Amelia, Ch 211- Arianna
Head hurts. Dark. I slowly came to. I was laying face down on what felt like a giant gel pack. It was warm. And smelled like wet grass.
"Oh, good, you're awake," a girl spoke. "Before you do anything, I'm going to explain your situation. I have very powerful taser weapon. I can promise it won't kill you, and I can promise it will stop you. I can't promise it won't hurt you. Then we'll probably have to hand you over to a girl who's very close friends with the boy you kidnapped. She's our healer. I can't promise she won't kill you. Or a whole lot worse. So for your own sake, don't try anything."
I reached out with my power and felt... nothing. Nowhere. All of my anchors are gone. "How... how did you disable my power? How did you even find me?" I managed to croak, despite the pain radiating from my skull. I reached back and gingerly touched the back of my head. It was sore, and my hair was damp.
"Pixie flatulence," the girl answered dryly. "And Santa Claus owes us a favor ever since we saved Christmas from the mole people. Turns out murder, kidnapping, and dropping tinker napalm on a bunch of civilians gets you on the naughty list real fast."
Well, shit. "They weren't in any danger," I insisted. "Playmate's power was already active." I slowly climbed to my feet.
"Yeah, we figured that out, too," the girl replied. "So mind explaining what you were thinking? I mean, most of it's pretty transparent, you want to bring down the Capello crime family. You framed them for the Fallen murders, knowing we'd have to come along and do our thing. When you figured out it wasn't working, you tried to draw the big guns by kidnapping Horus and murdering the rest of us."
"No!" I insisted, and immediately regretted raising my voice. I hissed in pain. "No," I said again, much quieter this time. "I didn't kill anyone."
"Okay, let's say I believe you," the girl agreed too quickly, I realized. She already knew I didn't do it. "Why the fuck did you do all of this? For that matter, your power is strong enough to take them out yourself. Why bring us into this mess at all?"
"I didn't," I told her. "That incompetent Director did. I practically gift wrapped his case for him, and then he goes and sets up a fake crime scene. Then I kinda got my hopes up when you showed. I mean, if he was too chicken shit to handle it, maybe you would. Then I found out you were just going to let them get away with everything like you didn't care at all, so I was trying to give you more reasons to go after them."
"Well, yeah, all evidence suggested they didn't do it," the girl replied. "We kinda need a reason before we start kicking ass. It sucks, but that's how it works.
"Oh, they did it," I insisted. "And a lot of others. Thirty murders that I know about, probably lots more. I just never had a chance to prove it before. The mob's been doing business with the Fallen for years. Buying drugs, selling guns and forged documents and even homeless people. After you happened, those three showed up looking for a place to stay. They were given an overdose of Bliss. Then suffocated."
"And you didn't go to the police?" she asked. "With any of this?"
"They own the fucking police," I growled. I wanted to yell at her, but I learned my lesson last time. "And the courts. And the Mayor. Wouldn't be surprised to learn they own the Director, too."
"Doubt it," she answered. "At least about the Director. If he was on the take, those deaths never would have made it on the news. I have to ask, why are you so obsessed with the mob? And how do you know so much about it?"
Okay, she has a point about that. "Oh, pardon me, I must have forgotten my manners when I was knocked unconscious," I grumbled. "Arianna Capello. Pleased to meet you." I held out my hand to the darkness, but the woman didn't bother taking it.
She laughed. She actually laughed at me. I bit off a smartass remark or stream of profanities. "Sorry," she spoke after a moment. "I'm not about to fall for that trick. Touching you is a bad idea. While we're on that subject, just what is your power, anyway?"
"You don't know?" I asked. "How did you disable my power if you don't even know what it is?"
"It's not," she answered. "One of my powers is combat precognition. It tells me how to beat you. It doesn't tell me why it works, just that it will work."
"Teleporting," I answered. "I can teleport anything I can see into touch range of myself. Anything I'm already touching, I can teleport to anywhere I can see. And I can teleport myself, of course. It's pretty useful."
"Maybe I should have mentioned I have thinker powers. Emotion reading is one of them. Making me a damn near perfect lie detector. Want to explain the rest of your power? Like travelling almost a hundred miles. Pretty sure that's not line of sight. Or how you destroyed that table."
God damn it. "Umm... I can set places. I call them anchors. I can teleport things to or from an anchor like I'm there and can see it." I paused for a moment. The woman said nothing, and I reluctantly continued. "I don't really know how the destroying things works. I just teleport something, but halfway through I kinda cancel the effect. I learned I could do that by accident."
"Show me," she instructed, and I felt something tap my side. I reached out and touched it. A stick of some kind? Too heavy, too thick, too smooth. I focused, and activated the teleport. Without anchors and without the ability to see, there wasn't anywhere I could send it. I obeyed her request and it returned to normal. The process took less than a blink of an eye. The object was gently removed from my hand. "So... Arianna..." she said after what felt like an eternity. "How would you like a job? The pay's slightly less than wonderful, but the perks are amazing."
....
I thought this would be more fun, I thought as I watched police ransack my house in the middle of the night. I glanced over at Atropos. She was even more awe inspiring in person. It gave me confidence, knowing I was standing beside her. She glanced over at me and I looked away immediately.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing..." I looked down. "Just. Thank you. And I'm sorry. Again."
"Don't worry about it," she responded. "Most fun I've had in a while." She gave a hard look at Victoria, who simply clasped her hands together behind her back.
"Really?" I asked. I chose not to ask what that was about between them.
"At work, at least," she answered. "Murder mysteries, intrigue, politics. We were one scantily dressed actress and a carton of cigarettes away from film noir. I give it a nine out of ten, would recommend to friends."
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Miss Capello?" a man asked as he approached. He was smartly dressed.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I'm Agent Mallory, FBI," he introduced himself. "First, I would like to commend you on your bravery. I know it must be difficult, but you're doing a good thing."
"Not nearly as difficult as you think," I shrugged. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not so fragile. I'm now functionally homeless, you're putting half my living relatives in a cell tonight, and the other half are probably going to hire someone to murder me with piano wire. Wouldn't be surprised if they're already making the phone calls. And I'm a major witness for a federal case that could define careers. Witness protection is a thing I know about."
He blinked. Feels good to know I can still throw people off their game. "Err, as you wish Miss Capello," he recovered quickly. "That does make this a great deal easier."
"I'll be turning it down," I informed him.
"Uh... excuse me?"
"Got a better offer," I told him. "Don't worry, I'll be there to testify and do all the stuff you need me to do. But I've seen my father get to people who were supposedly safe before. I wouldn't be surprised to find out he bought your boss a prostitute for his or her birthday. I can't trust you to keep me safe."
"Miss Capello, I assure you we can provide the best possible security," he continued. "Better than anyone else can offer."
"Except them," I gestured at Victoria. It was fun watching his face and the barely visible look of shock. He was good at hiding his reactions, but not perfect. "They can give me a new name, a new identity, even new fingerprints and DNA. Can you offer that?"
"I... no," he admitted. "I suppose we cannot." He looked toward Victoria. "And you're going to do all this? Why?"
"I found out she's never seen The Godfather and I'm really looking forward to movie night," she replied. "Besides, I have to continue my family's tradition of abducting children from supervillains. It's worked out awesome so far."
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A/N- Vicky gets the best lines. It's in her contract.