Anomalies: Control

There wasn’t as much speaking as he suspected was going on in the other little groups. Garet barely spoke period, and Rune wasn’t the talk-to-fill-silence type, and it didn’t bother him as much as he would have guessed. He preferred their deliberate silence to Lights’ constant babble or Banshee’s insistence on filling any void.

Instead of pointless conversation or barely concealed hints of flirtation, Cole maintained contemplative silence with carefully scanning eyes. The streets were only slightly more quiet than usual; citizens didn’t want to be out and about while the supposed fire was being handled. Too many officials and too many Officers were roaming the streets, edgy and anxious for reasons citizens would attribute to the chaos within the Pravitas building, and no one wanted to be within range to be pinned for breaking one rule or another. It was safer to just steer clear of the streets and keep to oneself, which made it both easier and more difficult to get to the little nondescript house about ten blocks away, nearer to the outer suburbs of the Sector.

It was on the small side, but neat and tidy, an identical row house to the houses on either side of it, blending seamlessly into the street of identically designed, perfectly uniform homes. He wondered how they were all going to fit in the little house, and he chuckled as they entered and both Rune and Garet seemed to pause in shock and discomfort.

It was like being back in the foster home: people were everywhere. Sitting on the couch and the chairs, in the kitchen, a few were even resting on the stairs that led to the second floor, which was undoubtedly as full as every other space they could see.

“I have a headache,” Rune snapped as the door swung shut behind them, and Cole smiled reassuringly, stepping closer and laying a hand on the small of her back.

“I’m sure there’s a room someone will empty for you.” He laughed again, feeling the weight that had been threatening to crush him these past months finally lifted now that he had Rune safe and under his touch. “But first we should find Tech, if he’s here already.”

“I’ll be upstairs.” With those simple words, Garet slipped silently up the stairs, probably hoping to find somewhere private, or at least quiet. Rune watched him go with an envious glare, and Cole tugged her with him back toward the kitchen, assuming Tech would be at the figurative heart of the house. He was right, and Tech was back too, and holding court in the kitchen, surrounded by a couple of the older residents - plus Lights - as they all clustered around the island counter. There was a map - the same map Rune had showed him what seemed like ages ago - and they were mumbling softly to one another. Tech wasn’t the only one that was back. It seemed Cole, Rune, and Garet were the last to arrive, and Banshee in particular looked up with a grin and ran at him, throwing her arms around him in relief, babbling about wondering if they’d gotten caught. He smiled and lifted her off the ground as he hugged her, setting her back on her feet and letting her go so he could go to Tech’s side. “Nah, not caught. Just cautious.”

He felt Rune at his side like a shadow, and his hand drifted to brush hers without really thinking about it, though his eyes were focused on the map on the counter. “Where are we?” he asked, his bright eyes flicking up to Tech before falling back to the map and scanning the familiar lines of streets and buildings.

“There’s no way we can leave here in more than groups of… three, tops. We’ve got maybe two hours before the Officers start going door to door and demanding to check the houses and honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do then. There’s a basement; it’s hidden, the door is on the back wall of the closet under the stairs, but it can’t hold more than maybe eight of us. And most of us would have to be down there. They know me, Kane, Banshee, you, Rue, Garet, Talia and Amanda-”

He looked up as Tech rattled off names and quickly glanced around until his eyes fell on Talia, who was half hidden in the corner alongside Amanda. He shot her a smile and a nod, and mouthed ‘later?’ to her. He wanted to tell her thank you, and let her know he owed her, for both him and Rune, since Rune would never actually thank the girl herself. She nodded with a shy edged smile and he turned his attention back to the problem at hand. He’d done this; he’d initiated this mess, he needed to figure out a way to fix it. “How many people are in the system as living here?” he asked, thinking back to the foster home. The government - hell if he knew which department - kept records of how many people were in each household, in order to keep track of the citizens and hopefully prevent things like… well, this from happening; a houseful of fugitive Anomalies hiding in a house that couldn’t be properly traced to any one of them.

