Not at home

[Hannah]

I don't know. I wish my dad was here.

[Technocrat]

Yeah.

So do I.

He's the type of guy that guys like me look up to at times like this.

[Mordred]

Um. Who the hell are you?

Anyway, I was just saying to HANNAH, to watch herself because it is easy for someone with the right skills to find her.

I don't know jack about computers, Derik is our tech guy. So take a chill pill pal.

Who the hell am I?
I am your worst nightmare!
I run this site. As the kids of today say: "I am DA MAN!!!"

No your not. I know that Pendragon is in charge. Or is it Ron? Might be both. But I never heard of you and you have a bad guy name Mordy.

Anyway, what is this about Nemmy finally going postal? Did Not Ron get to him?

Ron is nothing here. and Pendragon? He gave up that throne.

[Kelly]

Who the hell am I?
I am your worst nightmare!
I run this site. As the kids of today say: "I am DA MAN!!!"

No your not. I know that Pendragon is in charge. Or is it Ron? Might be both. But I never heard of you and you have a bad guy name Mordy.

Anyway, what is this about Nemmy finally going postal? Did Not Ron get to him?

Ron is nothing here. and Pendragon? He gave up that throne.

I didn't vote for you

Long live Ronny Caliburn.

Come back to us soon Ron. We miss you.

[Holister]

Kell, stop picking on the kid and lets focus on the matter at hand.

Ron is still MIA

Hannah is probably in danger.

Nemmy has been possed by Not Ron (again, its not me for a change, go figure).

The investigation is falling apart at the seems and we are still no closer to solving this issue.

Whose in charge down there? What is the 411 on Nemmy's situation? Does anyone have a lead on Ron? Are we any closer to finding out who Not Ron is working with?

I swear if I wasn't buried in snow and my own affairs up here I would be on the next plane down to DC and take charge of this myself. I can't so come on guys, Ron & Hannah are depending on ya'll to pull their asses out of the fire.

[Clarity]

But not for this . . .this isn't some sort of arithmetic, this is a person's life.

Why do so many here jump to the idea of killing each other? My dad, Ben, Celeste, Bloodbane, Adama and a bunch of others - people debated if they should or shouldn't be killed for what they did or what they were.

But now we're talking about killing someone because they are a victim.

I thought we were supposed to be the good guys here.

_____I don’t know what you’re talking about Hannah, but I don’t think we should hurt each other, either. I try not to hurt people, but sometimes they still get hurt, even if I didn’t mean it.
_____P.S. Something strange happened that I am going to post, too. Somebody got hurt that I was supposed to save. I’ll tell you about it in a moment, okay?

[Cybermancer]

You know, I find it fascinating how people consistently "lose" it, and yet have just enough enough cognizance to post this kind of babble.

Think it's a trap of some kind?

Or, in skeptic's case, a call for help?

A cry for help in code, perhaps? The post in question mentions one twice and two once. The wording seems off as well yet makes a sort of sense.

babies

im drowning in fetal matter

i didnt murder them all

never concieved

except 1

just 1

must atone

find the 2

atone in their blood

for their sin

make them pay

for my sin

Missed Target,
One down,
One left,
Find the remaining two,
Avenge me.

That's what I'm getting from it, anyway.

[skeptic]

You know, I find it fascinating how people consistently "lose" it, and yet have just enough enough cognizance to post this kind of babble.

Think it's a trap of some kind?

Or, in skeptic's case, a call for help?

What about me?

[Holister]

Looks like we need another Nemmy.

[Hannah]

Ben! Be nice.

Nemesis tried to help me and ran into something that he wasn't prepared for. If you hadn't gotten snowed in it could just have easily been you this happened to.

[Grace]

Ben! Be nice.

Nemesis tried to help me and ran into something that he wasn't prepared for. If you hadn't gotten snowed in it could just have easily been you this happened to.

I shouldn't have went looking for trouble I knew I wasn't ready for. Could never be ready for.

But thanks for not tossing me under the bus.

Now, if I can just sneak past my protectors, I will be shortly on my way to see you.

[Hannah]

I'm not going to talk bad about a person who tried to help me, no matter what happened.

[Hannah]

I suppose I should tell you what happened Friday night – though the last time I talked about this stuff you all jumped at me. Don’t fault my guardian, they have just decided to have a little pity on a teenager stuck inside of a safe house for three weeks, getting bored and stir crazy.

We went back to the shelter and I helped again with the serving. Things were going okay and all until I looked up at the face of the guy I was serving soup too.

Peter!

I was so surprised I didn’t notice that I dumped most of a ladle of hot soup on his hand instead of in the bowl. He was so surprised that he didn’t notice either.

