AN: In honor of gravity waves, you can have this update.

Chapter 08: Permission to heal

"You doing okay, Boss?" Dart asked.

"Fine," I said, keeping my eyes set in front of me...not that I needed to anymore really. My vibration sense was a better guide than my impaired sight ever was, eyeglasses or no. In any case, it gave me an excuse to hide my face...not that I needed to, since I had the mask.

I could sense him still looking at me with my vibrations. "You're looking a bit tired there."

"No Merchants here," I said, keeping my steps smaller than usual. "Let's double back."

"If you need a break-"

"This way," I interrupted, leading us through an alley that I knew to be the shortest path.

"I'm just saying," Dart continued, "the last few days have been stressful and you are still a teenager, Resonance."

"It really wouldn't be a big deal if we stopped awhile," Rico added.

"I can keep going," I said, stepping forward forcefully and my right abdomen screeched at me.

The two of them stopped and frowned at me. "No you're not," Dart said. "You're hurting somewhere. You need to rest."

"We need to keep watch over Polk Street. It only has a few obstructions, so if the Merchants use their cars, they'll probably pass by there."

He crossed his arms. "Stop changing the subject."

I turned to glance at the dockworker. "I thought I was the leader here, Dart?"

"You are," Dart said, "but it's our job to look out for you when you aren't doing it right. And right now, you need to go slower."

"If we do that, the Merchants will get past us," I said. "The camp can't afford that."

"We've got the medicine from the E88 now." I scowled. He must have caught it despite my mask, because he said, "It was the right thing to do. Nobody blames you for taking it."

"The medicine," I spat out like something bitter, "doesn't solve our food shortage. If the Merchants get past us, Kurt's group will be in danger and that can't happen."

Dart hesitated. "I know you don't like the E88. Hell, nobody in the camp does, but they did promise food-"

"You really want to put our lives in their hands?" I asked, looking at his skin pointedly. "Your life?"

"Well, no, but if they wanna give us stuff, I'm not gonna say no. I don't see the need to push yourself this far."

"I don't want to give them any more leverage over us." I shook my head. "Not if I can help it. Besides, we don't know if they'll follow through on that. They have their own people to feed too, and if it comes down to a choice between them and us, they'll pick theirs every single time."

Something entered into my vibration's range from the direction of the camp. A single male...Dad? My brows furrowed. "Someone's here," I said.

Dart tightened his grip on his weapon. "Gonna be a problem?"

"Maybe, but not that kind of problem. It's Danny."

"Eh?" Rico tilted his head. "What is he doing here?"

"Let's find out," I said.

Dad stopped at an intersection. He knew I knew he was there, which meant he was waiting for us to go to him.

"Danny," I called out as we approached.

His head turned towards us. "We found her," Dad said, smiling. "We found Panacea."

"That's great! Where is she?" I asked.

"Brockton Bay General," he said. "I want you to go talk to her with me."

I frowned. "Why? Don't you need me here to keep an eye out?"

"This is more important. Panacea might not believe I am who I am, with how bad the city's gotten. I'm sure people have tried to kidnap her for her powers by now," Dad said.

"What makes you think she'll trust me anymore than you?"

"Because you're a cape, Resonance. And the PRT knows who you are." Dad pointed to himself with his thumb. "Me? I'm unpowered, a non-factor. They've got no reason to remember my name or get on my good side."

"Panacea helps everyone. She doesn't discriminate," I said.

Dad shrugged. "She might, but there's another cape with her. Gallant? He's with the PRT and he'd be against her going off with a complete stranger."

"Well if Gallant's really there, he'd know you were telling the truth. His power's let him read emotions," I pointed out. "I just don't see how me being there would leave us better off than staying here."

"Maybe so, but the PRT will think twice before saying no to a prospective Ward recruit."

I crossed my arms. "They're not going to just bend over and give me what I want. It doesn't work like that."

"Kurt agrees with me," Dad said. "He's shifting his search further east just in case the Merchants attack today."

"Well, what about the camp?" I asked.

"I think the guys can keep it safe for a few hours," he said.

"Not against a cape," I said. I leaned in closer, whispering, "And what if that new guy wakes up and ends up being hostile? I'm the only one who'd be able to stop him."

Dad looked at me pointedly. "I don't think the odds of that happening are very high. As for the Merchants, no one's seen their capes since two nights ago, during the attack."

"You'll be faster without me. I'm…injured."

