Reunions?

Raine was expecting something more complicated but luckily it wasn't this time around. She wasn't into women but this was to help plus basically just CPR without having to blow air into someone.

She went over to the table and kissed Alice, keeping a mental count in their head or there was signs of life. Cadmus didn't say anything, there wasn't much to say until the process worked.

Jason frowns a bit then places a hand on Raine's shoulder "It seems I fucked up... this isn't going to work." he says as he turns away "Sorry for wasting your time and dragging you all the way here for nothing." he mumbles as he walks out of the infirmary.

Raine stopped what she was doing, and frowned going to follow after Jason. She wasn't going to give up that easily "What do you mean its not going to work? Did something change?"

Jason keeps walking and waves off Raine "I don't know... this should have worked." he says, sounding frustrated "I need time to think about what went wrong and where to fix it at..."

Cadmus was hoping this would work and was let down a lot by nothing what so ever happening. Even if Jason said there was no other way, he still wasn't ready to give up on Alice yet. He turned to Raine. "So what are you going to do now?"

Raine didn't instantly answer. "..I think I want to see about staying. After all Alice did partially end up in this state."

The other Heartless nodded slowly to that. "Your choice. But if you end up doing so, there is something I want to talk you about in regards to Alice in private."

Raine wondered what about but had some ideas. In the mean time she needed to find Jack, hopefully he was in the eating area if not and anyone there was present she could ask for them.

Jack was, a infact, in the training room. He was currently lifting weights, because of course he was. The LED readout on the read at 58T, which seemed enough to make Jack struggle a little when lifting.

Raine saw he was struggling and rather then try to have a conversation while working out which would be stupid, it better to get their attention. "Jack? Do you have a moment?"

Jack outs the barbell back on it's rack "Yeah!" he says as an answer to her question. He gets up and grabs a towel and bottle of water "What's on your mind?" he asks as he takes a drink of water.

Raine went to the point, as she was taught and how she was at this point. "I have two. But the first is, I was wondering if it be all right if I joined your group? It's not exactly the same as my old job, but I do think I have the experience to mesh with a group. That, and I want to try to mend things with Alice if she wakes up."

Jack nods "I don't see why not." he says "I'll need to do the usual background checks, interviews and character references. But Cadmus can handle a lot of that." he says "As for Alice, I wouldn't worry. My son will get her awake. One way or another. He's good at figuring out solutions to problems."

Raine was happy to hear that, though she honestly wasn't in any rush either way. A lot of the time she spent floating about since she left the Vanguard and guard again, so it be nice to be part of something again.

"Thank you." She then pause. "The second part is more a request, but if you visit Noreal again could you please try to talk to Lady Yasuko? You're probably one of the few she'd listen to not being a hermit anymore since you know what its like to have responsibility of having great power. She doesn't see the need for people like her anymore, where you feel the opposite and out in the open with your power. Noreal needs them, especially if what you say is true."

Jack nods "Yeah, I can certainly try. But I'm not sure when I'll be back that way." he says.

"Why not go now. while it's slow?" Marcen suggests. He was just there, like he was standing there the whole time.

This causes Jack to jump a bit "Whoa! Geez! he exclaims as he chuckles afterwards "You might have a point there. I mean, you can handle everything as far as getting Raine set up." he says.

Jack thinks for a bit, then nods "Alright, I'll take a trip to Noreal and talk with Lady Yasuko, if you think it'll help." he says "Though, I'm not sure what a small time super hero like myself can do to convince a well know figure like her." he chuckles again.

Marcen suddenly being there startled Raine a bit as well, and she thought herself fairly competent in terms of area awareness. She was either losing her edge or Marcen was just that good.

"Don't sell yourself short Jack, besides Yasuko is rather grounded." Raine started, thinking a bit. "I would suggest simply asking about them when you arrive to the authorties. You hold a bit more sway then you'd think."

Marcen as just that good at what he did "You go in to Noreal and warn them proper about the threat Vindicator Prime poses." he says "I can hold down the fort here." the shinobi assures Jack.

Jack nods slowly "Alright. I'll head there and give it a try. Why not? It might be fun." he says as he looks to Marcen "I'll send you the details of what I was working on before I leave." he says with a nod to Raine as he heads out.

Raine just hoped it went well, but she was fairly confident it go decently considering the very real danger Vindicator had towards Noreal and others.

She did need to talk to Cadmus about whatever, but it was more after she was finished rather then right away. Plus be rude not to say anything to Marcen and just walk off. "If you're in charge while Jack is gone, does that mean you might be doing my interview? Or that soley Jack?"

Marcen nods "Yeah. When Jack's gone, I take over." he says "We Had a second, but she left to live her life with her beloved." he says "Jack has a certain order he does things in, but he knows what he's doing." he explains.

Someone left? She could understand that, people left the Vanguard all the time and when it happened it did tend to change the dynamic or hands of leadership at times. "Shame, but understandbale. How many active members do you have total? There's at least three or four I haven't met yet. I think."

Marcen nods "I'm certain you'll meet them in time." he says "Most are busy with their own things right now." he explains as he walks them to one of the common areas "I have some forums for you to sighs. Please read them carefully and turn them in on my desk when you're finished. I have a few things to take care of but I shall return." he says "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Buddy."

