Cricket


Tuesday morning found me running again, first thing.

I woke up a bit later than my regular time, startled awake by my alarm clock blaring in my ear. I felt a bit refreshed, the benefits of going to bed early and not having homework to complete, and almost pain free. My hand was still a pain in the ass to deal with, just not as much of a literal pain dulling to just a bone deep ache. Painkillers really made a difference there.

I got on my usual sweats and paused just before I closed the closet door. A corner of the pale green and yellow ABB handkerchief stuck out. Takeo had given me his. I pushed it back and double checked my room. Nothing incriminating in sight. That relieved me more than it should have.

I headed downstairs, apologized to my dad for not having breakfast with him as he put on his coat, and grabbed an apple. We split up just outside the door, him to work and me for the Boardwalk, my hood up to hide the mess of my uncombed hair.

There was something appealing about being out and about just as the city was waking up. As I headed east at a brisk jog, there were a few other joggers acknowledging each other with head bobs and headphones in their ears. People were walking their dogs or taking small bird cages outside. The sun was hovering just above the horizon, so the shadows were long. The air was cool enough for my breath to fog and a bit of mist drifted in from the Bay.

It gave everything an ethereal, hazy look, the fog almost completely drowning out the buildings on the other side of the Boardwalk.

My training regimen had me running every morning, and alternating between my walks in the evenings or other exercises in the afternoons, depending on what day of the week it was. Late in the week, the approach of the weekend usually stirred up the neighborhood and I didn't know of any 'safe' patrol members. Instead it was jumping jacks, push ups and anything else I could think of in the basement before cooling down in front of the TV.

I'd gotten the idea from one of the 'community centers' a little ways from our neighborhood. I'd taken a peak in spite of Dad's warning and in the mornings, it was a scene of few elderly men and women following a group leader through Tai Chi routines. It had been a couple of days before I screwed up the courage to ask one of the women what they were doing. Turned out, they weren't training to fight, necessarily, but just to stay limber and give themselves energy to face the day.

Joining them would have been far too awkward, but I couldn't deny that the concept appealed to me. Not long after, I had started training in my own way. After a few false starts, I settled into a routine. It was more of a general endurance thing but with the way things have been going, maybe I should stop by again and learn how to defend myself.

I was more fit now. While I wasn't exactly chubby before, I'd had the really unfortunate combination of a slight pudge to my stomach and twigs for limbs, adding up to me looking like a frog forced to stand up on it's hind legs. A little less than three months had burned away the body fat, leaving me looking more like a meaty stick. Better. Kind of. I had the stamina to run at a steady jog without leaving me panting for breath at least.

The route I took varied every day, at my father's insistence, but it usually took me to the same place. In Brockton Bay, going east took you to one of two places. You either ended up at the Docks, or you ended up at the Boardwalk. And if you ventured further from the Boardwalk, you ended up in the Docks anyway. Sometimes I cut through, but often I just stuck to the main roads skirting the edges until I got to the more commercial sections.

Not today though.

Part of me regretted not at least stashing my handkerchief deep in my pockets so my Dad wouldn't see, just so I'd have it on hand, as I noticed the stares and the attention. I slowed down when the pavement gave way to gravel and forced myself to breathe. In and out. Though my legs were aching, I forced myself to power walk instead of just stopping. I'd made that mistake when I was first starting out. The cramps were legendary.

The main upside to having a father that was the Dockworkers Union spokesman was that he was reasonably well known, by word of mouth on the Docks if nothing else. His stubborn insistence in being involved and reaching out as best he could made a certain kind of impression. A few vaguely familiar faces looked at me with recognition.

There were quite a few people out this early, visiting neighbors or just occupying street-corners but I could honestly say that I would probably recognize Bao anywhere.

He had on his usual camo jacket and scarf, a combination that just barely managed to not look silly, with a T shirt underneath. His jeans were faded with rips on the knees, but the stylized grunge look rather than it being because of wear and tear. His boots I suspected were steel toed and he looked like he was on the edge of passing out and sleeping while standing.

I stopped by him and he jerked awake.

"Man." He palmed his face, rubbing his eyes with his thumbs. "And you do this every morning? You monster."

"You said the time was okay," I said with a bit of amusement. I felt more than a bit self conscious, standing next to him in my sweats and messy hair but I had plenty of experience with feeling out of place.

"I wasn't thinking," he protested. He straightened and I felt my own posture tighten up with him. "So I talked to a few people and I've got you an in."

I felt my mouth go dry. "Just like that?"

