Another Day, Another Storm

**November 15, 2020 -- Big Hospital** (following the events of S5E63: Oops All Proteges!)

*Brrrr. I hate these things.*

Melody’s teeth chatter as she wakes up and removes the ice pack held against her chest. *Did Atlanta go home...? Maybe not, her stuff’s still here. Did she say she was going somewhere…? Food? Or was that a few hours ago…? This is why I don’t like being in the hospital, time makes less sense than it usually does. I guess some broken ribs and a few days for observation is pretty lucky though, considering how much I got thrown around when I was using that technique. Considering what happened to…*

She turns over in her hospital bed to face the other patient in the room. Her mentor is asleep again-- The Jackal seemed in good spirits earlier in the night when Shade told Melody that she’d get Sledge to come visit. As her eyes fix on her mentor’s back and the variety of monitoring machines hooked up to her, Melody’s head fills with images of the robotic Smokescreen holding The Jackal helplessly in the air before driving her body back-first towards a powerful knee. Melody closes her eyes and winces, letting some tears out with a choke now that she has no friends in the room to worry.

“*You seem like you’re taking it better than me,*” Melody whispers as she slides out of her bed with a groan and makes her way to a set of chairs alongside The Jackal’s bed. “*I don’t think I’ve ever seen you complain after you’ve got hurt on a mission. Even when it’s really fuckin’ bad. I don’t know how you do it. It’s okay to complain sometimes, y’know…”*

Melody carefully sits on one of the chairs and roughly dries her eyes with a forearm. As her hair falls into her face, she habitually reaches to her wrist for a hair tie before remembering that she’d left it on the other side of the room. Bleary eyed and tired, she slumps in her seat and watches The Jackal rest.

*Tap tap.* There’s a gentle knock at the door, and Melody watches the shiny steel handle turn as the door slowly creaks open, guided by a hand gripping a backpack. Atlanta, no longer in costume as Verve, pokes her head inside, frizzy curls pulled back into a ponytail, and manages a smile as she sees that Melody is awake. She enters the room, revealing her other hand has a tray stacked high with food, and quietly closes the door.

“*Hey*,” she whispers. “*You doing okay*?”

Melody nods, turning back to make sure that The Jackal isn’t stirring at the noise, before trying to smile at Atlanta. She doesn’t quite get there, but it’s a close attempt.

“*Uh, yeah. I guess. Kinda. Physically anyway?…”* Melody watches The Jackal a bit longer before raising her voice a bit. “She’s probably on enough pain meds that she’s not gonna wake up right now if we aren’t yelling or whatever.”

Melody adjusts her upper body to face Atlanta and winces briefly. “Oww. Gotta do that slower. You good?” Her eyes wander to the tray in Atlanta’s hand. “Whatcha got there?”

"I've got some bruises, but nothing spectacular. Won't even have to tell Boon to not hug as tight as usual." Atlanta gives Melody a small grin that she hopes reads as sincere. Physically, she wasn't in much worse shape than an average fight. "I got food. Sorry it took me so long. Grandy showed up with a change of clothes for me. They said they'd stop by tomorrow to see Old Jackal. But they called her Harm, which is so weird. It's like when you hear your teachers being called by their first names. They aren't supposed to have those, you know?" As she talks, Atlanta sets down her backpack and takes a seat next to Melody. The tray has a plate of spaghetti, a sandwich, some crackers, a slice of incredibly greasy pizza, and desserts stacked high on it. "It's kinda chilly in here, do you want a hoodie? I have some of Boon's in my…" Atlanta trails off and grimaces slightly as she remembers everything flying out of her Pockets, and how she picked none of it up before leaving the Visionics facility. "Um. I'm sure Grandy packed me one." Atlanta nudges her backpack with her foot.

“Glad you’re not too beat up,” Melody gives a small smile to Atlanta. “That woulda made my day even worse. Just like… feels weird being on the other side of this. Last time I was here was when you were… y’know.” She drags her fingertips over her own collar, roughly mirroring where Atlanta’s scar would be. “And thanks for getting stuff. Hmm…”

Melody’s eyes immediately dart to the desserts on the tray Atlanta is holding, studying them intently for a moment. As she reaches out towards them, a low rumble in her stomach cuts through the otherwise quiet room. A mildly embarrassed frown follows as she reconsiders her choice and grabs the pizza instead.

“Mmf-- oh, yeah,” Melody continues as she makes quick work of the slice, “it *is* weird to hear someone call her by her first name. God, I didn’t even know it during the first two years we trained together. Then it turns out I *had* already met her out of costume, just in the 50s? Fuckin’... Halcyon, man.”

