The Morning After

Alatea fell silent, absorbing the new information. He was as guarded with his past as she was hers, seemingly. It did seem to fit with what she'd figured out so far. She had realized by now that it was a good chance he'd worked as a spy or something along those lines, everything from his name to his powers to his own speech and mannerisms that were well polished, precise, and tailored to reveal nothing. That wasn't something often developed naturally. Not to mention his mind jumping straight to spies when discussing politics. It was the kind of slip that most people would assume meant absolutely nothing, but the odds of it actually not having significance was pretty low.
And he'd really seemed to know what she was talking about when she discussed having someone controlling her life. That was vague, though, it could be any government on Earth, or a private contractor.
She hugged him, since he seemed uncomfortable. "Have you always been able to make duplicates and go invisible?"

John smiled down at her as she hugged him.

"Well, no. The duplicates and such are relatively new..." he said, then added as an afterthought, "...but it seems like I've spent most of my life invisible."

He rolled over on his side and looked into her eyes.

"We make quite a pair, you know. You can't help but stand out and I can't help but blend in."

Alatea noticed with interest that he had managed to avoid actually sharing any meaningful information about his time before they'd met. That was fine, they hadn't known each other for long. If she was right, and he had been a spy, which his comment seemed to agree with, it would be only natural for him to be hesitant to divulge his secrets.
She laughed at his comment. "I suppose so. I guess we balance each other out."

(heh, glad you noticed that. )

John laughed.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

He brushed a lock of hair from her face and grinned.

"So, I suppose technically we could lie in bed all day, but seeing as you've just recently changed sides, I'm sure you have things to do, so perhaps I'd better get out of your hair. So I suppose it's your call. What is your will, madam?"

Alatea bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment before breaking out into a wide smile. "I do need to retrieve a few things from my rooms at the Force's headquarters." she said wickedly, "They have to let me in, I haven't officially resigned yet. I suppose I need to do that too. Since as far as they know, I didn't betray them directly, they can't do anything until I do."
She kissed him on the cheek and got out of bed, pulling a fresh outfit from a chest of drawers nearby. "Do you want to help me carry things? We might find out something useful, and it's not like they can ID you."

((I'm a bad, bad lady))

John stood up, pushing back the covers. He watched as she went over to the dresser and pulled out a new outfit, sliding it over her naked body. As he did so his skin began to melt and writhe, and a moment later he was fully dressed in a simple grey polo shirt and jeans.

He smiled widely.

"And here I thought I was going to be stumped as to what to do for our second date."

Alatea laughed. "Oh, I don't think finding things to do will ever be a problem for us." She told him, smoothing the tight outfit over her skin and eying his quick change with appreciation. "Man, that must be SO useful."
She grabbed his hand and led him out the door to the roof. "You ready?"

John followed her for a moment, then stopped and pulled her to him. His hands went to her upper arms, pulling her close as his lips touched hers. He kissed her passionately for a long while as he held her tightly. Finally he pulled back and smiled at her.

"Ready when you are."

Alatea was admittedly surprised at the kiss, but she returned it passionately, enjoying the closeness while it lasted. When he pulled away, she was grinning. "Let's go then."
Then they were flying, much more abruptly than last time, now that she knew he wouldn't freak out. "I'll just fly us straight there, if that's alright with you."

John nodded as they lifted off the rooftop.

"Sounds good to me. No time like the present. What should I expect when we get there?"

Alatea shrugged. "It's a massive compound on the edge of town, but it looks more like a school or hospital or somesuch than a hero's headquarters. People won't be happy to see me, but unlike at the League, they're much too noble to do anything. Just stick with me and you'll be fine. I imagine one or more of the Force proper will come to see what I'm doing, and I wouldn't advise drawing attention to yourself. Right now you're entirely off of the Force's radar. You want to stay that way. They have their own psychics."
As she spoke, they drew close to a building that looked like it had recently been through a war. There were holes in walls and a mob of people outside that looked decidedly unfriendly. Alatea frowned in confusion. "What the hell?"

John looked down and eyed the ravaged building and the people surrounding it curiously.

"The natives look restless." he said as they came in closer, "We'd better be careful. You may be able to turn aside bullets, but neither one of us is invulnerable."

He turned his head away from Alatea to get a better view of what was happening. As he did so he brought his hand out of his pocket and appearred to scratch his chin, stealthily swallowing the small white pill that he had palmed from his coat pocket.

She made sure to set a strong wind around them to deter any attackers before they touched the ground, adding a bit of lightning to it as an added precaution. These people looked like they were willing to kill.
She brought them down just in front of the main doors, where armed guards approached them cautiously.
"Calypso's Fury!" One of them said, relief in his voice as he approached them. "The Force has been looking for you. A lot of the non-supers have gone on strike, which they announced early this morning by blowing up the main computer bank. The supers are all meeting in the Blue Room. You should hurry and meet them, they're trying to decide what to do."
Calypso smiled, glancing over at John with a smug look on her face. She led him inside, waiting to say a word until they were out of earshot of anyone. "How strange. And what a happy coincidence that my defection hasn't been noticed yet."

