Shadows in Crawfordsville - Part 3

Crimson Dynamo Origins Series


Shadows in Crawfordsville - Part 3


Tiffany let out a long soft yawn as she slowly awoke, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on her face through the blinds in Emma and John's guest room. "Oh man...I slept like a baby..." The slender redhead sighed as she stretched her arms out a bit to loosen up her muscles, another yawn slipping past her lips. She tossed the covers aside and slowly slid her legs off of the bed, her bare feet touching the carpeted floor as she slowly stood up and took a look around the room. The tall redhead was dressed in a CU tank top that she had borrowed from Emma, along with a pair of snug fitting yoga pants that Stephanie had loaned her. Tiffany smiled as she caught the familiar smell of bacon in the air and she slowly walked over to a nearby chair where she retrieved a soft cotton bathrobe, also Emma's, and slipped into it before tying the belt off at her waist. "Smells like someone is cooking up some breakfast..." She said happily before giving a soft yawn. Tiffany glanced over at the dresser to make sure her super heroine costume was still there, neatly folded in a pile of black and red with her mask lying on top, her red boots sitting on the floor nearby. Satisfied everything was in place she slipped out of the guest room and headed for Emma and John's kitchen. "So what is the master chef cooking for us this morning?" Tiffany teased as she slipped into the kitchen, finding John busy at the stove while Emma sat at the island on a bar stool nursing a steaming cup of coffee. "Oh please...don't let it go to his head..." Emma kidded with a little grin while John simply chuckled. "Home made omelets for my two favorite red headed heroines..." Tiffany raised an eyebrow and looked at Emma who just shrugged. "I made the favorites list already...wow..." John glanced back over his shoulder and offered a grin. "Well when you rescue my wife from certain death and peril, it kind of puts you on the list..." 


"Hey...it wasn't certain death..." Emma pouted a bit before giving a little sigh. "Really just more of the same old..." Tiffany moved over to her and gave her a comforting hug followed by a playful kiss on top of her head. "It comes with the costume...trust me I've been through enough of it." She added before plopping down on the bar stool next to Emma, giving a sigh as she noticed what time it was on the oven clock. "Didn't realize it was so early, guess you guys have morning classes to be up for?" Emma nodded as John continued to cook. "Yep, first lecture at nine this morning, but shouldn't be too bad of a day. What about you?" Tiffany thought for a moment. "Just two guest lectures today after lunch, but that's it." Emma gave a little frown. "Heading home after that?" Tiffany looked over at her and gave her a little grin. "Well not right after, I have my hotel through tomorrow and was hoping to do a little site seeing. After all you and John mentioned a few food hot spots!" John grinned as he walked over with two plates, both containing large omelets, a few strips of bacon, and some freshly buttered toast. "Breakfast for the ladies..." He said playfully as she set them down in front of Emma and Tiffany and returned to the stove to finish up his own meal. "Wow, this looks amazing..." Tiffany smiled as she picked up her fork. "You know how to pick them Emma..." She teased, drawing another chuckle from John. "Again...don't let it go to his head..." Emma grinned as she started to dig in to her delicious breakfast. "Anyways, tonight would be great to hang out if we can, I'd love to visit some of your local watering holes and see the CU nightlife." John gave a laugh from the stove and looked back. "Afraid you saw most of the nightlife last night, besides the evil doers around here, there isn't much in the way of excitement." Emma nodded. "True, but we can still show her a good time, and it's nice to be able to go out to a pub and just relax without a lot of commotion and noise." Tiffany nodded in agreement. "Amen, I can't stand some of those louder night clubs pumping all that loud music in. I get enough headaches from work and my other job, don't need it when I want to go relax and unwind." 


