Interlude: Christopher Gale

The first day he was, of course, in the hospital. He woke up to a weight on his chest and the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. He'd been in enough hospitals through his relatively short hero career to recognize that without the need to look.

He tried for several minutes to open his eyes. His inner voice dryly ordering him to open his eyes but his body simply choosing to ignore said inner voice.

When he finally did open his eyes there wasn't a harsh glare of light from an overhead bulb or the sun filtering in through his window. He opened his eyes to a fairly dark room. The light was off, and it wasn't sunlight coming in through his window but moonlight. And the weight on his chest was a hand.

It didn't take him long to find who the owner was of course. His eyes were already 'adjusted' to dark. It didn't even take him that long to recognize the silhouette.

When he opened his mouth to speak he felt like he was dragging sandpaper across his throat. His word became a croak and the croak became a hacking cough which served to wake up the person beside him just as effectively.

"Chris?!"

His dad jerked, startled awake and immediately turned on a light placed on the table beside his bed. Now the cliche glare of blinding light in the hospital hit the both of them. His dad blinked the glare away while Chris turned away entirely.

He was half dragged across the bed, his butt sliding over the sheets as his father pulled him into a hug while he was still trying to figure out what on earth was going on.

(X)

His parents stayed in the hospital with him. His mom had gone out to buy something from the vending machine when he had come to. He asked them what had happened when he'd finally gotten his voice back after a few tall glasses of crystal clear water but their answers had been… less than helpful. They tried to sugarcoat what they did know, namely the extent of his injuries, and that they didn't know what happened. For a number of reasons.

So it was up to his less than stellar memory of the last time he'd been awake to try and piece it together. All he really remembered was being in pain. Heat. A lot of heat. He remembered not being able to breathe as he tried to scream.

Outside of that though… he remembered the prison, the riot. He'd been firing his lasers at the inmates, working on crowd control. He'd set them to 'knock out,' a setting that was comparable to getting hit by three tasers at once. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone. The authorization had come, of course. But that was one line he wasn't exactly eager to cross.

…

…

Taylor.. .something had happened to Taylor.

He needed his helmet. His helmet had a mounted camera. It would have recorded everything.

"Honey." His mom walked into the room, speaking to his dad. "Do you have any cash on you?"

"You heading down to the cafeteria?" She nodded. "I'll go. Stay here."

"Mom, Dad." He called looking up to them. "Can you lend me your phones? I need to call the others and find out what happened."

Neither of them looked angry… but neither did they seem overly pleased either.

They always did have their reservations about the dangers of being a cape. They even forbade him from being called out to fight Endbringers. This looked like it had just brought all those old fears roaring to the surface.

He'd worry about them trying to pull him out of the Wards' and heroing later. For now he had to find out what the hell happened.

(X)

The ones that came were Carlos, Missy, and Dennis. The others must be out on patrol. They said hi to his parents. His mother smiled. His dad was… not as warm.

"Hey Chris." Carlos smiled.

"Hey Cap." Chris saluted from bed.

"How you feeling?"

"Fine. I just want to leave at this point." Chris groaned. "I can't just sit here while you guys are out there." He sniped, words meant more for his parents than for them.

"It's a miracle you're alive." His dad said softly, arms crossed. "You're not going out there for a while if I have any say."

A silence fell over the room and he half wanted to argue and plead with his dad but he had that look in his eye. He would argue right back and he didn't call his friends in to have them listen to a shouting match.

"Would you kids like something to drink?" His mom finally asked.

"No thanks."

"I'm good.

"What exactly happened?" Asked Chris, looking up at Carlos.

Carlos opened his mouth then stopped. "How much do you remember?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. If I don't remember by the time I get back to my rooms on base I'll look through my helmet recording. It was digital, transmitted to my laptop so it should have survived the damage. "

Carlos looked around and finally found a chair to pull up. Dennis walked back and leaned against the door, blocking it. "Well… you were caught in an explosion. We had to-"

"Put me in a coma. I know. I heard a lot of this already. What happened with the prison? The villains, the prisoners?"

Carlos looked down, his lips pursing he worked his jaw as if trying to get the words out.

"Chris…" He looked to his parents and finally seemed to find a way out. "I can't say right now… it's classified."

It was all he could do to not palm his face in sheer frustration. "Alright then get me the hell out of here back to base and then you can talk!"

"You're not going anywhere with them."

"Kyle-"

"Dad!"

