Prometheus Unbound - ch. 1 (10/11/08)
Despite my having to go in to work today, the muse seems to be in a good mood. I think she hates me. ;)
Title: Prometheus Unbound (1/?)
Author: That'd be me. *grins* Andrew, Obsidian, call me what you want. But only if it's nice. ;)
Rating: R (C'mon, it's a sequel to Pantheon. What did you expect? ;) )
Comments: At long last, it's finally here. ^_^ Hopefully you'll like this one as much as you did Pantheon, if not more so. Now, there is going to be a third fandom included this time around, but, as before, I'm not telling you what it is, yet. You'll find out soon enough, don't worry.
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own 'D.E.B.S.', as I am not Angela Robinson. I also don't own 'The Pretender' (which was created by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle). Nor do I own .
Chapter One
Doctor Jeffrey Gold observed the girl sitting in the plush chair on the other side of his desk with interest. He knew precious little about her beyond the fact that her first name was Amy, she'd recently escaped from some mysterious people who had clearly mistreated her in some fashion, and she was proving to be one of the hardest nuts to crack he'd ever been presented with.
She stared back at him with a pleasant expression, which barely seemed to flicker no matter what he asked. She was unfailingly polite, open, and spoke with complete honesty.
And she hadn't actually answered a single question he'd asked.
A few times - such as when he'd asked her what her birthday was - she genuinely hadn't seemed to know the answer, and he'd gotten the impression that she was frustrated by that lack of knowledge. The rest of the time, though, he had to wonder if she was treating this like some kind of game: How many questions could she answer without actually telling him anything before he caught on?
When he asked her about it, though, she looked back at him in confusion, wondering what he was talking about.
He rose from his chair to get something from the filing cabinet off to the side. As he was turning back, he could have sworn he saw a small blurr of motion pass through his peripheral vision. "What was that?" he asked as he returned to his seat.
"What was what?" she replied, eyebrow raised.
He paused, then shook his head with a slight sigh. As he did so, he noticed that the Mr. Potato Head he kept on his desk to entertain some of his younger patients was gone. "Amy, where's Mr. Potato Head?"
Her face screwed up in confusion. "Where's Mr. what?" There was a screech of tires outside his open window, followed by an irate honking of several horns. Amy looked idly toward the window, but made no move to get up and investigate. Since they were on the 14th floor of the office building, traffic sounds weren't usually a problem, so whatever was going on down on the street went largely ignored.
Thinking that perhaps she simply hadn't known what it was called, he said, "It's a children's toy. It consists of a plastic model of a potato, which can be decorated with attachable plastic parts, such as a mustache, hat and nose, to make a face."
She stared at him for a long moment, then replied, "You didn't have one."
He blinked. "Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't," she insisted, looking both baffled and certain. Tilting her head a bit, he asked, "Are you feeling all right, Doctor?"
He was beginning to wonder. "I'm fine, thank you, Amy." He decided to set the question of the missing toy aside for another time. "It would really help if you could tell me more about where you were before Michael and Diane found you," he told her, trying to get the conversation back on track. Or on track in the first place.
"I can't see how."
That, he decided, might have been the single most truthful thing she'd said to him the entire session. "Amy, I can't help you if you don't let me."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"Perhaps not, but if you want to stay with Michael and Diane, you'll need it." He watched her digest that for a moment, then asked, "Is that what you want?"
She seemed to momentarily have trouble with the question. "What do I want?" she wondered, barely audible, as if that were an utterly alien concept. The question clearly hadn't been meant for him.
She was silent for almost two full minutes as she thought it over. "I... Yes, I do," she decided.
He nodded. "All right, then." Good, they were finally making progress. "Can you tell me-"
"I don't want to talk about it," she said flatly, cutting him off. Absently, she reached up and plucked a Rubik's Cube from his crowded desktop, turned it over in her hand a few times as if puzzled by it, then absently began fiddling with it, her gaze returning to him. "And it doesn't matter."
"Amy, from what I hear, you've been suffering from nightmares," he began, but again she interrupted.
"They're nothing new. I can handle them. You couldn't help me, anyway."
"Why not?"
"What's happened has happened. You can't change that, neither can I." And no girl her age should have had an expression like that on her face. Serious and resigned, as if the very concept of innocence had been torn horribly away at a very young age, leaving behind someone who probably wouldn't have really understood the meaning of the word 'childhood'. "My dreams don't have any hidden meaning to decipher. They just are. All I can do is try and move on with my life, and let time do what it can." She put the Cube back on his desk, then folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, regarding him steadily.
He had to admit to being unsettled. Whatever she'd been through in the past, Amy clearly had a better handle on it then most - if not all - of his adult patients would have. And yet, unless he was very much mistaken, he could sense a lingering anger in her, directed at whomever it was that she'd escaped from. Something that said that no matter how much time went by, she would not forget what had happened.
Before he could figure out how to respond to that, his eyes rested on the Rubik's Cube. It took him a moment to register what he was seeing, then he picked it up and looked at it in surprise.
Aside from her initial examination of it, she hadn't looked at it once. Despite that, however, she'd managed to solve it in a matter of seconds.
"How did you do that?" he asked, voice somewhere between surprised and impressed.
She shrugged. "I figured the basic idea was to get all the squares on each side to match."
"Yes, but... I've never seen anyone solve this so quickly! I have patients who can't even get one side done."
