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Riding through the streets in the evening, Laney’s mind was spinning faster than the bike’s wheels.   At home, she had done exactly what Alicia threatened to do: graphed the relationships, flattening the web enveloping Sammy to the plane and following each line as far as she had space on the page.   Her purpose was to free herself from the tension painfully knotting her stomach and allow clear, objective examination of what Alicia had actually said.

That was the plan.   However, by the time Laney arrived at Jack’s, her thoughts were well bound, her emotions writhing between hostility and regret.   Chronic amongst her friends it seemed: this running away in the face of conflict.   Engaging then retreating.   The ruthless hit and runs, with no concern about damages.   This feeling of abandonment, she recognized, is the core of a very deep problem. 

Later.  She’d deal with it later.  Frowning, the girl surveys her surroundings.   She’d walked right into the home and down to this room without awareness – and without being admitted at the highly secure door.

Alicia is there, and obviously has been for a while. She's in her workout togs, furiously working the heavy bag, spinning around it and hitting it with combinations of fist, elbow and knee strikes.

It's a new bag, after the older one disappeared mysteriously, but Alicia seems intent on pounding it to a more familiar well-worn look.

She barely acknowledges Laney's appearance with a nod before resuming her assault.

Laney walks quietly around Alicia to prepare for more weight training scheduled this session.  She keeps her dark gaze on the floor, her mood only expressed by a twitch of her lips and an angry flush in her cheeks as she passes.

Perhaps the heavy steel bolt was rated for a lesser load; perhaps the shaft became misaligned or bent during installation;  perhaps there was a flaw on the manufacturing level where quality control is challenging when dealing with product numbering in the billions…

They’ll probably never know the physical cause.   As the heavy bag twists and shakes from Alicia’s blows, there is a minute sound, a *snap*  and the swivel flips free of the failed bolt, releasing the suspended weight and flailing chains to come crashing down.



((liberties taken.  substitute straps for chains if necessary))

OOC: No, you got it right. Heavy bags are usually supported with chains from a swivel bolt.

Alicia's head snaps to the right as a chain whizzes by, uncomfortably close to her cheek. She smoothly steps aside, her hands in guard position, as the bag falls at her feet.

She stares at the broken equipment for a second, then mutters, "Great. Bet I get blamed for this one, too."

With a grunt, she bends down to pick up and shoulder the bag, carrying it off the mat.

She takes the opportunity for a break and snags a water bottle from the cooler, sitting down at a bench to take a sip and rest for a bit.

Jack comes in as Alicia gets the bag off the mat.  He looks at the damaged bolt.  "I'll have the guys come back out tomorrow."  he gets up and goes over to Delaney, setting her to her regimen. 

Heavy equipment falling from the ceiling is distracting, to say the least.  Laney’s head pops up in alarm, but seeing Alicia is safe, she mumbles a greeting to Jack and tries to focus on what she should be doing.

The pressure from Alicia’s grip was the proverbial last straw for that water bottle.   A crease in the plastic became an indention, became a fracture, and became a leak.     While water streams down her hand, no doubt she considers getting another bottle.

That’s when the bench’s seat creaks and suddenly drops a several inches on one side as one of its legs splits.




((thanks.  phear my leet workout skillz))

Alicia huffs in annoyance at the defective bottle, then squawks when the bench collapses. She manages to keep her balance but ends up dropping the bottle, which proceeds to splash her with its remaining contents when it hits the floor.

Alicia's eyes narrow suspiciously at Laney, but she doesn't say anything. Looking at the mess on the floor, she announces grumpily, "I'll go get a mop," and heads out to the utility closet.

"You two have a fight?"  Jack asks simply.  "You seem to be unhappy with her."

Alicia looks deferentially at Jack.

"Are you talking to me, sensei?" she says, her voice dripping with innocence.

Laney looks up, embarrassed.  She was sure she'd been doing her set properly.  There's a pause while the hamster running her brain climbs back onto its wheel and sets it spinning again.

"No. Yes.  Maybe.  Yes?  We talked after school.  Sammy has a problem. I was going to ask you later because-  No, we didn't fight!  Not exactly."




The odds of a mophead separating from its handle are…Oh, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to reassemble mops in my lifetime.   Suffice it to say, when Alicia returns she gets some firsthand experience with this inconvenience.

"What the...? Coño, carajo, mal rayo te parta!" Alicia curses as the mop disassembles itself. She's close to kicking the recalcitrant mophead but gets the better of her temper.

She sloppily finishes the task and, grumbling, returns the broken mop back to the closet.

