Sidestory:
Birds of a Feather

by Angie, Morgan, Rachel, and Tami

Percy squawked softly, his own version of a sigh. "I'm fine with it. So long as at least one of you go on patrol, that's perfectly all right. Trying to cheer Jace up will just be an added bonus." he grunted and settled into his feathers. Shutting his beady eyes for a second and clacking his beak, he squawked angrily. "And try not to jounce me around so much when you walk, or I'll dig my claws in." Not missing a beat in his tirade, he continued, his voice getting more shrill and irritating as he complained endlessly, "And your shirt is very coarse, it rubs against my tail feathers strangely. It's awfully humid out for a walk. Do you have any birdseed on you, by chance? Are we almost there? Stop jouncing, by the gods!"

Not answering, Jack merely reached into the pocket of his button-up and pulled out a handful of seeds. As he held it up to the complaining bird, though, he murmured, "Patrol's least on my mind, 'kay? Jace is first."

Content and silent as he chewed his seed, Percy nodded and reopened his eyes. "Jace first, all right. But patrol is a close second. Give me more birdseed."

"I'm almost out so it's up to you if you want more or not," Jack said with a faint sigh. "Only so much of that stuff fits in a pocket."

"Maybe Jace has some?" offered the bird hopefully.

"Maybe." Jack fell back into his usual silence, his long strides carrying him swiftly to his final destination.

After a few minutes of silence, broken only by vague complaining noises from Percy, a familiar house came into sight. Another minute brought the two to the door. Jack hesitated for a brief instant, staring at the door with a pained look and massaging his scarred palm. Carefully, then, he blanked his face and knocked.

A dark-haired woman with large, peach-coloured eyes answered, opening the door, the tight line of worry at her mouth relaxing once she saw who it was. "Oh, Jack, honey. How're you?"

An eloquent shrug would have normally been enough to answer her but Jack added, "Hanging in there, Emily," his voice soft and gentle. "Is she around?"

"She's in her room." Emily momentarily stared down at her own feet. "I... what I gave her should have worn off by now. I'm sure she'd see you. Just go on through, honey." She moved aside for him. "Ignore her if she's cranky. She's... had a long week."

"I know." His mouth set grimly, Jack again massaged the scar on his hand as he moved unerringly towards her room. There was another slight hesitation and then he tapped on the door lightly. "Jace?" he called, his voice straining slightly.

"Fuck off," came a muffled voice, and then there was a heartbeat pause. "Reilly? It's... not locked."

Slowly, Jack pushed the door open and stepped into the room that had become, over the months, as familiar as his own little studio apartment. He had spent so many happy hours there, chatting with Jace, learning to speak his mind, even if only in the safety that was their friendship. A flash of pain slid across his lean face as he caught sight of Jace and he quickly stepped towards her unthinkingly.

Jace looked up from her slightly-crumpled position on her bed, sitting up, spiky bangs in a tousled mess and eyes pink from tears she'd shed earlier. Her grey eyes were huge in her face, shadowed, slightly bruised underneath, as if she hadn't been sleeping; she looked hugely older than she did normally.

"Hey," she managed, with the ghost of force behind it, then her nose wrinkled. "Shit. You have the lovebird with you. This means trouble."

"Feh. For the other teams, perhaps." Percy snorted and ruffled his bright feathers. He let out a shrill squawk as he stared about the room and flapped off of Jack's shoulder to the bed. "Less bony," he explained.

Jack ignored the complaint and sat down gingerly next to Jace, reaching out to pull her against his side. "Come out with us, Jace," he murmured.

Jace's head lolled slightly against his shoulder. She smelt like cinnamon and tears. There was a long moment of silence between them, soft and drawn. "You know," she murmured, almost dreamily, "I've been thinking. You know how we survive? S'by making the other teams into faceless drones. And, d'you know, there's a person inside each crappy costume, somebody's son or daughter or sister or brother or - lover - " There was a harsh rasp to her voice, but she swallowed and carried on, whispersoft. "How can I survive out there any more, knowing all fucking that, Jack? I've got to make myself... and I do... into some sort of murderer. He... he was right. The battlefield is no place for love. How... how can I even love you?"

"Jace..." Gently, hesitantly, Jack raised a long-fingered hand to stroke her short crop of hair. "Don't know how to answer that but I know this... You start thinking like that and you'll never make a friend again. You'll think everyone's out for you." He tilted his head down, resting his chin on the top of her head, and continued, voice soft and reassuring, "Anyway, kiddo, you and I are a done deal, right? I ever tell you I'm insane?"

