Freelancer New York (freelancer_york) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-09-17 23:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | fullmetal alchemist: au: alphonse elric, haloverse: canon: north, haloverse: canon: tex, haloverse: canon: york, the dresden files: canon: harry dresden |
Who: North Dakota, New York & Texas, with Harry Dresden and Alphonse Elric
What: The Freelancers have a little knock-down, drag-out.
When: Late evening, after this.
Where: A secluded area not far from the Hovel
Rating: PG-13
Status: Log - Complete
It hadn’t taken much convincing to get Texas into her armor and outside. Harry simply had to ask the sex-sated woman for a sparring match (one she understood that he’d need now and then) and she’d been more than willing to go downstairs and slip into her armor. Of course, neither of them had expected Alphonse to come running up eagerly as they’d stepped out of the lab. He’d come in search of Mustang (who wasn’t there) but was more than happy to take Harry as a substitute, and he’d excitedly spent ten minutes looking over that matte black armor. Texas had even lifted him up a few times and let him hold one of her weapons (unloaded, of course). Inevitably, the boy had invited himself along and Tex had agreed, as long as he stayed well away from the battleground. And with Harry grumpily agreeing (and Alphonse assuring Harry that he would protect the wizard if anything was to go wrong, and that Harry didn’t have to be scared) the trio had set off. The walk wasn’t that long, just to the Hovel and beyond, where there was a large, open, empty area full of pieces of buildings that had been partly knocked down, or partly built. There were some abandoned vehicles, useless street posts that didn’t light anything anymore, and all manner of things to hide behind or use as launching points. Even if the sensors in her helmet hadn’t been activated by the two signatures waiting at the edge of that little battleground, Tex would have known they were there. They hadn’t tried to hide themselves. A bright golden suit of armor that couldn’t be missed... and the deeper purple beside him. Purple might have seemed an odd color, but it blended incredibly well in space, which was what it’d been made for. Not nearly as well as the black of Texas’ armor.. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. She had known what it was immediately, upon seeing Harry drop back with Alphonse and watching North and York move in on her. She’d warned them. She’d told them they didn’t want to do this. They hadn’t listened. North had taunted. North had engaged. And York had followed suit. It had to be a little humbling, a little terrifying, and a little bothersome for Harry to watch the scene unfold. Humbling, because he knew the men in those golden, and purple suits of armor were just humans, like him. Terrifying, because of the power the woman he was sleeping with possessed. And bothersome, because watching someone you cared about get beaten was a difficult thing. And oh, York got beaten. North got beaten. Texas took a few good hits herself, but both men had known going in that they couldn’t win. The objective wasn’t to win, it was just to wear her out, get that aggression out of her system. Let Omega have a little time to do what he did best. Just.. hopefully not do it too well. Even two on one, Texas had an advantage, but York and North worked together like clockwork, seamless and perfect, not unlike North and South. Only North never stepped in front of York to take a hit, he’d never tried to protect his friend (that would have been a stupid move) and had in fact used him for cover on more than one occasion. All three AIs had been out and present. Green glowing beside York, purple glowing beside North, and white glowing beside Tex. The scene had been like something out of a dream. To see them be able to pick up abandoned cars and throw them-- it made Alphonse’s jaw drop. It was impressive. So, seeing Texas punch a wall, knock it from its foundation, tear it off and throw it at North? Well, that put the car to shame. The sheer power there was terrifying. It had taken a little over half an hour, but inevitably she’d managed to latch onto North and pull him right off the ground, holding him aloft. Then she’d torn the helmet from his head and thrown it aside. It had only been York’s panicked yelling that had paused her and she’d stared up at the man she was holding, North able to see his face reflected clearly in her visor.. And she’d dropped him. Omega flickered away. York ran the few short steps to his friends and was quick to give North a once-over to ensure she hadn’t crushed his skull or something with that move. She’d done it before, after all. *** Asking Texas to do something went as well as telling her to do it. Harry had gotten ready in the allotted time--an hour to prepare for something he had no idea how to comprehend or even imagine. To prepare for the idea he might watch his friend die, that he might have to let him because he’d agreed to save his friend first instead. So, when he was ready, he’d come out, thrown some clothes at Texas and said simply, “Get dressed,” because telling her what to do worked wonders. He was an idiot, but it would spur a reaction from her which had been the goal. “I want to blow off some steam and this isn’t working.” Whatever. It was. But she could use the fight and had learned Harry could use one too, sometimes, even if he didn’t like to admit that about himself. So she’d agreed and Harry put his game face on. What he hadn’t been anticipating was the rush of Alphonse Elric, or that Alphonse Elric would stick to them like glue, with that childish glee and superfluous delight that he could touch the armored behemoth that was Texas. Harry didn’t want him to come along. He’d argued with a 16 year old boy for several minutes before he resigned himself to the fact that if he sent Alphonse away, the boy would simply follow behind. And if he followed behind, Harry wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes on him. And in this case, Alphonse would be a massive, massive distraction on the field while at least three of the giants of Knowhere focused their attention on trying to save him instead of themselves. Texas would be the only one who didn’t concern herself with his presence. Harry couldn’t let that happen. So Alphonse came along and Harry very thoroughly told him that he would stay right beside Harry and would do everything the wizard said. That was how Harry and Alphonse ended up standing as far away from the field as possible, on the edges, watching, with the depths of Harry’s will held right on the tip of his tongue just in case, the power in his hands gathering in a quiet, dark storm around him and the boy. But if the power at his hands was terrifying for its depths and its weight, the scene in front of them was worse. So much worse. These were human beings. Giants, to be sure, but mankind at its height for their invention and at its lowest for their purpose. They clashed and it was the stuff of nightmares. It was force and it was resistance, beautiful and terrifying. And it sucked. It sucked because there wasn’t a god damned thing Harry could do. If he rushed out there in defense of his friend, York would turn and put himself between the wizard and Texas and he’d die for it. Or Harry would inevitably kill all three of them with the