“What? No.” Both Aces and Lyssa spoke at the same time, glancing at each other in surprise in their sudden cooperation with one another.
Danny doesn’t seem to notice, though. “Listen, listen, it’s perfect! You can continue the investigation, push people to take more action on the case, and explain why you know what you do! Plus, you can learn lots of things from the rest of the Defenders, and get extra resources to make sure Razor and his group get taken down, without actually having to do anything morally questionable. It’s perfect!”
Lyssa stammered in denial. “The place is a death trap! The City Defenders have a massive injury and mortality rate! The only reason they accept anyone is because basically no one wants to risk their life against some murderous gangs and unstable supers!”
“Your powers aren’t very good in direct confrontations, so you’ll probably stay in the backline, which means the mortality rate is significantly lower. Plus, if you’re with them, you can save the heroes! You could help so many people! And since you’ll be patrolling, you’ll be helping many more people than just the heroes. You could save dozens, maybe hundreds of people!”
“Would…would they even want me to save them? I mean, Aces seems fine with the entire situation, but I’d be forcing everyone that died into a half-life, unable to touch or do anything except ask me to do things for them.”
“Then just release them afterwards, if they don’t like it!”
“It’s more complicated than that. But…even then, I’d have to register. I’ve already discussed why I don’t want to do that. In detail. Many times.”
Danny nodded, but her enthusiasm doesn’t seem to have lost its steam yet. “Yeah, you’d have to register, but guess what? The Secret Identity Laws should keep your registry from becoming public, so you won’t have to worry about all the issues that come with registering anyways. Plus, you’ll get actual measurements on the exact ranges and limits to your powers, and probably learn a lot of ways to use them that you wouldn’t think about normally.”
“Awfully well informed, aren’t you? For a non-super, you sure seem interested in the City Defenders and their benefits.” Aces commented, raising an eyebrow.
Lyssa opened her mouth to argue, before registering Aces’ comment. A sinking feeling grew in her gut. “You’ve…you’ve researched this before, have you? This isn’t the first time you considered trying to get me to join the Defenders.”
Danny, who was just moments before bursting with energy, suddenly looked guilty, stepping back slightly. “Um, well…I mean it when I said that I think you could do a lot of good, if you joined the Defenders. You could save so many people, and you just…aren’t, for little to no reason.”
“It’s not ‘no reason’! It’s to keep myself out of the public eye, to stop people sending me to people who are too late and forcing me to tell them that it’s too late to save them. It’s to stop me from getting kidnapped to save some dying politician or to spend the rest of my life carrying out the requests of dead people, who would’ve stayed that way if I hadn’t stepped in! It's…” Lyssa was breathing hard now, her voice rising to a shout before falling as the anger flickered and died, a candle snuffed out.
“It’s selfish. I know I could be helping lots of people, but…I don’t want to be stuck talking to dead people more than I talk to living ones. I just-” Her voice cracked with her composure, and she sat down, trying to stop herself from tearing up again. She’d done that too many times today. “I just want to be normal. To not have to hide my powers because then everyone will look at me differently, or ask me to resurrect their dead relatives or friends. But I guess that’s too much to ask.”
Danny sat down beside Lyssa, sighing as she leaned against the wall. “...It’s not selfish, Lyssa. You already have a lot on your plate, and I’m sorry I pushed you for this. It’s just…its cool, yknow? I know you don’t look at your powers that way, but I do. I guess I got caught up in things.”
“Man, you’re emotional.” Aces commented, still standing in the abandoned building. Lyssa shot her a withering glare, before she raised her hands in surrender, backing up a step. “Kid, I doubt that you’ll end up kidnapped because of your powers, I mean it. I dunno about the cultural stuff, but most of the folks that I’ve seen that had rare or useful powers found a group of people willing to bat for them pretty quickly. That's on both sides of the law, by the way. I still object to you becoming a cape, I’d rather not be tied to a discount lawman thank you very much, but you can probably find other capes willing to get the needy masses off you.”
