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Dave, Greg, and Rob have staked their place at the Usual Suspects Table.  There are fewer people here than normal, since a number of parents are keeping their children out of school for a few more days.

Donny wanders in for lunch, humming to himself and unaware of the girls' morning romp at Hugo Strange and certainly not aware his sweetie is wearing the contents of her stomach all over her face and hair.

"Hey dudes. How was your mini-vacation? We really shoulda gamed. We could have pulled an all nighter in the Bunker or something."

"That wasn't an option. Mom is still recovering from the scare, and was only comfortable when she could see me. Maybe another time."

Colin idly leafs through the Husky News' last edition.

"Are the girls at school today?"

"Haven't seen them. Sammy said something abouot having an appointment this morning, I think." He shrugs. "I usually find out after the fact when it comes to those two."

He takes a bite ouot of his sandwich, and pulls out a paperback book, carefully openning it to a latter section of the book without creasing the spine. A bookmark pokes out the top, crochet topper hanging down the back of the book. Sylvia's work, likely.

"What are you reading?"

"Heartsblood, the second book in Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy. I read them when I was in elementary school, and decided to get them for my collection." He turns the page and continues to eat his sandwich.

"I can loan them to you, if you promise not to crease the spines. I loaned The Dragonbone Chair to Sarah once and it looked like she had tortured the information out of the book rather than read it." He shakes his head mournfully. "I felt as if it deserved a funeral after she was done with it."

It's then that Sylvia shows up at the lunch table.  She pauses at the entrance to the cafeteria, seems to listen for something, and then sweeps down on Donnie, tossing her bag aside, to hug and kiss him jubilantly.  "Meeting, Jack's.  After school," she says between smooches.

"Hi, sweetie! Ugh, You smell like the place after a Janush party. What happened?" He pts away his book to properly pay attention to Sylvia. "We are 'we' going to jacks tonight?"

"We are going to ask Jack what to do about Dr. Strange.  Sarah put up a bunch of pictures of some creepy-ass shit in his house, mannequins with our pictures on them, stuff like that."

Donnie looks around the table. "Our pictures? What the f$%k? This is the school psychologist? How were these pictures taken? Are they school pictures or creepy far away stalker pictures?"

OOC: Sarah can identify them as school record pictures, but blown up to 5x7

Sammy comes strolling into the cafeteria, decked out in a Northwestern sweatshirt, bright eyed and rosy cheeked from her brief jaunt outdoors in the open air.  After a few stops to say hello, including one hug for Nick, she finds her way to the US table.  She sets her bag on a chair, but remains standing.  "Hey."

"School pictures," Sylvia says with a wave in Sammy's direction.

"There's something else," she says in a voice pitched for Donnie's ears.  "I might be hallucinating."

Laney stops right at the entrance to the cafeteria.  Her unfocused gaze is on the floor for a minute, then two, then three...Then someone jostles her as he walks by and she looks up, startled.  When she has her equilibrium back, Laney weaves her way through the room to stand by the psycho geek table.

"Hi.  Oh!  Sylvia, you look a lot better.  I thought your mom was taking you home, though.  The nurse said it probably wasn't the plague, just so you know.  Why are we playing Batman with the school's counselor?"

Donnie's eyebrows rise. "What makes you think that?" he replies in a similar tone.

Sylvia looks up at Laney and gives her the biggest, least-strained smile she's given her in, well, ever.  "He might be hypnotizing young paranormals into lives of crime, but that doesn't have much to do with us.  But Sarah found mannequins with our faces taped to them some creepy stuff in his house.  Something should probably be done."


Sylvia turns back to Donnie and puts her forehead against his.  "I can't hear anything."  She smiles widely.

Greg, Rob, and Dave burst out laughing.  Then Greg says, "Doctor, it hurts when I do this."

To which Rob replies, "Don't do that then."

"You know," Sylvia says with a little of her old perky sass, "even tired old jokes like that are funnier when I'm not hearing them in your heads first."

They were making less sense than they usually do.  Perhaps she was away from school too many days?  Laney sinks into the nearest chair, hugging her backpack to her chest, her lunch forgotten. "Why was Sarah um...Heads first. Right. Lives of...crime?"

"You seem to be hearing everyone just fine, sweetie. What do you mean hearing them in their heads first?"  Donnie looks at Sylvia askance, his smile a little worried.

Sylvia gives Donnie a blank look.  "I'm not reading their minds?"