delicate technologies inside their heads, glowing there just over each of the Freelancers’ shoulders. So he stood and he watched them do battle and suddenly he didn’t wonder anymore how human beings inside suits of armor could win a war against aliens. This was how, plain and simple. York said they’d been gifts to humanity. Harry understood it now. How could it ever be in doubt, watching them? They moved seamlessly, like some sick, twisted dance, familiar with one another like a team well practiced. Texas was the unknown. She was on the offensive the whole way, North and York keeping up the defensive with stunning resilience (York really was a tank) and a whole hell of a lot of beating. But in the end? When Texas lifted the giant that towered over her with and without her armor as if he were a rag doll and that helmet came off, Harry almost loosed the power held in his hands. Precious, precious York beat him to the punch. All eyes turned to the Golden Soldier and then Harry’s whipped back to Texas. North toppled. Harry’s heart stopped. York was in motion before the wizard could react, again. North gave a signal. The wizard breathed. War over? Texas won. Harry stood there with Alphonse, his dark eyes dropping to the boy at his side, he pulled him closer, all 5 nothing of him, and gave what support he could in wake of that horror they’d witnessed. North, for his part, managed a smile for York, weary though he was, bruised, a little bloodied (who expected otherwise?) and laughed a small sound. “I’m okay,” he was alive. That was enough. “Should have zigged instead of zagging.” Jokes. See? He was okay. It was okay. *** Alphonse had leaned into Harry during the ordeal, his wide, round eyes locked onto the scene. This hadn’t been anything like he’d expected. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. And when Harry had looked down at him, the boy hadn’t looked back up, he’d just continued to stare. He couldn’t look away. Maybe his reluctance to turn his head would encourage Harry to look back. Back on the battlefield, York hadn’t dared to turn his back to Texas. She’d dropped North, like a scolded dog. Omega had disappeared. Her stance hadn’t relaxed. She was tense and tight and facing the other two Freelancers in a frighteningly dominant way. She wanted something more. “Yeah, man, you’re a zagger, nothing you can do about it.” York assured him with a grin, still keeping his eyes on Tex. But she remained still. Perfectly still. A lioness in the grass. But instinct wouldn’t be denied and York couldn’t leave his friend lying there in the rubble of a battlefield, ignored. Even if his self-preserving instinct was beating him over the head with a neon sign saying ‘Don’t turn your back on her you stupid asshole, maintain eye contact!’, he still chose to move a step away, then another.. And slowly turn to face North. He didn’t present his back to Texas, but he had turned his head away and offered his hand down to the taller Spartan. Even Alphonse could see it coming. There was no way North could miss it, the dark form that moved slowly, a hulking thing despite being the smallest on the field. The fact that even though it seemed so slow, it had actually been a snap movement. North was down. He was no longer a threat. York was still standing. He wouldn’t be for long. Her hand grasped the back of his armor and she jerked him back and away, his fingers slipping from North’s. “Aw, fuck--” And he’d be yanked back, then thrown back like a rag doll, directly into one of those crumbling walls. He hit it like a freight train, it broke under the force and he hit the next one, which held up, and he dropped to the ground. One. Two. Three. Fou-- the wall fell down atop him. Texas had already turned her attention back to North. Was he dumb enough to stand back up without his helmet? Hopefully not. If he stayed down, it’d be a few seconds before the black armored soldier relaxed and took a step back, disengaging from the fight. Point: Texas. *** North saw it coming. York was a moron. There was nothing the purple soldier could do that wouldn’t amount to suicide if he so much as lunged to try to trip her up. She was too fast anyway. York’s hand slipped from North’s and the soldier was crashing through walls. Wisely, North didn’t move--his eyes remained locked on Texas, hand held in surrender, the other elbow propping him up but still as he could be so she wouldn’t take him as a threat. He’d been in this position before. He wasn’t dumb enough to move. York was built to withstand the assault, North wasn’t. Not without at least his helmet to protect the flesh and bone of his head. Texas disengaged. Across the field, Harry had twitched, he was a half step out of place when he recalled the boy at his side and the deep need to keep him safe. He couldn’t drag him out there, he couldn’t draw Texas’ attention to them, so he did nothing. Then the soldier in black relaxed. Harry knew the stillness that took her and he knew the look of a predator satisfied, the set of her shoulders, and the utter big cat-like arrogance that exuded from a monster quietly licking its coat in utter unconcern after it finished its meal. Damnit. North slumped back down. But his head was angled toward the crumbled building under which York was buried. Harry’s eyes turned that way too. “Stay right here, do you hear me?” Harry said, looking at Alphonse. “You don’t move unless I tell you to run and if I do, you run right back to the Colonel or your brother and you stay.” Harry could give him that much of a lead anyway. He stared at the boy for several long seconds, then he turned and crossed the distance toward York, but altering course slightly to take himself closer to North and Texas. He wasn’t trying to steal your meal, big cat, stay calm. Harry kept his hands up in surrender. Harmless, see? “You just got your ass handed to you by a girl, North,” Harry said. “Yeah, yep. Yes, I did,” he said. That was all Harry needed. Guy was talking? He was good. Unlike York, Harry didn’t turn his back on Texas, but veered a little to keep her in his line of sight as he headed toward his friend. “You alright there, York?” *** Turns out that Al had all the reason in the world to worry, he wasn’t sure how he felt about that realization. The woman had taken the golden soldier (thank goodness he didn’t know it was York in that armor!) and flung him like a toy who had somehow wronged her. And now there was no movement from the rubble. All the sudden, Harry was speaking to him and those bronze eyes turned up to the far taller man. He listened. Stay here. Run if he had to. Run to Mustang or Edward. Stay. “But I can help.” He insisted, though it was quiet and fell on deaf ears, as Harry was already moving away. Thankfully, however, the boy remained put. Tex’s eyes left North and soon locked onto Harry as he came closer. Harry spoke briefly with North. North responded. And Harry was on his way to the rubble. With nothing interesting to look at near her, she set her sights on the boy standing off in the distance. Her head tilted a little. Alphonse was perfectly still. Long seconds passed. He lifted a hand and waved in a stunned fashion. Tex turned and began walking towards him, stooping to pick up North’s helmet and idly tossing it to him as she went. Beneath the rubble, York groaned and pushed a few heavy blocks off of himself, until he was able to slowly sit up and regard