It's always nice when I make Cende laugh when I take an idea of hers and run with it. I've nearly made her choke a few times on food with the tabloid thing, so now I get to share it with you guys.
The next few chapters are going to see some fairly elaborate intertwining between my story and Cende's, because of how the timelines work out. And if you haven't read her story
Prophecy and Dreams, you should. Our running joke is that she's writing THE THORNBIRDS, I'm writing TWILIGHT.
Discussions, as always, go
here.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
*******
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE II: COURTSHIP AND CRIME FIGHTING
Chapter Seven - Fertilizer, Meet Ventilator
"Oh, no," Raymond groaned, staring at the enormous font of the tabloid's headline. "No, no, nononono, tell me this isn't happening."
"
It is," Statesman said bluntly. "
And it's not exactly like anyone is thrilled about this, either. We're having a council of war with the Patrol at their base. How fast can you get here?"
So much for our day off... God damn it, and it was going so well, too... Holding the phone against his shoulder, Raymond turned to Sorina. "Apparently there's a meeting going on at Star Patrol HQ. How fast can we get there?"
To his surprise, she reached out and took his arm, then touched her belt, where he noticed a small device not much larger than a pager, and murmured, "COUNTERMEASURES -
dva vozvrashcheniya." The world briefly went white around them-
-then they were standing on the entrance platform of the Star Patrol's base.
"Oh. Okay, I guess that should be fast enough for him," he said after a moment.
Blinking to help their eyes adjust after the bright sunlight outside, they stepped off the platform, where they then spotted Andrea coming toward them from the base's communications room. The petite heroine was in uniform and looking more than a little harassed.
"Great, you're here. I'm sorry that this throws a wrench in your plans of a restful day off, but it's all hands on deck here. The gang's in the conference room, and man oh man, are they honked off about this whole mess."
"What 'whole mess'?" Sorina asked, following Andrea down the hall to the conference room, Raymond falling into step beside her. "I mean, we saw the headline, but..."
"HA! That's not even the half of it!" the younger woman scoffed. "Every newspaper and tabloid in town is practically falling over themselves to break the story. You thought
you guys were front page news? This is just fricking
unreal."
Raymond paused to take a second look at Andrea. Normally she'd be almost enjoying this sort of scrape, since she'd found herself in this exact position more than once. But he didn't need her psychic talents to realize that she was actually angry about something... but what or at whom, he couldn't really tell.
The three rounded the corner into the conference room, where sure enough, Statesman, Sister Psyche, Manticore, Citadel, Numina, and Synapse were seated around the huge conference table along with Commanders Bowman, Wright, and Sharpe. Everyone in the room seemed to be on edge, their conversation one step from outright arguing, and Raymond shuddered slightly.
Blake took a seat next to Sharpe, while Sorina sat on her other side, and Raymond moved to sit near Manticore. As he pulled out a chair, however, he noticed that three newspapers had been scattered across the conference table. Ignoring the heated conversation taking place, he reached over and picked them up to read them.
He recognized all three - the
Times, the
Tattler, and the
Caper. The
Paragon Times was a fairly respectable newspaper, while the
Tattler was the leading social and gossip magazine, so he guessed that it wasn't too much of a surprise that neither one had all that much information to start with. The
Caper, however, was pure tabloid, and felt no such need for things like discretion, right to privacy, or even fact-checking.
The
Times had the headline "
Has Statesman Found a New Love At Last?" There was no picture with it, the column beneath the headline was surprisingly short, and it wasn't even front-page news, but instead was the feature story for the CITY LIFE section. It mostly confined itself to a retrospective on Statesman's personal life (such as that was), including a review of how long he had been a widow, brief highlights of the woman he'd been romantically (and erroneously) linked with in the past, a vague reporting of Ms. Liberty's remarks, a few choice interview comments from Freedom Corps and Longbow personnel (including a surprising quote from a Lt. Jameson in Longbow regarding Cende's lack of dating history), and a not surprisingly short review of Cende's background.
