Raven and Gifteds random 1x1s

[Gifted]

Almost exactly three hours later on the dot, Ben heard someone on the patio and the sound of a key hitting a lock. Well, more accurately, the key hitting beside a lock. "Stupid keys." A raspy voice muttered. She struggled with it for a few more seconds before grabbing the door handle to steady herself and realizing the door was unlocked. "Oh yeah, I left it open for him..." She sighed and hesitated for a moment before mustering up the courage to open the door.
It was Joan. She looked much older, in her early thirties, probably, but that wasn't the most alarming thing about her.
Her clothes were torn and tattered and everywhere you could see her skin, there were long, skinny burns and marks. Electrical burns. There was a long one right down her face on a diagonal over her left eye, covering from her forehead to her jawbone. Her eyes looked weary. Up and down her arms, burn scars and the long, angry red marks crisscrossed her skin. Her hands shook ever so slightly, and as she went into the kitchen, trying to put off seeing Ben for as long as possible, she dropped a purse onto the table and immediately broke into a coughing fit from the cloud of dust everywhere She clutched her heart as she coughed, like it was painful.

[Raven]

Ben stood up to go see who entered and his eyes widened at the sight of the girl he'd fought beside. "Joan, what happened to you?" he demanded, coming to her side.

[Gifted]

Joan umped and moved into a defensive position before she realized this had to be the correct one. He didn't look quite the same. She relaxed and smiled. "You're a lot younger than I expected. I figured you'd be on the same time as ours, but I guess not." She pulled out a pill bottle and dumped like six of them in her palm. "Come on, let's go sit down and I'll explain."

[Raven]

"Woah, what's with all the pills?" Ben asked, scowling. He held the rest of his questions until after she explained.

[Gifted]

"I need them. After using that stupid machine. But it was the only way I could call you over here." She told him. "This isn't the same world you came from. And as for what happened to me, well... you did. You and that stupid cable you carry around everywhere." She smiled sadly. "You did this to me."

[Raven]

Ben shook his head, looking baffled. "I wouldn't ever do that, Joan."

[Gifted]

Joan chuckled. "Relax, I know you wouldn't. I didn't call you over here to get mad at you. I called you because I need your help." she sighed, quiet for a moment, giving her raspy voice a brief rest. Then she went on."It was about ten years ago that it happened. Kenny had found you and Isobel again and there was a massive fight... nobody knew where you were, much less where he was, so by the time Raven and I got there it was too late for us to help. You looked him in the eyes, and I don't know what he did to you, to this day I still don't. But he turned you... dark. He... he turned you evil. There's really no other way to way to describe it. Pure, unaltered evil." She shook her head. "Don't know what the stupid bastard was thinking personally, considering it ended in a slow, agonizingly painful death for him. Well Rick was dead and the only other way to fix Kenny's power is to traumatize a person, but... well e tried. believe me we tried. Isobel held you under her power for five whole minutes, my heart was breaking for her by the end of it. But I don't know if it was because of your dad and you didn't care about pain, or if it was something Kenny did but... it didn't work. We tried staging Isobels death, holding a gun to your head, getting your dad to try to hurt you again... nothing worked and your dad ended up dead.
It destroyed Isobel, seeing you that way... she ran far away with Adamand she never left her little place. After about three months, Isobel begged him to move out, saying she couldn't handle being with anyone anymore. Adam cared about her too much to say no... andas far as we can tell, those were the last words Isobel ever spoke.
Now I don't mean she's dead, she's quite alive and Adam still visits her fairly frequently, she just... doesn't speak. She hasn't said a word. She never comes out in public anymore, she can't handle any people around her for a long period of time. She's barely hanging on." Joan looked around the living room. "This room used to be full of pictures. My friends, family... but as each of them got killed off one at a time it became too painful to leave them around the house. I still keep that one though." She gestured to the picture of Ben, Isobel, Adam and their dad. "To remind me who I'm fighting for." She smiled. "I am the last one capable of standing against you. The last one defending the innocent people here... but ten years of battling an Electicity bender takes its toll." She sighed. "My heart is failing. One day soon, it's just going to... stop. And I'm going to die. But if I die... I'm the last defense. I can't die before he is defeated, or he'll be free to wreak havoc and no one can stop him.
A scientist gave me access to the machine i used to open a rift between dimensions to call you. I didn't know what else to do. We need help... or he's going to win. I'm not sure I'm going to be holding on that much longer."

[Raven]

Ben took a very long time to think that over. He almost asked if she was joking, but just looking at her it was clear she wasn't. Everything about her showed signs of her story. Then he was quiet for a little bit longer as he tried to get over the wave of sadness that followed him accepting what she said as true. Finally, he asked what certainly wasn't the most important question, but was definitely the easiest for him to ask. "What do you mean you've been fighting him all this time?"

[Gifted]

"I mean I've been trying to stop him wherever he appears. The last ten years I've been on the lookout for him, ever since the day it happened. I don't want t find out at some point that he took the lives of fifty people because I wasn't there to stop him. I'm not successful every single time, but..... I try, and I've had more successes than failures. After awhile I got a little bit of help locating him... I'm the only one left who can stand up to him in combat, but I have people who can always find him and get me there before he causes too much damage... he can appear pretty much anywhere. That's why I'm never home, actually.... I'm sure you noticed this house hasn't been lived in for several months... I never really have time to come home. I generally just stay in hotel rooms. I was lucky enough to get the time I needed today to contact you."

[Raven]

Ben nodded, and rubbed his eye as though he had something in it. "But what am I supposed to do to stop him...? I mean, Isobel - my Isobel - won't even know what happened to me. It's not like I can stay here forever..."

[Gifted]

"I know you have to go back eventually... and I can get you back using the same machine I used to get you here. But I wasn't sure what else to do... The fact is, everything else has been tried, he has to be killed, and I can't do it alone. And I don't have a lot of time left to try."

[Raven]

Ben sighed. "Can't you kill him in his sleep or something?"

[Gifted]

"I wish." Joan sighed. "We're not... entirely sure where he lives. I mean, we /think/ we know, but the last three times we thought we'd found him it turned out he was just fucking with us."

[Raven]

Ben sighed. "Alright, we'll have to come up with a plan... I wonder if I can be harmed by his electricity," he said out loud. "I don't think I would..."

[Gifted]

"We've never been able to try." Joan replied "You're the only one with electricity powers and nobody can get close enough to taser him."