Something that might have been concern flickered through her eyes, there and gone so quickly that he wasn't sure if he'd really seen it or not. "Just lucky, I guess."
This time he fixed her with the raised eyebrow. "I think there's more to it then that, isn't there?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "Amy, would you be willing to take a few tests?"
She tensed. "Why?"
"Well, if we get a better idea of your IQ and skill levels in reading, math, and other such subjects, we'll have a better idea of what grade to start you in at school." He paused. "Do you want to go to school?" One of the few things he was fairly certain of by then was that she didn't especially like the idea of being forced into things, and that being able to make her own choices - while evidently a new concept to her - was important.
She looked at him blankly. "School? Grade?"
It took him a few minutes to try and explain the American education system to her, and she'd seemed mildly confused by the differences between junior high school and senior high, as well as why some colleges were colleges, while others were universities. She'd also seemed wary when he'd told her about the teachers and their function, but relaxed when he showed her a picture of a typical classroom.
"What's holding them there?" she asked quizzically.
"What do you mean?" That was an odd choice of words.
"What happens if they want to leave? Or just... not show up at all?"
"They'd probably get a detention." At her blank look, he added, "The teacher would make them stay after school for a short time. Too many of those can lead to a suspension." Before she could ask, he said, "They'd be forced to stay at home, away from school."
Her eyes widened. "That's a punishment?"
He chuckled. "Some students might not think so, but homework doesn't stop piling up just because they're not there to get it, and if they miss any tests... Keep in mind, grade levels are important. If you don't pass, you'll end up having to go to summer school, or repeat the year. And then there's parental disapproval. Being grounded, loss of privelages, loss of allowence... Those can also be strong motivators for students."
"But if they didn't want to be there... They could go?"
"They wouldn't be physically restrained, if that's what you mean." That she even had to ask - and keep asking - a question like that spoke volumes about the kind of life she'd lead before she'd found the Bradshaws. Or they'd found her.
She didn't seem to know what to do with that idea, so he pressed on. "School is also an important social environment. It's a place where children can interact with interact with others of their age groups, and make friends."
"Peer grouping," she muttered under her breath, seeming to turn inward for a second as she remembered something. "That... sounds interesting. I think I'd like to stick with people my own age, though."
Which implied that she, at least, thought her IQ was likely high enough to shoot her several grades ahead of her peers.
Looking at the Rubik's Cube, he thought she might just be right. And considering how much she obviously had to learn aside from textbook knowledge, that might just be the best thing for her. "All right. We can hold off on the testing for now, but I would like you to consider taking them in the future, just so you and the Bradshaws will know how best to proceed with your education."
She smiled fleetingly. "I doubt that will be necessary, but I'll keep it in mind," she told him, as if she already knew what her IQ level was, and just didn't feel like sharing. Then, a bit more hesitantly, she asked, "So, does this mean you'll let me stay with them?"
"Ultimately, it's up to a judge, not me. But I will speak in favor of it, and if all goes well, I don't see why he'd say no."
She paused a moment as she assimilated that, then favored him with a small but genuinely honest smile.
"Thank you."
Amy Bradshaw sat on the back porch of her - their - new house, watching the sun rise.
Part of her wanted nothing more then to climb back into bed with Lucy, but she knew from experience that once the dreams had forced her awake like that, she was up for the day.
She had, at least, managed to avoid waking Lucy up as well. There was no reason for both of them to be sleep-deprived. Besides, she was trained to operate on much less sleep then Lucy was.
Her nightmares had been fewer and farther between of late, which she decided was a combination of Lucy's reassuring presence - even in her sleep, Amy felt safer in her arms - and the fact that The Centre was gone. That didn't completely stop her brain from serving up heaping helpings of nightmares, of course, but it was progress. A step in the right direction.
What left her puzzled, though, was the fact that last night's dreams hadn't been that bad. They hadn't even been all that upsetting, really. She'd remembered her first appointment with Dr. Gold, which she'd been trying to focus on as she watched the sun slowly creep up over the trees surrounding their property when it had become clear that the sunrise alone wasn't cutting it.
She'd also dreamed about Tomoko.
That in and of itself was somewhat unusual. Not that her old friend had never been featured in her mental home movies, but it had been a while. And it had been even longer since it had happened with such clarity.
They'd just talked. Well, she'd talked, mainly, Tomoko saying there really wasn't anything new going on with her because of 'well, you know'.
She hadn't known, not really, but she'd forgotten just how nice it was to talk to Tomoko about... well, anything, really. She'd been a bit hesitant to bring up Lucy, but Tomoko had been nothing but supportive and happy for her.
She'd woken up with a meloncholy feeling that she just couldn't shake. That and a feeling of pervasive dread that she didn't understand had finally driven her from Lucy's side before her tossing and turning woke her girlfriend up.
The end of the dream was a bit fuzzy, leading her to wonder if that wasn't the problem. Maybe part of her was worried that she'd missed something important. Which was foolish, really. If her subconscious wanted to conjure up dreams about one of her childhood friends, how could she miss something that was being said by her own brain?
Oh, she was going to give herself a headache at this rate.
Preoccupied as she was, she was still aware of the screen door opening behind her and Lucy coming out onto the porch behind her. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"
Lucy smiled as she planted a kiss on the blonde's head. "Nah, that was more me needing to use the bathroom." She came around the chair and dropped herself onto Amy's lap. "Mind if I join you?"
