Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - [Prologue] Velocity (complete)

[Velocity]

"No way you can do that. Not in a thousand years", Gerardo said giving Velocity a toothy grin.

"And I'm not going to 'steal' from such a gorgeous young woman like you are... at least not this obvious."

Velocity smiled at the small gathering of street kids. No one was older than maybe 25 and they all grew up in the wake of the 'event' but were not Indigos. They were a gang and reaped of what was left of the former metropolis.

"Common, Ger - 100 bucks. Set your clock, I'll be back in two seconds.", Velocity offered again.

"And how are you going to prove you actually ran the distance?", Gerardo asked waving off her offer.

"I call bull..."

Looking at his gang the gorgeous redhead smiled broadly, "Set your dogs up, one every 100 feet... and set your cellphone cameras on video mode. If that's not proof enough then you'll get your money back. Deal?"

"Easy money, chica - Deal.", Gerardo agreed nodding at his gang. His people quickly covered the distance messaging him that they were ready.

Velocity walked to her mark in the meantime concentrating on the path she was about to run. Inwardly she knew it was not a real challenge. She ran the distance several times in roughly 2 seconds, even faster. Making it in one second was her next goal and she felt it was just within reach if she just tried hard enough.

"Ready?", she asked Gerardo who gave her a smile and nodded... and then she was gone... followed by a deafening bang and there she was again a gush of wind behind her as she stopped. Gerardo stared at her in disbelief his usual selfconfident look wiped away all of a sudden.

"Easy money?", Velocity smiled counting the stash which she had picked up before she came to a stop.

"Impossible...", Gerardo stuttered but she was already gone.

[jameson (ST)]

One hundred dollars and most of the evening to spend it. Valerie was plenty used to such extravagance, it was easy to con a shmuck or two for cash when she wasn't getting something from the Boss for running a package of something or other across town in an instant. Weapons, drugs, anything small enough to carry with a high value and an lack of legality. She got paid well enough considering the time invested. Hell if you calculated it out to an hourly rate Velocity was probably the highest paid person in the US.

Unfortunately contrary to popular belief money did not buy happiness. Sure she could be home in a second but home wasn't anywhere worth being for the most part. She could go to a movie but that meant sitting in the same place for a couple of hours. Her bother worked and had made it abundantly clear that she shouldn't bother him when he was working. So Valerie found herself with a hundred bucks on a Saturday night and wondering what the heck she wanted to do with it.

[Velocity]

Valerie's victory rush was short lived - as so much in her life. There wasn't much that really lasted for long. Daniel, her brother was completely different. He was responsible and reliable and put much emphasis on his relationship to Olivia. God she wanted to hate her so much but Livi was too nice... to friendly and never really tried to take Valerie's place. Sometimes she thought it would be easier to hate Daniel's girlfriend because then she could just ignore his rules and show up anytime she wanted.

Going back to mom wasn't an option either. She was probably drunk anyway and she'd cuss her ass out at Valerie if she dared to show up.

"100 bucks...", she sighed. 50 would go into her online activities - she recharged her iTunes account and other essentials she couldn't live with to keep her more or less care free for this month. That left her with another 50 to spent at her leisure. Food was always a good idea, her enhanced metabolism demanded loads of energy and she had to oblige else she'd find herself getting terrible cramps like a few weeks ago when she didn't pay attention and lost all her money on a stupid. That really sucked

Forcing herself to walk 'normal' she found herself to the next fast-food diner and ordered herself a huge menu that would've lasted for at least 2 grown men. While she was waiting for her food she started up her netbook and logged into the IN making sure no one was watching.

Velocity: Hello folks, it's another of those days, I'm bored to death and got nothing particular to do. Anyone out there who'd like to have a chat?

While she was waiting for a response she made a quick fotosnap of herself with a wad of bills showing off which she posted on both her facebook and twitter labeling it "Easy money". That should get her some responses and thus reduce the time for being bored...

[jameson (ST)]

Originally Posted By: Sparky

Nothing to do? On Saturday evening in this lovely city of ours? :sarcasm:
Can't chat tho. Got tho, sorry.

Originally Posted By: Brick

You run super fast? why not find something to do?

Her food came as she was reading the first couple of replies. Not that that slowed her down much, or at all really. By the time the waitress came by to check on how everything was what everything was was "eaten". The plates sat void of food, the soda was nothing but ice and the girl sitting there just looked up and nodded when asked if she wanted a refill on the soda.

