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: In canon, Battery gives her name to Doctor Mother as Jamie but specifically notes that it's an alias in her thoughts. So since she doesn't appear to have an official name, I'm giving her one here which is sort of similar.
Damages 01
Amy and Vicky kept chatting away on either side of me, both supposedly commenting on the lameness of the daytime soap opera that was on the TV. Both also steadfastly refusing to acknowledge my listless gaze or how I only really responded to something they said once every five or ten minutes.
I thought that was pretty good all things considered. I mean, Mimi barely talked at all. She mostly just sat in her chair on the patio with a happy smile, pet her puppy - which had mysteriously appeared at some point - and watched the clouds. Emily sat with her too; which I felt like I should be concerned with, but I couldn't really remember why.
Missy was throwing popcorn at the TV screen from her spot on the floor, which was actually pretty amusing. It probably would've been more amusing if she wasn't being so over-the-top about it.
I sighed and leaned back, shutting my eyes. "I'm hurt, I'm not broken," I whispered.
"What was that, Taylor?" Vicky asked, her head whipping around, her eyes wide.
"Just said that Michelle was stupid and Josh was probably going to get with the doctor," I replied.
"Michelle?" She frowned and looked back at the TV. "Oh…That's…Taylor that's Mary."
"Right, that's what I said."
"Yeah, yeah of course. Must've misheard you." She smiled and started talking about Crystal's college search again and I tuned it out. The twitch in her smile hurt too much to watch and the edge in her voice was like a knife. I was hurt. I knew that. It didn't mean I wasn't still all here.
The doorbell rang and I started to shift before Amy's hand on my shoulder held me down. "Paige has got it. What do you think of pizza tonight? I have a bit of a craving for pineapple."
I just shrugged. It really didn't matter. The only thing I really wanted was ice cream, but I apparently wasn't allowed any more ice cream for some stupid reason. My friends were jerks. Now they wouldn't even let me answer my own door.
Though that was probably a good idea, at least for the moment.
Amy and Vicky started arguing with Missy about the benefits and downsides to pineapple covered pizza while I checked in with the spider cluster near the door. Even if I couldn't get up, I could still see who had come by.
"You brought chocolate and flowers? Jesus Christ, you are horrible at this," Paige said shaking her head. I couldn't see past her from this angle and I didn't want to shift the spiders just yet. Nobody knew about this cluster. My own private spider eye. I chuckled at that thought.
"Taylor always liked trumpet lilies. I thought about bringing a book, but…well I'm not really sure what she's reading these days…This seemed…safe."
My father was here. Why the fuck was my father here? Was I that bad? Sure, I hadn't really been talking much, but I wasn't that bad!
…right?
Paige lifted a hand to her head and rubbed her temple. "Mr. Hebert, you look like you're trying to seduce her. Give me the flowers. I'll…think of something. Bring Shakespeare or Stephen King or some other classic next time."
I didn't just read classics. I liked Urban Fantasy and Fantasy too. Anything with real magic and happy endings. It was a nice change from the depressing stuff that mom had gotten me into as a kid…
"Look, just come in. I can't keep trying to deal with these girls all on my own, and Clockblocker and Flechette had to leave for something Assault wanted help with. I'm the oldest one here and I'm dying. You're horrible at this but I'll take whatever help I can get right now. Just…don't upset her. Can you promise me that?"
So that was where Dennis and Lily went. I knew Ethan had come by earlier. I'd…have to save them all some pizza probably. Jessie too. Did Ethan and Jessica they have a baby now? Why did I think they had a baby? There was something about the baby that I should know. Was that where Dennis and Lily had gone? To talk about the baby?
Cassie. Cassie had to do with the baby. I'd ask her later. When the others weren't around. It was private, I remembered that much.
My head dropped against my chest.
"Fuck," I murmured. Missy looked up at me, but I gave no other indication that I had spoken or even moved. This whole thing was so fucked up!
A throat cleared in the entrance to the living room and I looked up, forcing the grimace off my face and settling for something more neutral. Amy and Vicky both glared at my father while Missy just sighed.
