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“Whacha doin, Lane?”

He leans against the door frame, chewing on his finger while watching his cousin set up a card table beside a pair of chairs in the living room.  Puzzles she liked, jigsaw puzzles not so much; but she decided she couldn’t rule anything out.   At the store, Laney hadn’t even looked at the picture on the box she’d selected for purchase.  With her luck, the image was probably a gang of teenaged terrapins posing with oriental weaponry.

“I’m going to do a puzzle, Joey.”

“Ooo, can I?”

“Yes, you sit here, by me.”

“Is it hard?”

“Not if you help.”

***

Pushing the subject of free self-defense lessons to her aunt Tuesday night sapped Laney’s remaining energy, after entertaining Joey instead of doing her homework.   Fortunately, a few well-placed remarks about how all her new friends are doing it and how she missed that sort of thing with her father weakened the older woman’s resistance to the idea. ((The final result I’ll leave up to the GM, however))

Laney didn’t remember to contact Adrien to thank him until she was curled under her blanket, prepared to sleep.  Then it was too late, and she promised herself she would call him Wednesday.

***

She doesn’t mention her plans with Alicia at lunch, Wednesday, not even as a reminder.    Ten minutes after the last bell, Laney is sitting on the rear bumper of her car with her hood pulled low over her face as a shield against the wind.

"Jeez Louise, girl. You couldn't make yourself look more pathetic if you tried."

Alicia's voice floats over the car roof. She's leaning against the passenger side-door, looking somewhat mortified. She'd spent half her last class period internally debating whether to show up or not. The worst part was having the deciding factor be seeing Laney sitting by her car, looking like the little match girl waiting for Christmas.

The girl’s expression is that of someone waking from a daydream, disoriented yet reluctant to leave that elusive state of serenity.   Her dark eyes seem sunken in her tired, pale face, reflecting every detail in the area but not the people.    At sixteen, even in a room of freshmen Laney would be considered short; and as her coat does, today’s baggy sweater hangs from her shoulders in a way which emphasizes just how thin she is.  Its shade of blue also doesn’t match either of her socks.   She pulls back her hood, the better to focus on Alicia.  What the wind does to her long curls, she makes no attempt to undo, either not noticing or not caring.  “Threatening” is not a word one would normally use to describe Delaney Brennan.

"Huh?  Oh.  Hi, Alicia.  Sorry.  It's unlocked.  I talked to Jean.  We should talk to Jack, I think."  She gets in the car and waits for Alicia to be seated and belted before she pulls out of the lot.

Alicia stares at Laney for a few seconds after getting in, and finally clues in to what the girl is waiting for. She belts in and puts her feet up on the dashboard.

"So we talk to Jack first? Make sure to mention to him that you're helping me with History. If I told him I was trying to study, he'd give me the hairy eyeball. Let me call him and tell him we're on the way over."

She digs out her phone from her bag and pecks at it. She gives Jack a perfunctory message, basically nothing more than a "coming over, need to talk about something" then hangs up.

"Yeah.  History.  Got it.  I told Jean I'd be at your place studying this afternoon. I hope that's alright.  I 'forgot' to give her your home number.  She has your cell.  I'll get it to her later, when we're actually there."  She slams on the brakes, nearly running a red light.

"Sorry. What do retired people do, anyway?"  It won't be long before Alicia realizes she should restrict her conversations to the minimum required for driving directions.

"Besides being cantankerous assholes? Beats me," she replies, after resettling herself on the seat and check to make sure her seat belt is on tight.

She manages to keep Laney more or less focused on driving until they get to Jack's. With a mixture of trepidation and excitement, she leads Laney up to the front door and hits the doorbell.

Jack opens the door, "Come on in."  he says, turning away to leave them to their own devices.  He's sitting at the kitchen counter when they find him, methodically folding some sort of string and key ring contraption.  Each string, which appear to be fishing line with a steel wire core, is carefully turned back and forth in his hands, like some sort of intricate cat's cradle.  "So, what did you need to talk to me about?"  he asks.  "Hi Delaney."

