Diary Of A Girl

Conversations About Dead People

2018-11-01T18:17:08Z

There are stars in Molly's room tonight, even though the bedroom curtains are closed. She isn't surprised, and she isn't scared: some of her best nights - best times - have been lying awake to watch the sky over Los Angeles with her siblings, talking and drowsing as the sky turns from navy velvet, star-spangled, to pink to orange to blue; always the same bright clean blue, even now, like a childhood dream of a swimming pool at Disneyland.

She remembers... what does she remember? Hollywood stars immortalised as statues - white as letters - in the park; Tinsel-town twinkles in the sky over the Hollywood Sign. Long close-warm nights lying in the grass of the Los Angeles hills picking out signs from the glitter amongst the black. There's Virgo, Nico's star sign; there's Majesdane, which Karolina's parents once called home (and helped to destroy). There's the Zodiacal nonsense adults believe in; there's the cold hard reality of space travel and magic, the facts that only children know. That only children, lost and running from-to-away-battlewards, believe in.

(There in the darkest dark is Limbo, where the Gibborim ... wait.)

She remembers watching her sisters and brother die on TV screens; she remembers Gert's slumped and blood-stained body, blade-pierced. She remembers Alex, taken by fire; she remembers their parents - all their parents - taken by the storm they started. She remembers times with no stars at all.

So she isn't scared and she isn't startled, when she opens her eyes to see the girl made of stars, but sits up in bed at the end of the universe.

And she says, "Hello."

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cute_bruiser @ 2018-10-30T15:00:00

2018-10-30T19:13:56Z

"We need Sentinel tech."

Molly, startled out of a reverie featuring killer unicorns, jerks awake; Kitten, asleep on her lap, stirs but doesn't open her eyes.

"I feel like we're gonna have to talk about 'phrases it's okay to wake people up with', Ange," she tells their resident tech expert, stifling a yawn with difficulty. (Techspert? She has got to get more sleep.) "'Cause that sentence is gonna feature pretty heavily in my nightmares, I swear."

Angeliqua rolls her eyes, permanently oil-stained hands clutching two mugs of coffee (one black, one milky and so sweet Molly can smell the sugar from several feet away). "Yeah, but we do." Beat. "Need Sentinel tech, I mean, not ... the other stuff."

They're all tired, Molly thinks, carefully lifting the dozing little girl as she stands and even more carefully lowers her back onto the sofa to finish her nap. Everyone is tired, all the time - except maybe Kitt - and there's no payoff, no target, and no end in sight.

"All right," she says, and - gently but firmly - shepherds the older woman out of the room and away from the sleeping six-year-old. It took her hours to convince Kitt that this was bedtime, and she's in no hurry to repeat the experience. "We need Sentinel tech." She closes the door behind them, leaving them in the half-light of the corridor between living quarters and Angie's domain, and takes the milky coffee from Angie with a murmur of thanks. "Why do we need Sentinel tech?"

Angie gives her the look of a woman who'd geared herself up for an argument and would really rather they were having it, if only so as not to waste the preparation time, but starts ticking reasons off on her fingers anyway.

"One - the Sentinel tracker you wanted. I can't replicate their signal, so I'm going to need to get a copy from the source. Several copies, if possible, because - two - my spare parts stores are basically Mother Hubbarded right now. Three - you know you wanted us to do something about reducing our psychic footprint aboveground? Well, I had a couple ideas in that direction, but all the quickest ones involve using Sentinels' in-built power dampeners. And it'll be trial and error, if it even works at all, so I'll need a lot of them. Five - your shield mechanism's playing up again, and you need an extra spare in any case. Short of dismembering Wolverine - wherever he is - again - they're the only obvious source of Adamantium round here."

She puts down the mug of coffee she's holding to gesture a 'six' with her second hand, reminding Molly that in hindsight, seeing her approach with caffeine to share had been a very bad omen indeed. "And, finally - the air con's on the blink again, and you know how Bianca gets when she can't sleep. We don't specifically need Sentinel guts to fix that with, I admit, but if you're bringing me some anyway, it'll make my life easier to use them. Might even hold for longer, you never know."

"Right." Molly rubs at her face. "So what you're saying is, not only do we need Sentinel tech, what we need is lots of Sentinel tech?"

