Parallax, part 4
This poor, neglected story. ^_^
Go here for links to the previous parts of the story.
Title: Parallax (part 4/18)
Author: That'd be me. *grins* Andrew, Obsidian, call me what you want. But only if it's nice. ;)
Rating: R. The girls are already more then earning that 'R' rating. *sniffs* I'm just so proud... ;)
Comments: Well, here's hoping my second crossover D.E.B.S. fic will be as good as my first one. ^_^ This is a continuation of the Christmas Wishes series of short 'She's The Man' stories I've written, but you don't really need to have read those to understand this. This is also going to be the first actual sequel to 'D.E.B.S.' that I've written, as opposed to an AU fic. (Well, I guess all fic, by its very nature, is AU, but you know what I mean. *winks*)
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own 'D.E.B.S.', as I am most definitely NOT Angela Robinson. Likewise, I also do not own 'She's The Man', which belongs to... Well, it was written by Ewan Leslie, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, directed by Andy Fickman, based on the work of William Shakespeare, and distributed by Dreamworks. So whoever 'owns' it, it isn't me. ;)
Parallax, or more accurately motion parallax (Greek: παραλλαγή (parallagé) = alteration) is the change of angular position of two stationary points relative to each other as seen by an observer, due to the motion of an observer. Simply put, it is the apparent shift of an object against a background due to a change in observer position.
August 29th, 2008
Los Angeles, California
As far as Viola Hastings was concerned, there was no sound quite so satisfying as that of a soccer ball swishing into the net.
Well, she reflected, no sound that I'd really want anyone around to hear. No matter what Olivia thought about her supposed exhibitionist streak.
Really, you flashed a stadium full of people one time without so much as batting an eye, and suddenly people started getting ideas about you.
She'd been absolutely delighted when they'd posted the results of the try-outs and she'd seen her name right there on the list. Since there was only one team, rather then the two that she'd been expecting - evidently there simply weren't enough students interested in playing soccer for that, something that was rather saddening, but which she was graciously willing to forgive her poor, soccer-less schoolmates for - she'd been a bit worried that, as a Freshmen, that would mean that she'd get little, if any, field time. Instead, she was assured that it would be much the opposite, given that the older students could be called away on missions at any time, which wouldn't be the case for her.
As a result, that meant she practiced every spare minute she got, determined to be the best she could be, so as not to let her new team down.
Because Coach Dinklage had been right about one thing: These girls were good.And while she did miss her former teammates at Illyria, being on a skilled girls team was something she'd wanted for years.
Of course, there was another reason she was practicing as often as she was. Olivia hadn't been exaggerating how busy her coursework and various labs would keep her, which meant they wouldn't be seeing each other nearly as often as Viola would have liked. And that meant she was going to have a lot of excess energy to work off, so she'd decided to get into the habit of doing so now.
It was just as well that she hadn't made any real friends beyond her squad and some of the younger members of her team, as between her practice schedule and mountain of homework - even so early in the year, she could tell that was going to be a constant - any other free time she might have was nil.
"You know, I don't think wearing yourself down to exhaustion will help the team win any games," a gently teasing voice called from behind her.
The shot she'd been lining up went spinning off to the side, nowhere near the goal. You can't let yourself get so distracted like that, she berated herself. She recognized the voice now as Julia's - which was confirmed when she turned around to greet her RA - so she knew she was safe this time, but it could just as easily have been someone hostile. She really needed to try and be more aware of her surroundings, she knew. "Oh, I'm nowhere near that tired just yet," she replied with a ready smile. Although she was finding that the somewhat dirtier air of Los Angeles did make it a bit harder to breathe if she went as long as she was used to from back home. She decided to take a little break. "What's up?"
"I could ask you that same question," Julia countered. "You've only got forty-two minutes before your next class, and it didn't look like you had any intention of stopping until I interrupted you."
Viola blinked, then looked at her watch. She swore. "Guess I lost track of time a little there, huh?"
"Maybe just a bit," Julia agreed, one corner of her mouth tugging upward.
"It wasn't on purpose, honest," Viola assured her, dashing off to retrieve her ball, then collecting the few things she'd brought with her, such as a bottle of water and a light blue towel. School uniform or not, her personal practice times had nothing whatsoever to do with the school, and she'd taken advantage of that and worn a plain white t-shirt and a semi-old pair of red shorts. "Believe me, I'm actually looking forward to my next class." She'd just have to take a short shower.
"I don't blame you," Julia said as they left the field and began heading back to the dorm. "Poli-sci may sound boring, but that's only if you don't take into account all the 'behind-the-scenes' material it covers. And not only is it interesting, but it's also useful as you progress in your career."
"That's what I'm hoping." Viola smiled. "It feels a little weird, having something at school to look forward to besides soccer."
"Well, enjoy it while it lasts. There's a reason so few of the older girls are available for games, and once you graduate, who knows where you'll end up being posted."
"What, you don't think I could be a secret agent slash soccer star?"
Julia reached out and caught her arm, gently pulling her to a stop. "Is that what you want to do with your life?" she asked, her gaze intense.
Viola had to fight down the impulse to squirm under the weight of that stare. "Well, I used to think so, but I know that-"
"Because if it is, it would be better for you to figure that out now, instead of when it's pretty much too late," Julia continued. "The longer you're here, the harder it'll be to get out. You'll know too much by then. And once you graduate, forget it. Oh, they'll let you retire, sure, but don't think you won't be kept under surveillance."
Viola's eyes were wide. That did sound about par for the course for what she'd always imagined government agencies were like, but the way Julia was acting... "I take it you know someone who decided to leave?"
"Yes." One corner of Julia's mouth tugged upwards. "Admittedly, her exit was a bit more... spectacular then most. But she had a dream, and she fell in love. And love doesn't last long in this place."
There was a story there, Viola could tell, but judging by the faint but definite bitterness in her voice during that last sentence, Julia was not about to tell her what it was. Not just yet, anyway. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Why are you trying to scare the freshmen?"
Julia stiffened at the new voice, jaw clenching. Viola was confused as to why she'd react like that to Janet, but got the idea that asking right then would not be the wisest move. "What are you doing out here, Carmody?" Julia asked flatly. It wasn't an unreasonable question, all things considered. While the dorm was in sight, they weren't quite close enough to bump into anyone coming in or out of it - and Janet didn't even live in the building.
"I had something to discuss with one of the other R.A.s." Whereas Julia's tone was terse, borderline hostile, Janet sounded like she was trying to be purely professional, but wanted to apologize for something anyway. Viola was mystified.
"Whatever." She turned back to Viola, her tone softening immediately. "I have a class of my own to get to, but I want you to think about what I said."
"I'll do that," Viola promised. And she would. She'd be foolish not to, really. But first, she wanted a little more information. And if she wasn't likely to get it from Julia...
