Sunburst (Alice)

[Helena Rahal]

The benefit of isolation for months was that she had been allowed to be alone with her thoughts and emotions. It was something that she knew that she needed after her life was thrown into circles after Alice's revelation. Everything that she thought was true had been a fabrication, a fraudulent existence if there ever was one. The one reason she had for living her life had been nothing but a total and utter illusion and it meant that the means went to bring her to life... they were wasted energy, as was she.

It was no accident that had caused her to go into low orbit from time to time, nor did she spend the entirety of the months she had disappeared there. However it provided a good excuse for whenever someone came looking for where might have been, which likely was the work of Alice, intentional or not. Instead, she had been hiding out in Seattle, using a false identification and using her whits and feminine charm to get by in a modest artisan apartment. While it was awfully small, it suited her as she had nothing to her name and it came on the cheap, with her odd ball jobs being able to pay the rent.

Her time with Marshall had her learn to facilitate the use of her powers and she knew darn well how to use them to their fullest extent. She played the fool on the chat room, it kept any one from asking too many questions and allowed her to observe just how everyone was coping with what was going on. More importantly, it kept her tangentially connected to Alice, though it pained her to seek her out. The betrayal had felt worse than any slap to the face could have ever been.

However she still loved the woman, still yearned for her touch and the comfort that she brought. There was no demons that Claudia had that needed to be tamed, but if there was, she was sure it would be Alice's presence that would have soothed them. It made sense, her heart and mind had always belonged to Alice, since the moment she had come into being. If there was true love, then this had to be exactly what it felt like, what it meant to be in such a situation. She was hopelessly attached to the woman.

Time had allowed her to move past the hurt and the pain, past the betrayal that she had felt, and towards sympathy. It was well past time living on what the past gave them, the mistakes that any of them committed because it felt like the right thing at the time. Now was the time for forgiveness and for... well whatever was to become of them. She had allowed herself to be "rescued" by friends that Alice had and manipulated the situation into procuring the pair of them a private room. They needed to talk, they needed to simply be.

"I have missed you, so much." Claudia said as the pair of them found themselves in a room alone. Pulling Alice close to her, she gently stroke Alice's hair and rubbed their noses together. "I do not even know where to begin, but it just feels so wonderful to be in your arms once more."

[Alice Taylor]

Alice had absolutely no idea that bringing Claudia back would be this simple. Well, simple enough if you are friends with some of the most powerful people in the world. The whole process took less than an hour from locking onto the low orbiter's coordinates, all the way to bringing her back to Christian's house, eating and clothed. And here they were, reunited again after close to two years. While glad, Alice's emotions were very mixed.

Nothing could have predicted the effects that two new telepaths would have on each other. Their mind powers were so raw and unprotected, and with thoughts often very confusing. What it did feel like linking to another telepath was the feeling of completeness, like you have found your other half, and separation seemed worse than death. That was the case with the road trip with Alice and Charlie Baker, a young man finding his way through life as a special. Alice spent a lot of time with Charlie, because turning him into an instrument of good would be the greatest achievement of her life. Charlie had the power to mimic other people's abilities, and is ideal for helping others with power troubles since he could literally go through what they felt. He could teach others about control, and how to use their powers to better society. On this cross-country trip to meet and help those specials that required it, Alice hoped Charlie would gain the knowledge and confidence that he could make a difference. With all the attention, of course, Charlie had his stray thoughts on what him and Alice were. Alice liked him too, as a friend, but she was in love with another, a fact that Charlie was only accepting little by little.

It was about one-third into their trip that Alice began picking up thoughts from those that passed her. The thoughts were coming in often and without warning.

[To be continued... so tired right now due to sick]