Whiteout Ch. 10

"Whatever. You wanna listen to my breath, you can do it another time. I'll catch you later." She stormed past Gibson and strode towards the elevator.

"You know what, fine!" Gibson shouted. "Maybe I'll just chat with 'Mr. Hawthorne' on my own. Give him a piece of my mind..."

* * *

Mr. Hawthorne was right. It was pretty easy for Val to move her stuff from her apartment to her new room at the tower. Sure, between lifting some heavy objects and the strain of opening portals constantly, she was more than a little winded, but it sure beat dealing with some sketchy moving company. She knew she'd have to work with someone else on the furniture, but she'd already moved a surprising amount of stuff over.

Val sat on her coffee table, opening up a bottle of water she took out of her fridge and taking a break. It had been a while since she'd used her power this extensively; the exhaustion was actually somewhat pleasant, like the feeling she got after a good run. Might have to start making a habit out of this.

As she sat in the nearly-empty room, her mind turned to her encounter with Reuben earlier that day. He'd apologized for something she didn't remember, a discussion about a case. She wracked her brain trying to figure out what he could've been talking about. She couldn't remember any time when he'd been rude or condescending to her, or when he'd been mean to anyone except Brayden or Gibson - and even in those cases, it was only because they were arguing like children. And Val couldn't think of any active cases the team was working on, either. What on Earth was Reuben talking-

"But that's just a theory, right? We don't really have any proof that she messed with his memory. He denied it when I brought up the possibility, and he seemed pretty convinced it couldn't have happened."

Val steadied herself against the table. Once again she saw a flash, a memory that felt like it was from another life, another Val. Everyone gathered around the meeting table, Reuben discussing something with Yun-hee. Who were they talking about?

Only a moment after she felt this memory surface, she heard someone shouting outside her room. That's weird... who else would even be down here? She went over to the door and peeked outside.

Yun-hee was running down the hall. "Val! Are you down here?"

"Yun!" Val shouted, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"Oh, thank God!" Yun-hee turned around and came up to her, hugging her tightly. "Val, something's wrong! It's Raymond!"

"Mr. Hawthorne?" Val cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah!" Yun-hee responded, pausing to catch her breath. "When I came in for my meeting with him, Reuben was in the room. H-He hid behind the door, and when I came in, he grabbed me!"

"Really?" Val had to stifle her smile. Guess Mr. Hawthorne's going faster than I thought he would...

"I shook him off, and Raymond, he..." Yun-hee's hands shook as she pointed to her neck. "H-He did something... everything was grey, then..." She grinned and chuckled nervously. "I zapped him good. Got out of there and ran like crazy. Gibson said you had a room down here, and I couldn't find anyone else, and-"

Val wrapped her arms around Yun-hee and squeezed her tight. Mr. Hawthorne's not gonna be happy with her. But it's okay, I can get him to go easy on her. "It's okay, Yun."

"I'm just- just so scared," Yun-hee whimpered. "You gotta get me out of here, Val."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Val thought for a moment, and then opened a portal behind Yun-hee. "C'mon, let's go." She took Yun-hee's hand and walked her through.

When they came out the other side, Mr. Hawthorne was hunched over his desk, breathing heavily. He turned around, startled, but then smiled victoriously when he saw Val and Yun-hee. Val smiled back. She wasn't sure whether she could picture the room when she'd spent so little time in it, but she couldn't forget a view that gorgeous.

Yun-hee's eyes widened in terror. "Wh-Why..."

Val wrapped her arms around Yun-hee's waist and held her still. "I got her, Mr. Hawthorne!"

"Good girl," Mr. Hawthorne growled. He stepped towards them, and Val noticed his right hand was disconcertingly pink.

"Val, no!" Yun-hee shrieked, trying to break out of Val's grasp.

"She won't help you." Mr. Hawthorne's voice sounded pained. "She's learned her place. And so will you."

Val expected him to grab Yun-hee's arm, or maybe her throat. So when he reared back and punched her in the face, she was so startled that she let go of Yun-hee, letting her friend drop to the floor. "M-Mr. Hawthorne, you don't-"

"You think you could hurt me?" he shouted, picking Yun-hee up by her hair and tossing her like a ragdoll. She slammed into his desk, landing with a thud on the floor. All she could do was groan in pain.

"Y-Yun..." Val stammered, completely shocked by how quickly things had escalated. "M-Mr. Hawthorne, why did-"

"And you!" He roared, pointing not at Val but at Reuben - she hadn't even noticed he was in the room. He stood a few yards away from them, quiet sobs the only noise he could muster. "You spineless fuck!" Mr. Hawthorne continued, the veins in his neck throbbing. "Some leader you turned out to be! Can't rely on you for jack shit!"

"S-Sorry..." Reuben sniffled.

Mr. Hawthorne smacked Reuben across the cheek. "I've had enough of your apologies! Your assistance is no longer required. I suggest you acquaint yourself with your new living arrangement."

"Y-Yes, Mr. Hawthorne." Reuben almost looked relieved to be ordered out of the room. He brushed past Val on his way out the door, averting her gaze.

Val stood motionless, gawking at Mr. Hawthorne. Why did he do that? He didn't have to hurt them... But... he's supposed to be a good person...

Mr. Hawthorne finally looked in Val's direction. "What are you standing around for?" he spat. "Get back to moving. Make yourself useful."

* * *

Val stepped into the apartment and fell to her knees. She couldn't get the image out of her head. Yun-hee's body, limp on the floor of Mr. Hawthorne's office. The blood on the desk. She thought she was going to help Yun-hee by bringing her back to Mr. Hawthorne. He wasn't a bad person; she just didn't take the news well, that was all. But instead, she let her friend get beaten to a pulp. And that was before she left the room; Val didn't want to think about what he might be doing to Yun-hee right now.

