randomplaces | Futureknight Chapter 7

The soft buzz-saw rasp of a snore gently drew her to wakefulness and she opened her eyes to see her honorary brother holding a paperclip over his sleeping father's open mouth.

"Narmo… don't. Don't..." She paused to close her eyes and muster her senses. "Don't want your head embedded in my wall."

"Crud. Didn't think 'a that."

She heard the clip clatter to the table, then felt him sit on the side of her bed and put a hand over hers.

"How ya feelin'?"

"Weak." She opened her eyes again. "Burned."

"Yeah. Yer nerve wirin' got hot with all those other molecules slidin' through it." His forehead creased. "I was gonna kick J'onni's butt, but he said ya told 'im t' go that fast."

"Did." She turned her head to look out the window, blinking against a slight painkiller haze. "Wanted it over… with."

"Maybe ya shouldn' be talkin' so much."

She turned back to frown at him and saw the concern in his bright Eldari eyes. "Vendea's orders?"

"No. But I know I sure didn' feel like sayin' a lot after Snofu run over me with that steamroller." He fussed with her blankets, then grinned at her affectionately.

Ronnie smiled back, though she suspected that it hardly came out as a mouth twitch.

Then she noticed something on his shoulder. "Lorn."

"Oh yeah. Yer boyfriend brought her back..." He glanced at the clock, which was turned away from the bed. "Yesterday mornin'."

"Boy… friend?" she asked drowsily," mind already drifting back toward sleep.

"That's what Ada said." Narmo noticed her eyes drooping and kissed her cheek. "Sleep, Gwathil. I'm takin' care'a yer rounds till yer better."

"Thanks." She smiled and felt herself sink into dreams.

* * *

I love late morning starts. David glanced at the chrono in the corner of his monitor, then started flinging unneeded things into the recycling bins. Eight o'clock. I'm slept up for the week.

He stopped as his mind went back to Ronnie and her unexpected friendship with a metahuman. She'd been sleeping peacefully, fever broken, as he left her house at six the night before. Her strange guardian had still been by her side, giving him looks that promised mayhem if he stepped wrong when he had gone to see her before heading for home.

-Jesus, help her heal, please. And please help me focus on my job instead of thinking about her.- He growled and threw Gordon's half-eaten chocolate bar, then growled again when it missed the bin. -We have to get this Hormah put away before the insane #$&+... sorry. Before the he kills anyone else.-

He tossed the chocolate bar, then came back and adjusted the miniature holo of he, Steph, and Gordon before reaching for the dried out doughnut.

"Huh?" He blinked as something rolled out of the hole into his hand. "Oh. Lorn's egg."

He shook the translucent green ovid near his ear as he tossed the cruller, then flopped into his chair and examined it thoughtfully, wondering if it would smell like a rotten hen egg if he broke it.

There was a sudden twitch and the two halves of the eggshell rolled away, leaving a tiny green stress worm clinging to the palm of his hand.

David gaped. "Oi!"

The baby worm started, then gave a hopeful coo.

"Darnit." David glanced around, remembering that newborns generally wanted to eat soon after birth. He growled as he realized that he'd thrown away the baby's breakfast and every other crumb in the office.

Scowling, he hit the speed-dial on his speakerphone. "Gord, you wanna bring me a doughnut or a Twinkie?"

There was a startled silence on the other end of the line.

"Gordo?" He cupped the little worm close to his chest and rubbed its back with a finger as it squeaked.

"Um. Sure. What kind?" asked Gordon, sounding shocked.

"I don't care… wait. No icing." David glanced up at Batman. "Give me a minute."

Dave, you just put Batman on hold, said a little shocked inner voice.

He can take it, came the quick reply as the door opened and Gordon thrust some kind of cake doughnut at him.

"Thanks" He set baby worm on the desk and put several crumbs in front of it, grinning in relief as it cooed and began to eat contentedly.

"Is that a lima bean?" Gordon rubbed his eyes and leaned over to look. "Did your worm have a baby?"

"It wasn't mine, but yeah, it did." David shook his head.

"Where's the mother?" Gordon inched a curious finger toward the little green thing.

"I gave her back. Now I have to take time to return this one, too." David scowled and scrubbed his face, then stopped and looked thoughtful. Maybe Prudence will feed me again.

"Where were you yesterday?" asked Gordon, curling his finger back at the last minute. "I went by your place and you weren't home."

"I dropped her mother off at Wayne Manor and they told me I could sleep there." David caught the little worm as it started toward Gordon and eyed it curiously.

"You slept at Wayne Manor?" Gordon looked up, then jumped. "Um, Batman..."

"Oh, right." He turned toward the Dark Knight sheepishly.

Batman radiated amusement despite the expressionless face mask as he handed over a data chip.

"Thanks." David glanced at it, then up at the now-empty corner.

