Adagio

"My help?" I repeated, blinking. "Um, exactly how can I help you?" I looked from her, to the baby, then to the boy standing behind her before turning my attention back to her.

"May I come inside so we can talk about that?" Kayden asked, glancing down the walk nervously.

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" I asked, noting how agitated she seemed.

"I am," she admitted after a moment, shaking her head. "And I'm sorry about bringing it to your door. I should go."

I sighed and stepped back. "Look, come in. I don't know how I can help, but I'll hear you out, at least."

Relief appeared on her face again and she stepped in as I moved to the side.

"Please, have a seat. I'll get you some water," I said, giving Lily a look. She followed me to the kitchen and I took down two glasses.

"Taylor, are you sure about this?" Lily asked. "You have no idea who this woman is."

"I'm not," I said, beginning to fill the glasses. "But I can hear her out, at least. Still, send Lisa a text and ask her to come over, would you? And could you get the grapes out and into a bowl?" Lily nodded, glancing back toward the living room before heading to the phone.

"Lisa said she would come by first thing in the morning. Said there were some drunks making trouble at the shelter and she had to deal with that," she told me, coming back as I was filling the second glass.

"Damn," I replied. "I could have used her input now."

"Are you really going to help her after she explains?" she asked. "Not to sound selfish, but with your dad missing, do you really want to run off helping some random woman with her problems?"

I stared at the wall for a moment. "I don't have any idea where to find him. It's like he's vanished into thin air. I don't know what she wants yet, anyway. No harm in hearing her out, right?"

"Well, if you're sure," Lily murmured. "I've got your back whatever you do."

"You've got weapons on you?" I asked quietly.

"And you are one," Lily answered with a nod and a grin. She gathered up the grapes and we walked back to the living room where Kayden was sitting.

"Here you go," i said, placing the glasses on coasters. Then, seeing no reason to wait, asked. "Now, what's this problem you need my help with?"

She said nothing for a moment and I waited, enduring the awed stare of the boy. I guess he had realized who I was?

"My name, as I said, is Kayden Anders," she began. "This is my daughter, Aster, and this is Theo."

She took a deep breath. "But you probably know me best by another name." Light bloomed around her, a shade of white that I had seen surrounding another person earlier in the day. The word left my lips before she could speak.

"Purity."

Colin was bent over a project at his table when the call came in.

"Dragon?" he answered, blinking. "What is it?"

"I've been reviewing all the camera feeds from the night of the Lung incident that I was able to find," she said. "None of the cameras around the office where her dad worked were functioning."

"Taken out because of the fires?" he shrugged.

"No," she answered. "They went down before the fight spread to the Docks, Colin."

A chill ran down his back and he looked for his sweater. "Deliberate?"

"I think so," Dragon told him. "I don't have anything to show me who, however."

"There's something else, isn't there?" he asked, frowning at the image on the screen.

"My tracking on the Nine has failed," she told him, frustration carrying in her voice. "They dropped out of sight completely several days ago. I had thought they were merely holed up in one place, but after no activity, I sent in a probe to investigate. Mannequin, I found, is dead, but the rest are nowhere to be seen."

"Mannequin, dead?" he repeated, stunned. "How?"

"I don't know," she said. "But his remains were found at one there. The systems were shattered rather thoroughly. I've got units transporting what's left so I can look it over."

"Theories as to their objectives?"

"With so little to go on, I'm afraid not," she answered. "I have speculation and that's all. Speculation that you won't like, I might add."

"You think they might come here, to Brockton Bay?" he asked, frowning. "Why would they …"

Color drained from his face. "Shit. Taylor. If they come here, it would be for her."

"It would fit Jack's methods," Dragon reasoned. "I've got every resource I can tasked with finding them. You'll know the instant I learn anything."

He took a deep breath. "At least we know they aren't here yet. They like to announce themselves when they hit town. That habit hasn't changed in years." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I'll pass on word so we can prepare at least," he finally said. "Be careful."

"I will, and you too," she said before ending the call.

"Damn," he said, typing out a message and sending it. If the Nine were coming here and she was their target, even if it was a false alarm, the very possibility was worrisome. Taking a deep breath, he gathered some of what he needed and left. He had arrangements to make. Colin was not looking forward to telling the Director about this.

I ran a hand through my hair, frowning. "I'm really not sure what I can do for you, Kayden. My power doesn't let me affect the law. If your ex sues for custody, I can't just stomp my foot and make them rule in favor of you."

Kayden sighed. "I know. As much as I wish our powers were an answer to everything. But you know people, you have influence. You've saved the Mayor's niece and word is you've got close ties with both New Wave and the Protectorate. If you talked to the right people, they would help."

I exchanged looks with Lily, feeling a bit bewildered. "Close ties to New Wave? The Protectorate? Where do people get these ideas?"

"You've been seen hanging out with Amy and Victoria Dallon, and nearly any time you've been on camera with the Protectorate, it's with Armsmaster." Kayden said, shrugging. "One rumor has that you're related somehow to him. To say nothing of the more exotic rumors."

"More exotic?" I asked, then shook my head as she started to answer. "No, I don't want to know. It's probably something disgusting. I saw some of the ideas being thrown about on PHO after the stupid pong business."

I stood up. "It's late enough that none of those people are going to be able to do anything tonight. If you want, I'll talk to them in the morning and see what they suggest." I frowned and glanced at the stairs leading to the second floor. "I have a couple of guest rooms if you'd like to stay. There's no crib though, I'm afraid."

"If it isn't intruding too much, I would like that," Kayden said. "Could I ask you to watch Aster while I move the car?"

