The Universe's Mixer

Hannibal had no interest in what he found in the little box he'd been given at the ball. Once he saw what was inside, he burned the piece of origami paper and the instructions. Not only was Hannibal not the sort to put stock in foolish things like wishes, but he was also quite aware of what the City's idea of a gift was. He wanted no part in it. He supposed if he were a different person, there were wishes he could have made. Another with his history might have seen dozens of things that could be wished for. Hannibal never even gave these things a moment of thought.

It was curious, however, that the City should be doing something such as this. Perhaps it saw the brutality that he and Baba had gone after the asylum employees with and had decided to try to appease the others so that they wouldn't follow suit. Could it possibly be afraid of the two of them? Logically, there was every reason to be afraid. Hannibal might not have special powers, but Baba Yaga certainly did, and she didn't seem to be opposed to using them against the City. In fact, she seemed to be gearing up to do something fairly drastic. A thing he had read in her eyes and actions when they'd spent the evening together destroying the bodies of the two who had worked at Arkham.

Something he would discuss with her later. He had no doubt that they would have another meeting, and somebody else would die.

Today was not that day, however. Today was another work day for him, and he was on his way to the Hospital. He always walked. It got him out of the indoors and kept him in shape, not to mention it gave him a longer period of time in which he could peruse his mind for the events that had recently occurred and give them some thought.

It wasn't that he didn't see the girl. It was that she didn't see him. There was nothing he could do to avoid the impact of her crashing into him. Instead, he just steadied her with his hands on her shoulders.

Never one to forget a face, Hannibal smiled.

"Bella. It's been quite a while. I hope you are well."

Lestat sat outside at the sidewalk cafe, eyes hidden behind purple glasses, leg crossed over leg, a cup of coffee on the wrought iron table in front of him. He smiled pleasantly at the waitress who put cream and sugar down next to it, fangs hidden.

The red flower on his leather jacket stood out brightly against all of his other clothing.

He was waiting.

Lestat loved to people-watch, that was for certain. He also liked to pick at idle minds who did not know he was there. Tonight he was interested in the young woman who he'd seen by accident two evenings ago, whose mind he found he could not penetrate, not even a little. It wasn't something learned, either. He knew she was different.

She... and he did not even know her name... was someone unlike anyone he'd met in his years.

Of course, Lestat was fascinated. And he must, must speak to her.

The cafe was near where he presumed she was living; he would wait here until he saw her.
Then he would finally get to speak to her.

Yes. This was the plan.

She'd always been the shy, quiet kind of girl - not big on conversation, or having large quantities of friends. She was content with her awkwardness, and liked to think she inherited it from Charlie. She'd never considered it to be flaw, let alone an 'issue' of any kind - heck, if it was, Renee would have sorted her out in the blink of an eye. She was just plain old boring Bella...at least she thought she was.

They always talked in hushed whispers, scribbling on clipboards, dosing her up with all different kinds of pills. But it was the looks that really got to her, because they stared at her like something was...wrong with her. Seriously wrong. Like she had some kind of contagious disease or something.

"Excuse me," She had asked. "Why am I here?"

The nurse smiled. "Oh, bless you child" She said as she patted her hand, and walked off.

It was lunch time, and despite being told that she needed to 'get some sunlight', she sat glumly in the cafeteria, staring into a bowl of rather unappetizing spaghettio's, which were accompanied by fluorescent green rubber, that was supposed to be jello. Just looking at it made her feel green, and she sighed, wondering if anyone else felt the same way.

It always seemed to rain on days when she was running late.

Bella had a growing suspicion that this City place had picked up on her distaste for rainy weather, and simply let the heavens pour down upon her whenever they had the chance. Well, they picked a perfect day to do so, and it wasn't like her day could get any worse...or could it?

She'd slept through her alarm clock, spilt orange juice on her jeans, slipped on the sidewalk (well, that was actually something normal for her, but it really wasn't helping!), and now the back half of her jeans were totally wet through. Smooth, real smooth, Isabella Swan.

At least she could rely on her truck. This baby may look like a fossil, but it was the most reliable machine she'd ever driven, thanks to her good friend Jacob Black. Yup, everything was was going to be fine now! and --

A slight bump distracted her from her thoughts, and the truck veered slightly.

"Oh man" Bella groaned, praying that it was nothing major. "Just let me get to Bio on time."

