The Frequently Asked Questions for Brittany Rachelle Winslow, Part 2scribble_mynameJuly 22 2014, 19:17:17 UTC
4
“You in love with him?” Kismet asked suddenly, fingers arrested on the nail brush.
She was hanging over the back of the couch, ponytail hanging down messily, and until five minutes ago, she’d been painting her nails and chatting breezily on her new life and the new guy she had in it. Then, she’d switched topics to Justus and promptly gotten under Rachelle’s skin. As much as Rachelle loved Kismet, it was only friendship and their team relationship that made her stay when the prodding got too annoying.
“I don’t do in love,” Rachelle reminded her sharply. It’s not like Kismet wasn’t aware that Rachelle was eminently practical, and life had made romance very impractical for both of them.
Kismet snorted derision as if that didn’t matter at all. “Semantics.” She swiped a last coat of shiny blue across her thumbnail. “Do you love him?”
Rachelle was about to retort, then paused as she stumbled over the difference.
She stared at Kismet. Kismet stared back. Rachelle leaned back with a sigh and held out her hand for the nail polish.
5
“You ever think about your real family?” Heather asked, a soft, wistful tone in her voice.
Formerly known as Surge, Heather had been an operative from another team in the same program and had invited Rachelle to co-run the computer consulting business she’d started after the Thorn Rebellion had ended that program. The two were holed up at Heather’s house in the spacious, book-lined home office at the back.
Rachelle downed the last of her coffee and tossed the cup in the trash can. “The team is my real family. My birth father became a mean alcoholic when they realized I wasn’t coming back.”
Heather looked up startled. “You have met them?”
“Sure.” Rachelle shrugged. “My mother’s sweet, but she puts up with too much abuse. I only see her when I can stand it and he’s not there.”
She didn’t tell Heather why she couldn’t stand it. After years of being property of the Thorn Republic government and taking abuse she shouldn’t have because she couldn’t say ‘no’ and live, Rachelle had little tolerance for watching her mother act like property and take abuse and never walk away though nothing held her there at all besides a broken marriage, not when Rachelle couldn’t help, only be there for her mother, as if that somehow made it better. It was always a relief to walk out, forget the relationship a little while longer, and get back to her team or her apartment.
“I think about my real family all the time.”
6
“Does anyone ever take care of you?” the doctor asked as she stared in dumbfounded horror at the predictably bad test results.
Rachelle leaned back on the hospital bed and focused on breathing evenly as pain spiked through her vascular system for processing genetic material. She was the Database, a storage system running out of space. She had never told her team, letting them figure it out for themselves, but it had always been inevitable. The genetic modifications that let her absorb genetic material from her environment hadn’t come with an off-switch. Her special ability was terminal.
She stared at the ceiling and thought of all the times she’d been in too much pain or when her ability went haywire. She thought of Sear making coffee just the right way so it helped accelerate her body’s ability to cycle. She thought of Meld pouring his life into hers and allowing her to heal. It hurt him to do it-every single time. She thought of Shift keeping her unstable genetics away, running errands, and procuring whatever medical or food supplies would help. She thought of Justus rubbing her back and arms to help her circulation. She thought of the rest of her team and how each one would risk anything for her, give anything for her.
She was a team member. That was what team members did.
Rachelle breathed out one short laugh and retorted, “Save your pity for someone who needs it.”
Re: The Frequently Asked Questions for Brittany Rachelle Winslow, Part 2thecatisacriticJuly 22 2014, 20:16:20 UTC
It would be a good reason. I think it's interesting to see the way the teams take care of each other, and the whole aspect of chosen family, which I look at a lot myself, but that loyalty and care... it is special.
“You in love with him?” Kismet asked suddenly, fingers arrested on the nail brush.
She was hanging over the back of the couch, ponytail hanging down messily, and until five minutes ago, she’d been painting her nails and chatting breezily on her new life and the new guy she had in it. Then, she’d switched topics to Justus and promptly gotten under Rachelle’s skin. As much as Rachelle loved Kismet, it was only friendship and their team relationship that made her stay when the prodding got too annoying.
“I don’t do in love,” Rachelle reminded her sharply. It’s not like Kismet wasn’t aware that Rachelle was eminently practical, and life had made romance very impractical for both of them.
Kismet snorted derision as if that didn’t matter at all. “Semantics.” She swiped a last coat of shiny blue across her thumbnail. “Do you love him?”
Rachelle was about to retort, then paused as she stumbled over the difference.
She stared at Kismet. Kismet stared back. Rachelle leaned back with a sigh and held out her hand for the nail polish.
5
“You ever think about your real family?” Heather asked, a soft, wistful tone in her voice.
Formerly known as Surge, Heather had been an operative from another team in the same program and had invited Rachelle to co-run the computer consulting business she’d started after the Thorn Rebellion had ended that program. The two were holed up at Heather’s house in the spacious, book-lined home office at the back.
Rachelle downed the last of her coffee and tossed the cup in the trash can. “The team is my real family. My birth father became a mean alcoholic when they realized I wasn’t coming back.”
Heather looked up startled. “You have met them?”
“Sure.” Rachelle shrugged. “My mother’s sweet, but she puts up with too much abuse. I only see her when I can stand it and he’s not there.”
She didn’t tell Heather why she couldn’t stand it. After years of being property of the Thorn Republic government and taking abuse she shouldn’t have because she couldn’t say ‘no’ and live, Rachelle had little tolerance for watching her mother act like property and take abuse and never walk away though nothing held her there at all besides a broken marriage, not when Rachelle couldn’t help, only be there for her mother, as if that somehow made it better. It was always a relief to walk out, forget the relationship a little while longer, and get back to her team or her apartment.
“I think about my real family all the time.”
6
“Does anyone ever take care of you?” the doctor asked as she stared in dumbfounded horror at the predictably bad test results.
Rachelle leaned back on the hospital bed and focused on breathing evenly as pain spiked through her vascular system for processing genetic material. She was the Database, a storage system running out of space. She had never told her team, letting them figure it out for themselves, but it had always been inevitable. The genetic modifications that let her absorb genetic material from her environment hadn’t come with an off-switch. Her special ability was terminal.
She stared at the ceiling and thought of all the times she’d been in too much pain or when her ability went haywire. She thought of Sear making coffee just the right way so it helped accelerate her body’s ability to cycle. She thought of Meld pouring his life into hers and allowing her to heal. It hurt him to do it-every single time. She thought of Shift keeping her unstable genetics away, running errands, and procuring whatever medical or food supplies would help. She thought of Justus rubbing her back and arms to help her circulation. She thought of the rest of her team and how each one would risk anything for her, give anything for her.
She was a team member. That was what team members did.
Rachelle breathed out one short laugh and retorted, “Save your pity for someone who needs it.”
She had family. Real family.
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