His father turned and looked at the Wards in turn, ignoring the both of them. "No offense meant to any of you. I'll ask nice. Leave. Chris won't be going back to the base with you today. Probably never again."

His heart dropped into his stomach. "You-what!? You can't do that!"

"Watch me." The man all but bit out. Then turned back to his teammates. His friends. "He ends up nearly killed. You people won't tell us a damn thing. You tell your director to stay away from all of us. Do I make myself clear?"

(X)

It took three days.

Three days of constant arguing, pleading. Angry voices raised through their house after they got back. His father would shout right back at him, as furious as if it had been the first day after he'd gotten back.

He never threatened to hit him. Perhaps the both of them recognized the absurdity of such a threat. He'd faced a lot worse than his dad with a belt.

But his dad could shout with the best of them. And the one time he'd tried going to base despite his protests, the guards had practically turned him away at the door and driven him back.

His father argued with him, with the agents, with Piggot and Militia when they'd called. The only one that seemed to be on his side in this was his mother.

And Chris couldn't stand it.

The answers he wanted were right there. But with his dad trying to pull him out of the Wards the information was classified to him now!

His recording, helmet, and laptop with the data were confiscated til the situation was resolved, his friends that were still out there, still fighting, still doing their jobs couldn't talk to him!

His dad couldn't keep him here!

It was on the third day that he found himself sitting on the couch, watching the news, his 'civilian' laptop was in his lap, trying to find out anything he could through normal channels. So far all he'd managed to find was very general. The prison had been attacked, burned to the ground, too many casualties. Prisoners were being hauled off to out of town penitentiaries with no facility available in the bay that could hold them long term. Wards and Heroes were injured, no names were on record or offered.

The only new things he'd found out was that, in addition to the Undersiders, the Travelers, and Faultline's crew, a new Parahuman had been on the scene. While every story was that the PRT was refusing to comment the news had pieced it together themselves. Apparently all of the aforementioned villains along with this 'plus one' were the ones that had caused the damage in the joint attack. He remembered well enough that they'd been winning the battle before he got taken out. So whoever this person that joined the villains in the attack had been, he was the one that was responsible for hurting all his friends.

There was also the fact that Legend had transferred into the Bay. 'The' Legend.

Honestly, if his dad didn't change his mind about enrolling him in the Wards again soon he was gonna start cannibalizing the things around the house for tinker gear in protest.

His dad's car would go first…

There was a knock at the door, Chris jerked, slightly startled. He hadn't heard or seen anyone pull up to the house. He looked out the window to the driveway, only his mom's car and his dad's, no one on the street.

He heard his mom move from wherever she was in the house, passing him by in the living room and moving towards the door.

He heard his mom open the door. Then heard it crack shut. He blinked.

"Mom?"

Three more raps on the door.

If it was an attacker, it was evidently a very polite one.

He moved the laptop off of his lap and got off the couch as he heard the door open again.

He rounded the corner. "Who's at the-"

He must have been staring like a slack jawed idiot.

Legend is standing on my front porch.

The, no pun intended, Legendary Hero was standing at his door, a gentle smile on his face as he tilted his head to look around the edge of the door where Chris' mom had just opened it again after slamming it in his face.

Oh god. Mom just slammed the door in Legend's face!

"May I come in?"

(X)

Minutes later, they were sitting at the dining room table. Legend opted for coffee. His dad had come down from upstairs and was sitting next to his mom. He was sitting next to Legend.

"Well this doesn't happen everyday." Dad spoke, his tone carefully neutral. Chris wouldn't have been able to tell if he was in awe of Legend or angry if he hadn't looked at him, and knew him so well. He wasn't happy.

"I know right." Legend chuckled. "I had the door slammed in my face for the first time." Mom was beat red in embarrassment.

"I am so sorry, I was just… you. It's You… and… you startled me…"

"It's fine Mrs. Gale." Legend's smile was kind. Chris wondered if he'd practiced it like he'd heard Colin had done in order to seem more approachable on camera.

Then those thoughts were banished as Legend turned his attention towards him. "So, Christopher is it?"

"Yes sir?" Chris replied, sitting ramrod straight in his chair.

"Mind if I call you Chris?"

"You can call me anything you want…" His dad grunted.

"Well lets not beat around the bush." The leader of the protectorate turned his gaze back towards his father. "I would like Chris to return to the Wards, Mr. Gale."

