8648/Saved: Villa Altagracia

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Saved: Villa Altagracia
Date of Scene: 04 August 2019
Location: Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic
Synopsis: Jessica and Josh visit Villa Altagracia, and fate takes a surprising turn. Surprise: It's a girl.
Cast of Characters: Spider-Woman (Drew), Elixir




Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Staring death in the face changes a person. No matter how strong, how stable, or how powered that person may be. Some people never experience it. Some, once in a lifetime. For Jessica Drew, now, it is twice.

There is no place in the world that she has ever felt more whole than in a small shanty town outside of Villa Altagracia in the Dominican Republic. Here, children often have no school, because they are needed for other family affairs. Here, the people lack clean water to drink, and often food. Here, electricity is usually a luxury to be dreamed of, not a daily necessity to be taken for granted. At a time when a fast food restaurant order gone wrong can result in erupting gunfire in America, these people are only concerned with survival. And yet there is a happiness that can be found on the faces of the children here. There are games and laughter in the dirt streets. There is life, in all of its perseverence.

It's is with all of these thoughts in mind that Jessica sought the help of a healer who might join her there, and help where help is needed. For as little food and water as there is to be found, medicine is often absent, completely. With the help of the Scarlet Witch, magic has been provided to travel to the tiny community, and give what help that Jessica and Josh Foley can administer. So on a hilltop outside of the town, Jessica points out the points of "interest" within the area. And with the purple haze of twilight over the arroyo at their backs, the two prepare to descend into the village.

All of these things made clear, Jessica stands in her basic suit of crimson and gold, unmasked, and partially covered by the garb of the locals: a tunic dress, with skirts to her ankles, and an embroidered peasant blouse. Her hair, unkempt, flutters in the breeze as she points to the central fire. "When we go in, the people will gather there." She hefts a bulging bag over her shoulder to rest it against her back. "Ready, Josh?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh was all too eager to join the Avenger in going to the village. And nervous. The young man had never left the United States, never lived outside of New York City. Brooklyn was a cultural shock to him. He did not know what to expect from going to the place Jessica described. He packed and unpacked a large backpack five times before he felt ready. He raided the Avengers medical supply after talking with his new supervisor. Iodine, malaria pills, medicine for Zika, Dengue Fever, treated mosquito nets and vaccines in a high-tech cooled box he found. These all went in the backpack.

The young mutant turns in a full circle when they arrived on the hillside. He dressed in jeans, hiking boots, a t-shirt and a Yankees cap. He nodded distractedly as Jess pointed places out to him. But everything was strange here. The wind smelled different. The colours. The humidity. The sounds. It was like a different world.

"Yeah," Josh says after a moment. He lets out a breath. "Yeah, I'm good. If I say anything stupid, just like, kick me or something."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica smiles at Josh and leans to nudge against him. "Most of them don't speak a bit of English. But most of them don't need it. So if you say something stupid, I'll never tell." She winks and heads off down the hill into the town. The children in the street had spotted the silhouettes of the two on the hilltop, but Jessica has only ever come alone. They suspiciously looked to the two until they could make out the figure of Jessica. Immediately, the children began to run up the hill to meet them with shouts of "Arana!!" and wild chatter.

The children stare at Josh with wide eyes, uncertainly. "Este es mi amigo Josh," Jessica says to them. They repeat his name, touching his clothes as they gather around. Farther ahead, the adults have come out of their homes to stand by the fire and wave in greeting.

"I'm kind of a big deal here," Jessica asides to Josh playfully.

Elixir has posed:
"I see that!" Josh says with a laugh when Jessica is surrounded by the kids. He shakes his head with a broad smile. He waves to the kids and reaches into a side pocket of his backpack with a wink to Jess.

"Who wants a sticker?" he asks the kids, knowing full well they do not understand him. But they get the idea quickly when Josh comes out with a roll of Spider-Woman stickers he swiped in the Avengers Mansion. Josh laughs as little hands grab for the stickers as he rips them off the roll and hands them out. "That's like, the cutest thing every. Better than puppies," Josh chuckles when the last of the kids have their stickers.

Josh stands up and shoulders his pack again.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Isn't it?" Jessica asks wirh a smile, as they descend into the town. The children, with stickers on their faces and clothes, swarm around them like honeybees until they get down to the fire. There, they go into the street, their "spider powers" renewed, it seems, as they web and blast each other with imaginary attacks.

