The Beacon

Max stepped onto the cold white that crunched beneath his soft steps. His orange hair blew in the frigid breeze, but he showed no display of discomfort.

@.Longshot.: "I don't want to hear your ideals, I am only telling you how it is from THIS side of the line, the permanent solution side..Again I am not here to bicker..Now back off and this will end peacefully for the both of us.."

@TheRumor: "You gave up peace a long time ago. So did I." Longshot unbuckled his belt and dropped it into the snow, "Where do we go from here?"

@.Longshot.: "I stand firm on my statement...I am not killing a hero that doesn't deserve to die.." Rumor pressed a few buttons on his wrist and continued to stand passively.

@TheRumor: "Fair enough." said Longshot. It was always good to have one more person around who didn't wish to kill him. "Just remember that I'll have my eye on you. I suspect you'll do the same."

@.Longshot.: "You suspected right archer.." The snow started to fly about from the gusts of wind of the recently called sleek black and red hovercraft. "Until next time..." With a respectful nod he grappled up through the bottom of the hovercraft and sped off at MAC 3 jet speed.

Amelia was curled up on her bed. She'd stolen one of the flat-screens from the upper levels and hooked it up to the internet. Then, she'd used one of her fake I.D.'s to order Netflix. Currently she had Castle playing. If she was going to be stuck here, she might as well enjoy it.

@Amelia_: "Careful!" Longshot snapped as Janine dug a bullet out of his upper arm and dropped the bloody wad of lead in a metal tray with the others.

"Oh, quit complaining." Janine replied callously, dabbing away the blood as she started to bandage the wound, "I'm being way more careful than the guy who put them in there."

"That's debatable."

"Hey! At least I didn't have to strip you down and wash you off like our guest."

"You're right. Bullet wounds are preferable." He lay back and let her do her work, "Sounds like Amelia's making herself comfortable."

"Yeah. When does your friend Melissa get off duty?"

"In a few days. I think she might be the only one who can talk to Amelia. We'll just let her do what she wants until then." Janine slapped a bandage over the stitched wound and he threw his shirt and coat back on, "Just make sure she doesn't set anything on fire."

"Why not?" Janine shrugged, "Most of our guests do that anyway."

@.Longshot.: Getting up and tip-toeing to the door, she closed and locked it. In the middle of the night, she'd managed to slip by the security systems and retrieve the still-full flask from the room that she'd been cleaned in. It'd been 'confiscated' from her jacket. Taking a seat on the bed, she pulled it out from under her pillow and un-screwed the cap, tilting her head back and taking a drink.

@Amelia_: "You know that's how you got into this mess, right?" asked Longshot through the door, "Not to mention it smells like hand sanitizer."

@.Longshot.: She set it down immediately after taking a drink. "Of course you'd be watching for it.." Her fingers grabbed the remote and paused the episode she had playing. Not like she'd be able to pay attention anyways. "And.. I'm fine. Plus, my 'mess' has nothing to do with alcohol. It's an after-effect."

@Amelia_: "Sorry. Doctor's orders." Longshot replied, "And since she can't smell liquor from a block away, the task falls on me. Mind if I come in."

@.Longshot.: "I've made a habit of not listening to doctors." As she spoke, her hands came to rest in her lap, her fingers lacing together. "It's your place.. not like I've got much say in the matter."

@Amelia_: Longshot entered and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. "Well, you're staying here. This is your space. I've got no right to just barge in. This isn't a hospital, Amelia. It's a home. For as long as you need it, it's a home."

@.Longshot.: She twitched visibly at the last two sentences. "Thanks. I'd of contacted Melissa.. but she really doesn't need to put up with me. She has enough to deal with without me showing up."

@Amelia_: "Believe me, if there's one thing Melissa can endure, it's playing healer." he paused, "Endure's not the right word. As much as it wears on her, she genuinely likes helping people. That, more than anything, is what got me to pick up the bow when my life turned south."

@.Longshot.: Amelia was trying to find a reason to turn it back on her. Part of her wanted to somehow get him out of there, so she could finish that flask. "Guess so. I just.." Her sentence trailed off into nothingness midway. For once, she was having difficulty vocalizing what was on her mind."Nevermind. Can't really change that anyways, so there's no use putting much thought to it."

@Amelia_: "Can't change what?" Longshot asked, leaning forward in his seat.

@.Longshot.: "Not asking to stay at her place." She sincerely hoped that he didn't detect the lie. The truth would be downright embarrassing, not to mention how awkward it could make things.

@Amelia_: Her skip in tone and heartbeat was almost undeniable to Longshot, but he lay back and acted as if he had detected nothing. "Knowing her, she'd let you." he said, "You two are pretty close, aren't you?"

@.Longshot.: "Pretty close is one way to describe it, yeah." She started to twirl her thumbs, trying to mask her relief. Of course, in her current state doing so was next to impossible. Her left leg started to bounce at a slow pace.

