The Enabled (Role-Play)

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 1:48 PM

"Is that typical for coma patients?" He asked curiously.

His mind wasn't here? That was certainly an odd thought... He placed his hand on his forehead. There was brain activity... minimal... but it was there... possibly just the automatic functions Willow was describing...

"It's like he's hibernating or something..."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 1:51 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"No. It isn't."

Willow hesitated before speaking. "Do you think...you could try waking him up?" She asked, knowing how outrageous it might have sounded. "I'm not asking you to play god, there are certainly some things that even enabled shouldn't be playing with." She added quickly. "But I think it would be healthy to try because you are capable, and you could be helping him as well."

"Knowing Vladan, he won't let Andrew get babied forever."

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 2:10 PM

James smiled knowingly.

"I tried. Many times, actually... back when we were at the compound..." he said quietly. "But no luck... My powers aren't unlimited. There are things I can't do. Any wound I heal still leaves a scar... I can't bring back the dead... And even this seems beyond my abilities."

"Believe me... I wish I could."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 2:14 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"I've yet to try bringing back the dead." Willow said with a thin smile. Her tone was probably a bit too serious for it to be a considered fully a joke. "Scars, huh?" She said, changing the subject. "I've never had an issue with that. Probably explains why I get paid as much as I do. Not nearly as much as Vladan, but enough to get by easily."

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 2:23 PM

James smiled.

"Same power, different abilities... Interesting how it all works out." He said thoughtfully. "So... did you discover anything about Kita? Obviously, she was no different around you than the rest of us..."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 2:58 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"She was mean, that was for sure." Willow said with a frown. "When I first saw her, she seemed surprised and maybe even a bit confused. Took a bit for her to break out of it, but after that she was rather cold..." She tugged at the white ends of her hair. "It's strange really. I don't know how to describe it. She says and does things, but it's like she does so unwillingly."

"There were several moments where she hesitated but then barreled forwards. I'm not sure if you get what I'm saying but..."

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 3:49 PM

"I know exactly what you mean... it's like she takes forever to react to things, and everything she does just seems so unusual..." he said. "It's like she's a whole different person..."

He set down the bowl, having finished feeding Andrew.

"I don't like it."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 4:09 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Have you tried talking to Vladan about this?" Willow asked curiously. "Maybe he might have been able to notice something as well."

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 4:27 PM

"I don't know if that's a good idea... if anything, he seems happy about the whole thing..." James said. "Although he did mention that she seemed different at the compound, so he isn't oblivious, but I doubt he'll be interested in finding out why..."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 4:33 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Well...There's nothing we can do but wait and see."

Willow pouted, pulling at the high collar of the dark shirt she wore. "Ugh." She groaned. "This outfit is so uncomfortable, I don't know who's idea it was but they really need to lower the collars on these things." The woman complained. "Vladan needs to hire a new design team."

"Have you eaten yet today?" She stared down at her feet, swaying them back and forth, watching as her silver anklet shifted from her movements. "I didn't have time to get anything yet today, and Kita didn't want to go so I was wondering if you wanted to come along instead."

"Well if you aren't busy, since you have Andrew to take care of." She quit her rambling as she waited for James's response.

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 5:31 PM

"Sure, I'll come." He said, smiling. "I need something to cheer me up, and this might just be it. My truck should still be parked here if Vladan hasn't smashed it."

He got up and led her to the garage, petting one of Vladan's dogs as it ran up to him. His truck was still there, luckily intact.

"It isn't a sports car, but I like it."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 5:49 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"It's a lot less flamboyant than those." Willow said with a giggle, gesturing towards the row of gaudy vehicles parked on the other side of the wall. "Everything Vladan does seems to be a bit much." She said, opening the door and getting in. "Most of them even look like they're gathering dust. I doubt he uses all of them." She toyed with her hair. "Regardless, it's not like he has anyone to show them off to anyway."

Willow glanced over at James.

"He's quiet lonely, if you haven't been able to notice already."

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 6:30 PM

James knew she was right, but still had a difficult time feeling sympathy for someone like him...

"I'm sure he manages..." he said bitterly. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"

He climbed in the front seat, powering on the vehicle.

"You really should get a new one." Kita laughed mockingly as she leaned up against the wall, watching James and Xavior work.

