Planning the Rescue

## whipding08/26/2018

Sam awoke the next day on the now quite-tattered couch, with a string of saliva hanging off his cheek. He'd slept well, to say the least. There was something quite tiring about enlarging your entire body to hundreds of times its size, as well as suffering from several fractures and having them all sealed in one day.
He owed Vindaya one *hell* of a favour for that. Even if she had been involved in the creation of said fractures.
The good news was that he hadn't had to get up for work today, hence his decision to sleep off his exhaustion at HQ. Today was his recovery day. Mental recovery day, of course - whether his wounds had been healed or not, he had almost died yesterday, at the unwitting ~~foot~~ hand of teammate, no less.
After many more minutes of laying down and feeling sorry for himself, he lofted himself upright. Feeding himself was priority, now that that was something he could do.

September 3, 2018

## sephet09/03/2018

Lilah parks her cute little powder blue hatchback and cuts the engine. She’d done a regrettable after-work karaoke with her coworkers last night and the hangover throbs behind her eyes. But! Hangover or no hangover, it was finally Saturday, she finally had a day off, which meant she could finally come see what was going on with the super crew. There had been a couple weird posts on the forum, but she’d kind of slept in on the hospital call to action (and if she’s being honest the idea of going to a morgue creeped her out big time) but some folks seemed to be meeting at HQ. And at least HQ had parking.
She gathered up her purse and stuck her ‘valuables removed’ sign in her window before locking up and heading into the building. She stomps some ice and slush off her boots in the entrance, then takes them off to avoid making a mess. She stashes her coat on a coatrack and hops into the main room, and wonders if she should have dressed more special. Fashionably oversized sweater and jeggings were not typical hero gear. If she needs to get changed probably she can go home, it’s not that far.
“Hello! How is everyone on this wintery Saturday morning?” She smiles warmly as she finger combs her hair to make sure it’s in place.

## whipding09/03/2018

Sam sluggishly sauntered into the main room, hearing the sound of a car engine cutting out outside. He hadn't quite expected Leo to get here this early, but it wasn't entirely unprecedented - once he got an idea into his head, he tended to get pretty set on it. Whatever that idea was.
He took a seat on the same couch he spent last night crashed on, taking a hefty bite of the sandwich in his hands. Thankfully, there were enough spares clothes around that he'd been able to change out of his pizza stained mess, now sporting a simple plain white t-shirt and jeans. He'd need something extra if Leo dragged him outside, but it'd do for now.
It was at this point he remembered his moped was still tied to a lamppost somewhere in Eaux Claires. Well... shit. He could go and get it now, but LEo apparently needed him for something, so... bleh.
 As it turned out, that was a decision he'd have to make later, a different familiar face walking through the door.
He hadn't really talked to Lilah other than in passing, but she'd seemed nice enough. He really should spend more time actually getting to know more people here. Might be handy for morale or... something. Either way, he wasn't about to be rude.
"I'm alwoot-" He swallowed the bread that was filling his mouth. "I'm alright, just recovering today. Whatcha doin'?"(edited)

## sephet09/03/2018

“Recovering?” Lilah smiles and puts her purse on a chair, fetching a thermos full of coffee from within. She’d been slowly kicking her Starbucks problem by replacing it with stuff from home, but she never felt as fashionable with her vacuum sealed cup. “Did you have a rough night?”

She shifts her purse over and takes a seat, sipping her hot coffee carefully. “I saw there was some stuff going down on the forum yesterday, but I missed a lot because of work. Are you guys okay?” She should have found a reason to be sick or something, now she’s starting to feel a bit bad about karaoke. Was heroing going to be a no-social-life affair?

