▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎"𝐒𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓? 𝐖𝐄 forget about Lorna because she's behind bars?" Marcos questioned.

     "You know that's not what I'm saying." John snapped, turning to look at Marcos. Aphrodite sighed, raising an eyebrow as she looked between the two friends before glancing up towards her sister who simply sighed in response.

     "God knows what she's going through in there!"

     "You're talking about breaking into a jail. Twenty foot walls. With guards. With guns."

     "We have a way past all of it: Clarice. You saw what she could do."

     "I saw her tearing through the fabric of space. She almost destroyed half the building. She almost died."

     "She's fine now." Marcos argued.

     "In your expert medical opinion." Caitlin pointed out, making them look at her.

     "Yeah, well, she's better than she was."

     "Even if she is, she's nowhere near ready to take on what you're proposing." John shook his head.

     "Then train her. Just like you trained most of the people in this room, except for Dove because she's stubborn." Aphrodite scoffed. "You train her."

     "Johnny, Clarice did get herself out of jail." Sonya spoke up from her spot on the arm of the couch. "I mean, maybe she can do this."

     "She knocked me out of her head, she's stronger than me and everyone in this room knows I'm one of the more powerful mutants. Maybe Marcos is right for once in his sunshine life." Aphrodite agreed with her sister, meeting John's eyes and ignoring the eye roll that came from Marcos at the last part of her sentence.

     "So you're on his side." John asked the woman. "You're both on his side."

     "Sides? Really?" Aphrodite scoffed as she stood up. "I don't do the whole fifth grade choosing sides bullshit. I know for a fact that both Sonya and I don't give a shit about what's going on with you two. If we're choosing sides, then we're choosing Lorna's. She's our friend. And she is going to get killed inside of that prison if we don't get her out." John looked at Aphrodite for a moment before glancing towards the floor as he nodded.

     "Alright."

     "W-wait." Caitlin stuttered out. "We still live in a country of laws. Have we tried calling a lawyer? Some members of congress are sympathetic to mutants."

     "You're really overestimating―︎" John started only to be cut off.

     "Why not try? We can assault a building, but we can't talk to a person."

     "You said you wanted to fight." Marcos frowned, looking at the Strucker.

     "I do." Caitlin nodded. "But there are ways to fight that don't involve battles. I have connections. I can reach out."

     "We can't have contact with the outside world while you're staying here." John denied. "Sentinel Services will be looking for you. We can't risk the exposure."

     "Even if it could help?"

     "Much better odds they turn on us." Marcos sided with John. "I'm sorry, Caitlin. No, it's too dangerous." Marcos walked away and Aphrodite rubbed her fingers against her temples, feeling a supernatural headache coming on.

     "It's too early for this shit." Aphrodite muttered before turning and walking away with her sister following after her. Sonya watched the woman as she managed to find pain killers, quickly swallowing two tablets without any water as she softly sighed.

     "You okay?" Sonya softly asked. "Because it's night time, so I'm just curious on what your definition of early is?"

     Aphrodite nodded. "Yeah. I just want Lorna back. And if we don't do something, I'll break into that jail myself and get her out with my hand alone." Aphrodite then paused, looking out one of the cracks through the window to see it was in fact night time. She frowned. "When did it become night?"

     "She did a number on you, didn't she." Sonya whispered, talking about Clarice and how Aphrodite had attempted to control her powers. Sonya grabbed her sisters hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Aphrodite looked at her, allowing a small smile to fall on her face before her eyes landed on John as he walked down the steps from where he had been talking to Clarice.

     "I'll be right back." Aphrodite muttered and Sonya nodded her head before watching her walk away and over to John. "Hey." He turned to look at her. "How'd it go with Miss Teleporter?"

     "Chosen nickname?"

     "Mm, not yet." Aphrodite shook her head. "Really, how'd it go?"

     "Um, it's gonna be a process." John answered. "Her power has always been fueled by fear. She needs to find something she cares about enough to get past it."

     "We don't have time for mistakes, John. Lorna doesn't have time. If we're going to do something, we need to do it sooner rather than later." Aphrodite told him. "Sonya said that she could plant memories in Clarice's head, make it seem like Lorna was her best friend."

     "No." John shook his head. "You're talking about planting stuff in people's heads."

     "It's not the best idea, I know that." Aphrodite told him. "But right now it's our only chance. Sonya actually mentioned the idea to me, so I'm just pitching it to you."

     "I don't want to take short cuts on this."

     "Right." Aphrodite nodded before giving him a tight smile. "Green eyes is all yours." She walked away and Artemis took this as her chance to join her mother's side. She looked at the annoyance covering her mother's face.

     "Are mommy and daddy fighting?" Artemis joked, earning an eyeroll from her mother. Aphrodite walked into the kitchen, saying a quick good night to Sonya before she and Artemis made their way up to their now shared room. "Mom?" Aphrodite hummed in response. "Are you alright?"

     Aphrodite frowned at this, meeting her daughter's eyes. "I'm perfectly fine, sweetheart. I've just been a little out of it since the thing that happened with Clarice. I just need a little bit of rest, that's all."

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 bursting into her room the next morning, both the Rosenburgh's shot up, yelling out "Jesus, fuck" in surprise before sharing odd looks with one another before Artemis started busting out laughing, claiming that Aphrodite was the reason she had such a bad mouth. John grabbed the older redhead along with Marcos before dragging the duo into the room where the Strucker's were supposed to be staying, only to find it empty.

     "They left last night, didn't take much with them." John explained to the two.

     "Why the hell would Caitlin do this?" Marcos asked, frustrated.

     "She believes she can help." John answered. "That whatever connections she has can make a difference. She spent her whole life believing in the system." They started walking out of the room.

     "How could she be so naïve?" Marcos muttered.

     "I don't like her." Aphrodite shrugged. "Or her husband."

     "Is it the human part or because they snuck out?"

     Aphrodite looked at Marcos. "That's for me to know, and you to not."

     "I talked to her about this; I thought she understood." Marcos got back to the topic at hand.

     "Some people have to learn the hard way." John stopped them. "We need to go after them."

     "Aw, John, we don't have time for this." Marcos whispered. "Lorna could disappear into a federal hole any day now."

     "If they get arrested before they come back here, they know where this place is. They get caught, we get caught, and we don't get Lorna back."

     "God, I hate it when you're right." Aphrodite muttered, glaring at the man before they continued through the facility. She stopped, her eyes focusing on her sister that was talking to Clarice. She watched as Sonya stood up before walking away. "Hey, uh, I'll be right there." The two nodded before Aphrodite made her way down the steps.

     "Hey, space girl." Aphrodite spoke, making Clarice turn to look at her. "How's that going for you?" She nodded towards Clarice's hands that had the spark of portal only for it to die in her hands. The woman sighed.

     "How do you think?"

     "Feisty." Aphrodite mused. "Always liked that in women." She gave Clarice a wink and Clarice managed a small smile at this, shaking her head. "You've gone through so much since we found you, and hell even before then, and I would like to apologize for that. I want you to know, that there isn't any pressure when it comes to you helping us with Lorna, okay? I like having you around this place, and pushing the Lorna situation onto you is definitely not a way to make you stay here. So, if you think you'll be able to help us, please do. But if you can't, I just want you to know that that's okay too."

     Clarice looked at the woman for a moment before managing a small smile. On all of the occasions, she had deemed that Aphrodite was becoming her favorite person in this new place. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

     "Of course." Aphrodite nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a small squeeze before walking away and making her way towards John and Marcos, getting ready for the rescue mission that she knew was about to take place.