There was a slightly hysterical chuckle. "You never need to. I already know." The sick pain she was radiating twisted; it was softened slightly by her amusement, but it was no less poisonous for Jack. "Damn it, Reilly, I... What if you die?"

"Then you can kick my corpse, huh?" He forced a smile and hugged her closer, trying to conciously radiate calm and safety.

"Don't say that," she immediately spat. "You promised. You said you wouldn't die."

"I know, Jace, I know. I won't and you won't." He sighed and rubbed at her shoulder, wincing slightly as his scarred palm came in contact with her skin. She was in so much pain. "I'm here for you."

Suddenly needy, Jace pulled aside the shoulder of her tanktop and pressed his palm to the neat scar on her shoulder. The electric numb pain that immediately coursed through him was terrible; however, at the contact, something in her dissolved and her shoulders slumped in submission. "Where'd you want to go, Jackalope?" she asked distantly, detaching his hand and pulling the strap back up.

The brunette didn't answer for a long moment, eyes closed tight and focusing on breath after breath. Slowly, the pain edged away, fading back into the bond between them and becoming muted by his usual balanced emotions. Then he looked up at her and half-smiled. "I was thinking park. Just get out and get some sun. It's kinda nice out there."

"Summer. People." Jace gave a snort, but looked up at both Percy and Jack and nodded wanly. "I... Mom refused to let me go to the hospital, so might as damn well, huh?"

"That'll do." Jack eased off the bed and picked up Percy, sliding a thin hand under the bird. "Ready, man?"

Percy snorted. "Ready as a lovebird that's about to tramp around a park with a bony brunette and a reluctant redhead could ever be."

With a faint sigh, Jack pinched Percy's beak shut. "You okay with the chair, Jace?"

"Like there's any other mode of transport?" Jace pulled herself forward from the bed and slid into her wheelchair, rolling herself forward a little way behind Jack. "I'm here."

"I know," he whispered, leading the way. "Always know."

The park was still the same. The sun still shone, people still milled around, children screamed in playgrounds, the ducks quacked amiably from their pond; if Jace had expected to find it different, she was sadly disappointed.

Her arms ached as she followed on behind Jack; she was feeling dizzy, though she stubbornly kept on moving herself. She had just been sleeping too long.

"So why the fuck are we here, Percy?" she sighed. "I'm not going on fucking patrol. Too many people."

"Because Jack is a sentimental fool and wanted to drag you outdoors, claiming it would be 'good for your health'. I tagged along because I'm bored, Leta still hasn't cleaned my cage, and yes you are going on patrol whether you like it or not."

The mildly bored-amused-angry look that usually graced Jace's features darkened, grey eyes like ice as she stopped dead and turned to address the bird on Jack's shoulder. "Perseus," she whispered. "I am not going out on fucking patrol if I don't want to. Not for you, not for anyone. I am sick and tired of this goddamn war at the moment, all right? Why don't you ever make Leta patrol? Oh, I forgot, she's a completely useless senshi. You're not the leader just because Perdix is gone."

Percy turned a distinctly human-like eye on Jace, looking bored and bemused. "Is that so, Jace?" he squwaked softly. Letting out a dry, squawk-filled chuckle, he ruffled the crest on his head and shifted on Jack's shoulder to face Jace. "Leta is a useless senshi. You - and Jack - on the other hand aren't useless. That's why you must patrol and Leta must sit on her happy little ass and be an idiot, do you understand? I may not be leader but I understand this war a lot more than you do, so it would be wise of you not to argue with me. So if I say you patrol, you patrol. Your personal status is of no concern to me."

"You understand this war?" Jace snarled. "You just said that you understood this war?!" Impulsively, she burst into tears, hideously embarrassed.

At her tears and the accompanying wave of searing pain, Jack grimaced, a sound very nearly like a growl escaping him as he suddenly back-handed Percy off his shoulder. Not even pausing to look where the bird landed, he fell to his knees on the hard sidewalk and grabbed Jace's hands. "Jace, look at me. Look. At. Me," he whispered. "Please, darlin'." Internally, he winced at the pet name, sensing Tyche pushing at the barriers in his mind. "Jace, please."

Jace cringed at her own weeping, incredibly aware of the eyes of the public around them, her own weakness suddenly pushed to the top like a rising tide. She was never this weak. Oh, God, she'd lost control.

