Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Less Than Whole - All Parts

Hi everyone.

So I thought I'd try my hand at this writing thing. After finishing my personal reboot re-read (through 125, anyway), a couple choices that the creative teams did felt incomplete, so I wanted to address that in some way. One of the big blank spots to me was the fact that when Shrinking Violet gets Gim Allon's growth powers from the Emerald Eye, not much fallout happens. Sure, we do see that she takes the responsibility seriously, but we don't see any real reaction from others affected by this. Vi takes on the code name of the boy she fell in love with, but from the outside, the public sees that the original Leviathan died, and a few weeks later is replaced by Vi. What do Gim's family and friends think about that? What do Vi's family think? Does she have family to speak of? Do all other Imskians think she's a freak now?

Anyway, that thought trail left the outline of a three part short story. Hope you enjoy.

Less than Whole

Author's note - This story takes place immediately after Legionnaires issue 55, very soon after Violet gained Leviathan's growth powers from the Emerald Eye and was also given his code name. I felt that public of a change to Violet should have had some other ramifications based on the people in Gim's life that were never addressed in the stores, so that is done here.

Part 1 - Vi

Violet was tired. She and her squad had just defeated the Composite Man and the mysterious benefactor calling herself "Chiller" had seemingly disappeared into thin air. It was also her first real public outing as the new Leviathan, a code name she accepted from her colleagues, but hadn't yet come to terms with. Her ordeal with the Emerald Eye had killed Gim Allon, the original Leviathan whom she had fallen in love with, but it had transferred his growth power to her as some form of a cruel manipulation. As she had taken de facto lead of the mission, she had to get back and deal with the mission report.

"Listen," Vi said to the purple skinned security officer, "if you happen to see our friend, please contact us at once." She looked up and saw a number of Science Police grav bikes swooping in from the south to button up the crime scene. "Let me hand this over to the SP officer in charge here," she said.

"Ok, thanks Leviathan," the officer said, "y'know its weird getting used to your code name, I'm so used to the guy from before."

Violet's heart stung at the comment, made worse due to the man's ignorance of the context. "Yeah. Its kind of weird for me, too," she replied softly and began walking over to the SP"s landing targets.

"Violet," Monstress called across the yard, "are you coming, dear?" She and Element Lad were waiting in the grav car that had taken them here from HQ. Kinetix and the others were already on the way back.

"I'll be over in a minute," she called back, raising her voice over the sound of the SP bikes landing. She quickly scanned the rank insignia on the arriving police officers to determine who was in command and walked over to the sergeant as she dismounted.

"Excuse me, officer," Vi said on approach, "I've briefed the security chief in charge here on our encounter, but I'll be submitting a formal report that you'll be able to access via the Legion interchange."

The officer turned around to regard Violet, paused for a moment while sizing Violet up, then flipped up her helmet's visor revealing sharp brown eyes. "Oh, its you," she said as her voice dripped derision. "Did you wrap this up all by yourselves, or did you have to use your new big girl powers?"

"What?" Violet replied, taken aback. She looked more closely at the sergeant's uniform and saw the nameplate on her chest: CUSIMANO. Oh grife, Violet thought, as her stomach knotted up to add to the anxiety in her chest, this just keeps getting better.

"Listen, thank you for your service, Legionnaire" Gigi said mockingly, "I'll get the details I need from the report. Now get lost before some other disaster happens around you." The words were spat at Violet with such loathing, with the emphasis on the last word, that she was left speechless and stepped back in surprise as Gigi strode by almost shoving Violet into the grav bike behind her.

The tension in her chest shifted into the combination of shame and anger that comes with humiliation. Once the burning started in the corner of her eyes, she leapt into the sky and started flying over the industrial waterfront of Metropolis. "Monstress, I'll meet you back home," she curtly said into her comm unit as she flew away over the port.

"Is everything all right, Violet?" a concerned Monstress replied over the channel.

"I'm fine," Vi said abruptly speeding away via her flight ring and quickly wiping at her eye. Of all the SP officers, it had to be Gim's old girlfriend. And of course she has a problem with me, she thought, I probably would, too.

*

Mission reports are always the most tedious part of being a Legionnaire, so it was no surprise to Violet that by the time she had returned to HQ, almost an hour later, Livewire hadn't yet completed it. Even though he was the senior Legionnaire on duty, Vi took it upon herself to document the encounter since she had effectively taken charge of the mission and handed off the situation to the Science Police. Just as she pressed the SUBMIT button, the chime rung at her door.

She tossed the tablet on to her desk with a clatter. "Come in," she said, leaning back in her chair and pressing the balls of her hands into her eyes in fatigue.

"Hey kiddo," Kinetix said cheerily drifting into the room, "want to grab some dinner?" She paused noting her best friends' demeanor then came closer to lean against the desk. "Credit for your thoughts? I heard you took the long way home today."

"After you left I went to formally hand off the scene to the SPs," Vi explained.

"Yeah, so?" Kinetix responded, "That's normal procedure."

Vi took her hands away from her face and looked at Kinetix directly. "The sergeant in charge was Gigi Cusimano, Zoe," she said and let that hang in the air.

