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Null - Remi

I'm rudely awoken by an earthquake not long after. I panic and roll out of the bed, only to find that it wasn't an earthquake, but my roommate. "Remi, oh god Remi I'm so happy you're here." I barely have my eyes open before I'm hauled to my feet and crushed to Virgil's chest in a hug.

I wearily wrap my arms around the marten and pat him on the back. "'S good t'see you too, Virg. What time is it?"

I can feel him shaking and he pulls away from me quickly. I notice he's decked out in his Marten Rose outfit; tailcoat with a bow tie over a white button down shirt, slacks and shiny dress shoes. The mask is even still on, though I can see darker trails from the corners and down his muzzle. He's been crying. "I don't even know. I need your help, Remi. I'll explain on the way."

Okay body, wake up. I rub my eyes and stumble backwards, looking for my duffel. Foot of the bed. I pull it open and strip, not caring about modesty at the moment. Not even a pair of breaths later, I'm Ohm again. You get pretty good at the quick change when you're a superhero.

Marten Rose gestures at the open window and the night sky beyond. Well, at least it's still dark out. I wrap my arms around my friend and fly us out the window and into the night. "Where are we going?"

"F-fourth and Jackson. Top of the Nelson Industries building." He takes a few deep breaths and I feel him press his head against my shoulder. I can feel his anxious shaking, the nerves underneath his skin misfiring their little signals to cause it. He's really broken up.

"Alright, we'll get there in a jiff. What happened?" I tighten my hold on him and push myself a little faster, feeling my hood flutter against the top of my head and folding my ears against the fabric to keep it in place.

He takes another deep breath to steady himself. "I was out with Crosser tonight. She'd gotten word that something strange was happening with the guards at Nelson Industries and it involved a super we haven't heard of before, so she wanted my help. We get there and everything seems okay, except that the guards are all slumped over their posts. She g-got through a few of them and said they were just unconscious, that nothing else was wrong with them. Took us a little while, but we worked through the building's staff pretty thoroughly. Nothing out of the ordinary from some kind of break in, but nothing was missing. So we went up to the roof and found... well I think it was a leopard, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't get a good look at him in the light up there. He threw me down and grabbed her, then she just gasped and went limp. I-I don't know first aid or anything, you were always better than me at that, and Pathos showed up, saying he had heard something going on. I came after you as fast as I could." His shaking keeps getting worse the more he talks.

I tighten my grip again and press my cheek against his head. "I'll do what I can, Virg." I spot the taller building in the low visibility and aim for the rooftop. "Buck up, buddy. We're heroes. This is what we do" I have to be strong for him this time. He's done it for me so many times, but now it's my turn. I close my eyes for just a moment then focus on my landing.

We set down on the roof and I run over to the kneeling form of Pathos, clad in his almost plated leather cyclist armor, not even sparing a moment to appreciate how the black leather with white highlights compliments his fur. I slide onto my knees beside the inert raccoon wrapped in white spandex and immediately check for a pulse. "How's she holding up, Pathos?" As soon as my fingers touch her body I can feel the singing of the tiniest sparks across her synapses.

"Ohm?" I can feel his gaze move to me, almost as if he's just noticing me. That's not right, he's supposed to be hyper-attentive. He's a telepath. I shake my head. Focus, Remi.

"Snap out of it! Can you tell what happened to her?" I close my eyes and narrow my powers to only the extent of the body under my paws. I can feel the tiny bit of electrical impulses firing from her brain and through her nerves, but they're not going where they should be. I pause, racking my mind for the few biology classes that I took last semester. They weren't super advanced, but I had some in depth research to go along with it. A few gentle pulses and I link the right paths again. My whiskers twitch.

"I only just got here, I think. Her mind is... like static at the moment. I can't get anything from her. Is she okay?" His voice is wavering. Good lord, am I the only one who has it together? I've even got the beginnings of a hangover pounding at the back of my head. I take a moment to pinch the bridge of my muzzle.

