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This pile of rubble is all that remains of the Thornton Bakery. Here and there, there are some recognisable pieces - the twisted wreckage of the huge bakery oven, a badly scarred counter, one inexplicably untouched doughnut - but, for all that, the little provisoner of pastries is irredemably destroyed.
*
Thwip-thwip! Spider-Girl swoops by the scene of the explosion, taking a look before she swings back and comes to a landing near the wreckage. She nods at the foreman, and smiles at the workers who've paused in the cleanup effort to stare at the costumed heroine.
"Hey, mind if I help out?" She crosses to a heavy looking chunk of wall and heaves over to a more convenient location, saving the jackhammer and crew an hour of work in seconds. "This is a shame. Was the best bakery in Greenwich." Spider-Girl puts her hands on her hips and frowns at the mess, watching for where she can help out next.
*
Mildred had been sitting atop a nearby building (hoping to be unnoticed by locals), staring meditatively at the ruins of her old workplace and home. Now that Spider-Girl's shown up, though, she begins reflecting on how she now seems to be a mutant herself… and starts wondering if she could - and should - help out too.
*
Listening to the cleanup crew foreman, Spider-Girl nods and pitches in. He tried to talk her out of it, but when she moved the jackhammer one-handed, her argument was made. Turns out these works at least are a little more open minded than a lot of folks these days. So Anya spends some time cracking big pieces into little pieces, and hauling heavy stuff that would have taken ages with a crane.
*
Mildred's helpful nature gets the better of her, but she feels maybe she'd better remain anonymous for the moment. After a brief search, she resorts to grabbing a duvet cover and pillowcase from a nearby washing line and covering herself in them before dropping down beside the rubble - seemingly in freefall until she slows to a gentle stop.
*
"Whoa!" Spider-Girl exclaims when it looks like someone is falling off the building. She leaps out to try and catch the woman, but the woman slows down before Spider-Girl gets there, and Anya flies by, looking confused. Walking back, she tilts her head, grinning and trying to figure out the situation. "Hey there… Linen… Lady?" It's not like Spider-Girl can judge. Her codename isn't any more creative. "Did you come to help clean up?"
The foreman barks at the men to get back to work, but is clearly distracted by wanting to meet this floating blanket apparition. Also, the men completely ignore him and stare open mouthed.
"Is she a ghost?"
"Spider-Girl called her Linen Lady."
"Oh yeah, I've /heard/ about Linen Lady!"
"This is so cool…"
*
Mildred is baffled by the fact that people seem to recognise this "Linen Lady", and worries she may be unintentionally imitating someone she doesn't know. But… as long as she doesn't do anything to besmirch the mysterious Linen Lady's good name, it should be ok, right? Mildred smiles at Spider-Girl (forgetting for a moment that her own face is covered) and replies, "Yes, of course, dearie. It'll take barely any time if we all pitch in, you know." She realises, belatedly, that maybe she should try to disguise her voice, and makes a mental note for next time.
For now, though, the not-actually-Linen-Lady floats over to a large chunk of wall (looking like she's falling sideways until she slows as she did before), takes half a second getting a grip on it, then lifts it with no apparent effort. Although, if someone were watching closely, they might notice she seems to be holding it rather awkwardly.
The unknown mutant then stands there, rubble in hand, trying to figure out where to put it. Clearly, this is a job she's unused to. "Um… where…" she begins, before breaking into a coughing fit resulting from her poor attempt to change her voice. Somehow, even though she's shaking, the piece of wall she's lifting doesn't so much as waver.
*
Anya has been to Thornton Bakery dozens of times, and while she wasn't necessarily 'friends' with the older lady who owned the place, they certainly were on familiar terms. Ironically enough, it was the fake voice attempt that might have given her away. But she doesn't pounce just yet. Should could be wrong.
Anya hangs back long enough for the foreman to tell Linen Lady where to put the latest slab, out in the section of street that was cordoned off, it turns out.
Picking through the rubble while everyone is watching the Linen Lady's amazing transportation, Anya 'aw's' quietly to herself, cooing at something she's found in the dust and debris. She picks it up, hiding it in her hand for now. But when Linen Lady comes back from dropping off the enormous chunk of concrete, she holds it out discretely, hidden from the workers, so only her and Auntie Gravity can see it. It's the bell that used to hang in the doorway. It's bent, and it's tinkling days are surely over, but it's recovered anyway. A tiny brass memory.
*
"I think this is yours… Linen Lady," Anya says quietly, almost whispering the implication of who she thinks the Lady really is.
*
Mildred looks at the bell, momentarily confused, then freezes. What to do? Should she try to keep up the secret identity? But if t his person already knows… After a moment, she says, "This was foolish of me, wasn't it..?" A sigh, and then, "Should we finish tidying up? We can talk after…"
*
"Not foolish at all, ma'am," Anya whispers. She squeeze's Mildred's shoulder gently, showing her support. Stepping back, Anya backflips up to the edge of the dumptruck the crew brought along. "Alright boys! Try to keep up!" Weblines snap out left and right, snatching up rubble wherever she can grab it safely. Some of the guys even get into it, trying to heave big pieces into the air for her to catch. Between her and the Linen Lady working together, they make short work of the mess. Not much of the building was recoverable, but at least rebuilding can start now. The cleanup crew is finished by lunch and the boys shake the heroines' hands on their way out.
Dusty and tired, Spider-Girl sighs when the women are alone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot earlier. But if I'm right, you have my condolences. This was the best bakery in Greenwich." She offers a weak smile, fully aware that no amount of words can make up for losing so much all at once.
*
Mildred glances about to make sure no one else is around, then removes her disguise - it looked ridiculous anyway (maybe the real Linen Lady pulls it off better?), then gives Spider-Girl a weak smile. "Thank you… it means a lot to hear you say that. But…" She sighs. "…to be honest, I've started thinking maybe I should leave the baking business, at least for a while. I've always liked to see people enjoying my baking, and I think I might have enough money to rebuild, but… well, when I saw you just helping back there, just because you saw an opportunity…" She looks up at Spider-Girl with doubt-filled eyes. "Do you think I could be like that? Do you think I should?"
*
"Well," Anya says with a sly grin. "It'd be pretty hypocritical of me to say you shouldn't." She grins and shrugs. "But losing Thornton's Bakery forever would be a real loss too. And you can always do both, you know? I'm going to school, and I help out when I can. Dios knows your bakery saved me more than once." It's hard to tell with the mask, but it looks like she just winked.
*
Mildred goes quiet for a while, thinking about it, then muses, "I… suppose I could. Maybe I could hire someone to take over when I'm not there… and it'll be some time before the bakery's rebuilt. Enough time to decide what to do, I hope…" She smiles uncertainly at Spider-Girl. "Until then… do you think you could show me how you go about helping people? I may be old, but it seems like I've got some new tricks."
*
Spider-Girl brightens at the possibility of the bakery reopening, and then she's outright fascinated at Mildred's request. "I… wow. I've never done that before, but it sounds worth a shot." She thinks for a moment, both tickled and puzzled at the notion of showing Mildred the ropes of crime fighting. "I think… the first step is probably getting a good sense of how your abilities work. We should probably meet somewhere private to experiment. How about that old trainyard across town? Maybe next week?"
*
Mildred nods gratefully. "That should be perfect. Any time you're free would be good - I seem to have quite a bit more free time nowadays…"
*