Julia nodded, looking like she couldn't quite get away from Janet fast enough, and hurried off. Viola fixed her gaze on her instructor. "You're not going to insult my intelligence and pretend nothing unusual just happened, are you?"
Janet smiled, but it seemed oddly tired. "Nothing unusual where Julia and I are concerned, anyway. It's... complicated." She shook her head sadly. "I can't even blame her, really. God knows if someone did to me what Dominique..." She sighed. "Come on, I don't want to make you late for class. I'll explain as we go."
Intrigued, Viola followed Janet inside the dorm building, heroically - she thought - managing to wait until they were on the elevator before asking anything else. "Who's Dominique?"
"She was one of my squadmates, when I was a student here," Janet replied after a slight pause. "A lot like Cynthia, actually, except for four things: she's Asian, she's French, she's a chain-smoker, and she has even less shame about her overactive libido."
"Less...?" Viola was having some trouble wrapping her mind around the concept. "I... I don't see how that's even physically possible!"
Janet chuckled, seemingly despite herself. "Practice makes perfect, I guess. Luckily, Max was able to scare her out of trying anything with the three of us, but... Well, she was busy, let's just say."
"So, you guys were here at the same time as Julia?" she asked as the elevator doors opened with a ding. "Is that supposed to be so loud?" she wondered as they exited the elevator.
"Anything that makes it harder for someone to sneak in here is never a bad idea."
Viola swallowed nervously. "Is that something that we need to be watching out for?"
Janet considered that for a moment. "It's not like it's something that happens often, no. I doubt there have even been a handful of times that someone has snuck into student dorms with the intent of causing some kind of harm or another in the entire history of the school. But your R.A.s need to know if one of you might be trying to sneak up someone who shouldn't be here, or if one of you is trying to sneak in - or out - unnoticed."
"Wouldn't they just take the stairs?" Viola asked, then suddenly realized something. "They're wired somehow, too, aren't they?"
"Of course," Janet replied immediately. "We take our students safety very seriously here." By this time, they had gotten to Viola's dorm suite, and she pulled out her keycard and swiped it through the reader beside the door. "There's even a backup generator dedicated solely to security features like those card readers, so that, in the event of a blackout, you won't be locked out of your rooms."
"Cool."
Janet smiled. "Isn't it? And to answer your earlier question, yes, Julia started here during our senior year. The four of us were in our own house by then - being on the top squad has certain perks - so Dom had an easier time finding bed partners. And..." She sighed. "Well, to make a long story short-"
"Too late," Viola interjected, setting her water bottle down on the counter in the kitchenette.
Janet grinned, but it didn't last long. "As I was saying, the short version is that Dominique pretty much destroyed Julia's marriage."
Viola's soccer ball and towel dropped to the floor, but she didn't even notice. "Julia was married?!"
"Yes." Janet winced. "Thanks to Dominique, it lasted a grand total of about two weeks, give or take a couple hours."
"Jesus..." No wonder she was pissed, even years later. "What did you do?"
"To her? Nothing. Which may be the problem. Some of us suspected that something screwy was going on, but we never actually saw anything to confirm it... until that last time. Of course, to be fair, we'd gotten into the habit of doing our best not to see or hear anything in Dom's room over the years. That she and Dominique were actually friends since early in the year only made it worse. Needless to say, she still holds it against us."
"Well, yeah." Viola knew if she had been married, and her husband began cheating on her with the school überslut, she would have been furious if someone knew and just didn't bother mentioning it. "You probably stood by Dominique, too, didn't you?"
Janet sighed. "We didn't defend her, if that's what you mean. But... Well, it was Dom. I hate to say it, but we were kind of used to that sort of thing from her, by then." Which Viola had to admit did make a kind of sense. "Except for Amy, anyway. That sort of thing was not okay with her by any means, and she made sure Dom knew it."
Well, at least one of you had some kind of sense, Viola thought. It struck her, a moment later, that she was really in no position to give anybody flack about cheating, given that she'd hooked up with Olivia behind Duke's back. Though that had been different, she reasoned (rationalized). She and Duke weren't married, Olivia was not just some random fling for her, and she had told him about it. That he didn't seem to believe her... "Who's Amy?" she asked, shaking herself loose from her musings.
Janet smiled again, this time fondly. "Amy Bradshaw, our squad's second in command - although, really, since there was only four of us, and we all followed Max's orders anyway, that didn't mean as much as you might think. She also got the only perfect score ever on the secret test in the S.A.T.s."
Viola stared. "Um, wow," she finally managed. She hadn't even known that was possible, having no real reason to suspect there was a limit in place on what you could score, or even any real kind of scoring system at all. Yes, Mr. Phipps had said those who scored high enough were considered for admission to the academy, but given everything they'd had to absorb that night, that particular piece of information hadn't really stuck with her. Besides, this was a school for spies, so who was to say that everything they were told was the truth?
And Professor Janet here was on the top squad, her mind whispered to her. She must have scored pretty highly, herself. So why are you blithely trusting everything she says? She felt a quick chill, but dismissed it. That kind of thinking would send her into paranoid cuckoo-land realdamnquick. "That sounds..."
"Yeah, but she always hated it when someone brought that up," Janet said. Her smile turned a shade mischievous. "And she hated the posters."
"Posters?"
"Well, when I say she was our poster girl, I mean it literally," Janet told her, despite the fact that she hadn't actually said that. "They were kind of motivational posters for spies, or something. Honestly, they seemed a little weird, to me. The school mostly disposed of them, after... Well, after she left. I managed to save one in my office, though. I can show it to you later."
Why would a school want to get rid of... Wait. Hadn't Julia said something about a student making a rather spectacular exit? "I take it her exit was... dramatic?"
Janet chuckled. "That would be one way of putting it, yes. That story can wait, though. Right now, you've got a class to get ready for."
And not really enough time to shower, Viola noticed with some dismay. Good thing she hadn't really had time to work up a sweat, she supposed. "Guess I need to get changed, then. If you'll excuse me?"
"I'll see you around." Before she left, though, Janet had one last thing to say. "Don't go pestering Julia for information about any of this. She hates talking about, hearing about, or even reading about it. So if you do tell the rest of your squad, make sure they know to keep it to themselves. Consider it your first unofficial lesson in secret keeping."
Viola nodded, and Janet left.
If I tell my squad? she mused as she hurried to get ready for class.
How could she not tell them?
**********************************************
Political science turned out to be even more interesting then she'd suspected. But then, this was the DEBS academy. To them, poli-sci wasn't just the science of politics, but also the science that made those politics work.
And in the world of espionage and supervillians, that made for some rather... interesting science.
The teacher, Mr. Murphy, was of average height - 5'8", if Viola was any judge - had sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and rather unremarkable features. She knew she wouldn't have looked twice at him while walking down the street. She suspected that had to help him in the spy field, making her wonder if he cultivated the bland look.
