Rain in Brockton Bay 1.1

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Hospitals were rarely happy places in my opinion.

It was where the sick come when things get too bad, where the dying come to hold off the reaper for just a little bit longer, where the injured find just how bad things were.

I fell into the last group.

Apparently people thought it was funny to shove a fifteen year old girl into a locker filled with old and rotting tampons and just leave me there. No one answered my yells of pain or my cries for help. They just left me there, for three periods. With a pencil jammed in my leg.

I had been carrying one in my pocket when they shoved me into the locker, apparently being pushed over while you're heaving out your breakfast makes for just the right angle to have whatever's in your pocket puncture your leg.

Infection had set in, reaching into three of my thigh's muscles so bad that they needed to cut into my leg. My mind all but halted at that, the idea that I was hurt so bad that someone needed to cut into my leg terrified me.

I liked my leg; I didn't want to lose it.

How could Emma do this to me?

I didn't know what I did to make her hate me so much but I was sure that it couldn't have been enough to have that done to her.

"Taylor? Taylor." A voice said, trying to gently call out for my attention. Looking up from where I was staring pretty intently at my folded hands and hospital blanket I saw my dad all but hovering over me. "Did you understand what the doctor said?"

"He's going to cut into my leg." I said, my voice feeling dull and flat with the words.

"Only a little." The doctor said, I couldn't even remember his name and he was going to take my leg from me. "The infection hasn't spread very far. You should be able to retain a good deal of mobility in your leg, with some physical therapy you'll be as good as new."

He gave me a smile, and I knew he was lying.

Trying to butter me up to feel better, to make me think that I could have a normal life.

I was probably never going to walk again because of them. Because Emma hated me, because Madison was petty, because Sophia was cruel, because no one cared what happened to some random girl.

"Taylor? Are you okay?" Dad asked for what felt like the hundredth time since he had entered the room. Of course I wasn't alright! Why did he keep asking such an obvious and stupid question? "You keep on zoning out on us."

I didn't answer him with anything more than a shrug, the doctor said hat I was probably just feeling a little delirious from the fevor I was running. I wasn't, not really, I was angry. And disappointed.

And sad.

I was going to lose my leg.

If someone just opened that locker door sooner, answered me when I called for help just a little bit sooner, then maybe I could still have had a chance to live normally.

"Taylor?" Again Dad called out, pulling me away from my thoughts. "The nurse is going to need to see your arm."

Huh?

Did the doctor leave?

When did that happen?

The nurse rubbed something on my arm, "Okay honey this might hurt a tinsy bit." A sharp pain was followed by the uncomfortable heavy feeling of the needle setting under my skin. Cool liquid started to pour into me, it felt weird.

The nurse said something to my dad, something about how the drugs would put me out soon. That was true, the world started to swirl around, making me feel tired and a bit loopy.

As the drugs started to set in and my mind started to slip from me I looked out the window. I looked out the window and watched as the people walked around mindlessly along the sidewalks and streets.

Could I ever be like them again?

Just walk around for no other reason than to walk about? Be like that jogger and go for a run? Go to a nearby sandwich shop because it was there?

As my eyes started to close and I started to lose consciousness I could have sworn I saw flashes of blue fire swirling on nearby rooftops.

-0-0-0-

Derrick Lantern was just on his was on his way back to work, looking forward to a nice cold glass of whiskey and his recliner after a long day's work, when he was forced to slam the breaks on his car.

A red haired girl had wandered into the rode with no mind to the traffic, looking around as if a daze or confused.

He honked his horn a few times to try and gain her attention.

When she finally turned to look at her Derrick flinched back at the unnaturalness of her eyes.

Bright blue pupils stared at him from pools of black sclera that were too large for her face.

A cape.

There was no other way to explain those unblinking eyes.

Derrick felt fear, mind numbing body freezing fear.

He had the equivalent of a loaded gun pointed at him so he felt that he was allowed a little bit of fear. He could die because he gained her attention, because he irritated her.

He prepared himself for the worse, he prepared himself to run.

But she did nothing other than regard him for a moment, tilting her head to the side like a bird, before dismissing him entirely. Instead she turned her attention up to the sky.

Then the first drops of rain started to fall.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Rain had been pouring down for a good few hours, sending people bustling to their destination and shelters. Smart people would have been doing the same, normal would have been doing the same, but determined people would not.

The two men standing alert in the alleyway as rain soaked through their clothes had too much at stake, too much invested in their plans, to let a little rain get in their way

Not that it would stop them from complaining.

"Fricking rain." One complained, tugging at his hood to cover his face a bit more.

His companion just rolled his eyes and took another drag of his slightly soggy cigarette, "Just be glad it's not snow."

The first man gave a snort, "I wish it was snow! Atleast then I'd just be cold, not cold and soaked to the bone."

"You're the one who planned this shit out and didn't want to call it quits when it started pouring." He was tempted to pull his cigarette from the protection of his hat to point at his companion but didn't like the risk to his nicotine. "So I say you suck it up and do what we came here to do."

"Yeah, whatever. Fucker should be here soon enough anyway."

Their target did appear, some eight minutes later. Jogging out of a laundry mat with a freshly pressed suit and a smile on his face, a smile that irked the two waiting men enough to be a bit more bold in their coming plans.

