Rue and Harmony - Null Prologue

Gathering / Conference

Following the events of the Drug Lords' attack  and their conversation with  Rachel, Rue decides to meet with Harmony to discuss the situation at Blackmoore Hospital.

It is 2am and Rue is pacing in front of the apartment building they know Harmony is in. Despite the warm weather that day, the night has brought a chill with it, and Rue has put their hood up against the cold. They seem skittish and take a deep breath before hovering their hand slightly away from the door, seemingly considering their options. After another pause, they softly knock on the door.   After a short wait the door cracks open, a chain hanging loosely in the gap. Behind the chain is a middle-aged woman with auburn hair tied up into messy bun, Rue can just about make out the corners of some bright, patterned material around her slim figure as she peeks round the door.   "Hello? Can I help you?"   Rue straightens up at the sight of the woman and removes their hood. They run a quick hand through their curls in an attempt to look more presentable, “Sorry to disturb you, madam, I uh… I was hoping to speak to Harmony.”   "Harmony...? Oh! Yes, right. You must be one of the ones from the tower?"   “Yes, I’m Rue. Please could you ask her if she can meet with me?”   "She may be asleep right now. One moment" The door closes and Rue hears the chain rattling before it opens again, revealing the entranceway to the Green's home. With the door fully open they can now see that the aforementioned patterned material that could easily have been mistaken for pyjamas are in fact pink nursing scrubs covered in brightly coloured cartoon fruits.   "Come in dear, cant have you standing on the threshold. I'll go and see if she's awake."   Rue nervously walks into the flat, glancing around the entranceway and taking it all in. They stay close to the door and watch as the woman disappears, leaving them to hover by the door. They can hear someone snoring softly somewhere in the apartment, and the smells that linger in the air are strangely comforting. Suddenly feeling very out of place, Rue ducks their head down, counting the threads of the carpet.   A minute or so passes before the woman returns, "You're lucky, she's still awake and reading, she'll be with you in just a moment. Can I get you anything? Cup of tea?"   Rue shakes their head slightly. “No, thank you. I’m sorry for the intrusion. I hope I did not wake you.”   "Oh no, don't worry, this is my daytime, I'm actually just getting to head out to work."   “That must be hard work.”   "Hard work still needs doing. And besides, having 3 kids to deal with at home, sometimes work feels like the easy time." She lets out a hushed but hearty laugh.   At that moment Harmony enters the hallway, "Good evening Rue" She smiles politely. "Or morning I guess? Is everything okay?"   Rue looks over at Harmony, shifting their weight nervously from one leg to the other, “Morning. I was hoping to speak to you… alone, if that’s alright?”   The woman almost jumps, "Oh! Yes, of course, classified info right?" She looks between Rue and Harmony and then looks to think for a moment, "Not that you could even say if it was I guess? I'll leave you guys to it, I need to get going anyway" She reaches over to grab her bag from a hook on the wall, "Allison don't forget that Jacob has practice tomorrow, don't let them go without their kit again. and Mils has to make sure she makes those last appointments for the review night."   She gives Harmony a quick hug and walks towards the door, "Lovely to meet you... Rue? Was it?"   She give you a warm smile and gently closes the door, only to open it again a couple of seconds later and sheepishly grab some keys from a hook and close it again.   “She seems nice.” Rue can’t keep the slight scowl from forming on their face, though they’re hopeful that they concealed it enough for Harmony not to notice it in their voice, “Do you have somewhere we could talk without anyone listening in?”   If Harmony noticed she didn't have any obvious reaction, "Yeah, come through to the lounge. It's far enough away from the bedrooms that if the others are still somehow awake they can't hear."   Rue follows Harmony into the lounge, though they make no move to sit down anywhere, “I know it’s late so I’ll spare us both the niceties.” Rue begins, keeping their voice low but strong. “I know you were not too pleased with our dear Mayor the other day. I also know you overheard me when I spoke to the Drug Lords, it’d be hard not to with your hearing.” Rue squares their shoulders as they continue. “I want to help them.”   "Right." Harmony says matter-of-factly. Rue watches as Harmony walks across the room into the open kitchen opening the fridge and pulling 2 cans out of the fridge. She throws one towards Rue without asking if it is wanted, "What's your plan?"   Rue catches the can swiftly, “For starters, we need more information.” They watch Harmony carefully, “I called Suplex, she’s prepared to arrange a meeting with Indigo.” They place the can on the coffee table, leaving it unopened, “Not that I’ll be taking Indigo’s word at face value. I don’t exactly find doctors trustworthy.”   "Fair enough, no judgement here. I have to have a certain level of trust in them for obvious reasons," Harmony responds, "What do you need? Ill follow your lead, you've laid the ground work."   “I need someone there to help me gauge her responses. I also need to know how far you’d be willing to go to get to the bottom of this,” looking at Harmony, Rue quickly continues to explain, “As I’m sure you know, these people have a tendency to cover their tracks, and they do it well. I’m not saying we break the law to get to them, but if what Lucy and Golden Brown and Billy said is true, then they deserve justice too, don’t you think? And if I have to bend a few rules to get there…”   "How much do you know about my powers, Rue?"   “Not much,” Rue admits with a shrug. “Just that it’s pretty damn handy to have you around.”   "Okay, I'll give you the basics to make it quick. I worked in a lab as part of my PhD. During an experiment there, I caused an accident which killed a couple of people and injured a lot more. That accident gave me my powers. However, it turns out that it wasn't me that caused the error and it was planned from the start as a part of an off the books experiment," Harmony sighs and takes a long drink from the can, "So yeah, I'm pretty committed to stopping any more shitbirds from putting people through this shit. Does that tell you what you need to hear?"   Rue smiles faintly at Harmony’s swearing, “Glad we’re on the same page," They pause for a moment, considering their next words carefully, “I was six when they first cut me open. I needed the surgery, mind you, just… not like that. I’ve spent a lot of time since they went underground keeping a low profile, and part of me is terrified that they may still be looking for me…” They try to cover the slight tremor in their body as their muscles tense, “But the thought of anyone else going through that… I can’t do nothing.”   Harmony's face softens for a moment, then tenses suddenly. After a moment she lets out a soft chuckle, "I nearly said the thing I'm so sick of hearing. I assume you are bored of the "I'm so sorry"s and the "It must have been horrible" too?"   ''It's harder for people to say that when you don't tell them anything,'' Rue shrugs sheepishly, ''But I get what you mean. Did the people behind it ever get caught?''   "As far as I'm aware the people who were running the program got taken down. But I don't trust what I was told, the people at the front aren't usually the people in charge."   ''Well that's certainly true.'' Rue snorts, running a hand through their hair. ''People love to sweep things under the rug in this city.," They lean against the arm of the sofa, looking at the pictures scattered around the room, ''You've got a nice home.''   "Thanks, I guess. It's been painted since I last saw it so I actually don't really know what it looks like anymore," she says, feigning a look around, "There are new photos too, so that's probably good"   ''It looks... Well, homely.'' Rue grimaces at their own awkwardness, ''You seem like a close knit family.''   "Tends to happen. You lose one of the herd and the rest clump together..."   ''Oh, I didn't know you'd lost someone.''   Harmony explodes with a loud laugh at the statement, "Lost is definitely the word. My dad just disappeared one day without a trace. We never found out what happened or where he went."   ''Seriously?'' Rue shakes their head with a half-hearted chuckle. ''Sounds like we have more in common than I thought.''   As Rue says this Harmony turns to 'look' at Rue as her face softens, "I don't expect you to trust me straight away but I'm happy you think enough of me to open up slightly"   ''Well we will be working together from now on...'' Rue shrugs, ''And besides, someone may have told me recently to try to put myself out there a little more.''   "Sounds like a good idea to me"   Rue smiles faintly before standing upright again when they notice the clock on the wall, ''I've taken up too much of your time, sorry...'' They say sheepishly, ''Shall I, um, call you? When Rachel has made the appointment, I mean''   "No problem, I was only reading anyway. Yeah, of course, please keep me in the loop." Harmony stands up from the sofa and gestures towards the untouched can, "You can take it with you if you want? I wont lie, I gave you one of the ones I don't like so please feel free"   “Thanks, but I don’t drink,” Rue looks slightly embarrassed. “Last time I did, I might have accidentally set the sofa I was meant to crash on on fire…”   "Understandable, I think my mum would be pretty pissed if you set any kind of fire in here, especially the furniture."   Rue wishes Harmony a good night and leaves the apartment, putting their hood up again when they step into the night.   The next day, June 5th, Rue makes a call to Harmony. They’ve just completed an unofficial “patrol” through the Railyard, a habit they picked up a few years ago to keep an eye out for any trouble in their neighbourhood.   "Hello?" Allyson's says.   “It’s Rue. Indigo is free to meet on Friday at 10am, are you in?”   "Oh hey, sorry, you arent hooked up to my caller reader, I'll do that in a sec. Uh... Yeah I think thats fine, where do we need to be?"   “Blackmoore...” Rue grumbles reluctantly   "Okay, no worries. Do I need to bring anything with me?"   “Uhh, your best charm?”   "Are you suggesting I have a worst charm?" Harmony says with an audible smirk.   ''More like you may need to compensate for my lack of any charm.'' Rue quips back.   "Alright, do you want to meet before or are we meeting there?"   ''I wouldn't mind a ride...''   "I do have a spare helmet, but most people arent comfortable backpacking with a blind girl"   ''Good thing I'm not most people, then.''   "Awesome, thats what we like to hear," Harmony pauses for a moment, "Uhh... Where do I pick you up from?"   ''I'll can meet you at yours.''   "Okay no worries, I guess I'll see you friday? Unless you need anything else?"   ''Yeah, I'll see you on Friday.''   "Cool, talk later," Rue hears a serious of loud pops from the other end of the phone, "Ah shit, I really gotta go."   Rue looks at their phone, slightly puzzled, wondering whether all normal families are as chaotic as it sounds Allyson's is.   To be continued...