10370/Gen13: After they burn the club down

Gen13: After they burn the club down
Date of Scene:	09 December 2019
Location:	Caitlin Fairchild's condo in Queens
Synopsis:	Following the fire in the club, Caitlin, Bobby, and Roxy retreat to Caitlin's condo to calculate their next move.
Cast of Characters:	Fairchild, Freefall, Burnout

---

Fairchild has posed:
Stinking of smoke and conflagration, Caitlin staggers Roxy and Bobby out of the destroyed nightclub. They're left briefly on the sidewalk while Caitlin walks back into the flames to look for any survivors still trapped inside.

She returns, flames licking at her dress. "I think I got everyone," she tells Bobby and Roxy. "Let's get out of here before anyone starts asking us uncomfortable questions." Grey fabric slithers up her throat and arms, and then Caitlin rips her dress off and tosses it in a gutter. The sleek grey bodysuit is virtually featureless except for a subtle pattern of small hexagons clinging to her skin. All that's been recovered is her purse-- her hair is not even damaged.

Caitlin walks everyone two blocks over, sticking to the alleyways and moving with an aggressive 'don't mess with us' forward stride. No one does, and she hails a rideshare for the trio.

A fifty dollar tip buys the driver's discretion and they head towards Queens.

Another fifty is given when they dismount the vehicle, and Caitlin ushers both of the other Gen-Actives towards her apartment, on the eighth floor. It's not the penthouse, but it does have a modest balcony landing and is appointed with sleekly modern furnishings. It all looks quite recently remodelled.

Caitlin pours water for Bobby and Roxy and digs a first aid kit out from under her sink. It has the sort of kit normally reserved for military trauma specialists, not just a boo-boo kit. "Anyone got any cuts or bruises?" she inquires.

Freefall has posed:
God. Bobby'd gone from emo to cute-emo to hot-emo and wouldn't stop! Roxanne's ushered out of the fire and the mess, herded into a rideshare, and very much babied through the aftermath of the fiery deathtrap they'd all created. Through this process, her attention is caught wholly on Bobby, being dragged out alongside her. She's unconcerned about the fraying of her skirt, the burns on her jacket - that particular panic will come LATER.

Who *are* you, Bobby? What happened to the dorky kid Roxanne _remembers_? She's caught between emotions, and that battle's writ plain on her pretty little face.

---

"No burns here! I got some glass cuts on my calves, but that's just the price of bein' a badass _HERO_," chirps Roxy. She's tossing her jacket off and throwing it into a corner, immediately wheeling into the kitchen to peer into the fridge somewhere within or around Caitlin while she does the same. Cait grabs the water - Roxanne's going for a packet of Capri-Sun. By the time Cait's finished getting the first aid kit out, Roxanne's floating in the air over her dining room table, sipping on her juice drink and eyeing Bobby.

"So, like, do you *always* burn people alive nowadays? Or was that just somethin' special to try an' impress us?"

Burnout has posed:
Bobby's quiet, really quiet in fact. It could be shock. He's just trying to put everything into place. He doesn't even know what happened after he tossed Mike outside. It's just snippets. The flames, the fire blanket, the large red head, the purple haired groupie, a ride share. Anything else is smoke and flashes.

Still wrapped in the blanket Bobby hears a voice. He doesnt really come to his senses till the water is handed to him. The act causes him to look up. It's them, what do they want? His blue eyes have returned, as he looks around confused. "Nah, I'm good." he says softly as he takes the water and drinks. He's about to ask something when the girl floating around says something. "No!" he says as he stands up. "I.. don.. are you flying?"

Fairchild has posed:
"Pants. Pants!" Caitlin says, covering her eyes when Bobby stands up. The emergency blanket isn't exactly proper attire. She walks into her bathroom and retrieves a pink terrycloth robe, and walks it over to Bobby still holding her hand over her eyes. She turns her back resolutely and tugs the floating Roxy over to the countertop. She can't make Roxy sit, but she can at least tend to the cuts and glass particles on Roxy's legs. And she does so with a mothering sort of attention, using a pair of surgical tweezers and some tape to lift the shards away.

Hopefully Roxy hasn't been putting off her leg-shaving.

at least she's using peroxide and not iodine.

"Roxy, give him a minute to get his bearings. He's ... had a big night," Caitlin says. She's not the most intuitive of people, but she's certainly empathetic enough. It's not hard to see that Bobby's clearly not accustomed to the sort of dire scenario that unfolded less than thirty minutes ago.