Like most of her other classes, they began with an overview. Unlike them, though, once that was finished, he dove right into the lessons. But then, he could do that, since all it would do was expand on what they'd been learning in high school. It wasn't like they were required to understand how any of the weird gadgets mentioned in their textbook worked, after all.
She wasn't sure what to think when he casually informed them that they wouldn't be learning that their junior year, when they took their required "Supervillian Tech" class. She kind of hoped it was a joke... though she had to admit, that did sound like a cool class.
It also became clear that when he decided to dive right into things, he meant it. They began with one of the biggest changes in the political landscape in the last fifty years: Lawrence Silvestry - better known to the world at large as 'The Scorpion' - and the creation of Avalon.
She'd never really understood exactly how that had come about, and now... she still wasn't sure. Oh, she'd already known the basics - everyone did. In 1973, a lunatic with some kind of weird space-based laser-beam canon... thing makes an attempt at extortion, it falls through, and in a fit of pique, he fires the weapon at the planet before he's arrested. Somehow - and this was the part most every history book she'd ever read was a bit fuzzy on - this makes a new island, upon which a member of the extended British royal family sets up a new, independent government.
What was not in most history books was that the DEBS, in addition to several other agencies, had all been trying to stop him... and might have succeeded, had there not been a squabble between the agencies over who would acquire his technology when it was over. In the end, the DEBS team on the scene had destroyed the weapon to keep anyone from having it, which hadn't made the agency very popular with, well, anyone. That had quickly been overshadowed, though, by what happened next, to the point where it had been mostly forgotten.
The weapon in question - the mysterious "polarized obduction canon" she'd heard mentioned in weapons training - had basically made a new island from the ocean floor up southwest of Ireland, approximately halfway between Ireland and Spain. Quite naturally, this had displaced a massive amount of water, resulting in tsunamis causing incredible damage to the exposed coastlines of Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the United States, Canada, Greenland...
Well, the list was extensive, especially when one added in the countries that had only caught glancing blows, such as Portugal or some countries in South America. While everyone concerned reeled from the damage they'd suffered, a duke by the name of John Taylor decided to set up a kingdom of his own on the newly created island. By the time anyone noticed, the new country of Avalon had been established.
She'd always wondered why he couldn't choose a more original name, but evidently his ego hadn't let him. Of course, the bounty of natural resources suddenly available when an island roughly the size of Delaware heaves itself up from the ocean floor might draw some parallels between that and the Avalon of myth for those who knew more then she did of Arthurian lore.
Those resources translated into a significant amount of wealth, which meant that when the rest of the world became aware of just what could be found on the island - perhaps most notably, previously unavailable oil deposits of unmatched quality - Avalon was able to hire mercenaries to augment their fledgling armed forces and repel any invaders. Five months later, they were officially recognized by the United Nations. They joined the organization two months after that.
The king had died in 1989 from a heart attack... or so most sources claimed. If her textbook was to be believed, he'd actually been assassinated, likely by some kind of poison. His son Michael had taken over after his death, and the book speculated that he might have been the one behind it.
She wasn't sure why, but she believed it.
Currently, Avalon was one of the world's top five oil producing countries, and the money it made from that paid for a thorough modernization program. Supposedly, in recent years, the princess - Michael's only daughter, Leah - had taken responsibility for that, making sure that her country (especially the government and the armed forces) had access to the highest technology available. They maintained good relations with their neighbors, and had trade relations with most modern countries.
Mr. Murphy concluded the lesson by mentioning that it was widely speculated that someone had tried to rebuild the Scorpion's weapon, only had gone in a different direction, producing what he called particle subduction technology, which was another term she remembered being mentioned. That, evidently, turned solid matter into a sort of liquid, meaning any land it hit would be basically turned into soup.
What surprised her was when he told them that this was what Lucy Diamond had planned on sinking Australia with back in 1999.
"Um... why?" one of the other students asked, sounding baffled.
It wasn't a clear question, but Mr. Murphy immediately understood what she was trying to ask. "That, unfortunately, is a question without an answer. For reasons no one really understands, early in her career, Lucy Diamond seemed to become fixated on the country of Australia, launching sporadic attacks against them with no evident rhyme or reason. The one in '99 is just the most obvious, and well known. During her career, she never strayed from the top five of the most wanted list for this agency, even during the two years she went underground. She was intelligent, dangerous, and lethal to those who attempted to capture her. Why she seems to have gone straight, I couldn't begin to tell you, but I don't believe anyone is objecting to not having to clean up the damage she leaves in her wake anymore... for however long it lasts this time."
By the time class was over, Viola's head was throbbing from information overload. She sat at her desk for a minute as everyone began filing out of the room, massaging her temples. Well... The class had been interesting, all right. She wouldn't argue with that. It also had left her feeling like she was scrambling desperately to catch up with everyone else (well, everyone but the rest of the freshmen class, maybe), and she didn't like that feeling at all.
Heaving a gusty sigh, she put her book back in her bag, followed by her notebook - and she hoped she'd actually be able to read the hurried notes she'd scribbled down as class progressed later - and got to her feet. "Well, that could have been worse, right?" Cynthia asked her as she reached the door. She blinked in surprise to find that her squad had been waiting for her.
"Probably," Viola agreed. "Wouldn't want to think about how, though."
"Careful," a new voice warned them. Viola turned to see an older student with short, dark hair - it looked closer to black then brown, but who knew if that was her real hair color? - leaning against the wall, looking at them with amusement. "That's dangerously close to tempting fate, you know."
"Thanks, um..."
The woman grinned. "Kelly Wilson. I'm Julia's roommate."
She had no idea why Julia's roommate would come looking for her, and didn't like the few possible reasons her brain came up with. "Is something wrong? She looked all right the last time I saw-"
"She's fine," Kelly interrupted, waving off her concern. She smiled, though, obviously approving of the fact that she'd become attached enough to Julia in such a short time to instantly worry. "A bit down, maybe, but Bree, Faye have developed something of a standard procedure for this sort of thing by now. Of course, Jules knows that, so even if we do take her out somewhere to distract her, it won't quite work. That's why I was wondering if you four wanted to come along."
She knew the rest of her squad must have been getting confused by the conversation - she hadn't yet had a chance to relay her conversation with Janet to them, after all - but Viola didn't stop to explain. "Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun," she replied, trying not to think about the homework she still had to do. They had plenty of time, yet. "Come along where, exactly?"
"Write this down." She waited until Viola had a pen in hand and had opened a notebook to a blank page, then gave her an address that even Viola recognized as being in a bad part of town, or at least on the border of it. "Casual dress, don't wear anything expensive," she advised. "And I know, it's not exactly somewhere that an agent of the law usually goes to relax. But that's kind of the point, you know? But don't worry, we can probably get through the evening without getting into another brawl."
"Another?" Susan echoed, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had begun.
