3:30, Crying, and Scared

[Kris O'Sullivan]

OOC: I got the inspiration for this from a cousin of mine who always went melo-dramatic when faced with a situation like this. Seeing that Kris is an empath, she could logically be a bit predisposed to melo-drama in these, her formative years. I'm sorry. I can't help but laugh and feel a little bit of a big brother type feeling, looking at this post. Have fun folks! I think poor Bridget (Kris' mom) is about to have some problems!

It was 3:30am. Softly sobbing, Kris fumbled around with her cellphone. She couldn't think straight as she stood alone at the bus stop in Founder's Falls. Nothing was going right, and now she was going to lose everything and everyone she loved. There was no answer, just voice mail. Letting out a frantic squeel, the girl ran into the darkness, remembering the bus had stopped running at midnight.

Finally falling, and gashing her knee and ripping her jacket, Kris slowly got back up, then put her glasses back on and looked at her things lying on the ground. Why did she have to be such a big baby about this? Why couldn't she just grow up? It was pointless. Her mother was making her stay an immature coward, who would probably run off and marry the first guy who looked to be able to handle her, and then be in need of serious psychiatric help before thirty.

Hearing the cellphone dialing and ringing it's recipient, Kris looked about til she found where it lay in the grass nearby. Looking to the caller id, she saw it was dialing Stasis. Frantically she tried to calm herself, and miserably failed. When her friend answered she began sobbing even more, until she was yelled into calming down, and explained what was going on.

"Sh-She's going to ma-ake me quit school Stasi! I don't want to," she cried as she tried to calm down enough to explain. Oh, God! Help meeee."

[Stasis Kiss]

eeep!

This post to be replaced later, after i finish chortling and come up with something to say to help Kris out. Like a bucket of cold water, applied to noggin.

** EDIT ** you're in, Barrier! i'll pick you up on the sneaky way out.

** DEUX EDIT ** apparently after time has expired, message cannot be deleted. therefore .. we continue!

[Barrier]

Okay Stasis.

Let's go bring her home.

[Stasis Kiss]

Phone. Phone. There was a phone ringing.

Dreams shredded around her in sparks and cascades as Stasis was jolted awake. Twisting her neck gave her the time, which was godawful. Who the hell calls at this time of night? I’ll kill ‘em. Arrest ‘em. Consign to the Zig.

Stasis grimaced, feeling the day in every bone in her body as she stretched, trying to find the small screaming object in the dark. She found it eventually by the simple expedient of knocking it to the floor. Throughout the event neither of her roommates even twitched. Typical.

"Hello? Wassa? Hello?" Her head hit the pillow and her eyes started to close. That lasted about three seconds until the crying on the other end of the line made her sit up, wide awake. "What? Kris?! Slow down, slow down! I don't understand a single thing you're saying."

Her night vision wasn't the best as a quick peer over to the other side of the room didn't tell her anything at all. Lycia was just a dark lump on her side. The frantic sobbing over the phone line sent her heart rate spiking though even as she swung both feet to the floor.

"Kris! Snap out of it, you're making no sense! What's going on? What's the matter?"

The babble on the other end of the line still wasn't terribly clear but the sense of urgency made her want to hit something, anything. Light began to glow from her hands, faint but real.

Eventually a garbled story pieced itself together. Not enough to actually make something she could wear, but certainly enough to see the shape. Her mother, again. Something about being pulled out of school. The glow in the room got brighter.

"Founder's Falls?! Are you crazy? The garbage dogs will eat you alive, let alone.. never mind. Where are you exactly? Kris, tell me where you are, I'll come get you."

It wasn't an address so much as a description but it didn't matter. She'd scour the whole place if she had to, garbage dogs or not. Near water anyways, Kris could see a dock. That was enough to start with. How many docks could there be?

"Don't move, Kris O'Sullivan, don't you dare move a single inch. I'm coming to get you so stay right there. Wait for me, okay? Stay right there!"

