Tony stood in the little kitchen at the counter, spreading mayonnaise on a slice of sourdough bread as Maverick and Daisy moved around him, gathering meat and cheese and slicing tomatoes. They worked in familiar silence, as they always did when they had a heavy case they were working through, and before long there was a tall pile of ham-and-cheese sandwiches with a variety of special toppings like pickles, sprouts, sun-dried tomatoes, and even a few that had goat cheese. Tony ground some coffee beans fresh and boiled water as Daisy got out the French press and Maverick sat down on a stool, taking one of the sandwiches and taking a large bite.
"It's time to talk about what you saw in Lucy's head, Tony," Maverick said after swallowing. Tony pushed the finished French press down and turned toward Maverick, leaning his back against the counter and folding his arms.
"It wasn't great," he said finally.
"Tell me about it," Maverick replied.
"She had memories of having powers very young, younger than most kids get them. It looked like her mother was using her powers to make money or get food or something. Too early in her life, bad people were coming regularly to have her do… something—it wasn't clear what—for them, and whatever it was was making her powers grow stronger and more out of control," Tony explained, not relishing the memory of what he had seen.
"That is messed up. How old was she?" Daisy asked as she grabbed a sandwich of her own.
"Maybe eight or nine," Tony replied.
"In the memory I witnessed, she was only six," Maverick said.
"Six?! Who gets their powers at six?" Daisy asked, bewildered.
"It is very unusual," Maverick conceded, and then, looking at Tony, he said, "What else?"
"I saw the witch that took Bali," he said. "He was younger and still somewhat a man, but it was definitely him. I think he was the one who was paying Lucy's mom to have Lucy do something for him. In the last memory I walked into, they were sitting at a table and the witch had a black stone on the table. He made Lucy put her hand on it, and I'm not sure what happened next, but…" Tony hesitated, not wanting to say what he had seen.
"What?" Daisy asked, mesmerized.
"I think the stone killed her somehow. She fell to the ground and the witch left; he looked disappointed. Then her brother showed up…" Tony replied.
"She has a brother?" Daisy asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise over her sandwich.
"Yes, I saw her brother too. His name is Milo; he is her twin," Maverick said.
"You know the stories of the first two sun-eaters were of twins, a brother and a sister," Daisy said.
"That doesn't mean these two are their reincarnations," Tony said.
"It doesn't necessarily matter," Maverick interjected before Daisy could reply. "If the witches believe that they are, that is what matters. I'm more interested in the stone you saw, Tony."
"It was black," Tony said with a shrug. "It was black black, like a black-hole kind of black."
"Hmmmm…" Maverick mused.
"I wonder where her brother is now? Does she remember him?" Daisy asked.
"I'm not sure," Tony said. "We could ask her, though."
"You mean you can ask her," Daisy said. "Any thoughts, Mav, on how to fix this bonding-magic-issue thingy?"
"Long term? She needs training," Maverick said simply, pushing his empty plate away from him.
"And short term?"
"There is a device I know of. It's an adaptation of the dampening handcuffs the police have been using to arrest those with powers. I would normally never condone the use of them—it was a vile idea that idiot of a police chief came up with. Where they got the technology for it, though, still bothers me," Maverick said, glancing at his robotic hand.
"That does seem harsh, Mav…" Daisy said.
"I don't think so," Tony interjected. "Lucy has been a slave to her powers for who knows how long. I think she will just be relieved to be free of their pull."
Maverick nodded thoughtfully and then said, "We need to figure out what the extent of her powers actually are. What is the purpose of bonding with every person she meets? Every power has a clear purpose."
"Until now?" Daisy asked.
"Even now. Daisy, I think once we dampen her powers, you should try again to find out what those powers are," Maverick said.
"Oh goody," she replied sarcastically.
"I know, but we have to try. Beyond visions of the future and this bonding thing that happens, we need to know if she can do anything else—or, more accurately, what her core power is."
"Don't forget she can tackle shadows," Tony added.
"I haven't. Having multiple powers is strange enough, but the ability to touch the intangible substance of a shadow is something I've never heard of. I need to research it more, but I think we won't find any clear answers in this library."
