Amaranthine

“THAT’S how it works!?” Cait exclaimed. She’d thought it was some quirk of birth and geography, not a mind virus that was catching.

“Indeed,” The Director said, looking like she was making a mental note to check in on the political education system in the NAAC, “it emanates from the Godhead himself, and converts everyone in its radius who doesn’t have massive resistance.”

“Okay,” Cait said, mind racing against a new threat so massive it defied comprehension, “so, excuse me for asking, but how the fuck do we still exist then?”

Her panic seemed to serve to make The Director reconsider her stance on education. If this was how their toughest Altered reacted, the general public would likely be insensate.

“Frankly?” The Director sighed, “This one is luck. Altered Madness working in our favor. The Godhead has identified Atlanta as The Seat of His Return, and refuses to leave it. If he did, we believe the Tortoiseshell would provide some protection, and with Dawn’s Arbor DSM may well be a total safe zone, but it would lock us into an unwinnable siege.”

“Fuuuuck me…” Cait breathed. “That is a lot to take in.”

“Mmm,” Elizabeth hummed, “I’m remembering why we decided not make that public knowledge now. It’s still accessible of course, but ignorance is likely bliss. There’s very little we could do about it anyway.”

We’ll fuckin’ see about that, Cait thought, but Kennedy managed to convey resolve and patience in the same pulse of support.

“Like so many of this world’s issues,” Elizabeth sighed, for one moment looking truly tired, “it takes a backseat to the issues we can deal with.”

Her eyes regained a little steel as they traced the strong lines of Cait’s body, and saw the resolve in her daughter’s shoulders.

“Though who knows,” she continued, “the Godhead hasn’t dealt with this generation of Guardians yet. Now come, the rest of your team will already have seen, but I’ve had the reno crews make a little surprise for you all.”

Cait leaned over to Kennedy. “If your Mom made me a dog bed in her room, are you gonna be mad when I sleep in it?”

Kennedy’s laugh betrayed her pretend exasperation, and the dimple that appeared on The Director’s cheek told Cait she’d hit juuuust the right volume. Elizabeth turned, leading them to the elevator and out of the building.

“Nothing so lofty, Cait, I’m afraid,” she chuckled. “but I still think you’ll be pleased.”

The Palace was concerningly dead as they approached. Almost every window was dark, when usually there would at least be the light of a TV at this time of evening, as Guardians relaxed with their teammates before sleep. Now there was a smattering, the only fully lit room the Dawn Posse’s own corner suite, and maybe Lira’s room below it.

“Jesus,” Cait breathed, “we really lost a lot of people to the Bookkeeper didn’t we?”

It hadn’t been as stark, when the DC was behaving and the Guardians remaining weren’t so spread out. Now, the Dawn Posse was likely the only full team currently in DSM. Kennedy squeezed her hand in solace, but Cait knew that despite her self-imposed isolation, the losses would be hitting her harder. She’d lived at Blank Park for 8 years, to Cait’s 3 months.

“We’ll bounce back,” Kennedy whispered, “always do.”

Cait appreciated the sentiment, and wanted to believe in Kennedy’s experience. But the times, they were a-changin’, and AEGIS hadn’t taken a hit like this since it wasn’t even AEGIS yet. Since the Waves had started.

If The Director heard their dark musings, she didn’t show it. She spun as they approached the entrance of the dark palace, bouncing excitedly in a pretty good imitation of Lira. But when The Director bounced…. Damn.

“Come on! Come on!” she squealed, before turning and racing into a waiting elevator. Cait and Kennedy exchanged surprised looks, but didn’t let that stop them from following.

The elevator stopped a floor early, and The Director rushed out before they had the chance to point it out. They jogged down the hall behind her, until they reached the end, and thr door to Lira’s apartment.

“If the surprise is a foursome with Lira,” Kennedy scowled, “you know I can’t join, Mom.”

The Director rolled her eyes, called her daughter a prude, then palmed the pad to open the door.