"No," He sighed. "You'll get a face to face, later today. With Snake."

Snake was the name of Lung's most elusive lieutenant, about the only thing known about her was her gender and that she was the former second in command of a primarily Hmong gang on the south-east side. No one knew what her powers were, if she even had any and I was already having second thoughts. When it came to parahumans, fearing the unknown was a survival strategy.

I swallowed my doubts. There was a lot riding on this. "When and where?"

"Pier 4, 5 PM."

Pier 4 was rather deep in the industrial area bordering on the infamous Boat Graveyard. It wasn't quite No Man's Land with its abandoned buildings and languishing equipment, but it was close to the decayed parts of town no one wanted. It was a good place to hold recruitment without worrying about anyone stumbling upon you. It was also a good place to make someone disappear.

My only consolation was that it wasn't taking place in the dead of the night. "I'll be there."

Bao smiled and nodded towards my sling. "You going to class today?"

"Are you kidding?" I deadpanned, waving the cast. "A chicken could write neater than me right now."

He yawned behind his hand. "Right." He seemed to make a decision, nodding. "Me neither." Big surprise there. Not. "You ate yet?"

"Just an apple." I hadn't been brave enough to litter the street with the core, carrying it with me for at least ten minutes before tossing it into the first garbage can I saw.

"Come on. You ever had Banh chuoi before? The bakery should be open, my treat."

The offer surprised me. Eavesdropping on conversations I couldn't understand just to have company didn't really count as "hanging out" and the bags under his eyes told me he really wasn't used to waking up this early. It wasn't out of character, exactly, he seemed likably decent if lazy. I just didn't think he had any reason to want me around. Was it because he liked me, Taylor, or just putting his best foot forward for a new member?

"Okay." The word came out thickly. It would mean going deeper into ABB territory than I've ever been; I should be feeling more cautious. Instead there was just a bit of a thrill, like being allowed backstage to peek behind the curtain and see the actors without the scripts, costumes and masks.

Bao had a nice smile.

I coughed and looked down at the ground, horrified that I'd been staring. It really didn't help that he didn't seem to notice, tugging lightly on my sleeve.

"This way."

I followed him and was completely unable to keep the moronic smile off my face.

The heart of ABB was a city within a city. It was as if I crossed an invisible line, a divide that separated it from the outside world and followed different rules. The section of the Docks that I was used to was sleepy. It woke up slowly and was suburb with middle class homes, small yards and paved streets leading in from the outskirts. This reminded me of when the Docks had been a bustling part of the inner city.

Gradually, once we passed that line noise levels started to pick up. Towering spray painted murals a dizzying mix of color sprawled up the sides of the buildings we walked past. Entry points. Cars and vans were parked haphazardly, a bit of a slant there, too far out here and we wove through them under the watchful eye of some men and women sitting on the hoods, or leaning against the backs of trucks. Me, being a bit slow on the uptake, didn't realize it was a barricade until after we spilled onto the main street and not a parked car was in sight.

It felt like I had passed a point of no return.

The first sign I saw was in English, as well as five different alphabets underneath. Colored banners stuck out from the sides of the apartment buildings and off the fire escapes. Store fronts occupied the bottom with their own signs and shelves stuffed to bursting with goods out front. What looked like public announcements were plastered to the windows or walls. The smells were sweet, savory, fried food and cooking meat. People loitered around the stalls, talking animatedly and carrying bags.

Bao led me to one of the stores and held open the door for me. I ducked inside.

A portly balding man shouted something and I blanched, only for Bao to step up laughing and yelling something back. He ordered, I think, what looked like a baked pastry and smelled heavenly.

"Banana." He said, handing me a oiled paper with it inside. "It's good, you'll like it."

I barely waited until I was outside to bite into it. The outside was crispy and it tasted like sugar and banana, with a slightly chewy texture. It was good.

"Knew it!" He laughed.

We walked through the narrow grid of streets, chewing. I could have sworn I recognized Jing Wen from the moving crowd at a stall, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure so I didn't say anything. Bao pointed out places of interest, stores and centers. I was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to tell me about the gambling hall, judging from the 'oops' expression on his face and how quickly he moved on.

The main street was the center of commerce, most of the community shopped there at one point or another. Another painted mural, this time of dragons, marked the end of the public area.

"Dragon's lair," he said in a cheesy voice. "After today, that is where you go to be given a responsibility." He said the word, responsibility, with some weight. A perpetual academic slacker, taking something seriously. It was a paradoxical thought: ABB was good for him.

I had already assumed a responsibility. I had to see it through.

