Lighting a Spark

He cared about her, that much was evident. But...why did he care? He didn't know the answer to that question, and she believed him. She could hear the honesty he held. She could also hear the sadness he had held upon asking his latest question; would she be staying with him? She hesitated to answer that question. Trusting people...it could lead to you getting killed, easily. She had seen other people die just by simply trusting the wrong people; was this doctor a wrong person to trust? She had yet to reveal her true identity to people as well; if she chose to stay with him, it was inevitable that he would see her out of her costume.

"I..." she began to say, pausing again. Trust was the key issue here; her trust issues in particular. "I'll stay, with you. I think you'd be a bit sad if I didn't." she said to him, whispering the last part so that the others, particularly his lackeys, didn't hear; she didn't want them to get the impression that their boss was soft. She offered him a smile as she said that, to let him know that she was joking.

Another unseen smile, and another unseen tear. He could not pin why, but he felt more complete now. It's as if he had found something he was unaware was missing. He didn't want to be happy, but he was. Happier then he had been in months. Years even.

The van pulled up to a warehouse, and the armed men got out. Dr.Everyone and the girl got out too. The money in the duffel bags was quickly divided up, and Dr.Everyone left with a thousand dollars. As he and the girl walked down the sidewalk (to his Penthouse, which was a few blocks away, he handed her fifty dollars.

"I do believe I owe you an allowance."

The Doctor was becoming attached to her. Having her as a..dare he say..a daughter of sorts..made him feel better than he had before. He had the nagging feeling there was something behind this, but he couldn't pin it.

"Before you come to stay with me, you should know that I have a college student living with me. He controls fire as I do, but he knows me by another name. And I do have a guest room for you, for however long you'll be staying."

She rarely trusted people, mostly because you could be betrayed so easily by people. Other people were not things to just trust willy nilly and yet...yet wasn't that exactly what she was doing with the doctor right then? Trusting him? She disliked the way she was acting, but...it was a new start, in a way. A chance to start anew. Was it really something she wanted though? A life with someone else watching over her? She wasn't sure on the answer, but she knew one thing; it couldn't hurt to at least try it out, see how she liked it. Who knows? Perhaps she'd like it so much that she'd give up being a renegade.

On second thought, that was a stupid wish; even if she did like staying with the man, it was unlikely she'd give up doing what she liked, even if it was dangerous. Heck, even if she tried to lead a normal life, it was inevitable that one day she would get into a situation involving people with superpowers; suppressing who she was? Well, that wasn't really a good idea at all in her opinion. It was at that thought that they got out of the van, right outside of the warehouse; she followed quickly after the doctor as he began to walk. An allowance...he had just handed her fifty dollars. Not a ton of money, at least compared to the amount of money she got when she had robbed places, but it wasn't as if he was going to hand her all the money he had just stolen.

"I don't know how long I'll be staying...but thank you, for the money," she said, keeping her gaze on the ground as they walked; she just realized something. They had yet to even share their names with each other, at the least the names they used when in costume. "What's your name? I'm...Dakka. I still don't feel comfortable sharing my full name with you." she said, letting that show through in her tone of voice as well. She didn't want to distrust him, but she had no choice; she couldn't be too trusting.

"I am Dr.Everyone, but I'd rather leave my moniker out where it belongs. So, I'd rather say that I am Dr.Flamel. I would hate to make you uncomfortable by sharing my first name, so I guess I will leave it at that."

There was one thought going through Dr.Everyone's mind. Or rather, two.

"Hopefully she does not remember that moniker. Despite the fact that I, myself don't remember my escapades while I was insane, the world sure does. If I am fortunate, she won't have read or heard about me somewhere. Even more so, I hope it won't scare here away. This feeling in me, this familiar feeling. I know what it is, or at least, I did at some point. It is like a word on the tip of my tongue, yet it refuses to come out. I WILL figure out what this feeling is, this profound feeling deep in my gut."

"The Penthouse is just around the corner.."

Just then, three muggers came out. Two had knives, one had a baseball bat. A feeling of anger and protectiveness washed over Dr.Everyone. His arms flared with flames that quickly reached four thousand degrees. He was prepared to kill all of them. But then he remembered Dakka. He couldn't kill someone in front of a child. So he'd have to scare them.

The fire shot out at the knives and melted them until they were boiling puddles of steel on the ground. The muggers' hands would have second degree burns. The man with the baseball bat dropped his bat quickly, just as it was hit by fire and turned into a third boiling puddle of steel. He would get first degree burns. Then Dr.Everyone spoke. His voice was just less than calm sounding, but he packed all of his hate inside of it. His voice struck terror into the muggers.

