Courtney stretched her limbs as she watched the afternoon news. She'd patrolled with Fiore earlier that day, then come home for a nap before lunch. Now she was absentmindedly watching TV, still chewing on what Jumper had said on Wednesday.
Someone hunting those with Miracles. Not specifically people who broke the law - Miracle bearers in general.
She'd passed the information on to Barron, who'd frowned and decided to look into it despite how little credibility the idea had. No one was supposed to be able to circumvent military security.
And yet someone had. Phantasma's corpse was the proof. Even if she had been cremated, the record remained. The online chatter had subsided, but there were still corners of conspiracy theories that the government was trying to silence her to cover up their lack of functional social assistance problems. It made Courtney laugh. There was ample evidence of the programs not working. They wouldn't kill one woman just to cover it up.
The truth remained, though. Phantasma had most likely been killed. Again, the cremation meant they might never learn what really happened, but the evidence was damming. The military's clumsy attempt to cover it up suggested that they hadn't been responsible - at least, not as a whole.
Currently, Courtney thought the mysterious killer had to be a military officer. No one else would have been able to get access. Most likely a higher-up, one of the corrupt ones.
Could it have been Colonel Evans?
The thought kept bugging her. Her current position gave her no opportunity to gather evidence, and no one currently in the military would risk their neck for the evidence. A perfect cover? And to think General Jordan had taken the fall for it.
"Courtney!" She snapped out of her thoughts and stared dumbly at Lillie.
Lillie was standing in front of her, leaning forward so their faces were across from each other. A frown twisted her roommate's features.
"What?" Courtney asked, blinking and backing back a bit.
"I said you've been watching the same news story for the past hour. Get your head back in the game girl! You're not in the military anymore. A group of kids attacked doesn't fall under your purview anymore."
Right. Now that Lillie mentioned it, the story about a group of Arx Tech students attacked on Wednesday was on repeat. Had been for a while. But a whole hour?
"Sorry." Courtney turned off the TV. "I was thinking."
It was sweet that Lillie didn't think Courtney needed to worry about the students. She didn't know that her roommate was Lightning of course. If Courtney had told her, Lillie would just end up worrying needlessly.
"Thinking about what?" Lillie asked, grabbing a bowl of fried crickets from the counter and sitting down next to her.
"Stuff." Courtney grabbed a cricket and kept her answer vague. She couldn't exactly tell Lillie that someone might be hunting her.
"Be more specific, Court," Lillie said with another frown.
"Just...stuff." Courtney jammed a handful of crickets in her mouth. An amateur's way of getting out of having to speak, but it was effective at least. Lillie glared at her and held the bowl of crickets away from her.
"Courtney Larsen, I thought we were friends. Something's obviously been bugging you and I wanna know what. A burden shared is a burden halved and all that."
Courtney held back a sigh as she chewed through the crickets. Silently, she berated herself. This kind of cricket wasn't necessarily cheap and she'd just inhaled them without any appreciation for the texture or flavour.
"Fine. I told you I got a new job, right, Lil?" she asked slowly.
Lillie nodded.
"Well, I learned that someone might be...coming after me. And my coworkers."
"Why?" Lillie's eyes widened in horror. "How? I thought you were out of dangerous work!"
Oh, Lillie. My current work feels far more dangerous.
"Basically, it's because of our jobs?" Courtney replied, doing her best to keep her voice level. "They don't like what we're doing and they want to come after us. I don't know how exactly, but I have to keep my guard up."
"Okay, well tell me if you need any help!" Lillie said firmly. "You still have friends at the military, right? I'm sure I could call them to help you. I can't do much, but I can at least do that."
Courtney found herself smiling.
"Thanks, Lil."
As Lillie grinned and popped a cricket into her mouth, the doorbell rang.
"Ah." The two women looked at each other.
"I got it, Court. Just don't eat all the crickets on me. Hey, we should put on a drama. I found a new one that sounds good."
"Another one?" Courtney asked, laughing as Lillie left for the door.
She heard the door open, and Lillie ask about who was there.
Then the next moment, Lillie screamed.
Courtney stood up immediately, running to the door as fast as she could without activating her Miracle. The sight made her blood run cold.
Lillie was being held by some man in costume. Liquid dripped from his fingers and burned Lillie's shoulders as he grinned darkly. Next to him was a woman who resembled Cold Snap.
And behind them was Paris. She couldn't not recognize that getup.
"Let her go!" Courtney ran at them at full speed, no longer worrying about keeping her identity under wraps. Lillie was in trouble.
How had they found her? Could Ben have leaked something?
It didn't matter. What mattered was that Lillie, who was like the sister she'd never had, was in trouble. Probably because of her. Courtney punched the man holding Lillie so hard she wouldn't be especially surprised if she'd accidentally killed him.
No, he was groaning on the ground. Good. She didn't have a death on her hands.
"You must be Lightning," the woman sneered. "You look different without your yellow suit."
Courtney didn't dignify that with a reply. Instead, she aimed a kick at her.
The hit connected, but now there was a patch of frost on her foot.
It was definitely Cold Snap.
"Why are you here?" Courtney asked, her voice surprising herself with how cold it was.
"We thought we'd pay one of our Legion friends an impromptu visit," Paris said. Purple mist started to rise around him and Courtney took a step back.
"Lil, get in the house. Now." Courtney tossed Lillie her phone. "Call the contact labelled K. Tell him what's happening."
"Court?" Lillie didn't catch the phone. She just sat here, holding her shoulder, shivering and crying.
"Move it!" Courtney snapped. She didn't want to have to yell at Lillie, but she needed her to do her part right now. "You said you'd ask for help if I needed it, right? Well I need it now!"
Because while she'd been focused on Lillie, Paris and Cold Snap hadn't sat idly by. The man she'd punched looked unconscious, but frost and poison gas were spreading around her. The ice looked like it was reaching for her, and Courtney had to be cautious. Cold Snap could move on an icy surface just fine, but the rest of them had to make sure not to slip.
As she stood in front of the door to try and shield Lillie even a little bit, someone dropped on her from above. Courtney grunted and threw them off, and the person skidded a bit before standing up.
"You are good." Great. Another one. Shell.
"Got you," Cold Snap said with a grin. Courtney glanced down and realized that yes, indeed, her feet were frozen to the ground. A quick grunt and a solid pull of her foot freed it, but Shell and Paris weren't going to wait for an opportunity.
Dammit!
Had she been careless? Yes, yes she had. She didn't think that Paris and his new goons would attack her own home. How had they found her? Didn't matter. She should have done more to protect Lillie.
Courtney ducked under Shell's fist, then threw her towards Cold Snap. The ice woman smiled in amusement as she sidestepped.
Dammit!
She really hoped Knight got Lillie's call soon. And that the Legion had the common sense to keep Light Master out of it.
