Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Like John, Kay didn't particularly blame Fia for wanting to make the most of exploring the outside world, even if it was Attil and not Earth. She wanted some sort of life that she didn't seem to have in her timeline and that Kay had to understand making her hope that this time with their teenage daughter would make them change their upbringing choices of Fia and let her out just that bit more when present day unborn Fia became a teenager. "I'm not surprised either and she does enjoy being around Cal and Cliff and we know she's perfectly safe with those three" she replied. She soon went back to her book and got swept up in what she was reading, every now and then her eyes conveying her reactionsnto whatever was on the pages, whether it was a smile in her eyes, shock, sadness or intrigue.

Fia began smiling happily at Cal's remark and compliment when Cliff added her own little teasing remark afterwards, making Fia give a typical teenage dramatic eye roll whilst poking her tongue out at her. "yeah yeah" she replied before chuckling. She couldn't help but chuckle slightly at Cliff's initial comment about her bosses thinking she was going into work early. "oh cool!" she replied to Cliff's added context, as she glanced over at the hospital that Cliff was gesturing to. She genuinely thought that as well as she knew it there her parents found out Kay was pregnant with her. So in a strange way it was nice to see where that news happened for herself.

She walked into the building they needed with the others, and took one of the pairs of safety googled, putting them on straight away as she found it was just like the time she went to the labs with Rinaa. Looking around, she could see why Rinaa was always so happy in this environment, she wasn't a massive nerd for mechanics, but she knew enough to know this was top of the range in comparison to Earth. As they reached Deke's office, she recognised instantly the leather bound book that was open on his desk, smiling to herself seeing the book's origins. "so that's where it came from" she commented to herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Deke looked up as the four entered, pushing his reading glasses up into his mop of wild hair (which was currently a tawny gold colour). Cliff was first through the door, she tapped the cover of the organic chemistry book "THAT looks like my worst nightmare." She remarked. "It's not THAT bad." He replied, closing the book and setting it to one side with a smirk, gesturing for Cal to shut the door and for the others to pull up some chairs from the pile in the corner. Cliff snorted. "Oh please!" she scoffed, her tone conveying that she didn't believe him in the slightest."You hated org-chem as much as I did, or have you forgotten those all-nighters we pulled trying to cram this stuff?" "I remember, I remember. Don't worry I'm not going mad" He reassured Cliff before correcting himself slightly. "Well madder and attempting to get my next degree in org-chem. I'm just doing some research to help out somebody."

Everybody in the room raised an eyebrow at Fia's comment, eyes flicking towards the notebook. (Deke's eyebrow was raised because he didn't speak English and needed somebody to translate what had been said so he could understand what exactly was so surprising). Cliff translated for him. Deke's eyebrows dropped and he nodded, making a the universal gesture of 'give me one second'. He pushed away from his desk, his wheelie chair carrying him over to another work table where his backpack was resting. He pulled out another notebook, almost identical, but less scruffy looking and with all the pages intact. (The book Fia found had various pages ripped out of it and sections blotted out with permanent marker, some clearly done in anger, others with strategic intent). He set the the two books on the table side by side and began talking, Cliff translating. "Not exactly, it's not quite as linear as you think. This one" he tapped the cleaner, newer notebook "is mine, yes. It's mostly empty." He opened the book and flipped through the pages to show Fia that it was indeed mostly empty."But this one" he tapped the older notebook, the one that had been open on the table when the four came in "is the same book, but from the future. It did contain plans made by future me, but somebody had the foresight to rip them out. I presume your half-sibling, cousin, niece, whatever relation exactly Artemis is to you." Having been the one to set Rinaa up with her Artemis identity on Attil, Deke chose to call her by that name, even though he knew her name to be both Rinaa and Leah. "Did that to stop other parts of the future being spoiled. This became her notebook too, if the song lyrics and sketches are anything to by, and I'm fairly confident there's been a third owner, or at least a third contributor. There's a third handwriting style in here that doesn't match mine of Artemis'. Don't suppose it's you by any chance?" He flipped open the older, battered notebook and turned it so Fia could see the writing, which appeared to be in Spanish, was unjoined and leaned heavily to the right.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't even think about what she was saying, it was one of those comments that came out before she could stop it. She didn't even think about the fact the others wouldn't understand what she was commenting on, so when she looked up and saw everyone raising their eyebrows at her she was about to clarify when Cliff translated for Deke. She watched him and nodded to show him she understood the universal gesture as he then got out an identical notebook before looking at the two, seeing that yes, Deke was right about the other being empty. She listened as Cliff translated everything Deke was saying for her, looking closer as he showed the third lot of handwriting.

She had to smirk slightly when Deke listed a few variations of what Artemis/Rinaa/Leah was to her, seeing that he knew the truth which in a way was a relief to Fia as it meant she didn't have to hide who she was this time. She walked Dover and looked closely at it, inspecting the handwriting finding it looked like her handwriting but she personally never knew herself to write in Spanish. Phoenix ancient language? Yes, Latin? Yes, but not particularly Spanish. "it looks like my writing but I don't recall writing in Spanish. I mostly write either in English, Latin or the ancient tongue of the Phoenix." she replied, looking across, finding a pen and grabbing it. She gestured for a piece of paper so she could show Deke her handwriting for comparison reasons. It made her wonder if this was Rinaa's Fia's handwriting, rather than her own which was why she wanted to compare the handwriting. It was either that, or she wrote the Spanish words but just didn't recall it.

