#3 - The Oncoming Storm

#3 - The Oncoming Storm

"So what can I get you two?"

Booster frowned as he glanced through the menu. It had been a rough night and his eyes had trouble focusing. He finally just slapped it shut in frustration and demanded, "Bacon and eggs. And coffee. Lots of coffee."

"And you miss?" the waitress asked with an eye roll.

"Blueberry pancakes," Layla said. She didn't even look at the menu. "Orange juice. Please."

The diner was small and noisy. The pair sat at the booth in silence. There hadn't been much talking since the battle the night before. Booster used an old trick to find them a place to sleep. Breaking into a vacant hotel room through the window of a tall building and having Skeets scramble the keycard reader just in case.

In the past Booster had no problem doing that kind of thing. He probably saved that very hotel from some crazed super villain at some point. Or some of the people who worked there. Something that justified it. However with Layla there, her silent gaze always on him, he felt an unusual pang of guilt.

It didn't get much better in the morning when he stole some clothes that were left hanging over night on a rooftop. The black flannel shirt and jeans were a size or two too big and wrinkled like crazy, but at least they were less conspicuous than his costume.

"I don't know what to do about this," Booster mumbled, his hands running down his face. He stared out the window at the traffic jam forming in the busy streets. The depressing mood made all the worse by the cloudy skies. "Why me? Why is this happening to me? I've never done anything wrong."

Another moment of silence and he tore his eyes from the window, glancing down at the duffelbag on the booth next to him which held his costume and Skeets. As annoying as the little droid could be, he found himself longing for it's constant affirmation.

"All right, can you stop?" Booster snapped, turning his eyes back to Layla. Her face was a mask, her eyes rarely straying from his. "Do you not understand how creepy you are? Just stop staring already!"

His voice having risen more than intended in that last moment, he sheepishly looked around the make sure no one was staring. No one was. This was New York City. You had to do more than raise your voice to get people's attention.

When he looked back to Layla her head was now turned slightly, her eyes looking out the window.

"All right here you two go," the waitress said as she brought their food over. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Booster, having already downed half of his coffee, lowered his mug enough to say, "If you could just bring a pot that'd be great," before raising it again.

Layla looked down at her pancakes. She stared at them for a moment, almost like she was inspecting them, before unrolling her silverware, placing her napkin in her lap, and meticulously cutting her pancakes into little squares.

"Fucking. Creepy."

After finishing his first cup, Booster dug into his bacon and eggs like a starving man. When he'd gotten about halfway done, he sighed in satisfaction and addressed his charge.

"All right. So now we need to decide what's going to happen."

"You are going to pretend to toss money on the table and we are going to rush out before anyone notices. Then we are going to head to Grand Central Terminal."

Anger began rising in Booster's chest. "Oh, you think so? Well how about this? We do exactly that to get out of here, sure, and then I call SHIELD and have them come take you and THEY can deal with your creepy stares and utility companies who send hit squads after you."

"SHIELD can't help me," Layla said after finishing a bite of pancake. She chewed and swallowed as precisely as she cut her food. "Only you can."

"Why?" Booster asked as he tore apart a piece of bacon with his teeth. "Why me? Why are you ruining my life with this shit?"

"You are a man out of time. You are the only one who can help me."

"Because people from the future are trying to get you?"

"Not people. One person."

"Who? When? Why?" Booster slammed back another cup of coffee. "If they have time travel tech why not just show up right now and grab you?"

"They can't travel through time. Only influence the past."

Booster leaned over the table to bring his face as close to her as possible, raising one eyebrow and peering into her eyes. "Who?"

Layla didn't respond. She simply lowered her eyes.

"All right, kid. You aren't exactly inspiring me to help you. Some person from the future, who you either don't know or won't tell me, is influencing the past to get you captured by some shady power company? Fuck this!

"Obviously you have something going on with your creepy nonsense, but time manipulation? Secret agents? No I'm done. Finish eating and yeah, I'll take you to Grand Central so you can head out wherever and leave me to pickup the pieces of my life. Capiche?"

She didn't respond. They sat in silence and finished dining before they dashed.



Washington DC

President Shinra sat down at the large table in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Many of the faces he knew. Many he was already paying to keep things like this from happening. His insiders assured him that this hearing was only for appearances. That the company was moving too far and too fast to avoid being noticed. Perhaps they had a point. President Shinra was many things, patient was not one.

As he waited for the Senators to start the hearing, he stroked his large mustache. A habit he had developed over the decades. Perhaps this hearing is only for show. A nod to the government and the American people that, of course, the Shinra Electric Power Company is thoroughly obeying regulations. Anything to keep the truth from going public.