the man towering over him. “Yeah, man. I think I’m gonna stay right here until she’s chilled out, though.” He didn’t dare get up. “North okay?” Then his eyes caught the movement-- Tex had begun walking. She stooped and picked up North’s helmet and tossed it to him. His eyes moved forward-- and there was Alphonse, standing in one place, his wave having stopped as the huge, dark soldier moved towards him. *** York was talking. That was good. That was what Harry wanted. “North is fi-” Harry’s attention had turned when York’s did. Call it a weird predatory instinct, but whatever was inside him felt the monster in black moving toward a thing he had already claimed for his own. “Oh, you bitch,” Harry growled and then he turned, taking long steps to put distance between himself and York as he gathered that storm of power waiting for him. Any other time he’d have called fire. Any other time he’d have sent it hurling with destructive force, but there was a boy on the other end that would have been swept up in the blazing inferno with it if he did. So, exercising better judgment, the wizard shouted, “Al! Go!” And then he called Winter and instead of a burning fiery end, he called up ice. From the ground a massive wall of ice formulated, a little over a foot thick and twenty feet tall. Literally, a wall extending the length between Texas and Alphonse to break her line of sight. But the wizard was running already and sent a kinetic blast of energy hurtling toward her. She wanted to throw people through walls, well the wizard could send her through ice if she wanted. He just needed to give Alphonse time to get away. And if she was only intending to say hello, well, better safe than sorry. “Hey! Ugly!” Harry shouted. *** Go. Go? What was Harry.. Oh. Harry wanted him to run. His breath caught in his throat. An ice wall rose up and Alphonse took a few quick steps back, watching with amazement. Whatever fear had built in him was suddenly cut in half and partly replaced with wonder. Instead of running, the ice had the boy coming forward slowly, smoothing his hands up over it. Wow. On the other side of the ice, Tex stopped and stared at the wall for a second, then she turned around-- more sass and piss and vinegar in that turn than in all the Latin women in all the world (ask Carlos, he knew)-- and got a glimpse of that energy flying at her. Well. Shit. The large, dark soldier’s cleats engaged almost instantly, grounding her and positioning her to stand against the magic thrown at her. Her knees bent and the Spartan’s arms came up to cross over her most vulnerable place: her face-shield. She let it hit her. There was no way she could have done anything more, but the force of that hit and the sheer mass of her body collided and her mass lost. It threw her back and into-- through the ice. She hit the ground on the other side and rolled, then she was back on her feet, amidst a small pile of ice, as the wall began to fracture and crack. Texas kept her attention on Harry. Until her head turned. It had to be painfully obvious to Harry at that moment, that Alphonse was still on the other side of that wall. Good going, Wizard. The wall began to crumble. Tex jerked forward and out of sight, the wall doing its job effectively as it hid the boy behind it and now the Freelancer. Until it began to collapse. “Harry!” It was York’s voice, as the golden soldier had hauled himself up and was running towards the wizard and his ice wall. *** Al. Oh, fuck. God damnit. He was supposed to have run that stupid little idiot child. And you, Harry, you stupid fucking moron! Berate yourself, later, Dresden. Texas went through the wall, which sent arcing fractures up along its length and right on through it. “No!” Harry shouted, as it started crumbling, and in a wild display of creativity and something he wouldn’t be able to do without a conveniently crumbling wall in front of him, he called “Aquilevatus!” And the wall melted in a flood, a curtain of freaking water, washing over the soldier on the other side and the boy. Surprise? Arctic chill was a real thing, Alphonse. Now he’d catch pneumonia because Harry was a freaking idiot. But his line of sight cleared (really, what had you been thinking, Harry?), he pulled on Winter’s wellspring. Behind him, York was shouting. North had pushed himself up, helmet back in place and was racing after the group. What the hell was happening? Inwardly, Harry was hoping to hell Alphonse wouldn’t do anything to make himself look like a threat. He was so damned small. “Texas!” And then Harry called fire, and fire answered. *** The wall collapsed. It turned to a curtain of ice water. It fell in a rush, but it didn’t fall all the way to the ground as expected. As York shouted, the water impacted with something about four feet off the ground and about five foot in diameter-- round. It poured off of the sides like five-tons of water dropping onto an umbrella made of steel. And as Harry gathered up that fire and shouted the Freelancer’s name, the last of the water spilled away and that black suit of armor was revealed, with Tex on all fours (well, only three, because one of her arms was wrapped around Al’s waist, holding the boy’s body in against her torso), with Al just beneath her, also on all fours (he was small enough that he fit perfectly). His hands were flat to the ground, an array still glowing beneath them, around them, the shield of wind meant to protect against falling ice (as was Tex’s body, there to block the boy from harm), it had certainly held up against the water that dripped from the edges. York made it to the wizard’s side and his hand came out to grasp the darker man’s shoulder. “Stay back.” His call was to North, a clear indicator the magic Harry was holding onto was already taking its toll on Delta. He didn’t want North to be affected, too. Welcome to Knowhere, North Dakota. *** Harry couldn’t stop the flames anymore than Texas could have stopped the bullet the day she’d put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. What he did have was that same gut deep reflex to redirect it at the last second. So yes, he did send out a pouring gout of living blue white fire (he’d included soulfire this time, as none of his other flame attacks had done much more than scoured her armor before) and sent it arcing above their heads to blast into the rockface and spread out rather like an explosion. He’d seen Texas bent over Alphonse. The array was still glowing. His alchemy creating a living shield of air that repelled water, ice bricks, and now crumbling bits of alien skull fragments. York grabbed Harry’s shoulder, and the wizard whipped around to look at him with a flash of anger and cold blooded possession in his eyes. His lips had paled in that characteristic way when Winter had taken a stronger hold. But he didn’t fight the golden soldier. He exhaled a breath. She’d been trying to protect him. And Harry had assumed- Was he wrong to assume? No. Right? No time for a crisis Harry, worry about if you honestly thought the worst of her later. North had stopped dead in his tracks when York warned him off. He was confused as hell. And yeah, just a little bit frightened at whatever the hell display that had been. What? Fire and ice, and force. From the man York was holding back. “What the hell is going on here?” North asked. *** Was he wrong to assume the worst? No. Thankfully, it hadn’t been the case. This