Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
There wasn't any alternative to using the flame for Rinaa. She could get somebody else to do it, but that would take away from whatever they were working on. And teaching Fia could easily lead to fuck ups that would mean she'd have to print whole new pieces and repeat the process again. So she pushed through the barrier, trying not to hyperventilate. Throughly relieved, she placed both the violin frame and the new violin down on the table and letting the soldering iron fall to the table with a clatter. "If you wanna sit and watch solder dry, which is as boring as it sounds, feel free. I'm gonna go work on something else."

The apartment
John of course internally wondered if that applied to all people in skirts or just exclusively to females, but he kept his trap shut for once. He hadn't seen the photo in Kay's book before, but it didn't take a genius to figure out who they were. John's bookmark was a receipt for milk, bread and booze, nothing as exciting. Jay had vanished, and nobody had really noticed her leave as they were all engrossed in the conversation. Chas only realised she was gone when the room fell silent as they all settled into their respective activities. "I don't suppose any of you noticed Jay leaving?"

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia watched her out the violin down and she had to admit, it looked so badass in alloy. "Right..anything I can do while I wait?" She asked, not really sure what she would be able to do in this place.

the Apartment

When it came to Sam, she was most definitely exclusive to females only, but she still could appreciate a handsome bloke when she came across one. She spent many a club night trying to hook Kay up with blokes to know what her type was. Granted, most of those Sam used the excuse of 'at least have a one night stand for fucks sake. Think of it as like the snickers advert- you're not you when you're hungry.....for a good fuck'. It's how she was and as much as it irritated Kay, she would do anything to hear those kind of one liners again.

She knew John would love Sam deep down. When she started reading, it took her mere seconds before she was utterly engrossed in it again, only having about a third of the book left before it was finished.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Rinaa could see the awkwardness in Fia's tone. This wasn't her scene, her planet or her time, and she had no idea what would be acceptable to do without pissing off anybody around her. And Rinaa couldn't just leave her there alone either, espescially with the language barrier. "I was gonna try and get a start on a custom motorbike for the next while. So I guess you could come with and see how it's done if that sounds interesting......yeah this place isn't great if you're not into this kinda stuff, so the best I can really offer is an Internet signal or my company, which can get depressing. Sorry about that." Rinaa admitted, meaning her apology.

The apartment
"Nope, but if I had to guess, I'd say the roof is where she went." John replied, only realising now that the assassin was gone. Elliott had once told him that if Jay wanted to be heard, they'd hear her, but if she didn't want to be heard then there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell at finding her. They descended into comfortable silence again, only punctuated by the scratching of Chas's pencil against the page. He'd found an old notebook and was leaning on it while he wrote.

(just a heads up, I'll be offline from about half two until 6ish today)

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia listened to her options and she figured the whole motorbike thing was her best option. She could tell Rinaa genuinely meant her apology but she also felt sad that the girl felt she had to apologise to her. "Don't apologise. I actually think you're cool" she replied back honestly. She did think Rinaa was cool, and she admired her skillset greatly. "I don't mind watching you do this custom bike. I actually like bikes so it'd be cool to watch" the thing with Fia was simple when it came to bikes. She knew how to ride, and did ride, but knew nothing about how to build one or customise one other than giving it a pint job.


The Apartment

When the question and answer came about, it was then Kay noticed Jay was even gone. She would have guessed the same as John to her whereabouts. She felt no need to reply and remained engrossed into her book, the only moments from her anyone would have seen was the odd time she'd smirk or go wide eyed at what was being told on the pages. Just like the roof, she truly felt like she was in that world and could really hear every character that was talking in the book. She felt like she could KNOW the main character inside out.

(Sure thing!)

