Phenomenon

An Old "Friend"

[A/N: Okay, sorry for the temporary inactivity (again). Long story short, shit's beginning to go down and it's stressful as hell so I haven't had the chance to get on here as much as I would like. Today is a little bit of a vent chapter with someone from Delta's past (kind of obvious, I guess, with the title and everything. Sorry for being captain obvious). Part of it is a vent for what's happened recently, and the rest is sort of because I once again have no idea what to put down here. Sorry, and I'll see you all at the end of this chapter! Maybe...)]

"Delta, someone's here for you..." Timothy pokes his head into my lab as I'm working on a side project for Michael.

"Kind of busy, Timothy. Can't you tell?" I reply. "I have only so much time to get this done before we make landfall in Havana." I point out. He glances over his shoulder.

"I know. I don't think...you're going to want to take care of this now before it causes trouble." He notes, and when I glance over at him after pulling a cover over the project, I notice how worried he looks. Pulling my work goggles out of my face (hey, eye protection is important, kids!), I frown. He looks....really worried.

"Alright. Let's just get this over with quickly." I sigh, following him out of the room.

When we get into the meeting room, I wish I had just chosen to take care of it later. The girl standing there looks furious, and strikingly out of place in the meeting room. She's wearing a pink-and-white striped crop top from Walmart and light blue jean shorts, plus sandals. Her hair, which is strawberry blonde, falls down to her waist in soft curls, and there's fury in her blue eyes as she glares at me. "So, Kathryne," She begins, deliberately using my dead name instead of the one I chose. I roll my eyes. "This is what you've been getting up to since all this began?" She demands, and I meet her gaze.

"Yeah, Ashlynn. I've been busy, oh, I don't know, helping save the world?" I retort, already being done with her shit. This girl has been the cause of far too much drama in both my and Gwen's lives, so I think I have the ability to be more than a little uncivil with her. Besides, I have work to do and I don't have the time to deal with some whiny little blonde bitch who can't handle the fact people are gay.

No, I'm not bitter at all about what she's done to people without thinking about it.

Not at all.

"Oh, and apparently making sure your best friends were okay wasn't a huge priority?" She growls irritably, and I shoot her a look.

"Gwen, Amber, Leilani, Dawn, Timothy, and Oceana are all fine. That was one of the first things I checked as soon as I could." I shrug nonchalantly, and her eyes narrow.

"Seriously? We've known each other since we were born!" She shouts, raising her voice. She sounds a lot like a Fernal, and I wince at the realisation.

"Yeah. And you've abused me every single chance you got, and you took advantage of me and anyone--everyone--you got the chance to manipulate for whatever you needed them for." I reply, crossing my arms. "You hate on people when they don't do what they want you to and then demonize them to everyone else when you get the chance, and make yourself the victim. So congratulations, you pushed away pretty much half of everyone you knew from home. Hell, you even made some of your closest friends suicidal because of what you did to make yourself seem more popular or nicer to other people." She steps away, eyes widening. She didn't expect me to not care, to not openly lash out and scream back at her. She expected me to shut down like I used to. But now, with everything I've been through, I can't shut down for anything. I have a job to do.

And it doesn't involve her.

Well, I guess it does. But the only way it involves her is making sure she gets the hell out of my life for good. And I don't care anymore if I have to hurt her feelings in order to do it.

"Kathryne..." She begins, eyes widening a little more to try and look pathetic. She actually reaches for me, and I step away with a shake of my head and a laugh.

"Haven't you heard?" I reply, laughing a little more. "I haven't gone by the name Kathryne in years. My name is Delta, aka Delta One, leader of the Delta Squad and Harbinger, creator of the Banner, the Vanguard, the Paladin, and finally the Liberty. I have an important job to do, which means I don't have the time to deal with a narcissistic, gossiping bitch like you. So go ahead, and turn around and walk out that door. You don't have to fight if you don't want to, but if I hear you're not doing anything to help us and you aren't pulling your own weight then I will not hesitate to kick you off of the Delta Squad's warships and leave you in Europe." I spin on my heel and walk away without another word. Timothy, who's been standing by the doorway since I walked in, watches me leave.

"Kathryne! Timothy, help me! Call her back!" She pleads as I leave. I fight not to hesitate at the doorway, to turn around and apologise and try to fix everything.

It's too late, though.

I am done swimming across oceans for a person who would never even jump a puddle for me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gwen walks in while I'm working on the project for Michael. "So...Ashlynn's being a bitch again?" She prompts, studying her nails as she leans against the wall.

"Pretty much, yeah. I told her to screw off." I reply, leaning closer over the circuits I'm trying to fix without electrocuting myself. "Hey, can you hand me the wrench?" I ask, holding my hand out. She immediately knows which one of the eighteen wrenches I mean, and I peer at the circuits. "Thanks."

"You almost done with that already?" She prompts, obviously impressed. She peers over my shoulder at the perfect distance, where she isn't interfering in any way and she can see too.

"Yeah." I reply, grinning at her.

"I can't figure out how you don't procrastinate these days." She comments, and I sit back and stretch.

"I can't figure it out either." I reply, and we both burst out laughing.

"So...do you think they're alive?" She asks, referring to a pair of YouTubers we watched before the Fernals, Derek Heath and Pierce Lanier. I nod.

"Do you know how many people watched them? Millions of people. If they were dead, then we would know because the Fernals would be boasting about it every second they could." I point out, and she nods.

"Alright. I just...wanted to know for sure...I mean, you know how much they've done for people we know." She replies, rubbing her arms. I reach over and touch her arm, smiling at her.

"Seriously, Gwen. They're going to be okay. We're going to get them out, and then we're going to get your family. And then I am personally going to make sure every single Fernal responsible for this is taken out." I reply, smiling at her.

She elbows me. "So, what about the guys here? There must be one you're interested in." She jokes, turning to the most random change of subject either of us could probably think of.

I pretend to think. "Well, there is this one guy..."

Her eyes widen. "What really?"

I burst out laughing. "Naw. Just teasing you."

[A/N: You know, if your friendship isn't occasionally mistaken for a homoerotic relationship...you're really lucky. Me and one of my real friends have had to deal with that recently, but what can you do? Anyways, see you all at some point!]