"I'll see you at eight o'clock sharp," Kelly told them as she walked off, ignoring Susan's question. "Don't be late!"
Viola sighed, then turned to her squad. "Come on, let's find somewhere a bit quieter to talk, and I'll explain what I can."
Kelly grinned to herself as she turned the corner, only to stop dead as she nearly ran right into Julia. "What the hell was that?"
She held up her hands to try and calm her irritated roomie. "Easy there, Jules. You know that-"
"It's too soon," Julia insisted.
"It wasn't for us, and if we wait much longer-"
"We have over a month, yet."
"Tell that to-"
Julia seemed determined not to let her finish a sentence. "I do NOT like being the excuse for this!"
"I know," she replied. "But to be fair, it was only partially an excuse. I really do think you could use a distraction, and there's no time for you to get out to the track." She gave Julia a reassuring smile, placing a hand on her arm. "Hey. We're gonna be right there with them, so try not to worry."
The look Julia gave her said that was easier said then done.
**********************************************
Viola quickly realized that the biggest hurdle to the evening would be getting Jess to actually go inside the bar.
"No," she insisted, planting her feet and locking her knees as Susan and Cynthia pulled at her arms and Viola pushed her from behind. "That place hasn't been cleaned in longer then I've been alive!"
Which was an exaggeration, but not quite as big of one as it would have been anywhere else. It was impossible to tell if the windows were supposed to be tinted, or were just so dirty that you could no longer see through them. More letters then not weren't lit up on the sign, making it impossible to tell what the name of the bar actually was. And if this was what the outside looked like...
"Look, you can wear your gloves, and I know you were probably already planning on disinfecting your clothes after we get back," Viola grunted as she continued moving Jess forward, one inch at a time. She knew Jess had a package of disposable latex gloves in her purse - those had earned her a few odd looks during their night out with Olivia - for occasions just such as this.
She was also starting to wonder if she wasn't packing some kind of artificial gravity generator in there or something, because it should not have been so much effort to get someone as thin as her to move with three of them working at it.
"The inside might not be so bad," Cynthia offered. "We can at least take a look, right?"
"...I suppose," Jess allowed, finally relaxing her stance, nearly overbalancing them all before the others stopped as well. Susan opened the door, while Viola remained behind Jess, bracing herself for another escape attempt.
She was not disappointed. Jess made a distressed sound and attempted to bolt. "Oh, no," Viola told her as she stopped Jess's movement before she could build up any momentum. "Julia and Kelly are waiting for us."
"I'm sure Julia would understand," Jess insisted.
She probably would have, but that wasn't the point. "Okay, then, I guess we're doing this the hard way." Before Jess could figure out what that meant, Viola picked her up and draped her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, then headed inside, an amused Cynthia and Susan following along behind. She ignored Jess's protests and squirming as she looked around, spotted a surprised Kelly and a bemused Julia sitting at a table and watching them, and moved over to them, depositing Jess into one of the chairs. The other girl froze, clearly not wanting to come into contact with any more surfaces then she already was.
The bar didn't look as bad inside as they might have thought, but Viola had to concede that this might be because the lights were down so low in there they just couldn't see the dirt or... whatever else.
Judging by how fast she pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on once she started moving again, though, Jess obviously still knew it was there.
"You know, Jess, you didn't have to come," Julia told her, ignoring any looks Kelly might have been giving her.
"It isn't that I didn't want to come..." Jess said, looking warily around the room. She just obviously hadn't wanted to go there. She couldn't quite get a good look at the few other patrons, and didn't show any sign of objecting to that.
"But you're wondering why we'd insist on coming here instead of going somewhere closer... and cleaner?" Kelly guessed, ignoring Julia's grumble of "What do you mean 'we,' Kemosabe?"
"Well, yeah," Susan said, rolling her eyes.
Kelly grinned, and Viola got the idea that she wasn't easy to upset. "Well, as you may have guessed from the location, this place is often frequented by the criminal underclass, which means that this is a good place to pick up tips or leads, or just keep up with what's going on with the other side of the law."
Cynthia had been distracted by a quiet commotion over at the bar, and following her gaze Viola saw that there were a raucous bunch of men gathered around a small television set which was showing... She squinted. What was that, a porn tape?
Charming.
"Where's that being broadcast from?" Cynthia murmured. Viola blinked and looked at her. Broadcast? As in... live? As in, real? Yep, this place was classy, all right.
"You're not going to look for it," Jess told her sternly, not even needing to know what, exactly, they were talking about. Given how quickly it had caught Cynthia's attention, she could easily guess.
"Oh, come on, it's just a glo-"
"You're staying here."
"But what if I have to use the bathroom?"
Jess shuddered, no doubt thinking about the sheer scope of germs and diseases that would be in the restroom of a place like that. "Hold it." Besides, why should she be the only one not happy to be where she was? Cynthia grumbled, but subsided.
Julia shook her head. "Just like old times," she muttered to herself, but Viola heard her and shot Kelly a look. Maybe, given why they were there, bringing who reminded Julia so much of Dominique wasn't the best of ideas? Kelly shrugged, as if to say it was too late to do anything about it, now.
Then her attention was caught by movement at the door, and she straightened in her chair. "Ah, here we go..." Happily forgetting about the minor disagreement - and even more happily forgetting what had sparked it - Viola looked over to see six individuals walking in. There were five guys - one of whom was barely five feet tall - and one woman, all dressed in varying shades of leather. They seemed to recognize Kelly, making the freshmen DEBS wonder how often she was there, exactly. Julia sat back, evidently content to let Kelly take the lead in this, and they followed her lead.
The bikers - they had to have a reason to be wearing that much leather, Viola decided - headed their way. "Back again, Connie?" the one in the lead asked, a clean-shaven man with short brown hair. She was surprised they weren't... scruffier, or some such thing.
"What can I say? I can't get enough of this place," Kelly replied wryly with a ready grin, gesturing with both hands to encompass the dingy bar. The gang chuckled at her statement, looking the rest of them over. Viola had to fight not to start squirming. "And who's this?"
"Mara, Liz, Kendra, and Paige," she said, gesturing at Jessica, Susan, Cynthia, and Viola in order. Viola didn't know about the others, but she started desperately repeating the name she'd been 'given' to herself over and over, so she wouldn't forget it. "They're new, so Holly and I are babysitting, tonight." Holly, presumably, being Julia.
"But don't take that to mean that we have to stay with them all night," Cynthia all but purred as she leaned forward, practically batting her eyelashes at the group.
There were a few snorts and rolled eyes, but none of them actively turned her down as they dragged another couple of tables over and sat down.
Viola, in the middle of silently praying for strength to get through the night intact - and without having to harm Cynthia - froze. She'd been looking over in the direction of the door, which meant she had a perfect look at the person who'd just walked through it.
Olivia Lennox.