With the paper handed over she wrote out a simple saying of 'higher, further faster' showing everyone probably for the first time that she was left handed and her style did indeed slant heavily to the right, her hand slightly above the line she was writing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay's eyebrows raised further in surprise when Deke produced a notebook almost identical to that on the desk. Two copies of the same book (but at different points in their life) in the same place at the same time was a paradox. Being a timeline sensitive she knew all about paradoxes, and could feel a very slight ripple of discord emanating from the two books. They weren't meant to be close together, but yet they were. Rinaa, she had no doubt, knew the risks associated with bringing these two books together, so there must be something in the older copy that Deke needed to see. It was another clue suggesting that Rinaa was playing her own game, a more subtle clue than many of the others. she listened carefully as Deke explained, leaning forwards to look at the books, finding herself fascinated by the pieces of the story behind it (though she got the impression Deke may be holding back something). Cal passed over a piece of blank paper from the pule on Deke's desk so Fia could write.

All four crowded around to compare Fia's handwriting to that in the book. The fact that she was a leftie did not go amiss on anyone. Elliott was left handed too and Jay couldn't help but ponder what the odds were that both John's adopted son and his biological daughter would both be left handed. Left-handers were just as rare on Attil as they were on Earth, but the ratio of lefties to righties varied across the planets and systems, there were many places where left-handers were dominant. There was no doubt that Fia's handwriting was very similar to the one in the book. "Jay, you're probably the most expert of us all?" Cliff asked, gesturing for Jay to take a closer look. "I was trained in basic handwriting analysis, yes." Jay carefully took the book and the page, her eyes narrowing in concentration as she scrutinised them, fipping to find other samples of the third writer to compare to Fia's page. The third writer had writen significantly less than Rinaa or Deke and mainly seemed to be adding footnotes or extra opinions, as opposed to planning their own ideas and designs.

"They're similar all right, but I don't think the same, left handers always have a pull on some letters that this Spanish writing doesn't. I think our mystery writer is right handed, but I can't say for sure, it's a pretty darn inky pen used in this notebook. But given what we know about how the other Fia treats Rinaa, it's safe to say Rinaa wouldn't let her anywhere near this notebook, especially since it contains private thoughts in the form of songs." Jay flipped through the books as she spoke, skim reading the pages, stopping on one page titled 'I've had worse'. "This song, for instance, is clearly about an ex."

Spoiler: The song lyrics in Rinaa's book

I've Had Worse, by Grace Petrie

from the album There's No Such Thing As a Protest Singer

gracepetrie.bandcamp.com

 

[MzHyde]

When Fia was done writing, she stood up straight, put the pen down and let the others scrutinise the writing against the handwriting in the book, particularly Jay. She even stepped back slightly so Jay could properly look at the writing closely, crossing her arms over her chest in a relaxed manner. She listened to what Jay was explaining and even looked at the song lyrics she was pointing out, giving them a brief glance over and nodding in agreement. There was no doubt about it, the song was definitely about an ex. Hearing that Jay thought the writing was done by someone who was right handed, Fia found herself only thinking of one other theory. "only other theory I got then is this: Artemis is ambidextrous isn't she? Is it possible she wrote this in Spanish with her right hand? Or am I completely barking up the wrong tree here?" she questioned.

She was starting to find it crazy that her little off the cuff comment, showing she recognised the book had turned into another mystery but this time who the third writer was in the notebook. "but you're right, there's no way the other me would be let near this thing. Hells, I found it under the floor boards in The House to even get here, not even Leah gave it to me in my timeline. That's how I recognised it. All I also know is that this adds to the list mysteries we're racking up" she added. It really did seem to her that every day brought a new load of perplexing questions that just filled their minds and brought next to no answers in the process.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff kept up a s steady stream of interpreting, signing in Attili to Deke to keep him in the loop. Cal and Cliff nodded in agreement skimming through the lyrics, while Deke just shrugged, slightly frustrated that he couldn't read or understand English. Languages were not his strong suit (unless they were coding languages). "I'll trust you guys' judgement on that." Jay remembered that Rinaa had mentioned having three girlfriends before Moya, but it was the one called Cass who'd dumped her and in the process completely broken Rinaa's heart. If she was to make an educated guess about which girlfriend the lyrics were about, she'd guess Cass, purely based on that one scrap of information. Cal, Cliff and Jay could all see the depth of the emotions in the lyrics and agreed with Fia that this was not something Rinaa would want her Fia to see, for fear it would incite more bullying, or worse a public outing of her talents.

