Administrative Assistant
Headhunting 3.4

Bakuda. The mad bomber.

Okay, Tattletale hadn't actually told us who Lung had recruited, and we hadn't asked, but so far, my out of context knowledge was largely holding true, and it fit the timeline, from what I knew. I knew Armsmaster would tell Taylor - us? - about Bakuda, the ABB's new recruit, in his pitch to let him take credit for Lung in the canon timeline.

Still, that shifted our priorities around. It meant putting the Empire on the back burner for a bit - the rest of the Alliance wasn't going to like that - and delaying Project Overwatch even further.

Well, Overwatch had always been a relatively low priority anyway. It had the potential to be a huge boon in the long run, but there were just too many things that needed taken care of in the short term for us to spend as much time focusing on the long term as we wanted to just yet.

Speaking of priorities, the potential extinction level event came before the potential destruction of the eastern seaboard.

...

No, the other potential extinction level event, the one that was our friend. The golden idiot could wait for now.

We met her on the roof of the hospital after her volunteering time ended. It wasn't a day we were expected to show up as White Mage, so rather than break our routine, we decided to just pay a visit as Paragon. Vicky would be expecting that anyway, and it wasn't like it was the first time we'd dropped by.

"Hello, Panacea."

"Paragon." She nodded in greeting. "What's up?"

We paused to consider how to answer that. "Something came up yesterday. It's sort of urgent."

She frowned. "Urgent? And you couldn't talk to me about it at lunch?"

We froze. "Excuse me?"

Amy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm not stupid, you know," she said. She gave a quick look around before walking closer. "Listen, there are generally three kinds of people who hang out with me: Vicky's friends who get dragged along, people who want to be Vicky's friends, and people who want to bug me about either healing or cape stuff. You, clearly, were none of the above. Once you started going out of your way to eat with me, it wasn't that hard to figure out, especially since you confirmed your other IDs for me."

We winced.

"I really suck at this secret identity thing, huh?"

"Yes," she agreed, nodding sagely. "Yes, you do."

We at least had the consolation that, so far as Amy could tell, no one else had figured us out, small comfort as that was. We ended up having a light afternoon snack - a couple of sandwiches - at an outdoor cafe on the Boardwalk. In civvies. There was no point trying to hide it from Amy, after all, and any of our cape identities would have only drawn more attention. She seemed a bit pensive as we ate, but several bites in, a sly grin crossed her face.

"Is this a date?"

"Wait, what?" We coughed on our beverage: water, since Taylor and I still disagreed strongly on the subject of what made good tea. She preferred black tea with milk, while I was of the firm opinion that green tea, unadulterated by additives, reigned supreme.

"Well," she said, "Vicky thinks you might have a crush on me. She actually gave me advice the other day on how to let you down easy, since I'm apparently already dating you."

We blinked at that, trying to parse her statement. "Wait, what?"

She giggled. "Sorry. Vicky thinks Taylor has a crush on me, so she gave me advice on how to let you down easy, since she thinks I'm already in a relationship with White Mage."

This... isn't a date, is it? Taylor asked, worry in her thoughts.

Why are you asking me? I asked. Last I checked, you don't swing that way, do you?

What? No! she answered hurriedly. No, I don't. I like guys. But what about you?

Your life; I'm just along for the ride, remember? I reminded her. Even if that weren't the case, she's too young for me. I felt a wave of relief with a spike of... concern? What, did she really think I was going to try picking up older women while I was in her body?

"No," we said, shaking our head, having gotten that sorted out. "This is not a date. I'm straight." Which was true, for both of us, even. It's just that I also happened to be transgendered, and unless I found a way to get my own separate body, I always would be.

She pouted. "So, what was so urgent yet not urgent, then?"

"Actually, it's about Vicky," we said. "She's freaking out. She thinks I'm Mastering you."

Her eyes went wide, and one hand went to her mouth.

"Oh, God. She- she didn't hurt you, did she?"

"What?" We blinked, then shook our head again. "Oh! No, she asked Paragon to check up on you and see if White Mage was Mastering you."

She very carefully set her half-eaten sandwich down, rested her elbows on the table, and buried her face in her hands. "That's not as funny from this end. This is going to get really confusing really fast."

"Yeah, yeah," we groused, "so spill already. She says you had a rule on how much time you spend volunteering at the hospital. Why would you break that?"

"To get away from Vicky," she admitted, looking away. "I... when you healed me, you healed more than the bullet wound."

We frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Addiction's not purely psychological," she said, in what sounded at first like a non sequitur. "It's a matter of brain chemistry, and long-term exposure can cause lasting changes. Arguably a form of brain damage."

Oh. Our eyes widened. Oh.

Why hadn't we figured that out?

"It's the same with emotions and powers that affect them," she continued quietly. "Like, say, Vicky's aura."

