League Of Sidekicks 3: Future Perfect -- Closed and Over...

[TheDoctor455]

Good point... now what do you think is the best way to convince Paragon that we're on his side? The only thing I can think of is our attempted rescue... but since Rachel didn't seem to be that grateful or stable the last time we saw her... I get the feeling that could end up biting us in the ass... save that one as a last resort then?

Magus waited and kept his hand in place for the handshake.

He certainly likes to make people sweat, doesn't he?

 

[Vesuvius Hetlan]

Hivemind looked on as people seemed to pour into the room. "I'm bored." He flicked in his pocket and pulled out a cigarrette. He checked his pockets for a lighter. "Nothin'. Any of you guys got a lighter on you?" His voice was bored and flat. The nano-bots must have turned in for a bit.

 

[CJ1145]

Spoiler: OOC

I have places to be, guys. I wouldn't seem so rude if your guys didn't have a full-fledged conversation while you're waiting for a handshake.

Oliver took Magus' hand and shook it with his good arm. It was only then that it became obvious to those present that his second arm was actually glowing, due to the fact that it was made of energy. This only came as a surprise who had not gotten a good look at him before.

"I'm Paragon. Leader of the Renegades. It's good to meet the both of you." He then shook Umbra's hand. In truth, he remembered both of them very clearly, particularly the silent one's eagerness to join Minus. He decided it was better to feign naivete about them, to better gauge what they were really up to.

"Charmer here, I assume, has a few more angry words for me. I don't retract what I said before, but I feel I may have been too harsh, so I've come to explain myself."

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Oh..." Magus replied as he turned to let Paragon by, "Then by all means."

Umbra... I think we should observe him a little to work out the best way to show him our good intentions.

 

[meggles]

Ana almost couldn't look at Oliver. He reminded her too much of White Noise, of her past. She didn't want to relive that... She couldn't...

"Listen Oliver I-I just can't talk to you right now... I don't think either of us want another fight and I know that if we talk it's enevitable..." She couldn't even look him in the eye. She felt bad for letting her temper get the better of her, but she was fragile... Whenever her past came up, or she was reminded of the people who had used her, she closed down. She wanted to be able to work with Oliver, she also knew that if they wanted to get home at all they ALL needed to work together...

But right now she simply couldn't stand to be near him...

Ana turned away... 'I think I need to go find Ashe...' she wouldn't let them see her break down, she didn't trust them yet. Ashe was, for some reason, the only one she did trust.

Before she left she turned to Oliver. She knew her face was flushed and her voice was shakey, but she wasn't crying yet. And she wouldn't. She could be strong. She had to be.

"Oliver, can we talk after I cool down please...? I need some time to think..."

 

[TheDoctor455]

I think I have an idea Umbra... follow my lead if it works... if it doesn't work... help out with damage control. Sorry if that sounded like an order...

Seeing that Charmer was getting upset, Magus carefully walked towards her, and when he was next to her, he tried to talk her down.

"Charmer," he said to her softly, "I'm not sure what happened between you and Oliver, but maybe it would help if you talked to someone else about it?"

 

[meggles]

Ana smiled softly at Magus.
"It's not that I don't appreciate the offer... But there's not too much to say..." she looked towards the ceiling thoughtfully. "I guess I just hate it when people assume things and use intimidation to get what they want... I let my temper get the best of me because he threatened to tell... Well I suppose he's just trying to help..." she trailed off and looked back at Magus. "I'm probably being oversensitive, so don't mind me."

She smiled at him one last time before patting him on the shoulder and turning to walk away.

'Well maybe there are some people here worth trusting after all... I hope I can talk to Ashe soon...' Ana hoped in some odd way that Ashe would be able to make her feel better. Her spirits were already beginning to rise. She was glad that there were people like Alex and Magus and Abhaya, at least they made an effort to appear caring.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Magus smiled appreciatively at Ana's retreating form. He turned back to the others with a straight, but pleasant enough face.

"Oliver," he advised diplomatically, "I can understand how a sense of urgency can make one act a bit..." Magus paused as though searching for the right word, "rashly, but some people simply require a gentler... more patient approach."

Huh... that went better than expected... I had no idea it could be that simple... a simple offer for a listening ear... and she started to calm down a bit. And she was what? 16 or 18? Maybe my grandfather was wrong... maybe I could be a decent parent... er... not that I was getting any ideas there, Umbra.

 

[CJ1145]

Oliver nodded to Ana without a word. He pointed down the way he had come. "If you're looking for Ashe, he's in the atrium."

 

[meggles]

Ana heard Oliver say that Ashe was in the atrium, and as soon as she was out of sight she ran towards it. She needed to be near someone she could trust before she did something stupid. She needed Ashe to tell her she was being stupid and she knew that he'd be brutally honest with her.

The tears of anger and frustration slipped down her cheeks and when she entered the atrium she ran towards Ashe. She couldn't see his face, but she was sure it was him.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Paragon," Magus said, "What is it that you are trying to tell everyone about?"