She wanted to go back there and help. Maybe she could calm Mr. Hawthorne down, get him to back off; maybe she could at least take a few blows in Yun-hee's place. But he ordered Val to go back to moving her stuff, and the longer she held off on following that order the worse it made her feel. The nauseous feeling in her stomach became more and more intense, until she nearly vomited in the hallway outside her new room.

At least... I can take my mind off that for a while... She tried to rationalize why she wasn't helping Yun-hee. I can apologize to her later...

But the anxiety within her wouldn't go away. Even as she packed her things and brought them across town, she couldn't stop thinking about that moment. It was like Val was fighting against every instinct in her body, forcing herself to keep plugging away at her task instead of doing what she knew was right.

Anxiety turned to frustration. The more she worked, the more she cursed herself for following Mr. Hawthorne's orders. What was wrong with her? Why would she just pretend everything was fine after she saw her new boss abusing her teammates?

In her anger, Val grabbed her nightstand and toppled it, the drawer opening and spilling its contents onto the floor. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and began picking up the scattered trinkets and papers. She'd forgotten how much she crammed into that tiny drawer - old cell phones, movie tickets, several toys she wouldn't want the rest of the team to know about.

Buried in the pile was something she definitely didn't remember putting there. She picked it up. It was an old Polaroid; on the back were the words "Songbird and Fallen Angel," written in clean, elegant handwriting. She flipped it over-

"My, you're quite susceptible, aren't you?"

When Val came to, she was on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. The photo was still in her hand; when she looked at it, it was like staring into the sun while suffering from a migraine. She recognized the other woman in the picture, a pop star called Sky Kennedy. She remembered going to her house to interview her, but when she tried to think about what they discussed, her memory came up blank.

She certainly couldn't remember any time where they would've been together like this. Sky was naked, and both of them looked completely out of it. In the corner of the frame was a white kiss mark. It all seemed eerily familiar to Val, like the image was burned into her mind-

"Madame..."

Oh. That's why she remembered it. She'd spent hours rubbing her brains out, staring at this thing while chanting that one word over and over. But she had no idea who or what this "Madame" was.

The sheer number of gaps in Val's memory couldn't be ignored. Something had happened to her. But who could help her? She couldn't go to Mr. Hawthorne; after what she saw him do, she didn't know if she could ever feel safe around him. And she knew Yun-hee wouldn't feel safe around her, either, and she was the one she usually went to when she needed someone to talk with.

Wait... Val's mind turned to the last time she and Yun-hee hung out, their night at the bar. They ran into someone there. Patti... she runs the Pink Mansion... Why did Val know that? How did she meet Patti? She knew someone introduced them, but when she tried to picture them, there was nothing there.

Whoever that person was, they were one of the things Val couldn't remember. She had to go see Patti, had to get her help.

She opened a portal under herself, and fell onto something metal.

* * *

"Weiss! Get down here!"

Patti helped Val into the bar, the other woman squirming and whimpering in pain, barely able to stand. The interior was all dark, the only light coming faintly from the stairwell leading to attic.

"Patricia?" Weiss asked, her voice echoing through the empty room. Her shadow moved down the stairs and flicked a light switch.

When Val saw Weiss, she screamed and fell to the floor, convulsing like an animal.

"Holy shit!" Weiss exclaimed, rushing to Val's side. "What happened?"

"S-Stop..." Val cried.

"I don't know," Patti replied anxiously, "I-I just heard this thud, and when I came out to check she was stumbling down the alley."

"M-Mr. Hawthorne..." Val whimpered.

"Raymond?" Weiss' eyes widened, her face turning white as a sheet. "He did something to you?"

"Shut up!" Val shrieked. "Just stop talking! It hurts!"

"What hurts?"

"You! When you talk or I see you, it makes me remember, and then it hurts!"

"I don't-"

"Weiss!" Patti said firmly. "Just... just let me handle this, okay?"

Weiss glared at Patti, but stood up and took a few steps back.

"Val?" Patti asked softly. "What did he do?"

"He's..." Val took a deep breath, unsure whether she'd get to explain anything or whether the pain would spike again. "He's got powers. He can make people do things."

"Oh, fuck..." Weiss whispered, holding her hands over her mouth.

"Is that why it hurts?" Patti asked.

Val nodded, her body shuddering slightly.

"Do you think we can help?"

"M-Maybe..." Val sniffled. "Maybe if you put me under..."

Weiss said Val's trigger word, but all it did was make Val scream in agony again. "Stop!" she cried. "Stop it!"

"I'm sorry!" Weiss yelped, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Valerie, I'm sorry..."

"Okay, okay," Patti murmured, taking a sharp intake of breath. "If it hurts to remember Weiss, then... does it hurt to remember me?"

Val thought for a moment. "No..."

"Alright, good." Patti reached for something in her back pocket. "You remember when we met in the bar? I came up to you and Yun?"

"Yeah."

"And I showed you this?" Patti held out her lighter, flipping open the lid and lighting it.

Val gasped softly, her cheeks starting to turn red. "Y-Yeah..."

Patti smiled, looking back at Weiss for a moment before fixing her eyes on Val's. "Then I want you to remember that for me now. Let your mind go back to that moment. What did I ask you to do back then?"

"You... asked me to... focus on the flame..." Val whispered, her eyelids starting to droop and her voice taking on a sleepy, dazed quality. "Keep my... eyes open..."

"That's right," Patti cooed. "You're doing such a good job, Val. Just keep thinking about that moment, remembering how it felt to sink down, down, down into trance."

Val's eyelids fluttered. She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but all she could do was sigh softly. Her mouth hung open, her lips slightly parted, her face becoming placid and peaceful.

And as she sank completely into darkness, she felt another pair of arms wrap around her and hold her close.