#he’s just trying to figure out why trooper cloud is acting so weird

[sammayrin]

ffvii time travel au where cloud and tifa got married and the dynamic is this:

cloud, sighing: I miss my wife, zack. I miss her a lot. I gotta go, I’ll be back soon.

[raiseyourcups]

Cabur

Chapter Twenty-One

Pairing: Din Djarin x OFC (Aili Verdella) Warnings: cursing, talk of torture, blood, injury Word Count: 4.3k Also on AO3

Masterlist//Main Masterlist

Summary: They're stuck in a cantina, Kuiil isn't answering the comlink,  they don't know if Little Green is even safe and there's a Moff with a whole squadron of Troopers with their blasters pointing at them. How the hell are they going to make it out of this one?

Note: Sorry for posting so late, I lost two hours of working on this running around trying to get a Covid test (which I’m hoping I’m just over-reacting about my allergies)

“Is there another way out?” Cara asked after finally getting tired of the standoff that they were stuck in. After the man had finished speaking he proceeded to just stand there. Waiting. Presumably for whichever troopers he had sent after the kid to get back either empty handed or with his prize. 

Aili was stupidly holding onto a small amount of hope that Kuiil had dropped his comlink and was waiting on the Crest. She knew he wasn't though. But keeping that small bit of hope was the only thing stopping her from taking the risk of outright attacking the Imps holding them hostage. That and their lack of decent weapons. She could only do so much against an entire squadron of Storm Troopers and a team of Death Troopers under the command of a Moff.

“No, that’s it,” Karga said, pointing out the open window with his blaster. 

Aili paused for half a second, tilting her head to the side and wondering how she could be so stupid to forget, before she tapped on Mando’s chest piece to get his attention. When he glanced down at her she pointed to the ground with her blaster. She hoped he got her meaning because it was technically his secret to tell if Karga didn’t already know about it. 

His helmet cocked to the side before he looked over at where Karga was. “What about the sewers?”

“Sewers?” Karga questioned, wondering why Mando would want to know about the sewers of all things at the moment. 

“The Mandalorians have a Covert down in the sewers. If we can get down there, they can help us escape,” Mando explained as quickly as he could. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before now and he wasn’t going to dwell on the fact that it had taken Aili to remind him. 

“Not only that but if we can get down there that means access to a ship if we can’t get to the Crest by foot,” Aili added. She was weighing all of their options now. If they got down to the Covert, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to leave any of the girls behind this time. Not with a Moff breathing down their necks. 

In fact she knew that if they went down there, everyone would have to leave or fight. No matter what there would be losses, she just hoped it would be more troopers than Mandalorians. If anyone hated the Empire more than she did, it was Mandalorians. 

From across the way, Cara nodded her head in agreement, “I like that plan, sewers and another ship are good.”

“Checking for access points,” Mando said, bringing up his arm to set his t-visor to scan the building they were stuck in. Logically there had to be an access point somewhere in a cantina but even Aili knew that Nevarro was weird. She had long since given up on trying to understand how anything was set up in town. 

“What the hell are they even waiting for?” Cara questioned, checking back out the window once more to see if anyone had so much as moved a foot out of place. Not that she wanted them to attack now that they had an almost way out but she was surprised that they hadn’t taken them out yet. 

Aili leaned around Mando, keeping out of his line of sight (not that it was hard to do since she was so much shorter than him) and watched as several troopers came back carrying parts of a weapon. “Oh fuck me,” she said, louder than she meant to as she turned back around. 

“I’ll second that because they’re setting up an E-Web,” Cara said, letting the back of her head lightly hit the wall she was hiding behind. They were really screwed now if Mando couldn’t find a way into the sewers. 

“It’s over,” Karga said bluntly. 

Mando ignored them all as best as he could, still scanning the room for a way out. He barely stopped himself from releasing an audible sigh of relief when he finally found one. “I found a vent.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cara said, relief in her voice for the first time but it was still clouded by tension. 

“I don’t want to be here when they get that thing put together,” Aili added. 

Mando and Cara were quick to run to the back of the room, tossing aside the chairs that were covering the vent. Aili kept looking back at them before checking the progress on the E-Web set up. They were quickly running out of time. What storm troopers lacked in aiming, they apparently made up for in setting up guns. 

“Not to rush you two but…” Aili trailed off,

“It’s assembled! How long is that going to take you?” Karga finished what Aili was saying. 