Mystified the waitress cleared some dishes and left the dessert menu before heading away to get another soda and tell her coworkers about the human vacuum in booth 24. Valerie barely noticed as she tried to control the impulse to reply faster that people could read and reply to themselves. Everybody seemed so slow.

[Velocity]

Originally Posted By: Sparky

Nothing to do? On Saturday evening in this lovely city of ours? :sarcasm:
Can't chat tho. Got tho, sorry.

Velocity: Haha, very funny Sparky. Why don't you tell me what's keeping you so busy, maybe I can have some of the fun, too?

Originally Posted By: Brick

You run super fast? why not find something to do?

Velocity: What do you mean 'Find something to do?' What do you think am I doing right now? And it's not only super fast running

She looked at her empty plate as she pushed the netbook to the side and sighed. I could eat that again..., she had to admit looking out for the waitress. Finding her she waved at her briefly pointing at her empty plate forming with her mouth 'One more' hoping the waitress would get the message.

Why not find something to do?, the question seemed so simply and was yet so true. Valerie had no job, no education, no certificate of having accomplished anything. All she had were her superpowers but she couldn't live of that alone. Maybe if she made contact with those italian dudes again and ask them if they had something better for her to do than just courier work?

But I think they're like Mafia or something and that means trouble and I don't want to end up like Dad... or even worse, Mom...

The gorgeous redhead glanced at her netbook again staring at the blinking cursor. She knew it was blinking sevaral times in fast sequence but if she concentrated like now on it the intervals got longer and longer until she had the feeling that almost a minute past before the next blink. Unfortunately all that looking and focusing didn't get her any faster responses to her messages... why was everyone so slow? The world was such a boring and frustrating place if she wasn't free to move at her own speed and even if she did, things took longer to catch up with her, except for computers maybe.

"God... I'm so bored..."

[jameson (ST)]

Another round of food came. And went. Still no replies. Another soda turned to nothing but ice. Still nothing. Valerie looked at her watch and wanted to cry, ten whole minutes and nothing. She was paying her bill when the screen refreshed:

Originally Posted By: Velocity

Velocity: Haha, very funny Sparky. Why don't you tell me what's keeping you so busy, maybe I can have some of the fun, too?

Originally Posted By: Sparky

Work. Sure you can come and do all my work for me if you like. Frying hamburgers iz l33t.

Originally Posted By: Velocity

Velocity: What do you mean 'Find something to do?' What do you think am I doing right now? And it's not only super fast running

Originally Posted By: Brick

Only.

Go find something, if you can run as fast as you claim you could be clubbing in Boston, or getting chow in Philly, or even DC. Sheesh, don't expect us to entertain you.

Typical Brick reply. Brick was a dick. Valerie giggled at the little rhyme. Still, dick though he may be, Brick made a good point, even if Val didn't have any desire to visit Boston or Philly or D.C. she could go anywhere in New York in seconds flat. There had to be something fun going on in this town, Velocity just needed to decide what it was she wanted to do.

[Velocity]

Valerie stared at the scrreen for a short moment and then shut the netbook sighing somewhat depressed.

Her food got served and she virtually inhaled it as she contemplated her next step. She got her cellphone out and typed int the number of her contact with the Shreveson Mob - it was time to move on and stop doing the courier runs she did for them. Maybe if she got something with more responsibility they'd pay her better.

The phone connected after the second ring, "Hey 'Sup - Yeah, it's me, Vel. Gotta job for me?"

She waited a moment before the voice answered, "Really? I can be there in 5 minutes!", excited she hung up and left the waitress enough money to give her a generous tip.

Within a few heartbeats she made her way to the appointed alley knocking on the heavy steel door and waiting impatiently for her contact to answer. She wasn't really sure if she was ready for this but now it was too late. If things got ungly she could still run away - couldn't she?

[jameson (ST)]

The door opened to a stereotype right out of film. A back room, the walls lined with shelves holding cold cuts and cans of tomato sauce, the middle of the room occupied by a small table piled with money, cards, booze, and guns. Sitting around the table four men who could best be described as goombas, made men. One of them, heavyset with beady eyes turned to look before returning to his cigar and the poker game at hand, that one look was altogether uncomfortable, like Valerie had just been sized up by a predator.

