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With all the construction at the Baxter Building, meeting there wasn't a simple thing. Lucy was a little disappointed because she'd been all for having a real job with actual office hours and proper work clothes. Instead, today, she's running around tidying up the tiny apartment she shares with Laura in preparation for Sue to arrive for a meeting here. In Mutant Town.
Lucy doesn't often think twice about the life she has here. It's such a change from the streets and it's hers and she's free of her parents. On the other hand, seeing it in the context of Sue's life at the Baxter Building is a bit intimidating. Lucy takes a breath, puts the kettle on, and tells herself to stop being ridiculous. Laura is off dealing with a neighborhood disturbance — Vigor addictions are a terrible problem down here — but if she were here, she'd say: "Doctor Storm didn't hire our apartment. If she didn't want to be here, she wouldn't come."
"Good point, Laura," Lucy murmurs. Laura is usually right about these things.
*
A light rap of fingers on the door announces Sue's presence. It's been a trying few weeks. Organizing the Baxter rebuild, discussion about purchasing the building because they're slowly becoming unwelcome in the place, and pursuit of aliens has been eating Sue's brain. Her body, on the other hand, hasn't been terrible cooperative either.
When Lucy answers the door, she flashes the young woman a bright grin. Her unstable particles uniform makes her incredibly obvious and recognizable, but lately it's been far more comfortable than anything else she owns. "Lucy," she greets warmly. A bag slung across her shoulders bears with it a bevvy of work — mostly paperwork to be considered later. "Thank you for being so accommodating!"
*
"I don't how how accommodating it'll be once you see how small the place is." Lucy gestures for Sue to come in. The apartment is tiny but cheerful in a mismatched, shabby way. The December day is almost sunny, enough to light the room up a little through the open curtains. "I just know Mama Mae is going to have a dozen questions the minute you leave," she adds with a laugh. "She runs a tight ship and she has opinions about uniforms. I think she'll be okay with yours, though."
"Coffee table or kitchen table are both fine, we'll make it work," Lucy says, closing the door after a quick check down the hall. She's remarkably cautious. "How have you been?"
*
Sue shuffles in when invited, and she lifts a single eyebrow, "Mama Mae?" Evidently that isn't clear to her. She actually chuckles, "But I'm glad to hear our uniforms — the Fantastic Four's uniforms — will probably meet her nod of approval." She manages a grin and she moves towards the kitchen table. "I've been well enough." She flashes Lucy a smile. "Tired. It's amazing how trying to find aliens takes a toll." She shrugs.
*
"She's our landlady. She doesn't trust anyone — especially if they have a uniform — probablybecause she's been running rooming houses in Mutant Town for years. She does trust her shotgun, though." Lucy gives a little shrug. "The way things are around here sometimes, you need that kind of thinking. She's very kind, just a little scary."
"So, what are we doing today? How's Doctor Richards?" She's tried not to be impatient about whatever testing they were going to do on her — it's hard to do it with a blown-up laboratory. It's just hard not knowing anything about herself, especially when what Lucy wants most is to help settle things with her family so she can get on with life. "Is Act-F going to be sharing that new facility they're building? The prison? Like if we actually catch aliens?"
*
A slight cringe follows the notion. "My first landlord in New York loved his shotgun." Sue's cheeks puff out, "It was Harlem, not Mutant Town." She manages another smile. "I'll remember that. About the scary and kindness."
"Well, we have some light paperwork. I'm trying to push us into a training session so everyone is ready for… well… whatever we anticipate," her smile finally falters. "It's not easy to plan for the worst and hope for the best." She sighs softly as her bag is set on the table. Carefully she pulls out a few files. "I think we need to train in Soviet Union. Already our team tips towards the US, but we need this to work and that means actually working together." Her lips quirk, "I'm aiming to meet with the Director of SHIELD to discuss the potential of storing anyone we catch there. It's the only facility that seems to have potential to hold them right now. I mean, I could build a constant forcefield around them, but… that would be a poor use of resources. And draining."
