Room 508, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Coming back from Cyseal, the last thing Kathy expected was to get ready to turn around and go again. But she was sorting her laundry to run a load or two when her phone rang again. That wasn't entirely unexpected, but the name that showed up on her caller ID certainly was.

Gorgon.

She'd barely talked to Nikolai since he'd moved back to LA, though they occasionally bumped into one another in LA when she patrolled. Certainly not enough for him to call her on a random Sunday evening.

"Hello?" she asked, putting her phone up to her ear. "Gorgon? Is everything okay?"

Gorgon	"Hey, baby." The endearment was automatic, Gorgon sounded more subdued than Kathy had likely ever heard. "You got a minute?"
Kathy	Yeah, that didn't sound like he was gearing up to give her good news. "I've got plenty of time," she assured him, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Not doing anything but laundry. What's up. You on patrol?" Was it the Seventeens? Koreatown? Something about her sister? No, no, don't think that way, Kathy. If something had happened to Sarah, her parents would have called. No reason to panic, Kathy. Keep your head.
Gorgon	"About to head out," he said. "Pulling my duster on now, actually. But I got some news to pass along. You heard from Regenerator lately?" He'd heard that Banzai and Regenerator had buddied up after the the whole bullet wound fiasco of a year or two ago. He didn't think they were close enough that Regenerator would have called, but maybe...? Look, he didn't do all that great with emotional things. And this was the kind of phone call no one wanted to make.
Kathy	"Not since the beginning of the month," Kathy said, shaking her head even though Gorgon wouldn't be able to see it. "He was looking for some information about the Seventeens and he hadn't been able to find you. Why? When was the last time you heard from him?" It didn't even occur to Kathy to be worried about him. He'd been The Immortal before he'd realized his powers could heal other people as well as himself. He'd shrugged off bullets, stab wounds, fire, falling--he'd even mentioned something about acid once. "He's not in trouble is he? Did the Sevens take him or something--?" Each scenario she could come up with sounded more implausible than the last, but what could have happened to Regenerator?
Gorgon	"Not the way you're thinking," Gorgon said quietly. "It's not Regenerator. It's his wife. She--there was an accident. We don't have a lot of details--if the Mighty Dragon hadn't been there when Regenerator got the call from the hospital we wouldn't even know that anything had happened at all. But she didn't make it. I guess that by the time he got there, she was already gone."
Kathy	"Oh, shit," Kathy breathed, bringing her hands up to her mouth. "And there was nothing he could do, then? Just...show up and find out he was too late?" That was the limit of Regenerator's powers, though. He could heal anyone and anything so long as there was life. But if there wasn't life, he was just as helpless as anyone else. "She's really gone, then?"
Gorgon	"Fraid so, baby." There was a long inhale, Gorgon had lit up a cigarette. He needed a smoke to deal with this. "That's why I'm calling. I know you've got classes and whatnot, but we were wondering if there was any way you could come out for a day or so? Pick up his patrol? We want to give him a few days to mourn and you know the beat." He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "The Mighty Dragon would have called you personally--" Hey, look, name-dropping was literally a way of life for him. "--But he didn't have your number and I didn't think you wanted me to just hand it out."
Kathy	Save me the spiel, Gorgon," Kathy said, sounding wry. "I'm already going to say yes. You don't have to bait me with the Mighty Dragon. Anything I can do to help Regenerator...You don't even have to ask. I'm there."
Gorgon	"Thanks, baby," Gorgon said with a relieved sigh. He wasn't even going to apologize for trying to spin it. It was what he did. "You know when you can get out here?"
Kathy	Kathy was already pulling up Portalocity's site on her laptop. "With the three hour difference between Baltimore and LA, I can make it out there for patrol tonight. I don't think I can stay long--might have to come back during the day for class--"
Gorgon	"Whatever you need," Gorgon said, exhaling a lungful of smoke and pitching his cigarette over the edge of his balcony. "We'll see if we can't maybe fund some of that back and forth as well. Whatever. I'll see what I can do. Just--thanks for coming out here, for picking up the slack."
Gorgon	"Whatever Regenerator needs," Kathy said firmly. "I'm not going to turn down some extra cash or whatever, but right now, whatever I can do to make things easier for him." Her voice wavered. "I can't believe he lost his wife." It was a dark irony for a man who who could heal any wound no matter how grievous, had lost his wife while he was out on patrol keeping the city safe. "See you later, Gorgon," she said, clicking the button to buy her portal tickets. "I'll be there with rainbows on."