“Halcyon,” Atlanta echoes, nodding in agreement and picking up the sandwich and eating it at a much more tempered pace than Melody.

Finishing her pizza, Melody lets out a small contented sigh before shivering again. “Jeez, usually don’t get this cold. Just off today I guess. Might hit you up on that sweater offer.” She turns to Atlanta and tries to muster a smirk. “You said one of Boon’s, right? I mean, I’ll take one of yours in a pinch, but they don’t seem great at like… keeping the core warm.”

Atlanta laughs. “Listen, they’re just a different kind of cozy, especially if you wear high-waisted pants. But I agree that Boon’s are better. Why do you think I keep stealing them?” Atlanta sets the tray of food down on the tray-thing attached to Old Jackal’s bed. She rummages through her backpack for a moment before pulling out a blue and black plaid hoodie. “Here you go. I don’t know why Boon owns this one, but it’s very on brand for them. But 10/10 soft and warm. The next best thing to a hug.”

“Well, I’ll take what I can get. Thanks Boon.” Melody throws on the hoodie and looks down at the baggy fit of it before squeezing her arms around her lower chest. “This is pretty comfy, yeah. I get why you keep taking them.” She looks out the window, seemingly lost in thought, before a brief smile crawls across her face. “Aman has like, a fake fur-lined jacket that I like a lot. I should steal that more. But we’re the same size, so I usually don’t get that extra-baggy comfortness thing when I borrow his stuff. Hasn’t stopped me, but still.”

“Buy him an oversized one for Hanukkah or something, then steal it after it smells like him,” Atlanta suggests, tapping her forehead.

Despite everything, Melody can’t help but giggle at Atlanta’s suggestion. “You know, that’s a pretty genius idea. I might actually do that. Let’s just keep that nefarious plan between us till then.” She presses her finger to her lips in a *shhhhh* for dramatic effect.

After a few more moments staring out the window, Melody turns back towards Atlanta, her eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, um, weird question that’s been on my mind all day. Before all the horrible bullshit that happened, when you were talking to Jasper at the base? My ASL still blows, but uh… did you sign something about Jasper being a big brother soon?” Melody’s face contorts in thought before she grins, clearly having figured it out. “Are you guys like, getting another dog?”

Atlanta freezes for a moment before pulling the sleeves of her shirt down over her hands. “Right. Uh. Gosh I’m just the worst at secrets, huh?” She sighs. “Not a dog. Jasper’s gonna be a big brother. Mom’s pregnant. She’s not super far along so we’re not like, announcing it just yet. She wants to wait until about the middle of December. And then Daybreak is gonna retire…” Staring down at her hands, Atlanta trails off.

“Oh! Oh. Shit.” Melody’s eyes go wide with surprise at the revelation. “Uh, damn. That’s… a lot. Congrats on like, Being a Big Sister Round Two? But like… yeah. Retire. Makes sense.”

The word ‘retire’ seems to echo in her own head as Melody briefly faces the older woman asleep in the hospital bed near her. *How old is The Jackal? I haven’t actually asked. I think she was in her early twenties when we met in ’55? Then she jumped from there to… mid 80s till now, so… late 50s? Early 60s?* *Probably…? She’s been doing this for so long...*

“So, uh…” Melody gently pats Atlanta’s shoulder a few times. “How ya feeling about that? The whole... ‘retire’ thing. Cause you’re doing that thing you do where you stare at your hands when you get down about stuff.”

“I...I know she only became a hero again to bond with me and help me. This isn’t what she loves doing. She wants to be a mom and run Sweet Nothings. So I guess, I should have known she’d retire again before long. But like...a bunch of people have been talking about forming a New League, and moving on from Big Team, and...I feel like people will expect me to be her. Like you’re really good at what you do, and can do what Old Jackal does. But I can’t be Mom. And when she retires there’s going to be this gap and I can’t fill it.” Atlanta sighs. “Like, when I focus on the baby part, I get really excited. But when I focus on the being a hero without Big Team or my mom part, I’m mostly...scared, I think.”

Nodding as Atlanta speaks, Melody quietly sighs in agreement. “Yeah, I get the whole ‘being scared’ thing. I’m in the same situation pretty much? And thanks for saying I can do what The Jackal does,” she tries to force a smile, “but really, I can’t do what she does. Not yet. I’m finally catching up on like, fighting maybe? I mean…” she shakes her head, “having all these powers she doesn’thave helps a lot. But like, keeping track of shit going on all over the city and figuring out when baddies are up to something and following leads and all that? It’s *super* hard. I’ve had to fill in for The Jackal a lot more the last few months and had to ask Big Team for help more than once, cause like, I just can’t figure out how to handle all the stuff she does without help.”

