1.07 Hemolymph

Walking back towards home, I stopped before I was too close. I found a secluded area and started changing. I had just stripped down to my sports bra when I heard police sirens. I checked the direction. I relaxed a little when I realized they were heading to the shoe store, and not to Dinah.

I finished taking off the rest of my costume and stuffed it in the last of my ziploc bags. I put on the new shoes, and started jogging back wearing little more than skin-tight sofies and a sports bra.

I was under a mile from home and scanning the house when I stopped in my tracks. My dad was sitting in the kitchen watching the front door.

He didn't do this last time. I remembered he had said something the next morning, but he was never waiting up like this the first time around. What could have prompted this kind of change? I had been gone all day sure, but would he have known that? True I hadn't left a note either. Could he be worried about me with the brain injury?

Sadly, the why was a little less important than what I was going to do about it. If I walked in, we would have a talk. It could go either way, but I'd be at risk of being grounded, as dumb a fear as that might sound. I remembered him threatening to put bells on the doors. Not that I wouldn't get my bugs to handle those, but I didn't like the notion of our relationship deteriorating that quickly.

So if I didn't go home, then what? Find a hotel room for the night and go back in the morning? That still wouldn't excuse my absence. Plus, a fifteen year old girl getting a hotel room at this hour would send up red flags. I didn't want to sleep on the street tonight either. I could find someplace safe to stay with ease. But again, that wouldn't excuse my absence and might drive us further apart. I had to make a decision. Face my dad? No.

I turned and started walking back into town. I pulled out my phone and put in the battery. The phone powered up and already I had a text message.

Thanks again for the help. We owe you 1. Ever need a favor, call whenever ; ) Tt

I checked the time on the text. It read as one minute ago. That sent a shiver down my spine. It might be too risky to be around her.

Maybe not though. The message could be time stamped from when the phone turned on. It might not be Tattletales powers at work. Still it made me a little nervous. It also gave me my solution.

Need that favor. Need a place 2 stay 2night. Monarch

Next I dialed my house. I could feel my dad jump when the phone rang. He rushed over to it and answered on the second ring.

"Hey dad!" I started.

"Taylor! Where the hell are you! Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I'm fine dad, I'm over a friend's house. I'm sorry I didn't call earlier. We had started watching Star Wars and just finished 'Return of the Jedi'. I should have called earlier, I'm sorry about that."

"Taylor if these are the bullies or someone else, tell me you are fine. If you are safe tell me your mother's full name."

Right I remember him doing this when I was first joining the Undersiders and hadn't made it home in time for dinner. Looking back on that I realized how dumb not calling ahead of time had been.

"Annette Rose Hebert"

"Taylor I have been going out of my mind with worry here. Its two in the morning. When are you planning on coming home?"

"Oh, actually I thought I should spend the night. Her parents are asleep and she doesn't have a car. I thought about taking the bus."

"No! No buses. Not this late. I'll pick you up, where are you."

"She lives outside the city dad. It's a bit of a drive. Why don't I just spend the night, and they can drive me back in the morning?"

"Taylor its a school night. You have to be up in the morning. You cannot be out late like this, especially with a head injury. You told me you were going to be taking it easy. Out till two in the morning without a phone call is not taking it easy!"

"I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy dad. The doctors also said I should be taking off school for a while, so no I don't have class in the morning. We were going to sleep in a bit and then head over to the library."

"Who is we, and don't they have to be up for classes?" I could hear the exasperation in his voice. He was close to exploding already. Justifiably so, now that I thought about it. I had just been hospitalized after gushing blood from my nose, mouth, and ears. Maybe the eyes too. I wasn't sure about that. I hadn't asked, and neither the doctors, nor Amy had said anything about it.

"We, is me and Lisa, staying at her parents house. And no, she is homeschooled, so she doesn't need to be up in the morning for class."

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about Lisa and why are only calling me now?"

"Dad I don't have a cell phone and I didn't think we would be up this late. I'm sorry Dad, I really wasn't paying attention to the time." Lies lies lies. I hadn't thought he would be staying up like this. I had also thought getting a ride from the flying capes would get me home much quicker. It had, but even still, it was late. Worse, I couldn't blame him. In retrospect, I should have called and left a message saying I would be out late or something. This was one of those incredibly stupid things I had told myself I wouldn't be doing. So much for that.