As the two arrive, Jessica is greeted with hugs by the women of the village, as the men look on, and greet her more sporadically with shy handshakes and hugs. Here, gratitude and friendship trump the effects of her pheromones. Save for the young men who wish to kiss her hands, much to the chagrin of the young women who are beginning to prepare the evening meal.

"Este es mi amigo Josh. El es un sanador. El ha venido a ayudar." Jessica gestures to Josh, and the elder women of the village gasp, and clap their hands together as if in prayer, looking to him, approaching in a manner much the same as they did Jessica. Hugs, and touches, and pats, and chattering.

One woman, who appears to be the eldest, with her long silver hair pinned up neatly, reaches out a thin hand to Josh to take his arm. "We are honoured to have you in our village. Josh."

Jessica grins at Josh. "I told them you were a healer, and here to help."

Elixir has posed:
"Uh, hi," Josh says. He smiles and looks awkward.

Josh focuses on the eldest when she takes his arm. "Thank you," he says simply to the elder, gratefully. He is clearly touched by the welcome from the people here.

"Oh, right. Seems like a great icebreaker," Josh chuckles to Jess. He looks to the Avenger for some hint on what comes next.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"You're doing fine," Jessica replies, patting Josh's shoulder. She looks among the children, seeking a face, and seems to come up empty. "Donde esta Anna?" Jessica asks eldest woman.

"Ah. No..." the woman replies, turning to point a finger in the direction of a small mud hut with a thatch roof.

"No?" Jessica looks to Josh with concern, hastily dropping the bag she carries, and hurrying toward the hut.

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks concerned when Jessica heads off toward the hut. He drops his bag beside Jess' and walks after her. The men watch him walk by and Josh nods to them looking distinctly out of place. The fire throws its dancing light around, glinting off the faces and hair of children, the leaves of a nearby palm tree. It is a wholly otherworldly look, as if somehow the night and fire have brought the spirit world just that much closer.

When he reaches the hut he stops outside the open door with a hand on the wall. "J... Aranna?" he says quietly, mispronouncing the name.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica is already kneeling beside a small bed, where a child sleeps, clutching a mask to her chest. It is an exact copy of the one Spider-Woman wears, save for a burnt gash along one side of the temple. Perhaps it is not a replica, but a handed-down mask from Jessica's past. Damaged beyond repair, but not beyond being loved. The elder comes to the door behind Josh as he calls to Jessica, and she speaks reverently. "It is a fever. She last woke...five days ago."

Jessica turns to the woman, and then to Josh, her hand touching the girl's forehead, which is covered in a sheen of sweat. "She feels...cold, not feverish."

Elixir has posed:
"Five days? That's a long time," Josh says quietly. "Is she..."

The young man stops whatever he was going to say. He kneels down beside Jess.

"Poor kid," he says. Josh reaches across the girl in the bed to gently check the pulse in her wrist, without pulling her hand away from the mask. And he watches closely for signs of her little chest rising and falling. He is still for a few moments while he feels for signs of life in the small body.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica catches her breath to stifle her grief. A sob...a cry. Anything at this point would not be helpful.

Josh, however, can detect the activity of the girl's body. She is alive, but barely. She is dehydrated. Emaciated. Her pulse is weak, and her breath still weaker. "Is she?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh exhales slowly when he finally feels a faint pulse. His shoulders release tension Josh did not realize he was holding.

"No, but da...." Josh catches himself, and carries on quietly. "She's close. Really close."

He lets go of Ana's too thin wrist and waves the elder into the room to join them. When she does, Josh puts a hand on Ana's forehead. The poor thing's lifeforce has run so slow and was fading under the strain of the sickness that brought her down. Ana is bathed in a gold aura that shines dully and briefly lights the walls of the little room. It takes time, and Josh goes slowly. Ana's breathing becomes stronger, clearly visible. Colour returns to her cheeks though they stay drawn too close to the bones underneath. When Josh finishes, the light fades.

Josh smiles gently at Ana. He takes a breath and uses Jess' shoulder to help himself up to his feet, then steps back to give the two women room.

