Contract: 3.4

“That's basically the gist of it. After that she teleported into my room and you know the rest.” I finished my story. My entire body burned with anger but I managed to hold back from punching a hole in the hotel wall or something similarly stupid.

In front of me, sitting at her temporary desk, Melanie sighed, “And now we have a cape with unknown powers bunking with you in a hotel owned by Accord of all people.” I nodded and she rubbed her temples in a vain attempt to relieve herself of stress, “...What a shit show.”

“I don't think we have to worry about any damage at least. Christine has less of a temper than me and is more of a runner than a fighter.” I offered.

“Well that's something at least.” She said quietly before looking back at me, “How are you taking this, Valerie?”

I let out a humorless laugh, “How do you think? I think my best friend is angry cause she won't answer her phone and it turns out she was kidnapped-no, sold by her parents to the Empire so they could ship her off to Germany or some shit. And not only that, but she fucking triggered from it!?”

I took a deep breath to calm down as Melanie stared at me placidly, “I'm barely holding myself back from sprinting back to her Bay and tearing Crusader limb from limb, power interactions be damned.”

And wasn't that just the cherry on top of the fucking cake? I knew that Justin was a cape, but to find out he was the one cape in that damn gang that I wasn't sure I stood a chance against was annoying as hell. That didn't matter though, after what he had done he was right at the top of my shit list beside Hookwolf. He was done.

I stood abruptly from my chair, clenching my fists as I placed back and forth, “The moment we're back in the Bay I'm going after them. Hookwolf and Crusader, both of them. I've put it off for long enough.”

Melanie raised an eyebrow, “Is that so? Valerie I'm not sure how to tell you this but you aren't going after them.”

“I know. I know. I'll wait until the mission is over to deal with it. I just…” I sighed, trying to cool down a bit, “I'm so fucking pissed I wouldn't be surprised if I started spewing fire or something. Who knows, we might get another Emily on the team.” I joked lamely.

I was a bit put off as Melanie shook her head, “You misunderstood me Valerie. I meant you aren't going after them at all.”

I froze, “What?”

“Valerie,” Melanie's voice was deadly serious as she stared me down, “Even disregarding the fact that killing is explicitly against the rules I set for you, of you kill one of Kaiser's capes, much less two, the rest of them would stop at nothing to kill you or take everything from you in return.”

I laughed at her words, “And what would they take? They already killed my fucking parents! Nearly killed Christine! What else do I have to lose?”

“Are you really that blind?” I stepped back in shock as Faultline slammed her hands on her desk in anger, “Look around you! You have us! Elle, Newter, Emily, Gregor, and I, we all care about you! You're a part of our team, our family! Do you think we want to see you rush off and get yourself killed!?”

I grit my teeth, “So what am I supposed to do!? Do you want me to just leave them alone!? Let them get away with all the bullshit they've done!? What's to stop them from coming after Christine again, or even me!? I can't just leave them alone!”

“And you don't have to.” She said, “But if you just go on a rampage through the Empire then number one, you won't get very far and number two, you'll bring the entire force of the Empire down on the crew. I don't think I need to tell you how bad that would end.

“What you need to do is take a deep breath, visit your friend who clearly needs you right now, and then come back and talk to me with a clear head. When the mission is over, we can all come together and decide what to do about the Empire.”

I stared at her in shock, “You're going to help me?”

“Not just you. Truthfully, the whole Bay has been wanting to get rid of the Empire, mercenaries and villains included.” Melanie confessed, “They've been getting too bold lately. Going after capes is one thing, but openly targeting civilian families just because they're white or black is pushing the limits. They're growing too arrogant. It's only a matter of time before they try to do something that results in the hammer being brought down on the lot of us.

“As it stands, our crew has a good composition to counter their capes if we take it slowly.” Melanie emphasized. “And with what just happened to your friend, I'm sure that it wouldn't be hard to convince the others and even in the Bay there may be people willing to help us out. For now though, we focus on our current mission. All of this can wait until we are back in the Bay and are actually in a position to plan things out. Understand?”

I stared at her in stark shock for a long moment, completely flabbergasted at the idea that she would be willing to help me, before nodding my head slowly.