time. But it didn’t mean that it wouldn’t be the case next time. Harry turned to face York and the soldier lifted that hand to put it on Harry’s cheek, then his other hand followed suit, holding the wizard’s face there. They were close enough the chill from Harry’s breath caused ice to form along that orange visor that hid York’s face. “Stop.” It was a sudden, hard demand from the young man who had latched onto Harry and had refused to let go. He’d taken Harry as his own and like Hell he was going to let him go now. “You’re going to kill all three of us if you don’t stop.” His voice sounded a little strained. And forty feet off, as the rock-- er, bits of skull (ew)-- stopped raining down on Tex and Al, the pieces would be whipped up and lifted away in a swirling vortex that moved them off of the shield and away from the pair, dumped a few feet off and allowing for Tex to slowly straighten up, carefully releasing the boy though she stayed possessively close. Al was panting, but smiling. Strange kid. It was only seconds later that York’s fingers slipped away from Harry’s cheeks and he slowly sunk down to his knees in front of the wizard. *** Stop. Harry looked at that reflective visor. You’re going to kill all three of us if you don’t stop. And then York was sinking, but Harry wasn’t strong enough to carry the man inside his armor, so he sank down with him, hands on the shoulders of the golden soldier. “York-” He released the hold he had on his magic. He let it slip away into the world around them. “I’m sorry. I thought-” It didn’t matter what he’d thought. He pushed himself up even though instinct was screaming to stay at York’s side, to make sure his friend was okay. To be there. His magic was taxing Delta. It would be taxing North’s AI too, and Omega back there with Al. Harry looked between the three Freelancers and that idiotically smiling boy. North was slowly approaching, hand held outward in a conciliatory gesture. “Everyone’s okay, let’s just take it easy, guys,” he was saying. Harry looked up at him stupidly for a second. North was a giant. In his armor he was taller than Harry by more than several inches. Gigantic. Towering. He was a behemoth moreso than even Texas and York. Harry's heart skipped. His throat felt dry. The wizard swallowed. “His brain’s bleeding,” Harry replied, finally stepping away, putting distance between himself and York. “Yours will be too, if you get too close. So don’t. Look after him.” North nodded though he didn’t understand, “Yeah, I will, bud, just take a breather.” What the fuck had just happened. That was still a big damned question. “Al?” Harry said aloud, “You two okay?” North stepped forward toward York. Theta was setting off alarm bells. “Theta, it's alright…” he reached York. “It's okay, it's just York.” *** York’s helmet lifted as Harry spoke and began to back off. He gave him a nod, a bare thanks for putting space between them. He needed it, he needed the time to let his suit do what it was made for. It had already healed up any wounds from the battle and the healing unit was far more capable of fixing his brain than Delta was, so it would be only two or three long minutes before York was healed up entirely. So for now, he just stayed on his knees. “Hey, Theta, we’re all good here. Delta and I thought you did a really great job out there today. We’re both real proud of you.” He shifted there on his knees, but the throbbing in his head told him to stay still just a little longer. So did Delta, with a gentle but very firm reminder that he could pass out if he didn’t just wait. Forty feet away, Texas was finally standing up. Both she and Al were in a small puddle of water. There’d been no way of stopping it from flowing beneath the shield once it hit it and bounced off, so Al’s knees were damp, as were his hands and sneakers, but he looked surprisingly happy. Once Al was on his feet, the tall, dark soldier (who dwarfed over Al, as that Armor made her Harry’s height) dropped a hand on his head and messed his bangs, then bent enough to swat his rear end, spurring the boy to take off in a run towards Harry. Normally, when he slammed into Edward in the way that he was about to slam into Harry, he took them both to the ground. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen when the hundred pound, five-foot nothing boy ran straight into the two-fifty, six-nine beast that was Harry Dresden. But the effect was the same: Al was happy you were alright, Harry, and he was thrilled to have witnessed more of the tall man’s magic. “That was amazing!” Had he realized his life was in danger? Yes, yes he had. Was he still entirely floored by the display? Yes, yes he was. “Are those friends of yours?” He glanced back at the golden and purple armored soldiers, just as North was helping York up to his feet. Just look at the way North still towered over York by a good five inches, even though York was taller than Harry in his own armor. Giants, all of them. The Giants of Knowhere, collected right here. *** Harry got shoulder blocked by a midget somewhere around his kneecaps. That’s what it felt like, anyway, it barely rocked him. Like throwing a stone into an ocean. He looked down at Alphonse, immediately wrapped his arms around the boy protectively and then looked him over for critical assessment. He was okay. Still smiling. How did he keep smiling after all that? Harry wanted to pee his pants and weep and destroy a building all at the same time, and this little boy was smiling. Harry’s arms curled a little tighter. Inside, Winter was satisfied its pet was safe again. It retreated and Harry looked around the group with his own thoughts and his own control and still didn’t let go of Alphonse. He offered a small smile, “Yeah, those are my friends,” he told Alphonse. North helped York to his feet once the Golden Boy was ready, hands on his shoulders to steady him. Theta appeared, which made Harry twitch and step back several more paces, taking Al with him, while he summoned the most technology positive thoughts he could manage and diverted all of his attention away from the soldiers. It left him staring down at the boy. North patted York’s shoulder lightly. “Good run, Bud.” Over his shoulder, Theta propped his skateboard up. “Did we win?” He sounded about Al’s age as he said it. North laughed, “Yeah, I count this one a win.” No one had died. “Good job, Theta. You were great. We’re all proud of you.” He fist bumped the little holograph. It would be cute if the wizard watching from some distance away wasn’t worried about killing him. “That’s York,” Harry told Al, “In the gold. And the… the giant next to him is North. They’re friends.” The Giants of Knowhere were terrifying. All four of them assembled.. Who wanted to stand in face of that? No one. *** The golden-haired boy was happy to be held in the circle of Harry’s arms, he didn’t have the same hangups about people thinking of him as a child, not like his brother did. “Your friends are really scary.” He told the giant man currently holding onto him. The display of their power was still shocking to him, but the display of Harry’s power had been so much more impressive and he knew he was entirely safe standing there next to the wizard. He trusted Harry. Of course he did. “..That’s York?” He asked, a sudden note of concern in his voice. “Is he.. Is he going to be alright? We should go see him.” He slipped from Harry’s arms