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Once again there was the undisguised shock at that comment from Fia. She was still coming to grips with the whole two Fias thing. (And there could possibly more if each of the Leahs she had seen represented a different timeline). The Fia in her timeline was a bike lover, came from having parents like John and Kay she supposed. Rinaa had been taught to ride by Jay, but she'd been jacking them up for years. Her passion for seeing how things work had developed at a very young age. "Yeah I know, I used to fix the other Fia's bike, or John's when he totalled it,dont know if they knew it was me though." She did her fixing in the middle of the night when she couldn't sleep and needed a reason to not be in the house. "I've been fixing bikes since before I could ride them......though I started doing that at a really young age. They're pretty easy to learn from."

She left the violins on the bench with a sticky notice. It was one of the rules of the lab, to notify others of claimed beaches and kit with sticky notes. Rinaa walked back to the original 3D printer bank and plugged in the drive again. The bike design came up again. She could use most of the regular chassis and frame pieces, just making a few small adjustments here and there. The plan had a few different layers- the base frame, the outer shell, the paintwork and some various accessory bits. Rinaa showed the layers to Fia, blowing the model apart into its pieces. The protective outer layer was to be 3D printed, so that's what she started with, setting the machines to do their thing

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

The shock on Rinaa's face didn't go unnoticed to Fia. She put it down to showing another clue that she was very different to the Fia she knew in her timeline. She could only imagine that the other Fia liked bikes also, or at least she hoped that was the case. She had spent many times for the last two years riding properly with both Kay and John. She even raced Elliott some times. But that was rarer. She had learned before she was 15 (in secret with John, being told to never EVER tell Kay that he was doing it or she'd have both their heads), but it was when she 15, she was openly riding and last year she got her first proper bike.

She smirked at the story of her fixing the other her's bike or John's. "That's so awesome. I only got my first bike last year for my sixteenth birthday but been riding for longer. Mostly in secret with dad. I still remember him saying "don't tell ya mother or she'll kill us both"" she laughed, mimicking John's voice. "I should have a pic somewhere on my phone" she added, getting out her phone and scrolling through the many photos of random things from her folks being unaware, selfies, photos from passages in books and other things. Eventually she found one, she had taken of her on the bike. It wasn't a great image but she still loved it, so she showed Rinaa.

She then followed Rinaa to the computer and sat down again where she was previously before watching it all come up onto the computer. She sat close to the screen to really check out all the layers that Rinaa was showing her, loving seeing it all broken down in the way it was. It was really fascinating her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics medical facility
Hearing she only got the bike at sixteen, Rinas knew it could only be Kay's input on that. It didn't surprise her in the slightest that John would bend the rules with regards to bike riding age. The John in her timeline had known she could ride and race as good as any adult at eleven. It was just a useful skill to have particularly when growing up on one of the desert planets. Her childhood off world had been pretty awesome, it was being on Earth where the problems arose. And try as she might, Jay couldn't keep her away from them forever. They were family, even if it was toxic. John, Chas and Trish had always like Rinaa, but it was the treatment of Kay and Fia that drove her away. "That sounds like John alright, treating rules as optional, or just ignoring them completly."

Rinaa had always been tall for her age, with no qualms about danger so any bike she was on would be put through its paces. She took a look at the photo of Fia on the bike and smiled slightly before passing it back. "I should have a couple of me somewhere here." Rinaa had taken her entire digital presence and downloaded it onto the three drives around her neck. She'd then deleted the versions in her time. Rinaa had no intention of ever returning. Flicking through various albums she found the ones of what she was looking for. One showed a tall eleven year old leaning against a black bike that had been stripped back almost to the bones. In the background were high mountains of red and orange sand. Her face and hair were dusty, as were her clothes, and one hand held a wrench. "That was off world on one of the desert systems, bikes have to be modified for the terrain there."

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

"yeah, that's definitely dear ol' dad. I know mum only did it out of worry for me though so I can't hold it against her in this instance." Fia replied. She could hold a few things against Kay, but the whole safety rules thing with bikes wasn't one of them, even if she did disobey them, she understood where Kay was coming from but knew wholeheartedly that John wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. She let Rinaa look for the photos she'd want to show her of her own bikes, and when she found Fia the particular one, Fia smiled. It certainly was a better photo in terms of quality to hers in Fia's mind.

