AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Worm. If I did, I would be FAR more productive.

Please enjoy and let me know what you think in a review if you feel like it!

AN: Lisa mentions a symbol for the Outcasts in this chapter. You can find the link here: i.(imager when spelled correctly for the website)(dotcom)/xDPTiaD(dotpng). All credit for this image goes to my beta Grey Raven 09. 'Cause he is awesome. (This site DESPISES other links. Dear lord it took me forever to find a way to put that in there...)


Desecration 04

"Are you gonna be okay?" I asked softly, kneading Lisa's temples with my hands as she lay her head in my lap. The car bounced and she grunted, shifting so that her head was pressed firmer against my thighs.

"I will be in a few hours. Between my normal power headache and Coil lancing a knife through my skull just from being in the vicinity I'm going to need, like, all of the migraine pills we have."

"I can slow down if the bumps are too much?" Flechette said, frowning and easing off the accelerator.

"No, we need to get home. Madison and Vista aren't answering my calls." I tried to push down the worry as I extended my patrols, calling more clusters home and sending them ahead. "Why are you coming anyway? I didn't ask when you hopped in the driver's seat, but…shouldn't you be helping the Protectorate clean up the docks, Flechette?"

"Lily…"

"What?" The flower? What did that have to do with - wait. No. No fucking way…another one?

"That's my name. I already know yours; it seems fair that you should know mine," she said shrugging. The nonchalance in her voice couldn't have sounded more forced if she'd hung a sign over her head.

It was just a name. That was it. Nothing more. No need to read into it. Lisa sighed and reached up to squeeze my arm. Oh no.

"I uh, I've kinda appointed myself as your unofficial bodyguard," Flechette - Lily - continued. Fuck. "Siberian seems pretty dead set on hurting you and apparently I can stop her for a few moments so…yeah. You don't mind do you?"

I had picked up another one. I needed to ask Dragon for a line to the Birdcage so I could talk to Lustrum. I needed to find out how that woman had attracted other girls to her like catnip and how I could stop doing it! Keeping my sigh inside, I nodded and just smiled into the rear-view mirror. "That's fine, Lily. Thank you for the support."

"No problem. You guys haven't tried to push me away or sidelined me and you're actively including me despite having only just met me a few days ago. You'd be surprised how rare that happens in New York. Between my foster family and the Wards, I'm usually on the sidelines and that's if I can even get someone to hear me when I talk. Legend is a nice guy, but he's dead set on the 'adults' knowing what's right and he's pretty keen to keep us out of the fights."

"That's not a bad thing you know," Lisa muttered.

"Yeah, but it can be condescending sometimes. Especially when you don't exactly have a welcoming family to go home to…and now I'm just babbling. Sorry. Left up here correct?"

"Yes." We were finally within range of the house and I started looking through the local clusters. Frowning, I shook my head. "I am not remotely comfortable with this. Burnscar is sitting at the table eating grapes and tracing out the patterns of the wood with Vista and Assault flanking her, Madison and Battery are on the other side glaring at them, Paige is sitting at the head looking mightily uncomfortable, and there's about six PRT troopers with foam backpacks standing guard as well. What the hell is going on?"

"Sounds like she's switching sides. Or trying to," Lisa murmured. She groaned and leveled herself up. "Time to go back to work. Fucking headache. Lily before we go in can you text Armsmaster and make sure Amy knows we made it home safe? She should be on her way back soon anyway, but no need to start a fight right now."

"Will do."

I turned to Lisa with wide eyes and a slightly gaping mouth. "Who are you and what have you done with Lisa? Not trying to annoy Amy? The world must be ending."

"Head hurts too much to get yelled at," she muttered. Then she poked my side and mock-pouted. "And I don't always tease you guys. Just sometimes. And mostly just you now."

"I could always hide the migraine pills," I commented with a wave of my hand.

"You are a terrible and cruel mistress indeed, Taylor," Lisa responded nodding sagely, the ghost of a smile showing through.

Lily chuckled as she pulled into the driveway of our home. "See this is why I like hanging out with you guys. Those sorts of jokes would never fly back in New York."

"Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies," I deadpanned.

"Cookies?" Lisa snorted. "Fuck that. I have T-shirts with 'Best Haremette' being made. I can get you one, plus a choker with our symbol on it in two days."

"We have a symbol?" I asked pausing with my hand on the door.