Jay scrutinised the handwriting again, comparing it to Rinaa's in the book. "Well she is ambidextrous yes, so it's certainly a possibility that she wrote these notes at a later date, but that handwriting doesn't match well, unless he changed her style completely with in a few years. But more importantly I don't see WHY she'd bother to write in Spanish. The rest of her notes are written in straight English, my native tongue an English-Attili cipher or some kind of coding language. Her writing in Spanish makes no sense. Does she even know how to speak Spanish? Besides knowing some basic swear words, but everybody knows those."

Cliff raised an eyebrow when she heard that the notebook had been found by Fia under the floorboards of The House. "Somebody clearly put it there. You found an older copy of the book, by the sounds of it older than both of the copies on Deke's desk. And it had information on how to travel here you say? I have a theory. Which may sound crazy, but crazy is normal for us now. I think it was put there deliberately at some point between now and the time in the future you find it. It was planted, I think somebody wanted you to find it, but for what reason I couldn't possibly say."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia could tell that Deke hated not being able to understand what was being said and it made her wish Attil wasn't so anti magic so she could just of activated her communication rune to make things easier. She hated being right when it came to her other self, but unfortunately it was inevitable that if it would spur a negative reaction, then she'd be correct in her assumptions of the other Fia. She looked at Jay the entire time she spoke her opinions on her other theory and had to sigh and nod, knowing she had a very valid point. She didn't ever know even her Leah ever knowing Spanish, let alone Rinaa so it didn't make sense in the slightest. "good point" shhe replied simply.

She turned to Cliff as she pointed out the snippet of information of what Fia let out about how she knew what the book was. She nodded at the beginning part of her words when clarification was implied, before continuing to listen to her theory that someone wanted Fia to find it. It made her stand there in thought, thinking over the theory and she couldn't find much fault with it. She did find it strange it was so easy to find, yet at the time she just put it down to The House guiding her to it. "it's possible, I mean.. I've heard stranger and crazier theories. I always assumed my Leah hid it under the floorboards instead of putting it in the library, which don't get me wrong, could still be the simple answer. When it came to me finding it, I was looking for anything that could help me get here without alerting the magic alarms so to speak, and something just made me look under a creaky floorboard that looked to have been moved alot. At the time I figured it was The House itself telling me it was there. But you're theory is just as possible. If someone did want me to find it and to come here, then I can only think it's down to Elliott's situation. Even though my initial reason was to save mum from my time" she replied, thinking as she spoke.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With Fia's further explanation of the book, Cliff's theory was looking less and less crazy. The book had to have been put there by somebody for a reason. Rinaa wasn't the type to just forget about a book. The four fell silent, digesting what they'd been told, Deke tugging a hand through his curls which were shifting through various shades of brown. he wasn't consciously controlling them to do that, it was an unconscious tic. Jay was the first to speak, picking the older copy of the notebook off the desk. "It could be a combination of both theories. The way I see it is this. The notebook begins life as Deke's idea book, somewhere along the way, in Rinaa's timeline, she spends a significant amount of time living on Attil and it's safe to assume she would have spent a lot of time with the ships and the mad scientist uncle figure. She's given the book for whatever reason, sentiment most likely, a parting gift of some sort. She uses it for song lyrics and mechanical designs. When she decides to time travel, THIS is the book she uses to figure out how. And being thorough she looks at all options, including magic, though it's future Deke's technology she succeeds with. She travels in time, eventually ending up here. Somebody gets their hands on this book and stashes it in the hole under the floorboard of The House in this time. The book stays there, undisturbed for years, until this Fia comes searching for a way to time travel. The House, being sentient, leads Fia to the book, Fia uses it to comes here, shit happens and here we all are now." She paused to let her theory sink in before adding.

"If I'm right, it means somebody else is pulling the strings, gathering us all together here, which cannot be a coincidence. They Fia would find the book and they knew she'd use it, just like Elliott knew all of us from Earth would follow him across the universe to get him back. I think we're being played and given where we all are, it's Elliott's trial and the divergence of the timelines that is at the centre of it all." Jay flipped the book around in her hands, running her hands across the leather bound cover as if she was trying to read braille. "Which means this book is the key. With three copies of the book between us, there must be something in here we're meant to use."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was aware of Deke's hair changing shades of brown but said nothing, now wasn't the time to change the subject onto any one of them. They had bigger situations to be dealing with and these books were that exact bigger situation at the current moment in time. She looked toward Jay as she spoke once again, listening to her theory intently what Jay was theorising did seem entirely plausible whilst linking both Fia's and Cliff's theories together. Though she knew only a select few people could possibly be able to stash the book under the floor in The House. It was still tied to John and she knew it didn't let just anyone and everyone inside for the very fact of keeping John's family and him safe. She continued to listen as Jay continued, nodding in understanding at her words she spoke, agreeing that it definitely felt they were all being played and the books being the key.

