Koreatown, Los Angeles, Wednesday

[spin_kick_snap]

After discovering that Anders could heal the infected, the heroes of LA had been buoyed up by the knowledge that they could stop the spread of the zombie virus. Regenerator couldn't change anyone who had become of full-fledged zombie, but he was able to heal those they got to in time. It helped that the victims tended to have as much as a whole day between when they were bitten and when they turned. Stealth got word out to the populations that were most vulnerable, promising 'free and discreet care' to anyone who needed it, for whatever reason, and soon people were coming to them, either to be healed by 'Genny or two get heroes to help transport the infected back. 'Genny set up a walk-in clinic in a warehouse Stealth had procured and rather than patrolling, Banzai had started helping him there. She was fast, she was agile, she was good at calming people down--she made an excellent assistant and a new rapport sprang up between them.

They were saving lives. They were making a difference. It even made having to move back in with her family (under the guise of visiting for 'spring break') more palatable.

This rush of good feeling lasted for three days. Just three days. They knew they weren't stopping new zombies from turning, but between the people they were healing and the zombies the rest were killing, they really thought they were making a difference.

They were wrong. They were so wrong.

It was Sarah who woke Kathy up from her nap, eyes wide and a little scared. The fear alone had the bottom dropping out of Kathy's stomach; Sarah didn't do scared. She'd gone to school everyday through Seventeen territory and hadn't even flinched. "Sarah," she said, holding out a hand. "What is it?"

"Something's happening," Sarah said, going to sit on Kathy's bed and curling up against her big sister. "Something big. There was some kind of terrorist attack today--like a biological thing. People were screaming and rioting and attacking one another on Hollywood and Highland. Just out in the street in the middle of the day! Like--people ripped one another's throats out and stuff. It's all over the net--people were taking videos and running and screaming--they attacked little kids! And the way they looked--!" Sarah shuddered, hiding her face. "It was awful. Like a horror movie but for real. I watched people die. It looked like some were getting eaten."

"You shouldn't be watching this kind of stuff," Kathy said absently, stroking her sister's hair while her mind whirled. "It's just going to freak you out. Don't worry, the superheroes will fix it."

"I hope so," Sarah said, cuddling close. "Cause the videos I saw? It looked like the end of the world."

[NFB, but Kathy's going to be calling people. If you want her to call you (or want to call her), ping in and she did!]

Comments

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Damn. Whatever radio station Anders was listening to was entirely on point. Kathy wasn't sure whether she was wincing at the lyrics or the way his voice had changed yet again.

"LA's currently on lockdown," she said quietly. "They've declared a state of emergency in the city limits. Right now they think that what happened was some kind of terrorist attack but that won't last. There's video footage now and sooner or later someone's going to say what we already know. Stealth and the Mighty Dragon are in the mayor's office, trying to get a meeting with him."

[not_every_mage]

"Too bad they didn't think of that two weeks ago," Anders said. He was still calm and almost icy. He didn't have the mental energy to argue with Kathy again, and being calm seemed like the best way to avoid it. "So you're staying until it's all over one way or another, then."

With that 'then,' Anders firmly shut a door in his own mind and decided to keep whatever feelings behind it. Feelings weren't doing him any good.

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"Dragon did," Kathy said quietly, feeling her heart tear into tiny pieces with how distant Anders suddenly sounded. "He's just too honest for his own good and didn't even make it past the secretary once he mentioned zombies."

The Mighty Dragon was terribly kind and terribly earnest, which made him a good leader but just awful at dealing with anyone with and entrenched power base.

"And once he did that, Stealth couldn't get in either, because the mayor just didn't have time for foolishness, or something. But her contact in the CDC through Zzzap will hopefully be coming through."

She hadn't answered his question. Except for how both of them knew it wasn't really a question.

"Anders, I--" her voice cracked and broke.

[not_every_mage]

Anders still didn't understand why zombies were so hard to believe in in a world that had both cameras and superheroes, but it would seem they were. It wasn't his problem if her world was full of stupid people.

A lot of things weren't his problem. And he was going to try to put that crack in Kathy's voice on the list.

