Visiting Old Friends (LOL, JK) -Audrey-

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they deserved so much b e t t e r Months. It had been a little over three months since coming back from that place. The place that Edmund was trying so hard to block out and wipe from his mind. The wounds were starting to heal... slowly... but there were a few things that still weren't right with the world. Look, I'll keep trying to find...something... anything... I dunno...sorry I-.... After Ed had gotten back, he had learned that Nova, Clare, Chris, Felicity, and a couple of others had been experiencing a few side effects of nothing pleasant. Of what that doctor did to them. And that hit a certain nerve on him. A pretty big one. Nothing was seemingly being done. So, he started to take it on himself, and started to research. ---------- So, Felicity... I may've not been joking when I said I wanted to visit those two crazies down in the dungeon. Ahhh, okay, that's fine. Just let me know if there's anything I can write a column on, I'll be sure to keep you anonymous and if Remus asks about the key I'll say he left it at my place one night.... Just don't do anything stupid or I'll have to slap you.   Is that a threat or a promise? Both.  Would you expect anything different? Of course... and no. Wouldn't want to. ...but let's be real. When do I not do something stupid? ---------- Was going down to the dungeons and doing what he was going to do possibly count as stupid to her? Probably. Was what was running through his head going to count as stupid? Definitely. But first he had to make sure that it was last resort. To make sure of that, he had to visit an old friend (maybe two if he so desired). Sure, doing so was illegal and whatever, but everyone knew how Ed felt about rules by now... It took some patience, which wasn't high on Ed's list of virtues. If possible, it got even worse after being there. So he sat quietly, below Felicity's Tree, eye on the Principia. After having Cinny scan the place, he finally moved in. In a morbid twist of thoughts, thanks to his own time in imprisonment, he had no problem finding the dungeons. It was even easier getting past the guards. Josh and Ethan were rubbing off on him. He took a small noise popper, and threw it to the opposite halls. That made them run off. Someone that got past their defenses. Scary. Then again, Ed had almost succeeded in burning his file... so. Well, that should send them on a wild goose chase for a good while. He flipped out the key Felicity gave him, put it into the lock, and pushed, then locked the door behind him. And now he was probably on a time crunch, but whatever. This was important. If they found him and tried to force him out while in the middle of it, he'd take them out. Not kidding. He walked downstairs, keeping an eye on the cells and walking until he reached the one that contained the woman he was looking for. "Watkins." COMMENTARIUM: Tada! Hope you didn't mind that I snagged some of our ICCs VERBA: 521

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She had really gotten use to the grease in her hair and the dirt under her nails. It took a few days, more like a week, of her feeling absolutely disgusting before she actually got over it. After all, she was a doctor and scientist, being clean was part of her job. She use to take a shower everyday and probably washed her hands more often then she would like to admit. Of course, being stuck in this dungeon didn't really grant her that opportunity. She understand why she was still locked up. Couldn't let someone go or kill them if people were still suffering. The only thing that made up for it where the times Kyle would come down. Who know that her old college crush was secretly a demigod. Let alone related to some of the people she had been tasked to mess up. Yet still, she couldn't help the little skip her heart did when she saw him come down. Sure, the first few meetings weren't happy or cute but now, they had gotten better. And when he came he always had with him a warm drink and sweet snack for her. He also was able to tell her what Jason was like growing up. To think he was one of the people keeping her captive, her own son. True...she did give him up. Oh well.

Speaking of visitors she heard the shuffling steps before she heard the voice. She glanced in the direction of the steps, they weren't familiar foot falls so it must have been someone new. She moved her focus off of the staircase and back to the equations she had written in the dirt of her cell. She told Kyle she would help in anyway she could, and that meant reevaluating all the equations to what went into the experiments in the first place. It was actually getting quite confusing, especially since she was just left to do it out of memory and on a dirt floor or with a rock on the wall. Honestly her cell probably resembled that to a crazy persons.

