SHIELD [Book 1 of Alex & Allie Save The World]

Chapter 5 John Mulaney

Allie eventually finds herself on the vaguely busy and utterly eery streets of Gotham. She's been following impulses for directions, having no solid knowledge of the city's layout. Allie knows one route and that is from the Sentinel to the nearby candy store.

It is dark and foggy as always and the flickering streetlights set that famous creepy Gotham ambiance. The drugged girl limping down the sidewalk with an invisible force acting as a crutch, clad in just a hospital gown and robe only adds to the scene.

Even drugged Allie has a fragment of a sense of self-preservation so everything so every time a car passes she ducks into an alley or hides somehow.

"Gotta find Brucie Wayne," she repeats manically to herself, among other nonsensical chatter.

If any nefarious types come across her they either decide she isn't worth it or she is a new deranged serial killer.

III

"Let me get this straight-"

"Only thing you'll ever get straight," Alex huffs and Bruce frowns slightly at them.

"Is now the time?"

"It's always the time for gay jokes, but continue."

"You think the real Allie escaped her hospital room out a window while heavily drugged and somehow left two brain-dead copies of herself behind? Oh and not to mention her leg and ankle are still broken," Bruce recounts apprehensively and Alex nods. "How?"

"I don't know," Alex replies and shrugs. "Does it matter?"

"She must be metahuman and the fall must have triggered her abilities," Bruce concludes and Alex snaps into a flare of desperate rage.

"No! No, she isn't metahuman. I want to keep her out of this life," they hiss but falter as a hesitant frown crosses their face. "This is just some freak medical thing." Bruce, deciding the fight isn't worth it, only nods.

"A freak medical thing we have to hide."

"Okay, you're right. How about this, throw that one out the window into the bushes and I'll tamper with the heart monitor to make this one look like she's dead," Alex suggests and Bruce's face twists. He's cradling the second body like a baby and doesn't want to let go.

"I'm not throwing her out the window."

"Then shove her in the closet."

"Allie has spent enough of her life in the closet," he denies and Alex sighs in exasperation.

"Bruce we do not have time for your fucking emotions right now. Just get rid of the body," Alex barks. Reluctantly Bruce settles the second double in the bottom of the closet and tucks his jacket over her. Alex raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms.

"What? She gets cold."

"Fucking sap," Alex grumbles, though secretly pleased at his show of affection for their dear friend, and turns their attention to the beeping machine. Any tampering would cause it to go off wildly but wouldn't show a flatline.

"Do you know how to hack medical equipment?"

"I can get into supercomputers and top-notch security systems but I've never had to sabotage a heart monitor."

"The old-fashioned way then," Alex mutters and pulls the four sensors off her skin. Frantic beeping starts and Alex points to the mini desk they set up. "Pass me the tape there." Bruce complies and they triple tape over the underside of each sensor before taping them back on Allie One's skin.

Once the sensors are fixed back in Allie One, Alex adjusts the top of her hospital gown and tucks in her sheets. The heart monitor produces a flatline at the lack of feeling the presence of a heartbeat.

"Now start calling for Dr. Shaw and be sad," Alex instructs.

"Dr. Shaw! Dr. Shaw!" he shouts and runs to the door, yanking it open. Alex falls over the copy's body in faux grief to sweeten the act and pretends to sob.

"What is it?" Shaw exclaims and sprints in. Dr. Shaw slams to a stop when she sees and hears the flatline. "She passed."

"Yes," Bruce responds coldly. "Rather suddenly." The doctor huffs a sardonic laugh and shakes her head.

"A foolish part of me hoped she would defy medical science and come back."

"We all hoped," Alex concurs and wipes tears from their eyes. "What comes next?"

"Her body will be transported to the morgue, a death certificate issued, and other arrangements will be presumably made by you," Dr. Shaw explains mechanically.

"Yes, I'll have to call her family," Alex murmurs and lifts off Allie's body.

"I have to call the time of death," Shaw says and walks to the monitor. In the corner of the screen, there's a stopped clock flashing at the time 1:15 AM, "1:15 AM, March 17th, 2016," Shaw states.

The time and date may not mark the end of Allison Gray's life but they do mark the birth of the decision to kill Superman.

III

Allie finds herself in a park feeding pigeons and crows and squirrels with an existential young man and a blunt old woman.

"I'm not even sure what I'm doing here, in Gotham Central Park, feeding wildlife with an old lady and a crazy escaped mental patient," the man laments. "I should be with my wife."

"Why aren't you?" the old lady asks.

"Well my flight was delayed nine hours and when I went to the help desk and said 'can I please go home?' they said 'No! In fact, we're sending you to Gotham because we hate you!' and I said 'okaay, but why are you doing this to me?' and they said 'Because we're Delta Airlines and life is a fucking nightmare!'," he explains and Allie cackles along.

"You think that's rough? There was a horse loose in my hospital! It was using the elevators so I had to jump out the window," Allie replies listlessly. "And now I can't find my soon-to-be boyfriend, Bruce Wayne's house." The man nods sympathetically and the old woman shakes her head.

"You're both insane and that's coming from me, someone who talks to pigeons," the old lady scoffs.

"And you're out here at like two in the morning," Allie adds.

"You could serial murdered," the boy-man chimes in.

"We all could, this is fucking Gotham." Allie makes an 'o' with her mouth and tilts her head in agreement.

"How do you know I'm not a serial killer?" Allie shares a frightened look with the man-child and hobbles to her feet.

"Fucking scatter! To your wife fancily dressed man-baby," Allie squeals and scrambles away as best she can. The old woman laughs and waves to her as she flees. The tall boy gets up and gives a flourishing bow before leaving in the opposite direction.