"Taylor you can't do things like this. Do you have any idea how worried I have been? I already called the police."

"The police?!" This was way over the top. If there was a missing person report on me the same night Lung was taken down, Diana was evacuated, and Triumph and Aegis disappeared, it might be enough red flags for any interested parties to find me out.

"Yes, I called the police, who told me you had to be missing for 24 hours before they would do anything. So no, they weren't any help."

Ok, so things weren't as complicated as I had feared. No police involvement yet was a good thing. I still had a pissed off dad to worry about though. Maybe it would have been better to just face him. Call me a coward, but that wasn't something I wanted to do. I knew he would be upset and I thought it would be better to be the absent minded daughter, caught up having fun with a new friend, than the wayward daughter, out in her underwear at 2:00 am.

"I'm sorry dad, I just got so caught up finally spending time with another girl like me that I just sorta forgot about everything else."

"What about your friends at school, what about Emma?"

Emma. What about her. I hadn't even considered going back to school. Ever. Leviathan would be here in a month, if I kept things chaotic enough. There wouldn't be schools for another two months after that either. Maybe I should though. Not to get revenge, but just to make sure my absence wouldn't be noted.

"Things aren't better at school?" I had let the silence stretch while I had pondered. I waited a bit again before responding.

"No." I said, putting as much hurt into my voice as possible. It wasn't hard. All I had to do was bring up memories of the dead. Memories of battles lost, and the good capes that fell. Remembering losing Grue to Bonesaw, Regent to Behemoth, Brockton Bay to the horrors that befell it. The End. It was all I could do to bring myself back to the present. I had never had time to grieve for them all. One day I might. Not tonight though. I had to steel myself tonight.

"Alright. Just tell me you're safe. Tell me you'll be home tomorrow. You can't imagine how worried I have been."

I could though. I really could.

"I'm fine dad. Better than fine. I'm happy," happy to have a second chance. Happy to have you back in my life again, even if we are having a bit of a tiff. I was truly grateful he had worried.

"Alright kiddo. We are going to have a talk about being responsible when you get home. But I'm glad your happy. If you need a ride in the morning give me call. I want to meet this friend of yours some time."

"Will do. I love you dad."

"I love you too Taylor," and with that he hung up.

Was I a horrible person for lying and manipulating my dad? I was worried I already knew the answer to that. I had thought briefly about telling him what I was really up to, but I banished that thought almost as soon as I had it. If someone, like say Coil, decided to torture my father for information on me and my plans, the less my father knew, the better.

Sadly that scenario was entirely likely. I had learned, after the fact, that Coil had done that to Lisa. He might have done that to all of the Undersiders too. That last part I had no real way of knowing. Speaking of Lisa, I hadn't gotten a text back from her yet. She could be sleeping. Or Coil could be telling her to wait.

I assumed she would say yes. She did owe me a favor. Plus she would be looking to recruit me. No doubt she would need to vet me before, but I could honestly tell her I had no interest in joining the wards, and for the moment, this job was about bringing in lots of money.

The problem with staying with the Undersiders was the distance I would have to travel again. I would now have to go back to the docks, maybe an hour run. Walking would almost triple it. There weren't many bus routes that ran at this time and I might be waiting an hour just for them to show up. I could call a cab, but that would also raise suspicion. Grue wouldn't have access to a car right now. I would have to take the lesser of the evils and jog it. Or just call a cab…

I really didn't want to walk the whole way, and I was tired enough that I almost considered just sneaking back into my own bed and risking my dad catching me at home.

I decided to continue walking back into town, don my costume, call a cab, and ride the rest of the way. The ABB and Coil would be the only two factions that might be looking for me right now. Maybe the local Protectorate too. The ABB would be an issue if they figured me out. Coil, not so much really. He would know everything about my civilian life once I joined the Undersiders, and my civilian life wouldn't give him much.

