Chapter Fifty-Six – The Sleepy

Emily woke with a start as her phone rang.

Her phone was not supposed to ring. Not at home. So she muttered something that even she didn’t understand and tried to snuggle in deeper into her pillows. The motion, of course, unleashed a few elbows and knees, but at this point she was used to it.

The phone rang again.

Some small part of Emily’s brain clicked on, remembering a few odd and only vaguely related facts.

She’d asked Maple to make it so that phones wouldn’t work in their bunker home. Just in case. Then she’d asked Maple to make one exception for a burner phone she bought for cash at a gas station and which she planned on leaving plugged in her room.

Maple had made it so that the phone was ‘untraceable’ somehow. Emily wasn’t super confident in that, but she was willing enough to gamble on it. Maple had made a machine that was meant to get lost, proceeded to lose it, then called the entire thing a success, because anyone tracing the call would also get lost.

It was good enough.

And that phone was now ringing, because it was the only phone that could ring.

“It’s the capitalists, they’re trying to sell us stuff,” Teddy mumbled sleepily. “Telemarketers. All their fault.” She snored, quite loudly, right into Emily’s ear, at least until the phone rang again. “Consequence of the industrial revolution.”

Emily blinked a few times. The room was dark, but her eyes had long adapted to it. “Move, please,” she asked… one of her sisters who was hugging her. The sister moved, and Emily wriggled her way up to the end of the bed.

The phone rang again just as Emily reached it.

She didn’t recognize the number at all. What she did recognize was the time.

Someone was calling her at four thirty in the AM, and Emily was strongly considering giving into any villainous impulses she might have.

Standing up properly, Emily flicked the phone open, then answered. “Yes, hello?” she said before clearing her throat of cobwebs.

“Boss?” a woman asked on the other end of the line. A familiar one, at that, though it took Emily a moment to place her.

“Melaton?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Melaton said. “But this is… unofficial stuff, alright?”

“It’s four AM.”

“Four thirty.”

Emily pulled the phone away from her head and stared at it. Did the distinction mean anything? “Okay? It’s four thirty. On a weekday. I have… a life? Things… why are you calling?”

“Alright, yeah, I guess you are. Not everyone is a night owl. Look, we’ve got trouble here,” Melaton said. Now that Emily was a little more awake, she could make out the tension in Melaton’s voice.

“Where’s here?” Emily asked.

“Handshake called me up late last night, said that he’d gotten word from a friend of a friend who knows someone who’s a precog of sorts. Not the fancy sort, but the sort that can keep tabs on lots of people for a price?”

Emily didn’t know what that meant, exactly, but it did sound a lot like the kind of shady business that Handshake would get himself up to. “Alright? Is he in trouble?”

“We’re holed up at the cafe,” Melaton said. “The moment we step out, we’ll be ambushed.”

“Ambushed?” Emily asked. “By whom?”

“Whom?”

“It’s… it’s good grammar,” Emily defended. “Do we have time for that?”

“Right. We think it’s Rattles. He’s making a move, and he’s starting it by smacking down anything remotely villainous within his ‘territory.'” The air-quotes could be heard in that one.

Emily started to pace her little room. Something in her chest felt constricted and tight. She didn’t want to face Rattles again. Certainly not at this hour of the night. The name snuck into enough of her nightmares without her having to fight him in the dark.

“What do you want me to do?” Emily asked.

“Well, ideally, ride over with the littlest cavalry and beat the stuffings out of Rattles,” Melaton said. “But barring that, do you think you could get some of your less heroic friends to help?”

“That’s not… fast,” Emily said.

“Oh, right, sorry. I kinda gave you a false impression there. Things aren’t great, but they’re not bad in a quick way. Rattles is skulking around the area. We know that. Saw him on cameras and everything. But he’s not here-here. I don’t think he knows where Handshake’s hiding, just the general area. If we stay put, we’re safe. At least, that’s what Handshake’s friend-of-a-friend says. It’s the moment we step out that we’re screwed.”

“Can’t you take him?” Emily asked.

“Poor matchup,” Melaton said. “Actually, a lot of matchups are poor for me.”