Alicia returns and stands in a foul mood, waiting for instructions from Jack.

"Okay.  Let me get this straight.  Alicia and Delaney talked.  And it was determined that Sammy has some sort of problem.  So, why are you two grumpy with one another?"

Alicia makes a show of looking offended, crossing her arms and raising her head.

"I am not at all grumpy with Laney," she asserts huffily.

Laney listens to Jack attentively.  Her eyes widen as she does.  She nods to his first statement.  Nods to his second.  But she shakes her head, her mouth opens and shuts like fish gasping when Alicia answers the question.

Finding her voice, Laney mumbles, “It wasn’t a very nice talk.  That’s all.  Was I supposed to do five of these?”  She gestures to the bench behind her.



To Alicia, the room may seem cooler than it was.  Perhaps this is due to the seam in her clothing beneath her armpit which has been unraveling for a several minutes and is exposing more skin to the air than normally considered modest.  Especially now, when she pulls her arms forward to cross them.

"Yes.  I can see how a conversation between the two of you could become unpleasant.  But, I'm a little curious why Delaney is mad at Alicia."

“Well, she…I…There was…It’s alright, now.  She’s not grumpy anymore.  That’s what’s important.”   

The pouting might have continued, but Laney gasps and turns at the sound of something collapsing behind her.   A rack folds like a great hand were pressing down upon it, and an avalanche of dumbbells surges towards them.   


Meanwhile, it’s snowing.     No, wait.  That’s some sort of fibrous dust drifting about Alicia’s head for a few seconds.   It’s a precursor to the large chunk of material plummeting from the ceiling.

Alicia lifts her arms once she realizes the damage, and unleashes a string of curses in Spanish. Laney doesn't recognize the words, but the intent is painfully obvious.

In disgust, Alicia finishes the job and tears the top off, leaving her with a sports bra and gym pants on.


Alicia looks at Jack incredulously. "You mean Laney's responsible for this s**t? Hija de la gran puta!" Alicia exclaims.

She brings up her hands in surrender.

"OK! OK! I may have been a bit... insistent when I talked with her," Alicia admits reluctantly. "But it was her fault! She was being, like, totally thick and not getting what I was saying."

Jack and Alicia sidestep the dangers, and both grab one of Delaney's wrists, pulling her clear just as the machine she was on finally collapses.  "Rule one about dealing with people like Delaney, don't beat around the bush.  Say whatever you have to say as directly as possible.  And She's not so much responsible for this stuff as she's out of kilter."  Jack spins Delaney to look into her eyes.  "Say what's on your mind Delaney.  If you keep things bottled up it will spill out into the world."

A neutral observer would’ve sworn those falling weights changed direction mid-motion, following Laney. 


“Thanks.  Are you alright?  Bottled…bush?  Say…What stuff?  You…She…left.  She wouldn’t tell me.  Wouldn’t…when she did tell she left.  She left! SHE LEFT ME!”  A hiccup cuts off the sobbing before it starts.  In catching her breath, Laney breaks contact with Jack’s eyes and turns her face towards Alicia, trying to anchor herself there as Jack’s words stab right through the swelling rage.

Alicia rears back, afraid and confused. "I, ah, I..." She clamps her jaw shut as she realizes how lame she's sounding.

She firms up and throws it right back at Laney's face, her golden eyes blazing. "Yeah, I left because you... I was losing control. I was too close to... to losing it. I was trying to be nice, and you were hemming and hawing and totally misunderstanding what I was saying.

"You pissed off at me? Good," she hisses. "That's better than you cringing and shaking like a goddamn rabbit. You got something to say to me, chica? Give me your best shot!" Her face is inches from Laney's, pupils slitted into thin lines, lips pulled back into a snarl.

“Losing what?  What now?  The goddamned POINT?  If you’d say what the f*ck you mean instead of pussyfooting around, maybe people wouldn’t be pissed at you all the goddamned time! Don’t you dare lay this on me.  I’m not the only one you’ve run away from!  You gonna run away this time, too?!?”   Laney leans as far as Jack’s hands allow into Alicia until their noses nearly touch.  It's a pity she can’t pull off the aggressive stance as well as her friend; it’s more comical than frightening, that scowl.

"You see me running, bitch? C'mon, I'm still waiting," Alicia growled. The snarl almost seems like a feral grin now. She's in her milieu. Conflict, challenge, struggle. It's what drives her.

"I tried to be nice, but noooo, you gotta be a pain in the ass about it. So fine. I'll say it again, loud and clear so there's no confusion. Sammy doesn't like you. Why, I don't give flying f**k by now. But she's been my friend long before you came along, so don't make me choose between the two of you, 'cause you won't like the answer.

