"Jo!" Brennan's voice echoed through Legion HQ and Jo found herself sighing. He sounded like he needed something now but her current experiment needed her full attention.
"Ten minutes," she called back, frowning at the orange liquid in front of her. Orange juice seemed to react strangely to lemon, which surprised her since they were both citrus fruits.
"What do we pay you for? Get out here!" That voice...Jakob. Ugh. He was a pain.
"I'm a bit busy at the moment," Jo called back, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.
"Um..." She glanced at the door. Fiore had poked his head in shyly.
"What are they on about?" she asked tersely.
"Achilles is unconscious. Looks like Paris got him."
"Ah. Grab that bottle there - the dark green one." Jo pointed at the shelf and Fiore scuttled across the room to get it.
"Thanks, Doctor." She barely heard Fiore as he hurried away.
Jo kept monitoring and adjusting her current mixture, the voices from outside washing over her. When she was done, she headed to the common room, where everyone else was. They looked much less stressed than they'd sounded when they'd come in, and James was sitting up, even if he looked a little worse for wear.
"So? How'd it work?" she asked, sitting down on a soft chair.
"Why were you just sitting around doing nothing?" Jakob snapped at her.
"I wasn't. I was working on another experiment. Now, how'd Healing Alpha work? James? How do you feel?"
James stared at the floor for several minutes before responding.
"I think my body feels okay. But..." Haven reached over and gave him a hug as his words trailed off.
Okay. Something major probably happened. She looked to Brenna, who explained for her.
"He tried talking to Paris. Turns out friendship wasn't enough to make him quit."
"Ah." Jo glanced at James again. His heart was the thing in pain right now. Probably not much she could do about that. At least her first successful attempt at a healing potion seemed to be working well. No one seemed in pain, though the bottle was now empty. She should have told Fiore to use small doses. Ah well. Next time.
She looked over the room. Haven was still holding James, who looked despondent. Jakob was scowling at the edge of the room, while Conrad sat next to Fiore. Brennan was still standing, watching over them all.
"Where are Tanner and Courtney?" Jo asked.
"Light Master's still on patrol and Lightning went to the hospital," Jakob replied sourly.
"Oh, hey, speaking of Lightning..." Haven left James' side and took a breath. "Did we know she used to be military?"
"What?" James asked, his head snapping up to attention. Jakob and Conrad seemed in similar states of disbelief.
"I overheard her and her friend talking. They mentioned that she was ex-military." Haven seemed to shrink in on herself a bit, which made Jo roll her eyes. The girl should really have more confidence.
"Does she still talk to them?" Jakob asked, almost growling.
"Dunno. Lightning said the only person outside the Legion who knows who she really is is someone named Barron. Well, him and now Lillie."
"Who's this Barron guy?" James asked, frowning.
"I don't know. Maybe her boyfriend?"
"No," Brennan said slowly. "Barron sounds more like a last name to me. She wouldn't call him that if they were dating."
"So then..." Conrad looked between them anxiously. Fiore looked similarly spooked.
"We'll ask Lightning about it when she comes back," James said firmly. "If she's still in contact with the military, we'll have to ask her to stop. The military aren't our friends."
"Why is her being in contact with the military a problem?" Fiore asked, his voice so quiet they could barely hear him.
"They want to lock us all up," Jakob spat. "They'd just love to clap handcuffs on every one of us. If she's a rat, we can't let that continue."
"But - " Fiore looked like he'd grown a spine for a second, then slouched again in defeat.
"Hot Rod's right," James said. "I hate to think she'd betray us, but..."
"So then what about Jumper? Is he working with the military too?" Jakob asked. "His appearance today seemed rather convenient, and he said he had that informant. Is this person trying to kill us just a fiction to make us paranoid?"
"Jumper was there?" Jo asked. "Is he in the hospital too? Does he need treatment?"
"No idea," Jakob shrugged. "He was gone before we knew it."
"I didn't see him leave. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I saw Courtney and Lillie leave either," Conrad said with a frown.
"So what's going on there?" Jakob asked, glaring again. "This wasn't all just a setup was it?"
"No way!" Fiore said firmly.
"You don't have room to talk. You stayed behind like a coward," Jakob snapped at him.
"What if some other emergency had - "
"It didn't. You sat here uselessly while the rest of us risked our necks. There's only one group of supervillains, and they were all in one place."
"We don't just fight supervillains! And anyway, what about - "
"Just shut it, Rosie. Making excuses makes you look pathetic."
Jo frowned at the conversation. These kids seemed to be a bit divided. Jakob's interruptions made it impossible for Fiore to argue his points. It wasn't a debate - it was one voice drowning out the others.
"Can you let Fiore talk maybe?" she asked. Normally she wouldn't care much, but this just hit a nerve for her.
"What, are you an enemy too?" Jakob asked with a glare. James and Conrad's faces seemed similarly hostile.
"No. I just think if you're going to argue, you shouldn't interrupt each other."
"You're one to talk too, Alchemist," Jakob spat. "You straight-up say you won't deal with the villains."
"I'm not a fighter, nor is my Miracle suited for battle," Jo replied calmly, stifling the rage she'd felt at his words. Getting heated here would only make the situation worse.
"She's right, Hot Rod," James said. "We let her in knowing full well she wouldn't be fighting. It's thanks to her that none of us are in the hospital."
Jakob didn't seem pleased to hear it, but he shut up. It irked her that he'd listen to James and not her, despite the fact that she was a doctor. Not a medical one, but a PhD was a lot of work. Shouldn't her experience count for something?
Jo sighed and left the room. The kids could squabble all they wanted. It didn't matter to her. She was only here because there had been no other way to pursue her beloved science.
Fiore followed her quietly, and she made a mental note to employ him as an assistant in his spare time. It would make it harder for Jakob to pick on him in the future.