"Lung is there?"

He shrugged. "Usually."

I let it go and tried to burn the surroundings into my mind through the insects around. For a brief moment, what they felt was what I felt. I was them. Then I blinked and that moment was gone, just the memory of it like a carbon drawing in my mind.

I turned and smiled at my guide. "Anything else to see?"

Later that morning saw me searching through the Protectorate's official website in the library for the PHQ phone number. I wrote it down in the worst handwriting I have ever seen, couldn't help it, and waited until I was at home to pull out the burner phone Lisa suggested I get.

Just holding it made my stomach turn.

I punched in the number quickly.

"You've reached the Protectorate Headquarters." A male voice that was decidedly not Miss Militia answered. "Is this an emergency?"

"No," I said. "I'd like to talk to Miss Militia," and after a moment I added a bit of a desperate, "Please."

The man's voice softened. "Are you a parahuman, Miss?"

"Can you tell her Hachi wants to speak to her?"

"Alright. Stay on the line."

There was a beep before the strains of classical music came through the small speaker. It only managed to get through a couple of measures before the phone picked up.

"Are you alright?" I blinked in surprise at the concern in her voice, sounding exactly as I'd remembered her. Miss Militia had been my mother's favorite, even without the flashy powers or durability. I was beginning to see why.

"I'm fine but I really need to talk to you. Today."

She was quiet for a moment. "What happens today?" She asked shrewdly.

There was no good way to say this. "I join the ABB. For a good cause!"

She sighed and there was the squeaking sound of what must have been her chair. "I've heard that one before. Are you up for a proper talk, rather than over the phone?"

That was exactly what I wanted. "How soon?"

"As soon as possible. Do you need to be picked up?"

"I can make it." The last thing I wanted was for the neighbors to see a PRT van stop by our house. "Give me a half hour."

Reaching the ferry to the floating oil rig in costume took twenty.


I felt extremely self-conscious riding the ferry across the water to the Protectorate building, and it wasn't because I was wearing my costume in broad daylight. The driver hadn't even given me a second look, welcoming me aboard politely and not making any sudden moves, but I found it hard to let my guard down.

PRT stood for Parahuman Response Team, which made the name a bit misleading because it was actually the non-powered government handler of the Protectorate, the heroes. They were the funding, the regulations, the support and in the end they called the shots. And, as Lisa reluctantly told me, they were also compromised.

If I stopped to think about it, that scared the hell out of me.

It was as if within the time span on a single afternoon, I'd gone from Brockton Bay to deep within the pages of an Earth Aleph comic book. With genocidal aliens, sentient viruses, villains straight from Saturday morning cartoons and government conspiracies. Surreal. I hadn't had much time to appreciate just how far in over my head I was but I was starting to.

"Registering with the Protectorate?" The driver asked.

Fishing for information, I thought. My height was working for me, for once, which at times let me pass for older than I actually was albeit undeveloped. Which was true anyway, sadly.

"Yes."

I was able to see the edges of his smile from my place by the railing. "Not much of a talker, are you?"

I didn't dignify that with a response.

Meeting me on the small dock was a shield carrying teen in a rust red and gold armored costume, the lower half of his face set in a small smile. I recognized him from his images on PHO: Aegis.

From what I could remember, he was a shifter cape that repurposed parts of his body into whatever it needed. If he wasn't strong enough, tough enough, fast enough, that soon changed making him a nightmare to deal with on the front line. That wasn't counting his tinker-tech shield that could absorb a lot of incoming damage, buying him time to ramp up.

PHO also had him dating Laserdream, formerly of New Wave and was showing far more stability than the other Wards couple, Glory Girl and Gallant. And by that I mean they weren't breaking up every three weeks.

"Hachi?" He asked.

He couldn't see my face, but I grimaced. "That's me."

"Great! I'm-"

"Aegis, I know." Immediately after I wished I kept my mouth shut.

"Ah," he said sagely. "My reputation precedes me."

I let myself relax a little. In all honesty, I had nothing but respect for the Brockton Bay hero team. They were outnumbered and outgunned but wherever they could make a difference, they gave 110%. No matter the love-hate relationship people like my Dad had with them, it didn't change the fact that they were heroes and I knew how terrible it felt having your hands tied.

"You have a very distinctive costume," I blurted, embarrassed.

"So do you." His smile shifted into a little smirk. "Very edgy."

That wasn't actually intentional but while the black bodysuit was probably fine, I really should have chosen different colors for the armor. I'd wanted insect themed but by the time I figured out it would actually make me look more like a humanoid beetle it was already too late.

