AN: Still don't own Nasuverse or Worm. enjoy the chapter folks! Read and Review, Follow and Fovorite! All that good stuff.

Tora-shinai whistled through the air in short sharp bursts ending in loud smacks of bamboo on flesh. Occasionally the crack of a small bone breaking joined the chorus as well. Blood splattered the concrete from one idiot's broken nose. The tiger pendant seemed to catch the light at every moan from the downed looters. None of it did anything to calm my raging emotions. At least the idiots gave me something to do. I'd go crazy if I had to sit still while feeling like this.

I roughly cuffed the moron's hands behind their backs. Then just to be sure I cuffed them to each other as well.

Growling, I stalked away and tapped my com.

"Arsenal to Dispatch, five idiots incapacitated and restrained. Where to next?"

"Arsenal, you've been going at this for an hour now. And I'm getting a lot of pick up reports listing broken bones. Are you fit to continue?"

I snarled. "Dispatch, I am stuck here while my last living family and my team are in the same city as Leviathan. These idiots risked death and broke the truce to try their hands at looting. Where am I going next?"

"Arsenal…" The dispatch operator groaned. With a sigh he relented. "Two blocks north and one East. Jewelry store alarm went off five minutes ago."

"On my way." I poured energy into reinforcing my limbs and sprinted off.

{}{}{}{}

The rail bike slowed to a stop in the basement underneath the ready room. I didn't even wait for it to come to a complete stop before I was off of it and running up the stairs.

I froze stock still in the doorway.

Alive. All four of them were alive and whole. I slumped sideways leaning heavily on the door frame. Fred's armor looked damaged and Jason's costume was shredded showing blotchy bruises. All four were drenched and exhausted, but they were alive.

Jason tilted his head my way and nodded. "Hey, Taylor. You manage to hold down the fort while we were gone?" His tone hinted at attempted humor, but his exhaustion weighed down the attempt.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Twenty eight looters off the streets in three hours." I tried and failed to keep my voice light. "All with a newfound fear of bamboo swords."

Jason's lips twitched upward. A ghost of a smile.

I shook my head. "Knowing my home town, they probably didn't even bother to feed you. What do you all want? I've got the ingredients for most of the usual stuff."

I got barely any reaction from them. Just a couple tiredly murmured requests. I wanted to ask about home, about Dad, about losses… But looking at them I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

They had gone and risked death for my home… and I wasn't there with them.

Swallowing down my guilt I turned for the kitchen. Cooking was nothing, but it was what I could do for them now. I would put my all into it.

{}{}{}{}

An hour and a half later the counter looked like a buffet. My friends had all stumbled in over the past twenty minutes or so. They were freshly showered, and dressed in warm street clothes.

They were all so quiet.

Deftly I spooned out portions, playing charades to figure out who wanted what and how much. When everyone had their plates, I went about setting up a plate of my own. I had the distinct impression that whatever I ate would taste like ash. But I was hungry, and denying that wouldn't do me any good.

Jason managed a few mouthfuls, then set aside his fork with a shake of his head. Standing he moved to the cabinets and pulled out the bottle of whiskey I had wheedled out of Dad for cooking purposes.

Part of me wanted to protest, but I kept my silence and focused on my plate. The clink of ice on glass caused me to glance up as Jason placed a glass in front of me. I opened my mouth to say something, but Jason waved me off and returned the now much lighter bottle to the cabinets. A look showed he had poured some for everyone.

"It has been a shit day for all of us." He tiredly spoke, retaking his seat. "And yes, that includes you, Taylor. Being stuck here worrying, never mind running all over the city smacking down idiots, is just a different kind of shit."

I wanted to argue. I pushed that impulse aside and picked up the glass giving the amber liquid a careful sniff.

"It will burn less going down if you give the ice some time to melt first." It was the first thing Shirou had said since the sirens went off. He hadn't gone and hidden away again, he had just… It was like he had been standing vigil. He was there, silently supporting me. Letting me work through it on my own, without leaving me alone.

Vaguely remembering something about motion making ice melt faster, I slowly rolled my wrist letting the glasses contents spin. Lily eyed her drink, but didn't reach for it. Dani didn't even look up from her food, just continuing to poke and nibble. Fred took a small sip, and Jason gulped down half of his.

