Chapter 2: Don't Feed the Animals

"Well to be fair all out psych eval had on you was that you were a computer geek and hacker," Kat said. "Not like we knew enough to know what kind of person you were."

Stella rubbed her forehead.."okay, uh. Nevermind. What now."

"Now? I give my report to my boss, and they decide what to do," Kat explained.

"Correct smarty pants." Marcus said as he placed the phone into his pocket and began to jog to where he read the closest forest was that was set to be worked from the last place that was attacked.

I thought you said you were not going to go deal with this? Dark asked as he watched the human run.

"Yea well sometimes you gotta do whats better for the innocents. I was just angry at Revs annoying talk. He acts serious then shows this child side."

Well unlike you, the boy has a life and don't they always say meeting your hero's is always a disappointment?

"Please. God I know he has a life. It's one reason. Just shut up."

Stella shifted a bit. "...will you come back for me? I'm not...really good with staying in unfamiliar places, alone."

Shrugging again, Kat headed for the door with her tablet. "No promises," she said, leaving the room.

After things had calmed down, the three of them returned to sitting down and watching TV. Amy could al but feel the tension though between James and Chris, both friends still clearly pissed at each-other. "Okay," she finally said, "this is stupid and childish." Both of them turned to look at her, Amy giving them both a look that read 'show me the lie.' "You two were thick as thieves before all this. So what changed?" she demanded.

"no i should be good and you must have found my old phone which i haven't seen in ages since we moved so it probably got put in the wrong container"zeru replied before setting the couch down in a corner.

"Good. I'll keep it as I lost my phone.. again." Bella said as she sulked off to her room, prepared to get some shut eye.

Marcus had been jogging and walking most of the way to the next probable attack point, his powers shifted again and now his stamina and running speed had been downgraded in a way. Wasn't really the first time this had happened of course but it was always something that would go missing and be changed about. Morphing of the body Dark would like to call it. Besides Marcus's realization that he was unfit now from his injuries and just being lazy, he realized that he saw a runner ahead of him that looked much like the woman from before. Sighing and taking a deep breath, the human ran at his best pace to catch up to her.

Her head turning to check the noise only to see the man from before. "Are you Stalking me?" She asked with a small laugh and in turn Marcus gave a tired and strained laugh back.

"No, god no please don't think of me as that. I was just jogging this way and seemed to have caught up to yea." Marcus said as she slowed down to a stop to talk to him, compared to him, she seemed quite fit and he was surprised he caught up to her.

"Your story is one hundred percent believable,ever thought about becoming a lawyer?" She asked with a smirk while Marcus placed both hands on his head to help with breathing.

"No I wanted to be an actor but that will never happen to be frank."

Neither one really had much of an answer. It felt like both of them had said what needed to be said really, though then again.....Amy was right. Usually when both of them had gotten things out in the open, the tension would have died down. But not now, it was still there. "I guess," James finally said, drawing both pairs of eyes on him, "it's just the recent shit. Me trying to kill myself I mean." Amy managed to hide her grimace, though she knew this had been coming, deep down. Chris cleared her throat, saying "Well, I've got something I want to say about that. Care to say it for me?"

Giving her a level look, James barely managed to maintain eye contact. He was ashamed in a way, because the truth always made him feel embarrassed. "It's because I jumped straight to it, without trying to talk to any of you." A single nod, that was his only acknowledgement from her. "James," she said softly, "it was one thing, knowing you tried to kill yourself. But.....it sounds selfish saying this, but it hurt even more that you wouldn't confide in me. I'm your best-friend, practically mi familia. For you to not talk to me......it was like you didn't trust me."

The alcohol runs down his throat and a burning sensation replaces the liquid. He'd packed everything back up and made his way into his kitchen where he would pour himself a glass of whiskey and have a seat. His fears still shaking him and the only comfort he has lies in the liquor in the glass. He stares longingly into it and takes a deep breath. He places the glass back down on the table and exhales, running his hand through his hair.

"It's been... what now...? A couple years?"

He says seemingly to himself, until a voice rings out from the living room.

"Yeah, you got out a couple years back." A man's voice says "Why in God's green Earth would you want back in?" The voice continues confusion and anger put into that statement.

"Maybe I just need somethin' else to do, Seeley" He says loud enough for his guest to hear.

""Something else"? You're a bounty hunter and a merc. That's not good enough?" The sounds of tools follow shortly after "And I know you're not thinking about getting me involved again"

He drinks a bit more before responding. "I take lives, Seeley. I'm guessin' I'm not livin' a balanced life. I know it sounds crazy and I ain't really understandin' where all this is comin' from either." He places the glass back on the table and stands up, making his way into the living room, he leans against the doorway. "I ain't gonna ask ya to, Seels. I ain't even sure if I wanna go back, but it'd be nice to have someone helpin' me out."