"Taylor," the youngest member of my group said, standing and lowering the volume, "do you want to stay in here or do you want to go to one of the other rooms?"
I frowned and looked around me. I send a small swarm of houseflies to check out the sitting room. It was nice and empty right now and the new piano would give me something to do if things got awkward. But…that seemed like running away. "Taylor?"
"Sorry, I was thinking. I'll stay here."
"Okay. Do you want one of us to stay with you?" Missy asked, laying a hand on mine.
I smiled up at her, more genuine than anything I had been feeling for the past three days. "It's cool. I'm fine, Missy."
It wasn't like I was ever really alone now anyway.
We're here if you need us Taylor, QA murmured in my head.
Was that even its - her - name anymore? I'd have to ask. I hadn't found the right way yet without seeming, well, rude.
Amy, Vicky, and Missy all gave me small smiles and left for a different room, though none went far. It would've been sweet if it wasn't starting to get annoying. None of them left me alone anymore. If it wasn't Lisa, then it was Amy, or Cassie, or Vicky, or Paige, or Lily.
Lily tended to get distracted pretty easily at least. All I had to do was mention that one of the other girls had her hair done up different or was looking at Lily weird and she'd be off. I wasn't blind; she was flirting with everyone and I was going to use that if it got rid of my babysitter.
Emily and Missy were harder to get rid of since they seemed to tag-team it. I didn't count Colin either way since he had just tinkered when it was his turn to watch over this here abomination to nature.
Dennis had at least tried to pretend like he wasn't hovering. He managed to rope me into a video game with Theresa. Like that wasn't the most one-sided competition ever. At least it had been until we had switched to Mario Kart. The ghost a smile crossed my face as I remembered the image of her cart getting hit by three blue shells in a row just as Dennis and I pulled past. That had been glorious. Apparently even cheating AIs couldn't beat cheating computer games.
Only Madison had consistently stayed away. I frowned. Why had Madison stayed away? Had she even talked to me? She almost seemed to run from the room every time I walked in…
"Taylor?"
I blinked and refocused on the room around me. Right, my father was here. Damn. I leaned back into the couch and lifted my hand in a half-wave before letting it drop. "Hi, Dad. Funny of you to show up now."
"…I probably deserve that," he said sighing and dropping into the armchair. He held a small box of chocolates out to me which I took with a small snort of amusement. "I didn't really know what I should do or bring, but I thought I should bring something, and you always liked these so…"
I popped the top off the box and grabbed one of the dark chocolates. "The chocolate is a good idea. Amy won't let me eat it right now. I don't know why. She won't tell me. I'm fairly certain it's because they have Monarch on a diet and forgot to tell me. Or I had Monarch on a diet and they don't want to embarrass me by reminding me I forgot that. Paige was right though, don't bring just chocolate and flowers. It would be creepy if we weren't both incredibly awkward and horrible around each other."
My spider cluster spotted Paige and Missy leaning against the wall in the hallway just around the corner. Paige was smiling. "I think that's the most she's spoken in the past day."
"She was talking with Lisa last night," Missy murmured. "I went to say goodnight and I heard them talking through the door."
I shut my eyes and shifted my attention away from the cluster. My friends sucked. They meant well, but this was…damn, was I really staying that quiet? Was that normal? Was that trauma normal or was that 'fuck, kill her with fire' normal?
"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?"
I blinked and looked down. "Huh? Oh, um, no. Sorry. I was distracted."
"I asked how you're doing." His face was scrunched up like when he used to want to say something to Mom but held back because he knew it would upset her.
Damn. I scowled and my fists clenched. "I'm hurt. I'm not made of fucking glass, Dad. Say what you want to say."
He reared back like I'd slapped him and a spike a guilt hit me but I squelched it even as QA sent a phantom caress down the back of my head. "I wanted to ask if you were okay, Taylor. Your friends are worried."
"Nooo, I didn't realize that!" My lip curled and the swarm buzzed throughout my entire range before I was able to pull it back down to a manageable level. "Of course they're fucking worried! I was hurt! I'm not the same anymore! They'd be stupid not to be worried!"