"I can't tell completely. Something scrambled the signals from her brain, so nothing is working. I can't tell anything much beyond that just yet." I set my paws back on her, one at the belly and another at the shoulder, just to protect her modesty. "I'm going to look a little deeper."

Back in I go. Narrowing my focus to solely her brain, I sort through the connecting signals and do what I can to reroute the ones that I recognize as majorly important. Damn, I wish I had taken that class in brain chemistry. I'll take it next semester. It's a good thing I've done this once before.

When I'm fairly certain everything is the way it should be, her heart stops.

My eyes fly open. "Shit!" I shout. Pathos gasps and stumbles backwards. Marten Rose whimpers a few feet away.

She needs a jump start. Well, here goes nothing. "Pathos, stand back a little farther. I need to act as a defib here." He nods quickly and shuffles back a few more feet.

I let my powers expand outwards again, going back to their normal state of being. Then I rub my paws together, creating little sparks around them until I feel the crackle of electricity between my fingers. Here goes. I press my paws to her chest and her entire body arches upwards. I feel a heartbeat flutter, then die off again. "C'mon, c'mon..." I mutter, rubbing my paws together again. Once more. I send the current through her body and heart and feel it sputter, then start beating again. Oh thank god.

Crosser's eyes snap open and she gasps loudly, her ears perking and her tail puffing out in alarm. "Marten!" she cries as she sits up straight.

Marten Rose rushes over and takes one of her paws. "I'm here, I'm alright. What was that? What did he do to you?"

I scoot back a tiny bit, ears going flat.

"I... I don't know. He touched me and everything just went dark. I couldn't move. Then this." She shudders and leans back away from him the slightest bit.

I stand at this point, my job done. She turns to include me finally, but her eyes narrow. "Ohm, what are you doing here?"

I reach a paw down to help her up, plastering on a warm smile that I know looks genuine. "Just doing my job, Crosser."

"He saved your life!" Marten Rose blurts out. I just grunt and brace myself to pull the smaller raccoon to her feet. She over balances and falls against me, but I'm steady.

And then the world goes to hell for a second time.

"Get your paws off of her!" I hear the deep bellow from the other side of the roof, barely noticing a streak of blue before a gloved fist connects with my muzzle and I'm sent flying back into the edge of the roof. Damnit, I hate getting punched by people stronger than me. The throbbing in my head from my nascent hangover is thrown into overdrive from the two impacts.

A few moments pass in which I let the world stop spinning, then I stagger to my feet again and glare across at the blue and gold clad fossa. I wipe a paw across my muzzle and bring it back with a dash of red on it. Musclehead split my lip. "Thanks, Ferrous. I appreciate getting clobbered for doing my job as a hero. I feel so much better now that you're here. Though I wonder why it took you so long to get to a team member that needed help." I spread my paws in front of me and shrug. "I mean, hell, you guys hate me and I still got here faster."

I don't have to be able to see underneath his mask to know that I pissed off the metal-shifting fossa. I can feel his anger crackling through the air from here. Thank the good lord that he's distracted before he can really beat me to a pulp.

A whip crack sounds and I see a couple more Guardians appear on the roof, crowded around a small rabbit wrapped in a blanket. It looks like she just woke up. I sympathize with Jumper. But it's not her my attention is drawn to. It's the orange and white suit with the blazing flame emblem of their leader striding toward her teammates that has my full focus. Starfire Vixen. "Ohm, what are you doing here?"

I straighten up a bit and wipe at my jaw again to clear it of blood. "Marten Rose came to get me. He was investigating this building with Crosser when they were attacked. Crosser was incapacitated just before Pathos showed up, but the assailant got away, it seems. I'm gonna guess that your cat there doesn't have much medical training, or else he just froze, because Marten panicked and came to get me. I've got a good deal more biology knowledge than him and a basic understanding of how a body works. And hey, a walking defibrillator is pretty handy in a medical emergency." Feels like I'm making a report. I can't say it's a bad feeling. I've always respected Starfire Vixen, even if her group seems to hate me. She's got a commanding presence when she hasn't lost her temper. "I did what I could and Crosser came around. She was in bad shape. Never seen anything like it before."

