Breakout

Maybe that’s why he was the leader of his own group, or rather why he was one of the few left standing while the rest of them were hunted down and brought back in. He’d sworn to keep his people safe, even if that meant working with someone who could have cared less for any of them, or so it seemed. 

Look, I’m out of your hair as soon as we can get enough supplies together an’ find a better place for the rest of us that don’t end up with you trying your hardest to kill me.

It was the first smile she’d cracked since this whole ordeal started, but he really did astound her despite how infuriating and grating he was at the moment. Maybe she would have been more like him a year or two back in time, but things had changed and so had she. Maybe she wasn’t better that way, but her people were because of it. Maybe he’d learn that too one day. He seemed on the perfect track for it.

Lucas grinned, despite knowing that he wasn’t in a good spot to push for anything or anyone.

After all, the more people there were, the more dangerous things became, and if they were rowdy she wasn’t going to let her people or herself take the fall for it. It had been done before and she wasn’t willing to go down that path a second time. She folds her arms over her chest, her usual frown smeared over her face.

She swings her legs over the edge of the thin bed before she crosses the floor to the doorway. 

One of the striped balls stopped short of falling into a side pocket, and out of kindness, Jeff telekentetically pushed it in.  He smiled, knowing he’d broken their rule but for her benefit.  Would she even notice?  “Go again.”  Jeff wasn’t over-competitive when it came to trivial games such as pool or Battleship.  They didn’t matter so he didn’t get worked up about them.  While he loved bragging rights as much as the next person – and could do without the teasing when he lost – he didn’t care what position he came in as long as he enjoyed the game.  “You sure you don’t want to reconsider strip pool?  You’re winning.  I’d be naked in no time.”  Jeff leaned closer to J.D. as if to kiss her but pulled away before their lips touched.  “And we both know you want to see me naked.” 

After another eye roll at his seemingly innocent and stupid question of ‘calm down’ she straightened out from her lean over the green felt of the pool table. The free hand that wasn’t holding the pool stick came to rest on her hip as she stared at him. An amused smile colored her lips regardless, but she didn’t attempt to hide the fact it was there like usual. “You know, it’s still called cheating even if you are cheating on my behalf.” Walking around the table, she stopped in front of the shiny white cue ball in the middle of the dotted field of colourful ones. “But, if you really want to lose that badly, I’m not complaining.”

Maybe she could get a little more competitive than him, but it was all in good fun. There was time for business, when it was all seriousness and no games, and then there were the rare times to let her hair down and herself loose, and she knew the distinction between them well. It was a line drawn in stone rather than sand. And maybe she leaned to the business side more than the other, but somewhere in there, beneath the gruelling hard-ass of a teacher who spent day in and day out training naïve new ‘superheroes’, there was still the girl who didn’t like to be beat. At anything. Even if it was all for fun and meant nothing in the end, not really.

Leaning down over the table once more, she readied her pool stick before rolling her eyes again with half a laugh, feeling his breath on her cheek as he drew near. Moving one hand off the grip of her stick, she gave him a small telekinetic jab to his shoulder before he stood up and away from her. Another eye roll. “You wish, Cooke. Now shut up and let me concentrate.”

Looking back down at the table in front of her, she narrowed her eyes to focus better before sharply poking the cue ball with her stick. The purple 4 ball rolled forward half way across the table before knocking against a yellow one, sending it gently into the pocket next to it.

But even with all the work, there had to be a little fun. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. As cryptic as it sounded, it was the truth. Some people around the Batcave slouched around, feeling anything but good at times because they couldn’t very well just skip out of their hideout, not unless they wanted to put everyone at risk. It was tiring, being stuck down there most of the time, but they had to make do with what they had.

This was a somewhat rare moment of making do with what they had – time off, time for absolutely nothing. It was so rare they hardly knew what to do with it. The basic walking around their big city was one thing, while he was always up for food along with it. The possibilities were endless, so long as they stayed off Ultra’s radar.

"I can’t make any promises," He wouldn’t, not when it came to pizza, and really not when it came to getting out to order up any kind of food they wanted. "Our great leader, blowing his top? That doesn’t sound like him at all."

Unless it came to people getting hurt, people running off without question, people getting caught by Ultra, something going wrong. Maybe there were the few occasions when he did blow his top, but most were reasonable enough. If they left without a heads up, that would be reason enough for him to make it happen. It wouldn’t be the first time he witnessed it, or was the cause of it.

"My decisions usually are."