"Taylor…"
"Don't 'Taylor' me!" I snarled. Amy started to come around the corner but Paige grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. "You don't have the right to do that, to say that! Not anymore."
"I know, I know." He clasped his hands and hung his head. "I know I've been distant. I never intended for that to happen, I just…I never realized the downsides to using my ability so much until after I had…forgotten that I wasn't involved in your life anymore."
I scoffed and shook my head. The swarm fell deathly quiet as I slumped back into the couch and let my head loll. "Distant isn't a strong enough word, Dad. It's not strong enough by a long-shot."
"I was just trying to - "
"If you say do it for me, or do it for Mom, I'm going to fucking scream."
His mouth snapped shut.
"That's what I thought." We both stayed silent for a few moments after that. Finally, I continued in a soft voice, barely above a whisper, but with the acoustics of the house, my friends could probably still hear me. "I almost killed you a few weeks ago, Dad."
He winced and I saw his hands tighten enough that the knuckles turned white. "I had thought you were blustering when talking with Jack."
"It was back when we first really formed the team. When I found out you had kidnapped Dinah. Lisa, Amy and Madison had to talk me down, I had bugs almost on you while you were sleeping. It was too much, too far."
"Taylor…I…"
"Only you didn't really kidnap her, did you? You saved her…She's happier with you and your group than she ever was at her old school or at home. Her parents are happy, she has what she wants without being spoiled. She's included and able to help out without being ignored or trivialized. You're…good for her."
He flinched back again. "Her power was hurting her and her surroundings weren't beneficial. That she can help me make the city better is nice, but it wasn't really the core reason I stepped in."
My hands clenched into fists. "You never even noticed that I had powers. I was trapped in a locker filled with biohazardous waste for hours. I was comatose. I had blood poisoning. I woke up and you weren't there!"
"I was…I was trying to fix things…There was nothing I could've done at the hospital…"
"You could've held my hand, instead when I woke up, I was alone," I spat.
I was there. I couldn't really talk then. I'll be there again if it happens again.
I know. Thank you, I sent the mental equivalent of a smile and a hug to my psychic buddy.
"Taylor, I don't know what you want from me."
"Neither do I, Dad," I said sighing. "I'm pretty sure I died you know?"
He stayed so still after my matter-of-fact statement that one could have mistaken him for a statue. "What?"
"When I fell off the roof. I'm pretty sure that, by all definitions and intents of the word, I died."
"I saw the video," he stated, his voice carefully modulated to be as neutral and calm as possible. I still heard the quaver. "Both of them. Your chest was rising before Amy got to you."
"Brain dead. Nothing left. Fragments. Fragments of nothing. I can still feel those fragments. They're integrating into what QA gave me, or what QA gave me is integrating into the fragments. Either way, the result is the same: something from nothing. Except I still feel like me. But I shouldn't. I was dead. I died. Now I'm alive. Am I even me anymore, am I a different Taylor? I don't know."
You gave me yourself for so long Taylor, QA whispered. I've checked your current thought processes vs. your archived ones. They're a 98% match. The Network agrees that you are you. You are intact; the transfer was a success.
Then why do I still feel like something that shouldn't exist? I asked her.
[Duplication] would like to advise Taylor[Hub] that Theresa[Host] used to question her existence daily.
While that was interesting, it wasn't really that surprising. She was an AI surrounded by humans after all. How did she get over those questions [Duplication]?
Theresa[Host] spoke with Colin[Host]. [Duplication] does not understand the nature of the answers she received, but she was able to rectify the nature of her existence.
"Taylor?"
I shook my head. "Sorry. QA is saying there's nothing physically wrong with me and Dragon's shard is saying I need a hug. Used to be I could only hear them when they were close. Now they all have opinions no matter how close or far they are. It is nice they're trying though."
"I…see." He shifted forward and laid his arms on either side of the chair. "Do you want a - "
I snorted. "Yeah, no. Not from you. Time's long past for that, Dad." I frowned and narrowed my eyes at him. "Shouldn't this conversation be going better for you anyway?"