"Where's Miss Militia?" My subtle attempt at changing the subject.

He made a 'follow me' gesture with his shield arm. "She set aside one of the briefing rooms. May I ask what this is about?"

Aegis was the current team leader of the Wards, so it made sense that he would at least ask.

"Sorry." But the less people that knew the better.

He didn't seem offended, shrugging. "Alright."

The interior of the PHQ looked more normal than I expected for being a superhero base. The corridors were rounded, wide enough to allow for people traveling both ways but with low ceilings. We passed one hallways that led deeper into the complex and they were less finished, with pipes coming out of the walls, and signs declaring them off-limits to visitors.

This place used to be an old oil rig back when the Protectorate's East-North-East branch was being established but it was easy to forget humble origins when you had a visible force field.

We stopped in front of a non-descript door.

"It was nice to meet you, Hachi." Aegis smiled. "Good luck."

"You too?" I stared after him as he walked away. I really hoped I didn't need to rely on luck. Mine was unerringly terrible.

I opened the door and my eyes fell on a perfectly ordinary room with a rectangular table with four black chairs seated around it. Miss Militia was already sitting facing me from the other side of the table and on the right end was the newest Ward, Hanabi.

"Hey." She gave me a small wave. Her costume had changed a little from her press release debut, mostly shifting colors around but her red visor stayed the same. The end result looked a lot less like someone had dressed her in the dark, and more like she wanted to stand out. "You mind if I sit in on this?"

I hesitated. I actually did mind but before I could say so, Militia spoke up.

"She can give you insight into the ABB that I can't, honestly. I thought it would help."

"It would," I admitted and closed the door behind me. "But that's not all I wanted to talk to you about."

"Your good cause?"

Militia was sharp, I had to give her that. "Is there a way to make sure we don't have eavesdroppers?"

Her eyebrows rose and I knew what it sounded like. I was in the PHQ, with two heroes and I didn't feel secure. I didn't.

After a moment, she nodded. "Hanabi?"

The Ward leaned back in her chair and reached out to touch the wall. She held her fingertips to it for a few seconds and then the metal seemed to explode with ribbons of red light. They wrapped around the entire room, cocooning it.

"I thought you just did explosions," I said, shocked.

"That's right." She smiled slyly. "I just get to choose what effects those explosions have."

I whistled. "Broken."

"I know, right!"

"Girls," Militia chided warmly. "Hachi, take a seat?" I did so. "What is it that has you so worried?"

I carefully thought over all the information I had. Everything Lisa had told me and everything I hinted out for myself at her vague hints. The familiar rush of anger as I remembered what her "boss" had on her burned in my stomach, as did all the uncertainty and fear at just what was at stake. I felt sick.

"The Undersiders are being backed by Coil. He intends to pit the E88 and ABB against each other, sooner rather than later." I paused, trying to find the words. "He has a girl working for him, she's forced to with implants and drugs and she has a thinking power."

Miss Milita's eyes had hardened.

"She said he has people in the PRT so I need this to not get out."

A brief silence descended. Hanabi looked away first.

"Fuck."

"Yeah," I let out a shaky laugh. "That is a good way to put it."

"You want to warn Lung," Militia stated.

That was part of it, a large part, but I couldn't deny that something like had been building for a while. It was as Lisa said, inevitable. The Protectorate couldn't hold the city together by themselves. So in absence of good options, there was only the less bad. As far as I was concerned, ABB was in the running for 'less bad.'

"More than that. I want her cooperation. You can't move without the PRT knowing, which means he'll know. And even if you can slip by, one or two people is not enough."

Miss Militia crossed her arms, tapping piano fingers on the sleeve of her costume. I didn't think she would dismiss me, she didn't seem like that kind of person and what I could see of her expression was edged. "How sure are you about this?"

"Her power is based on information gathering of some kind, really good at it." Scary good. "I saw the surgical scars. She risked a lot contacting me and the only one misdirection benefits would be Lung."

"Not her style." Miss Militia hummed. "Is it possible for your contact to pass me information as well?" Not," she held up a hand to stall my answer. "Not that I don't believe you, but it's better to have backup. You will be able to get a second opinion more readily, and I won't have to work off of third hand information." She looked at me seriously. "You understand I can't give you permission to join a gang."

I nearly bit my tongue. "But it's the only way!"

"It's easy," she corrected gently, lowering her voice. "It's tempting. But you don't even know if Lung will listen to you."

"She will," Hanabi said and we both turned our heads towards her. "Don't demand anything or she might refuse just because."