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Emily sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was a tangled mess at the moment. She’d need a shower and a few minutes with a brush. She glanced back at the bed. There was a tangle of limbs and soft, peaceful breathing. It was comforting, at least compared to the impression she was getting from the call with Melaton.

“I don’t… I need time to think,” Emily said.

“Take your time. We’re just waiting here, hoping the ass doesn’t notice us and decide to bring the ceiling down,” Melaton said, it sounded as though she was trying hard to sound casual.

Emily stopped pacing and took a deep breath. She needed… a few things. Rattles gone was on the top of that list, though. “Do you think we could ambush him?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

Emily definitely didn’t want to face him alone. She’d need allies, even for an ambush. Maybe if this was happening in a week… two weeks? A year from now? She didn’t know if she’d ever be entirely ready to fight him.

“I can think of a couple of people that I could call,” Emily said. “But I don’t know if they’ll want to come. And at this hour, it’ll be hard to even get a ride anywhere.”

“Yeah, I know, but this might be–“

Emily paused in her pacing to stare at the phone. It hadn’t disconnected, but Melaton had stepped mid-sentence. “Hello?”

The phone obviously changed hands. Someone cleared their throat, then talked. “Boss?”

“Handshake?” Emily asked. She was pretty sure this was him.

“The one and only,” Handshake said. “Consider the following, please; I owe you a small but tidy amount at the moment, and you’ll never be able to collect if I’m dead. That, and assisting would put me in your debt. If you remove Rattles from… being an issue, I’ll pay you two thousand. Half that if you just scare him off.”

Emily chewed on her lower lip, that did make it significantly more tempting.Two thousand dollars and probably a favour owed wasn’t a minor thing, especially not with the way she kept burning through her savings. It was tempting, incredibly so…, but it would mean fighting Rattles.

“Alright,” Emily said. “I’ll help. We’ll help. But remember, you owe me, Handshake, and I intend to collect.”

There was a relieved chuckle on the other end of the line. “Deal, Boss. And thank you. It’s a pleasure doing business.”

Emily ended the call, then turned.

She discovered six pairs of eyes staring at her, all of them catching the light in the dimly lit room. “So, who’re we beaten up?” Teddy asked.

“Rattles,” Emily said. “And we’re going to win this time. Can you girls get dressed up? Full costumes and everything. Maple, you have your thing?”

Maple nodded. “It’s ready,” she said.

“Good. I need to make a few calls. Come on, go ahead and get ready, please. Oh, and… Athena?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you turn on the coffee machine?” Emily asked. She’d need it.

Emily checked the phone again. The number she entered was one she’d meticulously memorised. She pressed call, and held the phone to her ear.

The phone rang twice more before someone answered. “Someone had better be dying,” Sam answered on the other end.

“I know,” Emily said. “It’s late. We need a ride. We’ve got trouble. It’s Rattles.”

There was a long silence after, then a sigh. “What do you need?” Sam asked.

“We’re planning an ambush. I need a ride there. It’s kinda far, especially for this late. I’m calling in a few other favours too.”

“Huh, so it’s finally going down. Alright, I’m in. Lemme get dressed. Text me where you wanna meet.”

“Thank you,” Emily said. “I’ll see you soon.”

She hung up, then grabbed her normal phone to check on a number. This time it picked up right away.

“Hey?” a young man said.

“Alea Iacta? Get ready. We’re going to take out the city’s biggest villain tonight. I need your help, and your luck.”

“Ah, shit. Is this why my sleep schedule got all screwed up?”

Emily had no idea what he was on about, but she told him where to meet anyway.

Another number punched in, and this time it took a while before anyone replied. When they did, it was with the sleepiest voice Emily had heard in a while. “Wazza?”

“Jezebelle?” Emily asked. “Are you awake?”

“Huh?”

That was close enough to a yes. “It’s Emily Wright. Remember? I need your help with something… work-related. It’s urgent.”

“Oh,” Jezebelle said, coming awake. “Well, shit.”

“Yeah,” Emily agreed. She explained as quickly as she could, then hung up. The nerves were getting to her. Most of the time, when she called someone, she had to psyche herself up for a few days first. Doing it this quickly was like ripping a bandaid.

But it was done, and now she had to prepare herself for trouble.

***

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