“Six - Mother, father, four kids of varying teenage ages.”

“Ok, so six of us can stay up here, eight of us beneath. How many does that leave?”

“At least, what? Six?” Tech looked back to the map with unseeing eyes, doing a mental head count. “Eight, I think, if I’ve got the couple nomads counted properly.”

Cole nodded, tracing a path with his finger back to the tunnels Rune had told him about. “Ok… You, me, Mags, Rune, Garet, Kane, Bansh, and Talia will go to the basement. Amanda can shift, they won’t know her. Shock and Amanda can be the parents. Lights, Duplicate, Lisa and Suki can stay here. Hawk can go skyside. The Fates can just vanish and escape somewhere else while the Officers are here. Jake and Track can take Gaia and the nomads to the tunnels to hide out in the meanwhile. There are enough empty utility tunnels that you should be able to stay out of sight until we can get word to you that it’s safe. Tech?” He looked back to the Mechanical for approval, and was met with an impressed smile and a nod.

“I’ll go collect the nomads and the others and let them know. You figure out the details with everyone else,” he said, going to leave the kitchen with a pointed look at Rune, who mumbled Garet’s name and followed Tech out of the room. Cole watched her go, not wanting her out of sight. But she wasn’t some kid he was looking out for; if anything, it was the other way around usually, and he had stuff to do. He looked up at the people surrounding him, struck for a minute by the seriousness they were gazing back at him with. Even Kane and Tracker were stoic, prepared to follow his plan however he gave it. Banshee was smiling proudly, and Lights was bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation; Hawk and Shock were at each other’s sides next to Duplicate and Jake, but all four were focused on Cole, as were the two government girls from the corner. He hadn’t realized these people had become his people, but they had, and he felt a rush of pride that he was the one they trusted to keep them safe, that they were watching him with the same expectation they all watched Tech.

“Hawk.” The girl stood a little straighter. “We’re gonna need you in the sky. Follow Track and the others where they go, then watch the house, watch for when the Officers come and when they leave. Once they’ve left the microdistrict entirely, go tell the others it’s safe to come back. But you’ve gotta make sure the Officers are far enough away there’s no chance they’ll double back.” She nodded, and he turned his eyes to Tracker. “Track. Can you get the others to the tunnels without much trouble?” She nodded as well and he returned the gesture. “Ok… that leaves those of us in the basement…just stay quiet, and those of us in the house - Lights, you have got to keep it together, alright? No over excitement, just a regular, nervous kid who’s rightfully scared of the Officers. That’s what we need from you-”

“Charge?”

He turned his attention to the doorway of the kitchen, where Gaia was lingering. “Yeah, Gai?”

“I want to stay in the house. Suki and Lisa agreed to separate and Suki will go with the others, if that’s ok.”

He narrowed his eyes in confusion, but didn’t deny her. “Alright. That’s fine as long as Suki’s ok with it,” he shrugged, going back to the plan in his head as Gaia came in a little further into the kitchen and started muttering to Lights, who smirked and elbowed her in the side, making her ruffle his hair, and he smiled, realizing why she didn’t want to separate from those in the house. Lisa wasn’t going to be happy, letting her girlfriend go off without her, but Suki was a smart girl, and her language skills would probably be useful out on the streets. “Alright, so that’ll leave Shock, Amanda, Gaia, Lights, Lisa and Duplicate. Six up top. Eight in the basement. Hawk in the sky, everyone else in the tunnels. We good?” he asked, looking back at the faces around him, pleased to see nods and determination etched across everyone’s faces. “Good.”

The others dissipated, but he stayed in the kitchen, waiting for it to empty out and for Tech to return. He felt Banshee lingering, but it was another blonde that appeared at his side. Talia didn’t say anything; she seemed to sense he was waiting for Tech, and Banshee only lingered a few moments before tiring of fighting for his attention and going out to the living area. Talia lingered in silence at his side until Tech came back in and Cole told him what had been decided. He nodded and went to group up Tracker and the others, make sure they remained in small enough groups not to draw attention and stayed close enough to not lose each other. It was better they and Hawk leave now; they gave themselves a couple hours, but better safe than sorry.

