Phantom Violet Chapter 3

 CHAPTER 3: SCRAPS

January 14, 1999

Somehow, Val had managed to go two days without being spotted. She had never thought of herself as particularly stealthy, especially when she was transformed. The Triboro was a very… ordinary place, so a girl with bright green hair & a fancy purple outfit would be pretty easy to spot. Yet, she hadn’t de-transformed until she was sure she wouldn’t be seen; she had made it all the way to the edge of the Muller’s Mill region, where forest overgrowth and houses spaced out among the woods were the defining features of the landscape, before she let herself change back to normal.

Instantly, she regretted it.

One of the perks of being transformed was being heartier than normal - hunger & thirst disappeared and fatigue was nonexistent. However, if any of these were affecting you before transforming or if you did a lot of activity that would result in them while transformed, they would hit you extra hard once de-transformed. Val had discovered this after a particularly rough night, and now, having spent almost two days transformed after a very stressful morning, she was receiving a rude reminder of this fact.

She landed onto the hard forest floor as though being thrown, her face hitting the frozen soil. She forced herself to roll onto her back, too weighed down by exhaustion to even think about standing. The dimming winter sun made the barren branches of the trees seem even more lifeless, a sensation the chill of the cold ground against her back only amplified. Even with her winter coat, she could feel it, and she was in no state to try to evade it.

Finally, after what Val estimated to be hours had passed and the early evening darkness of January had fully settled in, she forced herself into a seated position. She crawled backwards until her back hit the thick trunk of an oak tree. She had to collect herself enough to figure out what to do next, because she knew she couldn’t stay where she was. Not the woods, not the Triboro, maybe not even the state.

She had endured a lot - beatings that she hid from her family, constant theft, having her belongings trashed, not being able to eat in peace, and worst of all, reminders of the knowledge that saying anything would just make things worse. She couldn’t even get her stepbrother to intervene on her behalf; he either had no idea what his friends were doing or was complicit with it - probably a mix of both. He probably told them about how hard she had worked on that jacket, how much it had meant to her - and thus gave them the idea to not just steal it but burn it. Right in front of Val, right after another beating, right as a crowd had started to form.

Was it really any wonder that she did what she did? No one was hurt, and the simple act of transforming had given Deanna & her lackeys a tiny taste of the fear Val had felt for almost an entire year. And that was before she even said anything, letting her frustrations pour out like a dam rupture. As she bounded off at the speed & agility afforded to her as Phantom Violet, Val felt good about her decision, even as she also felt that she had to leave. Leave immediately and never go back. It had been something that she needed to do.

Now, however, she had her doubts. She had nothing with her except for a set of house keys and less than $10. The only clothes she had were jeans, a sweater, a pair of beat-up sneakers, and a light winter coat with no hood or accessories. The Triboro was still limited in places where she could safely hide; the only other town she could get to was Teabury, and the options there were probably just as limited. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Val was scared to go too far. There were too many dangers to contemplate if she left the area she knew, even with her powers.

Yet, she knew that she couldn’t go back home. At minimum, there would be questions about her powers and her mission that she didn’t have it in her to answer. Worse would be discussions about what had been happening at school, and she had kept that to herself for a good reason. Trying to address it in any way had just made it worse, so surely this time would escalate things even further.

Val was, for all purposes, trapped. She stewed with the thought for some time. It mixed with memories of the risks she had endured as Phantom Violet, of the looks of terror her attackers had when they saw her transform & heard her speak her piece, of the complete ignorance everyone around her had of her struggles. This churned inside of her mind until she got a jolt of angry energy. She whipped her right hand over her shoulder in a back punch, hurting her knuckles while barely disturbing the tree.

“Dammit!” Val snapped. She shook out her hand, making sure nothing was broken, and looked up at the overcast night sky. “That’s it, I’m done… I’m done.”

Her mind was made up - the next time a Seeded Beast showed up, she wouldn’t be there. To the people she was protecting, she was just as inhuman & unwanted as the creatures she fought. Even to Seth - maybe especially to him. His silence had surely been motivated solely by fear of her. No one appreciated her, and no one would miss her, even if they were under attack. As much as she had tried, her superhero story would never play out like the ones she enjoyed; she had a breaking point, unlike her heroes, and that morning had pushed her completely over it.

There would no longer be a Phantom Violet to save the day. The Triboro were on their own.

Val pulled her knees up to her body and rested her head on them, her vow on her mind as she fell into an uncomfortable slumber.

*****

January 15, 1999

When Val woke up in the morning, she was sore. She felt worse than she had felt after the most punishing Seeded Beast fight. She wasn’t sure if she actually slept or had willfully blocked everything out of her mind in a sort of mock-sleep. Her head was pounding, somehow making the relative silence of the woods unbearable; when she straightened out her legs, they ached & burned more than she had ever experienced in her life. Worst of all was the gnawing feeling in her stomach - she could easily walk off the soreness in her legs or wait for the headache to subside, but hunger could only be solved by eating something. And unless she was willing to try hunting with her bare hands or to risk going back towards the busier areas of town to dumpster dive, she wasn’t going to find anything. She simply had to endure.

She passed most of the day wandering around the wooden areas of the Triboro, trying to avoid being spotted by any passing cars or occasional joggers. The last thing she wanted at this moment was to be found and taken home; she needed to get away from everyone for a little while, to figure out what she was going to do next & to do so on her own. She had already adversely affected her family enough in her life before this. By revealing herself, she had placed a target on their backs as much as her own, but unlike her, they had the intelligence & resources to address any threats. Hell, they could probably fend off a Seeded Beast better than she could. She let the day slink by in a haze of self-hatred and bitterness, mixed with fear that skirted dangerously close to paranoia at times. Val didn’t like this situation at all, but it was what she chose. It was what was best for everyone, probably what they secretly wanted. She had to make it work.

It wasn’t until the glariest hours of the afternoon sun that Val was snapped out of her state. And it was in the most unwelcome way possible - there was a Seeded Beast nearby.

What was even around here for it to hunt? As she traced the sensation to an area where it was strongest, she saw what looked like a disheveled farm shed. The wood was unpainted & weather-beaten, and the windows had been boarded over with equally worn out plywood. Two other structures that appeared to be intact were visible at a distance, but the most she could discern were their general shapes. Several old boats & vehicles were in various states of decay on the property as well, resting on gravel patches that were serving as driveways.  All this time, all the way back here behind the dense woods & away from the major streets, was a large neglected farm.  Someone lived out here to avoid everyone, or had lived & left it all abandoned, and for some reason a Seeded Beast had decided that this was a good spot to attack.

Val watched the scene for a while, seeing no visual evidence of the Beast but still feeling the nagging sensation that indicated its presence. She eventually sighed and shrugged, turning away from the farm. She said that she was done protecting the Triboro, including some old hovel in the middle of nowhere. The only people still there that cared about her were her father & stepmother, and they’d be better with her out of their lives, not just for safety but also for stress. She had decided that last night, and she wanted to be a person of her word. She jammed her hands into her jacket pockets to warm them and resumed walking into the woods, turning her back to the farm.

That was when she heard a scream.

“Gaah! What the hell-?!” a man’s voice shouted from the farm. It echoed through the leafless trees, making it easier for Val to hear.

She briefly turned around reflexively, then returned to her walk. She was done.

“What the- hey!” the man continued, his tone sounding more & more worried. “Get back!”

She was done. She had said as much. She kept walking, starting to stomp every step. A farm probably had tools & guns that would take out a Seeded Beast better than she ever could. And that’s assuming that the guy was supposed to be there. Who’s to say that he wasn’t trespassing, or a robber, or worse? She sped up her pace, still stomping.

“What the hell are you?! Get outta h- aahh!” Something hit hard against a flat surface, the sound of the impact echoing as much as the man’s panicked words. “Oh God, no…”

Val stopped. No matter how much she told herself that she was done and that leaving was fine, she knew in her heart that it was a lie. It went against every principle that she held dear to turn away from someone in clear distress; she had been raised better than that by her father, been taught better than that by the fiction she had used as her model. If anything happened to that man, it was as much on her head for her willful ignorance as it would be on the Beast. She turned around and started to run towards the farm, going from a hurried walk to a sprint as soon as she could.

“VIOLA SORORIA!” she shouted. Within nanoseconds, she was transformed again. She took a running jump and launched herself into an impossibly high leap towards the farm, nimbly avoiding the dead branches.

