Christmas plans[Audrey]

[Empathy]

"Bido needs to find a tree. Bido needs to find a treeee." The little lizard man, strolling invisibly around the desert shopping mall, was singing a cheery tune. "Oh, Bido finds this one big and fluffly!" Approaching a toy store, he studied the heavily decorated Christmas tree. Bido circled the tree, once, twice... eyeing it, sizing it deciding if it was the one. A metallic gleam on the other side of the shop windows caught his eye, however. "Shiny!" Face and hand palm pressed against the glass display, the reptile was now transfixed by some miniature car reflecting the green light of the exit sign. His scales wore a deep, lush green. "Biiido waaaants." The chameleon's tongue was out, also pressing greedily against the cold surface.

The sound of flapping wings made Bido turn his head away from the toy car. "Mr. bird is right. Bido has come on an important mission." He turned around to face the Christmas tree again. His skin turned orange. "Bido needs to get a Christmas tree for Rose" Poking his fiery head into the bushy pine tree, Bido grabbed for the thing's large trunk. "So Santa can put Christmas presents under it for Bido and Rose." And with that, the lizard tried to lift the tree onto his back. His first attempt lifted the tree a foot off the ground, the second one barely an inch. "Biii...Bido can't lift the tree." He exasperated, falling on his backside. "Not with one arm. The tree is too heavy for Bido." The reptile stood still for a while, letting the disappointment sink into his blue body.

Taking a deep breath, Bido stood up again. "Bido can't stay here too long." Shifty eyes scanned the surrounding. His camouflage was back on. "Last time, the girl of the bat caught Bido here." That was months ago, for Valentine's day. "Bido will have to find another tree." And with that, he jumped around again, looking around for the tree of another shop to steal. A few minutes later, and Bido settled for a smaller, but much more heavily decorated Christmas tree in front of the jewelry store. All his will-strength was spent on keeping his eyes on the tree, rather than the multiple golden and silver ornaments on or surrounding it. "This is the perfect Christmas tree for Bido and Rose!" It looked like a hoard on legs.

[Audrey]

Stuck working on the evening of Christmas Eve. How could things really get any worse? She knew Hephaestus was evil but this was just pushing the line. PENGUIN gave his thugs Christmas Eve off... Sometimes. At least it was just security detail instead of that ridiculous registration business they had her doing awhile back. She scored a grand total of ONE registered hero... And she was pretty sure it was actually just a drunk delusional bum. If he was for real, he had the worst superhero name: Personman. Who would name themselves Personman? That's like something out of a comedy band song... or Devo. She could never really tell if Devo was serious or not. The hats made her think they weren't, but then again, everything in the 80's was bizarre.

Her random musing were interrupted by a blinking red light on her scooter. Seemed she had company. As she kicked the scooter to life, she wondered how anyone was stupid enough to set off silent alarms. Did they think people just don't lock their stores? That if you get in, it's a free-for-all? She shook her head in dismay as she zipped into the parking garage and drifted her scooter perfectly into the pedestrian elevator. Jump City had an incredibly large mall, so she had deemed it necessary to keep the motorcycle in order to get around quickly. She pulled the security key off her belt and turned it in the elevator console, kicking the elevator to life. She pressed the main floor button and waited to the sound of Christmas jingles as the elevator slowly pulled her up to the mall floor.

The instant the door's opened, she kicked the cycle back to life and sped around the walking area like some sort of action hero. With a couple turns she was on her towards the toy store where the silent alarm had been activated. As she approached, she saw her perpetrator had actually moved down a couple stores to the jewelry store. She kicked the gear up a notch, the loud motor of her cycle announcing her arrival like a cacophonous bugle. She slid her motorcycle to a halt and pulled the bike goggles from her eyes and was a little confounded to see some lizard thing attempting to pull the Christmas stand out of the display window and not actually any jewelry. She had noticed at the toystore that the tree seemed off too. "Are you... Are you a little lost buddy?" she asked, not really sure if stealing displays was actually that much a crime. The tree was probably from the dollar store or something. If it was all he wanted, she wouldn't really see a problem in letting this go. Hell, he was pretty adorable, she'd probably just get the poor guy a tree herself.