She nods and turns to see Pathos and Marten Rose off to the side, out of the way. Marten Rose has a look of relief and horror mixed, which is quite the interesting expression. Pathos has gone back to his more normal taciturn self, but I can feel his anxiety charging the air. He hasn't ever seen one of his teammates get taken down so thoroughly, and it scares him. I don't need to be a telepath to see that.

Starfire Vixen turns to look back at a goggle wearing wolf draped in green and black. He shrugs and flicks his tail at her and she nods. "Then why, Ohm, does Overseer have reason to suspect that you were here on this very rooftop when Crosser was attacked?"

My mouth hangs open. What? No, they couldn't possibly be accusing me of attacking Crosser. I don't care how ludicrously I've been accused in the past, I've never harmed a Guardian before. I've never harmed another hero before. Even by accident! "I don't know why he'd put me here at all in the last day! Ask Barrage, he caught me while I was heading home! I was in no shape to do anything for a long while without sleep. Marten alone can vouch for my location for most of last night, even. This is absurd!"

Ferrous pipes up again, fury dripping from his voice. "So is Crosser being taken down! Her healing shouldn't be able to be blocked like that, unless she's paralyzed. Like you could do to her with a thought!" I gape at him. They're serious! Starfire just nods at him as well, training that petrifying gaze on me now.

"Are... are you guys kidding me? I stumble out of bed, hungover and still sleep deprived, to come save your teammate and I get accused of this bullshit? Maybe next time you'd rather I just sit back and let her die, hmm?" The vixen's gaze falters and Pathos is taken aback, I'm sure more by the words that are bouncing around in my mind than the ones pouring from my muzzle. "I mean look at you all! Does any one of you have anything more than basic first aid training? Any field trauma experience? Any medical knowledge at all? What would have happened if Crosser never came around, despite my help? What if I was too late?" I clench my fists, lightning arcing over them. I'm pissed, now. "What would happen if she died because none of you are competent enough to save her?! And here I have this kind of knowledge, and I get spat on and beaten and accused of causing it in the first place! How dare you?" Ferrous snarls and starts stalking over towards me, but I pin him in place with a glare and a pointed finger. "Don't even think about it, metalhead, or I'll drop you where you stand. This is her problem now."

Starfire Vixen sighs and shakes her head at me. "You've proven to be resourceful, Ohm, but I can only trust the information that my team has provided to me. We know very little about you. You're young. And on top of that, many of my team have caught you assisting criminals in the act before! How can you explain that away? How can we trust you?"

I grind my teeth and resist the urge to fly away. "We're on the same side, Starfire Vixen. Every time I have something handled, one of your team swoops in and breaks it up. You heroes are setting them free of snares and situations that I've set up to keep them contained and then recapturing them. You barely know what I'm capable of. None of you have ever bothered to work with me before to understand how I do things." I take a deep breath to cool off, pinching the bridge of my muzzle to try and stave off my headache further. "Yes I'm young. I screw up occasionally and I'm happy for the help when that happens. But I'm not a villain! Why do the Guardians insist on treating me like one?"

Overseer chimes in, "We have our reasons. We cannot disclose that information to you at this time."

I roll my eyes. "Great. Fucking fantastic. Well you have this all handled and I'm obviously not wanted here. I'm out." I vault over the side of the building before Marten or Pathos can look more disoriented and take off towards the other side of the city. I need a coffee and the temptation to turn that into a stiff drink is fairly strong. I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling tears leak out the corners of them. Goddamn the Guardians. Why are they all out to get me?

Coffee and painkillers first. I don't feel like changing out of costume so I sneak my way over to the now closed Crass Tacks. Aaron keeps instant coffee and painkillers in his office and there's a microwave in there too.