From above, she could finally see the Seeded Beast clearly. It was far more insect-like than others she had seen, a cross between a silverfish & a lobster, easily as large as a travel bus. Drool of some sort was coming from its mandibles, leaving a trail smoking from both heat & corrosion along the ground. Its spiny antennae were tapping along the side of the dilapidated building she had seen, lingering over a trembling figure huddled on the ground. This had to be its equivalent of “playing with its food”. She shifted her body in mid-air to place her feet together and land on the middle of its back with a full-strength double kick, right between two large slabs of its shell.

The Beast shrieked, foamy saliva spraying from its mandibles as it bent into an awkward V shape thanks to Val’s attack. Before it could react, she summoned her bow and quickly fired a cluster of three energy arrows into the area of its head where its antennae were jointed. It screeched again & flailed onto its side, throwing her off in the process; however, before she could hit the ground, one of its lesser claws grabbed her right leg and dangled her in the air in front of its eyeless face. The antennae started to prod at her face & chest, returning to the floral-shaped brooch on her uniform. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that it was evaluating her - was that even possible? Seeded Beasts weren’t that smart in her experience, usually being about as clever as a wily animal at best. Yet, even with its wounded antennae, it was trying to study her - and was focusing on her Atrium Seed, no less. She awkwardly swatted them away with her bow multiple times until she felt the other lesser claw cinch on her left wrist. Her grip instinctively loosened, and her bow fell to the ground just out of reach.

This was not exactly going how Val had expected. As she tried to grab at the claw on her wrist with her free hand, she caught sight of the figure she had heard earlier. He was a young man, not much older than she was, fair skinned with dark hair pulled back into a hasty ponytail. He was cautiously crawling towards her bow instead of taking cover. There was no way he could use it, since he couldn’t summon any arrows, so she wasn’t sure what he was planning. But whatever it was, it wouldn’t work. She had to tell him to hide.

Before she could say anything to him, the Beast roughly jerked the limbs it held in its lesser claws in opposite directions, as if trying to rip her in half. She screamed in pain each, cut off only by the Beast’s stronger greater claws grasping her throat & chest. Then it began to slowly tighten them. This was it. She couldn’t even make it 48 hours after revealing her identity before she completely failed in her one duty. She winced her eyes shut, a few tears starting to gather, well aware that her end was about to be extremely unpleasant.

A wild nonverbal cry sounded from beneath her. She opened her eyes to see the man charging the Beast with her bow, holding it like a baseball bat. With more cries he began to hit it over & over on its face and head, dashing around to avoid its mandibles & its acidic drool. It was a frenzy, a desperate attack with no real planning behind it - but it was working. The greater claws released Val’s body, letting her gasp for air, while the lesser ones stopped trying to pull her in two. The man continued to hit the Beast, never stopping until he was back-handed by one of the greater claws. The Beast then threw Val roughly towards him by her ankle, leaving her in a heap alongside him; while she was dazed, shaken, & sore, he appeared to be completely unconscious. She had to hurry to beat this thing, for both their sakes but especially for his.

“Violet Voltage!” she shouted, still sitting on the ground and not even bothering with her usual gestures. The arrows still wedged in the Beast’s head crackled with electricity and momentarily stunned its approach. As she crawled backwards towards her bow, she kept shouting to slow it down as it neared them. “Violet Voltage! Violet Voltage! Violet Voltage!”

Finally, she felt her hand hit the curve of her silver bow. She grabbed it and immediately readied it with an energy arrow, thicker & sharper than the ones she usually summoned. Still seated, she aimed towards the space between the Beast’s mandible as it turned to face her directly. 

“Violet Voltage VORTEX!” Val shouted as she fired.

The arrow flared even brighter than usual; sparks of light launched off of it, swirled around it, and turned into slightly smaller ones that orbited the main one as it flew to its target. This spiral of arrows struck the Beast in between its mandibles, spinning the entire time. It continued through the length of its body, both drilling into its innards and shredding its outer shell until it finally tore through its tail end. With a final wild shriek, the remnants of both the Beast and the arrow drifted away in the chill winter air, its location marked by an unnatural haze for a few moments.

Val sat where she was, bow still at the ready. She breathed heavily from a mix of exertion and a level of fear that she hadn’t felt on duty before - maybe in her entire life. No other Seeded Beast had been as competent as this one, and she doubted that it would be the last one that would pose such a challenge. She was an idiot for thinking that she could quit - a selfish, bitter idiot who deserved the near-trouncing that she had barely survived. She lowered her bow, her arms suddenly shaky.

A hand gently touched her shoulder, making her jump slightly. She looked to see the man sitting up next to her; aside from some cuts on his face and a bloody nose, he was apparently well enough to be smiling at her. He stared at her with large olive green eyes.

“Hey…,” he said. “That was… that was something else. You saved my life.” His words had a slight twang to them that Val hadn’t really heard in the region, more like a Southern accent but not as heavy.

“N-no, you saved mine,” Val countered nervously. She wasn’t used to talking to people as Phantom Violet, beyond the occasional “take cover” or “run” instructions.  “Th-thanks.”

“No, thank you,” the man insisted. “You really saved me. If you ever need anything, please, let me know. I gotta pay you back.”

Val stood up, letting her bow dissipate into wisps of silver light. She then offered him a hand to help him to his feet. “No, it’s fine. It’s my job… Can you stand okay?”

He took her hand with both of his, and after getting to his feet, he shook it. “I didn’t expect anything like this, so I really appreciate it. I mean it, I wanna make this up to you.”

“I told you, it’s fine,” Val said. She could feel herself flushing with embarrassment. “Don’t worry about it. Uh… do you need something for your face…?”

“Naw, it’ll be fine,” the man said. He pulled a rag of some sort out of the pocket of his faded gray jeans. “Not the first time I’ve been hit in the nose. Definitely the wildest, though…” He turned away briefly to clean his face, then looked at Val again. “Look, can I at least get your name?”

Val smiled awkwardly, feeling her face turn an even brighter red. Not a single time had someone asked for her title - not even Seth, not even after he found out about her. A strange wave of pride filled her, something she thought she had lost the ability to feel at all. 

“I’m… I’m Phantom Violet. I protect people from those things,” Val finally said. “And as long as they’re here, I’m here.”

—------------

Present

After making a quick but important stop, Seth headed to the Foundation headquarters around lunch time, just as he had promised. This was a fresh start of sorts, and he didn’t want to stumble by running late. Even if a suite was more comfortable than a medical bed, it would still be an alien environment; Val would probably be just as disoriented there as she no doubt was when she was living in the old mall. He opened the elevator with his key card and hurried to the fifth floor, a tote bag clutched in his free hand.

The mix of excitement and raw nervousness churning in Seth’s stomach grew as he felt the elevator stop. Last night had gone well enough, but neither of them had really been in a good place to have a heavy discussion. It felt good to actually say his apology, and it seemed that she had accepted it, but the real work came after that. He had to prove to Val that his words weren’t hollow, that he had grown & changed, that they could be a proper family again. Along with the sheer volume of material preparation he needed to do at home, it left him with a lot of anxious energy. At the same time, however, this was an opportunity that he never thought he’d get to have. Yes, the situation had its… peculiarities, but that it happened at all was a gift that he couldn’t afford to squander.

“Seth!”

Seth froze a few steps from the elevator lobby. That was Allan’s voice. The anxious energy within him curdled. He looked up to see his boss rushing towards him, tablet in hand. Whatever he had to say to Seth couldn’t be good.

“What’s up?” Seth asked, trying to hide any displeasure on his face. “Is Val okay?”

“She is, she’s settling in,” Allan said. He started ushering Seth towards an open conference room. “Just need to fill you in on some stuff from last night and go over the testing.”

“Then I can visit her, right?” Seth asked, although he tried to make it sound more like a firm statement.

“Of course,” Allan said. He closed the door to the conference room and motioned for Seth to sit. “I just need this finalized. First off…, has Val had a history of sleep problems?”

Seth sat down diagonally to Allan and thought for a moment. “Hmm… I think she had some insomnia, but that could’ve been her staying up to go out on patrol after our parents were asleep. Why?”

Allan tapped on the tablet, obviously recording that information. “I’m asking because the nurses said that she kept waking herself up from vivid dreams,” Allan explained. “Like night terrors, but not as physical. She woke up and calmed down once her cat was on her lap. Has she had a history of night terrors?”

Seth shook his head. “Not that I know of… Look, she said that she’s been through the same rough stuff, so it’s probably connected to that.”

