Phobia: Reign of Terror (Renegades Fanfic)

Chapter 4 - Memories Surface

    There wasn't a reason that Magpie should have been at all intimidating, but even as Adrian stood at the door, he felt some apprehension that he couldn't explain. She was sitting at the table before them as he and Max entered the room. She had plastic cuffs on, securing her to the table. It seemed wrong to have a child cuffed in their interrogation room, but Adrian knew she had helped Phobia terrorize Nova and hurt Oscar.

    "Maggie," He said as he sat down, "I can't put words to my disappointment." She seemed to connect eyes with him searching for something metal she could manipulate. She didn't find anything.

    "Well then, I guess Nova was right about me from the beginning. Isn't that funny?"

    "That doesn't change the fact that I always tried to believe in you, Magpie," he told her. Adrian knew this was a hopeless battle, but he wasn't trying to win.

    "Are you a villain, Magpie?" Max suddenly asked. Adrian had been working on about what they would be asking her, but this was definitely off script. Adrian hated when Max improvised. It reminded him too much of himself.

    "I- no," Maggie answered quickly. She seemed flustered by the question, but Adrian couldn't figure why she seemed embarrassed. Perhaps there was something else going on in her mind.

    "Then why attack the trials, Maggie? If you aren't a villain, why help Phobia?" Adrian asked. She fidgeted with her plastic cuffs but didn't answer.

    "Do we really need the cuffs, Adrian?" Max asked. This had been part of the plan at least.

    "No. I guess you can take them off." Max reached across the table and opened the cuffs with a key he produced from his pocket. It was plastic as well. Magpie rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had been chafing away at her skin for the past fifteen minutes.

    "Thanks," she mumbled.

    "No problem. I don't think they were ever necessary," Max told her with a smile. Great job, good cop, but now it was Adrian's turn.

    "Now, are you going to tell us why you helped Phobia?" he grumbled again, leaning forward in his chair. Magpie promptly clammed up again.

    "Well, how did you even find Phobia, if you won't tell us why you were with him?"

    "He is right about that one," Max chimed in, "Last we knew, Phobia was defeated in the Battle of Gatlon. Adrian sacrificed his power to get rid of him."

    "His power doesn't look very sacrificed to me," Maggie grumbled in response. She actually gave a valid point.

    "So you're saying he's back because I have my powers back?" Adrian asked. This only elicited a laugh from Maggie.

    "Sure, sure. That's exactly why he's back. You've had your powers for almost a year, Adrian," she said. Adrian wasn't sure why this ticked him off so much. It almost like she was mocking him. Adrian took a second to consider what might have been the real reason, and one of the likely explanations would have to do with what she had been doing the past few months. He hadn't seen her walking around HQ for a long time before she showed up at the trials.

    "Where were you, Maggie?" he finally asked, "Did you go to the cathedral?" It seemed like the logical reason for Phobia to have finally appeared. He needed someone else. Maggie didn't say anything, but her failure to make any eye contact with them told him he was right.

    "Maggie, it's okay." This time it was Max playing his good cop role once again. "You can tell us. It's going to be alright." Adrian knew that wasn't the approach for Magpie. Trying to sympathize with her was not going to go well for Max, but he let him try anyway.