Chapter 24

Lisa stood in her kitchen, safe from prying eyes, attempting to make a salad. It was not going well. She stared in contemplation at the bowl in front of her, loosely gripping what she was beginning to suspect was an egg beater. A cookbook sat, forgotten, beside the sink. Lisa gently prodded a piece of lettuce, quietly calculating if learning to make real food was worth the humiliation.

The front door slammed open and Lisa jumped in surprise as Jaya strolled in, carefree and loud and oh crap the salad! Jaya glanced towards the kitchen with a greeting on her lips, but her voice stalled and her mouth slowly closed itself. Lisa froze in mortification as the girl eyed Lisa's assembled ingredients with increasing bewilderment.

"You, uh, makin' somethin' to eat?" Jaya asked skeptically.

Lisa glanced down at her bowl filled with lettuce, then towards the two uncut apples, sack of potatoes, can of jalapenos, and full watermelon that she had managed to scrounge up from her fridge and pantry. She subtly stuffed her egg beater into the nearest drawer.

"Nope, just taking stock. I'm going grocery shopping later." Lisa lied effortlessly.

Jaya stared at Lisa. Lisa stared back at Jaya.

"So what's new?" Jaya broke the silence by flopping onto Lisa's couch and kicking a pair of dirty sneakers up onto her coffee table. Lisa glared at her friend/teammate/employer and lobbed an apple at her head. The infuriating girl snatched it out of the air, took a bite, then raised an expectant eyebrow in Lisa's direction.

"I'm going to assume you mean with the city," Lisa grumbled, "And the answer is 'a lot'."

"Well that's why I've put the fantastically intelligent and talented Lisa Wilbourne on the case." Jaya replied snootily, before taking another bite of her apple.

Lisa rolled her eyes but dutifully began her report, "Well we've pretty much mopped up all the really dangerous remnants of the ABB. Obviously there are still guys with guns running around, but there won't be a gang war any time soon from what I can tell. The remaining Empire capes are currently arguing amongst themselves and struggling to consolidate their assets, so they are basically done as a major power in the city for a good while. Crusader has left the city, but Othala and Purity were seen together so something might come of that." 

Lisa absently packed her assorted foodstuffs into the fridge, and joined Jaya in the living room.

"The PRT have successfully recruited Rune into the Wards program, and are transferring her away for training and re-branding." Lisa continued, collapsing into her comfy recliner, "All in all, we have probably a week of stability before things go to shit and a bunch of new gangs move in to fill the power gap. We're already getting feelers. Also, and this may or may not be related, The Travelers are in town, and I'm pretty sure Accord sent them."

Jaya paused her chewing and frowned in thought, "The Travelers... right, they are a thing. And you're worried that they, what, might be here to look into Coil's sudden absence?"

"It fits." Lisa confirmed with a shrug, and started ticking points off her fingers, "Accord was their last boss and they have no reason to come here otherwise. They were negotiating with Coil when we disappeared him, but the deal was still in its infancy, so they certainly aren't a dead man's contingency plan. Accord's power base is firmly entrenched in Boston, and I doubt he's looking to expand. Coil worked with Accord in the past, so he would have some idea just how paranoid that bastard was. You think he isn't curious how Coil up and vanished?" A truly unpleasant thought crossed Lisa's mind.

"Hell, he might've figured out that an obscenely powerful cape was running around in the Bay and wants to initiate contact. The Travelers are utterly expendable to him, but capable enough to escape if things go sideways."

Jaya cocked her head for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, I can see that. He could probably discover me if he had a mind to. Doesn't matter though, since I'll be at the next Endbringer fight. There won't be much need for subtlety after that."

Lisa suppressed the small trickle of fear she still felt every time she was reminded just how dangerous her friend was. Still... "You aren't the first cape to think they could kill and Endbringer." Lisa admonished, "If you get overconfident, if something happens-"

"It'll be fine." Jaya interrupted with a grin, "I'm quite certain I can kill the thing. Honestly, the challenge is not killing everyone else in the process."

The trickle intensified.

"Please don't do that."

"I've got a plan, no worries." The Reckless Girl replied confidently. "Obviously it'll depend on which one shows up, but if I can't kill it without breaking a city in the process, I'll just drive it off."

"Taylor would be devastated if you got yourself killed." Lisa said quietly. And so would I was left unsaid.

Jaya scooted across the sofa, wriggling over the gap between couch and recliner like a caterpillar, and slung her arm across Lisa's shoulder. "I won't die." Jaya stated, and in her voice was such certainty that Lisa could almost feel reality align itself to the girl's will, "Nor will you, nor will Taylor. Death is for other people."

Her words were confident; were warm and reassuring and matter-of-fact and so utterly alien.

Lisa could only nod.

"Good!" Jaya slipped off Lisa, and clapped her hands together, "Now, what else?"

"Uh." Lisa shook off her almost-certainly-valid concerns and resolved to bring it up later, "Right, The Merchants are planning something. Probably something unpleasant. I've got no details unfortunately, but you and Taylor should pay them a visit sometime. Not like there's a point worrying about the balance of power anymore."

Jaya hummed her agreement as she finished her apple.

"Finally..." Lisa hesitated for a moment, before plowing onward, "The PRT knows you have Lung. Or rather, they know that a high powered shaker has Lung. Probably. Armsmaster and Dragon did some tinker things where you pancaked him. I pulled a report of their findings off Director Piggot's email."

"Meh." Jaya said without interest.

"You- meh!? Really?" Lisa exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air, "I thought I'd have to talk you down from, like, walking into the Protectorate and stealing all their computers or something. How are you going to explain what you did with Lung?"

Jaya blinked in genuine confusion, "Why would I explain anything? They can't demand answers from me. Nobody can."

Lisa gaped at her friend, opening and closing her mouth like a particularly inefficient fish.

Jaya snorted in amusement, and stood up, "Alright, I'm bored. Wanna call up Taylor and go to the mall?"

"That's- you- I-" Lisa stuttered, "GAH! Fine!"

Lisa stormed into her room to change, with Jaya's tinkling laughter following her.