Maybe you should rest. Getting revenge on this man is not worth hurting yourself over.
Who: Alma, Billy B, Nate, Harry, Big Mac, Match, Alex Summers and then Alex Rogan, What: Alma tracks down Cerberus. Things happen. When: Before the Evil Dead Plot Where: out and about Status: complete Rating: R for assorted levels of violence
Tracking down Cerberus wasn't hard. Finding any links to her father was harder. She'd already cleared out one warehouse, but it was a matter of figuring out what to do after that.
So she bought a convenience store sandwich, and found a park bench to curl up in. She regretted wiping people's memories. She'd have to fix that, maybe. After she was done.
Billy was trudging along, his leg healed a lot, and his mind awhirl with the new dreams he had been having. He was a superhero in them, or changed into one. He was a homeless boy who used a magical word and became a superhero the size of a man. Holy Moley!
He trudged along until something inside, a voice he didn’t yet recognize, told him someone needed him and changed his path.
When he spotted the girl on the park bench, he hurried to her. “Excuse me, miss, are you okay?” He didn’t yet see her face full on, but something nagged at him, something he felt like he should remember...
She looked up from her sandwich. Her eyes had a faint, orangish-red glow to them, that faded quickly. “I am okay, but thank you. I am just...” She shook her head. “Lonely, but that is my own doing. You should probably move on. It would be safer.”
And something clicked inside Billy’s head and suddenly it ached. “Ow!” He went to one knee, before his mind cleared and a weight vanished from it. “I--- what? Alma?” Billy gaped at her as he suddenly found that she was what he had forgotten.
Holy Moley!
“...You remember me.” She stared at him. “No, you cannot. I won’t allow it.” She tried to go back into his mind, to erase her presence.
“What?” Billy stared at her, then cried out when he felt her in his mind, even as six presences, voices that were just voices and not even that, shouted with one will “NO!” Billy cried out a single soundless word and lightning fell from the sky... and stared down at larger hands, and a larger body. “What?” No power rushed through him, no wisdom, just... him... in an adult body. One that was utterly sealed against all intrusion that is.
Billy stared at his hands. “Oh no. Not now...”
Alma stared at him, tilting her head and her eyes widening. She didn’t know what had just happened. She got to her feet and bolted.
Billy, left behind, was too startled to go after her, and utterly confused. Slowly he rose and started walking, staring, still, at his hands. Oh boy.
In the meantime, in a crazy random happenstance, Nate was currently down the wat Alma had bolted, around a corner and next to a park, working on the motor of a moto-tricycle. It was awesome!
When he heard running, he glanced up.
Alma jumped over a fallen trash can, and kept running. She didn’t know what had happened, but she had to flee before she hurt someone else. Get out of the city. That was her new plan. Get out of the city, and search for her father with her mind. Kill him and then...and then.
And then she thought she could rest in peace.
Nate shook his head. “Miss? Alma!” And he sighed and chased her. He’d come back for his trike. “Please wait!” He projected at her, warmth, caring, worry about her.
“How many people did I miss!” Alma slowed to a stop, turning to look at him. She enveloped herself in a cocoon of negative emotions, trying to turn away the warmth and caring. “Leave me be!”
Nate stopped following her, sighing, warmth and compassion projecting toward her. People who care! Why are you running? Messing with people’s minds! I won’t force my presence on you, but know this, people care about you and won’t stop caring just because you did.
~~elsewhere, Billy stumbled onward, determined to find someplace to rest, and to tell someone about this.~~
Because I hurt them. And she showed Nate the event. Because it’s safer this way, with what I have to do.
Nate experienced it and winced, but his mind was steadfast. So you made a mistake and have the power to do it again! Get training, get help. There are people here who could stop even your power. And there are people who love you and would love you, no matter what.
I had training! They knew how to set me off and they did. I’m a bomb She started to back away.
Then you can be defused! You are not a bomb! You are a Person! You are Alma Wade! His mind voice was passionate, warm, and gentle, but very insistent. He felt sadness as he watched her go.
Maybe once my father is dead. And then Alma Wade was gone.
Nate sighed and shook his head, then turned to trudge back the way he came.