*
"And boring," Lucy adds helpfully, as she's making tea. "I train with Laura and I'm always happy to do more. I learned the hard way that doing what I do doesn't come naturally. Which is weird, because I was born with it, but it's not easy."
She comes over to the kitchen table with the tea. "I'm working on the forcefield thing, myself. I'm still not as good at as you, mine works differently. Just shooting things is easier, when I remember not to fly backwards and land on my butt. Training together is super exciting, though, because then you get to…I don't know. It's so cool when you do and thing and someone else does a thing and boom something neat happens that you couldn't do separately." Lucy hasn't changed at all since revealing her status as an alien. She's still the same endless effervescent stream of consciousness.
"Anyway I was asking about the prison because I was thinking it would be hard to put me in a prison if I didn't want to be there and so my parents would probably be twice as hard." The bubbling slows slightly at that prospect. "I'm assuming they'll end up in prison."
*
"Exactly. Standing there, holding aliens in a forcefield doesn't exactly inspire confidence," Sue offers in return as she finally settles into a chair. The tea draws another smile, fatigued, but still present. She nods at the notion of teaming up, "And that's exactly it, training is helpful because it prompts you to think and work together as a team."
Sue's chin drops, "I would suspect it'd be a prison of some sort. And SHIELD could, likely, contain them. I haven't seen with any depth what they've been working on, but what I've heard is impressive. And… unfortunately, with the state of the world, necessary. I don't believe there's any way around that."
*
"I feel as though the idea should upset me more but…I don't want them to die, I want them to do better. And I want them to pay for what they did." Lucy slips into her seat at the table and gives Sue a little frown.
"What kind of person can do the things I can and decides, instead of trying to make things better, to do what I saw them doing? Who lies to their kid? Who just lets terrible things happen?" She sighs heavily. "I think if we're going to live here — aliens, I mean, like me — then we should do our part. And if we do bad things, we need to go to prison for that. So I'm glad they're building it. I just hope that we get some way to be citizens or something, too, so we have the same protections under the law as everyone else."
*
"Well, prison and fair trial are two things I have argued for and will continue to do so." Sue reaches out to squeeze Lucy's shoulder, "People do things at the time that make sense to them. Right now you don't know why they did what they did. We'll leave it to the courts to determine guilt." Her eyebrows lift and her head tilts. "And I aim to argue for protections for all of you under the law. You are people. Mind, I'm still fighting to have mutants consistently acknowledged as people."
*
"We're still fighting to havemore than half of the average people on the planet acknowledged as people." Lucy rolls her eyes at that. For all that she's a little ray of sunshine, she can get disgruntled about certain things—mostly to do with injustice. She may not use words like misogyny and feminism and racism, but she certainly knows the principles. "I don't know why it's so hard for people to understand."
Lucy reaches for some of the paperwork. "But at least I'm lucky enough to know you—they did a smart thing putting you in charge of Act-F. I hope the Russian part of it is as reasonable. I also hope we do go to Russia because I haven't been, I've only gotten as far as Prague. Are there more people over there who are in Act-F?"
*
"There are quite a few more members in Russia," Sue replies. "We haven't connected with them much because it's inefficient. I think it's necessary we build more as a team with goals." She sighs softly. "And, as far as being in charge of this taskforce?" She pinches the bridge of her nose, "I hadn't anticipated that. It's very generous of President Johnson to choose me." Her lips edge upwards slightly — it's a nearly sad smile, but still present. "I haven't been to Russia before either," she offers in turn. "So, that's an adventure."
*
"I think it's exciting." Lucy is right back to bubbles and sunshine, in spite of the paperwork. "Working with the Russians, putting a woman in charge — it's so progressive."
"Do you think the Army would let us use Fort Smith for training? I was up past Westchester County, just practicing flying — and trying to keep the glow down — when I passed over it." She pauses, then makes a little grimace. "I should probably send them an apology. I didn't mean to fly over a military installation. I made a note of it so I could avoid it next time. But it's pretty big, we could go practice there before Russia."