Alicia follows close behind, her eyes scanning the room for Rhys. She takes wingman position at Sammy's side, tossing her own bag on an empty seat.

"That's my line," she quips.

Donnie laughs and leans back. "Had me worried there. I thought you were serious. Been practicing like Sarah used to? Glaring at people in hopes of gaining Jedi powers? Is Mitzi on her way here? Laney said something about her picking you up? Did you get sick and throw up? That would explain the smell."

Sylvia's comment causes Alicia to turn to her with a frown. Mind-reading is a touchy subject for Alicia, so hearing Sylvia mention it glibly is a cause for concern. She turns to Donnie with a What the f**k is she talking about? look.


Alicia sniffs loudly, finding nothing funny in the joke, and pointedly ignores them.

"That totally explains the smell," Sylvia says, mood up, "but. . . . "  She wants to ask, and she sort of doesn't.  Instead she tries to probe the mystery indirectly.  "Is Pip around?"

"Honey, we're in the middle of school. Don't you think Pip might cause some concern if he were to suddenly appear and steal everyone's cookies? You are seriously making me wonder here." He looks at Alicia, raising his eyebrows in an I don't know fashion. "Is Mitzi on her way here?"

A small whimper comes from Laney.  

She really wants to stick this out.  She really does.  But the conversation she walked into is making less sense rather than more, the longer she listens.  She feels a bit like she might were someone to hand her a soda and tell her she must drink it with a fork.  

She doesn't have a fork.

"Y-yeah.  D-do you need a ride home?"

Donnie looks over at Laney. "You said she was sick? Do you know what happened?"  He pulls out his cellphone.

"Yeah, I think so."  She pauses.  She should leave the question alone.  She knows she should leave it alone.  But there it is, hanging there, juicy and tempting like the proverbial apple, or whatever it was, hanging off the tree with the unusually well-spoken python in it.  "Um, so you're telling me I don't read minds."


Sylvia turns to Laney, a mite distracted.  "I think I'll be okay.  Mitzi's coming to get me."  Even if everything else in the world is a little different than she remembers, that much would still seem to be true.  When all else fails, her mommy will still take her home and feed her.

Donnie's mouth drops open. "Um, noooo.." He looks helplessly at the others. "Look, maybe we should let the others take care of investigating Strange. I really think you need to go home, have a bowl of Mitzi's tofu and noodle soup, and get some rest. Did you bump your head or something?"

We have mentioned that Sylvia is stubborn, haven't we?  "Okay, smarty-pants.  If that's the case, why do I hang out with you guys?  What do I do?  What's my function at this junction?"

Donnie looks hurt. "You're my girlfriend. Don't you remember? We've been going out for most of the year."

He sits back, but doesn't let go of her hands.

"Nno, Sammy found her, I think.  The nurse said her mom was going to pick her up and hopefully take her to the doctor.  Um....are you calling John because - Um...It's alright, Sylvia.  We're just worried about you.  What other symptoms were there? I mean other than throwing up...Where were you this morning?"

Donnie's eyes zero in on Sammy, expecting an explanation.

"I'm a sidekick?"  Sylvia doesn't sound offended so much as disoriented.  "No.  I'm not even a sidekick.  I'm the scrappy reporter girlfriend?"

She feels like Alice down the rabbit hole.  Everything is topsy-turvy and nonsensical, and she knows she should be upset, but isn't.  "How many times have you had to save me from supervillainy?"


"Just throwing up.  And then the nurse stuck something in my head.  Before that, geometry class.

"Any one of those could result in mental discombobulation."

"Yes, that's exactly right. Sarah or Sammy usually do the saving. I just smash things with my dragons and cast spells. They are the heroes. And Colin of course. Seriously, what's with you? This has never bothered you before."


"Just throwing up.  And then the nurse stuck something in my head.  Before that, geometry class.

"Any one of those could result in mental discombobulation."
[/quote]

"Like, a thermometer? In your mouth?"

"Stuck something...um...If you need help with geometry, I...um..."

After fumbling with her pack for a minute, Laney's phone materializes and she texts John:

syl wz sick. acting strange. sara wz at strange. can you chk syl?

"Syl, when I walked out of Strange's office, I found you out cold and facedown in a puddle of your own vomit.  You might have hit your head when you fell.  You really ought to go home and let Mitzi hover."  She shrugs apologetically at Donnie.  Donnie, you have the most gorgeous, sparkly eyes when your emotions start to flow.