“Blow it,” Cara said, stepping back to give Mando room. 

“I’m out of charges,” Mando replied, wincing from behind his helmet knowing that wasn’t the answer anyone was going to want to hear. Least of all...

Aili spun around to glare at the back of Mando’s helmet. “What do you mean you’re out of charges?” She couldn’t believe he would even be stupid enough to walk into an obvious trap without every weapon he always had on him. She knew she didn’t bring much either but she wasn’t the one who was usually a walking armory. 

Cara picked up the blaster rifle she had taken from the weapons locker, “Move out of the way!” 

That was the only warning she gave Mando before she started shooting at the vent in an attempt to get it open. Aili winced at the sound knowing that they’d be able to hear it from outside. 

“Your astute panic suggests that you understand your situation. I would prefer to avoid any further violence and encourage a moment of consideration,” the Moff spoke again as soon as Cara stopped shooting. Her attempt to kick the vent in was unsuccessful as it didn’t even move an inch. 

“Members of my escort have completed assembly of an E-Web heavy repeating blaster. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon,” He paused for half a second before continuing, his tone somehow more smug than it already was. “I am sure that Republican Shock Trooper Carasynthia Dune of Alderaan will advise you that she has witnessed many of her ranks vaporized mid-descent facing the predecessor of this particular model.”

Cara turned at the sound of her full name, eyes narrowed as she wondered how this man that she had never met before knew exactly who she was. 

“Maybe Aili Verdella, formerly AL-1284, Dragon Leader of the Krayt Dragon Program recalls using weapons of this sort on multiple planets against innumerable Rebels and Rebel sympathizers. The New Republic would be very interested in knowing your current location but I think you know where you really belong.”

“That’s not gonna happen any time soon.” AIli muttered to herself and although she would deny it if anyone asked, her heart was beating a little faster. From anger or fright, she wasn’t sure at the moment. She had expected Imps but she hadn’t expected a Moff. This was more than any of them had bargained for. 

But now she was even more determined to keep Little Green out of the Empire's grasp. Nothing a Moff could want with him could be good and she'd rather die than let them have another child. He could bring up as much of her past as he wanted but if he thought that was going to shake her, he was sorely mistaken. He was just making her more pissed off. 

“Or perhaps the decommissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore, when gunships fitted with similar ordnance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in The Night of a Thousand Tears.”

Mando had turned to stare out the window when he heard his name, a name that no one should know, spoken for the first time since he had taken the Creed. He was beginning to understand who they were up against and it was worse than he thought. He avoided looking towards where Aili was, unsure what he would see on her face. He missed the way the hard look in her eyes softened for a moment before she turned back around to glare out the window. 

“I advise disgraced Magistrate Greef Karga to search the wisdom of his years and urge you to lay down your arms and come outside. The structure you are trapped in will be razed in short order and your storied lives will come to an unceremonious end.”

“Does this guy actually hear himself speak?” Aili questioned, not expecting an answer from anyone. She figured that if she was still a little taken aback by this man knowing her old designation in the Program, Mando and Cara were probably a little more than shaken up. Mando more than Cara. She was angry on his behalf, because now everyone knew his name and he hadn’t even freely given it. 

“What do you propose?” Karga shouted out. 

“Reasonable negotiation.” 

Even the way he said that almost made a chill run down Aili’s spine. She didn’t want to find out how negotiations would go with the Moff. If only because she already knew the answer and she didn’t like it. 

“What assurance do you offer?” Karga tried again to get a decent answer. 

“If you’re asking if you can trust me, you cannot. Just as you betrayed our business arrangement, I would gladly break any promise and watch you die at my hand.” The Moff said and finally for the first time, they could hear the sadistic nature in his voice. The one that every high-ranking officer in the Empire had. 

“The assurance I give is this: I will act in my own self-interest which at this time involves your cooperation and benefit. I will give you until nightfall and then I will have the E-Web cannon open fire.” And then he turned around and walked away with the Death Troopers following behind him. The rest of the Storm Troopers stayed exactly where they were, including the ones waiting to man the E-Web. 

“I say we hear him out,” Karga said as he turned to look at Mando and Cara who were still standing in by the vent. 

“Are you crazy or just stupid?” Aili asked before she could stop herself. She had heard a lot of stupid things from people recently but this one was the dumbest. Negotiating with a Moff? That would never go their way even if he made it seem like it would.