Zoe's face softened with emotion as she understood the situation in an instant. From the moment she had been accepted into the Legion, Zoe and Gim had a back and forth flirtation, but in the weeks they had been together on the team, neither had actually done anything to make that more serious. Violet had fallen in love with Gim, but it was unrevealed and unrequited. On the other hand, Gigi Cusimano had been friends with Gim for years, and had even been romantically involved, which was much more than either Vi or Zoe had been. The last time Zoe had seen Gigi was at Gim's funeral, and she had completely avoided talking to any Legionnaires.

"So I imagine that it didn't go well," Zoe said soberly.

"That's an understatement," Violet replied wearily. "She was so mean to me! I got so frustrated and angry, I just had to leave before I did something stupid, and I didn't want to deal with Candi and Jan on the way home, so I just kind of ran." Violet slumped in her chair, "I don't know if I can keep doing this, Zoe."

"What?"

"Keep using this code name," Vi replied raising her hands in resignation and then making air quotes, "'Leviathan.' I feel like I've stolen so much from Gim and haven't even asked the people he loved if it was ok. And we're probably going to keep running into Gigi. I can't keep reacting like that every time we meet!"

Zoe floated around the back of her chair and squeezed Violet's shoulders in encouragement. "Hey. You didn't steal anything," she said gently, "It's not like you asked for your growth powers. You have to do what you feel is right for you to do, honey, but if you want my advice, I'd say connecting with Gim's parents is probably a good thing." She gently spun Violet's chair around to face her, then drifted down to a seating level to look her in the eyes. "Listen, I could barely say two words to them at the funeral, but you cared for him much deeper than I did," Zoe said as her own eyes started to water, "You've inherited his powers, and his name. I think you probably owe them that."

Violet leaned forward and hugged Zoe tightly. "Thank you," Vi whispered, "I think I know what I need to do now."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Zoe said returning the embrace, "free hugs and advice. But you owe me dinner for the advice."

"Deal," Vi said with a soft laugh, "Now let's get some food, I'm starving." The pair got up to head out the door to the cafeteria. "I don't know, Zoe, what to do about Sergeant Cusimano?" Violet wondered aloud as they walked into the hallway.

Zoe threaded her arm through Violet's elbow as they walked. "Let me know ahead of time if you talk to her," Zoe said.

"Why?"

"So I can call the infirmary," she deadpanned sarcastically, "One of you is gonna need it."

whoo! your fic debut!

Love it - Great concept, a piece dealing with the fallout of Gim's death!

Vi checking out the SP in charge, wrapping up the admin - I like this look into the Legion rules/discipline! After all, the Reboot team is a formal organization with a defined constitution and procedures.

I also like that either Garth or Vi could have completed the report. Heh. It is a bit more practical. if the erstwhile leader is busy, someone else can complete it

Touching scene between Zoe and Vi... very realistic, this is exactly how their friendship is! Also helps call out the elephant in the room, re both of them liking Gim to different degrees (and yes, Violet definitely liked him more!)

Also funny and sort of realistic, that Gigi might be the angrier one. After all, there is precedent re Gim's parents explicitly NOT blaming the Legion for Gim's death... while Gigi was a blank slate from the funeral.

Brilliantt! I love it, everything about it

Thanks, Ibby!!

I keep finding changes I have to make cause the editor doesn't like certain characters when copied from Word. LOL. Driving me nuts with all the extra quotes I keep finding...

If it helps, I do all my drafts in my desktop notepad now and then copy and paste from there.

This is really good, Gaseous Lad - I do remember Vi changing her name without any controversy, so it's pretty cool to see that explored!

I myself draft it into a Private Message thread I have, so t hat the formatting is already forum ready

Thanks raz for the kind words and the tip!

I want to say I've tried that, too and it didn't work, but I'll try that for part 2 and let you know how it goes. I know I've tried it using Notepad++ with no luck, but I haven't tried the basic notepad, I don't think.

OK, part 2 coming up. The only way to make this really work for me is to follow Ibby's advice. I created a separate private message to just me and I edit it there.

You know its scary when you remember the patterns to replace rapidly...

I tried notepad and it didn't work for whatever reason.

Part 2 - Gigi

Walking up to the apartment building, Violet tried to hold on to more of the anger from her earlier encounter with Gigi Cusimano versus the shame. The shame was the ball of stress in her stomach that wasn't going away, but the anger provided enough energy to keep her feet moving through the rainstorm and into the foyer of the spartan Metropolis apartment building. She made her way into the building and soon found herself standing in front of room 301. She stood outside again focusing on her anger as an adrenaline source before finally pressing the call button by the door.

"Who is it?" Gigi's voice came out of the intercom curt and clipped.

"Sergeant, its Vi... Salu...Salu Digby from the Legion," she said trying to push through the introductions, "I was, um, wondering if we could talk."

The door slid open and Gigi stood within, dressed in a casual green blouse and black leggings. Her short brown hair framed an impatient face as she leaned against the door frame with the air of someone who"s time was being wasted.

"What do you want, Digby?" Gigi asked in an aggrieved tone, "you're interrupting my laundry."

"Um, ok," Vi said quietly. Feeling the lack of warmth coming from the Sci-cop, Violet screwed in her determination and continued. "When we ran into each other yesterday, I felt like you had a problem with me, and I just wanted to clear the air."

"A problem?" Gigi responded with indignation, "Why, because you Legionnaires think you're better than us lowly science police" Because you leave a wake of destruction in your path" Why would I have a problem with you?" she seethed and advanced a step towards Violet.