"Even more reason for you to go then," Dad said. "Even if she doesn't agree to come to the camp, at the very least she'd heal you up. We need you healthy." He sighed. "If...if you're hurt, you can't fight very well."

"You should go," Dart interjected, slinging his shotgun. "Me 'n Rico can handle things here. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back." He inclined the barrel towards the road leading to the hospital. "Go on."

I nodded.

"You know, we haven't had a chance to talk alone since we got to camp, Taylor," he stressed the last word, as if enjoying the way it rolled off his tongue. "God, it's felt like ages since I could call you that."

"Three days isn't that long, Dad." He was right though. It did feel good. It was familiar; a semblance of returning normality, no matter how small of brief. "How are the talks with the mayor?" I asked.

"Not great," he said, his shoulders slumping. "The local government's resources are overstretched at the moment."

"Sure, but that's what the national government is for," I said.

Dad rubbed his cheeks with both hands. "The folks in DC are still on the fence about the city, apparently."

My face scrunched. "What do you mean?"

"It costs a lot of money to rebuild a city, Taylor. It's not something they'd decide on immediately."

"What's there to think about? It's a yes or a no."

Dad snorted. "It's never that simple when the government's involved."

"They didn't take very long for New York," I said.

"Sure, but Brockton Bay isn't New York. We were never that prosperous as a city to begin with, in the days before the Endbringers. When all the politicians hear about us is our terrible economy and high crime rates, it gets hard to justify spending that much money on rebuilding."

"Abandon Brockton Bay?" Sure, it was a shitty city, but it was my shitty city. "They can't do that! That's...that's not right."

"No, it isn't."

I kept quiet as we entered what was nominally "Undersider turf". With my vibrations, I could see that most of the still standing buildings had clusters of people in them. Neighbors or friends grouping up to increase their odds of survival, maybe? They were sticking around instead of heading for the PRT camps, so I could only presume Tattletale hadn't been lying about them taking care of their people.

There were a few heavily armed men standing around, though they didn't bother us. "Those guys look like they mean business," Dad said wearily. "Ex-military, I think."

"Because of their weapons?" I took note of the assault rifles they carried.

"The equipments one tell, but it's more how they hold themselves," Dad said. "They're constantly aware of what's going on around them, keeping their eyes sharp. And they stick near cover, just in case they get attacked. I had a few guys like that in the Union some time ago."

They didn't look government to me though, and they definitely weren't cheap, if their gear was anything to go by.

Whoever was backing the Undersiders had plenty of money to throw around.

Brockton Bay General came into sight, looking much better than I expected. The building seemed much better of structurally relative to those I'd seen on the way here...not that I knew much about engineering. Maybe Eidolon had done something to it? Strengthened the interior with his powers somehow? Hospitals were vital to the city, now more so than ever.

We entered through the hospital's doors, left open for some reason. The man at the counter looked like-

I blinked. "George? Is that you?"

George's smile dropped. "How do you know my name?"

I felt Dad glance at us uncertainly.

"It's me," I said, pulling on the soundwaves around us to prevent anyone from eavesdropping. "Taylor."

His eyes widened, then he grinned. "So you went to the costume shop after all."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Thanks for that, by the way. Really helped with the whole secret identity thing."

"Was the least I could do."

"How's Claire?" I asked. "Is she doing better?"

"She is, thanks for asking." He stepped out from behind the counter and looked me over appraisingly. "How about you though? Are you doing alright? I've heard some stories about what it's like-" he tilted his head towards the door, "-out there."

I sighed. "I'm not going to lie. It's not looking too good."

"How do you two know each other, Resonance?" Dad interrupted, putting emphasis on my cape name. I guess he didn't want George to know he was my dad?

"Taylor, well, Resonance now, saved my daughter, Claire, the day Behemoth attacked," George said proudly.

I flushed.

"She helped us when no one else would."

"Sounds heroic," Dad said, nodding his head amiably. "Just like her really."

"Are you hurt?" George asked, facing me again. "Panacea's here today. I could pull a few strings, make sure you get looked over."

"I'm-"

"She is, actually," Dad said, giving me a look.

"Just a little bit," I mumbled. "And it's not that bad."

"I disagree."

"Little things, left untreated, could get complicated quickly," George agreed.

"Well, it can wait," I said. "I'm not the reason we're here today, Danny. Panacea is."

George glanced at us a worriedly. "You knew she was going to be here?"

"We had someone keeping an eye out at the hospitals, just in case she swung by," I said. "It's not looking good back in our camp, George. We could really use Panacea's help."