Freefall has posed:
If Bobby's going to make a demonstration, it's nothing Roxanne hasn't seen before. Either way, a waggle of the eyebrows makes it clear that she's in agreement with Cait. Put some undies on, Bobbo. Rox is dragged down towards Caitlin, then, and can't help the way her face contorts every now and then while her erstwhile roommate *plucks* the *hell* out of her legs.

Her smooth-as-hell legs. Implying she doesn't shave. The nerve!

"Oh my God," begins Roxy, who is NOT taking it easy on Lane. This isn't exactly hard to put together, Bobby Brainiac! Floating girl, superstrong redhead, what other people your age with superpowers could you POSSIBLY KNOW. Roxanne sips HARD on her Capri-Sun at a particularly choice glass-plucking, and again at the bubbling of the peroxide.

"Gyee-! Owie! Cait!!" She swats at Caitlin, ineffectively.

"We ALL hadda big night, Cait! I almost got my CLOTHES burnt off, and we watched people DIE and it was REALLY LAME!" She sips on that Capri-Sun HARDER. Like it DID something to her. So far as Bobby's questions go...

"Yeah. Turned out I get to fly. Remember how I slowed us all down back when we escaped? When we were fallin'?"

Burnout has posed:
Bobby is more intrigued by the floating girl then the blanket as it falls off. He is welcomed back to earth again after the robe it tossed over him as if he were James Brown. Huh? Oh s**t. Okay this is getting weird. As he puts the water down he lowers a hand hand to his side and starts to play invisible stings. Stress and confusion are a hell of a thing.

Wait.. did she just say Roxy? Did she say Cait? He knows a.. "Wait. Youre not 'Lil box of Rox' are you?" he calls her by the name the other kids called her. As he stares at her he remembers the girl from the facility that used to share her Cheetos's with him and and his gaze turns to Cait. He cant help but to blurt the names he called her. "Mouse? Sprout?" his eyes go really wide. "What the hell!?"

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin frowns and slapfights Roxy's attempt to ward her off. "I'll sit on you if I have to," she warns Roxy sternly. That threat seems to quash the more spirited resistance, and she finishes dressing Roxy's legs. At least she uses a topical painkiller instead of just letting the peroxide burble.

The brawny redhead looks over at Bobby and grimaces apologetically. "Yeah. It's us," she tells him. Her tone softens. "I mean, I guess it's us. I know, I know." Cailtin gestures at herself. "I hit a, uh, growth spurt in college."

She bandages Roxy's legs up and offers to help her off the counter. "I don't remember much about the old days anymore," she lies. "Roxy has it pretty firmly in her memory though. But it's ... yeah, the crew," she concedes. "At least who we've found so far. We're on the lookout for everyone. You were just the eaiest to find."

Freefall has posed:
--- UNDISCLOSED LOCATION ---

Somebody looks up from the 'choice magazine' they're reading. For no reason at all they blurt out, rudely, "You're givin' ME a growth spurt~". Bewildered, he goes back to reading a magazine sideways.

--- CAIT'S APARTMENT ---

Roxanne's back in the air after her legs get bandaged up. Arms behind her head, she flutters near the ceiling, recumbent. This is good, because hearing Bobby use *all* of the *nicknames* has her vision a little cloudy, has a tight lil' grip on her voicebox. It's a good thing Cait's there to weird it up with her amnesia story. Gawd, she missed the group from the experiment more than she coulda thought. In fact...

Bobby finishes going over his memories and will find himself *rudely* interrupted by a hundred pounds of punky slacker slamming into him, all arms and moist cheeks and pending sniffles.

"I thought I was the only one who remembered anything! I thought you coulda DIED! I haven't talked to you in FOREVERRR! You were... *SNFFF*... like... a FRIEND!"

Burnout has posed:
"We were friends, Sprout." he says to her as she hugs. "Our 'batch' were the oddballs after all." he says as he places a hand on her head and tries to pull away. "I mean you were the first one to come talk to me. Albeit to get some ranch dressing for some carrot sticks." he says with a soft chuckle, struggling to break her grip, before looking to Cait.

"Wait? Easiest? No no no." he says lifting a hand into a single finger. "I beg to differ there my good nurtured uh.. Hottizon." he says as he tries continues to pry away from Roxy. God she's got a grip. "I've been doing pretty good for myself. A year after we got out of there I've been on my own since." he says slightly proudly as he starts to struggle again. "Ive kept under the radar, like that haggard faced guy told us to do."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin's lips purse slightly at the 'Hottizon' commment. At the same time, her cheekbones pink a bit. Roxy's sudden fit of glomming isn't lost on her but clearly Caitlin isn't sure of how to express to Roxy that Bobby might need some space around himself.