"if that theory is right, which I think it's highly possible to be honest, then that narrows the suspect lost so to speak down greatly. The House doesn't let just anyone in it due to its link to dad and whether he likes him in there or not. Even in my timeline, that list isn't particularly long because of keeping myself and mum safe when we're there. There's a reason he puts mum on house arrest in there when it nears the due date and I'm born" she commented back. "so if we're being played, it's someone relatively close to or in our circle. It has to be" she added, her tone slightly somber. She didn't want to think of any of their group playing them for fools, but it was the only thing she could think of. She also hated even thinking it, but she could only put Rinaa in that category at the very moment. "I've got the third version of this book in my bag back at the apartment, when we're back there we can look at it incase there's any other clues" she then suggested.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay had really hit one something with her theory, it tied all of what they knew together into one single narrative. Deke was nodding in agreement too, he may not now as much of the story as everybody else, but he had been a crucial part of busting Elliott out of prison by taking Elliott's shape. He hadn't asked for anything in return, Cal was his friend, as was Cliff, if Elliott was worth it for them, then he was worth it for Deke, but both women had kept him up to date on everything going on, including the truth about Fia, Kay and Rinaa, as well as the backgrounds of everybody else. So Deke knew all about how The House was linked to John and only let in people he approved.

The idea that it was somebody in their inner circle messing with them like this sat well with nobody, but it was the only thing that made sense. The thought of somebody not connected to their group pulling the strings in such a manner was more terrifying than the idea of it being somebody from their group. "As much as I hate to agree with such an idea, especially with such stakes, I'm not going to be stupid and deny it makes sense. I know you're right. It's the only thing that fits." "I can't see another theory, I think you've hit it on the head there." "Agreed. It's a bitter pill to swallow, we mightn't like it, but that's just how it is." Cal nodded at the idea of them perusing the third copy of the book. "That sounds like a good idea, three copies of the same book? There has to be something, even if pages are ripped out like they are in this one."

Cal took the notebook from jay and flipped through it, taking in the various handwriting and sketches. Her eyebrows then furrowed in thought. "Deke" she asked slowly"why do you have this version of the notebook?" She held up the older copy. Her tone wasn't accusatory, but there was a suspicious edge to it. Cliff truned to look at her friend as well, her wife had a point, why did Deke have this book? "I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering. And nothing nefarious either. Artemis asked me to look at one of the design sketches in it, looking for a second opinion." He took the book from Cal, flipping to open of the pages nearer the back (not the page it had been open on when they came in). "It's for a custom concealed storage space in the bike she built, I did some design checking on the main frame of the bike." He flipped the notebook around to show a sketch of one of the side panels of the bike theorising how somebody could convert it to hide a bladed weapon or short barrelled rifle.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't want to say her theory out loud because quite frankly, it would mean the very possibility was true but unfortunately she was mature enough to know it had to be said. Seeing that everyone agreed with her somber realisation, she nodded at all their words of agreement. "agreed, it's a tough truth to face but one we must face nonetheless" she said before the topic changed to the third book and the older of the two they were facing now. "right. There are ripped pages but there has to be something, so no matter how small, I know we'll find it if it's there" she commented.

She then found herself looking between Cal and Deke as Cal flipped through the book as she asked why he even had it in the first place. Now that she thought about it, it did seem strange for him to have it, especially just laying around in the open like it was. So with that thought in her head, she listened to (with the help of the translation) what Deke's answer was, before glancing at the sketches that he was talking about. It now made sense why it would be there, remembering how many ideas Rinaa had about her bike and what she wanted from it. "makes sense" she remarked. The designs were quite something she thought as she looked at them, finding how they could be incredibly useful in jobs and actually finding that if this was to come fruition, she could be rather jealous of the idea of Rinaa having such a addition to her bike.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal knew logically that Deke wasn't gong to betray them, and hating suspecting her friends. She knew there had to be an innocent explanation and had asked so she wouldn't be spending the rest of the day wondering if they could actually trust Deke or if he was working towards his own nefarious purposes. She, Cliff and Jay peered at the sketch and had to admit the idea was a very good one. It was fine biking with a rifle or sword strapped to your back in an ideal world when there was nothing else that needed carrying, but in real there'd always be some bag or another. "That's actually a pretty clever idea." "Agreed, if it works I'd be totally thinking of kitting out my own bikes with such a thing. Swords are a pain in the ass to transport on a bike when you have a bag full of burglary equipment, a harpoon gun and a force field generator strapped to your back." Seeing the looks she was getting, Jay just shrugged. "Long story."

Deke closed the notebook and put it one side. He'd only had it open because he knew nobody would come into his office without knocking and making their presence known. It was a gesture of courtesy as he could potentially be working with dangerous tools and didn't want to injure anybody accidentally. "Looking through the books side by side is a good idea. I don't have to give this back until some time tomorrow." He kicked up his feet, using them to push off the desk, speeding across the floor towards a wall cabinet, which he opened to reveal an array of cables, one of the only things organised neatly in the office. "And before I forget, you actually came here for some bio port cables and programming theories yeah?" "Exactly, specifically about how to collate geo-tagged images from across various systems into one map, preferably a holo map." Jay replied, casting her eyes over the array of cables, approval visible in her face. "What kind of port do you have, D series?" "D series, hooked, not ridged." Jay replied.

