Chapter 10

They met that night, for the first time, in one another's dreams. Lisa was standing on a beach, and the waters beyond were as a rainbow: a wash of reds and blues and greens and yellows which all blended into one. Barefoot, Lisa stepped along the fine obsidian sands and looked out towards that ocean.

"It's beautiful," Lisa said. "I have to give it that. Far more beautiful than anything I'd expect to see in Brockton Bay."

Taylor gave no answer and continued to look over the waves. Lisa shook her head. Even after all they'd been through, Taylor could still be so reserved at times. The parahuman stepped closer.

"You know, I've found myself drawn here for some time now. Ever since we had our little face to face. Scared the bejesus out of me the first time, let me tell you." Lisa put her hand in her jacket, coming to stand beside her friend. "Have to say, I was wondering when I'd finally meet you here."

She looked over and across, finding another Taylor standing further out on the dunes, keeping watch. Lisa shivered when the creature's gaze caught her own, and the beach and the dream melted away into a cold nothing, and she felt herself falling, falling, falling...

"I'm sorry," Taylor said, and just like that Lisa was back on the beach. "Sometimes, I feel like I just don't know what comes over me."

"You've got issues," Lisa said. "We all do."

Taylor quirked a small shy smile. "So full of false bravado, even now?" She looked back across the beach, towards her doppelganger, still standing silent so very far away. "She's always here you know, right there in the back of my head."

Lisa shuddered, remembering that time in the alleyway, with Jan and Yan, and that first night in the Dreamlands, with the Woman in White. "Yeah, I suppose I can see that."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Taylor looked back across the ocean and was silent once more.

"So," Lisa said, joining her in wave watching. "You seem preoccupied."

Taylor heaved a broken sigh. "I'm always preoccupied in this place." She gestured towards her doppelganger on the beach. "She's always here you know, and sometimes I find myself wondering where I end and she begins. Start thinking thoughts which shouldn't be my own..."

Lisa didn't say anything, and Taylor broke off, refusing to look towards their observer.

"She's you," Lisa pointed out.

"In a way, I suppose she is," Taylor agreed. "And in a way..."

"She's something different," Lisa finished. "I get that. Maybe. I think."

"It's complicated," Taylor said. She sighed. "Fuck, everything in my life has been complicated. Ever since the goddamn locker." She paused, and quirked her head towards the side. "And probably for some time before even that, if I'll be honest with myself. Since I was a child. As long as I could remember. And it's been getting worse. I feel like I've been being pushed somewhere, all my life, one step at a time..."

Taylor turned towards Lisa, "You know something about it as well. Something I'm missing. Not yet privy to."

Lisa scratched her head, suddenly nervous. Taylor turned away. She laughed wretchedly. "Keep your secrets. I don't think I want to know anyway."

Lisa watched as Taylor huddled inwards upon herself, as she settled upon the sands, dipping her feet within the waves. The younger girl looked up towards the older girl, "You'll stay with me, right? Through thick and thin?"

Lisa nodded gently, sitting down beside her, "Until the end of time."

Lisa felt the cold wash over her, something vast and powerful, and she felt as if something fundamental had so suddenly changed. She shivered, looked at Taylor with some suspicion, but kept her mouth shut. No need for any antagonism.

Taylor nodded. "Thank you. It's nice. Not being alone in here."

Lisa laughed nervously and she rose to her feet, watched Taylor slowly open her mouth, about to say something, but the words were muted. Unclear. The dream ended and she awoke.

L

L

Lisa met with Coil each week, going over plans and contingencies and intelligence reports. She kept one eye on the Undersiders, her old teammates, and occasionally she even stopped by, when the mood caught her fancy.

They were doing well for themselves, all things considered. Still doing the occasional job, still on the payroll it would seem. But above all there was Taylor, and that remained ever a struggle. Trying to pull her back from the brink, make her happy and content and functional once more, was like trying to break through granite. No matter what she did, the girl just continued to drift, just a little bit further with each passing day. Increasingly, Lisa doubted she could cut it on her own.

Lisa needed help, and Taylor needed so much more than she alone could provide.

L

L

"No," Brian said.

Alec looked up from the television, "What's this? Lisa's got a secret friend? You two timer, you."

Lisa ignored that remark, continuing hound Brian. "Come on, it's for a good cause, and she's a good person, if a little out there in some ways."

Alec smirked, "Do I get to meet her?"

Lisa pretended she didn't hear, and Brian released a sigh of resignation. "Seriously, I don't know why you even keep coming back here like this."

"I like the company?"

"You left," Brian said. "I understand, you've been reassigned by the Boss, and I can respect that. I won't hold it against you, but still, I just can't figure you out. What you're trying to hold onto. We were never friends, not really."

"No, we weren't. But you were always decent enough."

"I'm decent," Regent interrupted. "Tell her, Brian. Tell her I'm standup."

Brian shook his head, though a small, bemused smile flitted across his face. "Feels like going insane in here," he murmured.

"Yeah. I certainly feel I got the better of the deal."