Meanwhile, somewhere, Harry was carefully slipping his car into gear, hoping it would run long enough to get him to work. He had been out questioning.people about a current case, trying to locate a particular forger who worked for Cerberus sometimes, and pondering calling Kitty in on this one. So far,m he had been experiencing no luck, except one veiled reference to the Blue Moon, a dive on Elderwood. So, once he got back to work and made some calls, that was where he would be going.
If his car would start.
~~Billy, sitting down on a park bench, slipped into sleep, resting his aching body and troubled mind, wondering what was going on, and worried for Alma...~~
Alma was running at a full jog. Every time she passed a trash can or a small object it would levitate and then fall once she was farther away from it.
She ran past a stalled car, it lifted three feet, then dropped again, and the engine started.
Harry shouted as his car lifted and then fell again. “What the---?” Then he saw the girl running past and blinked. Didn’t he know her somehow? Car engaged, he put it into gear, steered out and then sent it slowly along near her. “Miss are you okay?”
Weird, but she seemed lost, or scared. Maybe he could help her.
She glanced at him, and then started to run faster. She was joined by shadowy figures moving all around her. One stopped, and the turned and rushed at the car.
“What the...” and Harry instinctively reached deep in his mind and heart and spoke. “Fuego!”
Fire boiled forth at the shadow and more than fire as Harry gritted his teeth and let his soul shine. Brilliant white light infused the fire and slammed into the thing, For a moment, the area was lit as if by that very first Day’s daylight, as the light of souls, the light of creation, shone forth.
That brought Alma to a full stop. She stared at the man, then waved a hand, making the creatures fade away. How did you do that? Her voice sounded in his mind.
“Magic. I’m a wizard. I help people.” And then he met her eyes, not knowing anything better, despite his dreams because, well, it hadn’t happened before and then...Alma would see his soul, and all of him, revealed to her... He felt himself drawn into hers as well...
...He was a man, always fighting under the weight of his father’s and mother’s evil, always striving to free others from wrong...
...He was a lawyer, arguing in court for those society had abandoned, fighting for their futures, and their very lives, unwilling to give up until life itself was gone...
...he was a private investigator, going into the darkest of places, asking the most dangerous of questions, believing in right, and truth, and hope...
...he was a lover, loving a woman, loving a daughter, loving his friends, giving them all of himself and more, and even willing to spend his soul for them...
...he was a wizard, flawed, broken, still learning his powers, still unsure, but knowing he would stand between the darkness and those it threatened. He was Harry Dresden and he was all of this...
She was a child, poked and prodded, and tested on. Starting fires, lashing out, killing...placed in a coma, only to come out long enough to give birth to two children. And have them taken away...
She was a child, trained and studied but unaware... given a false family by Cerberus and studied from afar.
....they shut down her life support, and her body died...her mind lived on, and she grew angry...
She discovered who she was, and she ran away. They tried to hunt her down. Azula hit her. Kitty was nice to her. Roy sent her to the Ranch. Dani calmed her down and drove her to Wrex...
...They reopened the facility, and she killed them all...
Harry shook a his eyes unfocused from hers and groaned. he knew her name now and he panted as he looked down, then at her again, meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, Alma.” He held out his hand to her. “Let me help.”
“I have to find him. I have to kill him, before he can make me hurt anyone else, ever again.” Alma looked at his hand, distrusting it. She found she couldn’t distrust him.
“Then let me help. I’m pretty good at finding people.” Harry generally didn’t approve of killing, but he had before and he would again. and he had seen what the man had done.
She looked at him, then chewed her lip. “His name is Harlan Wade. He is my father, and he works with terrorists.”
Harry nodded. And things fell together. “Terrorists like Cerberus? You know...” He dug out a small book from his bag and flipped through it. “Among the things I do is investigate them. And there was a-- ah!” He read from his notes. “Subject mentioned a group within the group who did some experiments, made weird things happen. Some sick, some just.,.. crazy.” Harry looked up. “I haven’t gotten to that address yet. It’s next to the farmer’s market out on Lexington. Want to go see if we can find a clue?”
She narrowed her eyes at the mention of Cerberus. But if he had a clue, and she didn’t have to violate the privacy of millions, she was willing to try. “Okay, but you stay out of my way.”