"Hey."  Dave says, "Since when has being side-kicky been an issue?"

"Yeah?"  Rob asks, "That's why you spend all that time at my place learning to hot wire cars, and pick locks and stuff.  If you had powers why would you need to learn all that stuff?"

Does it bother her?  Sylvia searches herself and has to admit that, at this precise moment, it totally does not.  "I'm the scrappy girlfriend!" she shouts, and throws her arms around Donnie for a fresh bout of smoochiness.  "I guess this means I've got no business dealing with Strange.  I guess that means he's--"  She says it slowly, savoring the words.  "--not my problem."  Now she sings them.  "Not my problem!  Not my problem.  Not my problem.  Woo!  Not my problem!"

It's possible she's lost her mind.  It's also possible she's suddenly regained it.  Either way she'll play the optimist for now and luxuriate in the giddy euphoria that comes with not having to care quite so damned much.


"In my head," she says, still singing.  "Like right here."  She points to her temple.


"Sure.  Home.  Where it's quiet.  Where there's no noise.  But wait!  There's no noise here."  It's plenty noisy.  It's the cafeteria after all.  "I'm the scrappy girlfriend!"


"I don't know," Sylvia says, beaming manically.  "It's pretty dumb, isn't it?  We should stop."

{HOLY CRAP POSTSPLOSION! I was actually working at work for once and when I get home, I've got pages of posts to read! Ideally, Rhys would have already been there, but since time waits for no man...}

Rhys looks confused by all this talk about Sylvia reading minds, so he just clasps Alicia's hand under the table and eats his sandwich in silence.

Rob shrugs.  "Sure, I thought you wanted to do the whole crime-fighter thing.  But we don't have to, if you want to stop that's cool I guess."  He goes back to eating his Cheetos.

Donnie's mouth stretches into a relieved grin. "Ooookay, Sylvia loony-tunes. I think you've had enough wierdness for one day. You need a shower, a bowl of soup, and relaxation. In that order. You stink."

Colin was quietly working on something on his scrapbook, but he seemed to lack inspiration, so he was toying with a glass marble he found at the bottom of his schoolbag. But then Sylvia started sounding a lot stranger than her usual level of strangeness, so he pocketed it and went to check on her.

"Let me see your head, will you?"

He takes a good look at her temple and at her head in general, and gently caresses her for a moment, letting his spirit-touch look if she really banged her head and there's something to fix.

Alicia sidles closer to Rhys and rests her head on his shoulder. "I think Laney's starting to rub off on Syl," she whispers in his ear, playfully nipping it afterwards.

Sylvia, sitting now, leans back into Colin and gives him a look too wide-eyed and goofy to mean anything beyond kidding around.  "Oh, yes.  Save me, for I am a quasi-professional damsel in distress.  Some dastardly villain has probably drugged me as stage one in his evil plot.  I'm about to be kidnapped.  Yes, I can feel a kidnapping coming on.  But I'm not worried!" she announces and turns her attention to Donnie.  "My boyfriend will save me."

Colin looks at her in concern.

"Syl, is this because of what happened last week?"

Sylvia feels her smile freeze on her face.  "Last week?  What happened last week?"

"S-someone have her home number?  M-maybe call her mom, just in case she wasn't um...contacted?"  Squirrels.  She has a vivid image of a beady-eyed black squirel in her mind.  Why?  At least half of Laney's thoughts and emotions bypass verbal connection entirely.  She knows what this feeling is when she listens to Sylvia.  Squirrels.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Laney would spend the early evenings after her meal playing cards with a woman.   The woman was old enough to be Laney's grandmother, quiet and intelligent, a retired school teacher.   She was perfectly sane - except for the fact that she was hospitalized after running into traffic and being struck by an oncoming delivery van.  She was running away from a squirrel.

Laney alternately turns her head from the weirdness around Sylvia to the door and back again, anxiously looking for John.  Another minute and she gets up to go on a hunt for him.

John is there, as suddenly as he's ever anywhere, and pulling out a chair.  Sylvia can see his eyes on her, looking her over.  Any other Freshman boy giving her the eye that hard might be cause for alarm, but this is John.  "Hey everyone."  he says softly.  His normal distracted semi-jovial self seems to be focused.  "You hit your head Sylvia?"  he asks looking at her.

Colin's eyes dart to the others for a moment, before returning to her.