Christina Ricci as Kelly Wilson
Go here for links to the previous parts of the story.
Title: Parallax (part 4/18)
Author: That'd be me. *grins* Andrew, Obsidian, call me what you want. But only if it's nice. ;)
Rating: R. The girls are already more then earning that 'R' rating. *sniffs* I'm just so proud... ;)
Comments: Well, here's hoping my second crossover D.E.B.S. fic will be as good as my first one. ^_^ This is a continuation of the Christmas Wishes series of short 'She's The Man' stories I've written, but you don't really need to have read those to understand this. This is also going to be the first actual sequel to 'D.E.B.S.' that I've written, as opposed to an AU fic. (Well, I guess all fic, by its very nature, is AU, but you know what I mean. *winks*)
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own 'D.E.B.S.', as I am most definitely NOT Angela Robinson. Likewise, I also do not own 'She's The Man', which belongs to... Well, it was written by Ewan Leslie, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, directed by Andy Fickman, based on the work of William Shakespeare, and distributed by Dreamworks. So whoever 'owns' it, it isn't me. ;)
Parallax, or more accurately motion parallax (Greek: παραλλαγή (parallagé) = alteration) is the change of angular position of two stationary points relative to each other as seen by an observer, due to the motion of an observer. Simply put, it is the apparent shift of an object against a background due to a change in observer position.
August 29th, 2008
Los Angeles, California
As far as Viola Hastings was concerned, there was no sound quite so satisfying as that of a soccer ball swishing into the net.
Well, she reflected, no sound that I'd really want anyone around to hear. No matter what Olivia thought about her supposed exhibitionist streak.
Really, you flashed a stadium full of people one time without so much as batting an eye, and suddenly people started getting ideas about you.
She'd been absolutely delighted when they'd posted the results of the try-outs and she'd seen her name right there on the list. Since there was only one team, rather then the two that she'd been expecting - evidently there simply weren't enough students interested in playing soccer for that, something that was rather saddening, but which she was graciously willing to forgive her poor, soccer-less schoolmates for - she'd been a bit worried that, as a Freshmen, that would mean that she'd get little, if any, field time. Instead, she was assured that it would be much the opposite, given that the older students could be called away on missions at any time, which wouldn't be the case for her.
As a result, that meant she practiced every spare minute she got, determined to be the best she could be, so as not to let her new team down.
Because Coach Dinklage had been right about one thing: These girls were good.And while she did miss her former teammates at Illyria, being on a skilled girls team was something she'd wanted for years.
Of course, there was another reason she was practicing as often as she was. Olivia hadn't been exaggerating how busy her coursework and various labs would keep her, which meant they wouldn't be seeing each other nearly as often as Viola would have liked. And that meant she was going to have a lot of excess energy to work off, so she'd decided to get into the habit of doing so now.
It was just as well that she hadn't made any real friends beyond her squad and some of the younger members of her team, as between her practice schedule and mountain of homework - even so early in the year, she could tell that was going to be a constant - any other free time she might have was nil.
"You know, I don't think wearing yourself down to exhaustion will help the team win any games," a gently teasing voice called from behind her.
The shot she'd been lining up went spinning off to the side, nowhere near the goal. You can't let yourself get so distracted like that, she berated herself. She recognized the voice now as Julia's - which was confirmed when she turned around to greet her RA - so she knew she was safe this time, but it could just as easily have been someone hostile. She really needed to try and be more aware of her surroundings, she knew. "Oh, I'm nowhere near that tired just yet," she replied with a ready smile. Although she was finding that the somewhat dirtier air of Los Angeles did make it a bit harder to breathe if she went as long as she was used to from back home. She decided to take a little break. "What's up?"
"I could ask you that same question," Julia countered. "You've only got forty-two minutes before your next class, and it didn't look like you had any intention of stopping until I interrupted you."
Viola blinked, then looked at her watch. She swore. "Guess I lost track of time a little there, huh?"
"Maybe just a bit," Julia agreed, one corner of her mouth tugging upward.
"It wasn't on purpose, honest," Viola assured her, dashing off to retrieve her ball, then collecting the few things she'd brought with her, such as a bottle of water and a light blue towel. School uniform or not, her personal practice times had nothing whatsoever to do with the school, and she'd taken advantage of that and worn a plain white t-shirt and a semi-old pair of red shorts. "Believe me, I'm actually looking forward to my next class." She'd just have to take a short shower.
"I don't blame you," Julia said as they left the field and began heading back to the dorm. "Poli-sci may sound boring, but that's only if you don't take into account all the 'behind-the-scenes' material it covers. And not only is it interesting, but it's also useful as you progress in your career."
"That's what I'm hoping." Viola smiled. "It feels a little weird, having something at school to look forward to besides soccer."
"Well, enjoy it while it lasts. There's a reason so few of the older girls are available for games, and once you graduate, who knows where you'll end up being posted."
"What, you don't think I could be a secret agent slash soccer star?"
Julia reached out and caught her arm, gently pulling her to a stop. "Is that what you want to do with your life?" she asked, her gaze intense.
Viola had to fight down the impulse to squirm under the weight of that stare. "Well, I used to think so, but I know that-"
"Because if it is, it would be better for you to figure that out now, instead of when it's pretty much too late," Julia continued. "The longer you're here, the harder it'll be to get out. You'll know too much by then. And once you graduate, forget it. Oh, they'll let you retire, sure, but don't think you won't be kept under surveillance."
Viola's eyes were wide. That did sound about par for the course for what she'd always imagined government agencies were like, but the way Julia was acting... "I take it you know someone who decided to leave?"
"Yes." One corner of Julia's mouth tugged upwards. "Admittedly, her exit was a bit more... spectacular then most. But she had a dream, and she fell in love. And love doesn't last long in this place."
There was a story there, Viola could tell, but judging by the faint but definite bitterness in her voice during that last sentence, Julia was not about to tell her what it was. Not just yet, anyway. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Why are you trying to scare the freshmen?"
Julia stiffened at the new voice, jaw clenching. Viola was confused as to why she'd react like that to Janet, but got the idea that asking right then would not be the wisest move. "What are you doing out here, Carmody?" Julia asked flatly. It wasn't an unreasonable question, all things considered. While the dorm was in sight, they weren't quite close enough to bump into anyone coming in or out of it - and Janet didn't even live in the building.
"I had something to discuss with one of the other R.A.s." Whereas Julia's tone was terse, borderline hostile, Janet sounded like she was trying to be purely professional, but wanted to apologize for something anyway. Viola was mystified.
"Whatever." She turned back to Viola, her tone softening immediately. "I have a class of my own to get to, but I want you to think about what I said."
"I'll do that," Viola promised. And she would. She'd be foolish not to, really. But first, she wanted a little more information. And if she wasn't likely to get it from Julia...