“I’m not trying to get in your way. Just take them down as a whole.” He nodded and gestured toward the passenger seat, unlocking it. “Hop in. It won’t take long to get there.”
Harry nodded as he got ready to send the car racing toward their destination.
Meanwhile, at the farmer’s market, things were going along smoothly, but Big Mac felt that something was off. The whole day had been a good selling day, but there had been something that had felt wrong, not quite sorted. And strangers going in and out of the building next to the market were arousing his suspicions. Something was wrong here...
~~Billy slumped against the back wall of a building, feeling himself change back. After a few minutes of rest, he flagged down a cab and climbed in. He had to get something to eat. Thankfully, there was a place near the farmer's market and he stopped the cab and paid there, sliding into a booth at the diner.~~
Alma slipped into the car, and buckled up. It was the law. She folded her arms, and sat back, closing her eyes. She hadn’t slept at all since she’d killed her family. Somehow they’d lived but she couldn’t banish the memory.
Harry drove, not bothering with small talk, headed for the farmer’s market, and hoping to find out what was going on. And help her, if he could. Soon, they were coasting to a stop near the building, and Harry was putting it into park, sliding out, checking his pistol. “The warehouse space my lead stated is behind the diner, so this way.” He led the way toward the side of the building.
BIg Mac, having loaded up some groceries for a local customer, was on his way back into the farmer’s market when he spotted a couple who looked out of place, Stepping into shadows, he lurked and watched.
~~Billy, sleepy, was eating at the diner, starting to sort of doze off...~~
She nodded, getting out of the car and looking at the warehouse. “There are nearly thirty people inside.”
Harry blinked, then nodded as they moved along the back. “Then we’ll have to try to be careful. We don’t want to cause a disaster. Especially with the market here.”
Big Mac started after them, slowly. He didn’t sense or feel anything bad from them, not that he could, really, but he trusted his instincts. And those told him these two weren’t bad, but something was off anyway.
People started to walk out of the market, and Alma said, “I have suggested to the good people, that they should return home. There are six inside still. None of them are good.”
Mac never had a chance before the compulsion. turning to head home without missing a beat. He had forgotten his worry by the time he got home and unloaded the truck.
~~Meanwhile,. Billy cried out as that washed over him, and shields snapped shut around his mind as he sank to the floor, unaware that he had vanished from all magical and mental perception.~~
Harry nodded as he walked with her, and tested the side door, then, with a yank, he pulled the door open and shot in. Faced with a man bringing a machine gun to bear right away, Harry fired twice, point blank and the man went down, his face gone. Harry kept moving, knowing this was going to get even bloodier.
Alma didn’t spare him a look. She was ripping through their minds, trying to find information about her father. Her eyes glowed the color of blood. She touched one man’s mind and was so repulsed that he was ripped apart, literally reduced to nothing but blood and chunks of flesh that coated the entirety of the room he’d been in.
Harry blanched as he saw that one, but the fight was brutal enough he had no time to worry about it. People were trying to kill him and Alma a lot, and Harry was using fire, wind, and light to take them out, in various combinations.
And the gun. That was helping too. And then he was standing over a man who had his hands up and was quivering in fear. “Please don’t kill me!” The man had the blood of victims still on his hands, literally, and Harry snarled. His finger tightened then he simply shoved his gun against the man’s head.
“Where is Harlan Wade?”
The man shot his eyes to one side and Harry grabbed his chin and forced him to look at Alma. “You’ve got about five seconds to answer me before I let her at you. Now... again. Where is Harlan Wade?”
And the answer came spilling out. A facility on the other side of town, one shrouded in fear even to the Cerberus thugs.
And as soon as he had the answer, Harry clubbed the man hard with his gun.
~~Billy had crawled out of the diner, and then managed to start down the street. Somehow, he managed to flag down a bus and get on board, giving them an address, somewhere else...~~
Alma was already running for the door. She felt sick, but kept her stomach from roiling over. She bent over double once she was outside, a war going on in her head and in her heart. Revenge and anger were winning.
Harry followed her and stood respectfully to the side. “Maybe you should rest. Getting revenge on this man is not worth hurting yourself over.” Worry and concern filled him as he saw her. Could his daughter ever be this filled with hurt? He prayed not.