"Hamilton."

He takes her hand before continuing.

"It wasn't your fault."

"She might have hit her head."  Sammy won't look at John.  "I came out of Strange's office and found her laying there, a little down the hall from his door.  She was unconscious, and laying face down in her own vomit.  I don't know how long she was like that or why she threw up.  I turned her on her side so she wouldn't choke or drown, and yelled for help.  A couple of teachers took her to see the nurse, and told me to get along to my next class because they had things under control and I'd only be in the way."

"I don't know," she murmurs, suddenly subdued.  "I must have.  I think there's something wrong with me, or there was something wrong with me, and it's not wrong anymore."  But she's frightened by the words on the tip of Colin's tongue.


"Of course it wasn't," she stammers.  "Why would it be?  I couldn't have done anything, could I?  I was just there.  I don't know why.  I must have a penchant for getting in trouble.  It's like a requirement of the job, isn't it?"

Oh, god.  She should stop.  She should not think about it.  But she can't.

"Did he blow up?  Did John save me?  Was I just there because I was there?  I'm still just the scrappy girlfriend, aren't I?"  Her stomach twists with the uncertainty of it, and she desperately hopes that Colin will say something like, 'Yes, of course,' and she can go back to thinking about what the rest of her life will be like, all normal and happy.  Wellesley is a possibility again.  She should go home and do her homework before her GPA drops because there's nothing more important to be done.


"You had to touch my vomit?  I'm sorry."

Colin's eyes are now full of worry, as he again looks at the others and then back at her.

"You don't remember? You were so angry at what he did to your fellow cheerleaders you went to face him before we could stop you."

Sylvia hastens to nod in agreement.  "I remember."  She doesn't, but she wants to.  She gets up from her seat, throws her arms around Donnie again, and gives him a flurry of kisses on his cheek.  "I'm going to go wait for Mitzi.  Maybe I'll have time to bake something before Jack's."  She pauses and looks confused.  "Am I still supposed to go to Jack's?"

"Man, you must have hit your head hard," Sammy replies.  "He probably won't let you do anything overly strenuous since you were sick today, but yeah, duh, of course.  'Not having powers is no excuse for not knowing how to defend yourself.'"

Laney watches Colin and John.   As the most sensible people present, she felt they were the safest ones to watch...except her gaze is drawn to a mottled pattern on Sylvia's clothing.  "Is Sarah still in Strange's house?  Oh.  Sh-she was talking on the phone about a Jack earlier.  And about hanging Strange for making paranormal criminals.  There is something wrong.  I think.  Who's Jack?"

Sylvia beams a bright smile at Sammy.  "I'll make cookies!" she announces and goes running off to get her coat and wait for Mitzi.  She almost stops to answer Laney, but it seems wisest to leave matters of strategy to the real heroes.

Colin answers Laney, but he's still looking at Sylvia and is still deeply worried.

"Don't worry about Sarah. She's going to have no trouble getting out of there. We suspect Strange might have conditioned some of his patients to commit crimes. And Jack is a retired soldier who is teaching us self-defense."

"She shouldn't be left alone, if she's um..."  Laney slowly stands, intending to keep an eye on Sylvia.  She grips the edge of the table when the floor starts sinking.

"She's not in any condition to be working out - Oh!  You're going to ask him about Batman.  I understand.  No.  No, I don't.  Did you guys see if she hit her head?"

Alicia looks at Donnie and gestures with her head in the direction of Sylvia's retreat. The expression in her face reads like a book. She's your responsibility. Take care of it.

To Laney, she drawls, "Yeah, Jack's this old guy who helps us learn how to fight. I can't wait to see what he'll do with you." She grins mischievously.

"Do?"  Laney shoulders her backpack, wobbles, and raises her fuzzy head to stare through Alicia.

"Oh. Soldier.  Self defense.  I got it. Dad made me take a couple classes, but that was over a year ago. Odds are I wouldn't be able to um...Am I supposed to talk to him, too?  Because I don't know where the interest in Strange came from all of a sudden and it's really um...strange.  Did she say thermometer...in her head?"  And off she goes, after Sylvia.

"Its my fault," Sammy says.  "She knows I am having some problems and have been going to see the school counselor for help.  Nancy Drew did some research and dug up some skeletons in Strange's closet.  I think she was there to keep an eye on me, make sure that there was a witness if something bad happened to me."  Sammy grabs her backpack from the chair.  "I'll go after her," she says.  "I'm not hungry anyhow."