The guy behind the door closed it as Val entered the room, the smell of tobacco immediately closed in an beat down any sense of fresh air from outside. Jimmy Scalogotti, the predator, and his close associates barely took note of Valerie as they completed their game of poker. Jimmy was one of Shreveson's lieutenants and had a moderate amount of power on his own. He was mostly into gun running, drugs, and money laundering, which is exactly why Val worked for him on occasion, move something fast enough and the cops couldn't trail you.

"Full house boys," Jimmy chuckled as he swept up the cash into his hands and carefully piled it before him on the table while one of the other man got to work shuffling the deck. Jimmy turned toward Valerie, "OK, kid, you want something bigger than just a courier job, eh?" Velocity nodded, these guys knew what she could do, running drugs or money was easy but hardly difficult, and they payed in kind. "Something bigger for more money, eh? That's the American dream ain't it boys. Bigger 'n better things!" He laughed and so the others laughed too, they knew who buttered their bread.

"Course we can oblige ya but the job'll be more risky. You prepared for that? Cause this time it's a bit of a different kind of delivery. We need you to pick something up and bring it back here. You think you can do that honey?"

[Velocity]

Valerie nervously looked around and tried hard not to show it. "Sure... if it's not too heavy?", she answered Jimmy sounding more girlish than she wanted.

"I'm mean, yeah, I'm ready. Wouldn't have called if not, would I?", she added sounding more confident this time although she was still way out of her league in terms of being a tough criminal.

Valerie pulled her leather jacket tight around her torso and looked Jimmy straight in the eyes. Her look was determined although she was scared that things could get worse from now on. She prayed she wouldn't be involved in killing people. That would suck... badly.

Chewing on her lips she waited for Jimmy's reply hoping he wouldn't sent her away and laugh at her.

[jameson (ST)]

"No, 'spose you wouldn't. An' don't worry it's not heavy, just very valuable." He reached into his coat, slung over the back of his chair, and retrieved a photo. He passed it over to Val and said, "You get that, and bring it back here." The picture was of an expensive looking necklace of diamond and sapphire necklace. Very expensive looking.

Click to reveal.. (The Photo)

"No way you could fence that for even a tiny bit of what its worth so I figger I can trust ya. Go, steal me that bit of shiny and I'll pay you a clean five grand." Jimmy looked at Velocity waiting for her reply. The others were oddly quiet and all watching her and waiting. Apparently this was a big job, but then this necklace had to be worth a small fortune, or maybe even a large one.

[jameson (ST)]

Valerie was about to reply when a phone rang. It had the kind of digital ring that spoke of a cell phone used by somebody who either didn't know how or didn't care to change the ring tone. Jimmy cursed and held up his hand. "One moment please," he said as he flipped the phone open and put it to his ear.

"Art, what the fuck do you want? Did that damn dry cleaner finally fucking pay up?" Val could tell that Jimmy was irritated, it showed in his voice as plain as it did on his face. "What? Who the hell is this?" Jimmy's tone began further colored by confusion as he listened to the person on the other end. "Do I look like a doctor? Take him to the hospital," Jimmy retorted. "Or did that jackass go an' get himself shot?"

Jimmy grunted at the buzzing reply. "Fuck. Christ how the fuck did that happen? ... Shit, the girl fucking cold cocked him with a bat? Christ, sign her up for fuckin' softball. OK. Alright. Isaac, get him to a hospital, the doc ain't gonna be able to do nuthin' for 'im with a crushed skull." Isaac grunted and was about to hang up when Jimmy added, "Drop his ass off and you and Donny get gone like the cops was afta you. Git yo' asses back here." The conversation continued for a little longer as Jimmy quickly rattled off the address to the deli with instructions to come around the back in the alley.

The phone snapped shut violently and Jimmy scowled at it before jamming it into his coat pocket once more. As he did Valerie could see the nickle plated hand cannon he wore in a shoulder holster, it was one big gun. "Ok, sorry 'bout that, one of my other guys ... well anyways. So, you want the job or what?"

[Velocity]

Valerie felt the rush of anxiety and excitement flood her already hyperactive system. The jewelry looked really really expensive but she had no idea how valuable it actually was.

The short interruption of the phone irritated her only briefly and once Jimmy was done she nodded at him eagerly although she was chewing on her lips nervously - a bad habit from her teenage days.

"Sure, Jimmy... as long as it doesn't involve hurting people, I mean. I don't want to get involved with stuff like that? Can I pick it up or do I have to steal it?"