Raising her chin, she looked at Jack, grey meeting green as she scowled in an attempt to hide the tears. Her hands closed over his, shaking convulsively, mentally ordering herself to dry up the tears as she blinked furiously. "Reilly," she hiccupped.

A pained twist of his mouth mimicked a smile. "What, just Reilly?" he murmured, voice soft as velvet. "No Jackalope?"

A low gruff chuckle caught in the back of her throat. "I... thought of a new one. What about Jackrabbit?"

"I'm not puttin' on ears for you, Jace."

"Damn." She raised an arm up to wipe against her eyes, dashing the wetness away. "No more tears. I'm fine. I'm all right." In fact, the crying had made her feel even more scooped-out and worse than ever, but she prayed Jack wouldn't pick up on it. "And you," Jace spat, turning around to Percy, "can fuck off."

"Oh, so you can tell me to fuck off but I can't tell you to patrol?" Percy grunted as he carefully tested out his wings. He had indeed fallen to the sidewalk and while his feathers might've been ruffled uncomfortably, he was uninjured. Flapping up in the air for a moment, he warily avoided Jack and circled above their heads, too frightened to go on either of their shoulders.

Jack rocked back on his heels and stared up at Percy, face neutral again. "Just lay off, huh, Percy?" he muttered. "Just a bit."

Percy dropped back down to the sidewalk again, his wings tired and looking grumpy as a parrot could. "If she promises not to burst into tears again, fine." he muttered. He then started to waddle forward, still half-frightened of Jack.

"Jace can't promise to stop being human so cut it out." Neatly, Jack slid a hand under Percy and settled him on the handle of Jace's wheel chair. Then he hesitated and whispered, "Sorry."

Jace just snorted, but moved her hands back to the wheel as she turned around to address Percy with venom. "Remember, lovebird," she hissed. "I take my orders from Sophie, not from you. And Perdix was ten times the guardian you are." Shaking her head, she looked back at Jack, suddenly looking even more tiny and pale than before. "C'mon."

Percy shuffled as far away as he could from Jace and scowled. "I don't care who was the better guardian, for the gods sake." Making sure he was as close to the edge of the handle as possible in case he needed to make a quick escape, Percy let his anger take control of his tongue once more, "And I would appreciate it if you would just stop moaning and crying. We've all had tragedies occur at some point, so stop fucking acting like you're the only one. It's selfish. And irritating."

Violence surged up in Jace, red-hot and screaming, rolling off her in waves as her hand twitched; she was a senshi. It would be so easy to turn around and snap the lovebird's neck. Just another crime in a long list of them.

Then she looked to the side, saw Jack's hand, and as he moved his arm, the slit at his palm; not today, not in front of him. Maybe one day, she would come back, and perhaps one day, she would get the chance to destroy everybody who deserved it, but not then. The urge dissipated, the only thing left her white knuckles as she wheeled herself forward, lightheaded.

Jack watched her move forward, slow, leaden motions of her arms shifting her weight in the chair, and frowned. She looked so pale, so tired. He could feel her pain, taste her despair, and he felt it magnified in himself. His was tinged with a forcibly banished emotion, though; anger flared in him at not being able to do a damned thing for his best friend. With a quick step, he caught up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Jace? You feeling okay?" His voice was hesitant. "Need me to push?"

She broke out of her reverie. "No," she stated, voice oddly faraway, reedy. "I can do it."

Her arms went back to the wheels, shifting herself forward restlessly as her neck went slightly limp; a shudder went through her as her arms uselessly pushed forward, and then her entire body seemed to stall. Badly balanced, her body slipped forward from her chair, and she was out like a light before hitting the concrete with a thump.

He was beside her only a heartbeat after she hit, barely even that. "Jace! Oh, shit." Kneeling, he pulled her prone form easily to him, resting her head on his lap. Anxiously, he stroked her bangs back from her blanched face. "Jace, c'mon, c'mon. Don't do this to me. Please. Oh, god." He curled over her protectively, his own face mere inches from hers as he tried to get a response. "C'mon, Jace, please."

There was no response, heartbeat skittish, and even her breathing stilled as, doll-like, Jace lay unconscious in his arms.

Her feet dangled off the side of the slide, the noodle-like interior of her sandals hitting the arch of her foot. She closed her grey eyes against the bright afternoon sun.