I was more worried about him finding out about my future than my past. The 15 year old girl I was now, I hadn't been in a long time. Three years or so. The me I am now would totally blindside him. I had fought no less than ten different S-Class threats. I had lost to some of those foes, but beaten a good number of others. What was Coil compared to the gods I had killed.

Before I inflated my own ego too much, and made so stupid villain mistake like monologuing, I got a text back from Tattletale.

Hey, sorry I'm slow. You need a place for the night? Call for directions. Tt

First I'd need a cab. I figured I was far enough from my home I could call without worrying someone could find me. I had walked for twenty minutes or so straight to downtown. Right now I was near a group of lower class apartments. I was a block or two away from the upper class ones. I called the cab company and told them I'd be waiting there. They told me a cab would be there in twenty minutes.

Reaching the area I donned my cape again. The shoes I had just 'bought' were kind of useless, now that I was back in costume. I put them in the ziplock and stashed them in the alleyway near the intersection I was meeting the cab at. I was stashing a lot of miscellaneous stuff all over the place. I still had my art supplies near ABB territory. I had an arsenal of weapons from the fight tonight also in ABB territory. Lastly, I had a biological sample I would need to pick up down there too. At least I remembered where this stuff was. Better yet it was all in the same area.

When the cab arrived, he was a little startled to see me to say the least. I can't imagine its every night you drive around with a cape sitting right behind you. The $50 I handed him when I got in the cab shut him up though.

He drove me to the boardwalk near where I fought Lung. I paid the last of my fare and left to collect some of the weapons.

Arriving at the scene again I spread my bugs out discreetly. Armsmaster was long gone, as were Lung and the rest of the downed gangbangers. Police tape cordoned off the area and there were a few guys in full body sterile suits taking pictures of the scene. It looked like the police were investigating the mess I'd made. Luckily they weren't on the roof, nor the opposite side where a lot of the weapons had fallen. I pinged the forensic team cataloging the scene, and the beat cops watching over them. My bugs were set to task dropping the loot off the building to the opposite side. With that started, I called Tattletale.

"Hello?" she answered on the first ring.

"Tattletale?" I responded.

"So is this the mighty Monarch?" I could hear the smirk all the way through the phone.

"Speaking. You mentioned directions. I'm back at where the fight was. You wouldn't be far from here right?"

"No not far at all. So if you needed a place to stay, why didn't you ask earlier?" she asked. I never expected her to just let me waltz into their place without the once or twice over.

"Got home to find my dad waiting up for me. He didn't see me, but I figured it was better to tell him I was at a friends than to be coming in at two in the morning. I should be good to go home tomorrow." Not a single lie in there.

"And you reach out to us instead of your other friends?"

"I don't have any friends," I deadpanned. Not yet at least. But there was hope I might make some soon.

She was a little slower responding to that.

"And you think you'll be safer staying with us than a hotel?"

"You do owe me a favor," I retorted. "Besides you seemed like decent criminals. Well I didn't talk to Bitch, but Grue seemed rather welcoming."

"Yeah he can be. So… would you be a decent criminal too then?" I could hear the smile again.

"I'm not planning on stabbing you in the back if thats what your asking. I'm honestly just looking for a place where I'm not going to get mugged or attacked by a couple of gangbangers. So are you ok with me staying with you all, or should I find somewhere else?" I finished.

"Alright you can stay here. I should warn you though that Bitch isn't too welcoming to guests."

"I can handle Bitch if she gets rowdy."

"Like you handled Lung?"

"You told Grue I was holding back… I can pull my punches if I need too. Remember how he wasn't dead? I promise I wont be killing Bitch or her dogs if she gets out of hand."

"You could be lying. Maybe you're just trying to get us with our guard down so you can take us out nice and easy" she countered. Knowing her I could her the smugness and superiority in her statement. She knew from her powers that I wasn't going to do so. She was just nettling me. Or maybe she was just having that hard a time getting a read on me.

I turned to look directly into her eyes when I answered. She was waiting across the street inside another abandoned building. It was hard to see through the glass, at least from my side. Having bugs on her made it a moot point though.

"Once you see me stop pulling my punches, once you see me really cut loose, you'll realize I don't need you to let your guard down to take you out… But in the interest of being friendly, I promise I won't mess with any of you tonight. So are we copacetic? Or do you feel the need to sit me down for a full interrogation?" I finished with a smirk.