I blinked. "That's - "

"Petty?" Hanabi shrugged. "She's proud. So ask, beg if you have to. But a gang war is going to hurt a lot of people and she has to know that. Her people."

Hanabi sounded like she was speaking from personal experience. "You live on the Docks," I accused her.

"My father does. I used to live on the edge of downtown, south." That was Empire territory. She also said "used to."

"I'm sorry," I said awkwardly.

She smiled sadly. "Don't worry about it."

"If you can get me contact information, I'll see what I can do on my end. I might be able to talk to Lung, so you won't have to get involved."

The more time that passed the closer Coil was to getting what he wanted. Militia was probably going to have to jump through hoops just to make an inch of progress, on top of her other responsibilities and moles within the very organization that handed out the marching orders.

I couldn't help feeling that we didn't have that much time.

Miss Militia somehow saw it. My body language maybe, or how I didn't answer immediately, I couldn't tell. She didn't try to dissuade me any further, just a simple, "Be careful."

The cocoon of hard light frizzed. Hanabi asked, "Am I good to let it down?"

"Yes," I answered. "We're done here."

I stood up. The ribbons of red light dissolved into sparkling motes, like the colored sparks of fireworks. I opened the door and left.

5 PM saw me at Pier 4 in casual, sturdy clothing. Slightly baggy jeans and sneakers, a long sleeved shirt with a light jacket for the chill. Bao was nearby, headphones in his ears and the setting sun glinting off the gold dragon on his scarf.

My heart was trying to beat out of my ribcage.

It was quiet and I was having second thoughts, as well as third and fourth ones but I just took deep breaths and tried to steel my nerves. It didn't exactly work and when the sound of soft footsteps reached my ears, I almost swallowed my tongue.

The footsteps were in threes, two steps and then a soft thump in a rolling pattern. It rounded a still, rusting crane and I laid eyes on Snake.

She was a small woman with a leg brace and cane. Her clothes were simple, a blood red blouse and black dress pants. What caught my attention was her face, or rather the fact that I could actually see it. She didn't wear a mask, or visor or shades. Just a blank smile and average features you could lose in a crowd easily.

"Snake," Bao greeted cautiously. "Today went well?"

"It did," she said. Her voice was dusty but warm, with a tinge of an emotion I couldn't put my finger on. "Hello, Taylor."

Her gaze focused on something around me, or through me and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

"I would like to join the ABB," I said with far more confidence than I felt.

Snake smiled placidly.

"No."

"No." I repeated, as if I needed to hear the word from my own mouth before I could believe it. The sick feeling seemed to crawl up from my toes and nest in my head, making the world tilt. I stared at Snake, at her distant smile and felt my face begin to heat up. My fists clenched. "No?"

Snake tapped her cane on the ground.

"You disagree with my decision?" She asked with the sliver of interest in her voice.

Hearing that tone just made me angrier. It was like being back at Winslow "overhearing" girls taking potshots at me and acting surprised when called on it, knowing that if I ever actually fought back I would be the one punished. She was lording it over me, I thought. All I saw at that moment was a plain, small woman smiling when all I wanted to do was save the fucking city.

I was not taking no for an answer.

"Yes, I disagree with your decision!" I bit out. At the edge of my awareness, I felt the gathering of hundreds upon hundreds of bugs. I had no idea where they had come from. I stilled them.

Her reaction was subtle. A slightly wider smile as she dipped her head a fraction and leaned more heavily on her bad leg, creating a slight plastic creak. Her eyes shifted down from around my head but I got the feeling she still wasn't looking at me.

"Why?"

"Why?" I sputtered. "What do you mean why? You just shut me down without telling me anything!"

"Taylor," Bao whispered urgently from the side.

I pulled myself back and tried to take calming breaths. It didn't matter if I joined or not, I rationalized. It wasn't like I didn't know where the center of ABB holdings were. I could sneak by with my bugs. Actually delivering a warning might be a bit difficult but I had a few ideas for that. And Lung would actually listen to me.

"Snake," Bao said. "This isn't because she isn't -"

"Asian?" Snake finished for him. "No, although that does have problems of its own."

I was surprised to feel disappointment at those words. I was a little invested in the idea of joining something, that people wanted me and it hurt hearing that might not be true.

Bao jerked in surprise. "But Lung said - "

"I am aware of what Lung said. You think she rules as a tyrant, thinking for you?"

He backpedaled. "No, I - "

"Lung may welcome all who would follow, but this one," she pointed her cane at me. "Will not follow. There is no room in the ABB for deceit."