Finally alone save a few people drifting in and out of the kitchen, he turned to Talia, smiling and hugging her quickly, stepping back to give her some space. “Thank you, for everything you did for us. I- I’ll never be able to repay you completely, but I’m in your debt.”

She glanced down at the ground, but when she looked up she wasn’t fidgeting or hesitant, she was just smiling wryly. “Well, I probably killed my career, but at least I saved the hero,” she teased.

He laughed, leaning against the counter. “I’m no hero. I’m just the dumbass that put a dozen people in the crosshairs of a government agency… put them on the bottom of the shit list of society. So…” He shrugged, his laugh fading as a cold pit settled in his stomach. There was too much truth in the words he hadn’t voiced once in these past months. The Skye residents, most of them, they were full on fugitives now. Their pictures would be on the news. Kane couldn’t go meet his normal friends, Banshee couldn’t go out to get something to eat, Garet probably wouldn’t ever be able to be near a window again. All because he went on some crazed mission to retrieve one person. “Not sure what kind of hero you’ve been reading about, but I’m pretty sure I don’t count.”

She reached out and took his hand. “I was just kidding. It’s not as bad as all that.”

“Do you play poker, Tal?”

Her eyebrows furrowed over sage-colored eyes. “No?”

“Good. Don’t start, you’ve got a terrible poker face,” he said, chuckling as her jaw dropped in indignation and she squeaked.

“I do not!”

A new voice redirected their attention, quiet and sullen. “You do though,” Amanda said with a strained, partially feigned smile at Cole, turning her attention almost immediately back to Talia. “Sorry for interrupting, I just- I’m tired of being looked at cross-eyed. Mind if I join you guys?”

Cole pushed off the counter, returning the fake smile with a genuine one. “’Course. I’m gonna go check on Rue, actually; will you two be ok down here?”

Talia nodded with a smile, and Amanda nodded as well, going to sit at the table as Talia turned to join her, and Cole trotted out of the kitchen to head back to the stairs. He barely reached the bottom of them, though, before he was intercepted by Kane. “Charge, man, can I borrow you for a minute?”

Cole nodded, immediately following Kane to the garage, one of the only empty spaces in the house. He should tell Rune and Garet about here; they’d like it. But he filed that away and tried to focus on Kane, who was looking apprehensive.

“Look, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but are we sure we can trust those two government girls? I mean, the blonde it’s whatever, she’ll be down with us. But the shifter… what’s to stop her from giving the Officers some kind of signal that we’re who they’re looking for? I don’t like her up topside with Shock, you know the guy can be a loose cannon.”

He was starting to feel like a bobblehead, he’d been nodding so much in the past thirty minutes. “No, I get you, I do. I’ve been thinking about it too, and I think we can trust her to not be stupid. Would I trust her to fight with us if it came to it? No. Do I think she’s going to give us away knowing that we outnumber her and the Officers three to one? No. She knows that Talia trusts me, she knows that Rue wants to take her out for personal reasons, and she knows that I and Tech are the only things stopping Rue from actively going through with her threats. She’s not going to risk losing my or Tech’s trust, and she’s close enough it seems to Talia that she’s going to follow her lead unless we put the two of them in active danger.”

Kane didn’t look much happier, but he seemed to accept that. “Alright. If you guys are sure.”

The two boys turned to go back to the house, and Cole sighed. “Honestly, we’re not sure about anything. We’re trying to get by on logic and luck at this point.”

Kane stopped before opening the door, and laid a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth, those of us that went with you, we’d do it again. Every fuckin’ time.” The Exceptional didn’t wait for him to respond, just opened the door and went back inside, and Cole felt a smile on his lips as he followed and went upstairs at last.