"
Brief investigations have turned up multiple instances of the couple spending time together, with many more unconfirmed reports on hand. It would appear then that this is not a new relationship but one that has been quietly growing over time, casting doubt on Statesman's comment that "The young lady and I are just close friends." Confirmation of their status was unable to be obtained from Cende, as she has made herself entirely unavailable for comment. Remarkably little information is publicly available about the reclusive Star Patrol heroine, which in itself warrants further inquiry."
The
Tattler had the slightly more provocative headline, "
Statesman in Love with Mystery Woman, Ms. Liberty Disapproves". Beneath it was a slightly out of focus copy of what he guessed was probably Cende's FBSA ID photograph.
And exactly what in hell is HER problem? Raymond wondered briefly as he skimmed down the page.
Then again, I probably don't want to know.
The subsequent column was slightly longer, but still sparse on information, although it hinted that Ms. Liberty was less than happy about the fact that her grandfather was dating a woman that much younger than he. Somewhat more sensationalist but still relatively respectful, it dug more into Statesman's recent dating adventures. There was also considerably more anecdotal information about Cende, some of it contradictory, that painted her in a somewhat dark and mysterious light. If he didn't know better, he'd guess that Harvey Maylor seemed to be painting Cende as an exotic spy of some sort.
The
Caper was the one that Sorina had found on the boardwalk on Talos Island, with that picture of Statesman and Cende in a rather intimate position, just beneath the headline, "
Statesman and Cende - A Hot Affair, But Will It Last?"
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he focused on the
Caper's article.
"
It's no secret that several of the superhero organizations in Paragon often 'team up' to handle related caseloads, fill in personnel needs, or even just for some extra muscle. These days, however, it seems that the Freedom Phalanx is openly mixing business and pleasure with their fellow Freedom Corps branch, the Star Patrol. First came the unexpected hookup of Positron, aka Dr. Raymond Keyes, with the Patrol's resident physicist and Vanguard liaison, Dr. Sorina Tavarisch. Hot on their heels came the on-again-off-again affair between Paragon City's leading contenders in the love-'em'-and-leave-'em department, Steve Berry (Synapse) and Andrea Blake. Now, going for the hat trick, is Statesman, also known as Marcus Cole, who after years of staunch single life following the loss of his wife, Monica (the late Maiden Justice), has finally begun forays into the dating world.
Over the past month, Statesman has been spotted around town with a number of law-supporting lovelies on his arm. According to Ivy Snow, one of Statesman's more recent companions for an evening, "Oh, please, he's too much of a pr-... I mean, too reserved for this sort of thing. The man is barely comfortable even holding hands. God help the furniture if you put your hand on his knee!" By comparison, superheroine and fame hunter Flambeaux was quick to point out, "All he ever does is talk about himself. Whatever happened to focusing on the woman? He didn't even ask me about me, even once! And then he has the nerve to chase after another redhead, and not to mention one with no fashion sense? Hers has to be a dye job, I mean, there's only one true hot redhead in town and you're talking to her!" (For more on Flambeaux's alleged relationship with Statesman, see page eight.)
But these were apparently just testings of the waters before he settled on the statuesque Star Patrol redhead known only by the name of Cende. And what seemingly has Ms. Liberty in a snit is that Cende, like many of the other 'ships' passing in the night with Paragon's leading hero, is no older than she. Ms. Liberty was overheard to remark, "He doesn't need that and he doesn't need some fame-hunting bimbo hanging on his reputation!""
*****
With a sigh, he shoved the papers back to the center of the table and leaned back in his chair. "So what happens now?" He looked across the table at the leader of the Phalanx. "For the record, States, what you do on your time and who you do it with doesn't mean a damn to me, as long as you're happy. I just want to know if it's true."
"Is what true?" Statesman gestured contemptuously at the pile of papers. "That load of tripe?"
"No. Just your relationship with Cende. If you two are a thing, great, I wish you both well. If not..." He looked over at the picture of the two of them. "Well, if it were me, I'd be suing them for libel after photoshopping a picture like that and plastering it on the front page."