Match was our for a morning run near the market when he spotted everyone just filing out, leaving it empty. That was weird. He headed that way, curious now, wondering what was going on. Spotting the two who were still there, he smiled and lifted a hand. “Ah, hey, what’s going on? Did something happen?”
She stopped, and shot Harry a look. Her voice was sad, and echoed the words of her biological father. "It's the way of men to make monsters, and it's the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."
Harry shook his head. “You’re not a monster. You’re a young woman, and you choose what you become next. Just because he made you one way doesn’t mean you have to stay that way, Alma.” He held out a hand to her. “You don’t have to do that.”
Match looked from one to the other, “Ah, hello?”
Harry glanced at him. “Yes?” Irritation showed in his tone. Damn it, this kid was going to mess things up!
“I know I do not have to do that, but I feel I have no choice. Not if he is to be ended and my family made safe.” Alma’s soul was nothing, in the scheme of things. Only her family’s safety mattered.
Match backed down and swallowed, then glanced between them. “Ah, nevermind.” And he retreated, wishing he had never stopped. Some people were just assholes.
Harry turned back to Alma and nodded. “I can understand that, but you’re not alone in this. Protecting your family is one thing, but make sure that is where you come from, or else this could hurt you.” He tapped his head. “I understand anger and protecting those you love..” He held a hand out to her again. “Let’s go get the bastard.”
Sorry Alma called into Match’s mind. She turned back to Harry. “I am sorry, too. But I cannot let you get hurt for me.” She took his hand, then tried to knock him out with her mind.
Match stumbled, wondering what the hell that was as he kept going. This place was weird...
Harry eyed her and then rocked as he felt the power of her mind against his. He scrambled to try to stop her but then he was out, and slumping against the wall and down it as he slid to unconsciousness, his last thought a shot in the dark, a sending into the day...
...and somewhere else, Alex Summers nearly swerved into something and shook it off, blinking. Harry? What the hell had that been? But he had an address in his head, and he turned. Sex toys could wait.
Alma took Harry’s keys, and got into his car. Normally, she was the safest driver alive, but today...today she was in a hurry.
Harry took some time to wake, and then cursed as he rose and started moving down the street. His phone was dead or he would have called for help. Instead, he looked for a taxi, and hoped one would come along soon.
Alex Summers, in the meantime, swerved as someone rather seeming crazy came driving past. “HOly shit!” They seemed to be headed in the same direction as him, but faster. “Damn it...” He knew he needed, somehow, to try catch them, and he gunned the car.
Alex Rogan, meanwhile, was bicycling along, minding his own business, thinking of the recent events. It seemed like both good and bad things were happening more often now.
Before too long, Alma had reached her destination. She climbed out of the car and ran inside. She looked around. The building was empty. Her eyes flared, and then all the windows and doors blew out, as though a gust of wind had rushed through the place. The air rang with her rage.
Alex Summers pulled up to a ways down the street in time to see what she did and winced. Fuck. That wasn’t good. He sank down in his seat, not wanting to be seen by crazy woman. This was definitely not the scene he wanted to be in.
On the street to the side of the building, a biking Alex Rogan cried out as glass exploded outward and he rolled away from the bike and the building. He groaned as he rolled to a stop, breathing hard. “What the---?” He touched his face and his hand came away with blood.
“Oh...”
Alma stepped out of the building, though floated out might be more accurate. She started off down the street, away from people, away from everyone. They must have been warned, they must have evacuated. She was still angry. She still wanted revenge.
Alex Rogan staggered up and toward the front street, blinking and looking around. When he saw the woman floating, he called out. “Hey! Are you okay?”
Alex Summers stared and swore quietly. “Holy shit!” That’s so not good.” He started dialing, but found interference on his phone. “What?”
Stopping, Alma turned around to look at them. She studied them for a moment, then said, “You’re good people. I am sorry if I hurt you.”
Alex Summers stared at her, then blinked. And when he found his voice, he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Are you okay?”
Alex Rogan, sitting down against the next building over, eyed her, then shrugged. “You didn’t mean it. I accidentally blow things up all the time. I keep trying to master implosions for those times, but it never works out.”
“My control falters when I am angry. And I am very angry right now. But I do not wish to hurt good people!” Alma sounded increasingly upset. This was what she’d been fighting against becoming! The windows across the street blew out.
