What goes around, comes around...

I couldn't wait to go into the office - I never thought I'd even think that - but with this "enforced" solitude, it's either go into the office for a couple of hours, or go out and start finding some poor unsuspecting villian after Kara goes to sleep. I was just about to leave out when I got a call from Leroy. I haven't seen him much lately, but he needed some time to unwind. He told me he was headed over to a meeting at the main office and wanted to talk to me. I told him to meet me in my office and we could talk there. What was so important that he couldn't tell me on the phone?

Then, before I could get off the phone, he sent me a text. "Yo, I gotta tell you something when I see you!"

Just what is he up to I wonder?

Before going into the office I decided to stop in the coffee shop and picked up my cup of Green Tea. I waved at Candice and smiled down at the little guy with the glasses. "Hi."

Was he blushing? "Hi." he answered back.

"Can I have a small green tea?" He nodded and went to the back to fix it. He came back and rang up the drink. I looked at him again, remembering that day on the bus...

"Um, I was wondering..." His face froze in shock for a minute. I really wanted to ask him about his incredible shrinking posterior, but after a moment's reflection, I figured it wasn't really a good time. "Never mind." I grabbed my tea and walked out. I'll wait until I can discuss it with Leroy. Something about him reminds me of one of those totems.

I made it into my office without too many people seeing me. I really didn't feel like answering any questions about why I was out. I had just picked up a stack of data that Malcolm had given me when Leroy walked in. He was smiling and raving about how good his Mocha Blast was. Since I knew that wasn't what he really wanted to tell me, I have to be honest, I kind of tuned him out. Though, don't get me wrong, as much as he loves coffee, if he likes that girl that much, she'd have to learn how to make it eventually.

I had almost figured out where Malcolm had made his mistake when Leroy grabbed my arm and dragged me out of my office towards the conference room. He was just about to stop talking about his amazing cup of coffee, when we turned and noticed the crowd in front of the conference room.

'Now what the hell is going on?' I thought.

I hadn't even gotten close to the conference room when I smelled it. It was like being in the Ape House at the zoo. I saw Leroy's face change color three times before he pulled himself together.

Imagine my surprise, no-my joy! To see Ron curled up in the floor like a baby, surrounded by - yes, you've got it, shit! I could see several people in the office cover their mouth and go running for the bathroom as the full force of the smell hit them.

The only thing I could think of was that Ron, the office pain in the butt, had finally got what was coming to him.

Stalkers

I'm going to have to call Dispatch. This is driving me completely crazy. I'm at one with nature, which means I need to get out more. I tapped into the message he sent out about the squabble at the club. I was halfway out of the door before I realized that somebody would snitch and say it was for my own good.

I might be able to pick up on some "out of sight" action of my own anyway. I went to the grocery store the other day and noticed that this red headed chick managed to be in whatever aisle I went to.

True, this is a free country, (or so they say) but after going to the fourth aisle, I noticed that she didn't have anything in her cart. Now, I can understand the first two, but four aisles, and you haven't picked up anything? Now would've been a good time to have that scanning fiend Brice around. I looked at her until she looked up at me. I flashed my eyes from brown to green one time for good measure, then pushed my cart to the side and walked into the ladies room, hoping she would follow so I could release some of my pent up frustration.

I waited ten minutes, more than enough time, but she didn't come in. I stepped back outside cautiously, and grabbed my cart. I walked up and down the aisles, keeping my eyes on the ceiling mirrors for any sight of her, but she seemed to have left.

Smart girl. But I have the feeling that we'll meet again.

What's the Word?

Leroy stopped by after work to tell me about some of the changes. I'm not even going to lie - I was jealous. Why should he be the only one to get to move to the new building? You know, Rufus has a really expensive, nicely manicured lawn. Looks like I'm going to have to do a drive by. I could see it now - dead grass, rotten roses, tortured tulips - but that wouldn't be very nice of me would it? *sigh* I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

He kept looking out of the window like a stalker. Could he be looking for Candice? Of course he was. Leroy would usually call me about something like this over the phone. I'll have to put him out of his misery and invite him and Candice over one night for one of the upcoming fights.