"Well we know this great little Irish pub, great beer and they make these brick oven pizzas that are to die for." John mentioned as he continued to cook his own breakfast. Emma nodded. "Yep, why don't we hang out there? I'll have to make a quick patrol tonight but don't have any plans after that." Tiffany grinned. "Well how about I join you for your patrol, with two of us it should go faster, besides we didn't really have much of a chance to catch up last night." Emma blushed and seemed taken aback. "Really? You want to go on patrol with me? I'd be honored!" Tiffany just gave a little laugh. "Oh please, it isn't that big of a deal, just might be fun to hang out a bit in our other identities." John turned around with a sly grin on his face. "Just take pictures if you two go up to the water tower and make out..." Tiffany's eyes went a little wide and Emma's face scrunched up into a little scowl. "JOHN!!" She chided him as Tiffany just laughed. "What?? Can't blame a guy for trying..." Tiffany just shook her head and gave a little grin of her own. "Be careful what you wish for Mr. Sapphire...that Shadow Samurai is quite a cutie..." She grinned at Emma, who turned three shades of red before shaking her head and giving a playful sigh. "Enough..both of you..." She teased before laughing. John walked over with his own breakfast plate and paused to lean down and give Emma a soft kiss on the lips. "Don't worry babe, we're just messing with you...you know I love you and would never allow another woman, even if she is a lovely heroine, to steal you away from me." Emma blushed and kissed her husband back softly before John took a seat on the other side of the kitchen island. "Oh Romeo be still my heart..." Tiffany teased them both, causing Emma to laugh. "Hey now...a man has to admit when he's got a good thing..." John defended himself before munching down on some bacon. The three of them shared a laugh and then dug in to their breakfast, eager to get the day started with the new promise of friendship and a relaxing evening ahead. 


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"Great view from up here..." Tiffany said as she let her red boots dangle over the edge of the water tower, her blue eyes taking in the expansive night time view of a sleepy Crawfordsville from behind her red mask. The moonlight glinted off of her sleek black suit as she turned to look over at her companion, the lovely black clad Shadow Samurai, who was also letting her stocking clad legs hang over the edge. "Yep, this is my little escape, my own little place to come and just reflect on things." Emma smiled, her lovely red hair now a bit shorter and turned black to go with her sexy Shadow Samurai costume. Tiffany smiled as she let her eyes wander over Emma's lovely costume clad form, thinking in the back of her mind that John was a rather lucky man to have snared such a wonderful package of smarts and beauty. "I think every hero needs a place to go and relax and just let their mind wander..." Sarah piped up from below, sitting on the Shadow Stone which Emma had set down between them. Tiffany nodded. "Yep, I have my own little rooftop back home where I'll go some nights after a patrol and just watch the city under the stars. Helps me clear my head." Emma gave a little chuckle. "Wow...I thought I was the only one that did something like this..." Tiffany shook her head and gave a little laugh. "You know you aren't the only super heroine in the world right Shadow?" Emma chuckled at the teasing. "Though I guess you'd be hard pressed to find another woman with such lovely legs, especially in those tights of yours..." Emma blushed slightly behind her mask at the compliment and turned to look at Tiffany. "Well yours aren't bad either, and with that sexy red skirt and those boots, I've often wondered how my costume would look with a skirt and knee highs..." Tiffany smiled and took a moment to check out Emma's legs again. "Well I think you'd pull it off easily, but the hot pants are pretty sexy to, and John might miss those..." She looked down at her red booted feet and gave a grin. "Plus it takes some getting used to fighting crime in knee highs, I should tell you about when I first started and tried to use high heeled boots I bought at the store...oh man..." The two shared a little laugh, their hair fluttering in the soft night breeze as they enjoyed one another's company. 


A few minutes sitting on the water tower eventually turned into an hour as the two heroines exchanged personal stories of both triumph and peril, as well as how they both obtained their abilities and decided to use them for good. Emma admitted her origin wasn't nearly as tragic as some of the things Tiffany had gone through to get her abilities, but Tiffany assured her that despite getting dealt some rough cards in life, she had made the most of it. Sarah remained mostly silent, meditating on the Shadow Stone while listening to Emma and Tiffany chat, a little smile forming on her face knowing that Emma had found a new friend that understood exactly what she dealt with in her life as the Shadow Samurai. The conversation seemed to die down a bit, but then Emma perked up slightly. "So, what was that you said the other night, about looking for me? You said we had a mutual acquaintance?" Tiffany smiled and looked over at Emma. "Yes, that was one of the reasons I wanted to find you. I'm sure the name Katy Barton might ring a bell for you..." Sarah perked up and looked over, noticing that Emma had stiffened noticeably for a moment before relaxing again. "Orchid? You've run across her?" Tiffany nodded. "We had a run in of sorts, if you can call it that. More like a multi-night showdown with her getting the better of me a few times..." She sighed. Emma gave a little grin. "Yeah I know the feeling, she's quite good, but a little naughty..." Sarah gave a laugh from below and looked up at Emma. "Is that why you chose to let her go?" Emma frowned and sighed. "Hey that was a joint decision!" Sarah shook her head playfully. "Nope, that was your idea from the get go, you wanted to give her a second chance." Tiffany gave a little laugh seeing the two of them tease each other. "Well I'm glad you did...it worked out some what." Emma perked up with interest as she looked over at Tiffany. "It did?" Tiffany nodded and reached a gloved hand up to play with her hair a little bit. "Yep, Katy was on a job, she didn't realize how bad the man was that she was working for. In the end he double crossed her and tried to kill her. We worked together to bring him down and put him in jail, and I even saved her life before the night was over." 


