Chapter 18

Everything was wrong. The alarm sounded like a ringing phone. The bed was, well, too nice. The subtle sounds of morning in the house and the neighborhood were missing. But there was something familiar about it, at the same time.

The spa. She spent the night at the spa again.

She answered the phone, and thanked the woman for the wake up call. When she got back from the shower, she was not surprised to find her clothes from the day before, or the other set of her clothes that had arrived from home. She was surprised to find new duplicates of the blouse and bra that had been destroyed the day before. And the old ones vacuum sealed in a plastic bag marked "Evidence".

She was also surprised to find two breakfasts. In addition to hers, which was prepared exactly as she liked it, there was a serving of something like Eggs Benedict, with the sauce a sort of off pink. There was a knock on her door, so she put the lid back on the eggs and went to answer it.

Yet another surprise, although it shouldn't have been. Robin wrapped her in a big hug, then invited herself in. When she flopped down in the guest chair and lifted the cover on the eggs, her eyes lit up even more.

"They remembered!" she all but squealed, grabbing a fork before the bemused Angel got back to the table. She took a bite, and a look of pure bliss crossed her face.

"I take it breakfast was part of the deal?" Angel asked, amused.

"Oh, yeah! This is the only place I've ever seen this."

"What's with the sauce?"

"Oh, the color? Sun dried tomato and a little different spicing." After another bite, she looked around the room. "This is really nice. I've never had a room here. We're well off, but not that rich."

"How much is it?"

"You don't want to know. Just enjoy it while you can." Robin laughed.

"I've been told that this is not even one of the high end rooms."

"I believe it. I visited someone in one of the suites, once. Wow!"

"Wait 'till you see the bathroom." Angel laughed. "It's a whole experience itself."

They finished their breakfasts, and Angel finished getting ready to go. Robin made an excuse to go into the bathroom, and came out looking impressed. Angel decided to leave her previous day's clothes and the blouse from home there, so all she really had to do was grab her books.

She expected them to teleport out from the room, but Robin just smiled and shook her head. "In polite society," she intoned, "There are appropriate ways of doing things." Angel got the impression that Robin was imitating a female relative.

They went down and almost to the lobby, when Robin opened a door Angel hadn't noticed. There was a symbol on the door, an oval with a starburst above it. They went inside, to find a short corridor with four rooms off of it. Robin looked at the first one on the right, then opened it.

Inside was a small, fairly plain room with a circle on the floor and a mural on one wall. They stood inside the circle, Robin hugged Angel, and...

They were in a restroom stall. A familiar restroom stall. Even though she couldn't see her, she got an impression of Robin leaving through the door of the stall. Then the door opened fully, and a smiling Robin gestured for her to come out.

"You know," Angel quipped, "If you don't start finding a better place to do that, people are going to start calling you TG."

"TG?"

Angel looked around, to make sure nobody was listening, then lowered her voice a little.

"Toilet Ghost."

Robin groaned. "I gotta get a good name!"

Angel grinned, and agreed. Robin wouldn't tell her what she was getting, other than that breakfast, for helping her. But it was clearly a good deal.

"I've got to start doing more stuff for you." Robin joked. "You're a good friend, but the perks are terrific!"

Angel laughed at that, and the speculative looks Robin's comment had caused. A couple of girls from the Spectrum meeting happened to overhear it. She could just imagine what they were making of the comment.

Those were not the only looks she got, and certainly not the worst. She was getting disturbing looks from a number of the Pures and even their less radical friends. Almost as disturbing were some of the congratulatory looks from some of the Supers and their friends. And a lot of people looked puzzled and conflicted.

Angel wasn't sure what to make of that, until a sophomore girl she barely recognized came up to her.

"I saw what you did for your winged friend, yesterday. That was very brave."

"Thank you." Angel was still a little puzzled by the girl's apparent attitude.

"But how could you get burned? Aren't you an elemental?"

Now it made sense. At least some sense. The rumors Barb and her friends spread were taking hold.