[Empathy]

"Bido can cary this. Bido is a strong dragon." The tree was now pressing against the mutant's good shoulder, his arm holding a root to balance it. It was as tall as Bido and probably half his weight. Shiny Christmas spheres were dangling silently behind his head. "Bido now needs to go back through the manhole and reach home, before someone..." That was when a competing voice filled the empty mall. Instantly, Bido turned his camouflage back on. "Bido was discovered. Bido is going to the zoo with the labcoats again!" Now apparently floating in mid-air, the tree lurched violently from one side to the other. "Is it the girl of the bat? Or her scowling brother?" Bido's got his mouth ready for an attack. He remembered his tongue being vaguely effective in fighting batarangs.

As the fiery revenant girl came into view, Bido's jaw dropped open. "Shiiiiny." The top of his bald head turned a crimson red, emulating Afterburn's impressive hair. "Bido wants shiny hair too!" The tree made a step forward. But then the girl's question finally made its way into Bido's brain, and he turned invisible again. "Erm. No." Inside his head, an army of little Bido's were running around trying to find a story to explain this peculiar situation.

Then it struck Bido that the girl may not have seen him. "Bido is a Christmas tree. Bido isn't lost." Pulling his arm down, Bido tilted the tree upright, letting it rest against the upper portion of his chest. "Bido the tree... just wanted to get some fresh air," The tree moved up and down as it spoke. ", a break from standing in the shop all day looking shiny."

Inside Bido's mind, a hundred little copies of himself were grinning and busy congratulating themselves. Some laughed, while others were planning the next set of lines for Bido the tree. "And, er, now Bido the tree feels like drinking some water." The tree started bopping in the direction of the open manhole from earlier. Bido's shifty eyes looked at Afterburn, trying to figure out if she was going to follow him.

[Audrey]

Afterburn just kind looked a little sympathetic for the little thing when his head went all red presumably in some response to her hair... Then he tried to pretend to be a talking floating Christmas tree. His situation was just going from bad to awkward. As he began to try and get away, Afterburn just kind of stepped after him, easily able to keep up. "The act's pretty cool little guy, but I know you're not a Christmas tree. You're a lizard of some kind, and unfortunately, if you run away now I'd have to take you in for breaking and entering," Afterburn said, leaning towards Bido as she walked along. She really didn't want to arrest the poor thing. He just wanted a Christmas Tree and he hadn't really caused any damage to the mall. She decided to settle with him and help him out of this little jam.

"Look, I have a great idea. If you put that little Christmas tree back along with everything you moved around, you can take a ride on my cycle and I'll get your a really nice Christmas tree. I don't think there's any place open to get ornaments for it, but you can borrow the ones I have for the night. I don't have company, so it really doesn't matter. That way, you get a Christmas tree, and I don't have to arrest you. We both go home happy. That sound okay to you little guy?" She asked, pointing to a rather tasteful tree in a department store window as an example of what she could provide. She knew a tree guy who she could get a free tree off of. He had offered it to her when she stopped Hotspot from going anywhere near the tree farm, but she turned it down because she didn't have guests. Occasionally, heroism actually had some benefits to it.

[Empathy]

"How did you see Bido?" The lizard turned visible in exasperation. The girl had seen right through his act, and even knew he was a lizard! His head facing the hero, he said, "Bido is a colorshifter. Bido cannot be seen." Bido went on, the welled up frustration inside him just flowing out. "And Bido doesn't want to get locked away again." Now his whole body was turned towards the hero, the Christmas tree resting against his shoulder once more. "Bido is just... borrowing... a Christmas tree. For a friend. Bido doesn't think she's had a proper Christmas before." Neither had he, come to think of it. That thought saddened the chameleon, who turned a shade of turquoise.

