the eiffel tower going apeshit in paris and crushing a bunch of people ? bad . the eiffel tower being a spaceship that landed on times square and was currently crushing a bunch more people ? very bad . the fact that while callen had considered herself powerless to help before and now felt an odd sense of responsibility to help defend a city she'd spent less than a month in , in her whole life ? decidedly , undeniably , blatantly worse . bad . so bad , in fact , that the brunette found herself bouncing on the balls of her feet , most likely ruining the heels on her shoes completely , pondering her options . she'd helped get some people out of public spaces — that was an easy , responsible call to make and she'd had no hesitation . but what now ? was she expected to just sit there ? was she supposed to catch a ride towards whatever life threatening scenario awaited her and do her best not to fuck it up too badly ? in the back of her mind , the idea of reginald hargreeves having a superhero 101 manual somewhere in the townhouse she stood staring at didn't seem as ridiculous as it had appeared the day before . " fuck it . " what was the worse that could happen , realistically ? not allowing herself to fill in that blank seemed like the wisest idea she'd had so far . there were cars speeding past , yes , but they seemed to be moving away from the action . not her idea . no , instead she waved her hand in front of her face , trying and failing to stop any of the cabs zooming down the street . " shit , taxi ! c'mon . this is ridiculous . "
Natalie was early for her shift at the cafe today. Most days, she didn’t mind getting there early. She could sit and people watch while listening to music on her headphones. But her headphones had fallen into a puddle on the sidewalk on her way in, and then were stepped on, now she was stuck people watching in silence. Natalie ordered a latte and sat down by the window and sighed. Trying to lose herself in daydreams, she almost didn’t notice the figure standing next to her. She turned.
“Oh, hi,” she said.
* ◞ ‧
callen had come to the striking realization that she wasn't much help in a crisis — not that she didn't want to help , she did , but what was she supposed to do ? hail a cab and run down to times square real quick to try and blow up the eiffel tower ? she figured it'd be a mess . a huge mess , a big explosive mess and she'd probably end up in a body bag . new plan . if she didn't know how to stop the attack , she could at least help evacuate the area . that was smart , right ? hence why she found herself walking into the cafe , heels clicking as she told people to get the hell out of public spaces and somewhere safe . the pretty redhead in the back was her next target , eyes blinking far more than necessary at her casual greeting . " hi . erm— i'm sorry , but have you checked the news ? there's a . . . crisis in times square , you really should head home . unless home is close to times square , then you should find some other place to go . "
perhaps standing there , staring at the sparrow academy with a gentle frown between her brows and her head tilted ever so slightly to the left wasn’t considered normal behaviour , but between the blaring sirens and the commotion of the street ? callen figured she’d blend in , at least a tad . she’d been doing this often , not because she wanted to go inside by any means , but because she found it a good way to understand people’s personalities — how they chose to present themselves and their homes had meaning . sure , she hadn’t exactly had long , deep , meaningful conversations with . . . just about anyone like her since her arrival , but she’d already made some conclusions.
number one : it took just one glance at the sparrow academy’s front door to be washed over by the sheer level of self-importance they — well , their father — truly felt . the building had character , but it felt less like a home and more like a pretty trap , grand with its white stone and statues but strict with its black , old - looking gate . then again , what could you really expect from a baby - buying , superhero - training billionaire ?
number two : whatever that woman — lila , was it ? — had thought would happen when she dropped her and the others like her here most definitely didn’t . it was fair enough , the brunette mused shifting her weight from one high - heeled foot to the other — everyone seemed to have more than enough shit to deal with right now . paris going up in flames was just another slice of pie on top of an already very heavy plate .
the sigh was loud and heavy as callen pulled her buzzing phone out of her pocket , brown eyes rolling and lips pursing at the text on her screen — you leave for two weeks and discover that none of the people you work with are capable of functioning properly without you there . lovely . as fingers tapped furiously on her well - loved iphone , the woman was far too engrossed in her reply to notice the approaching footsteps . . . or the voice directed at her . “ huh ? sorry , i didn’t catch that , “ callen was fast to hit send , phone disappearing into her back pocket as she turned to look the figure over , eyebrow rising as she gave a tight smile . “ you were saying ? “
eris had showed up on the doorstep of the sparrow academy less than two days ago, dropped off by a woman that claimed to have some sort of device that let her travel through time and space… all because there was a possibility she could meet people like herself. and that still wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen this week.
“okay so… realistically…” she’s mostly talking to herself, eyes still locked on her phone as she rewatches the news broadcast for the third time. she’s seated on the curb in front of the academy, honestly considering heading out to paris herself ⎯ mostly out of curiosity. “how would you even fight a building?”