She listened to what she said to let her know where it was taken and nodded in acknowledgement. "So cool. It looks incredible there. That view is amazing" she told Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
"Yeah, it is an awesome place. The sunsets weren't great though, they seemed washed out against the sand, but the night time was something else.......The dust got absaloutly. everywhere though." Rinaa shook her head at the memory of how the grains just got everywhere, in between her toes, under her clothes, in her eyes, her mouth, her hair (she'd gone for a full headshave to solve that problem). Sandstorms had also been a frequent nuisance, but she'd learned to live with them and adapt. "Off worlds not a bad upbringing, it just means there isn't really anywhere to specifically call home, you're a bit of everywhere and a bit of nowhere at the same time."

She sent the command to the printers which began their work, a slower print as they began to craft the more intricate parts she'd need for her work. Flicking through the gallery she brought up another photo, this time of a bike and sidecar with a large crossbow mounted on the sidecar. "Not one of my designs, this was something a friend made on commission for one of the archer duos." Behind the bike were two people flashing thumbs up and grinning, but Rinaa zoomed in before Fia could get look a good look at the second person, who had his arm slung around Rinaa.

 

[MzHyde]

the robotics/medical facility

Fia chuckled at Rinaa's explanation of the place. It was a shame to hear that the sunsets weren't great as it looked in the picture that they'd be really good. "I can imagine." She replied to Rinaa's comment about living off world. She looked through the other photos that Rinaa willingly showed her. "Okay now THAT'S awesome" Fia commented, seeing the bike with the sidecar and crossbow attachment. She noticed how Rinaa quickly zoomed in before she could see properly who the person was that had their arm around Rinaa. She also didn't pry into it, as she respected the fact it was clearly something she didn't want to be spoken about. Fia only would have done the same thing if she was in Rinaa's shoes.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
There were a couple of reasons Rinaa didn't let Fia see the face of the guy with her. One, she really didn't want to go through the whole interrogation of who exactly he was and what exactly were the boundaries of their friendship. They weren't a couple but maybe things would have turned out different if she hadn't been bitten and embarked on this crazy journey. Rinaa had never got around to introducing him to her family in her timeline. The second was that if the timelines fell as she thought they would then the Leah that Fia did know, would know this guy too. And she had no intention of throwing her alternate self under that bus. And the third was simply the fact that she missed her friends back in her time, and would probably have some kind of breakdown if she thought too hard on what she was doing.

But she had to smile at Fia's comment. It really was damn awesome, as well as quite terrifying in action. "Oh it really is, it's kind of terrifying to see in action, considering there is mounts for other things too. Hence why we called it Cerebus after the dog of the underworld........my group have a thing for mythology nicknames and awesome codename. There's one guy who basically made himself chief of nicknames, what he says stays, even fr renaming supers."

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia smirked at Rinaa's reply. Just knowing how bloody dangerous a crossbow was, she could easily see why it was terrifying to see in action. "Wow.. yet such a fitting name. That's awesome you got a group that likes to do things like that. Also there's nothing cooler than mythological nicknames" she said, which after she said it, she realised how biased that must have sounded. "And I mean that in the most unbiased way possible" she added, chuckling.

"I'm guessing then the League have all been renamed?" She then asked, only because of the ties of them with John and in some ways, Elliott. She hadn't had much ties to the League as they were some people John refused to let her see or meet, even though she did want to meet the people that always annoyed her dad just out of curiosity.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
What Fia didn't know (and in Rinaa's mind shouldn't ever know) was that when she referred to her lab work or her friends, she meant the group of engineers, doctors, scientists and students that ran a secret facility for vigilantes, providing suits, vehicles, weapons, custom kit, medical support and tech support. The League was completly oblivious to their existance and the facility they worked out of was one of the best kept secrets in the area. Rinaa herself had been recruited a few months into her internship and had gained crazy experience from doing it. "Yeah, they're cool alright."