Amy beamed at her. "Of course not, you know that!"
Lucy placed another gentle kiss on her forehead. "You don't have to do that, you know. It's just us here."
Amy looked at her for a long moment, before something that might have been gratitude flashed through her eyes, and her wide smile melted away. She let out a breath, allowing herself to sink down into her chair a little more as her features settled into a more neutral expression. "Thank you," she murmured, and the smile she gave Lucy might have been much smaller, but it was also real.
Lucy didn't mind. She knew Amy tended to put on something of a front around other people, and she appreciated that Amy felt she could drop the mask around her. And if she sometimes needed to be reminded to do so... then so be it. "Wanna talk about it?"
With anyone else, Amy might have been able to pretend she didn't know what they were talking about, but that didn't work with Lucy anymore. "Nothing to really talk about," she said with a small shrug. "No nightmares, just... memories."
Memories that had left her feeling more sad then anything, if Lucy was any judge. As such, she had her suspicions what - or rather, who, given Amy's reluctance to talk about it - had been in them. She wouldn't press, though. She'd gotten over any lingering jealousy she might have had toward Tomoko's memory some time ago.
Amy had thrown on a soft chiffon bathrobe before coming outside - she'd had to, since neither of them typically ended up wearing any clothing to bed, and anything they might have worn always ended up being discarded by the other - and she smiled as Lucy's hands began slipping underneath it as if by sheer reflex. Lucy's own robe was a medium blue, and Amy had been forced to hide a snicker when Lucy had bought it, claiming it was meant to soften the transition from the blue and/or plaid environment of the academy.
Construction of their house had only been completed several days ago - it had taken longer then usual due to the somewhat... esoteric "extras" that Amy had insisted on; there were bunkers that didn't have as many defenses as their house - but she loved it already. It wasn't her dream home, mainly because she'd never let herself have such a dream, but it was as close to perfect as she could imagine. It was technically outside of Los Angeles proper, but not quite in the suburbs, either. Amy had found a wooded area outside the city, bought up a not inconsiderable amount of it, and drawn up plans for the construction people that Lucy knew. She'd also "accidentally" forgotten to tell her bosses exactly where her new house was, because she wanted her privacy, and she knew that Lucy felt the same.
That was why, even after they moved out of it, Lucy hadn't gotten rid of her still secret (formerly) Evil Lair. Just in case.
Not that either of them were at all paranoid or anything.
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Amy asked, feeling herself relax as Lucy's touch drifted across her stomach and sides, draining away any residual tension she might have had. The sun finally began clearing the horizon, bathing the area in a golden glow. Her breath caught as she stared up at Lucy, backlit in such a way as to make her look like the angel she most certainly was not. Last night had certainly proved that, Amy thought, a grin forming on her face despite herself.
"Not sure, yet." They'd been given a couple days off to settle into their new house (once they finally let on that it was finished), so barring an emergency they had the weekend to themselves. "I wouldn't mind checking on Scud, make sure he's being treated all right while I'm away."
Amy blinked. "Why would he not be? I thought you said things were going better, now." Despite all the help they'd given in taking down The Centre, and Amy's own endorsement of them, there had been a fair number of DEBS that had resented Lucy and Scud not only being pardoned, but also working alongside them, now. The higher-ups had done what they could to keep interaction between the pair and any disgruntled agents to a minimum, and no one dared say anything while Amy was anywhere nearby, but the first month or so had been rough.
"They are, they are," Lucy agreed. "But still... Old habits die hard, you know? Besides, I haven't seen him in a few days."
And she was used to seeing him every day. "Okay," Amy said easily, pulling Lucy down for a kiss... which went on for a good three minutes longer then she'd meant it to. "Um..." she said once Lucy pulled back, trying to reboot her brain. "He's, ah, at the academy today, right? We could say 'hi' to Mister P. while we're there."
"Works for me." Lucy grinned at Amy's momentary befuddlement. It was an amazing feeling, having power like that over such an incredible woman. And of everyone in the DEBS, outside of Amy's own squad, Phipps had treated her - and Scud - with the most respect. He was a good and decent man, as well as intelligent and caring, and she could see why Amy was so fond of him.
Her grin widened. "First things first, though," she all but purred as she began unbelting Amy's robe.
"What? You didn't get enough last night?" Amy asked, amused. Despite her question, though, she was making no move to stop her.
"Of you? That's something I'll never be able to do." Amy felt her face flush, but before long her blood was heading to other parts of her body.
This, she decided, had to be the best way to start the day ever.
**********************************************
Amy was a little surprised to see so many students wandering around the campus already, since classes didn't actually start until Monday. Sure, they might have moved into the dorms, but given that the academic buildings generally weren't open to the students - especially the new students - until the school year began...
Well, there was nothing that said they couldn't be on campus, she supposed. And some of the older students - mainly the seniors - may well have had business to attend to.
In fact, one such (obviously distracted) student almost walked right into them as she exited the building they were going into before she saw them, her face lighting up in one of her trademarked sunny smiles. "Oh, hey! What are you doing here?"
Amy had to smile back. It was almost impossible not to, with her. "Hey, Raquel. Just stopping by to check on a couple things."
The new squad leader of Sector 1 nodded. "Well, I won't keep you."
