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The plan for entry was simple enough, so of course there was an additional element to worry about. As much as Impact did not want to hear Doc deliver more bad news, she could not hold it against him. The guard was coming, regardless of how aware they were of him, and if changing plans meant a safer start to the mission, Rebecca would be flexible. ”Dammit. Received, Doc.” She thought about the added variable, and decided her daughter would be in the best position to handle a new intruder. ”Seraph, when you come down to deal with our fifth, have an eye on the door and be ready to take out anyone that comes through it. I’ll cover you, just in case.” Her daughter was well trained, and this was something she could handle, but things went wrong for even the most tenured vigilantes. Rebecca would be ready to provide a supportive laser-blast if things did not work out.

Cait gave her customary final words of encouragement before they left the truck. Rebecca doubted the clans were particularly keen on her as a London-born mutt, but she nodded in appreciation regardless. She was, after all, a quarter Scottish, and she was not so stubborn she would refuse a little luck.

Rebecca stepped out of the vehicle, grabbing a clipboard the former delivery-person had rested on the dash. She lifted herself from the ground to the elevated loading dock, immediately catching the eyes of the employees. Her and Cait were an unexpected surprise to some of the men, but one of the five approached Rebecca seriously. The badge clipped to his chest was a different color than the other men; the supervisor, if she had to wager a guess. ”I’ve got your latest shipment, sir.” She smiled, hoping to seem friendly and welcoming, two things she could, at the very least, fake.

The man did not look amused. “Wasn’t Tony bringing in the shipment today?”[/color] He sounded more matter-of-fact than suspicious, but doubt of any kind was not a good start.

In an effort to make the personnel change less questionable, Rebecca began nonchalantly with the process of unhooking the handle to the back of the truck, pulling upward to lift the door and reveal the back area filled with boxes of medicines and chemicals, small machines, monitors, and miscellaneous lab equipment. ”I needed a shift change next week. I’m covering Tony so he can cover me.” It was important to give minimal details; the worst method

Impact was close to the supervisor, but no one else was right in her reach. She could have used her optic blasts to disable a second worker, but that would draw attention, and if she was too early, she could alert the others to the plan. While the supervisor begrudgingly looked over the inventory sheet, Rebecca looked around and thought of the one environmental element that might help: the truck.

It made enough sense for her to go in and look over the contents of her delivery before handing things off. Rebecca walked into the trailer, and the man did not bat an eyelash. When she was closer to the back of the small cargo area, she looked back to make sure the supervisor was the only man in line of sight to where she was. ”Hey, there were no office supplies on that list, yeah? Because I’ve got a big-ass box of paper back here.”

Puzzled, the supervisor joined her on the truck. “No, you guys never deliver junk like that,”[/color] he confirmed, approaching her in the back. Rebecca hoped Cait was succeeding in distracting some of the other men for what came next.

Just as the supervisor got to the back of the truck and started looking for the mystery paper, Rebecca placed a hand over his mouth and grabbed his arm. Before he could react, she twisted his arm and pushed him down and forward. His head hit a large metal canister with a resounding gong, and he fell to the floor.

Rebecca dropped him behind the canisters, just out of immediate sight, before she walked to the edge of the trailer, poking her head out. Cait had two men in position near her. One man was near the back of the dock, removing glass items from a large crate, while the other was close to the truck, clearly waiting to get started with unloading. Both men looked toward the truck, clearly aware of the sound, so she played it off. ”Sodding hell, we dropped one of these massive things. Care to lend a strong hand?” she asked the closer of the two men.

The employee shrugged, evidently deeming her idea as plausible enough to follow her request. He took two steps into the trailer with her, before he caught sight of something suspicious; the lack of his supervisor. He was looking around, initially confused, before he noticed a work boot sticking out from behind a wall of metal canisters. “The hell?”

Unfortunately for him, Rebecca had already turned on the receiver of her comm piece under the guise of brushing a (fake) lock of dyed hair behind her ear. ”Let’s get down to business,” she muttered, heard by the Green and Red teams on her channel, who she was now signaling to action.

