Chapter Sixteen - Midnight Meeting

Emily understood that she should be going to the meeting with Handshake in costume. Or in some sort of disguise.

The only little problem with that was that she lacked anything even remotely similar to a disguise of any sort.

A long search through all of the clothing she’d yet to unpack found her wearing a pair of old cargo pants she’d used for gardening back home and a thick jacket over a simple T-shirt. With the collar popped and a scarf around her lower face to ward off the cold, the Emily in the mirror was at least partially hidden.

Partially. She figured it wouldn’t take much for anyone to recognize her.

An old pair of sunglasses helped a bit, as did a tuque her mother had knit for her, but it was... not much of a costume.

That was okay. She didn’t want to be in-costume anyway. Getting a costume, a mask persona, would mean admitting that she was part of the greater game of heroes and villains, while she knew full well that participating was the last thing she wanted to do.

Teddy, on the other hand, was a bit harder and easier to hide. With her big, oversized bear hoodie and a scarf around her face, the girl looked like a large brown marshmallow. The fact that she insisted on wearing her shorts meant that under the bundle of cloth from her hoodie were two thin little legs exposed to the air ending in a pair of poorly-tied hiking boots.

“Are you, uh, ready?” Emily asked.

“I’m always ready, Boss,” Teddy said.

Emily smiled, at least Teddy’s confidence was something she could maybe rely on. She extended a hand to the bear-girl who immediately grabbed hold of it. And then they were off.

The park the text directed her towards wasn’t far. One side of it rubbed up against the college’s campus, right next to where they had a few outdoor practice fields for soccer and such.

The sun was still up as she crossed the campus with Teddy, but it was definitely dipping down, and with it, the air turned just shy of cold. The people she crossed still in t-shirts looked to be regretting their choices, so she figured her over-dressed state wasn’t anything to comment about.

“When, when we see the people over at the park,” Emily said. “We need to be careful not to, uh, make them know that we’re... aligned the way we are, okay?” Emily asked.

Teddy nodded. “My name is already hidden,” she said.

“Well, yes, but i mean, uh, don’t go full bear unless things become dangerous. Even if Mister Handshake is... rude.”

“Can I threaten him, at least?”

“I... suppose?”

Emily wondered if this was a side effect of her power. A few days ago the thought of threatening someone would have horrified her. But now all she could think was that Handshake had brought this on himself by trying to extort her and by not minding his own business. Even the information he had given her wasn’t worth all that much when Teddy knew more than he had provided.

They reached the edge of the park and Emily realized that she didn’t know where in the park she was meant to meet anyone. It was a rather large place, after all, with winding paths and a small patch of trees and bushes that had been trimmed and tended so that they weren’t all that natural.

Stepping into the park, she paused, then set off down one of the winding cobbled paths snaking around the entire thing. She was only half an hour early, so there was a good chance that she’d get to meet Handshake as he entered. She didn’t know how punctual of a man he was.

It was while moving closer to the middle that she noticed a gazebo set up next to a little pond. The kind of scenic place that probably looked great on a brochure about the city.

Someone was screaming from within the gazebo.

Perhaps not screaming-screaming, she considered, but they were certainly talking at the sort of volume Emily would never dare speak at. A shrill woman’s voice that bleed anger and... and Emily suspected that she was on the verge of tears.

She shared a look with Teddy. “M-maybe we can go around?” she asked.

“And check them out from over there?” Teddy asked as she pointed to a spot further down. It was the kind of position where they’d be able to see into the gazebo without looking too suspicious about it.

Emily agreed wholeheartedly if it meant she could be spared having to talk to someone.

They moved around, only occasionally peeking back to see what was going on in the Gazebo. It was only when they were nearing the spot Teddy had indicated, lined up with the open front of the pavilion that Emily could see what was happening within properly.

Her heart sank.

Handshake was there. Dressed in far more casual clothes than he’d worn in the hidden back, with one arm in a sling and both eyes obviously browned even though he wore a pair of shades to hide them. He even had an obviously split lip.

Before him, bent over almost double with her hands on her hips, was a short woman with frizzy black hair. She had a finger hovering just before Handshake’s face in a way that looked to be rather threatening.

Emily chewed on her lip as she wondered what she should do.

Unfortunately, Teddy came to the rescue. “Hey, lady. You gonna beat him up?”

The woman and Handshake both spun to look their way.

“It’s okay,” Teddy said. “He’s a capitalist. They all want to steal your food and break your backs and stuff.”

Emily pinched her eyes shut, wished for a moment that she was back home being nagged by her mom about doing her chores or something equally mundane, then she opened her eyes and faced the music. “I think that’s enough, Teddy,” she said softly. “Let’s go see Mister Handshake, I guess.”

The frizzy-haired woman stepped back from Handshake and looked between the girls and the man. “You know this moron?” she asked.

Emily swallowed, wilting and slowing down under the woman’s steady gaze. “I... do,” she said.

“What’s the story?” the woman asked. Not to her, but to him.

He winced. “She... uh, is a new client. Very new.”

“Like last week's Power Day new?” the woman asked.

“You know I don’t divulge information about my clients so easily,” he said.

The woman scoffed. “You keep clinging to those last tatters of professionalism, Dave, and we’ll just pretend that you’re as competent as you’d like us to believe.”

Emily squeezed Teddy’s hand for reassurance and looked back towards the trees of the park. “I can... go, if you want?” she asked.

“No, stay,” Handshake said. “She’s just... she’s in the same situation as you.”

Emily looked over to the woman and tried to see any signs that she was in any way special, but she couldn’t spot anything obvious. If she had powers they were the more subtle sort. “Oh,” she said at last.

“Damnit, Dave, she looks like she’s a teen. And that one can’t be older than fourteen.” She pointed to Teddy.

Handshake shrugged, then winced as the motion moved his shoulder. “You know how it is. Trust me, my life would be easier if I never contacted her to begin with.”

The woman scoffed. “Yeah. I’ll bet. Want to fill her in on all the embarrassing details?”

Emily shifted. That was why she was here. Getting things out of the way sooner meant getting back home sooner.

“Yeah. God knows I’m going to have to explain this one a few more times. Do you have a phone that’s on?” he asked Emily.

“Uh,” Emily said.

“Yank the battery out,” he said. “Or go drop it by the woods.”

Emily stared at him.

“Look at her, you idiot,” the woman said. “You can’t just tell a girl to ditch her phone. Next you’ll be telling her there are puppies in your white van?”

“It’s for security,” he said.

“I will disappear your jewels,” the woman argued right back.

Handshake blanched and looked over to Emily. “Nevermind then. Just... what do you know about the Try Hard gang?”

“Um,” Emily replied. “Nothing?”

He sighed. “Great. In that case, I’ll have to start from the beginning.”

“You can skip some of it,” the woman added. “And since when do you hand out info for free?”

“Since the info dislocated my arm and punched three of my teeth in,” he growled. “There are rules, and if those jackasses won’t follow them, then they ought to suffer the consequences.”

“So who messed you up?” Teddy asked.

Handshake shifted on his stone bench. “Let me tell you a bit about Homie and his crew.”

***