The bottom of my stomach dropped out. She thought I was a spy? "I'm not a spy," I said, desperate to salvage this situation before it got any worse. "Or an infiltrator or traitor or anything like that."

"And should we call on you against the E88?"

"I'm not a Nazi," I said sharply. Disgust warred with outrage at the implication that I had any sympathy for them. Unlike what I had seen of the ABB, the Empire 88 held no sympathy for those under their heel.

"I vouched for her, Snake. Taylor's good people." Bao flashed me a quick smile. I felt a flush of embarrassment and what I hoped was gratitude and relief for his support, regardless of his intentions.

Snake tapped her cane on the ground again. "And against the Protectorate?" She was smiling like she already knew the answer.

"I - " My mouth opened but after several long moments I had to close it. I was a hero, or trying to be one. But helping the ABB attack the heroes in order to help the Protectorate was a paradox, and there was the crux of the dilemma facing me.

Helping one, would almost certainly mean conflict with the other. I supposed I deluded myself into forgetting exactly what joining a gang meant. I was still seeing the colored banners and murals, people nodding in my direction and the taste of banana on my tongue. I wasn't ashamed in admitting to myself that I wanted that but I didn't like the price tag.

"That is why I must refuse you," Snake said. "You are not here to be ABB. You are here to get something from the ABB."

"You're right. What I want is this city in one piece and we both know who can actually do that." I had to blink as the words left my mouth. That was true, wasn't it? I felt a little unease when the answer to that question came back as 'Yes.' I believed that.

"You seek to use us?"

"I want your help." A flash of memory, the surgical scar on the base of Lisa's head. With it came the determination. I had to see this through.

Snake's smile dimmed as she finally saw me, focused on me. "And there it is," she murmured. "I see about you now a mechanical queen with tattered wings. Perhaps Lung named you well."

My heart stopped. "What?"

She turned on her heel slowly and started to limp away. "You may follow me."

I knew I shouldn't push my luck but I couldn't stop the question from popping out of my mouth. "Is that a yes?"

Snake tilted her head to the side but didn't answer.

Bao cleared his throat. I jumped and turned to him, an excuse on my lips. "I'm not going to ask what that was about," he said quickly. "But you've got a good reason, right?"

I said two words. "Gang war."

He puffed out his cheeks and nodded. "Right."

He held out his hand. I bit my lip and took it.

The 'Dragon's Lair' was a square of repurposed warehouses isolated from the main population by abandoned condemned buildings surrounding it. The grid layout of the empty inner city streets made everything look the same with blacked out windows and dusty corners. We made left and right turns too many times for me to keep track without my bugs, but I could instantly tell we had arrived when the native insect population plummeted.

Snake led the way to a metal side door and I could feel the anticipation building, making me feel giddy. It lead to a back hallway skirting the edge of a main room I only saw through various open doors. A slight haze of smoke on the ceiling and the sharp smell of tobacco met my nose.

I caught glimpses of women wearing more threads than clothes and a lot of tattoos, covering every inch of skin in some cases. I got the impression this was a less than reputable establishment, but Bao didn't even bat an eyelash. I lost a bit of respect for him because of that. Not a lot, admittedly, but it bothered me.

"Come here often?"

He squeezed my hand. I tried to ignore the heat in my cheeks and was glad for the poor lighting. "Nah. Got better things to do."

"Homework?"

"Sleeping."

There was a lacquered wooden door up a short flight of steps with a guard posted. He wasn't wearing a cloth top, showing off a "shirt" of dragon tattoos. "Snake."

The woman nodded back. "Taylor."

Bao let go of my hand. I felt a little abandoned. "Yes?"

Snake smiled at me, her blank polite smile. "You will not live to make me regret this."

I couldn't respond, my voice stuck in my throat. I could only nod.

With that, she walked away. Bao nudged me forwards. "I'll wait for you," he promised. "Lung will like you, trust me."

She liked Hachi, I wanted to tell him. And I wasn't even sure what it was about me that had gotten her attention. I had the option of just coming out and telling her who I was but it might make her expect more of me. You don't throw unpowered minions against seasoned heroes, but another cape was fair game. I wanted to avoid that, if I could.

I pushed the door open and headed inside.

The room was surprisingly plain. Off white walls with water-color floral patterns and characters, dark wood lining. There were a few squat filing cabinets against the walls and a rice paper mat under my feet. I instantly felt guilty for tracking dust from outside on it.

The center of the room was dominated by a large, low table with seating pillows around it: five of them. And beside it closer to the wall was a decent sized desk of the same kind of dark wood.