Reaching out as he came to the mouth of the alley they reached out and pulled the man in, slamming him hard enough against the wall that he dropped his suit. The man tried to fight them off, to get away, but his attackers were bigger and stronger than him. And they were plenty willing to show him the consequences of such attempts.

"Hey there monkey." The hooded man said as he added more pressure on the now bleeding man's neck, leaning a bit closer as he did so. "Remember me?"

Their target's eyes moved frantically around, taking in the scene around him. Noting very pointedly the cap wearing man's shaved head and the E88 tattoos on both men, on the neck of the cap and the peeking out the edges of the hooded ones sleeves.

"I don't think you're the type of people I would usually deal with." He said a bit nervously, trying to stay calm and get his wits about him.

Unfortunately all his words really accomplish were to rally up his attacker, "Are you trying to get smart with me you stupid nigger?" The man growled out putting even more pressure on the man's throat then before. "Well are you!?"

"N-no." The victim coughed out.

"Good boy." The hooded man said as he reached into his jean pocket to pull out a switch blade, "Now I want you to think back to last week when you stole my job with that affirmative action bullshit."

For the first time since entering that alley way the man felt his fear pushed away by something else, something that more often than not would make the threats of violence seem negligible.

Pride.

"I earned that job."

Pain blossomed in his cheek as his head was forced to look to the right.

"No you didn't! There is no way a dirty little ink spot like you could get a job over me without cheating! That's all you good for nothing monkeys are good at! Cheating and complaining till you get what you want!" With his fist still balled tightly around the knife he brought the blade up to his victim's eye level, "And I'm going to take it back, its only right."

"Would you just stab him already? Your attracting enough attention as it is." The ball cap wearer said as he sent another glare to the entrance of the alley at curious passerbys, making the cowards scatter without looking back. They knew who's turf they were close to, and they knew when to behave when apes were being shown their place.

Didn't mean he wanted to deal with the crap of when someone grew a spine and used their phones to call the cops.

"Fine, fine." He said, waving off his companions concerns before turning back to the squirming man. Feeling a bit dramatic he asked, "Any last words?"

Taking a deep and harried breath to reaffirm himself he decided to live his last few moments in life with pride. "I am not afraid to die. I know that Scion will guide me and Jesus will greet me. Can you two say the same?

And that struck a irksome cord in both men, "Why you religious piece of shi,"

"What are you doing?" A deep voice asked, echoing just a bit from its timber in the alley way.

"What the hell?" The capped man asked, examining the speaker who seemed to drop from nowhere. The first thing he noted was female, barely noticeable and surprising from how deep the voice was. The next thing he noted was Cape.

Obviously so from her clothing.

Tight fitting black clothes with red swirls running over the material.

That was enough to make him start to back away but his feet seemed to freeze as he looked past the curtain of soaking wet scarlet hair and saw her eyes. Staring at him unblinking from her blue on black gaze.

She was a fucking Monster Cape.

That was bad. Very, very bad.

Monster Capes were supposed to be like normal capes on roids. Add to the fact that they were all supposedly crazy… Yeah, screw race comradery, he was not dealing with that level of bullshit.

"She, I, can feel you." She tilted her head to the side, wet hair drifting in clumps with the action. "You're doing something bad."

His eyes scanned the alley, only one entrance. That's why they picked it, so their prey wouldn't run; now it was a cage for them.

"Johnson, what are you doing? Get rid of the bitch." He heard his company all but yell in the corner of his hearing.

Was he really that stupid?

Did he not see how royally fucked they were?

He turned to yell at the moron only to see him already unconscious in the red head's grip. How did she do that he could have sworn she was still at the alley's entrance?

Doing a double take back he saw that, yes, she was still at the entrance staring at him blankly with her inhuman eyes.

How could she do that?

Be in two places at once?

A cloner? A teleporter?

A fist slammed into his stomach, forcing his cheap lunch to rise and leave his throat, before he could finish his thought. He crumpled to the ground with no air left in his lungs and the familiar feeling of a bruised rib.

"Are you okay?" Why would that dumb bitch be asking if he was okay after punching him in the gut like that?

"I-I'm fine, mostly. Ruffled, a little, but fine. Thanks you two." Oh, she was asking that stupid ape. Figures.

"Other bad things are happening, I'm going." That sentence sounded off. Like it half came from one place and the next part came from another.

Things went quiet for a while, making him guess that the two wannabe heroes decided to leave. But then there was the sound of rushing footsteps and the cry of "Racist fuck!".

Just like a monkey to kick a man when he was down. At least he was human enough to stop when he broke the nose.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The world was a haze to me.

Cloudy visions and dizzying thoughts were all that were known to me, well, those and a few faint murmuring voices. I think one of them was my dad, I didn't know.

I couldn't make out any words, but the voices were a strange comfort nonetheless. Everything felt light and airy, drifting aimlessly between different thoughts and impressions, and the voices helped ground me.

I blinked my hazy eyes for what felt like seven times, different scenery flickers into my sight as I do so.

Was that weird dream still going on?

I hate being half awake and the dream keeps going. It makes me want to go back to sleep all the more.

At least it was a good dream though.

I was a hero, a lot of heroes.

I helped people, helped them be less like me.

It had felt good.

I hoped I could have more dreams like that.

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AN:

An AU where Taylor gets sure powers similar to Pein from Naruto. No Chakra just the paths