ic Feels Like Yesterday

[RocketLord]

"Yeah." Business cards were old fashioned? "Old stuff..." Ghost shook his head and muttered "but I like business cards..." to himself, before pocketing it with a sigh.

 

He thought it over a bit. That sounded like a lot of work, to be honest. And a lot of luck. Not something he usually got a whole lot of. He almost wanted to ask, but... nah. It'd just make things weird.

 

"Eh, I dunno. Sometimes its like I'm just the same dumb kid that made a mistake and wanted to make sure I didn't make another, just doing my best." Ghost groaned slightly, scratching his neck with a free hand. "Other times, I dunno... Seems like everything's going faster and stronger all the time, y'know? Like everything's just going a bit more all the time, and I just gotta adapt with it. Doing my best, at least." 

 

He let out a laugh.

 

"But, c'mon, I'm just a friendly neighborhood Ghost. You're on the freaking Freedom League. Talk about a million miles from where you started."

[Electra]

"You've been making a difference in this town for longer than most of the heroes I know, and you're still at it," Fleur pointed out, her voice warmer now. "It sounds to me like the best you can do is good enough. It doesn't matter how much raw power somebody has if they aren't there and using it when the need arises, right?" She blew out a breath. "There is so much need out there, big and small, so many people who are hurting, so much trouble to deal with... I may have a lot of power over plants, but some days it doesn't feel like more than a drop in the bucket. Knowing that there are other heroes out there working and helping? It matters a lot more than you might think," she admitted. 

 

She was quiet for a moment. "You know, if you want to apply to the Aux League, I think you should," she finally said. "I honestly couldn't tell you if there are openings right now or who they might be looking for, but they'll keep you on file. Frost and I may not get along," she added with a faint, sardonic smile, "but he's good at spotting talent and finding people who can work together. And he's been around since World War II, he knows something about sticking with the gig even when it's hard." 

[RocketLord]

Casper froze. She saw right through him, didn't she? 

 

"I guess I'm that easy to read, huh?" 

 

He shrugged.

 

"I dunno. I don't really know if I'm team material at all, y'know. Besides, I bet there's all kinds of responsibilities, team meetings and everything."

 

He probably shouldn't do it. It'd be weird. Showing up to something like that, they'd probably turn him away anyway. Or someone would call him a villain around that time and it'd be bad publicity or something. 

[Electra]

"Not too many meetings," Fleur promised with a smile. "Honestly a few more emails than I'd like sometimes, but we're all too busy to be carving out a lot of time to just talk. And the responsibilities..." She shrugged. "You wouldn't be out here if you didn't already feel that. The League is just another layer, knowing that people are watching you and expecting you to save the day. The Freedom League gives people hope and helps prevent panic during emergencies, but you do feel it right in your gut when you step into a situation and know everybody's looking at you to fix it. That's where the 'team' thing comes in handy."

 

She opened another flower, like the other one except a brilliant blue this time, and fished around til she came up with a pen and a pad of post-it notes. The first pen was dry, so she lobbed it into the trash can and pulled out another one. "I have got to organize this thing," she muttered. The second pen worked enough that she could scribble down a name and phone number. "Here, if you do decide to apply, this is Comrade Frost's number. It'll save you about seventeen phone trees on the Freedom League's public number. Just don't be weirded out by the way he talks like Boris Badenov. It's kind of his thing."

[RocketLord]

"Huh." Comrade Frost, then? Yeah, alright. He could give him a call. Casper would probably be turned away, but what the hell.

 

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll... try to figure out what to do. At least the kid would probably think it'd be cool if I was in the League." Now he was feeling all weird. Just meeting Fleur here and she was already helping him out like this. Casper didn't even know he wanted to try to join the League until this talk.