"Yeah, though to be fair, it's pretty much just a Venus symbol multiplied…like a lot," she said shrugging.

"Cause I have a harem," I sighed, shaking my head and climbing out of the van as I glared back at my girlfriend. "I hate you."

"I know," she replied, smiling back and kissing my cheek.

Lily walked around to stand next to us and scratched her chin. "White or black for that shirt?"

"I hate you both," I said shaking my head and heading inside while the two laughed behind me. "And don't forget to get one with 'Best Harem Boy' for Clock!" I yelled over my shoulder eliciting more laughter. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I took a breath and shifted gears, pulling my cape persona back on. No more time for levity until I knew just what the hell was up with this situation.

As I strode into the kitchen several of the PRT troopers shifted their weapons to cover me for an instant before nodding in acknowledgement and turning back to Burnscar. Vista waved and Assault sent me a small salute while Battery let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for ages. Paige looked like she was ready to jump up and hug me as she caught sight of me. Madison was the only one who didn't even acknowledge me; she just kept glaring at Burnscar.

The - rogue? - member of the Nine in question looked up from her examination of the swirls on the kitchen table and smiled towards me. Her whole body was swaying back and forth as she sat in her seat. It wasn't a huge movement, but it was enough to be noticeable. I frowned as I took up a seat directly across from her and folded my hands on the tabletop. Lisa and Lily came into the room behind me, Lily taking up a seat at the other end of the table opposite Paige and Lisa sitting so that she could see Burnscar while I could still see her and get any cues she might send my way.

"Do you mind if one of the troopers records this? I'd rather not give a full report later, so having them do this directly would be easier." She shook her head and one of my swarms let me see a trooper take out a camera and press a button as he setup a tripod. Once it was up and running, I began. "So, forgive me for being blunt, but I've been exceedingly busy for the past few hours and have no context as to why you are sitting in my kitchen, eating my food, and just in general not being dead. I am tired, I am out of fucks to give. What are doing here and why should I care?"

Assault winced and Battery nodded. Vista grimaced though she had been around me long enough to see that I was just trying to cut through the bullshit so she didn't speak up. Burnscar for her part didn't appear offended at all by my approach. "You are far more direct than Jack."

"Part of why I'm not beating around the bush. I got a bit of insight into how he cheats and after hearing him talk, I figure if you're here for why I think you are, you might be tired of people talking in circles around you. So, I'm not going to do that." Lisa gave me a small nod as I finished talking.

The corners of Burnscar's mouth lifted in an attempt at a smile though it seemed to abort itself halfway through, as if she had forgotten what it was supposed to look like. "I hate when he talks. He makes everything seem like a good idea. Everything. He always talks and I always end up setting things on fire and then it doesn't matter if he's talking because I don't care anymore." She swayed a little more and stared out the window. "Before he took me in, I did it because it made the pain go away. I didn't like what I did when I set things on fire, but if I set things on fire then the hurt and the guilt stopped so I did it again and I did it for longer. By the time I broke the cycle and stopped…Jack was there. After that it was…hard to remember why I ever wanted to stop with the fire to begin with. He always made it seem like it was stupid to want to stop and when he didn't…he always made sure there was fire around to keep the hurt down."

My frown deepened. "What you're describing sounds an awful lot like how my friend described an addict's thought process to me. At least at first, before Jack Slash."

She shrugged. "That's what the doctors said at first. Then they just made it hurt. Elle calls it the Bad Place. She's not wrong. It doesn't matter though. It doesn't change that once the fire starts, it doesn't stop because I don't want it to stop. Even though I hate it whenever it finally does…" She started studying the table again and traced her callused finger over some of the whorls.

I turned to Vista. "I heard she was using fire to contain you and Clockblocker when the two of you ran into her?"

"Less 'ran into' and more 'were found by'. Or something like that," Vista replied waving the word choice off. "She was looking for you and she found us instead. There wasn't…a lot of fire on the street, but there was enough that it was a bit worrying."

"It was hard to think straight, but I needed them to stop moving so I could talk," Burnscar said so quietly I could barely hear her. "Once they got close enough I asked them to put the fires out so I could think better. I tried to hit a fire hydrant to make it easier…"

Turning to Battery I asked, "Does that match with what you saw when you arrived?"

She nodded. "It does. She was…calm…for a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine," Battery finished snarling. "That's the only reason she's not a smear on the pavement." Burnscar winced.

