Phobia: Reign of Terror (Renegades Fanfic)

Chapter 3 - A Tribute to the Lost

Nova sat at her desk on the artifacts floor. Neither she nor Tina had the heart to clear off Callum's desk, so Nova's desk wasn't the only one that remained a light mess. Nova sat at her desk with her feet propped up as she thought. Something didn't add up with the past few days, but Nova couldn't put her finger on just what it was. No matter how much she wanted to ignore the thirteen year old girl that Adrian would be interrogating in a few minutes, there was something that still bothered Nova about it. She had been so cold to Magpie since she broke the bracelet made by her father, and maybe it was partially her fault that Magpie had turned to this.

Nova stirred from her thoughts when Tina Lawrence, or Snapshot, entered the artifacts lobby from the display room. It wasn't surprising to find Tina frazzled and wild anytime during this past year, her primary helper no longer there. Nova had been able to help her as much as she could, but nobody could rival Wonder's ability to dedicate themselves to the artifacts. His ability to recognize the amazing nature of every little thing that came to their archive was amazing. It was this that actually gave her the idea for their project.

"How is the set up going?"

"Well, we're a little behind on his things," Tina said, gesturing to the desk, "But we should be ready for the dedication soon."

"I'm glad, he deserves this. Did you see the parade float?"

"Parade float?" Tina asked, turning suddenly from her desk focused trace.

"Yeah," Nova continued, "They had a pretty impressive statue of Callum for what he did at the arena."

"I didn't get to see it," Snapshot told her, "But I do hope it was truly wonderful." The older woman sat at her desk, which was unusually clean for her habits. "All of the preparation for the dedication is so much work. I really do appreciate every hour you put in here, Nova."

"Oh, of course," Nova noted casually, "Though you do know that I only originally joined this department to steal my uncle's helmet, right?"

"It might have crossed my mind in the past year," Snapshot said, still staring at her desk.

"I guess Callum's enthusiasm was pretty infectious. Every time I see something new, I think about what he might say about it. You know, 'Oh, just think about how you could use this to better society' or 'Think about how much thought had to go into these things!'"

"That is something he would say, isn't it?" Tina smiled as she looked up, remember one of the few people that was a joy in everyone's life.

"I was actually wondering," Nova asked, "Should we petition for another helper? They wouldn't be a perfect replacement for him, but..."

"Maybe after the dedication," Tina agreed. Even after a year, they were still suffering from the loss of only one Renegade. Callum Treadwell had been the heart and soul of the artifacts department, thus the dedication.

The Treadwell Archive had been Snapshot's idea originally, but Nova had striven to make sure her idea came to life. She had compiled most of the things that Callum had made note of in the archive, which was nearly every single item and retagged them as part of the Treadwell Collection. They would be renaming the artifacts department as the Treadwell Archive and include comments and descriptions for every item that they could from Callum.

"How about this one?" Tina said holding up a weapon that Nova immediately recognized. It was one of Nightmare's heat-seeking throwing stars, something she had worked very hard to perfect.

"It isn't prodigious, and Callum never tagged it as anything specific."

"That's mine, actually," Nova said, "Though I don't plan on using it any time soon." Tina cocked her head to the side as she often did when confused.