I don't usually watch boxing, to me it's too much violence for too little reason. But lately I've found that if I put Christopher's head on whichever guy is getting pounded into the ring, it's much more bearable. (lol)

Leroy hung out for a while, then said he had to go. Poor thing, I think this is one of her nights to work at the club. I'll try to put in a good word for him. It's not like I really have anything else to do...

New Friends

It's only been a couple of days and I'm about to go stir-crazy. I'm still taking Kara to the center (I'd have to pay them anyway). But I was able to find out something interesting.

I was walking down to the laundryroom the other day and just happened to stop in the lobby to pick up my mail. Ever alert, I tensed up when I heard someone walk into the building.

Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see Candice from the coffee shop. She tilted her head when she looks at my, as if she remembers me, too.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi." she said. "You work down by the Mocha Cafe don't you?"

I nodded. "We noticed that we hadn't seen you in a couple of days."

"Oh, I, ah, needed to take some leave. I'll be back in soon."

"Oh, okay."

"You live here now?" I asked. I know I hadn't seen her in here before.

"Well, yeah, kind of. My sister lives upstairs. I'm staying with her so I can save up for a condo."

"That's great. Good for you. I'm down on two with my daughter."

"Wow! Small world! I've got to get going, I work at a club sometimes in the evenings."

I waved to her. "Good for you. Well, I'll be seeing you around then."

She smiled. "See ya." She walked up a couple of stairs and then turned around. "Oh and wait until I tell Edward. He's always hoping that you'll come into the shop. I'll let him know you'll be back."

"Edward?" I didn't know an Edward.

"The geeky guy with the taped up glasses who works the register now."

Oh, yeah now I remember. The one with the incredible shrinking butt. "Oh, I remember him now. Tell him I said 'hello'."

"Sure. See ya." She walked off towards the elevator.

A small smile eased its' way across my face as I pulled out my cellphone to text a message to Leroy.

'Guess who's living in my building now?' I sent and snapped the phone closed. I can't wait to see his reaction.

It's all over but the fighting....

I started walking back into the living room when I got a weird sensation. Stopping to look out of the window, I saw a shadowy figure materialize in front of the building. After the figure fully formed, I noticed it looked a lot like Chameleon, one of E-Klypse's buddies. I was about to run out the door, he was as big a punk as E-Klypse, when I saw someone else streak out the bushes after him. Strange, that one kind of looked like, Brice? Nah, it couldn't be. Was it? Whatever both of them were gone and that's all that matters.

I stepped back into the living room to find Leroy looking at his watch. "Hot Date?"

He shrugged and told me not really. We talked for a few more minutes until Kara came out to show me her module of the new molecule she'd discovered. That seemed to be his queue to go. I walked him to the door, making sure I checked the window again on my way to the door. The last thing he needed was to get jumped by someone who found out that he's not allowed to use his powers.

I can't wait to see what he's going to be like when he has kids of his own.

Nothing is what it seems...

I didn't hear from Leroy last night. That's okay. I know he's got a lot of things on his mind right now. I figured I'd try to call him later on.

I started to keep Kara home but figured that it might be better for her to go ahead to school. That way, if for some reason I happen to run into Chris, he won't be able to get both of us at the same time and she'll be safe. That center is locked up tighter than Fort Knox.

I had just sat down a little after 12 when I heard someone at the door. Imagine my surprise when I looked out of the peep hole to find Neil standing outside my door. I leaned my head against the door. It was useless. I was going to have to cut him loose. Leroy could handle himself against Chris, but I didn't want to be responsible for anything happening to Neil.

I opened the door slowly. "Neil? What are you doing here?" I stepped back to let him in.

"Well, I stopped past your job this morning, and they said you went home yesterday on extended leave. I decided to stop by today to see if you were all right."

I sighed. Damn he looked good.

"Oh, yes. I'm fine. Um, it's my parents. They're here in town. I needed to take an extended leave to help them with something."

"Oh. Okay. As long as you're all right." He stepped forward to hug me and I took a step back. If he wrapped his arms around me, that would be all she wrote. "Look, Neil. We need to talk. Some things have happened lately." I took a deep breath. "I don't think it would be a good idea to pursue this relationship."

"What?" he frowned. "Look Terra, is this about the other night? I explained about that. I thought that was all behind us."

