New Arrival

[Damien Harrison]

Damien Harrison walked into the entrance hall at Orchid Hill Academy for the Gifted, dragging along a leather suitcase in his right hand. His grey eyes swivelled in their sockets, taking in the grand sights of high roofs and wooden staircases, squeaky clean floors and vastness on a scale of which Damien was not familiar with. The room was empty, except for a few students walking around hurriedly.
"May I help you?"
Damien jumped and his head swung round to his right, where he saw a reception. He had a good feeling about the school, as it annoyed him when people asked 'can I help you' instead of 'may I help you'. Clearly anyone could help him, but may they help him was a completely different matter altogether.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Damien - a new student."
The woman typed into the keyboard by the computer, her long fingers drifting over it like spiders. Eventually the computer gave a little 'ping' and the woman looked back up at Damien.
"Damien Edward Andrew Tyler Harrison?"
"Yes," Damien said, then as an after-thought, "M'am."
"Date of birth nineth of february 91?"
"Yes... m'am."
"Good," The woman cracked a smile. "Nice to see you have some manners."
Damien smiled widely back. "Never anything less, m'am."
"You're a Warrior, yes?"
"Yes, m'am."
"Well, you're head of group should be here shortly. We sent her a message on your arrival."
"Her, m'am?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "You don't think a woman is capable of being the head of the Warriors?"
"No - of course not!" Damien said hurriedly. "It's just unusual - if you come from where I came from... m'am."
"Ah," She nodded understandingly. "Well, she's called Madeleine Baudelaire. If you want to take a seat over there -" She gestured to the seats over to the left of the desk. "- she should be down any moment. Madeleine's not one to be late."
Damien smiled. "Thank-you."
Damien dragged his suitcase over to the chairs, and sat down upon the middle one, waiting for his head of group to arrive.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Dammit, she was late.
And preoccupied, so Madeleine was convinced that she was going to make an awful impression. Though, of course she was able to lie and pretend she was fine. If she could hold up under tortue, a new Warrior wouldn't be able to tell.
These dreams of Lee's were really bugging her... more than she was going to let slip. When Brian had suggested that his dreams were magically induced, part of her had immediately reacted, declaring that no, of course that wasn't happening - who'd do that to him, and why?
But part of her mind had latched on to the idea. After all, it made sense. Lee was an obvious target if someone on the outside found out about his connections - cousin of the Head of the Spies, boyfriend of the Head of the Warriors? Lee had far more influence than he realised.
That also meant that he had far more chance of being targeted.
Madeleine knew how the enemy worked. She knew that they took people and used them to get to their familes. She knew that they wouldn't miss a chance to use him to get to, or information on, Kira and herself.
Of course, she knew he'd never give information on them.
But she couldn't rule out the former.
Two minutes ago, she'd been in the library, reading up on dream inducement, when the receptionist's voice called into her head.
Your new Warrior, Damien Harrison, is in reception. Please come down to greet him.
Now, the new Warriors were lucky. Madeleine was determined that she would greet every new Warrior coming into the group - which none of the other Heads did. Madeleine thought it made a good impression - and the sooner they decided that they liked and trust her, the better for everyone.
So now, she was walking quickly up the corridor into reception, her quick, light footsteps clicking on the wooden floor.
As she was pushing open the door to the reception, she quickly changed her mood - from her previous stress, she now seemed calm, cool, collected, and authoritive, but warm.
She spotted a tall, muscled guy sitting in a chair in reception, flanked by his case, and smiled, walking over to him and extending her hand. "Damien? I'm Madeleine."

[Damien Harrison]

Damien watched a pretty girl approach him; pretty, he thought, but not to be underestimated.
"Damien? I'm Madeleine," Said the girl, extending her hand.
Damien smiled, standing up and grasping her hand firmly. She had a good grip. Always a good thing. "Nice to meet you, Madeleine."
Unfortunately, he had to look down on her - not mentally, but physically; she was a good foot smaller than him. Even so, he nodded politely at her, ignoring the large height range.
'Remember' He told himself, 'She's not short, she's vertically challenged. And oh God never say that to her face. Or behind her back. Actually - note to self - never make any comment at ALL.'

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

d**nit, why was everyone so much taller than her?
Still, if she could put the fear of God into Jack...
"Likewise," Madeleine smiled, assessing him mentally as she shook his hand.
Typical Warrior build, he was about 6"2, noticably muscled, with a firm grip - always important - and a light stubble that made him look far older than he was. From his grip and expression, and the set of his jaw, Madeleine guessed that he was determined, and would do pretty much anything to protect people. He seemed calm, which was always a good asset.
And those biceps almost - almost - rivalled Jack's.
"Long journey?" she asked, stepping back.

[Damien Harrison]

"Quite," Damien said, fully aware he'd just been x-rayed. "From California. I was originally headed for England, but then I got the letter from Orchid, and changed destination."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Oh wow," Madeleine said, slightly taken aback.
Too soon for stupid Californian jokes?
Maybe...
"Right, well, I'll show you where your dorm is and show you the ropes and stuff, but I'll keep it short, you're probably tired," she said, using her psychokinesis to raise the suitcase and make it travel alongside them as she beckoned him out into the hall. "So... Cali. What's it like there? Is it true that the people who live in Beverly Hills lose one IQ point for every year they live there?" she asked, smiling to let him know that she was kidding.

[Damien Harrison]

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Californian jokes already? Usually people wait a week or two, but you seem to be right in there, Miss Baudelaire. Answer me this - do I look like a thick boy to you?" He winked to let her know he wasn't really annoyed.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine laughed, winking right back. "Brawn rather than brains... you know what, I think I'll just keep my thoughts to myself."

[Damien Harrison]

"Wise choice," Damien said, watching the case float alongside them. "And, in answer to your first question, I probably wouldn't be the right person to ask. I never get to see the beautiful side to California until three months ago. But I guess it's okay."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She could guess that a long story that he wouldn't want to go in was behind that sentence.
So, she tactfully and subtly changed the subject.
"It's somewhere I've always thought about going."
Okay, total lie. The glitz of California wasn't something that appealed to her a lot.
Besides, she hated really sunny, warm places.
"So, do you have any idea what you're in for here?"

[Damien Harrison]

"What I'm 'in for'?" Damien replied, raising a wary eyebrow. "You sound like the voice of doom! So, no, I don't - fill me in."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Voice from doom? That's definitely a new one. Usually it's something like slave-driver or something... just to scare you a little more."
Well, she wasn't that bad.
She'd bet that the four Spies she'd banned from training didn't think so, though.
"You know what we Warriors do, though?"

[Damien Harrison]

"You're Warriors," Damien said. "It's not rocket science."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine rolled her eyes. "Well," she amended. "What I should have said was, have you any experience in this?"

[Damien Harrison]

"Defending people, animals, eccetera?" Damien nodded. "A bit. But nothing as big as a school though."