September 4, 2018

## Vodka Aunt09/04/2018

Anastasia never had the best taste in fashion, another thing she got from her father.
"Hey! да пошёл ты! I'm not old, you're the old man," she says indignantly, arms crossed," I'm pretty sure my dad wasn't KGB, but I'm sure he'll want to help his baby girl, who could say no to this face?" She grabs the sweater from the air and pulls it over her head. It was comically oversized on her petite frame and she had to roll the sleeves up several times before her fingers could be seen.
Annie chuckles softly," you think everyone is cute, you're so thirsty. Looks like you've already entered your thirsty thirties."
She slips on her shoes and runs outside, wanting to catch his reaction to his recently de-puked car. She seemed relieved to be climbing into the passenger seat this time around.

As soon as they park, Annie was out of the car and into the base, regretting her lack of winter coat. "Who missed me?" She calls out into the house playfully, kicking off her sudge-covered shoes in the entryway.

## whipding09/04/2018

"In a manner of speaking..."
He hadn't really thought about it until just now, but there was something quite relieving about talking to Lilah. Perhaps it was because she was the first person he'd spoken since the events of yesterday who wasn't hundreds of times his size.
"Um, yeah, we're alright, for the most part. Daya got a bit messed up, but that's pretty standard, I guess." He paused to finish off the last of his sandwich, leaving a empty plate on the coffee table. "It's a long story, but things got a bit weird, some of us lost our powers for a bit... but everything seems fine now. Just a lot to think about."
He gave her a wry smile. "What's been up with you anyway? Haven't seen you around here in a while."
As soon as he asked the question, another voice came from the entrance to the house, one he immediately recognised. His only response was a deep sigh, coupled with an obligatory eye roll. He should've expected it really - if Leo was coming, Annie wouldn't be far behind.

September 5, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy09/05/2018

Some of the things Anastasia said were utterly ridiculous. Her observation that Leo was in his thirsty thirties made him burst into laughter. It was so funny to him that he didn't even bother to correct his age to her.
It must have been quite humorous to watch Leo put back in place anything that had been rearranged in his car without even thinking about it. It was clean. *Good.* If it hadn't been, Anastasia would have gotten a car ride chock full of bitching.
Instead, she got a car ride consisting of Leo dramatically belting out various rancheras by legendary mariachi Vicente Fernandez.
Annie ran out before him, but Leo sprinted to the house from the car, away from the freezing cold of the outside. He walked briskly into headquarters with his hands hidden in the pockets of his jacket.
“I'm hooome.” He announced, slipping out of his shoes. The elastic man confidently strode into the living room and placed himself in between Sam and Lilah, but much closer to Lilah. He leaned in to greet her with the customary Latin kiss on the cheek. “Morning, *bella*.” He cooed, and reached a stretchy hand over to slap Sam on the back. “'Ey, *muchacho*, what's good?” He leaned back into the couch, with his arms resting on the back cushion. As per usual, Leonardo had a bright, big smile on his face.
“Listen, bro, we have a mission to do! Yesterday at the Social Hall, Kyle -- you know, the skinny guy who makes people get hives and shit -- got kidnapped. He's bein’ held hostage at some rich dude's mansion. We gotta’ sneak in and find where he is so we can rescue him. That's where *you* come in, Sammy. We need you to crawl in and scope out the place so we can come up with a plan.”

September 6, 2018

## sephet09/06/2018

She stares at him for a moment, thoroughly startled by the idea of her powers stolen. “That sounds awful. Were you stuck… a different size? Everyone’s all right though? That’s more than worth a recovery.”
She blushes a bit at his question and is about to answer when Annie makes her jump. She doesn’t remember having as much energy as Annie when she was her age but then she could never afford to come bursting into places without literally bursting them. “It’s certainly noticeable when you’re not here!” She calls out playfully.
She shakes her head and looks back to Sam for a second to answer, “I’m bad at making time. Work, the gym, trying to keep my social life alive…” she shrugs a little and takes another sip of her coffee.
Lilah laughs as Leo struts into the room, flushing a little for his quick peck and giving him an affectionate pat on the cheek in return. Because of his jovial attitude it takes her a moment to skip tracks and register what he’s saying. “Kidnapped? That’s extremely… extreme. What?” Things seem to have gotten serious fast.

