CHAPTER 1: The Formative Years
March 8th, 1990. A star is born! That's how Delia's story would have been written, if things had turned out the way they were supposed to, instead of how they did. Born the youngest daughter to Benjamin and Mary Ryans, she was the unfortunate recipient of her great grandmother's moniker, not her full name… Which Lia will always be thankful for, because it's worse.
In her younger years, Lia worshiped the ground that Lulu walked on. If Lulu got something, Lia wanted the exact same thing in the exact same color. Unfortunately, being the youngest, she often felt that life was just unfair. Whenever she wasn't allowed to do something that Lulu got to do (like riding the bumper cars at Coney Island because she wasn't tall enough yet) Benjamin would always be tortured with the melodramatic tears and the snotty little nose of a little drama princess.
Things changed somewhat when Delia started school. Lulu wasn't as great as the little redhead thought she was, at least in the social pecking order. Her sister was often ridiculed and put down for being quiet and reading instead of playing. Delia was her exact opposite, always outgoing, always popular with the girls and always had little boyfriends tagging behind her. Thanks to her popularity at school, a rift formed between the two girls and Lulu often found that her treatment at school was mimicked when the girls fought at home.
As the girls moved into high school the pecking order changed. The bookish Lulu transformed into a beauty queen and again Lia was left behind. A queen bee in her own right, Delia ruled the cheer set and excelled at sports. She never received the good marks that her older sister got and when Lucille got a contract with a prestigious modeling agency it only fueled the jealousy that Delia felt. Within a month of being signed, Lucille moved to Paris and was deeply entrenched in the fashion circuit. Life really wasn't fair.
CHAPTER 2: The Bomb
November 8, 2006. The day Delia's life would change forever and not in a good way. Benjamin was off on a business trip, leaving the volatile teen and her mother at home. After a colossal fight, Mary had finally agreed to help Lia pay for a pair of jeans that were going to be introduced. Mary didn't think it was necessary for a girl Lia's age to own a pair of pants worth more than the family's grocery bill in a week. The teen kept insisting that she would die if she didn't have them. The endless struggle between teen and mother, shouts of "You just don't get it!", "You always loved Lulu more!", and "Why do you hate me?!" permeated the house. It wasn't an easy face-off, but eventually Delia won.
After happily kissing her mother's cheek and telling her exactly how much she loved her, Delia pranced off to school for the day. She was looking forward to coming home and going into the city for the shopping trip, even if it was with her mother and not her friends. Not that Mary was embarrassing, she was pretty cool for a 'mom', it's just that she was so mom'ish.
The world changed at noon, just when Lia was biting into an apple for lunch. There was a flash in the sky and everything was silent for what seemed like forever though it was only a split second before a quake shook almost everyone in the quad off their feet. Sounds of sirens from the rush of emergency vehicles erupted from all over and screaming as the news spread throughout the school, New York City was hit by terrorists. Classes were canceled and the students were all sent home for the rest of the day, those who had too far to walk home were ferried by other parents and teachers.
CHAPTER 3: The Aftermath
The Ryans house was empty when Delia got home. A note left on the counter explaining Mary's absence was the herald of the Armageddon that would soon become the young teen's world. Hour after hour passed and there was still no sign of Mary. If it had been an option to call, it's likely Delia would have contacted Benjamin sooner. Unfortunately the phones were jammed when they did work and the rare times the girl could get through, she was calling her mother. It was around 9pm pacific when her father got a hysterical phone call, midnight in New York. Mary had been missing for 12 hours already and Delia was all alone.
If Benjamin could be called anything, it would be 'dedicated father'. It wasn't more than 9 hours later that he was walking through the front door of their house and Delia was sobbing in his arms. Later that night, Lucille managed to find her way home as well. For the first time since they were toddlers, Lulu and Delia didn't get into an argument or even yell at each other. No one laid more blame on the redhead than she did herself. Delia was more than aware that it was all her fault that Mary wasn't home.
For months the government scoured for terrorists, in the meantime Benjamin was at home. Retired. While most girls would deem this as the worst torture on earth to endure, it didn't actually phase Delia in the slightest. After getting used to his presence, they settled into a routine; one where she wouldn't answer the questions he asked her over dinner and then she would go lock herself in her room for the rest of the night.
Lucille was a mess. Whatever attention Delia wasn't getting from their father was eaten up by the former model's panic attacks and fits of depression. Whether it was guilt for not being around for the months predating their mother's death or the fact that the two girls drifted apart again, only Lulu would be able to answer. For Delia's part, she kept to herself. Locked away in her room, she studied and alternately buried her head under her pillow whenever her sleep was interrupted by the screams of her older sister.