While Jay and Deke talked cables (what length would be best, what bit-rate of data would be best, that sort of thing) Cal made her way around the desk. "Deke, I'm stealing a couple of bottles of water from here that okay." "Sure, that's fine." He replied distractedly. "Fia you want anything?" Cal asked, tossing a bottle of water to her wife, who plucked it out of the air one handed, taking a large gulp gratefully. The notebooks had proved distracting enough that Cliff had forgotten she was incredibly thirsty after such a run.

 

[MzHyde]

In Fia's case, Deke was the only one who she knew the least in the room, yet something just told her he wasn't someone to be suspicious of when it came to the books and making Fia time travel here so they were all together. With Jay's words, they equally didn't come as a shock to her and made her raise an eyebrow at the same time, finding it was one of those moments where she found herself thinking "that's not surprising but still somehow curious". Deke's next actions made her remember that Jay wanted to be here for completely different reasons, and that the book turned out to be just simply a distraction from the main reason they were here.

As Jay and Deke began talking cables and bio ports, Fia found herself zoning out of that conversation slightly until Cal went up to the desk to grab some water. "just water also please. My mouth is incredibly dry after that run" she replied after Cal chucked Cliff a bottle before asking her if she wanted anything. She realised she never did get a chance to drink anything when they first got to this building. Her mind was still slightly on the previous topic, thinking of all the people she knew in her timeline who was allowed inside The House and who could betray them in a way, but still her thoughts came up void each and every time.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal threw over another bottle of water towards Fia, then grabbed her own bottle, shutting the fridge again. "A bit of wisdom from one who knows, always ask Deke about stealing his food and drink while he's busy." Cal smirked at Fia "he never says no." Cliff laughed softly, but not unkindly at the statement. It was true, Deke suffered from both tunnel vision and being hyper focused. When he was in the zone he giving all of his attention to one thing and wasn't bothered in the slightest by people stealing his food. He sometimes got annoyed afterwards when he realised all his stashes were empty, but his anger never lasted long.

Jay and Deke spent the next fifteen minutes or so engrossed in tech talk. Deke was league more knowledgeable than Jay when it came to the topic, but she was happy to listen and take in the kind of advancements that had been made while she was on Earth. She also showed the scars from where her original bio ports had been ripped out Deke being both fascinated and horrified at the the sight. She left not only with the bio-port cables, but some other data and extension cables that may prove useful later on. Vague promises were made to meet up later that day, after Deke had taught his engineering students, but Cal and Cliff both suspected that it would be the next day before Deke graced their apartment with his presence.

The goggles and swipe cards were deposited on the way out. "Go back the way we came and let Fia take some photos or head through the city and end up in a series of random shops buying things we never knew we needed?" Cliff asked as they re-emerged into the sunlight.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia grabbed the water bottle effortlessly just like Cliff had, quickly unscrewing the cap and managing to down half the bottle in one hit before she took a breath and paused. She smirked and chuckled at what Calnsaid about when to ask Deke for his food and drink, finding it was highly believable as she had just witnessed it for herself by the wave Deke waved and nodded dismissively to Cal when she asked for the water. "sound advice, if only that worked with parents as well!" she replied laughing, remembering when she tried asking future Kay if she could have some snacks and one Kay's bottle of soda when Kay was painting with headphones in. Kay was utterly preoccupied and initially had said yes until she looked back, realised what was being asked and went back on her permission with a 'nice try baby girl, you got your own stash in your room, hands off mine'.

She minded her own business, talking with Cal and Cliff during those fifteen minutes where Jay and Deke spoke tech talk between themselves. When it came to leaving, she said bye to Deke, before leaving with the other girls. At the sound of question, Fia shrugged as she really didn't mind which route they took, but she was also aware she hadn't gone anywhere near shops since her time being here. "I don't mind but I haven't been through the city yet personally" she spoke up. She was tempted to tell Cal and Cliff there and then about her revenge plan but she didn't want Jay to know the plan as she found the less people who knew it, the better it would be. Which then made her realise she could have asked Deke if he had one to borrow if she had thought about it. Eventually she decided on keeping it a secret, trusting her plan in the minds of Moya and Rinaa instead.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay shrugged to indicate she didn't mind which way they went back. She'd explored the city a little on her own, but nothing beat having the natives around who could give all kinds of strange titbits and facts that only a somebody who'd lived there a long time would know. "City it is then." Cliff replied with a smile as they exited the lab, turning away from the hospital and making for one of the main city gates. The outer wall of the city was actually made of cement strengthened with various metal-alloy cables and girders, but had been designed to look the surrounding mountain. Embedded within the wall were force field generators that could generate a bubble dome around the whole city (similar to the one that could be currently be seen around the spaceship landing pads). Buildings of strategic importance like the hospital and communications centres had their own force field generators. Cal and Elliott had spoken about the tunnels that ran underneath the military base and town and connecting various buildings and supply depots together before, but this would be the first time that anybody had pointed out any of the access doors to Fia.