“Mentioning all that cause like… listen, Atlanta. You are one of the most badass people I know, and I will keep telling you that till you believe it too. And… you don’t have to be your mom. Like, she’s fucking awesome, but…” Melody puts an arm around Atlanta’s shoulder and gives her the most reassuring hug she’s currently capable of, “so are you. Just be you. And if that’s not good enough?” she jams her thumb at her own chest, “you hit me up and I’ll help. Cause God knows I’m gonna be asking you for more help soon, filling in for The Jackal and all that."

"That's a big reason we want a new league, actually.” Melody finishes. "Cause even when we go off to like… be our own heroes and take over for the adults or whatever? We don't need to do it alone. We shouldn't. We're a fucking *awesome* team. Why stop now?"

Atlanta leans into Melody’s hug, and tears up listening to her friend. Her sister. “We do make a great team. I wouldn’t have gotten half this far on my own. I never would have imagined that you felt like that, Melody,” she says quietly. “You always seem to know what you’re doing. A lot more than me, at least.”

Atlanta sits there quietly for a moment, savoring the contact and watching Old Jackal sleep before asking, “Do you really think I should join you all in the new league? I still feel like a kid a lot of the time. And I’m younger than the rest of you. I guess...leaving Big Team seems so huge and scary, and I can’t picture my life without it.”

Melody’s body involuntarily trembles. After the emotional rollercoaster of a day, thinking about leaving Big Team again sets her heart racing. As her eyes also begin to tear up, she hugs Atlanta tighter.

“Okay first of all, I’m only a *couple* months older than you. So that barely counts! Even if we ended up in different grades cause of that.” Melody laughs, her voice wavering as it grows more serious.

“Second… yeah. I think you should.” Removing her arm from Atlanta’s shoulder, Melody stares up at the ceiling in contemplation. “I mean… no pressure. Do whatever you’re comfortable with. Whatever you feel like is right. But like... you’re ready. Even if you’re gonna be in high school another year, and even if older people are still gonna be on Big Team… it’s not really an age thing, y’know? It’s an experience thing. And you’ve saved Halcyon a bunch of times already. When it comes down to it, you know what to do. Big Team wouldn’t exist anymore if you didn’t. So… yeah. I think you should join, if you want to. You’re ready. And we could really use your help.”

Atlanta pulls her knee up and rests her chin on it, thinking about Melody’s words. And Ernest’s from Halloween. And Boon’s from...all the time. “I...I guess if so many people I trust think I’m ready, I guess I should work on trying to believe them.”

“Cool. You should work on that. And if you need any more encouragement or whatever, I’ll keep giving it. Whether you ask for it or not.”

Melody smirks before another chill runs up her body and she hugs her arms against her lower stomach. “I get being scared though. About not being part of Big Team anymore. I--” Melody’s voice begins to choke up. Looking down at the ground now, she turns away from the girl next to her.

*Pretty sure I’m just gonna start crying and never stop if I look Atlanta in the face right now.*

“It is huge and scary.” She continues with a melancholic tremble. “I didn’t think I’d be on Big Team till I was like, as old as The Jackal, but I haven’t really thought about what life would be like without the team over the last year. I learned how to work on a superhero team there. I changed a lot and I’m so much happier now. I met like, all my best friends there. Except Aman, and like, I dunno if we’d have even started dating if we weren’t spending all that time together doing Big Team stuff. And, y’know, you encouraging us. And I know it’s dumb, but I worry that like… when I stop doing stuff with the team… that that’ll all end. The… having friends thing.”

After sniffling, Melody barely finishes with a whisper. “But that wouldn’t happen, right…?”

Atlanta rests her hand on Melody’s arm and squeezes. “Of course not. I...before Big Team, I didn’t really have friends, either. Not like, real ones. Just, situational friends. People I talked to at the community center, or during swim practice, but who wouldn’t interact with me outside of those contexts. But that’s not how Big Team feels. I mean, I’ll probably lose contact with some of the members I don’t know as well, but you? You’re my sister, Melody. I love you, and I’m not going anywhere. And neither are your other friends. Things are going to be different, and we might not see the rest of them as much, but we’re not going to leave you.”