“The minute we open that door, we’re dead,” Cara added knowing that negotiations weren’t even really an option. She moved from where she was standing, keeping her head low just in case any of the troopers outside decided to be dumb and shoot at them. 

“We’re dead if we don’t. At least out there we’ve got a shot,” Karga tried to argue, not knowing that everyone else had already made up their minds. 

“That’s easy for you to say. I’m a Rebel Shock Trooper, they’ll upload me to a mind flayer,’ Cara argued, kneeling down beside one of the dead troopers and stripping him of his weapons before moving on to the next one. It wasn’t much but it was more than they had come in with. 

“Those aren’t real, just wartime propaganda,” Karga dismissed her worry easily. He had heard all of the propaganda during the war, none had any actual proof behind them. 

“No, those are very real,” Aili stated as she skirted around the wall to join the rest of them. Not that being further back would do much to protect her if and when they started to operate the E-Web. Nothing would help once that happened. 

“That’s not helping,” Cara stated, giving Aili a heated look. 

“Sorry, I didn’t realize that I needed to comfort anyone right now,” Aili snapped. “But none of you betrayed the Empire and stole so-called property from them. Sure, Mando broke an agreement with this guy, but I took out a whole base and ran off millions of credits worth of assets.

“I already know how these negotiations will go, he’s going to want the kid and me if only so they can fully punish me and then after they break me, they’ll have me kill for them again.”

She couldn’t go back there again. They’d make sure that she couldn’t get away this time, give her a shock collar and then probably set an interrogation droid on her. Not even to get information, just to torture her until she broke and then they would really get down to business. 

And if the interrogation droid didn’t work, they’d just keep trying every method in the book until they got what they wanted. Their Dragon Leader back and answering only to them. They’d make her hunt down anyone they wanted, probably make her bring back all the girls she helped escape first. That way they’d have a whole team to work with again. 

“That’s not going to happen,” Mando said shortly, his jaw clenched behind his helmet. He wouldn’t let negotiations end that way, not if he could help it. 

“Well then unless we can come up with some brilliant escape plan,” Aili said, throwing her arms out to the side. She didn’t see one and she didn’t like that. Didn’t like that she could only see one outcome unless they could get into the sewers without drawing attention. And before nightfall which wouldn’t take very much longer to come. 

“I’m shooting my way out of here,” Cara stated as if it would be as easy as that. 

“That'll go over well. This isn’t like Sorgan or even like the war,” Aili tried to reason with Cara. She understood the need to get out of there as quickly as possible, but shooting their way out didn’t seem possible at the moment. All of the thoughts running through her head weren’t helping her come up with a plan though. 

“What about you, Mando?” Karga turned to look at the only person who hadn’t said much about their predicament. 

“I know who he is.”

Aili let out a scoff, louder than she intentioned. “Yeah, a Moff, I think we should all know that much just from uniform alone.”

“It’s Moff Gideon.” Mando stated without any lead in. 

That caught Aili’s attention as she looked at Mando with confusion. Sure, she had known it was a Moff they were facing but she hadn’t known his name. Every “division” of the Empire had been kept away from each other, that way if one was taken down there were several more to fall back on and keep the Empire going. 

“No, Moff Gideon was executed for war crimes.” It was Cara’s turn to look at Mando like he had lost his mind. She didn’t know much but she knew Moff Gideon’s fate after the war had ended. Every Rebel did. 

“It’s him. He knew my name,” Mando said, knowing that wouldn’t make it any clearer for anybody. Except maybe Aili who knew that he was a foundling just like the four foundlings she sponsored. 

“So? What does that prove?” Karga questioned.

“I haven’t heard that name spoken since I was a child.”

“On Mandalore?” 

“I was not born on Mandalore,” Mando replied, shaking his helmet barely enough for anyone to notice. 

“But you’re a Mandalorian,” Karga said, confusion on his face and in his voice. 

“Mandalorians aren’t all from Mandalore. It’s not a race,” Aili stated, thinking of the four girls that she had brought to the Armorer and of the little Mando had revealed back on Sorgan when Omera had asked about the helmet. 

“It’s a Creed.” Mando said, thinking back to the day he had lost everything but gained everything at the same time. It wasn’t a day he particularly liked to think about. “I was a foundling. They raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own and when I came of age, I was sworn to the Creed.