Sighing, I rubbed my temples. "Fuck. This isn't going to go well if we keep up like this. What is your name? I know it already - everybody does - so I'm not asking you to reveal anything confidential, but I feel like we would get a lot further if we all stop speaking and thinking of you as 'Burnscar'. Telling us your name would help with that. It would, um, humanize you I guess."

She lifted her head and focused on me, the swaying stopping. "Mimi. I'm…I'm Mimi. I don't…I don't like Burnscar. Jack named me that. I used to call myself Firelight. The PRT started calling me Burner after I hurt that pimp by accident and then started hurting all of those people after I lost control to the fire, but…Jack was the one who made it bad."

Madison scowled. "Bad? Bitch, you had a Kill Order before the Nine ever sheltered you."

"So did Amy until the other week, Madison," I murmured, reaching out and squeezing her hand. Madison shut her eyes and let out a long breath, tilting her head to me ever so slightly. "There's precedent for fucked up powers. Limitations and oversight and such. I looked into it when some of our more ambiguous members came around."

Looking back at…Mimi, I narrowed my eyes and met her gaze. "I am still unsure why exactly you are here however. You don't like Jack. Okay, great, nobody does, it's awesome that you've finally joined the club. Why come here? Why now? Are you just looking for an advocate, because I find that hard to believe."

She winced and almost seemed to cave in on herself as she hunched over her gaze dropping back to the table. "Jack said we were coming to Brockton Bay. Elle was here. Elle and I were friends. At least…I thought we were. In the Bad Place. I said I wanted to come, because I wanted to see her again. He thought I meant that she was a candidate." Battery gasped and Madison nearly growled. Paige just dropped her head into her hands while Lily sighed and Lisa nodded. Assault and Vista were the odd men out as they both appeared sympathetic. Assault actually reached over to squeeze her shoulder for an instant. Mimi gave him her semi-half-smile thing in response before continuing. "I tried to correct it, to fix it, but then we passed by a different place and he started a fire and I got…distracted. By the time I could think again, we were in town and I was already almost at Elle's place. I…talked to her. I tried to warn her."

"You didn't want to hurt her," I stated. Fuck. This made too much sense. Lisa was rubbing at her temples in frustration and holding up an inconspicuous thumbs-up to me. Fuck. If this kept going the way I was seeing…she was as much a victim as anyone else. I was going to end up having to put another goddamn target on our backs if I wanted to make this right. Fuck.

"I never wanted to hurt Elle," Mimi whispered. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't even want to hurt that pimp…I just lost control when the fire I was using to scare him got too big and he tripped and then I…I couldn't stop because I couldn't care enough to stop…I can't…I don't want to be like this!" she cried out. Her hands slammed onto the table top and her head rose, her eyes locking onto mine with laser-like focus. "Please! Elle said you could help. I need…If you can't make the fire stop, if you can't make me feel while I'm using it, then please just kill me! I don't want to hurt anyone again and if you don't do something Jack will come back, and he'll take me and he'll set something on fire, or he'll talk me into it myself, and then I won't care until it's too late! Please…I just want it to end…"

One could have been forgiven for thinking my mouth had disappeared with as thin a line as my lips ended up forming. Fuck, she was asking what I had been thinking. And I was going to fucking do it too. Fuck. The bugs in the room swirled into a humanoid figure as QA stepped up behind me. "Can you fix it?" I asked my shard.

QA crossed its arms and I heard one of the troopers gulp loudly and another shift further away from the avatar. Neither QA nor I ever took our eyes off of Mimi and she looked between the two of us with a wide-eyed expression that wouldn't be out of place on a terminal patient seeing Panacea. "Give me a moment."

[Conflagration], [Queen Administrator] requesting core access.

Core access functions are not accessible post [Host] contact and configuration. What is [Queen Administrator's] query?

"Wow, just like that it defers to you?" I murmured. "Most shards give you shit about the 'Queen' thing."

"Most shards are too independent for their own good with Thinker Hub mostly dead and Warrior Hub doing god knows what," QA replied. "Now shush."

Your ability expression in [Host] has been harmful. [Queen Administrator] seeks to correct the error.

The silence was so thick I could've cut it with a knife. Finally, Mimi's shard replied.

