|1| Whatever It Takes || Code 8: Connor Reed

02. Explanations

"So, this is a place where powered people can be safe?" Heather clarified as the three of them were walking through the grounds.

"Yeah. You can think of it like... Well, almost like a school and hopefully for most, a home for powered people like us." Victoria said and they were looking over at her. "I don't look it, but I am a Class Five Hydro." She explained.

"And those two kids, the five year olds who just appeared out of nowhere in a wave of water?" Linden asked and she nodded.

"My kids. Tommy is the Hydro, he clearly inherited it from me. His sister Tyla, she is an Electric." Victoria explained and at the words, Heather glanced over at her.

"What happened to their father?" She asked and Victoria smiled softly, before she was shaking her head.

"He is still around. He just didn't want any part of anything big, so... He went to live on his own." Victoria said, fighting to keep the shakiness out of her tone. "Anyways, we have people from all walks of life here." She said.

"Victoria? Why don't you just skip the whole introductory thing and just give us the sales pitch straight up?" Linden asked and she was looking at them both.

"All right. I have a Class Four Ferro and a Class Four Solar, who both recently left my team to start a family. It doesn't look like they are going to be coming back, so I need people to join the team." Victoria said with a shrug. "I need people who are willing to fight, to get into situations that may involve gunfire and blood." She said.

"I'm in." Linden said and then, Victoria glanced over at him. "I have been trying to fight my own little war on my own for a while now, but you have an entire operation and a team to run it." He said and he gestured around them. "I can't really make a difference on my own but here, maybe I can." He said.

"All right, one spot is filled." Victoria said and she was turning to Heather, who was silently weighing the options.

"What do we get in return?" Heather asked and Victoria smiled slightly at the words, before she nodded.

"This property is huge, we have three guest houses each with five bedrooms and also, a whole bunch of amenities, you can pick one although keep in mind that if we don't have any more space, you may have to end up sharing." Victoria explained. "You will have everything that you might need and anything that's missing, I'll get for you or Griff will." She gestured over at the tracker that was barely visible in the distance, as he was laughing and being tackled by four kids that they had with them.

"Money?" Heather asked.

"$10,000 a month on a credit card per person, but you have to pay it off." Victoria stated as she continued to walk. "You can all get jobs at my computer empire, which is where most of us get our money from. I own the whole thing, I have my friendly Ferro doing the payroll." She said as she yawned.

"I'm in." Heather agreed and Victoria nodded slightly. "So, where is this Ferro that you are speaking so highly of?" She asked and Victoria chuckled quietly.

"Hang onto your stomachs." She said and before the two of them could react or even move, Victoria focused and all three of them were disappearing into water.

They landed in front of an apartment complex and immediately, Heather threw up and Linden looked queasy. "That felt weird." Linden muttered and Heather was nodding.

"What are we doing here?" Heather asked and she swiftly glanced at Victoria, who was walking into the building and they were following her hesitantly.

Victoria knocked on the door at the end of the hallway and a knife nearly stabbed her, before she was stopping it with a small tornado of water.

"Drop the knife." She said as the knife went back to Jordan Carter, who was standing in another doorway and she caught it again. "I missed you, Jordan." Victoria said with a smirk.

"Got some new recruits?" Jordan clearly already knew the answer, despite the fact that she had phrased it like a question. From behind her, a pair of eyes were blinking and Victoria smiled carefully.

"Hi there." Victoria said as she crouched down and held out a hand, before the little girl was creeping out from behind Jordan's legs. "You must be Dawn." She murmured and the little girl was nodding quickly.

"Come on in." Jordan said and when she swiftly held out her hand towards the main door, it opened itself and Victoria smiled wider as Jordan scooped up Dawn, while the others followed her in.