"Yep." One of Angie's dreadlocks has managed to fall over her face despite the goggles pushing her hair back; rather than try to fix just one lock, she takes the goggles off and slides them on again, leaving her hair neatly falling down her back. "You'd be a while trying to find and beat up enough single 'bots to get me everything I need, I think. Especially since you, uh..."

"Tend to smash up all the useful bits?" Molly supplies, half-rueful and half-proud.

"Uh-huh. Your collateral damage record is an inspiration to us all, if that helps."

"Not especially, if I'm being honest, but thanks." She gives Angie a wry grin - the two of them understand each other pretty well, these days - but she can already feel the headache starting to build up behind her eyes. "All right, I'll figure something out. There a deadline on all this?"

"Not as such, but in the next week or so'd be good. We don't want another of Bianca's freak-outs if the air-con fails and she overheats while she's sleeping. Again."

Molly winces at the memory, particularly of trying to put out fires caused by a frantic pyrokinetic while trying to soothe a psychic's PTSD-induced nightmare. "You're damn right we don't. Leave it with me." A thought strikes a match. "Oh, Ange?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get me a blueprint or a map or something for that lock-up Chase found on the scanners the other day? The one by the Sign? Something that'll at least show us more of what the inside of the place looks like."

Angie looks startled; Molly grabs the second cup from its resting place before her outflung hand can knock it over. "You're not serious?"

Molly gives her a look. "Not yet I'm not, but depending on what you find I might be. Unless you've got any better ideas?"

Angie takes her cup back and takes a long, long sip - which Molly takes to mean that she hasn't.