Lyssa took a deep breath. “I…” She leaned over to rest her head on Danny’s shoulder, who obligingly shifted to a position more comfortable for Lyssa. “I need time to think about it, alright? It’s an important decision.”
Danny nodded, the side of her face brushing lightly against the top of Lyssa’s head as she shifted. “Take all the time you need, Lyssa. I get it.”
And with that, the two moved on to other topics- lighter topics, once that Lyssa had no need to discuss moral quandaries about. Of course, Danny had a lot of questions to direct at Aces, apparently deciding to test everything they could, in case Lyssa decided to…not register.
As such, the two had been doing a strange game of telephone, with Lyssa parroting whatever Aces said while Danny responded to the air. With some time, they answered a few of the obvious questions (Can you use all your senses? ‘Yes, but I can’t affect anything, and touch feels muted when not touching another ghost.’ Can you feel pain? ‘Yes, but I can’t be hurt by anything except other ghosts.’ How far can you move away from Lyssa? ‘About 4 blocks.’ Can you see things that Lyssa isn’t looking at? ‘Yes.’ Are you actually you or just a construct with the same memories and personality? ‘Don’t know, don’t care.’) And the two actually were pretty candid with one another, despite one being a ghost that only Lyssa could hear.
Lyssa herself had some strange feelings about being the communicator for the two, but she was managing just fine. In between all that, Danny and Lyssa managed to squeeze in some normal conversation, and that little drop of normal in what otherwise had been a stressful and crazy day and a half helped her mental state a lot more than she initially would’ve expected.
Eventually, however, Danny had to go. Her parents were waiting for her, after all, and dinner would be happening pretty soon. Lyssa tried not to feel the pang of jealousy at such a casual comment, but unfortunately, emotions didn’t obey her own thoughts, so she felt it anyway. Lyssa stepped outside, Aces walking besides her. It was a strange reminder that she wasn’t really here, the subtle things: unlike Lyssa, her shoes didn’t crunch under the shattered glass and falling apart bits of brick, concrete, and drywall, perfectly silent.
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Prior to her previous pestering, Aces was uncharacteristically silent, expression contemplative. The two of them began to walk home in the silence, and Lyssa, for her part, tried to ignore the whole situation, carrying onto her route home, letting her feet guide her down the familiar roads as her mind drifted off. She could almost, for a moment, forget it all, pretend that nothing in the past day or so had happened, forget Aces existed, and continue on.
“Its strange to think about, you know.” Aces spoke, still staring out into space.
That was probably a significant reason why Lyssa was so startled when the formal smuggler spoke. Once her heart rate returned to normal levels, Lyssa responded. “What is?”
“Being dead. It’s…I’m pretty sure that I’ll be stuck like this for as long as you live. Unable to touch anything, unable to talk to anyone directly, an observer of someone else’s life. I died, Lyssa. I thought that was just the end of it, that I was dead and done, but you…brought me back. I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong, but…it's hard to think of the rest of my life…well, the rest of my death being…this, yknow?”
Lyssa wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
And in the couple of seconds that it took for Lyssa to try and form a response, the contemplation was gone, and Aces grinned, miming punching Lyssa in the shoulder, before barking out a “I shouldn’t worry a kid like you with heavy crap like that, though.”
Just like that, philosophical Aces was gone, and the criminal who spent all day pestering Lyssa returned. “So, Ms. She’s-Not-My-Girlfriend, what was up with that half hour heart-to-heart, huh? You know how hard it was to not interrupt that mushy garbage while I was there? The ratings are gonna plummet, kid! Think about the merch sales!”
Lyssa rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a show, Aces.”
“It is to me! And I’m the type to skip to the action parts in movies, so you better find somewhere to fight a supervillain and save the day or something, or I’ll get bored.”
Lyssa bowed before speaking, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right away, your majesty.”
“Damn straight.” Aces gave a nod, and Lyssa couldn’t help but giggle.