“Oh, sorry!”

Peter looked down then jerked his hand back, shaking off the soup and sucking the rest.

“Hey, lovebirds!!” came a voice from the back of the line Get a move on, some of us want to eat before the next ice age!!”

I looked down the line. “Sorry sir, we’ll get going.” I finished filling Peter’s bowl. “Stick around when you’re finished; as soon as I can take a break, we’ll talk.”

He nodded and smiled as he took his bowl. “I’d like that.”

…

It was about two hours later when the last of the soup ran out. I suppose I should have felt worse for the folks who missed out, but inside my heart was bumping around like two cats fighting in a sack.

I hadn’t seen a familiar face since Dad pushed me into that plane. I hadn’t seen Peter in almost three months. I’d missed him a lot before, but with three weeks just sitting alone, nobody to talk too . . . well I guess a part of me went from missing him to needing him.

I brought a couple of cups of coffee – not very good coffee mind, but it was hot and it was strong and that’s all that mattered to the people who came in off the street. I slid into the seat across from Peter and handed him the mug. “How’s the hand?”

“Oh, it’s fine, not even burnt.” He held up his hand to show me there was no evidence of damage to the smooth ebony skin.

“It’s good to see you.” We stared at each other for a moment before realizing we’d both just said the same thing at the same time.

I guess neither of us had laughed in a long time . . . or we both just really needed it. I’m sure we drew a lot of stares as we both cracked up for the next few minutes.

My sides ached, and my eyes were watering before I could stop long enough to pant out “What are you doing here?”

He became sombre immediately. “I thought I told you that in my email?”

A couple of things clicked into place and for the first time in almost a month, I knew where I was.

“I mean here, this shelter.”

“Oh, well the lead I was looking for didn’t pan out, so I’ve started heading back out of town, this is just the place I decided to sleep tonight.” He lifted up the mug and took a big gulp.

“Don’t you have a hotel?” I took a sip and immediately spit it back into the mug. The coffee was still way too hot for me.

“You okay?” He continued when I nodded. “I can’t afford one . . . I tried finding work, but it didn’t pan out. Besides, looking for the motherfucker who murdered my dad is a full time occupation.”

“Language.” I chided automatically. Peter smiled a little bit. It was a thing we’d done since hanging out at school.

“I wish you’d told me, I’m sure I could have gotten my dad to let you stay at my place.”

Peter arched an eyebrow.

“Okay, well I would have cried and made him feel really guilty about not letting you stay.” We both knew my dad thought Peter was nothing but trouble. My dad was wrong of course. Peter was a great friend as well as a whole lot of trouble.

Peter’s hand pressed mine against the side of the cup. “Are you doing okay?”

I took a moment, in the past Peter hand grasped my hand often, when spotting jumps or launching me over fences, but there was something different about this. Peter had always played the tough-guy . . . but him showing his sensitive side was different and I kinda liked it.

“No.” I couldn’t even fake pretence. “Within an hour of finding my mother I was bundled out of the state. You’re the first familiar face I’ve seen in three weeks and up until I saw you here, I didn’t even know which state I was in. My dad’s chasing after the killer, but nobody’s heard or seen him in three weeks either. There are people trying to help me, but one of them has gotten hurt or killed, I don’t know.”

I looked into Peter’s eyes and what I saw there caught me by surprise. He understood. Of course, he would, his mother, sister and father had all been murdered. Now he was on his own quest for the killer.

Still, there was more to it. I'm pretty sure if I had told him about monster hunters and paranormal investigation agencies and living nightmares and faerie princes and former vampires he would have been cool with that.

It’s nice having someone in your life that you can tell anything and they will believe you.

…

We talked for a long time, until my guardian wandered over to tell me it was time to go.

“I’d like to see you again.” It was more of a request really, but I was happy to hear Peter say it either way.

“I can’t tell you where I’m staying or where I will be or how to find me. There are people looking for me.”

He nodded. “Well I might stick around here for a while longer, maybe I’ll get lucky and run into you again.”

I smiled. “In that case, I hope you haven’t run across any black cats lately.”

I got up, collected the mugs and returned them to the kitchen before taking that snowy car ride back to the safe house.

[Grace]

I swear, you're going to be the death of me, Hannah.

[Doctor Boggs]

Alrighty, I don't know much about what's going on but that story don't sound right Hannah, the kid sounds fishy. I hope I'm wrong though, best of luck.

[Hannah]

I don’t think I’d ever spent so much time in front of the mirror in one go. I’m not sure why I was bothering. As soon as I got to the shelter I’d be forced into a hairnet, gloves and an apron – but still I wanted to look right.

