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Her garage - her home - was trashed. What was a weekend trip out of town turned to disaster the moment the mechanic returned home Monday afternoon to find it broken into, covered in abusive language with spray paint.
"Fuck!" She probably had cursed dozens of times, but it still didn't release the bubbling anger inside her chest every time she found a new piece of damaged property. The authorities had already came and gone, and she was now waiting on a lawyer. Emmett wasn't the brightest when it came to any legal matter, but even she knew it was necessary in a hate crime that was clearly labeled in bright red spray paint across the garage doors.
META SCUM.
They - whoever they were - were lucky that Emmett hadn't been home. She would have defended her garage with her life, and she so wished she could take her aggression out on someone. Instead, the already damaged bay door would have to do. The kick hurt her foot, but she did it again for good measure. "Christ!" Shaking hands ran through bright blonde locks as she let out a heavy sigh, turning in time to catch sight of someone pulling in.
Teddy hardly expected one of her first cases to be on her doorstep. This town - thriving as it was - was supposed to be the beacon for change. It was supposed to be a safe haven for meta-humans to be among a base predominantly made of their own. Perhaps that was what made local businesses a target. Bellefonte had all-but taken over the already established place. And with it came, well, the apparent scum referenced on the door in bright red letters.
She signed to herself as she pulled in. The second composed herself, she stepped out of the sleek black Lexus and surveyed the immediate area. Bright eyes were thankfully hidden behind tinted Givenchy lenses, because the horror enveloped in her gaze would have done nothing for her case.
Stepping up, she refused to raise her glasses under the depth of the hailing sun. She turned her hidden gaze to the women clearly losing her mind over the incident.
"Emmett Coupland?" She asked. With a name like that, Teddy had absolutely assumed she'd be carrying this conversation with a man. If she was wrong, it'd be a pleasant surprise.
The car that pulled up towards the shop was sleek - it suited the lawyer image, that was for sure. Still disgruntled, Emmett crossed her arms as she waited for the person that would be representing her. Theodora, she was told. What kind of name was that? Admittedly, it sounded professional at the very least. She could only hope this person would be of some help. The mechanic could barely keep up with paperwork for the shop, let alone anything of a larger scale.
Someone very different to the sound of their name stepped out of the car. Eyebrows shot up and her hands dropped to their sides. Although the woman's eyes were shielded by dark glasses, they didn't hide the rest of her stunning features.
"Yeah." A pause. Too casual. "Yes." The mechanic stuck a hand out, only to realize it was covered in engine grease. She quickly dropped it and ran it along her dark jeans. "You're Theodora?"
Though the safety of hidden eyes, Teddy surveyed the person before her with a quick glance from her shoes to her hair. Small town, she guessed. Stagfort suited her. Agreed with her, even. Next to the lawyer with her perfect appearance, they must have looked like an odd pair indeed.
"Teddy." She corrected, hiding the desire to grimace behind a light smile. In the same moment, she noted to remind her firm employees not to give out her first name like it was something to be celebrated.
"They said you're the owner?" She asked then, and she extended her hand without a second thought, "You must be understandably upset."
Teddy. At least it was more approachable of a name than the former. The mechanic nodded with acknowledgement, dark eyes glancing down towards the hand offered to her. She wiped her palm on her already geasy pants one more time before taking a firm hold of it and giving a shake.
"I am," Emmett puffed up. Even in a damaged mess, she was still proud of the title. It was her greatest accomplishment, which was probably nothing compared to the person standing beside her.
When reminded of her situation, the blonde frowned. "Yeah, it's just - fuck - I mean. It sucks."
Teddy briefly looked at the hand she held. Of course it was strong; look at the environment they were in. When she did finally let go - lithe as her own grip had been - she made no effort to clean her own hand. It didn't seem to matter to her.
"You should be proud." She agreed quickly, knowing all too well the emotion hadn't been verbalised. But it was obvious, and she wanted to acknowledge it before she lost he chance.
Glancing back again, Teddy felt her focus to the obvious graffiti. There was no denying that statement. The culprit might have felt smart about it, but it would likely end up being their downfall. "Shall we go in?" She asked, because standing outside for a conversation like this was hardly appropriate.
"How was business?" She asked the second she got the chance.
Right. She hadn't invited her inside. Emmett tried for a smile as she gestured to the bay door that was open, walking inside the garage and closing the door with the hit of a button against the wall. Inside was a mess - a large, red tool cabinet had been shoved over, hundreds of dollars in tools spilling out onto the concrete floor. Any signs of personality in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles posters and hockey jerseys had been ripped from the walls, scattered now. Any and all shelving had been emptied or knocked over. Emmett squeezed the back of her own neck in an attempt to calm herself down. Every new place she looked, she felt overwhelming anxiety build up in her again. So she focused on Teddy.
"Good. Like really good. I was thinking that I'd have to hire someone for an extra set of hands. 'Cause it's just me, and it's not that I can't handle it, but the work is steady enough." She tapped the toe of her boot to the floor. "Today was an exception. I was out of town for the weekend and had decided to close shop for the morning so I wouldn't have to rush back."
Pained, dark eyes looked around again. "I have a proper place upstairs, if you want to sit."
Glancing around the space, Teddy immediately took in the fact that this place was supposed to have obvious character. It looked like things were predominantly smashed and scattered as opposed to stolen. She wasn't a police officer, of course, but these were important pieces of information for most people to pick up.
