Time Is A Flat Circle (Part Three)

The growing pains of the new semester included managing to coordinate with your friends. All of the Paladins had the same time set for lunch, except for Hisako, with her advanced class schedule. We basically didn't see her during school unless we were in a part of it we weren't supposed to be in at that particular part of the day. Definitely not that day at least.

The same went for other groups, like the Hellions. Unlike us, they were split down the middle, with half having different eating times. Julian, Cessily, and Santo were saddled with our lunchtime, and so they gravitated toward us.

This confused Eddie, who had been out of the loop as to why things had changed so much from the end of the last semester, "Why are the Hellions sitting with us?"

As far as he knew, we were on truce terms with each other because of the party we'd all gone 50-50 on. But that did not necessarily make for the kind of closeness that came with sitting together at lunch. This was a big deal.

Cessily was the Hellion that chose to answer him, "Because Julian thinks sitting at a half-empty table is sad."

"Shut up, Cess," Julian grumbled with no heat to it.

This did little to solve Eddie's current conundrum over Paladin-Hellion relations, "Okay, but why us? Are we friends now? Did I miss something?"

"Well, we did have that life-changing field trip over the summer that you weren't there for," I reminded him, taking a fork to some mashed potatoes, "I got shot, and me and Laura snuck across the border into Tijuana."

Santo laughed victoriously, looking back on the really intense day he was involved in, "Yeah, we kicked supervillain ass! You should have been there, Wing. It was the kind of shit they make movies or miniseries about."

Eddie clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Man, I miss everything cool. I need some hero cred. Sol, Armor, and Laura all have it. Where's mine?"

At that moment, I noticed Laura not too far away in line, eyes curiously scanning the options for lunch, "Speak of the devil..." I muttered before speaking up, "Hey, Laura! Grab some food and get over here! You need to tell Eddie why you and me should be in jail for grand theft auto!"

It was very intriguing to watch a human being spook like a deer. Seriously, Laura saw me, her eyes went wide, and she proceeded to leave as quickly as she could without breaking into a jog. I'd had the feeling she'd been avoiding me since classes had started, because out of all of my team, I had not seen her. And team practices hadn't started yet to force her to be around us. Her dipping out on us in the cafeteria just sealed it, and it pissed me off, as many things seemed to.

An unwelcome, weaselly voice in my head made itself known again. A shame. I had been fine without it, "Oho! Clone chick's got the right idea. Get away from your toxic ass as fast as possible."

"Where's she going?" Eddie asked, "We still need to come up with her codename!"

I didn't know, but I was going to go find out. At least, I was. Cessily got ahold of me before I could get up and stomp off after her, inadvertently hitting the table and forcing Eddie to spill some of his soda on his book, "Hey, no-no-no, Bel," She said, making sure I stayed seated while she went off to find Laura, "I think I know what this is all about. You stay here. I'll go and get her!"

With that, the metal girl did just that, taking off in the direction Laura went. That left me sitting at the lunch table, impotent. Irritatingly impotent. Everyone could see I was put out. Julian was barely biting his tongue to keep from taking a shot at me.

"Goddamn it," I said, not even trying to let the whole thing slide, "Is it just me? Am I really that bad at this whole connecting as a team leader thing?"

Julian nodded in agreement with my self-deprecating statement, "You do suck. But I wouldn't blame any of that on you, Marcher," He said, "The clone-, err, Kinney is just one weird chick. Nothing you can do about it."

I rolled my eyes. Even though his whole 'big man on campus' thing had been toned down a lot, he was still that guy, "We're all weird. It's not like I need her to change. I don't even want her to, really. Maybe I should pick Cess' brain?"

Santo threw a handful of fries in his mouth from a bucket full of them, "Cess doesn't have any better idea than you do," He said between bites, "She's just giving Laura advice. You know, how to act in certain situations and stuff. I say she'd be better at that than anyone on your team."

Cessily taking an interest in being Laura's friend was good. The more of those she had outside of my crew, the better. But to imply that anyone was better than me at anything stabbed at my pride.

I looked around at my immediate company. Hisako wasn't there. Eddie was busy trying to dry the pages of the textbook we'd just gotten days ago. I had nothing, "I would love to dispute you, but considering the immaculate and unique roster the Paladins has on-hand, I can't argue," I turned and nudged the telepath next to me, "No offense, Ruthie. I love you to death."

Wasn't that the God's honest truth? I didn't have siblings. Ruth was my school sister, if ever I were to have one. She knew this and preened from her seat.