"Thank you all for coming," a pasty bald Senator from Wyoming mumbled into his microphone. "We are here today to discuss the Shinra Electric Power Company with it's CEO, Mr. Basil Shinra."



"C'mon Skeets," Booster whispered as he made sure no one was watching him. Holding the duffel bag in front of him, the zipper open enough for Skeets to peak out from, the tiny droid continued to work on the ATM.

"Momentarily, sir, you shall have the money you desire!"

"Keep it down!" Booster chided. He tried to avoid the glare from Layla as she waited on a bench in the Grand Central Terminal. This was a trick he has only performed, well, less than a dozen times since returning to this time period. It wasn't something he was proud of, but until he was rid of Layla and felt safe returning to his apartment, he had little recourse for the cash needed to get her out of his life.

Finally the sound of the ATM motor drew his attention back. Shoving Skeets back into the bag and zipping it shut, Booster grabbed the cash and did his best casual walk over to Layla.

"All right kid, where do you want to go?"

Layla took her eyes off him and turned toward the TV hanging from one of the nearby pillars.

"I am flabbergasted at the rate of expansion your company has managed these last five years. Shinra facilities go up and down the eastern sea board, and now you have begun your expansion out west. Please tell me, Mr. Shinra, how your company has managed such a large expansion while maintaining such low costs to the consumer?"

"As I have already explained, Senator, the new technology we have developed at Shinra has allowed us to generate and distribute power at a significantly lower cost. It-"

"Yes your reactors are quite impressive, at least my colleagues continue to maintain. I admit I am not an engineer. But I find it hard to believe that this leap forward can be so far beyond your market competitors at such a lower cost when no one else has managed to develop anything even close to this."

"I'm sorry, but what are you insinuating, Senator?"

"I am-"

"My company has developed it's own proprietary technology, much like Stark Enterprises, Wayne Enterprises, Sunderland Corporation, and numerous other companies that have made incredible advancements in the last decade. We have followed every regulation to the letter. And we have cooperated with the government every step of the way. That my company has used our own technological breakthroughs to provide the American people with cheaper, cleaner energy has naturally resulted in our growth in the marketplace is not a crime."

"Liar."

"What?" Booster asked, looking from Layla up to the TV. "Oh is that President Shinra? So that blubbery guy is the one after you?"

"Yes."

"And he's a liar?"

"Yes."

"Well most businessmen are, welcome to the world. Write your Congressman I guess. So where do you want a ticket to?"

"Washington DC."

Booster sighed, looking back and forth between her and the TV again. "Look, kid, I get that you want...no. Nope. Not my problem. One ticket to DC coming up. Wait right here."

He didn't wait for a response. Instead Booster stormed off toward the ticket booth, muttering to himself. So wrapped up in his own head, he uncharacteristically didn't notice the beautiful blond woman sitting across the open cafe, watching him as she sipped her espresso.

"Gold has moved away from the target," she whispered to no one. She adjusted her legs and straightened her black suitjacket before taking another sip. "He appears to be getting train tickets."

"Should I move in?"

The blond woman looked up and scanned the distance, about twenty feet back behind Layla was a young Japanese man in a black suit and tie. His black hair was perfectly styled to fall in front of his face, down to his eyes. He looked to her like a member of one of those Asian boy bands.

"Negative, Vincent," Tseng's voice came over the radio.

"This would be the perfect time," the blond woman whispered. "The line will take him at least five minutes."

"C'mon, we can take this loser!" Reno declared, his hurt pride evident in his voice.

"That's enough," Tseng ordered. "We are to keep tabs and help with any loose ends."

"So you mean one mistake and we're relegated to cleaning up after SOLDIER," Reno spat back.

"Whoever this girl is, she's important enough to Shinra to bring out all the stops," Vincent speculated. "I don't think this is an indictment of us. It's desperation."

"Enough," Tseng commanded, his tone final. "We follow orders. Understood?" When no one spoke up, Tseng got back to business. "Elena, is Gold still in line?"

"He's cashing out now," Elena replied. She went to take another sip and balked. "My espresso's cold."

"Sounds rough," Reno mocked. "You should tweet about it."

"Sure right alongside a video of you getting beat up by this Gold clown."

"Oh so you think you-"

"Enough," Rude interrupted in his soft spoken voice. The Turk spoke so infrequently that when he did, it was usually enough to put a stop to the current conversation.

Elena sighed to herself and pushed her espresso away. "They're on the move. Your way Valentine."

Vincent didn't respond. He continued leaning against a wall and tapped on his phone. Booster and Layla walked past without incident.

"So this worked out perfectly," Booster told the girl as they walked. "Your train leaves in like five minutes, and then you can be gone and I'll never see you again. Everyone's happy."