but grabbed onto his hand to tug him, trying to get the dark man to come with him, to check on his roommate-- his big brother (Ed considered him to be as much, and because of that, so did Al). “You did great, Theta.” York agreed, Delta flickering to life over his shoulder now that everything had been done to fix up the Spartan he resided inside. “York is correct. Your skills are greatly improving, Theta.” The green AI told him, no inflection in his voice. That wasn’t something he could really help, but they were all used to it by now. And as the duo stood there, Tex slowly made her way over to them and took up a casual stance within their little circle, Omega locked away once again. Her entire demeanor had shifted a little. “Good fight. All of you.” It was the closest she’d come to thanks, and it was the best sort of praise she could offer. “Now get yourself fixed up, North.” It sounded like an order. It was. Tex was used to giving them. *** Harry didn’t budge, but he did let Alphonse go. “I can’t,” he said, pointing at his head then jerking his chin toward the soldiers and the dual AIs that had now appeared. “You go, tell York I’ll catch him later, okay?” He smiled, to show his good will, to indicate he was cool with this plan. He was, he could imagine the boy’s glee at being surrounded by massive future robotics. Al wasn’t old enough yet to appreciate the god damned terror they inspired in Harry. Al had been impressed by Harry’s display of power because it was something he recognized. But the wizard? The wizard was nothing beside the invention that had engineered the men and the woman before him. That was the future. Right there. The three of them represented it. Harry would, if by luck, live long enough to see that come into fruition and it terrified him. When Tex joined the other two, North shifted his position just enough to welcome her into the fold. No hard feelings. These were people who respected and accepted each other. Theta, if he could have, would have beamed at the compliments, “Really? Thanks, I worked really hard.” He managed not to dip out when Texas spoke, too. Taking pride in her sort-of compliment, the little AI was pleased with itself. North regarded Texas, massive shoulders shrugging, “I’m good right now, but I will. I don’t want to scare the kid.” His attention had turned toward the blonde boy (did humans come so small naturally?) trying to pull the other giant toward them. *** Alphonse paused and looked back at Harry, a small frown touching his lips. It was clear he didn’t really want to leave the wizard, that he wasn’t entirely confident being around those other giants on his own. Harry was his safety blanket right now and the Alchemist wasn’t sure he was ready to let go. Though, when North mentioned Al, that black-helmeted head turned towards the boy and Texas lifted her chin a little. “It might be good for him to meet Theta.” “What do you think, Theta?” York asked the smallest of the AI fragments. Once Tex heard some sort of affirmative, she was shifting her body, lowering down, one heavy knee impacting with the ground. “Hey, Al!” She shouted over to Harry and the boy. “C’mere, there’s someone we’d like you to meet.” Al took a glance back at Harry, as if to check that it was okay that he go over and say hello. The look was clear on his face, however, that he didn’t want Harry to leave. The wizard was what would protect him if those suits of armor suddenly decided to.. Eat him or something. Sure, it was York in one of them, but none of them had any faces, and that.. Well.. that was pretty terrifying for someone from 1916. And when the boy got some sort of reassurance, he smiled and released the tall man’s hand, then raced off towards the three robots from the future. He slowed when he got close enough, his steps turning into a walk as he finished closing the distance. “Hi.” He said in almost a shy manner. “Hey, Al.” York piped up immediately, so the boy could hear his voice and know it was him. He wasn’t about to remove his helmet, though. None of them were. They were all bloody and no one wanted to expose the boy to that. “Are you okay, York?” He asked instantly, those round eyes blinking up at him-- York took the cue from Tex, however, and was soon kneeling down as well. “Yeah, I’m fine. This is my friend, North. North, this is Alphonse. He and his brother live with me.. And if Al here says it’s okay, maybe you want to come and stay with us for a bit?” He’d already asked Ed about it and the eldest Elric had agreed, begrudgingly. But, it was good for him. “Stay with us?” The boy prompted.. Then broke into a smile. “Sure!” Such a happy child. Not that he was a child to any of the Freelancers, but.. He still was. As the boys talked, Texas pushed to stand, ruffled Al’s hair, then knocked her fist on first North’s helmet, then York’s, and was headed away, towards Harry. *** Theta turned to look around at the Freelancers before his attention focused on North alone. North nodded his encouragement. He could--should--meet Alphonse Elric., “Okay, sure,” Theta agreed. And then it all happened in moments. Agent Texas knelt, Agent York followed, and then North crouched down, too. As the tallest, he was likely the most terrifying. Even knelt though, he was still bigger than the other two. The largest of those assembled, but with the smallest AI. It was funny. Al couldn’t see it, but North was smiling behind his visor, in that purple helmet. The boy didn’t even know him and he was already agreeing to let him stay with York, himself, and his brother. Good kid. “Hi Alphonse, it’s great to meet you, York tells me all kinds of good things about you and your brother.” He shifted, hand touching the ground to balance his weight. “That shield you pulled up is really cool. Theta and I can do something similar, but we’re both impressed.” The AI poked its head from around North’s frame, not unlike the first time he’d been introduced to York, Wash, and Delta. “Come on out, Theta, Alphonse is nice. Alphonse, this is Theta.” The AI came out of hiding, but did still take shelter in North’s shadow. Harry hung back, his attention turning to Texas as she approached. She’d say something mean about him being stupid there at the end and it would be okay. Their relationship was fucked up. *** Lining up to be able to greet North and his small friend head-on, Alphonse smiled and rocked up onto his toes. Lord, that smile was like the sun, it lit up everything around him. It was uncanny. “Thanks! I saw your shield while you guys were sparring against Tex, it was really incredible. How do you do that? It completely surrounded you-- it was amazing.” His head tilted a little, though, as Theta peeked around North and his demeanor shifted slightly, that smile softening into something far more gentle. “Hello, Theta.” Instant calm. Just look at that. Beneath his helmet, York was smiling. “Were you the one helping North the way Delta helps York? You were really impressive.” Those bronze eyes slid along the multiple colors of the hologram and he nodded his head, pony tail bouncing a little. “And you’re so beautiful-- I’m very happy to meet you. York’s told me how nice the two of you are.” A short pause, then: “Do you want to be friends?” Because it was just that simple for Al. York wished things could be that simple for Ed. Glancing back once at the scene behind her, Tex came to a stop near Harry and turned