The promise was hiccupped, barely coherent but probably as good as she was going to get. The thought of Kris, alone in that place and hysterical over her mother... there were peddlers in flesh that would find the prospect of a victim that could heal herself to be more than temptation could bear. Tara, don't even think that. Don't think it and it won't happen. Move it. Get to Kris.

Hanging up the phone was like clicking the safety on a gun. The sudden silence was shocking.

"Lycia! Lycia! Get up girlfriend, Kris is in trouble!"

But shaking the dark lump on the bed didn't yield the goth, only a pile of lumpy bedclothes. Apparently Lish had also stepped out for the night.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Stasis ran aggressive hands through her hair, rearranging it into different spikes. She didn't swear, she didn't. That wasn't who she was.

First things first. Save Kris. That was what was important.

Get Jade? No.. too damned far, she didn't even know if he had a phone nor did she have his number. She was not going to go running through the boy's dorms banging on doors, not in a tank top and panties. Jaygo? Stupid thought for a different reason. Keep moving.

Armor? No, she had to get moving and it took too long to put on. Even the Freakshow gear took time to lock down. Jeans were on the floor though, motorcycle boots, worn enough to be good for climbing. She grabbed one of Lycia's sweaters, thinking hazily about shock and warmth. She tied its arms around her waist, knowing that the tank top was more than enough for her. What else?

Wachabe had a garret, a single room .. no, she didn't know precisely where it was either. Just when she needed a damned map.

Nothing else. Time to go.

She opened the window in a single rush and was out onto the roofline, catfooting her way to the eave. She'd fallen from the top of the world in Faultline and the hop to the ground barely registered under her heels. The timetable of the trains flashed with cold precision through her mind, the gate passes required.

They didn't care, the gate guards, they wouldn't even look twice at her. The sub dermal security level ident might raise their eyebrows but Founder's was considered safe enough.

Safe enough. Kris was on the streets there, by herself. Her boots made almost no sound as she started to jog, then to run in flashing strides. Faster, over the wall, to the train, to the gates, to Founders. Find Kris. Stasis didn't know, nor would she have cared but in the darklight within the walls, she glowed like a star. It made her easy to see, for those also just getting home.

"Hey. It's past curfew. What are you doing out of dorm, freshman?"

All she knew was that the shadow that detached itself from the wall barred her way, with a gravelly voice she didn't recognize. Older though and with authority. A teacher she hadn't met? There was no time for this!

"Sorry. Emergency. I have to go." Edging sideways didn't help, the shadow just followed her, moving closer to block her way.

"Hey. Nothing's that much of an emergency. What's the problem, kid?"

"No! There's no time! I have to get Kris!"

She raised her hands, felt the power surge as the light grew stronger, brighter. It revealed a face right out of some of her bad dreams, horns, skin not human, whorls of darker color that could have been tattoos or deeper markings. Yet the midnight apparition had said freshman not destroy. That one word kept her from striking out.

That, and the sudden compassion on this stranger’s face.

"Somebody in trouble?" She could only nod, listening to the train in her head. Hurry, hurry. "In Atlas?"

"Founders."

The surprise on the other's face was oddly affirming. "What are you kids doing these days? In my time... not that that matters now I guess. Alright. I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you. The Falls is no place for two kids to be running around in the middle of the almost morning. Name's Barrier, by the way. No last name."

Stasis nodded her head in curt acknowledgement, hardly registering the introduction. "She's alone. We have to go. Now."

"No argument, kid. Lead the way."

________

Founders Falls never slept. Things moved, things prowled, things died in its back alleys. Together they ran, light and dark. There were too many docks, too much water but Barrier seemed to know where they were, what turn to take next. Stasis didn't care that she was lost because Kris was lost too, and every moment made it worse. Suppose she hadn't gotten here in time? Suppose Kris wasn't huddled on a bench somewhere, but in one of those back alleys, broken, or behind one of these blank windows, screaming?

No, no, no, find her, she's okay, she could take care of herself just find her.

