Los Angeles, Sunday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai flipped over the edge of the rooftop, landing in a graceful crouch with her rainbows fluttering around her. She stood easily, not a single bruise or sore spot remaining from her time in Cyseal. It was good to have a healing mage in her back pocket.

Her pleased smile vanished as she wondered how many times Regenerator's wife had thought the same thing.

Poor Regenerator. She wished she could do more for him; just covering his patrol hardly seemed like enough when he was faced with the loss of his wife. But Banzai was hesitant to call the number in her phone, unwilling to intrude on the private grief of a man whose real name she didn't even know. What was she supposed to say? She'd been lucky enough to never really lose anyone close to her; all she had was a few platitudes about being terribly sorry and that time healed all wounds.

Maybe she could bring him some tea later? She was perched on the rooftop of the small teahouse that Regenerator liked to frequent at the beginning of his patrols. He'd introduced her to it over Christmas break, explaining the proprietors were actually happy to serve the masked set, since it meant criminals tended to give the store a wide berth. They'd sat and talked over a few nice cups of Ceylon and Banzai'd told him all about her plans to become a doctor. He explained he was a medical resident for his day job. They laughed at the idea of one day working together in the wards and the streets. She should have given him her real name then, when he'd joked about commandeering her as an intern when it was time.

Maybe if she had, she'd feel less lost now. What was she supposed to do? Well, other than take his patrol and hope that somehow, he'd know that it was taken care of?

[NFB, NFI. Some text taken from Chapter 24, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You", from Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes. OOC welcome, warning for oblique suicide mention.]

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[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai thought about protesting, she really did, but decided to just give in with good grace. It wasn't like she was so wealthy she could afford to jaunt back and forth both coasts without concern for Portalocity fares and it wasn't like Gorgon was taking money out of, like, his paycheck or something.

"The Bank of Banzai appreciates these charitable donations," she said. "I wish I didn't have to, but..."

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"But times are tough, baby," Gorgon agreed. "We all know that. And it's not like heroing's a well-paying gig." Unless you had a sideline like he did, and Gorgon knew that neither the Mighty Dragon or Banzai did. "And the rest of the time, what? You're still in school, right? Even the Mighty Dragon can't get all judgey about that, can he."

It wasn't really a question, Gorgon giving the Mighty Dragon a bland smile as he said it.

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"No," the Mighty Dragon conceded. "It may not be the most ethical source of funds--" It was hard to glare at Gorgon through the mask, but somehow the Mighty Dragon managed it "--but it's going to a good cause. Don't worry about it, B--"

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"Hey."

All three heroes startled. Banzai bounced backwards, arms coming up to defend herself. The Might Dragon floated up into the air a few feet, smoke curling from his mouth. Gorgon stayed rock steady, his hand flashing up to his goggles. The man who had interrupted them didn't move, just looked at them with dull confusion hanging over sharp grief.

Regenerator.

"What--why are you all here?" he asked. "Hi, Banzai. Didn't know you were back on this coast. Isn't it still the middle of your semester?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai looked from the Mighty Dragon to Gorgon and back, but neither of them seemed like they were ready to answer him quite yet. For such a large man, Regenerator could move very quietly. Gorgon looked like he was still trying to puzzle out how he'd gotten up there without them noticing and from the Mighty Dragon's body language, he was probably trying to figure out a way to explain Banzai's presence without bringing up the elephant in the room.

And failing.

With a purely internal grumble about women's emotional work, Banzai stepped forward to explain. "Hi," she said softly. "I just arrived tonight. Spring break ends tomorrow, but I can miss a few classes." She fiddled with the rainbows at her cuffs. "I'm here because I heard. And we thought it would be good to have someone here who knows your beat if you wanted to take some time."

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"To cope?" Regenerator asked, sounding bitter. "Take a few days to grieve? To mourn? To contemplate my loss?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's going to take a hell of a lot longer than just a few days to do all that," Banzai said bluntly. Regenerator's head came up in shock at her tone and, behind her, the Mighty Dragon made an abortive noise in his throat.

Tough. If he wanted to be the one to handle this, he should have said something when Regenerator first showed up.

"We--we don't know what happened," she continued, voice gentling. "And it's not important. But someone we care about--a member of our community--just lost his wife. So we're going to do whatever we can to support you. Because that's what heroes do. We don't just help civilians, you know. We help our friends, too."

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"Regenerator--" The Mighty Dragon began.

"No!" Regenerator barked, holding his hand up. "Just--no. Please, don't call me that. Not yet. I--she gave me that name. I picked the Immortal, but when we realized what I could do, she's the one that came up with the new codename. She's the reason I learned I could heal others."

The fabric under his eyes was wet. He didn't seem to notice. "She was always so clumsy. She cut herself chopping broccoli. I picked it up to examine it, saw it would probably need stitches, then boom. I felt my power bubble up and she was fine. No more cut, no more bleeding. She made me who I am today. She's not just my wife, she was the love of my life. We only had two years together and now she's gone. You think that coming out for a few patrols is somehow going to make everything better? When the only name you can call me is the one she gave me?"

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"Whoa, hey, there," Gorgon said, slipping into his characteristic pose, the one that made him look like a gunslinger from the Old West, his leather duster falling in dark lines behind him. "Look, I know you're grieving, but don't take it out on Banzai."

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai waved him down. "It's okay, Gorgon," she said. "I get what he's saying. I mean, none of us really thought that me coming out here would fix anything for him."