to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him so she could watch the scene unfold there as well. It looked like Theta was doing alright for himself so far. “You did good today.” That slightly robotic voice told the wizard. “Protecting Al the way you did.” A long pause stretched between them. “Thanks.” *** North laughed, “It’s called an enhancement, part of my armor. Theta’s the best at operating it now.” But he shushed as he watched that boy’s smile and his demeanor change when Theta made his appearance. Alphonse was just so… bright. So good. No wonder York loved them so much. Above the boy’s head and definitely above Theta, North’s head turned to look at York then dipped mildly as an acknowledgment. This was good. The boy was good. And then the boy asked if Theta wanted to be friends, and it was honestly the most innocent and gentlest question North had heard in his life. Both he and Theta were floored by it. North because it was beautiful and Theta because no one had ever asked if he wanted to be friends. “Yeah!” Theta said enthusiastically, evidently deciding then and there he could trust the human. “I help North, Delta says I’m getting better. Agent York agrees.” Then his skateboard appeared and he seemed to skate across the ground an acceptable distance toward Alphonse. “Wanna see something cool?” He waited a beat, and then the AI set off the little fireworks display he’d developed. How he’d done that within the limits of his program North would never know, but Theta was damned clever. He just needed confidence. He was as good as North claimed he was. Watching the children introduce themselves and play, Harry turned his head slightly toward Texas and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “I won’t let you hurt them anymore than you’ll let me.” He wanted to touch her, but she was hidden under layers of armor. How comfortable could it be to hug metal? So Harry didn’t, he just touched her gloved hand. *** “Well I think you’re wonderful.” Alphonse told the little purple AI. And while Theta didn’t quite come up to North’s knee, he was as tall as mid-thigh on the youngest Elric, who watched with bright eyes as those fireworks were set off, laughing and reaching out a hand to watch the light display dance along his fingers, even as they passed through it. “Wow! That’s amazing! And what’s that?” The fireworks hadn’t been gone two seconds and Al was already interested in the skateboard that Theta had been riding on. “You weren’t even walking, how did you do that?” Oh, Lord. Now Alphonse was going to want a skateboard. York nodded his head once to North and reached out, thumping a fist against the knee of that purple armor. You did good, North. Theta was coming along nicely. York couldn’t have done any better-- or near as good, probably. York was a protector by nature, but he wasn’t a nurturer. His best friend was. The two of them made a perfect team. Across the field, that black helmet lowered to look down at her hand when she felt something touch against it. Harry. It’d been Harry’s hand touching hers. Sighing out a breath that sounded like annoyance, Tex turned her hand and caught the wizard’s with her own. Holding it. Yes, she’d stand there in armor that cost as much as a battleship and was made to slaughter aliens and save humanity, able to withstand even some of the most powerful spells Harry could throw at it, looking like the bad-ass space warrior that she was... and she’d hold hands with her boyfriend. You got a fucking problem with that? Keep it to your fucking self or she’d tear your goddamn spine out you piece of shit. *** Look at them, the two armored idiots, kneeling there watching the interaction between man and artificial intelligence (North was reluctant to call them machines, Theta, Delta, and even Omega were so much more than that) like two proud fathers. Maybe big brothers were more accurate, given their position. But still. North was proud of Theta. Theta was doing so well! Man, he was such a great guy and North was glad to see him relaxed and self assured. Theta had started in on a discussion of skateboards with Alphonse, good job, guys. But it made Theta enthusiastic and willing to talk, and that was always nice. North laughed a little. “Let’s see about skateboards later, there’s lots of things you have to consider before you ride down hills here.” It was dangerous and he didn’t want a very real, very human Alphonse Elric getting hurt. When Theta fell off his skateboard he just flickered a little, Alphonse would experience a whole different range of feeling. “Okay,” Theta agreed. He trusted North implicitly. Meanwhile, the parents of the entire group of idiots were holding hands like a pair of nerds. Harry smiled at Texas. “Come on, Alphonse is fine with them. We don’t have to stand here and watch them.” The three of them had found a family in each other. With Ed, it’d make four. Harry was glad. *** With Harry insisting they could leave them alone, Tex tipped her chin up some and her free hand lifted to touch the side of her helmet. “York, North, you two get inside and get cleaned up. And North, don’t leave your blood all around the house, yeah? Or I’ll make York clean it up. Tex out.” Her hand slipped away from the helmet and she let Harry tug her away from the scene, headed back to the apartment. The pair had to make a detour to the room holding both her, and York’s armor. Surely it’d have another crate stashed in it soon enough. It was there that she’d strip off her helmet, setting it carefully in the box where it belonged, the thin trail of blood coming from her ear was ignored, just like the blood from her nose. The armor came off piece by piece, leaving her in the undersuit, which came off last. Eventually, it was just a sports bra and standard-issue underwear. She tugged on the jeans and t-shirt she’d left behind when she’d changed and slipped her feet into her shoes, covering up the bruises that were only red spots at this point. North and York had gotten some pretty decent hits in. The blood was wiped from her face and neck with a towel, which she carried out of the small room and tossed to the ground in the lab, before heading for the stairs. Harry would surely burn it and follow her up. York would instruct North on how to deal with blood properly, and Tex knew the golden boy would make sure it was taken care of. She didn’t have to worry. *** It was Harry’s idea to leave, but even so, he lingered for a second to watch the boys be boys. Then he smiled, turned, and walked with Texas back to the private side of their lives. When they reached the lab, Harry took the opportunity to check his potions (brewing for a client still) and several of his other works while Texas stripped off her armor, put it away, redressed and then finally came out. She dropped the bloodied towel, Harry eyed it, then her back before he called fire and burned it to ash. Man, they were going to run out of towels fast with the way she was so careless with herself. Could you talk, Harry? No, no you couldn’t. But he followed the woman upstairs, looking her over as they went. She had marks, evidence of bruises, their presence making him concerned for the state of North and York. York especially who had stood resolutely between his friends as a living shield and the first point of attack. North had worked with him, the pair were so in sync it was bizarre. How did you learn to trust and