Previous Post Author's note: This is a tie-in to Untold Tales from way back when. Sure, it's not so many issues ago, but in real time it's definitely been a while. To refresh, CSFB had a brief run as LL chairman and Amber, the teams Government Liaison Officer, felt she had to step down from her post in order to express how strongly she disagreed with the direction he was taking. Afterwards, Dream named Visionary as the new chairman, and Vizh set about assembling the members that would make the new line-up. I began writing this ages ago. Ta-da! I actually finished it. The afternoon sun broke through the clouds over the nation’s Capitol, although the earlier rain had already done its part in exacerbating the traffic snarls of the congested city. Still, the sunlight shone brightly off the wet streets and sidewalks of the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Visionary did his best to smile encouragingly as the door to the old row house opened slightly to reveal the wary face of the Legion's former Government Liaison officer. "Um... Heya" he offered by way of nervous greeting. "Wow, it's really a nightmare trying to navigate this city... I had a driver, but we were still in traffic for hours, and then got turned around, crossed the bridge and ended up in the Pentagon's parking lot for 15 minutes trying to make sense of the driving directions. I seriously think that Map Quest may be out to get me... either that or there’s actually a secret tunnel under the Potomac that it wanted us to try." "What are you doing here, Visionary?" Amber St. Claire asked pointedly. He noticed that she didn't open the door any wider upon seeing it was him. "Oh, well, that’s simple really...” he assured her. “I was called up to meet with the Secretary of State about some trade negotiations with Caph. Kind of interesting, actually... Apparently that Chauncey fellow who is currently stationed there on behalf of the State Department seems to think some other group is making inroads with the Emir... he's not really sure who they are, says they look Caphan, but they're lead by this mysterious woman..." "I'm not with the State department, Visionary." "Well, right... but then I also had to give a deposition about that few hundred million dollars worth of Roxxon Oil money that somehow ended up in my accounts last St. Patrick's Day. Remember that? I think it's finally taken care of... Once I showed the plaintiff's lawyers the paperwork Hallie and Lisa prepared, they said it clearly was an accounting error, and obviously that money had been set aside for the gulf clean-up fund, so no harm done. A bit odd, considering that it happened back in March and the Gulf thing didn’t happen until the summer, but then they also offered to give me their watches and luxury cars if I were willing to just walk away and forget about it. Did you happen to want a Lexus, by the way? I turned them down, but I could probably still catch them..." "What are you doing on my doorstep Visionary" she repeated flatly, not even blinking at his exposition. "Oh. That" the Regular replied. "Well, I was in the neighborhood..." "Yes... my neighborhood away from Parodiopolis. At the apartment I kept specifically to retreat from the craziness there." "I was just hoping we could talk. I didn't bring much of the craziness with me, honest" he assured her. Just then a battered light blue Pinto wagon drove slowly past, the chimp behind the wheel screaming in frustration as he rounded the block. "Um... Fitz navigates better from the air" Visionary admitted. "And I'm guessing there's not a lot of parking available around here." He smiled hopefully. "Um, you know, rather than coming in, we could always meet at the coffee shop down the street..?" She looked him over, weighing the alternatives against his continued presence on her front porch for all to see, shuddering at the idea of actually letting the man inside her home. "I'll grab my coat" she decided. "Wow, they really take it personally if you try and order a "large" at one of these places" Visionary noted, returning to the bistro table outside the coffee shop with two "Venti" drinks. The sun was nearing the horizon, leaving the streets of the city deep in shadow while the breaking clouds above glowed brightly against a crisp sky. He offered Amber the coffee with the sprinkles and shook out his coat to take a seat opposite her. "So..." he began, "How've you been?" The Government employee sipped carefully at her drink. "I've been good, actually" she admitted. "I think I had forgotten what it was like to actually sleep a reasonable number of hours a night, in a real bed and not on an office sofa." Visionary nodded. "Good, good. I'm glad you're good. Really. Good. Not... bored at all?" She smiled tightly. "I'm not coming back, Visionary." He held up his hands defensively. "Hey, whoa... I'm