"Dude, you're trying too hard," Eddie said, shaking the moisture out of his wet book. He'd probably bitch about that to Cessily later, "Hear me out. Girls are kind of like cats. If they come and talk to you, it's great. But if you try to talk to them, it doesn't always go so well."

"This coming from the guy that doesn't have a cat, or a girlfriend," Julian chimed in.

Eddie glared across the table at Julian, but did nothing to disprove his statement, "Granted, Hellion here has a point, as my advice is based off of mostly secondhand knowledge. But come on! Have I ever led you wrong before?"

I went to grab some examples to use against him when I realized that there weren't any, "...Actually, no. Now that you mention it, you usually give me pretty solid advice on things like this. Better than Saberwolf, anyway."

Julian let out a snort of laughter, "You ask your pet robot for advice?"

I took offense for my absent A.I., "Hey, he's really smart! Just... not with people stuff," Also, he wasn't my pet.

Eddie swatted aimlessly in Julian's direction to get him to shut up, but he kept his eyes and attention on me. He was serious, "Sol, as your wingman, I'm saying to let the chips fall as they may with Laura. If she wants to go to you, she will. If she goes to Mercury and leaves us out of it, nobody should complain. You don't have to try and fix everything. As long as we're a well-oiled machine when competitions start, we're good."

Okay, my earlier thoughts were accurate. Sometimes, Eddie did say smart stuff sprinkled into his usual crap, "You're right. I know you're right," I sighed, "I just don't get her, dude. I thought I'd figured out how she ticks by now."

We spent a good chunk of the summer together. We'd had at least one talk that could have been considered a heart-to-heart, and it still felt like trying to dig through bedrock.

Ruth took that as her cue to poke me in the head with her index finger, and it wasn't just a friendly gesture. In the span of five seconds, countless thoughts were shoved into my head. Thoughts that weren't mine. Thoughts that weren't even Ruth's.

They were Laura's, and they were awful.

It was... disturbingly intimate. I knew what it felt like every time she popped her claws. I knew what different people's blood smelled like to her. I knew what she felt now about some of the kills she had made. I knew the sensation she felt when the trigger scent overwhelmed her. She remembered all of the sights, sounds, and smells of more than a few of the episodes... and terrible sorrow over one. A woman that looked a lot like her.

It was too much. I knew more than I wanted to. I nearly collapsed trying to jerk away, holding myself up with my hands on the table.

"Whoa. Blindfold, did you just make Marcher cry?"

Santo's voice prompted me to reach up and touch my eyes, "Hah... what the..." I felt tears. Everything that had just been unloaded into my mind felt like a punch to the gut that I couldn't catch my breath from. Ruth reached out and rubbed my back while I fought the urge to throw up. Probably not a good thing to do in the cafeteria, "W-Why did you show me that?"

Ruth didn't seem pleased with how it seemed to affect me, "Because, to walk a mile in her shoes, yes? Yes, she saw everything herself when she first met Laura," She said with a frown, "...Sorry. Was she wrong to do that?"

"You probably shouldn't have," I said, heaving a deep sigh as I tried to get my head on straight again, "That felt like her whole life summed up into one brain dump. Couldn't that much have killed me?"

Ruth seemed hurt that I would think she'd be reckless with my noodle, "…No. She would not let anything bad happen to Bellamy's mind. And pardon, you are wrong. Those are just the things Laura still dreams about."

I just saw the things that stick with her to such a degree that she thinks about them constantly. That was to say nothing for the everyday little horrors that I only got a taste of, or the things I didn't see at all.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to talk much after dealing with that shit either. I wished Quire didn't. Being in my head without permission at the time Ruth mindtapped me meant he got everything I got. Served him right, "What is that thing doing in a school!? In any school!? You have a fucking monster on your team, Marcher!"

Ruth turned my way. Quire wasn't subtle in the slightest. She heard him. I grabbed her hand and ran my thumb across the back of it to let her know it was alright, 'She is what they made her. The people who did that to her are monsters,' I thought back heatedly.

"Dude, can you stop crying already?" Julian asked, looking at me uncomfortably, "It's getting kind of awkward sitting with you. Your eyes are leaking like you just heard Pixie broke up with you."

I was in the process of regaining my composure, in a manly way, mind you, "Give me a minute, would you? I just got a brainful of the greatest hits of raising a child assassin. You're just lucky I don't make noise when I cry."

Damn it, I was already seeing a shrink. I didn't need more loose shit rattling around upstairs. It was already a mess up there.