Melanie nodded, “Good. I'm glad to see that you can still see reason. Go be with your friend. After she gets settled in, I have a task for you.”

Probably something to do with Darwin. As I went to respond, the door to the room suddenly opened and the both of us looked over to find Newter sticking his head in with a worried expression on his face.

“Is everything alright in here? We could hear you guys shouting from the kitchen.” He said.

Were we really being that loud? I guess I had gotten a little more angry than I thought.

“Yeah, everything’s cool.” I assured him, “We were just having a conversation and things got a bit heated. It's all good now. Right?”

Melanie gave me a nod, “Yes, everything's fine. Valerie, we'll continue our conversation later. Take my advice and visit your friend.” She ordered.

“Will do, thanks, Melanie. I'm sorry for getting so heated back there.”

“Something horrible happened to someone close to you, it's completely understandable. Just remember that we're all together in this, you aren't alone.”

It was a warning as much as it was a reassurance which was fair. I gave her a nod before walking out of her office past Newter.

“So what was all that yelling about?” Newter asked curiously, following me as I made my way down the hall.

I shook my head, “I don't really want to get into it right now. I was being an idiot and Melanie helped me realize that.”

Newter nodded understandingly, “That's cool, I'm guessing you want to get back to Christine, right?”

I nodded a bit more urgently than I meant to, “Yeah, I don't mean to be an ass or anything but-”

He interrupted me before I could get the words out “Nah, it's cool man, I get it. Go be with your friend. I'll go mess with Emily or go see what Gregor and Elle are doing. Take your time.”

“She should still be in your room. She didn't seem too uncomfortable but I don't think she's going anywhere without you for a while.” He suddenly smirked, “Oh but uh, try to keep it down if you two decide to have a lover’s spat. I'm not sure Accord would like hearing you guys argue a few blocks away. You know how he is.”

He took off down the hall, not giving me a chance to respond. I stared after him with a surprised expression that slowly morphed into a fond grin at his antics, before turning and entering my room.
I paused as I got inside, met with a sight I didn't expect.

Christine was sitting on my bed, arms wrapped around her knees as she stared into space. Her hair was floating high in the air, shifting between shades of blue and purple along with her glowing eyes as she looked around at things I couldn't see.

I was struck slightly by her appearance. She looked ethereal, the way her eyes and hair glowed making her seem like something out of a dream. I couldn't see her pupils and I wasn't even sure she had any anymore, but I could see the way her eyes darted around in their sockets, locking on to invisible points in space.

It was kind of eerie to watch and so I decided to get her attention to snap her out of it, “Chris?” I called gently.

Her head immediately snapped toward me and her eyes widened, “Valerie!”

I gave her a grin and a small wave, barely holding myself back from freezing to watch as the colorful glow began to fade from her hair and eyes, “Whatcha starin at? Must be pretty interesting if you didn't notice me coming in.”

She blushed, the blood showing up even more on her oddly pale cheeks, “My power makes these… beacons in my vision. I'm almost sure they're places I can teleport to and I think I've figured out the conditions, but there's so many that trying to actually catalog them all is going to take a while.”

She smiled a bit helplessly, “It's helping me keep my mind off things at least.”

I frowned lightly at her tone, despondent. “How are you holding up?” I asked gently, sitting on the edge of the bed, “Sorry I couldn't be here, my boss wanted to know what was happening.”

“I've been better but…” She said quietly. I stayed silent, letting her speak, “To be honest, it doesn't hurt so much. For some reason.”

“What do you mean?”

She fiddled with the edge of her shirt, “Everything that happened, my parents selling me out to the Empire , to Justin, it felt more like an inevitability than something that happened out of nowhere. It was like some part of me was expecting it.”

“Maybe somewhere inside of me I knew that they didn't really care for me.” She squeezed her knees tighter to herself, “Now that I look back on it, even when we were kids my only memories of them were them leaving me with your parents or letting you come over to get me out of their hair.”

“I'm not sure they ever loved me.”

I kept my face carefully neutral as I reached over and rubbed small circles on my friend's back. I was furious with the man and woman who had done this to her but I didn't let it show. Christine needed me tight now.