"Stay the f**k away from her. You want John for yourself? fine. Knock yourself out. Do whatever you want with him. It'll probably do him some good to work that stick he's got up his ass off a bit.

"But leave Sammy alone. You hurt her and I'll send the hurt right back at'cha."

"So, Alicia is fighting Sammy's battles.  There is a boy involved.  And you two have worked up a good head of steam.  Am I missing anything?"  Jack's tone is certainly calmer than the others in the room.

Laney’s screeching like a - well, like a teenager throwing a fit, and she doesn’t register anything poor Jack says.

“First, it’s ‘John this and John that’, then it’s ‘oh,nono, it’s nothing to do with him,’ and now it’s all about him!  When did I ever hurt Sammy?! 

“John didn’t leave Sammy.  She left him!  And look how she f*cked herself, now!  She won’t talk to me, but oh, she’s got you to speak for her ‘cause she’s running away, too.   Too bad she picked the wrong person to do her dirty work, huh?   Not my f*cking fault she’s hurting herself!  I’m trying to HELP! Creepy, my ass.  Before Nick met me, he and Sammy broke up.  And Sammy said she wanted to avoid him.  Now, look at them.  All over each other.  This is my fault?  She said I didn’t have to do this alone!  Sh-she’s  a lying b*tch, just like you!

Alicia's anger manifests the opposite way than Laney's. Her voice gets lower, tighter, her body smooths out into a still pose, but vibrating like a wound spring. Knuckles crack like rifle shots as she clenches her fists.

"You're the one who keeps bringing John into this! I'm telling you, I don't give a flying f**k about him! Even if that's pretty much what he probably needs right now!"

Laney can barely see Alicia's eyes as the girl narrows them into slits. "Sam didn't send me, you stupid c**t. I went to talk to you on my own, figuring I'd spare you the pain of getting bitch-slapped by giving you the skinny. Now I've got half a mind to kick your ass myself just to save Sam the trouble."

"So.  Sammy doesn't like Delaney.  And you're asking one friend to avoid another so they don't run the risk of having a conflict?"  Jack still seems to be talking as though there aren't a pair of teenage girls swapping unpleasantries.

“Me??  You don’t give a flying f*ck and you keep bringing him up first!   Oh, you did SUCH a marvelous job talking, didn’t you?  Waving and yelling -   You couldn’t kick my ass then, you just ran away.  What makes you think you could do it now?  If you’d just said what the hell you meant in the first place, we might’ve been able to figure out what’s wrong with Sammy!

“Oh, I’ve probably figured it out, anyway.  So, hey, I should thank you for being an asshole and mentioning Nick and John, after all.   You see?  Sammy owns Elrod the richest boy, Nick the most popular, and I guess I’m in the way of her getting the strongest one.  She must be working backwards on the female spectrum.  How do you like being a pet, Alicia?  Oh, let’s see…Sylvia’s on the pep squad now.  Sammy can own her for the popular one.  I wonder who’ll be her rich girl?  If … “      7.4 million and 112 acres near Mom’s alma mater in Massachusetts when I turn eighteen.  Anyone who googles my name knows that.  Oh, you are f*cking kidding me.  That’s not rich.  I’d have to invest it and –

Laney becomes still, her expression smoothes and her breathing slows.  It’s an interesting theory, one she hadn’t considered until now.  While it doesn’t sync up precisely, it has merit enough to draw her attention away from the present and back into the realm of the abstract.  If she'd brought her diagrams, she would've tried to pull away from Jack right then and there to map this out, too.

Alicia's face smooths. Her eyes go wide then slit almost shut again. Her nostrils flare as she takes a deep breath then hisses it out. She shifts slightly, muscles playing underneath the skin.

Jack has no problem seeing what's going to happen next, even if Laney is too caught up with her ruminations to notice it.

"STOP!"  Jack calls.  He shakes Delaney out of her fugue.  "And people think it wasn't easier when I was young."  he sits Delaney down and gets some water for the three of them.  "Sammy isn't collecting people Delaney."  handing her water, "And, it's nice of you to try and clue Delaney into the fact that Sammy doesn't like her."  he gives Alicia a bottle, "Beyond that you're both acting like juveniles.  Which is actually a good sign."  Jack sits and motions for Alicia to do the same.

Disoriented and dazed, Laney looks around, clutching her water bottle the way a child holds a dolly to her breast.   She advises matter-of-factly, “You really should find a better way to store those weights, Jack.   That’s not very safe.”