“The only record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Moff Gideon was an ISB officer during the Purge. That’s how I know it’s him.”

“That’s how he knows who we all are,” Cara added.

“He says he needs us which means L...the Child got away safely. I was worried when Kuiil didn’t respond but if they’d captured the kid, we’d already be dead.” Even though his words said he had hope that Kuiil had made it to the Crest, Aili could hear the way his voice sounded almost...empty. Like he didn’t actually believe the words coming out of his own mouth. 

“Not necessarily,” Aili said slowly. “I know how the Empire works, remember? As much as I don’t want to even say it, he could be waiting until he has the kid physically in his hands. And once he does, he’ll kill us.”

“Once again, not helping. Hail them again,” Cara said as she walked past Aili and Mando to take over the spot where they had previously been taking cover. 

Mando raised the comlink, hoping that he was right and Aili was wrong for once. “Come in Kuiil. Kuiil? Nothing.”

“They might have jammed the link,” Cara said, desperate for something to go their way. 

Aili was about to say something when the comlink suddenly beeped and they could all hear Little Green cooing over it. But it also didn’t sound like he was on the Crest, the sound of a speeder bike beneath the coos. 

“Kuiil has been terminated,” IG-11 said from over the comlink and Aili looked up at Mando. She actually didn’t know what to think at the moment. But she knew Mando wouldn’t like that answer. 

“What did you do?” Mando ground out, fist tight around the comlink. He knew that he should’ve fought Kuiil harder against bringing the droid. 

“I am fulfilling my base function,” IG-11 replied in short manner. 

“Which is?” Mando questioned, voice still as tense as his shoulders were now. 

“To nurse and protect.”

“What the kriff is that thing talking about?” Aili asked, looking straight into Mando’s t-visor when he finally looked at her. He shook his helmet at the same time as shrugging his shoulders. He had no idea what exactly Kuiil had done when reprogramming the droid. 

Then the sound of blasters going off sounded, including the sound of ones attached to speeder bikes. Everyone looked around at each other in confusion before Cara peeked around the corner of the wall to see all of the troopers outside turn to face where the attack was coming from. There were several explosions further away from them but no one could tell where they were coming from. 

“Look!” Cara’s exclamation brought everyone’s attention to the window again. Mando and Aili quickly joined Cara while Karga took another shot of alcohol before joining them. Every trooper had now turned to face the incoming threat. 

“Is that…” Aili didn’t even get to finish her question when IG-11 jumped off the speeder bike, letting it crash into several troopers before it crashed and caused an explosion. Cara ducked down while Mando took cover behind the wall again, reaching out to pull Aili behind cover as well when she didn’t move. 

“Cover me.” Mando looked down at Aili before he made a move towards the door. Aili didn’t let him get very far, her grip on his arm tight. 

Aili looked up at Mando with a hard stare. “I’m going with you.”

“Aili, for once can you listen to me?” They didn’t have time to argue about this and yet here they were. 

“We agreed nothing would change,” Aili glared up at Mando. She knew that if she hadn’t let things change between them, he wouldn’t be second guessing her joining him out in the fight. He hadn’t cared when they were on Sorgan, or Tatooine, or even the prison job. But now suddenly she was delegated to cover fire for him?

“Aili, please.” Mando said shortly, ignoring the looks they were getting from Cara and Karga. 

Aili stared up at Mando with anger in her eyes and a growing feeling of wanting to smack him upside the head. But they didn’t really have the time to argue. “Fine,” she ground out, teeth clenched. “But we’re gonna have words when this is over.”

Cara hopped on top of the bar and started up her repeating blaster, taking out a good amount of troopers nearby. Mando made his way out the door, taking out the troopers stationed right outside easily while Aili and Karga gave him cover fire from that end. Aili didn’t mean to flinch when one of the Death Troopers shot at Mando but the blast reflected off his beskar easily even from up close. 

He shot one before another grabbed him and threw him to the ground but before the trooper could shoot him, he kicked up and Aili shot him down in the time it took Mando to get back up. From there it was easier, taking out Storm Troopers until they all saw IG-11 get shot in the legs and hit the ground, protecting the Child with its body. 

“Mando!” Aili shouted over the sound of blasters going off everywhere including her own. He turned to look at her. “The E-Web!”