That's when the girl with the shiny hair proposed her own bargain. Bido twisted his head, not quite believing his ears. "You would... give Bido a Christmas tree?" A big smile broke over the mutants face. Hopping on his feet, he started dancing in a circle. The tree rotated accordingly, possibly narrowly missing Afterburn's head. But then Bido paused. His back was to the hero. "How can Bido trust the fire-head girl, however?" Slowly, Bido turned his head. "What if... she wants to send Bido back to the men with lab coats?" In response to his own question, Bido turned invisible again. "Bido can't go back there. Bido has a family." The tree starting wobbling away from Afterburn. "Bido may not have a hoard anymore. But Bido now has a family." And that was precious to him.

But then, she threatened to arrest him if he didn't accept the offer. This was a conundrum. Bido's eyes were still focused on Afterburn's head. Would she attack him if he didn't do what she said? Would she burn his hard-fought tree?

[Audrey]

"You were visible for a second when you saw me. I think you were trying to copy my hair by the look of the colors. That or Fabio, but I think I'm probably more likely since I'd make a bet that you have no idea who Fabio is," Afterburn answered, somewhat amused by the lizard's child-like innocence. It was like talking to a 5-year-old who tried to sneak past his parents by covering himself with a sheet and walking right in front of them. "And I get that you really want to help your friend. You just can't borrow other people's trees. They want them too so uhm... The store! The store can enjoy Christmas too. So many people neglect how stores feel for Christmas. It's awful. To be honest, I don't have anyone to be with tomorrow either. For all I know, all my friends are dead, so I know how your friend feels, which is why I want to help you erm... Bido I'm supposing is your name? I'm Afterburn," she added, suddenly getting rather sad herself. It was one thing knowing all your friends were dead, but another to just have no idea if you even had friends and if you did where they were. The knowledge that someone out there may care and you'll never know.

Then the trust issues were laid out on the table. It was a valid concern. For all he knew, she could get him on her cycle and ride him right over to the jail. She thought about it for a second. She didn't have much of value on her. You learn from ages of crime fighting that you don't keep valuables on you while patrolling. Your opponents have a tendency to steal it off you and then the ransoms come out and you have to let them go because you still want to listen to iTunes at night. However, a solution came to her head. "Here, I know how I can show we're golden," she said as she dug a pair of keys out of her pocket and threw it to Bido. "The keys to my bike. It's on right now already so I don't need them to start it up again, but if I take you to jail, then I won't be able to turn it off again and then it'll run out of gas, and I won't ever be able to use it again since you have the keys. That should show I don't intend to take you to jail if you come with me. You just gotta put everything back and we'll give your friend a nice Christmas welcome, alright Bido?" she explained like a babysitter to her child. She suddenly realized if Bido ran off with the keys without fixing anything, she was gonna be really screwed. She hoped he was trustworthy enough to do that, cause she couldn't exactly take the keys back now.

[Empathy]

"Bido has never heard of Fabio. Does his hair shine too?" The morlock's eyes were still drawn towards Afterburn's hair, like a moth to a flame. But then the mention of the store's feelings distracted him, and he turned his head around to the jewelry store. "The shop... also wants a christmas tree?" The chameleon turned a warm orange as a new idea bloomed in his thick skull. "And if Bido is nice to the shiny store, maybe it'll give something back to him?" Eyes sparkling with hope, Bido's resolve was now vacillating. Just a little more, and the fiery girl would convince him to bring back the tree.

"Afterburner?" Bido misrepeated the name. "And what happened to all of your friends?" All of them dead? Bido's spine started shivering. "Did Afterburner burn them all?" That thought didn't help the trust issue. But then, to Bido's surprise, the girl threw her keys to Bido. Bido's eyes immediately fixed on the shiny flying object. His arm was still busy carrying the tree, leaving only one way to catch the precious item. Within a glimpse, the reptile's tongue extended, catching the silver keys in midair, before bringing them into the safety of Bido's mouth.

