Aug 21 - Clark Kent'ing
Title: Day 21 - Clark Kent'ing
Author: acswatwst
Rating: FR-13
Crossover: BtVS / Ghost Busters (1975)/ Secrets of Isis
Word Count: 1,823
Disclaimer: This is a derivative work. All BtVS characters and concepts belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. Funimation/NBCUniversal owns the original (1975) Ghost Busters and Secrets of Isis.
Note: Reminder(?) - this isn't the DC universe Isis. Or the DC Shazam (if he ever shows up he's the pre-DC TV version). So any references to DC (or Marvel) comic book characters are just that - comic book characters. And too much exposition IMO but not enough time to trim the rambling.
Summary: Joyce and Andrea talk, and Joyce makes a discovery. And we get some exposition/background on Isis/Andrea. And some references to Joyce's past adventures, sort of.
Rennie raced ahead of Joyce, throwing open the lab door with a loud bang. "Miss Thomas! Miss Thomas!" she shouted.
Reaching the door, Joyce cautiously looked in before entering. Rennie was standing in front of a bemused Andrea and Rick, talking a mile a minute. Casually sauntering into the lab, Joyce joined them.
"Right?" Rennie said, looking at Joyce.
"Umm," Joyce said. "You mean Isis walking through walls?" she said, taking a stab at what had Rennie so excited. She'd spent the entire trip back speculating on how it worked, so Joyce suspected she was still talking about it. "I'm not really a science person," she said. "Isis obviously isn't a ghost so I'm not sure how she does that."
"Isis seems to have a number of abilities that science has yet to explain," Rick said, visibly switching to lecture mode. He turned to the black board and picked up a piece of chalk.
"So far, we've observed the following," he said writing 'Flight ' on the blackboard as he spoke.
"She can fly, but she doesn't have wings so that implies some way of ignoring gravity." He wrote 'can control gravity' on the board.
"She can outrun a car," Rennie said, nodding.
"In those boots?" Joyce said.
"Yes," Rick said, writing 'fast' on the blackboard.
"That's impressive," Joyce said, nodding. "She must have very strong ankles and a great sense of balance."
"Yes!" Rick said, writing that on the board. "She also seems to be able to direct the wind, and earth. And has made it rain more than once." He wrote 'controls nature' on the board.
"What else?" he said.
"She speaks different languages," Rennie said. "I've heard her speaking Spanish, and one of the local native languages."
"She understands teen-speak," Andrea said, winking at Rick.
"So, multi-lingual," Rick said, writing that on the blackboard.
"She did something kind of like magic," Joyce said. "Something showing the past."
"I don't think we'd know if she could control time," Andrea said. "How would we know if something changed?"
"But she can do magic," Rennie said.
"Magic is just something science hasn't explained yet," Rick said. He wrote down 'magic/advanced science' on the blackboard. "I'm sure there's a lot more she can do but we haven't seen yet."
"She wasn't wearing any science-looking gadgets," Joyce said. "Just that amulet on a headband. She's Egyptian, right?"
"She's Isis," Rennie said. "Isn't Isis an Egyptian goddess?"
"I"m not sure she is the goddess Isis herself," Andrea said, shaking her head. Taking off her glasses she blew off some dust. Seeing her without her glasses, a stray thought passed through Joyce's head.
"No, you're right," Rick said. "I've heard her call on Isis, more than once."
"She has powers you think come from Isis, and calls herself Isis," Joyce said. "Correct?" The others nodded. "I don't know anything about the Egyptian gods and goddesses, but maybe 'Isis' is more of a title for one of the goddess Isis's priestesses or something?"
"Possibly," Rick said.
"How did your investigation go?" Andrea said. "Before you were rescued?"
"The apartment is just gone," Rennie said.
"We were wondering if you or Rick might have some idea?" Joyce said. "I've seen some strange things hanging out with the Ghost Busters, but disappearing apartments is a new one."
"No wreckage?" Rick said. "If it fell off of the mansion there should have been a pile of rubble below it."
"Nothing," Joyce said. "Just a ragged hole at the end of a hallway. Like someone had thrown something through a wall."
"And from the outside it didn't look like there'd ever been something there," Rennie said.
"That's puzzling," Rick said. "Are you sure you had the correct apartment?"
"It was the one in their Rolodex," Joyce said. "And the only place it could be was on that floor."
"So, we have a missing apartment, and missing detectives," Rick said. "That's very puzzling."
"Isis said she'd discuss it with us later," Joyce said. "But we don't know how to contact her, do we?" Joyce looked at Andrea with a raised eyebrow.
"She usually just appears if someone needs help," Rick said.
"So, no Bat Signal or phone number to call," Joyce said. "She must be able to know when she's needed." Grabbing a piece of chalk, Joyce added 'knows when she's needed' on the blackboard.
"What about the energy detector?" Rennie said. "Can we check that?"
"Another day," Andrea said. "It hasn't been long enough."
Rick looked down at his watch. "I need to run, I have another project meeting in the morning and I need to prepare for it." Nodding at them, he hurried out of the lab, after a quick goodbye.
"Do you think he's Isis?" Joyce said. "Off to save someone?"
Rennie giggled. "He does like rushing off a lot," she said. "But I don't think he would fit into her costume."
"Yeah," Joyce said, smirking. "I don't think he has the legs for that short skirt."