"Neil, it's not about the other night. But it does have to do with my other job."

I could tell he was pissed. "Can I use your bathroom?" he asked.

"Sure. Straight back at the end of the hall." I started pacing back and forth and heard another knock at the door.

I peeked out of the peephole to see Leroy standing in the hallway. I snatched the door open, happy to see that nothing had happened to him before I could give him the heads-up.

"It's about time you showed up." He walked into my apartment and sat down. I quickly gave him the 5 minute version of my conversation with Dispatch and let him know that he was seriously going to have to watch his back.

I felt overwhelmed at the expression on his face. Before I knew it, I was crying. Trust me, that's not something I do often. I don't think I've cried since before the lawyer told me that all of Christopher's money was tied up and I was flat broke.

Leroy leaned over to give me a brotherly hug and I started bawling on his shoulder. He patted me awkwardly on the back just as Neil walked out of the bathroom.

Oh, damn. I stepped back quickly from Leroy. "Neil, this is my friend Leroy. Leroy, this is Neil."

Neil's eyes narrowed for a moment before he stepped forward and offered his hand to Leroy. "Sup, man." Leroy returned his handshake.

"Well. I, um, guess I'd better be going." He said walking to the door. I followed him so I could lock the door behind him. He opened the door and took a step, then leaned back and kissed me on the cheek. "Bye Terra." he whispered, then he was gone.

A Little Confrontation for a Big Problem

I stopped back past the office to gather up my things and to let Leroy know what was going on. He was going to have to make sure he watched his back. Christopher never took our separation well, and he was almost fanatic about Kara.

I went past my office first. I didn’t feel like talking to anybody right now. I decided to call Brice once I got home and see what else I could find out about the totems. Once I had gathered everything I went past my supervisor’s office and let him know that due to a family emergency, I was going to need to work from home for a while.

He looked at me kind of strange for a minute, but just nodded. I really didn’t think he wanted to press the issue and have me just take off and not do work. It's not like he knew how to run the reports,anyway. So what could he really say? I stopped by Leroy’s cubicle to give him the heads up, but he wasn’t there. I was about to leave him a note when I turned around and noticed Sasha standing at the entrance.

“Leroy went to a meeting.” Okay that cancels out the note. She’d probably take it.

“Oh. Okay, thanks.”

She blocked my way and wouldn’t let me out of the cubicle. “Girl, you are so lucky to have a man like Leroy.”

“Hmm. Am I? I’m gonna take your word for it.”

“Though what he sees in you in don’t know. How did you wind up hooking up?” She leaned against the wall. “It was all those ‘meetings’ you guys were having, wasn’t it?” She evidently didn’t seem to notice that I was looking at her like she’d lost her mind. “You’d better hold on tight, if I see you’re not treating him right I’m gonna step in and grab him.”

My mouth opened and closed twice before I could get any words out. Was this for real?

“Ah…yeah. Look Sasha, I’ve got to go." Wait till I tell Leroy about this! I stepped around her, while whipping out my cell phone to send him a text message to come over to my place later on. This office is going to hell in a hand basket.

Disturbing News.....

I arrived at Headquarters with 5 minutes to spare. (Yes, I flew. The subway doesn’t go there.) When I first walked into Dispatch’s office, he didn’t look up.

“Okay Dispatch. What’s going on?”

He rubbed his hands over his face as he looked up at me. “Have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Trust me,” he said shaking his head, “You’ll want to sit down for this.”

Now he’s got me curious. I go ahead and get comfortable in one of the chairs in front of him.

“I need you to keep a low profile for awhile…” He started.

“Why?”

“I can think of a couple of reasons,” he muttered.

“Look, if this is about all that crazy crap yesterday-,” I stopped as he shook his head.

“It’s not. Trust me, this is something else entirely.” He picked up the pencil and started tapping on the desk. “Terra, you’re in danger.”

I looked at him in disbelief. “From who? Leroy? Brice? Please! I can handle them.”

He shook his head. “Terra, look. Just take a few days off, stay home with Kara. Just let us take care of few things in the meantime and we’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

My eyes narrowed. What was going on here? In all the years we had working together I had never seen dispatch this agitated.