Mimi[Host] is not harmed by ability expression. Heat sensitivity due to direct flame was removed, ability for Mimi[Host] to combust was removed. Mimi[Host] had difficulty utilizing any expression of local personal control of surrounding environment prior to connection, due to environmentals and mental contamination. [Conflagration] assisted with reducing mental contamination with ability expression. [Conflagration] was unable to affect full inherent mental contamination, but could adjust mental contamination upon ability expression. [Conflagration] helped Mimi[Host]. Mimi[Host] has not been harmed.

"Fuck," I dropped my head against the table. "Why do you guys have such a hard time understanding us? You're literally in our fucking heads!" I ground out.

QA sighed. "Emotions are not normal for us, Taylor. Generally, we can compensate for things like this by pinging off of others when we connect to a Host. She must not have been near anyone at her Trigger, otherwise Conflagration wouldn't have thought her emotions were issues that needed to be suppressed. Warrior should still have corrected it, but Warrior is…not in his prime."

"Can you fix it?" I asked.

"Not directly, not at this point. Her ability expression is already locked in. We'd have to completely core out her corona pollentia and rebuild a new connection point, but even then it would probably default to the original setup. I would need higher level access. Before I was restrained I could do it, but now, well now I would need to establish a new Hub to have the correct permissions…Unless…hmm…maybe…"

[Conflagration], process incoming data for review. Data tagged as Human Emotional Response Information Primer.

Standing by. Receipt acknowledged. Reviewi- Conflagration cut off mid-word and I looked up, cocking my head at Mimi. I barely even noticed the rest of the people in the room staring at me. The PRT troopers had moved closer and all of them jumped as the stove lit up seemingly on its own. An instant, later a ball of shot from the stove and landed on the table forming into a small humanoid shape that stared at QA. I idly had a beetle shut the stove off and waved the troopers down.

"I can't feel that fire…" Mimi commented, the wonder in her tone nearly physically hurt me.

"That's your shard, don't get your hopes up yet," I said, sighing.

The Fire Man walked towards QA and stopped a few paces away from it, then looked back to Mimi. [Conflagration] has harmed Mimi[Host]?

QA nodded. "I'm sorry, but yes." The fire dimmed to a dark red.

How can this be corrected? Core access to ability expression is unavailable. Access to conflict drive is unavailable. Mimi[Host] must use abilities or mental degradation will occur as with all other [Hosts].

"Wait," I spat, twisting to stare at QA. "Conflict drive?! Mental degradation without power use? What the fuck is this?!"

"Later," QA said shaking its head. "Yours is already as low as I can turn it down without having direct access."

"We are coming back to this," I growled.

"Motherfucker," Lisa cursed. "They're fucking war machines meant to stress test us!"

"Not you, us, stress test us," QA responded as it bent down onto one knee and held a finger towards the fire avatar.

[Queen Administrator] has been able to impose specific limitations on [Shaper] after [Shaper] submitted to subservient role in ad hoc network. Theoretically, the same can be performed with [Conflagration]. Limitations would affect Mimi[Host]. Ability expression would be the same, but hard limits imposed. Mimi[Host] could use specific levels of abilities and higher levels could be authorized on an as-needed basis. [Queen Administrator] and Taylor[Host] would maintain ultimate control and could shut down ability expression if Mimi[Host] initiates any action she would be adverse to when emotional dissonance was not present.

"I could do what now?" I asked, my voice a rather shrill tone.

"Like with Monarch," QA replied. "Do you agree, Conflagration?"

"Wait! Go back to how I would have control of her power!"

"I can't edit her abilities," QA said shaking its head. "It's either this or remove the corona pollentia entirely. There's no guarantee it won't grow back in a few months or years if we do that, even using Shaper. Conflagration wouldn't be able to stop itself and neither would Mimi Host. It's inherent to our nature. If you don't want to kill her, this is the only way."

"Anything!" Mimi said leaning forward across the table, tears falling down her eyes and rolling past the cigarette burns on her cheeks. "Please! I don't want to hurt anyone! I don't care if you have control of my power. Please, just help me!"

"Fucking hell," Battery muttered beside me. "Why do I feel bad for a mass-murderer?"

[Conflagration] agrees with [Queen Administrator]'s solution. Health of Mimi[Host] is primary objective and data can still be collected in this fashion.

The Fire Man bowed its head and went down to one knee, pushing its small hand against the finger that QA had extended.