Good business. Really good business, in fact. Teddy pursed her lips at the news; she had almost hoped to hear the opposite. Knowing that cemented a very simple, very obvious list of culprits.
She flicked her glasses up finally, bright blue eyes settling back on the woman in obvious pain. "If you'd like." She proposed. After all, it was her place.
"Have you ever felt discriminated against since you've been here? Or does this seem... Out of the blue."
When she finally caught the woman's intense eyes, Emmett exhaled heavily. She couldn't stop moving, hands pressing to her legs while fingers tapped against her jeans. Within moments, she was walking again, hauling keys out of her pocket as she lead the lawyer up a set of stairs to her apartment. Though it wasn't necessary, she had locked it again for good measure. Paranoia that they'd come back for what they hadn't ruined, maybe.
Inside wasn't dirty, but it wasn't entirely impressive either. It was simple enough for the relatively simple life Emmett lived. At least there weren't dishes in the sink - it might have made up for the normal chaos she lived in. "Let me get you a chair..." Emmett mumbled, shuffling things around the kitchen. The pile of clothes on top of one were quickly thrown into the laundry room before she presented it.
"No, not really anything too bad I guess." Her lips pursed together with thought, nose crinkling. "I mean, when I first started here - before I think more people were bothered that I was a girl than a meta. But nothing like this has ever happened before."
Teddy had no idea that when she mentioned a proper place, she meant her own living space. That was relatively obvious; it wasn't an easy thing to hide, and despite the fact that she was invited up here, Teddy couldn't help but feel like she was invading someone's personal space.
She watched a pile of clothes be removed from a seat she assumed she was supposed to occupy. It was difficult not to catch how nervous this woman looked. Without a second thought, she took the seat offered to her, crossing one leg over the other and settling her hands together in her lap.
"Are you vocal about your abilities?" She asked then, because it seemed like the obvious question, "Are there any instances where you've used... Whatever it is you can do publicly?" Because if word of mouth failed, public displays could be even more incriminating.
It wasn't long before Emmett sourced another chair. She didn't really care about the state of one that she herself sat in, though now that someone sat in her home who could probably purchase it with the scribble of a check, she realized how unkempt it must have looked to a professional eye. Her hands sat in her own lap as she glanced down to the way this woman crossed her legs, and then up again.
"I'm really agile." Emmett explained quickly. "But I don't really brag. I mean, if it comes up in convo I'm not gonna hide it." Did she show it off from time to time? Probably. "Sometimes it comes out in the open. Coulda dunked a few hoops in front of some people. Or when I hit the ice rink." They were likely the most common occurrences to bring up, but it was such a normal part of her life it was hard to say.
Teddy nodded along to the explanation given to her. On the plus side, it wasn't a blatantly obvious ability. Anyone could excuse those instances for sheer luck, or even adept skill. For that, it would be a back to the drawing board type of seal.
"Did they take anything?" She asked. It might have been an important question, but it wasn't strictly at the top of her list. Still, it would only add an inevitable piece to the puzzle they were both probably forming.
"And how about the police? What are they currently doing for you?" She didn't dare ask if she was planning on staying here tonight; the answer seemed obvious.
In the disorder, Emmett had attempted to check everything she could think that someone might have wanted to take. There were thousands of dollars worth of equipment and tools in her shop, all left to be scattered across the floor. "Nothing. Weird, right?" It almost would have been easier if they had taken something - at least that would have been a motive besides hate.
"Officer Vaccari went over everything. Took some samples of stuff from the door and other places, saying something about hoping to get DNA or see what they used to break in." Emmett shrugged, pushing herself up to her feet again already. "I have cameras, but they got smashed, too. So They took the cards out of them hoping to recover something. Do you want some coffee or something?"
The first hint of a frown caught Teddy's mouth at the information that they didn't take anything. Not only did it make it easier to catch someone red handed, it would have framed this in a much simpler light. Anything else would have proven this wasn't a direct hate crime. It was what she made a business for, but that didn't make it any better to stand in the destruction of someone's property just because they were who they were.
At least the police were doing their job. Chances are, most of the officers were graduates of the nearby school or its foreign counterparts. It would have surprised in the saddest way to hear that they weren't doing their part to help her.
She looked up when she stood again, eyebrows raised at the thought of cameras, and then coffee. The latter drew her out of her concentrate state, offering the first glimpse of the person behind the lawyer-front. "Yes, actually, that would be great. Did you want help, or-" She let her voice trail out. It wasn't her home, after all, but she couldn't help but offer all the same.
It was better to stand and move. Restlessness was a natural part of her ability, but this felt different. She kept her gaze on the lawyer, even as she walked towards the sink. For a moment, her expression seemed to soften. Or maybe that was just how people reacted to the idea of coffee in general. As Emmett thought on it more, she wasn't even sure if piercing blue eyes actually did show any shift. She reached for the coffee pot, filling it with water from the tap.
"Oh. Thanks. Yeah, if you wanna grab a couple mugs, they're in that shelf right there. If you want." She wondered if it was appropriate to accept help offered out of what she assumed was politeness or not. "They're all clean."
Of course they were. She wouldn't have put them away if they hadn't been. She pursed her lips, feeling a sudden cold wetness on her hand. Only then did she turn to look at the sink and her over filled coffee pot. Quickly, she turned the faucet off, dumping out some of the extra water before pouring it into the coffee maker and grabbing a filter and some pre-ground coffee beans from the local coffee shop.