“Dispatch, what’s going on?”

“We just want to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“We? I pull my weight around here like everyone else. If there’s something going on then you need to let me know!”

“For one, it seems that certain rumors about you reached your ex-husband at the prison.”

There goes that chill down my spine again. “What rumors?”

“The ones about you and Leroy.” Damn that was fast, I just found out myself today!

“So what?”

He stood up and came around the desk. “Your husband broke out of prison last night.”

I jumped out of my seat. “He what!” I started pacing back and forth. “That’s the last thing I need right now.” I looked back over at Dispatch. “Christopher’s smart, but it’s not like he has any special powers. I took him out once, I can take him out again.”

“It’s not that simple. It seems Christopher has been having someone smuggle supplies in to him. For the past few months, he’s been experimenting with several different isotopes. His roommate says that Christopher would talk about how once he completed his experiment you would all be together again. One big happy family.”

I sat back down in the chair and closed my eyes. I leaned my head back as a crazy thought occurred to me. Christopher never was wrapped too tight. “Don’t tell me. Please don’t say it.” I muttered.

“Terra, it seems he’s found a way to duplicate your powers. He’s more dangerous than ever. And we think he’s coming for you and Kara.”

“So like I said. Just lay low for awhile and watch over Kara.” I wanted to argue, but maybe he was right. I stood up to leave. “Fine. I’ll lay low.” I was about to leave out the door when something occurred to me. “What are the other reasons?”

“Just concentrate on that one for right now.” The expression on his face told me that he wasn’t going to tell me anything else.

Not so surprised....

Leroy just walked in my office and told me the latest on the “Ron” rumor mill. Supposedly, I’m Leroy’s girlfriend and he was giving Brice the beat down ‘cause he’s been watching me. WHAT THE @*&#! And these dumb broads in the office believe it. Really, I shouldn’t be surprised. It was just a matter of time. We do usually come up missing at the same times, and you know how small minds think.

But what surprised me the most is that the rumor came from Ron. He’s a pain in the ass, but his rumors are usually on the mark. His source must be slipping…..

I guess the most disturbing thing though, is that he’s been placed on suspension. I’ve never heard of anyone in the Urban 30 being placed on suspension before. I don’t know what to say to him. He looks so disturbed by everything that I want to give him a big hug, but it would be just my luck that somebody would come walking into my office. Next thing you know, rumors would be floating around that we were getting busy on the desk.

I’m going have to talk to Brice. Since Leroy was suspended, that leaves me to try to get some information out of him. Lord knows it’s gonna be hard enough to keep the two of them apart.

I was about to let Leroy know that I would pursue the issue of the totems with Brice when the phone rang. Oh hell. Dispatch was calling.

I took a deep breath and answered the phone. “Yes.”

“Terra, I need you to come down to headquarters.” Damn, was I going get suspended too? “It’s not about yesterday, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“So what is it?”

He was silent for a moment which sent chills up my spine. “I’ll tell you when you get here. I’ll see you in 15.” He said and disconnected the call.

I looked at Leroy who was standing there looking puzzled.

“Dispatch wants me to be at Headquarters in 15 minutes.”

Unprofessional Behavior - Terra

Leroy and I appeared at Brice's office door.

Leroy said, “Brice, we really need to talk.” (Leroy is being stern, almost as if Brice were the bad guy in his eyes.)

Brice looks up and responds nonchalantly, "sure."

I felt Brice trying to scan me. I needed to keep him blocked until me and Leroy got to the bottom of this. "Look.” I said. “We don't want this to seem like some kind of interrogation. But we need to know what happened on top of the building the other day. I looked over at Leroy. "Show him the totem."

Leroy held out the totem he received. "What can you tell us about this?" I asked.

Leroy asked Brice, "Does this look at all familiar? Or perhaps you can imagine another one just like it... with your face on it.”

Brice clenched his fists and stood to look at me and Leroy, eye to eye. Then Enigma Arose-"I don't know from whence these trinkets have arisen, but I will relay this to you and whomever else dare trifle with my pursuit in the knowledge of their beginnings-Don't! I will uncover their origins and when I do, the person, persons or whatever else will know I am trailing them! Now is their anything else that Wonderwoman or Superman would like to accuse me of, or have your thirsts for tabloid-like fodder been quenched?"