"That's not happening!" His Dad snarled. "He almost got killed taking part in one of your operations! I've almost half the mind to go across the country to Spokane!" Chris blinked.

Did his dad just make up a country?

"I understand your reservations Mr. Gale, believe me. I know that in your shoes I'd be furious as well. But heroes, Ward and Protectorate both, will some day get into life threatening situations. I regret deeply that Chris was in such a situation-"

"Your regret won't mean a damn thing to me if he's dead."

"But all this course of action does is replace a group of risks for an entirely different group of risks. Christopher is still a tinker, Mr. Gale. He's still a valuable cape for any of the many groups in the Bay that could try to coerce him to work for them. That risk hasn't changed."

"Then maybe we should move."

"Kyle I think-" Dad gave Mom a glare.

"No. We already talked about this Felicia!"

His dad looked at Legend again, glaring. "If I have to pick between moving out to the ass end of nowhere or losing my son. You damn well know the answer I'm gonna pick. "

Legend took a breath. He didn't speak for a moment. "I have a ten year old son." He admitted. "My biggest fear is that one day… I'll wake up and he'll tell me at some point during the day. 'Dad. I've got powers.'" He leaned forward in his chair, looking at his father "Now there are laws and there are rules. Checks and balances that we put in place to try and protect them and in this instance… those checks and balances weren't enough to fully protect your son. And for that I am truly sorry."

He took a breath. "Now if you want to pull him out of the Wards you can do that. If you want to move from the Bay, you can do that too. I wouldn't even blame you. But I guarantee you, sir… there is nowhere in the world that you can move. No place that you can keep Chris or people you can hand him to that will ever have those same checks and balances that we have. The same kind of concern for his safety. Nowhere that can keep away the inherent danger of being a cape like the Protectorate. I can promise you that."

"That's a nice speech. But your checks and balances deal. All of it is just a sales pitch. My son was laying there for three days in that hospital bed. The list of internal injuries is enough to turn someone's stomach and you want me to just hand him back over to you, huh? Just like that? Pretend nothing happened?"

"No." He answered. "I have a son. So I know that. I wouldn't let someone walk out that door with him after all this. Not right now. All I'm asking is that you think about this. Think about it once. Then again. And then when you're sure what you want to do. No matter what it is, whether it's leaving or staying or letting him come back to the Wards, no matter what, when you're sure; you stop and think about it again…"

"What would you do." His dad suddenly spoke up. "If you were sitting here, right now, and you were in my shoes. And Eidolon walks through that door and gives you this little speech. What answer would you give him?"

Legend shifted in his seat. "I probably wouldn't give him one." He said, then offered a tentative smile. "I'd honestly be too busy trying not to just punch him in the face."

His dad, for the first time in three days, cracked the smallest of smiles.

(X)

When he finally- Finally -returned to the PRT HQ as a Ward it was almost a slap of ice cold water to the face.

Nearly half the PRT forces were dead or wounded. Assault was dead, Armsmaster was out of commission, probably permanently. Sophia had been butchered, nearly burned alive like he was.

And Taylor…

The moment he returned as a Ward he'd asked. Carlos had answered. He hadn't believed him then. He still didn't, even as he sat down and watched the security videos that showed that thing what he and the rest of the world thought to be some new villain tearing through the Protectorate heroes and the PRT, he still didn't believe it.

The 'New Villain' was Taylor?

It didn't make any sense…

How could this have happened?

He shook his head, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "This can't be right."

"It is." Carlos answered sadly. "I wish it wasn't… but it is. She killed over a hundred normals, most of them were PRT and police officers. The rest were the prisoners."

He continued to shake his head. "You're wrong. Has to be something else… she's not a murderer!"

Carlos didn't answer. Just… looked at him sadly, willing him to accept what was being shown on these videos. "Chris. We don't know what exactly happened. But… if she found out who Sophia was and lost it… or if Coil used some Master in their hijacked comms then… you have to understand that… if or when you see her again she might not be the same Taylor."

"She was never that strong!" He protested, the argument was laughably weak after he said it aloud. Taylor's power was reactionary. Emotion based. Either of those things could explain something like this if the power thought she was in sufficient danger or her emotions got out of hand.

But Taylor wouldn't be a murderer. The Taylor he studied with, got help in English, helped in Biology, the girl he was honest to ever since that incident in Victoria's convertible… she wasn't a murderer. She was his friend.

