Hope Comes to Brockton Bay

Part 3: In which Hope goes out on patrol with the Wards

"So Hope went on patrol with some of the Wards?" asked Director Piggot. "How did that go?"

"Well, first she was introduced to the Wards she had not yet met ..." began Miss Militia.

"Hi, Weld," said Hope with a cheerful wave. Then she turned to another member of the team. "Wait a minute ... I remember you. The day I arrived here ..."

"Yeah," he said. "I froze you till Kid Win could build a cage around you. No hard feelings, right?"

"Oh, no, no hard feelings," Hope assured him. "I've heard a bit about how hard things are around here, so you're certainly justified in not taking any chances."

He blinked. "Well, uh, good," he said. "I'm ... uh, my name is Clockblocker." For the first time since he had chosen that name, he hesitated in speaking it out loud. Hope seemed so ... clean, so wholesome, that it almost seemed rude to say something like that to her, for fear of offending her.

To his surprise, however, the implied joke went straight over her head. "Okay," she said with a smile. "You block time. Cool. Neat power. Caught me right off guard." And then she turned to the next member of the team, leaving Clockblocker feeling oddly off-balance, as though he'd gone to put his foot down another step, and there'd been no step there.

"Hi, Hope," said the young man in the red-and-gold metallic armour. "I'm Kid Win, the one who built the cage. As you can see, I'm a tinker." He extended a hand; Hope shook it.

"Wow," she said. "That's really impressive. You designed and made all of this?"

"Sure thing," he said. "It's more or less what I do. And you?"

Hope shrugged, causing her 'wingfeathers' to tinkle softly. "I guess ... I fly, and I help people. Lift cars, things like that. They say I'm a Mover, Brute and Thinker, or something like that." She made a slightly helpless gesture with her hands. "Your power classifications are weird. I just like to think of myself as an angel with crystal wings."

"A Thinker?" asked Kid Win, with interest. "What do you do for that?"

"Oh, uh, they tell me it's because I can feel where people are," said Hope. "I can tell where they are, even through walls." She smiled. "It's really helpful if people are trapped in a burning building and I need to find them in a hurry."

"Well, that's definitely useful," said Kid Win, looking at Hope with renewed respect. "Let's just hope we don't have one of those on this patrol." He chuckled and slapped her on the shoulder as he moved off to chat with Weld.

"I certainly hope not," laughed Hope, as she turned to the last member of the Wards who was to come out with her. "Hi, I'm Hope. You would be ... Shadow Stalker?"

Shadow Stalker gave her a hostile glare. "I know who you are," she hissed. "And I don't care. You can put on your little miss innocent act all you like, but you will do me a favour and stay out of my way. Or you will regret it." She stalked away, ignoring Hope's outstretched hand, and leaned up against the wall, arms crossed.

"Wow," said Hope, glancing at Clockblocker. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Ah, no," Clockblocker reassured her. "It's not you, exactly. She prefers to do solo patrols, and she was pulled in to do this group one instead. Ignore her; she's just pissed at the world."

Hope's eyebrows rose. "So I see," she agreed. "Oh well, I suppose me apologising for being here wouldn't make matters any better."

"It would not," affirmed Clockblocker. "I'd advise you to just keep your head down and do what you need to do. This should work itself out."

"I can do that," replied Hope cheerfully.

"So, Hope's first patrol did not start off on a good note?" asked Piggot rhetorically.

"Not as such," replied Miss Militia. "But from all accounts, it was Shadow Stalker who initiated the hostilities."

Piggot's lips pursed. "Still, she's been effective in the past ..."

And she's been trouble in the past, too,thought Miss Militia, quite loudly. From the sour look on Director Piggot's face, she had picked up on it.

Miss Militia went on. "In any case, once they got moving, things actually went quite well there for a while, except for a little bickering ..."

Hope soared over the street, while below, the sturdy open-top four-wheel-drive crunched over the broken asphalt. She could see where pipes had burst, blasting bits of the street through houses, making the street itself an obstacle course.