"Yes?"

He wasn't going to let Kathy know how much this hurt. He'd spent days telling her that and it had made no difference.

The song in the background changed.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

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"Hang on," Kathy said, voice thick. "I need to go bang on Sarah's wall. Tell her to turn down her fucking music."

Kathy left her phone on the bed, slamming her fist on the wall and yelled, "C'mon, Sarah, turn it down!"

"Oh my god, Kathy! I'm not doing anything! Chill yourself, god!"

There was about thirty seconds of silence between when Kathy stopped banging on the wall and when she picked up again. Long enough for a bit of Avril Lavigne to play.

What I'd do to have you
Near, near, near
I wish you were here

No, I don't wanna let go
I just wanna let you know
That I never wanna let go
Let go, oh, oh

"Sorry about that," she said, voice sounding more composed. "Perils of sharing a house with a little sister again. She's doing it just to spite me, I think."

[not_every_mage]

"Probably," Anders said lightly. He'd gotten his temper under control while Kathy was away from the phone; he thought he'd be fine as long as they talked about literally anything except the z-word. He let himself sag down onto his bed, leaning lightly against his pillow.

"Wait, you're at home? Did you run out of hotel money?"

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"It just seemed to make more sense," Kathy said. "I'm trying to be frugal since I have no idea how much anything's going to cost next year. And even cheap motels are expensive." Especially when people drank their way through a mini-bar. "This way, I can stay in the city for free and keep an eye on things here."

This was so important that she was voluntarily staying with her family, Anders.

"It's, umm, tougher than I thought it would be. Coming back and being an obedient daughter after so much freedom, I mean. I have a bedtime now. A bedtime." That she ignored to sneak out and go hero, but a bedtime.

[not_every_mage]

"And I'm guessing have somebody waiting for you in bed is right out," Anders said. "It sounds miserable. I don't know how you're holding it together."

In the background, Bruno Mars was singing:

I'll never be your mother's favorite
Your daddy can't even look me in the eye
Ooh, if I was in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing
Sayin' "There goes my little girl
Walkin' with that troublesome guy"

But they're just afraid of something they can't understand
Ooh, but little darlin' watch me change their minds
Yeah for you I'll try, I'll try, I'll try, I'll try
And pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding
If that'll make you mine

'Cause there'll be no sunlight
If I lose you, baby
There'll be no clear skies
If I lose you, baby
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same, if you walk away
Everyday it'll rain, rain, ra-a-a-ain

"Do you hear that?" he asked. "Someone has their radio way too loud. I'm so sorry."

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"Sounds like it's happening to both of us," Kathy said, drawing up her legs. "People can be so inconsiderate."

She was willing to hold onto this random, prattling conversation just to keep talking to him. She missed him, from the sound of his voice to the way the light played in his hair to the feel of his hands. She just didn't know how to say so without making things worse.

"And yeah. No one in my bed but me. Haven't even taken my vibrator out. It's still buried at the bottom of my bag. No need for it--and the idea is just weird, with my parents on the other side of my bedroom wall."

[not_every_mage]

"I'm going to have to start banging on walls if they don't turn it down," Anders sighed, then closed his eyes to focus on what Kathy was saying. If he didn't let himself worry about zombies, it was almost like they weren't there. Like Kathy was only gone for the weekend and would be back beside him any minute.

"And that makes me sad for you, but I'm going to guess the kind of parents who give their 18-year-old a bedtime wouldn't be too happy with vibrator noises."

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"I guess I could go back to running up the water bill again," Kathy joked, willing him to go along with it, to be amused, to let her hear his laugh. "Then skip out before the bill actually arrives."

Not that she'd been feeling particularly amorous of late. Even running around as Banzai, thrilling as it still was, hadn't left her needing the way it usually did.

And if you hurt me
That's okay baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home

"I am going to break Sarah's ipod," she said through gritted teeth.

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe leave some cash on your mattress to cover the water bill when you slip out," Anders joked. "And don't worry about Sarah. That's a pretty song. If you complain she'll probably put on something worse."