 

"Oh, yeah, Frost's that Russian ice guy, right? What's his deal, anyway? Got bit a by a radioactive freezer or something? Too many winters in Siberia in his youth?" Ghost shuddered a bit. "I don't really do too well with cold. Ever hear about Freezeburn? He... left kind of an impression." Yeah. Those fights had all been bad. Freezeburn liked to freeze people solid, then break them. Laughing all the while. Always found a way to break out, too.

[Electra]

"Frost is a mystically powered thermovore," Stesha explained, toeing the company line for how much they talked about where Frost's creepy powers came from. "He sucks the warmth out of things and uses it to power himself. It's a little funny because it means he actually hates the cold places where you'd expect him to be happy. He loves tropical places, the warmer the better." She grimaced. "As you might expect, having him around too much is hell on my plants!"

 

The mention of Freezeburn got an even deeper grimace. "I've never met him myself, but I've heard of him. I believe the last I heard was that he's in the maximum security wing at Blackstone with nullifying cuffs on. Definitely the place he belongs." She gave a little shudder. "Most villains are bad, some are truly awful, and some are just creepy. Blackstone seems to get its full share of that last group. I never like going down there." 

[RocketLord]

"Yeah. With heat lamps everywhere, just in case the cuffs fail." Ghost paused. No, creepy was probably not quite strong enough to describe Freezeburn. Horrible would probably be better. "I've been allowed into Blackstone a few times to make sure he's still there. Been a while, but, y'know... better safe than sorry, right?" He shuddered. Last time he stopped Freezeburn had been bad. He really didn't need a repeat of that. Ever.

 

"Herr comrade sounds downright cuddly compared to Freezeburn, to be honest." He let out a short laugh. Oh yes, that was what he needed after thinking of Freezeburn. "Now I can't get the image of Frost in flower print shorts hanging out in the sun by a beach out of my head."

Edited March 7, 2021 by RocketLord

[Electra]

"Oh, it's a sight that sticks with you," Stesha assured him with a chuckle. "He really does like warm weather and the ocean. We don't have a lot of League social functions for the same reason that we don't have a lot of League business meetings, but when people let their hair down, so to speak," she added, given her own noteworthy tresses, "it can get pretty exciting! Sometimes it's nice to just spend a little leisure time with people who don't even blink if you use your powers for something silly or mundane." She paused on that thought for a minute. Maybe she ought to try holding some get-togethers for heroes, maybe on Sanctuary, or just some isolated spot on Earth. It had been a long time since Ace had thrown a big party, and a Christmas get-together once a year for certain heroes really wasn't that much. It would be a logistical challenge, but there might be ways around that. Something to think about... 

[RocketLord]

"Uh, I dunno. Might be fun, but people tend to get weirded out when I walk through things instead of around them, y'know." 

 

He chuckled a bit to himself, then shook his head.

 

"Ah, my wife used to hate that... Didn't mind the flying, at least."

[Electra]

"Yeah, the whole insubstantial partner thing can be a little strange until you get used to it." Fleur's smile became perhaps just a little strained at that, her voice a little bit forced. It was gone again a second later. "I think having other heroes to connect with is good for everyone. Even if you have plenty of friends in your civilian life, there's something about having people around who understand what it's like. And that's even without the benefit of having people to count on if there's trouble and you find yourself needing backup! I can't count the number of times I've thought I was dealing with a normal night's work and ended up finding a bigger bad than I expected." She laughed. "Or conversely, there've been a couple of times I expected to find something big and bad and found kids making a movie or somebody with illusion powers they wanted to show off. Those nights you just get to go home early!" 

[RocketLord]

"Oh. Right. You used to be together with that guy... what was his name... something-star? He could do something like this, right?" Ghost noticed the strain, then quickly shut up. "Right. Sorry."

 

He stretched his arms above his head, his back making an audible cracking sound.

 

"Yeah, I guess I haven't been as active in the community as I could've been. Done a bit too much of the lone hero thing. Just sorta fell into it, I guess." He laughed at the bit about kids making movies or showing off illusion powers. "Or some kid in way over his head that get the idea that he'll be the world's next super villain. Those are interesting."