know someone so intimately as all that? But when they reached the apartment, Harry divested himself of his duster and staff, the armaments of a wizard gone to war---the equivalent of Texas’ armor--and then just slipped up behind the woman and wrapped his arms around her, caging her in his embrace. “You scare the living shit out of me.” He kissed her blonde hair. *** Was Harry prepared for this? Had he ever seen Texas so relaxed? Not even after sex. She actually laughed softly when he put his arms around her and told her that she scared him. “Says the man who could kill me with a thought.” Her arms dropped to rest atop his, holding them there as she let out a soft breath, enjoying the way he felt so close to her. “I’m sure North will be fine. He’ll be banged up for a few days, but he’ll be alright.” No mention of York. She didn’t have to. He was perfectly fine already. “It was nice of you to back them up today, I know York appreciated it.” A failsafe, in case something had gone wrong and they needed to be saved. Thankfully, it hadn’t happened, but it could have, and Harry would have been there to stop it. *** She laughed and it was enough to make Harry’s heart perform a weird flop in his chest. He liked when she laughed, when she relaxed. When she let herself be human. Moments like these? Where she allowed his embrace, returned it, and didn’t say something snide or like she was barely tolerating it.. Man. Harry smiled into her hair. But the good feeling faded after a moment, even so the wizard didn’t let her go. “Can North’s uh… his AI protect him the same way Delta and Omega do you two?” He didn’t know what to think of North. York had insisted that of the three Freelancers, North was the most vulnerable. But after that display of power what the hell did that mean anymore? Harry didn’t know. None of the three monsters struck Harry as being particularly weak after that. What had he been expecting when York said his friend was the most likely to die? What did it say about Texas, seeing her handle them with such…. Such efficient brutality. Harry’s arms tightened a little. He grunted a noise in response to Texas’ words. Sure, yeah, he’d agreed to back up North and York and you know what meant? He’d step in to save North and York from Texas, but he’d have to pull out all the punches to do it. That meant doing his best to put Texas down as quickly as possible. Which meant he couldn’t curb any of his attacks. Which meant, and perhaps York knew that when he’d asked, that Harry would have put York’s life above Texas’ own. Everyone did it, the wizard reminded himself silently, everyone had priorities. Harry swayed with Texas for a moment. “Want a hot bath?” He rubbed his hands down her arms. *** What did it say about them when their most vulnerable member was North Dakota? It said they were a fucking terrifying force of nature. “Theta isn’t as strong as Omega and Delta. He also doesn’t have the ability to heal, like Delta does. But as long as North takes precautions with him, he should be fine when he’s around you. As long as you’re not doing magic, that is.” She smirked a little and glanced back over her shoulder. “You were really hot out there today.. All angry and manly and throwing fire like you were Apollo, God of the fucking sun.” The Spartan leaned back in against him. “Yeah, I could use a hot bath.” Her eyes fell shut as her head rested back against his shoulder. “Are you gonna wash me?” Who the fuck was this woman? Sure, it was clearly Tex, she had all the right mannerisms and the edge was still there, but whereas the suggestion of a hot bath, before, might have had her telling him she could take care of her fucking self.. Now? Not only was she accepting it, but she was teasing him? Maybe Tex needed to actually take a few minutes and explain to Harry exactly what was going on in there with Omega, who was blissfully silent now. Maybe it would help him to better understand her outlandish moodswings. Could they really be called moodswings when you went from mean bitch to meaner bitch, though? *** Yeah, who the fuck was this woman? That was a damned good question. Harry looked at her, torn between accepting it because it was so nice and asking about it because it was also fucking weird. “So….” He said, “Yes,” he would in fact wash her up. Because that was damned sexy and she’d stroked his ego calling him Apollo. What? He was a man, and compliments worked on him just as well as they did the next dude. Being told that by a beautiful woman--by his girlfriend--made him feel awesome. Blow him. “York said you needed to blow off some steam, to let Omega….” To let Omega… Omega. Harry had seen him once before, when Texas had snapped in the hallway outside the Elric’s apartment. He’d seen him today. But the entity that lived inside her head was almost entirely lost on the wizard. He knew he was predatory. Bob had explained some of it, after their adventure in the Nevernever. But Bob didn’t understand the difference between good and evil or right and wrong. Bob was Delta’s logic times a thousand, with no morality attached, and a huge love for new information. Omega had just been a predator who hadn’t concerned Bob in one direction or another. “Come on,” Harry said, “tell me what that’s about while I draw a bath.” He smiled, tugged her hand, and pulled her toward the large bathroom with the biggest tub. *** Allowing Harry to tug her towards the bath, she would hop up to take a seat on the counter, watching as he bent to turn the water on. It was a nice view. “Yeah. He was getting a little overwhelming.” The Spartan admitted after a few seconds of thought. “He’s an AI, just like Delta.” She knew that Harry knew all about Delta, York and the wizard had discussed him at length many times now. “Well, a fragment of one. They all are.” York had explained that they were fragments, but hadn’t gone into more detail than that, as they’d gotten quickly onto another topic. “All of the best Freelancers got one. Carolina-- the woman York was in love with--” Wait, what? Don’t get off track, Harry. “She had two. They were Happiness and Fear. All of them sections of one larger AI, the emotions and traits broken off piece by piece. Washington, a close friend of North and York, he got Memory-- it almost killed him. They had to remove it immediately. North got Theta, who was acted the most human, he was the portion that was Trust, the more emotional side. York got Delta, who is Logic and Reasoning. And I got Omega. He’s Rage.” Her eyebrows lifted some. “The other AIs, for the most part, tried to understand human emotion, even if they couldn’t really, they still tried. They wanted to help, or to grow, or to learn.. Omega just wants to hurt and kill. He’s the only one without a shred of goodness in him. He’s everything evil inside humans and nothing redeeming. He doesn’t know right from wrong-- he doesn’t know ‘right’ at all. No matter the situation, he’ll always choose to do the worst thing possible, regardless of the outcome, with no regard to self-preservation, his or mine. The only thing he knows is hate and anger and death.” Pale blue-green eyes locked onto Harry again. That was the thing inside your girlfriend, Harry, and it wasn’t as if she could just remove it, there was no technology that could destroy it, not here, so it was safer to keep it inside her head. Sometimes it got too much, though, and it overwhelmed her. “I’m not saying