xp_logs | Amanda and Crystal

Working with Amanda, Crystal finds that her assigned volunteer duty is not quite what she had expected. Hero work comes later.

With the sunrise the full extent of the damage was becoming visible and it was hard to grasp. It was something you expected in a warzone or somewhere like Turkey where the place fell down on a regular basis, not Southern California, land of sun, beaches and Pamela Anderson. Amanda shook herself out of the horrified contemplation of the devastation and glanced at Crystal. They were working together in one of the many aid stations, assisting the doctors and nurses. Nothing major, just handing out water, checking bandages, that sort of thing, but it required level heads and an ability to follow instructions. Something they'd see if Crystal was capable of.

Of course, right now they were helping set up, lugging crates of donated medical supplies, blankets and food and water to where they'd been directed. Definitely not the heroics of digging people out of rubble, but you did what you were able to.

Not for the first time since she'd arrived, Crystal wondered what she was doing there. She felt out of place, and the required RedX t-shirt and jacket felt like weights on her shoulders and arms. From neck to toe, Crystal's skin was covered by clothing. She never wore this much clothing unless the weather was frigid.

Crystal did her best to ignore the devastation all around the aid station. What was the point in focusing on it? What had happened had already happened and nothing could be done to change it. Dwelling on the horrors outside would only make a person feel worse, and who really wanted to be helped by people walking around with horrified looks on their faces?

Amanda raised an eyebrow at Crystal's almost stiff composure, but couldn't fault her for the work she was doing so far. "Once we get set up, then the fun starts," she said, setting down the last carton of blankets with a grunt. "Being just kids and not trained proper, we'll be doing the grunt work - passing stuff as it's needed, holding people still, checking on the patients after and making sure they've got water and the rest of it when they're allowed to. From what Grant was saying--" Grant was the Red Cross worker in charge of the group of RedX kids working this area. "--they're trying to move people out of the area as fast as they can. No worries about aftershocks, but withall the facilities down, place is ripe for something nasty in the way of disease."

Ripe for disease? Lovely. Crystal nodded at Amanda. This was not what Crystal had envisioned herself as doing to help out. Still, it needed to be done. Someone had to do it, even though Crystal was sure that she would be more helpful somewhere where her powers could be of use.

Crystal motioned towards the crates. "Do we need to distribute these now or do we have more boxes to carry?"

"That's it for now." Amanda caught the note of... something in Crystal's tones and gave her a brief smile. "I know it doesn't seem like you're being used as much as you could be, but you're new. They need to figure out what you can handle, what you can do. So this is pretty much training wheels time. Once the guys in charge have an idea they'll move you somewhere you're needed more." Over by the main tent where the doctors were working, one of the nursing volunteers beckoned. "And it looks like we're open for business. You ready?"

What she could do, what she had practiced for the past eight years, had nothing to do with carrying crates and handing out blankets and bottles of water. Actually, the practicehad helped. Boxes weren't so heavy when they were supported by an air current or held aloft on an air wall.

I'm as ready as I ever will be. "Yes, I'm ready," Crystal replied, already on her way towards the volunteer who had motioned to them. Well, they'd see soon enough if she was or not.

"Hey," Amanda said, touching the old woman's shoulder gently. "D'you want some water?" It was a few hours later - strange to imagine it was only mid-morning, back in New York she'd be making the pastry run for morning tea at work - and already the first aid station was crowded with people. Those with minor injuries were quickly treated and taken to the evacuation point nearby, those with more serious injuries were taken care of and kept awaiting transport. The old woman had a fresh bandage around her head and one arm in a sling - she reacted to the touch in a babble of Spanish. Luckily Amanda had kept at least a working knowledge of the language, between Manuel and Angelo, and managed to soothe the slightly-wheezing woman before giving her a bottle of water from the courier-style bag she had slung across her shoulder."I didn't know you spoke Spanish," came a soft male voice and Amanda glanced up to see Grant, the RedX representative looking after this area. He looked tired, but was smiling a little. "Think you could handle going over to Logan? A lot of the Mexican immigrants live there and we really need Spanish speakers. I warn you, it's not pretty -the housing there's cheap and it took a lot of damage in the 'quake."

"You know me, boss, I go where you send me," she replied with a slight grin of her own, keeping an eye on how fast the woman was drinking. It was heating up and they didn't want people making themselves sick. She didn't add that after Germany it would take a lot of shock her.

"Good. There's a Jeep heading over in a half-hour, make sure they take you." Grant glanced over at where Crystal was working. "How's the new girl been coping?" "Pretty good. She's pretty mature for her age and she wants to help as much as she can."