I thought: 'Wonderwoman?' 'Superman?' Who in the hell did he think he was? "Brice, or Enigma, or whoever the hell you are today, put your ego in your backpocket and listen. This affects all of us. Whoever's making these totems isn't just after you. This is beyond JUST YOU!" I poked a finger into his chest as I leaned over the desk at him. I had to step away for a moment to cool off. "Look. Nobody's trying to attack you. Nobody's jumping on you. But we all need to work together on this. As a team. Like we're supposed to be."

Brice sneered: "A team?!? A TEAM?!?!?!?...that's absolutely laughable."

Unfortunately, patience is not one of Leroy's qualities. Leroy walked up to Brice, almost nose to nose. "If I find out that you have anything to do with my friends getting hurt, I'm gonna tear you in two pieces."

I don’t know what Brice said that made Leroy clench his right fist as he stepped back to close his office door with his left. "Maybe you need to call Dispatch and ask him why he brought you here, because as of this moment you are no longer wanted." Leroy flexed every muscle for intimidation. I could feel the tension.

I tried to control myself. It had been so long since I let myself go completely, because it was so hard to pull back. Even when fighting I tried to restrain myself and only use my strength. My head snapped back as my eyes changed to a deep, hard green. I could feel my skin tightening as my tentacles slithered from under my clothes. I didn't need this to happen to me at work. But the thought of my other friends being in danger was just too much.

"Brice," I said as I felt myself losing control. "Do we really have to go through this?" I whispered. "Please...let's work together."

Brice kept his eye on Leroy and spoke to me. "Terra...we don't have to do anything, but you need to get your showboating counterpart off my back or the whole neighborhood will quake!"

Leroy bristled. "What, you afraid of a lil' vibration..."

Brice zoned a message to me. "Get your boy or it will all end here!"

Ean walked in just then saying he had gotten a call from Dispatch. Leroy and Brice werenose to nose. Ean demanded an explanation.

Leroy said, "It's already over..." Leroy grabbed Brice by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Cracks formed at the impact.

Ean is in disbelief that this brouhaha is all over a little totem. He warned both Brice and Leroy that he will take his gloves off and shut both of them down for quite awhile if they don't start acting like professionals, but then Leroy looks like he's going to hit Ean, too. The next thing I knew, Ean’s left glove comes off.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then the glove goes back on and Ean pulls out his cameraphone.

The building began to shake a low rumble and Brice’s eyes glazed red. He grabbed Leroy's wrists. There was a look of shock on Leroy’s face. Brice snarled. "One day you will learn that my concession to your lead is truly not because of who you are or what you believe you can do. It is my role. Can the tiger not rip the Lion apart limb for limb? Does the wingspan of the Condor not eclipse that of the Eagle? Can the venom of a rattlesnake not paralyze the great Anaconda? Do not test the power of those beneath you for they are the support upon which you draw during battle. Do not attempt to extinguish the wind beneath your wings for your flight will end abruptly!"


I saw Leroy’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he started to grind his teeth. "You want to raise the stakes... Let's do it." He released the explosion of sonic energy directly at Brice. The backlash shatters the windows and blows Brice’s computer.

He looked down at Brice. "You look like you the anaconda just crushed the breath from your lungs." Then he picked up his desk to hit him with. "There is a reason the lion is king, b!t@h!"

Brice looked up and said, "Yeah...because he hasn't been tested. Let's do this." The whole building was shaking and people were beginning to leave out in a panic. The desk Leroy was holding began to shake in his hands. Brice walked over to him. Leroy dropped the desk and began to throw blows. Brice matched him blow for blow.

"Dammit! Enough is enough! This shit ends now!" My tentacles extended and grabbed each one of them by the neck, lifting them several feet from the ground. "You two handle that macho bullshit at another time." I lifted them away from each other and sat them across the room from each other. "Leroy. Take a walk before we don't have a job to come back to. I don't know about you guys, but I need the paycheck. I pulled myself back together as both gritted their teeth. I know they both wanted at each other, but that was gonna have to be another time, another place.