"Does that mean a trip out of the city?" Daisy asked excitedly.
"Eventually, yes," Maverick replied.
"But first," Tony added, "we get Lucy's powers under control and we save Bali."
Maverick and Daisy nodded, and Tony took their silent acquiescence as an opportunity to grab a few sandwiches and pour a cup of coffee for Lucy. He knocked on her door, balancing the coffee on the edge of the plate, and after a few moments of uneasy silence the door opened a crack and he nudged his way in.
Lucy sat down on one of the empty chairs and proceeded to tug a leather boot on one foot. They were the soft leather kind that had become popular in the city recently, covering her calves and tying snugly with a leather wrap around. They covered a pair of dark-green, form-fitting cargo pants with deep pockets and matched the green suede bomber jacket that fit Lucy a little too loosely, even with the awkward cast hiding underneath it. Tony had done his best to find smaller sizes in the miscellaneous clothes they kept in the bunker for emergencies. He wasn't very comfortable trying to guess a woman's size, but he was pleased that he had done a pretty good job.
Tony set the plate down on the little table next to Lucy and smiled at her, noticing that she had somehow managed to do a twisty thing with her hair, pulling the long and thick black hair out of her face so that it was tied behind her ear and fell in a rather becoming way down her left shoulder. Her cheeks were rosy from the hot water, and all the blood and dirt was gone, though some pale scratches remained.
"You look better," he said.
"Thanks, I feel better," Lucy replied with a small smile, and then she turned toward the plate of sandwiches and asked, "Is this for me?"
"Yep, and you can consider that mug there your first official introduction to real coffee," he replied.
Lucy took a bite from one of the sandwiches and then moaned with pleasure, as if she had never tasted anything so good.
"What's in these?" she asked through a mouthful of ham.
"Mmm… that one might be a ham and cheese with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and goat cheese," Tony said, "or some variation of that."
Lucy said nothing but instead proceeded to eat the entire sandwich and a second one before Tony put up a hand to stop her.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down! You are going to make yourself sick. Trust me, those things taste better going down than they would coming up."
Lucy nodded and smiled sheepishly.
"Try the coffee," Tony said.
Lucy picked up the still-steaming mug and noticed there was a thick dollop of whipped cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. She took a tentative sip, and her eyes went wide with surprise and pleasure.
"What do you think?" Tony asked with a smile playing on his face.
"It's amazing—rich, sweet. It's nothing like the coffee my mom had," she said, taking another big sip.
"The pièce de résistance is the homemade whipped cream on top. Bowser has a thing about raw milk; he swears by it. Says there are enzymes in raw milk that help your body digest it and that pasteurization is why so many people are lactose intolerant. I don't know if I agree, but it does make a killer whipped cream," Tony said.
"It's delicious," she said again, and then, after glancing at the plate and then back at Tony—who nodded—she took another sandwich, this time nibbling it slowly.
"So we've sort of got a plan, or the beginning of one anyway," Tony said as he watched Lucy take little bites of the sandwich and sips of her coffee. "Maverick knows of a device that can dampen your powers. It might be enough to stop you from bonding with someone."
"Really?" Lucy asked with a desperately hopeful look in her eyes.
"Yes, it's adapted from the handcuffs the police use to arrest people with powers," Tony replied.
"Does that happen a lot?" Lucy asked.
"It happens often enough, I think. Most of the time they leave us alone, especially when they know we're fighting a four-dimensional shadow they don't want to deal with. But other times they consider us a liability to their image and aren't afraid to make an example out of us," Tony said.
"What is a four-dimensional shadow?" she asked.
"It is the shadow of a witch sacrificed unwillingly during a blood moon. They have the ability to affect the physical world around them, like a poltergeist, and they are very hard to kill," Tony said.
"Have you ever seen one?" Lucy asked.
"Once, a few weeks ago, when I was on a job with Bali," Tony said, looking away from her as if the memory were not one he wanted to revisit.
Lucy didn't ask any more, noticing Tony's discomfort, and after a few moments of silence Tony stood and took the empty plate and mug.
"Do you need anything else?" he asked at the door.
"More coffee?" she asked.
Tony chuckled and nodded before leaving, making sure the door clicked loudly behind him.