"She'll be fine. Should wake up soon," Josh says quietly to Jess. "Probably want some water and soup for her."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh...Josh...." Jessica rises and throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Behind her, Anna stirs quietly, and looks up to Josh. She blinks in the darkness, and clutches her mask more tightly. "Arana," she says, a slow smile spreading across her face. Then she looks to Josh. "Eres un ángel?"

Jessica breathes a laugh and looks back at Anna, then to Josh, with tears in her eyes. "She thinks you're an angel."

Elixir has posed:
Josh suppresses a big grin and puts his arms around Jess. "Don't worry about it," Josh tells Jess quietly.

"I get that a lot, but... ah," Josh says, thinking. He crouches down by the bed and holds a hand out to Anna.

"No angel, el hombre. Um. Mutant. Mutante. me llama Josh," the American says, sounding every bit his background, including the mispronunciation. He tries, but his high school Spanish is mostly forgotten and long unused.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Mutante?!" Anna smiles in recognition. She closes her eyes for a moment, and her skin becomes luminescent. She begins to radiate a red light, with swirls of gold that streak swiftly across the surface of her skin. She opens her eyes and smiles brightly, as she begins to rise off the bed. The blanket slides off her and falls to the bed, as she rises, and she drifts forward toward Josh and Jessica, who disentangles from Josh's embrace.

Anna places her hands on Josh's cheeks, and looks into his eyes. "Yo tambien soy un mutante," she says quietly. "Rojo y amarillo, como Arana." She turns her gaze on Jessica. But she is tiring out quickly, and begins to sink slowly.

Elixir has posed:
Josh smiles brightly when Anna floats over and touches his cheeks.

"Come here before you wear yourself out," Josh says. He scoops Anna up carefully into both arms.

"What'd she say?" he asks Jess. He carries Anna back to her bed and settles her down. The girl is much too thin, but will be fine now.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica is watching in wonder. Tears that she held at bay spill down unabashedly over her cheeks. "She said she is a mutant too. Red and yellow...like me." Jessica sniffs, trembling and hiccups, then laughs at herself. "I'm just a mess over here..."

Elixir has posed:
Josh chuckles and winks to Anna. "Anna Aranna," he says to the girl.

He stands up again and moves out of the way for the elder. "Where's her mom? dad?" he asks from beside Jess. Josh puts a hand on the Avenger's shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
The silver-haired woman lifts a hand to gesture toward Jessica. "Her mother and father are...no more. Her benefactor is ..." She hesitates on the name for a moment, her English halting briefly. "Jessica. Drew."

Jessica lifts her head and looks back to Josh. "I have been her sponsor for years. At first, through a program. But now I pay for her needs. Her food. Her education. I helped them build a school."

Anna smiles sleepily up at them from her bed. "I. Like. S-school."

Elixir has posed:
Josh nods in understanding to the elderly woman and raises his eyebrow in Jess' direction. He smiles when Jess explains.

"That's really special, Jess," he replies. "I'm just gonna step outside and give you a moment before she falls asleep."
Josh waves to Anna, nods to the elder and steps back outside the hut. The strange air wafts past him with a light breeze. He puts his hands in his pockets and waits. A couple of the men look Josh's way, he nods to them.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
The elderly woman exits with Josh, and she looks on him with some mixture of suspicion and mistrust. "Mutante," she says, quietly, in an indecipherable tone. She watches Josh for a moment, then turns and begins to walk slowly toward the fire.

Jessica exits the hut shortly thereafter to join Josh. She watches after the old woman, and looks up to Josh. "Old ways die hard," she says quietly, patting him on the back of the shoulder. "They left her in there to die, didn't they?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh watches the old woman walk away with his head tilted to the side.

"I don't wanna assume, but... Probably," Josh says quietly. "They weren't even doing the basics. And the old woman wasn't thrilled to see Anna recover."

Josh crosses his arms and kicks at a stone. "I know a lot about Ana now. The strength of her lifeforce, the feel of her mutation, the way her cells fit together. The little cowlick she gets," Josh says and gestures to the back of his head. "I dunno, I wouldn't feel right leaving her here, Jess."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica nods resignedly, with a sigh. "I thought the best place for her would be here. In her village. But I didn't know..." She gestures vaguely around her. "I didn't know that she was a mutant. And I didn't know that they..." She trails off, swallowing hard. "I can help...but raising a child...I'm an Avenger. There's a giant target on my home." She shakes her head. "Do you think...Charles would accept her?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh makes a bit of a face. "You did what you thought was best," he replies quietly. "You couldn't know they'd do that to a kid."

