Killing Olympia

Sam didn't take the news too great. An hour passed before she was consolable, and even then, I didn't really know what to do with her. I wasn't the greatest person to cry against, and sitting beside her on the curb outside the motel until the sky was purple and the sun was almost down made me feel shittier than usual. Guess she believed in me a lot more than I thought she did. But what was even harder for her to understand was the superhero part of her dad's murderer, because I'd forgotten that normal people didn't know that most of those guys weren't great people at all.

But that didn't matter, because Sam didn't have anyone else left, and the poor girl barely had anything of his that she could call her own. No rings, no necklaces—her father was a ghost that slipped through state lines with nothing except his daughter and his suitcases and the evidence of something rotting inside the White House. What do I do now, you're wondering? Great question, because I'd like any advice I could take. I was frustrated, Sam was devastated, and that left us both sitting silently on the pavement, listening to distant gunshots as the sun vanished.

San dragged her arm across her eyes, then looked at me, face red, eyes puffy. She swallowed, then smiled just enough to squeeze a few more tears down her cheeks. "Thanks," she said, her voice a harsh whisper from all that crying. "You helped me out a lot. Um. I don't know how to give you anything back, so…give me a few days, maybe a week, and I'll find some cash lying around to hand over. I hope that's alright. I just… I need some time, please?"

"C'mon," I said, gently bumping her with my shoulder. "I never said anything about wanting cash."

"My dad always said it's good to thank people, because kindness goes around," she muttered. She smiled, however slanted it was. "And you went through all that just for a weak little 'thanks.' It's just not all that fair either."

I waved my hand through the air. "I don't wear this thing for applause." Even though a part of me would kinda love that. "Besides, I wasn't able to get your dad back, so I don't really think I deserve that much of a thanks. I'll try my best to figure out what he knew and make sure people don't forget. People will remember him, I promise that on my soul. But you're gonna have to help me out with doing that, alright? You knew your old man the best."

"I wish," she whispered, drawing her knees closer to her chest. "I always got the feeling he knew a lot more than he ever told me, but I guess it was for my own protection, right? Wouldn't want me getting murdered too."

"Dads, huh?" I muttered, leaning on my palms and looking at the sky. "I'm really sorry, Sam."

"Yeah," she said quietly. Silence lingered for several seconds. "Thanks for trying."

"I've got a question," I said, after several silent minutes. She stopped picking the scabs on her knees and looked at me, her eyes still red and her face pale. "How do you feel about making sure this never happens again?"

"Like…become a superhero, or something?"

"Maybe not a superhero," I said, looking at her. "But the kind of person your dad would've wanted you to be. The kind who'd make sure that whenever bad things happened, people knew about them because it was the right thing to do, no matter who it involved." I waved my hand out in front of me, because right across the streets, the street lights were destroyed and most of the light came from burning dumpsters and the flashlights of people trying to loot things from empty stores. "Lower Olympus isn't getting any help from anyone, not any time soon. And when it does? It'll be from people who want to push the people who actually live here out of their homes."

Sam sniffled, then said, "What do you want me to do about it? I've got no superpowers."

"Like you said: kindness goes around." I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I'm not the kindest person, and maybe not the nicest, but I need people like you. People who are gonna keep their heads straight and their goals on more than just themselves. I know what this feels like right now, trust me. My dad was…something. But at the end of the day, he was my dad, and it hurt when he wasn't there anymore. And unfortunately, the next day came, and so did the next, and at some point, I had to realize that I needed to create something of my own. What you can do here with me, Sam, is something your dad would be proud of. It all starts here, right now, all with you."

Sam stared at me for a moment, then smiled tiredly. "Thanks, but…I'm just pretty tired right now. And that sounds like a lot of work, and I'm doing my best to not cry right now, so I can't really think about saving a city."

"No, you're right," I said gently, standing up. I offered her a hand, and let several tiny sparks leap from my fingers and into hers before I clasped her wrist and hauled her to her feet. She shuddered a little as color bled back into her cheeks. "How about I take you somewhere you won't have to pay for per night? Entirely free, and I'll be able to check back on you as easy as pie. Heck, I can give you a couple days to give me an answer. You can rest up for a few, figure things out, and if you need to call me, then you already know my number. How does that sound?"