He didn’t bother hiding the slight smirk as he pushed himself to stand up and rub his hands together. A trip out would do them good, until they got back and had to hear about it from the captain, but that was for later. “Good to know I astound you, J.D.”

How worn out and wound up she was about everything recently was becoming clearer the longer she was away from her so called pupils, the quiet din of the Batcave (or as quiet as it would ever get as the Tomorrow People hung around all nooks and crannies on their own) humming around her and giving her time to actually think. Despite how many times the man behind her had come to her about one, a break was a good call for now. She’d take whatever reprimanding Mr. Mopes-A-Lot would give them both for running out on him, especially now and without further warning. Even though a good talking to was well known around the place for being her thing. She could handle it and him.

It wasn’t that they weren’t careful about trips after all. She’d been around long enough to pick up a few tricks and tips here and there, and although she wasn’t the best or most talented telepath by any means, she more than made up for it with the other two T’s. She knew what she was doing, and after a while of living the life of one of the Tomorrow People, her companion knew almost as much as she did. She’d taught him everything she knew after all.

Frowning playfully, she reached behind her and took a hold of his hand. “Not even a little one?” she asked, but before he could answer, she’d already taken five steps forward and they were gone in a quickly fading burst of black and yellow. The ground shifted and dropped from their feet, only to return with force a few seconds later, a force that without previous knowledge of it being there and where they were going, and really without being equipped with the skills that they were, would have sent them into a toppling heap on the ground. But they were better than that.

Quickly gaining back her bearings, she dropped his hand and squinted up at the overcast sky above them, or at least the small sliver of what she could see through the tall buildings flanking their sides, slowly adjusting to the sudden light it provided. It was definitely a huge difference from the dark walls and rafters of their ever dear Batcave.

Did he want to get out, get a break and fresh air, maybe a little fun? Sure. They could all use it, but they couldn’t all go out at once, not with a certain organization looking to find them in a large group and do whatever they wanted with them. It was a risk to even leave their comfort zone of a home, and even more risky when they used their abilities. Sometimes they couldn’t help it, sometimes they need to use one or another, and other times they just wanted to. Teleporting was the easiest way of getting around, but it was also the most dangerous. You do it and you risk getting caught on the radar you definitely did not want to get caught on. That was why the newer breakouts stayed back at the Batcave while the others – the ones who had been around longer – went out to do and get what they needed. Don’t risk someone who still teleports in their sleep when it’ll only end up getting them all caught. So they needed to train, needed to learn, needed to survive, and still needed a break when they could get it.

Maybe one day soon they would all get it, even the younger and newer ones would get the chance to take a breath of fresh air and feel the sun. They weren’t locked up down there, but they had to make do with what they got. “You can also be terrifying when you want, but I like to avoid that side of you.” The corner of his lips lifted into a grin as he pushed himself to stand up and stretch a little before turning to look at the same door she had looked at. Their great leader, locking himself away again. That guy needed a break more than the rest of them. “I know you probably didn’t mean that in a good way,” Turning to look back at her, he continued on with another grin. “But I’ll accept that as a compliment. If I can pun someone out of the room, it’s been a good day.” And if they could just get their captain out for a minute or two – an hour or two would be nice, but there was no need to push it – it would be an even better day. “We don’t even know if he’s alive in there, or even in there. You know, he probably makes us believe he’s sulking in there, when in fact he’s actually out having a blast.”

Not that she wouldn’t fight for one. Maybe she wasn’t the type to stride right into ULTRA headquarters with her head held high and her metaphorical guns ablazing, but she was fighting their hunters every day by keeping the ones like her safe, just as Rhea and their ever so dear captain had done for her when she had been just like the ones she was so infamously known for driving into the ground. Each breakout they retrieved was another one out of the hands of ULTRA, and she had to be okay with the fact that sometimes that was as much of a battle as they all could muster with their given hand, and still win. Really, some people around the Batcave had to start realizing that too, and learn it. Perhaps along with the taking a break thing. Guilty as charged.

“You do raise a good point. Unless you end up eating it all first.” Around him, she honestly sometimes couldn’t help with the teasing, and she grinned once again as she continued on. “Maybe if we bring back Jeff’s favourite we have a better chance of him not blowing his top,” she shrugged.