She turned back to Regenerator. "If you want to patrol so you don't have to think about things for a few hours, that's fine. If you'd rather go home and just not deal with being a hero for awhile, that's fine, too. If you want to have a few cups of Ceylon and talk--or not talk--we can make that happen, too. We're here to give you options, Regen--" She frowned, trying to think of what she could call him that wouldn't immediately invoke the spectre of his wife. "Genny. We're here to give you options, so you can do whatever's best for you. It's not worth much at all, but at least it's something. It says we're here for you, too."

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"Is that somehow supposed to make me feel better?" Regenerator asked again, though he just sounded tired now.

"No," the Mighty Dragon answered. "Nothing will. Not yet. But it might later on."

"Okay then," Regenerator said, slumping down. "Fine. I guess...could I have some tea? I can figure out what I want to do after some tea. It was the only thing I could think of to get me out of the house anyway."

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"I'll get it!" The Mighty Dragon soared over the edge of the building. Gorgon shook his head but followed him to the side. "I'm going to go start on my patrol. Banzai, Re--Genny--whatever, you need something you call."

And then he was jumping over, the loud clang of his passage down the side echoing up to them until they heard the engine of his motorcycle engage.

[spin_kick_snap]

And then it was Banzai and Regenerator, staring at each other through their masks on a rooftop.

So...typical night in the life of a superhero?

"Hey," she said quietly. "Whatever you want to do tonight, whatever you think might help, I've got your back."

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"I know," Regenerator said softly. "I want to talk about Meredith. I don't want to talk about Meredith. God, I probably shouldn't even talk about Meredith--I probably shouldn't even have said her name. Whatever. It's not like she needs to stay anonymous now. I already failed her. And you might figure out who I am. So what? I lost everything I was already trying to protect."

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai reached up and untied her mask, letting the rainbow fabric fall into her lap. "Kathy," she said quietly. "My name is Kathy Li and I grew up in KTown, not far from here. And I...I'm eighteen, a senior at a private boarding school in Baltimore."

Honestly, telling Regenerator how old she was was even harder than telling him her real name. She hadn't lied to him when they'd talked about school and her future plans, but she'd been careful to skirt around her actual age.

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And for good reason. Regenerator rocked backwards on his heels, surprised. "Shit, really?" he asked. "I knew you were young, but damn. I thought you were at least an undergrad! Do your parents know what you do?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Obviously not," Banzai replied. "You'll notice how I'm not locked in my room until I'm thirty."

Sighing, she added, "Look. I've been doing this since I was a sophomore in high school, okay? Technically, I think I have more field experience than you do. And you would not believe some of the things I've gone up against, from a high ranking mafia enforcer called The Butcher to stuff that--" She pressed her lips together and shook her head. She wasn't going to explain to a grieving widower that at one time she had literally died. "You can ask Gorgon about some of the crazy stuff I've seen if you want, okay? But we'd met after I spent a night performing emergency surgery in a damn hotel room and that was over a year ago. So don't try to play Responsible Adult at me."

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"Okay, okay," Regenerator said, holding up his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Right. I was just a bit surprised." For a moment, he sounded almost his old self, the surprise in finding out that Banzai was still in high school momentarily pushing his crushing grief away. "And I'm...Josh. Josh Garcetti. Hi."

It would be weird, hearing Banzai--Kathy's--voice calling him Josh, but his own name wasn't the gut punch that 'Regenerator' was right now.

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Josh was just reaching up to pull off his mask, when the Mighty Dragon flew up to the rooftop again, carrying a cardboard tray with two carryout cups of tea in it. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I asked for what Regenerator always--" He paused, hovering in mid-air as he looked from a bare-faced Banzai to Regenerator and back. "Uhhh, I sense I'm intruding here."

[spin_kick_snap]

"We're just getting a chance to talk a little," Banzai said, making no move to put her mask back on. "Did you want to stay...?"

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"I think I'll let you two keep going," the Mighty Dragon said quickly. "I only got two teas, anyway. I'll start my patrol and check in later."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You know, I think the Mighty Dragon is more comfortable beating up Seventeens than he is with the idea of a little heart-to-heart," Banzai said, watching him fly off into the distance.

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"Maybe he was worried that we'd make him unmask and join special sharing time, too," Josh replied, his mask now being twisted in his hands. "Do you really want to know?" he asked abruptly. "What happened? It's a shitshow, I'm telling you now. It was all so--so pointless."

[spin_kick_snap]

"If you want to tell me, I'm here to listen," she said, eyeing Regener--Josh's mask with a bit of concern. If he kept worrying at it, the fragile fabric could rip.

There was a metaphor in there somewhere, she was sure.

"Here," she said, passing over the tea in an attempt to rescue the mask. "Drink it before it gets cold and figure out what you want to say."

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Josh looked down at his mask, almost as if he'd missed the part where he'd taken it off, and obediently set it aside and took the drink. He sipped in silence for a few moments, appreciating the chance to try to order his thoughts.

"Meredith was always clumsy," he said, sounding awkward. "I think I mentioned that earlier? But she was. I loved that about her. I loved everything about her. When we met, she was wearing two mismatched earrings, you know? Because she'd lost the mates to either pair and had decided just to wear them as a set. That was who Meredith was. She was clumsy and prone to losing things and yet she always made it work. I was the healer, but she could fix anything. We met at a party as dates for other people and spent the whole night talking to each other. Pissed both our dates off to no end. My date dumped me that night. Hers took another month. He probably knew how special she was and kept fighting. A month after that, we got together."