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Cast List

2018-10-26T14:57:54Z

Journal Name:	Character:	Canon:
a_little_worse	Bruce Banner (Hulk)	Marvel Cinematic Universe
a_remarkable_queen	Camilla Fritton	St Trinian's
an_awful_liar	Elsa Bloodstone	Nextwave (Marvel Comics)
angry_scrapper	Brunnhildr (Valkyrie)	Marvel Cinematic Universe
apostrophewitch	Tansy Williams	Books of Gwydion
batman_woman	DC Rachel Bailey	Scott & Bailey
beautiful_bullets	War	Good Omens
big_damn_heroine	Zoe Washburne	Firefly
bold_hostility	Harry Hotspur	Shakespeare's Henry IV
boyscout_brownie	Angel Dumott Schunard	RENT (movie)
brat_of_jesslaw	Owen of Jesslaw	Protector of the Small
called_george	George Falconer	A Single Man (movie)
can_finish_them	Kaidy Hawkins	OC
chose_books	Jennifer Honey	Matilda (Bookverse)
coffi_brenin	Ianto Jones	Whoniverse
cute_bruiser	Molly Hayes (Bruiser/Arsenal)	Runaways (Marvel Comics)
defies_time	Lucifer	Waywalkers/Timekeepers
desperate_d_i	DI Greg Lestrade	Sherlock (BBC)
does_the_jackal	CJ Cregg	The West Wing
doesntbloodyfandance	Kim Foyle	Different For Girls
e_dahling	Edna Mode	The Incredibles
eastwood_in_heels	Adora Belle Dearheart	Discworld
fabulous_pirate	Captain Oscar Shakespeare	Stardust (movie)
far_to_go	DI Fred Thursday	Endeavour
find_a_way	Moana Waialiki	Moana (Disney)
fled_heaven	Alt!Sam Linnfer	Waywalkers/Timekeepers
fuzzy_flirt	Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)	X-Men (Marvel Comics)
gold_elixir	Joshua Foley (Elixir)	X-Men (Marvel Comics)
got_sole	Sam Vimes	Discworld
gothic_heroine	Threnody Winter	OC
has_blanket	Sherlock Holmes	Sherlock (BBC)
has_photoshop	BAU Penelope Garcia	Criminal Minds
heard_of_her_now	Victoria Winslow	RED (movie)
hell_of_a_pilot	Poe Dameron	Star Wars
hisonegoodeye	Agent Phil Coulson	Marvel Cinematic Universe
justatraveller	The Doctor (all-female AU)	Whoniverse
justlike_kevinbacon	Gamora	Marvel Cinematic Universe
lionlike_tabby	Professor Minerva McGonagall	Harry Potter
little_blue	Singularity	Marvel Comics (A-Force)
little_trouble	Broomhilda von Schaft	Django Unchained
lookin_at_you	Rick Blaine	Casablanca
matter_of_circumstance	Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow)	Marvel Cinematic Universe
meatheaded	Sir Nealan of Queenscove	Protector of the Small
mergich_singer	Beref/Snow Leopard Woman	Mythology
momofabohemian	Esther Cohen	RENT (movie)
mother_unstoppable	PC Gwen Cooper	Whoniverse
nearly_next	Dr Jackson Lake	Whoniverse
necessary_child	Sam Linnfer	Waywalkers/Timekeepers
never_lear	Richard Burton	Burton & Taylor
never_said_pilot	Sam Wilson (Falcon)	Marvel Cinematic Universe
nixed_it	Nix Gordon (young)	OC
no_caravans	DS Camille Bordier	Death In Paradise
not_ranty	Rhys Williams	Whoniverse
not_the_hero	Neville Longbottom	Harry Potter
not_the_lady	DC Naz Powell	OC
nothing_up_her_sleeve	Agent Alma Dray	Now You See Me
of_goldenlake	Lord Raoul of Goldenlake	Protector of the Small
of_her_own_making	Susan Grey	The Bletchley Circle
onegirlrevolution	Nix Gordon	OC
onlyevertonks	Nymphadora Tonks	Harry Potter
oooook	The Librarian (Dr Horace Worblehat)	Discworld
out_of_his_league	DCI Vera Stanhope	Vera (ITV)
out_of_nothing	Odo Ital	Star Trek: Deep Space 9
picked_his_birthday	Porthos du Vallon	The Musketeers (BBC)
picked_on_you	Ziggy Stardust	David Bowie
pretty_fire	Ophelia Craig (Heatwave)	X-Men (Marvel Comics)
queenofgotham	Dr Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)	Suicide Squad (DC Movieverse)
red_hunter	Cathaline Bennett	The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
running_to_somewhere	Shania Andrews	Fast Girls
scares_them_off	Stephanie Chambers	PRIDE
shot_one_dog	Det Super Sandra Pullman	New Tricks
should_have_been	Jocelyn Knight	Broadchurch
sieg_freed	Django von Schaft	Django Unchained
so_lifelike	BAU Spencer Reid	Criminal Minds
soldiering_on	Katherine 'Kate' Kane (Batwoman)	DC Comics
st_celia	Celia Lovegood	St Trinian's
st_tania	Tania MacKenzie	St Trinian's
st_tara	Tara MacKenzie	St Trinian's
stillnotbutler	James Twelvetrees	You Rang, M'Lord?
stilltalkstoher	DCS Jack Halford	New Tricks
sweetcakelibby	Libby O'Dell	Run, Fat Boy, Run
technical_pacifist	Toby Harper	OC
the_honourable	The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher	Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
the_pilot	Bodhi Rook	Star Wars
the_sharp_end	Agent Ziva David	NCIS
theykeepkilling	Suzie Costello	Whoniverse
they_see_me	BB-8	Star Wars
took_a_year_out	Dr Martha Jones	Whoniverse
trusts_numbers	Dr Hermann Gottlieb	Pacific Rim
utterly_incorrigible	Betsy Hilton	Enid Blyton - Mystery Series
wally_not_waldo	Where's Wally	Where's Wally?
wannakillthebatman	Dr Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)	DC Comics
wants_to_sing	Prince Herbert	Spamalot
west_ham_artist	Dean Thomas	Harry Potter
whats_occurrin	Nessa Jenkins	Gavin & Stacey
whoselineisit	Mrs Who	A Wrinkle In Time (Movie)
whowalksbyherself	Selina Kyle (Catwoman)	The Dark Knight Rises
will_kick_you	DS Ellie Miller	Broadchurch
with_an_haitch	Liza Hempstock	The Graveyard Book
with_enough_nerve	Ginny Weasley	Harry Potter
youknowwhatimean	Luci (Eleanor Rigby)	The Wicked + The Divine

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OOC: HTML

2017-09-26T00:45:02Z

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cute_bruiser @ 2014-12-14T21:59:00

2014-12-14T22:02:29Z

When Karolina comes back from the stars, she comes back in tears. She'd been to Majesdane, she'd been to the Skrulls, she'd been to the Shi'ar and to everywhere in between, and in all those places and planets she found -- nothing. Or maybe you'd say she'd found too much: no help, nowhere, too many interstellar wars for anyone to be spared to attend to trouble in a postage-stamp planet in a galaxy at the back end of the universe.

"All right," Molly says, into Karolina's hair. "Then I guess it's all on us."

