June 4th [POV Catherine Colbert]
The summer was always the worst time of year to work at the Hall of Justice. The tourists season was at its height, and it seemed to Catherine every person with an ounce of political connection would avail of her for a personal meeting with a member of the League. She inevitably had to turn them all down, no matter how much little Timmy was looking forward to meeting with Superman. Thankfully most of the League had autographed enough memorabilia to mollify the most irate tourist. If the free swag wasn't enough a personal tour of the Hall including some of the so called restricted sections usually did the trick.
Unfortunately it meant a good chunk of her work week was taken up dealing with these knuckleheads issues instead of doing her actual job. So during the summer she tended to work later into the day then she preferred. Not that she was complaining, the League paid great, and the overtime was even better. Besides it was the League policy not to have any non-League members at the Hall after dark for safety concerns. So she usually didn't have to work that late, barring any supervillain whose plans always make her day worse.
Today was a good day, only one tour in the morning, and all was quiet on the League front, so it seemed she was going to be able to get out of the office by five. Her hopes were dashed when Stacy, her assistant, knocked at her office door.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but there is a boy in the lobby I think you should meet." Stacy said pleadingly.
"Why is that?" Asked Catherine trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. As much as she loved and depended on Stacy she had a tendency to bring every sob story to her attention. Stacy's heart was in the right place, but when Catherine inevitably couldn't help the person it left her feeling terrible.
"He is just the sweetest guy you'll ever meet. He's been trying to get someone to introduce him to Red Tornado. He is not pestering anyone too much, but he's been here from dusk till dawn for the last three days asking anyone who will give him the time of day. I met him on my break and can you believe he said he knew I could help him because my aura was so bright. I told him I knew just the person he needed to talk to." Stacy said all in one breath.
"And?" Asked Catherine. There was always an important detail Stacy left out.
"Oh, he's blind and probably homeless judging by his clothes. He also has a strong accent and doesn't seem to have a full grasp of English."
Stacy paused for a moment before speaking again.
"Ok, I can see how this looks, but I don't think he's wanting to meet with a hero for the normal touristy reasons. I believe it would be best for you to meet with him. Besides, I don't think he'll stop coming around if you don't meet with him."
Catherine gave it a thought for a moment before saying " I'll meet with him, but I want security on alert in case things get ugly. We don't want another Mitchell Mayo incident. My office stank for months thanks to that lunatic. "
A few minutes later Stacy returned with the guy that at first glance Catherine wouldn't have described as sweet. No one as well built as the stranger could ever describe as sweet, well maybe Captain Marvel, but he was a special exception. Though Stacy had been right about the clothes, the second hand cast offs were looking like they had seen far better days, especially the beanie on his head that had several visible holes. An odd choice in summer, but Catherine didn't judge. Especially given that the stranger was obviously blind. Only the blind had eyes that were opaque as his. He probably wasn't aware of how ragged he looked in his get up.
The stranger, who couldn't be older than sixteen, folded his hands together and bowed to her and spoke in an oddly rhythmic accent "Hello, Miss Catherine Colbert, I am Bolin Beifong, the radiant Miss Stacy told me you could help me with my endeavor."
Stacy beamed at the compliment, as she guided Bolin to the closet chair. She then left the room, closing her office door to give them more privacy as they spoke.
"Well please have a seat, and I'll see what I can do for you." Catherine said as she took her own behind her desk.
"Miss Catherine if you please tell me where is the Tornado of Red, for I much desire to speak with him."
"… What did you say?"
"I apologize, I meant Red Tornado, I'm still learning your language, and I sometimes fall back into the grammar of my native tongue."
"It is no problem, I had the same problem when I was learning English. It is a difficult language to learn. Though that doesn't answer the question of why you want to meet Red Tornado. Are you or your family in any danger, I can put you in contact with the local authorities, or ARGUS if needed. I know they may not be as flashy as the League but you'll be just as safe."
"No, me and my family are in no danger as far as I am aware. I simply wish to speak with Red Tornado on a deeply personal matter. It is not time sensitive or a matter of great importance to anyone besides myself, but I believe we would have much to discuss. "
"I can certainly put in a request, but he is likely to decline. Red Tornado is one of the less sociable members of League." It was the understatement of the year. Besides Batman, Red Tornado was the hardest to corral for the PR events. It was a shame given he was extremely popular with young boys. His action figure line was only out sold by the Wonder Women pin ups.
" I understand that Red Tornado must have many commitments to his time, but from what I have gathered from speaking to the staff here is if anyone in this building could facilitate a meeting it would be you. What do I need to do to convince you to do so?"
Catherine thought about it for a moment before saying " I need more of a reason than you want to meet with Red Tornado on a personal matter. If you could give me a hint of what you would want to talk about, and if it's important enough I can make a meeting happen."
Bolin seemed to ponder the question for a few seconds then he raised his left hand and began moving it in a slight circular motion. A small tornado appeared out of thin air hovering in the center of his hand and the reason why this Bolin wanted to meet with Red Tornado became suddenly obvious.
Catherine sighed, as she knew that she wasn't going to get out of the office early today after all.