Jason hissed out a breath as he placed his glass down.

"O for three now. No point in going for anything but search and rescue anymore. Damn things are just out of my league." He grimaced and took a smaller sip.

"Good." Dani murmured. "I was terrified when you were announced as down. We'll work together next time." She finally looked up to give Jason a very pointed look. To his credit he was smart enough to wordlessly concede the point.

"Dunno how much good Lily or I did. Only had time for a couple shots before I got smacked by a wave. Then we never caught up with him." Fred muttered darkly.

Lily nodded absently before taking up her glass and gulping down a mouthful. She grimaced and tossed her head before speaking. "My power worked, but I don't know how much it mattered. Maybe if I overcharged them so they went through?" She shook her head and took another sip, this time without the reflexive flinch. "Didn't want to risk hitting anyone standing on the other side of him. Not even sure it would have worked."

Jason sighed and finished his drink.

"Taylor… The fight didn't go well." I tried to swallow only to find that my throat had become uncomfortably dry. Suddenly the drink in my hand seemed like a wonderful idea.

I was used to the taste of the whiskey from my cooking, and while it wasn't my favorite it was certainly pleasant enough. But this was stronger and harsher than I had come to expect. Even giving the ice a bit of time to melt had only mellowed it so much. The burn it made going down was new and uncomfortable, but I limited my reaction to a grimace and a small twitch.

"The bastard was fast enough to give most of us the slip. Once it got away from the coast, we had to hunt it through the city. Whenever someone managed to pin it down for more than a minute it disengaged, and we lost us again." Jason looked me in the eye and his face was a study in regret. "He was targeting the Endbringer shelters."

I slumped back into my chair. I couldn't voice my thoughts nearly fast enough for my words to keep up. There was just an endless moment of silence as a great gaping hole opened up inside me that dragged away my thoughts and clawed at my hopes.

"Two shelters were decimated, and a third suffered an unknown number of casualties before Scion showed up and drove him off."

I didn't know what to say. What to do. Part of me noticed I was still holding a glass of whiskey. There was an immediate impulse to finish it right then and there. That passed almost as quickly as it came. I'd never drunk before, but I'd seen what it could do. Now wasn't a good time to test if it actually could numb what I was feeling. Three shelters. The city had more than two dozen. Not the best odds. Not odds I liked. Not odds anyone wanted to consider. But it wasn't hopeless. Not even close.

I placed the glass back on the table, and pushed it away. I didn't want it. I didn't need it. It wouldn't help.

"How, how long until we can expect casualty lists, survivors?" I waved a hand and just fought to keep my voice from breaking. I didn't succeed as much as I might have hoped

No one would look at me.

"With the state of a lot of the bodies, and the amount of damage to the city, never mind things like records... Some people were saying a lot of the infrastructure was gutted. It could be weeks."

Weeks. Weeks of not knowing if Dad made it. I couldn't handle that. I couldn't sit still and wait that long. I pushed back my chair and stood up. "I'm sorry. I need to go and see about a temporary transfer."

I spun on my heel and headed for the door.

{}{}{}{}

Siege squads Protectorate oversight was a cape I'd only met once by the name of Icebreaker. Was. He went to Brockton Bay and didn't make it back. Figuring that out took me a half hour. It took the people running the office another half hour of hemming and hawing to admit they had no idea who was in charge of us now.

The obvious solution was to cut out the middleman and move up the chain of command. That meant Legend. Legend who had been back in the office only long enough to take care of the absolute necessities before going home to his husband.

The calm objective part of my mind had a hard time begrudging the man whatever comfort he could get after an Endbringer battle. That part was in the distinct minority. My father was somewhere in a destroyed city, and I wasn't even sure if he was alive. Legend being out was one more obstacle in my way and I was not the least bit happy about it. I'd snapped and snarled at three office drones and two troopers before finally conceding defeat and returning to the ready room. The others had all called it a night either in their rooms or in Lily's case passed out on one of the couches.

I threw a blanket over Lily before making my way to the kitchen. Shirou finally spoke up as I went about wrapping up the leftovers.