She rolled her eyes at Fia declaring how unbiased she meant the comment to be. It was kind of hard to believe that, given her heritage. "Oh yes, they all have, point of principle for any major hero or villian. Never met them personally. It only takes one meeting to be drawn into their world, and once they know if you existance and skill set, they won't leave you alone ever. Or they'll use it to coerce you into joining them. So I stay as far away as possible from them." Without knowing it Rinaa had explained future John's rationale for keeping Fia fra away from the League, they had no business in his daughter's life. And he had no intention of letting them know about her heritage or Kay's incase they tried to use it as leverage against him.

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

The eye roll at her comment didn't go amiss on Fia. She really didn't mean it in a biased way, she hoped Rinaa would have known that after she told her how she truly felt about being a phoenix. She hated it, so the last thing she'd have done or feel is that she's one of the coolest things in existence. She thought all other mythical things were awesome, but she still held a grudge against her heritage. She listened to Rinaa's reply about the nicknames for the League and smirked, she also noted what she said and couldn't help but feel it was something John would say if he would actually tell her why he didn't want her anywhere near them. "They really that bad?" She asked.

She didn't know why fully the League fascinated her so much, but if she had to give some kind of answer, she could only imagine it was because she was always told to never go near them. It becoming a case of the moment something is restricted from someone, it becomes an obsession to want to inspect it. Or the moment your parents say no, you want to say yes and do it anyway. She was still just seventeen after all.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Rinaa nodded her head vigorously, the action only confirming her next statement. "Yes, they are. They may be pillars of righteousness and symbols of hope and all that stuff, which I have nothing against. But having their kind of power and influence corrupts even the best of people. They aren't beyond using blackmail and not just on people like John- the dissonants. They do it to reluctant members and good people too, using funding enticement as bait,accompanied by veiled threats and manipulations. They are Macchievellain "the ends always justify the means". So staying away is the best option, no matter how enticing it may seem, once you're in, you're in for life. John's living proof of that, he can't get away even though he wants to."

Rinaa had a tone of somebody beyond her years, who'd seen a lot in her time and who knew more than would first be assumed by the casual observer. She rubbed the side of her forehead, before casting a look at the machines to see how the pieces were progressing.

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia just listened to the long reply and explanation about the kind of people the League were. It was far more than she ever got from John and Kay. She knew Kay didn't know them, but she still got the whole 'if your dad won't mention them it's for good reason' lecture from her. She just figured it was her folks being over protective but if Rinaa thought this low of the League, then she had to think there was something solid to the opinion.

"Good to know. You've given me.mofe information on them than either of my folks. All I know is that dad talks about them with disgust but gives me no details of why to stay away. Just the usual 'i won't have my girl go near those assholes' spiel. So thanks for your honesty." She told Rinaa honestly. She always appreciated when people were honest with her over everything. So to finally get some kind of answer about something meant a lot to her. The Leah in her time would just avoid the conversation all together saying it wasn't her place, and Elliott was like John. Called them all kinds of names under the sun but never explained properly why she should avoid them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Considering the League had given Elliott all but a death sentence by sending him back to Attil it wasn't that surprising that he wouldn't want either his kid sister or his daughter involved with them in any way. Or at least that was what Rinaa liked to tell herself, all she knew about Elliott was what her Jay, Cal, John and Chas had told her. Rinaa wasn't sure if her mother had ever gotten over losing Elliott, but she told her daughter as much as she could, the good and the bad of him, even the story of their first meeting, which John never did find out about. Rinaa could see the pain she carried over his death, and knew just like with her brother, she blamed herself for not being able to stop it. But she focused herself into bringing up Rinaa to both a good person, and the one who sticks to their guns no matter what. Rinaa loved her mother, but had spent many hours wondering what it would be like to have a father too.