She taps a bracelet on her wrist and lifts it to her mouth. "Living room TV, on. Stream to Living Room TV." The wall-mounted television flickers to life. Caitlin uses a holographic control panel projected from her wristband to manipulate the image on screen. She's clearly a little compulsive about organization; her desktop is nothing but clearly labelled folders and sub-folders.

The image brought up on screen is of five of the Gen-Actives. Caitlin and Roxy, a dark-haired woman with a First Nations appearance, a grungy young man, and then Bobby. "We took this off an operative who tried to kidnap Roxy," Caitlin explains. "They had dossieres. Names for us. We found out they were on your trail and decided to step in before they could abduct you."

Freefall has posed:
This isn't THE ARMY, GUYS. Roxy can be as friendly as she wants to, and doesn't leggo of Bobby for a *second*. By the time Caitlin's rolling her eyes and Bobby's pushing his hand into her forehead, Roxy gets the picture and pushes away, hovering over towards the living room.

"-Hottizon-? That's such a *DWEEBY* dig, Bobby. She's got a *NAME* and it isn't Victoria's Secret! Ugh." If only Bobby had some kind of backup, here! Tough to be a friendly pervert when you're outnumbered. She tilts her head and listens to Caitlin explain the situation, watches the television display the dossier they'd both found... and frowns.

"Three mega-babes and our loyal squires! You sure they're not chasing us for our _TOTAL HOTNESS_? Besides, they were trying to kidnap *you*, not *me*." Roxy tosses her Capri-Sun to the garbage. She misses.

"They know how dangerous -I- am."

Burnout has posed:
Bobby's gaze bounces around. From Cait to her sci-fi screen and all the intel on him. Huh? They figured out it was him because.. Dammit Storm! "Okay so they tracked me. I mean it says nothing here about all my aliases and they werent onto me till a few.. ummm years. Well shit." Okay give up the mental combat with the smartest girl he's ever known. Then he hears it. With a sigh his blue eyes shift from the screen to Roxy. "Look I'm not a pervert, okay?" he says upon 'hearing' her remark.

Fairchild has posed:
"Everyone's super stressed and tired," Caitlin says. Her tone is gentle but her voice carries a little note of firm assertion at the same time. "I know I am. Let's all make some allowances, for tonight if nothing else."

She opens a pair of panel doors in her kitchen and reveals a monolithic interior fridge, the sort usually used in commercial kitchens. It's practically a walk-in. Caitlin starts pulling pre-packaged food from the racks. Every container is carefully labelled with contents and date. "Maybe we should all just eat something. I don't have much. Some tuna casserole, leftover pie... uh... I made benihana rice two days ago, that's still good..." Containers stack up on the kitchen island. "I can order a pizza if nothing looks good," she offers upon turning back to Roxy and Bobby. "Sorry I don't have more, I'm still getting used to keeping food around for Roxy."

Freefall has posed:
Only a pervert would call somebody a Hottizon, pervert! Roxy's eyebrows spike up into her hairline when she hears Bobby call her out on calling HIM a pervert. Except she didn't. She thought it! Maybe his ears are messed up. In any case, Roxy's well aware of when she's in trouble, and when somebody just -thinks- she's in trouble.

"Puh-leeease. Like I'd call you a perv! You're gonna wanna wipe the *SOOT* out of your ears, Marky Mark." The reference is a lob, but hopefully Caitlin's gentle redirection is enough to get everybody out of the argument. Roxanne observes Cait's television from where she floats, and thinks.

"Do you guys think Sarah's okay? And Eddie? Where could they be? Are they, like... OMG do you think they're being hunted all Kimble and Gerard?? Like Bobby was?? Right NOW?" Her concern is short-lived as Caitlin trailing through a list of food items finally bleeds through to her. She looks over her shoulder, considers, frowns, considers.

"...I'm STARVING. I'll have a slice of whatever pizza Bobby orders. Thanks for buyin', Cait~"

Burnout has posed:
As the food stacks up Bobby's eyes go wide. Wow this is a spread. Having survived on milk less cereal for the last month. This all looks good and he must partake. As he goes in search for utensils he says the most sacrilegious thing any pizza lover, in NYC, could hear. "Right. Three large pies with barbecue instead of marinara, chicken, green peppers, onions, olives and broccoli." by the time he finishes the order hes already grabbed and pulled the majority of the food that was laid out, in front of him and has begun to dig in. He's been double spooning the food into his gullet till he pauses, a piece of pie on a spoon, looking to the girls.