She flattened her palm against the scorching metal of the children's slide as she turned herself so she was sitting directly parallel to it, rather than hanging over the sides. She could hear the distant sound of children laughing and parents boasting over how their daughter received the fourth grade science award. Perhaps that's why she still came to the park, all these years later.

She half-scoffed, half-grunted as she pushed herself down the slide and landed firmly on the ground; the sand and gravel irritating her as they slide under the open part of her flip-flops. She frowned as she walked onto the concrete and took off one shoe, wiped her foot, and repeated with the other shoe.

I suppose I should get going, she thought as she glanced down at her silver watch. She looked up at the sky and glanced once more around the park and all the memories it held. She sighed and turned to go when a movement caught her eye. So, they say curiosity killed the cat...

She pushed the leafy branches out of her way to cross into the clearing and at first, didn't see anything, and then she looked down. Her grey eyes opened wide as she stumbled backwards. She took a deep breath and composed herself, saying softly so not to frighten the boy, "Is she okay?"

Bright green eyes looked up at her, shining with worry and panic, and he cradled the redhead closer instinctively. "I don't know," he whispered hoarsely. "She just... Passed out. D'you know anything to do?"

Inwardly, she thanked her mother for asking her to take a CPR class as she dropped to her knees next to the boy. Her heart beat rose as she opened her arms for him to place the girl in; she had never actually practised CPR on a human and here she was. She tucked a strand of wheat-coloured hair behind her ear as she comfortingly touched his shoulder briefly and said, "I won't hurt her."

He merely stared at her in silence, gnawing on his bottom lip. Then he nodded and backed away minutely to give her room to work.

She pulled off her soft jacket and rolled it into a ball, sliding it under the girl's red-head as she laid her gently against the concrete. She reached for the girl's wrist and placed two smooth fingers over the soft flesh. She smiled at the faint thud as she placed her other hand over the the girls chest and reached up to plug her nose with the other. She took a deep breath and placed her lips against the red-haired girls lips, breathing into her mouth.

Moments later, the soft sputtering of someone regaining conscious stopped her. She leaned back on her heels and held out her water bottle and asked the questions she was told to always ask, "Are you feeling alright? Does anything hurt? What is your name? How old are you?"

Jace took in huge gulps of air; it felt like her lungs had closed. Everything was fuzzy as she looked up; she could barely make out the outline of two people leaning down over her. The familiar presence of Jack was a soothing one by her side; however, there was another, a teenage girl, soft blonde hair falling in her face as she held out something to her.

The redhead tried to sit up, slightly dizzy, her mouth wrinkling up in distaste. "Fuck. What happened?"

Hedy slid a step back on her knees and glanced over at the boy before glancing back down at the girl and saying, "Shush; take a good couple deep breaths," she paused and glanced at her watch again, "It seems like you fainted, but I'm sure your friend can tell you more about it."

She hesitated as she pushed herself off of the ground and into a standing position, "Are you okay? Would you like some water? Do you need anything?"

Jace shook her head mutely, wrinkling her nose and turning to look at Jack. "Reilly, what..." Her tongue went around her lips. "Oh. Oh, god. She gave me mouth-to-mouth."

He had the grace to look embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. I didn't know what to do, Jace." He shifted closer, steadying her with a gentle hand. "You scared me." Suddenly, he pulled her close and hugged her. Releasing her, he frowned. "I knew you were fibbing."

"I was not fibbing. Everything went all grey." Jace shook her head and turned to face the blonde, shaking her head and giving a laboured sigh. "I don't usually let strange girls snog me, Blondie, so you might as well tell us your name."

"Hedy." She smiled briefly and said, "I see everything is in working order. So, you," she turned to the boy, "keep an eye on her; she may need to go home, she doesn't look well and you," she turned to the girl, "get some rest." She waved cheerily as she made to step back through the branches, her hand resting on the leafy undergrowth.

Percy had remained perfectly quiet throughout this little scene, his beady eyes focused intently on the blonde. He seemed to be considering, thinking, until his silence was destroyed with one huge, terrific squawk. He flapped up onto Jack's shoulder and began to tug at his ear urgently with his beak, desperate for his attention.

"Don't let her get away! Get her alone! Have Jace play dead or something! Now!" he ordered quietly, but firmly, and offered no explanation.

With a grimace at the bird's shrill voice, Jack stood, taking Jace with him easily enough, cradling her in arms strengthened from carting the unwieldy inventory at Home Depot. "Hedy?" he called and hoped she'd heard. He wasn't about to chase her down when Jace needed him; no matter what the lovebird had to say about it.