Oww...James thought. The nanites were good at helping him block pain......but not every kind of pain could be blocked. This was one of them. "Chris I......this world I'm getting myself into, is dangerous and full of people capable of things even I can't do. Just last night, I ran into one who can get in people's head. Got in mine, was going to take my body. Made me do things......and I didn't want to risk them hurting you, both of you, or everyone else I have left in my life."

Zeru would have told her no but he was too tired to bother so he sat down on the couch and decided to take a break.

Seeley looks up to him and frowns

"If you've got time to lean, you've got time to help me repair your wall"

He shrugs at the comment and moves over to help him out.

"It's all just nostalgia, you know? Wanting to go back. Joining the vigilantes and helping turn back the tide of crime." Seeley says, pointedly. "I know you'll need my help, Dean, but this is bigger now. I've got my family to watch out for. I've got a lot and I don't want to see anything happen to them."

The nostalgia remark hits him and makes him further question his feelings. Part of him agrees with his friend, but the other half nags at him to go out there and use his abilities. He sympathizes with Seeley as well, he knows Seeley's family is the most important thing in the world to him and he wouldn't want to see anything happen to them either. After a long bout of silence between the two, where the only sound resonating in the room is from the working from the two, Dean speaks up.

"You still got that hobby a yours, right? Fixin' up cars and all that?"

Seeley looks at him with a look of derision.

"If by "Fixin' up cars" you mean I'm still in connection with the black market, no. I'm not. Haven't been since you dropped the whole "hero" business."

"I'm just sayin' it could work as a cover from your family. If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna need someone with your kinda connections."

"Do you realize how hard it'd be to try to find the parts you'd need? Not to mention the price. I know Barbara isn't too car savvy, but even she'll know something is up."

"Not if ya play it just right" He counters. "Besides, ain't you the one who manages the money? She wouldn't know."

"Well James that's not your choice to make, is it?" Chris asked flatly. "If you treat us like children instead of your friends who can be more than capable, we're gonna get hurt a whole lot more easily." Giving her a look, James said as calmly as he could manage "I don't want to see you hurt period. That's the point, of me just.....trying to keep you in the dark."

Moving over to where he sat, Chris thumped him on the head, the blow both playful and friendly. "Yeah well guess what James--when you told both me and Amy about this, you stopped going solo. You made us a team, like we've always been. The Three Brooklyneers, remember?"

It didn't quite bring a tear to James' eyes, but his head was bowed even lower. His silence was Amy's cue to jump in. "James, we're not asking you let us fight with you.....well okay, I'm not. But we're asking you to stop acting like this is a one man fight, and acknowledge us for who and what we are: your friends first, and your team second. So swallow your pride, and let us help."

Kat came back a few minutes later, slightly red in the face from having to shout. Truth be told, she wasn't speaking with the board, but Commander Wyle, since Stella's employment would have fallen under his responsibility. He had agreed.....if Stella would agree to the terms. "Okay Stella," Kat said, "you've got a chance to be hired, but there's some conditions."

James looked over the blueprints laid out on the table in front of him. He knew them like the back of his hand now, but he was still on edge about the plan. It all seemed too easy. He glanced over at Scott, looking over the weapons.

"One more time?"

Stella looked up, and bit her lip.
"What....kind of conditions?"

"Nothing major," Kat said. "We'll hold you here for at least three days--a cover story's in the works to explain your absence--and in the meantime you get acquainted with areas you have the right security clearance for. When we let you go back out into the world, you'll still be an Odin operative, you cannot tell anyone, not even through your aliases, about us. And above all else....as a personal request, do not tell anyone I'm alive."

Eventually, James nodded. They were both right, and honestly admitting he needed help seemed to take a load off him. "Okay then," he said, "where do you two think we should start?" Amy was the first to speak up, saying "We start with what we were doing before; hunting down Rebecca Cohen. She's gonna keep making these mutants until we put her in a cell.....or help the cops do that." Chris made a small choking sound like she was clearing her throat, following up with "And let's not forget, there's the powered individual who was messing with your head. There's gotta be a way to deal with them."

"What makes you so sure there is?" James asked her. Chris smiled a little and said "Because nothing is unbeatable. Everything's got a soft spot, just gotta find it."