* ◞ ‧
“ beats the shit outta me , really . tie it up ? “ callen had expected a myriad of things when she took the woman’s invitation to come to new york , but to end up considering going to paris to help someone stop the eiffel tower ? not one of them , not by a longshot . so far it had been an . . . interesting trip , albeit not very productive — no big ‘ welcome to the family ‘ dinner parties , no ‘ we’re all fucked up , huh ? ‘ drinks , not even anything worthy of a training montage set to eye of the tiger . leaving was becoming a strong option in her mind , and then alarms starting sounding all over the place — loud enough that the woman could hear them on her hotel room across the street — and instead of leaving she wanted to do . . . something . they were all here , might as well be helpful .
heels clicked against the asphalt as closed the distance between herself and the girl , a sigh pushing past her lips as she moved to sit , hands brushing the crumbs of the toast she’d hastily eaten on the way here from her jeans . eyes wandered to the girl’s phone , a low whistle setting the tone as she rewatched the footage before it dissolved into another sigh . “ has the high socks gang left yet ? or are we sittin’ here waiting for the school bus to pick us up ? “
oh, have you heard about CALLEN DAVENPORT ? they showed up at the academy ELEVEN DAYS ago all the way from CALIFORNIA ? i got the impression that SHE is OBSTINATE & AGGRESSIVE , but they might be HUMOROUS & LOYAL for all we know . they remind me of the sounds of children fighting on the playground , hastly made ponytails that fall apart with every move , a will strong enough to move mountains , wolves gnashing their teeth at the sight of a threat , but maybe all this chaos will change that . i can’t wait to see how this pans out !
* tw : death , car accidents .
welcome to my absolute mess and / or disaster child’s life , please buckle your seatbelt and keep your hands inside at all times !
oh boy , here we go . so , callen has no idea who her birth parents are — she was put up for adoption the day after she was born and really , if reginald had been faster ? her mother would have yeeted her right off with him . really , no one could blame her considering she’d gotten married the day before . what a way to start a honeymoon , huh ? alas , it didn’t work out like that and baby callen was adopted when she was a little over six months old by a lovely couple in california .
things were good and simple for the first few years of her life , and then shit started to hit the fan — children throw tantrums , but callen’s seemed to be a little more . . . explosive than normal , quite literally . when it was the coffee machine over an argument over breakfast , no one thought anything of it . when it was the china cabinet , they figured it had to be some sort of issue with their electrics . when it was the swingset at a playground , jeremy and olivia davenport realised that maybe their daughter was a little . . . off .
research didn’t help them , and the alternative of trying to find someone to help was terrifying — for their safety as well as callen’s . so , regretfully , they landed on anger management therapy from a very young age and hoped that it’d do some good at keeping callen’s emotions in check . update : it really , really didn’t . maybe it’s the stubborn nature the girl had , or maybe it was the fact that she was being treated in a way that wasn’t usual , but she grew up with a biting temper and a short fuse . that being said ? she was also polite , fair and helpful — even though teenage years are hard and complicated , and there were definite headbutts ? callen and her parents got along well enough .
they kept callen’s . . . quirk a secret , hoped for the best and as long as she didn’t get too riled up there were no issues . life went as normal until the car accident — a freak moment that happens too often , too much speed and a red light run and suddenly everything was spinning . jeremy and olivia died , but it turns out that when everything explodes into flames around you and you yourself are a walking bomb ? you’re sturdier than your average joe .
while she isn’t in any way immune to external fire , after using her powers callen has a few minutes of resistance and that was enough for her to crawl through the broken window and out of the car with only a broken arm , a lot of bruises and minimal burns . the mental impact of survivor’s guilt was far more extensive .
it . . . wasn’t a good time , but thankfully callen was eighteen and her parents’ money kept her afloat on the material side . on the psychological side of things , she’s spent the last eleven years of her life wondering if she was the one who caused the accident and while she knows it’s highly unlikely , she also can’t be sure . she got tougher , more pragmatic and cynical , less patient and gentle with her words . she’s still a fair , loyal , humorous person but her parents’ passing lit a fire behind her eyes that coated her personality in a thick leather-like layer of aggressiveness . therapy helped a lot , but some things you don’t shake off .
learning to control her power was hard , and tedious , and she’s still not sure she can do it properly but there have been very little accidents in the last decade , so she counts that as a win .
she isn’t sure why she went into law , but it channels her aggressiveness and sharpness into a positive , it pays well and she’s good at it , so callen figures it’s as good of a job as any . it’s not a passion , but it’s good , and solid , and that’s all you really need sometimes .
taking up lila’s offer was . . . impulsive and quite frankly , dumb . she’s not sure what the hell she’s doing , or why , but she knows that she’d never be satisfied if she didn’t see for herself that there’s others . plus , she had more than enough vacation days to burn through , so why not ?
she holds a bit of resentment towards both the academies , not on a personal level but due to that nagging sense of jealousy that comes from seeing that they weren’t alone , that there was an element of shared struggle that kept them together . does she wish she’d been adopted by good ol’ reggie ? no . but she wishes she’d had other people like her around .