Then she heard the voice. It was a tad familiar. Only last time she heard it it sounded a lot more warn and ragged, too slurred for her taste. She glanced at him with a look that maybe a statement of him not being worth her time. "Aren't there rules about who they let down here?"

words: 419
notes: Yay!!! Audrey and Eddie, the besties for lyfe

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m a s q u e r a d i n g as a man with a reason Ed's first impulse was to ask for a power swap. Nova had gone through enough at her age. Damage taken during a war was one thing. They were still working on her spine, which would hopefully work. Damage taken while held captive and tortured was another. They couldn't really even determine how to fix the problem... so, what better way to figure that out than to go to the source? But that was reserved for if he couldn't do a power swap. Which he couldn't. At least he didn't find anything on it. In those moments in the library though, reading both spine and demigod lineage books, he decided that he didn't necessarily need his powers... he could probably make and repair weapons on muscle memory... But he didn't find anything. And asking Vulcan (or anyone, for that matter) would be awkward as hell. So, he moved on to the next best option: fixing it. He could fix swords, armor, trinkets, toys.... but powers? That'd be a whole other animal. His determination just increased ten fold after Felicity told him that her powers had started to disappear as well. But that was also the conversation that gave him an idea. He could've hit himself over the head he was so stupid. He had seen this power loss before. The ruins. The cuffs. He could always ask Ronan how he made Miyuki's. He could also go back to the ruins. How the hell did the ruins make them lose their powers anyway? A spell? Some gas released into the air? Who knew? Maybe he could find that out too. He didn't think any of them had ever figured it out. All they had known was that he had to get the object out and get out alive. Still, even with those two options, it still didn't hurt to go down to see Watkins. Who knew? Maybe the infirmary was working on it and Ed had just been too reclusive to really notice. Or they were keeping it under wraps. Secrecy was a big thing around here. At least Ed looked better than the last time they had seen each other. The scratches, bruises, and swellings were gone. And this time she was the one behind the bars, not him. She looked a bit worse for the wear as far as the hygiene department went... then again, he had looked like that twice, so he really couldn't comment. Littered around the floor were equations. Ones he didn't understand. He looked at them, eyes partially narrowed as his own brain tried to comprehend them. Where those good or bad... eh, he'd find out. At her statement, Ed merely shrugged at her tone of voice. "I've never been one for following rules." COMMENTARIUM: lol you know it xD VERBA: 458

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He sure knew how to be a captain obvious, didn't he? She knew he wasn't one for following rules or being nice or heck, accepting a freaking bowl of soup when it was offered. Whatever. Had he come to gloat that now it was her behind the bars or something? Honestly, the security here was pathetic. She'd put that blame on the other praetor, while she might not have known Jason she was still his mom, no matter how awkward that was. Good gods, he wasn't all that much younger than she was, at least in appearance. It was stupid.

"Really? Never would have guessed. Though, I am curious as to why you're down here. Something tells me they didn't just let you down here and tell you to have fun." Audrey said with a slight smirk. This kid was annoying, always had been. Though he was tough or whatever because he wouldn't talk or accept a harmless bowl of soup to help warm him up in a cold, dark cell. Was she still annoyed at that? Perhaps, but c'mon, it was stupid of him. She knew how to care for her patients, or experiments, however you wanted to put them. She didn't care how people put it anymore. She was probably never going to get out of here. No matter how many times Kyle will try to convince her she will. She could try to help the camp save the people she had corrupted but then what's to stop them from just axing her off? Obviously her son was not all that eager to save his mother. Not that she could blame him but still. She was just, tired.

Though she was curious as to what the kid was down here for? If it was for a cup of soup she was going to grab the single rock in her cell and throw it and hope it cuts his eye at the very least. But in reality, probably to cry about the horrible stuff she did and how she was a monster. Heck, maybe since enough people were starting to hate her she could end up being in some story that later refers to her as a myth. Hm, what kind of horrible creature would they paint her as? She was brilliantly smart and couldn't help finding a good paying job and just doing what she was told in order to keep said job. Have you seen the economy? Could you honestly blame her?