## Mob Boss Peggy09/06/2018

Leo sighed, his smile falling at Lilah's bewildered reaction.
"Yes, love, it is extremely *bad*. The guys who took him are veeeery dangerous, and so we need to be smart about this. Sammy can get into the mansion undetected, and with the right DNA sample, Annie can get in too. We could very well just sneak Kyle out... If he's there."

## whipding09/06/2018

"Um, yeah. I was kinda stuck for bit."
Sam just smiled slightly at Lilah's response. It was a problem they all had, really - hero work was important, but life didn't just stop while you were doing it. Some of them had tried dumping everything else for good, but, well... they didn't seem to be the happiest of people.
Leo's proposal wasn't quite what he'd been expecting. And not in a good way.
"What, you mean, like... today?" He internally groaned. As much as he'd like to just ditch, if one of their own had been taken, he was pretty much morally obliged to go help. So much for his recovery day...(edited)

September 7, 2018

## Vodka Aunt09/07/2018

Lilah's words drew a pleased smile on Anastasia's face. Watching Leo undo her benign chaos had put her in a chipper mood, she even sang along with her own much more offensive versions of whatever the other man sang.

She nods along quite seriously while Leo explains their situation. "The whole thing was intense, guys. He could, like, control your mind with these flowers he grew out of his skin," she glares at Sam with narrowed eyes,"obviously today! Don't you think he's waited long enough? Or I mean we can lock you in a cage with no food or water and see how long it takes for you to want to be rescued and follow those guidelines!" She had gotten herself rather worked up, her cheeriness replaced by a bright red face. She felt partly to blame for Kyle's kidnapping and took offense to people not immediately jumping on board with their dangerous plan.

## sephet09/07/2018

Lilah purses her lips and scowls at her coffee cup, tapping her pastel pink manicured nails against the side nervously. Mind control flowers. That’s one of the scarier super powers she’s ever heard of. “Is there a way around the flowers? Like pollen masks or. Or something?” If it comes out of a flower it’s probably pollen, right? She had friends with allergies, they did stuff like that.

“I’m not much good for stealth…” She flushes a bit in embarrassment and shakes her head. “But I guess if you need a door kicked in or something I’m available.” Sam and Annie are definitely the best choices for infiltration, she just wishes she could do more. She really doesn’t like that the baddies are getting to the level where being held prisoner is a likely threat. “Strength isn’t much use in this situation…”

## Mob Boss Peggy09/07/2018

Leo's brow lowered with befuddlement when Sam asked if they were going to do this *today.* He opened his mouth to say something, but Anastasia ripped the words right out of it. He just nodded the whole time as she explained even more about their situation to him. His eyes shifted to Lilah afterward when she jumped into the conversation with her own ideas.
"Oh, yes, *mami*, we need some kinda' gas masks or what-not or we're dead. I was on the other side of those flowers. It was the *only* reason they were able to get away. Other than that, the guy is a total dweeb. We can take him out easy if we don't have to deal with his 'flower-powers'." He laughed a bit at his own pun.
"I don't know if you'd be right for this mission, *mi amor*, you know I would die if something happened to that face." Leo said with his ever mischievous grin. "But if I'll give you a call if we need some more muscle. If all else fails - I got a gun."

## whipding09/07/2018

"Alright, alright, I get the point..." Sam raised his hands as if to defend himself, although it was obviously too late for that, his face tinging slightly red. He hadn't intended to come across like that, especially with Anastasia here. Because, well... *Anastasia*.
He coughed slightly, hoping to gloss over that particular part of this conversation. "So... get in, grab some DNA, break out Kyle. Seems... simple." As long as things didn't get violent. Which it might regardless of whether this it needed to, based on how worked up Leo and Annie It was slightly surprising that Lilah was offering to help, but not unwelcome - he'd quite like someone else on this rescue who wasn't totally hellbent on revenge.
"I mean, she could hang around outside as backup. Y'know. Just in case," he added hopefully. "And, uh, maybe we could ask Finch about the masks?"