As the group passed through the main gates (two giant reinforced metal slabs, that were only closed during military manoeuvre and simulations of enemy attacks and bombing raids) Cal indicated towards a black metallic door, marked with a series of numbers. "See the door there? That's one of the access doors to the sub-level of this city. During a an attack it's the escape route for the soldiers on the wall and the civilians nearby. Though most people here have a military connection in some way or another. There's loads of others at all kinds of strategic locations across the city and military base, including much bigger ones for vehicle access and supply deliveries." "There's practically a second city below the main city here, albeit one without any natural light. It was supposed to be military only, but it really cuts down on congestion for suppliers to use the tunnels for delivery and I know for fact that the cadets use them to sneak around . Me and Cal were those cadets once."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded at the decided course of action they were going to take whilst heading back toward the apartment, walking aide by side with them all as she looked around to see everything that was either pointed out to her or just because something caught her eye. The outer wall was impressive to her at how they could make it look like the outer mountain whilst keeping it functional as a security wall. She glanced across at Cal before looking where she was pointing, nodding when she saw the large numbered door. Looking at it, she listened to the information given to her about it from Cal, finding it interesting and fascinating there was such a highly thought out underground system below them. She smirked when Cliff added her but, chuckling before looking back at them, "that does not surprise me in the slightest!" she told Cliff back, always seeing them as the rebellious types when they were her age.

"that's actually really cool though that it's like a second city under our feet. I can imagine easily just how useful it would be for supplies and such. All we got back in London is an underground train system which before that was giant bomb shelters, except its said thousand died even under there and still haunt the tunnels and yes, I believe it" she told them. She didn't use the underground much, but she had heard many many stories about staff members seeing figures and things they couldn't explain. She wished she could do a case down there one day to see truly for herself what's down there. The rare time she used it, she knew there was something lurking because every now and then she'd get a cold feeling up her back or the smell of rotting eggs drift through the stations then disappear.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal chuckled at the memories of how they'd go sneaking into the tunnels, as cadets they had access to certain areas of the tunnels, but being the kind of people they were and the kind of people they had as friends (the kind who'd not only encourage you but go with you, help you break in and get caught with you) they weaselled their way into restricted areas. There was something both adventurous and dangerous about sneaking through tunnels at night relying on Cal's powers for light and Deke's memory for not getting lost. Cal had always had rebellious streak, even as a young kid she was the one to push the rules until they broke. She also had a fiery temper, which she knew was a result of her pyrokinesis. Cliff was different, calmer, level-headed and wiling to play the long game, but still a rebel in her own way. "Those were the days." She remarked fondly. Jay was also highly interested in the underground tunnels and how they would be laid out. Part of this was her brain going straight into stealthy assassin mode and wondering how easy it would be to sneak in and navigate unknown and whether one could acquire a map of the tunnels. "That's awesome, I'd totally sneak into them given a sliver of a chance." Jay remarked before Fia gave her spiel about the underground on Earth.

Had John been there he would have confirmed that the stories Fia was alluding to were damn true, he'd seen the hordes of ghosts that died in the Blitz, as well as the ghosts of the immigrant navvy workers that had died in the tunnels, their bodies built into the rail network. John wasn't a biggest fan of the underground train network, but there were more reasons than just trains to go to the underground. There was a thriving magical black market there, it was the home turf of the London vampire clan and werewolf clans, both of which were headed by people John had a sort of truce with (they kept out of the way of Johns capers so long as John kept his nose out of clan business) and there was an excellent bar down there. Rinaa visited the underground for different reasons, it had been converted back to bomb shelters in her time, but there was also a long abandoned boarded up station that was used as an open venue for London's teenage and student alien, Downworlder and meta population (along with the occasional human on the conditions that they didn't start anything or behave in an outwardly discriminatory way towards the others there).

"None of us are questioning that, I certainly can't given the stuff Qui's told me." Cal told Fia, as they headed into the city. "I'm not either, there's ghosts on my homeworld, the drowned and the sea-damned we call them. They're rarely seen, but there's stories that tie into our extensive sea mythology and the various nasty things that lurk in the depths. You want to keep them all on side when you go fishing, after all. So healthy respect for ghosts from me, even if I've never seen them." Cliff explained. As they continued walking they would (bar Cliff) begin to hear the sound of boots stamping.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia remembered the time Rinaa told her about the underground club and hangouts, telling her that it was a cool place to hang out and if she ever got round to it, she should go. She never had forgotten to decide that she would check the place out and ask her Leah if she had ever gone and would she take her. She knew John would either confirm or deny what she was saying and she had a feeling it would be to confirm it as she was never allowed to do a case down there, which she never understood why but if she knew about the vampire and werewolf clans who lived down there, she would have put her money on that being one of if not the reason for it. She just hoped that now she had met this time's John, it would change that opinion of future John.