They could spare a few minutes, though, Amy decided. "How have you been, anyway?"
She hesitated. "We're good, for the most part," she said, either accidentally or deliberately misunderstanding the question. "Bethany's still a bit... Anyway, we're good."
Evidently, Bethany must have felt more strongly for her boyfriend then she'd let on. Momentarily, Amy debated on setting aside some time later on to talk to her, then rejected the idea. She had her own team to turn toif she needed it. "Good to hear. But how are you, personally?"
Raquel shifted uncomfortably. "I'm all right. I'm... better I'd been just... having a bad day."
Lucy frowned in confusion. "Huh?"
If anything, her presence just seemed to make Raquel's embarrassment grow. "I really do appreciate you finding it for me," she said to Amy, absently fingering the slim metal band around her wrist. "And... if I said or did anything in my sleep that might have... Well, I was asleep, so I didn't know you were you, and... Look, I'm just... sorry. And thank you, really." Unable to take any more being stared at, she all but fled down the walkway.
"What the hell was she talking about?" Lucy asked, baffled.
Amy felt a smile spreading across her face as something finally clicked. "I'll tell you later."
As it turned out, Scud wasn't the only one they found down in the tech center. "Hey, Broots," she called with a grin as they walked into the room. She was relieved to see that he'd finally begun to stop jumping everytime someone called his name. Being away from Miss Parker and the others at The Centre seemed to be doing him a world of good.
He blinked up at her, then smiled tentatively. "Hey, Amy. What are you doing here?"
She nodded over toward where Lucy and Scud were conversing quietly, then replied, "Slumming." As expected, this elicited mock-outraged objections from the other techs present, a few in the form of crumpled up pieces of paper tossed at her. She chuckled, then added, "Seriously, though, it's good to see you're doing so well here."
"Thank you. And I really do appreciate you getting me a job here-"
She held up a hand, cutting him off. "It wasn't a problem, really. Besides, I'd say you earned it." And even though it hadn't been a consideration when she'd gotten the job for him, she was glad that Scud would have someone else around who'd been recruited from the other side. "You just keep up the good work, and we'll call it even." She started to head over to where Lucy and Scud were, then paused and added, "Oh, and say hi to Debbie for me." She wasn't old enough to take the SATs yet, but from what Amy had seen of her in her visits, she suspected that Broots's daughter would not be offered a position at the academy, which was just fine with her father, Amy was certain. She did still stop by occasionally, though, which no one really objected to.
Really, with a name like that, how could the DEBS not like her?
She heard more about how Scud was doing from Janet then Scud himself, mainly because Janet was, well, Janet. The two of them were still taking things slowly, but from what Amy could tell, they had nothing to worry about. They were made for each other.
Unfortunately, she thought with a mental sigh as she recalled the encounter she'd had just outside the building, not everyone could see that sort of thing.
It was a little depressing to think that there was nothing she could do about that, either, but she knew that trying would only make things worse.
She tuned back into the conversation as Scud said, "I think Phipps is going to want to talk to you two later."
She frowned. "Mister P.? Why?" Not that she objected at all to the idea of talking to him - she had, after all, intended on doing just that later on anyway - but from the way Scud said it, it sounded like had something work-related to discuss with them. And not only were they technically still off-duty, but since Amy's team had graduated, they didn't get their assignments from Phipps anymore.
Scud shrugged. "If anybody knows, they haven't told me."
"Well, this is a school for spies," Amy told him with a slight smile. "Keeping secrets is kind of what we do. It's nothing personal against you, believe me."
"Oh, I know." And he did believe her, too. Not to say that he and Lucy weren't still held at arm's length, but he'd been there long enough to know that both staff and students tended to almost reflexively operate on a 'need to know' policy. Given that it was applied equally to everyone, he really couldn't get mad about it.
Though he suspected that they'd get mad if they discovered him or Lucy hiding things from them.
He knew Lucy still felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of informing on her former partners in crime, but true to Amy's word, she'd been mostly asked to explain how such people thought, and occasionally been called upon to help deal with one of her former competitors. He had no idea how Amy was managing to keep the DEBS from asking for anything more then that, and she refused to say.
Of course, she was a spy, herself, so it wasn't really a surprise. But since neither he nor Lucy wanted to take a chance of disrupting things and causing that influence to be removed, they didn't press her on the subject. In this one case, they agreed that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
"Huh. Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough," Amy said with a little shrug. "Meet us later for lunch? We'll probably have something to tell you about it by then. And if this is a team thing, we can probably convince Janet to come along."
"You don't need to bribe me with that," he said, smiling reflexively. "But you're on."
Amy chuckled again as she and Lucy headed back out
And that ominous feeling from earlier in the day, that there was something her subconscious was trying to figure out but couldn't, continued buzzing about the edges of her brain.
I had meant to work on one of my other stories next, really I had, but sometimes you've got to strike while the iron's hot, you know? ;) Oh, and since I know I didn't really describe Lucy and Amy's new house at all, I managed to track down some pictures. (And hopefully this will make up for the fact that you're not getting new pics of the cast, at least not yet. You already know what they look like, after all, both from The Pretender and the D.E.B.S. movie... not to mention Pantheon itself.)
Next time - We drop in on the new Sector One team, and learn that not everything is as sunny as it could be. Also, the DEBS puzzle over a string of mysterious thefts.