Fairchild has posed:
Fortunately, Caitlin's ostensibly from Iowa. Strong opinions about pizza are something you develop if you grow up in New Jersey. For her, food is food. "Okay. Pizza it is," she agrees. "But eat up anyway, there's no sense in waiting." She slides utensils and flatware towards Bobby. Just for good measure, she sets out a two-litre of soda and a tall pitcher of water. There's notably no beer in the fridge and the only alcohol is a pair of dusty wine bottles occupying a near-empty rack in the corner of her kitchen.

"But I'm calling Domino's. If I call Panucci's, he'll never send pizza here again," Caitlin advises them. She lifts her bracelet to her mouth. "Dial Dominos," she says. Apparently she has an earbud installed, though it can't be seen with casual inspection. "Roxy, eat," she whispers at the punky girl. A fingertip taps twice at a spot at the island.

"Hi, I'd like to place an order? Three large pies..." She goes through Bobby's request. "Uh, and add two forty-piece chicken wings, and two more large Hawaiian pies. Thanks."

Freefall has posed:
"Yeah, yeah," whines Roxy in response to Caitlin's table-tapping. Sit with the family and eat, Roxy. Sure, Caitlin. Roxanne twists in mid-air and frowns at Bobby from her spot near the ceiling. His gusto for the presented food strikes her as a thing foreign - good GOD. People have appetites like that? She'd figured it was just Caitlin all this time. While Bobby dishes himself out food, Roxy's face contorts at the sight of it all. Bleck.

"But we got, like, what... forty minutes until the pizza gets here or somethin'? That's enough time to take a shower! I gotta wash alla this SMOKE out of my hair - keep my _perfect punk look_ alive." Roxy floats down, touches her toes to the carpet below, and fairly skips past Bobby while he preps his food. She slaps him, lightly, in the back of the head.

"It's nice seeing you Bobster. Cait, I'll be out in thirty minutes I PROMISE." She blows a kiss to the redhead, and pulls herself down the hall towards her bedroom. Well. The place she's been sleeping. Cait just has *so much* room!

Burnout has posed:
Bobby continues to eat even after Roxy hits his head. He doesnt stop, he's a man on a mission. Right now it's to clear out all of Caitlins food stores. Sure he could use the starving artist excuse. But there is a more scientific, as he pauses from eating he sees Roxy disappear. "I burn it all." he says to the red head, as he glances to her out of the corner of his eye. "The more intense the flame, like what I did tonight, the more I have to eat." he adds.

As he puts down the spoons he sits up and takes a deep breath. He does another glance for Roxy . "Look I appreciate what youve done for me tonight, it was noble and heroic, but I dont want them coming after the two of you." His remark is off set by the already emptied out the pie pan, casserole dish and half the rice missing. As he forces a smile as he steps away from the food. "I mean after what I did tonight, I know I kicked a hornets nest."

Fairchild has posed:
"'There's no free lunch'," Caitlin quips at Bobby sympathetically. "Means that you can't just bypass thermodynamics. I guess some people can, but it seems like the gen-Actives aren't exempt, if you and I are any indication."

She frowns thoughtfully. "Weird, Roxy doesn't seem like she needs to eat a lot," Caitlin reflects. She looks back to Bobby. "It's the same for me. This is leftovers just from this week. I've got to eat around twenty-thousand calories a day to maintain muscle mass while I work out. And that's even with a super-efficient metabolism."
% She does some math in her head. "But what you do-- golly. I could write a doctoral thesis on it," she tells Bobby. The redhead looks at him and falters. "...I'm sorry. That was really insensitive of me," she says, looking thoroughly abashed. "I get like that when I'm trying to *not* think of something. I'm a nerd," she explains. "Science is my happy place when I'm stressed."

Burnout has posed:
Bobby smiles and nods to her comment about the stress relief. "I totally get it, musics my go to." He tells her and it's just then when it hits him. "Oh no! Nonononono." he says with worry in his voice as he starts to look around. "My guitar. Did you grab it? Did I forget..." his search quickly ends as he remembers. His eyes close as he thinks. "I put it in the van right before I was jumped." as his eyes open back up he looks to Caitlin. "I have to go back to the club." he tells her bluntly. "It's really the only thing that's mine."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin winces at Bobby's plaintive distress. But when he demands to return, she's shaking her head before he can finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry, Bobby, but that would be a really bad idea," she says. The tone of her voice is as resolute as his is blunt. "Best case, arson investigation's on the scene." She pours him a soda and slides it over. "They'll probably take everything into evidence, including the van. If we go back, we're making a target of ourselves. We're safe here; well, relatively safe," she allows. "I doubt they left the security cameras running if they were planning on going after you. If they did, the evidence will get wiped fast. They don't want to be seen any more than they want all of us outed."