"I will. Thank you." Raine could talk to Cadmus about whatever he had been wanting to talk about then sign the forums and put them on the desk. She was no stranger at all when it came to paper work.

The interview process was relatively easy. Marcen asked standard questions, he was friendly and personable. But it was likely that Raine could see that was just a facade, as behind his smile, those eyes were gauging her every answer, seeing every micro expression, and weighing everything she says and everything she doesn't say.

At the end, Marcen nods "Well, that about does it." he says as he stands to see Raine out "When the character references come in, we'll look over everything and see about getting you a lanyard." he says with a smile "In the mean time, you can stay in our guest quarters and enjoy all the amenities our base has." he offers "The only thing we ask is that you keep out of the restricted areas and keep your guest pass with you when out and about. Any questions?"

Raine did notice that but said nothing of it, they were just doing their job at the end of the day and she could appreciate the professional attitude if nothing else. "Just one small one for now. Is there anything else I should keep in mind while here you haven't already mentioned in passing?"

Marcen shakes his head "No. If it was important, I would have already mentioned it." he says as he stands "Let me get this next few parts of the hiring process taken care of, then we can focus our efforts on helping Alice." he says.

"All right. I'll just be wandering around the areas I can go to before I go back to my quarters. Until then Marcen." She had a good first impression of the man, though first impressions weren't always right she considered herself decent at getting a feel of people. That said only so much you could tell in such a short amount of time, especially at people trained to hide it.

 As she continued, a man with silver hair was walking with a young woman with blue hair. It had to be more members, but she didn't recognize them.

"Are you new here?" The woman asked first politely in a friendly tone.

"I am. New potential recruit actually. My name is Raine, you two are?" She asked wondering just who the two were.

The two exchanged a glance, and the woman smiled. "That's a pleasant surprise. Cadmus mentioned you a few times. I'm Zyna Lacan."

Seeing the prompt, the other added. "And I'm Kobe Naosuke. It's nice to meet you. Hope you're not feeling too overwhelmed by the base. It can be jarring to get used to for some."

Raine waved it off. "It's fine. If anything this place reminds me of my old job even if not the same. Kinda feel a bit of nostalgia kicking in. I was just looking around and trying to maybe get to know my potential teamates all by name."

Jason comes walking up "I'm going to wake Alice up. Have Marcen make sure there are no pictures near by and have Cadmus waiting for her." he says "As for you, I want you in your room as far away from her you can be." he tells Raine "All that hurt she's been carrying around for you has turned into resentment, which turned into hatred and she Will attack you if you're the first person she sees." he warns.

"I'll get Cadmus." Kobe said simply, excusing himself to leave the room but he wondered if it was that simple to wake up Alice why wait so long in the first place. Which meant there had to be something more to it.

"I don't think there are any pictures but I'll check.." Zyna wandered off as well.

"Yeah..I know. Cadmus told me as much." Raine mumbled recalling their conversation with Cadmus. "I'll be back when someone gets me."
___

For his part, Cadmus was just doing his own thing when Kobe found him in quick fashion about things. He wasn't expecting everything to be smooth and he wasn't sure at first Raine should be here, but during the conversation he came to the conclusion that while she was better, she wasn't going to grow or mature avoiding it completely because when the next curveball hit he may not always be there.
__

Cadmus didn't really want to have this conversation but he needed to as it was going to come up anyway. So he waited for Raine to come into a private room before he started.

"So what exactly about Alice did you want to talk about?" She asked getting to the point.

He opted to get to the point. "For starters, Alice is still upset at you for not returning her romantic feelings. It morphed into something ugly to the point she'd try to kill you."

There was a long pause. "...All this time and years but why? I understand being upset but that's extreme response just to being told no."

"It is." Cadmus said. "But have to understand, Alice didn't process it normally and has to do with their past. To Alice it was more, so instead of just taking it as just a normal bump in life almost everyone goes to, it was likely more a straw on the camel's back."

"Do you know what happened to make her like this before she met our group?" Raine finally asked after a moment.

"I don't. There was a chance we could of learned more about it but we opted not to." Cadmus sighed. "I've also been hesitant on Alice getting therapy from Jerod but with this coming up and other things I think she needs it. And I want them to be ok, just never was sure how to break it since mental health still has a lot of stigma to it even if one of our members gets PTSD treatment."

When Raine didn't answer and instead waited he continued. "One other thing I noticed is her mental well being is heavily depent on others. This is true for everyone, but her more so as she goes through extremes. I've acted like a emotional anchor, but if something were to happen to me? We have a definite life span unlike normal Heartless so even if all goes well, there's that question. I'm scared she'll backslide in a number of ways."

When he finished, Raine mulled it over for a bit. "..I haven't been around in a long time, and you know Alice more then I do. That said, if you think or feel is true and you believe Alice needs therapy then you should bring it up. If you're worried about them getting defensive about it, then some times relationships require those tough conversations."

"..Yeah. Maybe." Cadmus turned away. "It's good to see you but I'm mixed you being here. But part of me feels like it ties into what I said, I can't or shouldn't shield them from growth."