It didn't take long for her to admit defeat. Eventually she pulled over, reluctantly hopping out of her beloved truck and into the pouring rain, to investigate. A faint hissing sound, as well as a sinking tyre pretty much said it all.

Great, even her truck had abandoned her in her hour of need. What next!

Hannibal had returned to the library to have another look at Barbara Gordon. The girl that he'd fallen in love with out of nowhere. It had seemed irrational to him when it happened, and as the feelings faded, he realized it wasn't real. It wasn't really love. It wasn't really any emotion. He was still quite amused by the fact that she was a younger Barbara, given what he knew about her and what their relationship had been the last time she'd been in the City, but that's where his involvement ended, really.

He'd just wanted one look at her, to verify all of this for himself. He needed to clear this up before he saw River again. Otherwise she would read the confusion in his mind and he'd be unable to explain it fully. If he went and saw that it was for sure as gone as he felt it was, there would be no confusion.

In the library, it wasn't hard to catch a glimpse of her. He felt nothing. In the end, he wasn't surprised. It was just another thing that the City had decided to do to it's citizens. A game. Hannibal was tiring of these games. He didn't even feel they were particularly original anymore. It was more like a child exploring the world it had just entered. Poking at things. Testing limits.

But there was another new face in the library, sitting at a table near his, right across from him. There was a gap of carpet between them, but otherwise it was if they were sitting together. The fact that besides Barbara they were the only two in the library at this hour didn't help that illusion.

He just smiled.

Bella Swan was the kind of girl who could blend into her surroundings….well, usually. There was no way she could fit amongst the smitten couples, gaudy bouquets of flowers, and ridiculous balloons which plagued every corner of the City. Even with her head down, and ipod jammed in her ears, they still insisted in shoving sneeze inducing roses and sickly candies in her face. Could they not tell that she was one of the most un-valentines girls in the world?!

It wasn’t because she didn’t have a significant other, or anything. Boys didn’t give plain old her a second glance. Valentines day was just….stupid. and commercial. And embarrassing too. Why wait for one day during the year to tell someone how much they mean to you?

She was trying to avoid one of the rose selling men when she felt something hitting her square in the back. And being the spectacularly coordinated girl she was, Bella lost her balance, and tumbled into the person infront of her.

“Sorry” she muttered, checking herself for bumps or bruises. Typical Bella.

(For Bella, Veronica, Dick, Bruce B, Lee, Edward and Simon)


Making the snowman had been extremely fun, and Jeannie was very pleased to have met a new friend. She genuinely liked people, and the truth was, she was more than a little lonely. While she enjoyed meeting all the people that she had since coming to this place, not one of them had really stayed. There was no one that she saw regularly. While she liked her new master, it was not at all the same as having a human master who was always there. To talk to. To serve. To love.

But when the snow became too bad, it was no longer quite as fun. It became too difficult to hold a conversation. So reluctantly, Jeannie made her good-byes and watched as Liz disappeared into the growing storm.

For a bit, Jeannie wandered through the chilled and changed landscape. Here and there, she ran into people that needed a bit of help dealing with the ever-deepening snow. All of them received aid in some fashion or other. ( Except for the last man. )

It was so early in the morning that most people weren't even out, but the diner was open. Its neon sign declared that it was a twenty-four hour establishment, which is part of what attracted Raven. The other part was the heater; she'd gone to bed in a slightly warmer climate, and when she'd woken up in a strange place she'd gone out to explore dressed for the weather at home.

It had been a mistake. She should've taken a heavier jacket, but it was too late. She wasn't sure she could find her way back - nothing was familiar here - and she needed a little shelter and warmth before she tried to backtrack and retrace her steps.

She was nursing a cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes that was far too large for her to eat by herself. She'd intended to box it; if she could ever get back to the place where she'd woken up, she was pretty sure she'd find a refrigerator. Two little creamers sat empty on the table, and three others had been inverted and stacked in a pyramid shape. The food sat half eaten to her side, so that she could concentrate her energy on her triumph of engineering and architecture. She was busy trying to balance a sugar packet on top, like a roof. Raven's hands shook a little, and the right was lightly bandaged, but she wore a look of intense concentration. She was going to build her creamer-and-sugar house. It would distract her from the fear and uncertainty she was feeling as a result of waking up alone in a strange place.