Alicia looks at each retreating female and snorts. "Well, I'm not leaving," she says huffily, circling Rhys's arm with her own.

"Hey, " she perks up and nudges Rhys. "That's right. You haven't met Jack, either. He's cool, for an old guy, you'll like him."

"I've got nothing against old guys. My dad's one," he replied in his lilting Welsh accent. "And I get along with him just fine."

Sammy chases after Sylvia.  "Sylvia! Wait up!"

[Starting up a new thread for neatness's sake.]

Donnie can barely get a word in edgewise, and he gathers together his pack and brownbag lunch, jogging to catch up with Sammy and then Sylvia. Before he leaves he sticks his tongue out at Alicia and grins before hurrying off. He pauses and turns back, marching up to John. He puts out his hand to the big football player. "Thank you for last week. Thank you for being there in time."

Alicia gives Donnie the honor of returning the lingual salute before turning back to Rhys. "No, Ree-is. I mean he's old old. As in World War II old." There is a mischievous glint in her eye as she states this, despite the complete sincerity in her voice.

When Donnie returns to make his gesture to John, Alicia falls uncharacteristically silent.

Rhys is honestly confused. "How is an 80 year-old teaching you how to fight?"

Alicia shrugs, wearing an innocent smile. "Well, he does know a lot about it. All those years of experience, y'know."

She daintily breaks off a piece of her sandwich, pops it in her mouth, and makes a big production of chewing it.

Colin eyes Alicia. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

Alicia graces Colin with a smile worthy of an ornithophagous feline.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Colin," she says lightly, the smile still dancing on her mouth.

She leans forward as if discussing a sensitive matter. "So, when are we going to meet those friends of yours from out of town?"

John seems unsure of what to do, then shakes Donnie's hand.  "Colin is really who needs thanking."  He seems self conscious, then mumbles something about home work and leaves the lunch room.

A couple of hours after school, Donnie gets a message from Sammy.

I had a very bad, very scary morning and it got the better of me.  I'm sorry.  I'm tired of fighting.  Can we quit now?

Donnie grabs his vibrating phone before it can fall off his computer desk and reads the message. He leans back in the squeaky office chair and reads the message aloud to Pip.

"No, dude, it doesn't mean we will mate now. Geez, has Uther been trying to convince you of his opinions or ar you just being a smart-ass?"

He types back a message.

As long as u dont thretn to kill me anymore, I wont thretn to slap u. We r cool. Talked w Alicia aft school 2. She admits y we fight so much. Wants my hot bod.

ORLY? I called dibs first.  OK, no kill you, no sammy suicide by dragon.  See ya.

OOC: I'm putting this here 'cause I don't know where else to post it.

A few hours after school's over, Colin gets a text from Alicia:


were and wen? im rdy

Alicia thinks after reading Colin's message, Hmm. Mall means innocent bystanders. Wardrobe change.

She puts the well-used baseball bat with the the words "KISS IT" scratched on it back in the closet and types:

ok. meet you in front of hot topic. 1/2 hour?

So while Colin's getting burned and Sylvia's about to be mind-planted again, Sammy is flitting around in the sky, keeping the Elrod buzz a-buzzing.  She finds herself near a large church where they're doing steeple bell ringing practice, and she finds herself oddly fascinated by the tones.  She sits on a nearby rooftop and admires the round sounds.

OOC: No worries, Kat. Sam's next in Alicia's phone list. She thinks things are going to come to ahead soon, if Trent's near-meltdown is any indication, and she'll want Sam to be in the loop and ready to strike. :)

Tuesday

Using this thread to note a few things for the morning:

Laney does, in fact, attend all her classes today.  The extra activity around the construction site discourages her from retreating into seclusion.   

She spends the lunch period interrogating - err chatting with Greg about the differences between still photography and cinema.

Prior to lunch, Sammy experiences a moment of deja vu when she acquires a fuzzy headed shadow again.   She's even hugged, although not for such a torturously long time as before.   Sammy's graced with a goofy grin and Laney's piping affirmation, "Just in case you were wondering if it was real.  Thanks!"

Sammy flushes pink at the "wondering if it was real" part of the comment, accepts the thanks, and mumbles something about being glad she had not been used as a weapon against any of the Suspects.  Then she exclaims something about the time and a potential pop quiz, and bolts for her next class.