[jameson (ST)]

Jimmy all but rolled his eyes, "What do you think kid? They don't give this shit out as a door prize at the local bar. You wanted a bigger job, well you got it, or you can leave it, but if you leave it don't come 'round here asking for better fucking jobs again. I don't give two shits how you get it, alls I care about is gettin' it. Understand?" He quickly wrote down something on a piece of paper, "So, you gonna do this?"

[Velocity]

Moment of truth. All alarm bells rang in the back of her mind and she could hear Daniels voice telling her to go and leave these crooks behind. But she wanted to make more money, she wanted to do something more than just deliver stuff...

With a deep breath she nodded at Jimmy and said, "Sure, I can do that... I'll get it for you, can't be that difficult, can it? So... ahm... I should be going now? You want me to take it back here or...?"

The question shot out of her mouth without much sense of order and she could've asked another 100 questions which were flooding her mind but instead she kept her mouth shut. Jimmy seemed to be in a foul mood and she didn't want to be any near these guys when they were having a bad day?

"Trouble on the phone?", it spat out of her cursing herself the moment she opened her mouth. Oh, shit, please don't kill me for asking

[jameson (ST)]

Jimmy was about to hand the paper to Valerie when she went and asked a stupid question. His hand stopped, the paper still held between two fingers, and Jimmy the Slicer narrowed his eyes as he looked at Valerie. "You'd better fucking rethink asking that. You understand?" She nodded quickly and Jimmy's eyes narrowed further, "You'd better or all the running in the world isn't going to save you." He shook the paper, "Take it. Go there. Get the necklace, I don't care how."

[Velocity]

Valerie's eyes widened in near shock and she nodded frantically and backed off as soon as she got the paper.

"I... I'm so sorry... I'll... ahm, yeah... gotta go, right?", her nervousity reflected in an odd displacement of her - as if she was standing in two spots at the same time but in reality she was just nervously tiptoing from one foot to the other. With a swoooshing sound she was gone stopping 4 Blocks later at a corner before she dared looking back. Jimmy would surely keep his promise should she fuck this up - no running on earth would save her if he got mad at her.

Damn, what have you gotten yourself into, Val?, she took out her smartphone and thought about calling her brother but hung up the moment she dialed the number. If Jimmy wouldn't kill her, Danny surely would be the next in line to get his hands on her.

Valerie sighed and sorted her thoughts... what to do? Leave a message for the afterworld, should this be the last thing she did. She activated the camera of her smartphone and took a picture of her with a smirk making the victory-sign with her free hand. Then she proceeded to upload the picture to her Facebook account and twittered it to her friendslist.

Velocity: This may be the last picture of me for a while, folks. Wish me luck - I'm on a secret mission. xoxo Velocity

Alright - now where's this place?, she typed in the address into her phone waiting for Google to show her the direction. She would scout the area once she knew where it was.

[jameson (ST)]

A minute later she was there. It really was that simple. The speed of a jet fighter and the nimbleness of a human being combined. Of course Valerie couldn't even approach top speed. The damage he wake would cause at supersonic speeds would be devastating in the city, but even a sedate pace of 600 miler per hour was enough to get her to where she needed to be in bare moments.

The fancy hotel was not the kind of place Velocity fit in, especially given the rough appearance she had. Undaunted she rushed the door and found the function halls stopping in a dark corner to observe. There was a fund raiser of some kind within. The necklace was in there. Somewhere. Velocity suddenly had to face the very real possibility that somebody was wearing the necklace at this moment.

[Velocity]

Velocity stared into the hall slowly realizing that this job just turned completely different than she expected. She had imagined the necklace would be presented somewhere on a display and if she was fast enough she could snatch it and be gone before anyone realised what happened. She had bought a ski mask exactly for that case just to make sure if there were any cameras they wouldn’t be able to identify her.

„Damn...“, she cursed looking down at herself. She was wearing a fashionable jumpsuit and a leatherjacket. If there was some kind of charity dinner thing going on inside they wouldn’t let her in. Her plan was quickly falling apart and she needed a solution because she was sure it would be worse if she came back empty handed.

Waiting could be an option. Waiting until there was an opportunity for her to snatch it making use of her superhuman speed. She knew no other way dealing with this. Her speed was the only thing she had in ways of dealing with stuff. If it required some other skills she had little options left...