September 9, 2018

## sephet09/09/2018

“I know, I’m hardly built for stealth.” She laughs softly and gives a little bit of a shrug, lighting up a bit when Sam suggests she stay nearby. She really does want to be useful. “I can be the cavalry if you need it. I don’t think anyone else needs me for anything today.”

“Here, I’ll go see if I can find out about some masks, while you guys plot.” She sets down her coffee on the table and pushes herself up. She’s not sure where everyone hides in the HQ but it’s not so big of a place that she can’t find out by poking her head in a few doors.

September 15, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy09/15/2018

Finch had been listening all along. At the mere mention of masks, the bespectacled man had rushed up into the basement to look for them. A hero base had to be well-equipped, after all.
Moments later, the older man stepped in front of Lilah holding the objects in his hands, dust covering nearly every inch of his puffy head of hair.
"Looking for these?" He said, with his usual, goofy grin. He placed the three masks in Lilah's hands. "Bring them back safely or you're paying for 'em!"

## Mob Boss Peggy09/15/2018

Meanwhile, Leo had pulled up an overhead map of the Holtman estate on his phone. The address was easy to find thanks to the magic of the internet. He leaned over to Sam and let him look as well.
"You gotta' get through a big-ass gate with security, then another big gate and here's the front door at the end of the huge driveway. I'm thinking there are security guards *everywhere*. Probably here, here, and their doorman *definitely* has a gun." Leo explained, pointing to both gates and the entrance.
"Maybe... You can get *his* DNA. The door guy. That way Annie can turn into him and get into the house."

September 16, 2018

## AugustSmols09/16/2018

It wasn't common for Esriel to drop by the Headquarters, he had always planned his visits sparingly and focused more on his work. There was times the establishment came in handy, and times where his line of work would pick up on certain details, but aside from that he kept things at a minimum.
Which was he often found himself being greeted by new faces. Arriving straight from his club, Esriel was abnormally well dressed, his hair slicked back from his previous shift. Checking the time with his right hand, while the other held a newspaper, the young man strolled in. It was outdated, but his establishment still had an order of the paper despite the convenience of technology.
This morning his friend had slammed the newspaper down in front of him, wailing about how some lady was attacked and it may be connected to some murders-- except his friend's main concern was that his girlfriend lived in the area, so clearly Esriel had to be the good friend and do something about it. Now that he was here, he needed to see if anyone else was interested investigating the incident.

## sephet09/16/2018

She laughs softly when Finch appears, dust coated and baring gifts. She reaches to dust off his head and takes the mask with a grateful nod. “Thank you so much. I’ll make sure everyone knows to bring them back in one piece.”

She clutches the masks carefully and begins to head back to the main room, but crosses paths with Esriel on the way. She gives him a wave and a bubbly smile, “Hey there, slick!” She doesn’t want to admit she can’t remember his name, or remember if she even knew it to begin with. There’s so much to meeting new people in groups, people like Leo or Annie with their big big big personalities stand out, but everyone else gets jumbled up together.

September 19, 2018

## Mob Boss Peggy09/19/2018

Leo's face lit up when Esriel entered headquarters. He was always happy to see a new face around. As much as he loved hanging around the usual suspects, variety was the spice of life!
"Bueno, mi amigo!" He exclaimed, hopping off of the couch to greet the young man with a handshake and a warm, latin hug. Hopefully Leo could lean on his tendency to use pet names to hide the fact that he had forgotten the guy's name, too. Although his attention was pulled away almost immediately by the sight of Lilah carrying the gas masks in her hands. The dreadlocked man spun around to retrieve them from her, smoothly leaning in to plant a little, friendly kiss on her cheek in thanks. "My love, we will take care of these!" He assured, but it wasn't immediately apparent whether he was talking to Lilah or the unamused Mr. Finch.
"Arriba, arriba! Ándale, ándale!" Leo continued to excitedly exclaim, gathering up his things, as well as his people. "We have a mission to do. Let us not be late, eh?"
Swiftly, he shooed the other members of his trio out of headquarters as quickly as a summer breeze.