"Did you ask her about her brother?" Daisy asked Tony as he returned to the kitchen where Daisy had just finished doing the dishes and putting away the leftover sandwiches. She tossed a dish rag onto the counter as Tony rinsed off Lucy's plate and cleaned out the now-empty French press so he could start a new one.
"No," he admitted.
"Why?" Daisy asked, giving him her singular raised eyebrow that always made her look to Tony like a severe mother.
"Don't give me the eyebrow, Daze. It just didn't come up naturally. She's been through a lot; I just wanted to take it slow," he replied.
"Uh-huh," she said, unconvinced. "We don't exactly have a lot of time here, Tony. Or did you forget about our good friend who's been kidnapped?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten about Bali," he said as he poured the hot water over the coffee beans and stirred them. "But I can only deal with one problem at a time, the first of which is getting Lucy stable."
"What happened between you two?" Daisy asked abruptly.
Tony pushed the top of the French press down and got a fresh mug out of the cupboard, filling it up before getting a mason jar out of the refrigerator that had fresh whipped cream inside.
"You know Bowser will flip if you use all the whipped cream," Daisy said, watching him.
"He'll get over it," Tony replied as he emptied the last of the cream on top of the hot coffee so that a fluffy mountain rose over the mug's edge.
"Geez, I know you like this girl, but enough with the whipped cream already. You're not going to win her over with dairy," Daisy said, making Tony glare at her as he picked up the mug and started to walk towards Daisy's room.
"Don't think we're done talking about this, though!" she called after him.
"Wait just a moment, Tony," Maverick intercepted Tony before he reached Lucy's door. "I've found a shop that's willing to sell us what we need, but the guy refuses to sell them unless we can guarantee they won't be used on anyone against their will. He's a real stickler for preserving the rights of those with powers—a bit of an activist, actually."
"There aren't any other shops that might have what we need?" Tony asked.
"Unfortunately, he's the only one I could find, and I called quite a few. We are running out of time. I think we just need to deal with this guy so we can start focusing on Bali."
"Which means Lucy has to come with us?" Tony guessed correctly.
"It's the only way," Maverick replied. "Could you let her know? I'll get us a car, and Daisy is looking for a pair of sunglasses she can wear."
"Do you really think sunglasses will make a difference?" Tony asked.
"Probably not, but it might help her feel better about traveling in close proximity with us."
Tony nodded, and Maverick left him to knock on Lucy's door. She was still sitting in the chair, staring at the floor when he walked in, a sad look on her face that made Tony frown and say, "Are you okay?" as he handed her the mug of coffee.
"I am now," she said with a smile, taking the mug and eating the whipped cream off the top.
"So coffee's all it takes to cheer you up? That's not so hard, then," Tony said with a smile.
Lucy wiped a whipped-cream mustache off, and her smile faded. "I can feel everyone," she said seriously. "It feels like my magic is trying to bond without me making eye contact, like reaching out on its own."
"Do you think it's changing? Adapting?" he asked.
Lucy nodded and took another swig from the mug.
"Well, the good news is that Maverick found what we need to dampen your powers," Tony said nonchalantly, and then he added a little more quickly, "Bad news is you have to come with."
Lucy didn't react or show any sign she had heard him; she was staring into her coffee mug.
"Lucy, did you hear me?" Tony asked her.
Lucy grabbed her head, dropping the coffee mug onto the floor where it broke, spilling coffee all over the place. Tony jumped up and grabbed her shoulder in concern as she shut her eyes tightly for a few moments and held her breath. As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and she took a calming breath, opening her eyes and looking into Tony's.
"What happened?" he asked her.
"I just saw us arriving at a shop, some kind of antique store. I saw a man with white hair putting a bracelet on each of my wrists. They were golden, and one had a sun carved into it and the other a moon. Then it changed and…" Lucy broke off, looking uncertain.
"And what?" Tony asked her.
"And I saw a red door with the symbol of a blue star on the front," she said.
"A red door with a blue star?" Tony asked, frowning.
"Yes."
"The police headquarters of the city have a red door and a blue star," Tony replied, feeling uneasy. "Why would you see the police station?"
"I don't know. That's all I saw before it stopped," she said.
"We have to tell Maverick," Tony said, getting up and leaving, walking right through the spilled coffee as he did.
Thirty minutes later, Tony had his arm on Lucy's back as he guided her up the stairs of the bunker and back into the world beyond. She blinked, despite the thick black sunglasses Tony had given her to wear, and she looked at the snow-covered world in awe as the sunlight glimmered off of every surface, making the world around her sparkle. A black car with tinted windows waited just outside the alleyway, and Tony opened a passenger door so Lucy could climb in. Maverick and Daisy were already inside, and Tony had assured her that he had told Maverick about her vision.
"Everyone is going to look out their windows. No one will make eye contact until we get there. I know it's awkward…" he said, glancing at Lucy, who was already looking out the window as if that had been her plan all along.
They rode in silence, everyone being careful to keep their gaze on the windows instead of each other, as Bowser drove them through the city to a dingy neighborhood with questionable-looking shops and stopped in front of an antique store that had a sign out front that read "Antiques by Angus."
Tony waited until everyone else was out of the car before he opened Lucy's door and helped her climb out, so they could follow behind everyone else as they went into the shop.
A little bell above the door clanged a silvery tune as they entered, and a man came around a tall shelf piled with taxidermy and said, "Welcome," in a deep voice that sounded like he had a smoker's cough. He had white hair and a crooked nose and squat face that made Lucy think of a badger.
"Hi, we spoke on the phone about the dampening bracelets?" Maverick asked smoothly, not flinching as the man pulled a cigar out of his pocket that was still lit and took a puff, blowing the smoke in all four of their faces.