“One of the nurses asked her, and she said that physically she doesn’t need to sleep,” Allan said. “But she probably needs it mentally, and if she’s been forcing herself to stay awake for days on end, that’s not gonna help her recovery.” Allan fiddled with the tablet again. “They also said that she didn’t eat or drink anything and she doesn’t need that, either. Naturally, she hasn’t… gone, either. She just wanted stuff for her cat.”

“She said something about not getting hungry last night, but again, she doesn’t want to talk about it, and I’m not gonna force her. Seriously, Allan, her legs grew back from being skeletonized! She was impaled on a fountain! She isn’t like a-...” He caught himself for a moment. “... an average person anymore. And she’s probably aware of that, so asking all this is probably just upsetting her. Let’s just focus on the test permissions, okay? I’ll talk to her when she’s ready to talk.”

Allan pursed his lips awkwardly and shook his head, once again swiping on the tablet. “I understand, Seth, but we’ll need a detailed report on what happened to her eventually. Here’s the requested test list.” He handed Seth the tablet.

“Telling you right now, anything more invasive than a blood draw is out,” Seth responded as he reviewed the tablet. He looked at the list and scowled, not wanting to admit that his knowledge of medical terminology was as limited as it was. “Is there a sorting system on this? Like, which tests require prep or which body part they’re studying? I don’t wanna say yes to anything that’ll upset her.”

“You can tap on the names for a description,” Allan explained. “If you’re worried about Val getting overwhelmed, just go over it with her. I’m sure she knows what’ll bother her better than anyone.”

Yeah, I think I’ll do that,” Seth said. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it set before I leave. Can I go see her now?”

“Sure, she’s in Suite 3,” Allan said. “Just make sure to knock first, in case she’s resting.”

“I will. Thanks.” Seth grabbed his bag from the floor and hurried out with the tablet in his hand.

After a quick dash down a hallway that felt more appropriate for a 1960s office high rise than anywhere someone might live, Seth found Suite 3. The door had a deadbolt as well as a standard lever doorknob, along with a small intercom next to it. He bent down to examine the intercom; to his surprise, it didn’t have a doorbell on it, but it did have a camera lens of some sort. For a company like the Lambert Foundation, this struck him as strangely low-tech. Hopefully, they had given Val accommodations that were better equipped. He shrugged, stood up, and knocked on the door.

The intercom crackled. “Hello?” Val’s voice asked warily.

“It’s me,” Seth said, hoping that his voice would still be recognizable over the speaker. “I’m here to check on you.”

“Okay, just a sec,” Val replied. After a wait, he heard the deadbolt loudly unlock. Val opened the door a crack and peeked out of the gap. “You’re gonna have to hurry, cuz if I open it too much, I’m afraid Owen’ll bolt.”

“Gotcha.”

Seth entered through the thinnest gap in the door that he possibly could. Sure enough, once he was inside the suite, he saw Owen walking determinedly towards the doorway; the cat’s ears were back in a manner that reminded him of a horned owl. Once the door clicked shut, the cat froze, then sat down and looked at Seth with a strangely disgruntled expression.

“Sorry,” Val said as she closed the deadbolt. “He’s used to running free. He’ll learn, though - he already figured out the litter box.”

Val’s affect was a little flat, but she looked refreshed. Her hair had been washed and pinned back with a butterfly clip, no longer looking quite so greasy; her ragged, outdated clothes had been replaced by a clean pair of power-pink coffee-themed pajamas - a printed tee with patterned pants - and a pair of slipper socks. She had also clearly showered between now and the previous night. Yet there were still noticeable bags under her eyes, evidence of the restless nights documented in her case notes. She bent down and scooped Owen up in her arms, then led Seth into the main part of the suite.

Seth examined the accommodations in mild surprise. It was basically a studio apartment, with the bathroom & kitchenette on either side of the entrance, forming a short hallway that led to the main room. A small dining table, two chairs, a sofa, a coffee table, a bed, and a cat tower furnished the suite. Storage spaces were visible as well, and the area was generally spacious & well-lit, with large windows leading to a balcony that overlooked an indoor garden spot that the Foundation maintained. Seth knew that garden well, taking many a lunch break there, but he’d never noticed any windows or residential structures. Had they just been well hidden all this time, or was he just that oblivious? He guessed it to be a mix of both as he followed Val and sat on one of the soft padded chairs. Val sat diagonally on one end of the sofa, leaning on the armrest; Owen hopped up and started kneading the seat cushions with his paws.

“So I guess you’re here about the tests and all they wanna do,” Val said. She seemed determined not to look directly at Seth, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Yeah, but those can wait,” Seth said. “Are you feeling okay? You’ve, uh… you’ve been through a lot.”

“You have no idea, Seth,” Val said with a tired sigh. She finally looked up at his face; her cold gray eyes looked almost dull. “Please don’t make me talk about it.”

“No, of course not! I just told Allen not to let anyone bug you. I just… I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

Seth waited. Val shrugged and looked away again. He had seen her in what he had thought were her lowest moods - once on the evening of January 13th, 1999, and then on March 5th, 1999, after her long absence. The only way he could think to describe her general mood was “muted”. Like she couldn’t feel anything - or was trying to avoid doing so. But back then, it had been a front, a way to protect herself until it finally failed her. Had he rushed her too much to reconnect with him? Did she know just how much had changed, and if she did, was it just too much for her to process? Was it just a matter of her physical changes affecting her so much that she couldn’t fully understand it? Seth wasn’t a counselor, so he had no idea how to approach Val; instead, he decided to wait in silence for her.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Finally, Val spoke.

“Um… I know about Dad. And your mom,” she said quietly. “I, uh… I’m sorry.”

That was not the conversation started Seth had expected. He sat up and tried to reassure Val with what he was sure was a weak smile.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m sorry you had to come back to that…,” he said. “How’d you find out?”

“When I first came back, I went to the Teabury county library and got online,” Val started. “Wasn’t sure if everyone moved or not. Instead, I found out everyone died. Again.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Seth started to fidget with his hands. That mumbled ‘again’ kept circling in his mind, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to push for more information. “Did you not come by cuz of that?” he asked gently.

“Nah…,” Val replied. “I didn’t know if you or anyone was in the house till I had Owen take a peek for me. But he just got spooked by a dog.”

“Oh, that was Beefy. But if you wanted to visit, that would’ve been fine.”

“Not after that first time someone saw me,” Val said. She started to twiddle with a loose strand of her hair. “It… didn’t go so well for either of us.”

“Who’d you see?”

“Palmer McElroy. Old friend, you wouldn’t know him. I thought I saw a tired old man, he thought he saw a ghost, and that’s when everything just… hit.” She looked up at Seth again; her eyes were no longer dull, betraying the feelings behind her flatness. “There’s not a place for me here anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” Seth rushed to say. “Once I get the house cleaned up, you’re moving in. And your cat.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Val snapped. “Everything’s changed, everyone’s grown or just gone! Even people I never met, who cheered me up are all gone! Ringo? Gone! Pratchett? Gone! Owen? Gone! All my friends, and Jenn, and Dad, and Janny, they’re all gone! Where I live won’t change that I shouldn’t be here, either!”

Val suddenly froze; she flushed red, then looked away as she started to cry. Seth started to reach towards her, but she shooed him away with her hand. She covered her face and hunched over with loud sobs.

“The only reason I’m still here is to fight those stupid fucking Traitors, and they should be dead, too!” Val continued. “That’s it, that’s the only reason I can’t even die! The only thing that’s keeping me from trying and trying and failing again is…” She looked up and glanced over at Owen. “Never mind, it’s stupid. I’m stupid. It’s all so stupid…”

Seth sat quietly and let Val cry. This was nothing her past dam bursts. Whatever had happened to her while she was away had only made her mental state worse, and he had no idea how to approach her, let alone help her. A sickening thought slowly took shape in his mind - this wasn't the first time she had felt this way. The case file made that vividly clear. Those weren’t experiments to see how much she could endure; they were deliberate attempts to end her life. Seth’s stomach churned. That was a subject he knew well, but it was also one he knew was unique to each person experiencing it. Despite what people thought, there was no single fix he could use to help Val, no magic phrase or simple action. But he couldn’t just keep sitting there. He waited for her crying to slow down before he finally spoke.

“Val… you’re not stupid,” Seth said gently. Val looked at him skeptically, her face blotchy from her tears. “I know you won’t believe me, but you being here, right now? It’s a miracle.”

Val snorted. “No, it’s not. Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying! I never thought I’d get the chance to see you again. Please, let me make everything up to you, all the stupid teenage bullshit I did. Let me help you.”

“I don’t even know why they’re back or what they want,” Val mumbled. “You wanna help with that? With fighting someone who skeletonized my legs in minutes?”