"I meant a problem with me, personally," Violet said.

Gigi took another step closer and raised her voice. "You all have been active for what, three months and already have three people dead. That's a person a month. You all are a bunch of sprocking amateurs. So yeah, I have a problem with your whole team, but Gim dies and suddenly you reappear and have his abilities now?! You're damn right I have a problem with you," she said angrily and pointed her finger into Violet's sternum.

Despite Gigi's threatening attitude, Violet held her ground. "Can we go inside to talk about this?" Violet replied as evenly as she could muster, "I doubt your neighbors would appreciate you screaming in the hallway."

Gigi threw up her hands in frustration, then spun around and stalked back into the apartment, with Violet close behind. The short entrance foyer opened into a broader area that led to the rest of the apartment, which had many digital holo frames adorning the walls.

The door slid shut after Violet. "Nice place," she started to say, when Gigi spun around and cracked her fist across Violet's face, catching her by surprise and knocking her against the wall. The pain in her nose radiated and she could taste the blood trickling over her mouth as she slowly pushed back herself up.

Gigi faced Violet with her fists balled up for more. "First off, I never invited you in here," Gigi hissed, "but you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that. You think you can take what made my best friend special and then pretend there's nothing wrong?! How dare you?" Her brown eyes were full of rage as she lunged again with another punch.

Violet was ready this time. With her adrenaline now fully pumping, she easily saw the next attack coming and quickly ducked under Gigi's swinging arm, dodged around her body and swept Gigi's feet out from under her while off balance from the thrown punch. Violet then used her own momentum and forced Gigi into the wall face first, knocking to the floor and breaking several digital holo frames. Violet grabbed Gigi's non-swinging arm and pinned it painfully behind her back as she held Gigi forcefully against the wall.

Gigi cried out in pain as Vi began to force Gigi's arm into an impossible position, "OW! Let go of me!"

"You only get to do that to me once," Violet whispered to the back of Gigi's head. "I'm only here to talk. I get why you're mad at me, but I just want to talk." Vi could feel the tension in Gigi ease slightly. "I'd really appreciate a respectful discussion with you. Can we talk without you trying to rip my head off" Because I can guarantee that won't work out well for you."

Gigi nodded. Violet slowly eased off the pressure on Gigi's arm and stepped back into the apartment to give herself room to move if needed. She wiped the blood away from her face with her hand and sleeve as she watched Gigi slowly turn around. The impact on the wall had given Gigi a swiftly forming bruise on her eye. A part of Violet was pleased with that.

Vi held up her hands. "OK?"

Gigi looked up at Violet's determined, bloody face in frustration and resignation. "Grife. Go sit down," she said, gesturing to a raised countertop at the edge of the kitchen that separated the kitchen from the living room.

As Gigi went to the sink, Vi walked to the broken holoframes and knelt down picking up the frames and a couple stray shards of composite glass that had cracked off and were laying on the floor. The frames were flickering, with the three dimensional image cutting out intermittently as if unable to receive a clear transmission. She could see an image of Gigi and Gim grinning to the camera with what looked like Earth's Grand Canyon behind them, but Violet just sat and watched Gim's features. She held the frame close to her as the feeling of loss and sadness reopened and tampered down the rush that had taken hold in the fight.

Vi walked back around the counter to sit at one of the barstool style seats and carefully set down the frames. Gigi tossed a damp towel to Violet. "Here," Gigi said gruffly, "so you don't bleed all over my place."

Vi caught the warm towel and dabbed at her nose to help clean herself stop the trickle of blood and winced at the pain. Grife, probably broken, she thought, then started chuckling.

"What's so sprocking funny?" Gigi said as she turned to Violet holding a cold pack to her right eye.

"My friend Zoe said that if I came to see you, one of us would need medical attention," she said with a half smile.

Gigi grunted in a way that Violet only assumed was some form of mild amusement. "OK," Gigi said leaning on the other side of the counter from Violet, "so you want to talk."

"Yeah," Violet said soberly. Just to address the more recent issue between them, Vi said, "I'm really sorry about breaking these," Vi said, still staring at the image of Gim Allon on the holodisplay. She gestured to the broken frames on the counter flickering with the happy hologram, "I'll replace the damage. I actually wanted to talk to you about Gim." Gigi visibly tensed when Violet said the name. "How much to you know about what happened a couple months ago?" Vi asked.

"I know Gim died fighting that freak Regulus," she began slowly, then looked Violet straight in the eye, "Then I remember you tried to take over the planet." The emphasis gave Violet a large dose of unease, but it was not enough to override the melancholy feelings churned up by seeing a happy and whole Gim. "Shvaughn disappeared, too. Then you come back a couple weeks later like nothing ever happened. Except now you grow like Gim did." Gigi's eyes narrowed with distrust.

"I had access to a power that I thought was helpful," Vi explained sadly, still looking at the flickering hologram, "I tried using it to save him, but it all went wrong. I guess I mainly wanted to let you know that he really did die a hero. He literally saved my life. He saved us all. Its what he wanted. And he was loved. I figured as his friend you'd want to know that." Violet closed her eyes to control her emotions as the memory of Gim's burned, dying face flashed in her mind. She took a deep breath to collect herself, looked Gigi in the eye, and said, "I was in charge. I wanted to apologize to you for failing him."

