2012-08-07 All The Sisters of Mercy

The Cuckoos never sleep. Not really. They're piled into a bed in a comp'ed hotel room in Atlantic City, dozing, with one of them half-watching the television when the news of a big green monster wrecking New York City breaks into the program. Suddenly, they're not sleeping even a little.

Unlike most of the viewing public, the girls are indifferent about the damage to the city and the heroes trying to protect it.


 * "Oh, no."| |"Poor Bruce."| |"We can't help him right now."| |"Patience."|

As hard as it is to simply sit and watch the grainy, rocky images from the news helicopters, they understand patience and that it would benefit no one for them to race off to do… what? Expose themselves? They can't mind-control an area so large without amplification.

They perch on the edge of the bed, hugging each other without realizing what they're doing, and watch the news. They're marginally gratified--for Bruce's sake--that the Hulk can be stopped at all, by anything. The moment the Hulk leaps out of camera shot, they are moving as well, getting dressed and packed, searching for his mind--or Bruce's. The Hulk's mind is nearly impossible to locate without having nearby landmarks in view.

They locate Bruce's mind the moment the Hulk recedes, even though they have to wait hours for it. |"We need a car,"| they realize. They can't waste time. Usually they'd co-opt a driver but they don't want to expose Bruce to strangers, even ones under complete mind control. |"Pick someone."|

On their way out, a tall, handsome man is getting out of a cherry red convertible. |"Not enough room."| As soon as the valet pulls away in the convertible, a woman draws up in a massive gold-toned luxury vehicle that looks as though it could handle anything. She hands the keys to the girls without hesitation, lending them the car for a few days, and they pick from her mind the driving knowledge that she was just using.


 * "Easy enough."| They pile in and simply start driving. They use the GPS to find the straightest path to their destination--which at first is merely |"that way"|, north, and then toward a beach… they hone in on their target until they're driving down Ocean Avenue.

They find Bruce sprawled on the beach like a shipwrecked mariner. |"It's all right."| |"We're here."| |"You're safe."| They calm his mind and gather him up, bundling him into the back of their vehicle where the owner has thoughtfully stashed a pile of soft towels for a trip to the beach.

One of the girls--doesn't really matter which when they're like this--sits in the back with Bruce's head in her lap.


 * "Where to?"| |"Not New York."| |"Gotham."| Gotham, where they keep their dingy little bolt hole that they sometimes share with Laura. With few security cameras anywhere and a neighbourhood of people who keep their heads down, it's the best choice.


 * "Apartment 5C."|