Then, reflexively, Bido let his tongue out again, holding the keys in front of his greedy eyes with the muscular tongue. The key-chain was metallic, flame shaped and quite pretty. Bido thought for a moment. He could just drop the tree and flee with the shiny keys. That would be a sensible plan. Something he would do in normal times. But today, he was on a mission. Bringing the keys back into his mouth and moving back towards the jewelry store, Bido said, "Bido trusts Afterburner. Bido will give the shop his tree back." A few seconds later and the tree was back at its original place. Bido appeared in excited colors next to the girl with shiny hair. "Bido is ready for christmas tree hunting!"

[Audrey]

"Oh my little guy, Fabio? Fabio has the shiniest hair of all. It's said in ancient human lore that the sun is actually a strand of his hair lit on fire, but that's just myth... Or is it? No one's been to the sun to check. Except Fabio, but he isn't going to tell," she teased Bido, obviously having fun with her little tall tales. She hadn't had a chance to be playful with anyone in a long time. She stepped over to the jewelry store in order to pet it like a living creature. "Perhaps. But store's are very capitalistic beings. They like equal exchange which is why they hate being stolen from without having their treasures paid for. You're taking away from their well-earned hoard and they've no compensation to replace their lost treasure. But sometimes. When you treat a store very well, they may be willing to part with something for your troubles. I've never been able to get one to do it, but I've heard tales," she spoke whimsically as she gave a small little kiss to the jewelry store window. As bizarre as this was, Afterburn was having fun, which is not something she could say very often about her life since waking up from death.

"It's Afterburn. There's no er at the end, and no, I didn't burn my friends. Thanks to this little doohickey on my chest," she stopped to point to the Hephaestus logo just below her neck. "I can't really burn anyone. I get in trouble if I do. Truth is, I can't remember who my friends are. I have something called amnesia, where I've completely forgotten everything up to a certain point. I can only remember a year back, so I don't know if I had friends and if I did, I don't know who they are. I want to find out, but the doohickey on my chest stops that too. I'm not allowed to find out. I think it's awful, but rules are rules," she said, noticeably getting sadder. Honestly she knew she had friends before. She could feel the longing in her memories. She just wondered who they were and if they're still around. It seems she'd never know at this point.

Thankfully, Bido agreed to trust her, so something good could actually happen tonight. It was almost adorable how he put the tree back in the jewelry store as a kindness to it. Luckily, with everything intact, she could say it was just an animal that got in. It wouldn't be lying. Bido is definitely an animal and he got in. With everything in order, she got on her bike, and offered the back seat to Bido. "Now make sure to hold on tightly. I'll drive as slow as I can, but since it's only got two wheels, I need to stay fast enough to keep it from falling over," she spoke and then kicked the engine to life before waiting for a response. The bike shot forwards like a bullet and right back into the elevator. With shocking calmness, she pressed the button on the elevator sending them back down to the parking garage, from whence she then sped off towards central Jump City weaving through the streets.

[Empathy]

Bido's mouth dropped wide open as Afterburn shared her words of wisdom with the chameleon man. "Really?" The bald man was green of envy at the thought of such a gorgeous mane. "Bido would like shiny hair like Fabio." He sighed, staring at his hand. The other arm was still only a healing stump of barely a few inches. Suddenly, the excitable man lifted his head again, a tentative smile on his reptilian face, "Could Afterburn... give Bido one of her shiny locks of hair?" Bido's fingers were undulating, hoping to be able to touch the girl's fiery hair.

The discussion then turned to the capitalistic nature of stores. "Maybe if Bido leaves the store some candy?" That was a large sacrifice for the morlock, but one he was willing to make in order to rebuild his hoard. "Have you ever tried it?" Bido asked, surprised. "Afterburn knows so much." He got closer, as if being part of some conspiracy. "Surely Afterburn knows what the store wants for its shinies." She just didn't want to tell it to anyone. Bido's voice fell to a whisper, "Bido won't tell anyone. Bido is good at keeping secrets." Bido observed attentively as the girl blew the store a kiss. He tried replicating the movement. It didn't seem to work for either of them.

