cryokinetic offered freely. He didn’t have anything to hide, and certainly not from his partners family. “We seemed to come in at a good time. Our skill sets work well together.”

He really, really didn’t look forward to getting up from the table, but Karmen’s demeanor gave him no room to argue. Instead he gave his usual good ole boy grin to the people at the table and nodded his head when he stood, reaching to shake her fathers hand again. He didn’t know if he’d be alive to shake it later. Karmen didn’t really waste any time giving him the third degree and a layer of frost slipped over his eyes, his smile seeming a little more bare. “I’m here because my partner, a girl who seemed to have had a rough go of it lately, sped out of a super hero compound like something was after her.”

“You were driving erratically, nearly off the road, over the limit, and almost took the garage door out.”, he pointed out quietly, softly enough that no one else would be able to hear. He sighed after a moment, digging in his pocket to pull out her keys. Wordlessly he handed them to her, a flicker of worry behind cold eyes. “You were crying.”

-

Damn it. This man was frustrating. She was desperately clinging to her anger, even as his concern chipped away at her resolve. “Well, now you know why.” Karmen said quietly, falling back to the fear that clouded all of her thoughts. Folding her arms over one another, she dared for another glower in his direction. “You do realize what they think now, don’t you?”

Were the circumstances different, she could have sworn he’d planned this. She stared at the keys in his hand, and sighed, nearly unwilling to take them from him. “I hadn’t even realized I’d left them in the car.” She’d been in such a dizzy state when she’d finally gotten to the hospital. “I was just… overcome with worry. Minus the two you met just now, he’s all I have.” It was hard for her to admit, harder still to say something so incredibly vulnerable to the man she’d been hellbent on avoiding.Tears threatened to spring forth from her eyes again, and she looked down, reluctant to let him see any more of her softer side.

-

“I didn’t follow you to force you to tell me why. I know you like your privacy. But I…”, Aiden paused, trying to find words that wouldn’t make her turn tail or slap him. Either were possible. “It wasn’t like you. After the hotel... I had to make sure you were safe.”

His lips thinned a little when she asked him what her family thought, head tilting to the side. “I know I’m a little dressed down, but I was in the garage when you left. Didn’t really think about changing. Didn’t really know I should have.”, he reached behind his head, scratching it for a moment, obviously a little confused. Out of all things that irritated her, it was his clothing? The faint smell of motor oil?

Her words about the keys caused a faint smile to cross his features for a brief moment as he remembered her park job. “I figured. I took care of the toll and straightened out the car before coming in.”

But that wasn’t the worst of it….There were those tears again. How did she do that? Start crying, and proverbially bring him to his knees? “You were right to rush here. It’s important. I just wish you’d asked for a ride. Driving behind you nearly gave me a heart attack watching you cross intersections....”

-

“I wasn’t aware I needed a chaperone.” She nearly snapped when he made a derogatory remark about her driving, ignoring the part about the toll. They had to pay to park here? Then where was the guy collecting tickets? “I was frantic… they didn’t think he was going to make it to see tomorrow, so pardon me if I seemed in a hurry.”

-

There was the temper he knew and loved. Always, she took the worst of anything he said. His hands went in the air as the universal sign of surrender. On most days he would have run with it, teased her about her crap woman driving...But not today. And she ought to understand why.

It occurred to him then that had he not have reacted with his gut instinct, to be there, that a phone call might have worked just as well. Too bad his phone was back in the garage.

-

The blond wanted to bang her head on the table at his naivety. “No you idiot.” She started, exasperated. “Didn’t you see how they were looking at us?” Her lips flattened as she spelled it out for him. “They think… you came home with me, because you’re ‘special.’” Her hands made quotations around the word. “To me. Like, dating special. I don’t ever bring guys home.” This was the first time, minus her prom date, who her brother had dragged by the collar to meet their father. And really, this hardly counted. He’d followed her. There was a difference in the willingness on her side of the party.

-

Well he wasn’t down syndrome baby special if that’s what she was getting at. “You told them I was someone from the League. I told them you’re my partner. It seems pretty clear. You didn’t bring me, I followed.”

-

Karmen gave him what could be considered a “Duh” look. He wasn’t getting it.

“And that doesn’t matter to them. No matter what I said, what you said, they’ve got their pre-conceived notions about you and I now. Most co-workers wouldn’t have trailed a car trying to hit hyperspace speeds. You did.”

-

“We’re not just co-workers. We’re partners. They stick together. Look out for each other. That’s how it works. That’s how we stay alive.”, he responded easily enough, failing to see the urgency that she had plastered all over her face.

