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Wanna get out of here?
Ellie sat up straight in alarm.
She was curled up miserably in a holding cell in the Wall. She’d been captured a few weeks ago, and every day has been a special kind of hell. Little food, freezing temperatures, hostile cellmates and worse guards. Not enough power or energy to mount an escape, the sheer iron of this place had the surely unintended side effect of trapping her powers under ice and mud.
She was being moved to a watched cell, a high-containment cell, surely behind bars of cold iron and without any hope of escape. She’d been listless, helplessly dreading her soon-to-be predicament, when-
The voice.
She could read minds. That was just something she did. It was dulled because of the cold iron, but- she heard that.
And it was directed at her.
How could someone know about her abilities? How could someone know she was psychic?
She looked around. There wasn’t much to look at. The gray walls, the locked door, and the man in here with her, chained and waiting.
The man.
He had glittering blue eyes. Startlingly blue. Too-bright blue. They were gazing at her calmly, curiously.
Her weakened power curled into her fingertips with wariness and curiosity.
Now that she was gazing back, the man made a little pleased huff. He tilted his head. He nodded slightly up at the vent, then back at her.
Help me get up there. I’ll pull you up. He glanced at the door. We shouldn’t speak aloud.
He was right. She felt two minds on the other side of the door. They were distracted, but not nearly enough for noise to be acceptable or safe.
How did you- she thought before remembering it only went one way. She was sure her narrowed eyes did all the talking for her.
The man raised his eyebrow.
Ellie hesitated.
She stood quietly. The man mirrored her, head tilted. She gazed at him for a moment, then closed her eyes.
Then, with what little she had left, she drew her power into herself and let it flow.
The man watched, eyes alight with what must have been fascination, as she slowly and cautiously unscrewed the vent’s screws one by one. She caught the vent quietly as it fell and lowered it gently and soundlessly to the ground. She thrust her bound hands out to the man, so he could use it as a springboard.
Her heart raced. The minds outside were preoccupied, but at any moment she felt she could feel their jolt of recognition, realizing what they were doing.
But she had to try. Anything was better than here.
The man didn’t hesitate. He nimbly hopped up and leapt as she boosted him, scrambling inside the vent. She heard a small clunk that set her heart racing faster.
He didn’t reappear.
She could feel his mind. His thoughts raced back and forth, hard to catch, behind a wall that took some effort to peer over. She had no idea what he was planning.
For one terrible moment, she thought he was gone forever-
-and then his head popped back up.
She tried not to breathe a sigh of relief. His hands were free, somehow. He reached down and she stretched up, and he pulled her up into the vent.
As soon as she did, he did a little hand motion over her wrists, too fast to lockpicking. However, the cuffs fell away, leaving her hands free.
She didn’t speak yet, not even to ask what the hell that was. She instead leaned back over the open vent. She used some power to draw the vent covering and screws back up before carefully placing them back in the right position, even screwing them back in.
“Clever,” the man said softly behind her.
“Yeah,” Ellie breathed. “Same with that little trick of yours.”
“What can I say? I’ve always been a magician.”
Something about that word sent little alarm bells in her mind, but she pushed it back. She needed plans right now, not… whatever this was.
She turned. “Alright, dude. You’ve got a plan? We don’t have much time if we’re gonna do this.” And I’m not getting caught. If I do…
Well, some things were worse than death.
“My my, no introductions?” the man asked. “You’re very efficient, my friend.”
She finally fully looked at him. The eyes were still the most noticeable, rather piercing. He was small, still taller than her but not by much, thin and wiry. His mind was behind that shield, but it wasn’t very strong. Just enough to stop her from instantly reading him. It was an odd, disconcerting effect; not many people had shields at all. How curious.
“Fine, then. You?”
The man smiled widely and bowed deeply. “Henry Stickmin. Diamond thief. Charmed to make your acquaintance.” He raised up, still smiling.
“Cool. The Diamond, huh? Pretty neat. I’m Ellie. Ellie Rose.” She outstretched a fist. He stared at her for a moment, then tentatively fist-bumped her.
“Ellie Rose, huh?” Henry grinned, quickly moving past his surprise. She hid a smirk. “Pleased to meet you, Ellie.”
Ellie shook it. “You too, Henry. How’d you know?”
Henry blinked. “Know what?”
“About me,” Ellie said. “My… stuff.”
