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Tallulah? So, uhm...you were right. Can I come round to yours sometime please? I'm really scared, and I've forgotten how to fight.

Selena xxx

It was a rather pathetic text, but Selena had been so scared. She'd also been aware of trying not to sound too suspicious, just incase someone was checking the text messages flying through the air. Some might call it paranoia, but she wasn't taking any chances.

That night at the rave had been horrible. Had it not been for Damian she didn't have a clue how she'd have gotten home safely. She was still feeling somewhat tired and shaken from the ordeal, although she was aware that she probably had the better deal, what with this flu that seemed to be spreading through the city like wildfire. Experiencing being at the mercy of a Negaverse agent, helpless to do anything...well, it had certainly given her something to think about. Selena had realized that no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't escape from it. Not in Destiny City, at least.

Tallulah had, obviously, been her first port of call, and she'd be immensely grateful for her friend's quick reply and suggestion of a time and date. She was pretty sure that Tallulah was glad for her interest - Selena had gotten the impression that she'd been a little more than disappointed at her refusal to henshin up. She still wasn't entirely certain, but it was with a slight feeling of butterflies in her stomach that Selena found herself knocking briskly on the front door of the Cowden residence.

Selena had been aware of how germ-ridden Tallulah would be, but it still hadn't prepared her. She'd determined this to be an extreme enough situation to interrupt her friend's recovery period, and so thanked Tallulah's mother with a smile and made her way to her room. Tallulah herself...well. She looked horrible, to be perfectly honest, but Selena decided not to point this out as she was sure the dark-haired girl was perfectly aware of this.

Tallulah advised her not to come any closer, but Selena ignored the advice, closing the door behind her and approaching the bed. She kept a small amount of distance, eventually settling herself cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the room. "I've got an immune system of steel, I'll be fine." She wasn't sure how to continue - it was quite obvious how Tallulah was feeling, so any of the polite conversation starters that one would usually adopt had since become defunct. Tallulah solved that though - even when she was on death's door she was still very to-the-point.

Sighing, Selena drew shapes in the carpet, not wanting to meet Tallulah's eyes. She didn't like being proved wrong. "I went to this rave a couple of nights ago. And...a lieutenant tried to steal my starseed." Or at least that's what she thought the girl had been doing. She still wasn't entirely sure why she'd failed - the girl had been in a prime position, Selena had been defenceless. "I couldn't...do anything, just stand there. She ran away after a bit, but she stole so much energy and just...if a friend hadn't been there I don't know if I'd have gotten home safely."

(Oh dear. Immune system of steel failing you a little bit there, Selena)

Selena waved off the threat of illness - she hadn't been ill in a long time, and the only time she could recall ever having to see a doctor was when she'd broken her ankle last year. She didn't particularly regard that as an 'illness' though - more of a frustration.

Tallulah's silence was a little worrying, and Selena wasn't sure whether to say something. Was she angry, upset, annoyed, outraged? The teal-haired girl had never been easy to read, but perhaps it was her illness that was making it impossible to tell what she was thinking. When Tallulah did finally speak, it wasn't what Selena had expected. "They don't?" She'd been gone a while, but what had always been drummed into her before was that your starseed was your most precious possession, and that it should be protected at all costs - why else would the Negaverse want them?. The energy draining made more sense though, given the symptoms she'd had following the event. Leon had just accused her of drinking too much.

"She followed me into the toilet." She didn't like having to retell the story out loud, it made her realize just how stupid she'd been. "She pinned me against the wall and that's...that's when I suddenly realized she was a Chaos agent." In all fairness, she'd been a civilian, and so unable to recognise any power signatures. She swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing, "She was really strong - a bouncer came in to start with, but when he left her hand was just...there, above my chest." She was embarrassed - she was well aware that she should have fought back, kicked, shouted, screamed, anything other than just standing there petrified, "Then she left, and I didn't even have to energy to stand."

She was looking at her hands, fingers fiddling with themselves. After a few awkward moments she looked up, eyes wide, "I can't get away from it, can I?"

Destiny City certainly wasn't like the rest of the world - it was a royally screwed up place and Selena really really really wished she could get away from it. But to go to Leon and demand that she wanted to leave...he was the type to ask questions. It was only because he cared about his baby sister, but he wouldn't agree to just disappear out of the country without a damn good reason.

Tallulah was only confirming what she'd known deep down all along. She'd thrown tantrums and screamed and kicked and fought as much as she could against coming back here. But with all the family s**t that she'd had going down, she'd have been lying if she'd said the thought of somewhere familiar wasn't comforting. It was the friends she'd left behind that had drawn her back. As for getting up to speed - well. She hadn't henshined up in two years, but perhaps it was like riding a bicycle. You never truly forgot, especially not since Eos was...well, part of her.

Having been sitting in silence for a while, Selena finally sighed, tugging sheepishly on a blonde strand of hair. "Will you help me?" She wasn't sure whether Tallulah was angry at her, pitying her, delighted...but either way, it was clear that she was going to need a hand. Europa had helped her before (just the thought of that roof-jumping session brought a slight smile to her face) and Selena really hoped that she'd help her again.

It was like a massive weight had been lifted off of her chest as Tallulah spoke, a rushed sigh of relief even slipping out. She'd known that if anyone would help her, it would be Europa - but hearing it confirmed was still something the blonde was incredibly grateful for. Whilst a grin of glee didn't break out across her face - she still didn't really want to fight - she did smile at her friend, though that faltered a little as the warnings came.

The Basterds weren't a...thing? What, they'd disbanded? Selena frowned in confusion, eyebrows furrowing downwards as she listened intently. "Oh...okay." Moons of Jupiter? What the hell was Tallulah on about? "I don't quite...understand. What about Jupiter?" She understood that the Basterds had been very casual, and she hoped they were all okay, but it still surprised her that they'd fallen apart. If Europa had formed a new team, Selena was totally down with that, but the whole concept behind it was news to her.

"No no no!" she hastily exclained, hands coming up, "I wasn't expecting anything right now!" That would make her the world's biggest b***h, if she'd demanded training there and then. She wanted her friend back to health first! "You take all the time you need."

A moon of Jupiter? This was all news to Selena but she just went with it, nodded her head with a somewhat dumbfounded expression. She felt a little like one of those nodding dogs that people put in the backs of their cars. "Oh, okay." Selena was more than a little disappointed at the dissolution of the Basterds, and at how Europa swiftly seemed to have replaced them. But she couldn't exactly talk - at least Europa had been fighting. She wasn't sure whether she wanted a new team, although by the sounds of it this club was fairly exclusive.

"No, I understand." She wasn't lying. It was sad, and she was somewhat upset, but Tallulah must have had a good reason to take such drastic action and Selena respected that. "I just wasn't expecting it. I'm not...really sure what I was expecting, to be honest." Her preference would have been for her to come back and the war was over and all the bad guys had been defeated. But life never quite went the way you wanted it to.

When Tallulah insisted she leave again, Selena got the hint. She nodded, flashing a weak smile as she began to back out of the room. "Sure - take as long as you need. There's no hurry." A small nag at the back of her mind told her that maybe if Tallulah never called she'd never have to henshin up and could go back into hiding. "I'll see you around? I hope you feel better soon." Selena gave a small wave and a warmer smile as she bid farewell to her friend, before ducking out of the room and seeing herself out.

(fin?)