"Oh, god," Jace groaned, wrapping one arm safely around Jack's neck. "Not again."

Hedy turned around, glanced at her watch, glanced at Jack, glanced at Jace, and finally glanced at the bird. She frowned; something seemed out of the ordinary. "Yeah?" asked Hedy, silently praying he hadn't recognised her and wasn't about to ask her to have her father change a bill.

She was greeted with an immediate, awkward silence as Jack carefully set Jace back in her chair. Then he turned to the blonde and murmured, "I was, uh, wondering." A faintly embarrassed grin appeared, lop-sided and unconciously adorable. "Do you believe in magic?"

Hedy's left eyebrow arched as she stared - rather rudely at that - at the boy. If this was his way of hitting on her, she was most definitely not interested. After a moment of silence, she shrugged and said, "Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but I personally gave up on magic years ago." She forced a smile as she turned to step back out and into the clearing.

"Wow," Jace said, mock-impressed. "She's a snob. Just what we need for the team. We can have three blondes, and have everybody laugh their fucking asses off at us. Y'know, Zach and Leta are enough. Besides, that girl looks like she couldn't fight her way out of a goddamn paper bag. She's going to be the same thing as Leta - a stand- behind senshi who watches when other senshi are getting impaled on, on swords - don't do it, lovebird."

Two words stuck in Hedy's mind as she turned around, almost losing her balance on the twig that was caught beneath her shoe. She was not a snob and what the hell was a senshi? Wait. She had heard that phrase before. On one of Toulouse's japanimations. She frowned. Perhaps the redhead had hit her head harder than she knew. She narrowed her grey eyes and looked down at the red-head, opening her mouth to say something in response. Then she paused and smiled. This was not worth it. She would never see either of those two again. "Have a good afternoon!" she called cheerily, disappearing into the clearing.

"Uh, right, then." Jack looked down at Percy quizzically. "You gonna chase her now and explain?"

"Oh, hmph," sighed the bird. He obviously wasn't too fond of flying after her, but he launched off of Jack's shoulder and flapped after Hedy. Smoothly landing on her shoulder before she could shout in protest he immediately "attacked" her ear and tugged on it with his beak urgently. Then he addressed her with a disgruntled tone, "Sorry I bit your ear, but I had to get you to stop walking, it makes it hard to stay on your shoulder. Mind if I have a couple of words with you in private?"

That was it. The heat was too much for her. A bird was talking, eh? Was it her or the invalid who had fainted? If she was moving to psychosis, she might as well enjoy it. "Oh, sure, I don't mind. Talking birds, you see that everyday." said Hedy enthusiastically, not caring that the passing-by people were shooting her an odd look for talking to a bird.

Percy dug his claws into Hedy's shoulder. "Shh, not so loud," he hissed, and sighed. He looked as miserable as a bird could. "Polly want cracker!" he squwaked and, laughing, the patrons of the park went about their business again. Percy looked about ready to eat himself alive after that embarrassing moment. "How degrading. You owe me. Now, kindly march back to the redhead in the wheelchair and the guy. And don't jounce me around while walking!" he ordered quietly.

Hedy smiled. She was going to wake up in the hospital. Perferrably not one with white padded walls, but with the way things were going.. Perhaps. She laid her hand gently on the bird, steadying him as she walked smoothly towards the path. With her other hand, she dug into her pocket for a bag of sunflower seeds, "Alright, Bird, do you like sunflower seeds?"

"Do I!" cried the bird greedily, and began to squawk uproariously. Remembering he was in public, he calmed down and nodded. "Yes. I like seeds, thank you very much."

Hedy arrived at Jace and Jack had been waiting, and Percy felt the need to introduce everyone. "Blonde-Girl-With-Seeds, this is Jace - the redhead in the wheelchair - and Jack. They're also known as Hephaestos and Tyche and if we go somewhere more secluded I can explain that a little more to you." Percy said importantly and clacked his beak. "More seeds."

Jack chuckled softly, hand resting on one of the handles on Jace's wheelchair. "Great. Now he likes you better than the rest of us," he announced dryly.

"That's okay," Jace said sweetly, but her eyes were like granite. "I didn't like him in the first place."

"Oh, joy. Let's all listen to Jace bitch and moan again. Please, Jace, continue. All we need is your witty commentary right now and your opinions. Do share." Percy replied angrily, his voice dripping sarcasm. He didn't let her reply, rather, he turned to Hedy and ruffled his orange feathers. "Shall we go someplace private so I don't have to talk so quietly?"