Then Afterburn told Bido more about herself, her past and present condition. "Am -nausea?" Bido's face contorted in a painful expression. "Bido hopes to never get that sickness." Bido thought for a little while. "Bido rarely gets sick." He looked at his missing arm. "But Bido gets hurt a lot. Especially by dragon hunters." The whole Hephaestus story went way over his head, of course. But despite that, Bido empathized with Afterburn, causing him to try and give her a hug. "Sometimes, you have to break the rules."

Then the bike ride started. It was hard for Bido to stay seated with only one arm, but thankfully Afterburn made an effort to keep him on board. Bido kept his eyes closed during the entire ride. He was also invisible. The outside world, far from his lair, from the safety of the underground tunnels, was scary indeed.

[Audrey]

"Well actually, my hair is gaseous.... I think. Anything that tries to grab it just floats right through it," Afterburn said disappointingly as she demonstrated said situation by running her hands through it like air. "You're free to touch it though. It's really warm," she added, kind of sort of offering her hair. She wasn't usually this friendly, but the poor little guy and his compassion just about melted her heart away. She was wondered who exactly this friend was. Some poor girl in a gutter? An ignored child of some rich guy? Another lizard thing? She suppose she'd find out soon enough.

"Oh, I don't know that much. I mean, I don't know anything about myself. I don't even know my real name. It's kind of kept me from focusing on the intriguing biology of stores. I'm sure they'd at least appreciate the candy. Just make sure to do it when they're open. They don't like being woken up. Stores really like their sleep since they're so busy during the daytime," she continued on, hoping she could manage to keep the guy out as much trouble as possible. It was awful that by the sounds of it, he'd done time before. It was like arresting a child, it was ridiculous.

As she started up the bike, Bido gave his hug, but she took it to be just him starting to hang on. As they swooped through the streets, the wind thrashed at her bike goggles which she had pulled down again before taking off. They weren't actually designed for bike riding, but for flying planes, hence their leather rimming and aluminum supports. She figured it was a similar enough process that it didn't matter. She also didn't wear a helmet ever on account of the whole immortality thing. Made it convenient to break safety laws when they didn't exactly apply to you.

After a couple sharp turns, the bike drifted into a lot full of christmas trees of all sizes. A man out front with a blue beanie, yellow overalls, and a Packers sweater was axing through logs as Afterburn and her bike came rolling in. He looked up and gave her a wave as she came. "If it ain't fireworks gal, didn't expect you to be comin' back here. Change ya mind about the offer?" he asked as smiled at her showing off several of his missing teeth.
"Yeah actually, decided I'd get a tree after all to share with some friends, any limits?" she asked, pulling up her goggles to look at the man with her pupiless eyes. You could tell he wasn't quite used to it still.
"Nah, any one on the lot's yours. How exactly do you see without no pupils?" he asked starting to go back to his chopping.
"Don't ask me, I have no idea," She answered, stepping off the motorcycle and stepping into the forest of trees. After the tree man was out of earshot, she looked at the trees around her. "You heard the guy Bido, anything on the lot. Though, it looks like a lot of the good ones got picked clean in the Christmas rush."

[Empathy]

Bido didn't ask twice before touching Afterburn's hair. "Ooooh," His fingers ran through the warm, flowing air-hair. A bump made him hug the girl again. It was hard to keep stable on the motorcycle with only one arm. The process also bumped an idea into his cranium. "Could Bido.... use a jar to store the strand of hair? Bido could use it to keep warm and light the way in the sewers!" Eyes shone in anticipation, as well as pride at his own ingenuity. And some people had called him stupid.

Afterburn went on dismissing her knowledge of Store psychology, but then went on explaining more things Bido had never thought of before. "Bido thinks that makes a lot of sense. Bido would feel the same way if he were a store." Every scrap of information was stored in Bido's head. In his mind, Afterburn was declared a universal source of knowledge. Maybe she could help Rose's father with his experiments and inventions. "Does Afterburn like tinkering?" Like goblins. Goblins tinkered and dragons hoarded. It was the natural flow of the world.

Bido fell silent as the weird pair arrived and met a strange man. He didn't seem threatening, however. Bido even kinda felt sorry for the man's teeth. He knew they would never regrow, unlike Bido's limbs. "How did you lose your teeth, Mr. generous man?" Bido still hid behind Afterburn, in case the man became angry at his question.