"Leave. NOW! Or else I swear to God and Satan that I will incinerate you so badly your ashes will be cremated. The only pieces left of you will be microscopic particles smaller than a Prokaryotic organism!"

The three muggers ran as fast as the could back down the alley, and Dr.Everyone's arms were then devoid of fire. Dr.Everyone looked back at Dakka to make sure she was okay, and then gestured for her to follow him. They turned the corner and Dr.Everyone opened the door to the building, holding it open for the girl.

Dr. Everyone...she did not know much about that moniker, only the basics. Such as people had celebrated his death when he had died in a huge explosion somewhere foreign. But...surely that wasn't the same man as the one conversing with her right then; he didn't seem to be a villain in the slightest, so why would so many people celebrate his death? Besides that, he had died, the man they called Dr. Everyone, hadn't he? No, she decided that this doctor and the one she had heard about were not one in the same; people didn't just come back to life, after all. Well, they might, considering the world she lived in, but she really doubted that anyone could survive a gigantic explosion, which from what she had been told and what she had learned, had been really big. Unimaginably so. The last name he held was Flamel, and it was interesting, mostly due to the fact that he shared a name with Nicolas Flamel, the man who had been researching the Philosopher's Stone. That would grant one the ability to survive explosions; again though, it was just her mind connecting random facts even though they had nothing to do with each other. In all likelihood, his last name held no bearing to the fact that Nicolas Flamel had the same last name.

It was likely, possible, that Dr. Everyone didn't even know who Nicolas Flamel was or what the Philosopher's Stone was. It was then that they rounded a corner, and came face to face with three muggers. Just three, and only two of them had knives. Before her new found friend, Dr. Everyone, could shoot flames at them, Dakka had already pulled out one of her guns; she deemed that she didn't need to use it though, not when Dr. Everyone had already gotten to work. She watched, callously, as he fought them, and after a moment, she strapped her gun back to her waist, content to let him deal with the muggers. She could have done it herself, probably much faster than he had done it, but oh well; she wasn't going to push herself when it wasn't needed. She also watched as they ran away, and she looked at the doctor as he looked back at her; she offered him a small smile once again. She couldn't help but smile; he was kind to her, something she hadn't experienced in a while. She silently followed him the rest of the way to his penthouse; he opened the door for her, and held it open. After a moment's thought, after making sure she really wanted this, she walked forward into the threshold.

"I could have taken them out in less than two or three seconds, if you had let me." she commented as she walked inside. Clearly, she had no problems with returning violence with violence.

Dakka walked into the building after commenting on how she could have taken the thugs out in less than two seconds. Dr.Everyone didn't know whether she was joking, bluffing, or naive. But he waived off the comment and smiled. A smile that wouldn't be scene.

"OH! Wait just a moment!" Dr.Everyone said, realizing he still had his helmet on. He quickly took it off and decided to remove his lab coat too. He slung the lab coat over his shoulder and carried his helmet in the hand that held the duffel bag full of money, the helmet firmly wedged between his upper arm and his side.

The door man (who was more a Desk-inside-the-door man than a door man) welcomed them both as they walked inside.

"Hello Greg, out pretty late tonight, weren't you?"

"Oh yes, quite late indeed Joshua. I was picking up my niece from the airport."

"Seems you guys went shopping along the way."

"Yes we did. I saw these a store window and thought they would make an excellent costume come next Halloween."

"That costume looks just like the get up that Dr,Everybody character used to wear."

Dr.Everyone held is breath for a moment. But he quickly remembered that nobody knew who he really was. Except Dakka, of course.

"I hadn't noticed. Well, it works better than I thought it would. Thank you Joshua. Now, I really must be getting up to the Penthouse, it is late. Good night."

"Good night Mr.Laurie."

Dr.Everyone began to walk to the elevator, pulling out his key to make the elevator go to his Penthouse.

It was interesting to see how easily Dr. Everyone was able to trick people; she frowned just a bit as she watched the doctor take off his costume, and then realized something; she was still in her own costume as well. Hastily, the girl took off the cloak and goggles, as well as the ninja garb near her mouth. That left her only in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, as well as with the two pistols strapped to either side of her hips; she supposed the best, and really only, way to hide this fact was to stick close to Dr. Everyone and keep them out of the site of the door man.