Layla remained silent. Her head was still as they walked but her eyes wandered smoothly in every direction. She took in everything around her with silent intensity.

When the pair finally reached the boarding for her train, Booster handed her the ticket and practically pushed her toward the terminal. "Have fun in DC!" He started to turn but was stopped by her cold, steady voice.

"You won't get far. I won't get far without you."

A chill ran up Booster's spine. There was a certainty in her voice that frightened him. Worse was the part of him that felt like he knew it to be true. Still, after taking a deep breath, he walked on without another word.

Making his way through the crowd, every person seemed to be moving against him. He had to bob, weave, and practically push people to get through. The stream of humanity crashing into him steadily. Finally having had enough, Booster made his way to one of the walls and waited for the people to pass him by.

He scanned the faces as they went. Really just the women. He thought idly to himself as they went. She's cute. I like her lipstick. Look at that cleavage. Hmm, I mean I would after a drink or two.

His eyes fell to a blond woman, her hair cut off at her jawline. There was a gnawing familiarity, but he couldn't place it at first. When the crowd broke long enough for him to gaze at her body, he saw she was wearing a black suit and...a tie?

Not registering his own sexist assumptions, he put two and two together and it clicked. "She was on the helicopter," Booster mumbled to himself. Just as she was passing from his sight, her eyes met his. The look on his face was obvious.

"I've been made," Elena barked as she began pushing her way through the crowd.

"Dammit!" Booster shouted, causing the people around him to stare. He took the opportunity their shock provided and pushed into the stream of people. At first he followed the Turk, but when he saw a men's room coming up on the side he ducked inside. Tossing his duffelbag on the sink, he didn't even bother going into a stall as he started changing.

"Skeets! We got trouble!"

"Not a day goes by when Booster Gold isn't ready for action!" Skeets announced as he whirred to life and floated into the air.

The other two men in the bathroom started to stare, the one at the urinal began spraying the wall.

"Mind your business," Booster shouted, pausing with his shirt half over his head. "I'm a super hero!"

When Booster exited the bathroom, he burst into the air and flew over the screaming crowd of people. Layla's train was just starting to squeal into motion. He couldn't place the blond Turk or anyone else he recognized, though there were a good number of people in black suits.

"Stop the train!" Booster tried to shout as he descended toward the terminal. He wasn't prepared for the hand that grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him like a rag doll into the ground.

His forcefield having absorbed most of the impact, it only took a moment for his breath to return. He rolled over to see a large African American man towering over him. He wore vaguely military looking gear, though there were no identifying markings. His muscular arms were exposed and drawn back into a defensive stance.

"I think you should stand down, son." The man's smile was wide under his tightly trimmed beard. His eyes were intense, yet odd. There was a slight green hue around his pupils, between the brown of his irises. "This doesn't concern you anymore."

"God I wish you were right," Booster muttered before firing a blast at full strength into the man's chest. He didn't have time to deal with this nonsense. Booster started to rise up, only to stop as he watched, slack jawed, as the large man flipped over in the air with a grace unnatural for his size. He landed on his feet and immediately rushed toward him.

The man leapt into the air and descended toward Booster. He dodged back just in time, the impact of the man's fist into the concrete sending a shockwave that knocked Booster back.

"They don't call me Thunder for nothing," the large man smiled again, his fist undamaged by the impact.

"And where there's Thunder," a silky female voice called from behind him before bullets ripped into Booster's forcefield. "There's Lightning."

He spun just in time to see a woman leap toward him. As she did, her gun transformed into a sword, which he raised his gauntlets up just in time to deflect.

Lightning took up position a few paces from Thunder, attempting to surround him. She was beautiful, her porcelain skin complemented by her long, pale-pink colored hair. Her eyes were naturally green, though Booster could make out the same odd green glow that Thunder had.

"Thunder and Lightning?" Booster laughed. He raised both gauntlets and trained them on his enemies. "You guys really went with the lame theme names?"

Thunder grimaced and looked over at his partner. "See. I told you it was stupid."

Lightning's lips curled into a gentle smirk. "Don't look at me. Talk to Cloud."

"Cloud?" Booster barely had time to ask before being slammed in the side with something massive. He crashed through the ticket booth, thankfully empty as all the civilians had long since fled. Lying in the rubble, his forcefield having shattered and needing time to recharge, he reached down and felt blood on his left side.

"I like the names," a bright voiced man said.

Standing with his team was a Caucasian man holding a sword almost the size of his body. His long hair was slicked back, practically spiked up, and raven black.

"Now let's show this guy what SOLDIER can do!"

-To Be Continued-