Title: Prometheus Unbound (1/?)
Author: That'd be me. *grins* Andrew, Obsidian, call me what you want. But only if it's nice. ;)
Rating: R (C'mon, it's a sequel to Pantheon. What did you expect? ;) )
Comments: At long last, it's finally here. ^_^ Hopefully you'll like this one as much as you did Pantheon, if not more so. Now, there is going to be a third fandom included this time around, but, as before, I'm not telling you what it is, yet. You'll find out soon enough, don't worry.
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own 'D.E.B.S.', as I am not Angela Robinson. I also don't own 'The Pretender' (which was created by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle). Nor do I own .
Chapter One
Doctor Jeffrey Gold observed the girl sitting in the plush chair on the other side of his desk with interest. He knew precious little about her beyond the fact that her first name was Amy, she'd recently escaped from some mysterious people who had clearly mistreated her in some fashion, and she was proving to be one of the hardest nuts to crack he'd ever been presented with.
She stared back at him with a pleasant expression, which barely seemed to flicker no matter what he asked. She was unfailingly polite, open, and spoke with complete honesty.
And she hadn't actually answered a single question he'd asked.
A few times - such as when he'd asked her what her birthday was - she genuinely hadn't seemed to know the answer, and he'd gotten the impression that she was frustrated by that lack of knowledge. The rest of the time, though, he had to wonder if she was treating this like some kind of game: How many questions could she answer without actually telling him anything before he caught on?
When he asked her about it, though, she looked back at him in confusion, wondering what he was talking about.
He rose from his chair to get something from the filing cabinet off to the side. As he was turning back, he could have sworn he saw a small blurr of motion pass through his peripheral vision. "What was that?" he asked as he returned to his seat.
"What was what?" she replied, eyebrow raised.
He paused, then shook his head with a slight sigh. As he did so, he noticed that the Mr. Potato Head he kept on his desk to entertain some of his younger patients was gone. "Amy, where's Mr. Potato Head?"
Her face screwed up in confusion. "Where's Mr. what?" There was a screech of tires outside his open window, followed by an irate honking of several horns. Amy looked idly toward the window, but made no move to get up and investigate. Since they were on the 14th floor of the office building, traffic sounds weren't usually a problem, so whatever was going on down on the street went largely ignored.
Thinking that perhaps she simply hadn't known what it was called, he said, "It's a children's toy. It consists of a plastic model of a potato, which can be decorated with attachable plastic parts, such as a mustache, hat and nose, to make a face."
She stared at him for a long moment, then replied, "You didn't have one."
He blinked. "Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't," she insisted, looking both baffled and certain. Tilting her head a bit, he asked, "Are you feeling all right, Doctor?"
He was beginning to wonder. "I'm fine, thank you, Amy." He decided to set the question of the missing toy aside for another time. "It would really help if you could tell me more about where you were before Michael and Diane found you," he told her, trying to get the conversation back on track. Or on track in the first place.
"I can't see how."
That, he decided, might have been the single most truthful thing she'd said to him the entire session. "Amy, I can't help you if you don't let me."
"I didn't ask for your help."
"Perhaps not, but if you want to stay with Michael and Diane, you'll need it." He watched her digest that for a moment, then asked, "Is that what you want?"
She seemed to momentarily have trouble with the question. "What do I want?" she wondered, barely audible, as if that were an utterly alien concept. The question clearly hadn't been meant for him.
She was silent for almost two full minutes as she thought it over. "I... Yes, I do," she decided.
He nodded. "All right, then." Good, they were finally making progress. "Can you tell me-"
"I don't want to talk about it," she said flatly, cutting him off. Absently, she reached up and plucked a Rubik's Cube from his crowded desktop, turned it over in her hand a few times as if puzzled by it, then absently began fiddling with it, her gaze returning to him. "And it doesn't matter."
"Amy, from what I hear, you've been suffering from nightmares," he began, but again she interrupted.
"They're nothing new. I can handle them. You couldn't help me, anyway."
"Why not?"
"What's happened has happened. You can't change that, neither can I." And no girl her age should have had an expression like that on her face. Serious and resigned, as if the very concept of innocence had been torn horribly away at a very young age, leaving behind someone who probably wouldn't have really understood the meaning of the word 'childhood'. "My dreams don't have any hidden meaning to decipher. They just are. All I can do is try and move on with my life, and let time do what it can." She put the Cube back on his desk, then folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, regarding him steadily.
He had to admit to being unsettled. Whatever she'd been through in the past, Amy clearly had a better handle on it then most - if not all - of his adult patients would have. And yet, unless he was very much mistaken, he could sense a lingering anger in her, directed at whomever it was that she'd escaped from. Something that said that no matter how much time went by, she would not forget what had happened.
Before he could figure out how to respond to that, his eyes rested on the Rubik's Cube. It took him a moment to register what he was seeing, then he picked it up and looked at it in surprise.
Aside from her initial examination of it, she hadn't looked at it once. Despite that, however, she'd managed to solve it in a matter of seconds.
"How did you do that?" he asked, voice somewhere between surprised and impressed.
She shrugged. "I figured the basic idea was to get all the squares on each side to match."
"Yes, but... I've never seen anyone solve this so quickly! I have patients who can't even get one side done."