Impact wrapped an arm around the worker’s throat, taking his arm in her free hand and holding it behind her back. With him positioned directly in front of her, she released a small blast of light. It was intentionally weak because she was not looking to destroy his skull; only hit him hard enough to knock him out.

With her task done, she turned and looked from the back of the truck to ensure Shivs and Seraph got their men, ready to provide long-range support if necessary.

It was hard to tell if Kendra understood Rebecca’s advice on sight, unable to see the invisible girl nodding to her. She had to instead read actions, and the actions would suggest Kendra was ready to be as headstrong as ever in the face of a heat-breathing dragon.

She felt the presence of another hand on her sword, followed by the quick request to borrow it, followed by the blade vanishing. Rebecca wanted to warn Kendra that the weapon was heavy enough that she would barely be able to get it off the ground, if at all. Before the words could come out, her companion was on the other side of the room, dragging the blade on the ground. ”Ah tried tae tell ye,” she muttered, but watched curiously.

Kendra was… clever. Brash, but clever. Being able to swing the sword was nice, but unnecessary if she could teleport it over the dragon’s neck to drop like a guillotine. Rebecca gasped when the sword made contact, but her brow furrowed when she realized Kendra had missed her mark. Breath emerged from the dragon’s mouth so hot, it caused the air to shimmer and distort like asphalt on a sweltering day. The dragon tried to pinpoint the teleporter, but it was harder without a weapon in her hand. Even Rebecca could not follow the action, only hoping for the best.

Much to her surprise, she heard the southern twang of Kendra’s voice behind her, against the nearby wall. It was up to her, and Rebecca accepted the responsibility with a nod. The sword was already wedged into the dragon’s back, so she could have used her powers to finish it simply, but in her over-tired mind, she wanted to get up close and personal to avenge her teammate.

One of Rebecca’s spinning bones stopped shielding her, instead flying to her and settling in front of her feet. Running forward to gain momentum, she stepped on the bone and used her magnetic power to make it jerk violently upward. The force launched Rebecca forward, fling through the air and through the dragon’s heat breath. She could already feel her skin growing sensitive, shifting from pink to red. Even a small amount of exposure was enough to leave the equivalent of a bad sunburn, but if she had not been moving so fast, she could have ended up in the blast longer, resulting in more serious burns.

She focused on breathing, which was difficult with the weight and heat of the atmosphere weighing down on her. The one bright side is she felt her back loosening up, after the tension and stiffness inflicted by the cold. Rebecca landed on the dragon’s back, taking her sword by the hilt. When she pulled the blade from the dragon’s body, it took a large chunk of flesh with it.

The dragon roared in pain, turning its head around to face its back, ready to continue spitting hot heat, only to find the pointed end of a giant blade being thrust forward. Rebecca was on the other end, jabbing the sword with all her strength into the dragon’s mouth, piercing the hard palate of its mouth and putting an end to the artificial brain within.

There were death throes of course, and as the body fell from the sky, thrashing about, Rebecca was thrown off. Training taught her how to “fall right,” but it did not hurt much less falling to the sandstone floor, tumbling toward the wall where Kendra already was. The two women watched as the dragon flailed on the ground, slowly disintegrating as the music in the room swelled victoriously. Still breathing heavily, Rebecca turned to look at (where she assumed) Kendra still was. ”Messy, but we did it. Yoo've got potential, Kendra. Dornt lit anyain teel ye onie different.”

Rebecca’s kind words of encouragement were interrupted by the materialization of a chest in front of her. ”Oh, richt.” Leaning forward, she lifted the heavy lid and pulled the item from within, accompanied by another jingle of success. Rebecca giggled at the absurdity of the prize they almost got injured for: a golden harp. ”Ah’m sorry, Ah need thes fur a quest tae wake a giant fish… ur something.” So maybe she ripped the plotline of her dungeon trainings directly from a weird game. That was her prerogative.

”Ah dornt hae a reward fur ye, sadly.” The constructs of the Danger Room did not exist outside the walls, after all. ”Ah’d say ye get a hug, bit Ah’m a wee bit sore… weel, e’rywhere.” Bruising, minor burns, frostbite. DocProf would love her inevitable visit.

Awesome job with the second, Max! (And on a shallow note, awesome job with the playby )

Digging the vibes you're putting down!