-

“It’s also how they get grandchildren.” She snapped, ready to rip her hair out. “They assume there’s more to the story. You just don’t understand.” More than anything she wanted to shake him like he was a screaming baby she didn’t want anymore. Not that she would with a real tot, but with Aiden… she definitely wanted to scramble his brains.

-

He sighed heavily, before perking up slightly. He was teasing, but there was more than a little doubt in his mind that she’d manage to catch on. “Does this mean we’re having children?”

-

Her fingers became heated, ready to throw a ball of fire in his direction - so not in the mood for his antics, but she remembered quickly where they were. “No you idiotic peabrain! There isn’t an us. It’s something I’ve been trying to avoid.” The words flew out of her in a huff before she could stop it. “Or haven’t you noticed?” Absolute horror crossed her features that she’d finally admitted it out loud, in front of the ONE person she definitely didn’t want to hear it.

-

Aiden stopped speaking and simply watched her for a moment, realizing for the first time that she might think of him a little more often than he’d thought. She was cute when she realized she’d definitely said the wrong thing to the wrong person. “I’m going to let the notion of us slide...Just this once. Though we will finish that later. If your family is reading a little too far into the story...It happens, My mother has done it a time or two. It’s normal. It means your family loves you, and wants you to be happy. Right now…”

“I’m here for a friend. And that’s ALL I’m concerned about.”, he finished off lightly, his jaw seeming to firm. She had this knack of worrying about the wrong things.

-

“I didn’t say that.” She said, shaking her head vigorously. “Whatever you think you heard, whatever you think you’re letting slide didn’t happen. The conversation isn’t picking up at a later date. It’s just.. not. ” Karmen’s expression still held the shock it had before he’d responded, as if unwilling to believe that just happened.

-

“You really should quit while you’re ahead. It sounds like you’d prefer I explain this conversation to Carmen...Since I’m clearly misunderstanding and she seems to know you better than I do. Maybe she can shed some light on it for me.”, he turned away from her then, seemingly intent on going back to the table.

-

“No. You will not talk to her about me. You won’t chat it up with my dad. You’ll… just no. Off. Limits.” She said, flustered. “Like you said, you’re here for a friend. Hopefully things will be cleared tomorrow, and we can head back to the tower and forget this whole escapade ever happened, that you didn’t follow me out here like a creeper.” She explained, resorting to insults because they made her feel safe, protected. Less like she was losing.

-

“Relax, I wouldn’t really do that, regardless of how frustrating you are. Though believe me...It’s getting tempting.”, Aiden responded, though something crossed his features that might have actually been discomfort. Had her insult bothered him? “Yeah. That's exactly what I rushed out in the middle of the night for. To follow you like some creep.”

“I’m going to phone us in to the League. Get a hotel reserved. I’ll check in when I’m done.”, that actually was the end of the conversation, because he did leave then. She’d given him plenty to think about, and there wasn’t much more he could say to her now that he wouldn’t regret.

-

She’d not meant for her insult to sting, and a tinge of regret hit her as he left. Just… not enough to say sorry. Not if it’d keep her to her plan. Tomorrow morning, her brother would be cleared of the ICU… she’d stay until he was awake, and return to her post. Presumably with Aiden forgetting that this conversation ever happened.

> > moving forward

The next week kept her pretty close to the hospital’s campus, but her brother had pulled through, was awake and able to speak, but facing a serious amount of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Once he was in the clear, Karmen and Aiden bid their adieus and headed back. She chose not to speak to him in private again for the duration of the visit, knowing too well it only got her into trouble. Nonetheless, he’d charmed his way into the hearts of her family - Brian included.


They were “home” for a few hours, and the more that the silence grew between them, the more she felt guilty for what she had said - mostly because it hurt his feelings when he’d been trying to be a good friend. Damn it. Apparently, she couldn’t win.

Karmen searched the garage first, figuring he’d be there to tune up his baby, but there wasn’t a sign of him anywhere.

She tried a few other places - even sticking her head in the kitchen briefly to see Mason, Aurelio and others to wave hello - before trying her communicator. “Aiden. Where are you, we need to talk. Rather, I need to apologize.” It nearly killed her to say it, admit that she’d been wrong. Especially him.

Deacon Richards
Location: Kitchen
Thoughts: Introductions and… Interviews?

The gang had gathered together in the kitchen, all making the proper introductions as he had requested. Clearly there was going to be some issues between the lot of them, Gabriel and Dahlia appeared to go together like fire to gasoline. s**t was just gonna burn down. Though, he was happy to see that people were willing to show up when he asked. At this point he doubted his own ability to lead, let alone get people to come when he asked.