She hesitates. "Listen, I... I know some people in the NYPD. I'll call a friend and see if she can pull your guitar from the van before it's impounded."

Burnout has posed:
Taking a moment Bobby takes a breath and knows she's right. For all he knows there is another team waiting for him. That may sound paranoid, but with these people who are willing to be his friends for little over a year. He wouldnt put it past them. "I appreciate that, Caitlin. I really do. That guitar and I have been through alot." he says softly.

He says nothing else for a few minutes before. "I do have to ask one thing though. Do you have anything else besides this robe?" he says as he pulls it closed a bit tighter. Sure by now she's seen ALL of him, but its not something he wants to embarrass her with. "I mean you've got any ex-boyfriend clothes just laying around?"

Fairchild has posed:
The redhead leans over and offers Bobby a sympathetic squeeze of her hand. Well, she offers her hand to be squeezed, anyway. Her skin isn't terribly rough but there is zero yield to the muscles, even relaxed there. A beat later she turns back to the kitchen to start cleaning up, leaving Bobby with his thoughts.

The comment about clothing, though, nets a fumble of flatware into the sink. Caitlin chases after the clattering noise, and manages to knock over several dishes at once as she flails at the dishware.

"Huh? No! I mean, uh, I don't-- I mean, I didn't--" she stammers. With her head bowed over the sink it's hard to get a read on her except for the vigorous scrubbing she's doing to the dishes. "I, uh, I might have an old jumpsuit laying around," she says, trying to gather her aplomb. "You'll be swimming in it but it'll work. You know what? I'm just gonna go get it," she says with a sudden nervous chattiness, and wipes her hands quickly. She glances at Bobby and points at the short hallway. "It's in my room, and I'm going to go get it, and then you'll have something to wear, so... I will go get it and be right back."

Failing to hide her flaming red ears, Caitlin heads directly for the backroom and disappears for a half-minute before coming back with an old set of military coveralls in her hands.

Burnout has posed:
Bobby can only watch as Caitlin scurries away to her bedroom in embarrassment. "Geeze, for being a stickler for cleanliness, that girl is a total mess." he says quietly to himself with a chuckle. Oh well, with a shake of his head Bobby feels bad, moves to the sink and starts to do the dishes she abandoned to get his something to wear. As the sink fills, because some guys perfer to do dishes by hand, Bobby he looks to the robe thinks. Nope this wont work. With a tug at the terry cloth belt, he removes his arms and lets the top to hang loose at his waist. With dish in hand he stands stationary in a fluffy pink umm... kilt, as he takes up the chore to finish the dishes he made.

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin clears her throat and walks up to Bobby, pointedly looking the other way. His casual undress is definitely flustering the redhead a bit. She seems unaccustomed to sharing a personal space with strangers, let alone one who walks around without a pronounced amount of modesty.

"Here, it probably won't fit, but we can pin the sleeves and cuffs."

It's left folded neatly and passed to the musician. "Don't mind the dishes, I'll take care of them. Cleaning stuff helps me relax," she assures him. "Roxy's still in the guest shower, so you can use the bathroom in the master suite to get cleaned up. I'll take care of all this," she promises him. "And I'll let you know when the pizza gets here."

Burnout has posed:
The clearing of a throat startles the fire starter causing him to drop the utensils into the sink. "Geeze!" he says chuckling. It doesnt take a therapist to see he's trying to mask something. As he turns to her Bobby smiles. "You sure? I mean.." he stops himself. "Okay." he isnt going to fight, he collects the jumpsuit and put it under his arm. "Thanks again, Mouse." he bows his head as he walks down the hall, stops, looks and finds his way into the master bath.

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin flashes a smile. It's real enough-- but like Bobby, it's obviously concealing something.

Likely the fact that he's appending a nickname to someone who's never heard it before.

"We've all got to look out for each other," Caitlin tells Bobby. "And we have to be careful. I'll make sure the sofa's made up out here for you before bed, you can crash here until..." She twitches. "I guess until we figure out a longer-term solution," she says, lamely. It's clear that Caitlin doesn't relish the idea of giving up her personal space, but a commitment towards a sense of responsibility towards the other metahumans is overriding that selfish motive.