Rue and Harmony - Null Part 1

Expedition

With the information recieved from Lucy in the Sky after the attack  on City Hall, Rue goes to meet Allyson Green at her home before their meeting at Blackmoore Hospital.

Rue takes a deep breath before they knock on the door to the Green residence. Their heart is racing in their chest, the hot summer air feeling more suffocating than soothing, “You’re not going alone…” they quietly mumble to themself, “You’ll be fine…”

From the other side of the door, they hear the distinct sound of a young boy shouting, "Your 'school' cannot hope to contain the mighty Chaos Lord!"

Rue frowns at the door. They can hear the boy’s footsteps, quickly followed by a loud clattering. A moment later, the door flies open and before Rue has a chance to react, an orange-topped blur of motion plows headlong into her, headbutting her in the chest and knocking the two of them to the ground.

"Jacob! Get back in here!" Harmony cries, her voice easily carrying between the rooms.

“Ow…” Rue mumbles, looking over at the whirlwind that knocked them down, “Uhh.. You okay there?” They extend a hand to help the tiny human off the ground.

"Ah! The minions of Order have got me!" He wails, flailing his arms as he stands and quickly charges down the corridor, "You'll never take me alive!"

"Have you at least got your backpack with you this time?!" Harmony calls from the other room again before appearing from within, "Oh hi Rue, give me just a moment and I'll be with you," She pauses for a moment, "I don't suppose you saw if my gremlin of a brother had his backpack on when he charge out of here?"

"Yeeeeees," comes the call back from the stairwell. A brief pause, and then, "Is Millie coming or what!?" It sounds like he simply stopped the moment he left the hallway.

Harmony walks back to the threshold between rooms and has a short conversation assumedly with her sister. She then walks back to the front door where she grabs a set of keys, "Yeah she's just grabbing her laptop, if I give you the keys can you go and unlock your bike without her and she will meet you down there?"

Slowly, Chaos Lord pokes his head out of the stair well doorway and with a weary sigh begins to trudge back towards his big sister. With his head hung in shame and muttering "foiled again," to himself, he holds out one hand in resignation, "Once I get my minions of chaos, I'll have all the keys." He grumbles defiantly.

Rue uses their telekinesis to lift the keys out of Harmony's hand, letting them hover in front of the kid's face.

"C-c-chaos powers?" He stutters, eyes wide as he takes the keys from midair and inspects them.

"I'm trusting you with those, minimal chaos please," Harmony continues, "Remember, Millie will be with you in a minute and she will snitch on you"

''Want me to keep an eye on him?'' Rue offers, smiling faintly at the look on the boy's face as he takes the keys.

Harmony smirks at the look on Jacob's face, "Sure, his bike is right next to mine anyway. Here take this," She reaches round the corner of the door and passes Rue a helmet from the shelf, "I'll grab Millie and we'll meet you down there in a sec."

Rue takes the helmet and turns to Jacob. ''Lead the way.'' They urge, gesturing to the kid to go ahead.

"To the Chaoscycle!" He hollars, suddenly enthused once more by the advent of Chaos powers, and charges back down the hall towards the stairs, "Maximum Chaos!!!" He cries, giggling to himself.

"Minimum!" Harmony lowers her voice to a point that only Rue could hear, "Thanks for this"

''It's the least I can do.'' Rue quietly replies, following the boy down the stairs.

When you get down to the bike shed, you see Jacob standing on a brick wall and making strange gestures at the bikes, saying "Go Chaos! Fly! Go Chaos Go!" as he tries in vain to get something to happen, "Chaos powers: Activate!"

''I'm not sure if that will work..'' Rue chuckles, leaning against the same brick wall, helmet still in their hands. They wait until the boy looks in their direction, then throw the helmet into the air and 'catch' it with their telekinesis, ''Uhh, Jacob, was it? I'm Rue, I work with your sister.''

"Woooooah..." he says, dumbfounded and quickly glancing between you and the helmet, "How'd you do that!?"

''You know how the Vigil heroes have powers, like Blue and Transonic?'' Rue starts, lowering the helmet and grabbing it out of the air again. ''This is one of mine.''

"Ooooh," he cooes, you can see the amazement in his eyes, "So you're a hero too?"

''Well...'' Rue hesitates, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. ''I guess I'm trying to be one.''

"That's so cool!" He shouts, "What's your hero name?"

''Uhhh.. It's Rue.'' They look away shyly.

"Oooooh," he says, "I thought that was your real name!" He taps his finger to his nose in a conspiratorial gesture.

Rue opens their mouth as if to respond, then decides against it. They fidget with the helmet in their hands, listening for Harmony and her sister's footsteps to come down the stairs.

By this point, Jacob has mounted up the Chaoscycle and is raring to go. As the older two Green siblings descend the final few steps he calls out, "C'mon Millie! Chaos awaits!"

"Thanks Rue." Harmony says once they draw close, "Jacob. Keys." she raises her hand into a catching position waiting for Jacob's inevitable projectile launch.

Jacob just about manages to maintain control of his bike as he uses one hand to throw the keys at his sister. Harmony has to lean over quite awkwardly in order to catch them.