"Hmph. It better be or we're in a load of trouble. Move it along, Blondie-Whose-Name-I-Don't-Remember. And more seeds."

Hedy stifled a snicker at the bird. She held a seed up to the bird's beak, politely silencing him. She looked at the brunette boy and half- smiled, perhaps -this- was what he meant about magic. She looked down at her hands. Magic doesn't exist, she told herself before nodding, shrugging, and saying, "I'm not going to get away without at least listening am I?"

Jack shook his head, mixing in a casual shrug and a half-smile with the motion. "Doubt it. He's pretty insistent." Neatly, he turned Jace's wheelchair around and began pushing. "There's an old pavillion near here. Nobody uses it. Should be quiet enough for us, huh?"

"Hmph. It better be or we're in a load of trouble. Move it along, Blondie-Whose-Name-I-Don't-Remember. And more seeds."

"Please." stressed Hedy sarcastically. She held a seed up the bird and yanked it away before he was able to get it. "Before you get anymore, I want to know that the hell is going on here. I've either got a severe case of heatstroke, psychosis, or possibly both or there is something I don't know about," she turned to Jace and looked down at her, "You," she fumbled for the name, "Jace, I've heard more of Hephaestos. God of the Forge. He's pretend. And as I've noticed, you're female."

She paused and looked at the secluded area they were standing in. Oh, Jesus, what had she just got herself into? This is probably some sort-of cult and they're about to tell me I'm Juno and need to be sacrificed to appease Hera. She forced a weak smile.

"Fuck this," Jace snapped. "Yes, he was a he. Yes, I'm a woman. The streets will flow with the blood of the unbelievers and if this goddamn attracts any enemy senshi, Percy, you're fried." Grey eyes went huge as she stared at nothing, hugging herself absently as she spat through gritted teeth; "Hephaestos Deus Power, Make-Up!"

There was the impression of red; metal, fire, heat. It was instantaneous, but the air practically sizzled as Jace stood in front of Hedy in full fuku, looking extremely angry at generally everything. She stared down at the skirt of ribbons around her thighs, and the hefty metal legs that were attached to what were before ungraceful stumps; Hephaestos paced back and forwards slightly, grey eyes narrowed at Hedy. "See, Blondie? This is reality. And I didn't come here to do this, Jack."

"I know, Jace, I know." Jack's voice came out strained and he massaged his hand absently. "Change back and chill, right?" He turned towards Hedy, green eyes serious and shadowed. "Any of this ringing bells yet?" he asked mildly.

She stumbled backwards. Fuck. This was one high-tech cult. She looked helplessly at the detransforming Jace, then at Jack, and then at Percy. Suddenly, her jaw set and she pushed herself back up. "So, what are we Sailor Moon?"

Percy squawked and bit Hedy sharply on the ear. "No sudden movements, you fool, unless you want me to fall!" Then, clearing his throat, he began to recite pleasantly, "Good afternoon. From now on, Blondie, you are Iapetus. Well, you've been Iapetus, but this is when we fully introduce you to the wonderful world of Graikos. You are a senshi, my dear. A full-fledged, all-powerful, superior Graikos. And you're here to fight alongside these two idiots. They are your comrades. The others - Angelus, Astronomia, Romanus - are your foes. Never trust them. Especially the Romanus. The Graikos are your only allies. Do you understand?"

Hedy glared up at the bird and contemplated hitting him with the back of her hand. Bossy little thing, wasn't he? She stared up at the sky for a moment. It seemed familiar, like something had clicked. "Right. So, I've seen one of you transform. So, obviously, this must be real. I'm just going to accept that," and she added with a mutter, "at least until I wake up," she paused and her voice raised, "What exactly does this mean, though? And what is Iapetus? And, honestly, who the hell are the Angelus? Astronomia? And Romanus?"

Percy sighed. "The Angelus, Romanus, and Astronomia are enemy teams. You will fight them, eventually. What this means is that you are a senshi, and you are Iapetus! I... well, here." He fished about behind his wing and, soon enough, extracted a playing card - more specifically, the Jack of Spades. Holding it in his beak he offered it towards Hedy and grunted.

"Did you want to play poker?" asked Hedy as she took the card from his beak. That's great she was Iapetus, but who the hell was Iapetus? She didn't remember hearing about him in her Greek Literature class from grade nine.