"Yeah, I remember. Don't usually sell that kind of crap here—this is a reputable establishment. I gotta be careful what I sell. How do I know you ain't gonna use it to enslave some poor schmuck out there?" he asked gruffly as he stuffed the cigar back into his pocket so the smoke slipped out between the fabric, making it look like he was on fire.
"We brought the girl who's going to wear them," Maverick replied coolly, nodding towards Lucy, who was fidgeting with her one good arm, adjusting and re-adjusting her sunglasses and running her fingers nervously through her freshly combed hair.
"You're gonna put bracelets on that take away your powers, huh? And why, pray tell, would you do something stupid like that?" he said, stepping closer to Lucy and trying to peer into her sunglasses. Tony stepped between them protectively, making the man step back.
"Her reasons are her own," Tony said, an iciness to his voice.
"No, I don't think so. Either she tells me herself of her own free will, or our business here is done."
"What if I double your pay?" Maverick asked, pulling a leather bag from his pocket that jingled.
The man paused for a moment as if he were considering the offer, but then he shook his head and said, "No deal. She tells me, or you can kiss my ass."
"I need them," Lucy said abruptly before Tony or Maverick could reply.
"Oh yeah? Why?"
"My power is too strong for me. I don't know how to control it…it's too powerful," she said, stammering uncertainly.
"And you do this of your own free will? No one compels you?" the man asked, peering at the others as if looking for some evidence that they were holding her at gunpoint.
"No one is compelling me. I really want them. Please, I need them," Lucy said, sounding desperate.
The man turned his gaze on Lucy for a moment, eyeing her sunglasses as though he was going to demand she take them off, then he shrugged, thinking better of it, and shuffled out of the room, returning with an old-looking silver box that had intricate carvings all around its edges. He opened the box to reveal two thin, delicately carved silver bracelets that looked like real silver braided together and connecting at a black stone. They both had small hinges that the gruff old man unlatched so the bracelets could open.
"I don't know if these work—I haven't had the heart to try them on anybody," he said, holding one out for Lucy, who took it and looked to Tony to help her fasten it onto her wrist. The others were watching intently now, forgetting about the risk, as Tony pushed back the jacket's sleeve from Lucy's wrist and clasped the silver bracelet around her thin wrist and then grabbed the other bracelet and clasped it next to the first one so that the twin bracelets were back to back.
Lucy grabbed her head suddenly, the bracelets jangling together, and she doubled over in pain so the sunglasses fell from her face, the cheap lenses breaking on the hard floor. Images flashed in at a rapid pace and then stopped suddenly.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Daisy asked as Tony helped her stand.
"That ain't my fault. I never heard of no one reacting like that to dampeners," the old man said, clearly afraid they would blame him.
Lucy stood up and rubbed her temples, looking at Daisy, who had a concerned look on her face. Lucy's mouth fell open, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She was looking directly at Daisy, and she felt no pull of magic forcing her to bond. She looked at Maverick—his blue eyes were twinkling—and Lucy felt no magic pulsing through her trying to break free.
"It worked," she whispered in shock.
"Well, of course it worked, hehe…" the shop owner chuckled, relieved.
"You don't feel anything?" Tony asked.
"No," Lucy said, almost giddy.
"Wonderful. Now how about you pay me and get the hell out of here?" the man said as he closed the silver box and pulled the dying cigar out of his pocket, puffing on it as if he were trying to resuscitate it back to life.
"Of course. We've taken up too much of your time," Maverick said, handing the man the entire bag of coins and adding, "There's twice as much in there as we agreed on, if you could keep to yourself that we were even here."
The man jingled the bag next to his ear and weighed it in his hand with a gleeful look on his face while muttering, "Of course, of course," as the group turned and headed towards the door.
They all crawled back into the car, Lucy feeling light-headed and strangely energized. Daisy looked at her and smiled brightly.
"You look happy, Lucy," she said.
Lucy smiled back, not knowing what to say, and the car lurched into motion as they all looked at each other for a few moments, pleased looks on everyone's faces.
"Well, I'm glad that's sorted," Maverick said. "Lucy, how do you feel?"
"I feel good—different," she said.
"Different how?" Maverick asked.
"I still feel my magic inside of me, but it's like an echo of what it was. It's in the background now, not at the front."
Maverick nodded, and Tony asked her, "Did you have a vision in there? Is that why you fell over?"
Lucy nodded, remembering what she had seen. Images of the red door flashed through her head, then a long hallway and a hidden staircase that went deep underground. The scene was like a movie playing in her head, and it had changed to show a disgusting-looking man with rotten teeth talking to another man with a blue uniform that had the symbol of a star on the sleeve. The scene had changed again, and she saw Bali being dragged through a dark hall by the disgusting man. Lucy told all of this to the others, trying her best not to leave out any details.
"There's no way the police are working with the witches, is there?" Daisy asked incredulously.
"Anything is possible," Maverick said, looking serious. "Are you sure the man with the rotten teeth was talking to a policeman?"
"I don't know—I don't know what the police look like—but he did have on a blue uniform with a star on the sleeve," she said, forcing herself not to look away from each of them, however uncomfortable it made her.
"That is not good. Does that mean that the police have Bali?" Tony asked.
"I don't know, but it is a possibility. It explains the decline in the police department's activity in the city lately—why they are letting so much darkness slip by on their watch."
"In league with the witches—those dirty dogs!" Daisy cried suddenly. "You know, when I was arrested three months ago, they told me it was because my powers made me a threat to normal people? When all along they've been in league with the witches."
"What do we do now?" Lucy asked.
"We only have a few hours until Bali will be forced to give up her shadow. We need to run some tests and see if we can get a handle on the extent of your powers, Lucy," Maverick said.
"And simultaneously come up with a plan to bust Bali out of jail," Daisy added.