She glanced into his mind. Well, she tried. When she brushed past, she felt only one line instead of the jumbled mess thoughts usually were: I’m trickier than that.
He was, wasn’t he? Not tricky enough, because his shield was rudimentary and clearly not from someone who knew what was needed to shield thoughts beyond a mental barrier. She toed past the shield and gazed in further.
Oh.
“You’re a… magician,” she said slowly. He was being serious. A magician. The real deal. “That’s how you know.”
Magicians- the rarest and most powerful of magic-users, if the things she'd heard were to be believed. Dangerous, often dying young, burning bright and shining like stars before plummeting to earth. They were magic incarnate, perception-warping, chonomancy-using benders of reality.
She couldn’t bring herself to be too afraid. This one was staring at her as if he’d never considered his paper shields could be anything but titanium.
Henry faltered. “Uh- what?”
Ellie snorted. “You’re gonna need more than a mental shield to stop me, dude. Like some charms or stuff. Or at least a better mental shield.” She headed past him, down the vent. “We gotta get a move on.”
Henry scrunched his nose and hurried after her. “Mine was plenty strong!” At her smirk he amended, “For normal things, that is!”
“I’m not normal. You know that.” When she tried to reach back into his mind again, she was amused to find a wall, only a little stronger than before. For his sake she didn’t pry further, though it would have been funny. “Anyways, magician, you got a plan past this, or was this all vibes?”
“A plan…” Henry spun in front of her. His confidence returned quickly, a smile breaking onto his face, and her wariness returned.
She pressed into his mind. She was instantly thrown into a whirlwind- whispers of tricks not yet played and possibilities flitting through like doves.
“Oh yes,” said the magician. “A plan. Between you and me, my dear psychic…” He offered a hand. “…we’ll be just fine.”
Ellie hesitated.
Oh, what the hell? she thought.
She took his hand. Henry grinned. “Now,” he continued. “Listen up.” His grin grew wider. “I’ve got a plan.”
…
Why, hello, stranger.
The mind came as a shock to her. She whipped around. She’d checked; she was certain that nobody was around her, nobody was in this museum-
The shadows moved. Glittering blue eyes peered out. Ellie watched cautiously as someone stepped into the dull light.
It was-
“Henry?” she said, relaxing. She should have recognized that unique of a mind.
“The one and only,” Henry said with a flourish.
It had been several weeks since she’d seen Henry. They hadn’t split willingly- during their escape, Ellie had been a little distracted, in the simplest explanation possible.
During their escape, Henry had nearly been taken down by Petrov. She attacked Dmitri before he could hurt Henry too badly. She’d kind of gotten tunnel vision after that, and despite Henry shouting at her that they had to go, she had taken the opportunity to utterly decimate the remainder of the Wall before leaving.
Henry had, very intelligently, fled before she was done. She’d almost gotten caught again for her hubris.
She’d done it, though. She’d hurt Dmitri so badly he couldn’t stand, and much of the Wall was glorified rubble. It was a glorious sight, though no good for anonymity.
And now she was here, back to her old ways, stealing to build up a little cash before trying to hide from the forces of the Wall and government alike, as well as the deadly magical underworld. She had magic aplenty, and there were many that wanted that magic for one reason or another. Blood sacrifices, strengthening rituals, potion making, just to eat her…
She needed protection. That came from money, at least somewhat, which could buy a multitude of things. And to get that money, it was theft she turned to.
Henry obviously had the same idea.
“You’re here for the jewels, aren’t you?” she said as he approached her.
“No pleasantries?” Henry said with faux hurt. “And of course, my dear. Why else would I be here?”
“I dunno. I find this fun. And c’mon, we’re in the middle of a museum. Time’s limited. You think I have time for that?”
“It’s only polite,” Henry sniffed. “Especially to the person whose going to steal the Sapphire.”
Ellie frowned at him. Henry gave a shit-eating little smile.
“…I am,” she said slowly. “You’re gonna come onto my turf like that?”
“This is free game, my dear, is it not? I don’t see you claiming this museum as your own.”
It wasn’t hers. There was some cryptid here; she could feel them. Someone was watching them, but she wasn’t going near where they didn’t want her to go.
“Well, it’s not yours, either.”
“Maybe it’s mine,” Henry said. “You don’t know that. You’ve been out of the game a while, haven’t you?”
