That was fair; Nell was not a threat, as had been evidenced in the past few days. Maybe if she had bothered to build herself a weapon like the laser gun that Derek had hidden in his pocket (or at least a force field god dammit, she'd made one of those for nearly everyone in the city) she wouldn't be so easy to take down.
The mind was wrong about one thing though: Nell was the most reliable person he knew. She worked harder than all the villains in the town combined. Nell's presence had halved the minion population in the last few years.
Fissure, a contact of Derek's as well as an employer of the Fixer, was seismokinetic and spoke glowingly of The Fixer's work installing stabilizers in the foundations of Fissure's lair that would keep vibrations in his home (caused by his powers) from spreading out and becoming an earthquake. It had taken a month or so, and Fissure said that he almost never Saw the girl sleep and that she ate only when prodded to do so. Derek had consulted Fissure before contracting Nell to make his gun.
When he'd first contacted her, they had met in a neutral location. She had made promises about her abilities and had kept them. The Afterdark respected that.
For the moment, Derek relied upon Nell to stay where she was. She would do that, he knew, because it was in her nature to do what was expected of her.
The Afterdark's telepathy flared. This time it was something from the van. Someone with long hair, someone taking off a helmet to scratch their head. Someone female, someone uneasy with the state of things. Someone close enough to control.
To the woman, it was like falling asleep peacefully after the most perfect view of the moon after dark. To Derek, it was like he had grown an extra body, and he was just as proficient with this as his normal one. He, through her, looked at the inside of a van.
The mind was wrong about one thing though: Nell was the most reliable person he knew. She worked harder than all the villains in the town combined. Nell's presence had halved the minion population in the last few years.
Fissure, a contact of Derek's as well as an employer of the Fixer, was seismokinetic and spoke glowingly of The Fixer's work installing stabilizers in the foundations of Fissure's lair that would keep vibrations in his home (caused by his powers) from spreading out and becoming an earthquake. It had taken a month or so, and Fissure said that he almost never Saw the girl sleep and that she ate only when prodded to do so. Derek had consulted Fissure before contracting Nell to make his gun.
When he'd first contacted her, they had met in a neutral location. She had made promises about her abilities and had kept them. The Afterdark respected that.
For the moment, Derek relied upon Nell to stay where she was. She would do that, he knew, because it was in her nature to do what was expected of her.
The Afterdark's telepathy flared. This time it was something from the van. Someone with long hair, someone taking off a helmet to scratch their head. Someone female, someone uneasy with the state of things. Someone close enough to control.
To the woman, it was like falling asleep peacefully after the most perfect view of the moon after dark. To Derek, it was like he had grown an extra body, and he was just as proficient with this as his normal one. He, through her, looked at the inside of a van.