Seriously though, cool app, welcome to the site!

The dip was an impulsive decision that felt right with the swinging and spinning both girls were performing. Nessa had been able to successfully dip her brother before; dipping Gina was easy mode. When she pulled the gargoyle back up, they shared a moment of eye contact, and Nessa caught a thought that genuinely made her smile.

This is probably the best birthday party I've ever had.

There were other scattered thoughts behind that one; thoughts that would have intrigued Nessa in a different world. In this one, she had a girlfriend she was loyal to, even if she worried the feeling was not mutual. More importantly, Gina was not just some girl—she was best friends with said girlfriend. The way they were dancing, thoughts of a crush were natural; hell, Nessa was sure she had some of her own, but there was a sense of etiquette. People who were taboo. Even if Nessa and Becca were heading toward their end, Gina would still be taboo.

”I’m just full of surprises!” All that was true in their world, but Gina and Nessa had already established a new world to dance in. For a little longer, she could ignore the rules of reality and simply enjoy feeding from the vibes Gina was putting out. They would brush against one another occasionally and their eyes would meet again. Gina did not mind. Nessa did not mind either.

Nessa was escaping into this new world, while Rebecca was in her own isolated world five feet away.

Rebecca was unaware of how close her and Agnes were dancing, because nothing could feel “too close.” Their bodies were almost pressed together, and Rebecca’s hand was not shy about grasping Agnes’s hip. She wanted to pull her lover in tighter, to return to the closeness they had shared weeks earlier. She missed feeling that sense of union and intimacy, and she remained willfully oblivious to the bodies around them. They did not matter. It was terrible, but in that moment, Rebecca could almost forget her girlfriend was there with them.

She was going to end it. Rebecca wondered if Nessa knew what was coming. It was not a new conversation, and it had unfortunately been a plot point in their relationship from the beginning. Rebecca was in love with another woman, and it was irresponsible of her to lead on a girl she cared about, but did not love. They would talk the next day, and Rebecca would free Nessa from the web she selfishly caught her in.

It was so easy to get absorbed in the effect Agnes had on her. Rebecca only stopped dancing when she realized Agnes’s trance had been broken, and the outside world came pouring in as River watched them dancing and made a hasty exit toward the staircase.

Agnes followed. Of course; River was still her fiancée. She met Rebecca’s gaze before she ran off, leaving her dance partner to reflect on those conflicted eyes.

Nessa and Gina had been enthralled by their own shared universe, but Agnes’s departure lined up with a musical lull that freed Gina just long enough to see her sister chasing down her fiancée. Even without eye contact, Nessa was close enough to Gina to just feel something was wrong and turned to catch the tail end of the scene, and her girlfriend standing alone in its wake.

Whatever Nessa had successfully avoided watching, River was not so fortunate, and perhaps it proved more than she could stomach. More than ever, she wished she could peek into Becca’s head for just a moment. Instead, she was as confused as Gina. ”Becks… what happened?” Her brow furrowed, and she was unsure if she was more trouble about what Becca and Agnes had been doing, or the pain the redhead was going through. In a small way, she was upset with Becca for being so easy to sympathize with.

Rebecca looked between Gina and Nessa, unsure how to answer when she knew she was the problem. She tried to fish for words, but forces beyond her control were motivating her to follow Agnes down the stairwell. ”Ah… Ah’ll gae make sure everything’s okay. Mebbe Ah can clear somethin’ up,” she lied, quickly stepping forward to kiss Nessa’s cheek before turning and hurrying to catch up with Agnes. What Rebecca wanted to clear up would not fix things.

Nessa flinched at the kiss, not pulling away, but feeling unsettled that she was being left with a kiss on the cheek as her girlfriend followed another woman. It was hard to watch, but it did not feel right to chase Rebecca; not anymore. Instead, she put on a brave face and offered her arm to Gina. ”Rebecca will handle… whatever that was. This is still your birthday, so I forbid you from worrying. We shall drink our worries away!” she exclaimed boldly, knowing she was long overdue for another drink. She led the way to the bar as Rebecca vanished from her sight into the stairwell.