After a moment, Gigi put down the cold pack. "You said he wanted to die a hero?" Gigi asked, "And let me guess, he totally ignored your orders?"

Violet nodded silently.

Gigi's voice softened as she looked to an intact picture of her and Gim in their Science Police cadet uniforms on the wall. "When you said he was loved, you meant that you loved him, didn't you?" she asked.

Vi nodded again, but this time looked away.

"Did he know?" Gigi asked.

Vi shook her head. "No," she said quietly, "I was too sprocking shy to do anything about it, so I just did what I could to work with him as much as I could so he would notice me." She looked directly at Gigi and said, "But I was so also envious of you. You had an actual relationship with him."

"Emphasis on HAD," Gigi said, her voice starting to become much more animated, "once he got that Legion invite, he was out the SP door so fast he almost made a hole through the wall." Gigi paused and looked at Violet thoughtfully. "That stupid nasshead," Gigi chuckled to herself and shook her head, "You know, Gim Allon never could see what was right in front of his face half the time. He was the most thick-headed, stubborn mule I've ever known. He was always horrible at following orders. And it got him killed in the end." Gigi looked at the image same broken frame on the counter. "I just always thought that one day we'd get back together," she said softly, "I sure do miss him."

"Me too. Every day," Violet said looking at the same image, "I just wanted to let you know that I don't take these new abilities for granted. Even though I gained his powers, every day I look in the mirror I'm reminded every day of how weak I was and what I lost."

Gigi looked away in silence. Vi wasn't sure if it was out of surprise or shame, but neither said anything for a long while.

"Listen, this is kind of weird, but I also came here to ask you a favor, if that's ok. I didn't mean for a brawl to break out," Violet said quietly, gently breaking the silence.

Gigi turned back with a puzzled expression on her face. "What kind of favor?" she asked.

"Can you connect me with Gim's parents" Set up an introduction?" Vi asked.

"You're a Legionnaire! You can't do this yourself?"

"Well, I want this to be more personal and less official," Violet said, "You've known them a long time, and I figured it may be better received coming from you."

Gigi considered it for a long moment. "Sure," she eventually said with a nod.

"You'll do it?" Vi asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah, why not?" Gigi shrugged.

"Um... Thanks!" Violet said with not a small amount of surprise, "I don't think I was expecting that."

Gigi moved over to a cupboard further in the kitchen. "I don't think I was expecting you to be so... insightful," she said pausing thoughtfully. "And apparently we seem to have similar tastes in men," she said drily, "just please don't let that continue." Then Gigi opened a cabinet and pulled out two small shot glasses and a mostly full bottle of a clear liquid. She uncorked the bottle and poured a small amount into each glass.

"What's this?" asked Violet.

"Sci-cop tradition," Gigi explained placing one of the glasses in front of Violet, "Our academy squad did this at Gim's wake on Mars, but I think this occasion probably warrants it as well."

She raised the glass and Violet followed in suit.

"To Gim Allon, Science cop and friend," Gigi toasted.

"To Gim Allon, Legionnaire and hero," Vi added.

The girls clinked the glasses together. Gigi downed the shot and placed the glass back on the counter. Vi drank the shot following Gigi's lead and immediately started coughing as the liquid went down her throat like fire.

"Sorry, I should have warned you," Gigi chuckled, "first time with a shot?"

Vi nodded, "Oh my gods," she gasped as Gigi refilled the glasses, "do you use that to clean your equipment?"

"Hey. This is pretty good Ouzo, actually," Gigi said looking at the bottle and shrugging, "You get used to it."

"Gods I hope not," Violet responded, her eyes still bulging as she caught her breath.

"Hey, listen," Gigi said apologetically as she raised her glass for the second time, "for what its worth, I'm really sorry about your nose. If you want to share Gim Allon stories, I'm game."

"I think I'd like that. And I'm sorry about your eye," Violet replied gratefully as she picked up the refilled glass, "So tell me about some of these pictures..."

perfectly paced, GL As I said earlier, the flow is amazing; the sequence of events does both Vi and Gigi favor (where Gigi's sudden punching of Vi is understandable in a situation where Vi sort of intrudes into her space); the reactions very realistic what with the back-and-forth re Gim's holos, them bonding over Gim's "blindness" and stubbornness. Vi steeling herself before asking, and Vi being surprised at Gigi's quick agreement to grant a favor.

Love it, love it, love it. Gigi was not used enough in the Reboot, so glad to see her again here!

Thanks, Ibby! Its been an active week, soI couldn't get it done earlier. Part 3 should hopefully be faster!

Chapter 3 - Marte

Thank grife for my Legion team, Violet thought to herself as the speeder taxi zipped along the Martian surface between the Olympus spaceport and the city complex of Eris, I don't know what I'd do without them. The day after her chat with Gigi, and a following morning of "I told you so's" from Zoe while getting her nose fixed in the infirmary (not to mention the first raging hangover of her life - Vi was convinced Zoe was more upset about that, and more specifically missing out on the drinking, than the injury), Violet had asked Lyle for a couple days leave. Gigi had helpfully reached out to the Allons who had agreed to meet with Violet.