Tattletale hung up the phone, opened the door, and walked out.

"I think we can save the twenty questions till morning. But I am curious. You don't seem all that worried that we won't do something bad to you…" She let the statement linger.

"Are the Undersiders really the kind of villains that would do something like that?"

I knew her and the rest of the Undersiders well enough to know they weren't. Well except for Bitch. The couch wouldn't be safe for me to sleep on tonight. Not unless she was up when we got to the loft. If she was, she would attack me then. Thereafter she wouldn't mess with me.

"Na, we wouldn't do more than pickpocket you while you slept. Not that any of us would," she added hastily, "its just, we are more down for making money, than hurting anyone. So you should be alright on the couch tonight."

She tilted her head at my frowning behind my mask.

"Too good for a couch?" she asked.

"To cautious. Will the dogs be a problem in the morning?"

"You don't like dogs? Um, they shouldn't be a problem. You're not allergic. Oh! No they don't always stay that big or scary. Thats just when Bitch uses her powers on them. Bitch?"

She was using her powers on me hard. Making statements and gauging my reactions. I must have twitched at Bitch.

"Think we can walk and talk? It's been a long day and I'd really like to get some sleep."

"Sure, sorry. Most of us don't really have day jobs, so being up this late on a Sunday night isn't a problem for us," she replied trying to get read on me. "Right, well follow me then."

She put action to words and turned to head off towards the loft.

"So whats your bone with Lung?" She asked, continuing to pry.

"Don't really have one. He is a decent criminal once you get past the part where he is trying to kill you."

"Your joking?" she asked giving me a sidelong glance.

"You tell me."

"You'd have to be joking. You're not past the part where he is trying to kill you. And after last night you're probably at the top of his kill list."

"Am I? I know he didn't see me. Nor did any of his gangbangers. If he is after anyone, it'd be the Undersiders. Bitch and her dogs are hard to miss. But a master like me, I can hide and let my bugs do the work."

"Well then lucky for us he is in jail. Thanks to you?"

"And my bugs."

"Yeah and your bugs," She finished.

We kept walking, but she kept to sneaking glances when my head was turned. I could tell she was annoyed. She might not have a great read on me just yet, but I knew all her tells by now. I could tell that whatever her powers were telling her, were not things she was liking. Not because she was necessarily getting wrong information, but whatever information she was getting had to seem contradictory.

"Do you have something you want to ask me?" I broke the silence with.

"What did you need to do before Armsmaster got there?"

"A lot, are we close yet? I am rather tired."

"So you don't want me knowing what you were up to?" she said with a Vulpine grin spreading.

"And not knowing what I was up to seems to really be annoying you isn't it? That's your power then isn't it Tattletale. You figure out peoples secrets. So what secrets am I keeping that you can't seem to figure out?"

She gave me a very dirty look before answering.

"What makes you think I haven't figured out your secrets already?"

"If you knew any of my secrets, you'd be asking how you could help instead of continuing to pry." I retorted. She gave pause at that and looked me over toe to tip.

"So were I to ask how to help?" her question dripping with suspicion and a little bit of trepidation.

"I'd tell you to stop prying, and let me tell you my secrets on my own time."

"Well thats no fun, and how long is that going to take?" She mock pouted.

"The more you pry, the longer it will take," I scolded light heartedly. I was faking humor a bit. Even faked though she should get that I wasn't too upset for her being curious. I did want her to stop digging though. I couldn't trust her with any of my secrets just yet.

"Can't you tell me anything yet? Just one little secret and I promise I'll leave you be. For a bit." She whined a little.

"Sure, one little secret can't hurt right? So here it is." I paused for dramatic effect. "I made more money last night than the Undersiders have made in their entire career." I paused again to let her powers gauge the truth of that statement. "Will that satisfy you?"

She gave me a long look before asking. "You took on the ABB didn't you. Robbed one of their drug houses?"

"Right in one. You are pretty smart aren't you." I winked at her. I realized she might not have seen the wink behind the mask, then realized her powers should have picked up on it regardless.

"So how much did you take?"