The problem was she hated waiting. Waiting was like... like the antithesis to her being. If seconds felt like hours how would waiting an hour just watching turn out? She was sure she would go mad if she didn’t have something to do – but then her attention would be divided and she could miss the critical moment to strike and snatch the collar. On the other hand Velocity was almost terrified by the thought of joining the society and trying to fit in. She knew she lacked education and always imagined that the really rich and aristocratic people would look right through her disguise and reveal her weakness.

She was sure she would die of shame if that happened.

Velocity looked at her watch and sighed. 10:37 PM, people would surely be partying till midnight. Not knowing what else to do she made another scan of the hall hoping to find something of an ´entrance´ she could take advantage of without anyone noticing. If she found a sneaky way inside she could wait there until the party was over than snatch the collar before it was locked away...

Click to reveal..

Making a notice check Notice check (1d20=8) Result is 8

[jameson (ST)]

Tick.

A couple of people, a man and a woman, exited and went in the direction of the bathroom. Valerie watched as they both entered the men's room. There was little question what the were up to.

Tock.

Down the adjacent hall a pair of servers came bustling toward the room, trays laden down with desserts, and disappeared into the room. Valerie looked at her watch, 10:38; she rolled her eyes, sighing.

Tick.

The door opened again, a lumbering behemoth of a man pushed past the door. His mug was an amalgam of lumps. A crooked nose, broken many times, his chin and cheeks marked with subtle scars of cuts long healed, his cauliflower ears a clear sign of past traumas.

Tock.

The brute was still standing there. Was he just that slow, or was he waiting for something? Valerie risked a more direct glance and saw that he was looking at her. "Ya look lost miss. Yous alright?" he asked, his voice deep and thick with a heavy New York accent.

[Velocity]

Shiiiiiit, Valerie was frozen for a few seconds unable to move or think. She had been so absorbed by waiting, which was a feat by itself given her sense of time, that she completely forgot to stay in cover.

Curiosity killed the cat... damnit, what shall I do? What? What?, she looked frantically around very obviously as if she got caught stealing.

„Hey... aren’t you that boxer?“, she tried to verbally sneak her way out of the situation. „Boxing for charity or something like that?“

Please god, don’t kill me right now, ok? I promise I won’t do this shit again, but please..., she prayed losing most of her courage. What are 5 Grand worth if you can’t spend it? She glanced side-ways searching for an escape route and was ready to dart of at maximum speed while she still had a chance. This was the dumbest idea she ever had.

I’d better stick to delivering stuff – I’m so out of my league here..., she only hoped Jimmy wouldn’t freak out when she came back telling him off but she just realized she couldn’t stomach this.

[jameson (ST)]

The meathead smiled, one that came through warmly despite his mug, "Usta be, yeah. Nows I jus' help out udder boxahs, kinda like a coach I guess." He looked Valerie up and down, "Yous look lost," he pronounced again as he lumbered over to sit down next to her. "Yous lookin' fer sumbuddy inside? Ah'll help ya if Ah can, us street kids gotta stick togedder." His silent assessment of Valerie was spot on. Though he may have looked slow, and spoke with the kind of broken English that told of a poor education the man was sharp and perceptive as well, both traits that would have served him well in the ring.

[Velocity]

He’s kinda nice..., Velocity’s panic ebbed away and she managed to give the huge man a fliratitious smile.

„I’m not sure if I can go there. I was just being curious...“, she hesitantly revealed. Man, if I tell him what I’m up to then he probably try to help me and maybe then he gets into trouble... but on the other hand.

„You know... there’s a friend of mine who told me that he really really wants that necklace. It’s like this big and with blue stones in it.“, she gestulated excited biting her lower lip in a well-trained and often used cutefication of her beautiful face.

„I’d give you half of what he promised me...“, her eyes bright and green looked at his and she hoped he wasn’t part of their hired security because then she might have gotten herself into more trouble than she wanted.

[jameson (ST)]

"Yous gonna steal Missus Shreveson's necklace?" the bruiser asked, his hand darting out with surprising speed and catching Valerie's arm. "Yous gonna get in ovah ya head if ya try an' cross Mistah Shreveson. Yous might end up hurt real bad, or dead if yas do." His face was serious, and Valerie couldn't tell is he was warning her out of experience having done so, or because he was the one who'd do the hurting, or killing. He released her arm, it was sore where he hand grabbed her, and red, "Yous should leaves if ya know whats good for yas."

[Velocity]

Velocity rubbed her arm with a frown on her face. Now this had totally backfired and she had to fight back tears because she knew she’d be in trouble, no matter what. Daniel was right, as usual and she hated it.