Isis offered to do a palm reading, an old trick that he’d learned about from his readings and European travels when he was a boy. “Thanks, but I’m good. I remember having my palm read as a boy, long ago. The woman told me that I’d experience a great shift in my perspective.” Only Elke would understand that remark among the rest of them. She was the only one he’d said anything to about his past. He sort of felt a connection with her, given that she was a product of the same experiments that he went under. Granted, she was made to be a better cop.

He was put through them so he could walk around without collapsing from the strange.

“If Mr. Clyne feels the inclination to take photographs and autographs, that’s fine. But since we’re all going to work together, lets not push it too much on him. You know being a celebrity and all.” God knows just what the hell their shapeshifter of a teammate was famous for, but he’d eventually find out. Back in his time, duck hunt calling tool developers were reality stars, so by now ******** all to what constituted fame.

Elke appeared to read his mind, mentioning something about having some training exercises in mind, “Noir my dear, you read my mind. Everyone, suit up and head down to the Training Center in 45. We’re going attempt some exercises to help promote team building.” he stated.

“Granted team building might just be getting you guys to not want to kill each other.” Before he was able to continue, he got a flash on his commlink. Apparently there was someone here for a “job interview”. Great, another damn new recruit. Taking a heavy drag of his e-cig, he gave a quick “Saddle-up” to the assembled team and made his way back to his office.

As he made his merry way, he switched his communicator to all channels outside of his team, so they didn’t hear this “For anyone wishing to participate, or place bets, Beta Team is having a training exercise down below.” The door was partially ajar; the recruit appeared to have beat him to the punch. So he calmly opened the door and look down at the ravishing brunette that sat in front of his desk.

“I take it you are the interviewee.” he said from behind, offering a gentle hand as he made his way to her side, “Deacon Richards, at your service.”

OOC: Post isn't great, my apologies

Deacon Richards
Location: The Office
Thoughts: The past comes back to haunt me…

Deacon entered, offering a hand for the woman to take. She introduced herself as Gabriella Maddox. That name sounded damn familiar, the last name in particular. It took him back to a much different time. A time long before flying cars and the stuff that he read about in the works of William Gibson.

There had been a time before the experiments, before the superpowers, before the deep freeze, that Deacon had been sick. Incredibly sick to say the least. It was a motor-neuron condition of unknown origins. It fit the pattern of a standard MND, the doctors had originally attributed it to a rare early forming ALS. But then the pain started, oh the pain. It wracked his body, sometimes causing him to pass out for hours at a time, only to wake up in as much pain as he had been earlier. He could barely move, and was in a constant state of agony. His skin felt like it was on fire, his bones felt like broken glass, breathing felt like he was breathing tear gas. It was unbearable, a sane person would have found the nearest gun and pulled the trigger. But Deacon held on, he fought to find a cure. Unlike other MND conditions, he was able to talk and eat properly, he even had periods where he could move around and was in a state of pure normalcy. Those would last only for a few days, a week at the most.

His parents also fought, looking for different therapies and treatments to allow Deacon the closest thing to a normal life they could possibly give him. At times, it worked, different medications helped him get by, and Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises were extremely generous with his family. The son of a valued researcher being affected with a almost impossible neural disorder, they opened their hearts and wallets to the cause. Hell it helped him graduate from high school early, his intelligence surpassing most. But there was only so much they could do. However there was only one time, one time where he felt truly free from all the pain before the big experiment.

His parents had read an article about a woman in Wales who was renowned for her herbal remedies. Part of Deacon thought that it was ridiculous, but his parents were willing to try anything. So they flew out to Wales, and spent a few weeks with this woman of the last name Maddox. She bid them to leave him in her care, alone. Deacon ensured them that it would be ok, that he’d be alright. It turns out, that he became far more than alright. For the first time, he could not only walk, but run. Not for short periods of time, but for a whole day. Her remedies, and her care and devotion, gave Deacon a time where he could feel like a person. He ran around and played with Ms. Maddox’s daughter, and would at times cry himself to sleep because he was so happy. Happy that he could sleep without being in so much pain. However, the treatments began to fail, and he soon began to relapse back into the pain. Before he left, the daughter gave him a token, a small necklace with a silver dragon on it. It was the same kind of dragon that was on the Welsh Flag, and he wore it ever since.

He wore it on the day of the first splicing, where his whole life changed in a matter of moments.