Alex Rogan winced and held out his hands, moving to her direct line of sight. “I’m okay, he’s okay. So, breathe, okay? THis is going to be alright. You, miss, are going to be alright.” He nodded.
Alex Summers regained his shit and nodded. “Listen. I know something of that. I have a power that when I get too angry, it goes out of control. But control can be learned. It’s hard, and it’s sometimes painful, but it can be.”
“I had control!” Alma turned on him, eyes glowing ominously. “I had control and it was taken from me. I had control, I had control!”
Alex Summers nodded. “Then it can be gained back! Don’t give up! And don’t give in to anger. Anger does not grant control, only the illusion of it.” He knew that all too well.
Alex Rogan nodded. “Let us help.”
“I have to kill him,” Alma whispered, bringing her hands up to her hair. She tugged at it. “I have to stop them from ever using me again. You don’t know what I did. I cannot live with myself if something happened.....”
Alex Rogan swallowed and edged a little closer. “So let us help. YOu don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to be the one who stops it, not alone.”
And that was when Harry, having gotten a cab to nearby, nodded and stepped quietly out. He cleared his throat and let his footfalls make sound as he spoke. “They’re right. You don’t have to stand alone.”
She gave Harry a look, half relief, and half annoyance. “I cannot let you bear any of this burden with me. It is my father, who made me, and I am the monster who must unmake him, just as I dreamed about.”
Harry smiled at her. “Why? Why do you have to unmake him? This is not the dream world, Alma. This is this world, and you have choices.” Hye took a step toward her and held out his hand. “You are not alone here.”
“He did experiments on people, and animals. He made me here, too.” Alma shook her head. “He had a.... trigger command. I nearly killed my baby because of it. He has to be ended.”
“Then lets end him. You and I can do this together. You don’t have to be alone.” Harry smiled at her, eyes warm. “There is yet hope in the world.” It was an old quote but a good one.
Alex Rogan nodded. “I’ll do anything I can to help, too.”
Alex Summers saw that maybe this was a crowd, but heck, why not? “And if you need me, I’m in. Been awhile since I had a reason to ride in, guns blazing.”
He hated fighting, but some things you couldn’t turn away from.
She asked simply, “You do not know me, you are not family. Why?”
Harry smiled. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Because it’s what I do.”
Alex Rogan responded at almost the same moment. “Because you shouldn’t have to face things alone. Noone should.”
Alex Summers was a little late and he chuckled as the others’ responses rolled together.. “As for me? I’ll do it because some people need stopping and this guy sounds like one of them.”
A trash can disintegrated into ash, and Alma smiled darkly. "Good."
Harry nodded then. “Then we should go, and do our best to find this guy, and stop him. Did you investigate the building to see if there were anymore leads?”
“There’s nothing inside. They left.” Alma turned to go. She wasn’t sure where to start, but she’d rip the city apart if she had to.
“Okay. Then we’ll find a new lead. How can I find you?” He held out a hand to her, trying to keep her there for a little longer.
Alex and Alex exchanged glances, unsure what to do at this point.
“I lost my phone.” It blew up when she’d trashed her house. “I do not have any other way. Perhaps if you think very hard at me.”
Harry nodded. “I’ll find you, somehow. Just hold on. We can do this.” He smiled softly at her. “And you are welcome to come to me, any time.”
Alex Rogan chimed in. “Me too!”
Alex Summers nodded. “And me. If you need, or want to talk, or whatever, come by.”
Alma folded her arms. Maybe she should just go back to Beth. She’d have to think about it. “Thank you.”
Harry smiled. “Can I give you a lift anywhere?” He wanted to help her and just maybe to keep others safe too.
“No, but thank you. I think I know where I need to go.” It might just take her a week to get there. She turned, and started to walk away. She would remember these men, and that boy.
Harry nodded and watched her go, then turned to the men. “Alex Summers and Alex Rogan, right? If I hear anything, I’ll call you. In the meantime... I need to head home. I suggest you all do the same.” And he started off down the street toward a known cab stop.
Alex Summers glanced at Alex Rogan and nodded. “Need a ride to the ER?”
“Yeah, thanks.” And they rode off, quiet in their own thoughts.