Emma leaned in a bit closer and even Sarah was listening a bit more intently now, both of them interested in where the story was headed. "It didn't take me long to figure out who she was, but in a twist of fate she discovered my identity as well. I'm not sure what happened, but the next few nights were a whirlwind of playing cat and mouse with her and eventually us going on a date in our normal identities..." Emma's jaw dropped. "A date? With Orchid? You can't be serious??!!" Tiffany blushed slightly and gave a little chuckle. "I know it's hard to believe, a heroine and a lady thief, finding common ground and falling for each other...but it just sort of happened..." Sarah gave Tiffany a concerned look from her perch on the Shadow Stone. "You're sure you can trust her?" Tiffany nodded. "No doubt, Katy has a good heart and all she's ever known is a thief's life. We came to a little agreement that she would keep her nose clean when in Steel City and so far there haven't been any problems. She's an amazing woman once you get to know her, her heart is in the right place..." Emma raised an eyebrow behind her mask, not quite sure if she was buying any of it. "I don't know...she seemed awfully naughty when she was here." Tiffany looked over and smiled. "Well she obviously showed you something that made you let her go, and trust me, she's grateful for that. She wanted me to thank you if I ran across you while I was here." Emma shrugged and gave a little sigh. "I guess I can accept that, but still, she makes me a little nervous..." Tiffany gave a little chuckle. "Me to...do you have any idea how much it keeps you on your toes having to worry about some sexy thief nabbing you when you get home, or surprising you on patrol some nights?" She blushed at the thought of all the naughty fun she had had with Orchid and smiled at Emma, who chuckled a bit nervously. "Ok...I guess I can see the appeal to that somewhat..." She teased, remembering how warm and fuzzy Orchid had made her with her own mischievous advances when she had been captured by her.


"Anyways, I also wanted to thank you. If you hadn't given Katy a second chance I might not have met her." She gave Emma a smile. "Small world I guess..." Sarah spoke up again. "I guess we might be seeing more of Katy in the future..." She gave a teasing glance at Emma who just sighed and shook her head before finally offering a knowing smile. "As long as you're happy and trust her, that's all that matters..." She finally admitted before reaching over to grab the Shadow Stone before standing up and stretching a bit. Tiffany also slowly rose, smoothing out her skirt and adjusting her red scarf a bit. The red haired heroine glanced down at her wrist computer on her left gauntlet, noticing the time. "Well I think we're running a bit late for our dinner date with John. Shall we?" Emma nodded and in a flash of light Sarah had changed back to her Shadow Sword form. "I can only imagine what horror she is subjecting Rei and Steph to right now, hopefully he hasn't dragged them into a game of darts yet..." Emma laughed as she jumped down from the water tower, landing gracefully on her black flats. Tiffany joined her a second later, floating down on her repulsor boots to stand next to the Shadow Samurai. "Well a heroine's work is never done, looks like we'll have to save them to..." She laughed. Emma nodded and then moved over to give the slightly taller redhead a firm hug. "Hey this was fun, and thanks again for last night. If you hadn't come around who knows what the sorority would have done to me." Tiffany nodded and returned Emma's hug. "Anytime hon, it's what we do for each other. It's been great meeting you, and I already feel like we are so close and have so much in common." Sarah suddenly popped up on Shadow's shoulder, a teasing grin on her face "Well John did say you two might be sisters..." All three of them shared a good laugh,  which was suddenly interrupted by a low grumbling sound. Tiffany gave a sheepish grin and rubbed her stomach with a gloved hand. "Sorry...I'm starving...and have all those thoughts of pizza in my head..." Emma chuckled and smiled. "Alright then, we should get going, race you back to my place?" Before Tiffany could answer Shadow took off running back towards the city. Tiffany just gave a little laugh and slowly rose up into the air, smiling and thinking about how fortunate she had been to make such a great new friend in Emma. After taking a quick look around at her peaceful surroundings she gave a little grin and then took off in the direction Shadow had vanished. 