To his surprise, Statesman's face went red behind his mask. "That was... it wasn't... it's not what it looks like, and let's just leave it at that."
Uh-huh. Yeah, I don't want to know. "Okay, so we'll leave it. I take it that our unanimous response is to be, 'No comment'?"
"Of sorts," Bowman said, running one hand through his sandy brown hair. "I keep an index card on my desk for just this sort of thing." Taking on an almost sarcastically monotonous voice, he quoted, "
'It is the policy of Star Patrol, its command and its members to avoid public comment on the activities of its members, in whole or in part, except through written statements released through the Freedom Corps Office of Public Affairs.""
"That's the official party line," Wright explained. "If all we'd said was, 'No comment', they'd have accused us of having something to hide."
Sorina covered her face with one hand, clearly recalling her own grilling by the press not too long ago. "Not that THAT's stopped them in the past."
"True, but this at least makes it appear that official policy keeps us from speaking out." Then Wright shot a brief glare at Sharpe and Andrea. "Although these two-"
Sharpe held up his hands defensively. "Hey, they asked for my opinion, I gave it to them."
Raymond glanced back down at the three papers, re-reading them for the comments of the two groups. Not surprisingly, Bowman's spiel had been 'translated' as 'being mysteriously reticent to comment' by the
Tattler and the
Caper. Sharpe, on the other hand, was being quoted in the
Caper in response to the allegations of Statesman and Cende's relationship as stating, "
You can get my comments from a more responsible media source tomorrow."
With a grin, Raymond looked over at Andrea. "I'm surprised you didn't speak up."
"SHE wouldn't let me!" Andrea protested, pointing across the table at Wright. "Besides, I can't be the only one who thinks that the reason Ms. Liberty's all bent out of shape is because her grandfather gets more than she does."
The abrupt silence following Andrea's remark was almost deafening, but she folded her arms defiantly across her chest. "Oh come on, tell me I'm wrong."
"That's
not the point," Bowman said reprovingly. "We should hold ourselves to a higher standard - just because they indulge in mudslinging and sniping doesn't mean that we should reply in kind."
Raymond then looked over at his teammates. "And I notice a similar blanket on communications from us as well?"
Manticore nodded. "For what good it does."
Citadel stirred from where he'd been sitting besides Statesman. "However, there is a great deal of internet activity and speculation regarding this matter. There appears to be one forum in particular that is defending Statesman in this matter solely because it believes that he is actually involved in a covert relationship with Fa-"
"We are NOT getting into that right now!" Statesman cut him off hastily, slamming one hand down on the table.
It suddenly dawned on Raymond that the eighth member of the Phalanx was strangely absent. "Where's Brawler?"
"Oh, he's still out in front of the Freedom Corps building, as usual," Numina replied with a shrug and a faint smile. "However, he seemed less concerned with the reporters hounding us about Statesman's social life than he did with how they were getting in his way while he was trying to train some of the younger heroes."
Sister Psyche made a face. "As it was, we practically had to sneak out of headquarters to get here. Fortunately, we won't have a problem when we leave, because the Patrol can access any of the teleporter beacons in the city."
Sorina was also looking around, her eyes intent on the various members of the Star Patrol as they walked through the base. "And I notice that Cende is conspicuously missing."
"She's meditating over in the living quarters," Andrea remarked. "And obviously we can't send her to the Rogue Isles now to accompany Takimura, so we'll be sending Talek instead. He's been partnered with her the most often recently, so getting him away from the paparazzi seemed wise. Granted, it means he'll have to keep his head down while on Arachnos turf, but he is good at that." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "It means that Takimura and Talek's departure has to be delayed a bit because we'll need to reshuffle assignments, so they're both restricted to base until they leave on Wednesday."
"And Moon Tide?" Sorina asked.