I’m some angel and that this AI has turned me into a crazy bitch-- I’m definitely a crazy bitch, Harry, but.. Omega was designed to make me meaner. A lot meaner.” And it did just exactly what it was supposed to do. *** Harry stopped what he was doing, once the hot water was filling the tub, and turned to look at Texas. He blinked at her. That was a lot to take in. From York and Carolina (Really?! Man, that idiot! It made so much sense now) to the details about Omega and the other AIs. Did they know they were pieces of one whole, ripped apart and implanted in the heads of humans? And Omega was rage. Harry stared at her, then he stepped forward, happily pressing between Texas’ thighs and curling his arms around her as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. She had an evil entity inside her head that drove her to unimaginable cruelties. Like Thomas’ demon. Like Harry’s Mantle. Like all the ugly parts of humanity that let you torture, maim, and murder other people without ever pausing to consider their humanity, too. Harry held onto Texas for a moment, troubled that she had to live with that. Troubled that she’d been made to carry it. “Do you have control of it?” he asked after a moment. Because it was necessary to know. Because for safety and for love of those around them, Harry needed to know. He barely had control of Winter. He understood it completely. *** Did she have control of it? Her legs lazily curled around the backs of Harry’s thighs, a little smirk coming to her face. “Sometimes. Most times. When I get angry, it’s a lot easier for him to take over. Or when I’m tired, or worn out.. Or in some other way vulnerable.” It made sense, when the host was weak, the parasite had a better chance of taking over. “But he’s not restricted to me. He can go into any of the other Freelancers, including York and North, if there’s an open channel and I’m too weak to hold him back. Multiple AI aren’t an issue, because they’re only fragments. He’s done it before, to escape me. And then again to get back into me.” So, similar to Winter, except it could move. Without the host dying. It could move at will. Really, it was pretty scary to think about. What psychopath had come up with this shit, and done these things to these soldiers? “But I feel a lot better now.” Tex was a good outlet for Harry to release Winter on.. And North and York were a good outlet for Tex to release Omega on. And Harry could ensure their safety while it happened. It was like.. Some big circle of stress relief.. Or something.. She allowed a few heartbeats to pass in silence before she spoke up again. “If you’ve got questions, now’s the time.” *** If he had questions. Oh, sorry, during the invitation to referee the death match he hadn’t been prepared with questions he should ask his crazy, psychotic carrying AI girlfriend. All he could do was stare at her and try not to be angry at the bastards that had done this to them. He felt this emotion all the time, the more he learned about York’s history and now Texas’. Their lives were fucked up. They were people and someone had tortured, twisted, and broken them. “Will it kill the host? If he jumps to York or North, will he kill Delta and.. And Theta?” And thereby kill them both. “Can he? Or is it just possession. In theory…. If he moved to York and..” No, Harry stopped thinking that thought. If Omega moved to York, could Harry kill him by nature of his magic the way he’d almost done to York multiple times? He didn’t want to risk it, Omega taking over, taking York, Harry killing both of them on the chance Delta would be around to kick York back into life. That wasn’t how it worked. Harry frowned at Texas. “Do.. is…” He struggled to come up with the words, “Do you need this kind of release regularly?” North and York would sacrifice themselves to that end, Harry was sure, he just didn’t like it. Though he admitted it was necessary. *** They were surprisingly good questions for a man who knew nothing about technology, and Tex inclined her head some. “No, he doesn’t want to kill Theta or Delta, he wants to join with them, to make himself stronger. Think of it as.. Your head, lying on the ground, still alive. And your bodyparts are spread all around you. You don’t want to throw them into the wood chipper, you want to pull them all back together and make yourself whole again.” That was exactly what it was like. “And to do that he needs them and me.” It probably didn’t make any sense at all. “It’s just possession, if York dies, the AI lives on, until it self-destructs, which is protocol. Unless it doesn’t self-destruct, in which case it can live on indefinitely as the body rots away.” Which was what was happening right now to York’s corpse and Delta, not that Tex knew it, she thought Delta was gone, too. “But he can use York to kill North, then have North kill himself, take both Delta and Theta, and return to me. It would have to be a perfect storm of events, but it’s possible. When he takes control, he’s in control entirely. It’s getting the control that’s the challenge.” Because he could subdue the other AI without issue, it was the human element that was hard to force into submission. With his question of release, though, she let out a slow breath. “I don’t really need it, I can keep him at bay.. But it is nice and it makes things easier to deal with. It makes my temper easier to control. He isn’t so loud anymore. I guess it sedates him, in a way. Letting off that bit of steam keeps the kettle from exploding.” Something she’d reminded Harry of when she’d helped him with Winter. “...Are you okay with all of this?” Maybe he’d gotten himself into something he couldn’t handle. Maybe he’d rethink the whole relationship thing. *** That was a lot. Honestly, it was. But it wasn’t any worse than the things Harry had lived through in his life. The difference between Omega and Winter were who they served. Omega served himself. Winter served Winter and by default, Mab. The wolf’s instincts were its own. If Harry died, the power would return to Mab until she gave it to her newest chosen Knight, unless the vessel was nearby, then it would go to it instead. Omega could move freely provided the circumstances were right. Creepy. Was he watching now? Did Harry want to give rise to the question of the other AIs around the place? Sara? SAM? Give Omega knowledge of them, too. He looked into Texas’ soulless eyes and imagined he was looking at the thing that lived inside her head. Over his dead body, you asshole. You wouldn’t hurt the people he loved. Texas included. He relaxed a little, kissed Texas lightly and nodded. “Yeah, I’m cool, it’s creepy.. But. It’s not a problem. Come on, get in the water before it gets cold.” He stepped back to let her off the counter, his hands sliding down the length of her thighs as he did so. “Thank you, for explaining.” *** “Yeah, thanks for caring enough to ask.” When his hands slipped away from her thighs, she slid off the counter and moved around him to head for the bath, stripping as she did and climbing in without concern. The red marks were starting to turn darker, most of them along her chest and abdomen. If she looked like this, the other two definitely looked worse. Well, North did, at least. Into the hot water, she let out a soft sigh and leaned back. “Now I believe someone owes me a wash.” Pale eyes closed partly. “I expect a happy ending.” Of course she did. |