"What are you planning, Taylor?"

"Get home, find Dad." Simple plans are the best plans. Minimal points of failure that way.

Shirou's huff told me he was less than impressed with my answer.

"Fine, fine. Get Legend to temporarily transfer me back home. They'll need all the help they can get so there shouldn't be any problem with me volunteering. Once I'm there… if the house is still standing leave a note for Dad and check back regularly to look for a response. If that doesn't work… I'll search the refugee camps and hospitals."

"... And if you don't find him?" Shirou's voice was softer than I had ever heard it.

I closed my eyes and leaned over the counter. I was just so tired. "If Dad's... gone? Then a certain lizard just moved straight to the top of my list."

{}{}{}{} Waiting room outside Legends office: 6am

My foot tapped out an impatient rhythm and a practice butterfly spun through my fingers at a blistering pace. I'd been here twenty minutes already. When the secretary came in ten minutes ago, she was very surprised to see me. She was less than thrilled when I told her I wasn't moving until I had a chance to speak with Legend. Her protests that there would be all kinds of meetings taking precedence after an Endbringer attack only earned her a flat stare.

I knew I wasn't a priority right now. I didn't care. This was too important to me.

I scowled as I saw Legend fly by the office window. I'd hoped to get my foot in the door when he came in. If he was just going to fly right into his office, I was in for a longer wait than I had hoped for.

{}{}{}{} 10 am

I had escalated to a live blade, and outright glaring at the secretary. She seemed halfway to tears. Normally I would feel bad about that, but after four hours of watching a seemingly never ending stream of people enter and exit Legend's office without being allowed in? She was lucky I hadn't traced a dartboard yet. If I had to wait much longer though I would mount one on the front of her desk.

The sound of the door opening caused me to glance over just in time to see not only another person in a suit, but also Legend, exiting the office.

My knife was gone and I was moving in an instant.

I didn't even wait for the two to finish speaking.

"Legend, Siege squads' supervisor didn't make it back from the attack, so I had to bring this directly to you." The suit puffed up like he was getting ready to reprimand me but I ignored him and just kept talking before he could interrupt. "I'm requesting an immediate transfer to Brockton Bay until things have settled there."

Legends looked confused at first, but I could see the moment the pieces fit together in his mind.

"Your father was still in Brockton Bay, wasn't he?" Legend seemed to sag. I took a moment to really look at the man. Even with the domino mask it was easy to see just how tired he was feeling.

"Yes. If he made it… I need to find him. I have to know." I tried to keep my voice even and calm. My voice didn't crack, but that was about all I could say for my efforts. The suit deflated and moved away. I passed Legend the transfer paperwork I'd filled out the night before.

Legend opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut with a click. Waving me behind him he turned back to his office. Following I stood in front of his desk as he pulled up something on his computer. Whatever Legend was looking for I knew the second he found it. He closed his eyes and blew out a breath. Then he looked me in the eye and for all that he looked resolute he also looked miserable.

"I'm sorry, Arsenal, Taylor. I have to deny your transfer request."

"What?! Why?!" The words ripped themselves out of my throat.

Legend winced, but stayed resolute. "You're off of active duty. If I transferred you into what is likely to become a heavy combat zone now-"

My hand slammed down onto his desk hard enough to rattle it.

"To hell with the Youth Guard's concerns about my childhood!" I snarled. "I was stuck here worrying while my friends and family were in the line of fire! I might not have been able to do anything then, but I won't settle for sitting around and waiting now!"

"It's not just about the Youth Guard!" Legend snapped. "Sending you there now would break a number of regulations! I can't just ignore that, even in a case like this." He brought his voice back under control as he tried to make me understand.

I just glared all the harder. "... If it was your family who might be dead, and the rules said you had to stay here. What would you do?"

Legend said nothing, but he looked away. I tapped two fingers against the transfer papers on his desk, silently demanding his signature. Legend only shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Taylor. My hands are tied. You'll be back on active duty in two weeks, I might be able to shave a week off of that if I get creative with the paperwork. If there isn't any news at that point, I can transfer you then." He offered.