"Temporarily seconded by Dr. Caroline Smith in the Shadow Shard. Other than that, Cende's not been obviously linked with too many members, so that should keep any of us from being favored targets by the media."
"For what that's worth," Bowman said sourly. "Although while we're all here, is there anything else newsworthy that we should know about so we can prepare ourselves?"
The members of the Phalanx and the Patrol all looked at one another, then they turned to look at Sorina and Raymond.
*****
"Why is everyone suddenly staring at
us?" Raymond asked into the silence.
"Probably because we've not yet had much of a debriefing on what exactly happened while you two were in the Rikti War Zone," Wright said quietly. "It's not exactly made headlines, but most people are aware that the Phalanx leaves fighting the Rikti to the Vanguard. Positron going off to help Gaussian on a mission did raise one or two eyebrows."
Sorina sighed and tiredly rubbed her eyes. "It was the right thing to do, regardless of what anyone else might think. However, Raymond and I still have to go over the data that Vanguard sent to us. Once we finish that, we can convene both groups again and let you know what we find. The important thing is, we managed to take out the Rikti portal and slow things down."
It took all of his self-control not to look over at her, but Raymond was genuinely curious to see if Sorina would mention the new Rikti faction they had encountered during their battles in the War Zone. However, she seemed content to keep that information to herself until it was corroborated by their findings, so he simply nodded in agreement.
Especially since something tells me that's going to be a whole new can of worms... no sense in borrowing trouble right now when we have all this other crap to deal with.
"At this point, then, it would seem prudent to continue our chorus of 'no comment', and get on with our current efforts of investigating the attempted bombing of City Hall," Statesman said firmly, looking around the table. He rose and turned to leave, then turned back to face the Star Patrol leaders. "I... appreciate... your discretion. Thank you." With a nod to his fellow Phalanx members, he left the conference room and headed toward the teleporter bay.
"That must have hurt," Andrea commented as she watched him go. "I guess he doesn't like being reminded that he's still only human. Or mostly human and part god, or
whatever the hell he is."
"Andrea..." Wright said warningly.
"What?" At the other woman's look, Andrea slouched back in her chair. "Okay, okay. But I'm still right. Besides, we're gonna be catching six kinds of hell over the next few days, so you'd think we'd be snatching at what good times we can instead of grousing about things. At least, that's what
I intend to do."
"Does that include your date Friday night with Foreshadow?" Steve asked. Raymond could tell his roommate was trying to act casual, but he couldn't quite seem to pull it off.
"Yep," she said with a grin. "You saw what they called us in the papers - the love-'em-and-leave-'em duo. Except it's not quite accurate on the 'love' part... at least not the romantic love part."
"Spare us the details, Blake," Bowman commented as he stood up, followed by the other leaders. "At any rate, I appreciate you all coming here so we could reach a consensus on this matter. Now all we have to do is get through the next week or so and hope something else catches the media's interest."
"We can but hope," Numina agreed as the rest of the Phalanx got up as well. Raymond also stood, but walked around the table to stand next to Sorina, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry the day had to end like this, damn it."
"As am I. But it doesn't have to end just yet, or are you needing some time to yourself?" She tilted her head to look up at him, and he gently traced the curve of her jaw with one finger.
"Why don't we call it an early night, and then tomorrow, you come by the Phalanx headquarters and we'll see what Gaussian's thrown our way. It'll save us a lot of needless back-and-forthing if it's important."
"True." Sorina briefly closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, then sighed and opened her eyes again. "So I will see you tomorrow, then?"
Besides, we're gonna be catching six kinds of hell over the next few days, so you'd think we'd be snatching at what good times we can instead of grousing about things...
"Actually, I was thinking more of nabbing a pizza and taking it and you back to my house."
"Oh." A slow smile spread across her face. "So your suggestion about an early night...?"
He gave her a lopsided grin in response. "Shall we?"
"
Da, we shall."
To be continued...
@ Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite: Will you need a more CoH compatible rewrite of the trailer of Neko's Mischief or will you manage how it is now? Let me know
.