"Um, sure," I said. "Lily, can you pop the garage open? There's space there. Probably best to get her car out of sight if people will be looking for it."

"I'll get it," she said, rising and heading toward the garage entrance. Kayden rose and carefully offered Aster. I accepted, nervously adjusting my hands to support her head and neck. The little girl had fallen asleep at some point in our conversation and did not stir at being shifted into another person's arms.

Kayden said something that I barely heard as I focused on holding Aster properly. After a moment, I relaxed and looked up to find Theo staring at me.

"What?" I asked, but he only shook his head, swallowing nervously. The silence stretched on and I sighed. "No, seriously. What?"

"It's just …" he trailed off. "I, well, you're kind of cool. I don't know what to say."

Me? Cool? I snorted. "I'm really not."

"But you stopped Leviathan. And saved that girl! And you fought Lung! You're a hero!"

I stared at him, feeling uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. "I stopped Leviathan because he was in my way. As for Lung, have you seen the Docks? I fought him, sure, but how much of that mess is my fault and how much his?"

Theo shook his head. "You're looking at it wrong. You stood up to people and things that would have just kept doing terrible things. How isn't that being a hero?"

"Um, they're dead?" I asked. "Well, Leviathan might not be. I don't know how you kill an Endbringer anyway. You can't just slap the label hero on someone because they killed a bunch of people."

"You're still looking at it wrong," he said, shaking his head again. "A hero does what needs doing to protect people. You've done that."

I sighed. "Look, Theo, right? Don't use me as a role model or whatever. I'm not what you think a hero is and frankly, I think I'm getting tired of people trying to apply their definitions to me. I just did what I needed to stop someone from attacking me or anyone else. I didn't do it to protect people I don't know. Saving Dinah was for her and myself, Lung was because he attacked me. And Leviathan was in my way, nothing more, nothing less." The statement didn't appear to discourage him and I felt my discomfort with what I thought was almost worship in his eyes.

Lily and Kayden returned, saving me from more awkward questions. I looked at the way Kayden appeared uncomfortable and wondered what the reason was for that.

"All parked?" I asked, carefully handing Aster back.

"Yes," Lily said, and the way her voice sounded made me look between them curiously. "Garage is closed up, too."

"Right," I said. Whatever was bothering Lily, I could ask about in a few, I suppose. "Let me show you to the rooms, then." I stood and started up the stairs, leading Kayden and Theo to the other spare bedrooms. The donations and efforts that had built this house had gone overboard and it had way more rooms than I felt we needed, but I wasn't complaining about it right now.

After they were settled, I turned to Lily, a question in my eyes. "Downstairs?"

"Downstairs," she agreed and we headed back to the living room.

I waited until we were at the couch and started picking up the glasses and empty ice cream cartons. "So, what's the problem?"

"She's trying, I guess," Lily said with a frown. "But let's just say that she hasn't given up all of her old beliefs."

"What do you-oh," I sighed. "She said something racist?"

"It was borderline," Lily shrugged. "She looked upset, so I guess it's something she's working on, but it was still pretty offensive. Let me just say I'll be happy if you can get her out of here as soon as possible."

"Well, we'll see what comes up tomorrow when I call Colin," I said. "Anyway, it's late, so sleep well."

"You too," Lily said, heading toward the bathroom on the second floor while I finished cleaning up the trash. I stared at the sink as I washed off the glasses, considering what I had been told tonight. Purity revealing her identity had been surprising, but even more so was the revelation of who the Empire Eighty-Eight's leader, Kaiser, really was.

And now I had to decide what to do with that information. Kayden hadn't painted a very flattering picture of her ex-husband and as much as they had tried to be cordial to me, there was a lot of things that they did that were as bad if not worse as anything Coil had done. I had no illusions. If I ceased to be on genial terms with them, the E88 would move against me somehow. He had the most parahumans of any group in the city. As many as the Protectorate, if not more, if I was remembering correctly.

I switched off the water and went upstairs, quietly slipping the door to Dinah's room open to check on her. She was asleep, resting comfortably and I stood there for a moment before quietly closing the door and heading to my own room.

Kayden seemed convinced that Kaiser wanted to convert me over to being a member of the Empire Eighty-Eight. She had referenced her own past and how well she knew the man as evidence.

I closed my own door behind me, thinking on that. Was it right to trust someone I didn't know's word over another person I also didn't really know?

Victor had been the primary contact between me and the E88 and he had remained personable the whole time. My interactions with Kaiser had varied wildly. The first had been short due to the interruption from Lung and the second had mostly been me demanding information and then walking out on him when I decided he didn't know anything about my dad.

I thought to another one of Kayden's claims as I kicked off my slippers and stripped off the pajama pants for bed. Her belief that the fight with Lung had been precipitated by Kaiser deliberately, to use me to remove a rival.

That thought bothered me. I didn't like being used and if it was true, then Kaiser and I were going to have words.

I pulled the bedding up and settled onto my side. Tomorrow, I would talk to Lisa and then go see Colin.

Jack flipped the closed knife in his hand, whistling idly as he watched Bonesaw work. "Is she ready?"

"Almost," Bonesaw replied absently, her eyes on her work as she made another adjustment with a razor. "And, there."

He smiled. "And she'll do what we need?"

Bonesaw made an insulted sound. "Of course. I adjusted how her power works and now, we can make it do whatever we want. One person, or everyone. It's all here." She looked up at Jack with a bright smile. "What's first?"

Jack smiled. "Oh, it's going to be grand, my dear." He crouched down next to the vacant eyed figure of Cherish so that he was at eye level with her. "Now, let's begin."