He was right by it and all the troopers were too far away to get to it before him. He wasted no time in picking up the canon and taking out the troopers around them. That gave IG-11 the chance to stand back up and move towards the open cantina door where Karga and Aili were. Everything was going too smoothly and that was when there was a blast from the entrance of the cantina where Cara was. 

“Fuck,” Aili hissed out, unable to hear the sound of Cara’s rifle anymore. She was about to yell for Karga to head back inside when she heard it start up again, taking out any troopers that had made it in. By the time she looked back over towards Mando, she saw Moff Gideon raise a blaster up and without thinking she shot out at him. She hit him on the shoulder so his own shot didn’t meet its target. 

Mando still let out a surprised shout at the blaster shot hitting him from behind, bending over a little and losing his grip on the E-Web for a moment. He shook it off, picking up the canon and turning to face Moff Gideon. Before either he or Aili could even attempt to take a shot at him, he shot the box of ammunition causing an explosion bigger than the one from the speeder bike. Karga turned away from it, hitting the cantina wall while Aili took cover back inside the cantina. 

When the fire died down, she felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw Mando laying on the ground. He wasn’t even attempting to get back up. Karga started giving cover fire again for IG-11 who kept moving towards the cantina as best as it could. A quick glance into the cantina and Aili could see Cara moving towards the back. 

“Cara!” Aili shouted out for the other woman to move as fast as she could. With a quick glance towards Karga who gave her a nod, she ran out and met Cara beside Mando. Aili nodded for Cara to pick up Mando while she gave her close cover fire as they walked as fast as they could back to the cantina. IG-11 and Karga picked up the slack when Aili stopped to help Cara drag Mando into the cantina. 

As soon as Karga and IG-11 were inside the door shut behind them, cutting off Moff Gideon and his troopers. Aili and Cara laid Mando against one of the chairs that they had upturned earlier. Aili turned to Cara, “I got this, go keep watch.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not really but I can handle it.”

“This is our only path out,” Karga said to IG-11. “Can you clear it?”

The droid walked over to the vent and placed the Child down before looking down at Karga. “If you go near this child, I will have no choice but to kill you.”

“I understand, can you do anything to move the grate,” Karga replied, still keeping a lookout for any troopers. Cara joined him although she kept looking over to where Mando and Aili were every couple of seconds. 

“Yes, of course,” IG-11 said in reply to Karga’s rushed question. He sounded annoyingly calm in the way only a droid could be in this situation. He started cutting through the vent easily. 

Aili looked over Mando for any obvious wounds but didn’t see any which meant he was either bruised to hell and back beneath the armor or the beskar was hiding all of it. She looked down at him as calmly as she could, “I’m just going to check the back of your head, no removing the helmet, promise.”

She didn’t wait for his response before she did as she said, her eyes going wide the second she felt exactly what she didn’t want to feel. “Oh shit,” Aili muttered, pulling her hand away from the back of Mando’s helmet. It was covered in blood, more than it should be which meant a severe head wound. This was obviously worse than a simple concussion. Much worse. 

“It’s fine.” Mando said, looking up at Aili from behind his helmet. He was impressed by the way she was almost calmly going through the med bag she had brought. 

“No it’s not,” she said, her eyes wide as all of her senses went into overdrive. She tried to take a breath, tried to recall all of her field medical training. Head wounds had levels though and after a certain point they had been taught to cut their losses, mercy kill if necessary. But that wasn't going to happen here. Wasn’t even an option. 

She just had to figure out a way to help him. 

[melyaliz]

Chapter 1: Ride the Lightning

 Masterlist

Fandom: Marvel / X-Men 

Summary: Peter had seen a lot of weird things being an X-men but this woman was one of the weirder ones.  

Pairing: Peter Maximoff x OC 

Notes: Trying to figure out timelines for this is a pain. One of the reasons I HATE the X-Men. We are just going to say this is right after Apocalypse and Peter is around 25. I know I’m going to get hate for it because of time but oh well. 

ALSO: I promise requests are getting written. I just had to clean the 12 chapters of my novel so I could send them to my editors. (I’m so close to being done with the first draft I can taste it) 

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive​

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

DONATE or REQUEST

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

He was never sure what had drawn him to her. It was like this magnetic pull. No matter what he did he found himself back to her. Racing toward her, unable to go anywhere else.

Lighting striking the highest point. 

Whoever said lightning never strikes the same place twice was wrong. 

Lighting always struck whatever was closest. The highest point in the sky. So if that point was still the highest point it would still strike it. 