"Where'd he go?" Gordon dropped into a chair, blinking. "And how'd he move that fast?"

David shrugged and dropped the chip into his computer, then picked up the baby worm as it started making a funny pinging sound and dropped it into his chest pocket.

"What's that?" Gordon leaned over to see the dark green text as it appeared on the paler green background.

"Information for the Hormah case," said David, frowning at it absently as he read.

"What kind of name is 'Hormah'?" Gordon snorted.

"Hebrew. It means 'destruction'." David took the chip out, then slipped it into a box of other chips. The guy's an alien? Great, that opens a whole new can of worms. What're his abilities? Does he have a kryptonite? He glanced toward the window as its servos whined and quirked an eyebrow when he saw who was pulling it open and climbing through.

"Woah," said Gordon, eyes wide.

Lobo folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the detective impassively.

Gordon lifted his eyebrows, then scowled and fidgeted. "Don't tell me you came here just to give me the evil eye."

Lobo smirked.

Gordon scowled harder. "Dave, you know this guy?"

"Yeah, we've met," growled David.

"You okay with 'im bein' here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay! I'm outta here." The door slammed shut.

David shook his head and turned a scowl of his own toward Lobo, but then blinked as the alien gave a satisfied chuckle and grinned at him.

"She's awake."

The scowl dropped away before his burst of relief. "How is she?"

"Weak 'n dopey, but she'll be alright." Lobo picked up the holo and studied it. "Who's the broad?"

"My girlfriend Steph." David snagged it and tucked it safely in a drawer.

"Girlfriend?" Lobo narrowed one eye.

"She died." David took the baby worm out of his pocket and looked down at it.

"When?"

"Five years ago."

There was a silence so long that David looked up to see if the space biker had pulled a disappearing act and saw a strange expression on the other man's face.

"Well, that sucks."

David raised an eyebrow at the rough sympathy but stayed silent, waiting to see what the alien wanted.

Lobo squinted and scratched one cheek, then scowled at him absently for a few minutes before shrugging and slipping back through the window without another word.

David blinked and raised the other eyebrow too, then reached for the phone.

"Hello?" said Clark's voice uncertainly.

"Hey, it's David. I found that egg." He held the tiny worm up on the tip of his finger and examined its faint whitish markings.

"Hi, Commissioner!" said Clark. "That's sweet, but guess what?"

"It hatched."

"Ronnie's awake... it did? There's a baby?"

"Yeah." David grinned. "It looks like a lima bean."

"A green one!" cried Clark. "Prudence! Ronnie! Lorn's baby's green! The egg hatched!"

David winced at a sudden rushing sound and a bang, feeling grateful that he hadn't been talking with an earphone. "Clark? You okay?"

"Hello?" asked a tired-sounding female voice.

"Ronnie." He gulped. "I'm really sorry. I just wanted Clark to know that his egg was alright."

"David." She sighed. "That's good to know. What's the little one like?"

"Green with white markings." He put it back in his pocket.

She chuckled. "Sounds like a lima bean."

"Gord thought it looked like one." He grinned. "I can send someone to bring it back."

"No, that's alright. You keep her."

"Are you sure?" He frowned. "Clark seemed pretty happy about it."

"He was talking about giving you Lorn."

"Shouldn't you ask him to make sure? I don't want to just take something from a kid."

"He's gone to yell the good news off the roof," said Ronnie comfortably. "He'll be hyper for the rest of the day."

"Oh." David glanced at the window as it came back online and whirred shut, then winced as a flash threw his entire office into sharp contrast.

"David?" asked Ronnie urgently as a deep boom shook the room.

"I have to go." He was on his feet, pulling on his jacket and trying to keep his breakfast from making a reappearance at the thought of more people dying.

"Was it Hormah?"

"I have to go." He hit the disconnect button and rushed out of the office.

* * *

Ronnie managed to get out of bed and into her chair before Prudence caught her and carried her back.

"Let me go. I have to get to the Cave."

"You aren't going anywhere, Miss Veronica. Miss Vendea was most firm in her instructions," said the butler implacably. "On no account are you to exert yourself."

"Ronnie! Prudence!"

"We know, Master Clark," said Prudence without looking up from tucking Ronnie into bed.

"I have to go to the Cave," growled Ronnie.

Prudence gave a sigh of exasperation. "There is nothing you can do. Now if you don't settle down I will be forced to sedate you."

"You wouldn't do that." Ronnie stared at her in shock.

"Wouldn't I?" said Prudence evenly.

Ronnie groaned and turned away, feeling the frustration and anger rise up to choke her. -Jesus, please stop that madman. Please put a shield between him and my city.-

She flinched as Clark curled up against her back, feeling damp as though he'd been playing in a light rain, then stared sightlessly out the window, her heart far away in a red mech suit.