"You lead a camp?" he asked.

"No, I just protect them from any troublemakers, keep the peace, that sort of thing. I don't make the rules." I pointed to Dad with my thumb. "He does."

"I'm Danny Hebert," Dad said, thrusting a hand out to shake George's hand. "I'm in charge of a camp just north of here, comprised primarily of the dockworkers and some family. The Merchants have been hitting us hard the past few days."

"A lot of people need Panacea's help…" George trailed off.

"We don't deny that, George, but not everyone needs her help equally. Some of our people might die without help soon. Good, hardworking folks who just want to build this city and build it better." The nurse frowned. "We're not asking you for anything, other than giving us a chance to talk to Panacea."

I caught the George's eye and smiled widely. "I...I guess I can talk to some people."

"That's all we're asking for," Dad said, letting a hand rest on the counter beside him.

"Wait here. I'll go talk to Dr. Crosby."

I continued to track him with my vibrations and that led me straight to where this Dr. Crosby was. He accompanied a teenage girl, Panacea I assumed, from room to room.

It didn't take George long to return.

"Uh oh, I don't like that look of his," Dad murmured. "A problem, George?"

"Dr. Crosby was fine with it, but Panacea...wasn't as open to the idea. She said she had too much work to do here to make a trip that far north," George said.

A cold and heavy hand threatened to crush my chest.

"Does she?" Dad asked. "How many patients are there in this hospital?"

"I can't tell you that. It's confidential."

"Alright, don't," Dad said. "Let me make an educated estimate. It's been five days since Behemoth. Most of the serious cases are probably dead or healed. Right?"

George nodded slowly.

"So, most of the patients here probably have moderate ailments they need taken care of or have non-serious injuries. And maybe a small percentage, say a hundred people, who are hurt really badly. Resonance, how long would it take Panacea to heal someone, on average?" Dad asked.

"Um," I thought about it, "under five minutes, if I had to guess? I'm not really sure."

"Okay, so five minutes, for a hundred people, that's about eight to nine hours of work for Panacea. I'd say this place has about a thousand people, maybe five hundred of them have stuff she should be fixing, and the rest are just wasting time."

My brow rose. "What? Why would anyone deliberately waste Panacea's time?" People were dying and you were wasting her time? That was just sick.

"It's not quite that simple," George said. "The doctors do their best, but without their equipment diagnosis isn't easy. It's difficult to tell which cases are best treated now and which can be safely ignored for the time being."

I frowned. There had to be something that could be done. Panacea-

My eyes widened and I took a shaky step backwards. I became painfully aware of the every beat of my heart, how it squeezed and throbbed, sending blood coursing through veins and arteries like a vast network of rivers.

"Resonance?" A worried expression settled on Dad's face. "Are you okay?"

"My vibrations," I croaked out, staring down at my hands. "They're...gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Dad asked, perplexed.

"As in gone! I-I can't feel them anymore," I said, my voice rising in pitch with each word. I pushed out with my palms, willing my shockwaves out, willing the world to leave me alone.

"No. No no no."

'Resonance?"

Nothing. Not even a ripple.

My hands became fists. "No!" This wasn't fair. Powers weren't supposed to just disappear! That wasn't possible!

"Taylor."

Dad gripped my arm and I felt him. I felt all of him.

From the smallest contraction of his throat as he spoke to the wiggling of his toes. Every cell and every organ showed themselves to me. Even the microfractures that hid in his bones were plain as day. The experience was...surreal.

I breathed out.

What was going on with me?

"Are you okay?" Dad peered at me, still holding onto my wrist.

"Give me a moment," I murmured.

He nodded and let go of me. Without my vibrations around me like a protective blanket, I felt naked. I didn't like the feeling. I hadn't realized how attached I'd gotten to my powers until now.

Then, like a switch inside my brain flicked on, my vibrations returned in full force, rolling out from myself in comforting waves, steadily building up my awareness of my surroundings. I could sense Panacea was still within range, walking from room to room with an urgency I found admirable.

Maybe my powers weren't just vibrations after all.

Disintegrating the bathroom stall's door, phasing through a wall, controlling metals, turning myself invisible - each of these were applications of my power I hadn't been able to replicate. Each one originally occurred while I was near a cape. Maybe my powers let me copy another cape's powers temporarily.