Julia nodded, looking like she couldn't quite get away from Janet fast enough, and hurried off. Viola fixed her gaze on her instructor. "You're not going to insult my intelligence and pretend nothing unusual just happened, are you?"
Janet smiled, but it seemed oddly tired. "Nothing unusual where Julia and I are concerned, anyway. It's... complicated." She shook her head sadly. "I can't even blame her, really. God knows if someone did to me what Dominique..." She sighed. "Come on, I don't want to make you late for class. I'll explain as we go."
Intrigued, Viola followed Janet inside the dorm building, heroically - she thought - managing to wait until they were on the elevator before asking anything else. "Who's Dominique?"
"She was one of my squadmates, when I was a student here," Janet replied after a slight pause. "A lot like Cynthia, actually, except for four things: she's Asian, she's French, she's a chain-smoker, and she has even less shame about her overactive libido."
"Less...?" Viola was having some trouble wrapping her mind around the concept. "I... I don't see how that's even physically possible!"
Janet chuckled, seemingly despite herself. "Practice makes perfect, I guess. Luckily, Max was able to scare her out of trying anything with the three of us, but... Well, she was busy, let's just say."
"So, you guys were here at the same time as Julia?" she asked as the elevator doors opened with a ding. "Is that supposed to be so loud?" she wondered as they exited the elevator.
"Anything that makes it harder for someone to sneak in here is never a bad idea."
Viola swallowed nervously. "Is that something that we need to be watching out for?"
Janet considered that for a moment. "It's not like it's something that happens often, no. I doubt there have even been a handful of times that someone has snuck into student dorms with the intent of causing some kind of harm or another in the entire history of the school. But your R.A.s need to know if one of you might be trying to sneak up someone who shouldn't be here, or if one of you is trying to sneak in - or out - unnoticed."
"Wouldn't they just take the stairs?" Viola asked, then suddenly realized something. "They're wired somehow, too, aren't they?"
"Of course," Janet replied immediately. "We take our students safety very seriously here." By this time, they had gotten to Viola's dorm suite, and she pulled out her keycard and swiped it through the reader beside the door. "There's even a backup generator dedicated solely to security features like those card readers, so that, in the event of a blackout, you won't be locked out of your rooms."
"Cool."
Janet smiled. "Isn't it? And to answer your earlier question, yes, Julia started here during our senior year. The four of us were in our own house by then - being on the top squad has certain perks - so Dom had an easier time finding bed partners. And..." She sighed. "Well, to make a long story short-"
"Too late," Viola interjected, setting her water bottle down on the counter in the kitchenette.
Janet grinned, but it didn't last long. "As I was saying, the short version is that Dominique pretty much destroyed Julia's marriage."
Viola's soccer ball and towel dropped to the floor, but she didn't even notice. "Julia was married?!"
"Yes." Janet winced. "Thanks to Dominique, it lasted a grand total of about two weeks, give or take a couple hours."
"Jesus..." No wonder she was pissed, even years later. "What did you do?"
"To her? Nothing. Which may be the problem. Some of us suspected that something screwy was going on, but we never actually saw anything to confirm it... until that last time. Of course, to be fair, we'd gotten into the habit of doing our best not to see or hear anything in Dom's room over the years. That she and Dominique were actually friends since early in the year only made it worse. Needless to say, she still holds it against us."
"Well, yeah." Viola knew if she had been married, and her husband began cheating on her with the school überslut, she would have been furious if someone knew and just didn't bother mentioning it. "You probably stood by Dominique, too, didn't you?"
Janet sighed. "We didn't defend her, if that's what you mean. But... Well, it was Dom. I hate to say it, but we were kind of used to that sort of thing from her, by then." Which Viola had to admit did make a kind of sense. "Except for Amy, anyway. That sort of thing was not okay with her by any means, and she made sure Dom knew it."
Well, at least one of you had some kind of sense, Viola thought. It struck her, a moment later, that she was really in no position to give anybody flack about cheating, given that she'd hooked up with Olivia behind Duke's back. Though that had been different, she reasoned (rationalized). She and Duke weren't married, Olivia was not just some random fling for her, and she had told him about it. That he didn't seem to believe her... "Who's Amy?" she asked, shaking herself loose from her musings.
Janet smiled again, this time fondly. "Amy Bradshaw, our squad's second in command - although, really, since there was only four of us, and we all followed Max's orders anyway, that didn't mean as much as you might think. She also got the only perfect score ever on the secret test in the S.A.T.s."
Viola stared. "Um, wow," she finally managed. She hadn't even known that was possible, having no real reason to suspect there was a limit in place on what you could score, or even any real kind of scoring system at all. Yes, Mr. Phipps had said those who scored high enough were considered for admission to the academy, but given everything they'd had to absorb that night, that particular piece of information hadn't really stuck with her. Besides, this was a school for spies, so who was to say that everything they were told was the truth?
And Professor Janet here was on the top squad, her mind whispered to her. She must have scored pretty highly, herself. So why are you blithely trusting everything she says? She felt a quick chill, but dismissed it. That kind of thinking would send her into paranoid cuckoo-land realdamnquick. "That sounds..."
"Yeah, but she always hated it when someone brought that up," Janet said. Her smile turned a shade mischievous. "And she hated the posters."
"Posters?"
"Well, when I say she was our poster girl, I mean it literally," Janet told her, despite the fact that she hadn't actually said that. "They were kind of motivational posters for spies, or something. Honestly, they seemed a little weird, to me. The school mostly disposed of them, after... Well, after she left. I managed to save one in my office, though. I can show it to you later."
Why would a school want to get rid of... Wait. Hadn't Julia said something about a student making a rather spectacular exit? "I take it her exit was... dramatic?"
Janet chuckled. "That would be one way of putting it, yes. That story can wait, though. Right now, you've got a class to get ready for."
And not really enough time to shower, Viola noticed with some dismay. Good thing she hadn't really had time to work up a sweat, she supposed. "Guess I need to get changed, then. If you'll excuse me?"
"I'll see you around." Before she left, though, Janet had one last thing to say. "Don't go pestering Julia for information about any of this. She hates talking about, hearing about, or even reading about it. So if you do tell the rest of your squad, make sure they know to keep it to themselves. Consider it your first unofficial lesson in secret keeping."
Viola nodded, and Janet left.
If I tell my squad? she mused as she hurried to get ready for class.
How could she not tell them?
**********************************************
Political science turned out to be even more interesting then she'd suspected. But then, this was the DEBS academy. To them, poli-sci wasn't just the science of politics, but also the science that made those politics work.
And in the world of espionage and supervillians, that made for some rather... interesting science.
The teacher, Mr. Murphy, was of average height - 5'8", if Viola was any judge - had sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and rather unremarkable features. She knew she wouldn't have looked twice at him while walking down the street. She suspected that had to help him in the spy field, making her wonder if he cultivated the bland look.