I cursed to myself about the clothes I had to leave behind. I bemoaned not having a sewing machine for a fast alteration. I found myself trying to remember everything I’d ever heard about make up . . . then remembered I didn’t have any.

Resigned to the fact I couldn’t make myself any more presentable, I joined my guardian for the trip to the shelter.

As soon as I got in, I scanned the large common area, but I didn’t see him. That was okay, he’d show up when dinner was being served.

Only he didn’t.

I still didn’t worry, he’d show up after dinner ran out, I knew it.

But I was wrong.

I even convinced my guardian to stay an extra hour.

Still no sign of Peter.

On the trip back to the safe house, I thought of all the tings that might have gone wrong and made him late.

None of them sounded convincing.

As soon as we got back to the safe house, I ran upstairs and buried my face in the pillow. I sobbed until I fell asleep.


...


Whump!


I slowly unstuck my face from the still soggy pillow. What was that?

Whump!

I bolted up right, clutching the pillow to my chest like it was a shield. Was it my mother’s killer come for me? Was it my nightmare? Was it Robin? Was it Khavik? Was it my imagination?

Whump!

It was a snowball against the windowpane.

I crept to the window and looked out – just as another snowball smacked against the glass.

WHUMP!

Peter was out on the snow-covered yard below, putting together another snowball.

I knocked gently on the glass to get his attention.

He dropped the snowball and waved.

I folded my arms.

He opened his arms wide.

I turned my head to the side.

He made a motion like he was running.

I looked at my watch, it read 10:37. I tapped it and shook my head.

He made the running motion again.

I shook my head again.

He dropped to a knee and clasped his hands together.

I showed him four fingers.

He had me with the snowballs, but I wasn’t going to make it that easy on him.

Moving as quietly as I could, I gathered my stuff and crept down the stairs. I’m sure my guardian would not have approved, but I needed this and I wasn’t going to let anyone get in my way.

I pulled on my jacket and silently worked the latch. A few moments later, I was out in the yard, strolling as casually as I could towards him.

He checked his watch, the nerve.

I looked up the street and tilted my head a little.

He gave a half grin and nodded.

I kicked his leg out and pushed him over into the snow bank before I took off. After that bit with watch, I was going to make him work for it tonight.

The night was clear, the first clear one in over a week. The moon was out, but we couldn’t see it. It was a new moon, a shaded disk without even the tiniest sliver of light to give it away. Without the moon’s glow, the stars shone through like beacons. It was such a beautiful night . . . but I wasn’t stopping to admire the view.

Over fences, up walls and across roofs we ran. Balanced on narrow ledges, leaping over alleys, vaulting over benches we turned the city into our playground. It had been so long since we’d run together, and I’d almost forgotten how peaceful it was. There were no monsters lurking in the shadows, no cults out to reclaim their wayward children, no nightmares come to life, no ancient spirits seeking to claim a bride, no safe houses, no murdered parents, no uncertainty, no fear. The whole world was just the next obstacle and how to approach it – where to plant my feet, how hard to kick, where to grab, looking for the best landing spot, sticking or rolling and always the running.

But we could run only as long as our bodies could pump oxygen into our muscles. I’d gone hard, full bore and then some. We were in the midst of a rooftop when my body informed me it was time to stop, NOW.

The world snapped back to its previous dimensions and everything rushed back into place. I dropped down into a walk and screamed as hard as my starved lungs could manage.

Peter blew by me . . . I must have really been going; I’ve never been faster than him before. He skidded to a stop just before the edge of the roof and came back to me, concern on his face.

I just grabbed onto him and sobbed into his chest.

He opened his mouth and I put my hand over it, I didn’t need words right now.

I needed this.

[Grace]

Hmmm.

I think I'll reserve judgement for the time being.

Anyway, you should know that we're not far if you need help.

[Hannah]

It was a few minutes before the sobbing subsided. Neither of us moved though. We just stood there.

I moved first, turning around and leaning into him. His arms came up around me. I slid my hands into my pockets, fingering the silver coin Edgar had given me. We looked up at the empty spot in the sky where the moon should have been.

“I …” The beautiful silence swallowed up his words, but I didn’t need to hear them to know what he said.

“Me too.”

His watch chirped, midnight, Valentine’s day was over. As if on queue, things immediately went downhill.

“The bitch was right about Boston.”

Not him, not now, not with Peter here.

The nightmare stepped out onto the roof.

Peter immediately took a protective stance, stepping between it and me. “Who the fuck are you?