Stella looked at her, and crossed her arms. "...will I ever get to see my friends again? Or will you be the only face I can cling to from my last life?" She asked softly, staring at the person she thought had been dead.

"Oh you'll see them again," Kat said. "Just......we've gotta make sure you can be trusted, or failing that have time to put safeguards in place."

"Yeah well we're gonna need an army of ninja's to find this soft spot," James groaned. "Tried changing my memories, took control of my body.....even Gestalt was helpless to stop her. All we could do was lock my body up."

"Well, at least that's an emergency you can fall back on," Amy said. "Heck, even have Gestalt run the show; they may be able to control a human mind. Doubt they can do diddly against a machine."

She just looked at Kat for a minute, weighing her thoughts.
"Trust is a fickle mistress." She smiles. "I'm much more dependable."

"Go ahead," Scott said to James as he checked over one of the rifles they were taking into the bank with them, "Not like our main plan'll matter if one of those masked weirdos running around shows up."

"Yeah well, I'm not the only one you need to convince," Kat sighed. "You've got the base commander here, the board if this reaches their attention, plus the rest of the base."

"Got a point there," James said to Amy. "Look....we'll deal with her when she next comes around. But for now, it's Rebecca or nothing." Chris nodded and said "So what's the play?" Looking to her, James said "Track down her lair; she's underground, literally and there's plenty of space under New York she can be in to make these things."

"Then you should lock me in your room, because I just suck at being respectful to people I dislike." She was pretty neutral at that.

Giving her a sideways look, Kat said "That's going to have to be a top priority for you then. Odin's many things, but tolerant of disrespect is not one of them."

"Then tell me why the hell I should give a damn about Odin. I have to change for someone who puts a gun to my head? Dammit Kat, this is why I like my containers. Why I like being apart. Why...why I don't speak my mind or follow my heart. Because I don't do well with people."

Seeley heaves a sigh.

"Once you get something in your head, you focus on that." He shakes his head and looks at Dean once more. "You're as stubborn as a mule. Fine. I'll handle the parts, but you're not bringing it anywhere near my family, alright? You repair the suit yourself." His tone grows more serious as he continues speaking "I swear if this comes back on me. I will sell you out. Don't think I won't."

Dean gives a nod.

"Thanks, Seels. I know it's a lot to ask of ya."

With the discussion finished, they go back to working.

"Whoa whoa, gun to your head?" Kat said, a little surprised at the reaction. "Look Stella, Odin may be giving you a list of rules but they're not putting a gun to your head. At best it's just incarceration." Leaning forward a little, her elbows rested on her knees, chin perched in her folded hands. "Working here won't require stellar people skills either. All you'd have to do is just do the work given, deliver a report, and you're done. I mean, there'd be some red tape in between but that's kinda beside the point."

"Right, because the assault rifle pointed at me to come here wasn't a gun to my head. And now, forced incarceration for hacking Nexus and running into you. At best." She leaned forward. "I work alone and independant because I'm a hacker. I don't do red tape, I don't do reports. I hack, and that's it. You want my services, you pay. You wanna keep me here, well. Go ahead. I doubt you'll like what happens in the end."

Kat gave Stella an incredulous look. "You know you've got some nerve," she said. "You have no idea just what kind of game you got yourself mixed up in, and you're gonna give me this response? Nexus is being investigated by Odin, but that's barely doing anything since the bastards are playing things so close to the chest it's practically under their skin. You were being paid to play corporate espionage, we're asking you to work for us--and yes with pay--to save some goddamn lives." Standing up, Kat headed for the door but stopped halfway, turning on the spot.

"You've got serious skill, Stella. It's one of the reasons Odin reached out to you; only reason you had a gun in your face was because you surprised a jumpy ass soldier who's still a recruit."

"Then lock me up. If I've got some nerve, lock me up. I'm not good with people. It's why I'm alone Kat. Why I couldn't keep a boyfriend, or girlfriend. it's why I prefer my little containers. I only cause strife and heartache...so why would you want me? Yeah, I have skills. But I'm nothing. There's far better you can find, who are better with people. Better with rules, and tape. Just, better then a broken down girl with parents who don't even fucking care about her who can't help but fall in love with people who either don't notice them, won't notice them, die, or fake their fucking deaths!" She screamed the last of it. "Just lock me up. As much as I'd rather work with you, I'm not the hacker you're looking for."

This wasn't the first rant Kat had to deal with, and not even the worst. James had by far been more trouble than Stella, and dealing with him had in its own way prepared the older sibling for this moment. Except of course for Stella saying she had a crush on her, that was unexpected.....and not exactly mutual. "Look," Kat said calmly, "you are not thinking clearly. You've had a long day, you just found out that most of your work was kind of for nothing. And then of course you're talking to a dead person. So I'm going to take you somewhere with a cot, somewhere to rest for the night, and we can talk when you've actually gotten some sleep."