She felt extreme apprehension and anxiety, but also a measure of relief. She missed the familiarity of Imsk, of course, but the lack of communication from anyone she knew from her homeworld was beginning to wear at Violet. Not that she was the greatest communicator or correspondent, but no one from home, not any of her foster families, nor any gymnastics or octagon teammates, barely made any acknowledgement of the fact that she was in the Legion at all, let alone reaching out to her when she really needed support from home. In fact, after the Eye and everything she followed, she wondered if Imskians had disavowed her. Keeping active in the Legion was almost a form of therapy for Violet as well as a de facto home.

The speeder began to slow down, breaking Vi's reverie, as the domed city complex with its attached United Planets Naval base complex loomed large. Within a manner of moments, the driver had rapidly passed through a set of airlocks and was flying within the city's airspace and weaving through the buildings eventually aiming towards a large, half dome arcology and settled to the ground. Vi paid for the taxi, moved hastily to the lifts and punched the Allon's level.

Violet knew she was in the right place as soon as the elevator doors opened. The woman who met her was older and taller than Vi. She had a round face, but the brown hair and eyes, although slightly more careworn, were exactly Gim's. "You must be Salu," the woman said with an outstretched hand, "I'm Marte."

"Hi, its, um, nice to meet you," Violet said hesitantly with a weak smile, suddenly feeling like she was beginning to walk through an emotional minefield. She shook Marte's hand briefly but firmly.

"Likewise. Please come inside," Marte said and walked from the elevator lobby into their apartment sitting room. "Would you like some tea?" she said to Violet as Marte walked towards the kitchen.

"Yes, thank you," Vi said reflexively and looked around the room. She saw holo after holo of the Allon family in happy times, Gim in almost every one. She even spied herself in the group portrait of the Legion that had been taken not too long after she had joined back in June, based on seeing Zoe's original red uniform in the holo. She could feel the waves of emotion starting to build like a lake dam under pressure between the absent presence in the room and nostalgia from a less complicated time.

"What do you take in your tea, dear?" Marte called.

"Milk and sweetner, please," Vi responded as neutrally as she could.

From the other end of the room, a tall man appeared in the entrance dressed in a UP Navy duty uniform with flag rank insignia and walked towards Violet. "Hello," he said sternly, "I'm Wynn Allon."

"Hi, Admiral, I'm, um, I'm Salu Digby," she eventually got through saying. Admiral Allon had lighter, greying hair, but was much taller than Gim was at his normal height so the admiral loomed above Violet and had a somewhat intimidating demeanor.

"So you're the new Leviathan, eh?" the admiral said, and Violet's stress level immediately spun up. She couldn't tell from the admiral's tone how the remark was meant, and her thoughts immediately turned to the most negative reasons.

Almost on cue, Marte returned with a tea for Violet and one for herself, and the three moved to sit at the coffee table, the Allons seated together on one couch, with Violet on the other. Vi took a sip of her tea in an effort to stall time and not say anything, until Marte spoke first.

"So, Gigi had messaged us and said that you wanted to talk to us," she said at last, "I'm glad you reached out. When we saw the Legion return from the Mordu fight, and the president introduced you, you can imagine we were a little surprised."

"Yes, I at least would have expected a message from Rene - sorry - President Brande," Wynn said tersely.

Violet's stress level seemed to increase with every comment the Admiral made, and she began nervously tapping her foot. "I want you to know that it wasn't my idea to re-use his codename," Violet said regretfully, "I kind of wish they hadn't done that. But on the other hand, for months now my old code name is associated with some really bad things that happened, so maybe it's for the better." She frowned remembering seeing the news reports of the president effectively putting the UP on the lookout for her while possessed by the Emerald Eye.

Her own mentioning of her old "Shrinking Violet" codename triggered the avalanche of memories and feelings from the Emerald Eye's manipulation of her loneliness, and all that followed. Vi took a deep breath and just started talking letting the emotional dam start to flow. "I don't know where to start," Violet began, trying to look them both in the eye, then failing and fixating on a throw pillow to talk to at the edge of their couch, "I manipulated my friends into making me Legion leader, and it cause so much pain." Her eyes burned as the tears she knew were coming began to fall. "I hurt my friends and so many good people, like you, ?cause now your son's gone, and it's my fault and I'm so sorry I let this happen..." and before she knew it, she had covered her face in her hands and was weeping uncontrollably.

Within moments, Marte had moved to Violet's side and had wrapped her arm around Vi's shoulders. Wynn had also moved to the other either side of Violet, fishing a handkerchief from his uniform pocket and offering it to Violet, who accepted it gratefully.

"Salu, honey," Marte said, "You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"I feel like such an impostor," her crying voice was muffled through the cloth held to her face.

Wynn also put his hand on Vi's back for reassurance. "You made a mistake," he said in a gentle, yet stern, voice, "Just being here and talking to us shows that you want to make things as right as you're able."

"I miss Gim so much," Violet sobbed.

Wynn moved his hand across Violet's back and on to his wife's shoulder for comfort. "We miss him too, honey," Marte said as tears started to trickle down her own face, "We miss him, too." The couple held on to each other and Vi as she finally let loose the grief she had bottled up for so many weeks.