He shook his head and stood up, going to the fridge and getting a water bottle. He moved to walk back when he looked at the screen again and shook his head, turning on his heel to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Carlos called.

"A walk."

"There's still mo-"

"That isn't Taylor."

"Chris I know it's-"

"That isn't Taylor!" Snapped Chris, rounding towards his leader. "Master/Stranger influence I might buy. But I'm not going to just sit here and watch this thing using Taylor like a meat puppet to hurt us!"

"I'm going for a walk. I need a breath of fresh air." The Hispanic boy remained silent, looking at the him with sad eyes. Chris wanted to punch him.

He turned and walked away before he said or did something stupid. Walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets.

All around he saw custodians and professional workers work on repairing the walls, windows, and floors. Over a week since the prison raid… a week and they were only just recovering. The Ward from New York, Flechette, had arrived. He hadn't met her yet. Probably out around the Bay getting used to the environment and knowing the critical areas.

It all tied to one thing: Coil. Coil was involved in everything. His small army of mercs attacked virtually every single weak point and undermanned location with Dinah Alcott extracted with that same inside knowledge.

Chris felt his stomach growl and he winced.

He stopped his walk. Didn't want to really. But soon enough he turned and made his way to the cafeteria. It was one of the few spots on base that wasn't in total disarray. When he opened the door, it was to the sight of Battery marching past him. He didn't have time to see her face, she brushed her shoulder with his and kept going without a word. He stopped and turned to see her walk, and he tried to think of something to say, but nothing came up.

He hadn't helped one bit in this whole mess. Hadn't even lifted a finger. Even Vista was using her power to help in the recovery efforts. Her control over space allowing the work crews to make progress twice or three times as fast in several areas. Carlos, Dean, Dennis, Browbeat. All out, on patrol. Doing their part.

Him?

He was stuck in a bed, then with his father bitching for almost a week and throwing a hissy fit.

Meanwhile his friends were getting hurt with no time to recover.

Fucking useless.

He was probably the weakest out of all the Wards. Carlos had regenerative abilities, flight, and super strength and speed. Missy could bend space to her very will. Brendan had similar abilities to Carlos. Dennis could time-stop whatever he touched. Dean could change emotions and be a lie-detector. Sophia could phase through anything, and Taylor was the strongest of them all. What did he have?

Simple laser pistols, a helmet with some classic functions, and a hoverboard. Some Tinker he was.

He arrived in the cafeteria and walked through the lane, no one else was present. He got his meal: steak and a boiled potato with a side salad, and sat down and munched, looking down at his food. Chris ate little, slowly too. He felt someone sit next to him and didn't look up.

"You hanging in there, Kid?" Chris turned his head, and practically jumped when he was greeted with white and blue.

"Legend!? W-What are you doing here?!" He fumbled over his own tongue.

"Even the Triumvirate need food every now and then." He answered, smiling.

The man gripped his plastic cutlery and proceeded to start eating. Mashed potatoes and chicken with string beans.

"Kid." Legend began. "Would you mind if I ask you something?"

"Ummm. Sure." He answered somewhat tentatively. What could Legend want to ask him.

"The other day we managed to access your helmet feed. The recording there had a name. Did it ring any bells to you?"

He blinked. "Name?"

Legend tilted his head pausing mid chew. "You don't remember?" He asked after he swallowed.

He shook his head. What name was the man talking about?

"Hmm." The man cut a piece of his chicken. "Well, lets finish eating and I'll show you."

Chris practically inhaled his food after that.

As soon as they were done Legend walked with him down to the evidence room, using a brand new clearance card to open the doors with a sharp beep. Minutes later they were sitting in front of the computer and Chris recognized his room immediately. The helmet camera automatically turning on as he put on his whole suit.

"I'm ready where's the car-" That was his voice the night of the prison raid. Talking to the operator on the phone.

"Fast forward a bit."

Two clicks and the video was moving at three times the speed. He looked at the length… seven minutes, fourty two seconds. That's all it had taken.

He remembered most of it. And he was glad Legend didn't make him watch it again.

When he saw the prison yard bus hit Taylor like a train he felt his heart stop all over again. It looked like it would have killed anything, let alone Taylor.

Legend let the video play.

Dauntless called out to him. He didn't remember that. He didn't remember flying across the prison, entering the torn up building.

He certainly didn't remember hearing any name after that.

He was calling out to Taylor, sifting through the rubble. Trying to find her.

