Lucy (6)

(the day before 'Court')

Lucy yawned. She slotted her favorite ear buds into place and picked up the remote. A few presses of the buttons and the mayhem behind her was replaced by the soothing voice of a local newscaster.

It didn't, however, prevent her from hearing the screeched "you stole a diamond tiara for her and nuttin' for me?" Lucy winced, guiltily patting her front pocket where most of the tiara resided. It hadn't gotten out of being stolen unscathed, but she still loved it.

She rolled off the couch and skulked to the corner of the room that had the most darkness. There was a familiar fume filling the air, and she watched as one of the newer minions choked, his face turning an interesting shade of puce.

It had both been and hadn't been as her mother expected when Lucy had been rescued. Her father was still the same narcissistic psychopath that he'd always been, but being able to parade Lucy in front of his villain's gallery appealed to his vanity. Plus, she was immune to poisons which was another boost to his ego.

Lucy mostly stayed out of his way. On a good day, he showered her with gifts and attentions and on the bad ones…the less said the better. At least she had accelerated healing thanks to the tinkering that the overlords had done.

She also couldn't mention that phrase in front of her parents. Either one would go ballistic at the mere thought that someone had dared take what was theirs.

Lucy just watched it all and absorbed it. Honestly, they were far more entertaining than the researchers and guards had been.

Lucy reached her room and cautiously opened the door. The last time she'd been careless, her father had rigged it to shoot poisonous darts at whoever opened the door. She hadn't liked picking those darts out of her skin. She kept them, though. You never knew when a good poison dart would come in handy.

She closed the door and leaned against it for a second. Taking a deep breath, she strolled to the princess bed set in one corner. It was a magnificent thing, 'perfect for my little princess' as her dad had boasted when they dragged the thing in. She still remembered her mother's shocked face.

The one thing she'd never thought of when they were planning all their plans for breakout and 'rescue' was that her own mother would compete for her father's attention with her. Lucy didn't even really want his attention. Her father needed a straitjacket and most likely some serious drugs.

Lucy still couldn't figure out why her mother, the genius psychiatrist, was head over heels for him. Still, as Court had once told her, "you can't choose who you love, Luce. If that was the case, would I be head over heels for you?"

She had pooh-poohed the entire idea until lately. After all, he'd told her that a few years ago after the Liberation was over and before he was swept off to whatever place they'd arranged for him. The only good thing Court's parents had ever done for him was erase his paternity from the records.

Now, she was thinking that perhaps she'd like to have a longer discussion with Court. Perhaps meet her old friends Aarti and San. See what Don and Dawnie were up to. Maybe peek in on Ella and make sure her actual parents were treating her right.

They'd checked Ella's parentage before. Kaylen had secured the records for them. Ella had the most normal of all the powered kids. Her mom was a lawyer, for goodness sake! How much more normal could that be?

Lucy lifted the mattress and fished around in the hole cut in the center. She pulled out her old watch and fiddled with it.

A few minutes later, she frowned. Standing up, she strode to the door.

"Poncey! Yo, Poncey!" She stuck her head out the door and yelled.

A few seconds later, a man skittered up. He was tiny, frail and to be thoroughly honest, Lucy had no clue how he'd stuck around so long. He'd been here almost as long as she'd been, which was a wonder considering how fast her father's minions died or were sent to jail.

"Yes, Princess? What can a mere mortal like myself do for the likes of you?" He rubbed his hands together as he asked.

"I need the location of somebody. His name's Court King," Lucy said, trying to rein in any signs of shock. She'd never been able to understand this guy, but he was pretty useful.

"Right away!" And Poncey was gone before she could utter another word.

Lucy shut her mouth and shook her head. Poncey was useful, but for some reason, he gave her shivers down her spine whenever she had to talk to him. She brushed him out of mind. She felt like dyeing her hair; Court would get such a kick out of that.

Two hours later, Lucy was angrily reading the file for what seemed like the eightieth time. How dare anyone treat Court that way? Didn't they know that the only one allowed to be mean to him was her? Just her? She didn't even let Aarti and San be mean to him, and they were strong enough to break her bones with just a thought.

She jiggled her foot as she sat in the back of the car. Outside, shadows flashed by as the car wended its way towards a certain juvenile detention facility.

Lucy leaned back against the smooth leather. She didn't like leather seats, but it was so hard to get blood out of cloth. Usually, you just wound up having to rip them out and replace them. That was far too expensive, even with her generous allowance.

She turned her attention to the scenery outside. Lucy frowned.

"Um, Poncey? This isn't the right way, is it?" Lucy sat up a bit as the divider smoothly slid up between her and the driver's seat. "Poncey?"

"It's okay, Princess. Just breathe deep and when you've returned to the bosom of our overlords, you will be welcomed with open arms," Poncey said over the intercom as a deep red gas started blossoming at her feet.

Lucy paused for a second, flabbergasted. She fought down the panic that was burgeoning in her chest. Instead, she tried to reach for anger. Aarti had once told her that being angry was a good way to clear one's head in a fight. While she didn't really believe that, it did help to get rid of her fear.

"What?" Lucy asked as her hand pried itself into the small seam between seats.

The red gas seemed especially gorgeous in the flash of streetlights as the car sped forward. Lucy fought the urge to bash out a window and crawl out of the car. The car had bulletproof windows because her father, on a whim, had declared, "but what if I get mad at you and pull out my tommy? We can't heal all the holes, can we?"

Her searching fingers found the thin sheet of paper secreted between the seats. She pulled it out, frowning at what was scrawled across it.

"Ha-ha! Next time, ask your mom for an escape word!"

Lucy ground her teeth. She solemnly swore that if she got out of this car, she was so going to steal that woman's favorite pistols and glue them shut.

Lucy took a shaky breath. The gas slowly wended its way upwards, nearly tickling her nose. From the faint scent, she knew she didn't have long before Poncey checked to see if she was passed out. From the faint flavor on the back of her tongue, she knew that this was one of the sophorics that she was immune to.

Most sophorics had a hint of poison to them. Poison didn't affect her at all. It wasn't widely known, and Lucy was sure that other than her father and that arch-nemesis of his, no one else really cared enough to look into the matter. For her father, it was to indulge his curiosity. For the other guy? Lucy wasn't sure and didn't care to know.

She reached into her jacket. It was one of her mom's favorites that she'd smuggled out. Hidden in one of the pockets was a forgotten smoke grenade. Only her mother, Lucy mused as she palmed it.

A few seconds later, the car rolled to a stop. Lucy slumped down, a finger slipping through the ring on the grenade. As the door was pulled open, she slitted her eyes. Poncey was wearing a modified gas mask, a remarkably small one that stirred up old, bad memories.

She pulled the pin on the grenade and lunged forward, shrieking incomprehensibly. As expected, Poncey froze for a faint split-second before taking a few steps back. It wasn't fast enough to stop Lucy's fingers from hooking onto the mask and yanking it free.

She watched emotionlessly as his face started turning first red and then blue. When he started foaming at the mouth, Lucy exited the car. She strode to the driver's seat and slammed the door shut.

Adjusting the mirror, she sighed as she lowered the divider.

Poncey's words bothered her. They bothered her a lot. She never thought of herself as anything really specials so why would they bother with her instead of Aarti or even San? Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel for a second before her eyes narrowed.

She needed some answers, but in order to get them, she needed to talk to Court. Lucy sighed again as she started the car and rolled down all the windows. Unlike her, Court couldn't take poisonous substances.

She just hoped that when she got to that center, they knew enough to take care of her guy.