"Over there. Is that your friend?" Barrier pointed, moving on silent feet towards a slim shape hunched over itself near the edge of the water. Crazy with frustration Stasis launched herself, landing a bare handspan away from the still form. The cry of "Kid!" behind her was lost in the wind.

But it was Kris, although a Kris she barely recognized as the other girl raised her tear stained face, red hair gone black in the streetlights. "Sta..Stasis? Oh, Stasi!" Her strong friend, the one who cried only when nobody could see, scrambled up with arms outstretched blindly. It was a heartbeat before they were crouched on the jetty, holding tightly enough to cause bruises.

"Kris, Kris, you idiot, you scared the life out of me, I thought you'd be dead by the time I got here, or worse, what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night..." The rest got lost in the hiccupping sobs as Stasis rocked her quadmate back and forth. Barrier moved up silently behind, standing guard over the unprotected pair.

Kris couldn't seem to find breath, hysterical crying that just wouldn't stop. Minutes passed and she just wasn't calming down, near soaking Stasis' thin shirt with tears. The empath was shaking but the sweater Stasis had brought was impossible to reach, not without letting go and Kris just wasn't going to allow that.

"Hey, kid. It's all right. You're safe, we're here. C'mon, dry up." That was Barrier, moving closer. The teacher put a hand on Kris' shoulder and shook her but that just made it worse. "Kid. It's okay." The tone was gentle enough but rough, and Stasis looked up in frantic appeal. This wasn't Kris, it just wasn’t, something really bad had happened. The redhead was ignoring everything, twisting farther into her friend's body.

Barrier looked down on both of them and seemed to come to some decision. "Okay. Enough of this I think."

With an expert twist she pulled Kris out of Stasis' arms before either could react, Kris' eyes flashing wide. One green hand flashed out, catching the small girl on the cheek.

"Hey!" Stasis was on her feet, hands immediately brightening to full power.

Barrier didn't seem impressed though, waiting a moment before slapping the limp girl's other cheek with impartial force. The crying didn't stop, didn't even falter. Stasis took a furious step forward.

"Hey!"

"Kris. Kris. Snap out of it, sugar." Barrier shook the girl a little. "You're a big girl, don’t be doing this."

Stasis' angry shout was negated by Kris' wail. Neither noise made any sense at all, not to the experienced eye of the teacher. Obviously this situation was degrading rapidly and certain measures were becoming required.

The slaps hadn't helped in the slightest. Going with the next escalation, Barrier picked up the smaller girl in an easy motion as if her weight meant nothing, grabbing her by a single ankle. Before either student could protest Kris was headfirst in the water.

Only for a moment though before she was back in sputtering, upright position. Barrier eyed her critically, holding up one hand to forestall Stasis' charge.

"Cool your jets, kid, I know hysteria when I see it. Quickly now, let's have that sweater you brought."

Confused, the girl complied, long since used to obeying authority. A few minutes later Kris was in that fragile warmth, hair still dripping and looking much too pale but not crying now, not incoherent. They were sitting again on the rough surface of the dock planks, Kris now tucked into the green teacher’s side.

Knowing that being too close in her upset state would just chill her friend further, Stasis knelt as close as she dared while Barrier rubbed circles between Kris' shoulders.

"Okay, let's have it now, from the top. What's the problem here?"

The story emerged between chattering teeth. By the time it had ground to its almost coherent end, Stasis was furious, energy popping and flaring between her fingertips. Her best friend was almost shattered at the thought of losing St. Joseph's. She could have died here on the streets, and nobody would have known anything. Her friend didn't have a mother, she had a harpy for a parent, a bloodthirsty banshee, sucking her friend dry of all of the good things that had ever happened to Kris.

Take Kris away? Away from her new friends, her quad - from Arrow?

It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She wanted to run right out and.. and..

Do nothing.

Maybe Kris had been caught in some weird empathic feedback loop, magnifying her feelings a thousandfold until she'd been lost in it, but Stasis wasn't. Stasis didn't let her feelings get in the way of what she knew needed to be done. Right now, Kris needed to feel safe. No, Kris needed to be safe.