She goes on to ponder, “Do you think it’s environmental?  Kindof a natural selection thing?   John reads up on these things, not me. Why doesn't she like me?  I've always been nice to her. Maybe Donnie might have some insight.  He’s studied foreign cultures…um…species, right?   She's always been nice.”

"Don't worry about it.  You'll obsess and then try to find an answer.  The hardest thing you'll have to adapt to is just letting things go.  Especially with people.  People, according to Adrien, have too many variables, and too many of them are unseen.  So with people, sometimes you have to just accept certain things and move on."  Jack opens his water and drinks from it.  "You're also teenagers.  These things change all the time.  So just accept that this girl doesn't like you, and don't try to fix it."  He looks at Alicia, "And don't suggest to John that he should get laid."  he says flatly.  "It's probably part of the problem, and the last thing he needs is for you to rub it in."

“Oh.  You don’t think she’s…I don’t handle tangents well. Weird to say, when I’m like the most indirect person ever, right?   I want to explain.   But they said my serotonin levels were back to normal.  Should I stop kissing him?   I don’t want to hurt him!  I like Sammy.  I can’t help her if this really is just the worst case of buyer’s remorse in history.   Thanks for telling me, though.  It’s like water.”

Jack's shout causes Alicia to instinctively freeze. For a second she snarls silently at both Jack and Laney, then straightens up with a deep breath.

Alicia accepts the bottle quietly but doesn't do anything than hold it. She stands loosely, her body in repose, any sign of her previous state completely erased, except perhaps for a gleam in her slowly blinking eyes.

At Jack's offer to sit, she simply sinks into a squat, balancing easily on the balls of her feet. She says nothing but simply observes and listens. If she had a tail, though, it would be twitching.


"Wouldn't dream of it," Alicia murmurs, that dangerous gleam still in her eyes.

"I said she doesn't like you.  That doesn't mean stop seeing this guy to try and make her happy.  You deserve to be happy too Delaney."

“I’m not.  I’m not going to stop seeing him, and I’m not going to stop talking to her.  Sorry I yelled, though.  Wasn’t very nice.  I didn’t mean what I said, Alicia.  That you were an asshole, confused, a lying b*tch, an amateur shrink, or a pet.”

"You sure about that? 'Cause it sounded pretty sincere to me," Alicia says softly, her voice like silk sliding over a sword blade.

It's eerie, the way she stays in her squat, with barely a twitch to keep her balance.

“It did?  Well…Alright.  Maybe I meant the asshole part.   The rest was all wrong.   I can’t be sure about the lying because everyone’s saying one thing and doing another.  I can’t tell if it’s real or if it’s because I don’t understand what they’re saying.    I know Sammy was lying, now.   Doesn’t mean you were.    So…benefit of a doubt there.    Still wasn’t nice to say   I’m sorry.”     Laney stares at Alicia, sucking on her water bottle a moment, more to allow time for stirred memories to settle than because she’s thirsty.

Alicia stares coolly at Laney for a few seconds. Her mouth twitches slightly upward along with an eyebrow.

She nods her head in acknowledgment. "Apology accepted," she says in the same tone as before.

"No good deed goes unpunished."  Jack says, patting Alicia on the shoulder.  "You started out to help one friend by giving another advice."

“Punished?  Sorry.  I don’t…Alicia, you must be direct, like he said.  It’s…It’s like…Like water, you know? Like a pool of water I look into.  And every word or idea drops in and makes ripples.  The ripples cross each other.  More ripples.  Cross again.   Normal people would be content to just go, ‘Oh, that’s water,” and they’ll look and smile, drink it, or ignore it or…   I’m still trying to follow the very first ripple you made, separate it from the new patterns.  Or maybe I did, I’m done, and I’m working on the third or tenth…

“You can’t take it back.

“God, this is why I’m averaging a C in English!  You...When you brought up both Sammy and John it was… It was like smashing both your fists in the water.  And I can’t…I couldn’t realign with…Well, it’s not as if you were making things any easier.   Analogies suck.

“You can’t take it back.   If I were a genius, maybe I’d be able to sort things better.  I’d been working on a project with the goo, and I was tired.  I didn’t.    Sorry I got so mad, Alicia.   Please don’t leave, too.  I have an essay due next Tuesday.”

She certainly looks tired, pale with puffy, dark eyelids.  Pathetic as that is, after her meek and apologetic rambling, Laney’s focus narrows on Alicia and she asks with marked clarity, “If all you wanted to do was advise me that Sammy doesn’t like me, why did you mention John in the first place?  Have you spoken to him, too?  Who else did you talk to?”