John returned Alatea's smile and reached into his pocket for a cigarette.

"Yes, it's like we've been handed the keys to the kingdom on a silver platter, isn't it?" he said as he lit up his cigarette.

There was a shimmering and shifting around his body as a clone split off, followed immediately by another. As he continued walking they fell in step behind him and quickly turned invisible, leaving nothing but a slight shimmering of the air.

He turned to wink at her and exhaled grey smoke in a thick cloud.

"Never trust a silver platter." he said, flattly.

Alatea nodded approvingly. "Of course." she said, leading him onward through the maze of hallways to the conference room they called the Blue Room. "Do be careful. Some of them can see through invisibility. Ailele has more than one of those gadgets to be sure."
She pulled every breeze in the building towards her as she walked, motioning for him to be silent as she listened for people, whether the Force ambushing her or the rebels. She walked slowly, trusting John to follow quietly.
Once they got to a corner that she could verify as far out of earshot from anyone else, she paused, the wind continuing to blow at her from all directions. "I'm listening for people." She explained quietly, "The winds will carry the noise they make to me. Now, the blue room is just a bit down that hallway. I don't know if they'll let you come inside, but even if not, I'm sure you can manage to keep tabs on what's going on."

John grinned and put his hands on her hips.

"I'm sure I'll think of something." he said as he pulled her close, planting a kiss on her soft lips, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hang on, I think I have an idea..." he said, pulling back from her slightly. He turned and reached behind him, seeming to pluck something out of thin air. There was a quiet but audible "Ouch!" as he did so.

"Oh stop it, cry baby." he said to the air.

"Well warn me next time." came the reply in his own voice.

He turned beck to Alatea, holding out his seemingly empty hand.

"Take this. If they don't let me in, drop it somewhere out of the way when you get inside. Don't ask what it is. It's better that you don't know."



(Fun fact: It's an ear.)

Alatea smiled as he pulled her closer, enjoying the closeness and the kiss. He really was just making this so much more interesting.
She was a bit surprised, however at his following actions. He assumed the invisible protester was one of his duplicates, but what on earth could he have retrieved from them that would have hurt?
His warning that she was better off not worrying just made her worry more. She took it delicately, noting with interest that it was warm, and felt like skin in her hand. She was very tempted feel it around some to figure out what it was, but she knew it was better not to do that in front of him. She smiled, kissed him again briefly, then led him further down the halls, subtly probing it with her fingers, almost absently, as they walked. She was unnerved but not too surprised that it felt like an ear. That was an interesting power to have. No wonder his copy bitched.

John followed Alatea carefully down the hall, occasionally sidestepping piles of rubble or guards running off in random directions.

She loosened her grip on the ear as they drew closer, letting her hand appear limp at her side. One of their new Super recruits was guarding the door, a woman whose name she'd forgotten. Some Egyptian, she was reasonably sure-at the very least, she wore Egyptian clothing. She smiled at the woman. "Well, hello there. Have they started without me?"
The woman blinked. "You're back. We were starting to think you wouldn't show. I knew you would make it. Who's this with you?"
Alatea smiled wider. "Oh, you know me, dedicated to the Force. This is a friend of mine. I'm reasonably sure he might be of some assistance. Do Ouevre and Kyrt have the room under lockdown, or can I bring him in."
The woman shook her head. "Sorry, I have instructions to let no one but board supers in. He can wait out here, though."
Alatea flashed a glance at John. "Alright, I should be out soon."
She stepped into the room, letting her breezes die as she stepped through the doorway. All of the other primary members were already in and seated, and they ALL turned to glare at her. Her absence had been noted, it was clear. She stopped at the coffee machine on the far wall, getting herself a mug as an excuse to dump the ear in the cabinet, which didn't quite close all the way. It ought to be perfect.
She sat down at her seat with a smile. "Well, what did you get into while I was gone? How did there manage to be such a huge rebellion on such short notice?"
Ouevre sighed heavily. "We think it's the girl we captured last night in that mockery of an operation. She's heavily psychic, the Oracle's daughter. It's well within her power to accomplish."
Ailele shook her head. "That shouldn't be possible! We gave them all the drug. They should have been protected."
"It was experimental, Ailele." Adansonia said. "It makes sense that it wouldn't work for everyone."
"So what do we do now? We can't kill them, we can't let them run off and share our secrets. They'll keep killing until we agree to their terms, and I don't know that we can." Rachiel's somber voice drew the uncomfortable attention of everyone in the room.
Alatea was confused. "Terms?"
"They want us to hand over the headquarters for their own use." Kyrt said, his robotic voice somehow managing to sound tired. "We're not to remove anything but personal belongings from our rooms."

