EVERMORE ─ marvel

IV. Small Victories

Chapter Four
Analiese

"Thanks for coming." I tell Livy as she exits the elevator, beginning to walk down the hall with me towards my office.

She nods. "Of course."

"My division and I have been assisting enhanced who want to learn about their powers or who want to get rid of them," I begin. "I have met a young woman who is in need of both."

"What do you need from me?"

"Your kindness, your brain, and your animal senses," I tell her as we walk into my office, where Sydney still sits. Livy smiles at the young woman, but as she takes a step towards her, Sydney shrinks away. Livy glances back at me, and I answer her question before she asks it. "Sydney's powers are that of pain. Anyone she touches dies, according to her. That's why she wears the gloves and the jacket."

Understanding floods Livy's face, and confusion. "Does she want the cure? If that's all she asks for, you can give it to her if you wear gloves."

"I thought so, too. According to her, the gloves and coat work most of the time, but not always. Her powers are unpredictable, clothes only act as a barrier sometimes. We can't take that risk."

"You can't give her the cure because you can't touch her, and you can't run tests on her to figure out a solution because of the same problem. I'm guessing this is where my powers come in?"

I nod. "I'm hoping your senses can pick something up. You're the only test I can think of that doesn't involve physical touch."

Livy takes in a deep breath and takes a step forward, watching Sydney shrink back again. Livy closes her eyes, focusing. Soroya told me once that she tunes out a lot of what her senses pick up, that the sensory overload is too much for her to handle. I think Livy is allowing that overload to happen, letting it fill her up so she doesn't miss a single thing that could lead us to answers about Sydney's powers, about any hope for her peace of mind.

Livy, her eyes still closed, takes in another deep breath, but this time through her nose. She's smelling Sydney, listening, letting the animal within her analyze the young woman in detail no human could.

Livy's face scrunches up. "There's a chemical inside her. It's very strong...but it's not in her blood. I don't sense it there, it's in her skin. Whatever her powers are, their source is in the skin."

"Any chemical you recognize?"

"It smells like a steroid, or something like it. It smells wrong, my instincts are telling me to flee from it, telling me I'm in danger."

"Does that help us at all?"

"I think it does," Livy says, finally opening her eyes. "The warning my powers are giving me, the danger it's telling me to run from, it's another animal. Whatever is in her skin, whatever chemical is in her, it's from an animal."

Interesting. "Are there animals with the ability to—frogs! There are frogs that have poison imbedded in their skin. I'll have to do some research, but I think those senses of yours just figured it out."

Livy beams, smiling at Sydney then at me. "I'll do some research as well, I'll let you know what I find."

"I really appreciate this." I tell her sincerely. None of the other scientists would have helped me with this, not even if it meant saving this innocent woman's life.

Livy smiles at me again, but this smile is filled with sadness, as if she read my thoughts just now. "I'm always here to help a colleague...and a friend."