"And this is how these conversations go.  It's like talking with the radio on in the background.  Like a third person in the conversation saying things that might be relavent, but might not be."

Alicia sighs. Whatever remaining tension is still in her body drains away.

"No, I haven't talked to John," she replies, fatigue equally noticeable in her voice. "I... I guess I was playing amateur shrink. I'd guessed that John could be part of the problem since I knew Sam and he went flying together all the time, at least before you came along. I suppose I was trying to give you a reason, something that wouldn't make Sam sound... petty. F**ked that up pretty good, I guess."

Alicia looks down, her words filled with worry. "She's hurting, Lane. And I'm not sure what to do."

Her voice firms up, becomes once again deadly steel. "But if there's anything I can do to stop her pain, I'll do it. Anything. And right now, that means you have to leave her be."

"And you might want to learn to let people take care of themselves."  Jack says to Alicia.  "Sammy is a big girl, she can take care of herself.  And secondly, be careful about what you say you're willing to do for someone else.  Sometimes, it is as much what you say as how you say it.  Especially when it's about a Djinn.  They're not like most people, and I'm guessing being part Djinn is about like being a Genie that gets wished into being someone's daughter."

Laney starts when Alicia looks down, but she manages to keep her eyes on the girl’s head, probably because she’s fascinated by a cowlick more visible now that her hair is so short.    “I’ll just apologize and make it up to her.  Geez, it’s not complicated.  I can’t pretend she doesn’t exist.  Of course, she's someone's daughter!  That’s just cruel.  But I don’t know what I did.  I’ve been nothing but nice to her.  There’s a world of difference between not liking someone and hating them because they hurt you.    What did I do?”

"I meant someone else Delaney.  Someone else was a Genie and was wished into being someone's daughter.  And you might not want to go apologize.  since I'm not so sure how Sammy would take it if she were to find out Alicia told you that she didn't like you and it may or may not have been about a boy.  Unless Alicia told Sammy she was going to talk to you?"  Jack looks at Alicia.

Ha, ha, ha. It is to laugh. :)

Alicia looks at Jack with a stubborn set to her face. "I meant what I said," she replies mulishly.


Alicia just shakes her head mutely.

“Fine.  I won’t apologize to her.   Why are you moving like that, Alicia?  It’s not about John.  They’re friends.  I didn’t stop them from being friends.   All day.  Like that.  I won’t tell her.  I...”

On any given day, Laney may make a dozen absurd statements and ask a dozen more questions no one answers - or even acknowledges.   She must disregard so many things she perceives only to function in this world that she can’t fault anyone else for doing the same.  Tolerance and patience were nurtured in her as a child, one might suspect with foresight.   This doesn’t mean the abrupt termination of thoughts, the meaningless deaths of ideas, have no effect.     

She wanted to know - needed to know – and they wouldn’t answer.  Her nerves were too frayed to withstand the strain, though she tried.   A white hot pain rips through her skull when she releases the pressure in a sudden, blind scream,  “WHAT DID I DO TO SAMMY??” 

Alicia's eyes narrow, not in anger, but in surprise at Laney's outburst. Again, the feline simile comes to mind; one can almost see cat ears flatten against the skull.

A dozen replies riffle through her mind, but she's learned her lesson. Direct honesty is the only choice.

"I don't know," she says quietly. And I've already gotten into trouble for trying to guess, she thinks to herself.

"So."  Jack begins.  "You're seeing a guy.  That's good.  Nice normal thing for a teenage girl to do.  Does Jean like him?"

"Sputtering" is the best word to describe what Laney does for few seconds, until she's red-faced and irritably shaking her head.  She stares angrily across the room and won't look at either of them.

"Then why are you sure I - Jean? Yes, she-   Stupid to think you could stop it again if you -  I guess so.  He's smart...and funny and...nice."

And, just like that, her demeanor softens and there's a dreamy smile.

Alicia does her best Spock eyebrow. Now that Jack's neatly excised her from the conversation, she takes her leave, padding over to pick up her ruined shirt.

"Next session we're going to do close quarters melee training Alicia.  Remember to wear some street cloths you don't mind getting trashed."  Jack says as she's heading to get her stuff.  "So, Delaney.  Let's get you back on some weights, shall we?"

"Hai, sensei," Alicia calls back, showing off the little Japanese she's learned to tease Jack.

She heads off to hit the shower and change into her work clothes. She feels a burning desire to work off some frustrations on a few well-deserved perps.