"I'm a bio elemental. And not a very strong one."

"But everyone's been saying..."

"I know. The girls who got kicked out for attacking me were spreading false rumors about me. They jumped to the conclusion that I was a fire elemental or the like, and started the rumor based on that."

"Then ... you could have been killed."

"Believe me, when I woke up that thought occurred to me. And I wasn't sure I wouldn't have preferred it. But at the time, I didn't think about anything like that. I just reacted."

"Because he was your friend?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I like to think I would've done the same thing for anyone, but unless it ever comes up, I won't really know."

"I like that. Oops! Gotta go." the girl hurried off. Angel went to her new locker, and was about to open it when Robin got a case of the cautions. She used her powers to look around inside, then declared it safe.

Angel got out her stuff for Spanish and MA, and then headed for class. On the way, she ran into David and Lena. They asked about her evening, and anything they should know about. She didn't gossip about the classmates - and one faculty member - she had worked on that evening and night, but she did generally describe some of the kinds of things she did. Luckily, she didn't have time to go into any detail before it was time to get to class.

Much of the day went like that. One freshman boy, who was known as a sort of morf groupie, asked her specifically about what she had done to the girls. He seemed fascinated by the idea of the nerve manipulations when she briefly explained it.

At lunch, they ate on campus again, with Robin doing delivery duty. This time there was no comparable entertainment. Angel noticed some familiar faces from the night before, but kept her observations to herself. Or tried to. The grin Lena gave her told her she hadn't been completely successful.

While Angel was showering after her last class, she got a mental call from Lena. She needed to go to the office again, before she went to work.

When she got there, she was directed to the Vice Principal's office. Lena wasn't there, and hadn't warned her about anything, so Angel figured it probably wasn't something bad. She knocked, and went in when invited.

She was not surprised to see the VP in her own office, but she was surprised to see her mother there. She and her mother hugged, then were invited to sit. In the first part of the interview, they were told that the school had reviewed the restroom incident, and found that she had acted purely in self defense. But the response was considered somewhat excessive. She would be expected to keep the pain levels less extreme and, if possible, less permanent if she defended herself in that manner in the future. Her record would only contain the self defense conclusion. The Dean's initial report was removed.

The VP went on to commend Angel for her actions in the cafeteria fight. In particular, the fact that she risked serious injury in order to protect another student. The morf who threw that power packet was being disciplined, and as part of that would reimburse her for the costs of her damaged garments. On the other hand, the VP reminded Angel that the school frowned on students putting themselves in unnecessary danger.

Angel had a brief mental image of the VP as one of those Hindu goddesses she had seen paintings of, with all the "other hands" that were coming up in that conversation.

The VP invited them to take a few minutes to visit, and left the office to give them some privacy.

They hugged again. Angel noticed she was doing more of that since the change. Her mother told her she was proud of the recognition Angel would be getting at the meeting that evening. She also mentioned that she missed having her daughter around. Finally, she admitted that she was afraid for Angel, with all the talk of kidnappings and attacks.

Angel responded that she was afraid for her parents as well. She promised to be very careful as long as her parents would make the same promise. That agreed, they exchanged a final hug and left the office. Robin was waiting outside and, after Angel's mother left, the two girls ducked around a corner and vanished.

The room had a different mural, but otherwise seemed the same as the one they had used that morning. Even the circle on the floor looked the same. Robin remained in the room as Angel left and went to get changed.

Angel had two clients scheduled for before the meeting, and three for after. The first was fairly easy, a girl with superficial burns and a need to even out her tan over the affected areas. The second was not so easy. His burns were equally shallow but more intense, and he had lost patches of hair ranging from his scalp to his pubic mound. And his hair was not a uniform color. Working on him took the better part of an hour.

When she was done with him, Angel went to the service bar and got one of the herbal energy drinks. Then she changed into her manager clothes. Her tablet told her where to meet Robin, for her jump to the meeting.