Alicia takes a breath in to prepare herself. She presents her case in her usual eloquence. "I, uh, wanted to bring Laney over to talk to you about, y'know, giving her some training, 'cause she's, well, like totally a floormat."

"Trauma can change people."  he says.  "You think you're ready to get back into shape Delaney?"  Joch doesn't look up from his string folding.

Some sound or movement from Alicia prevents Laney from wandering down a random hallway in Jack’s abode.  She moves very slowly through the home, as if every step were an effort; and in the kitchen, she seems more fascinated by the cabinetry than what Jack is doing, until he speaks.

Smiling in greeting, Laney allows Alicia to sell her own idea.  She doesn't react to Alicia's "floormat" comment, not even a blink.  Her odd gaze finally settles on that string concoction.  It's very...distracting.

"Change? I- She- That was the deal.  I was- I used to be able to- What are you doing?"

Alicia rolls her eyes, an expression visible as she's taken off her shades once in Jack's place. Here we go again. Part of her was intrigued in seeing how her mentor would deal with Laney's stream-of-consciousness speech.

"Making a surprise for someone.  I know you were.  I'm asking if you're ready to be again."  Jack finishes the weaving and carefully slips the key rings over the ends.  A small piece of masking tape and it's done and slipped into his pants pocket.  With the taks complete, he swivels in the chair to face the girls.

Laney's eyes follow where that little mystery is tucked into his trouser pocket and are led right down his leg to the floor, where she begins mapping tiles through the dimensions of the room.

"Yes.   I liked it.  I miss it.  And Alicia won't stop picking on me until I do," she says simply.

"Hey, don't blame this on me!" Alicia expostulates. She turns to Jack. "I rescued her butt from some dipshits picking on her and told her she needed to grow a backbone. I figured you could help at least make it so she can keep the hyenas at bay."

In a lower tone designed to be barely audible, she adds embarrassedly, "Besides, she's gonna help me study for school."

"So I help her grow a back bone and she'll help you grow a brain.  That sounds fair.  Your gaurdians okay with this, or should I talk to them?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. She has a brain. I'd rather not tell them at all, but she said to ask.  So I did.  Jean mostly alright with it.   She doesn't know what she's approving of.  But neither do I.  It's fair, but I have a backbone.  I'm just not scary."

"When we speak, you and I, I expect you to look at me, and not my boots."  Jack says, moving closer to Laney and lifting her chin.  "Your dad taught you to look at people when you talked to them, and I expect that.  I'll talk to Jean, she needs someone who is a little more experienced in weird to explain it to her.  It will be hard work, and you will be sore.  But, you'll also be able to fall down more and get hurt less.  So you can start day after tomorrow.  We'll see where your skills have gone since you moved out here and then work out a plan."

“Yes, sir,” she whispers, fixing her gaze on Jack’s face.  “Please don’t tell Jean about…about me.  I want to stay with them.  And here. We have to study for the History test on Friday.   Sorry.  I don’t have any skills. That's why Alicia- I mean, I just liked playing sports.  I haven’t replaced my bike, yet.  I will.   I don't think repeating the class would teach her anything.  They almost pulled me out of school because of the bomb.  Explosion.  Whatever.  And they didn’t even know I was involved.   What do you know about Dad?"

"You leave Jean to me.  And the skills I'm talking about are the ones you learned in Virginia."  Jack smiles, "Wow, you have eyes."  he looks at Alicia, "History test, sounds like big stuff.  I wont keep you.  Have fun studying.  I need to go, I've got a date."

Laney acknowledges the dismissal with a quiet, "Thank you, sir," and though she scowls a little at her bypassed question, she does not repeat it.

Alicia feels like she's watching a tennis match as her head turns back and forth. She figures staying out of the line of fire is the best option, so she keeps her tongue at the various comments.

She's not letting that last one go, though. "A date? Are you going out with Ms. Vampire again?" she asks, saccharine sweetness dripping from her lips.

"Nope.  There's a waitress at this diner I go to.  We're going to go see a movie and then have some dinner.  I wont be out late though, so you don't have to worry about me."  Jack shoows the pair out and follows them, taking his coat and heading downtown.