Sam smiled, arms wrapped tightly around herself. "It sounds great. Thanks. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," I said. "I'll help you pack your things, and I hope you're not afraid of heights, 'cause I'm fresh out of cab money, and the bus doesn't work around here anymore, so we're gonna take air Olympia, 'kay?"

She laughed a little. "As long as I get to fly first class."

"Of course," I said. "Pay a little extra and I'll steal you a hotdog from a seagull for some in-flight snacks."

She laughed again, and this time, the quietness lingered a little longer than before. Sam cleared her throat and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. I nodded and waved her along, watching her head up the stairs and into the rooms above. I sighed from my nose and checked the phone Kincaid gave me, because it had all my old texts and numbers, as well as several others marked as unknown. It meant I could still call Bianca, surveillance be damned.

It rang for several moments, my gut turning the longer it took, until she finally picked up.

"Hey, B," I said, starting to pace a little in the light of the vending machine. "I didn't forget about meeting up tonight. I've just had a really, really long day, but I promise I'm gonna be there on time for the movie at least."

"Rylee, it's fine," she said. There was noise in the background, like she was with a bunch more people. At this time? No, yeah, that made sense. Harper and her other roommates, obviously. "I saw the news." Her voice got that little bit quieter, and so did the ones in the background. "Is everything okay? What happened with Sentry?"

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"Long story," I said. "Really long story."

"We're doing this thing called communicating this year," she said. "Remember?"

I massaged my eyes. "Right, right, sorry. It's this whole thing about a whistleblower getting, uh, are you alone right now?" I heard scuffling, then the sound of a door being shut. "Alright, so this guy, right, got kidnapped by the government, and then Dominion apparently killed him. So I had to go and find out what was going on. This girl who called me this morning was worried out of her mind, and that meant I had to go over to find some answers."

"Wow," Bianca breathed. "That's…a lot for just one day."

"You'd be surprised," I said. "This feels like one of my shorter misadventures."

She laughed a little. I smiled and stopped pacing. Not in the dog house. Score one for Team Rylee. "Just as long as you're alright, then I'm alright," she said. "And listen, we can always reschedule the movie. Besides, the orientation is happening right now, so I can always just give you a private tour whenever you like instead, too."

"Yeah," I said quietly, as Sam pushed her suitcases out of the room above me. "That sounds nice. I'd like that a lot. You're a lot better than I am at not getting side tracked. If I tried to find my way around that place, I'd most likely find a way to get into a fight with a Kaiju or whatever." Bianca laughed. Sam's thin smile dipped a little as the sound echoed. I mouthed one second, and continued. "But I've got to go. I'll see you later. Promise, alright?"

"Alright," Bianca said, and just like that, my head was a lot clearer. "I, uh, y'know, can't wait to hang out."

I smiled. "Me, too. Tell Harper that Olympia says hi."

I cut the call, then turned to Sam. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

The moment I knocked on her apartment door, I got this feeling that Ava wasn't too happy with me for whatever reason. If the smell of spoiled milk soaked into the carpet and the flickering, generator-powered hallway lights bothered Sam, she didn't show it. Ava looked at me, then Sam, sighed and unlocked the deadbolts along the door. But that didn't mean we could enter. She shut the door behind her and jerked her head down the hallway, looking at me like we had some kind of problem, which I guess we always did. She started walking without another word, and that meant I had to give Sam an apologetic look as I jogged after Ava and found her standing beside the old stairs.

"Who is that?" she asked quietly, her t-shirt sweaty and bloody at the cuffs. Someone's had a busy day, too. I couldn't tell what her knuckles had been up to with her healing ability, but that didn't get the old blood off her glasses, either. "And why does she have bags with her? And what happened today with Ares and Dominion, Rylee?"

"Do you really care that much why the Olympiad hates me?" I asked. "That's not breaking news."

"It kinda is," she said. "It's been all over the news cycle for the entire day. According to America, you went off and assaulted another Cape, and now they're doing think pieces about where exactly your alliances even lie."