*
"It's necessity," Sue offers in return. And then concedes, "Well, the Russian part is." Her cheeks puff out with an exhaled breath. "The woman in charge, well, that wasn't necessity, but it's nice to have the trust of the President." And she's not kidding about that.
"It's possible. Fort Worth certainly has potential, and, I could ask President Johnson about it." Her lips twitch upwards. And then she shakes her head, "I think, an apology isn't necessary. Just, don't make a habit of it. It'd be different if you were doing it now and they saw you as a threat. Don't do it again, and it's probably fine…"
*
"It's harder and harder to find anywhere safe to fly that isn't out over the water — and that's not particularly safe for me either." Lucy rubs her nose, looking thoughtful. "I can't stop being shiny when I fly. Even if I try. Maybe once Act-F is fully up and running, I can file a flight plan or something. Because I can go really fast, Sue. I bet I could even carry someone."
*
Sue winces, "I can see why flying over water could be a problem." Her fingers drum against the table, "Have you considered asking Reed to design some kind of special sunglasses for you?" Her shoulders slack. "He has ingenuity cornered, and I'm sure he'd be willing." Her eyebrows lift. "And clearly you need to have the ability to practice. Reaching full potential requires lots of work."
*
"Hm. I'll make a list!" Lucy really likes lists. "And if he can think of anything that would help with the list, that would be great. I could use a little radio beacon or something. I'm low enough that I'm not going to hit any planes. Maybe all of us should make lists, as an exercise."
Lucy is already writing on a steno pad. "Things that would make us more efficient, or let us train, that kind of thing. And then we can see what we can do — because it's not stuff people think about much until they're in a fight. Maybe Doctor Richards could make me a recharger. I need sunlight to function, lots of it. But I don't know what part of the spectrum makes it work. A way to charge up faster would be great, though. Winter is so tiring and I can't exactly lie around naked on the roof." Lucy pauses. "Well. I can. But I probably shouldn't."
*
"A list would be useful. And it might help our tech fellows know how to help and where their skills would be required." Sue scribbles a note for herself in her notebook to get everyone write lists of things that would helpful for them to carry out their duties. "We could figure out which spectrum helps you, and then isolate it accordingly. That is something we can do." She shoots Lucy an easy grin. "And it would helpful." As far as laying naked on the roof, she notes, "That's probably… wise not to do. Not if your landlady has a shotgun and doesn't like uniforms."
*
"Clothes. I should get clothes that are better for fighting." Lucy hums happily and goes back to writing. "I mean, I don't think you want me scrapping with alien invaders in jeans. Or, worse, a dress. Flying and skirts do not mix. I didn't think of that until it happened and then…well, it's winter so I was wearing tights. At least it was winter. That would have been super embarrassing in the summer."
"This is so great!" Lucy's stream of consciousness bubbles along. "I never dreamed I would ever do anything this neat. I thought maybe I'd be an actress or something. But this is better." She pauses with a little gasp. "I should learn Russian! Does Captain America speak Russian? I bet he knows everything, right? At least we have someone on the team who speaks it fluently, maybe she'll help. Once we get the lists done, I can put them into a brief for you, with requisition information. And then we can start training!"
*
"I can get you an unstable molecules uniform?" Sue suggests. "That should help. It'll respond to your body's needs and it'll help you to feel more comfortable when you fight. They move with you and accommodate things for you." Which has been incredibly useful as of late for Sue and her ever-growing middle
The notion of Russian has Sue's eyebrows lifting and her lips parting, but the words are lost with the ongoing enthusiasm. "One step at a time. But yes, you'll learn plenty. For now though? We get to write a proposal about why we need to go to Russia in the first place — "
*
"Ooh, a proposal!" You'd have thought Sue was offering Lucy a trip to Disney world. "Can I write it? I've never done one. I should learn, so I can draft them for you." There's a flurry of paper and Lucy comes up with another notepad to start writing: RUSSIA PROPOSAL What she lacks in experience, she can always make up in enthusiasm.