On the way back to the car, Alicia conspires with Laney, "Betcha he's up to something. That 'dinner and a movie' s**t is way too lame."

She gives Laney a significant look. "What say we ditch the books and go check out what he's up to?"

Laney says quite earnestly, "Two things, Alicia.  First, I don't think we could trail that particular man without him knowing it.  Second, I'd rather not risk damaging a working relationship with him before we even have one."

She glances back at Alicia, though.  In the grey light of dusk, her eyes gleam with as yet unseen stars, and her wicked smile is all teeth.  "What do you think he's doing if not a waitress?"

Alicia grins. "See? It's working already. You go, girl. Showing some grit."


Alicia's grin mirrors Laney's, emphasized by her slightly prominent canines. "Guesses?" She ticks them off on her fingers. "Cleaning up some loose ends with Strange. Helping out some poor zángano with some problem. Trying out that little toy he was putting together on some unlucky bastard."

She shrugs. "Or he could really be taking out some muchacha for a dinner and a movie. He's kinda strange that way. Must be from the fact he's so old." Her tone indicates his condition to be some pitiable malady she considers herself immune to.

"Old people get lonely, too?"  She retreats into the car and waits until seatbelts are fastened again before taking them to Alicia's home.

Alicia's learned her lesson and restricts her conversation in the car to simple topics by sheer force of will.

At Alicia's building, she brings her new study partner up to her apartment. Consuelo Vega, Alicia's mom, is there to greet them.

The first impression of Consuelo is that she looks too young to be Alicia's mom. She jokes mildly about seeing is believing on the idea of Alicia actually studying, but is obviously pleased that her daughter is visibly applying herself and grateful to Laney for the assist.

The elder Vega makes sure to provide refreshments for the girls then wisely retires to her room to give them privacy.

Whether she’s made the connection or not, Alicia’s familiar with Laney’s vacant stare when she is first exposed to new people and new places.  It takes her a few minutes of polite smiles and fumbling before she has unpacked her notes.

As mentioned before, Laney has experience dealing with her brothers and her cousins and seemingly infinite patience.  Alicia is handed a thin, stapled booklet.  It appears Laney has selected subjects and key bits of information she guessed will probably be on the test.   The subjects are ordered randomly, meaning not by date, not logically, which probably isn't the best way to learn one's history.  Most find history easier to digest if they read it like a story, in sequence. 

“We’ll read through this once.  Then I’m going to ask you questions from it.  You may use the papers to look up the answers.”  And so she begins the drilling…

It starts well. Alicia refers to the notes and answers Laney's questions with confidence. After the third or fourth repeat, though, she starts fidgeting. Alicia is just not the sort to sit still for very long, and repetitive tasks don't make it any easier.

Pretty soon, she's all over the room. Draped over the sofa, rooting through the fridge for a soda, standing on her head with the notes laid out on the floor before her. All through it, Laney bullies through, hitting her with question after question.

Alicia finally cries uncle. "Can we take a break?" she whines. "I can't brain any more. My head feels like it's going to go all assplodey."

Laney gently gathers the notes up, smiling sympathetically.

She takes a sip from her soda, then in a hard voice replies, "A break?  No. You just took a break. There."  She points to the sofa.  "There."  Points to the refrigerator. "And there."  Points to the floor.

"If the notes are so damned heavy, then answer the questions without them."  Settling back into her chair, Laney resumes assessing Alicia's memory.

"Argh! I think I liked you better when you were mousy," Alicia complains in mock-disgust.

She actually doesn't do too bad without the notes, although you couldn't tell from her complaints. It's almost like part of her is resisting the process as a matter of course, regardless of its success.

"Tell you what," she finally says. "How about for every answer I get right, I get to ask you a question. Only fair, right?"

Laney glances up and wrinkles her nose at Alicia.  "Nice try.  We already have a deal.  No renegotiating."  It's a minute before her concentration returns.  She didn't notice before how thin this paper was.  She can almost see the surface of the table beneath it; and if she touches it...

