Chapter Text
“Let’s raise our glasses one more time to our precinct coming out unscathed from the infection incident.”
Officer Lafayette was seated, alone, on a stool at the local bar staring absentmindedly at his drink while several of his coworkers from the New Orleans Police Department raised their glasses and cheered. NOPD officers sat at most of the tables having a conversation about the mysterious infection that caused people to become homicidal maniacs, the disappearance of Detective Connors, their weeks, or whatever came to their mind. Waitresses slipped between the crowds, keeping their drink trays horizontal, not spilling a drop. Music drowned out almost everything, creating an annoying combination of noise, which should make it difficult to think.
Despite all the sounds, he couldn’t stop thinking about that day.
It’s been several days since the Mardi Gras incident. He sighed as his thoughts, once again, drifted to that horrific afternoon at the precinct. Countless people had gotten infected into going mad. If it wasn’t for Tyrone Johnson, who claimed he was framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and Brigid O’Reilly, who got arrested for aiding Tyrone, he would probably had gotten infected too.
He brought his glass of scotch to his lips, downed it in one go, and waved at the barmaid, who was a good-looking brunette, for another one.
Smiling, she leaned in, took his order and went to get the Jameson. Lafayette then looked over his shoulder and saw a woman, wearing a dark green hood that hid most of her face, enter the bar looking around, before the barmaid came back with bottle.
As soon as she was done pouring him some scotch, he heard one of his colleagues say in a dismissive tone: “Haven’t seen him in days… Even if we knew his whereabouts we wouldn’t tell the likes of you, because we take care of our own. So please do me a favor, New-York – Leave this bar and while you’re at it leave this town too.”
“And please, never come back if you know what’s good for you.” Another one added.
“Right,” a familiar voice, dryly, answered. “I suppose if I can’t get his whereabouts I’ll just settle for the next best thing: A bunch of dirty cops stuck in a bar with me. “
“Hey, what did you say?” An officer asked in a warning tone.
“Did I stutter?”
Lafayette froze as screams and slashing sounds are heard, repeatedly, lasting more than several seconds. He was shaken and couldn’t find the courage to turn around and witness what happened.
When he did, he assessed the damage – several of his colleagues moaning in pain and bleeding profusely from claw marks etched onto their bodies.
Most people seemed severely injured and mutilated while some appeared almost incapacitated. His coworkers from New Orleans Police Department were all victims of this senseless act of violence – except for him.
“What in god’s name just happened?” He managed to utter out.
Footstep was heard, stalking in his direction before it stopped. “It’s simply –”
His blood ran cold when his eyes locked with the hooded woman’s bright unnatural green eyes.
“Mayhem.”
He awakened in a jolt, startled and uncertain of his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was clear in his mind: The desire to end Detective Connors’ life and a sudden unexplainable hunger… He was about to drop him off from the ledge before his conscience got the best of him.
As soon as he let the dirty cop go, Connors reached for a concealed firearm to retaliate – and then, some dark tendrils took form from the cloak and latched onto his brother’s murderer, absorbing him completely – leaving no trace of Connors at all.
It's only then that he remembered a flash of demonic red eyes – he immediately sat upright in a panic.
"Ty…what are you doing here?" a familiar female voice almost shrieked.
It took him a moment to recognize it as Tandy's, and his eyes opened immediately when he did.
Tyrone expected to find himself staring at the church’s windows, but instead found himself faced with the beige interiors of a bedroom. He deduced it must be Tandy’s bedroom as he sprung up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to teleport…here.”
"Doesn’t explain why you here," she said, yawning. "Waking me up from possibly the best sleep I’ve had in years."
He chuckled a little before her face appeared in his vision, her eyebrows knitted together slightly in concern.
He leaned against a wall, examining his surroundings again and seeing all the Disney collectible dolls on her shelves. "Guess that’s your bedroom, huh? Didn’t peg you for the Disney type." It made her eyes roll as she sat upright on the edge of her bed, wearing a white short-sleeve pyjama set.
“Stop avoiding the question.” Tandy studied Tyrone in a way that made him a little uncomfortable, as though she can see right through him. “You’ve got that look on your face – You wouldn’t have teleported to me if there was nothing wrong…”
He bit his lip, not sure if he should tell her what he saw in his dream. He didn’t want her to worry more than she was. “It’s nothing serious – just a stupid dream.”
“A dream, huh?” A puzzled expression appeared on her face. “Care to elaborate?”
“Connors disappearing inside my cloak,” He answered, omitting the rest of his dream.
“Oh.” Her eyes went wide. “So it worries you to not understand or know how it happened?”
He licked his lips and nodded his head before answering. “Yeah… I guess it worries me a little bit. Wouldn’t want to absorb anyone else by accident.”
“It’s a scary power but I’m positive you’ll get the hang of it.”
“How can you be so sure? I’m starting to think my powers are acting up more than it should for some reason... Maybe, it has something to do with the fact that I spend my nights in a church – and sleep in a goddamn sleeping bag.”
She stifled a laugh as she got up from her bed and walked a bit closer to him. “No biggie. If I’ve done it – you can too. It gets a lot easier over time.”
Tyrone flinched at her words. He didn’t like the fact she was trying to relate her life decisions with his. “I was forced into that situation. And it will definitely not get easier anytime soon.”
“What are you trying to say, Ty?”
“Well…I’m wanted for the murder of a cop I didn’t commit. I know I got rights and all but my options are very limited.”
She nodded in understanding. “I get what you’re saying…but even if it seems hopeless, you can’t give up on clearing your name, Ty.”
“That’s easy for you to say since you always had a lot of options.”
A frown appeared on her face as she crossed her arms. “Bad options… Most of my options were bad ones. And stop whining because I really don’t have time for your “I’m a victim” bullshit.”
Tyrone pursed his lip. “And I’m certainly not in the mood to get advice from a messed up person who made bad or questionable decisions –” He was then punched on the left arm by Tandy and winced in silence while rubbing his sore limb.
“You’re the one who teleported in here in the middle of the night in panic and I’m just trying to be friendly – Maybe, I’m actually worried about your sorry ass,” she said, glaring at him.
A small laugh escaped his mouth.” It’s funny to think how far we’ve come…and yes, I know that you’re “learning” to care. But it doesn’t change the fact that you can’t understand what it means to be in my shoes, Tandy.”
“So now you’re saying I can’t understand you because I’m white?”
“No…No, I’m not. That’s not what I meant –”
“Can you just shut up, Ty! You and I both know what you meant – and I’m tired of your bullshit so please leave the way you came in,” She said and turned away from him, seething in anger.
He bit his lip as he glanced at her, wanting to apologize for being insensitive but his pride wouldn’t let him. “I’m trying but I can’t teleport… It’s so much harder when I don’t have my cloak –“
Tandy quickly turned around with daggers materialising in her hands before she threw them at him.
His eyes went wide as he instinctively teleported out of her bedroom.
“What a prick,” She hissed, walking back to her bed and recalling the nervous look he had on his face when he had teleported in her bedroom. She had a feeling he didn’t tell her exactly what was up with him.
Knowing and feeling that something was wrong, a voice in the back of her head told her to reach out for him. But with all the bullshit he told her, she suppressed the urge to act upon it.
His inconsiderate ways pissed her off. Apparently for him, her being white meant she had more opportunities than he did and that she could not relate to him.
After everything they went through in the past several weeks, she thought they had reach some kind of understanding...
“Screw you, Ty,” She said, before flopping on her bed, closing her eyes and slowly drifting back to sleep.