words: 428
notes: hehehe, I have fun writing her but it's always short

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m a s q u e r a d i n g as a man with a reason If he thought hard enough about it, there must've been one or two campers who had dubbed him "Captain Obvious". Behind his back, to his face, whichever. Didn't matter to him. It didn't really matter... because truth rang in the name. As it so happened with every nickname under the sun that people decided to give him, either derogatory or endearing. Ed still wasn't so keen on the latter, but he accepted them from certain people. Two years (or had it been three? It all started blurring together...) had given him a plethora of aliases. It was nearing ridiculous. Edmund Ryan "Traitor, Laddy, Lock Buddy, Little Buddy, Idiot, Captain Obvious, Forge Boy, Blacksmith, R2D2, Grease Monkey" Simons. Try fitting that on a job application. And that was without all of the derivatives of Edmund. Those... those were just in a category all their own, especially after going on the quest with Ethan.  "They didn't let me down here." Security around here really did need to get whipped up into shape. First getting in to burn his file, now this. Plus, no one really suspected anything fishy with the dogs. He had been meaning to de-fax machine them, but between the war, imprisonment, Art, and then the government, along with, oh, asking the Praetor who hates you, plus the fact that you're a traitor... well, his prospects weren't that great. Still, maybe he could convince Remus that they needed another tuneup or something. "And I don't do fun." Okay, that was shaping up to be a lie (especially around a couple of people), but what wasn't a lie in Ed's life? Fun. No, no... especially not around her, but he did like to antagonize and annoy (as she probably already knew). "But I will take you up on soup one day," he said with a smirk. Could he go on a rampage and chew her out? In all technicality, yeah. He had the right to, on behalf of everyone else there who had been affected. They had all been dragged through hell, but at the same time, he didn't have any room to talk about being horrible, or a monster, or the entire "I did what I had to spiel". Besides, other people had it worse there.  "But really. I... camedown here... to..." he exhaled. I can't believe I'm doing this. She is most definitely going to say no. That's the worst she could do, right? If she does, I'll just keep digging... "...ask foryour help." ....yeah, okay. Why did he even bother? It sounded stupid coming out of his mouth. Even stupider if one took into account who he was asking since she probably hated him. No surprise there. COMMENTARIUM: I'M SO SORRY <3333333 *cuddles* I'm back now :D VERBA: 450

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Audrey found herself narrowing her eyes at him. "So then how did you get down here?" If that little twerp was able to find a way to break in perhaps she would be able to figure out how to break out. Not that she didn't trust Kyle to eventually find a solution to her release, it was just, well, she was impatient was probably the best way to put it. Very impatient and she really missed a shower. It had been months that she had been down here after all, she was ready to get out and would be willing to do whatever it took.

Then he had to bring up the stinking soup. Way to make him sound even more of a pain. The one moment she had tried to be nice to him and he just didn't take it and now thought that it would be good fuel to make light of? How incredibly rude. At least when she visited him she had brought him something to enjoy, even though he didn't take it. From what she could tell her visitor she was receiving had come empty handed. "Too bad, that was a one time offer. You'll have to find someone else to go on a soup date with kid, you're not my type." She said with a huff and sat on the little bench in her cell, no longer interested in who was down here.

That was until he mentioned why he had come down here. What would he possibly need her help with? And what was something that he would be willing to give her in return? Like she had mentioned before, he had come empty handed before, what was to make this time any different? "My help?" SHe laughed some. "So what? You think since I'm down here I'll just roll over and do whatever you kids want? Please, what do I get in return and what do you need my helped with anyway. Maybe I can't even do it." She said as she crossed her arms and looked at him, obviously annoyed. Now, she didn't think she wouldn't be able to do whatever he probably came down here for, she was a genuis after all. She was capable of doing a lot from the confides of her cell. THe littering of assorted equations at wherever she could find space was obviously example enough to support her self confidence.