"Aw, c'mon. You're supposed to be helping me, Lane," Alicia pouts.

In a sudden spur of action, she pounces on the table, leaning on it with her palms flat on the surface, looking at Laney from inches away. "You do want to help me, don't you?" she wheedles, trying her best to look innocent.

A bug-eyed Laney jerks back, grabbing frantically for the table's edge before her chair rocks too far and lands her on the floor.  The notes scatter (apparently she'd picked out the staples in her own attempt to relieve the monotony).

"History test!" is all Laney can manage in defense.

A strange light gleams behind Alicia's eyes (the shades somehow disappeared sometime in the evening) and she cocks her head in curiosity. "What's the matter, Laney? Do I make you... nervous?" she says, in a soft, smooth voice, rubbing like silk on the fingers.

She's still leaning over the table, and she lowers her body, enhancing the image of a cat getting ready to pounce.

With her chair wobbling, balanced on its back legs, and her body tensed in a fearful cringe, arms raised defensively, Laney stares into cat-like pupils

It's all wrong. 

Alicia's instincts run true; and, as she studies her own image in the dark mirror of Laney's eyes, she may see something else: that the girl's deer in headlights routine is imperfect.  The answer is in her eyes. While Laney's brain is pinned, inescapably caught in a sensory processing loop - clocking, as it were - her undisciplined body automatically reacts in a pathetic preparation for impact.  There's nothing in those eyes of fear, or any other emotion.  There was a second ago.  Alicia can be sure of that.  But nothing now.

The discrepancy is enough to snap Alicia out of her own state.

She blinks confusedly for a few seconds, then winces and lowers her head to the table with a soft thunk.

Alicia straightens up and says tiredly, rubbing her face as she does, "Sorry about that, Lane. I haven't been... myself the last week or so. Maybe we need to call it a night. I have other homework to do and it is a school night."

She avoids eye contact with Laney as she shuffles over to pick up the scattered notes. "We can get back to it tomorrow night. If you're still up to it."

The chair slams upright, jarring Laney out of her trance.  She blinks dazedly.

"NonoAllyIt'salrightI'mtiredtooSorryTomorrowsfine."

Alicia clenches her jaw and her hands squeeze the gathered papers. She gives Laney the notes, dimples visible on the paper.

The curious patterns on the Formica tabletop now become clear. They're clawmarks.

Alicia acknowledges Laney with a curt nod. "Good night, Laney. Sorry about..." She leaves the sentence hanging.

"Huh?"  She looks up from table, the crisscrossed design of the clawmarks still swimming in her vision.

"Oh. Good night!  Thanks for taking me over to Jack's.  You're right. I should work on getting parts of me back.  Whatever I can. I miss me.  You're not doomed, Alicia.  To repeat it.  See you after school.  Maybe we can order pizza."

Her affectionate smile remains all the way to the car where she pauses, trying to figure out why the door won't open with her house key...

After the door closes behind Laney, Alicia leans her head against it for a while. Finally, she mutters, "F**k this s**t," and heads to her bedroom.

A number of minutes after that, Consuelo sticks her head out of her room and frowns when she sees it uninhabited. She pads over to Alicia's room and finds it empty, the window left suspiciously open.

Her lips pursed in disapproval, she ponders whether to once again lie in wait for her wayward daughter's return, then shrugs mentally. It's a delicate balancing art, between being a mother and giving her child room to grow. She decides to give Alicia the benefit of the doubt and returns to her room for a well-deserved rest.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway, because I can!  So there.  :P ), Thursday afternoon finds Laney in almost precisely the same location, waiting in the parking lot.

"You still want to go through with this?"

Once again, Alicia appears from nowhere, this time sitting tailor fashion on the hood. How she managed to get there without moving the car with the weight change or crumpling the metal is a mystery.

Laney is well aware her own little bony butt might've wreaked havoc with the Honda's roof.  She tilts her head to one side, as if hearing a sound she can't put a name to, and squints at the points where Alicia is in contact with the vehicle.

Then her face brightens with a broad smile.  "Yep! Get in."