"Stop it with the fucking wisecracks," Jace immediately snapped. Her temper was currently set to 'permanent fray' and going through the same tired action with yet another little senshi was making sure the fray was on the wane. "Percy, give her her damn transformation line already. Watching another useless Graikos get awakened is pathetic."

"Jace," Percy began lividly and shifted to face the redhead. "I'm sick of you. Shut the fuck up for a second! We don't need to hear your opinion about everything! Stop complaining for once in your inane little life and watch this young girl right here be twenty times better than you. Not like that takes much." he growled and punctuated his sentence with a sharp squawk.

There was a sharp intake of breath as Jace muttered something, low and quiet and venomous.

"Repeat that." Percy ordered calmly. "We birds don't have good hearing."

"Why the hell do you think you can talk to me that way?" Jace whispered, face twisted in a mask of hate, ignoring Jack and ignoring Hedy and ignoring everything. "I'm one of the best damn senshi walking Roanoke, and you think you can talk to me like that because - because - what, because I fucked an Astronomia?"

Percy froze and his beak seemed to slack open. A mild squawk-cooing noise came from him, but no words. Finally, he shook his head so hard his crest became a small orange blur and nearly screamed at Jace, "You fucked a what!?"

Both the guardian and the senshi were completely absorbed in each other now; Jace's eyes were fixed on the bird, her mouth splitting in a grin that had nothing at all to do with amusement. "Yeah," she jeered. "You're not up with it at all, are you, lovebird? And you call yourself a guardian and you don't even know some of your senshi are sleeping across teams. Gonna kick me out?"

Percy merely sputtered at first, black eyes huge with shock. There was no move to mask the fury in his voice when he finally found words, "You... you slut! How dare you! Traitor! You... I..." he trailed off, and just began to squawk like a madman, wings flapping and curses strung inbetween some shrill noises.

Hedy had had it. Her patience was worn thin. This was simply the max. She turned on both of them and said, her voice suspiciously quiet, "Both of you. SHUT THE FUCK UP. Argue about who slept with who later because I really don't care. Grow up. And finish why I'm here because I really have somewhere I need to be."

Jack's voice was deadly quiet, strained beyond belief, yet it cut through the sudden silence like a knife. "Hedy," he murmured, using her name carefully, "That card is your passport, right. You hold it up. You say a stupid phrase. You get new clothing." A faint, bitter smile flickered into life on his face and then promptly died. "And we're all in it together." His hand came down to squeeze Jace's shoulder. "If Percy can cool it... He knows this better than I do."

"And if firecracker over there," she paused and jerked her thumb at Jace, "can stop instigating the bird, maybe we could all get out of here." She took a deep breath and looked at the rat-tag group assembled in front of her. The red-head left a bad taste in her mouth; mostly is was because she was acting like tough shit. Hedy shook her head, she seemed like something was bothering her, though. It wasn't her problem, though. Her problem was this. The card. These people. She suddenly smiled, "So, what is my stupid phrase?"

"First off, it isn't stupid. It's very important. Secondly, repeat after me: 'Iapetus Urdkilthai Power, Make-Up'." And with that, he hopped off her shoulder and waddled to Jace and Jack.

Why not? "Iapetus Urdkilthai Power, Make-Up." muttered Hedy. The air around her hung for a moment. She broke it by drawing the card in front of her face, close to her lips. With a passing second, she threw the card into air; letting the three present watch the card burts into tendrils of light. Unconsciously, Hedy plucked at one of the strands of light that covered her body; the light fading into a body giving her a marble appearance that burst from her body, as cracks of white light poured forth, circling her body. She held her hand up, catching two balls of light in her hand. She looked up, winked, and the light faded away.

A momentary pause. "Hey. I have a cool jacket."

Jack chuckled faintly. "Glad someone likes their new duds."

Percy squawked approvingly. "Indeed you do, Iapetus. Now, do me a favor... just say 'Snake Eyes', will you? Try not to aim towards me, either."

A dark look crossed Iapetus's face. Something was tugging at her. She shook her head and faced the open field. She tossed the two balls up in air, like it was second nature, and caught them as they formed into a pair of fiery red dice. She shook them in her hand, her eyes closed as she threw them down in front of her whispering, "SNAKE EYES!"