Ellie tilted her head. “It’s not. You haven’t felt the owner of this place? The eyes in the cameras?” Henry hesitated, and she grinned. “Oh, but you’d need a psychic for that, wouldn’t you?”
“I would have discovered it eventually,” Henry said smoothly. “A magician always wins.”
He was enjoying this, she could tell. And- she couldn’t lie- she was, too.
But she really needed that jewel.
“Nice as it is to see you, I’ve got a gem to steal,” she said. “Maybe we can chat when you’re not crashing my heist.” She turned to head off.
“Crashing your heist? Hardly. I’d say you were gracing mine with your presence, but you seem intent on being rude.” Henry trotted up alongside her. “And, dear psychic, I will be the owner of that jewel tonight.”
“I was here first!” she huffed.
“And yet I know the ways through,” Henry said. “Perhaps you should have planned better.” At her startle, he said, “come on. You may have sensed the creature of this place, but I can tell from a mile away you don’t know where the Sapphire is. It’s obvious.”
“I wasn’t expecting competition,” Ellie argued. Power flared to her fingertips. “I could always just beat you up, either for the info or just to break your legs.”
“Where’s the fun in that? And besides- you’d have to catch me first.”
She made a feint toward him. He vanished and reappeared a few feet away, smiling. He wiggled his fingers at her.
“May the best win,” Henry said with a grin.
Well, if he had such a good plan…
As subtly as possible, she reached into his mind. She blinked as she was met with a wall, a solid mass of will that left him impenetrable.
A thought slipped through, expertly done as to only give her crumbs. I’m stronger now, he teased. He gave her a little wave, then turned to do his vanishing act and leave her in the dust. With her prize.
Petulant frustration and delighted exhilaration flashed through her as one. His shields were good, she could tell- he was a blank slate.
But she was better.
He hasn’t seen a fraction of her power.
She watched his back for a moment, then closed her eyes. She drew her power into herself, then reached for his mind, a patch of darkness in a sea of mingling energy.
She summoned a psychic lance, focusing her mental energy into a singular point. She thrust her hands forward with as much force as she could muster, aimed straight at his mind.
With a smash she broke through the stone wall.
And then every plan was laid bare to her.
Henry stumbled, clearly feeling the intrusion. He whipped around, blue eyes burning. His shields slammed back up, leaving her with a disconcerting void again, but she had all she needed. She grinned brightly at him and his startled expression.
“May the best win,” she sang.
Then, she grabbed him with her power and flung him down the hallway, behind them, and raced for his masterful path through the museum.
Hey! The shields dropped. She saw a flash through neighboring shadows of diamond-blue eyes, watching her. She almost winced as she ran, her mind-reading unable to ignore and counteract when someone particularly powerful was blasting their thoughts at her. That’s not fair!
It wasn’t. But it was smart.
As she fled, she felt a brief thought.
You win this time, my dear psychic. Henry’s thoughts were fainter. He was growing further away. But they were tinged with an emotion she couldn’t get a read on, not at this distance.
May we meet again.
…
“It seems our fates are intertwined.”
Ellie whipped around at the familiar voice. Familiar blue eyes smiled back at her.
The first thing she thought was- “Henry,” she blurted. And then; oh, man, this isn’t just gonna be a stupid fake tarot reading.
“Hey, Hen,” said Charles, her employer(?) and the guy who’d, for some reason, actually clicked on her Craigslist ad. It was beginning to make more sense, though, knowing that Henry was here. “You know her?”
She’d just been led into an apartment by Charles, a tall pilot with a huge grin and even bigger scars to match. They were apparently from a lightning strike. He’d said he could see beyond the Veil, and she thought he might just be crazy, but if Henry was here…
??? went Charles’s mind.
“We escaped the Wall together,” Ellie said by way of explanation. “And we-“
“Just keep meeting,” Henry finished. He looked very satisfied. “My dear Ellie, it is very nice to see you again.”
“Yeah,” she said, “you too!” She was surprised she meant it. “You find anything good after I got the Sapphire?”
Henry snorted. “Hardly. Just an amused cryptid who watched us and some pointers on how to avoid losing to someone who can’t teleport. It was humiliating.”
“Man, you lost that heist you told me about to her?” Charles said, chucking as he slapped Henry’s shoulder. “You can literally bend space.”
“An exaggeration, dear pilot,” Henry said. “But yes. Admittedly, Ellie’s skills almost rival my own.”
