Her school week had continued without much fanfare, not to mention her parents avoiding further mention of her little revelation that she dropped on them.  Now, as Ashe sat in the mall’s biggest salon, she wondered how her life had come to this.  She could imagine that parents felt a similar level of exasperation, watching their kids run rampant, but she was nominally in charge of a group that ranged from fourteen all the way to twenty-seven in the case of Caralina. 

Being the oldest didn’t mean she was well adjusted.  The woman grew up on the streets, and Ashe had her suspicions that Caralina was forced to come to the US as a teen, and lived from one street corner to the next for the last decade.  She’d not opened up, but there were a few context clues here and there.  Moreso, the woman was several months pregnant, only just barely showing. 

She wasn’t about to pry, the girls wanting to stay with her would open up on their own time.  Crystal was right there with them, getting her blue dye touched up and a trim to keep her side cut looking good.  Two of the girls, Brie and Lucy, were sharing some joke with her that Ashe couldn’t quite overhear due to the volume in the shop. 

She’d booked it for two hours, and told the girls they could get whatever makeover they felt like.  From there, they would hit a few department stores, get everyone some clothes to wear until they had a more permanent place to move them into.  Already it was proving to be expensive, but Ashe had the money to spare at the moment.

It was also an opportunity to get to know the girls better.  She was learning their names, though Ashe knew it would take time for her to keep them all straight.  Not all of them seemed to like her, but there was some measure of respect being shown regardless of personal feelings.  The main reason she learned Brie’s name so quickly was because of her feelings on Ashe’s admitted naivety. 

The staff at the salon were clearly exasperated, but surprisingly, not in a hateful way.  The girls were loud, but they weren’t being chaotic like children tend to be.  Most of the conversation was in Spanish, and Ashe was struggling to follow along with some of the rapid fire exchanges.  

She watched one girl, Sandra.  Just thinking about her brought melancholic feelings to the fore.  The waitress that had stood up for her against Jessica and Gray, one of the few decent people she had met.  She’d been among the victims.  Ashe hadn’t even recognized the girl with how matted her hair had been.

Sandra was getting her hair nearly buzzed off, the cosmetologist almost weeping at the sight of her hair as it fell.  It almost made Ashe’s heart ache to see nearly two feet of hair removed, but it had been her most distinct feature and not even fit for donation besides.  Brie on the other hand was getting her hair trimmed to shoulder length, but no color added.  Across the other side of the line of chairs, Lucy was getting her hair straightened, and a strip of purple added.

She couldn’t help but smile, and was almost considering getting her own hair dyed when someone walked up to the front counter.  A few people had done so already, over the last hour, and understood that there was a wait.  Security had even checked in with them to make sure everything was above board, and had given her the all clear.  Watching the latest arrival, however, Ashe had a suspicion that this woman wouldn’t take no for an answer if her bob cut was any indication. 

“What do you mean you’re booked full!?” 

And there it was. 

Ashe sighed, getting up with a grunt of pain, her leg was stitched together, and the painkillers she was given only could do so much.  Still, she needed to deal with the problem before the woman literally exploded. 

“Excuse me,” Ashe said.  “Is there a problem?” 

The woman, who was wearing sunglasses indoors, gave her the most obvious once over Ashe had ever experienced, which was saying something.  Her eyes lingered on the mask she had on, which wasn’t a surprise given how against them Florida had been over the past two plagues, but she didn’t care. 

“Who the hell are you?” 

“I’m the woman who booked the salon for the next two hours,” Ashe said, crossing her arms.  “Apologies if it inconveniences you, but I am paying a premium rate to do so.” 

She scoffed, looking deeper into the salon at all of the kids.  “Bullshit.  Look at all the spics in there, like you could afford—” 

The woman cut off her rant and stared down at where Ashe had grabbed her blouse, then sputtered as she was pulled in close.  The girls had fallen silent, and Crystal was reaching under her apron where Ashe knew she had a gun.  The woman didn’t seem to care about that, and was clearly gearing up for another rant.  Ashe wasn’t going to let anyone get away with talking to her people like that. 

“Listen well,” Ashe hissed.  “These girls have endured hell, and there is no way I am going to sit here and let you insult them.  You can leave, right the fuck now, before I make you leave.  Are we clear?” 

“You can’t force me to leave,” the woman sneered. 

“She could,” someone said.  “And as entertaining as that might be, I’d rather not do the paperwork.” 

Ashe glanced aside, not letting the woman out of her grip, to find a bemused security guard watching the scene.  Ashe let the woman go, but wasn’t about to shrink away.  Just two days ago she fought in a life or death battle for these girls, and she wasn’t about to let anyone give her, and by extension them, any grief. 