Once I had myself together, I walked over to Brice and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Will you talk to me?"

Everyone's eye's shifted to Leroy as he grabbed the totem and walked out.

Brice snarled, "Your boy needs to calm that sh!t down. I am not gonna disrespect his role, but I will be damned if he comes in here treating me like some villain in need of correction. He does nothing that would warrant a fear for his power, in my heart. He knows that and it burns him. He will know that until the day he dies, for if I go first, I will continually whisper it to him at night!" He slammed his fist into desk. Everyone looked up again, this time it wasn't at Brice. It was at Leroy again as he charged toward Brice!

Leroy walked quickly back into the office where Brice stood next to me. We both looked a bit shocked to see Leroy come back, and I wondered how much damn space did Ean have on his camera phone. Just as quick as he re-entered the office, he stepped up to Brice, pushed me to the side and planted his foot right into Brice's chest. The kick forced Brice through the wall. I see Leroy was determined to get the last word.

"See me on the play ground later, school girl...", he called out as he left the office.

The Plot thickens

Leroy wasn't in when I got to work. As a matter of fact, I got in pretty early so there weren't too many people at work anyway. This office has always been kind of lax, which is why I like it here. They're too busy doing their own thing to bother me. I could never have gotten this kind of peace and quiet on my home planet. Everybody there is hyper.

I sat down and thought of how I was going to ask Leroy what's been bothering him. I don't want to step on his toes, but I am concerned. I booted up my system and started to work until I figured he'd be in.

I was deep into a report when Leroy came into my office. He held out his hand and showed me a small totem that had been sent to him in the mail. He explained to me that he had also found one of Brice the day of the fight, but it disappeared off his desk. I'm guessing this is what's been keeping him so distracted.

Holding it, I got a strange feeling. There was a lot of power in this totem. I turned it back and forth, thinking it was in some way familiar, wondering what it's true purpose was.

“Do you think we need to talk to Brice, now?” he asked, breaking my concentration.

I nodded. "Yeah, we do." But still I hesitated for a moment. For some reason, I think Leroy is still holding something back from me.

I hate going down to Brice's office. He tends to be extremely suspicious of people. But if somebody was making totems of people, we needed to get to the bottom of it.

Follow ups and New Plans

By the time I got home tonight, Neil had left an voicemail on my phone, asking if we could try to hook up and talk about some things. I didn't want to ask my neighbor to watch Kara again so soon after the last time - I love her dearly, but she has to be taken in small doses.

While I'm fixing dinner, I'm thinking about whether or not I want him to come over. He's the first guy I've seriously dated since I left Christopher. By the time I finished cooking, I decided that we would have to work things out over the phone. Hopefully he'll understand.

I helped Kara with her bath and let her play on the computer for awhile - after issuing a very stern warning about trying to hack into the DOJ's computers to get information on her father - and sat down to place the return call to Neil.

He picked up the phone on the first ring. He was breathing heavily as if he had been working out. That would account for all those muscles I saw bulging under his shirt.

"Hi Neil."

"Hey Terra." Man, his voice is just fantastic. "I wanted to apologize again for the other night. I shouldn't have left like that."

"True...very true. But had you waited I could have told you that it was someone calling me from my other job."

"Oh. I thought it might have been, um....."

"Another man?"

"Yeah. So, um, can we try this again? And you put your other job on notice?"

I laughed and thought about it. Why not? I agreed and we went ahead and set up our arrangements to hook up later on in the week.

*sigh* I really shouldn't have even started this relationship. How will I explain to him about what I really am? And about my ex?

I sat down and took a deep breath. I could hear Kara still tapping away on the keyboard. While she was still occupied, I could move on to my next problem.

I need to try to talk to Leroy tomorrow. He's been unusually quiet. Not that he's somebody that's loud and rowdy, but he usually stops in to say hi. He even took off Friday without saying anything in advance, even though he was filling in for Bill. But more than anything, the fact that he didn't call to make fun of the mayor is a flag that his mind is elsewhere.

A little "ME" time

Yes. Through a little maneuvering, I managed to get out of the madhouse (work) a couple of hours early. My first impulse was to head straight home when I stopped and asked thought for a minute.

"Why am the hell am I rushing?"