Kid Win loped alongside the 4WD as Clockblocker drove, with Weld in the passenger seat. Now that she knew of the peculiarities of Weld's powers, she understood why all the metal panelling was covered in taped-on foam rubber. And off to the side, Shadow Stalker ran and leaped from rooftop to rooftop. She wasn't sure what the dark-clad Ward had against her, but she couldn't let it distract her from the job at hand. Maybe she could talk to Weld, get him to let Shadow Stalker go back on solo patrols, if she liked it more. It was no skin off of her nose either way, but if Shadow Stalker was so unhappy on a group patrol ...

She flapped her wings a few times, generating a series of chimes, and climbed higher, looking over the rooftops to the left and right. She loved flying; it was the very best part of her powers.

"Weld, this is Shadow Stalker," she heard on the earbud comm, "could you please get Flashy McFlashFlash to stop alerting everyone in a three-mile radius that we're coming? She's not exactly stealthy up there."

Hope blinked. I thought our job was to show the flag, let people know we're on the job, she thought in mild confusion.

"Uh, I can fly lower," she said tentatively.

"And they'll still hear you coming a mile away, with all the jangling your wings make," came the sarcastic rejoinder from Shadow Stalker.

My wings do not jangle, they chime, thought Hope rebelliously. But others were already speaking up.

"Shadow Stalker, I do not see a problem with the way Hope is flying," said Clockblocker from the driver's seat.

"No, no," said Weld's calm voice. "Shadow Stalker has a point. We are a team. We must stay together. Hope, come down and ride in the vehicle, please."

Hope felt a sudden jolt of confusion. I thought it was Shadow Stalker that didn't like me. Why is Weld picking on me too? But she obediently let herself drop lower, landing gently in the back of the rugged four-wheel-drive, carefully furling her wings as she did so.

"Okay, Clockblocker, stop the car. Kid Win, get in," said Weld.

The vehicle eased to a halt. "Wait, what?" said Kid Win. "I'm good out here."

"No, we must stick together. Shadow Stalker's made her point. Get in the car."

Grumbling, Kid Win climbed in also.

"And Shadow Stalker, you too," said Weld. "Come on down, you're too exposed up there. We have to stick together."

"What?" exclaimed Shadow Stalker. "You're f**king kidding me. I'm not riding in the goddamn car!"

"Get down here, Shadow Stalker," Weld pressed her. "If Hope has to ride in the car, and Kid Win has to ride in the car, then you have to ride in the car." He paused. "That's an order, Shadow Stalker."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," snarled Shadow Stalker. "Be that fucking way. Hope can fly all she fucking likes."

"I'm sorry, Shadow Stalker," said Weld, his voice quiet but very forceful. "The decision is no longer yours. You have now refused a direct order twice in a row. This is no longer about Hope. It's about you. Refuse my order a third time, in the field, and you violate your probation. What's it going to be, Shadow Stalker?"

Ten seconds later, Shadow Stalker climbed into the back seat of the four-wheel-drive, her face like thunder. She refused to look at Hope, or at Kid Win, or even at Clockblocker. If she had possessed, say, laser vision, Weld would have been a puddle on the floor. Of course, from the glares that Kid Win was directing at Shadow Stalker, she wasn't winning Miss Popularity any time soon either.

"Okay," said Weld, as if there were not two angry parahumans in the vehicle with him, "Clockblocker, drive on."

The vehicle, now somewhat more weighed down than before, crunched on.

"She refused a direct order?" asked Piggot.

Steadfastly, Miss Militia nodded. "Twice, to be precise."

"Well, it was a petty thing to make her ride in the vehicle," the Director allowed.

"Any more petty than complaining about Hope attracting attention by flying too high?" asked Miss Militia. "I always thought that superheroes were supposed to be visible, not skulking in the shadows."

Piggot frowned. "Did Clockblocker and Kid Win sign off on that part of the report?"

Miss Militia nodded firmly. "They did."

A wordless Hm.

Then: "So, what happened next?"

"That ..." said Miss Militia, "... is where it gets interesting."

To be continued ...