Good old Pulman. He left the backdoor unlocked. I slip inside and prepare a mug and coffee, then pour in some water and stuff it into the microwave. Then come the pills, two little blue things that I pop into my muzzle and swallow. I wish they didn't take so long to kick in. The headache from both a massive bump and a tiny hangover is in full swing and I actually take my mask off and close my eyes to press fingertips lightly against my eyelids. What a morning.

I need sleep. I decide that it would be a bad idea to pass out in the office, but I snap my ears up at the sound of a few soft beeps nonetheless. Dozed off for a second, it seems. I pull my mug from the microwave and toss the bag, then take a long drink from the steaming liquid. It's terrible and makes me grimace, but just the warmth gets me feeling a little better and eases some of the pounding in my head.

I perk my ears a bit further and listen carefully. The bar is closed at this hour and it won't open for a good while, so nobody is in the main area. I replace my mask and slip out into the bar proper. Then a heavy handed pour of Irish Cream goes into my coffee for a bit of a kick. That decision made, I slump into my chair and thump my head down on the counter. I'm regretting this morning more and more as time goes by.

Sticking around and ranting at the leader of the Guardians was definitely not my best idea. I just got so fed up with being treated like the bad guy when all I'm trying to do is help. I do suppose that the bad decision of the day did have some benefits. They have a reason not to trust me, Overseer said. I wonder what that means? I never liked people keeping things that have to do with me secret.

Damn, I wish I had thought to snag Virgil before we left. I could use my best friend's company right now. Too late I remember that he was in a bad way still and probably could use my company too. Well shit, add more fuel to the fire. I groan and flip my tail up onto the bar to curl around my head. Some friend I am.

Some hero I am. So concerned about being accepted when I should just care about doing the right thing. That's why Gestalt started up the Guardians decades ago. That's why I put on the mask to begin with. That's why I convinced Virgil to become Marten Rose and help me out when he can. Being a hero isn't about fame.

Being a hero is about getting the job done. Making sure people are safe. Taking down the bad guy.

I guess I've just always wanted to impress Gestalt, wherever he is. He was Crea Falls' local hero even before he founded the Guardians and I spent my whole childhood looking up to him. When he stepped down, I had made my decision. I was going to join the Guardians and make him proud that I'm protecting his city.

But all I ever do is mess up somehow. Accidentally shorting out a security system that should have been on a closed circuit. Paralyzing a hostage along with her captor. Frying a bank vault's locking mechanism. And apparently I mixed up the impulses from a thief's brain so badly he kept moving his hands instead of his feet when he was trying to walk. That one was kinda funny, but I had to connect the impulses correctly again. At least that one was useful in the end. That's when I learned how to manipulate the miniscule electrical signals in people.

Definitely came in handy. I relax, letting the coffee do its job along with the alcohol. Drinking this early isn't ever going to become a habit, but it's nice to feel that stress ease out of me. I haven't felt this good about doing the right thing in a while. I sit there for a while and let it soak in.

I saved a life today. I saved the life of someone who's going to be able to save thousands more lives. I was a real superhero today. I can take solace in that, at least. I lean my head to the side and flick my tail away so I can watch the back door of the bar, but find my line of sight blocked. I lean farther up and see black and white. Specifically a black and white triangle on leather. Even more specifically, Pathos.

"Ohdeargod!" My words slur together into one as I startle and fall off the chair and onto the floor. I flail for a moment before feeling myself being lifted up onto my feet again. Warm paws against my hoodie hold me there until one slides under my chin and lifts it up.

"Sorry to startle you, Ohm. It took me longer than I thought to find you. Marten Rose helped." He sweeps his ears back and I crane my neck to glance over his taller shoulder. There at the Employees Only door is my best friend, slumped against the wall with a tired smile pointed my direction. He's got a tall, translucent sunflower helping hold him up. "Crosser never got to say thank you, and neither did I."

I perk up even more and my glum mood is erased almost immediately. I've never been thanked by a Guardian, and now it's happening twice over! I guess some days can turn around just like that. "Well, y'know, it's just my job. It was the right thing to do."