Instead of the modern, well-appointed apartment Cait had spent a bit of time with Lira in when Kennedy needed space, a large, light filled atrium waited for them. It looked a hell of a lot more like The Directors Flatiron Penthouse than the upscale dorm-feel of their previous lodgings. And despite that having been the door to Lira’s flat, it really was their previous lodgings.

The ceiling had been knocked out, now rising past where the ceiling of their old room had been, to the vaunted rafters of the roof of the building itself. A spiral staircase in the corner led to a second level balcony, and what was likely the private bedrooms. As Cait’s eyes followed it up, two golden globes flashed in the shadows of the rafters, and an instant later, Rose slammed to the ground, shaking construction dust of the fixtures and rumbling as she bumped thighs.

Salad yowled his greeting down from the same rafter, and Cait was baffled as to how he’d gotten there. But she’d had the little idiot long enough to know if he could get up someplace, he always managed to get back down.

“Welcome to the Posse Penthouse! Silver lining of empty rooms: extra space and unoccupied grounds teams!” The Director announced with obvious delight. She had a slight twinkle in her eye as she continued; “Sorry, but the name is Non-Negotiable. Lira bribed me.”

“How!?” Kennedy asked, then blushed at her mother’s lascivious grin. “Yeah, no, don’t answer that.”

Speak of the devil, a pitter patter of agile feet on the balcony, and Lira backflipped down into view, landing with considerably more grace than the actual cat that had preceded her.

“Ta-da!” she yelled, beaming, entirely unclear if she was referring to the new penthouse or her acrobatics. Honestly, both were impressive. “Isn’t it dope!?”

“Hell yeah!” Cait agreed, running over to spin her up in a hug, getting a better look at the place as she did. The main floor, Lira’s old apartment, had been almost entirely replaced with an upgraded version of the theater style living room they’d had above, complete with a classy-ass kitchen to the side of the entrance. On the balcony Cait could see a door on either side, implying the existence of two bedrooms above.

She dipped Lira, the redhead giggling as Cait passed the Director’s kiss from earlier along to her. “Honestly babe, just like you to ask to move in by just knocking out the wall between our houses,” Cait teased.

“Right!?” Lira laughed. “That’s not it though, come on!”

She sprinted off up the stairs, and Kennedy beat Cait to follow along on the tour. Lira bounced backwards as she passed the door on the side of the balcony landing, gesturing at it excitedly. “That’s Gwyn and B-Man’s room, they are definitely fucking, so no tour for now, unless you wanna actually be a fuck-puppet. I tried to peek and it was like a bunch of grabby kelp with one very happy, very busty mermaid in the middle.”

She did another flip onto the railing, apparently just for style points, then off of it onto a rafter between the balconies before doing the same on the other side. She beckoned for them impatiently.

Cait didn’t feel like she could match the acrobatics, but she didn’t need to, blasting herself across the gap with ease, while Kennedy glided over on raven wings, Rose close behind.

“Psh, I didn’t even need superpowers,” Lira said, scowling and sticking out that cute pink tongue. Her smile returned almost instantly, as she pushed the door open

Inside, again, it was more or less an upgraded version of their old room. A King- and-then-some bed, more windows, good lights, tasteful fixtures, though Cait noted none of her stuff, i.e. battlestation, wardrobe, was in sight.

Lira caught the question before it left her lips.

“Polycule bedroom!” she announced with a wide flourish, then pointed to new doors set into the interior walls. “Bathroom and closets, annnnnnd an extra bedroom in case one of us needs space. Oh, Cait, all of you, Gwyn, and B-Man’s nerd shit is in a room off the living area downstairs.”

The door Lira had indicated as ‘bathroom’ swung open, and a gloriously nude Qi stepped out, wearing a deliciously sharp grin.

“Plus,” she growled, “check this out!”

Her throat swelled red, and an unrestrained inferno burst from her mouth. Cait dejectedly followed its trajectory to the comfortable-looking bedclothes about to be consumed, only for the flames to lick over them, leaving them unscathed as they abated.

“100% Me proof!” she declared excitedly, then looked with concern at her claws. “Well, the fire part of me at least.”