"Salu, you need to know something," Wynn told her seriously, "I was able to pull some strings with the president, and I've seen just about everything having to do with that mission. I read the report. I saw..." he paused for a moment, "...I saw the mission logs. Your team worked to stop a madman. Regulus was a psychotic who didn't care about the people he hurt or the damage he caused. That ancient artifact you were dealing with may have cast a lot of odd illusions among your team, but Regulus was crazy and bent on destruction. You didn't make him that way, or allow his breakout to happen, actively or by some bizarre magic. Gim died doing his duty."

"I tried to save him. Bring him back," Violet said through hitched breath.

"I know you did," Wynn said softly. He placed his other hand on top of their clasped hands for reassurance. "What I'm trying to tell you is to not let what happened hold you back. I looked at your record to understand everything that happened. You have an amazing amount of talent," Wynn said earnestly, "In fact if it wasn't for the Legion, I'd want to have you in my marine special ops teams. Whatever that thing was, it manipulated you so that it made you think the best parts of you were because of its so-called benevolence. What you need to understand is all the good things that you did, like freeing your friends from the Scavenger, or stopping your brainwashed colleague, happened because of you and only you. You are a remarkable young lady, Ms. Digby."

Violet had started to calm her breathing, although tears were trickling from the corners of her eyes. She looked at Wynn. "Thank you. But it left me changed," she said looking at them in turn, "I want you to know that I never wanted Gim's abilities. I've tried to dedicate to using them in his name for the greatest good. But I can't even look in the mirror without thinking about him. Or every time I use this power."

"Good," Wynn said. He let go his hand and gently rubbed Violet on the back.

Violet's face, flushed from crying, looked back at Wynn with a puzzled expression.

"I think Gim would be happy to know that he's remembered so often and so fondly," Wynn explained. He looked her in the eyes. "I know we certainly are," he said nodding at Marte. "One of the greatest gifts anyone can have is being remembered for the good things they've done after they are gone. Using your gifts in remembrance of Gim every time you go out there on mission is an amazing legacy. It keeps his memory alive. If we can't have him here with us, I'm thankful that someone like you is keeping his name thriving."

"If you're worried that we may be upset by the codename, we're not," Marte said with a small smile, "Like Wynn said, if you use these gifts to help others, we are proud to have you use it."

Violet tried to get herself to smile a little but found it hard with her shaky breathing. "Its not just the growth powers," she said, "it's the fact that I still shrink, too. So the codename isn't a complete fit."

"You're from Imsk, right?" Marte asked, "What does your family think about your new abilities?" A concerned look crossed her face.

"My family situation is a little complicated," she said sadly, "I haven't really talked to anyone from home since I moved to Earth. No one's even reached out to me since I came back a few weeks ago." She wiped her face. "I think most Imskians probably look at me like I'm a freak now," she continued, "I mean, I could literally destroy a chunk of the population by growing larger and taking a wrong step."

Wynn and Marte looked at each other significantly and seemed to share the same thought between them. "Ms. Digby, I think we may have an idea for you to consider," Wynn said.

"Salu, honey," Marte said softly. Violet turned her attention to Marte. "If you ever need a place to go, or people to talk with," Marte continued, "You are always welcome to visit here. In fact, when we have holiday events, we'd be honored if you would be able to visit us, if you have the time."

Violet had a bewildered expression on her face as she was processing what Marte was saying. As the realization of a new outside life, if not a full time part of a family, came to Violet, a reluctant smile broke out across her damp cheeks. "Are you sure?" she asked, looking between Marte & Wynn. Marte nodded.

"Thank you! I'd love to," Violet said, "this is the nicest thing anyone's done for me." She shifted over and pulled Marte into a tight embrace, then turned and did the same with Wynn.

"Even though Gim had been moved out for years now," Wynn said, "he'd still come over for the occasional visit..."

"Or home cooked meal," Marte added, "I haven't had anyone to cook for in a while now, and I'm a pretty good cook, if I say so myself."

"Or home cooked meal," Wynn agreed with a gentle laugh, "So it would be nice to have young people back in the home every now and again."

Different tears, of happiness instead of the loneliness and grief that Violet had been accustomed to over the last few months, leaked from the corners of her eyes. "If you could help me with the whole crying at the drop of a hat thing, that would be really nice," Vi said with a laugh while wiping her eyes, trying to take in the Allons' generosity.

"Oh, Salu, it's okay," Marte said, clearly affected by Vi's reaction, "You don't need to worry about that with me. Just because there are tears, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing."

Violet hugged Marte tightly. Marte and Wynn formally really her family. But then neither was the Legion. But all of them were unexpectedly welcome in her life and she was grateful for them all.

Maybe she could get used to using the name Leviathan for while after all.

Very cleverly done, GL! A very nice balance here, with Vi's apprehension; Marte and Wynn also being compassionate and understanding towards Vi but also feeling grief for Gim. The Allons knowing the truth of what happened with Regulus and the Eye, also made their reactions make complete sense.

Nice and heart warming

Thanks, Ibby!

And I was able to crack the code for drafting in Word then using Notepad as raz suggested!

So thanks, this is a story that came to me and I felt like I had to get it out and done. But it also helped me figure out (at least from a LW perspective) how these parsers work cutting and pasting between applications. So thanks again to you and raz for the support and help!

I may have an epilogue to the story as well - I'll have to see.

Yes, epilogue please

Zoe, after all, needs to join in on the drinking and Vi needs to process everything with Zoe! and maybe Gigi too!