not trying to railroad you into coming back. Really." He sipped his coffee and then partially licked away his whipped cream mustache before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "I mean, after everything I did to try to get out of the Legion that last time? All of the resignations I turned in, only to have them all mysteriously disappear? I'm the last person to browbeat someone into staying with the team." She looked at him skeptically. "Well, you are the last one I’d be likely to listen to” she allowed. “Er... there, you see?” Visionary answered, unsure exactly how to take that. “Nothing to worry about then.” “So this is just a pleasure visit then?" “Who wouldn’t enjoy this historic city?” he asked, raising his voice slightly to carry over the irate screaming of a primate circling by in a Ford. “Although I did want to check in on you on behalf of everyone. Not that you didn’t have every reason to quit...” he hastened to add, “but you’ve been such a large part of what keeps the team functioning that we all hate that things ended the way they did.” “Things got crazy for a while, but in the end they seem to have worked out for the... um...” she eyed the Regular as he scrubbed the sleeve of his coat vigorously with a napkin to try and remove the coffee stain. “Well, things seem to have worked out, in any regard” she observed. “I’m glad the team didn’t implode after all. I just... couldn’t be a part of what was happening. I was afraid things were going to end in a very different way indeed.” “It got complicated awfully quickly, didn’t it?” Visionary admitted. “It usually does, even without Dream in charge... but he’s good people. One of the best. I had faith that everything would turn out all right. Still do, actually.” “Faith, eh?” she responded, looking down into her drink. “I’m not sure where mine has gone to.” “I don’t know that it ever actually goes anywhere, personally. I think we just tell ourselves that we’re fools to listen to it, sometimes.” She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve lost faith before?” He rubbed his nose with his napkin. “I’ve... had a few dark experiences. The day Naari was delivered and we thought that she hadn’t...” His eyes welled up and drew a deep breath. “I almost didn’t make it through that. I very nearly did something drastic... might have, if not for my friends looking out for me.” Amber looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to dig into your personal life.” Visionary gave her a small smile. “It’s not like it was such a secret... I’m sure there must have been plenty of reports to read about the whole ordeal.” “Reports” Amber sighed, a bit of guilt in her eyes. “There’s a defense mechanism necessary to do my job, you know... my former job. That necessary bit of distance between myself and the Legion. Reports are dry, and safe, and very after-the-fact. By the time I heard about your child apparently being... stillborn, well... the truth of the matter had already been discovered, and a royal mess had been made in a downtown Parodiopolis nightclub. That particular bit... it was just a extraneous bit of outdated data... not a nightmarish period of hours for a grieving family.” “Nobody in the Legion expects you to bleed every drop of blood along with them” he assured her. “You were damn fine at your job, and you were constantly going above and beyond to protect us and enable us. It meant a great deal... don’t doubt it.” “I’m not too sure “enabling” you all is seen as quite so complimentary around these parts, but thank you.” She sipped her coffee in silence for a bit. “What number heart are you on at this point?” she suddenly asked. He blinked and chewed his lip in thought. “My third, I think... and that's really only because my entire body had to be copied and recreated after it got digitized and deleted. So I guess I'm on my second of everything else too, if that counts." She chewed the side of her lip. "It takes a toll, doesn't it?" "It does" he admitted. "Not just in body parts, either. I lost eleven years of parenthood because of insane grudge matches. My kids grew up in the care of a monster. I’ve lost more friends than I like to count. I’ve lost some of the people closest to me..." "So why do it?" He shrugged. "I wouldn't have any children at all without that craziness. I wouldn’t have my extended family. I wouldn't have the friends that mean the world to me. I wouldn't have my life, or a purpose for living it." He sloshed his coffee around in the bottom of his cup. “So I guess it's a high price to pay, but it's for a pretty extraordinary return." “People find friends and family without being whisked away to hostile dimensions, you know.” “I suppose” he allowed, sipping his coffee. “But what do they have to talk about around the water cooler? Reality television?” He