“No, not that, I… uh, that’s not really in my wheelhouse…”

“Still a Rincewind-level coward, huh?”

Seth looked at her, not quite understanding the reference but realizing that it had to be an insult. “No, I’m just not as strong or skilled as you. I wanna help you adjust to this world. If they’re gonna threaten it, you need to be part of it to understand why. Val, please, let me help you.” She looked at him and shook her head slightly. “Please. At least stay in our house once it’s ready. Won’t take long.”

“Our? You have a family?” Val asked warily.

“No, just me and Beefy. But it’s your family house, where you grew up too! And I think that gives you as much claim to it as me. And Beefy’s friendly, so you can bring your cat, no problem.” Seth got out of his seat to kneel awkwardly in front of Val, gently holding her left hand in both of his. “It’s been long enough, Val. Please come home.”

"It’s just…,” Val said. She sighed heavily, her breath still shaky from her crying. “I’m so tired of fighting. I thought I was done. I just wanted to go somewhere safe… I wanted to see everyone again…”

“I can’t help with that, but I’m sure Mom & Dad would want you to come back home, too. I can’t fight like you, but I can help with research and resources and such.” He tightened his grip on her hand.

Val laughed a single weak laugh. “You called Dad ‘Dad’?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Seth replied with a nod. “He was my dad in all the ways he was yours too, except the obvious one.”

Val glanced over at Owen, and Seth followed her gaze. He was staring at the scene with his head tilted and his front legs tucked entirely under his body. For the first time, Seth noticed the vaguely heart-shaped patch of white on his chest. It briefly struck him that if the cat was to be a proper sidekick for Val, that patch should have been more flower-shaped, but quickly snapped out of that idle train of thought. He turned his eyes expectantly back at Val.

“I can’t go back to the mall,” Val said quietly. “Probably in trouble for it. And I don’t wanna stay here. It’s nice, but I kinda feel like a lab rat.” She looked back at Seth. “Guess I kinda gotta go home with you.”

Seth beamed and grabbed her in a sudden tight hug. He knew it was unexpected, but he had no other way to express his relief & happiness. Aside from his dog, he’d been alone for the past five years, and that had taken a toll on his psyche more than he cared to admit. Having one of his family back - a legitimate second chance to make up for his adolescent idiocy and years of guilt - was a dream he never thought possible of realizing. He wasn’t someone who put much belief in miracles, yet one was here right before him. When he felt Val moving to hug him back, he fought the urge to start crying.

The sudden sensation of something wedging its way between them caught Seth’s attention. Owen was trying to jam into the hug - or maybe break it up - by forcing his head in between the two. Once he had shoved in enough to settle onto Val’s lap, he appeared satisfied. Seth pulled away from the hug and laughed slightly.

“I am not used to cats,” he said, gesturing towards Owen. He stood up and picked up the tote bag from the coffee table. “Here, I got you some treats,” he said as he handed it to Val.

“Like what?” Val asked as she peeked into the bag.

“Cat toys, a new journal, some good pens, some slippers - stuff you’ll need,” Seth replied. “If there’s anything else you want while you’re stuck here, just let me know. Oh - and I know you said that you don’t need to eat, but just in case you’re still able to, I got you a treat.”

Val pulled a brown paper bag out of the tote and laughed when she saw its familiar branding. “Arby’s? You remembered I like them?”

“Yeah, I remembered. It was kinda pricier than other places, so it was always a treat.” As Val pulled out a foil-wrapped sandwich to examine it, Owen sat up to sniff it; after a few seconds, he started to grab at the wrapper with his paw. “Looks like someone else does, too,” Seth said.

“He’ll get a little taste,” Val said.

Seth started to smile again as he returned to his seat. Her mood seemed to have lifted for now, but he knew that Val would need more than just treats & hugs to recover from whatever she had experienced. He hated to admit it, but the curiosity over those details was killing him; however, he had enough basic decorum to know that he had to wait for her to be ready to talk. Despite what people thought, persistently trying to pry details about a sensitive subject troubling someone didn’t result in them relenting, sharing, & instantly healing - it just bred resentment towards the person asking. At least that was how it worked in their family. He had seen the former tactic used on his mother, which led her to isolate herself further, and he had seen the twins’ father almost interrogated to get him to stop grieving his daughters & inconveniencing everyone. It was a disgusting, selfish way for people to pretend they were helpful that only made things worse, and he would not subject Val to it. When she was ready to talk, he’d be ready to listen. After everything, it was the least that he could do.

—-----------

It had been several hours before Seth got home. By the time he was done, about a third of the requested tests were approved & scheduled, and Val seemed to be in a slightly better place. He knew from experience that she tended to hide her feelings from others, especially after a dam burst like that, and he was well aware that her situation was one that couldn’t be fixed solely with hugs & treats. It wasn’t something he was easily equipped to handle; yet, he had a duty to her to at least try. He was all she had left besides a clingy stray cat. He just had to keep trying to support her as best that he could.

There was also the matter of his work, however. Allan wouldn’t accept an omission based on Val not wanting to talk about what had happened. He’d expect Seth to do some research on his own to fill in some of the blanks. Val had given him exactly one lead - someone named Palmer McElroy. From what she had said, he lived close enough to the Triboro for her to run into him, and since his name was completely unfamiliar to Seth, he might have been someone she had met when she had run away from home. This last suspicion worried him - what kind of person would she meet while on the streets and coming off a breakdown? The odds of this guy being a creep were too high for Seth’s liking, but he was also a possible source of information for the case file. So had no choice but to track down this guy - or at least look like he had tried.

Luckily, his subject had a pretty singular name. It only took one basic search to find that Palmer McElroy owned a garage in the Muller’s Mill area, situated near the green acres forest preserve and the county park by the creek. The latter landmark made his plan that much easier to formulate. He just had to pick a day to do it.

That proved to be trickier than he would have liked. Because he had to prioritize Val’s tests, Seth had booked up most of the next few days. Even with the tests, they had okayed - ruling out anything painful, anything too invasive, anything with sedation, and anything with uncomfortable prep - there were still a ton to be done. And he planned to be there as moral support, at minimum. Even for days without plans, he wanted to at least visit with her for a while. And then there was the matter of cleaning the house to get it ready for Val’s return… Basically, Seth had a lot on his plate, and there really wasn’t room for an investigation at the moment.

That felt like a lazy excuse to some part of Seth’s mind, however. Any of those would be dismissed by Allan, even the tests, as an attempt to weasel out of doing more legwork. Granted, so far in his legwork, he had been attacked by one of Val’s enemies, too late to do much of anything useful at the mall, and been sassed at by a cat. It… didn’t look great. So he’d have no room to get away with using his schedule as a defense not to do it. He had to at least try to talk to this guy.

Seth calmly dialed the listed number for the garage, listened to the voicemail message, and began to speak. “Hi, I’m Seth Newman, calling from the Lambert Foundation, for Palmer McElroy,” he began, making sure to speak at an even pace and clearly enunciate. “We received word that you may have had a sighting of one of our case subjects, Miss Valerie Pollard, and we’d like to arrange an interview. Please call me back at your earliest convenience so we can schedule a meeting. Thanks.”

Now if this lead went nowhere, Seth could at least say that he had tried. He hung up the phone and stood up to take Beefy out for a relaxing evening walk.

—--------------

The next morning began the test marathon.

Bloodwork was first. The nurses came to take samples before Val could eat anything; they were in the process of getting one of the almost a dozen vials filled when Seth arrived. At least with Val in a Foundation suite, they could come to her and let her sit somewhere comfortable instead of making her walk the halls in her pajamas. Still, she looked vaguely annoyed that she had to do this at all, and once again, bags under her eyes betrayed a lack of sleep. When the nurse let him in with her, Val just limply waved at him, a weak smile on her face. The only real conversation was the nurse explaining the tests & the aftercare, punctuated by annoyed meowing from the other side of the closed bathroom door.

It wasn’t until this first test was done that Val spoke. She got up from the sofa and opened the bathroom door as soon as the nurse had left. Owen walked out, looked up at Val with a sour expression, and let out an angry loud “MERR” before heading to the cat tower.

“I’m sorry,” Val said to her cat. “You’re not exactly sterile.” She turned to Seth and sighed. “Finally. Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Seth said. “They were supposed to wait for me to be with you before doing anything.”

“She said that I needed to be fasting, so I should get blood taken before I eat. Joke’s on her, though, cuz I don’t eat.”