She nodded at Cal and Cliff's reply, not surprised entirely that even out on the open seas there would be spirit activity. She had read in some books about how a lot of siren mythology was based on the dead of sailors, so it didn't seem that much further fetched that even on Cliff's planet, there would be the same things for similar reasons. "same, unless they're malevolent then I'm fully prepared to get rid of-" she started replying when she heard the sound of feet stamping down on the ground behind them, which made her turn round out of natural curiosity.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay had also heard the sound of approaching boots, it was hard not to. The source clearly wasn't one person, even if the stomping was in unison. As the boots got gradually louder Jay turned around to take a look, smirking as her suspicions as to who was making such a racket were confirmed. Cliff raised an eyebrow in surprise when Fia cut off mid-sentence, it wasn't like the teenager to do such a thing or to lose her train of thought. She'd had no visual cues as to what would cause Fia's attention to drift, so she knew it much have been something auditory. Whatever the sound was, it hadn't made Cal fret, so she turned her attention to her wife, giving her a questioning look. Cal signed one word in explanation- cadets.

In all her other trips outside the apartment Fia hadn't seen much of the military side of the town apart from pilots in flying gear (who looked fairly normal aside from the various patches for rank on their jackets), some soldiers at a distance and the occasional royal guard (who'd taken off half their armour after coming off shift). But the sight she as seeing now would firmly remind her that they were staying near an active military base. The source of the noise was a group of cadets out for one a run (or more precisely, it was the army-issue combat boots that looked ideal for stamping somebody's head in with that were the source of the noise).

There were about fifty cadets in total, an equal mix of males and female, about two thirds Cal and Cliff knew were Devra, the other third came from other planets. Most were tanned, all were muscular in some way or another (some lean and wiry, others massive and hulking). Most had opted to cut their hair short, regardless of gender it was more practical, many of the women opting for a bob or pixie cut, but there were a few who were buzz-cut (which for jay brought to mind the haircut Quin had been sporting). The youngest cadet was nineteen, the rest all somewhere in their early to mid twenties.They were all dressed in the same basic uniform (t-shirt, and trousers, both grey) with light, flexible, sleeveless leather armour on top of the uniform. All were carrying bulky packs on their backs as they ran, teeth gritted in determination (or pain, it was hard to tell which). As they passed all running in formation, Jay, Cal and Cliff acted in unison, all had been those cadets once and knew they had to uphold the tradition of the senior officers off duty ragging and insulting military cadets when they passed by running. There was a particular insulting gesture that was used. All three clenched on of their hands into a fist (as if they were going to angrily shake them at the cadets for disturbing the relative peace and quiet of the morning), slapped the un-fisted hand against their elbow, then shoved two fingers skywards yelling something in Attili and glaring. Fia would have seen Elliott or Jay make such a gesture before when extremely pissed off at each other, but neither had ever explained what it meant.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't intend to cut her sentence off before she finished it, but she been trained to always be aware of her surroundings and noises, no matter how casual the time outside was. So when she heard the numerous feet stamping down on the ground, she couldn't help but turn and look, the very action being well ingrained into her mind incase she had to know whether to go into fight or flight action. So when she saw it was the cadets from the military base, she remembered she was indeed on military ground technically, realising now that this was the first proper time she had seen such a thing in person on Attil and on Earth. She found herself smiling at the sight as she watched on with respect and admiration to the cadets, knowing that if her training was ever considered hard, it would be nothing in comparison to what these cadets would go through.

She took in their uniform and general appearance before turning to see Cal, Cliff and Jay all stand to the side, face the cadets and make the very gesture she had seen Elliott and Jay do in her timeline when they both were extremely angry (which luckily wasn't often as when either got that angry, it quite frankly, terrified her). She then saw this was the first time she had seen the gesture in a completely different situation. "I gotta ask, what is that gesture and what does it mean? I've seen it before but never got told the meaning behind it" she asked Cal, hoping that Cal would be much more accommodating in giving her answers than her brother is in her timeline.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Only a few of the cadets looked annoyed or insulted at the gesture the three made in unison. Most had accepted by now that if they wanted to train as a cadet, they had to put up with these kinds of insults from senior military who were off duty. Fia was right in thinking that the military training was incredibly hard and full on, both mentally and physically. But it worked and by the end of it, those cadets that made it through would be fine soldiers and problem solvers. Cal gave a wave at the drill instructor who was running with them (also carrying a massive pack and dressed in the same outfit, but with stripes to indicate their rank), shouting at them to go faster. The drill sergeant waved back, smiled broadly and called over a congratulations for getting married, which both women smiled at. After the cadets rounded the corner all three women looked at each other and smirked, not particularly surprised that Jay knew both the gesture and the words that went with it.

"You too, huh?" Cal remarked, to which Jay nodded. "Oh yeah, I did my time on the receiving end." "We're such shits." Cliff couldn't help but remark with a laugh in her tone. "We're senior ranking officers" was Jay's response "it's our duty to annoy and insult the caddies, even if we aren't the one training them at this exact moment." "Exactly and how else are they ever going to know how infuriating it was for us back in 'our day'." Cal put airquotes are 'our day', taking the piss out of the fact that there days as cadets were not far behind them at all, and as they were both military personnel, they could still (and were still) subjected to similar exercises.

