Timeskip/Coming Home

Included Characters

 * Dee
 * Forge
 * Lee Prower
 * Link Prower
 * Samson the Bushdog

Story
Dee woke with a jolt, switching out of recharge mode and quickly sitting up. The clock next to her dock (a custom bed that shot energy directly into her core) read 9:57, later than she usually woke up. This was probably a result of the previous night and the hours spent cleaning up the Bright Horizon building…

The roof had been sealed, but Cassie stayed big to ensure safety if the concrete didn’t hold the load.

The attendees were kept outside when the paramedics and police showed up, and Dee’s father was found outside, unconscious.

“D-dad?” She asked, clutching her father’s right hand, liking the warmth over the metal coating of her left.

“He’ll be fine, just let us do our job.” A mobian in a medic uniform told her, his co-workers picking him up. Now back in her disguise, she smiled as the worker gave her a blanket.

“Dee… don’t beat yourself up… He told you to help Aunt Cassandra. And he’s come back from worse… Oh Dear Chaos, this isn’t helping. And now I want to spit stuff up?” She argued in her head, watching the medic van pull away.

Link walked up beside her. “You see yo-- oh…” He said, following Dee’s gaze to the vehicle. He sighed. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

Despite Link’s extremely adventurous job, his car was rather small. It wasn’t flashy, or new, or really very nice looking. It had a dulled green paint job, and it’s only benefit was its decent gas mileage.

“I can see it in your eyes, it’s just something I liked.” He said, looking at Dee examine the car as it pulled down the road. “I got the cash, just never got the appeal of a new car.”

“Weird.” She replied.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, with few words exchanged between the two.

Sitting in the waiting room, the TV was playing a report on the “terrorist attack” at the Bright Horizon gala. The city and most citizens were sure it had been a terrorist attack from some unknown group, but one person in particular, a Bushdog, believed otherwise.

“Mr Samson,” The reporter addressed the Bushdog as. “What do you believe happened here?”

“Well, Ms, we all know that Mr Prower is getting up there in years. And he’s probably starting to lose it… That being said, I believe this whole gala was a death trap.” He said, constantly messing with his tie.

“Well, regardless of the cause, it’s safe to say we were lucky the formerly called ‘Team Traverser’ were here tonight.” The reporter replied, turning back to the cameraman.

The Bushdog shuffled away with a disgusted look on his face. “Yes… very lucky.”

Dee stuck her tongue out. “Idiot.”

Link nodded. “I get the feeling there’s more to Mr Samuel that he’s letting on.”

The TV changed subjects, and about that time, Lee was wheeled out in a wheelchair. He had been diagnosed with a slight concussion (that had healed faster than anyone expected) and as such, had a bandage wrapped around his head.

“You took a hit back there, huh?” Link asked him on the drive back to pick up Forge.

Lee just stared out the window for a few seconds. “Yeah… yeah, I did.” He slowly unwrapped the bandage.

Dee slid closer to her father. “You’re thinking of her again, aren’t you.”

“...I wish things were back to the way they were…”

“Lumi wouldn’t like that.”

“I wasn’t thinking of her,” Lee said, looking at Dee now. “I wasn’t thinking of then.”

“Oh.”

Getting over the summarized flashback, Dee grabbed a sticky-note that had been put on her alarm clock.

Had to go help Cassie with something, be back sometime tonight.

Keep an eye on your brother for me.

-Dad’

Peeking out the window, she saw that the RV was now parked outside Lee’s lab. She walked up to Forge’s dock and poked him, trying to set off his sensors.

“Dee, what do you want.” He sleepily said.

“I’m gonna go look in Dad’s lab.” The android told him.

“OK, whatever… just let me sleep.”

She nodded and exited the recreational vehicle, giddy at being in the lab again. She remembered the code from back when Protocol One was back in effect,so gaining entry was very easy. The massive door, a cargo door from when the lab was a warehouse, slid open, its gears grinding as it revealed the mish-mash of tech and experiments that was Lee’s lab.

Dee rubbed her hand along the outside of the building that was basically her birthplace, childhood and home all in one. So many memories flooded back to her. Memories of being taught what a hero was, but also of the cursed Protocol One.

And her.

Malware, the dark side to the youthful innocence of Dee. Several times stronger than her, Malware had only been defeated when Amber and Dee fused, slicing the malicious android to shreds in the form of Guardian. After beating her, Lee had gathered the Nanites comprising her up and stored them in a container that kept them deactivated.

The container was still in the lab, Lee not trusting anyone else to watch the cylinder. “Speaking of… where is it?” Dee wondered, wandering from aisle to aisle of the large structure. She passed an entire wall of scrapped arms for Aunt Amber, a multitude of different weapons and all sorts of unidentifiable gadgets and items. “It should be around here somewhere…”

After at least an hour of searching, Dee came to the conclusion that it wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Weird… I’ll have to ask Amber… or Lee, later. Maybe Amber hid it somewhere or… something. As long as it’s still in the container, it’ll be OK…” She shrugged, exploding with worry but hiding it, and went back to her exploring (albeit with nervous fingers)

Outside, a slender black, red and gray figure watched Dee through a window. ”Order: Observe.”