The two walked until they settled at the dinette set by the kitchen. From what Seth could see, it had been stocked with a simple assortment of foods, but the only ones that had been touched were things for the cat. It didn’t take much thought to realize what the Foundation were trying to suggest to Val; they just hadn’t reckoned with her quiet stubbornness. Seth, however, knew from experience that there was only one way to get through to her, and that was to follow her father’s technique of gentle nagging.

“You don’t get hungry at all? Or thirsty?” Seth asked.

Val shook her head. “I mean, I still have stuff I like, like yesterday, thanks again. But I don’t need food to survive.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, when I ran away from home,” Val began, “I realized that if I stayed transformed into Phantom Violet, I was okay. But the longer I did that, the worse a crash I’d have when I changed back to normal. I’m not normal anymore, except for how I look, so it’s like I’m always transformed.”

“Maybe you should eat, though, just to feel normal,” Seth said.

“Yeah, but… there’s normal stuff I don’t really miss. Like, I don’t wanna be gross, but last night was the first time since I came back that I had to… use the bathroom. Cuz I ate.”

“That’s not gonna help you get used to everything, though. I saw the look in your eyes when you saw that Arby’s - as much as you say you don’t need to eat, you still like it. I just think it’d help get you back into a routine and pick up your mood a bit, even if it means you have to poop again now and then.”

“You don’t need to do this, Seth. They already scheduled the company therapist for tomorrow.”

Seth grimaced. “Oh God, not Miss ‘You Identified Your Mood, Now Let’s Bury It and Ignore Your Actual Problems’... I wanted to hit her, which means you’ll probably wanna kill her.  I’ll schedule with Dr. Loebs for you. Let’s get back to food. Here’s an idea - you eat something whenever you feed your cat. And whenever I visit, so we can eat together. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, just a snack and tea or something. Wanna give that a try?”

Val looked at Seth with an arched eyebrow. Her eyes weren’t quite as dull or cold as usual, but he knew that could easily be from annoyance as much as interest. Even if she wasn’t “normal” anymore, he wanted her to maintain a schedule like she had in the past; structure would make it easier for her to adapt to the modern world and hopefully pull her out of her funk. It had worked for him at his lowest, even if he had resisted it at first, and he was sure it could at least serve as a foundation for her to rebuild her life. Gradually, Val’s expression softened as she started to nod her head slightly.

“Hmm… I guess I could do that,” she finally said. “I just gotta get used to that feeling again and all. Can it start tomorrow, though?”

“Yeah, sure,” Seth said, smiling to himself. “I’ll even bring breakfast.”

A chipper electronic tune started to play from the coffee table. Val got up, retrieved something, and returned to the kitchen. She had a smartphone, but the look on her face showed that she was a little baffled by it.

“Here,” Val said as she passed it to Seth. “They gave me this electronic schedule PDA… thingee. I don’t really get it…”

“Oh, it’s a phone,” Seth said. “It’s a smartphone. Basically a little computer. It can do lots of stuff.”

“What’s it doing now?”

“It’s… letting you know you have an MRI in 15 minutes.” He handed the phone back to her and reached into his pants pocket. “Those are pretty common now. I have a personal one. See?” Seth held up his own cell. She looked briefly between the two phones. “Once you get the hang of it, you’ll love it.”

“Hmm…,” Val said, looking again at her phone’s screen. “Guess that’s why I couldn’t find any pay phones…” She sighed and carefully set it face down on the table. “I missed a lot…”

Seth gently reached over and patted the top of her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help you catch up.” He stood up from the table. “We better get ready and head to the medical floor.”

Val smiled weakly back at him and nodded.

—-------------

The day had been a slog of tests.

By the time Seth had left her to go home, Val had endured: a very large blood draw; being asked to drink enough water to provide a urine test; being injected with a contrasting solution for multiple MRIs; various ultrasounds on various areas of her body; an eye exam, complete with some awful “puff of air directly into your eye” test; and finally, an expectedly unpleasant dental exam.

And there were going to be more the next day. Seth had broken them down - a CT scan, a stress test, and some sensory exams. They sounded just as exhausting as the ones she had just completed. And these were the ones that he had picked because they were less invasive? What else did they want to do, dissect her? The pain wasn’t a big deal anymore; it was more the lack of honesty that bothered her.

And sadly, that extended to Seth as much as his bosses. Val knew that he was trying to take care of her and make her feel safe, but she also knew that she was omitting information from her. Her obnoxiously sharp hearing had allowed her to hear him arguing with his supervisor to protect her the day before, but she also heard everything else - the concerns about her nightmares, the disturbance over her earlier injuries. Even during her tests, she had been able to hear Seth excuse himself for a phone call; it took all of her restraint not to bolt away from the ultrasound station when she heard that he had somehow reached Palmer. Why hadn’t Seth told her that he’d contacted him? If he was serious about re-earning her trust like he said, he should have.

But maybe Seth was just being oblivious again, like was in the past. She could hear a lot about this place, and she didn’t like it. The worst part was being able to hear the only other person who resided in one of these suites; in particular, she had heard him referred to as “Allan’s son”. What kind of place was this where the boss shunted his own child off to a glorified holding cell? Did Seth even know about any of this? Did he ever think to ask? Then there was a matter of the balcony in her suite. To a passerby, it looked like it gave her a peaceful view of a curated courtyard. But it was entirely indoors, a mocking artificial atrium. It low-key horrified her that her own father had worked for such a place, let alone Seth doing so now. It felt like another instance of Seth being way too trusting of people that he shouldn’t.

Val spent the evening sitting on her sofa, carefully documenting all that she had overheard. She took a break to look briefly at Owen, who was stretched out on its back, his front feet kneading slowly in his sleep. A germ of a plan was forming in her mind. She just had to get everything ready before she jumped into it.

—-----------------

As soon as the CT scan had finished, Seth ushered Val back to her suite. Even though she seemed flat and tired again, he had brought a treat that he was sure would surprise her. He gestured towards her seating area in the center of the suite, then hurried to the kitchen. A mix of excitement and pride gave him just the burst of energy he needed.

“You’re making breakfast?” Val asked uncertainly as she sat on the sofa. “You?”

“Yeah!” Seth replied, busily chopping fresh chives. “French style eggs - you’ll love ‘em.”

“Didn’t you almost burn the house down trying to jam a sandwich in the toaster to make it melty?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to learn how to cook,” he explained, now dicing butter into tiny bits. “You can watch TV if you want.”

“Nah, I tried doing that,” Val said. “Nothing was really worth watching. I watched some wrestling last night cuz I saw Jericho, but then some lady was waaaaaay too much like Deanna showed up and wouldn’t shut up, so I bailed. I… don’t have time for people like that anymore.”

“Yeah, we all found out some stuff after you left…,” Seth said warily. This was not a conversation he felt like having.

“You don’t know the half of it with her… It’s not worth talking about.” She paused. “Honestly, it’s more entertaining to just listen to everything in the building.”

“You can hear people?” Seth asked, trying not to sound nervous. “How?”

“My hearing was stupid boosted when I transformed. Now it’s just… always boosted. It’s kinda annoying, but I hear everything. Like, the middle elevator on the left side of the building? Don’t take it - it’s making a sound the other ones don’t. And there’s a lady on the sixth floor who stops her whole day to have hours-long calls with her sister about dating shit. It’s crazy.”

Seth slowed his food prep every so slightly. Val had clearly heard him yesterday when he thought she hadn’t, and this was just her way of letting him know. He didn’t feel comfortable telling her about his scheduled interview tomorrow morning; he wanted to see just what kind of person this Palmer McElroy guy was for himself before he felt comfortable letting her see him. A lot can change in twenty years - someone who might have been a decent person back when they were peers could have easily taken a dark turn. Val was trying to mask just how fragile she clearly was, and going to see someone expecting a happy reunion only to find they’ve turned into a creep would no doubt devastate her. But he had to observe for himself, and if Val was going to pretend that she hadn’t heard anything, so would he for now.

“Wow… that sounds annoying,” Seth said.

“Yeah. At best,” Val said with a sigh. “If this place has some kind of implant to tone it down to, like, normal levels, I’d give that a shot.” She paused. “But not just headphones. Don’t wanna walk around looking like a flight controller.”

“I’ll ask around.” Seth carefully started to plate the finished meal. “Probably can cancel the hearing test today if you want…”

“Please,” Val said. She stood up and walked calmly over to the dinette set. “So… French eggs…?” she asked as she sat down.

Seth turned and placed down two plates. Each had several slices of toasted baguette topped with extra creamy scrambled eggs; he then set a mug of tea next to each plate before taking his seat across from Val. By his own estimation, he thought the meal looked pretty good. He studied Val’s face carefully, trying to determine what she might think of the meal.