He'd noticed a certain theme to the lyrics of the songs that had been playing during their conversation, and almost remarked on the coincidence.

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So had Kathy. To the point where she was tempted to slam into her sister's room and demand to know how much Sarah knew and how she'd figured it all out. But she wasn't going to remark on how apt they were, either. It just seemed safer not to.

"She's being rude," Kathy settled on. "I shouldn't have to hear her blaring her music. She wouldn't do that if our parents were home."

[not_every_mage]

"Do you get to have any fun when your parents are home?" Anders wondered. "They sound like they don't believe in it."

Whoever the rude person in the dorms was, they had switched the music to something even sadder. Anders winced when he hear the words.

Everytime I think of you, I always catch my breath
And I'm still standing here, and you're miles away
And I'm wonderin' why you left
And there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight

I hear your name in certain circles, and it always makes me smile
I spend my time thinkin' about you, and it's almost driving me wild
And there's a heart that's breaking down this long distance line tonight

"That's it," he said. "I'm taking the phone up on the roof."

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"Uhhh..." Kathy was saved from having to come up with an answer by the radio. That stupid, fucking radio with its on-point music.

"Roof sounds good," Kathy said. "If Sarah doesn't turn her damn music down, I might have to check out our building's rooftop, too."

[not_every_mage]

"Hang on," Anders said, and then she'd hear footsteps and doors opening and closing as he made his way to the rooftop.

"Tell me about your room," he said, by way of making conversation. "What's it like?"

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"It's pretty small," Kathy said, stretching out on her bed. "Smaller than our dorms. My whole apartment is pretty tiny, actually." Perils of living in LA and not being wealthy. "Most of it's filled with books, except for my shelves of gymnastic trophies and stuff. All silver and bronze, no gold. I was too tall to come in first. And there's my closet with a small dresser shoved inside of it, and my desk. I've got some posters hung up--gymnasts and K-Pop stars mostly. They're from when I was a kid, but I never bothered taking them down."

[not_every_mage]

"It sounds cozy," Anders told her. "But it must feel like you went back in time. Like little Kathy could come back any minute."

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"Pretty much that exactly," Kathy said. "And--I don't want her to. I'm pretty happy with current Kathy." In everything except location, really. "My bed's this tiny twin and it's this got this perfect virginal white bedspread with little frills that makes me laugh every time I look at it. That or do something unspeakably dirty on it. Maybe I should unearth my vibrator."

[not_every_mage]

"Sometime I'll have to come visit," Anders told her. "Throw you down face-first on that frilly bedspread and then..."

And then they'd have to hear someone else's music, was what.

I'll make love to you
Like you want me to
And I'll hold you tight
Baby all through the night
I'll make love to you
When you want me to
And I will not let go
Till you tell me to

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"Are you still on your way up to the roof?" Kathy asked, blinking. Because, wow the music was getting creepily specific.

Good tune, though. Kathy was a fan of 90s R&B. So much so that she almost expected it when music started playing on her end.

I get so
Weak in the knees
I can hardly speak
I loose all control
And something takes over me
In a daze, it is so amazing
It's not a phase
I want you to stay with me
By my side
I swallow my pride
Your love is so sweet
It knocks me right off of my feet
Can't explain
Why your lovin' makes me weak

"Maybe it's coming in through the window?" she muttered, peering through the glass. And willfully ignoring that it was shut.

[not_every_mage]

"No, I made it to the roof," Anders told her uneasily. (Even though he was flattered by the song.) "Maybe someone's playing a prank on us?"

Not that he could imagine how that would work.

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"Well, if someone's idea of a prank is to play really loud music at us, they really need to step up their game," Kathy said crossly, deliberately ignoring that it was really loud, really accurate music.

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"I'm not arguing with that," Anders agreed, equally cross. "But if it's not a prank, what is it?"

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"Maybe someone's having a dance party somewhere?" Which didn't make sense from her side, but whatever. Kathy was also deliberately ignoring the possibility that there wasn't a purely human agent behind this. "Someone who doesn't understand how making a playlist works?"