"Are you kidding me? You don't just trade in your baby like that! It's cruel!"

"So you admit you've been cheating on me with a Chevrolet? That thing definitely isn't my child."

There was a loud snort of laughter from under the vehicle where Xavior was working, followed by a loud cry of pain and a metallic thunk.

"You made me drop my wrench on my face!"

James smirked. "Serves you right, traitor."

Kita took a sip from her iced coffee. "You almost done? I thought we'd be out of here by now. This pasty skin of mine needs some sun."

"Try it now." Xavior called up, rolling out from under the vehicle.

James turned the key and the vehicle started, though the sound was not as smooth as it could be.

"Works for me." Kita said, giving James a knowing smirk.

"The beach awaits, milady." He said, taking her hand...



@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 6:42 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"I'm not sure." Willow admitted. "I'm not a local here." She turned towards James, examining him with her large eyes. "I travel often." The woman said, changing the subject. She took note to try not to mention Vladan again. The two of them seemed to have quite the contempt for one another.

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 7:49 PM

James pulled out of the garage.

"Alright. I know a sandwich shop not far from here that's pretty good."

After a short drive, Vladan pulled into a small parking lot with a single building that was very much a local business. They walked in and were immediately greeted by the owner.

"Good afternoon, how are-" the woman suddenly looked surprised, then pleased. "If it isn't Jimmy! My goodness, it's been years!"

James blushed at the old nickname. "Hi, Miss Angela. How are you doing?"

"Doing well as I can! Shop's still here, so I'm pleased." She said cheerfully. "How's Kita doing these days? You two still together?"

"Yeah. She's great." He said, smiling. She didn't need to know what was going on... "She didn't come because she was busy. This is Willow, by the way. She's a friend of Kita's."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 16 December 2016 at 8:11 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Nice to meet you." Willow said with a soft smile. She extended her hand out and shook the woman's hand.

Willow turned towards James once the woman had gone. She rubbed her cold hands together, before looking up at James. A teasing smile was on her lips, and she looked at him with an arched brow.

"Jimmy?" Willow said with a short laugh.

dada_dragon • 16 December 2016 at 10:57 PM

"I was one of the neighbourhood kids, alright?" He said defensively.

"Yup... the good little boy always chasing after Kita and Xavior." She said, smiling as James and Willow sat down at a table. "Terrible what happened to him... God rest his poor soul... He was always tryin' to sweet-talk me into giving him free food. Got himself in a lotta trouble, but he was a sweetheart. So what'all it be?"

"Same as always." He said, his smile a little less enthusiastic.

"And you, darlin'?"

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 17 December 2016 at 3:10 AM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Hot water please." Willow said. "I'll have a turkey sandwich." She said. "Uh..." She pursed her lips, before looking up at the woman timidly. "No pickles, tomatoes, or mayonnaise.¨ She said, a bit embarrassed at how picky she probably sounded.

Willow waited for the woman to leave, before speaking to James. "I like her." She admitted. "You and Kita sure have a lot of history...and Xavior."

"I'm sorry that you had to lose him." She said with a bitter smile. Willow reached across the table, placing her hand above his comfortingly.

"I'd never had to go through the pain of losing someone that meant much to me. I've seen my fair share of death, but that's to be expected in my line of work, huh?" She said, patting his hand twice before pulling back.

"I'm not quite sure what he's told you guys about me, but it probably wasn't good. We've had quite the history."

dada_dragon • 17 December 2016 at 7:09 AM

"He didn't say much at all really..." he said honestly. "Your addition to the team was a bit of a surprise to everyone."

But the way Vladan acted around her spoke volumes about their "history". he thought. There was clearly some story there...

"So what did Vietkov have to do to get you to join up?"

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 17 December 2016 at 2:53 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Oh really?" Willow said curiously. She laughed. "Well..."

---

She sighed. "What do you want, Vladan?" Willow stepped over to the sink, rinsing the blood off her hands. "How did you get here?"

"Had a business meeting here in Florida. Heard that you were working in Miami, so I wanted to come down to pay you a visit."

Willow didn't reply for a few long minutes. She wiped her hands on the towel. "I know there's more. A man like you always has an ulterior motive." She turned and nearly jumped at how close he was. Willow averted her gaze. "Don't you dare use your petty little power on me." She said quietly.