Luckily, it seemed that worked quite well; it was interesting for her to hear that Dr. Everyone's named seemed to be Greg, or at least, that was what the doorman Joshua called him. The lie he was telling slipped easily from his tongue as well; she quietly watched the exchange, trying to absorb all she could from it.

”You're a good liar. Do you suppose you could teach me sometime?” Dakka questioned, though she couldn't keep apprehension out of her voice. After all, the doctor now knew exactly what she looked like, now that she was out of her costume; it wasn't a comforting thought to know that, even if she did trust him. All her life she had gotten by by not trusting people, and yet there she was, trusting him clear as day. It was funny, in a way, that she had chosen to trust him so readily, so quickly. She looked towards the elevator after asking her question, still thinking those same thoughts even as she waited for both the doctor's answer and the elevator's arrival.

The Doctor watched Dakka take of some of her clothing, and it made him think.

"Is she removing her outerwear to mimic me, or because she does not wish for people to associate her true identity with that look? Perhaps I'm thinking a bit too much, she's just a girl after all! I'm not dealing with villains and heroes, I'm dealing with a preteen. We're inside, it's warmer. She's probably just taking off the outerwear because of that. Of course, most people would take off their coats and such once inside their home, not just the building...ahh I am overthinking it."

Then Dakka commented on his skills at deception, and asked if he could teach her. The comment made Dr.Everyone feel guilty inside, like he had done wrong. It was an alien feeling to Dr.Everyone.

"I should conduct myself more like a proper role model around her."

"When one such as myself spends enough time in a situation such as mine, you hone a few of your less honest skills, one such skill being the art of false truths. However, forgive me for wishing to refrain from teaching a young teenaged girl such as yourself how to lie as flawlessly as truth. Morals and all that."

The elevator dinged, and Dr.Everyone stepped in. Dakka followed, and Dr.Everyone put in his key to the Penthouse. A button on the very top of all the buttons lit up, and Dr.Everyone pressed it. He then withdrew his key and put it back in his pocket.

Did he really tihnk her that much of a child? Truly? It was almost irritating to withstand, but she tried to tell herself that he probably thought she was just an ordinary little girl. Save for the guns. And the costume. Perhaps he thought she was pretending to be a superhero? No, that couldn't be it; from what she had gathered thus far, he seemed to realize she was intelligent. So just why was he treating her as if she hadn't seen the world, as if she hadn't seen the corruption that plagued it on a daily basis? She tried to puzzle out an answer to this as she thought about the recent events.

She just...she couldn't think of a proper answer for that question; there didn't seem to be any. Logically, she shouldn't need to be worried about morals, considered she had lived for a while on the streets now; did Dr. Everyone not realize that? Did she think her a simple orphan recently cast onto the streets? She was anything but, and she was going to get that through to him no matter how hard he resisted learning that fact; he certainly seemed to be trying to convince himself that she needn't worry herself about learning about less than moral things.

"I'll be honest with you. I've seen plenty of things on the streets, Dr. Everyone, or rather, Greg. I know plenty of immoral things already, including the spots on a man's body where he's most vulnerable to firearms. Protip, it's usually the eyes and the throat, unless they're a super. Then it varies." Dakka said, before stepping into the elevator with him, cheery as if she had never said that. Of course, it was normal for her to consider that...well, normal.

Dr.Everyone struggled to keep his poker face, but managed to keep it without notice. Years of lying tended to require a straight face and the ability to keep one in most situations.

Dr.Everyone knew she was smart, and that she had been orphaned. The fact that she wasn't innocent somehow 'fit'. A feeling of Deja Vu washing over the doctor. It was as if he had been in such a situation before. But he shook it off for now. He also ignored the girls comment, the same as it seemed she was doing. He could be aware without acknowledging.

The Elevator dinged and Dr.Everyone stepped out into the penthouse. Against a wall right outside the elevator was a table with three pictures of Dr.Everyone (one of him before his accident, one picture of him disfigured with third degree burns, and a picture of himself as he was now) . Mounted on the wall behind the pictures was Dr.Everyone's various degrees in biology and physics as well as his doctorate in chemistry. All of them framed, all of them from Harvard. It was Dr.Everyone's little reminder to himself that he hadn't always been a "villain". It reminded him who he was, who he had been.

"Welcome to my abode, my dominion. The one place I can be where I do not need to be throwing fire around. Costs a hefty sum, but I make more than enough to cover the costs."

It was again irritating to withstand him, but this time due to his silence. He had to recognize that she was smart, that she was not innocent at all; but he didn't want to say anything. Why not? Surely he trusted his own intelligence enough to counter whatever she had to say, right? She thought about that; or did he really? It was possible he thought that she was smarter than him, but...from what she had seen so far, that couldn't be true, was it?