"I've heard a lot of his rants in my time about what they've done in the name of the greater good. They blackmailed him a lot to do their dirty work, plus they sent Elliott here to Attil again, so it's little wonder he holds them in such low regard." The printers finished the first batch of pieces, and Rinaa pulled them out, before setting the next sections of the body frame. She had a particular design idea in mind, and a particular motive to make this particular bike.

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia was surprised to hear the word 'again' in the sentence about Elliott and the League. "Damn..yeah it's no wonder. I've never second guessed dad didn't have valid reasons for hating them, I just hated the whole secrecy part of it ya know? I just prefer people being straight with me. I get sick of being treated like a five year old" she told Rinaa, as the items finished printing. She didn't intend to fully go into an in depth conversation about the group of superheroes, but it happened and she got answers she always wanted. So it was kind of a win win for Fia.

Looking at the printed pieces, she wondered what Rinaa fully had in mind and was intrigued to seeing it come to fruition, as Rinaa started the next lot of pieces. She had to admit, she was enjoying hanging out with Rinaa here and learning more about her and her folks. Even if it was in an round about manner.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Rinaa mentally cursed herself for letting that little detail slip out. Fia didn't know just what exactly she had meant by the use of the word 'again'. Rinaa was speaking from the knowledge of her timeline, things were different in Fia's and she knew what she was talking about hadn't happened, it couldn't have happened. Rinaa could understand disliking the secrecy of everything, and knew that John was not exactly the kind of person who would sit somebody down and explain the reasons for his behaviour, particularly when they were so tightly linked to his emotions.

"It's not always the secrecy that's the worst part. It shows care, even if it goes on for longer than necessary, it shows a willingness to protect, to try and make the world nor seen as bad as it really is. There are some truths that really aren't worth knowing though, the answers just cause more pain than anything else. The truth may set you free, but it hurts like a bitch and knocks the breath out better than a collision with ab eighteen wheeler. A little secrecy goes a long way. Things have their time to be revealed." Rinaa hadn't intended it to turn into the rant it did or to come so dangerously close to spewing out a while load of things Fia did not need to know, regardless of what timeline she was from.

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia heard her out, finding she was so damn wise for her age. Something that was so similar yet so different to the Leah she knew. She knew deep down that Rinaa spoke the truth and had very vid points. The truth did hurt like a bitch, just like it hurt when Kay and John finally sat down with her as a kid and explained what she was. But leaving it until she almost lost her entire bedroom to then tell her. She still preferred to know, even if it did hurt her. Through the pain, she could work through it and passed it, not knowing played on her kind so gravely she'd begin to think all kinds of things that were nowhere bear the truth.

"I get that.. I do. I guess I'm just one of these people that prefer to get the initial emotional pain of hearing the truth, than come up with a gazillion stupid unrelated reasons in my head that are completely wrong." She explained to her. "Sorry.. didn't mean for this to turn into the convo it has. I'm just too used to ranting to Chas or Elliott or sometimes Trish. It's hard to get out of that mindset I guess. Man..it's so obvious I have no friends" She then said sighing with a chuckle.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Rinaa was also one who needed to let things out in a large rant at anybody willing to listen, but she also had other coping methods. One was Jay's- to pound the shit out of a punch bag until you were too physically exhausted to thing straight. It helped to get the pent up everything out of her system. And the other was to try and distract herself with work, until she could find somewhere to be alone and smash the shit out of something. (usually glass bottles against walls, but taking a mallet to an old burnt out wreck was very therapeutic too). "I was like that, preferring the truth over the pain. And I found out a lot of stuff I really shouldn't have known by being far too nosy, and either lock picking or hacking to get what I wanted. Not exactly the best way. But once I started keeping secrets of my own, that mindset kind of changes. There's some things I'd rather die for than tell." and this wasn't just hyperbole, she really would do that.