“You saw her assault me.  I demand her removal!” 

The guard snorted.  “I saw you creating a scene and this volunteer youth worker stood up for her charges.  Also, she’s a paying customer, unlike you.” 

“I won’t stand for this outrage,” she exclaimed.  Ashe couldn’t help but laugh at how stereotypical the woman was being about things.  “I demand your manager!  I know people, and this will not go unpunished!” 

“I know people too,” Ashe said coldly as Crystal stepped up beside her, hair freshly dyed but not rinsed.  She shared a sidelong glance with her, which got a bit of a nod back.  “Bet my acquaintances are better than yours.”

The woman sneered at Crystal, and it only grew deeper at the sight of her blue hair dye. 

Crystal however, didn’t miss a beat, dropping her own mask as she spoke with barely a whisper.  “Careful, your Karen is showing.” 

The woman blinked, then sputtered.  The guard chuckled, and escorted the flummoxed woman from the salon.  As they left, Crystal started to giggle.  Ashe turned a raised eyebrow upon her friend, which only made it worse. 

“Out with it,” she said with a fond shake of the head. 

“A— sweetie, did you just out Karen a Karen?” Crystal asked, still keeping her voice down, fighting back her laughter.

She wasn’t doing a very good job of it. 

Worse, Ashe was now flustered to hell and back over that little pet name.  Though, thinking about it, she kinda had done just that.  Now Ashe found herself laughing at the hilarity of it all.  She ended up pulling Crystal into a one armed hug, then pushed her back towards the chair she had vacated. 

“Get your hair finished up, we’ve got stuff to do.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Crystal said, snapping off a sloppy salute. 

Ashe stuck her tongue out at the woman, only to remember that the mask was in the way.  Crystal only laughed harder, and Ashe flipped her off, shaking her head fondly.  She had friends again, and she was enjoying it despite herself.  Hell, maybe she would get that strip dyed into her hair after all. 

 

---

 

“Oh, try this one!” 

Once again, Ashe found herself the observer while her gaggle of girls all went looking for clothes.  She’d impressed upon them that nobody was to go off alone, even to the bathroom, and that each was required to check in every fifteen minutes.  She went through all of that trouble to rescue the girls, she wasn’t about to lose them again. 

Worse, she’d had to explain to the staff of the store that she was sponsoring them and that she would cover their purchases.  Security was watching from every angle, nobody trusting them even in the slightest.  Ashe was pissed about the blatant racism at play, but she just had to endure it, because they did need the clothes regardless and they were having too much fun for her to pack it up and try a department store instead. 

Caralina and Brie had stepped up along with Jessica to help keep an eye on everyone, and each was an unofficial ‘squad’ leader.  Keeping a head count, Ashe was almost certain they had picked up an extra girl since the pawn shop, but she wasn’t about to say a word.  If she was going to gain a reputation for taking in girls off the street, she was fine with it. 

Hell, Ashe was barely hiding her identity with them, a basic black mask only did so much when she was otherwise wearing street clothes. 

“Ashe?” 

She looked up, finding Crystal holding a shirt and a frown creased her brow.

“Sorry, I’m a bit distracted,” Ashe said, gesturing to the girls off in the distance.  “What were you saying?” 

Crystal shook her head, a soft smile on her face.  “I was saying that you should try this one on.” 

“I can’t,” Ashe said.  “The second I look away they’ll find a way to burn the place down around us.” 

“Arson is your shtick, Inferno,” Crystal said with a wink.  “Come on, you need to relax too and there’s no harm in trying out some new clothes.” 

Ashe bit her lip under the mask, watching Lucy hold up something that was certainly not age appropriate, but she wasn’t one to judge.  She’d seen some of the girls at school wearing worse.  Crystal was still holding up the shirt, and Ashe could admit it would probably look good on her, if a bit tight. 

Her friend was grinning when she sighed in resignation and took the shirt, heading for the changing rooms.  Sandra and Brie were outside of one of the rooms, each comparing various outfits.  Brie looked up at their approach, tensing for the barest instant before she relaxed.  Ashe waved back at her, then moved over to one of the empty rooms.  The attendant looked exasperated, and was barely paying attention, absorbed in something on her phone. 

She paused at the door, but Crystal was right behind her, gesturing towards the open room.  “Well, go on.” 

“You’re enjoying this,” Ashe said. 

“Damn right I am,” Crystal said.  “Just be glad your leg is messed up otherwise I’d be finding you some nice pants and shorts.” 