That's where Lung sat, her head bent over a book she was writing in. This time, she wore a beautiful blue robe with silver flowers and a wide sash around her waist. Her flame rotated her head casting moving shadows.

I had the sudden thought that it must be killing her eyes.

She calmly set her pen down and I held my breath, "New recruit? Why would Snake bring you to me so soon?"

"I don't know, sir." Sir? Ma'am. I had no idea what to call her. How do you address one of the two most powerful criminal leaders in the city?

"You - " She cut herself off. "Hachi?"

It occurred to me just then that I should have accounted for her hearing. Despite the situation, I felt a little embarrassed at the slip.

"Um, hi." I said lamely. Of course she would have recognized my voice.

"I'm surprised," she admitted. She stood up from her chair and rounded the desk, trailing her hand along the edge. "Did you think on what I said?"

I will admit to panicking. I'd been so focused on everything else that I didn't consider that she might want to continue our last conversation. I thought back quickly. It was about strength and, ironically, not focusing on a problem to the point of missing other things. I didn't want to just dump everything on her lap.

Snake's accusation of using her stuck with me and it might seem like dodging the question. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"How do you feel about giant hornets?" Wait, what?

Lung paused. "What?"

I kept talking. "You know, the ones that are like three times the size of regular hornets and they're Asian. They can sting more than once and kill a lot of people, I don't know how many but a lot of people, and they are incredibly aggressive to just about everything…" I had no idea where I was going with this as I slowly trailed off into mortified silence. Did I really just pitch hornets as being Asian?

The awkward pause was only broken by my palm meeting my face.

There was a sound like a hiccup and a cough.

I peeked through my fingers when Lung began to laugh.

"I'm sorry," Lung said insincerely, clearly not sorry for laughing at me. "But your face, oh relax, please. I am not one to be offended so easily."

The rest of the tension in my shoulders and back drained away and I almost slumped over in relief. It wasn't exactly an all clear sign. I found myself not really caring. I didn't have my bugs and was in a flammable room with Lung. And as far as a pyrokinetic was concerned,I was flammable. Even if I managed to escape outside, I would still have to go through the rest of ABB.

It wasn't that I anticipated this going wrong, more like if it did there was nothing I could do about it.

Lung stepped up to me and nodded. "Better."

She offered me a seat at the round table which I took a bit awkwardly. I tried to sit cross legged but my knees banged up against the underside until I figured out that I was free to move the cushion. Lung waited for me to get settled in patiently. Didn't snigger, or mock me and maybe it was a bit self centered, but I felt that instantly made her better than half of Winslow.

Instead of sitting directly across from me, or at a weird angle as some sort of power play, Lung just sat next to me. Her small circling fireball shifted to hover above the center of the table, out of the way.

"This is an unusual situation." She propped her elbows up on the table and clasped her hands together. "I don't see recruits until after their initiation is completed and is vouched for by a lieutenant."

Her masked face shifted, focusing on my face, "You were looking to join, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but Snake had other ideas." I explained. Surprisingly, I felt a bit of relief at that. I'd been fully prepared to bite the bullet and join a parahuman gang, but if I could warn Lung about Coil and not join? Best of both worlds.

"Did she tell you why?"

I hesitated on answering because it wasn't a very flattering one. "I wouldn't be loyal to the ABB."

Her answering chuckle was dry, humourless, "It's a scary thing, isn't it? To trust something as large as the ABB, knowing that you would have to take the good with the bad."

My eyes dropped to the table, hands squeezing the fabric of my pants, "You think there is bad too. Why don't you just-"

"Stop it? When I arrived here many were deep into crime because they liked it. They would take the shallow power, the highs and freedom over helping a neighbor. The previous version of the ABB was disgusting." She looked away, seeing something I didn't as she continued.

"There was no greater purpose. Just greed and selfishness." She gestured at the other spaces around the table. "Some were willing to change but such things don't happen overnight. How long has it been?"

I thought back to the very first time the city became aware of Lung. The sirens sounding in the dead of night and a very short glimpse of a sinuous, silver creature rearing up. "Almost four years."

"Adding good is more important than removing bad, I think. The more members that join, because of that good, because that is the ABB to them the easier it is. Soon there will be more of you," she gently poked my forehead. "Than there is of the others. There will be no room for them at this table."

"Is that why you gave Aswang up?" Handing over one of her lieutenants to the Protectorate had seemed more like an after-thought, but now? It raised new questions.