"Run away."

Stasis hadn't even realized she'd said anything until Barrier and Kris both looked at her, Kris with red rimmed eyes. Rubbing her own, Stasis realized that the sun was starting to come up, bringing detail with it.

"Wha.. What?"

"Kris, run away." She reached out with one cool hand before remembering that that wasn't a good idea. She clenched it on her thigh instead. "Kris, run away. Look, if nobody can find you, nobody can find you. Not your mother, not the people she's afraid of, not anybody. You'll be safe, Kris."

"But.. but.. I don't want to lose you! I can't leave you guys, I just can't! I want to be here, doing the right thing, doing my part..." Kris was back on the edge of hysteria again and Barrier was now glaring at Stasis for upsetting her charge.

"No...no! Not, not like that." The slim tanker ran her hands through her short hair, trying to sort out her chaotic thoughts. "Not run away, run away. I mean, we hide you. We hide you, Kris. Me, Lycia. We'll find you a place in St. Joseph's where they can't find you."

"…what?"

Yes, that was it. That would keep Kris both safe and protected. It's what she did, she protected. She made things safe. And she'd do both for her friend, whatever it took.

"Look, Wachabe has his own room, right? A garret he said, an old storage room. We'll find you another one, the school is big enough, an old shed, something. We'll sneak you food, your books, even homework if you want it. Just til your mother gives up looking, until she goes away, or leaves or anything she likes but we'll hide you until she leaves you alone."

Kris' expression was hard to figure out. Shock, hope, fear, panic. Anything and everything. Carefully, Stasis reached out and took both her friend's hand in hers and shook them, once.

"Please, Kris. Hide. We'll protect you. I'll protect you. I just need you to be safe."

______

and.. phew. Kris, Barrier .. duke it out behind the gym for the next segment like proper bulldog fighters. No, there will be no betting pool.

[Barrier]

"Hide? Are you serious?" Barrier asked. "No, no. This sounds like something that needs to be dealt with."

Stasis frowned. "Ms. Barrier, I don't think-"

"Ms. Barrier?" the green-skinned girl interrupted. "Barrier is fine. Or even Saskia, for that matter."

Stasis blinked. "I-- I don't-- Listen, I'm not one of those people who can call a teacher by their first name, I'm sorry-"

Barrier laughed suddenly. "Teacher? I'm only a sophomore, for god's sake!"

Stasis stared at her in amazement. She looked at Kris, only to find that Kris also seemed confused. Stasis stammered, "but-- in the quad, it seemed like..."

Kris shook her head a little. "No, Stasis," she said weakly. "I met Saskia last week. She's the captain of the field hockey team."

Captain. She had mistaken leadership for authority. Stasis felt suddenly very young, and very foolish. She shook her head and continued, "okay, whatever. But Kris can't just go home."

Barrier frowned. "And this," she said, gesturing around them, "is somehow better? Trust me," she continued, a sullen look coming over her face, "it isn't."

"But my mother," said Kris. "Aren't you listening? She wants to take me out of Saint Joe's!"

Barrier waved a hand dismissively. "She's worried about you, is all. She sounds like she doesn't know what she wants."

Stasis stamped her foot. "We can't let her mom take her from the school!"

Barrier stepped closer to Stasis. "Listen to me. Has it occurred to you that she's lucky? Christ, I never even knew my parents. They left me in a god-damned orphanage. So, all things considered, I'd say Kris is lucky to have parents who care!" Barrier's anger was evident, and unexpected. Seeing Satsis' reaction, the older girl softened. "Even if that caring is somewhat out of place. I'm not saying it'll be easy. But sometimes, what is easy isn't the same thing as what is right."

Stasis didn't know how to respond. She had lost her parents, too... But it had obviously left a different impression on her than it had on Barrier.

Barrier turned away, still obviously angry. "I say running is the coward's move. But," she said, putting a hand to her head, "this is really Kris' decision."