[Electra]

"Dark Star," Fleur agreed faintly. "But that was a long time ago." She looked happy to grab hold of the new topic. "The teenagers are so unpredictable!' she agreed. "My first impulse is always to try and get them turned around, but you have to figure out first if it's a trauma response or they're just going through that rebellious phase, or if they're being groomed by an adult villain or exactly what else might be happening." She sighed. "Honestly the teen heroes are a very mixed bag too, but at least they've got a good school helping them go in the right direction. They're just all so young!" Her smile now was rueful. "My daughter is already agitating to be on a hero team and she's not even in middle school. I put my foot down on that! Claremont won't let them patrol til they're at least sixteen, that's something anyway." 

[RocketLord]

Ghost froze for a moment, just standing completely still and staring into the distance.

 

"... y'know, i didn't even consider that the kid might get powers..." 

 

Groaning, he sat down on the air and buried his face in his hands. 

 

"Sheesh, she's only gonna turn 7 this year. How do you even deal with something like that? Guessing your's takes after her mom?"

[Electra]

"She takes after both," Fleur told him with a sympathetic look. "Plant control and gravity control. It's... kind of a challenge sometimes, to be honest. Her plant powers manifested when she was just a baby, the rest of it is developing more slowly as she gets bigger. There's an elementary school in Freedom City for powered children; it's very good about teaching them control and ethics and all those extra things they need to know on top of the reading and 'rithmetic." She studied him for a moment. "You could get her tested," she finally suggested. "It's not foolproof, but there are places that can scan for latent powers and see if she's got potential. A lot of children don't exhibit any powers until puberty or later, which is why the high school is bigger, but at least you'd have a heads up. Has she ever done anything, ah, unusual?" 

[RocketLord]

"Plant gravity? How's that work? She makes grass heavy?" There was a bit of a laugh to his voice at the bad joke.

 

Get Carrie tested?

 

It might be a good idea, but would Jessie like that? Probably not. Casper had considered that Carrie might inherit his powers or something like them some day, but they had never really talked about it.

 

"Sounds like a good idea. Not sure what her mom'll say about it, she kind of wanted to get away from all the crazy."

 

Anything weird?

 

"Eh, I dunno. Not really living together anymore, so I don't see her as much as I'd like. Wasn't anything back then, but if anything's happened, my ex haven't told me." He paused. "That came out wrong. She'd tell me if anything happened."

[Electra]

"It might still be good to ask," Fleur offered. "I can understand wanting to get away from the craziness, but if craziness is bound to happen eventually, she might be happier if she gets a heads-up that it's on the way." She took out another post it note, consulted the phone she kept in a holster on her belt, and then scribbled down another number. "That's the main office for the Nicholson School. If you do want testing, they'll be able to help you get set up. And they also have a staff social worker with experience in talking to parents who are, mm, not quite prepared to deal with a child with powers." She passed him the second slip of paper. "So far my Amaryllis is still mostly doing plant control, but she can fly now, and drop a tiny little flower that hits like a fifty-pound boulder when it lands. Nicholson doesn't do combat training, thankfully, but I imagine she'll find lots of uses for powers like that when she's older." 

[RocketLord]

"Thanks."

 

Huh. He'd heard about Nicholson before, but actually getting the numbers would be useful. They probably should get Carrie tested, just in case... No matter what else Jessie might be thinking about him now, they could probably agree that they didn't want a kid running through walls.

 

"So, uh, no combat training. That's great, I guess. Don't want kids beating up other kids, right? So, they teach power control? Like how to turn it off, too?" He shrugged. "If they can, I mean. Took some training before I stopped falling through the floor whenever I started ghosting, and well, fifty pound flowers sound kinda dangerous, y'know?"