Rinaa raised a single eyebrow at the last comment, a facial gesture that was utterly Jay-like. She'd mastered her mother's skill of being able to raise one eyebrow and use it to put the living fear into someone. But in this case it was more in surprise than anything else. "Neither did I, but so what? That just what happens during talking. And besides, you really think that when you have a group of friends or even just one you don't spent half the time either bitching or listening to somebody else's bitching? It's like, some kind of unwritten rule that you dump your shit on your friends and they do the same to you.

 

[MzHyde]

The robotics/medical facility

Fia listened what Rinaa said about her once being the same as as her. Fia wasn't one to go hacking into things, but she would go snooping for answers when home alone. Though when Rinaa mentioned about it changing when she kept secrets of her own, she just nodded. Fia could totally understand that her mindset would change after that. "I can get that. I'm in this weird loop where I see both sides of situations which both solidify my opinion and know the other person is doing it for valid reasons" she smirked.

Fia just yet again nodded to Rinaa's words. It made sense and she was still getting used to the idea of this Rinaa being different to Leah of her time. Hearing her say it's a friend thing, she found it an interesting choice of words, considering she was pretty sure that there's no way Rinaa would consider her a friend. That wasn't to say though she hoped maybe they could be friends enough to get on well. The idea of being able to hang out with someone her own age (even if it was more another version of family) and experiencing some kind of friendship was tempting to her. "Mm.. right" she just replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
Rinaa was in no way insinuating that she was calling this version of Fia a friend, she was just making a point that friends or no friends it was normal (expected even) to bitch to somebody about everything wrong with life and the universe. It was cathartic in a way to dump it on an outsider. Which is what they were to each other really, sure they were blood relatives, but they were from totally different backgrounds. She hadn't travelled through time to make friends, Rinaa had another agenda completly and quite often found herself wondering what the hell she was doing getting this involved with an alternate version of Fia.

"Time travel is a total bitch" Rinaa sighed in response, even if it hadn't been the subject matter it was prevelant for both of them. It was an understatement, time travel was an absaloute fucking mess. Not only was she seeing completly different versions of people to the ones she known her whole life, she was seeing somebody she'd never known before. She was also acutely aware that one misstep or piece of information leaked could change the course of the whole future, potentially resulting in a completly different timeline, thus erasing this version of her from existance. "As if life wasn't complicated enough, we get all that shite dumped on top."

 

[MzHyde]

the robotics/medical facility

Fia had come to the conclusion that she didn't think she'd ever figure Rinaa out. Just like the rest of the group had come to the same conclusion, unbeknownst to Fia. She just didn't want to feel like she was alone and she knew Rinaa would get how she feels sometimes with the whole time travelling thing and being out of time. When she heard Rinaa say what a bitch time travel was, she couldn't resist the smirk that crept into her mouth and the snigger. "True that" she agreed.

"Agreed. You gotta watch your every step and every word, then we have our usual teenage issues to deal with on top of not so normal teenage issues. Life is hard" she chimed in. She felt like she couldn't say too much because she knew with Rinaa dying, her problems were far worse than her own, but she could at least try and get some kind of understanding of everything. She wasn't an idiot by far, and when it came to it was actually pretty damn smart. She just had to grow up in a very different way to anyone else, and she knew Rinaa could understand that.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The robotics/medical facility
So Rinaa wasn't the only frustrated time traveller. It was actually quite a relief to her to know that Fia felt the same way about it. The issues Fia had echoed Rinaa's word for word. She didn't have a filter when angry or emotional, but time travel was forcing her to think through everything and it's impacts before she spoke about it. That was part of the reason she'd worn the mask, it gave her an annoynmity to speak. They'd all theorised who she was, but none of them had been expecting it to turn out to be true in quite the way it did. She could see it in their eyes when they looked at her.

"Along with trying not to accidentally erase yourself from history by attempting to kill your parents." Rinaa was guilty of that particular offense, and John had mentioned that particular part of her story. "And with alternate timelines, I can't say too much without throwing Leah under the bus or talking about things that aren't there." As they'd been talking Rinaa had been keeping an eye on the printers and laying out the parts in sequence on the bench.