Taking a few steps backwards the young Indigo looked at the Bruiser caught between frustration and sadness. „I... I can’t do this. I’m so sorry... I really am.“

And then she ran away...

and ran

and ran

and ran some more.

Jimmysgonnakillme, hesgonnakillmeandi’llbedeadinthegutterandnooneknows, ohgawdohgawdohgawd...

She came to a stop in her neighbourhood looking back almost expecting the bruiser to be right behind her. She was gasping for air and had side aches from wrong breathing. Her heart was pounding fast and she could see how her hands were trembling. Velocity was definitely having a panic attack.

Forcing herself to walk a few more steps she made it to a park bank and sat down crying bitter tears wrapping her arms around her hurting legs. She didn’t feel this miserable since she dropped out of school were the kids were teasing and harrassing her constantly because she used to be fat.

After a while she managed to reduce her crying to sobs while she fumbled for her cellphone. Her brother was on quickdial and while she knew he didn’t want her to call unless it was really important she didn’t know what else to do.

„Hey... Daniel? +sob+... I... can you, can you please +sob+ pick me up? Please don’t say no +sob+“, she hoped he wouldn’t let her down. He would be mad if he found out why she was crying but he was her last resort, the only person she trusted and the only one who could comfort her.

[Velocity]

There was a short pause and for a moment Velocity thought he had hung up but then he finally spoke, „Hey hey... calm down. Where are you at?“, he never heard her this despaired before. She was kind of a drama queen but he could hear honest panic and fear in her voice. Something must’ve happened.

„I... I messaged you my GPS-data +sob+, just hurry, ok?“, she hung up crying bitterly as she slowly curled herself into a fetal position. Her body burned like fire and she had trouble calming down.

Daniel was really surprised and also very worried. Normally she could’ve been at his place before she hung up. Maybe she was injured and couldn’t walk? Dear god, please don’t he prayed as he quickly put on his jacket and fumbled for his keys. Velocity was 10 Minutes away, he made it in 7 and left the car leaving the engine running.

„Val?“, he carefully approached her but she didn’t move. He could hear her crying and she didn’t stop once she saw him. Without asking he picked her up and carried her to his car carefully placing her on the backrow.

„What the hell happened?“, he asked while he headed for his home.

It took her another 15 minutes to finally calm down. Daniel had made her a nice cup of Earl Grey with milk and honey and waited patiently for his sister to finally speak up. Velocity took a few sips of her cup before she found the courage to confess.

„I... I fucked up, Daniel. I... am so sorry but I shouldn’t have considered it in the first place but 5 Grand! He said he would give me 5 Grand, you know?“, her thoughts were still a mess and Daniel raised his hands to calm her down.

„Hey hey hey, Val... I don’t have a fucking clue what you’re talking about. What happened?“, he was trying to apprehensive but he also knew that his sister had the „gift“ of getting into trouble which he had to pull her out of. It was a few months now since the last time and he was hoping she had finally learned her lesson but it seemed she was about to disappoint him.

„Jimmy, Jimmy wanted this huge ass necklace. Big blue stones, looked really pretty, if you’re an old lady. He promised me 5 Grand if I fetched it for him, I had no idea he meant I have to steal it. I thought it was another courier kind of job, just as usual...“, she was blaring like a waterfall and Daniel had to interrupt her by shaking her grasping her shoulders firmly.

„Waitwaitwait, Val! How many times did I tell you, I don’t want to hear of your stupid streetcrime shit! I’m trying to have a normal live here and you always threaten to drag me down with your stupidity!“, he was getting mad at her and that last part, even though it was honest rage at that moment wasn’t meant to hurt her.

Velocity suddenly stopped and stared at her brother, lower lip quivering with emotional overload.

„Val... please. I didn’t mean to, but you’ve got to stop this shit. I don’t want to pick you up dead one day. I don’t want you to go down the same road Dad has gone. We only got us and I don’t want to lose you...“, he drew her close to an embrace hoping she wouldn’t start crying again.

„I’m so sorry.“, Velocity whimpered with a squeeking voice as she struggled to not cry.

„I had no idea, honestly. I just did courier stuff, nothing that hurt people. I thought this was the same, just more valuable.“, she added in self-defense.

„It’s alright, Sis, it’s alright. We figure it out... somehow.“, he stroked her head and held her for a few moments. „You can stay over night at my place, ok?“

(finis)