The staircase was no obstacle for Rebecca, who was flying down the steps at a dangerous pace for someone in heels. She was tired of holding back, and tired of playing a game where she denied something she had known for years. It was time to lay everything on the table, and hope Agnes truly felt the same way.

Rebecca made it to the last step, and from there she could see through the doorway to their table. From a distance, the scene was wordless, but Rebecca watched the end of their interaction. Agnes moved forward, only to be stopped by River, who gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away, eerily reminiscent of a certain Scot a minute earlier.

Agnes took a seat at their table, and once Rebecca was certain River was gone, she crossed the floor to the somber song played by the pianist, feeling the chords slowing her pace. Eventually, she took a seat next to Agnes and rested a hand on her slender shoulder, hoping it would not be rejected.

”Ah’m… Ah’m sorry things went thes way.” It was the most honest apology she had. Rebecca was not sorry for dancing with Agnes, or for loving her so openly, River could not watch. She was sorry for making things harder for Agnes, and putting her in a position to deal with more pain.

Rebecca looked at the uniform shirt being offered by Cait, forcing herself to keep a straight face at the implication. Cait was too hard on herself, as an attractive young woman who could garner attention without worrying about future lower back problems. From a combat standpoint, the X-Leader was often annoyed with her chest, which was why her uniform compressed and helped control it so she was not hitting herself in the face.

Unfortunately, the male guard was rather thin, and looking over the shirt she was borrowing, Rebecca doubted it would stay on her body without at least two buttons buckling under the pressure. Not acknowledging why Cait was offering, Rebecca simply swapped the garments and buttoned her new shirt, providing just enough room for the girls.

Removing her wig, Rebecca’s hair tumbled down to her shoulders, temporarily dyed black like her partner’s. Dark hair was less distinguished than fiery or copper red hair, and concealing their identities was crucial. Her hair had little time to breath as she pulled it into a messy bun and hid it in the hat previously worn by the unconscious driver. She filed into the passenger’s side and Cait made some smart remarks about her persona. Rebecca knew what she was signing up for when she put one of the chattier squad members on assignment with her. ”Straight, Miss Day,” she replied flatly. ”It’s the only road, you can’t miss it.”

They drove the truck along the abandoned street for a mile before they even reached the facility gates. Only one guard was attending to the booth, granting entry in or out of the building. Impact let Shivs handle most of the talking as the guard came to request their paperwork, (which had been thankfully left on the dashboard.) Rebecca was trying to look like she was going through a typical workday: bored and unenthusiastic. She only responded to the guard when he requested both their cards.

The lack of picture ID was fortunate for the young women who looked nothing like the original employees driving the truck. The man did look at the cards and question “Tony” briefly, but Rebecca deflected in a nonchalant, New York accent. ”My parents named me Antoinette. You’d go by Tony, too.” And that excuse somehow worked, going so far as to warrant a chuckle.

Once they were within the facility, there was still a sprawling area between their truck and the laboratory. From this point forward, their eye in the sky had their backs. At her prompt, Impact nudged Shivs to cautiously drive them off the road, concealing the truck behind a grouping of trees. Between the cover and the growing darkness of night-time, the guards passed by without incident and the team could return to traveling. ”Nice eyes, Seraph. Keep it up.” She knew Astrid was excited, but she also had to be nervous. As her leader and her mother, positive reinforcement was necessary.

The truck followed the path dictated by Seraph, ducking out of sight when necessary until they were approaching the lab building itself. They needed a point of access, and as easy as breaking a window or blowing a hole in a wall sounded, stealth was more important than speed. Fortunately, they had a truck loaded with supplies, meaning they had every reason to approach the loading dock in the back.

As they approached, Rebecca counted five men, but only two were security, and the rest were just there to load and unload trucks. ”Okay, this shouldn’t have to get messy. We pull up, try to be inconspicuous,” she said, looking directly at Cait for the word, before continuing, ”and we can ideally get into a position where Shivs and I can each take out two men before the others can sound any alerts. Seraph, be prepared and be watching us, because you will be swooping in and taking out the fifth. Once all five men are incapacitated, we can zip tie them, Shivs and I can finally change, and we are officially in infiltration mode.”

Impact took one last calming breath before speaking over the comms one last time. ”Good luck, team.”