[Kris O'Sullivan]

"Hey! Back off! I'm not a coward," Kris said getting a little angry, stepping back and shivering a little. "That's my mother's job! She wants to pull me out because she found out I was heroing. She's afraid Arachnos will find us again, and will try to take us away."

Looking between the two, Kris thought very hard about things. If she ran she was a coward. If she let her mother get away with things, she was a coward. It was blazingly ovious she was caught in a catch 22. What to do? Only time would tell. Reaching over, Kris took Stasis' hand, and then stepped closer to her icy friend.

"But no matter what, I do this with Q5. They are my rock and inspiration," she nooded as she spoke. "For good or bad... I'm sticking with Stasis. If you really feel like you have to talk to my mom, she lives in the Keystone building, on the corner of Cranston and Providence. Apartment 372-A. Her name is Bridget O'Sullivan. She's a widow, so don't ask for my dad. Stasis, take me home? To St Joe's?"

[Barrier]

Barrier hopped off the yellow line at Beaumont and wandered down the ramp. It had cooled off overnight, and she pulled her letterman jacket tighter around her. Around her, businessmen and women were rushing to the yellow, chatting about coffee and stocks and dinner reservations on their cellular phones. Some of them eyed her suspiciously, some even with fear. But others saw her letter jacket, with its blue wool and white leather sleeves, with the four-crossed emblem embroidered into it, and they smiled, or even nodded in acknowledgement.

I made the right decision, she thought. Saint Joseph is my home, and its colors are my armor.

She turned left onto Providence and the Keystone Building came into view, two blocks down. Barrier pulled a crumpled note out of her pocket and looked it over again. Apartment 372-A. Bridget O’Sullivan.

How would she make Kris’ mother understand? With what she already knew about Kris, she seemed as lost without Saint Joe’s as Barrier had been. On the run, sure, once or twice. In trouble? Definitely. It was obvious that her mother was just worried about her. Why wouldn’t she worry? She loved her daughter. And learning that your daughter recently purchased, not a pony or a prom dress, but a custom-fit suit of myomar and supraplex body armor—well, it could make any mother worry even more.

Barrier ran over it in her head, speaking quietly out loud to herself. “Mrs. O’Sullivan, hi. My name is Saskia Smith, I go to Saint Joe’s with your daughter.” Not bad, right? Pleasant, polite.

She thought about it a bit. “All right, calm down, ma’am,” she began again, thinking that it might not go so smoothly. “My name is Barrier. And I’m here to assure you, Saint Joseph School takes your daughter’s safety just as seriously as you do.” Play the staff angle, then. Stasis Kiss thought she was a teacher, after all—maybe Kris’ mom would, too.

She stabbed a finger at the air. “All right, listen up. No, no, you listen to me. You want Kris to be safe? Then maybe you let her stay where she is: surrounded by nearly 200 of the strongest heroes outside of the Phalanx!” She hissed the word Phalanx on purpose, pretending to shout by whispering. If you’re gonna get angry, you may as well be really angry. But no need to look like a crazy person on the street.

She turned into the lobby of the building. Lost in thought, she didn’t see the two men in suits and sunglasses by the door. She didn’t even see them when one of them turned his head, put his hand to his face, and spoke into his sleeve.

She went to the elevator bay and waited. It felt like forever until the doors opened. She went over it all again. Kris is safe. Stasis Kiss had taken her back to the dorms. Barrier had made her swear. So that was that. There wasn’t any taking no for an answer. Not today. No one wants Kris to get hurt, but no one could make that happen like Saint Joe’s could.

She stepped off the elevator and walked down the carpeted hall, watching the numbers rise. 372-A lay right ahead of her. She stopped by the door and tried in vain to arrange her unruly hair into something presentable. She adjusted her letter jacket, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door three times. It opened almost immediately.