They definitely made my shit-list though.

“Fuck them then.” I said decisively, “You’re here now, with me. You don't have to worry about them anymore. When we get back to the Bay, I'll sneak in your place and grab your stuff and you'll never have to see them again if you don't want to.”

I gave her a lopsided grin, “And if you want me to break some shit while I'm there I could do that too. Your guys’ kitchen counter was pretty expensive, wasn't it?’

She huffed in amusement and I grinned as my joke was successful, “You have a weird way of comforting people, you know that?”

“It worked though, didn't it?” I teased and this time actually managed to pull a laugh out of her.

“Yeah, it did.” She nodded, smiling much more genuinely, “You always did know how to make me feel better. That's one of the reasons I…”

She trailed off, and the tender moment was interrupted as a flash of sadness crossed Christine's face. She immediately looked away from me, glancing down at her lap and leaving me frowning at what just happened.

Right, we still had to talk about that. I had been hoping to put it off for a little while as Christine got more comfortable, but now I could see that she probably wouldn't with this thing looming over us.

I shifted on the bed burning to face her fully. She looked up at me in confusion. I took a small breath, “Chris… What I said before I left the Bay, I-hey, look at me.” I said as she immediately began to look away again at words.

She did so slowly looking back up at me with those beautiful white eyes. I gave her a gentle smile, trying to make sure she didn't misunderstand my intentions, “When I left for Boston's and I said we both needed some time, that's what I meant. I wasn't rejecting your feelings. I-If you even have any I mean. Hopefully I haven't completely misconstrued things.”

She shook her head slowly clearly trying to hold back the urge to avert her gaze, “You didn't. I was going to confess to you in the kitchen when Justin interrupted us. I'm starting to think that might not have ended well.”

I grimaced slightly. No it wouldn't have. Just a kiss on the cheek had sent my head spinning with panic, I couldn't imagine what a full on confession would have done to me.

“No it probably wouldn't have.” I agreed, “But that was then and this is now, and nobody is going to interrupt us this time.”

Here it was, the moment of truth. I thought back to Emily and Newter’s advice towards me, that I wasn't going to accidentally take advantage of this vulnerable girl in front of me, that mine and Christine's relationship wasn't nearly as fragile as I imagined, and took the plunge.

“I do have feelings for you, Chris. I have for a while now.” I confessed quietly. Her eyes widened before locking on to my own, glowing orbs searching for signs of any deceit. She found none and her lips opened in silent shock.

“Then why did you…?” She trailed off but I got what she meant.

“Well for one, because I truly believed what I said, we both needed time. But mostly I was worried.” I admitted, “We just became friends again and I didn't want to lose that. I know how shitty things have been for you and I didn't want to take advantage of you while you were vulnerable. ”

“You wouldn't do that!”

I laughed lightly, a bit taken aback by her vehemence, “You know me. I've never been the most introspective person. I've got some new friends that helped knock some sense into me.”

“Newter?” She asked.

“Hmm. Him and Spitfire both. They gave me a bit of perspective on things. Most importantly, my feelings for you and what I should do about them.”

“...And?” I didn't think pure white eyes could look so hopeful. It made me lose my train of thought for a second before I picked it back up.

“Chris…” I mouthed my words silently before huffing, “You know what, we both know I'm not good at things like this so I'm just gonna come out and say it. I like you a lot.

“Now that I'm not hung up on being worried about what I might do or what might happen, I'd be willing to give this a chance. Us, I mean” I said slowly, feeling oddly shy, “If you're alright with taking things slow at first. I don't think either of us need something too intense right now.”

I held out a hand to her in askance and she stared at it for a moment before reaching forward with her own.

Her hand slipped smoothly into mine, her palm sliding smoothly against my own as her fingers wrapped around mine. She gave a small sigh as I gently rubbed a thumb over her knuckles in an affectionate gesture.

She leaned over forward, placing her head against my shoulder. Her hair floated upward and tickled my nose but I paid it no mind, leaning down to rest my chin on her head.

“Yeah,” She said softly, tightening her grip on my hand, "this is more than enough for now.”