He had seemed to treat her like an ordinary little girl so far, especially when it came to those thugs that had basically tried to rob them. She could have easily taken care of them if he hadn't done so first. In fact, she was sure that, if she had wanted to, she could have blown the thugs away before Dr. Everyone could have done anything. That is, if she had really wanted to; she hadn't right then because the doctor was there. She hadn't seen any harm in letting him get a feel for what being her guardian might be like. It was then that they reached the penthouse; three pictures framed a table near the elevator.

Then there were the degrees he had as well; they were rather impressive, though he didn't seem capable of making much use of them. People didn't usually take kindly to people who could shoot fire out of their hands. "This...it's a pretty nice place, to be honest. Barely any of the places I've broken into have been this nice," she commented to the doctor soon after he had spoken, glancing around as she took in everything before she spoke again. "How exactly do you make money?" she asked of him.

"Thank you, I do try to treat myself."

Then she asked how he made money.

"Once upon a time I might have made money doing something such as developing a cure for disease, or making it so items and vehicles can change their shape and camouflage. Currently, however, I make my earnings through the common channels. The channels which those who take them are generally frowned upon and disliked."

Dr.Everyone dropped his keys on the table in front of the picture of himself when he was disfigured. He then walked to the kitchen, and began sifting through the cabinets.

"Dakka, do you enjoy beef stirfry?"

So it seemed that his title as a doctor was much more than just that; he had actually once made things. Dakka was interested to hear more, primarily because she was always hungering for knowledge, but it would have to wait. "Beef stirfry?" she repeated as she followed after him.

She didn't recall ever having had it before; most of her diet did not include healthy things at all. It wasn't unusual for her to just steal a pizza or something to eat whenever she was hungry; she didn't eat all of it, of course. Whatever she didn't eat was given away to various people she met. "Don't think I've ever had it before, so...knock yourself out if you wanna make it." the young girl said with a shrug of her shoulders accompanying that statement.

"Good. Just be aware, it's Chinese food. You'll likely be hungry later. But I do have more food if such is the case."

Dr.Everyone put the ingredients into a pan and began to cook, using a spatula to stir up all the meat and vegetables. As he finished, he took out two nice plates and filled them as much as he could with the asian dish. He then took two large mugs out of one of his kitchen cabinets and filled his with Dr.Pepper. He put down a plate and an empty mug in front of Dakka, and his mug and plate in front of his seat.

"You can have whatever you wish to drink, I have just about anything available here. Now, I have said quite a lot about myself this evening, I think it's about time you tell me about yourself. At least, the things your comfortable discussing."

Chinese food...she had never been much for Chinese food. She had tried stealing food from such a place before, but the food had been...less than appetizing, to say the least. With luck, Dr. Everyone was a good cook and his skills at cooking would mask whatever horrible taste Chinese food seemed to have naturally. Soon enough he returned, and he wanted to know something; more specifically, more about herself.

She frowned at that, wondering what to say; suddenly, she didn't feel all that hungry anymore, in light of the fact that he wanted to learn about her. It was to be expected, but she didn't expect it to come so soon, nor out of the blue like this.

”Not much to say, really. Normal kid, strange artifact, dead parents, and then boom, here I am,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder, averting her gaze from that of the good doctor. She was appreciative towards him for letting her stay, but...did she feel comfortable enough to tell him anything, especially on the first night of knowing him? No...she didn't think she did; she had trust issues.

”Look...um, I kind of have trouble trusting people. Especially at first; just letting you see my actual face is a lot. Maybe after I get to know you better I'll be more clear, but information is a powerful weapon in the right hands.”

Dakka frowned, and Dr.Everyone assumed it wasn't his cooking. Dakka was obviously uncomfortable sharing information about herself. She did share a very, very, concise run down of her life. She mentioned something about a strange artifact, but Dr.Everyone decided to keep that information for another time. She then explained that he had trouble trusting people.

"A very smart girl you are. Information is the weakness to all people."

Dr.Everyone ate some of the beef-stirfry.

"Some of my better cooking, it seems. Doubly good it seems, as I have a guest. But I have made her uncomfortable. I better change the subject."

"So...Dakka. I do understand your mistrust for me, just having met me. Perhaps it would be beneficial for me to become less of a stranger. Anything more you wish to know about me, ask away."

Dr.Everyone took another fork full of the beef stirfry and washed it down with some of the Dr.Pepper.