Then he heard the roar. And he shot up to his feet. His heart suddenly beating a mile a minute as the memories flooded him, the fire and the pain, the burning, his flesh was flash cooked, he breathed and swallowed flame! Screamed and couldn't hear himself as his armor fused with his scorched flesh.

When he came to… he was gripping Legend's arms, the older man holding him down where he'd fallen.

"Are you ok son?" The man asked worriedly. The shoulder of his suit was torn. Had he done that?

He blinked and swallowed down the lump in his throat. "I… yeah… yeah I think so…"

He wasn't. The memory of him burning was branded into the forefront of his mind. He wanted to throw up.

The worried look in the hero's eyes showed just how much he believed him.

"Come on son… let's get you out of here. I shouldn't have brought you down to see this."

He didn't disagree.

"Sir..." He ventured to ask. Knowing he had to do it now before he literally lost his stomach.

"Yes?"

"You're staying here until we bring Taylor back right?"

The man looked at him sadly. "Son. I am going to stay here. That much I can promise. As for bringing Ms. Hebert back. Believe me when I say I want to help her. Trully. But I can't promise something like that… that all depends on her."

He nodded. "Alright… I… I get it." He did. He really did.

"I've already sent word to the Think Tank. They should get back to us in a day or so" He offered. "When they confirm Master influence over her, that will help immensely in mitigating some of the damage to her, personally. It isn't an immediate fix of course. But it does go a very long way."

He nodded. When. Not if. He wasn't sure if the hero was trying to just tell him what he wanted to hear, but he appreciated it regardless.

Let everyone else try… he wanted to succeed. Taylor was his friend and he'd let down enough friends as it was this past week.

He was proud. He managed to keep his tears and his stomach long enough to get to his room.

To anyone who couldn't remember themselves being burnt alive… the old adage of "Ignorance is bliss" was never more accurate.

It was later, after he'd managed to compose himself. Get his proverbial feet back under him that his mind cleared enough to remember.

That name in the video. It was the only one in the video but not the only one he'd heard.

Three others.

Four names.

Sophia Hess he already knew.

That just left three mysteries.

Madison.

Emma.

Velstadt.

Velstadt was the odd one out here. It sounded European, the other two names were much more commonplace in the US. The other three were female, Velstadt was male… at least it sounded like a male name.

Could Velstadt be the Master working with Coil?

Someone Taylor knew and never told them about?

And what about the other two girls? Why mention them at all? Sophia was obvious. She was there and if what Carlos had said was true, she was part of the reason Taylor triggered. Did the other girls have a hand in this too? And if they did why didn't Taylor target them like she had Sophia? Because they weren't there?

…

He'd have to find out who these people were. See what they had to do with all of this. How they were involved. What their hand was with Taylor doing… all of this.

He looked around. Blinking. Maybe there was something in her room that could tell him…

But should he? It was her room. Would she be angry at him for going in there when she got back?

No she…

...

Maybe…

…

Yes.

Still. He couldn't sit on this. He stood up and marched out of his room. He didn't see Carlos. Maybe getting ready for patrol. He saw the TV was still on, no one in the living room. Dennis and Dean did that sometimes. Maybe one of them were in. He ignored the still on TV and moved past it.

He walked across and down the hall and reached her door. It was cracked open. Taylor must have not closed it all the way after leaving on her patrol with him that one day when they encountered Victoria and her… incident.

God. Was that really the last time he saw her?

He entered, taking a deep breath and looking around. Bed was still normal, the room was nice and clean, her massive jar of ash off to the side. Chris' heart tightened.

On her desk, he spotted her special custom helmet. The one Armsmaster made for her. Still new. Still shiny even. She'd been so happy when she got it. She actually gave Armsmaster a hug.

He laughed. Remembering Colin's face. And Taylor's too when she realized what she'd done…

He sat at her desk… looking at the thing. Top grade Tinker Tech. Like all of Armsmaster's pieces. He could only ever dream of getting something like this down on his own.

He looked at it. At a glance he could detect half the gear Armsmaster placed in it. Infrared, night vision, camera, microphone, communication equipment. Heart monitors and diagnosis scanner. Shatter and heat proof plastic lenses, close range X-ray vision mode, replaceable memory cartridge, internet uplink two USB ports below the ear.

...

He could probably add a sound dampening or sound proofing piece now that he looked at it. Surprising that Colin hadn't really thought of it already. Maybe a voice identifier and voice alternator could fit in here too.