At Fia's question, Cal couldn't help but smirking, guessing it must have been Elliott or Jay that used the gesture in Fia's presence. "It's an extremely insulting one, obviously. But the exact meaning varies depending on the context and the use. In this case it's one of those unwritten traditions that everybody knows about. If you are a senior military person and you see the caddies out on exercises of any kind, you make that gesture as an insult to their skills. Only senior officers can do it, it doesn't count if a cadet does it to another cadet. It implys that they will never make it as a cadet and should just give up and quit now. It's reverse psychology of course, being told you can't do something, just makes 'em all the more determined to succeed. Or at least that's how it was for us." She gestured between herself and Cliff. "And where I trained for the military. Generally it's an insult of a person's skills or intelligence, and far more offensive than flipping somebody the bird on Earth. It's closer to a racial slur in terms of offence level. But it can also mean that you hate somebody and want them to fuck right off a cliff."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia watched on as the cadets reacted to the insult, seeing who got offended and who didn't as they continued training. She had to admire them all for their thick skins and ability to not break out of what they were doing. It wasn't that she wasn't capable of that, future Jay made sure that she remained focused on everything during training, even more so than anyone else who trained her, but there were still times when her thick skin became very fragile, as was clear from when her and Rinaa clashed heads. Yet in Fia's eyes it was different when it was someone from family giving her crap to an enemy. As their drill sergeant waved back to Cal and Cliff and clearly wished them a congratulations judging by Cal and Cliff's reactions, she then just listened on as they spoke to Jay about knowing the insult.

She just waited patiently for the answer to the question that had been bugging her a long time, glad that Cal decided to give her an answer. She nodded in understanding at Cal's words, but she found it still didn't fit entirely with how she had seen it be used, yet when Jay decided to give her meaning, it then made a whole load of sense. She even gave the facial expression that said 'ohhhh' as it was all explained. "makes sense now! Especially as to why I wasn't to know what it meant in my timeline" she replied. She knew enough insults as it was and she guessed it was because when she first saw it she was younger, but even now at her age, she guessed Elliott (more so than Jay) didn't want to add to her colourful vocabulary. She was also pretty sure Kay wouldn't exactly be fond of her knowing such a thing, but it was too late now. She knew it, though she figured she'd have very little reason to ever use it.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay nodded, seeing the understanding in Fia's eyes when she compared it to a racist slur. "Yeah, it's one of those things that you don't use unless you really truly mean it, it causes a hell of a lot of offence, more than any Earth gesture I can think of. Using it by accident when you don't know the full depth behind it or in the wrong context can have all kinds of repercussions. It's nowhere even remotely near child friendly, and caddies aren't allowed under army rules to use the gesture until after they've graduated. And even then, it's rarely used outside of ribbing the next lot of recruits, and for ribbing the recruits the meaning changes and it's less severe of an insult. It's a sort of right of passage to be able to cope with strangers giving such a gesture while training. It's bad enough with the drill sergeant slave driver, but the insults from strangers are salt to the wound." Jay was the only one in the four who'd actually been through the agony of having highly concentrated salt solution poured into wounds, it was one of the reasons why her back never healed properly, the salt had suppressed what little healing abilities she actually had.

"Agreed, it takes a while to get used to. The first time it happens comes as quite a shock, you don't really notice it as a kid, and mostly kids stay away from the military bases. I actually broke out of stride in anger, and had it not been for the more experienced caddie next to me who yelled at me to ignore it and get back in line I'd have been caught and punished by the drill master." Cal recounted her story with a slight smirk. "I on the other hand had no idea anybody had yelled at me, I just saw the gesture, and was totally confused, having never seen it before." Cliff added.

As they walked Cal lead the group through the more interesting alleys and lane ways of the town. There was some street art in the town, but not very much, it was a military town after all and most people were too well trained to indulge in petty vandalism. But on he back of one restaurant they stumbled across the piece of graffiti they now knew symbolised the growing movement to support Elliott. The style had changed slightly, it was still a very minimalist face, but the hair was different, more voluminous and slightly longer. Jay took a picture of it, making a note of it's location on her phone.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to Jay intently as she spoke, explaining why it was so bad and why it should be never used around children and only if you truly meant it, which to her brought on questions about her and Elliott used it toward each other but she wasn't going to say anything to keep what was left of the timeline not being screwed up, in tact. She looked toward Cal when she gave her recount of her first encounter of the insult, making Fia smirk ever so slightly before listening to Cliff and chuckling. "I can get how, you lot don't have to be worried about me ever using it. My vocabulary is colourful enough without that, I don't need to give mum in any timeline a heartattack from something new. I can also guarantee If I used it, Ell would get the blame.. Wrongly so but still would. " she smirked.

She walked with them through the alleys and Lane ways, looking around as she did so before looking at the stand with Elliott movement piece popped up. She took in the whole piece noting it's slight differences as Jay took a photo of it and making a note of its location. "seems these are getting more and more common to see" she remarked to everyone, knowing if she had a jacket on she would have tucked her hands into her pockets. It brought a lot of emotion out in her which she kept contained, just seeing one of these murals in person properly, really brought home just how many people were standing by her half brother, and through that her now half sister and her wife.