Barrier had prepared for this moment all morning. She was ready for angry. She was ready for afraid. She was even ready for bawling and screaming. What she wasn’t ready for was for it not to be Bridget O’Sullvan. What she wasn’t ready for was four well-dressed men, all with nine-millimeters drawn and pointed at her face. What she wasn’t ready for were two more men, suddenly behind her, rough hands on her body. What she wasn’t ready for was the carpeted floor, coming up fast as she had her feet taken out from under her.

She felt her jaw crack as she slammed to the floor, unable to catch herself, her arms already being drawn up behind her. Cold steel on her wrists. And something else—a humming noise, getting louder. And then something was being pressed onto the back of her neck, something that was warm and thrummed. Something that hurt, and made her feel dizzy. The world spun around her.

“Secure,” she heard a man’s voice say, somewhere off a million miles from the carpet. “Suppression active. She’s no threat, sir.” Saskia thought to object, but words failed her bloodied mouth.

Another voice replied. “Get her inside.”

More rough hands. The carpet scraping against her face, then she was airborne, somehow, and she heard the door close quietly. Locks turned. Her vision still swam nauseatingly in front of her. The world was nothing but sounds and sensations. She closed her eyes to try to regain her balance, but the nausea only got worse.

She tried to speak, but her words sounded all funny. She had meant to say, “what’s going on?” What she heard was “whash gnnng?”

A female voice, mousy and afraid. “My God—what is she? It’s horrible, she took my Kris!” The voice broke, and Barrier heard tears. Well, at least she hadn’t gone to the wrong apartment.

The second male voice spoke again. “It’s all right, Mrs. O’Sullivan. Don’t you worry.” Then the man got closer to Saskia. He was obviously in charge. “Where is Kris O’Sullivan, troll?”

The anger welled up in Barrier’s throat, and then, suddenly, nausea and anger combined, and she was vomiting. The man stepped away and cursed. “Dammit, Brice,” she heard the voice say angrily, “what do you have this turned up to?”

“Seven, sir,” another man replied. “Standard Caliban.”

“It’s too much,” said the man in charge. “We need her to talk.”

“Yes, sir,” Brice replied, and something beeped and clicked. The spinning of the world slowed. She could make out shapes: the man before her, the TV, the stain on her lap that reeked and threatened to make her gag again. But the man in charge stepped forward and put a hand under her chin.

“Where is Kris O’Sullivan?”

Saskia had to start the sentence three times before she got it out. “I’m not saying anything until I see a badge.”

The man chuckled in confusion. “All right, missy,” he said, and then the whole of her vision filled up with a vague shape, covered in little words that she could not read. An ID, of some type. Beneath the printed words, something shiny and golden. “Special Agent Martin, FBI. Now, where is Kris O’Sullivan?”

FBI..? What the hell was going on? “She’s,” Barrier began, then took a deep breath to keep her head clear. “She’s at school. My name is Saskia Smith, I—I go to school with Kris.”

Special Agent Martin spoke up. “Can we confirm that, Brice?”

“On it,” Brice replied. There was a light in her face, green and invasive. Then, nothing but the sound of Martin, breathing. Then something tippity-tappity-tapped, fingers flying across a keyboard. “Yes sir,” Brice said, after a moment. “Saskia Smith, aka Barrier, she’s in the system. And she’s clean.”

I am? Thought Saskia. Wow, I guess Gemini really did take care of it.

She heard Special Agent Martin grunt a little. “Okay, de-mez her.”

More beeping, and the world snapped back into focus. It happened so suddenly that Saskia almost lost her balance. She blinked hard, and looked up at Martin. He was forty, maybe forty-five. Powerfully built. Dark brown hair, graying at the temples. He looked cool as a cucumber, but she figured his calloused hands weren't made for desk work. Hands on her again, but not so rough, and she felt her wrists go free, felt the warm thrumming object taken away from the back of her neck.

“Can someone tell me,” Barrier said quietly, not wishing to betray her anger, “what is going on?”

“Not really,” Martin replied simply. “But Miss O’Sullivan has certain obligations in Washington. When she went missing, we became concerned. If we find her where you say she is, there won’t be any problem.”