shuddered. “Snooki scares me more than the Lovetoad.” She snorted. “Come on... it’s not too bad, knowing that you helped keep the universe twirling one more day, is it?” Visionary prodded. “Kind of takes the sting out of facing 40, for me. Not that I’m there yet... but it’s lurking” he noted with disapproval. “I think that’s why I didn’t chew my arm off to escape when Dream named me LL chairman again.” She sloshed the remaining coffee around in little circles in the bottom of her cup. “There are worse feelings in the world than making that kind of difference” she admitted to herself. He smiled. “I’m glad you’ll have some pleasant memories of it all... Oh, that reminds me!” He fished around in the pockets of his yellow topcoat until he found the object for which he was searching. “This is a little memento that the team put together for you to remember us by.” He handed the object across to her. “A pocket watch?” she blinked. “What a... traditional... retirement present.” “Well, not quite” Visionary grinned eagerly. “Go ahead and open it.” She pressed the release button and the intricately carved case popped open to reveal a classic watch-face. However, no sooner had she begun to inspect it than sparkling green light began to swirl within the crystal and then come pouring out over the table in a dizzying display. Finally, the light coalesced into a holographic image of figures all posing together for a camera. “Is that...?” “You with the very first Legion Line Up you ever worked with” Visionary noted happily. “Adjust the dial there...” She did so and the collection of characters shifted, reflecting another line up, then another. Everyone she had worked with in the Legion and all the staff shifted and formed up, with a hologram of herself always at the center of the gathering. “How...?” “Mumphrey came up with the watch. Al made a few adjustments. Hallie programmed the imagery from the security scans of everyone in the database matched to the time they served.” He frowned. “I could do without having to watch my hair thin quite so much” he noted as she turned the dial back and forth. “Is Flapjack checking out my ass in each of these?” Amber asked. “Hallie swears that shouldn’t have been possible since the scans of you and him were all taken separately, but I suggested she leave it in either way. It seemed more authentic that way.” Her mouth tightened and she sniffed. “I... this is...” she flashed him a quick, embarrassed smile. “Thank you all. It... means a lot.” He nodded. “You know... I’m told the watch could hold many more years worth of portraits...” Her eyes narrowed. “Just something to think about, is all” he suggested just before his comm card gave a very familiar alarm... Amber closed the door to her townhouse securely, leaning her back against the thick oaken panels of it. Her hand in her jacket pocket closed around the cool metal of the pocket watch, heavy in her palm. “Is that you?” a voice called out from the living room. “Yeah” she replied warmly. She hesitated, then slipped the watch into her jeans pocket, hanging her coat on the pegs near the door. Rounding the corner, she plopped down on the couch, joining the figure there wrapped in a soft comforter and little else. “I’m back, and I’m yours for the rest of the evening.” “Aw, but I didn’t get to meet your friend...” She found herself pausing before automatically supplying the more correct term, “coworker”. “He had to run... something unexpected came up.” A finely shaped eyebrow was raised. “So... Did he ask you to come back?” “We just reminisced.” “He’d have to be an idiot not to ask you to come back.” “Mmmm” Amber replied noncommittally. “Well, you already know what I think about it...” her couchmate said, pulling the former government liaison down alongside her. “Everyone is so concerned about my career...” Amber noted. “But enough interruptions... Tonight is all about the two of us having no responsibilities.” “I can be totally irresponsible” her girlfriend answered, pulling the blanket up over both of them and letting her hands wander. “Mmmmmm” Amber approved. She noted the broadcast on the television across the room of a police barricade and circling helicopters. “So what are we watching anyway?” “Some trouble down at the National Mall. They suspect a monkey terrorist has parked a car-bomb in the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial. They’re trying to negotiate with him now, but he’s pretty agitated. And you thought Parodiopolis had all of the crazies...” “Um, about that...” Amber began before gasping and throwing her head back as her partner found that spot. “Mmmmm... Yeah” she decided, clicking off the remote. “That’s definitely somebody else’s problem tonight.”

I was right, after all.

Fun to catch up with Amber again, although I could stand to see more of her girlfriend.