· CALL ME OUT (SUMMER) ·

[hobbitholmes]

CALL ME OUT :: SUMMER

WE'RE LIVING UNDER MIDNIGHT
LIGHTS SHIMMER OFF THE WALLS
❚ TAG A MUSE'S TOP LEVEL or PICK ONE
❚ START A THREAD! TEXT, PROSE, IMAGE, ECT
❚ SEPARATE SECTION FOR VOICE TESTING
❚ ___special section for less-often played muses

Comments

[glockslap]

Gotham was practically Hell's Kitchen; it should be no wonder that it's the sort of place Frank ends up in, easy to hide and easy to blend into the less savory that wander the streets, ballcap pulled down to shade another black eye earned when someone had tried to steal his wallet and it turned into another bar fight— he had the swagger of someone you shouldn't mess with, olive drab duffle slung over his shoulder with all his worldly possessions as he moves between seedy hotels and whatever hipster bullshit an AirBnB was, when the price was right.

But he's always going to be a big damn hero. It's the soldier in him. The heart of gold (or at least a tarnished silver that needs some buffing), and it just had to be the one time he hopped the pond to all-too-wholesome-Americana Metropolis in time for mass destruction.

He doesn't know how to leave well enough alone. Duffel abandoned and hat long-since lost, Frank's been getting people free of the rubble and carrying them two and three at a time, ranger-rolled onto his shoulders and scooping up another person under each arm, the occasional kid on his hip, sweat catching concrete dust and dirt until it's caked on him and his shoulders seem eternally-slumped.

It's easy to get lost in the creak and grind of collapsed buildings and not realize when danger's looming overhead. His fingers are bloody from digging at cinderblocks as he speaks to what sounds like a teenage girl caught beneath it all, Brooklyn gravel meets proprieties and endearments all while the particular section of exploded skyscraper he works beside cants in the winds.

"You just breathe slow and easy, sweetheart, keep fightin'. I've got you. Almost there. Hey, tell me about that movie— that one on all the billboards, with that guy and the crazy eyebrows."

She has no idea what he's talking about; it didn't matter. Anything to keep her lucid, keep her talking, focusing on him as she fishes for whatever had been popular of late that he might be talking about. Thankfully she can't see the slab of concrete on bending rebar falling on him. That wouldn't be a fun sight from your would-be rescuer.

[outlierdirector]

The Hiss had been controlled at the FBC for a few months now. Things were starting to go back to operating like normal. That meant exploring new AWEs, Altered Items, and possible Objects of Power. Jesse was learning how the FBC functioned properly and was in the middle of attempting new reforms when the news about Smallville, Kansas came to their attention.

Aliens.

Then again, aliens really weren't that different from everything else they had dealt with.

She was a more hands on director. She'd lead the teams on the big ones. Enroute to Smallville the fighting went to Metropolis, so did her team. It was something out of a monster movie. Y'know, the big ones where Godzilla and the Moth-thing would destroy Tokyo? Except the aliens were the size of men. They were men--minus the probably different physiology and superpowers. Then again, "superpowers" weren't unheard of in the world anymore.

Jesse had the team break into twos. Now this was about damage control and helping out. They could get eye witness testimonies and start investigating once people were safe. She scanned around, donned in her tactical outfit.

A familiar tug. Jesse's eyes went to the area where Polaris pulled her attention to. A man was digging someone out of the rubble. In an instant she was behind him, throwing her hands up. The slab of concrete was caught with her shield, other pieces of rubble around them joining the force and creating a bubble that encircled them.

"Heads up next time." Jesse said as if it was to announce her presence more than the falling rubble. Then she flicked her hands to the side, sending the concrete slab about ten feet to the left.

'So much for keeping a low profile.' She mentally sighed towards Polaris.

[glockslap]

Yeah, it was a big-ass brouhaha, but he is not nearly as accustomed to the concept of "aliens" as she was. Frank lived on an average human baseline and did not have the space in his life to think about bigger mysteries of the universe. He just trudged day to day and did what he could to get by, like most people.

Frank had no superpowers. No abilities. Hell, he wasn't even that special as far as normal humans went, beyond his clear military training and the build he maintains that set him a bar above average. He was a scout sniper with skill and that was about it. He doesn't hear the creak of steel giving until it's too late, barely turning his head to catch it in his peripheral, but a flash of red hair tied up is between him and the world's most perfect Frank-swatter with the weird shimmer of some ability or another, and the cold sweat that prickles along his spine is perhaps the only fear he's felt in years.

It gets tossed to the side, and he's rendered silent for a long moment more, the rasping voice of the girl beneath the rubble who's inhaled too much concrete dust probing after him, asking what's happened. He turns to answer her first with a start, hands busying themselves once more as he pries another large chunk free when he's sure no other pieces were relying on it to stay aloft.