“Yep, French eggs. Bon appetit!” Seth said. Val gave him a slight smile and placed a forkful into her mouth. He waited eagerly as she chewed, still not sure how to read her reaction. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him. “Do you like it?”

Val nodded as she finished chewing. “It’s good,” she said. “Still not quite used to food yet…” She took another bite. “But this is good. Thanks.”

Seth smiled. “No, thank you,” he replied. “Not often I get to share my cooking.”

He’d tell her about the meeting with Palmer after the interview. For now, he just wanted to enjoy this brief moment of domesticity and eat.

—----------------

Unfortunately, instead of just dropping the hearing test, a new test had been bumped into its place - the time lapse test. It had been devised specifically for Val’s case file, which meant that she also had to be the guinea pig for its first use. Naturally, Seth wasn’t happy. He argued as best he could without being too emotional, although he knew that he had failed on some level. He pointed out the strain that these tests were taking on his; he suggested substitute activities that would be less upsetting, such as teaching her about history or technology. But each attempt was shot down, first with polite reassurances but then more firmly. So he had no choice but to explain it to her as he walked to the screening room with her.

“So what they wanna do is film how long it takes for you to transform,” Seth explained, his tone slightly defeated.

“Why?” Val asked. “It just kinda… happens.”

“They’ve never had an opportunity to film and record any kind of magic-based transformation before with the in-house equipment,” he explained. “I’m sorry - I tried to beg us outta this, but they wouldn’t listen.”

“Eh, no big deal,” Val said with a shrug. “I mean, you’ve seen how fast it is. I’m kinda curious if they can record it at all now.”

“It’s pretty bright, so it’ll at least burn out their lenses a bit. Serves ‘em right for springing this on us…” He opened a nondescript door to his right. “Here we go.”

After a brief explanation of the planned procedure, Seth was ushered to an observance room, while Val was led to the area being filmed. At least he could see her, since the room was a half-story above the filming area and also served as the control center for the cameras; but the whole endeavor still rubbed him the wrong way. The exercise felt somewhat… dehumanizing to him, as though they viewed Val less as a person and more as a strange alien. For all that she seemed blase about it, he knew it was another mask. She had been embarrassed about transforming in front of him and later for their parents; her impromptu transformation on that last day at school had been an act of frustration & self-defense that the circumstances had forced on her. Surely she was uncomfortable with being filmed in excruciating detail to observe her changes down to the nanosecond. He watched, half sulking in a stiff office chair, as Val nodded along with the instructions.

“Excuse me, Mr. Newman?”

The voice was polite, soft, and familiar. The IT agent, Inez Cervantes, was standing behind him. A naturally plump & kindly looking woman, he had interacted with her regularly when uploads or backups had gone wrong; she had always been patient and friendly, too, a vast difference from the other IT agents. She gave him a meek smile and waved at him, her brown eyes wide behind her signature sky blue glasses frames. Seth returned a smile of his own.

“What’s up, Inez?” he asked.

“Well… I was wondering if I could ask you about this case?”

Seth jumped slightly. Not only was this unexpected, it was risky. Val was right there, and he knew from earlier that she would definitely hear their conversation. He had to think of a good excuse.

“I think it’d be better to do this through text now, for security reasons,” he said. Hopefully, it would work.

Inez immediately pulled her phone from the pocket of her khakis. “Oh, sure, no problem,” she said as she almost instantly started to type.

Within a minute, Seth received a text.

[I] Id like to schedule an interview. I knew Vals sister & saw her in action.

[S] Sure. Let me know what time works for you.

[I] If we can meet this weekend that would be good.

[I] Will Val be there?

[S] I don’t think so. I do interviews alone so they’re not influenced. Allan’s rules.

[I] Good.

[I] Nothing against Val.

[I] But she probably didnt know that her sister was an asshole.

[I] You probably didnt either. Sorry. I will explain at the interview.

Seth looked up at Inez again. Her normally cheery expression seemed to have become shaded over and sad in a way he had never seen. At least not on her, anyway. He nodded firmly in her direction and resumed typing.

[S] No problem. Please let me know when you’re free.

Inez read the message, then looked at him. Her expression had brightened slightly, which left him strangely relieved. “Thanks,” she said. She put her phone back in her pocket and tucked a bit of her wavy bobbed brown-black hair behind her ear, less out of vanity and more as a nervous habit. “I’ll let you get back to your test.” She waved at him again and quietly left the room.

A brilliant flare of light emanated from the filming area, but Seth only saw it in his periphery. He hadn’t known Jenn particularly well, but Inez’s one-word description lingered with him. What little had seen of her didn’t quite fit the parameters of ‘asshole’; however, two weeks out of the year, with most of that time spent away from him, wasn’t the best way to gauge someone’s full personality. And given that Jenn had lived with their mother and what he knew about her, it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility that she had an unsavory side he hadn’t seen. Still, this wasn’t something he wanted to share with Val yet, at least not until he had conducted his interview. As he mentally praised himself for requesting that they talk by text, another flash of light flared from the filming area. He put his phone away and turned his attention back to the control area.

Allan, you son of a bitch, he thought to himself as he sighed. The technician was talking to Val, asking for another transformation; Seth could see her nodding, so this test must have been less uncomfortable than the others. But that knowledge couldn’t lighten his mood. You just threw a hornet’s nest at me…

—----------------

The closest Val came to sleeping when she was uninjured was when Owen wanted to sleep; it wasn’t a thing she needed, and since all it did when she got it was give her nightmares, she didn’t enjoy it. But if her cat wanted to sleep on top of her while she stretched out in bed, she was happy to oblige. When she told one of the people screening her about her experiences with sleep, she had been told that sleep was something that would still benefit her. That the nightmares were just her mind’s way of cleaning up clutter and that they’d probably ease off eventually. But she didn’t feel like waiting for “eventually”. The closest she’d get to sleep was laying down with a sleeping cat curled on her belly.

She had done another shady thing. He had tried to hide a conversation with someone about her, since he knew she would hear him. It made her a little angry, but more than anything, it disappointed her. All this time for him, yet he hadn’t really changed; he was still the same self-interested coward he had been in the past, just better at hiding it. If there was some rule that he had to hide certain information from her, then he should have explained as much to her. Otherwise, it felt like he saw the same way his colleagues did - as an inhuman lab rat unworthy of basic human dignity. The whole thing just hurt.

That was the hard part to accept. Those first couple of nights, it really felt like Seth had grown and wanted to reconnect with her as a family. But was that an act? If she couldn’t trust him to be open with her, why should she stay with him? As much as she wanted to leave, to go back to the Atrium and sleep again in that endless starry sea, that wasn’t going to happen. And she wasn’t sure if the Twelve Traitors would follow her if she left the Triboro/Teabury area; the residents would be defenseless against whatever they were planning, given how it had only been luck & desperation that let her temporarily best them. So Val was basically stuck.

But she didn’t have to be stuck as a specimen. An escape plan had started to foment in her mind. It would require careful timing, cover preparation, and maybe a sliver of luck. No one would be happy with her afterwards - not Seth, not the Traitors, not even Owen. But once Val set her mind to it, she stuck to her path.

Once the main staff went home tomorrow, she’d make her move.

—----------------

It took longer than Seth expected to finally reach the location of McElroy Auto Repair. At first, he thought it was in another town, given that he seemed to be passing nothing but the former orchards & woodlands that had been earmarked as preserved land. However, a few small signs indicating distance & direction for the garage started to dot the tree line parallel to the road. Finally, once the wall of forest subsided, he came across what appeared to be a former farm; a large 19th-century farmhouse was at the center of the property, with multiple smaller buildings serving as either work areas or storage scattered around it, all connected by various gravel driveways. The structure with the largest open doors had several cars parked near it, alongside a sign identifying that it was indeed the main garage. Seth parked alongside one of the vehicles outside of it and started to the building.

Just inside the first garage bay was a man - tall and sturdily built, even with a little of the pudge expected for people of their age. Flecks of gray had started to appear around the neckline & temples of his brown hair; sideburns of even thicker gray framed his face. He was whistling to himself as he knelt down to examine the tire of an old truck in the bay, dressed in a battered navy blue jumpsuit. A radio against the window played the local hard rock station, volume up just enough to be considered loud. Seth watched him for a moment, unsure how to approach him without disturbing his work.