And that was her, she was so high up he couldn’t see anyone else but her.

She was his angel in the clouds.

----

“Cyclops look out!” Jean screamed as she blocked the large bone spikes that were shot out at her boyfriend. Peter looked around the room assessing the problem. It was 6 of them against 4 of the bad guys. 

And they were kind of getting their asses handed to them. 

Only kind of though. 

Cyclops and Jean were fighting that weird bone shooty guy while Nightcrawler was dodging the mini earthquakes from the other guy while Peter was racing around the blonde chick shooting weird little light bombs at him while Jubilee tried to combat the bursts with her own pyrotechnics. 

While Storm, Strom was fighting a chick with hair that was almost as white as hers. 

A gust of wind and the chick crashed into a bus. 

But instead of seeming to get hurt the shock from the force between the chick and the bus seemed to get absorbed. Dropping down the chick shook her head eyes glowing bright blue sparks with energy. 

No one else noticed it, probably because of his speed, but the girl's hands started to flicker with some weird blue light her eyes matching. 

Slowly she stood and as Ororo sent another wave of wind the girl raised her hand the wind dying down and her hands glowing visibility now. 

Dashing toward his teammate Peter quickly moved the weather goddess away as the girl let out a blast of pure energy. He glanced back at the chick, her face completely stoic no expression, completely blank. 

It was kind of creepy. 

Once Strom was away from the blast Peter raced toward the girl. It was time to end this. 

Grabbing her from behind he pulled her hands behind her back against his chest trying to decide what his next move should be. 

“Time to chill out,” he said.  

Slowly she turned to look at him, her eyes glowing with energy, “We do not take orders from you.” she said before leaning back so her fingertips touched his wrist. 

And suddenly Peter felt… exhausted. 

It was as if someone was sucking the life out of him. Or his energy. Or his speed. 

The world seemed to slow, drain. 

He pulled away from her clutching his wrist eyes focusing on her face. Shock, as he realized the world around him, seemed to speed up, meet him. 

Her face looked blank, unmoving in that creepy child of the corn look. But her eyes, her eyes were alight with blue fire. Hair bright as she let the blue energy flow through her body. Rising her hands like a prayer she closed her eyes then spread her arms out letting a wave of energy flow sending everyone flying. 

In the dust of it, they were gone. 

Peter blinked looking around.

What had just happened? 

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

“Late at night, all systems go, you've come to see the show

We do our best, you're the rest, you make it real, you know” 

Metallica pulsed through Gemma’s headphones from her walkman as she moved from the bus stop of her job at the post office. 

“Adrenaline starts to flow

You're thrashing all around

Acting like a maniac

Whiplash”

Her hand tapped against the door letting the residual reaction flow through her hand. Small sparks of energy pulsing through her veins. Who needs coffee when they have an amazing song? 

“Morning!” Her coworker Sandra said waving to her from behind the table where she was organizing letters. Gemma waved back adding a little skip in her step as she made her way back to the packages department. 

Gemma liked the post office. It offered some sort of repetition, moving boxes around getting them where they needed to go. It was a lot of mental work but it was consistent and she liked that. They also didn’t mind if she played music while she did it which was a plus. 

And when she was done she was done. And she could go home and be home. 

And rest.

Gemma had always had problems sleeping. When her mutant abilities had emerged she had just assumed it had something to do with that. Her ability to absorb energy. It was as if every little thing charged her up and sent her into a spiral of energy that she couldn’t quite calm down from. It had taken years worth of therapy and mediation to get it under control. 

So when the restlessness had come back she wasn’t really sure why. 

It was as if even when she slept she felt even worse the next morning. No matter how early she went to bed or how long she slept in. 

“Have a good night last night?” Gemma was broken from her internal whining about wanting a nap by her co-worker Paul who nodded toward the large bruise on her lower arm. She glanced down at it. Yeah, it kind of looked like a handprint. 

“Honestly, I don’t even know where I got that.” Gemma laughed pulling at her sleeve trying to cover it and wishing she had worn longer sleeves.  

“Man I need the drugs your on” he laughed as he handed her another box. 

“Yeah Metallica is one hell of a drug” 

“Oh have you checked out Twisted Sister yet?” 