Epilogue -

Hanukkah - several weeks later

Violet stepped out the glass door onto the large balcony of the Allons' flat. Walking into the cool outdoor air from the biodome was a refreshing contrast to the stuffiness generated from the party guests. It also didn't help that she had chosen a slightly warmer black dress than she had intended, but at least it was sleeveless.

She walked to the balcony rail to see the rushing traffic below and the stars above beyond the dome, taking in the twinkling lights of the Martian city at nighttime. Marte had called Violet the week before asking if she'd be interested in coming over for the Allons' annual Chanukah party, and Vi jumped at the chance before even looking to see if she had the day off.

Zoe had followed her out to the balcony area. She swished across the balcony towards Violet in a stylish blue dress that fell to her calves. She weaved around several of the other partygoers also taking advantage of the cooler outside air and moved behind Vi to wrap her arms around Vi's waist to embrace her from behind and looked out over the city from over her shoulder. "You good, kiddo?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah!" Violet grinned, "I was just getting a little warm in there." She rested her arms over Zoe's. "Too many people in one room talking," she said, "Are you having a good time?"

"I'm having a great time," Zoe enthused, "We do this every year back home, but on a much smaller scale, so it makes me kind of miss Mom and Than. But I'm really glad to have met Gim's parents. Thanks for inviting me," she said smiling.

"Oh, come on, who else was I going to bring?" Violet said, gently leaning back into Zoe. "I haven't laughed this much is a long time."

"I like hearing that laugh, you know. Especially now that I'm hearing it more often," Zoe said with a gentle squeeze.

"Hey! Digby!" a woman's voice called. Zoe unwrapped her arms from Violet and they turned around to see Gigi Cusimano walking towards them in a modest black and white dress with a wide smile on her face.

"Gigi! Hi!" Vi called back. Zoe looked suspiciously at the newcomer. "It's so good to see you again! Violet said happily moving to hug Gigi. "I wasn't sure if you were coming or not."

"An SPs job is never done, right?" Gigi groused.

Vi looked out the side of her eyes and saw Zoe looking at her somewhat confused. "Oh! Gigi, this is my best friend, Zoe," Violet said as an introduction.

"Oh hey, nice to meet you," Gigi stuck her hand out smiling, "You're Kinetix in the Legion, right?"

Zoe shook Gigi's hand guardedly. "Yeah, nice to meet you," she said coolly, "You're the one who broke Vi's nose, right?"

"Oh, Zoe, c'mon its fine, we hugged it out," Violet said with a grin, shaking Gigi by the shoulder.

"You mean drank it out," Zoe said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Both Vi and Gigi laughed at the comment.

"Well, yeah, that was kind of the point," Gigi said grinning.

Vi nudged Zoe. "Oh, she's still sore she wasn't drinking with us," Vi said with a grin. Zoe didn't budge.

"Well yeah," Zoe said indignantly, "its no fun going through a hangover by yourself." Despite being determined to stay grumpy with Gigi's arrival, the girls laughing at her comments made Zoe begrudgingly smile and shake her head.

"Well, I'm glad to see the Allons invited you," Violet said to Gigi.

"Are you kidding? I've had a standing invite to their social calendar for the last ten years," Gigi said, "its always a great time," she lowered her voice conspiratorially, "but the trick is to eat ahead of time."

"I know, I haven't eaten this much in a long time," Violet said, "but its so good."

"As long as you're here, that's the important thing," Gigi said, "It's always fun. Just enjoy the food and the company."

"I definitely am," Vi said, smiling at Zoe, who winked back.

Marte Allon emerged from the patio doors and worked her way through the guests to talk to the girls. "Hi Gigi! I thought that was you," She said giving Gigi a big hug, "I was beginning to worry you weren't going to make it!" Violet noted two small boxes in one of Marte's hands.

"I'm really sorry I'm so late Mrs. Allon," Gigi replied in a return embrace, "Couldn't be helped."

"That's ok. Now that you're both here, I wanted to give you these," Marte said, and she extended her arms to both Gigi and Violet. In each hand was one of the boxes. Both Gigi and Violet took their respective boxes. "I'm sorry, dear," Marte said to Zoe patting her on the arm once Violet had taken her gift, "I didn't know you'd be coming, or I would have made something for you, too."

"Oh, that's OK Mrs. Allon," Zoe replied with a smile, "I'm just glad you let me tag along with Vi."

"Go ahead," Marte offered, smiling. Zoe looked over Violet's shoulder to watch the unboxing.

Each girl opened their own present to find a small, polished stone orb, barely two centimeters across, of a light bluish stone with purple veins in a platinum setting strung with a matching chain. Vi looked at Marte and noticed that she was wearing a version of the same necklace. All three of the girls elicited gasps. Gigi studied the stone closely.

"Marte, thank you, this is beautiful," Violet said admiring the jewelry. "What is it?"

"Do you know what this is, Gigi?" Marte asked pointedly, and Gigi suddenly gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. Her widened eyes welled up.

"These are tiny chunks of the meteorite that gave Gim his powers," Marte explained to Violet and Zoe, "They are small enough to be safe now, of course. Gigi, since you were there when it happened, you had to have one, and Salu, you obviously have to have one too." Marte smiled, but a tear was forming at the corner of her eye. "I just thought it would be nice to have something tangible connecting the three of us, after you brought us all together, Salu."