Vladan chuckled. "You know me too well." His laugh was cut short when Willow pushed past him.

"This isn't the place for your silly mind games." Willow said, gesturing at the patient in the center of the room.

Vladan grabbed her wrist. "Wait--"

Willow glanced over, catching his gaze for the first time that night. She could see his expression soften.

"Willow, please." He winced at his own words. "Can you fix it?" Vladan mumbled, placing his free hand over his scar.

She noted his plea. It must have taken quite a bit for him to be able to stoop that low. "I'm not going to."

"Please Willow. Every time I look in the mirror it reminds me of..." he trailed off bitterly. "I can pay you more than you can ever imagine."

"I'm not interested in your money but..." Willow pulled her wrist out of his hand. She looked down at his hand, before grabbing it and pulling it closer to her face. "You've changed quite a bit since I've last seen you."

He flinched at Willow's touch.

"If you can prove to me that you can be a good person, I'll do it."

Vladan's frown was imminent. He hesitated. "Fine...but we finish talking about this later."

"I'll see you soon, Vladan."

--

"All he had to do was tell me he was going to be a better person." She smiled. "I'm just here to make sure it's happening."

dada_dragon • 18 December 2016 at 4:18 AM

"I see."

"Here's your food, dears." Miss Angela said, handing them their orders. "Did I get it right there, Jimmy? It's been an awful long time."

"It's perfect. Thanks, Miss Angela."

She smiled and James looked down at his sandwich - a BLT with pickles... He started asking for pickles so that Kita and Xavior wouldn't mooch his food, but after a while, he actually started liking it...

"I don't know what I'm going to do with Kita... I'm not going to lie... I'm almost scared of her..."

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 18 December 2016 at 5:37 AM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"There's nothing we can do about it." Willow said. "Except wait and see." She took a sip of her hot water, savoring the warmth as it went down her throat. The woman picked at her sandwich, taking small bites as she ate.

"You should try talking to her."

dada_dragon • 18 December 2016 at 10:46 AM

"I have... all I get are short and dismissive answers..." he said, frustrated. "The only person I've seen her talk in length with is Vladan, and I refuse to ask for his help."

Maybe he was being stubborn, but the last thing he wanted was to give Vladan an excuse to be anywhere near Kita...

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 18 December 2016 at 9:51 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

Willow pursed her lips. "I'm not sure what to say to that then." She said apologetically. "You've got quite a bit of time, though." She added. "Our next adventure isn't for another week or more."

dada_dragon • 19 December 2016 at 12:21 AM

James nodded. "Yeah, I suppose..."

He finished off his meal in silence, deep in thought. This whole situation was frustrating... Something had to be happening... This wasn't Kita...

He'd known Kita for a long time, though Xavior had known her longer... he'd thought they were siblings, the way they were always together. They were a grade lower than him in school, and back then, all he knew was what he heard from his father, who was a teacher...

"Darn it, those kids were at it again, Sarah!" He said loudly as he got home one day. James was sitting in the living room doing his homework and pretending he wasn't eavesdropping.

"What did they do this time?" His mother asked, the hint of a smile playing on the corner of her mouth.

"I leave the classroom for ten minutes to take one of them down to the principal's office for repeatedly talking out of turn, and when I get back, the other's managed to wrap my entire desk in tin foil. If only they would put this much effort into their assignments!"

James smiled at the thought of his father coming back to a shiny silver desk. He found the stories amusing, though he was told repeatedly to never interact with the so-called "monster twins".

It wasn't until his last year of elementary that he first spoke with them, and it was behind a dumpster...

"Hey you! You're that teacher's kid, right?"

James wiped his face and looked up. It was the monster twins. The boy was looking down at him, concerned.

"Go away."

"But they hurt you..." he said quietly. "You're bleeding."

James looked down at his scraped-up knees. Some older kids had pushed him on the playground because they didn't like his dad... He was used to it though.

"Why don't you just heal yourself?" Asked the girl, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How did you...?"

"I've got superpowers too." She said, grinning. "I can tell when other people do too."

James frowned. "Dad says I shouldn't use it... he says it might scare people."

"I'm not scared of you fixing your knee!" She said laughing. "I wasn't even scared when Xavior froze my feet in a puddle."