Amanda shrugged a little. "She's a bit twitchy, doing the menial stuff. I think she saw herself as doing more of the hero work."

Crystal was doing her best to act as a living air conditioning unit. Of course, this was harder to do in a crowded area full of sick and injured people than it was to do in a small room containing only two people. Also, it was easier to cool down an area when standing still, not when walking around and concentrating on checking injuries and handing out water bottles. The majority of people present were in less-than-perfect condition. Of course, there was also that ever-so-delightful idea of disease that Amanda had told her about. The last thing Crystal wanted to do was to aid in the spread of germs and disease.

Crystal walked around slowly, handing out water bottles and sending out slight, cooling winds to people as she passed by. It appeared that not everyone present spoke English. Maybe they were visitors? Brief conversations revealed that these people lived here. It seemed odd to Crystal that people wouldn't know the language of the country in which they lived. She had to remind herself that not everyone grew up multi-lingual.

"Well, until we get a better idea of what her control's like, I'd rather keep her..." Grant began. He was cut off by a sudden choking fit from the old woman. Immediately both he and Amanda crouched by her side. What seemed to be a simple case of water going down the wrong way became clearly more than that as she struggled to catch her breath, lips turning blue.

"She can't breathe!" Grant said, perhaps a little unnecessarily. "Get a medic!" The gasping turned into a gurgle as the woman stopped breathing entirely and Grant lay her carefully on her back to start CPR.

Amanda nodded, jumping to her feet. Spotting Crystal watching, she pointed at Grant. "Help him while I grab a doctor! Do what he tells you!"

Images of Marius in what had started as a coughing fit flashed through Crystal's mind. Of course, that had been different. That had been a one-on-one situation; no one else had been around. In addition, Marius had still had retained control over his body; this woman was out of it.

Crouching near the woman, Crystal turned to Grant and spoke quickly. "We can wait for a doctor and possibly let this woman die, or you can let me try to save her. I can't promise anything, but I've dones omething a bit like this before."

Grant shot Crystal an astonished look. He hadn't read anything about Crystal having a life-saving power. Still, what was the worse that could happen? "If you can help her, help her!"

Crystal cupped her hands and held them over the old woman's face, concentrating on sending in enough air to restart breathing, but not enough to cause any internal damage.

Grant watched, recalling what he could of Crystal's application form. Control over the winds... "Here, let me tilt her head back so you can get more air in. That's what you're doing, right?" At Crystal's nod he did so, keeping his fingers on the pulse point on the woman's next. "Try and keep it regular, in and out, like a normal breathing pattern," he continued calmly, hoping to reassure her. "We need exhalations as well as inhalations."

Crystal nodded again. Her control over air and wind was not one way. Air or wind didn't have to move away from her; she could also move it towards her. Further concentration was all that was needed to function as a living ventilator. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. As she continued to work, Crystal's own breathing pattern began to match the "breaths" she was giving to the woman.

"Good. That's real good," Grant told her as the medics arrived with a stretcher. Smoothly they shifted the old woman onto it and replaced Crystal with a hand-held ventilator bag. When they'd whisked her back, Grant studied the young woman. "I know you haven't done first aid before, but that was very well done for instinct. I'd hope you do to RedX courses once all this--" he waved a hand at the scene around them, "--settles down. But in the meantime.... How much control do youhave? Do you think you could move debris without it getting away from you, or perhaps blow air down into the wreckage so survivors can breathe?" There was a reason Grant was involved with RedX - he was particularly good at thinking of applications for powers.

"I have been using my powers since I was seven years old," Crystal said confidently. This was more like it. All anyone needed to do to know about her powers was ask. "I even clean my room by creating a whirlwind to pick up loose objects and I can generate much stronger winds. I would need to know where to place the debris after it was moved; I can probably move it, or at least some of it, but where to place it is another matter entirely. And yes, as long as there is room for the air to get down to people, I can help with the flow of air."

Grant nodded, impressed. Seven was an incredibly early age to manifest, but not unheard of. "Well, I think we can find some better uses for your abilities than handing out water," he said after a moment. "Let me arrange transport and I'll send you out with one of the rescue teams." He paused, looking at her. "You seem pretty mature, so I'm going to trust that if things get to much - either you get tired using your powers or you're having difficulty coping with what you're seeing, you tell someone. This job's too important, you get me?" Despite his words, his tone was gentle and teacherly.

Crystal nodded, beaming at Grant’s praise. It was about time she got off water bottle duty and started actually being useful. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of disappointing anyone.” Including myself.