“Almost? Okay, I’m leaving.”
She grinned as Charles practically lunged at her to block her exit. “No no no he’s just being stupid! We need your help!”
Oh, right. This was an actual job. She poked into Charles’s mind, but it was so scattered, so electrified, she couldn’t tell what was buzzing thoughts and what was sparking memories.
“Right, right.” She coughed. “So I didn’t do any preparation since, uh, I kind of went into this thinking it was gonna be bullshit.”
Charles wilted. “So you’re not a psychic? ‘Cause Hen said we needed one.”
“What? No, I’m definitely psychic. I just thought this was gonna be, like, a tarot reading or some stupid ghost hunters stuff, not… the real deal. But I can do the real deal.” She could do that better than most.
Charles brightened again. “Oh, yeah, this is the real deal! So get this-“
At that, he launched into a tale about a supposedly haunted place near here he’d already visited, seen a bunch of very unfriendly ghosts, and promptly noped out to get backup and someone who could actually do something. “Henry knows the most about this stuff, more than me, but he said he doesn’t know anything about rituals,” Charles said sheepishly. “He said psychics do.”
Ellie snorted. “Psychics in general, maybe not. I haven’t met many. But luckily for you all, I do.”
“So you’re in?” Henry prompted abruptly. His blue eyes bore into her with odd intensity, nothing slipping past that shield.
She hesitated.
She was a lone wolf. She’d always been. There weren’t many you could trust out here, not in this world. There was always something, from creatures in the mirror to alleyway anglerfish to ensnare a person and wring them dry. Most of the time, it was other living, breathing people.
And she had a lot to worry about. The Wall, other people- hell, even Henry, who appeared friendly but could potentially not be, and same for Charles.
But if they were friendly… she could really use some allies right now.
A magician’s magic and whatever the hell Charles was had twofold benefits- they were powerful enough (at least Henry was) to help her dodge the Wall’s cold-iron-forged agents if it came to it, and their magical signatures could potentially disguise her own, throwing the Wall off the scent.
More curiously, though, was the emotion emitting from both. Charles was an open book, she felt it acutely, but Henry-
Well, either Henry was keeping the shields down on purpose for some reason… or he was projecting this emotion in tandem with Charles so strongly that it slipped past his mental barriers.
Hope.
“Yeah, alright,” she said. “I’ll help you guys. Where do we start?”
Henry’s and Charles’s grins brightened.
…
Is she alright?
Ellie glanced up. Charles’s worry cut through her mind, gentle and pulsing. He wasn’t purposefully directing it at her- the third person was a clear indication of the private thought- but the message still rang loud and clear. His concern faded slightly, tinged with a pleasant hum of affection when she pressed into his side.
“I’m fine, Charlie,” she mumbled. “Just… you know how cities can be for me.”
They were in a hotel room, a stop on one of their trips. All three of them were curled together on the bed (one to save money). She was next to Charles, half-watching the TV; Henry sat on the edge of the bed, tinkering with something or other. They all really should be asleep, but the more awake she was at night, the better. That was when the monsters came out.
Perhaps she would have thought it odd to share beds or even space with the pair even a few weeks ago. Even a few weeks ago (months, maybe; how time flew), she was helping Charles and Henry out of curiosity and a need to cover her tracks from the Wall. Now, though, she was in it for all those reasons and more.
And this felt… oddly comfortable. Charles was touchy, and Henry had his moments, mostly with her and Charles, but she wasn’t. She’d never been a particularly touchy person- averse to it, even- but these two didn’t make her skin itch. Not much, at least, and that was more from herself being used to this amount of contact than actual discomfort.
She still wasn’t quite used to the frequency. Every casual touch had her almost jolting in surprise, then later thinking about it more than normal. She remembered the first time Henry had casually draped an arm across her; the first time Charles had pulled her into a hug. The fact they enjoyed it- proof coming from the emotions she could very well sense in their minds- was surprising enough. Moreso was the fact they wanted to be near her.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Both their minds had felt comfortable after a while, why not physical touch? She trusted them with her life now. Why wouldn’t they?
The idea was still hard to wrap her head around.
She was drawn back into the real world by a soft, fond huff from Charles. “El, we do need to figure that out. I don’t want to be in perpetual headache land.”