At this point, she was merely talking herself into going topside with him. Not that he would have taken a no for an answer, she was sure, unless she was really determined at dissuading him, and sometimes she did. But nothing any of them ever did was without their risks. And that was just life for them. And sometimes things just had to get done no matter what the risks were. She’d seemed to have forgotten that in the past couple of weeks, with the coming and going and the new breakouts and ULTRA hot on their tail. Just like they often noted their usually stoic leader to be guilty of. Plus, it had been a while since she was topside without food or a breakout to bring in anyway, nothing that wasn’t a there and back as soon as possible ordeal.  

Humming a laugh, her grin stayed in place. “Smart decision, really.”

She rolled her eyes then, but her smile never left her lips as she stepped into a clear space on the floor beyond the random assortment of mismatched couches, shaking her head. “You know, you and your lone love for puns never ceases to astound me.”

“Saw what?” he asked, groaning as the pillow hit his face.  It was hard not to look at her, or Rhea, or Nate or really anyone in the Batcave.  He had hot friends, friends who he’d definitely thought about naked on several occasions.  He tried his best not to act on his secret desires, though assumed most of them knew about his small, dumb crushes in their inner circle.  He couldn’t hide his smirk as she grabbed a stick and coated it with chalk.  Pool was just a game of foreplay in his head. 

Snorting with laughter under her breath, she didn't reply to the groan as she focused again on her pool stick. Was she aware of Jeff's occasional...feelings? Of course she was, otherwise she'd be a terrible Tomorrow Person. But would she ever act on them, or even say something about them? That was a different story entirely. One that had a very quick ending.

No, she wouldn't. She didn't have the time for that, not down here and not with the life they all led. She didn't need things getting more complicated than they already were with feelings thrown into the mix. And people like them...well, they felt a lot, so it was just better all around that they didn't go to that place. Looking back up at him as she placed the little cube of chalk on the rim of the pool table, she studied his expression for a moment before, of course, rolling her eyes. It seemed an automatic response around him. But a small amused smile lightened the look. "Calm down there, tiger."

"Yes, this is so much fun. Sitting here, watching you torture the new breakouts. I don’t know why I would want anything like fresh air or a pizza or bowling."

Bowling was a little random, but people had fun with that, didn’t they? Either way, it was something to get them out and feel normal, feel less pressured. Normal was something they weren’t, never really had been. They didn’t get the easy things in life, any real sense of normalcy when there was basically nothing too normal about any of them. No, that wasn’t entirely true. They were Tomorrow People, but they were still just people. Sometimes he rode the thin line on that one.

"If you think you can ever get the great one out of there and out of here— be my guest," It would only be slightly impossible and pointless to try when he locked himself away like he did. "I don’t think it’s very likely, but we could spend forever trying if that’s how you want to spend your time."

She might not have been the one most known for her humor, except around a select few, and she might not have been the one most known for her relaxed and laid back attitude (she shared that trait with their dear captain, in some ways), but egg her on enough, and she was incredibly well known around the Batcave for her insatiable need to meet a challenge and prove competition wrong. The new breakouts knew that all too well, if they didn't end up learning it soon enough. They stopped questioning her skills or her guidance after that. But he wasn't a breakout, not anymore, and they'd known each other long enough for him to know just how to push her buttons. Maybe a little too well. He always managed to get into her head that way. And she was not about to be compared to her uptight leader the next time she said no to the man beside her. She had a feeling it was coming.

Standing up, she dusted off the invisible dirt from her jeans before glancing one more time at Jeff's closed 'office' door. "I can be very persuasive when I want to, Nate," she said before returning her gaze down to him still on the couch. "Plus, who knows, if we put our talents together, we might be able to come up with something. If anything, you'll just pun hard enough at him to get him to teleport out of here," she added with a slow spreading grin.

“Then what the fuck did I go out for?” he sighed, unloading the rest of the groceries.  She was right and he knew it.  If they’d waited for him they would’ve flocked to the kitchen the second he teleported home.  “Thank you,” he said, eyes sincere as his voice.  It was in these rare moment he was truly thankful J.D. had come into his life.  He was proud Rhea had brought her in, and that he’d been there to help her learn how to use her powers.  Jeff knew that Batcave would be a completely different place without her, without Nate or Rhea or… well he didn’t like to think about Liz.  His smile faded briefly when he remembered how much fun they all used to have together, before they began bringing in butt loads of breakouts.  Things were simpler then.  

He couldn’t help but watch her ass as she walked to the pool table, opting to teleport there instead.  He started sorting the balls and grinned, telekinetically moving his pool stick to his side.  “No powers?” he asked, knowing how easy it was to cheat and inch the ball into a pocket.  He took off the triangle and smoothed his hand over the expensive stick he’d borrowed from some rich guy. 