They've never really gone all-out on Magneto before this: too many responsibilities (they're going to have to find a way to keep Kitt out of it; they've buried enough children already), too many worries, too much trauma to think straight. Too afraid, when you get right down to it - but right here, right now, they've had enough. They've taken too much to let this continue.

Molly thinks maybe she's supposed to be more scared.

But, then again, she was never very good with 'supposed'.

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Conversations With Dead People

2013-11-02T01:17:55Z

When she opens her eyes, she's sitting on the jetty by the lake, swinging her feet like she used to do when she was little. Nico has her arm slung around her shoulders and Gert's leaning on the post beside them, half an eye on Old Lace just out of sight. It's summer; LA golden and glowing the way the movies never ever get quite right.

Summer in LA: tangerine sweet.

"Oh," she says stupidly, and smiles. "But you're both dead. Aren't you?"

(She hasn't dreamed of Gert, not ever, not even of Chase walking out of a burning building with her in his arms. Once or twice she's dreamed of Nico, but only in rolling-news footage of her death.)

"Pleased to see you too, Bruiser," Gert says dryly, but Nico just hugs her to her side, sister-strong.

"Reports have been greatly exaggerated," she tells her. "I mean, did you see all the times Jean Grey stopped being dead? She was like Jesus, only ginger."

Molly shakes her head, and doesn't laugh, because there are some thoughts she just can't break. "I saw your body, Gert! I saw -"

She stops, because she can't say it. Still.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Gert rolls her eyes. "That boy of mine was never all that good in a crisis. Do him a favour and tell him to get over me already, will you, kid? Because someone has to, and at this stage it's not likely to be me."

"This is a dream, isn't it?" she says, because she can feel the sun in her face and in a dream you are allowed these strange, disjointed conversations. "You're not real."

"Well, it's a dream," Nico admits, giving her the oddest look: half wistful, half something Molly can't identify and isn't sure she wants to. "But why should that mean it's not real?"

Now she does laugh, sounding more bitter than she'd like. "Shut up, doofus. You're not Dumbledore."

"You should see her with a beard," mutters Gert, as Nico gives Molly a serious look.

"No, I'm not Dumbledore," she says. "But I am still your sister, Moll. Whatever happens."

She can't look at her, can't look at either of them, and the lake is too bright. "No, you're not." She's forcing the words out like bullets under her skin. "Because you're dead, Nico, I saw it on TV. Because you're dead, and I ran away and let you die." She takes a deep, choking breath. "I let you all die."

She thinks she should be crying, but she can't; she thinks she might choke on the truth and knows she'd deserve it if she did. Gert died rescuing her and Nico and Vic and Xavin died because she ran away and left them; this is her truth, and she might as well get used to it.

Nico and Gert are hugging her now, both together, the way she remembers them doing just once, the night they first got split up. When they were little, and Captain America was still alive to be a jerk to them, and things were simple, and they still thought everything could be okay again some day.

And she's still not crying, though she thinks maybe she should be. She doesn't deserve this, doesn't deserve to even dream about their forgiveness, but nor can she bear to let them go.

"You are our sister," Gert tells her, absolute. "Even when you're being an idiot."

"You were doing your job, Moll," Nico says, as if that somehow makes it better, makes the choice she made the right one. "They were your responsibilty to keep safe, and you did it. What happened in New York wasn't your fault."

"Really." She can't stop clinging to them, but she knows that they're wrong. That this must be a dream, because if it was real they wouldn't forgive her like this. "I ran away and left you, but it wasn't my fault?"

"D'uh." Gert rolls her eyes ostentatiously, tossing her purple hair. "Unless you have something seriously major to tell us, I'm pretty certain it's Magneto who bears full responsibility for destroying New York in general and the Avengers in particular."

"I made my own choice," Nico reminds her. "Just like Gert did, and just like Vic and Xavin did. We knew what could happen, and we chose to do it anyway."

Molly makes herself smile, like she really believes them. Believes this isn't a dream, and that she can be forgiven. "Where are Vic and Xavin, anyway? If this is my dead-people dream, I mean."

"What, like all of a sudden we're not enough for you?" Gert teases, but she adds, "E.T. had somewhere else to be tonight, sorry."

Nico slides an arm around both her sisters' shoulders. "As for Victor? Well, it's a funny story..."

When Molly wakes up, it is very nearly a whole five minutes before she realises she's once again alone.

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