words: 414
notes: short and you waited, I'm so sorry

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m a s q u e r a d i n g as a man with a reason "I can walk through walls," he scoffed, layering on as much sarcasm as he could. And that's all she'd ever get from him. It was fairly easy to follow her line of thought. If he hadn't been so busy beating himself up seven ways from Sunday, he would have realized those feelings too: the suppressed feeling of being physically trapped and confined to a cell. Being in a cage usually led to a natural tendency to just break out. Or at least that's how he felt. Then again... wait, how long had he been missing. One month? Two? Three? Wow. He couldn't even remember. Had he been imprisoned longer than her? Well.. no matter, no matter. No shower was no shower. It got real disgusting real fast. Mix in blood and sweat and even more so. Ugh. No wonder he had blocked it out. Or at least, he had tried to. Only time would tell if he had been successful. He probably hadn't been. Just like everything else. One of his old, small smirks flittered across his face. Ah, back to what Edmund did best: ticking people off. Of course she'd still be bitter about the soup. She had been playing the good Doctor who "had only been doing her job" anyway. Her job had cost the mental stability of several of them, and the memory damage of at least three. "Oh, how incredibly hurtful... I've been rejected. Then again, you're not my type either." He inhaled, pausing. You're okay. Don't panic and don't start stammering. He had a four month build up to this: reducing flinching, stammering, fast talk, and trying to sound more like his old self. He wasn't going to let it fall to pieces. Not now. All he had to do was go through with it. Detach and float away like a ballon. Pretend he was talking to someone he was comfortable with. Okay, the latter part was a bit hard if not impossible, but he knew how to detach. Laughing was never a good sign. Well, usually it was, but in these circumstances, no. In an event such as this one, it became associated with "I'm too far gone you can't touch me", insanity, or finding an idea too ridiculous to even consider. Of course, the only logical conclusion became that she would say no. Why would he think any different? "No, not really." he shrugged. "Nothing comes without a price." Except when I make things and give them out, but that's a conscience decision. He had been prepared for this. She had nothing else to lose, so why not bargain? Besides, Ed had no power over her. Of course she'd expect something out of this. And then came the "what do you want" aspect. "...well, while we...whilewe were captured, some'vethem got tested on." Great, there went his control. "Uh... two've'em lost their memory... and another two've lost their powers. I... Could you reverse it? Or d'you even know how?" And what would she get in return. Right. His eyes wandered around her cells. Numbers... on the floor. "Paper, a temporary pen.... maybe a shower if you're really lucky?" COMMENTARIUM: All good <3 VERBA: 525

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She couldn't help when he started stammering. True, the old Audrey might have tried to figure out how to get through the psychological barrier that might be hindering his speech. But after having her stuck in a cell for months on end she seemed to start caring less and take pride in the suffering she caused. The only time she ever felt guilty about what she did was when Kyle was around. Her feelings for him brought her back to her old self, but unfortunately for the stammering little demigod in front of her she had no sympathy anymore. She would still hear him out, yes, but no promises on anything else.

Besides, with the information he had given there really wasn't anything she could do. "You know, I can't do anything unless I know who these people are. I did a lot of stuff and saw many people. Hard to know what I did to cause these problems that you speak of. Though really, my work is flawless so it's probably something done on purpose or some weird anomaly." Audrey said with a shrug, making sure to sound smug and full of herself because that was how she honestly perceived herself and the work she did. She was the best at it, end of story. That's why the government wanted her so badly after all.

"Though I will take you up on the shower. But I won't do anything until I have it. And good luck trying to get me "go through walls"." Audrey added in an annoyed tone, teasing back to what he had said previously on how he was able to even get down here. She was done with games and waiting. If he wanted her to do something for him then by all the gods in every religion known to man, she would get her blasted shower.

words: 320
notes: so short, I am so sorry

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m a s q u r a d i n g as a man with a reason Edmund would work through the stammering. Just like he was working through everything else. Like nearly everything else, he had a pretty good idea where it had stemmed from. Maybe try remedying it bit harder because speech was expected of him. Damn it, times like these... he just wished nothing had ever happened. Either that, or he wished that he had died in the house fire. Some may've called it lucky that he got out alive. He saw it as more of a curse, but whatever, his body refused to die yet. It actually would've been a lot easier if he was a machine. Do a hard reset and he'd be back to his default settings, his normal self. He wouldn't be down here. He wouldn't have been bargaining. He wouldn't have been stammering. Because he wouldn't have cared what happened to them. As much as he wanted (or tried) to revert, it would've been too hard. Not only for him, but for everyone else. And Ed couldn't really stand putting them through anymore pain. He had done that to Lyn, and nothing good had come of it. Hell, he had done it to the entire quest team. He had caused way too much of that in three years or less. "Well, don't be too modest," he muttered, his forever running dialogue of sarcasm bubbling to the surface again. "Weingarten lost her powers gradually, Silverwood's never came back. Ashby's memories are gone." It's a wonder how he had gotten exempted from the experiments. Most of them seemed to have gone in for it. Then again, they needed others for the information, so... How amusing (and the frustrating) it must have been. Especially if they had researched him and seen that he had been a past traitor. "Alright," he nodded, his mind already coming up with different ways of doing this. The really obvious choice became sneaking her out and having her shower in the fifth cohort barracks when he knew they were out for their daily training session. The next was at the Rogers house, but there was just too much land between here and the house where something could possibly go really wrong. He could always chain them together, or create a bio restraint, or shock thing so she wouldn't be able to get away or move too far. The other one entailed creating a sort of collapsable shower, somehow connecting it to the water pipes, and bringing that down. Only thing was, he wasn't a water expert, so he'd have no idea how to do that. "But going through walls is rather fun," he said, his mouth twitching up in a slight smirk. "Give me a day to figure out a shower." COMMENTARIUM: Ed's just really hyper today >.> Not hyper, but you know what I mean xD VERBA: 432