However, he took a step back when he saw her face. He remembered those features, that shade of brown hair, those green eyes. They were on the face of a woman that had cared for him when he was trapped in a personal hell. Things got blurry for a moment, he thought he heard Gabrielle say a few things, he couldn’t really make it out. But the next thing he knew she was standing up to leave. He had to act fast, so he gently grabbed at her bare arm. His fingers were gentle, but gave the impression that he didn’t want her to leave.

“Ms. Maddox, forgive me. I didn’t realize, not until I saw your face.” he half whispered, half spoke, as he reached into his shirt and pulled out the dragon necklace that was given to him, “I remember a little girl gave this to me when I was just a boy. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that, nor the eyes she shared with her mother.”

“You grew up.” he stated, like it was a new fact, he remembered when she was a little girl, no more than 8 or 9. He’d been 13 or so by that point, “And it also seems that you stopped growing.” he also added. If he was right, she should be much older, how was this possible?

Were people from his time just cursed to be frozen in time?

He looked at her file, taking note of her background in nursing, biology, had experience with research, and was even at one point… a masseuse? A heck of a background, even with this proverbial horse kick to the head. He took a huge drag of the e-cig, letting the nicotine vapor fill his lungs, keep him from showing just how much he was shaking. As he lowered his hand, it went back to the necklace, the token that he wore day in and day out. That helped him deal with the pain by giving him a place to go to in his mind.

“So what’s the secret? Diet? Exercise? The knife? Deals with the devil?” he added, trying to alleviate the tension with a light-hearted joke between the two of them.

Deacon Richards
Location: The Office
Thoughts: Reacquainting oneself with the past come alive…

“Gabriella, there are many things from that time I wish I could forget.” he replied, his tone reverent of those pleasant memories, “But the time I spent with your family, I’d have sold my soul if I could’ve remained there.” It was something he would never truly forget. A point in his life not filled with neither pain nor tragedy facing him. He nodded when she reminded him of her mother. Even when he was in that level of pain it did register that the two of them had a deep green, like emeralds. She reached out to touch the pendant she’d given him so many years ago, her words bringing him back to that time in Wales.

“I never thought I’d see you again. But I did keep this, I think I was always going to keep this. It was my lucky charm after all.” he replied, answering on her remarks about not being a little girl, “I understand, but I hope you’ll understand it may take a bit for me to adjust. As you can imagine, my memory of you was from how many decades ago?” frankly he expected her to have been a mother of two by this point. But there she was, a woman in her prime. She looked practically timeless, something that could also be said about Deacon as well.

“My immune system isn’t as weak as it was all those years ago. Plus, I tend to use them during times of stress. Like right now really.” Didn’t of course excuse the fact that he was smoking. He put the e-cig down, placing it into a desk drawer and sliding that shut. She added hat her family history was to blame, her being the first born gave her a genetic jackpot. She then inquired about his secret to eternal youth. To which he smirked.

With a wave of his hand, he phased through the desk, “The cure was the pinnacle of my father’s research. He’d finally cracked the code for splicing genetic coding. I volunteered for the first round of human trials. The success came with some… side effects that you can see here.” he put it lightly, but the reality is he was a one of a kind genetic marvel. Had a single protein been arranged wrong he would have been a puddle of flesh and bones decomposing in a box deep underground. But that wasn’t the case, he improved in health at a remarkable pace. Neural degeneration not only stalled, but it reversed itself, muscle density came back with a vengeance, not to mention the powers of flight, invisibility, and intangibility. He didn’t elaborate on the fate of his parents, it can be implied through the Gotham Quake. It was a devastating 7.2 quake, massive amounts of destruction, a lot of life lost. The city for a time turned to complete anarchy, with super-villains cutting the city up like a pie.

He added on the answer, “My secret for not aging is a case of accidental cryogenics. I got caught in the Gotham earthquake and was put on ice for a couple decades. I got thawed out, and I came here since I got powers and not much of a life in this era. Aside from you as it turns out.” He continued to look at her resume, though at this point he already decided. It didn’t matter if she had an impressive background, he wanted her on his team. Let the big guy get pissed, you meet the one person that is the only part of your life and then come complain to the time-stranded ghost.

“So when would you be able to start? I have a training exercise starting in a bit, would appreciate having our new resident medical expert down there with the rest of us. No combat, just some team-building really: trust-falls, that kind of thing. Would be nice to have you on board.” Part of his reasoning was that he likely needed a nurse to treat the potential burns and other injuries. The other was that he had her in his life again, the only thing connecting him to the past. He wasn’t letting that go so easily again.