Previously posted on The Realm. Notes were thus: This was supposed to be a 15 Minute Fic, except for the fact that I wound up misplacing it and finishing it several months later.
FYI, I actually wrote most of this by candlelight during last August's blackout. Heh. That, as you may be able to tell, is when the story takes place.
Meaning, this story falls between City of Brotherly Love and Tabula Rasa. Don't worry -- there is no angst to be found.
The Blackout Fic
"And power will be restored slowly, to avoid overload, or further outages..."
"Nooooo," Chris heard Shane wail (almost incoherently) from a few feet away, clinging to the radio like a life preserver to the proverbial drowning man. "Must have power...my computers...my PRECIOUSSSSS..."
He turned to Lily and whispered, "I think Rod's rubbed off a bit on our dear beacon of sanity."
Lily giggled, leaning over the ledge and gazing out at the pitch-black city. It had been a bit of a task, getting up to the roof without the aid of the elevator, but they'd made do -- mainly because the battery-operated radio had a bit of difficulty picking up a signal in the underground bunker.
Not for the first time, CJ mused that this whole SuperHero thing could get pretty illogical.
"It's *spooky*," Lily commented, with her usual penchant for stating the obvious.
"Yeah," he agreed. He stepped forward, mimicking her pose -- hands on the ledge, the candle between the two of them. For once, she was wearing her absurdly long hair *up*, to keep it away from the numerous open flames, most important of which was the campfire blazing behind them, back in the center of the roof. The dual lights flickered, making her pale coloring almost golden as she stared out at the ghost-town version of Manhattan.
"Kind of romantic, though," he added slyly.
She turned toward him just slightly, with a little grin. "You'd think that, wouldn't you."
Hmmmmm. "Where's Greg?" he asked, 'innocently'.
She rolled her eyes. "Please. As if he *wouldn't* be out rabidly patrolling the city right now." Lily drew up into a seriously melodramatic pose, adopting a suspicious lisp while she was at it. "Evil *thrives* in darkness!" she proclaimed, in an impression of the Hurricane that, honestly, left a lot to be desired. "It is *now* that we are most *needed* to protect the fair citizens from those who would harm them!" She made a swooping gesture. "And, woosh."
CJ chuckled. Lily just looked so *perturbed*. Besides, he didn't really like that freakish little reject from Leprechaun School, anyway. Something about him...it just wasn't *right*.
Which didn't make his next comment any less true:
"The String Bean's got a point, though," he said, just-as-innocently.
Lily made a face. "Scout, let's think over the people we usually deal with, and I can guarantee you that none of them are planning mass destruction right now."
"Okay, I'll bite." He put on a great show of thinking, but nonetheless started with the obvious. "Darth Vince."
"Beating Patterson over the head with a newspaper, because their latest evil contraption doesn't have backup generators, and went out just before Vince hit The Button. See, it's easy. You try. What do you think the WCU is doing?"
Chris snickered. "They just realized they didn't build generators into *their* underground lair, either."
"Because why should we be the only ones?"
"Your turn. FAB Inc."
"Reacting pretty much the same as poor Shane-O over there." (Lily gestured over her shoulder, where Shane sobbed something that CJ could not quite decipher.) "StELG?"
"Angsting like the useless mofo that he is. BB?"
"Freaking out because the humidity's messed up her hair. Nerd King?"
"Drawing up plans to invade Canada as we speak. By candlelight. The Geese?"
"Holding flashlights under their chins and telling ghost stories. Cowgirl?" she asked, and he caught her hesitation.
He smirked. "See also Shane and fellow geeks. The lack of technology has probably sent her into complete hibernation by now."
Lily laughed, and then grew serious. "How *is*...Trish?"
Chris shrugged. "Stubborn. Impossible. Thinks she knows everything." He paused. "You know, the usual."
(He decided to be polite and pretend that he just didn't notice that Lily had just *snorted* with glee.)
"How about Greg?" he returned.
She paused, as well. A very *long* pause.
"He's...dedicated," she said optimistically.
He chortled. "You're so sick of him."
"I'm not!" she protested.
"You completely are." He grinned broadly. "He's like me, except without the charm, the fashion sense, or any sense of humor whatsoever."
Lily pouted. "Don't make fun of the guy I date."
His ears perked up. "I'm sorry, what was that? Did you just deliberately avoid using the word 'boyfriend'?"
Her eyes narrowed -- he could barely see them. "You evil subtext *whore*," she spat.
He couldn't help it -- he cracked up.
A loud "woosh" echoed out of nowhere. They both jumped -- Lily teetered slightly over the edge of the building, but Chris caught her elbow before she even noticed it.
"Holy halogen lamps!" The Hurricane proclaimed. "The Big Apple appears to have lost its shine."
(Chris shot Lily a "Do you believe this crap?" look. She very deliberately shoved the elbow he had caught directly into his stomach.)
"Hey, String Bean," CJ said cheerfully. "How's it going?"
"Quite well, thank you, Citizen Jericho." He gazed dramatically at the sky. "A hero's *work*...is never done."
Chris glanced at Lily, who threw her hands up as if saying, 'Don't look at *me*.' "Oh yeah? Is it busy tonight?"
It was amazing, the way in which he simply deflated, enabling them to see Greg poking out from underneath the elaborate posture.
"Well, no..." he admitted. "But that's no excuse to not be on guard."
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Rodney boomed near the campfire, making Xander snicker.
"That's a double negative, Hurri," Lily commented. (CJ turned and stared at her, as that's what he'd just been thinking, and had been blaming it on his naturally nit-picking editor's mind.) "Are you sure you're alright?"
He drew himself up again, and back into Hurricane mode. "Don't worry about me," he said bravely. "I must now return to the skies -- evil must know that they won't have a free ride." He posed. "Not on my watch."
A woosh, and he was gone, green cape glittering until it faded back into the night.
Chris stared up after him. "That is a sad, sad man."
"Cut Greg some slack, I know a certain someone who used to be that anal-retentive about his job." Lily looked at him pointedly.
"Yeah, someone *else* must have been a bad influence on 'someone'." He smirked at her. "I wonder who."
"I wonder." She grinned back, the firelight dancing in her eyes.
"I missed this," he said suddenly.
"What, city-wide blackouts? They're common in Canada?"
"No, you twit, *this*." He shoved her (making sure to do so *extremely* lightly; she was still pretty close to the edge). "This...*thing* that we do." He paused. "I miss talking to you."
"Well." Lily hopped backwards onto the ledge, feet swinging a couple of inches above the roof. "I've been here the whole time, Chris," she said, quietly. "You just didn't feel much like talking."
He placed his hands on hers, with the strangest feeling that he had to hold her to the ground. "I know. I'm sorry." He halted, and then, for once, had to look up at *her*. "Friends?"
She pressed her lips together for a moment, and CJ wondered what she was thinking. "Of course." She flashed a brilliant smile. "Friends."
"It's good to see you two *not* catfighting for once," Faith said, appearing from one of the now-numerous shadows, as was her way. "We should have a blackout more often."
"Don't push it," they said in unison, before giving each other a suspicious look.
Faith laughed. "Rod got the blender going. We may not have lights, but even better --" She held up a glass, triumphantly. "We've got margaritas! You guys coming?"
Chris took Lily's hand, the two of them exchanging a warm grin as she hopped back down. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."