"I... Jess, can I tell you something? I've never told anyone though, I don't want it getting out," Josh says. He looks toward the fire with a conflicted expression on his face.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Hey. Josh, of course. You know you can always talk to me." Jessica watches him with a concerned expression. "What is it?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh turns away from the fire to look at Jess. He chews on his bottom lip.

"Jess. I thought a lot about how the Reavers got me. It started when I was like, five, in Sunday school. Everything just built toward it. You couldn't say, like, there, that's when they had me twisted. And by 18? I was training to a soldier in the holy fight against mutants. I'd be a cyborg by now if I was still there," Josh says. He runs a hand through his hair. He looks back at the hut with a worried expression, to the ground and finally to Jess.

"The Professor will take her. She'll be safe, get a good education. She'll learn all about The Dream. And when she's 15? 16? He'll put her on a vigilante team that fights Sentinels and crazy mutants if he can. If she's strong. And she will be. And when she gets older? She'll join the X-Men of course."

"They're making child soldiers, Jess. I don't... I don't /care/ if it's for a good reason. I don't," Josh shakes his head and swallows. He looks pained. "They saved my life, but, it's sick. It's what the fucking Reavers do. And the Reavers think they're doing it for a good cause, too. I just... Is that what you want for her? I get it, you're an Avenger, the Mansion's not a place for kids, but she could have a /life/. Choose what she wants when she's old enough to know. Don't send her there. If you can't do it, I'll adopt her, but don't send her there."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica looks perplexed. "What about kids like her? Not all mutants have combat abilities. What's she gonna do with levitation and a glowing skin?" The other questions are still spinning in her mind. She'll wrap her mind around them before asking.

Elixir has posed:
"Whatever she wants!" Josh says, more heatedly than he meant. He closes his eyes for a moment and exhales. It takes a minute before he finds the words he is searching for. "We live in this mental world where we look at each other and everyone by how much help they are in a fight, because that's what we do... But it's not normal. I don't even think it's, like, healthy, you know?"

"She doesn't have to fight just because she flies. And some guy who's only power is he looks like walking chinchilla can become a soldier if he wants, like any human. We get so caught up... What if she wants to be a.... a painter? Or marine biologist? Or vet? Or just wants to have a family?" Josh asks. "But they will make her one of them if they can, and it'll start the day they get her, and she'll never get a real choice. That school might be great if you've got nowhere else to go; Most of the kids are abandoned, or too dangerous to stay with their families."

"I don't know how to explain it. It's just /wrong/, what they're doing is /wrong/," Josh says to Jess vehemently. "Like, describe what they do their and tell me it wouldn't be shut down in any sane world. You know? Shit. I'm sorry, I just can't let her go there, not someone I've /felt/ like that. I just can't, Jess."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Josh." Jessica places a hand on his shoulder. "You misunderstand my question. I was asking...How can they...How SHOULD they...How could they? Weaponize children with powers like that. Not every mutant was gifted with combative powers. What do they do with the ones like Anna? How...." She trails off, her face flushing with rage. "I never thought about Xavier's that way. But you're right. She doesn't belong in that kind of environment."

Jessica looks back into the hut where Anna is sleeping. "She idolizes me, Josh. I won't place her with anyone else. I'll do whatever I have to. Can Wanda bring her back with us? I can start the proper channels of seeking asylum for her."

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks miserable and relieved and close to tears. He wipes at one eye with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, not a problem. She can do it," he says and clears his throat. He fixes Jess with his blue eyes.

"Thank you. And I mean it, if you change your mind, I'll take her. I'll be clearing close to a million, I can get a place, a nanny, do stories at night. Whatever she needs. Just. You know?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica's chin quivers, and she blinks rapidly. "Don't...You'll make me cry..." She laughs and gathers Josh into a hug. "We can do this, Josh. One way or another. It can be done. It will be done. She's my girl. But you're her Angel." Jess rubs Josh's back and pats it gently. "It's gonna be okay. I'm not turning her over to Xavier."