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A decade and a half? Quin stopped for a few moments to look at Detective Drake incredulously before she turned and started walking again. The floor was still cold through her socks, but Quin didn’t care. She couldn’t stop moving right now or else it would all start to sink in.

Before this had happened she’d been a whole-ass adult with a career? Some sort of detective trying to find the other people who had been in cages with her. It didn’t compute, Quin tried to remember something, anything that would give her any sort of context and help her orient herself.

There were so many questions. Too many, her hands were starting to shake and Quin raised one to try to push the hair that had fallen from her ponytail back from her face but stopped when it crinkled in her hands. The dried blood. What had happened to her?

”Why don’t I remember anything?” Quin asked instead of focusing on questions whose answers didn’t matter. There was too much information here. The other cop’s reaction made sense now. He knew her too. Did all of them know her?

It was all starting to break through the calm facade now and it was like now that she’d started to shake it wasn’t going to stop. No, it was getting more and more intense as she walked, vertigo starting to swirl in her head as she stumbled a step, “What am I supposed to do?”

Her parents were fine.

Nothing was adding up. It kind of made Quin want to pull her hair out. Her parents were fine, but something had happened to her. Quin could see the lights in that medical room every time she closed her eyes. She’d woken up there and then she’d been brought to the cage. How had she gotten there? What was going on?

Why was this man, who apparently knew her, not telling her the things that she needed to know?

Quin wanted to run. She wanted to just get away from it all. She wanted to be at home or in her dorm. Anywhere but here. She’d taken a couple of steps back but she could easily turn and run.

Drake started to speak though, and he pulled that stupid mylar blanket back. He’d wanted her to sit down? What did he know about what had happened?

Quin didn’t have to wait long to hear and as she listened she became more and more incredulous. She was a cop? That was the plan, but she was only a sophomore in college. She had two and a half more years of school before she could even start to do that. She didn’t live in New York. He had been her partner?. She’d lost a lot of time? It was almost impossible to believe, but how else had she gotten here? What else answered all of the questions she had? Why did she believe him?

Quin took a deep breath and let it out, fighting the tears that were trying to build up in her eyes. That was not going to help matters right now.

“How much?” Quin asked, starting to walk again, ignoring the blanket. Quin was cold, but it was helping her think, ”How much time? How? If I’m a cop why weren’t there other cops here?”

Detective Drake? It sounded like something out of one of those old black and white detective shows that Quin knew her Dad liked to watch after her Mom had gone to bed some nights. The man said he was with the police though and Quin looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes as he stepped back and held up his hands placatingly.

Detective Drake had unlocked the door though and was giving her space to exit the cage. Was it a trick though? Was he one of the ones who had dragged her here seeing if she would run if she was given the chance?

People were walking by now, people with blankets wrapped around the shoulders being led by people who looked like the Detective. It seemed like he was telling the truth.

The Detective spoke again, they needed to get he checked out by Doctors, ”I’m not hurt.” she said simply, walking out of the cage and back into the corridor.

He knew what had happened though..had answers as to why she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten here or what she’d been doing before. Somehow he knew her.

”Did something happen at the University?” Quin asked suddenly, ”How long I have I been here? Did my parents call?” That was probably how he knew her. Quin spoke to her Mom every day, when that call didn’t happen she’d probably gone ballistic.

“That’s a relief.” Quin said as The Senator pointed out that she practically lived off of a fridge full of leftovers. Sometimes, especially lately, it had felt that way to Quin too. “I found myself wondering the other day if ordering extra portions specifically so I will have food for the next day was a sign of success or failure. I feel confident putting that mark in the success column now.”

There was a fair amount of food here and Quin felt a little less apprehensive about stepping in on The Senator’s meal as she grabbed a plate and dished up some rice and what looked like either butter chicken or tiki masala. Both were excellent choices and Quin sat down at the table as The Senator asked if she cooked or if she was a takeout junkie.

”I like to cook. Cleaner ingredients, healthier food and all that…but it’s just not practical..” Quin said.

”By the time I’m done with work, and classes, and studying…and now I’m adding Bar Exam Prep into it all…there just aren’t enough hours in the day to shop and cook. “ It sounded silly. People who were far more busy managed to do far more, but Quin also liked to at least try and mainitain something resembling a social life.

Quin still didn’t have a roommate, she supposed what she was doing would be considered squatting in the most technical of terms, but she was still living in the lovely apartment at Haven with the beautiful view or Central Park that she’d stayed in right after everything had happened. ”You must be relieved to be off the campaign trail. I can’t imagine it’s particularly comfortable.” Quin said, not wanting to focus too much on herself.