“Yeah, I loved it,”

“You should come over tonight, ya know, listen to it. I just got a new kickass stereo” 

Gemma bit her lip nervously glancing at Paul. She knew what “hang out and listen to music” meant and… honestly, all she really wanted to do tonight was sleep. Like for real. 

“Sorry I promised my parents I would… do this thing.”

“Oh that’s right christen girl.” Paul laughed shaking his head, “Well if you ever want to see how us pagans live let me know.”

“I’ll keep it in mind thanks.”

After several more long hours even her powers couldn’t help her charge enough. Gemma felt like she was going to pass out on the shipping floor. The end of the day couldn’t come soon enough.  

Slowly she dragged herself back to the bus stop before putting in her headphones and resting as the bus drove her home. 

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

No matter how fast he ran Peter could not get that feeling out of his head. 

His literal speed being drained from his body. 

It was back now, the energy within him quickly recharging after they had regrouped at a team but he still felt like he needed to run out that bad taste that was in his mouth. 

That feeling. Like slowly getting tired. As if something was draining you. Sucking the very lifeforce out of your body. 

He hated it. 

Shaking his head he was about to do another lap around the coast when it caught his eye. 

She caught his eye. 

Maybe it was because he was thinking about last night but… there was no way. 

Yet he could have sworn…

No, it wasn’t possible. 

Doubling back he ran toward the bus again. 

There was no way.

------

The bus stopped to let more people on. Gemma ignored them as she pulled her bag onto her lap to give a newcomer a seat. Settling back in she adjusted her headset as her eyes flickered up for a moment to see a silver-haired boy walking purposefully up to her. 

Shit

Please leave me alone. I'm tired.

“It’s you”

Silence stretched between them both. “Oh sorry” she finally said, “I thought there was more to that pickup line.”

Peter felt himself confused, “No I… you know” he sat down next to her making sure he kept enough of a distance from her that he could get away quickly, especially her hands, “The one from the energy plant. Look if you come quietly…” 

Was this guy insane? Possibly, I mean this was public transportation.  

“Trust me,  I’m not...” 

“Wait are you listening to Pink Floyd?” he asked quickly pulling off her headphones putting one side to his ear.

“Ohhhh ok.” So this guy was insane, fun. “It’s ok never really been that big of a fan.”

“What?” his large brown eyes looked at you in pure shock as if you had just told him the world was flat and that stars are just fireflies stuck in the sky. You shrugged.

“I’m just more of a Metal fan” 

“Like what?” 

“Like this” you pulled out the tape and placed Iron Maiden in pressing play as Trooper blasted through the speakers. Gently she put the headphones on his head. 

He nodded as the music blasted through the speakers. The energy around it is loud and addicting. He was familiar with the band and while his tastes leaned more for contemporary and experimental rock.  

So here’s the thing about talking to strangers on a bus. Don’t do it, especially if they think you are someone you are not. 

But there is also the other thing. 

Gemma could basically blast this guys head off if she wanted. Maybe not at this moment considering that she felt like she was about to fall asleep at any moment, but if she really needed to he could drain his energy and get away no problem. 

So why not talk about music with someone on a long bus ride home. 

Also, she had other headphones so if he had some weird ear fungus whatever. 

Call it loneliness. Call it boredom. Call it sleep-deprived. 

Call it whatever you want but today she decided to just hang with a crazy stranger and listen to music. 

So they sat a half a foot apart the headphones stretched between them as she showed him different songs she liked. 

“This is me” she finally said a few songs later. Peter blinked in confusion at her comment. Turning to her as the song paused. The girl nodded toward the stop that their bus was slowing down toward. “So yeah…” unplugging the headphones leaving them on his hand she got up grabbing her bag before moving around him to get out. “See ya never” 

Peter sat in shock for a moment, what had just happened? How had the time flown by so fast? Normally it was him flying through as the world stood and waited. Blinking a few times he realized the girl was already walking off the bus.

“Hey!” 

She paused turning looking over her shoulder at the weird man sitting there with her headphones still in his hand looking at her as if he hadn’t quite caught up with what was going on. It’s ok not all of us are quick on the uptake. 

Her bright blue eyes sparkled with the evening sun outside the window and a private joke she was enjoying. That’s when he saw it. The way her fingers tapped the metal handrail in time with the music still echoing in her brain. 

Blue sparks. 

“I… What’s your name?” 

“Gemma” 

Two more steps and she was gone, the door closing behind her. Bus pulling away. 

What the hell? 

---------

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