He grimaced. "I didn't want to hurt your girlfriend if she walked in. It seemed rude. Just because I don't like Lisa doesn't mean I get to be petty by needlessly hurting her, solely to get a better result when talking with you."
"Well that's something I suppose."
And speak of the devil, my spider eye spotted Lisa waylaying Cassie on the second floor. Lisa's hair was frizzy. It was almost never frizzy. And Cassie looked worried. Granted they both generally had looked worried over the past few days, but Cassie usually hid it better. I shifted to a few fruit flies and moved them closer.
"You had one job! One job!" Lisa was growling.
"I got distracted! I'm sorry!" Cassie bit back. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been a bit worried about Taylor! I just…she slipped away from me."
"Goddammit, Cassie, I can't deal with this right now. When was the last time you saw her?"
"Like two hours ago?"
"Fuck," Lisa bit her tongue and punched the wall. "Ow, ow, ow! Stupid, stupid!" she hissed, shaking her hand. I frowned and turned my head to focus on them. My dad fell silent as he noticed me changing my focus and the girls around the corner stopped pretending to leave us alone and poked their heads around the corner to look at me. "Okay. Okay. Did she say anything?"
"Um, maybe?"
"Cassie…" Lisa growled.
"I. Was. Distracted! You won't even tell me why I'm supposed to be watching her." She ran a hand through her hair and I stood up. "I think she was muttering something about how 'it finally found him' or something? I don't know!"
Lisa took a deep breath then let it out slow and held her hands to the side. "Okay, that could be worse. That could be a lot worse. We have to find Madison right now! This isn't a joke, Cassie."
"Why?"
"I just - I can't - it's not my fucking place to talk about it okay! Just drop it and help me find her."
"Okay, okay." Cassie turned and they both hurried down the stairs. They flashed tight smiles to the trio in the entranceway.
I stepped out from the living room, frowning. "Madison is missing again?"
Lisa paled and Cassie swallowed hard. "No, everything's fine, Taylor. You go talk to your dad."
I scowled and glared at my girlfriend and had my flies come down to hover nearby before dispersing. "I'm not incapacitated, Lisa. What's going on? Has she been taken?"
Lisa winced and looked at the floor. "I…don't think so, no. I think she just…left. We still have to find her."
"It doesn't sound like she went on a walk. What's going on? What's wrong with Madison?"
"Nothing is wrong with Madison," Lisa stressed. "She'll be fine. You weren't the only one hurt is all. I'm dealing with it. I got this, Taylor. Just, go back and talk to your Dad. Please, I can deal with this. I can…I can fix this. I can fix…I can fix…I can fix this…" She trailed off and clutched her arm, still staring at the floor.
I frowned and stepped closer, putting my hands on each of her shoulders. "Lisa, look at me." She shook her head. "Lisa, look at me." Finally, her head lifted up and her watery gaze met mine. "What's wrong?"
"Madison didn't handle you being hurt well, Taylor. She…blamed herself. She was in a bad place for a little while. I thought she was getting better…She was talking with Ethan and Jessie…"
"And…"
"She shouldn't be alone…"
"And?"
"I…I don't know where she is…" Lisa sobbed, her head falling against my shoulder and her arms wrapping around me. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to put this on you this with the other shit we're dealing with, but I need to find her and I don't know where she is!"
"Your power isn't the same," I said, finally understanding what she meant.
I sent a mental query to her shard while she cried. [Negotiator] did you self-edit when you joined the Network? Did you ask QA for assistance with your power edits?
Lisa's shard gave me an equivalent of shaking its head. I was getting so much better at this. Negative, Taylor[Hub]. Conditions were met for deeper connection with Livsey[Host]. Livsey[Host] was renamed Lisa[Host] and [Negotiator Bud] was reconnected after determining alternative expressions from nearby shards. Useful expressions were incorporated into reconnection and facilitated expansion of Bud. Core ability expression did not change, from Weakness Identification. However the process through which this is achieved was refined.