The tears begin flowing as soon as Atlanta’s hand squeezes Melody’s arm. As Melody closes her eyes and listens to the kind and supportive voice beside her, her body is wracked by quiet sobs. After a day like today, she can’t hold it in any longer even if she looks away.

“I love you too,” she manages to croak out as she turns to wrap both arms tightly around her sister. “Thanks.”

Atlanta returns the hug just as tightly and holds Melody for a little while, letting herself cry some more, too. After a few minutes, they pull themselves together. Atlanta grabs a tissue box and offers it to Melody after taking one for herself. She blows her nose and leans back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling for a bit before remembering something she needed to do.

“Hey, Melody…” Atlanta begins, then hesitates before continuing. “Thank you, for earlier. For...getting me to stop. With Kieran. I...he...my brain stops working and I get so angry and no matter what I do nothing makes it feel better. And...I’m sorry. For asking you to do that. I knew I wouldn’t follow through with that threat and asking you to do it was cruel of me. I’m so sorry.”

Melody takes the tissue from Atlanta when it’s offered and blows her nose as quietly as she can, looking at The Jackal to make sure she doesn’t stir. As Atlanta talks, Melody looks away and nods.

“Yeah. It was kind of uh… very sensitive topic for me right now.” Melody stares intently at the blue-handled dagger sticking out of her gym bag at the other end of the room. “No hard feelings though. I… that’s probably what I’m like around Spegulo, really. Everything they do pisses me off, and I can’t ever forgive them, even if they wanted forgiveness. But they’re shitty enough that they don’t, of course. So… I get it. I didn’t think you were really capable of that level of vengefulness or whatever, but...” she shrugs, “guess we’re closer in that way than I thought.”

Atlanta pulls up both of her knees and wraps her arms around them. “I’m sorry,” she says again, unsure what else to say. They sit there in uncomfortable silence for another minute before Atlanta breaks it by asking, “Do you want to talk about it? Why it’s a sensitive topic for you? You don’t have to.”

“It’s… kinda hard to explain? Not that I’ve ever been good at explaining complicated stuff.” Melody takes a deep breath and lets her eyes wander toward the window, the faint outline of the forest alongside the bay barely visible in the dark, as her focus begins to fade. “But what you asked me to do… the thing about sending someone to Shadow Halcyon? Not a hypothetical. I think.”

*“You think”? Truly?* A stern, confident woman’s voice rings in Melody’s head. *Be more precise with your words, girl. Combat is only one aspect of a warrior. You need to--*

*Shut up. You’re the worst.*

*Go on, servant!* A gruff, proud young man’s voice barks at her instead. *Tell her of your victories in battle! There’s no cause to feel shame. Just know that you only forestall the inevitable. There is little time until Ra--*

*Yes, yes, thanks for reminding me of that. Again.*

Resting her head in a hand, Melody goes quiet again and absentmindedly twirls some hair around a finger as she tunes out the voices scratching at the back of her mind. “I… I mean, you were there when Yamato took over my body, and… y’know, tried to stab Aman and all that. And I couldn’t let her do that. So I trapped her. And I thought she was stuck inside me specifically? I mean, I could suddenly control shadows better and do lots of shit I couldn’t before. And she’d still...” Melody darts her eyes to Atlanta with nervousness, “still does… talk to me sometimes. In my head.”

Atlanta nods for Melody to continue, listening intently.

“And… that thing I was telling you about. Where the Rokkr were fighting us and we were losing real bad, and I asked the Jackals for help?” Melody’s gaze fixates on the dagger at the other side of the room again. “They took them to Shadow Halcyon. I think most of them got away, but their leader… guy named Fenris... sometimes I hear him in my head now too. I think he’s still trapped there with Yamato.” Her body shivers again as she closes her eyes, but she’s too tired to cry at this point. “The Jackals… Shadow Halcyon… I don’t really get how our bond or whatever works. But it’s way fucking bigger and scarier and messed up than I thought.”

Atlanta takes in a deep breath as she processes this. It was a lot. It was big and terrifying and she’d had no idea. A large part of her felt even worse about asking Melody to send Kieran to Shadow Halcyon, but she pushes that aside for now. The next thing she does is hug Melody again. “I’m sorry. All of that sounds really scary. I don’t really know what to say or how to help, but I’m here for you. Nothing in the world could stop me from being there when you need me.”

Melody hugs Atlanta back, going quiet again for a few moments. “Thanks,” she finally whispers. “Feels a little better just talking about it. And I’ll figure something out. Always do. And it means so much to know you’re there for me.”