“Be with ya in a sec,” the man said, accented by a noticeable drawl. He stood up, pulled a cloth from one of the cargo pockets on his jumpsuit and wiped off his hands. “It’s one thing to just steal a hubcap, but to replace it with a worse one?” he said, mostly to himself yet still in Seth’s earshot. He then looked up and flashed a bemused smile, his olive green eyes alight. “That’s a new one, huh? What can I do for ya?”

“Hi, I’m Seth Newman,” Seth said, extending his hand to shake. “I’m here for Palmer McElroy.”

The man grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shaking. “That’s me, I’m your man,” he cheerily responded. “You here about that interview?”

“Yeah,” Seth replied, nodding his head.

Palmer released his handshake and gestured for Seth to follow him. “Let’s go to the office, then. It’s got chairs.”

The two walked to a door with a glass top half along the far side of the structure. Inside was a cramped office, centered around a fairly overloaded desk; two stationary chairs sat along the wall, while a rolling chair was tucked under the desk. A haphazard collage of invoices, notes, and family photos covered the opposite wall. Despite the door, the office still smelled of oil and tire rubber. Palmer picked up a sign with a clock on it, adjusted the time on it, and propped it in the door’s window as he shut it.

“I gave us an hour,” he said as he motioned at the chairs and settled into the one at the desk. “Will that be enough?”

“Oh yeah, sure,” Seth said as he sat in the sturdier of the two chairs. He then placed his phone on the empty seat and activated a dedicated recording app. “First thing - it’s Foundation policy to record all interviews, then transcribe them. We’ll send you a copy of them if you’d like. If you don’t want to be recorded, then unfortunately we’ll have to get a recording of the refusal and then cancel the interview. Any questions?”

“Nah, makes sense to me,” Palmer replied. “I figured it’d be recorded so no big deal.”

“Great - let’s get started, then.” Seth took a breath and tried his best to seem professional. “So for our case file, we have two questions. One, when did you first encounter Miss Valerie Pollard, and two, when did you most recently encounter her?”

“Do you want details or just dates?”

“Details, please. Sorry.”

“No biggie.” Palmer sighed, thought for a bit, then started to speak. “I guess I first saw her in 1999, near the end of January. I’d been sent up here to help my Grandad clean up the ol’ farm - my folks were mad at me that I quit school, it’s a whole thing. Anyway, I was making room for some old boat parts when this thing appeared.

“It was the worst-looking thing I ever saw. Like a lobster but big as a bus! And it was drooling, like it couldn’t wait to eat me. And its drool was like… you ever see Alien? With the acid spit? Yeah, like that. I tried to scare it off with a shovel, but it broke it & pinned me by the shed and was lookin’ at me to figure out what to eat first. I really thought that was gonna be it.

“But then I heard a voice yell something, a girl’s voice. And then that thing screamed and backed away. And there was a girl there, with crazy green hair and a fancy dress, trying to fight it. But that thing caught her and was gonna rip her in half, and she’d dropped her weapon. So I grabbed it and started hitting that creature, didn’t even think. I just didn’t wanna see it hurt her.”

Seth listened and nodded, trying to maintain a poker face. Between this story and the monster attack that he had witnessed, he wasn’t liking the portrait he was getting of Val’s superheroic routine. He wanted to note questions to ask her, about these things and why they were here and whether they had ever injured her, but he knew it was best to concentrate on the current interview. He just had to remember them for later.

“What happened then?” Seth asked.

“Well… I don’t really remember cuz I think it hit me. I was in a different part of the yard, and my nose was broke. Again. But I did see her shoot that thing with an arrow that just vaporized it. After it was gone, she said her name was Phantom Violet and jumped off into the woods.

“Then, like a week later, I was in one of the old sheds when I heard a big crash. So I ran out, and I see that girl again. But her one leg’s all bloody and her side’s all cut, and she just looked bad. I went to help her, but she said not to call anyone. Said it’s too dangerous. But then she fainted and turned back into a normal girl, normal hair and all. She was still hurt but not as bad.”

“Why’d she say calling for help was dangerous?” Seth asked, trying to mask his concern.

“I didn’t know till she woke up,” Palmer explained. “I figured it was some superhero secret identity thing. So I gave her some first aid and took her to the old guest cabin to rest up. She woke up the next day, at least.

“She said that she had to leave her home, for everyone’s safety, so since she saved my life, I gave her a place to crash. And she stayed with me till I had to leave ‘round the end of February. My parents called me home, and she had to stay here to fight the monsters, so we said our goodbyes.”

“So you found out who Val was while she stayed with you?” Seth asked.

Palmer nodded. “Yep. She helped with my cleanup when she wasn’t on duty, so we hung out a lot.” He looked at nothing in particular, a sadness visible in his eyes. “I didn’t know she disappeared for a while. Wish I’d known about her wake and all…”

Seth paused for a moment and rested his hand over his mouth in thought. This was more than he had expected. He had been prepared for a story about a monster fight or a rescue. But meeting some strange guy? Staying with him? Letting him tend her wounds just to avoid being found by anyone who knew her? He had a million questions he wanted to ask this man, but he couldn’t do it on company time. He had to calm himself first before he even tried. He cleared his throat softly and turned his attention back to Palmer.

“Thank you for sharing that, Mr. McElroy,” Seth said. “Could you please share your recent meeting?”

“Oh, you can just call me Palmer,” he replied, snapping out of his minor funk. “It was a little over a week ago. I switched out smoking for vaping, but I still don’t wanna do it ‘round the kids, so I went out to the edge of the farm to a creek. It’s all preserved back there now, so it’s real nice.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it. Looks peaceful.”

“Yep. So it’s evening, I’m getting in a last puff for the night, and I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around expecting my wife, but it’s… it’s Val. She looked just like I last saw her. I kinda froze for a bit, cuz I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things or my juice was spiked or what.

“She’s looking at me all confused, like she does and doesn’t recognize me. So finally I ask her, ‘Val, is that you? Can ya hear me?’ And she looks at me even more confused and just says my name, real quiet.

“I’m still not sure what to say, but then she just steps forward and holds my face like this.” Palmer held up his hands in a parallel manner, palms facing each other. “And then she starts to babble, like she couldn’t believe she was seeing me. Until she touched me, I thought I was seeing a ghost.

“But she’s saying stuff like, ‘it’s you’ or trying not to call me old, and she says, ‘you came back, you really came back,’ and starts crying. Before I could say anything, she runs off so fast I can’t even see.” Palmer sighed and looked Seth directly in the eye. “Can I ask you a question?”

Seth nodded.

“Was that really her?”

Seth nodded a little slower. “Yeah, that’s really Val,” he replied. “We still don’t know how or why, but she’s back.”

“Is she… doin’ okay?”

“Yeah… if a bit restless. She’s staying at the Foundation for now, till her home’s ready. I wish I could give you more info, but Foundation rules and all.”

“She got any family in the area?”

“Yeah, actually. Me. I’m her stepbrother.”

Palmer lit up slightly and gently laughed. “Ooh yeah, she told me ‘bout you. Said you were a real dipshit.”

Seth laughed weakly. Of course anyone working under Val’s impression of him from that time wouldn’t think highly of him. And he knew that, to an extent, it was justified. But the cheery bluntness of Palmer’s reaction was still a tad shocking.

“She’s not wrong, but… really, what teenage boy isn’t at some point?” Seth exhaled loudly, not quite sighing. “I hope I’ve outgrown it. Anyway, I think that’s everything for now, Palmer. Thanks for the interview.” He stood up and extended his hand.

Palmer heartily shook Seth’s hand and nodded slightly. “It was nice talking to you. Just hope this helps.”

Seth switched off the recording app and placed his phone back in his jacket pocket. “It does, thanks. And once Val’s settled in, I’ll see if she wants to visit you.”

“Tell her that’d be great! I’d love her to meet my family,” Palmer said. He sounded genuinely excited by the prospect of her visiting; Seth could only hope that maybe she’d feel likewise.

As Seth started to drive back to his house, his thoughts were a jumble. Just how little he knew about either of his stepsisters, even the one that lived with him, was starting to get unnerving. Val had stayed with a total stranger during her time away; as pleasant as he had seemed, he couldn’t help but wonder - or worry - about the actual nature of their relationship at that time. He had known far too many people who could be outwardly cordial, then be heinously wicked in private. Worse, he knew that trying to discuss this matter with Val would be at minimum awkward. Anything more than that left him afraid of subjecting her to another breakdown. He just couldn’t do that to her.