[Electra]

"Oh yeah, control is basically the first and most important part of power training," Stesha assured him. "Some of the little-littles end up in private tutoring until they get a handle on whatever they're doing enough to be sure that they won't hurt themselves or anybody else, but the kindergarten teacher has power-nullifying abilities just in case, and there's never been a serious incident." It was entirely possible that Stesha's idea of serious incident would not match up with that of parents used to a more mundane world, but nobody had been badly hurt, psychologically scarred or killed, so at the end of the day it wasn't too serious. "And lucky for us, Ammy's gravity control is something she only does when she wants, so it stays in training or the bee meadows. They think it's very funny when she makes the flowers float. How old were you when you got your powers?" 

[RocketLord]

Control. Right. That was good. No need to put anyone in danger if Carrie did get powers. Like herself.

 

"That's good. I remember rescuing a kid some years back, she had this weird thing where she put everyone in a shared dream, couldn't control it, everyone running from nightmares. Vicky or something like that. I think she was sent to Nicholson. I've wanted to check in on her a few times, but, y'know, it'd be weird."

 

How old?

 

Huh. He didn't expect that question.

 

"Older than those kids, at least. Must've been... 14 or 15? Something like that, I think. Didn't know anything about Claremont, so kinda did my own thing."

[Electra]

"That must have been scary," Stesha mused sympathetically. "Especially if you had trouble holding your shape at first. I've been so glad that there are schools here for this generation of kids at least, they won't have it as hard. I count myself lucky that I got my powers in my twenties, but even then the first few months were kind of wild!" She considered the question of Vicki for a moment. The name and description weren't familiar, but there were a lot of children who passed through the school. "Nicholson is pretty closed-mouthed with information about their students," she told him, "but it couldn't hurt to ask, especially if you can verify it was you who helped rescue her in the first place." She smiled. "Or maybe you'll see her turn up on one of the teen hero teams one of these days." 

[RocketLord]

"At first, I guess. Got the hang of it pretty quick, at least. Now it's weird not to be able to walk through walls."

 

Ghost shrugged.

 

"Not like I really wanted to be a hero at first, but, y'know, stuff happens."

 

He didn't really feel the need to go into further details than that.

 

"Y'know, I probably should go ask, yeah. Just kinda made me feel like like a creepy stalker or something, y'know?"

[Electra]

"I'm sure that even if they can't give you an update on her, they wouldn't think you're a creepy stalker," Fleur reassured him. "It's only natural to want to see if things turned out all right for someone you helped. You know how often we only get to see a tiny slice of somebody's story, usually the worst or scariest part. It's just nice when you can occasionally see the happy afterwards." Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she looked down to see Ammy's goodnight check in. It was a tradition, no matter what adventure Stesha was on or where Amaryllis was visiting, one text to say goodnight. Smiling, she texted back with a line of kiss and hug emojis, also traditional. "It's later than I realized. Time zones always mess me up." 

[RocketLord]

"Yeeeah, starting to get late." Ghost planted his feet on the ground and stretched his arms above his head. "I should probably get ready for the night shift anyway."

 

"Thanks for the talk, anyway. It's nice with some company every now and again. I'll think about the things we talked about. Maybe I'll give Frost a call too."

[Electra]

"You really ought to," Fleur encouraged with a smile. She stood up herself, sighing at how the cold had stiffened her muscles. She might not be getting any older physically, but cold weather still didn't do her any favors. A hot bath was definitely in order for the evening, along with a little soak under her favorite sunlamp. "It was very nice to meet you, Ghost. I'm glad we ran into each other tonight. I hope things turn out well for you and your daughter." 

[RocketLord]

"Likewise. Kinda feel like I'm the one that got the most outta this meeting, but, eh... Thanks for the help and numbers." 

 

Ghost looked up, his feet leaving the ground as he started floating up. He had placed his goggles on again. He probably should go home and sleep, but... quiet night or not, somebody might need his help.

 

"Gotta get back to it, I guess. Let me know if you ever need help with anything, alright?"