I decided not to correct Peter on his vocabulary, on the contrary, I was running through a list of choice phrases in my own mind.

“Stay out of it Peter, he will kill you.”

“I won’t let him hurt you.” His eyes were full of fire.

“You can’t stop him.”

“Do you two mind? I have an agenda to keep.” The nightmare sneered. “She’s right boy, I will kill you. So get back in your place and stay out of my business.”

Peter growled and charged the nightmare. He was tough for his size. I’d seen him take on two guys bigger than him and beat them down without trouble, but he was up against something he wasn’t ready for. A casual backhand by the nightmare sent Peter skidding across the roof and towards the edge.

I screamed and reached for air to blow Peter back from the edge, but there was nothing for me to grab.

Peter was gone.

[Hannah]

Help is exactly what I need Nemesis . . . right now.

[Grace]

PM me your location. If you're anywhere in Southy, I'll be there within the hour. My car... she's fast and we still have a seat to spare.

Sebastian, if you're reading this, I'll be around to pick you up after I have the kid.

[skeptic]

Alright.
I hope cab312 isn't driving.

[Hannah]

“Uppity nigger had it coming.” The nightmare was pleased with itself, as if it had just swatted a fly eyeing up his breakfast.

I felt like doing some swatting of my own, but try as I might; fire remained as far out of reach as air had.

“Missing something you ungrateful little bitch?” He was just standing there, watching me. He knew I wasn’t able to protect myself.

How did he know?

“You’re lucky I showed up when I did.” His tone dripped honey-flavoured spite. “How do you think your dear old father James would react to you consorting with that sort of filth? It might kill the poor old man.”

“As long as you shrivel up and die with him, I’ll be satisfied.” I looked at my options. It was next to the door down into the building. It was ten stories down to the alley below, so I couldn’t drop off. If I had a chance to run I might be able to get to the roof of the eight story building on the other side of the alley – but as soon as I started to move I was sure it would grab me.

I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t surrender.

I needed a miracle.

“GRRRRAAARGH!!!” a shadow raced across the roof and slammed into the nightmare, driving him to the edge of the roof.

“RRRRUN HANNAH!!!!”

I was so dumbfounded I just stood and stared, it looked as if a giant black cat had put on Peter’s clothes and was mauling the nightmare.

The Peter-cat reared up and turned to me. “NOW!!” it roared. A split second later, the Nightmare caught it with a punch, knocking it back towards the far side of the roof.

My feet got the message even if my brain didn’t. The next thing I knew I was hurtling over the edge, hoping I wouldn’t break too many bones.

I hit the far roof and kept going, as fast and as hard as I could, probably harder. I left the sounds of the rooftop battle behind and ran through the streets, leaping fences and vaulting cars. I didn’t stop until I barged into the safe house and ran upstairs to my guardian’s bedroom.

I barged through the door screaming, “I can’t stay here, they know I’m here!!!”

But he was already dead.

[Grace]

Alright.
I hope cab312 isn't driving.

Not my baby, he's not.

Hannah, got your PM. I'm enroute as soon as I shut down this laptop.

[Hannah]

I'm sorry if everything kinda came out as a rush earlier. I was in a 'net cafe in the bus terminal, trying to figure out how I was going to get a bus ticket.

I wrote that all out trying to get my head around it. I thought I'd put it down here in case you might have caught something I missed.

I was thinking of trying to make a friend who might take pity on me when Nemesis showed up. I guess it's a good thing, I looked a real mess. I would have fit in better at the homeless shelter.

[Joe Smith]

I am just hanging out in DC right now. If you need help. I can be where you are in a matter of hours since the roads are clear.

[Grace]

Thank you very kindly for the offer, Mr. Smith. We're no longer in Boston, however.

Technocrat told me about an idea you had that involved a rather ambitious hacking job. I think we may still have use for that. I'm seeing an early warning screen. Something like that would really be useful to Hannah right now.

[Grace]

I was thinking of trying to make a friend who might take pity on me when Nemesis showed up. I guess it's a good thing, I looked a real mess. I would have fit in better at the homeless shelter.

I think that the time has come to let people know what happened next.

This may confuse some. I recommend reading all the way to the end.

It was time to find Hannah now. She had asked directly for help so it was time to act. Besides, I was largely responsible for the mess she was in now. In no time, I found the internet cafe outside the bus stop that she had indicated in her PM.

Inside the cafe, it took me all of ten seconds to spot her. She looked a mess. Her once gorgeous hair looked as though it had been mauled by a particularly nasty and deranged pair of scissors. Possibly rusty ones.