Something that might have been concern flickered through her eyes, there and gone so quickly that he wasn't sure if he'd really seen it or not. "Just lucky, I guess."
This time he fixed her with the raised eyebrow. "I think there's more to it then that, isn't there?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "Amy, would you be willing to take a few tests?"
She tensed. "Why?"
"Well, if we get a better idea of your IQ and skill levels in reading, math, and other such subjects, we'll have a better idea of what grade to start you in at school." He paused. "Do you want to go to school?" One of the few things he was fairly certain of by then was that she didn't especially like the idea of being forced into things, and that being able to make her own choices - while evidently a new concept to her - was important.
She looked at him blankly. "School? Grade?"
It took him a few minutes to try and explain the American education system to her, and she'd seemed mildly confused by the differences between junior high school and senior high, as well as why some colleges were colleges, while others were universities. She'd also seemed wary when he'd told her about the teachers and their function, but relaxed when he showed her a picture of a typical classroom.
"What's holding them there?" she asked quizzically.
"What do you mean?" That was an odd choice of words.
"What happens if they want to leave? Or just... not show up at all?"
"They'd probably get a detention." At her blank look, he added, "The teacher would make them stay after school for a short time. Too many of those can lead to a suspension." Before she could ask, he said, "They'd be forced to stay at home, away from school."
Her eyes widened. "That's a punishment?"
He chuckled. "Some students might not think so, but homework doesn't stop piling up just because they're not there to get it, and if they miss any tests... Keep in mind, grade levels are important. If you don't pass, you'll end up having to go to summer school, or repeat the year. And then there's parental disapproval. Being grounded, loss of privelages, loss of allowence... Those can also be strong motivators for students."
"But if they didn't want to be there... They could go?"
"They wouldn't be physically restrained, if that's what you mean." That she even had to ask - and keep asking - a question like that spoke volumes about the kind of life she'd lead before she'd found the Bradshaws. Or they'd found her.
She didn't seem to know what to do with that idea, so he pressed on. "School is also an important social environment. It's a place where children can interact with interact with others of their age groups, and make friends."
"Peer grouping," she muttered under her breath, seeming to turn inward for a second as she remembered something. "That... sounds interesting. I think I'd like to stick with people my own age, though."
Which implied that she, at least, thought her IQ was likely high enough to shoot her several grades ahead of her peers.
Looking at the Rubik's Cube, he thought she might just be right. And considering how much she obviously had to learn aside from textbook knowledge, that might just be the best thing for her. "All right. We can hold off on the testing for now, but I would like you to consider taking them in the future, just so you and the Bradshaws will know how best to proceed with your education."
She smiled fleetingly. "I doubt that will be necessary, but I'll keep it in mind," she told him, as if she already knew what her IQ level was, and just didn't feel like sharing. Then, a bit more hesitantly, she asked, "So, does this mean you'll let me stay with them?"
"Ultimately, it's up to a judge, not me. But I will speak in favor of it, and if all goes well, I don't see why he'd say no."
She paused a moment as she assimilated that, then favored him with a small but genuinely honest smile.
"Thank you."
Amy Bradshaw sat on the back porch of her - their - new house, watching the sun rise.
Part of her wanted nothing more then to climb back into bed with Lucy, but she knew from experience that once the dreams had forced her awake like that, she was up for the day.
She had, at least, managed to avoid waking Lucy up as well. There was no reason for both of them to be sleep-deprived. Besides, she was trained to operate on much less sleep then Lucy was.
Her nightmares had been fewer and farther between of late, which she decided was a combination of Lucy's reassuring presence - even in her sleep, Amy felt safer in her arms - and the fact that The Centre was gone. That didn't completely stop her brain from serving up heaping helpings of nightmares, of course, but it was progress. A step in the right direction.
What left her puzzled, though, was the fact that last night's dreams hadn't been that bad. They hadn't even been all that upsetting, really. She'd remembered her first appointment with Dr. Gold, which she'd been trying to focus on as she watched the sun slowly creep up over the trees surrounding their property when it had become clear that the sunrise alone wasn't cutting it.
She'd also dreamed about Tomoko.
That in and of itself was somewhat unusual. Not that her old friend had never been featured in her mental home movies, but it had been a while. And it had been even longer since it had happened with such clarity.
They'd just talked. Well, she'd talked, mainly, Tomoko saying there really wasn't anything new going on with her because of 'well, you know'.
She hadn't known, not really, but she'd forgotten just how nice it was to talk to Tomoko about... well, anything, really. She'd been a bit hesitant to bring up Lucy, but Tomoko had been nothing but supportive and happy for her.
She'd woken up with a meloncholy feeling that she just couldn't shake. That and a feeling of pervasive dread that she didn't understand had finally driven her from Lucy's side before her tossing and turning woke her girlfriend up.
The end of the dream was a bit fuzzy, leading her to wonder if that wasn't the problem. Maybe part of her was worried that she'd missed something important. Which was foolish, really. If her subconscious wanted to conjure up dreams about one of her childhood friends, how could she miss something that was being said by her own brain?
Oh, she was going to give herself a headache at this rate.
Preoccupied as she was, she was still aware of the screen door opening behind her and Lucy coming out onto the porch behind her. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"
Lucy smiled as she planted a kiss on the blonde's head. "Nah, that was more me needing to use the bathroom." She came around the chair and dropped herself onto Amy's lap. "Mind if I join you?"