There was a pause as it seemed to gather itself and continued almost hesitantly with a blush, if alien shard things that might not even have bodies could be said to 'blush'. [Negotiator] also determined that Lisa[Host] was being unnecessarily inconvenienced by previous restrictions. New [Queen Hub] has not imposed such restrictions, so they were removed during reconnection. Minor ability expression alteration was required to achieve this; however, it was within parameters for new refinement.
Ah. I see. How was I supposed to respond to that? Well, thank you for taking away her headaches.
You are welcome.
I squeezed Lisa tighter, stroked a hand through her hair, and then pulled back slightly so I could look her in the eye. "You second triggered?"
She nodded. "Yes. My power hasn't…It's not the same. I can't…I can't guess things anymore…I don't know where Madison went, Taylor. I got really good at cold reading, but the only thing I can think of is insane and she's not stupid."
"Okay, we're going to talk about you later," I promised leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Now, what insane idea do you think Madison has?"
"She's…obsessed with getting revenge on the people who hurt you," Lisa murmured.
I frowned. "What, like Emma?"
Lisa's voice was so small when she replied it was barely above a whisper. "…No…"
I blinked. That didn't seem like a strong enough reaction so I blinked again. Then I scowled. Then I growled. "You're right, she's not stupid, she's insane. Going out without fucking backup!"
"I cloned her phone…I wanted to be safe after…after. She texted something to Dennis. That was when he went to Ethan."
"So she did think to ask for backup, just not our backup," I growled. "I'm hurt. I'm not broken."
"The text was really ambiguous," Lisa mumbled. "I'm not even certain what she meant. If Dennis or Lily understood it…they know her really well."
"I'm going to kill the three of them. No, Ethan went too; I'm going to kill all four of them."
Emily walked in at that point with Mimi hovering behind her. She looked at us and cocked her head to the side. "Okay, I know I missed something, because this is the most animated I've seen you since you got back from the incident. But, before I get caught up, has anyone seen Monarch? I wanted to ask if it could make something little and fluffy for Mimi. It would keep her busy and give the puppy a playmate. Thanks for that by the way, Lisa."
"Thank Bitch," Lisa mumbled. "Wait, Monarch isn't in its room?"
My scowl deepened. I reached out - I didn't even need to switch channels anymore - and touched its mind.
Monarch, where are you?
Monarch[Self] assists Madison[Friend]!
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I snarled.
What are you helping Madison with?
Monarch[Self] and Madison[Friend] take Glorious Revenge for harm dealt to Taylor[Host] before Taylor[Host] was elevated to Taylor[Hub]!
Monarch, get Madison and get back here right fucking now!
Negative. Monarch[Self] and Madison[Friend] will take Glorious Revenge! Madison[Friend] was quite insistent and Monarch[Self] agreed.
Monarch I swear to [Root]…
Everything is perfectly fine Taylor[Hub]! Monarch[Self] will protect Madison[Friend]! Monarch[Self] and Madison[Friend] have already called for cleanup of the first target!
I sucked in a breath through my clenched teeth and let it out as slow as possible so I didn't hit something. "I'm going to kill that bug. Someone get on the phone with the PRT. Get us a location. Good news, Madison and Monarch killed either Cherish or Jack Slash. Bad news, they're moving onto the second target."
Everyone present just stared at me.
Fanfic Rec: 'Acceleration' by chibipoe. On both SV and SB. Complete! This is a fic where Taylor has the powers of Accelerator from the A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Accelerator stories. Meaning, Taylor is ridiculously overpowered with being able to control anything with a vector. At all. If anything, she's more powerful than base Accelerator because she can mimic other powers once she figures out how they work and exotic effects only work long enough for her to figure them out (i.e. maybe once). This is essentially a guidebook story on how to do an OP character story right. It never gets old watching Taylor deal with the issues cropping up around her and there are still challenges for her that she can't bowl right over, and when she does bowl right over others it is remarkably cathartic. Major bonus points for bringing Dinah in as a traumatized little sister in the first few chapters and her acting both as her canon-Worm character and also as a semi-expy of Last Order to Taylor's Accelerator. Seriously, this story is awesome, go read it.