The stapled class notes Laney hands Alicia after they're settled in the Vega's home are fresh reprints of the ones they used yesterday.  Laney only insists on one cycle through the cheatsheet before holding her hand out, gesturing for Alicia to return it.

When they arrive at Alicia's home, Consuelo is there once again to greet them. This time, she cooly informs Alicia to let her know when they're done studying. Alicia mumbles her reply. There is the air of an unresolved argument about their exchange.


Alicia dutifully hands over the notes and struggles through the interrogation. Her reluctance from last night is absent, but so is the level of enthusiasm. She's forging through this with the determination of someone plunging across a river of sewage to get to the other side.

By sheer grit, she manages to go through one cycle, then after a couple of bobbles, another one with no mistakes. By this time, Alicia is sitting at the table, face down, looking like she's willing to sign the papers confessing to the murder if it will only stop the torture.

Laney gradually becomes aware of the near corpse-like state of her companion.  She lowers her papers and stares at the top of the girl's head for a full, silent minute.

"Pizza.  I like mushrooms."

"Huh?" Alicia raises her head at the unexpected statement. There is actually a small pool of drool on the table surface, and Alicia wipes her mouth as she regains full sentience.

"Yeah. Pizza sounds about right. There's this place that knows Mom. If I place an order with them, we'll be sure to get it right away."

Alicia gets up and walks over to Consuelo's bedroom. She knocks and enters to discuss the prospect of pizza with her mother. Having received approval from the parental unit and a budget to work with, she exits, closing the door behind her.

"Do you have a problem with anchovies? We could do a half-and-half. I don't eat fungus," she says, making a face at the idea of mushrooms.

"Oh, sorry. Just do the anchovies, then.  I can pick them out if I don't like them."

There's a twenty dollar bill on the table upon Alicia's return.

"That's for my share. Today and tomorrow.  Because you're going with me to Jack's tomorrow, and I figure he likes pizza, too.  Listen, you're doing really well with this.  I think you'll be fine with the test.  The next phase is more fun.  We'll both ask stuff real fast and try to trip each other up.  You are going, right? It's a trick, see?  I could've put more information on each page, but I didn't.  I spread it out, so you'd have to turn more pages to find the answers.  I like your mom.  She's real pretty, too.  People usually get so annoyed at the inconvenience and time wasted flipping pages that they memorize the answers.  Just easier.    You don't mind two days in a row of pizza, do you?  Mostly, I don't know the guy and would just feel better.  I guess that means I really don't have a backbone, huh?" 

Alicia doesn't argue. "OK, fine."


Alicia smiles as she takes the bill. The old Laney, back in action. Her eyes unfocus as she turns her mind to the task of unraveling the tangled cord that is Laney-speak.

"Got no problem hanging with Jack. I go there every night I can in any case. Especially if I pass the test and don't flunk. Are the questions only about history or can we ask anything? Yeah, Mom's a looker. I wish I'd gotten more of her looks but I'm not complaining. I'd live on pizza if I could. It's the food of the gods. Seriously. I bet Mercury spent most of his time zipping back and forth to pick up pies for his buddies back in Olympus."

She finishes her recitation with a grin. "And you're doing well, too. If anyone can put some sand in you, it's Sensei Jack."

"I need to put on some weight.  I can't, though.  'sokay. They put me on new stuff this week.  That should work.  You got her breasts.  They'll be nice when you're like twenty.  Thanks.  What else is he teaching you?  Rhys better appreciate the real thing.  I always wonder if he can.  Old people like pizza, too, don't they?"

Alicia chuckles. Talking with Laney is like playing with a conversational ball of string. You chase the threads and pounce on them.

She looks down at her chest. "You think so? I don't know. I don't think I'll ever reach her bra size. Jack's concentrating on getting my temper under control. Once he's satisfied (like he ever could be), I'm hoping he'll help me out with a little project of mine. Ree-is? Oh yeah, he appreciates what I give him." A wicked grin followed by a wistful look flash across her face.

"And Jack likes pizza. But not anchovies, the bastard. I think he objects just to pull my chain."