 

[Dragon_of_red]

Ashe was looking at the computer screen. 'How the hell am I supposed to find anyone with this? It clearly says where everyone should be... But no-one is there.' he though to himself. It clearly stated that Jason was severely injured in their last fight against Minus, and was placed in the infirmary, set to be healed by someone named Analeise ever 3 hours. But when he placed Charmer in there before, the room was empty.

Olivers last entry was him going up to sleep. Apparently he wasn't in there. What he was set to be doing though, shocked him. His calendar had on the date 'Parent Teacher Interviews.' 'Wait what? Kids? Kids!?' he thought to himself. He had no time to react to any of it, as Charmer came bursting into the room, tears flowing down her face.

He stood up abruptly, making the chair behind him fall over, "Whats wrong?" he asked.

 

[VuvuZelaMan]

Your grandfather was a psychopath... why would you be listening to his evaluation of you? Umbra asked mentally, not connecting Geoff's hasty explanation with herself. Anyway, I think I'm beginning to see a bit about the issues Paragon is having here. Whatever his opinion may be of us - if he has any - it seems like your damage control thing is highlighting a potential role for mediation (for you, it seems). Umbra simply waited for explanation from Paragon; her insights were likely to be more tactical than personal anyway.

 

[meggles]

What's wrong?"

Ana didn't stop running, she just ran to Ashe and buried her face into his chest as she cried.

"I'm s-so stupid! I let my temper get away from me, and Oliver, he reminds me of White Noise and the agency... I-I can't even look at him... I don't want to be used again, I don't want to be ordered about like that..." She sobbed, her speach was slurred, and she wasn't making much sense. She just clung onto Ashe's shirt in desperation.

She could hear White Noise's voice in her mind... 'Weak little Charmer girl. C'mon, you know this is your job... Pathetic girl, there's no use in crying like that... Just think, your sacrifice, it's for the greater good... I'll never let you leave little Ana...'

"Can't go back, can't!"

 

[TheDoctor455]

Some habits die hard, I suppose. Well... when I meant 'damage control' earlier... I meant... controlling any overly-negative reaction we might get out of our new... co-workers.

 

[Dragon_of_red]

Ashe didn't know what to do. He could barely understand anything she said. All he could do was just try and clam her down. He ran his hand down her back. "There there?" he said to her, having no clue what to say.

It wasn't like he was inexperienced with this, but no matter how many times he did this, it still felt weird, especially if he had no idea what she was going on about.

"It's okay Charmer" he whispered to her, trying to get her to stop crying.

 

[meggles]

"A-Analiese... My name's Analiese.... Ashe I don't want Oliver to use my powers like the agency I worked for did, he's so controlling, he didn't even give me a chance to explain my ideas... H-he didn't even thank me for saving his life... I could have gone into a coma... I just feel used all over again..."

Ana was calming down, her tears were drying and her face was flushed but she was feeling better. She still had her face in Ashe's chest. It was warm and she felt safe there...

 

[Dragon_of_red]

Ashe was startled by the use of her name. 'So she is the one looking after Jason then?' he thought as he continued stroking her hair. Many other things rushed into his head, the main one being, 'Why did she run to me for this?'. He sighed and said back to her "It's nice to know your true name" he paused for a moment, then decided on calling her "Ana".

He felt his chest was slightly wet from her tears, but she had stopped crying, which for an odd reason made him feel very relieved. "Don't worry" he continued whispering to her, "We won't do anything like that, Oliver may be a jerk, but he is probably a good person deep down"

 

[meggles]

Ana finally looked up at Ashe.
"You really think so...? Well... I suppose I'm alright if you're around... Um I mean, well you have stood up for me before and I kinda saved you so..." She blushed. She might have been ready to tell him her name, but she certainly wasn't ready to explain the whole marriage thing yet.

"I suppose I should face Oliver then... Do you think you could come with me...?" She knew she was being childish, and she couldn't deny that this made her look vulnerable and weak. But sometimes she needed strength. Sure she had been forced to rely on herself for years with the white mages, but being at the agency had torn down many of her emotional supports...

In other words 'sometimes I guess I just need someone to lean on too...'

Ana let go of Ashe's shirt. Still blushing because of their closeness. She wiped her eyes quickly before leaning up and giving him the quickest peck on the cheek she could manage.

"Sorry about your shirt by the way..." with that she turned around and started walking back towards the others, secretly hoping that Ashe wasn't too far behind her.

 

[Dragon_of_red]

Ashe blushed as she kissed his cheek, but quickly started walking with her, "I need to say a few things to Oliver too" he said as he walked, trying to hide his red face. He was preoccupied with not embarrassing himself, he didn't realise how angry and foreboding his sentence had, so he added "Not in a mean psychotic way" he said, trying to fix the situation.

He walked next to her and found Oliver pretty quickly. He was about to say something, then realised what an arrogant idiot it would make him sound like. Instead, he just went formal. "According to the computer, no-one is where they should be. We should have 3 people at base right now, and no-one has encountered any of them." he explained to him, "Jason and Ana should be in the Infirmary, and you should be sleeping in your room."