InsaneJournal

"I think this is it." Ilana surveyed the house in front of them skeptically. "We could try ringing the bell but…" No lights were on inside, and newspapers were piled up in the yard; it didn't actually convince her that anyone was actually living there. "So do we want to up the ante and not-break-into a house too?" she asked casually, as if she were asking if he wanted a coffee.

It didn't have the signs of someone actually living there. Which could be promising or not. But at her answer he gave her a grin before disappearing into smoke. Sliding under the doorway he slid the lock open. "Weird. Doors unlocked." He commented mildly when the door swung open.

"Huuuuh." Ilana gaped in surprise. "So fucking weird. We better go check it out, to make sure there are no robbers hiding inside. That's our job as heroes, obviously." Ilana followed him inside and closed the door behind her.

Someone was definitely going to get in trouble for partnering them up.

"Obviously. We'd be in dereliction of duty if we didn't do a wellness check." Davis agreed on his best heroing voice. Though he looked around the empty hallway. "Though we might actually need to do a wellness check."

Ilana grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight, which highlighted the fine layer of dust that had settled over everything. "I don't think we'll find a body, at least." Though as she glanced around, she wasn't entirely convinced; a deserted house in the dark was inherently a little creepy. "Maybe she found out we got her name and she fled."

Davis sniffed the air. "Doesn't smell like there's a body around." He answered mildly. "And could be. Nothing to stop us from looking around then. Probably. Unless there are booby traps."

"Honestly, it would be really fucking cool if there were booby traps," Ilana remarked. "Well, not cool if we end up maimed or dead, but I respect the hell out of anyone who booby traps their house." She ventured down the hallway cautiously but it seemed like the coast was clear.

"Well yeah it'd be sweet as hell but also there's that whole maimed or dead bit." He looked into the first empty room they encountered through the hallway. "More of a risk to you actually since I can go gas and you're all solid."

"Wow, so you would just let me get booby trapped on my own?" she asked in faux outrage. "Damn, Davis. A true friend would get maimed with me." The hallway just led to a kitchen, which seemed utterly uninteresting at first glance. No papers left on the table, no post-its on the fridge, no personal touches that revealed anything. "We should try upstairs."

"I'd mourn you." He nodded solemnly before heading towards the stairs. It was eerie just how empty everything was. "I know I said it didn't smell like there was a dead body, but if we find one I might throw up."

"Just don't do it on me." Though she wasn't sure if she would react any differently if they did find a body, and she felt a rising sense of apprehension as they climbed the stairs. This place was clearly abandoned, she reminded herself, the chances of them finding anything, let alone a body, were slim and yet. She took a deep breath when she reached the top of the stairs, and there was some comfort in the stale, musty smell in the air; better than the smell of death. She veered right towards the closest room and pushed open the door. She expected to find nothing. A bed, perhaps. Basic furniture or clothes. She was utterly unprepared for what was hanging on the wall.

"What the fuck." She looked over at Davis, confusion etched onto her face.

Davis held up his phone to light what could only be described as a crazy persons murder wall. There were cut outs, pictures, string, what seemed to be mad ravings. All of it seemingly lifted from an episode of law and order. "So. I think Arlene might actually be a villain." Davis finally answered. "Fuck."

"Yeah. This seems well past the Disney shit." She took a cautious step inside, Davis's joking warning ringing in her ears, but was just a room with a suspicious as fuck bulletin board. All of the ranked heroes were there with notes and numbers that Ilana couldn't begin to decipher. "What do you think it means?" she asked, her eyes darting to Talia's photo. Flyweight #7 - possible, but unlikely.

"Wifey this is a murder board." Davis snapped pictures on his phone. Sure it could be some other kind of conspiracy board but it was ranked heroes. With some lady who was definitely connected in some way to the crazy things already happening. "So. Murder things."

Ilana shot him a look. "No one is planning to murder anyone," she responded firmly, but her chest still tightened. She found Luke's photo. Aegis #6 - recently outed in the media and the Wrights are always up to something, but it still seems off. A shiver went down her spine. "She's trying to figure something out but…" but she had no idea what. She searched for a photo marked number one. Sandcastle #1 - he's too nice, there's gotta be something about that. "But maybe she thinks Laurie is most likely to be… fuck, I have no idea. But she's ranking them in order of likelihood of something. Right?"

Davis completely didn't accept that look because he knew a murder board when he saw one. Right now he was busy taking what pictures he could to send back to the tops. Because they were the stars of this particular crazy show. "In murder order. Ilana. If this isn't a murder board it is definitely not a well wishing board."

"Stop. Surely none of them were involved in murdering someone. It's not that." But whatever Arlene was trying to figure out, it wasn't good. Ms. Independence #2- she seems like the type that would take whatever boost would come her way. No, it didn't look like she was trying to determine something like who was most likely to stop the Organization. "Do you think one of them is involved with something bad?"

Davis looked up from his picture taking to Ilana. That question could go a couple different ways. "The Organization or the ranks?"

"The rankeds. Obviously the Organization is shady as fuck, that's not even a question."

"It wouldn't surprise me." Davis said honestly. "Power fucks with people."

Ilana was silent for a moment. "So what do we do?" she asked? "Because we can't just sit on this. We have to tell them." But if one of them was corrupt in some way...

His frown mirrored hers as he looked more suspiciously towards the notes. Because who could they trust. And there was a sinking realization that he knew who. "We could tell my dad." Davis answered numbly. "Captain Regulator means more than life itself to him. If he's flipped then the whole system is."

Ilana tore her gaze away from the board to look at him. Her hand reached out for his. She knew that Davis wanting to trust his father, to reach out to him, was something momentous, and she didn’t know if she was proud of him or sad for him that this revelation was happening like this. "I think," she began slowly. Except she still hadn't figured out what, exactly, she thought. She took one last look at the board. "I think we need to tell all of them," she finished finally, sounding resigned. She had been the one to voice skepticism, it was true, but realistically, she doubted they could keep it from anyone and besides, she wanted to trust them. "But maybe we can talk to John privately, see what he thinks. He knows them better than we do."

There was a pit in his stomach that didn't feel like it was going to go away. Davis couldn't tell if it was his own disillusionment with the ranks or the sinking sensation that there was one solitary thing he trusted his father with in this world. What he could do was take Ilana's hand, an anchor through the wilderness. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He shoved his phone into his pocket. "I've got the pictures. We should get the fuck out of here."