[Many thanks to furnaceface for letting me borrow NPC!Gorgon. Open for visitors before she leaves. Link to Anders'.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

This was probably the first time in a week Dante wasn't either off sulking wandering around somewhere by himself or drinking, at this hour. Which, at least he was less-- understated than he'd been before, but it also meant he was bored.

And when he was bored, he bugged people. It was just how he was wired.

So he rapped his knuckles against Kathy's door and parked himself in the doorway.

[spin_kick_snap]

Hey, Dante'd had a great break. If he was off somewhere sulking wandering, Kathy would have had to roll her eyes at him, at least a little.

Until she remembered that giant hole in his shirt and cut him some slack.

"Hey, Dante!" she said, tossing him a small smile over her shoulder as she transferred dirty laundry to her hamper and started tossing clean clothes into her bag. Sorry, she wasn't quite up to one of her usual sunshiney grins right now. "Let me guess. Bored?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Little bit," Dante said. He nodded at the bag. "Laundry day?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, we were just on vacation for a week," Kathy pointed out. Because she was totally the kind of person who did laundry on a weekly basis. She'd even managed to do a load while all hopped up on pollen. "I should be able to get a load in before I have to head out."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked. "On a Sunday?" he said.

Whether he was talking about the laundry or the leaving was up in the air, really. He did his approximately once every few months, if he remembered.

[spin_kick_snap]

And yet another reason there was now an envelope stuffed with cash in her bottom desk drawer with his name on it.

Kathy saw no reason for anyone to be confused about Sunday laundry, so she assumed he was confused about her leaving again. Which made sense, as it wasn't exactly planned. "I have to head back to LA for a few days," she said, making a mental note to email her teachers and ask them to excuse her absence. "Banzai's needed for a few days."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Bad guys plan this shit out in advance now?" Dante said. His frown wasn't getting any better, here.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Wouldn't that be convenient," Kathy said with a sigh. "But no. One of the other heroes out there--his wife just died. So I've been tapped to cover his patrol for a few days so he doesn't feel like he has to do anything but...cope, I guess."

Kathy looked sad. She'd never met Regenerator's wife, wouldn't even be able to pick him out of a crowd without his mask. But still, they were friends in the weird, nebulous way of superheroes and it hurt to know he was grieving.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Right."

Yeah, Dante'd be lying if he said he knew anything about any of that on like, any level. But it was bringing Kathy down, so-- that was moderately not fantastic.

"You going to be okay doing that?"

Shut up.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Huh? Oh!" Kathy straightened, giving Dante a reassuring smile and V-sign. See? Fine! "I'll be okay. I never even met the woman. I'm just glad that there's something I can do to help out. I'd feel just awful, otherwise."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah, yeah," Dante said, wandering into her room anyway. "Just try to keep the stupid to a minimum."

[spin_kick_snap]

"After the lecture I gave you this week--" Well, tried to give. Whatever, close enough. "--I suppose I can't argue too much. No running into burning buildings for me."

Beat.

"Without backup at least."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I don't remember any lecture," Dante said.

Maybe some scraps of one, but they were weird and out of focus and really, he couldn't be expected to remember that shit. "But no burning buildings sounds like a plan."

He sat down on her bed and stretched his legs.

[not_every_mage]

Anders got off the shuttle back to the island, wandered down to the shop to make sure nothing was on fire, and -- seeing nothing was -- decided to go bother Kathy.

He'd been doing that a lot lately.

He tapped cheerfully on her door, leaning in to make sure Kathy was there.