CHAPTER 4: The Linderman Act
February 18th, 2007. Benjamin, Lucille, and Delia were all gathered in the living room, watching the speech on television when the blame for the bomb was laid squarely on an evolved individual named Sylar. Delia's eyes lit up with fire as her small world changed yet again. How many of these people were there? Were they all so dangerous?
In the months following the broadcast, Delia actually started venturing out of the house again. No longer simply locking herself in her room for the night, she made plans and attended events. What Benjamin may have thought were normal dates for a teen girl were anything but. There were rallies, marches and speeches all surrounding the topic of the evolved popping up all over the city. Delia attended nearly every one of them. An evolved killed her mother, it wasn't all her fault.
None of these events were divulged to Benjamin, though Delia did bring home plenty of reading material which she stuffed through the mail slot. Perhaps thinking it just another canvasser, the literature was usually deposited in the trash but Delia kept believing that someday she would get through to her father and sister. Evolved were dangerous and must be stopped from hurting other people.
CHAPTER 5: Graduation
By graduation, Delia's popularity in school soared again. Lucille had been out of the picture for a year and it allowed the young redhead to prosper in ways no one could have expected. It came as quite a surprise to her father and her sister both when Lia came home one day and announced that she was in the running for valedictorian. She had never been that studious a girl and though she had spent so much time in her room, it was thought she was on the phone with friends or watching television.
The race was a close one, there were four students with their eye on the prize and it would all come down to a few final exams. With only days before the ceremony, the announcement was made about who would be making the speech. It wasn't Delia. She'd missed the appointment by less than a hair but she wasn't going to let it phase her. She still managed to pull her marks so high that any school in the country would take her. If it weren't for tuition and living expenses.
Over the summer, Delia made all sorts of plans to get her own apartment and finally be out on her own. In August, she actually had a small room rented and with the help of her father and sister, she moved in. She spent and entire day painting, decorating, and unpacking her few boxes. It was a small space but it was all hers with no rules or boundaries. With a smile and a wave, she bid Benjamin and Lucille goodbye. Then, when she was finally settled and alone… it hit her.
It was midnight when Benjamin received the hysterical phone call and by 1am, Delia was back in her old room, crying herself to sleep.
CHAPTER 6: Freshman Again
When September came around, Delia was enrolled in the nursing program at NYU. After careful consideration of her options, she kept coming back to one small fact. She wanted to help people and save lives. Unfortunately, school is expensive and even though the Ryans lived comfortably, Delia didn't feel right about asking her father for more money. So, she did what every other student in her position would do. She got a job.
Being a bicycle courier in New York City was rather hectic work for the young woman. Before being hired on, she had to become bonded and licensed, something that wouldn't have needed to happen if she'd just started flipping burgers like one of her friends suggested. According to Delia's logic, fast food (though a respectable job) wouldn't give her the exercise she needed on a daily basis. So every evening, after class, the redhead would don a messenger uniform and bike around the city delivering packages.
All of this was well and good during the week. It kept her mind busy enough to not think about all of the horrible things that happened right in her own city. Every once in a while, she would be forced to ride somewhere close to the blast site and it would cripple her for a few minutes as she would have to stop to avoid a panic attack. Try as she might to ignore what had happened, faced with the reality of the blast she couldn't deny it and move on.
CHAPTER 7: The Now
For the first year, things went exactly like that. School by day, work in the evening, homework and study on the weekends. Lucille even managed to get herself a position at a local bar called Old Lucy's. It was a job that Delia took no small amount of pleasure teasing her older sister about. As far as she was concerned, Lulu was wasting her life away slinging drinks when she could be doing so much more. Not that Delia didn't value her sister being around, far from it, she just wished that Lulu would do something more than shake her assets for tips.
Sophomore year at NYU brought clinicals into Delia's life. Unlike most of her fellow nursing students, she didn't have the time to attend the seminars and extra classes being held in the evening. Not if she wanted to keep her job. So, to the young woman's already busy schedule, a volunteer position was added. Working in the hospital for a few hours every weekend provided the young woman with the hands on learning experience she needed. As she was always willing and ready to help in any situation, she quickly became one of the favorites in the ER.
Her experiences there have dulled the anger she felt so strongly against the evolved but it has far from abated. When they come in injured or ill, she treats them as though she would someone normal, there's just always that nagging question in her mind. Could this one be the one that will kill my father? Or my sister?