Amy beamed at her. "Of course not, you know that!"
Lucy placed another gentle kiss on her forehead. "You don't have to do that, you know. It's just us here."
Amy looked at her for a long moment, before something that might have been gratitude flashed through her eyes, and her wide smile melted away. She let out a breath, allowing herself to sink down into her chair a little more as her features settled into a more neutral expression. "Thank you," she murmured, and the smile she gave Lucy might have been much smaller, but it was also real.
Lucy didn't mind. She knew Amy tended to put on something of a front around other people, and she appreciated that Amy felt she could drop the mask around her. And if she sometimes needed to be reminded to do so... then so be it. "Wanna talk about it?"
With anyone else, Amy might have been able to pretend she didn't know what they were talking about, but that didn't work with Lucy anymore. "Nothing to really talk about," she said with a small shrug. "No nightmares, just... memories."
Memories that had left her feeling more sad then anything, if Lucy was any judge. As such, she had her suspicions what - or rather, who, given Amy's reluctance to talk about it - had been in them. She wouldn't press, though. She'd gotten over any lingering jealousy she might have had toward Tomoko's memory some time ago.
Amy had thrown on a soft chiffon bathrobe before coming outside - she'd had to, since neither of them typically ended up wearing any clothing to bed, and anything they might have worn always ended up being discarded by the other - and she smiled as Lucy's hands began slipping underneath it as if by sheer reflex. Lucy's own robe was a medium blue, and Amy had been forced to hide a snicker when Lucy had bought it, claiming it was meant to soften the transition from the blue and/or plaid environment of the academy.
Construction of their house had only been completed several days ago - it had taken longer then usual due to the somewhat... esoteric "extras" that Amy had insisted on; there were bunkers that didn't have as many defenses as their house - but she loved it already. It wasn't her dream home, mainly because she'd never let herself have such a dream, but it was as close to perfect as she could imagine. It was technically outside of Los Angeles proper, but not quite in the suburbs, either. Amy had found a wooded area outside the city, bought up a not inconsiderable amount of it, and drawn up plans for the construction people that Lucy knew. She'd also "accidentally" forgotten to tell her bosses exactly where her new house was, because she wanted her privacy, and she knew that Lucy felt the same.
That was why, even after they moved out of it, Lucy hadn't gotten rid of her still secret (formerly) Evil Lair. Just in case.
Not that either of them were at all paranoid or anything.
"So, what do you wanna do today?" Amy asked, feeling herself relax as Lucy's touch drifted across her stomach and sides, draining away any residual tension she might have had. The sun finally began clearing the horizon, bathing the area in a golden glow. Her breath caught as she stared up at Lucy, backlit in such a way as to make her look like the angel she most certainly was not. Last night had certainly proved that, Amy thought, a grin forming on her face despite herself.
"Not sure, yet." They'd been given a couple days off to settle into their new house (once they finally let on that it was finished), so barring an emergency they had the weekend to themselves. "I wouldn't mind checking on Scud, make sure he's being treated all right while I'm away."
Amy blinked. "Why would he not be? I thought you said things were going better, now." Despite all the help they'd given in taking down The Centre, and Amy's own endorsement of them, there had been a fair number of DEBS that had resented Lucy and Scud not only being pardoned, but also working alongside them, now. The higher-ups had done what they could to keep interaction between the pair and any disgruntled agents to a minimum, and no one dared say anything while Amy was anywhere nearby, but the first month or so had been rough.
"They are, they are," Lucy agreed. "But still... Old habits die hard, you know? Besides, I haven't seen him in a few days."
And she was used to seeing him every day. "Okay," Amy said easily, pulling Lucy down for a kiss... which went on for a good three minutes longer then she'd meant it to. "Um..." she said once Lucy pulled back, trying to reboot her brain. "He's, ah, at the academy today, right? We could say 'hi' to Mister P. while we're there."
"Works for me." Lucy grinned at Amy's momentary befuddlement. It was an amazing feeling, having power like that over such an incredible woman. And of everyone in the DEBS, outside of Amy's own squad, Phipps had treated her - and Scud - with the most respect. He was a good and decent man, as well as intelligent and caring, and she could see why Amy was so fond of him.
Her grin widened. "First things first, though," she all but purred as she began unbelting Amy's robe.
"What? You didn't get enough last night?" Amy asked, amused. Despite her question, though, she was making no move to stop her.
"Of you? That's something I'll never be able to do." Amy felt her face flush, but before long her blood was heading to other parts of her body.
This, she decided, had to be the best way to start the day ever.
**********************************************
Amy was a little surprised to see so many students wandering around the campus already, since classes didn't actually start until Monday. Sure, they might have moved into the dorms, but given that the academic buildings generally weren't open to the students - especially the new students - until the school year began...
Well, there was nothing that said they couldn't be on campus, she supposed. And some of the older students - mainly the seniors - may well have had business to attend to.
In fact, one such (obviously distracted) student almost walked right into them as she exited the building they were going into before she saw them, her face lighting up in one of her trademarked sunny smiles. "Oh, hey! What are you doing here?"
Amy had to smile back. It was almost impossible not to, with her. "Hey, Raquel. Just stopping by to check on a couple things."
The new squad leader of Sector 1 nodded. "Well, I won't keep you."