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Tiffany watched intently as her dart flew through the air towards the multicolored circular board on the opposite side of the pub. When the dart embedded firmly in the bulls-eye she let out a victorious cry and turned to her opponent, a frowning John Sapphire. "YESS!!! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!!" She playfully teased as she pumped a fist in the air, drawing a groan from John as the two of them turned and headed back over to their nearby table, where Emma, Stephanie, and Rei all sat watching in amusement. "I guess the next round is on me..." John sighed as she slumped into his chair next to Emma, looking glum. "I'm sure it was just beginner's luck..." Tiffany joked as she high fived Rei and Steph and sat down at the table. John finally cracked a wry smile. "Does that mean you are game for a rematch?" Emma groaned and wrapped an arm around her husband's shoulders, pulling him in close. "That's enough darts for this evening, why don't you let Tiffany relax and be spared for a bit?" Everyone laughed and Emma silenced John with a quick kiss before he could protest further. After the kiss John stood up and took a glance around the table, noting the number of drinks he would need to return with. "If you lovely ladies will excuse me, I'm off to get another round..." He stepped away from the table and Tiffany grinned at Emma. "Such a charmer that one, you are quite the lucky lady miss Sapphire." Emma rolled her eyes and gave a little laugh. "You're going to give him a big head..." Rei gave a chuckle. "I think it's already big enough..." Stephanie shook her head. "That's what happens when you're married to the amazing professor Sapphire..." Emma groaned playfully and put her head down on her arms on the table. "You guys..."  Tiffany looked around the table, smiling as she was obviously having a good time hanging out with Emma and her extended family. "This has been a great time guys, thanks for letting me tag along and for all the hospitality." Rei smiled and put an arm around Tiffany's shoulders. "Anytime, you might as well consider yourself part of team Shadow now, part of the family." Stephanie nodded. "Yep, anyone who helps out Shadow is a friend of ours, if you ever need anything don't hesitate to call." Tiffany smiled and looked over at Emma who nodded. "You've got Sarah's vote to...but you might have to let John win at darts once in awhile if you're going to hang out with us." They all shared a good laugh over that one just as John returned to the table. "What??" He asked as he set down a couple of fresh beers and looked around the table. Tiffany grinned. "Nothing, let's eat some pizza, than maybe I'll take you up on that rematch!" 


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"Are you sure you can't stay a few more days, this has been a ton of fun, peril and the sorority aside..." Emma joked as she took a sip of her coffee and looked across the table at her red haired companion. "I wish, this has been a blast, you and John will have to come visit me sometime so I can return the favor." Tiffany replied before sipping on her own coffee. The two lovely redheads were sitting in a small bistro at the small local airport, awaiting Tiffany's flight back to Steel City. "I can even send the private plane for you if you want, make it a quick trip over." Tiffany offered with a smile. "That would be fun, we'll have to do a weekend get together soon." Emma smiled and took a bite of her muffin before drinking more of her coffee. "I'm sure Katy would love to see you guys again, in a more peaceful setting..." Tiffany teased a bit, drawing a playful look of ire from Emma. "Well she'll have to make up a bit with John...but I guess I can be civil." Emma teased, but then her expression grew a bit more serious. "You sure it's a good idea, I mean with what you do and what she used to do...aren't you at least a little worried?" Tiffany shrugged and shook her head, offering Emma a reassuring smile. "I'm just trying to enjoy it, there have been so many rough patches in life...and Katy has been amazing, even if she is a bit naughty sometimes." Emma nodded, just seeing the smile on Tiffany's face was enough to get her to drop her feeling of concern. Suddenly Tiffany's phone beeped and she picked it up, checking her latest messages. "Alright, flight is here, I need to get going." Slowly she stood up and shouldered her travel bag. Emma came over and gave her a long hug. "Thanks again for everything this weekend Emma, it's been a pleasure." Emma nodded and smiled. "Likewise, be sure to stay in touch!" Tiffany smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small device that looked like a miniaturized cell phone. "I can do one better..." She said with a grin tossing the device to Emma, who caught it and looked it over. "What is this?" She asked as she looked at the small buttons and screen. "It's communications device, linked to my own personal one...in case you get in trouble again or need to reach me while I'm at my...other job." She gave Emma a knowing smile as the red haired professor realized Tiffany was giving her a way to get a hold of Crimson if she should ever need it. "Like I said, come visit sometime, I'll show you my rooftop..." She gave Emma a wink and they exchanged another hug. "You can count on it!" Emma said happily before they said their goodbyes and parted ways. 


To Be Continued...