He shakes his head and slumps down onto a bar stool. "It is, but you were so prepared. I couldn't have ever done that. I just... froze. Her mind was fuzzy and I panicked. I-" I watch as the most gorgeous man I've ever laid eyes on unwinds his tail and shudders. "I didn't mean to, but I watched your thoughts as you worked on her. I didn't trust you, since I've never really seen you in action personally and none of my team trusts you. For that, I'm sorry. You've never deserved my distrust or ire." I feel a flash of anger for being written off like that, but force myself to calm. He is apologizing. Like a grown up. Like the rest of his team doesn't see fit to do. "You were incredible! A lot of what you know just went way over my head, and I'm no intellectual slouch." His voice grows hushed and he leans a bit towards me. "I never knew that what you just did was even possible. It was something I can never really describe, seeing what you did for Crosser. So again, I have to thank you."

My heart pounds in my chest. Dear god, I can't be having these thoughts with him right in front of me. But he's so pretty and he's thanking me for showing him something that I can do. I want to show him so much more. Ugh, work with me brain. "Like I said, it's, uh, what I do." Brilliantly done. Try again. "I mean, I kinda got lucky, I guess. Just went by feel for most of it, I think." That's even worse. One more go? "I appreciate it, though. It really means a lot, you know. And I'm sorry for what happened afterwards. I lost my head." I take to boring a hole in the floor with my eyes instead and hope that he can't see the blush in my ears. Then I remember that he's a telepath and can probably see that I'm nervous to talk to him and even the exact reason why. Right. Gonna have to get used to that.

But he just nods and lets out a heavy sigh. "At least you had the guts to do it. More than I've got. I just do what I'm told. Or sometimes just what they think I should be doing." He looks up at me and I suddenly wish for all the world I could see his eyes themselves instead of just the film of his mask. "I feel like I could do so much more."

I slide back into my chair, right next to him, and set a paw on his shoulder. "Come out on a patrol with me and Barrage, if he's still in town, maybe even flower boy over there. We'll have some fun." I flick my ears, realizing that I'm assuming he's local. "Or, y'know, I can come over to wherever you're stationed, or whatever. I can fly pretty fast." I squeeze his shoulder awkwardly and quickly pull my paw back, but his own gloved one catches it.

His gaze meets mine and I get a nice little thrill that I immediately feel guilty about. "I appreciate it. I should probably get back to base, though. Jumper was waiting for me and I don't want to keep her awake. She gets cranky."

I chuckle softly and stand up with him, walking him out the back door to where an irritated rabbit is glaring at the door. She looks like she put on her mask and just wrapped herself in her blankets. Pathos steps over to her, gives Marten Rose and me a salute, then they're gone with a crack.

I slump against the wall. "Holy hell, Virg. That was wild."

He leans up against me, so I curl my long tail around his legs. "You're telling me. Good work, by the way. I'm not sure what you did, but Crosser was impressed. Definitely saved my day."

I yawn now, flicking my ears back against the brick wall behind me. "Well mine's only just started and I need more sleep. I think you could use it too."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. It's early enough, we can fly back."

And that's exactly what we do.

I gather him up in my arms and zip into the air, making a beeline for the dorm building just as quickly as I can without bringing attention to myself. I normally take a bit longer to make sure we aren't recognized, but Virgil looks dead on his feet and I'm on my way there, coffee or no.

The window's still open, so I cruise through it and settle down onto the thin carpet. Virgil and I have the same thought, one that we've had every now and again since we were little kids. It's bed time, and clothes are in the way. We both strip and toss the costumes in respective duffels, then climb into the bunk bed. I'm surprised for a moment by the marten slipping into my bunk with me, but we've shared a bed when one of us has had a particularly bad day in the past. Hell, he's practically my brother with how much time we've spent together since kindergarten.

So I pull the marten close in against my chest, drape my tail and my sheets over us both, and promptly pass out with my nose against the back of his neck. His familiar scent steadies me and keeps the dreams away for once.