"—Nothin', sweetheart, just some other building shifting. Got some more help here; you just keep talkin'. You were on about something with a school dance getting shut down, right?"

Then, voice pitched lower to gravel, only for the woman's ears: "Hey, think you can do that again? There's only a few pieces left, now, but her arm's pinned. I'll need a hand if we need to get a tourniquet on her. She says she's bleeding."

[outlierdirector]

Jesse herself had only become "accustomed" to the idea because of an event in her childhood. One that everyone tried to cover up. One that nearly drove her insane from everyone telling her she was insane. Not that any of it would of been evident on her face or her person. In fact, she never quite put the dots together that people might see her as they did the other heroes in the world.

"You're... going to need to move to the side." Jesse nodded to his request. Once he had, she held her hand up.

A whistling sound could be heard before the few pieces of rubble suddenly lifted up. Another flick of her hand and they went flying across the room. She could already hear her Head of Research complaining about using paranatural powers in front of civilians. As Jesse saw it? It didn't matter. People needed help.

Besides, they were too busy being concerned about the fight in the sky.

[glockslap]

Well, far be it from Frank Castle— or Pete Castiglione in "this life"— to be the first to let on that she might be a hero. Perhaps he'll do her one better by treating it as if it were a normal occurrence. Hard to gauge these sorts of things and their impact, but he isn't exactly a thoughtful guy. He just acts as he sees fit and tries to be respectful if people have earned it from him.

At her warning, he begins to do so, but not before talking to the girl and telling her to close her eyes— reassures her this is the last piece and he's got her, and she's gonna be all right. He doesn't know how much room she needs but he's visibly ready to dart back in and retrieve the girl the second he has an opening.

The whistling is strange and has him tilting his head to try and catch it, but that doesn't matter. Rubble lifts and goes flying, and he's sliding in on the ground to reach right in and scoop the girl up, quiet little "attagirl"s and large hand soothing circles in her back where she clings to his neck, craning to get a look at the bleed on her arm that she'd told him about. Just a scratch; nothing severe. That's good.

"Thanks, Red. Walk her to the ERT with me?"

[outlierdirector]

'Red? Really? Huh.'

Jesse almost smirked to herself at the nickname. Cute. She really didn't have any of those in her life. It implied there were people close enough to give her nicknames. It was why everything was always just Jesse. No last name, no formal titles. Even if she had a formal title now.

"Sure." Jesse gently stepped up to the young woman, making sure she was alright with the extra support. Powers like hers usually freaked people out. She wasn't expecting either of the two to react well. Though, it'd probably be forgotten by the end of the ordeal.

She looked up as the two figures in the sky shot across. One hit another into a building. Within moments actual lasers shot from it. The building cut in half. Then it began to fall down. Jesse could tell the familiar warning sign from her telepathic connection with her friend. In a moment she had stepped in front of them and summoned the rubble around them to create a shield to absorb the incoming shockwave.

[glockslap]

Can't blame him for the nickname when she never introduced herself; but he hasn't introduced himself either, in her defense. The girl's too busy not to cry with shoulders bouncing against his chest and ribs stuttering with uneven breaths beneath a gun-worn hand, sure the relief has her about ready to burst as much as the fear kept at bay is threatening to drown her.

Given another few minutes, and she probably won't remember the floating rubble overhead anyway. Frank had been quick to scoop her up out of the crater and some teenager isn't like to look around for the crane responsible for her life. But Frank looks to the woman, watching her check out the girl in his arms, and doesn't so much as raise a brow. He was just about to turn and tip his head for her to follow when the jet-sound overhead collides with a nearby building, and Red's back in action.

Frank's one free hand covers the girl's head and tucks her in closer, and he doesn't hesitate to about-face and puff up at the chest, widening as much as he can to cover them both, sandwiching the girl between them and dark eyes intense as he stares down at Jesse with only an animalistic grunt and quick breaths to get his adrenaline up.

If anything got through that rubble, it has to go through him first. And he's watching her eyes to gauge what happens at his back, what's coming.

[outlierdirector]

Jesse grounds herself and throws her hands up. It looks like a bubble in casting them. The vibrations still make it through. She can feel the shaking of her whole body. Her eyes go up, looking through the rubble shield, watching as the building slowly starts to fall. Her eyes widen.

In an instant, Jesse is turned to face Frank and the girl. Her arms go around them and she dashes them to the side -- anywhere that isn't in the area of the fall. She couldn't get them far enough; too much weight. Then she instead presses them down on the ground and flings her hands up to make the shield with rubble again. The whirl of the engines can still be heard and the screams of people as the building comes down.

Then, it stills.

The dust settles.

Jesse raises her head and looks down at the two of them, slowly letting the shield collapse on the sides. "You guys still with me?"