It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I don't have to pick up Kara until 6, and it's not like I have a man I'm rushing home to. I turned my head and caught sight of the Mocha Bean Cafe out of the corner of my eye. Perfect. I need to unwind anyway. With all the confusion going on in the office, I could use a little me time. I have a feeling that the upcoming days are going to be a little hectic.

Between the superhero business, Kara, running reports, and Neil, (We're not even gonna add my parents into the mix) it's been real rough.

I walked into the shop and the first thing I did was breathe in. I can't drink coffee, but I love the smell of fresh coffee beans. It was the perfect time of day. It was basically empty except for a few stragglers. I threw my stuff on a table in the back (just in case one of my co-workers should pop in) and walked over to the counter.

I noticed that the girl Leroy liked was working in the back making coffee. Hmm. I'm guessing maybe it's a promotion for her. There's several new faces in the shop. A couple had terrible customer service skills and needed to go. One of the new guys was a little distracted as he walked over to the register to take my order. He immediately started looking down at the register to figure out which keys to push.

"Welcome to the Mocha Bean Cafe, may I take your order?" He looked up at the end of his little speech, and I realized that I had seen him somewhere before.

"Hi!" I smiled at the dazed look on his face. He still didn't respond. "We kind of met the other day, when you weren't feeling well."

"Oh - oh yes. Thanks for your help."

"It's wasn't a problem. Are you better now?"

He just looked at me and nodded. I see he's not a man of a lot of words. But that's okay.

"I'll just have an hot green tea with honey."

He nodded again. "Sure." He quickly went to make the tea. While he was making my tea, something started bothering me. Not that I was checking him out or anything like that, but wasn't his butt a little bigger the other day? Maybe it was just my imagination. I did have a lot on my mind that morning.

He quickly brought it over to me with a shy look on his face. I smiled at him again as I paid for it and told him to take care. I had just made my way over to my little hide out in the corner when I something told me to look up. Three guys walked into the coffee shop with their hats pulled low, scarves up to their noses, and their hands stuffed down into their pockets.

Now, I know good and damn well that on my one free afternoon, these dumbasses are not coming in to rob the coffee shop....

Afterwards....

Leroy and I didn't get a chance to talk until after lunch. We stopped by to pick up our messages from the front desk. I try not to give people my direct line, they tend to call you for everything, whether you work with it or not.

I noticed Brice walk in and immediately went on the defense. Hopefully, he didn't catch too much of what I was thinking. I had a really bad experience with a past member of the Urban 30 reading folks minds, and he caught some thoughts that shouldn't have been public. Since then, I always check with Dispatch when we bring a new member onboard to check and see if there's anything that I need to watch out for.

I keep hearing people mentioning stuff about Debbie leaving. She was cool with me, I'm gonna be sorry to see her go. She was one of the few people I talked to at the job. I stopped by my office to check my emails before heading back over to Leroy's office. He wanted to show me something he picked up during the fight yesterday. He was livid when he got to his desk and found out whatever it was he wanted to show me was missing. It took a while for me to calm him down and get him to chill out talking about the Urban. The last thing we need is for everybody to find out about all of the superheroes working undercover on the job. We'd lose the little bit of peace and quiet that we do have.

Imagine my surprise when I find out that Neil has sent me an email. The big clucker. He could just as easily called me. But, I guess if I was in his in his shoes, I would have sent the email, too. This way, you get to say what you mean without getting a phone slammed down in your ear.

Suffice to say, it was a very nice apology email. Maybe I'll give him another chance. Just as soon as I find out why the President of the company is making this surprise visit.....

The Plot Thickens

You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think somebody was cloning villians. There is no explanation that I can think of to have that many villians in one place at one time. Ean and I managed to get there before Leroy, not that it helped much. The odds evened out some once he got to fighting. I noticed Brice up on top of the building, but I didn't expect much. He's a strange bird. I've noticed him watching when Leroy and I talk. I keep getting feelings that something is off-balance with him.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw Brice hunch over then take off. Leroy signaled as he flew up to the roof to see what was going on with Brice, while Ean and I finished playing with our new toys.

We didn't get another chance to talk until the next day at work. We've got to find out what's going on with this guy.