I was sorely tempted to trace something painful. Instead I marched out of the room without a backwards glance, and slammed the door hard enough to make the walls rattle. It was all I could do not to scream. I was halfway out of the building before I finally managed to put words to my emotions.

"I've tried playing by the rules. I've been more than willing to work with them despite all the issues. Clearly that was a mistake." I growled.

"So, what will you do now?" Shirou asked. No anger, no judgment. Just a question.

"I don't know. Not yet. But I'm not staying. I can't stay. I won't." This was one betrayal too far. I liked my team. I liked most of the other Wards I'd met. Hell, I even liked the Protectorate heroes I'd worked with. But this wasn't about the people. This was about the institution, and how once again it was fucking me over.

"OK." Shirou agreed.

And that was it. No further words needed to be spoken. Shirou had my back. If nothing else that at least hadn't changed.

"I need a way back to Brockton Bay." I started planning even as I moved. "Buses won't be running there, not after an Endbringer attack. The train station in the Bay hasn't run in years, and that's assuming the tracks and station weren't wrecked in the attack… But people should be sending aid trucks."

"Where would the aid trucks be leaving from?" Shirou asked.

"Any nearby city or military base. Probably from places farther away as well. New York is close enough to send aid directly. There should be some kind of rally point… I need to grab a few things from my room. I'll try and look it up while I'm there. If not I'll start asking around. The PRT will be involved in the relief efforts, someone has to know."

{}{}{}{} Taylor's room

I stuffed a few changes of civilian clothes into my duffle bag along with my spare costume parts and extra jackets. Well, mostly. I paused when I got to the skirts.

"Taylor?"

"I don't want to wear this anymore. I didn't really care one way or another before. But it's just a stupid PR prop. It doesn't do anything and it just…"

Shirou grunted. Even if I was having trouble articulating exactly what I was thinking he got the general idea. Right now, it was just one more reminder of everything I hated about the Protectorate and PRT.

"Well, get rid of it by all means. But your outfit will look unbalanced."

"Since when do you care about fashion?" I asked scathingly.

Shirou only huffed. Still he had a point… My eyes caught on the red scarf that had been sent along with the costume for the winter months, when the wind bit cold. With quick movement I wrapped it around my waist like a sash with the extra length trailing down to my left knee.

"There, that looks better anyway." Wardrobe seen too I turned on my tablet and started hunting for aid trucks.

"Bingo." Every burrow had at least one or two places where people could drop off canned goods, bottled water, diapers, and basic medical supplies. The closest one was in the Northeastern bit of Queens. Bag over my shoulder I headed straight for the railway bikes. I wanted to leave a note for my team, but I couldn't risk that. I needed the biggest head start I could get. If I left a note it was just making it more likely that someone would try and stop me. I'd apologize to them after I got Dad out of the Bay.

{}{}{}{} half hour later Queens emergency aid drop off point.

"I dunno, kid. No one told me anything about getting a hero escort." The trucker scratched at his short cropped hair.

"Yeah, well it's an Endbringer mess. People are scrambling all over. Now, no offense, but you're heading into Nazi territory. I'd think you'd be a bit happier about cape support." I dryly riposted.

The man I was trying to con into giving me a ride winced. It might not have been nice to remind a black man on a humanitarian mission that he was sticking his mouth in the lion's jaws… but if it got me the ride I needed?

"Isn't there supposed to be a truce on." He countered nervously.

"Well yeah," I blithely admitted with a careless shrug. "but after an Endbringer attack? People are desperate. No telling how long it will actually hold up." He hesitated, so I pushed my advantage. "Look, if you don't want me to ride along that's fine. I'll just catch a ride on a different aid truck. If no one's interested in a bit of backup I'll just catch a chopper in the morning."

He hesitated just a moment longer before shaking his head. "Ahh, hell. Sure, might as well give you a lift. Just give me a bit to clear some garbage out of cab. Don't go too far, I'm leaving in twenty!"

I trailed along behind and did my best to keep victory and relief off of my face. "Hang on, Dad. I'm coming."

"Hey, kid, what's your name?"

"Eh, I didn't introduce myself? Sorry about that." I glanced down at my makeshift sash, and decided I might as well toss one more piece of PR I could take or leave. "Name's, Legacy."