"It's getting late," Rennie said. "I need to get going so I can get home before dinner. I need to spend time on my summer project tomorrow. Can we meet after lunch and check out the detector?"
"I'd like that," Joyce said. "If it's okay with Andrea?" She looked at her cousin.
"I have office hours in the morning, but I can find time tomorrow right after lunch," Andrea said.
"Good," Rennie said. "I'll see you both tomorrow." Waving goodbye, she picked up her books and hurried from the lab.
"Tut hasn't come back yet," Joyce said.
"He's probably out flying," Andrea said. "He'll meet us at home eventually."
----
"You don't do a lot of cooking, do you?" Joyce asked Andrea, after they unwrapped their sandwiches from the deli down the street.
"Soup from a can," Andrea said, placing a bowl of water next to Tut's perch. "PB&J. Simple things. I don't really have time for anything complex."
"You must do a lot of picnics," Joyce said. "The weather around here seems to be nice."
"It has its moments," Andrea said. "You'll be a senior in the fall. What are your plans for college?"
"Well, I'm not like you, or Rennie," Joyce said. "I don't really get science as a profession. Probably something art related. History? Something that will let me travel."
"I wasn't planning on being a science teacher," Andrea said. "It's just something that happened. I have a Master's in archeology and a chemistry degree so I can teach."
"High school science seems like very generic science," Joyce said. "I was wondering how you swung a trip to Egypt. There doesn't seem to be a close connection."
Andrea shrugged. "My thesis combined archeology and chemistry, and is what got me the trip to a dig in Egypt. The dig supervisor was interested in my ideas for using chemistry with archeology."
"Huh," Joyce said. "So, that was something unique?"
Andrea nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"I don't think I'm clever enough for something like that," Joyce said. "I understand my science classes but it's not really something that I find exciting."
"Not everyone finds science exciting or even interesting," Andrea said.
Joyce put down her sandwich, and looked at Andrea for a long moment. "I have to say that I'm impressed, or maybe that isn't quite the correct word?"
"About?" Andrea said, putting down her own sandwich.
"Do people really fall for the whole Clark Kent thing?" Joyce said, looking at her. "Are glasses and a different haircut enough of a disguise?"
"Clark Kent?" Andrea said, looking puzzled. She put down her sandwich.
"Take off the glasses, darken and straighten your hair, and you look just like Isis," Joyce said.
"I'm not Isis," Andrea said, sighing.
"You can't fool me," Joyce said, shaking her head. "People see you both ways all the time. How has no one noticed? Or maybe it's that amulet? Or the attitude?"
"Of course you can see through that," Andrea said, rubbing her forehead.
"Is that one of your powers? Making people not see that you are Isis?" Joyce said. "Some kind of reality distortion field?" She frowned, wondering where that had come from. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard of a 'reality distortion field', whatever that was, before.
"People see what they want to see," Andrea said.
"Who else knows?" Joyce said.
"No one," Andrea said, taking a sip of her soda. "And I would prefer that you not tell anyone."
"Of course I'm not going to tell anyone!" Joyce said, offended. "You're my cousin. One doesn't snitch on family! Or reveal their secret identity."
"Good," Andrea said.
"How did it happen?" Joyce asked, curious. "Did you wake up one morning and suddenly you're Isis?"
"No," Andrea said. "I discovered the amulet while in Egypt."
"So anyone could become Isis by wearing that fancy amulet?" Joyce said. "That could be dangerous if you ever lost it."
"No," Andrea said. "Only someone who is a descendant of Egyptian royalty, specifically Queen Hatshepsut, can assume the powers of Isis by wearing the amulet."
"How do you know?" Joyce asked, curious. "I'm your cousin. Does that mean I could become Isis?"
"We're related through the paternal line," Andrea said. "Hatshepsut's descent is only passed thru the matrilineal line. So, no."
"That's probably a good thing," Joyce mumbled, thinking about her Furling form. "There's enough weirdness in my side of the family."
"That would be the odd aspect to your aura?" Andrea said. "You've been exposed to time travel and something else."
"I don't think I've done any time travel," Joyce said. "Not that I know of. But you can see something is different when you look at me?"
Andrea removed her glasses. "These are not just to correct my vision," she said. "They also protect my eyes from certain kinds of energy, when I'm not Isis."
"Does that mean your energy detector doesn't actually work?" Joyce said, leaping to a conclusion. "And you just use your eyes?"
"No," Andrea said, shaking her head. "It works as advertised. But as Isis I can see the results better than an ordinary human."
"Huh," Joyce said. "And what about this time travel thing? Can you really do that?"
"Not recommended to do very often," Andrea said. "It can be confusing. There's a kind of energy that occurs with time travel," she said. "I don't have a name for it, but you're dripping with it."
"Like I said, I have no memory of traveling in time, so I can't tell you why you're seeing that," Joyce said.
"It probably doesn't matter," Andrea said, putting her glasses back on.
"I should call my parents," Joyce said, getting up from the table. "I have more questions but they can wait."
Andrea nodded. "I'll probably be leaving early in the morning," she said. "Let me know before you go to bed if you want to come in with me in the morning."
"Okay," Joyce said. "I'll have to think about what I'm going to do tomorrow morning, if we're not going back to the Spectral Investigations office until after lunch."