The duo soon found themselves standing in front of the classic suburban house, a stone stairway leading up to a wooden door covered by a small wooden canopy. Lyssa stopped at the doorway for a moment, staring at the white wood, before taking a deep breath. She released it, and used her key to unlock the door, cracking open and glancing from side to side. Empty, once again. Lyssa stepped inside with a sigh. She supposed she was going to be making dinner alone again.
Not willing to spend the time and effort it would normally take to make anything fancy, she started boiling some water on the stove, searching for the container of pasta that they had in great quantities, as Lyssa made sure to stock up on things like this for this exact scenario.
As she waited for the water to boil, she mulled over the events of the day. More importantly, she thought of Danny’s arguments for joining the defenders, arguments that she had to admit were pretty reasonable. It was dangerous work…but that might be exactly why the Defenders needed someone like her, right? To at least save the souls of the other supers, letting them get out their last wishes before choosing to move on…or continue living with her. Forced into a half-life even Aces herself seemed apprehensive about, and she seemed to be handling the whole ‘being dead’ thing better than most people would in her situation.
Would she really want to torment people like that? People would do desperate things for the sake of self-preservation, but…would they really be happy, living as a ghost? Would it be right to extend their suffering for the rest of Lyssa’s remaining life?
Perhaps most importantly…Would Lyssa be able to live with herself, now that she was aware that she was letting others die through her own inaction?
That question echoed through her mind, sticking in, popping up well after she finished her dinner, alone except for the ghosts in this empty house. It stayed in her mind when she showered that evening, when she got ready for bed, when she laid down in an attempt to sleep.
It stayed in the forefront of her mind as she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, hoping for sleep to claim her in its dark embrace.
Lyssa woke up to silence. Groggily, she grabbed her glasses and looked around. She felt…off. It was strange to wake up without that damn mutt screeching in her ears. Lyssa shook her head, and got ready for school.
As it turned out, Aces was playing with the dog outside. Lyssa’s eyebrows furrowed. How had they gotten there? The doors and windows were locked. She shook her head and got breakfast, before stepping outside. Instantly, the dog was by her side, barking excitedly. Lyssa smiled, the feeling of…isolation, that came with the morning fading beneath her dog’s wagging tail and cheery barks.
“Figured some things out while you were sleeping.” Aces said casually, jogging up beside her.
Lyssa raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
The criminal snorted. “Yeah, turns out spending eight hours locked in a house gives you lots of reason to try new things out. Turns out, ghosts can go through walls, but its…weird.”
Lyssa found her eyebrows raising. She had never seen one of her ghosts move through solid objects before. When she mentioned as such, Aces laughed. “Well yeah, because they’re animals! They probably don’t even realize they’re dead, let alone that they could move through solid objects. Apparently, it does work, but it requires you to…really believe it.” She shrugged. “It’s weird. Anyhow, once I did it myself, the dog learned quickly.” Aces jerked a thumb towards the dog behind the two of them, distracted sniffing something or other.
“Huh.” If Lyssa had missed something as big as that, she wondered what else she had missed out on her own powers…
She shook her head. It was time for school. And time to tell Danny her decision. Lyssa walked slowly, her mind mulling it over once again. Was she making the right choice? It was…hard to tell, but it didn’t matter. She’d decided. If there was one thing Lyssa did, it was stick to her decisions. Stubborn as her mom, or so Dad said. She smiled slightly at the thought.
Classes were slow, but not quite as slow as the day prior. Who would’ve thought that not having a she-devil annoy you for hours would make the time pass by faster? When Lyssa sat down with Danny for lunch, her friend immediately guessed that she had reached a decision, asking ‘same time, same place?’ Instead of whether or not the decision at all. Lyssa appreciated that about her.
When the two finally wandered into the abandoned building, Lyssa told her.
“I…” Lyssa took a deep breath. Was she sure about this?
Yes, she decided.
“I’m going to do it. I’m joining the City Defenders.”
Danny grinned. “Great! So now…”
“It’s time to get registered, ghost-girl.”