"Thank you. Okay, off you go before you're late, don't forget to bring your kit home with you today or its going to stink by next week."

"Yeah, yeah," he calls back as he begins to ride off into the distance, with Millie following close behind.

"Never listens..." Harmony mutters under her breath before turning her 'gaze' to Rue, "Do you have any siblings?"

“I don’t.” Rue replies quickly, their eyes downcast. Before Harmony can say anything else, they push themselves off the little brick wall and walk towards the bike. “Shall we?”

Harmony notices she may have touched a nerve so decides to drop the subject, "Sure, have you ever backpacked before?"

“Can’t say that I have.” Rue confirms with a shrug.

"Have you ever ridden before?"

“Nope.” Rue shakes their head.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be fun." Rue sees a gleeful look spread across Harmony's face. She spends the next few minutes guiding Rue through how to behave and what to do/not do, "The most important thing is to keep your hands locked together around me, don't hold my side or my shoulders." Harmony mounts the bike and holds her hand out to offer Rue stability while getting on the back

Rue listens intently to Harmony’s explanation. They put on the helmet before taking her hand and mounting the back, shuffling slightly closer once they’ve sat down. They do as told and wrap their arms around Harmony’s waist, locking their hands together.

Harmony slides her helmet over her head and fiddles with the device attached to her helmet, after a couple of seconds Rue hears her voice come through the tinny speakers inside her helmet, "Can you hear me okay?"

“Oh! Yeah, I can hear you.” Rue replies, slightly taken aback. “That’s handy.”

"Awesome, if you need me to slow down or pull over just let me know, okay?" Harmony doesn't wait for a reply this time and starts the bikes engine, slowly peeling out of the space.

Rue instinctively tightens their grip on Harmony slightly as they start to move. Whilst they’re still not entirely sure how Harmony can ride a bike, they manoeuvre into traffic smoothly, so Rue simply does as Harmony instructed, leaning with her when needed in turns.

When they start to see the signs for Blackmoore, their heart starts to race in their chest again, the air feeling thick and the helmet suddenly suffocating. Rue subconsciously tightens their grip again, the faintest tremor running through their body.

"You doing okay back there?" Harmony asks.

“I’m fine…” Rue breathes, a bead of sweat running down their neck. While keeping their hands locked, their nails start to dig into their skin. Rue urges themself to take a deep breath, effectively fogging up their visor.

Harmony starts to slow her speed, not entirely convinced by Rue's response, "Are you sure, I can stop if you need a minute?"

Rue hesitates for a moment, swallowing past the lump forming in their throat. Looking at the next sign they pass, they note that they’re fairly close to the hospital already. “It’s fine…” Rue utters shakily. “I need to do this.”

"Okay, but just remember, you aren't doing this alone," Harmony pauses for a second before hazarding a guess as to what is bothering Rue based on her limited knowledge of her past experiences, "Not this time."

While the tremor doesn’t dissipate, Rue seems to relax ever so slightly at that, their nails no longer digging into their skin. Their heart is still racing, every instinct in their body telling them to turn the other way, but they silently repeat “I’m not alone…” a few times, taking a deep breath each time they do.

The moment they make it to Blackmoore, Rue gets off the bike and quickly removes the helmet, their black curls clinging to the thin sheen of sweat on their forehead. They rub a shaky hand over their face, running their fingers through their hair. They look over at Harmony, somewhat embarrassed, “Sorry…”

Harmony slides herself off the bike and removes her helmet, she concentrates hard enough to stop her normally flitting eyes in place in an attempt to "look" directly at Rue.

"Don't you dare," Her stern look softens slightly as her eyes start flitting again, she turns and pulls a chain wrapped around the rear of the bike and loops it through the rear wheel then threading it through the visor of her helmet. She turns slightly towards Rue and holds her hand out for the helmet she is cradling.

Rue hands her the helmet, waiting as Harmony secures it to the chain. They anxiously chew the inside of their cheek, the faintest metallic taste forming in their mouth when they bite a little too hard. As Harmony locks the bike, Rue is rooted in place, looking over at the hospital entrance.

As Harmony stands back up, she senses the tension in Rue's stance, "Do you want me to take the lead here?"

The hospital is modern and new, built with a similar white and grassy aesthetic as the rest of Bathala City. From the outside it looks much like any other hospital, though there is a fence around some small areas of the garden. You can see a sign near the front that reads "Entrance" in the facility's brand of white-on-blue signage.

Rue glances at the sign, then back at Harmony, a blush creeping up their face. A strong sense of failure overcomes them, reminding Rue of their shortcomings. They’d known from the start that they would struggle - it had been one of the reasons they had decided to get Harmony there to back them up. Still, it stung to admit how much they needed the support.

“Yes, please” Rue grumbles reluctantly, then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, they add “I did ask you to bring your best charm.”

"Okay, I'll take point and you just jump in whenever you feel ready okay? And if you need to take a breather if at any point it gets to much, just go for it."

Rue takes a deep breath, urging themself to work through the wave of anxiety. They nod at Harmony, then slowly start towards the entrance to the hospital.   To be continued...