And you can stop reading my mind, he said mentally, clearly trying to target it toward her by thinking more forcefully. She snickered. Seriously! Not that I mind. It’s kinda nice. I can feel you. But for your sake.
“You can feel me?” Ellie asked. She reached up and touched Charles’s forehead. She went a bit deeper, and-
From Charles’s mind she caught a hint of her own power, a dizzying perspective. She felt his Sight through the electrified eye, sensing the shimmering power that must be psychic energy pressed so close to him, a constant thrum like a halo around her head and body. She was thrust out of the mind-bending perspective when Charles pressed his mouth to the top of her head, arm locked tightly around her body.
“I think that’s enough wizardry for you today,” he said. She spun back into her own body, energy shuddering against bonds of her own body, but Charles’s warmth helped ground her. She felt comfortably trapped in his arms. She reached up and patted his arm, laying a hand there and sinking into his warmth.
The whole time, Henry had been watching quietly. Like a cat he leaned across her lap, stretching, and back pressed to her legs. He gazed up at her.
He’s right, you know, he thought. His words were but a flutter, but he hardly had to concentrate to direct them toward her. His mind was… hard to ignore. We need to get it under control, my dear. Sooner, for your sake.
He reached up and traced his hand from her forehead to her cheek. She huffed, but didn’t pull away.
“Is that your next project?” she said, half-joking.
“Finding you was the first, and I did succeed in that- in a sense.” Henry grinned wryly. “Why not this as my second? You are far more powerful than other psychics I’ve encountered, my dear. As fascinating as that is, unfortunately, the benefits come with dismal side effects.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I live with it.” Ellie could feel every mind around them. Henry and Charles’s were familiar bastions of safety, but beyond these walls, the chaos crept in. Minds flitting past on the sidewalks, their neighbors all around them, everyone in this hotel-
She reached up and rubbed her forehead to quell the beginnings of a migraine. She was briefly distracted by a wave of Charles’s thoughts. She paused briefly, confused, then barked a laugh.
“Charlie, I can just go get a heating pack,” she chuckled. “You thinking really hard about one doesn’t actually make me warm.”
“Worth a shot, right?” Charles said with his crooked grin, scar reaching down to catch one side of his lip. That was what she loved about Charles- his earnestness, the trust he had in her to not bother shielding.
“Frankly, not a bad idea,” Henry hummed. His mind was silent, as usual now.
Henry was more confounding than Charles, and not because of his mental fortitude. Ever since she’d met him, she got the sense he sought her out specifically. That had never happened to her before. (Well, not when someone was seeking her out for a positive reason, rather than for the trouble she got into as a kid or the crimes she wrought as an adult.) He seemed quietly content to stay alongside her, even when her world was far more complicated and dangerous than he might’ve signed up for.
Charles was crazy enough to stay. Henry was rational and yet chose to stay anyway, which was far more puzzling.
I don’t need to be a mind reader to say that you’ve been lost in your own thoughts for some time. She picked up on Henry’s projected thoughts easily.
“And so?” she asked, looking down at him. “I’m just tired.”
“Then sleep, my dear,” Henry said aloud. He drew one of her hands to himself. She watched him for a second, mind already focusing on the warmth of his hand in hers, the strangeness of this action when all her life she’d never experienced anything like it.
“Yeah, you probably should,” Charles sighed. “We gotta big day tomorrow. Lots of preparing before the target.” As if coercing her, he yawned, hugely. When she glanced into his mind, it was at least half-real.
She huffed softly. “We’ve gotta be nocturnal, guys. With our occupation it’s the only reasonable move.”
“Our schedules are so strange we might as well be both,” Henry said. He began to rub her hand. It was almost hypnotic. She wouldn’t be surprised if it actually was, as she was growing more and more tired just by focusing on the action.
“Fine,” she mumbled, fight leaving her. She pressed into Charles’s side and curled up, inadvertently drawing Henry and his warmth further into her.
Henry pressed his forehead against her shoulder, still with hands intertwined. Charles sighed softly, reached over and turned out the light, then pulled the blankets up over all of them. He turned and wrapped an arm over both of them.
“That’s it,” Henry murmured.
Ellie was warmer than she’d ever been. Soft breaths against her neck, familiar minds to absently focus on. She closed her eyes.
Right before she fell asleep, she read a stray thought escaping from Henry’s mind:
I think I love her.
Before she could think about that at all, she fell asleep.