Lung's reply was succinct, "I've been looking for a good reason to get rid of him. I took advantage of the timing."

I wasn't entirely convinced. But I didn't want to seem like I was looking for holes to poke in what she was telling me or put her on the defensive. "I read about Parian on the PHO message boards."

Lung simply nodded, "Kali has made her mistakes, yes. She is also leading a group that hasn't been fully integrated. 'Asian' is diverse enough without getting into the rest of the sub-continent. I hope you don't think poorly of me for tolerating her for a little longer."

I didn't. It was a simple explanation that made a kind of unpleasant sense. If I were Kaiser, infighting in ABB would be like Christmas came early. "You don't want the ABB to splinter."

"It would undo everything I've worked for and there are those that would like to see us falter." She straightened the silk white cuffs of her robe absently. I could imagine the distracted frown on her face before she leaned over the table again, palms flat on the surface. "If you were refused, why did Snake bring you here?"

I inhaled, it was now or never, "There's a man named Coil, minor leagues."

"I am familiar with the name." Lung confirmed.

"Good, because he's not minor. He wants this city and is willing to go through you and Kaiser to get it. He has at least two people, one Thinker under him, enslaved. The Undersiders are his. They're supposed to poke you, get information on what you own, how you own it. What's important, what isn't and how'd you respond to something big. E88 big."

I was embellishing a little with my facts. Lisa hadn't told me that straight out, but it was obvious enough when you looked at what her group had hit and the reasons why. Money makers, places that provided gang funding, at the edge of territory lines. Smash and grab, disappear into the city gray zone between.

Open gang activity on "neutral" areas like the Boardwalk or downtown would put more pressure on the Protectorate to act since that was it's tourism and economic center respectively. It wasn't really neutral, just less overt.

Dragon icons on shop signs you couldn't prove and generic brochures for youth groups with all white members on the pictures inside, for example. Something you could pretend you didn't see as you went about your day.

"I see." She was looking at me, but at the same time I had the feeling she was thinking very carefully about what I just said.

I coughed, nervous from the stare, "She, uh, she also mentioned a high powered rifle shot to the head would...is that -?"

"True?" Her fingernails tapped on the dark wood. "I am not immortal. This Thinker, is she aware of when?"

"Working on it," I said miserably. "I didn't want to just sit on the information if it turns out to be tomorrow. It's a trap that needs two people to fall in. If I could warn you, stop you from getting caught in it then when doesn't matter."

"Thank you." Her head dipped in my direction. "It is a good plan. I would not let attacks go unpunished and even if I suspected, I could not remain on the defensive forever." She did sound actually grateful for what I had told her.

"We'd have to take him out." I suddenly said. It's what Lisa was aiming for, I was sure. And I didn't blame her. Someone who implants devices in people, drugs them in order to force them to work for him, and stays under the radar was a dangerous someone that couldn't be allowed to slip free. It wasn't enough to just ruin one of his plans. He'd just make more. It wouldn't stop him.

I could hear the smile in her voice. "We?"

"I live in this city," I tried to explain. "I don't want people like him in it."

"Agreed." Lung reclaimed her fire to hover idly around her head again as she stood. "If you have any more information, please tell Bao. I'm told he vouched for you."

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. He was waiting outside for me. I would have to give Takeo back his handkerchief. Neal would probably be there complaining about his day job at Bay Central and the siblings would be trading horrible jokes. I'd have to tell them I wasn't joining.

I didn't want to do that.

"I live on the docks," I said.

"Oh?" I didn't for a moment believe she didn't know who I was, but she was being polite, letting me control the conversation. I still fidgeted in my seat.

"I want to believe that it's like you said, replacing bad with good but," there is still places like this, I didn't say out loud. There was still drugs and protection rackets and violence if you caught the wrong person on a bad day. Just more organized. "I want to give you a chance."

"You wouldn't be giving us a chance, Hachi." Lung replied evenly. "We would be giving you a chance."

That would be why Snake said no. I felt like I understood a little. I don't trust easily. Never had a reason to, not when people in the hallways from teachers to students just looked the other way.

"But," Lung said abruptly. I looked up at her. "I understand sometimes a person just wants a place to belong." She went back to her desk and picked up her pen again, a dismissal. "You have my permission."

I exited Lung's office giddy, almost walking on air in a heady mixture of relief, happiness, disbelief. I blame that as the reason why I threw my good arm around a smiling Bao. I froze halfway into it with sudden sobriety but he carried the hug the rest of the way.

His scarf got tangled in my sling. He insisted I keep it, he had more.

I did.