Holding onto the embrace a bit longer, Melody lets out a long yawn before looking at the clock on the wall. “Okay, I might go back to bed. You can bounce if you wanna. I don’t think either of The Jackals are going anywhere tonight. And, y’know...” she smiles at Atlanta, “don’t wanna keep my sister trapped in a sad hospital room.”

“I was planning on staying,” Atlanta responds, without hesitating. “I mean, I can go and come back in the morning if you want, but I’m not just going to leave \*my\* sister here trapped in a sad hospital room by herself.” Atlanta grins, then realizes something. “Okay, so Mom and Dad will probably make me go to school, but I’ll come immediately back here. And if you get discharged but come back to sit with Old Jackal, I’ll still come sit with you. And sneak you desserts from the dining hall.” Atlanta nudged the food tray, still full of a number of sweets, to emphasize her point.

Melody’s tired eyes momentarily perk up as she looks at the tray. “Wow, there *is* something wrong with me. How’d I ignore that.” Taking a couple small chocolate brownies, Melody wolfs them down before grabbing a chocolate chip cookie and finishing half of it in one bite. She embarrassedly grins at Atlanta before slightly more slowly finishing the other half. “Okay. No more before bed,” she nods to herself as she picks up a small peppermint candy and stuffs it in her mouth.

Atlanta grinned, glad that she knew how to cheer Melody up. Even if it was with questionably good quality hospital desserts.

“And… I mean, if you wanna stay here tonight... that’d be cool.” Melody stands up and shuffles over to her bed, sitting on the side. “I think they only wanted to keep me here a night or two. But… yeah, won’t be here too long. And I’ll still be back to visit her till she’s out.” Melody jerks her head towards The Jackal, then looks back to Atlanta with a grin. “If you could come hang out after school or whatever when I do that, that’d be awesome. Just... don’t let her hear you call her ‘Old’” she giggles.

“Better Old than Harmony,” Atlanta joked, but knew she wouldn’t make Old Jackal angry with her on purpose. She goes to sit on the slightly more comfortable chair next to Melody’s bed. After sending a quick text to her mom that she was staying with Melody, she searches in her backpack and triumphantly pulls out another of Boon’s hoodies. Her family knew her so well. As she settles back, a thought hits her. “You know, we were here last November, too. With Jasper. Everything is so different now.” A melancholy smile tugs at her lips. “Mostly for the better.”

As Melody crawls into her hospital bed and pulls up her blanket, she abruptly stops as Atlanta speaks.

“Holy crap, was that last November? Has it really been a year already...?” Pulling up her blanket the rest of the way, Melody sinks into her bed and stares up and the ceiling, lost in thought.

“I mean... “ Melody finally breaks the silence, “yeah. That was real rough. I’m glad Jasper ended up okay after, and he’s kicking ass now. And like, I wish he never got hurt ever, obviously. But… can’t say I have all bad memories of back then. I mean… if all that horrible stuff hadn’t happened, I’m not sure I ever would have become so close to you. I was real bad at opening up to people back then. It was just… really easy with you, even back then I guess.”

“Also… ‘mostly for the better’?” Melody continues staring at the ceiling tiles, tilting her head at them as if addressing them. “I feel like we’re really kicking ass since then. I mean, we’re *way* better at being heroes, we have fuckin’ amazing partners, your mom and grandy are back and my parents are here for a while… we’re co-captains on our teams… like, when I think about us compared to last-November-us, we’ve come a long way, right?”

Atlanta doesn’t feel like admitting that the part that wasn’t better was the two Jackals being in the hospital. It would bring down the mood. Instead, she tucks her feet up onto the chair and nods. “You’re right. Things are a lot better. And even when things were bad, they brought us together. I wouldn’t trade you for anything, Melody. And really, we have me to thank for giving both of our partners the courage to ask us out,” Atlanta winks and giggles.

Melody sinks into her bed and smiles. “Wouldn’t trade you for anything either, Atlanta. And ya, I’m really glad you helped motivate them to do that. Props to you for helping them find such awesome girlfriends.”

After giggling to herself, Melody turns over one more time to see The Jackal still peacefully asleep in her bed. As exhaustion begins to overtake her again, she closes her eyes and continues mumbling in conversation to Atlanta, her words becoming less coherent every sentence.

Atlanta keeps Melody company until the other girl falls asleep. She settles into the chair, not quite ready to fall asleep, with the steady beep of medical equipment and the breathing of the room’s other two occupants to keep her company.