Stella stands wordlessly, limp. She doesn't really look able to argue or cry or anything else.

"Come on," Kat said, making the 'come hither' motion with her hand. "We'll grab some food, and I can show you to your temporary digs for the night."

She follows quietly, avoiding speaking.

Leading her out of the room, Kat walked Stella down a hall to the elevator, waiting patiently for the doors to open after pressing the button. It arrived moments after, she stepping inside with the girl and going a floor higher for the mess hall. "So......dare I ask about the crush thing?" she spoke softly.

"...if you wish to hear the awkward useless feelings of a broken girl."

"Please, I've seen broken," Kat said, though with some measure of empathy. "And you're not it. You're just having a bad day."

"Bad life, more likely." She said softly. "But yes. I have a crush on you. The badass big sister, who always looked after her idiot brother. The woman who was all cool and stuff. I have a crush on you. Happy?"

"Well I'd hardly call James an idiot," Kat said defensively. "He's just....well, stubborn sometimes. And as for the crush.....hate to break your heart Stella, but I'm straight." When the elevator reached the floor and the doors opened, she led the way out. "Plus.....you're still under eighteen, I'm a legal adult. Even if I was gay, that's not happening."

Stella sighs. "Of course you are...and that never stops anyone else."

"Stops me," Kat said flatly. The mess hall looked like a combination between the cafeteria of a highschool, a military base, and an office building's. It was plain really, the benches and seats all bolted down. Food was served from an honest to god lunch lady who looked like they could have bench pressed every person in the room.

Stella followed quietly.

"So all we need to do," Amy explained, "is find a connection between the payments of her aliases, with the locations on the map large enough to house the equipment she'd need plus her creations." James gave her a flat look and said "Just that easy? Come on, I doubt that'll work." Giving him a small grin, Amy said "It's all a matter of how you word an advertisement for work; and moving stuff around usually gains government attention when it's anything with components that can be used for weapons. None of her payments, so far anyway, correlate to anything that falls under a government watch list."

Still not convinced, James asked "and you know how to speak underground?" Blushing a little, Amy said "I may have hung around in a few parts of the dark net. Plus it helps me teach Gestalt how to actually navigate the web." Chris grinned and said "I love it when you get all nerdy..." James held a hand up and said "Easy there Chris, wait till I'm out of the room."

Leading the way to the lunchline, Kat grabbed a pair of trays and said "Look, first rule here about the cafeteria: do not get on Brunhilda's bad side."

"Never bite the hand that feeds you." Stella muttered.

"Pretty much," Kat affirmed. "She's a hell of a cook, but she's got a temper to match and believes in punishing the whole for the actions of one; last month someone cracked a joke about her. Next week it was nothing but mystery meat....."

Chortling, Chris gave her friend a look and said "Come on, I can't flirt with my girlfriend?" He shrugged, saying "Can you at least flirt and not make me feel voyeuristic." Amy decided to gang up on him and say "Admit it, you'd like to watch."

To be fair, considering your internet history you do like to wa--

You stay out of this dammit.

Stella looks away. "It's why I stick with ramen."

"Please tell me you get it made from scratch," Kat almost pined. "I can't stand microwaving that shit from the supermarket, and I've been dying for a bowl of real ramen for months."

After telling Gestalt off, James gave both girls, who were grinning in a rather amused fashion, an equally unamused look. "No I would not like to watch my two best friends go at it," he said sourly. "And can we stay on track here? How long would it take, checking these online job boards, to find Rebecca?"

Amy leaned back into the couch, shrugging as she said "Not sure. A day at most, given the programs I have; Gestalt could do it faster but he needs to learn how to speak the language first."

"No. Microwave. I need quick food during hacking. I don't eat anything homemade...not anymore." She didn't elaborate.

"Well, if I ever get any leave--which let's face it, is probably never--there's this nice little place over in Little Tokyo, serves the best ramen in the city. Along with sushi, Japanese style BBQ, the usual."

"Indeed I do," the AI said through Amy's tablet. "A rather unexpected problem my maker's did not foresee; despite my technological superiority, I still have some trouble navigating the web here. The language is difficult to understand."

"Well, that's why we're here to help you out," Amy said. "James can give you the layman's stuff, and I can teach you how to speak.....well, Earth computer."

Stella blushed lightly. "...I'd like that."