Agnes was just mortified. As managed to pry herself away from the hug (which she definitely didn’t want to do now), she found herself staring into the sad eyes of her younger sister, which much has seen so much pain. Agnes had seen the video only once but she knew that there was no way that she could ever look at it again. Gina, sadly, didn’t have that luxury. This was an experience that she would remember for a very long time. Agnes knew the feeling. She knew trauma like this.

She sniffled as she stroked her little sister’s face, trying to think of something coherent to say. Thankfully Gina took the reins.

>> “It’s not as bad as it looks, I mean… I mean, they did do a number on me, but it’s nothing the hospital can’t handle. The wings are the worst part, but they called the zoologist for that... or a vet. Something like that”[/color]

Agnes winced as she found herself rolling her gaze over to her sister’s wings. They looked so broken. And the simple fact that they would have to call in specialists in animals to handle the situation just somehow seemed to make it degrading. She knew, deep down, that they probably didn’t have a choice, but it was still a sad state of circumstances. Agnes hoped that DocProf could get to Gina. As a matter of fact she wondered why he hadn’t already.

Pulling a chair that was nearby, Agnes pulled it over and shakily took a seat. This was just all too much to think of. Who could have done this to her?

>> “I’ll be fine, sis, Honest engine…Good to see you.”[/color]

Apparently her confusion and fear were visible in her eyes because Gina was quick to try and reassure her. Agnes loved the little gargoyle and it pained her to see her in so much pain right now. But she didn’t need her own emotional baggage weighing her down. Agnes resolved to be a strong as she could in the presence of her little sister.

“Good to see you too. Not like this, but, you now, in general,” she said with a tiny smirk. But as quickly as the smirk came, it vanished. “Gina, what happened?”

Gina inhaled slowly, keeping a careful eye on Agnes as she, in-turn, surveyed Gina. They were both being very careful, didn’t want to accidentally step in territory that would be dangerous to tread upon. It was all a very delicate affair. Gina sat with her arms crossed at the wrists, at rest upon her lap. She tried to seem serene, which was in-part made possible by the drugs that coursed through her system.

>> “Good to see you too. Not like this, but, you now, in general.”

Gina breathed a tired laugh. She agreed that, “Yes, I wish that the circumstances were slightly different.”

>> “Gina, what happened?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Gina’s smile also faltered, and she cleared her throat, her expression drifting well into the range of uncomfortable. Her brows furrowed, her gaze dropped, and her lips drew tightly over teeth.

“I just went for a flight,” Gina breathed, “Class was out early, the day was nice. So I figured, why not?”

She swallowed again, the beep of a nearby machine picking up to show that her heart rate had also picked up tempo, slightly.

“I was just walking along, and this police car pulled-up,” Gina murmured, shrugging her shoulder. Her gaze moved toward Agnes but looked beyond her, as if fixated on a screen just beyond her, which was replaying the events that had unfolded, “He wanted to know what I was doing in the neighborhood, the he told me that some other winged mutant had been seen peering through house windows, and that there’d been break-in’s… he thought it was me.”

Gina rubbed her face, closing her eyes, “I told him it wasn’t me, he didn’t listen—he tried to arrest me, and I just… freaked-out. I guess he did, too.”

The gargoyle inhaled once again, but her shoulders quivered this time. She seemed as though she were about to cry, yet there was no sign of tears in her eyes.

“I ran, and… couldn’t fly… they tried to stop me with their car,” Gina recited, “And after that, I don’t remember much. They hit me with their police-stick-things, a lot. Mostly on the wings, because I was still partially convinced I could fly away… then they hit me in the head and I blacked-out.”

Gina finally opened her eyes and looked at Agnes.

“I didn’t… don’t… want anybody to know,” Gina confessed, her voice finally cracking, “I mean, who wants everyone in the world to know that the cops beat the snot out of you just because of mistaken identity?! Because of what you are?”

She sighed, glancing out the window.

“But, someone had been filming. So now I’m an internet sensation. Apparently.”

Gina drifted off uncomfortably, having finished saying what she had to say. She closed her eyes again, tightly, now blatantly fighting to not lose it completely in front of her sister.

Agnes asked.

And she received.

In silence she sat there, watching Gina’s eyes as the young gargoyle began to relate everything that had led to the video that Agnes had just watched. She could see from her younger sister’s eyes that everything she had gone through still burned a hole straight through her, probably right down to her soul. It was extremely different seeing someone in person as opposed to just witnessing the atrocities they dealt with on a video.

It must has still hurt her sister to think about it. Such a thought didn’t come to Agnes’ mind. Speaking as someone who had gone through horrendous traumas before, Agnes should have known better than to make Gina relate what happened. But just as she was about to open her mouth to tell Gina to forget it…the young gargoyle went one.

And Agnes’ breath was taken away.

She listened, patiently and quietly. She had seen shows on TV and movies where similar circumstances were related to another person. The other person always ends up crying, shaking their head, banging their fists against their chests and screaming to the heavens why this is happening?! But Agnes knew better than that. She knew that such interruptions and extreme displays of emotion were the last thing that Gina wanted to see.

But that didn’t stop a tiny piece of her soul from dying a little. The one thing she always wanted to keep Gina from was this kind of torment. And, lo and behold, it occurs. There was no justice in the world.

>> “I didn’t… don’t… want anybody to know, I mean, who wants everyone in the world to know that the cops beat the snot out of you just because of mistaken identity?! Because of what you are?”[/color]

The guilt and embarrassment behind Gina’s eyes was almost too much to bear. Most would proclaim that there was nothing for them to be embarrassed about. Agnes, too, knew that feeling all too well. Though she knew what happened to herself was because of her fanatical parents, a part of Agnes was embarrassed by it. Almost as if she felt guilty for letting them do it. It took time but eventually she learned that it wasn’t her fault. It was theirs. And she hoped that Gina would eventually realize that.

>> “But, someone had been filming. So now I’m an internet sensation. Apparently.”[/color]

Agnes shook her head when Gina finally finished. She sniffled and shook her head. Leaning over she placed a tiny kiss on Gina’s forehead before settling back into her chair. A look of resolution filled her face.

“Well, they’re not going to film you again,” she said with a nod. “Not so long as I’m here.” She sighed, hanging her head a tiny bit. “Gina…I-I’m sorry you had to go through that. It…It sounds terrible…”