Then came the time to choose the christmas tree. Bido's eyes grew large as he greedily observed all the pine trees. He didn't mind the fact that some looked a bit crooked or asymmetric. Bouncing from one candidate to another, he touched them, caressed them, sniffed them. "So many trees. Bido must choose the best one for Rose!" And with that, he disappeared again into the forest of pines, his skin replicating the lush green surrounding.

A few minutes later, and a tree lifted into the air. It floated out of the forest, resting on Bido's invisible shoulder. "Bido has his tree. Where is the nearest sewer entrance?"

[Audrey]

"UNFORTUNATELY, LIKE I SAID BEFORE, YOU CAN'T SEEM TO PLUCK THE HAIR OUT OR REMOVE IT IN ANY WAY FROM THE VICINITY OF MY CRANIUM!" Afterburn said loudly, trying to make her voice heard over the gushing wind and roar of the motorcycle. Most of it was simply eaten away though by the air around her, probably leaving a partial understanding of what she actually said. "SOMETIMES I TINKER. I THINK I USED TO WORK WITH CARS IN MY LAST LIFE SINCE I SEEM TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT MECHANICAL STRUCTURES WITHOUT EVERY HAVING READ ABOUT THEM. THIS MOTORCYCLE ACTUALLY USED TO LOOK A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT UNTIL I RENOVATED IT!"

Once they were at the tree lot, there wasn't a reason to yell anymore thankfully, so conversation managed to flow a bit better. As they were going into the forest, the lumberjack noticed Bido for the first time, not having seen him behind Afterburn on the bike... Or perhaps he was invisible, who knew? He didn't really flinch at the sight though. When you lived in Jump City with the likes of Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus, you basically got used to strange sights and beings wandering around. "Lost'em in a bar fight in Canada. Don't believe what they tell you about kanucks, they'll wallop you 'ard if you let'em and there won't be sorries about it afterwards," he answered, smiling again proud of his accomplishments in life. Afterburn vaguely worried the man was giving Bido bad ideas, but he didn't seem the type to go drinking and starting fights.

Once Bido left to go tree searching, Afterburn took the pause to inform her supervisor about the situation, saying it was an animal that set off the alarm and that there was nothing to worry about and she'd returned to her post outside. The last bit was a lie, but it's lot like they could confirm it nor would they even try. As long as alarms weren't going off, they didn't really care how she spent her time. Seeing Bido return invisible again, it reminded her that she could turn "invisible" too. Maybe she'd surprise Bido with that at some point. "I think I saw a manhole just down the street from the entrance to the tree farm. I'm assuming you know the way better than I do, so you can lead the way... Unless of course you want to go alone. I mean, this Rose person isn't expecting me, I'd understand if you want to split ways. Just make sure to give me the keys back so I can get home."

[Empathy]

Bido's mouth was wide open as the lumberjack recounted his tale. "Bido shall remember to not anger the Kanucks." But he didn't want to anger the man either. He seemed... friendly but intimidating, like Rose's father. "Bido thanks you for the tree." After that, he turned to face Afterburn. So far the hero had stayed true to her word. He didn't see her talk into her communicator, being too busy at that point searching for his tree.

When he came back, Afterburn answered his question about the nearest manhole. Bido started to make way for it when she mentioned Rose. "Bido does not think Rose would like to see Afterburn." She wasn't a titan, but somehow Bido got the feeling the two girls may not get along. Then Afterburn mentioned the keys. The shiny keys were still inside Bido's mouth. He stopped midway to the manhole. "Bido should return the shiny keys." After all, the girl had just helped her a lot, fetching him a tree and telling him so many things about stores. "The shiny keys in his mouth." He wasn't going to be able to escape with both the tree and the keys.