Election season was finally over.

Between law school, the election, training, and wherever she managed to squeeze in something resembling a social life, Quin felt like she’d been on a runaway train since September.

At least things had settled into something of a rhythm once the five-thousand year old Egyptian Sorceress had been dealt with. It was still hard for Quin to believe that had happened or that she’d played a part in it, small as it had been.

Still. Today found the redhead sitting at her desk in Senator Lányi’s office, sorting through the last of what had been a massive mountain of backlogged paperwork. Elections were messy and there were so many moving pieces to coordinate that despite the fact that the Senator had been out of the office more than in it had felt like there was more work to do.

Still. It was over and it was quiet here and as the semester chugged towards a close Quin had brought her books and was planning to get some school work done before she headed home.

Sorting a pile of papers into things that needed to be shredded, things that needed to be filed, and things that were trash, Quin was surprised when the door rattled. The other interns in the group chat had said that they weren’t coming in. Who could it…?

A voice rang out and Quin grinned as the Senator herself entered the office.

“Unless someone is really interested in your travel itinerary or the food budgets for the campaign staff, they’re totally out of luck today.” Quin said, then tilted her head slightly in thought.

”Though honestly someone probably is interested in those things.” she added, then set the paper she was currently holding down on one of the piles.

“I didn’t expect to see you today Senator, is there anything you need?”

”I was a cop before I was an electrician” At the words, Quin’s eyes shot over to the man in the car with the gun who looked like he’d walked out of a cop show. That tracked. Was this going to be someone who knew who she was…had been? The guy didn’t look much older than Quin, so maybe he was new enough to the force that he wouldn’t know. That would be for the best.

Out of the car he got, and hefted a big of things. Those things included a lot of plastic. This guy’s power involved trading places with things, or making people trade places with things. It seemed a quick and facile way to get the artifact that they needed to get…

She could take whatever she wanted? Quin felt a little stuck as she looked down at the bag…what was she supposed to take? She only had two hands.

Riot shields? Bending for a moment, Quin grabbed a few of the riot cuffs and shoved them into her pocket, then did the same with a few handfuls of the plastic beads. There was just no way she was going to be able to carry enough of the rest to make much a difference. ”Thanks…” she said, ”But I wasn’t really prepared for this and I can’t carry much more. If the bag is open when we’re in there, I should be able to get more if I need it…” .

His name was Ashton and something in the name tickled Quin’s brain, something was familiar, but not quite. Why did she know him? So much had happened that night at Hunt’s Point, so much was happening now, that there was no way she’d remember the ride she’d gotten home from the cop who had stayed with her while the EMTs had checked her out. The cop who’d said he was her partner. The cop who had explained what had happened.

So much was still going on though, Quin couldn’t dwell on those thoughts. The other Will (that had the potential to get confusing) was starting to glow purple with what Quin could only assume was electricity after what the guy had explained as his power.

They also had someone who could make things appear? Quin shook her head, that guy was stressing her out a bit. He had the manic energy of someone who was eager for a fight…he was also dancing in place, which was just bizarre.

Quin had asked after the gift shop and that guy, Frank(?) wanted to loot the gift shop after Quin got the plastic she needed.

This was a lot.

Now Kealey was laying out a plan. She and Will were going to go with Ashton and Frank and the others were going to go and try to get the ankh from Ahk. Okay…that sounded somewhat less risky than taking on the big bad guy from Michael’s story.

Things seemed both more and less complicated at the same time and Quin found herself feeling completely unmoored as she stood. She didn’t now what to do, how to feel…but suddenly she wasn’t nearly as nervous as she had been. There was a plan, they knew what to do.

Quin was just thinking that maybe she should ask Will to numb her ribs again so she could move better when Lee pointed out that the guards were coming and she couldn’t deal with all six at once…then the older woman was off and approaching the group.

Good God that was brave…or stupid…

Then things started to happen. Lee grabbed the guard by the arm, the figures ghosts appeared behind two others and started to attempt to grapple them, and Will followed Lee.

Was this just a thing he did?!

It apparently was, because a moment later, Will had reached out to latch onto another one of the guards. The fight was on.

Taking off at a sprint, wincing at the pain in her side, Quin didn’t know exactly what she was going to do, but maybe she could get one of the other guards on the ground and put the riot cuffs to good use.