Like most of her other classes, they began with an overview. Unlike them, though, once that was finished, he dove right into the lessons. But then, he could do that, since all it would do was expand on what they'd been learning in high school. It wasn't like they were required to understand how any of the weird gadgets mentioned in their textbook worked, after all.
She wasn't sure what to think when he casually informed them that they wouldn't be learning that their junior year, when they took their required "Supervillian Tech" class. She kind of hoped it was a joke... though she had to admit, that did sound like a cool class.
It also became clear that when he decided to dive right into things, he meant it. They began with one of the biggest changes in the political landscape in the last fifty years: Lawrence Silvestry - better known to the world at large as 'The Scorpion' - and the creation of Avalon.
She'd never really understood exactly how that had come about, and now... she still wasn't sure. Oh, she'd already known the basics - everyone did. In 1973, a lunatic with some kind of weird space-based laser-beam canon... thing makes an attempt at extortion, it falls through, and in a fit of pique, he fires the weapon at the planet before he's arrested. Somehow - and this was the part most every history book she'd ever read was a bit fuzzy on - this makes a new island, upon which a member of the extended British royal family sets up a new, independent government.
What was not in most history books was that the DEBS, in addition to several other agencies, had all been trying to stop him... and might have succeeded, had there not been a squabble between the agencies over who would acquire his technology when it was over. In the end, the DEBS team on the scene had destroyed the weapon to keep anyone from having it, which hadn't made the agency very popular with, well, anyone. That had quickly been overshadowed, though, by what happened next, to the point where it had been mostly forgotten.
The weapon in question - the mysterious "polarized obduction canon" she'd heard mentioned in weapons training - had basically made a new island from the ocean floor up southwest of Ireland, approximately halfway between Ireland and Spain. Quite naturally, this had displaced a massive amount of water, resulting in tsunamis causing incredible damage to the exposed coastlines of Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the United States, Canada, Greenland...
Well, the list was extensive, especially when one added in the countries that had only caught glancing blows, such as Portugal or some countries in South America. While everyone concerned reeled from the damage they'd suffered, a duke by the name of John Taylor decided to set up a kingdom of his own on the newly created island. By the time anyone noticed, the new country of Avalon had been established.
She'd always wondered why he couldn't choose a more original name, but evidently his ego hadn't let him. Of course, the bounty of natural resources suddenly available when an island roughly the size of Delaware heaves itself up from the ocean floor might draw some parallels between that and the Avalon of myth for those who knew more then she did of Arthurian lore.
Those resources translated into a significant amount of wealth, which meant that when the rest of the world became aware of just what could be found on the island - perhaps most notably, previously unavailable oil deposits of unmatched quality - Avalon was able to hire mercenaries to augment their fledgling armed forces and repel any invaders. Five months later, they were officially recognized by the United Nations. They joined the organization two months after that.
The king had died in 1989 from a heart attack... or so most sources claimed. If her textbook was to be believed, he'd actually been assassinated, likely by some kind of poison. His son Michael had taken over after his death, and the book speculated that he might have been the one behind it.
She wasn't sure why, but she believed it.
Currently, Avalon was one of the world's top five oil producing countries, and the money it made from that paid for a thorough modernization program. Supposedly, in recent years, the princess - Michael's only daughter, Leah - had taken responsibility for that, making sure that her country (especially the government and the armed forces) had access to the highest technology available. They maintained good relations with their neighbors, and had trade relations with most modern countries.
Mr. Murphy concluded the lesson by mentioning that it was widely speculated that someone had tried to rebuild the Scorpion's weapon, only had gone in a different direction, producing what he called particle subduction technology, which was another term she remembered being mentioned. That, evidently, turned solid matter into a sort of liquid, meaning any land it hit would be basically turned into soup.
What surprised her was when he told them that this was what Lucy Diamond had planned on sinking Australia with back in 1999.
"Um... why?" one of the other students asked, sounding baffled.
It wasn't a clear question, but Mr. Murphy immediately understood what she was trying to ask. "That, unfortunately, is a question without an answer. For reasons no one really understands, early in her career, Lucy Diamond seemed to become fixated on the country of Australia, launching sporadic attacks against them with no evident rhyme or reason. The one in '99 is just the most obvious, and well known. During her career, she never strayed from the top five of the most wanted list for this agency, even during the two years she went underground. She was intelligent, dangerous, and lethal to those who attempted to capture her. Why she seems to have gone straight, I couldn't begin to tell you, but I don't believe anyone is objecting to not having to clean up the damage she leaves in her wake anymore... for however long it lasts this time."
By the time class was over, Viola's head was throbbing from information overload. She sat at her desk for a minute as everyone began filing out of the room, massaging her temples. Well... The class had been interesting, all right. She wouldn't argue with that. It also had left her feeling like she was scrambling desperately to catch up with everyone else (well, everyone but the rest of the freshmen class, maybe), and she didn't like that feeling at all.
Heaving a gusty sigh, she put her book back in her bag, followed by her notebook - and she hoped she'd actually be able to read the hurried notes she'd scribbled down as class progressed later - and got to her feet. "Well, that could have been worse, right?" Cynthia asked her as she reached the door. She blinked in surprise to find that her squad had been waiting for her.
"Probably," Viola agreed. "Wouldn't want to think about how, though."
"Careful," a new voice warned them. Viola turned to see an older student with short, dark hair - it looked closer to black then brown, but who knew if that was her real hair color? - leaning against the wall, looking at them with amusement. "That's dangerously close to tempting fate, you know."
"Thanks, um..."
The woman grinned. "Kelly Wilson. I'm Julia's roommate."
She had no idea why Julia's roommate would come looking for her, and didn't like the few possible reasons her brain came up with. "Is something wrong? She looked all right the last time I saw-"
"She's fine," Kelly interrupted, waving off her concern. She smiled, though, obviously approving of the fact that she'd become attached enough to Julia in such a short time to instantly worry. "A bit down, maybe, but Bree, Faye have developed something of a standard procedure for this sort of thing by now. Of course, Jules knows that, so even if we do take her out somewhere to distract her, it won't quite work. That's why I was wondering if you four wanted to come along."
She knew the rest of her squad must have been getting confused by the conversation - she hadn't yet had a chance to relay her conversation with Janet to them, after all - but Viola didn't stop to explain. "Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun," she replied, trying not to think about the homework she still had to do. They had plenty of time, yet. "Come along where, exactly?"
"Write this down." She waited until Viola had a pen in hand and had opened a notebook to a blank page, then gave her an address that even Viola recognized as being in a bad part of town, or at least on the border of it. "Casual dress, don't wear anything expensive," she advised. "And I know, it's not exactly somewhere that an agent of the law usually goes to relax. But that's kind of the point, you know? But don't worry, we can probably get through the evening without getting into another brawl."
"Another?" Susan echoed, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had begun.