They could spare a few minutes, though, Amy decided. "How have you been, anyway?"
She hesitated. "We're good, for the most part," she said, either accidentally or deliberately misunderstanding the question. "Bethany's still a bit... Anyway, we're good."
Evidently, Bethany must have felt more strongly for her boyfriend then she'd let on. Momentarily, Amy debated on setting aside some time later on to talk to her, then rejected the idea. She had her own team to turn toif she needed it. "Good to hear. But how are you, personally?"
Raquel shifted uncomfortably. "I'm all right. I'm... better I'd been just... having a bad day."
Lucy frowned in confusion. "Huh?"
If anything, her presence just seemed to make Raquel's embarrassment grow. "I really do appreciate you finding it for me," she said to Amy, absently fingering the slim metal band around her wrist. "And... if I said or did anything in my sleep that might have... Well, I was asleep, so I didn't know you were you, and... Look, I'm just... sorry. And thank you, really." Unable to take any more being stared at, she all but fled down the walkway.
"What the hell was she talking about?" Lucy asked, baffled.
Amy felt a smile spreading across her face as something finally clicked. "I'll tell you later."
As it turned out, Scud wasn't the only one they found down in the tech center. "Hey, Broots," she called with a grin as they walked into the room. She was relieved to see that he'd finally begun to stop jumping everytime someone called his name. Being away from Miss Parker and the others at The Centre seemed to be doing him a world of good.
He blinked up at her, then smiled tentatively. "Hey, Amy. What are you doing here?"
She nodded over toward where Lucy and Scud were conversing quietly, then replied, "Slumming." As expected, this elicited mock-outraged objections from the other techs present, a few in the form of crumpled up pieces of paper tossed at her. She chuckled, then added, "Seriously, though, it's good to see you're doing so well here."
"Thank you. And I really do appreciate you getting me a job here-"
She held up a hand, cutting him off. "It wasn't a problem, really. Besides, I'd say you earned it." And even though it hadn't been a consideration when she'd gotten the job for him, she was glad that Scud would have someone else around who'd been recruited from the other side. "You just keep up the good work, and we'll call it even." She started to head over to where Lucy and Scud were, then paused and added, "Oh, and say hi to Debbie for me." She wasn't old enough to take the SATs yet, but from what Amy had seen of her in her visits, she suspected that Broots's daughter would not be offered a position at the academy, which was just fine with her father, Amy was certain. She did still stop by occasionally, though, which no one really objected to.
Really, with a name like that, how could the DEBS not like her?
She heard more about how Scud was doing from Janet then Scud himself, mainly because Janet was, well, Janet. The two of them were still taking things slowly, but from what Amy could tell, they had nothing to worry about. They were made for each other.
Unfortunately, she thought with a mental sigh as she recalled the encounter she'd had just outside the building, not everyone could see that sort of thing.
It was a little depressing to think that there was nothing she could do about that, either, but she knew that trying would only make things worse.
She tuned back into the conversation as Scud said, "I think Phipps is going to want to talk to you two later."
She frowned. "Mister P.? Why?" Not that she objected at all to the idea of talking to him - she had, after all, intended on doing just that later on anyway - but from the way Scud said it, it sounded like had something work-related to discuss with them. And not only were they technically still off-duty, but since Amy's team had graduated, they didn't get their assignments from Phipps anymore.
Scud shrugged. "If anybody knows, they haven't told me."
"Well, this is a school for spies," Amy told him with a slight smile. "Keeping secrets is kind of what we do. It's nothing personal against you, believe me."
"Oh, I know." And he did believe her, too. Not to say that he and Lucy weren't still held at arm's length, but he'd been there long enough to know that both staff and students tended to almost reflexively operate on a 'need to know' policy. Given that it was applied equally to everyone, he really couldn't get mad about it.
Though he suspected that they'd get mad if they discovered him or Lucy hiding things from them.
He knew Lucy still felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of informing on her former partners in crime, but true to Amy's word, she'd been mostly asked to explain how such people thought, and occasionally been called upon to help deal with one of her former competitors. He had no idea how Amy was managing to keep the DEBS from asking for anything more then that, and she refused to say.
Of course, she was a spy, herself, so it wasn't really a surprise. But since neither he nor Lucy wanted to take a chance of disrupting things and causing that influence to be removed, they didn't press her on the subject. In this one case, they agreed that what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
"Huh. Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough," Amy said with a little shrug. "Meet us later for lunch? We'll probably have something to tell you about it by then. And if this is a team thing, we can probably convince Janet to come along."
"You don't need to bribe me with that," he said, smiling reflexively. "But you're on."
Amy chuckled again as she and Lucy headed back out
And that ominous feeling from earlier in the day, that there was something her subconscious was trying to figure out but couldn't, continued buzzing about the edges of her brain.
I had meant to work on one of my other stories next, really I had, but sometimes you've got to strike while the iron's hot, you know? ;) Oh, and since I know I didn't really describe Lucy and Amy's new house at all, I managed to track down some pictures. (And hopefully this will make up for the fact that you're not getting new pics of the cast, at least not yet. You already know what they look like, after all, both from The Pretender and the D.E.B.S. movie... not to mention Pantheon itself.)
Next time - We drop in on the new Sector One team, and learn that not everything is as sunny as it could be. Also, the DEBS puzzle over a string of mysterious thefts.