"Oh, man, that's an even longer story," I said. Her eyes narrowed. "Before you tell me to leave you alone, I've got a gift for you, but only if you do me a favor." She sighed, but stopped when I handed her the dossier that the Director gave me. She raised an eyebrow and flipped it open, and Ava was smart enough to know who exactly all those tiny mugshots belonged to, what those names meant, all those locations and dates and dollar sign bounties at the bottom of their pages meant. I took it away from her before she could finish reading, then jerked my thumb over my shoulder at Sam. "Gotta take her in, though, and make sure she gets fed, rested, and taken care of as best as someone like you can do that. She's had a rough couple of days," I muttered, dropping my voice and checking over my shoulder. She fiddled with that ring on her thumb, looking around, filled with nerves. "She needs some time."

"To what?" Ava asked. "I'm not a charity. She either gives me something in return—"

"Do you have a single kind bone inside your body?"

"You've torn me apart limb from limb before," she said, taking the file away from me again. "You tell me."

I took the document back, then put a hand out to stop her. "We both know if I don't want you to have this, you're not gonna get it from me. This is gonna kick start what we want from Lower Olympus, right? More money, more people looking for work, whatever it is, more resources, less guns in the hands of the people who don't need to have them, and most importantly, it gives us targets that'll lessen the strain going on around those streets, Av. But I didn't get my face stomped out by Ares just to hand this over for free. You keep that girl safe, and you get a handful of names everyday. No ifs, ands, or buts right now. I owed you for giving me Lucas, and now I'm giving you this."

"Someone taught you to negotiate," she muttered, then folded her arms. "I don't like it."

"So?" I said. "Either you keep grinding it out everyday, or you take the easier route."

Ava sighed again, massaged her eyes behind her glasses, then glanced at Sam. "What powers?"

"None," I said. "She's not going to be a tool you can use."

"Hm," she hummed. "A more than useless roommate. Excellent."

"Ava," I said flatly. She turned her head to look at me, slightly unimpressed. "Think about this."

"I have," she said. "And I need those names. Who gave them to you?"

"A talking tree, now are you gonna let her in or not?"

"Fuck me," she said, leaning closer. "You're so annoyingly aggravating sometimes. I'll take her in, but she's going to have to pull her weight eventually. I don't do charity. I'll find her something to do once she stops trying not to start crying in the middle of the hallway. I want ten names a day, nothing less, each with full info."

"Deal," I said, sticking out my hand. Then I squeezed her fingers, making her jaw tense. "But if I find out you're putting her in danger for one of your genius ideas, then we're gonna run into a lot more trouble soon, too."

"Wouldn't want it any other way." She pulled her hand away, broken fingers and all. She flexed her hand, and they slowly cracked back into place. She cursed me out, then slowly shook her head. Before walking away, she paused, then dug a piece of paper out of her trouser pocket and flicked it toward me. "Lucia is real," she said. "I've got three addresses she frequents. She knows somebody is after her. I suggest you get after her tonight or tomorrow latest. I've had to do things even I'm not proud of doing to find her, Rylee, so this better be worth it. I've fucked myself and my name over just to scribble down a few numbers and letters on a sticky note for you, so when you're done with her, make sure you bring the bitch back to this building. There's a boiler room and bolt cutters waiting."

I frowned a little. "Bolt cutters?"

"I don't scar easily," Ava said, walking away. "But I don't forget easily either." She paused, then looked over her shoulder at me. "And by the way, if you come across people looking for me, kill them. I'll pay you, too."

"I don't do contract killings, Ava."

She grumbled under her breath, dug through her pockets again, and threw me a roll of hundred dollar bills kept tightly together with a shoelace. "A thousand bucks," she said, walking again. "Take Bianca somewhere nice." Ava stopped in front of Sam, looked her up and down, then opened the apartment door. "Taylor," Ava called. "We've got a new roommate, you're sleeping on the floor until we figure something else out." Ava gestured for Sam to walk in, then shot me a look from across the hallway. Ten names, nothing less, she mouthed, then walked inside.

Sam, though, came back out, jogged up toward me, and gave me a hug tighter than I expected.

"Thank you," she said, stepping away. "I know people say a lot of bad things about you, but you're a lot better in person." She laughed a little, which, heck, made me smile a little, too. "You're my favorite superhero."

And if I said those words stuck with me even when I was miles away from that building, would I still be guilty of feeling so warm inside? If you're wondering what I personally thought, then sorry to say, I just don't know.

I've never had anyone tell me I was their favorite anything, so…yeah.

Maybe that did put a smile on my face.

And no, I didn't tear up.

That was just the rain I was talking about earlier.