The dice rolled wildly before landing on a three and a four. Seven. A perfect snake eyes. She knelt down, her right arm outstretched as a now-visible green snake coils around her arm; it's red eyes glowing as it hissed once before sliding off Iapetus's arm. Iapetus, Jack, Jace, and Percy watched as the snake wrapped itself around a squirrel that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. White fangs, dripping with red venom, exposed themself before spitting at the squirrel; the red liquid, melting instantly into the squirrel.

Iapetus let out a gasp of horror as the squirrel fell over. Dead. "No! I didn't mean to do that! What just happened?" She looked up at Percy, Jace, and Jack, her grey eyes wild with fright and sorrow, "This happens. To us. Doesn't it?"

The redhead snorted. "Yeah, and I'm sure it'll be real useful if we ever meet any fucking squirrel senshi."

"Jace." There was a faint warning note in Jack's voice as he rubbed her shoulder absently. Then he let go and stepped towards Iapetus. "You okay?"

Iapetus sat there for a moment, the uniform dematerializing as she stared at the still figure of the squirrel. She was still for a moment before standing up in the outfit she had been wearing beforehand. She glanced back at the squirrel and shrugged, "I killed something. Probably not the last either, I'm too aware." She paused and turned her attention to Jace, "And you need to lay off. I'm sorry I'm not Zeus, but please, back off. I don't know how to handle this quite yet." Another moment of silence. She looked at the bird, "Where do I go from here?"

"On patrol. You find the enemy senshi - or, the enemy senshi find you - and you fight. And win, mind you. These two coots will go with you, of course. We wouldn't want you to be all by your lonesome on your first battle. And we'll want to introduce you to some of the other Graikos." the bird replied nonchalantly.

"..." Hedy was silent. "When do I start?" she finally asked, her tone flat. This was obviously something she had to do. She could feel the commitment, strangely enough. At least, it'd kill the time.

"Get her to Sophie." Jace's voice was blank. "Sophie is the one you take orders from, not an upstart multicoloured fag-parrot."

"And -I- don't take orders from you, you loud-mouthed slut-traitor, so stop being the bossy brat you are and shut up for a moment." As if contradicting himself, Percy fluttered over to Hedy and landed neatly on her shoulder. "We're going to Sophie's. She's a fellow Graikos. Or we can just go on patrol. I don't care, just get me away from her."

"Hold a moment there, bird," Jace spat. "There is no 'we'. I am not part of this. I'm not with the Graikos - except Jack - until he wakes up. I have better things to do than kill other people's children. The Dark Universe is my bait. So you can all just fuck off - that upstart blondie who thinks she's hot shit enough to try and tell me what to do, and you, and - " She turned to look at Jack. "You going with them, darlin'?"

Jack hesitated and then turned to Percy and Hedy. "Perc? Take her to Sophie's and I'll be by in an hour or something," he murmured. "I want to make sure Jace gets home okay." He half-smiled, a faint twist of his mouth, and nodded at Hedy. "Nice meeting you. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he turned back to Jace, sliding behind her chair to grip the handles. "I'm takin' you home, Jace."

"Retard," she muttered, but it was completely without malice; it was practically a pet name. "Give Sophie my regards, lovebird. She likes me much better than she likes you." The redhead gave another snort. "And good luck, Blondie. Damn sure you'll need it."

Hedy rolled her eyes, but easily brought herself back under control. "Nice meeting you, Firecracker," he voice dripped with genuine sweetness only marred slightly with sarcasm, "I look forward to the days we get to spend together."

"I'm not looking for anyone's favor, Jace. Come on, Hedy, let's go." Percy grunted and ruffled his feathers. "We'll see you later, Jack. And Jace? I don't care when he wakes up. But you're going on patrol when I say so. Or when Sophie says so." he sneered and nestled into his feathers.

"Fuck you."

Pulling back abruptly on the chair, Jack turned it neatly. "C'mon, Jace. Home," he whispered. The look he shot over his shoulder before pushing her away, though, spoke volumes to the others. Pain, misery, guilt. "Later," he murmured as he pushed her off through the trees again, disappearing moments later.

Percy seemed much cheerier now that they had gone. "Are you ready to go? Oh, and ignore Jace. She's unpleasant, to say the least."

"I'm ready to go. ...I'm not sure, Bird, she seems to have a different problem than just having a stick up her..." Hedy trailed off and shrugged. "Then again, we all have problems and she doesn't deserve to treat a cute thing like yourself like that." She held up a few seeds to his beak as they walked across the grass, an imposing duo of petite blonde girl and brilliantly coloured bird.

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