"I'll see you at eight o'clock sharp," Kelly told them as she walked off, ignoring Susan's question. "Don't be late!"
Viola sighed, then turned to her squad. "Come on, let's find somewhere a bit quieter to talk, and I'll explain what I can."
Kelly grinned to herself as she turned the corner, only to stop dead as she nearly ran right into Julia. "What the hell was that?"
She held up her hands to try and calm her irritated roomie. "Easy there, Jules. You know that-"
"It's too soon," Julia insisted.
"It wasn't for us, and if we wait much longer-"
"We have over a month, yet."
"Tell that to-"
Julia seemed determined not to let her finish a sentence. "I do NOT like being the excuse for this!"
"I know," she replied. "But to be fair, it was only partially an excuse. I really do think you could use a distraction, and there's no time for you to get out to the track." She gave Julia a reassuring smile, placing a hand on her arm. "Hey. We're gonna be right there with them, so try not to worry."
The look Julia gave her said that was easier said then done.
**********************************************
Viola quickly realized that the biggest hurdle to the evening would be getting Jess to actually go inside the bar.
"No," she insisted, planting her feet and locking her knees as Susan and Cynthia pulled at her arms and Viola pushed her from behind. "That place hasn't been cleaned in longer then I've been alive!"
Which was an exaggeration, but not quite as big of one as it would have been anywhere else. It was impossible to tell if the windows were supposed to be tinted, or were just so dirty that you could no longer see through them. More letters then not weren't lit up on the sign, making it impossible to tell what the name of the bar actually was. And if this was what the outside looked like...
"Look, you can wear your gloves, and I know you were probably already planning on disinfecting your clothes after we get back," Viola grunted as she continued moving Jess forward, one inch at a time. She knew Jess had a package of disposable latex gloves in her purse - those had earned her a few odd looks during their night out with Olivia - for occasions just such as this.
She was also starting to wonder if she wasn't packing some kind of artificial gravity generator in there or something, because it should not have been so much effort to get someone as thin as her to move with three of them working at it.
"The inside might not be so bad," Cynthia offered. "We can at least take a look, right?"
"...I suppose," Jess allowed, finally relaxing her stance, nearly overbalancing them all before the others stopped as well. Susan opened the door, while Viola remained behind Jess, bracing herself for another escape attempt.
She was not disappointed. Jess made a distressed sound and attempted to bolt. "Oh, no," Viola told her as she stopped Jess's movement before she could build up any momentum. "Julia and Kelly are waiting for us."
"I'm sure Julia would understand," Jess insisted.
She probably would have, but that wasn't the point. "Okay, then, I guess we're doing this the hard way." Before Jess could figure out what that meant, Viola picked her up and draped her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, then headed inside, an amused Cynthia and Susan following along behind. She ignored Jess's protests and squirming as she looked around, spotted a surprised Kelly and a bemused Julia sitting at a table and watching them, and moved over to them, depositing Jess into one of the chairs. The other girl froze, clearly not wanting to come into contact with any more surfaces then she already was.
The bar didn't look as bad inside as they might have thought, but Viola had to concede that this might be because the lights were down so low in there they just couldn't see the dirt or... whatever else.
Judging by how fast she pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on once she started moving again, though, Jess obviously still knew it was there.
"You know, Jess, you didn't have to come," Julia told her, ignoring any looks Kelly might have been giving her.
"It isn't that I didn't want to come..." Jess said, looking warily around the room. She just obviously hadn't wanted to go there. She couldn't quite get a good look at the few other patrons, and didn't show any sign of objecting to that.
"But you're wondering why we'd insist on coming here instead of going somewhere closer... and cleaner?" Kelly guessed, ignoring Julia's grumble of "What do you mean 'we,' Kemosabe?"
"Well, yeah," Susan said, rolling her eyes.
Kelly grinned, and Viola got the idea that she wasn't easy to upset. "Well, as you may have guessed from the location, this place is often frequented by the criminal underclass, which means that this is a good place to pick up tips or leads, or just keep up with what's going on with the other side of the law."
Cynthia had been distracted by a quiet commotion over at the bar, and following her gaze Viola saw that there were a raucous bunch of men gathered around a small television set which was showing... She squinted. What was that, a porn tape?
Charming.
"Where's that being broadcast from?" Cynthia murmured. Viola blinked and looked at her. Broadcast? As in... live? As in, real? Yep, this place was classy, all right.
"You're not going to look for it," Jess told her sternly, not even needing to know what, exactly, they were talking about. Given how quickly it had caught Cynthia's attention, she could easily guess.
"Oh, come on, it's just a glo-"
"You're staying here."
"But what if I have to use the bathroom?"
Jess shuddered, no doubt thinking about the sheer scope of germs and diseases that would be in the restroom of a place like that. "Hold it." Besides, why should she be the only one not happy to be where she was? Cynthia grumbled, but subsided.
Julia shook her head. "Just like old times," she muttered to herself, but Viola heard her and shot Kelly a look. Maybe, given why they were there, bringing who reminded Julia so much of Dominique wasn't the best of ideas? Kelly shrugged, as if to say it was too late to do anything about it, now.
Then her attention was caught by movement at the door, and she straightened in her chair. "Ah, here we go..." Happily forgetting about the minor disagreement - and even more happily forgetting what had sparked it - Viola looked over to see six individuals walking in. There were five guys - one of whom was barely five feet tall - and one woman, all dressed in varying shades of leather. They seemed to recognize Kelly, making the freshmen DEBS wonder how often she was there, exactly. Julia sat back, evidently content to let Kelly take the lead in this, and they followed her lead.
The bikers - they had to have a reason to be wearing that much leather, Viola decided - headed their way. "Back again, Connie?" the one in the lead asked, a clean-shaven man with short brown hair. She was surprised they weren't... scruffier, or some such thing.
"What can I say? I can't get enough of this place," Kelly replied wryly with a ready grin, gesturing with both hands to encompass the dingy bar. The gang chuckled at her statement, looking the rest of them over. Viola had to fight not to start squirming. "And who's this?"
"Mara, Liz, Kendra, and Paige," she said, gesturing at Jessica, Susan, Cynthia, and Viola in order. Viola didn't know about the others, but she started desperately repeating the name she'd been 'given' to herself over and over, so she wouldn't forget it. "They're new, so Holly and I are babysitting, tonight." Holly, presumably, being Julia.
"But don't take that to mean that we have to stay with them all night," Cynthia all but purred as she leaned forward, practically batting her eyelashes at the group.
There were a few snorts and rolled eyes, but none of them actively turned her down as they dragged another couple of tables over and sat down.
Viola, in the middle of silently praying for strength to get through the night intact - and without having to harm Cynthia - froze. She'd been looking over in the direction of the door, which meant she had a perfect look at the person who'd just walked through it.
Olivia Lennox.
Christina Ricci as Kelly Wilson