At the meeting itself, Angel got a chip of documents to review. Most of them had nothing directly to do with her - they were for all the managers. She slipped the chip into her theater tablet, and glanced through them while she waited for her food.

The meeting started shortly after the food arrived. The regional vice president chaired the meeting, and announced a departure from the usual agenda. "For the first time I can remember, two of the people we are here to discuss and honor have to go to school in the morning." That got a laugh.

First to be honored was Andy, for his job in stepping in and handling the mess at the morf hater's theater (as Angel still thought of it). He had started classes that week, and would only be working as a floating manager on weekends. He was given an ovation, which Angel enthusiastically joined, a promotion to full manager, and a bonus check.

Angel was next. It took a while for them to go through all her accomplishments in her brief time there. They also discussed the effort to obfuscate her identity in the press releases about the bad chips. She also would only be working occasionally, but he let there be no doubts about those few hours being worth the salary and title of a full time manager. She also got an ovation and a bonus check.

The next honoree was given full credit for the first two. Mr. Moore was the one who had recognized their potential value to the chain, and had acted so effectively in the crisis situations. He was given a promotion as well, but not a title change. He would be dividing his time between the theater and the regional office, consulting on various issues. He also got an ovation and a bonus check.

Angel got a laugh when she turned to him and said "Darn! Now it's going to take me longer to become your boss." But a few of the other managers had a slightly worried look behind the laughter. Mr. Moore explained the joke, and some - but not all - of the worry went away.

The rest of the meeting was more routine, discussing plans for upcoming promotions and seasonal releases, discussing observations and suggestions from the individual theaters, and general business discussions. Andy and Angel stayed long enough to finish their desserts, then quietly left.

Back at the spa, the rest of Angel's clients were more routine. One wasn't even fallout from the fight. An older woman, maybe her mother's age, with hints of the same elegant bearing of Mrs. Tabor, wanted her eyebrows permanently reshaped, with the other hairs in the vicinity permanently eliminated. Eliminating the unwanted hairs was trivially easy. Changing the roots to grow in darker was also trivial. Adding the new hairs was more difficult. And growing in the new hair was energy consuming. The really hard part was getting the shape just right. This was a woman who routinely expected perfection.

Angel found herself hoping that the woman was charged a lot for the service, even though she suspected she would take some perverse pride in the extravagance. She suspected it wasn't exactly cheap, when she ended up with a $200 tip.

In addition to clients and homework, Angel helped her coworkers. No matter how experienced and professional they are, people working with hot things, sharp things, and corrosive substances are going to hurt themselves from time to time. She handled three burns, two cuts, and a skinned elbow. But she didn't have to play a role while doing so, and she had thankful clients. She was able to literally cure a burn while discussing a homework problem with someone else.

While she rested between clients, she alternated between studying her upcoming clients and doing her homework. As before, she had no problem getting help with the homework. She suddenly realized that it was a little too easy. Someone, probably someone assigned by Mrs. Tabor, was making sure she was getting the homework done. It made sense. If she started getting behind in her homework, she would not be as available for clients. Her parents would see to that. Besides, Mrs. Tabor was a benevolent employer. Angel had seen and heard about a number of instances where she had acted in support of her people.

She went to bed satisfied with her night's work. Between the bonus, her tips, and her commissions, she had made more money than she knew. But it wasn't real - it wasn't all that important. It was nice, but not all that important.

What was real and important was that two sets of people had recognized her. They had said that she was valuable and a good person, and they had done so honestly. And some of them actually liked her. It was like something she sometimes heard and read - they validated her. That was what sent her to bed happy.

Glancing toward the bathroom, she decided to act on an earlier decision. She used her tablet to order robes for herself, her mother, and Lena. She shuddered at the price, even at the employee rate, but smiled at the notion that they would be embroidered with their names.

Before she went to sleep, she called home. Mostly, it was just to say goodnight to her parents and remind them that she would be home the next day. But she also told them about her meeting, and some of her encounters with coworkers. It was one of the nicest brief conversations she had with them in a long time.