We reached out and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. She stiffened, then looked at us accusingly.

"You knew," she said. "You knew what she'd done to me."

"I... suspected."

"How did you know?"

I searched for an answer for her. I didn't have one. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Taylor said, taking charge. "Chalk it up to a weird power thing."

That was certainly an interesting way to put it.

Well, it sort of is, Taylor pointed out. It's a kind of precog, and precog's a power.

...point.

Amy gave us an odd look, but before we could say anything, we looked over her shoulder and were treated to the singularly unwelcome sight of a certain redhead approaching us with a malicious smile on her face.

Fuck! I could feel our body trembling, and I understood. Taylor - we - had thought we were done with her when the transfer to Arcadia had finally gone through. She was beneath us, behind us, and we'd relaxed our guard. But given the nasty smile on our- Taylor's former best friend's face, it looked like she wasn't going to let this opportunity go.

Relax, I assured Taylor. Let me handle this.

A-all right.

"Hello, Tayyylor. Fancy seeing you here. Who's the tramp?"

Huh. Emma clearly didn't recognize Amy, which was odd, given her status as a local celebrity. And didn't Brandish work with Mr. Barnes? Maybe it was because she was out of costume?

Amy's hand squeezed ours angrily, and I gave a comforting squeeze back.

"Emma!" I said with false cheer. I turned back to Amy. "Amy, have you met Emma Barnes? I think your mom works with her dad."

"I... don't think so..." Amy said, giving us a strange look.

"Well," I plowed on, "as I said, this is Emma, my former best friend before she made a new friend and decided to spend a year and a half betraying a lifetime of trust in order to make my life hell for kicks. They even stole my mother's flute, one of the last things I had to remember her by."

Both of them stared at us, Amy in disbelief, Emma in outrage.

"Of course, when I proved too strong for them to break that way, the locker came next," I added before either of them could respond. "I'm sure you've heard about it."

Amy's grip tightened again. "That was her?"

"And her friends," I said with a shrug, turning to face Amy fully. I pointedly tuned Emma out, intent on ignoring her and bulldozing through if she tried to interrupt. "Turns out, the one who actually pushed me in is a sociopathic criminal who broke probation with that, so she's cooling her heels in juvie."

Actually, a bit of online research had found unconfirmed reports that Shadow Stalker had been spotted at the Madison Exclusion Zone, supporting the rumor Stella had taken as fact. I wasn't sure which was worse.

Amy nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense. Assault, battery, false imprisonment... actually, that would upgrade the assault to aggravated assault, so that's two felonies right there. Was the part about used tampons left over winter break true?" I nodded. "That adds conspiracy, then. Heck, you might even be able to make a case for attempted murder, but it probably wouldn't stick. I mean, unless the locker was bigger than any school locker I've ever heard of, you very well could have died in there." She then began listing the various medical hazards involved; it was nice that she was playing along.

I rolled our neck. "While I'd be surprised if she hasn't actually killed someone, I still have a little faith that Emma's not so far gone she'd actually knowingly help a murderer." I paused, noting Emma's suddenly very pale face out of the corner of our eyes with satisfaction, then made a show of turning to face her again. "Oh, Emma, are you still here?" I shook our head. "Oh, silly me. Where are my manners? You did ask. Emma, this is my friend, Amy."

"That's Amy Dallon," Amy clarified sweetly. "You might know me better as Panacea." She gave our hand another squeeze, this one more comforting than angry. "Not that it matters much. From that 'tramp' comment, I'll assume you and your family have some moral objection to ever using my services."

Ouch. That might be a little... harsh. Then again, Amy could be pretty vindictive at times.

You're one to talk, Taylor commented. You've got a pretty vindictive streak yourself.

I firmly maintain that a little vindictiveness is healthy for you, I told her. Living life as a doormat will only lead you to being shoved into a giant cyborg powered by your mother's soul and sent to fight Endbringers.

That's... oddly specific.

Sorry. Inside joke.

I felt our mouth twist in a soft frown. And I'm not on the inside?

It's a reference to a Japanese anime, I elaborated, one that never got released on Earth-Bet, since Behemoth pretty much killed any interest in fiction featuring nigh-unstoppable giant monsters.

"You know," Amy mused aloud, interrupting our silent conversation - huh, I hadn't even noticed Emma leave; what else had I missed? - "I'm pretty sure you've got a pretty good case if you want to bring a civil suit. If you'd like, I can talk to Carol about it."

We shook our head. "The school board already settled out of court."

"I meant against her personally," she clarified. "For assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, if nothing else."

We stared at her.

"Just something for you to think about while you explain to me just what the hell is going on with your brain."

A/N: Well, that was cathartic. Wasn't really expecting Emma to show up.