Bido dropped the tree. "Bido likes the shiny keys." He hesitated for a moment. He could make a run for it. Instead, he spat out the keys onto his hand. "Bido will get shiny things from Santa if he has a tree." He stared at the little pieces of metal, a crestfallen look on his face. Then he threw it at Afterburn. "Bido wishes you a Merry Christmas." And with that, Bido picked up his tree and disappeared into the manhole.

[Audrey]

"Afterburn wishes Bido a Merry Christmas too," Afterburn said waving goodbye to the lizardy man. She didn't even notice she picked up his third person habit. Her mind was more focused on the intense feeling coming from her heart. It sounded ridiculous to be questioning why she felt a pang of sorrow watching Bido go on his way, but one must understand that Afterburn had essentially only lived for about two years now and never before had she felt like this toward anyone in that time. She had... made a friend and all too soon, she had to say goodbye to this friend. She could suddenly feel a tear run down her cheek and a weight fall onto her back. She had left revenant form unable to keep it up under the emotional strain on her heart right now.

Soon she couldn't even stand anymore. She fell onto a tree stump and just began welling out tears. This didn't make any sense. She met Bido not two hours ago, why was she crying over him leaving so soon? She suddenly felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the lumberjack.
"Sometimes lass, our closest friends are those we spent the least amount of time with," he comforted, sitting next to her and offering a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
"Th-Thank you..." she said through sniffling and hiccups as she took the handkerchief and wiped her tears away. She took a look at the keys he'd given back to her and noticed one of Bido's teeth had left a scratch on the flame keychain on it. She stared at it and managed to crack a smile as she held it tightly in her hand. As the lumberjack held her close, her eyes suddenly widened as something clicked into her head.

In seconds, she found herself in the middle of a raging battlefield. She was younger and she had normal skin and blonde hair, but she had the Hephaestus skin suit on, just... not with the Hephaestus logo on it. In front of her was a girl of the same age with jet black hair, likely of arabic decent by the looks of her. Afterburn felt really close to her. This girl was one of her friends. She had on the same suit she did, but with blue highlights instead of orange. In the girl's chest were multiple bullet wounds. She was dying. Afterburn holding her close, crying like she was now. Their last conversation was coming back to her.
"I'm not coming back Felicity. This is where the trail ends. You need to get out of here before they come back," her friend coughed out between pockets of blood.
"I'm not leaving you Tiana! The doctor... The doctor can do something for you I know he can! Or maybe Brody! Brody healed those soldiers back at the camp! He can heal you!" Afterburn pleaded, attempting to lift her struggling companion.
"Those wounds were just about nothing Felicity. I don't even know how I'm even alive now. I can barely keep my eyes open. Felicity, you were the best friend I'd ever had. I don't want you to die too, you need to go now,"
"I'm not going Tiana!... Tiana? TIANA!!!"

Like a flash she was back in the present again. Tiana. She remembered her now. Her only friend in a world that hated the both of them. She remembered her name now too. Only because Tiana said it with such meaning. Felicity. She felt connection to it. She knew for sure that was her name. The memory had only made her tears get even worse. She had told Bido it was worse to not know the fate of your friends than to know for sure they were gone, but now, knowing her only friend was in fact dead like she thought just depressed her even more than before. In the time she'd been tranced out, the lumberjack had placed a blanket over her shoulders. She hadn't even noticed that she'd been shivering. She'd never shivered before. She never felt this cold before either. Soon, the lumberjack came back with a white speckled coffee mug letting off billows of steam into the cold air.
"Hot cocoa lass. It'll do you good. You've got the willies fer sure," he said, taking a seat next to her with his own coffee mug.
"Thank you sir," she responded the best she could through her tears.
"Wesley lass, my dad's a sir," he laughed. Afterburn struggled, but she managed to laugh with him as he held her close to give her some of his warmth.

Tonight she'd gained probably the biggest piece to the puzzle of her identity. Her name. Of course, she didn't have a last name yet. There were millions of girls named Felicity, but... it felt nice to have some identity... And it felt nice to have some friends. Both Bido and Wesley. She looked up at the Christmas Eve moon, knowing now she moved onto a new chapter in her life of being undead. "Merry Christmas Bido. Merry Christmas."