The next morning, she had no trouble recognizing where she was. She answered the phone in a well rested voice, and thanked the caller. She carefully packed all but one set of her cleaned and pressed clothes, and the new robes, then went in to take her shower. She smiled when she came out to see two breakfasts waiting again. Robin cut it closer this time, getting there before she could get dressed. Angel joined her friend, eating in her spa provided robe.

Robin demonstrated a new trick she had learned. she sort of poked the air for a moment, then a bacon crumble disappeared from her plate. She had Angel cut open her omelet at a point near the center, where the fold had created a small gap, and there was the bacon bit.

Angel applauded her friend's effort.

They joked about Angel going to school in the robe, but in the end she got changed. While she was dressing, she had Robin send her bag to her own living room, back home. Robin had been there enough to target it easily.

It no longer surprised Angel that they didn't see anyone else while they walked and rode to the 'port rooms. She understood how the magic was done.

Before school, there was a small meeting of the Pope Hill Gang. They agreed that Angel should go back to her normal activities. They also reiterated the plan, such as it was, for a response to any attempts against her (or any of them).

It seemed that the other students had moved on somewhat. She still got the bad reactions from some and the good reactions from others, but they were somewhat muted by comparison. The worst thing that happened before lunch was a poor grade on a vocabulary quiz in Spanish.

At lunch time, they got the alert. While Robin was getting the food, she suddenly walked up to the table and told them there would be an attempt after school. She told them when and where, and that Angel would fall over and be picked up by a man and carried to a car.

Having said that, Robin left. When she returned with the food, Angel noticed that she did not have a small stain on her blouse. A moment before, it had been there. Obviously, their informant had been Future Robin. They did not discuss the visit from the other Robin, since there were potential problems with paradox if they told Present Robin what Future Robin said.

Despite a minor loss of appetite, from the news and her contemplation of time travel issues, Angel made sure to finish her lunch. She would need the resources later. She was amused to watch Robin drop some sauce from her sandwich on a familiar part of her blouse, however.

The last few classes dragged. They had their own demands, mental and physical, but they paled beside her knowledge of what was happening after school.

She doubted that the timing was accidental. Lena, David, and Robin would have a rehearsal for Changelings after school, so Angel would be expected to walk home alone. Depending on what time she left, there would be very little time when she would not be within eyeshot, and shouting distance, of other students. The place Robin mentioned would have a very narrow window of unobserved time.

Of course, the three of her friends wouldn't be at rehearsal. They would be at their "action stations". Robin was following Angel a short distance behind, invisible and mostly intangible. Lena and David had gone ahead to Lena's basement, courtesy of Robin's powers.

Angel took a deep, cleansing breath, released it slowly, and set off for home. She was so concerned with making her actions look normal that it took her a second to notice the impact of the injection round in her shoulder. She "knew" that her recently created reflex was isolating the injected material and keeping it, and the infection from the not quite sterile needles, from spreading to any part of her body. Her body also clogged the needle, so no more of the stuff entered her body. She collapsed like a rag doll, on the assumption that the round was either poison or a knockout drug of some sort. The latter, she hoped.

She allowed the isolated fluid to drip to the ground in a small cascade of spit.

I've been hit! Everyone in place?

Yes. You ok?

No problem so far. My powers isolated the stuff. When I'm gone, have David analyze it.

Angel felt herself being lifted into a fireman's carry, then felt the man carrying her break out into a trot.

While Angel wasn't aware of it, Robin chose the moment after she had notified Lena of the location of the car to go back in time to lunch and warn her friends.

The conversation in the car wasn't what Angel expected. One of the other men said to the driver "Let's get her to Med, fast. We don't know what they hit her with." The driver agreed, and they were off.

She relayed that tidbit to Lena, who acknowledged seeing what could be another group of people involved in the action. Between David and Lena, they kept track of the two groups. With their attention on them, neither of them noticed yet another car. The two men in that car were following the car that did not have Angel.