I approached slowly so as to not alarm her, "Hannah? Your uncle sent me to collect you." I flashed the hand sign while I was speaking. To be honest, I am not the best at this sort of signal but I got my message across.

Hannah was thrown a bit by the mention of an Uncle, but the sign meant I was a friend so she followed me outside. I escorted her to what I like to call my 'beast'.

The 'beast' is a Shelby GT500 Mustang Cobra. But it is far from being stock. I paid extra and it voided the warranty but the engine now has over 800 horse power at the flywheel. While the SVT group did an excellent job with the vehicle, I needed it to do more so improvements were made to the suspension and drive train. One of those improvements included a racing rebuild for the six speed manual transmission.

While I enjoy having all that speed and power at my disposal, the main reason for those improvements was so performance wouldn't suffer for my other modifications. Bullet resistant glass, ballistic plates along with puncture resistant tires with run-flats all weigh a car down. Torque and horse power is the way you overcome this.

When it was all said and done, the car wasn't a Corvette killer. It was a corvette slayer. The Italian super cars could still beat it but she would make them work for their victory. Don't even come up on me with those four cylinder imports. Well, okay, maybe in the corners you have a chance, but I'll stand by American made muscle.

Once inside the car, I asked Hannah, "are you okay?" While at the same time showing her how to work the five point harness, that is in place of the usual seat belt.

"If you know what's been going on, then you know the answer."

"I meant physically." But I nodded to that. "I'm Darcy, by the way."

"Darcy . . . I haven't slept in about 36 hours and gave my ankle a little twist last night but other than that I'm fine." The truth of her statement was in and around her eyes. We'd need to get her someplace where she could rest tonight. The sooner the better.

Still, I nodded again before starting up the car. The engine came to life with a mighty roar before idling down to a throaty purr. "There's a hockey bag in the back seat. I picked up some things for you."

Hannah nodded.

I put the car into drive and then hit the open road. After a few moments of thinking, I announced, "we're going to the YWCA. You need to ditch those clothes and I need to fix your hair. You'll walk out a new girl."

She merely nodded while expertly examining the Skorpion SMG I had put into the care package for her. The numbers were filed off and it had only been dropped once.

When we got to the YWCA, I led her through the fitness area to the showers and change rooms. We showered and changed our clothes. I made her wear one of the new outfits I had recently picked up for her. I’m glad I’d had the forethought to check her sizes while I was at her place.

I dragged a bench into the alcove with the sinks and mirrors. It was time to work a little magic. The only sound between us was the steady clip-clip of my scissors. She’d done a horrid job trying to cut her hair herself but I was somewhat relieved that she had. Now I could ensure it would be short enough for a wig. Best of all, I didn’t have to worry about having to fight with a teenaged girl about cutting off all her gorgeous hair.

While the style I used was nice enough, I didn’t put too much effort into appearance. I needed it to be functional. I let her choose from a selection of wigs and then showed her how to put it on. It took a few tries but the kid learned fast.

Next I made her choose some contacts. She made some noise about having good vision but I was having none of it. They were for cosmetic reasons. To change the color of her eyes along with her hair.

Now that I knew what her new hair and eyes looked like, I could start applying her new face. I’m not a disguise artist but I can apply make up for desired effect.

Through it all, I was business like about the process. For her part, Hannah seemed to tolerate it. The process was very new to her. She really needs an older sister figure to teach her this stuff about the world.

Finally I found a way to break the ice. "So what were you expecting Nemesis to look like?"

She shrugged. “I don't really know - for some reason I kept seeing a trench coat with the collar turned up, a fedora and dark glass - could have been the invisible man inside for all I knew.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her response. It was an unintentional compliment. "I'm better at my job than I imagined." Then I turned Hannah to face the mirror. A very pretty girl smiled back at her.

"Well I guess you are a master of disguise, I have no idea who that is in the mirr . . . wait.” In mid-sentence she stopped. “You're him? Er, I mean her?”

I winked at Hannah in the mirror. "Nemesis is the Greek goddess of vengeance. Often depicted as a woman with wings, not unlike an Angel with Black Wings. It was her job to mete out punishment to mortals for hubris. She was, in fact, an appropriate agent of righteous retribution.”

[Brutal]

Word of the wise, better keep her out of sight for the time being. It appears she is wanted for questioning in Boston involving a murder and a B&E.

I will see if my friend can get me a copy of the file from Boston.

Presently in DC waiting to meet up with a contact.

I would suggest getting far far way from Boston for the next little while.

[Grace]

Thanks for the heads up.

I've released the hold on the funds I transferred.

[Hannah]

Wanted for questioning? But nobody was supposed to know I was at that house.