The phasing thing reminded me of Shadow Stalker. She was probably nearby during the Behemoth attack. That new Merchant cape, Scrapyard, used magnetic waves. The invisibility and silencing effect I had displayed with the Undersiders, that was probably because of their Stranger's doing, Imp. And now, the whole shift in my Manton Limitation from affecting nonliving to living things, that was me copying Panacea.

The thing is, all those still made use of vibrations. It wasn't a direct copy of their powers...more like an imitation, a reapplication of my own powers.

How did my powers know which cape to copy though? Was there a time limit to how long I could borrow one? Could it be repeated or was it a one-time thing? What was my range? Could I do multiple capes?

It didn't need me to be aware of the act or command it to do so, that much was certain. An idea began to form in my head.

"George, you said the doctors didn't have their equipment right?"

"Yes," he said.

"What sort of equipment? Could you describe how they worked to me?"

He began to do so, summarizing how MRIs, CT scans, x-rays, ultrasounds and much more worked. I took note of those which sounded replicable with my vibrations. My replica of Panacea's powers didn't give me the medical knowledge or intuition I'd need to diagnose these people by myself, but I could help the doctors that did have the training.

Now I just had to figure out a way to copy her again.

So if I didn't need to be aware of the act for it to happen, maybe my powers just respond to my wants? I needed to escape the bathroom so I mimicked Shadow Stalker's phasing. I really wanted to stab that prick Scrapyard with his own metal, so my powers emulated his. I wanted to hide, so I imitated Imp.

If it was simply a matter of want, then this would be simple enough. I wanted to help these people, because doing so would help my people.

My vibrations disappeared again and despite being ready for it, despite knowing it was a temporary thing, I couldn't help feeling sad.

I turned to George. "I think I might be able to help you out with the equipment."

By myself, I might not know what to look for to see if something was wrong with someone. But a doctor could tell me.

-Resonance-

"So you're the hero that's been asking for me," Panacea said just a few hours past the midday sun, Gallant flanking her, looking very much the knight in his suit of armor.

"Yes, I'm Resonance," I said, "and this is Danny Hebert, the leader of our camp."

Panacea nodded. "Well, you helped me out here by sorting out the non-serious cases, so I guess it's only fair that I ask. What can I do for you? Healing?"

"Not for myself, for the people in my camp," I said.

"Also for her too, actually. If it's not any trouble," Dad said. "Resonance is being modest, but modesty doesn't heal injuries,"

She extended a hand towards me. "Permission to heal you?"

"Thanks," I said, taking it.

"Your kidney is bruised," she noted.

Oh. So that's why my side was hurting. Wait, wasn't that the same place I got shot when those Merchants attacked Dad and me?

"A few worn out muscles, some nutritional deficiencies and some of your bones need strengthening," she said. "Your eyesight could use a touchup too. I can't do anything about the nutritional deficiencies, but I can fix everything else."

"Um, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but why not?" I asked curiously.

"I can't create matter from nothing and you don't exactly have enough body fat for me to do so safely," she explained. "Normally I'd just tell you to eat plenty of food afterwards, but with the city's shortages, well..."

"That's fine then," I said. "Thank you for doing this by the way."

"Done," she said, removing her hand from mine.

I took off my glasses and- wow. Were colors normally that vibrant? Twenty-twenty vision was awesome!

"So about your camp," Panacea began, "you wanted me to go look your people over?"

"Some of our people are barely hanging on," I said. "We don't have any doctors, nurses or pharmacists with us and they're too hurt to move."

"Where's your camp?" Gallant asked, his voice rougher than I imagined it would be.

"We're situated in the docks," Dad answered, "at the Union's office, to be specific."

Gallant turned to Panacea. "It's not that I don't want you to help, but they're right next to Merchant territory. It's going to be dangerous if they happen to attack, especially with their two new capes."

Panacea crossed her arms and gave him a stubborn look.

"Let me call in some backup," Gallant continued. "From New Wave, or the Wards, if you prefer."

"Not the Protectorate?" I asked.

The armored cape shook his head. "Too busy right now keeping the supply convoys safe."

"Fine," Panacea said. "Ask one of my cousins."

Gallant nodded and touched his ear, walking away, leaving us in silence.

It was painfully awkward. That's all I'm going to say about it.

Gallant returned. "Shielder's coming. He'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"Good," Panacea said.

"You should get some rest while you can," Gallant said.

I looked closer at Panacea now, noticing the heavy bags circling her eyes almost hidden by the spark, the fierce determination in her eyes.

"I'll be fine," she said, waving him off. "Come on, let's wait by the entrance."

Gallant sighed, but followed anyway.