Ashe rolled her eyes.  “You just want an excuse to stare at my ass.” 

Crystal laughed and shoved her into the room, though she was gentle about it.  “Like I need an excuse.” 

The door shut and Ashe stared down at the shirt, her face warm from the comment.  It was a fairly form fitting black, with a brightly colored flame decal.  Fitting.  Ashe tried it on, wincing at her still healing shoulder wound.  It was mostly healed, and the stitches were out, but still tender at times.  The shirt slipped on, and she had to admit it worked well for her, especially with the streak of metallic red now dyed into her hair.

Shaking her head, Ashe opened the door once again and Crystal had her phone up, snapping a picture the moment she did.  Ashe had been quick though, she was almost certain she got the middle finger off in time.  Crystal checked the image, snorted, then spun the phone around to show her.

Yeah, she got it up all right.

“You two are almost sickening together,” Brie said. 

“We aren’t together,” Ashe said, probably a bit too quickly if Brie’s raised eyebrow was anything to go by.  Ashe sighed and slumped a bit.  “Just drop it.  We have our reasons.” 

Crystal snorted, which wasn’t what Ashe had expected.  “She’s underage, and I’m almost three years older than her.  We’re playing it safe.” 

“Didn’t you kill a dozen people two days ago?” 

The attendant looked up from her phone with wide eyes, glancing among everyone present, and lacking full comprehension.

“It’s a game thing,” Ashe said, waving her off.  “I went on a kill chain to die for last week.” 

Before she had even finished talking, the girl was back on her phone, ignoring the world around her.  Ashe sighed in relief, then glared at the dark haired girl. 

“Don’t give me that look,” Brie said.  “The point is, why do you care about a few months or whatever when you’re getting up to all that other shit?” 

“That other shit isn’t linked to our regular lives,” Ashe said, pinching the bridge of her nose.  “My parents know about her, but not what I do when the mask is on.” 

There was no immediate answer to that, so Ashe did a quick twirl, weight on her good leg, for Crystal. 

“You’re buying it,” Crystal answered.  “You need to treat yourself more often.  Plus, it’s a cheeky nod to your after hours activities that nobody will piece together.” 

Sighing in exasperation, Ashe just nodded, turning back towards the changing room so she could put her regular shirt back on.  She wasn’t sure how she felt about the name Inferno, but it was where she had landed.  Wearing subtle nods to that identity felt dangerous, but how risky was it to wear a cute flame print shirt? 

Ashe paused in pulling on her shirt, then shrugged and finished up.  Fuck it, she was going to roll with it.  She could keep that as an amusing in-joke with her friends, which she had now.  Crystal was undoubtedly a friend, and she would like to think Robbie was as well.  Keiko was provisionally off her shit list after the whole life and death thing, even if she was still a bit bitter about being drugged like that. 

Jessica was another matter.  Ashe wasn’t sure if they would ever be friends, but she was also one of the only people that knew what the other half of her life looked like.  She could be open with her, and she had endured hell all the same.  Could they be friends?  If she had been asked that two months ago, she would have answered ‘hell no’, but now?  It was a possibility. 

Of the rest of the girls, she had the closest connection to Brie, though she hadn’t been nearly as hurt by that man as she had, Ashe still felt some guilt for not ending him sooner and sparing her the pain.  Lesson learned, letting people like that walk away never ends well, and she refused to potentially create new victims through her own inaction.  Never again.

Only time would tell what might come between them, but Ashe was hopeful that they might forge something akin to a friendship, but trust would have to come first.  She didn’t even know if any of the girls would stick around, or if Brie would have the stomach for the things to come.

Hell, Ashe wasn’t sure if she would have the stomach for it. 

Stepping outside, she was greeted by Lucy and Sandra bouncing excitedly about each other’s outfits while Caralina pinched her nose off to the side.  Even Jessica was sporting a bit of a smile even as she blew a strand of her now close cropped green hair from her face. 

“Alright girls,” Ashe said, smiling under her mask.  “Get your purchases together in the next ten minutes, we’ve got a food court to raid.” 

A chorus of resounding cheers rang out, and Ashe knew she’d made the right call in taking them all in.  Who else would have treated them like people?  She knew what the system did to kids like them, and those over eighteen, like Brie, would be left with few options, if they didn’t just end up thrown out right from the start.

These were the people that she had, the ones that would be the beginning of her own organization.  Children, nearly one and all.  Yet, would she rather a bunch of assholes only out for money and power, or would she take a bunch of girls that she shared a bond with?  

That answer was pretty clear cut as far as she was concerned.

---