And maybe that rang true a lot of times, not just for 1 AM dinners when the rest of the Batcave was asleep. It wasn't hard to tell how much their so called fearless leader worked himself to the bone, with worry, with keeping an eye on them all. Even if he had a few extra sets of helping hands. It was never enough for how much the place kept growing. All someone had to do was look at him to know that he sorely needed a vacation. Or a few dozen cups of coffee.

"You went out so we wouldn't have to do it tomorrow. You know how busy the weekends get," she replied, turning to look over her shoulder with a 'duh' sort of look. It was a good thing they left her to keep all the scheduling under her belt. At this point, she was professionally versed in the matter, and if there was a way to make money off of organization, she'd be making thousands. But the look soon melted into something else, and a rare smile lacking the sarcasm colored her lips. She didn't say anything back, no 'you're welcome', merely smiled for a few more seconds before turning around again, her boots echoing off the cool cement of the floor. Even without the telepathy, he probably got the point. There wasn't a single place she'd rather be. It was home, and she was happy to lend a helping hand no matter how much she seemed to dislike her unpaid babysitting job. She could hide behind her scowl all she wanted, but deep down she cared. She just knew tough love better than any.

"I saw that, by the way," she added then, and with a wave of her hand, sent a pillow from the beaten couch flying into his oogling eyes as she pulled off her jacket, throwing it over the back of a chair. Grabbing a pool stick off the wall, she took to rubbing the tip down with chalk, shrugging some. "No powers." Being honest with herself, she doubted he wouldn't resort to cheating on something as small as this, but he needed a bit of fun so she wouldn't fight him on it. Being a stick in the mud was reserved for the new breakouts. And Nate.

Any one of them could be serious when the time called for it, make a joke and laugh when the time was right, though the last part was rare. They could relax and crack jokes when they weren’t be hunted by people who were out to take their powers or worse, end them completely if given the chance. Some of the newer breakouts didn’t know any better, not until they got to see what happened when they joked at the wrong time. Over time they saw, some witnessing first hand what it was like and seeing how little fun it could be.

It was a shame. They had to grow up fast, run and hide to keep themselves safe when they weren’t the bad guys, definitely not the worst people out in the world, but that didn’t matter to Ultra. They were the group that hunted, took what they wanted, ran tests and did research on a person – most of the time without consent – and even left them for dead. Ultra did what they wanted, keeping most of the Tomorrow People from having and enjoying down time.

"And we wouldn’t want that," Everyone was stressed out, but no one more than their great leader. "But someone needs to stop and enjoy the moment." Someone meaning all of them.

"I thought you were already doing that. Every day. All the time. 24/7. Don't tell me you need someone to hold your hand through that now too."

"And honestly, I'm not the worst of us, or the one who needs it the most," she added, nodding over to their fearless leader's closed office door, probably brooding about yet another mistake or other. There was always something to mull over for him. Both of them knew that well. "Misdirected charity, hon." 

But bread was certainly not the end of the world. At least not in their world. They had bigger things to be worrying about.

She hummed once. "I was thinking of letting the kiddies out for some air. Nice try. You know I still have to go over some telekinesis techniques with Tori tomorrow," she said lightly, gladly grabbing onto a Twizzler still floating in the air and happily ripping off a piece with her teeth. "Don't mind if I do."

Hearing the young breakouts walk off, only seeing some of them out of the corner of his eyes, he thought even they could use a break. He was one of the very few that thought it, hardly ever thought by the woman to his side, keeping an eye on them as they finished up their lesson. She just kept on pushing them. They needed a good pushing, needed to push themselves, needed to be ready, also needed a moment to live.

"Which is why we think of the same place," He pushed himself to sit up, looked around the space before looking back at her. "Unless you’re thinking about going to different places. You trying to get away from me, J.D?"

She wasn't about to be one upped by the joker after all. Maybe she wasn't known to be fun, and most people doubted she was, but she could joke with the best of them when the opportunity came along. With a lucky few. It wasn't a side that most people got to see, unless they got close to her, and most people weren't given the chance to get close to her at all. 

Most people didn't get to see her relax. Even if she could. As much as she chided Jeff on worrying too much, she was almost just as bad. Maybe just not on the little things. She could let the small things slide with ease, but the big things, being refugees in their own country, hunted down by people that wanted to experiment on them or worse, ULTRA, staying alive, it never quite went away enough to call whatever she did in her downtime a break.