"Hey!"

"Look," said Lisa. "I'm not asking for much. But she's lonely, and overwhelmed, and in major need of friends right now."

Brian kept his eyes upon her. "I'd think she could do much better than the likes of us, if what you say is true."

Lisa chuckled nervously. "Okay, so she's got issues. Serious issues."

"Explain."

"Look – it's well, I can't say it's nothing because it really isn't, but I don't really think you need to worry about her..."

"She's obfuscating Grue," Alec chimed in.

"I can see that, thank you," Brian said. He kept his eyes locked on Lisa and his hands curled into fists.

"Okay, so sue me. She has powers. Big powers. Seriously, like, really, really big powers, and she's depressed, and..."

"She's the project the Boss has you on," Brian said, releasing his breath. He frowned, "And when you say big...?"

"You really don't want to know," Lisa said. "Trust me on this."

Brian held her gaze for a long, long moment and he must have found something there convincing, for he nodded his agreement. "What are you going to tell the Boss?"

Lisa grinned, "Didn't I tell you? We're partners now."

Brian sighed and shook his head. He still agreed to meet.

L

L

Needless to say, that first meeting could have probably gone better. Lisa drove Brian out to Winslow, waited outside in the lot, every inch of her relaxed and confident. As for Brian, he held himself rigid. Ever vigilant. Lisa poked him in the shoulder, "Do try to act natural, Brian. We're not getting into any fights."

Brian said nothing. Lisa sighed with resignation, "At least try to relax. We don't want to make a bad impression on the girl."

He held his silence, and Lisa began muttering incoherently about stupid plans and how maybe she should have just gone with Regent after all. The boy may have been a jerk, but at least he knew how to act casual. She straightened as she spotted Taylor exit the building and begin to draw near. Her fellow students were keeping their distance.

Lisa started jumping up and down, waving her hands about in the air, "Taylor! Taylor! Over here!"

Taylor startled, looked over their way, but she relaxed as soon as she saw who it was. She meandered her way over, and the two shared a brief hug. On Lisa's part, it was a gesture warm and friendly but as for Taylor – well, Taylor was oddly mechanical about it, as if she was merely going through the motions. They separated, and Lisa slapped Brian on the back. "Taylor, this is Brian. Brian, Taylor."

Brian frowned and held out his hand. They shook, and neither said a word.

"Come on," Lisa whined, "Say something..."

Taylor shook her head. "Lisa set you up to this?"

"Yeah," Brian said. "I suppose you should know the way she gets, being your friend and all."

Taylor looked towards Lisa, still standing there with her hands in her pockets, pointedly keeping her gaze on the crowds of teens, giving them some small degree of space. "She's not your friend?"

Brian shrugged, "I'd say we're more acquaintances than anything else. We worked together, once."

"Ah," Taylor said, and their humble conversation ground to a halt. Lisa carried herself back over.

"All right, kiddies," the blonde said. "Everyone get to know each other?"

They both mumbled that they had, and Lisa put her arms around them both, pulling them together in a group hug which only she seemed to not find awkward. "All right then, let's go."

What followed was a long, often trying day. They wiled away the hours, wandering up and down the boardwalk, wherever their whims (or more accurately, Lisa's whims) might take them. Brian hardly spoke a word at all, and Taylor was only marginally better on that account. But as the hours progressed, some of Brian's frostiness began to melt. He relaxed just a little bit, and so too did Taylor, and occasionally, every once in a wonderful while, Lisa got to hear Taylor laugh once more.

Brian left as evening beckoned. Had to check in on his sister, he said, and the three walked him back to the bus stop and said their goodbyes. They returned to Lisa's car.

"Thank you," Taylor said, before they got in. "I know it shouldn't have meant what it did, but things haven't felt so normal in a long time."

Lisa nodded and she smiled.

L

L

It was a long couple of weeks, and there were ups and there were downs. It seemed every day, Lisa interacted with Taylor in some manner or another. Some days they hung out, playing the role of normal kids, though they were neither of them the least bit normal, and others they went out: to the library, to the Boardwalk, to the Market and the Park, and anywhere else they might feel like going. Occasionally Brian joined them, and one time Alec somehow managed to tag along. That, Lisa had to admit, was an interesting bit of nightmare, and she had spent that entire day running interference and hoping to hell her former teammate wouldn't somehow stumble upon just the right button, and push Taylor over the edge.

There were meetings with Coil, and they remained quite the exercise in self control, and there were still those impossible dreams, exploring beautiful vistas, awesome cities, and some locations she wished she could forget. There were days when Taylor laughed, days when she might softly smile and speak like a girl her age, but there were many more she'd spend staring off into space, not uttering a word at all.

But still, life went on. The gangs continued to hold their contests in the docks, their strength diminished but not yet spent. Coil continued to play the puppeteer, and the Heroes continued to act with care. The months grew warmer and the days longer, and then came the moment everything changed.

It was the fifteenth of May. The water fell heavy, and sirens pierced the rain.