"Hello," he said, noticing she was already on her laptop. "Already back to studying?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would argue the term 'bother'. For one thing, she welcomed each and every visit.

"I wish," she said, looking up at him with a smile that was only a little shadowed around the edges. "Portalocity tickets, actually. I've got to head back to LA for a few days."

[not_every_mage]

Anders furrowed his brow and slid through the door, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Traveling again so soon?" he asked. "What's going on back home?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's face fell a little. "Did I ever tell you about Regenerator? He's the hero who helped out after I stitched Nick up in the hotel room...shit, did I ever even tell you that story?"

It had been so long now, Kathy couldn't even remember.

[not_every_mage]

"I don't remember," Anders admitted. "It sounds a little familiar but you'd think I'd remember more about it, if you had told me. Anyhow. You ... stitched up Nick and then found Regenerator?"

Code names were still ridiculous.

[spin_kick_snap]

He should just be lucky she wasn't using her original idea, Social Justice Warrior. Banzai was a million percent improvement over that.

"Yeah, Nick caught a bullet from one of the Seventeens and while I was running across town covered in blood with an armful of stolen medical supplies, the Mighty Dragon found me." No, the names were not getting any less stupid. "I explained what I was doing and why I couldn't take Nick--Gorgon--to the hospital, and he said that if he could find another hero, he might be able to help. So I went back to the hotel I'd stashed Nick in, did what I could to clean him up and stop the bleeding, and a few hours later, the Mighty Dragon found Regenerator and arranged a meetup."

And all this running around looking for everyone was why Kathy had just thrown up her hands and gave out her cellphone number. It was so much easier that way.

"Regenerator makes what you and Dante do look like babytown frolics. Nothing can hurt him. I watched him get stabbed and he didn't even flinch. He just healed instantly--the guy ended up losing the knife because he didn't pull it back fast enough and Regenerator healed around it. He had to pull it out himself a second later. And he can do that to anyone else, too, if he wants. If you're with Regenerator, you're just as immortal as he is. Unless..." She sighed and looked down at her hands, then moved over to sit next to Anders on her bed. "Unless you're already dead. He can't do anything with someone who died before he got there."

[not_every_mage]

"No, healers usually can't do anything with death," Anders agreed. "But someone who can heal anything but -- that's good to have around."

[spin_kick_snap]

"He's pretty handy that way, yeah," Kathy said. "Though I don't know how he's feeling about it right now. I just got off the phone with Nick. Turns out something happened while Regenerator was on patrol and his wife died."

Kathy had no details on that, no explanation as for why or how, but it didn't matter. She could guess how it was hitting Regenerator; knowing that while he was out being the hero to the city, his wife was dying alone and in need of him. Knowing that if he'd just been there, by her side, she would have been okay. She would have lived.

[not_every_mage]

"Maker's balls," Anders swore. "That has to hurt. You're going out for, what, for the funeral and all of that?"

He didn't need details. Sometimes people died, and knowing how didn't make it less awful for the people left behind.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Kind of?" Kathy said. "I didn't know her. I don't even know Regenerator's real name, so it's not like I'll be able to go. But Nick and the Mighty Dragon were thinking that it would be good to have another hero come take over Regenerator's regular patrol for a little bit. Give him some time to come to terms with everything. Figure out what he wants."

She leaned against him, unthinkingly seeking for comfort. "No one would blame him if he decided to hang up his cape or whatever. No one even thinks that it would a disaster to let his beat go unpatrolled for a few days. But we figure it might make him feel better if he knows it's handled and he doesn't have to worry about it. And it's the least we can do to offer our support."

[not_every_mage]

Anders turned toward her, nuzzling her hair. "I understand," he said. "They're your people. You want to help if you can. Just -- don't stay too long, all right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I won't," Kathy said. "Nick mentioned me just being a stand-in until another hero can be freed up. It should only be a couple of days."

She tried for a smile; it was wobbly and small, but it was there. "Why? Gonna miss me while I'm gone?"