"Now now, I told you one little secret. Don't go prying for more just yet."

"Now you're just teasing me."

"Maybe. But I can't make your job too easy now can I."

"You don't have to make it harder though. Anyway this is us," she finished indicating the red brick factory before us. The massive sliding metal door was still locked shut by a coil of chain. Both were rusted to point of being unusable. The former 'Redmond Welding' building stretched a good half a block and the double story ground floor was still filled with cobwebs, indicating its disuse.

"Its big. Do you ever make use of the ground floor?"

"You already know we don't," she said giving me an odd look. "How?"

"I can feel the bugs crawling through the space. I have the facility mapped out already. The spiders have webs spanning large areas on the ground floor. If you were using the space, they wouldn't be so well established."

She let out a long whistle. "Damn you can scout a whole warehouse without even having to walk in. Thats how you knew where I was when we were on the phone before, and how you knew your dad was up. And that's all through your bugs? Thats a lot more impressive than just saying anthropodokinesis. So what else can you do with them?"

"I'll tell you in the morning. Can we go in?"

"Sure. It's through here," she said as she slid open the side door. "Do you want to lead?" she asked giving me a pointed look.

"After you," I replied, not willing to out myself as too familiar with their place.

She led on up the stairs as we entered. I scanned ahead and found Bitch asleep in her room, the dogs in theirs, and Alec in his. Searching for Brian left me both disappointed and relieved when I couldn't find him. The moment I would see him without my mask on, Tattletale would know that secret. Probably best to delay that reveal for later.

As we emerged at the top of the stairs, I looked out at the familiar room. The red brick walls reached up to the gray metal girders with the exposed metal roof above. The living room we entered into had the two couches facing the massive TV. I remembered sitting with Brian on the side couch watching movies. The mats we had sparred on were up against the back wall, leaving a rather large empty space behind the couches. There were a few shelves missing which bothered me till I remembered they would still be in the storage closet. A quick scan of the room showed there was little space to sleep. I would need to move a few things out before I could lay down comfortably.

As if reading my mind Tattletale answered my unspoken question. "We have a spare room we used for storage. We'd have to move a few things out of there before you'd have space. I can help, but are you sure you wouldn't prefer the couch?"

"Are you going to tell Regent to come out with his mask on when he wakes up? Or warn Grue to keep his face covered when he stops by?"

"Right. Well lets get to it then."

"You don't think Bitch could help us out?"

Tattletale just looked at me.

I took that as a no and started to the storage room. We only cleared out enough to give me enough space to get the air mattress in. Tattletale was blissfully quiet when we were working. When the air mattress finally had room, she broke the silence.

"So, all set there. You did bring up a good point about the masks earlier. Would you mind checking in the morning to make sure we are covered before you come out? You'd probably want to keep your costume and mask on too just to be safe."

"I'll be sure to do so. Thank you again for letting me crash."

"No problem. Right well I'll let you get some sleep. Oh, did you want anything to sleep in? I can't imagine that armor plating is all that comfortable."

"Oh I sleep naked," I tried to deadpan.

"Liar. I'll get you a loose top and some bottoms. Stay put."

I could feel her walk into her room and rummage through her dresser. The few bugs I had discreetly placed on her and everyone else in the loft gave me a perfect tactical map of the area. My spiders had run webbs at all the entrances, windows, and at each of the doors to the rooms. They weren't the black widows lines. These were just to let me know if someone passed through an area when I was asleep. I left out Tattletale's room for the moment. I would wait till she was back in it before I went to sleep.

"Here you go," she said passing me the clothes she had found. "They will be big on you, but you should be fine for just sleeping. Good night."

"See you in the morning," I finished.

I waited as she walked out the door. My bugs followed her back to her room. I felt her pick up her phone. She wasn't talking, nor texting, just holding it and looking at it. After a minute she put it down and started changing. I decided to do the same, while tagging her door and mine. I lay down on the air mattress in my borrowed clothes. I was happy to finally get some sleep. Today had been a long day. Tomorrow should be much shorter. I checked once more on the now sleeping Undersiders. Tattletale had left the phone where it lay and had gotten into bed. I closed my eyes.

Darkness claimed me.