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Audrey couldn't help but smirk as she replayed the experiments on those three on her head. God, the equipment she had, state of the arc. Sure, her stomach twisted when she first put them through the process but she didn't realize how great of a gig she had before she lost it all. But the way she did things, it was so precise and well articulated. Nova obviously went as expected. That was kind of the scenario she was hoping for. But for the Weingarten, she was the daughter of Pluto, right? Well, if memory served her right she as and all she did was try to alter the memory and try to persuade her to make her a bit of a servant or weapon for them. Though it was weird for her powers to be gone. Though she did learn that the powers flared with emotionally connection so maybe she was blocking some emotion or memory of something. The same went for AShby, the son of Jupiter. He got the most of that type of experiment because they started on him first. It made sense that his memories were gone. That was completely her fault, that meant he was close to becoming theirs if only she had had more time with him.

Audrey smirked. "Well, Nova was intentionally. She was a guinea pig experiment before we headed to the big three kids. Chris got the most of it and part of their experimentation was to wipe any memory of who they were, as we were trying to fashion them into weapons. And as for the other girl," Audrey shrugged. "I don't know. It's probably her fault. Powers are linked to emotions and memories. So she is probably blocking something that is keeping her from accessing her powers. Probably something in connection to her time locked up as that would make the most sense since we were messing with her powers a bit while she was there. But as you can see, Chris still has his so we weren't blocking them." Audrey rambled off the answers.

"I don't really know what to tell you. I can't do anything here without equipment or inspecting them. So, get me out and they'll be good. Final offer. I can fix them." A tad stretch of a bluff but if it got her out then she would do anything.

words: 402
notes: sorry about the wait

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m a s q u e r a d i n g as a man with a reason  Perhaps a bit selfishly so, Edmund wished that he had his memories wiped instead. Well, (a) so Chis would remember things because he actually had important things to remember (like his girlfriend and being co-centurion of first) and (b) so Ed could get a new slate. He wondered if it would also alternate his personality, which, all in all, probably wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world, especially if it altered it so he was nicer. The others could become his friends, family in the future and everything went fine. But that wasnt the case. It would never be the case. Ed eyed the doctor as she started to remember. He didn't particularly want to hear or see the Doctor enjoy her well done experiments, but if it would help the others, then so be it. Everyone had their craft… demigod experimentation was just hers, he supposed. Why had she done it again? Hadn't she told him it was all for the money? Gods knows how much they had been paying her, especially the government was behind it. What was one more nightmare, anyway? Shut down and drift away, but tether yourself so you can come back. Detach from emotionality temporarily so you can analyze it, devoid of bias or sentiment… gods what was he even thinking? He could barely do that these days.  He just nodded as Audrey started to spill all the information, his face blank. So they had been trying to mind wipe them for the government… but hadn't succeeded because their time had been cut short. Still, that didn't mean that they hadn't succeeded in a minor degree. The mind was easily persuadable and rather malleable, especially under duress. Chris's mind had been wiped, but it didn't look like he had been formed into what they wanted… unless there was a trigger word or something. Felicity's predicament made sense: powers connected to emotion. That's how he had probably started his house fire, strife + fear, out of control emotions gave away to out of control powers. He just wished he could've been experimented on in place of Nova. All Watkins got of those thoughts though was a simple, flat, "Okay." He raised a slight eyebrow and took a step away from the cell. "I'd say I believe you, and to a degree I do, but not completely. I don't trust you, that much you should probably know. You should also know that I've been exactly where you've been sitting and if I hadn't been in such a bad mental state or beaten every few days, I would've said anything to get myself a shower too. But still, I'll bite. See you in 48 hours." Wow, too much talking. Time to leave. And with that, Edmund ascended back up the stairs, checked if the coast was clear, and left the Principia. COMMENTARIUM: Wow late >.< Sorry! I think that's the most Ed's ever said in one go on a thread o.o VERBA: 475