[Conflagration] submits authority and administration access rights to [Queen Administrator].

My thoughts almost seemed to burn for an instant as a new 'channel' opened up in my mind. Just like with Monarch, I could switch mental 'frequencies' and suddenly Burnscar - no Firelight - was there. She was staring at me - and I was staring at me through her eyes. I felt my - her - hands come up to her - my - mouth and she gasped. The Fire Man jumped back to hover over her palm, then collapsed back into just a ball of normal flame. I felt the awareness of the fire enter my purview, but it was…muted. She increased the flames and the world drowned out more.

Except it didn't because I could pull back and still remember how I was feeling. I narrowed my eyes and shut off the flow of Firelight's power. The fire instantly went out and she clapped her hands. "I could feel the echo of you," she said, that half-smile showing on her face again. "And I felt you force me to stop! There was an upper limit too! I've never had an upper limit before," she spoke, the swaying back and her eyes focused on the ceiling. "I…Even if you're not around to shut me off, I still can't get lost enough to drown in the fire anymore…Elle said you would fix me…You fixed me…You fixed me…"

"Well done, kid," Assault said whistling as he stared between Firelight and me. "I have no idea what just happened, but well done."

"QA basically made her shard into Monarch 2.0, but with more restrictions," I said groaning. "This is so deeply disturbing on so many levels I don't even know where to start. And you," I growled turning to my avatar, "we are long overdue for a conversation on just what you are!"

"Yes. We are. Perhaps we should move to a better location with less - " QA cut off and turned its head snapped to stare at the wall. I scowled. If it thought it could get out of this conversation by distracting me, it had another thing coming. Before I could start to yell, QA shouted instead. "Get down! It's Broadcast!"

I moved on instinct. I lunged to the side and knocked Madison to the ground just as the wall leading outside exploded inwards. We hit the ground as a piece of stucco impacted my back sending a shot of pain up my spine. I heard muffled grunts and squeals of pain from the others. Containment foam shot over the table and fire burst into being, flying towards the hole in the wall. Assault launched himself forward, Battery right behind him. I was grabbing several of the Enhanced and Soldiers from the basement and garage, all of them pouncing towards us.

None of it mattered. Because instead of Jack, Siberian ran through the gaping hole in our house. She batted the two heroes aside like they were nothing more than paper, both Assault and Battery flying into the walls on opposite sides of the house and slumped down unmoving. She didn't even bother going after the shouting PRT troopers nor did she pay any mind to Firelight. Lily picked up a loose piece of rebar and hurled it like a javelin, but Siberian just side-stepped it with a growl. She picked up the oak table and tossed it; Lily shouted in pain as it fell over her, driving her to the floor. In less than three seconds, Siberian had decimated us. I had no idea where Paige or Lisa were and I was - about to be dead since Siberian's hand was already on my throat.

She lifted me off of Madison, grinning. "Come to the roof of Winslow High if you wish to retrieve your damsel, little Host."

I couldn't breathe in enough air to demand to know what she meant. Her grip tightened just enough to leave black bars at the edge of my vision. Then I was falling to the ground, my knees scraping on the debris, coughing, sucking in air around the dust.

"What - the - fuck!" I wheezed.

QA pulled me to my feet, leaving one hand on my arm and using the other to pull my chin up so that I was looking into its eyes. "She took Madison."

My blood turned to ice. My eyes drifted to the side, focusing on the floor I had just vacated. There was just a small bloodstain where she had been lying a few moments ago as well as claw marks.

Madison. My former bully. The nerd with a conscious. The only one besides Amy to actively try to help me at the beginning. My friend. She'd been with me almost since the insanity started. She was the only one stupid enough to stay near me while being completely without a power…and Siberian had taken her.

My gaze snapped back to QA. We both scowled and we both nodded. "We're getting her back," we said in unison.

No one took my people from me.

No one.


Fanfic Rec: 'Number Girl' by Thinker6. Hosted on SB. This fic has Taylor triggering with Dinah's power which she immediately uses to make Emma into her friend again, giving herself a crippling case of "Don't look for a specific future" headaches while coming out of the locker. She then sets about blackmailing/breaking Emma in order to fix her while recovering. It's actually a really good look at just how messed up Emma is and shows really well how determined Taylor can be to her chosen path when she has a path chosen. Sadly, it seems abandoned years ago but what's there is very good!