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[bombshelled]

[ The video shows a dark room. It's like all the lights are out except the flash on the camera and someone's pulled dark curtains over the window. All of a sudden you hear a voice: ]

I've been a bad bad girl


[ Lana hasn't shown her face on the network before, so people might not recognize the brunette sitting in the dark, wearing just a t-shirt and boyshorts, singing. But that's not stopping her. ]

I've been careless
With a delicate man
And it's a sad sad world
When a girl will break a boy
Just because she can
Don't you tell me to deny it
I've done wrong and
I want to
Suffer for my sins
I've come to you
'Cause I need
Guidance to be true
And I just don't know
Where I can begin

[ She crawls on hands and knees and looks straight into the camera for the chorus. ]

What I need is
A good defense
'Cause I'm feelin'
Like a criminal
And I need
To be redeemed
To the one
I've sinned against
Because he's all
I ever knew of love

[ Then, as if awakening from a trance, Lana's eyes go wide and she drops the device, running to turn the lights on. When she comes back into frame, she's wearing sweatpants and a sour expression. ]

This place is bullshit.

[ That's it. That's all she has to say about what just happened. She ends the feed. ]

Comments

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[conscientiae]

Er...

[ Jemma tries smiling. Is she successful? It's hard to say. ]

Er, Lana. Are you alright? I could bring you some tea, if you'd like to talk.

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[bombshelled]

No, I'm not alright. I just sang some dumbass song to the whole of Wonderland in my fucking underwear.

But yeah. I could do tea, I guess.

[conscientiae]

... Right. Be there in a bit.

[ She's true to her word and shows up with a thermos and a handful of creamers and sugar packets she's pilfered for occasions such as these. ]

Lana? It's Jemma.

[bombshelled]

[ Lana opens the door and waves Jemma in, still frowning and not really feeling like talking. Once Jemma's inside, she flops down on the bed and sits with her arms wrapped around herself. ]

So. Singing. [ She bites her lip. ] Singing about shit I really shouldn't be singing about.

[conscientiae]

[ Jemma goes to the desk first, to pour them out some tea without risking a chance to spill, and then she brings the cups over, handing one to Lana and sitting next to her. ]

What were you singing about? The lyrics gave some indication, but... [ It's not like they were all that specific. ]

[bombshelled]

[ Lana takes a deep breath. She doesn't like opening up to people, especially not about her checkered past. But Jemma seems nice, and she brought her a hot drink so, whatever. ]

When I was younger, my mom and I robbed banks. We got stopped a couple times by people like Spider-Man, and my mom ended up being send to Ryker's. They gave me a choice, since I was only like fifteen. Jail or high school.

So yeah. "I'm feeling like a criminal." That's what the song was about.

[conscientiae]

[ A mother and daughter bank robbing team? That's not exactly what she'd been expecting to hear, and she wonders if Lana's powers factored in a tall, and if they'd be the kind of people that SHIELD would've dealt with, if it would've been Jemma and her team trying to figure out how to contain her. ]

How old were you when you got started?

[bombshelled]

[ Lana avoids Jemma's eyes, sipping tea and doing just about everything she can to avoid answering. Eventually, she comes out and says, ] Pretty damn young.

[ And apparently when she starts talking, she can't stop. ]

We started small, ripping off little joints in the suburbs. But then when I had enough control of my powers, we hit the city. Used to be I could only use my powers when my mom and I were near each other. When she went to prison, I was happy for that. I didn't want to have anything to do with my old life, the crime or the powers or any of it.

Then eventually, I started practicing. Small stuff, you know? Blowing up empty soda cans in the backyard. 'Cause what's the point of having powers if you don't use them? Not to, like, not to hurt people or whatever, but to help people. I got myself a new costume, and decided to try being a hero instead of a... a criminal.

[conscientiae]

[ It's hard to resist the temptation to reach out to her, so Jemma does, placing her hand lightly on Lana's shoulder. She can only be glad that Lana got away from her mother when she did, though that must have been traumatic too. ]

That's a very big decision to make on your own, and I think it shows that you truly aren't a criminal. You're making an effort to make up for your past.

[ She doesn't know how helpful any of this is, but it's hard to see someone so young hurting like this. ]

[bombshelled]

[ Lana can't help the flinch at the sudden touch to her shoulder. It's like she got so wrapped up in talking about her past that she almost forgot Jemma was there. ]

Yeah, I guess. Fat lot of good it does me here, though. I mean, on the one hand, nobody knows me, so I have nothing to prove. I have a clean slate. But on the other hand, being a superhero is kind of useless here.