"History. It's a history test.  I didn't realize your temper was that bad.  Careful you don't give it all up.  That might be why Rhys likes you.  Your temper, I mean.  Pull his chain back.  They get huge when you have kids.  Is it a secret project?"

"Don't remind me. Well, it's not great." She seems unwilling to pursue that subject.

"Kids?" Alicia roars with laughter. "Yeah, like that will happen any time soon!"

"My project? Sort of. It all depends on whether I can work it out."

Alicia decides to jump ahead on the conversation and forestall any more discussion on her emotional condition.

"So what's up with you and John?"

"I won't have any.  If you need help with it, let me know.  I- We- He- We're just hanging out.  I can't tell if he's interested in me or if he's tolerating me.  How can I?  I'll take what I can get at this point."

Alicia cocks her head as she regards Laney. "He sees you being helpless and he can't help but want to protect you. He won't start anything; he's not the type. Question is, will you?"

"I'm not.  Or I am.  I don't know.  I told him.  It's nice kissing him.  I just miss...I miss a lot of things.  He's different.  I like him. A lot.  Will I what?"  She nibbles anxiously at the corner of her notes.

Alicia sighs. "Will you start anything? If you've kissed him, that kinda tells me you're already getting there."

She drums her fingers on the table, her claws clicking on the Formica, as she tries to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. "Lane, I'm only saying this 'cause I'd rather no one gets hurt. Do you know what you want from him?"

"Want?  Duh.  I want him."  She rolls her eyes - an amusing spectacle, since she still has the papers stuck between her lips.

"I miss having someone...Um...Someone I can be around.  Like. Someone I like. A lot. He's nice. And smart. And I like talking with him."

Between Sammy and her, I should start charging for this. Alicia Vega, relationship counselor. The thought makes her snort.

"Sorry," she apologizes. "Thought of something funny, not related to this at all."

With a serious face, she says, "Lane, what'll you do if John... doesn't want you the same way you do him?"

She answers without hesitation, "Convince him he does. 

"It might take time, but that's alright.  Boys are strange.  I think he likes kissing me.  He's worth waiting for."

Oh boy.

Alicia shakes her head sadly. "Y'know, normally I'd just keep my nose out of it and watch the train wreck from a safe distance, but considering what I know John is capable of, I don't think there's anywhere safe on this planet."

She looks at Laney sympathetically. "Seriously, I'm trying to help here. You want to get some cuddle time, you go, girl. It might even do the boy some good to let off some steam.

"But don't be making it more than it is. You can lead a boy by his dick for a good while, but sooner or later he wises up, and it inevitably goes down bad. And with someone like John, we're talking nuclear."

There's a scowl, reminiscent of some sort of fuzzy rodent.  "I wouldn't lead him anywhere he wouldn't want to go, Alicia.  And it's not like either of us haven't had relationships before.  Just what do you think it is?  Wise up, huh?  You don't think anyone could possibly like me except to dick around?"

Alicia arches an eyebrow. "The Mouse That Roared," she muses with a smile.

She lifts her hand to indicate surrender. "Like I said, just trying to help. John's a Boy Scout through and through. Just wanted to bring out that his interest in you may be more Sir Galahad than Casanova, okay? Maybe he's looking for something more. But you gotta be willing to allow that he may not, even if you want him to."

She leans forward with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "But if you get past first base, I want to hear the juicy details."

"He's not Galahad.  And he's not Casanova.  He's John. And that's all he has to be. He can have more if he wants.  And he can have less if he wants.  As long as it's me he wants. And...And..."  And she worked herself into a breathless state, red-faced and angrily glaring at Alicia.

Five seconds later, she blinks confusedly and asks, "Which one's first base?  I always get them in the wrong order."

Alicia calmly studies Laney as she rants. "Jesucristo, girl. You do have it bad."

She shakes her head sadly. "For what it's worth, I wish you all the luck. I'll start building the underground shelter, just in case."


Alicia hears this as she's at the door, being handed the steaming hot pie from the restaurant's delivery boy. She bursts out in laughter and closes the door, leaving the young man blinking in complete and utter confusion.