Thanking Marte, Gigi and Violet both pulled her into a combined hug. Zoe rested one hand on Vi's shoulder as she brushed at her watering eye with the other.

After a long embrace, they broke apart, and Violet went instantly to Zoe for another strong hug. Wynn appeared at the balcony door and waved to Marte. Wiping her eyes, she apologized, "Girls, please excuse me, I need to get back to the party." All three thanked Marte as she quickly moved back inside. Violet & Zoe admired the necklace still in its box while Gigi was working on putting her own necklace on.

"Here, let me," Zoe said, taking the taking the necklace out of the box. Grinning, Violet turned around and pulled her black hair up, allowing Zoe the room to clasp the necklace around Vi's neck.

Vi let her hair down and spun around, still beaming.

"It's beautiful," Zoe said with a grin and a wink, "It complements your eyes."

Vi blushed and they turned their attention to Gigi, who was wistfully staring out into space. "It looks great on you, too Gigi," Violet said. She noticed Gigi's expression and reached out to touch her arm. "Are you ok?" Vi asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "Just thinking how strange this last year's been."

"It seems like there's been nothing but constant change, right?" agreed Zoe sympathetically. Gigi nodded.

Vi put her hands on each of her friends? shoulders. "Well," said Violet thoughtfully, "Even though this year has taken good people away from us, I know I'm appreciative of everything in my life, especially the friends I?ve gained."

Awww, Zoe hugging Vi about the waist i like it. and of course she's stylish...

Nice hinting at Zoe's own Jewish roots!

Excellent bit, with Zoe initially wary, and slowly being warmed over by Gigi. "Digby!" fits in too with Gigi, lol. Gigi comes across as really cool here!

oooh the meteorite thingies, that's a great touch!

beautiful scene, beautiful!

and thanks for giving me permission to treat as canon in my own writing. it's such a good one...

Thanks, Ibby, for the advice and the support!

Now I can focus on other things, having finished

happy to help any time, this was a brilliant idea GL!

Sorry Gaseous Lad, I could have sworn I wrote something here after Part 3 but it must have been in draft form in my head the whole time

This whole little arc was really well done! I like how you juxtaposed Vi's more volatile meeting with Gigi against the more supportive time she had with Gim's folks, and that epilogue was the perfect way to cap it all off. I liked the little touches like Vi finding a crowd of people a bit much and Zoe's protectiveness of her when Gigi rocked up...and the meteorite rocks was quite inspired! Good job all round

Thanks, raz.

That made my day.

Like I was telling Ibby, I have so much half-created stuff laying all around my hard drive (whether its just a beginning, middle or end) that it was nice to just FINISH and call it done!

Hey GL, I have no knowledge of this era of the Legion so apologise in advance if I make any stupid assumptions.

I'll be posting as I'm reading so here goes:

Vi trying to be professional and dealing with Gigi's scorn was well written, as was Monsttress's concern for Salu.
:
Reports are still a drag in 1,000 years. Jeez, you'd hope by then someone would develop some robot to do them, wouldn't you? And Garth not completing it seems perfect for virtually every version of him.

Zoe's compassion and empathy were well done too, and Vi's dilema makes perfect sense as Gigi wouldn't make it easy would she? Contacting gim's parents makes sense too, and they are great supporting characters.

Well, going to see Gigi first takes guts, you have to give Vi that. And Gigi's attitude to the Legion is pretty spot on - 3 dead in 3 months! Wow, the reboot was bloodthirsty! And that sucker punch - wow, didn't expect that but great response from Vi - you only get to do that once... indeed.

The actual conversation between tem was really touching, you captured their feelings of loss, frustration, shame really well. And drinking shots of Ouzo? I'm with Vi, yech!

Some really nich characterisation popped into the overall narative - Vi's first hangover and Zoe being jealous of missing out on the drinking, through Vi's past in the foster system, for instance. Her apprehansion is well done too, what she plans to do is both brave and intense.

The conversation between Vi and the Allons was a bit of a tear jerker, and Wynn Allon knowing what happened and seeing the best in salu throughot was well done. The offer to be her new family was really sweet.

The last scene brought it all together - from Zoe hugging Vi as they looked out of the balcony, Gigi and Vi laughing about getting drunk as Zoe showed her jealousy at missing out. I thought Marte was going to give her a Life-Stone like she gave Yera but a piece of polished meteorite was better - very fitting.

GL, this was a really enjoyable read. I'll try to get onto your next post next week when I have more time. Looking forward to more, more, more!

Thank you, Harbi!!! I really appreciate the review! I think I mentioned this upstream, Vi was one of a handful of Legionnaires in the reboot that had a decent amount of focus, but we never got to see anything about her family or other life prior. So I felt like she kind of needed a family outside of the Legion, and the Allons seemed to be the perfect way to make that happen. Not to mention the fact that Gigi got dropped like a hot potato after Gim's death as well.


And I had *totally* forgotten about the life-stone with Yera. I know I have that issue somewhere in my boxes, as I bought a ton of stuff from that era in the mid- to late-90s, and the whole Yera/Gim relationship kind of fascinated me after what happened with Vi. So that little bit must have stuck in my head and then re-emerged here with the meteorite.