@Amelia_: He had no need to know why she was lying, nor did he have a right. He simply nodded and played along, "How long were you sleeping out on that park bench before you drunk dialed her?"

@.Longshot.: "I dunno." She shrugged, actually telling the truth. "I blacked out a couple times, still got gaps in my memory the size of the Grand Canyon."

@Amelia_: "How did you end up there?"

@.Longshot.: "Black-outs. Remember?" One of her hands reached up to pinch her temples. "Christ.. I don't know. All I remember is waking up on a bench, hungover.

@Amelia_: "Where were you living before that?"

@.Longshot.: "Salem. And before you ask, no.. I don't know how the hell I ended up in Florida."

@Amelia_: "Black outs. Right. So... where do you go from here?"

@.Longshot.: "You're really asking the drinker where she wants to go..?" Her hand grabbed the flask and held it up for him to see,

@Amelia_: "Not what I meant."

@.Longshot.: "That's just it.. I don't know." She actually did. "Just stay here until I'm not welcome any more, and then find some other place, I guess."

@Amelia_: "Well then, you'll have plenty of time."

@.Longshot.: She scooted back so that her back was against the wall, curling her knees up to her chest. "Figured as much."

@Amelia_: "Melissa will stop by in a couple days." he said, rising up out of his chair, "She can help you sort this out better than I can."

@.Longshot.: "Already wishing her luck with it."

@Amelia_: "So am I."

@.Longshot.: "Gonna take a freakin' miracle.." With that, she laid out on the bed on her side, facing away from him.

@Amelia_: "She's pulled people out of worse." Longshot said as he turned and opened the door. Before he left, he loocked back over his shoulder and whispered, "Good night, Amelia."

@.Longshot.: "Night." She returned the phrase despite knowing that she wasn't going to be sleeping for awhile.

@Amelia_: Longshot sat on the top floor of the Beacon, the pale moonlight pouring in through the snow-heaped windows. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands over his mouth. His jacket was draped over the back of the couch, along with his mask. The short sleeves of his black t-shirts exposed the freshly made scars that lay atop a tapestry of old wounds. He looked into the dark edges of the room, his eyes slowly wandering to the picture on the coffee table. It seemed he was due for a restless night as well.

@.Longshot.: Amelia pushed herself to her feet, having noted that she hadn't exactly gone out of her way to be friendly to the guy. Walking to the elevators, she called it down to her, then stepped in when the doors opened. Her thumb pressed the the button for the top floor, and she shoved her hands into her pockets, humming the Game of Thrones theme while she waited. It eventually stopped, and she stepped out onto the top floor, immediately thinking of excuses for why she was up here. "Longshot.. it's.. ah, it's Amelia. Just.. wanted to come up here and find out if you had a computer I could.." She swore, rolling her eyes, then walked towards the center of the room, looking for the vigilante. Her eyes were glued to the floor when she stopped in front of a couch. "I wanted to apologize. I could've been a helluva lot nicer in there.."

@Amelia_: "No. You've been through a lot." the archer replied, keeping his eyes locked on the picture, "This place is foreign to you. You're out of of your element, isolated and alone out here. It's completely understandable you'd push somebody away when they're looking over your shoulder, even if they're trying to help. Because there really is no way to help. There's no way to turn somebody around, no matter how much you care about them. You can only hope that they can pull themselves out on the other side."

@.Longshot.: "I drank until I passed out on three separate occasions. Hardly going through a lot.." There was a bitter self-loathing to the way she spoke. She got a look at the skin on the back of his head, and took note of the disfigurement. It didn't bother her. If anything.. she was used to looking at skin like that. "And if they don't fix themselves..?"

@Amelia_: "Then you keep trying." he replied, hardly realizing that he had allowed her to see him as he truly was. He just kept staring at the picture, "You hold on and fight even though you know you'll never get them back. You never give up on the people you love, no matter what. Just human nature."

@.Longshot.: "How did you kn-" Her sentence stopped halfway through, and she swallowed. "It was that obvious.. then? Figured I'd of come off as some random drunk chick." She leaned up against one wall, staring downwards, letting her bangs obscure her vision. "I really am bad at that. Heh."

@Amelia_: "In my experience, people spill their guts more than they're aware of. Alcohol has nothing to do with it."

@.Longshot.: "Great." Her hands shoved into her pockets. It was certainly a better place for them to be than picking at her skin. "Well.. you're half-right. Baggage is about half of what's causing it.."

@Amelia_: "I know a thing or two about baggage."

@.Longshot.: "Most vigilantes do. Hell, Batman's the poster child for baggage."

@Amelia_: "I suppose it comes with the job..." he sighed, eyes finally drifting shut and breaking contact with the photograph, "But that doesn't lessen the blow when you fail."