And then there was what Inez had said - “ she didn’t know that her sister was an asshole.” What did that mean? Whenever Jenn came to visit, she usually spent her time catching up with Val; the lone exception was her final visit, where she brought her boyfriend and made things awkward for everyone. No one knew anything about her life in Illinois unless she shared it. Unless someone was truly deranged, they wouldn’t brag about behavior that made someone as soft-spoken & retiring as Inez deem them an “asshole”. Val would have no idea, just as Inez had said, and trying to involve her was again risking upsetting her.

He had to think of a way to address these issues with Val. It wasn’t just due to the case file at this point - it had become a family matter that would only do more harm if left ignored. It was just about how to approach everything. His stomach soured at the weight of it. Neither of them were the type who liked to walk on proverbial eggshells around people, especially each other; but this had gone beyond that into “walking on hot coals” territory.

More than anything at that moment, Seth wished that he had a parent to confer with, or a close friend who could brainstorm advice of some sort. But time & tide had left him largely alone. That was just the nature of things, as least as he saw it. He shoved this train of thought aside; this wasn’t the time to go down that miserable route again.

Today was a “break” day, after all, to give Val a day to herself to rest from her barrage of tests. The only obligations Seth had besides his dog’s routines were the interview he had finished and readying Val’s room. She wasn’t too comfortable at the Foundation, and he couldn’t blame her. The sooner she could get settled in at home, the better. By the time Seth reached the driveway of his house, he had started a plan of cleaning action.

Still, he should at least check on Val. He turned his car off, pulled out his phone, and sent a quick text. Hopefully, she’d get it.

—------------------

The sudden electronic noise and loud buzzing of the vibrating phone on the coffee table startled Val. As much as it looked like she had been reading, she had been carefully listening to the sounds of activity around her. She needed an appropriate lull to act on her plans, and as irritating as her boosted senses could be, they were her best avenue for implementing her escape plan. But the unwelcome sounds from the phone had completely derailed her concentration. After jumping in her seat with an audible yell, then looking at the phone with an expression of disgust, she sighed and picked it to see what had disturbed her.

[S] Hey. You doing okay?

The phone vibrated again in her hand and made the same noise as another message appeared.

[S] You bored?

Val thought for a moment. Seth had shown her what to do with phone messages like these. Since it was common knowledge that she wasn’t fond of talking over the phone. She tapped around until she remembered the procedure.

[V] im good just reading and resting

[V] still learning this thing cant find symbols ill get it eventually

[S] I’ll show you tomorrow.

[S] Gonna work in your room to get it ready so text me if you need anything.

[V] is this text i thought it was email

[S] No, texts are these. You’ll get it eventually.

[V] the library helped me with the computers all the old search sites are gone i had no idea what i was doing then i freaked out because i found dads grave online tech stuff is so weird now

[V] sorry that was a lot

[S] No worries. You’re a quick learner, you’ll do fine. I’ll call tonight okay?

Val rested her closed eyes against her thumb & forefinger. Hopefully by tonight, she’d be at least out of this facility. She didn’t want to worry Seth more than she already expected, but her not answering a call would do that. And this thing was so noisy that it’d easily give her away if it started making sounds again, even if it was just ringing without an answer.

[V] how do you turn down sound on phone want to nap but its too loud

[S] Do you know how to change the volume?

[V] yeah

[S] Then keep turning it down till the speaker icon has a slash thru it.

[S] I’m glad you want to take a nap. I was worried bc you weren’t sleeping.

[V] thanks i feel like resting tv is weird now too cartoon network kind of sucks no daytime toonami and everything else is crime shows id rather sleep

[S] I’ll help you find some stuff you’ll like tomorrow. I’ll call in the evening.

Val paused for a minute. Hopefully the sound would be silenced enough that he wouldn’t mess up her escape plans - if she decided to take this thing with her. But there was always a risk that Seth would panic if she didn’t answer, and that could result in him putting his colleagues on alert. That was a complication that she didn’t need in her already haphazard scheme. She sighed slightly and replied with a simple, quick lie.

[V] ok talk to you then

[S] Okay. Have a good nap!

She shook her head slightly as she followed Seth’s volume instructions. Now she had two complications, and unlike the first one, she had never factored it into her plans. She dropped the phone onto the open area of the sofa; as she stretched her neck backwards to rest against its back, she felt Owen gracefully hop onto her lap. After a few spins, he curled up and started to purr. Val sat back up and gently petted his back. The first complication was also reminding her of his existence.

“You’re gonna hate me after tonight,” she said quietly, almost a whisper, as she petted him. “But trust me, this is what’s best for both of us.”

—----------------

By the time it was dark, Seth had made what he considered to be an impressive dent in getting Val’s room ready. First, he put everything into three sections - stuff that he wanted to keep, stuff that belonged to Val, and finally stuff that he either would donate or discard. The first category was then divided further by where and how it had to be stored; fragile things that were temperature sensitive were carefully taken to the basement, while clothes, furniture, books, & such were carried up into the attic. Then the third category was processed, either readied for trash or labeled for a thrift store pickup. That only left the second & largest category - Val’s old things.

While some of her mementos had been put in the foot locker by her father, the amount of other things that had been left piled in boxes in her room had surprised Seth. Most of her favorite books & comics were there, and one large tote held her sewing supplies, ranging from loose floss to unopened kits. Another box had her old well-worn cassettes & CDs, usually compilations of 90s dance songs better known in Europe than here. Home VHS tapes labeled as simply “Toonami” or “MST3k” or “Simpsons” were stacked in one corner, most without their cardboard sleeves. Stray beauty items - a long-dried bottle of nail polish, some dusty scrunchies, a pendant with a Cape May diamond on a knotted chain - were scattered at random among everything.

Sorting through these proved to be the more difficult task, even if it wasn’t as physically taxing. Seth knew that these fragments of a life put on pause would be in here, but it was still a lot to work through them. Would Val want any of these? Her time away had affected her, that was obvious; it was just as likely that seeing these relics of her old life would upset her as it was that they’d comfort her. Anything that had been broken or spoiled, such as the nail polish, was easily discarded. But would she be happy to see her favorite books again or be reminded of her last family vacation? Or would these just remind her of all the time and people lost to her? He decided to clean up and organize what he could, then ask her if she wanted to see it to make her own choices.

Besides, Seth knew at least one thing Val would be genuinely glad to see. He was saving it for a ‘welcome home’ present. No matter what else of hers he found, he knew that gift would eclipse it.

It took Beefy whining to finally pull Seth away from this task. He had learned his dog’s body language well, and it was a tad alarming that Beefy had his ears tulipped & kept anxiously stepping in place. This wasn’t him asking for food or to go outside - in fact, he hadn’t fussed for his walk at the regular time, either. This was an attempt to say something was wrong in the house. Seth decided that sorting the room would just have to wait until this was addressed.

“What’s up, Beef?” he said to his dog, gesturing for him to come. Beefy whimpered, refusing to cross the room threshold and looking back at the stairs. “Something downstairs? Is someone here?”

As soon as Seth approached him, Beefy rushed down the stairway and to the front door, where he resumed his nervous stepping in place. This wasn’t like him at all; Beefy would bark if he even thought someone might be approaching the house, let alone waiting at the door. Seth peeked through the front door window, but nothing was visible from there. Cautiously, he started to unlock the front door.

That was when he heard it - a long, baleful meow.

Seth quickly opened the door and looked down at the step just past the doorway. Owen was there, barely contained in a box with makeshift air holes; chew marks dotted some of them, suggesting that he had tried to gnaw his way to freedom. A note had been wedged between the folds on the top of the box. As he gingerly lifted the cat box into his house, he gingerly removed the note. As he had feared, it was addressed to him, and he was in Val’s handwriting. He closed the door and sat on the nearest end of his sofa, his stomach already knotting.

Dear Seth,

I appreciate everything you’ve been doing to help me, but I can’t stay at that place. I don’t trust them, and I think they’re hiding stuff from both of us. Plus, I can't just relax until I know why the Traitors are here. So I’ll be tracking them down to figure out how they got here and to stop them from hurting anyone but me. I can take it. Please take care of Owen for me - he needs things that I don’t like food & shelter. He’ll get used to your dog in a day or two. Once I know it’s safe, I’ll come back to stay. I promise.

Love, Val

Seth stared into space, his arm frozen holding the note just below his eyeline. He ignored everything - Beefy sniffing at the box, Owen meowing, the ringing of his phone. He had to find Val again. It wasn’t just because it was part of his job. It was because he hadn’t made amends; it was to keep the promise to his stepfather; it was to reconnect with his last remaining relative. He couldn’t stand this feeling of failure that was overtaking him again. He had to find her, even though he had no idea how.