John smiled charmingly at the woman guarding the door and leaned back against the wall. He pulled out another cigarette from his slender silver case and put it in his mouth before holding it out to offer her one.

"Long day?" he asked.

-------------

Dupe #1 headed right at the conference room. He ambled invisibly down a few hallways before passing a panicked guard running down the hall. As soon as the guard was out of sight there was a shimmering in the air, and the Dupe reappearred, the spitting image of the panicked guard. He continued moving down the hallway at a fast walk, keeping an eye out for anything interesting.

Dupe #2 headed left at the conference room, finding a staircase and making his way invisibly down to the ground floor. From there he looked around for an exit.

Alatea's eyebrows rose. "All this at the hands of a kid? Well, if they want the building, it's probably pretty safe to say the League has at least contributed. Otherwise, what would they want the building for?"
"Well, we can't give them the building, there's too much equipment and literature that shouldn't be allowed into any but the most responsible hands." Vermillion Witch looked fierce.
Ouevre nodded. "You're quite right. There's only one thing to be done. We must find a way to cut off the Oracle's girl from the men. With her influence out of the way, they will come to their senses."
Alatea sighed. "How are you going to do that, exactly?"
She was left looking at a room full of blank faces.
"We could... put her to sleep for a little while." Adansonia suggested after a minute.
________________________________________________

Akana Hathor smiled at the vaguely handsome man in front of her. "Sure." She said, taking it and lighting it with a thought. "It's been the worst. I just joined up here, you know. All of this madness was NOT in the job description."

Put her to sleep?

John didn't like the sound of that. If the clown was out of commission it would make rescuing her that much harder.

John grinned.

"Seems like a stressful sort of occupation. Low pay. No real benefits. You happy with it so far?" he said to the woman as he lit his own cigarette.

--------------------------------

Dupe Number 1 made his way down the corridor, looking for an armory, guard station, or anyplace else that might have a weapon cache handy.

--------------------------------

Dupe 2 found his way invisibly to the first floor, coming at last to an area where the wall had crumbled outward from the explosion. He stepped out of the hole into the bright sunshine and saw the crowd of protesters standing agitatedly behind a makeshift barricade. Quickly and agily he jumped the low wall of rubble and a moment later had assumed the form of a young blond female scientist in a lab coat. She quickly blended into the mob, trying to get a feel for the crowd's mood.

Immediately the conference room broke out into chaos. It was apparently immoral for them to put her asleep, despite how much damage and death she was causing by staying awake. Alatea had to suppress the urge to laugh. Heroes were so predictable.
"Do any of you have any better ideas?" She asked loudly, almost yelling. "If not, I think we should go ahead and do it. Adansonia, what do you have that will do the job?"
The green woman nodded slowly. "Yes, but I'll need someone to hold her down. I don't want to do damage because she's squirming while I insert the needle. I don't want to risk diluting it in food or drink, she could not eat or drink enough to do the job."
Alatea nodded. "I'll help, with my new helper. I brought him to help me move a few things from my rooms here, but I trust him in this."
The others looked at each other, as if trying to decide if they could trust her. Eventually, Ouevre and Kyrt nodded. "Alright, go. Calypso, we're trusting you not to muck up like last night. We'd hate to think you might leave us again."
______________________________________

Akana sighed and took a long drag from the cigarette. "I like helping people." She said with a sigh. "I can't think of a better way to do that than to work with the people who keep the city safe. And I get treated for free if anything happens, so that's something. I'm just not sure I like actually being involved in the fighting. I was hoping just to work in the medical area."

"Medical area, huh?" John said, "So you're a doctor? Something like that?"

(Let me know if Dupe 1 finds any sort of weapons[including anything that could be conceivably made into improvised weapons, like a janitor's supply closet], or if dupe 2 sees anything happen outside.)

Alatea smiled sweetly at the assembled heroes. "Don't worry. I don't anticipate changing sides again for a while yet."
"Well, then I guess we should get started." Adansonia said warily, standing and heading for the door.
Alatea followed her out with a nod to the rest of the assembled heroes.
___________________________________
Akana nodded shyly. "I'm a healer, really. That's my main power."
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Dupe 1 can easily find a janitor's closet, Dupe two would not notice any real change in the crowd outside.
________________________________________________________

Alatea smiled at John as she and Adansonia came through the door. "It seems there's a change of plans. They need our help with something, John." She gave him a significant glance as she spoke. She'd made him an opportunity to rescue his teammate, and she would leave that to him. She was confident in his ability to pull this off.
"John, this is Adansonia." Adansonia gave her a strained look and headed off down the hallway towards the medical wing.