"You were too! You cried until your mom came outside to help you!" He said.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Anyway, we beat up those meanies, so they won't bug you anymore." She said, seemingly proud of herself. "That's what superheroes do, right?"

James smiled. Maybe the monster twins weren't that bad...


@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 19 December 2016 at 7:38 AM

@dada_dragon

~~~

Willow decided to let James be in peace. He was obviously deep in thought, and she nursed her hot water in silence. Her food was half finished--she never was the type of person that ate too much. It probably explained her thin frame as well, in addition to how often she threw up the contents of her stomach after her operations.

A shrill ringing caught her attention, and it took a bit for her to find her phone. "Hello?" She said curiously into the phone. It had been an unknown number.

"Can you come in today, Willow? The warden's officers brought in two of those enabled freaks today."

"What's wrong with them?" She said, fingers tapping against her glass of water.

"They were brawling it out near the outskirts of the city. Not quite sure what the extent of their powers are, but one has some sort of shape shifting ability while the other has a cloaking of a kind."

"How injured are they?"

"Both are barely hanging on, Willow. You better head on over quickly--they won't let any of our doctors near them. I'm sure you can find a way around that..you always do."

"Okay." She said agreeably. "I'll try my best."

"I don't know how you do it, but you're something special."

"Thanks." she said before hanging up the call. "Hey, um..." Willow said hesitantly to James. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have somewhere to go-" She snapped her fingers suddenly, an idea popping into her head.

"Do you want to come along? It'll give you a chance to see how I work my healing...I hope you don't mind driving though."

dada_dragon • 19 December 2016 at 10:23 AM

James nodded. "Sure. Sounds good."

He pulled out his wallet and handed Miss Angela some money for their food.

"Sorry to leave so soon, but Willow needs a ride to work."

"Not a problem, Jimmy. You should come back here more often, and bring Kita next time! I miss that girl."

"Of course!" He said, hoping that he could make good on that promise. "See ya!"

James climbed into his truck, unlocking it for Willow.

"Where are we heading?"

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 19 December 2016 at 2:49 PM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Blackwell Correctional Facility." Willow said as she pulled on the seat belt. She tugged at the ends of her hair awkwardly. "It probably isn't the..." The woman trailed off. "Most fine place to work at, but I do what I do when I don't have big jobs out of country and now that I have to watch for Vladan too."

"Not sure if you've heard of it, but it's near the outskirts of town. It's a large, fenced off area for the especially...obnoxious enabled. Mentally unstable, unreasonably violent, and extremely psychotic."

--

Willow cried out in pain as the knife penetrated her arm. She reached up and ripped the blade from her arm, eyes widening in surprise at the thick wound. The woman winced, before tossing the weapon aside.

"I'm just trying to help you, 82."

"You don't even know my name." The telekinetic enabled yelled out angrily.

Willow moved forward slowly, watching warily as the knife was picked up by the man again. It floated angrily in the air, and she faltered as it trembled. "Let me help you." She whispered. "I'm just like you."

She let a wayward splash of white appear on her hands, and the enabled let the knife drop from the air. "You're just like me..." He whispered as Willow approached him.

dada_dragon • 19 December 2016 at 6:55 PM

"Yeah, I've heard of it." He said, one eyebrow slightly raised. "My fellow inmates at South Gate talked about it sometimes... That's where the guards threaten to send you if you misbehave..."

It was a much less pleasant place than South Gate, which had its own small population of enabled, though mostly those involved in petty crime or whose powers could be easily managed... Blackwell was for the really dangerous enabled... the ones that required "special care"...

He probably would have ended up there if they knew the full extent of his abilities... But James liked to keep that side of himself contained and stayed focused on healing...

@bunnyshadow

bunnyshadow • 20 December 2016 at 12:50 AM

@dada_dragon

~~~

"Yeah." Willow agreed. "It isn't a very enjoyable experience--being there that is. Even less so if you're confined inside their walled off cells." She remained silent throughout the ride, breaking the quite once every few minutes to give out proper directions.

Soon enough, they were within reach of the prison. The steel walls loomed menacingly in the distance, barbed wire gracing the top of the fences with it's sharpened thorns. Teams of guards patrolled outside, wearing tinted tactical helmets. "There should be an area up ahead for vehicles to enter by." Willow said, pointing.

"Tell them that the Warden sent for me."