Barrier nodded, not really understanding. Then she looked around the room until she saw Bridget, sitting at a table with another agent. Turning her head made the dizziness return. “Mrs. O’Sullivan,” she said tiredly, the room beginning to get fuzzy. The woman looked up, fear and confusion in her face. “You can’t take Kris from Saint Joe’s. You can’t.”

Special Agent Martin spoke up suddenly. “Mrs. O’Sullivan?”

“She can’t stay there!” Bridget cried. “They’re changing her. She’s got this suit—“

“Mrs. O’Sullivan,” Martin said, quietly but firmly. “Her enrollment is a precondition of our arrangement. When you said your daughter had been taken, I had not assumed you meant by her own school.”

Brice broke in. “I have that confirmed, sir. Phillips is at the school now, the girl is there.”

Martin nodded and frowned. He reached down and helped Saskia to her feet. “Miss Smith, I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience. You’re free to go.”

“What?” shouted Bridget. “That monster? No, you can’t—“

“Mrs. O’Sullivan,” Martin said loudly. The air of command returned with a vengeance. “We are not going to detain this girl any longer. Is that understood?”

Without waiting for a response from the panicked woman, Martin led Saskia out into the hallway, a strong hand on her shoulder. “I want to apologize to you, Miss Smith.”

Saskia waved a hand. “No, it’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Martin smiled warmly. “No, I really should have recognized the jacket.” Barrier gave him a quizzical look, and Martin clapped her on the shoulder. Hasn’t he gotten all chummy, she thought. Martin continued. “You’ll be fine. A shower and a change of clothes and you’ll be fine.”

Saskia pulled out of his grasp and began to walk down the hall. Then she remembered why she had come in the first place. She turned and looked at Martin. “Agent Martin,” she said, “I actually did come to speak to Kris’ mom.”

Martin shook his head. “Let us handle that, Barrier. You get yourself back to campus.” Saskia could only nod, and she headed towards the elevator. But Martin continued. “And tell my son hello for me, will you?”

Barrier turned around, ready to ask who he was even talking about. But Martin had stepped through the door already. Inside the apartment, she could hear Kris’ mother, shouting.

As she stepped into the elevator, she pulled her comm out of her hip pocket. Luckily, it hadn’t been crushed in the incident. She slipped it over her left ear and toggled the unit on. She flipped the frequency to match what she and Stasis had agreed upon. “Mother Hen, Mother Hen,” she said, managing a smile. “This is Free Range. How’s Chicken Little doing?”

It took a moment to get a response. “Copy you, Free Range,” Stasis’ voice said, playfully conspiratorial. Even though they had both been scared and stressed by their trip to Founder’s Falls, they had agreed quietly to play this little game. Maybe they needed to, if only to remind themselves they weren’t even sixteen years old. “Chicken Little is secure. Is the sky falling out there, Free Range?”

“That’s a negatory, seems like, Mother Hen. There is a bigger rooster in the yard.”

The playful tone dropped from Stasis’ voice, replaced by simple confusion. “What? Jade Rooster?”

Saskia smiled as she left the elevator and turned back down the street. “No, brain-freeze. I’ll tell you all about it in a half hour. But maybe Kris has a little explaining to do.”

[Kris O'Sullivan]

Kris calmed down, and drank, suprisingly, a cup of hot cocoa. Stasis had been more of a friend than she could have ever hoped for. Just one more reason the red haired girl held Stasis in such high regard. At one point, she spoke over her headset, but Kris pretended to not notice. How could her mom do this to her? She just wasn't sure what she needed to do. But, having her friends there made everything so much easier to handle.

She wasn't sure what to do about Barrier, but she knew the girl meant well. And meaning well, was more than enough to speak for her character, since she was a troll. She was like Julius with an attitude! That thought made Kris chuckle and smile. Maybe the big green girl was okay, after all. Yeah. Kris would let her in, and would let her have a chance at being a friend. Everyone deserved that much. Everyone.