Shadow Stalker – Advent of a Hero

Chapter Ten: Fitting In

I did not think this through.

Sophia had found herself thinking that, more and more often, over the last few weeks.

She had joined the Wards eagerly enough; it was a statement, both to herself and to Taylor, that she could change, she could be better than the way Taylor had seen her outside the cinema (and, to be brutally honest, the way she might still think on occasion).

But making a statement was one thing. Backing it up was entirely another.

She found it easy to moderate her behaviour around Taylor. She was in love; that was for pretty damn sure. Times had been that she had considered herself in love before, but these were now revealed to be the shallow infatuations of an immature mind; or rather, hormonal attractions and nothing more.

When she wasn't with Taylor, and in high stress situations, she tended to revert to her older ways of thinking. She did her best to keep these in check, given that they did not fit well with the teamwork concept that Triumph was doing his best to foster with the Wards, but it wasn't always easy. Hell, sometimes, it didn't seem to make the most amount of sense.

Such as right now.

Triumph's voice crackled in her earpiece. "Shadow Stalker; you're out of position."

She stifled a sigh. "I need to check something out here."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Not that I can see, but -"

"If there's nothing wrong, then we have to stick to the plan. Get back in position."

"What if the plan's wrong?"

"The time to run any potential changes past me is in the planning stage. For the moment, you need to stick with how we agreed we're doing this."

"But –"

"Now, Shadow Stalker."

For a moment, she considered simply defying him and going ahead anyway.

They were assisting the Protectorate in pulling a raid on an Empire Eighty-Eight drug warehouse; Triumph had worked out a plan to fit in with the main raid. However, Sophia was being kept back out of the action. She considered that her Stranger capabilities were not being utilised to their full potential, especially where it came to gathering intel, and potentially taking out hostiles before they knew she was there.

Triumph seemed to think that it was a good idea to hold her back, considering the neo-Nazi inclinations of the Empire, just in case she fell into the hands of the enemy.

As if they'd treat me any differently than they'd treat Vista or even Clockblocker, she snorted to herself. The unwritten rules were clear; while she'd been at risk hitting E88 as a lone vigilante, hitting them as part of a Protectorate raid was another thing altogether. While Kaiser didn't fear the Protectorate, he certainly didn't want to provoke them either, and causing undue harm to a teenage Ward, no matter her skin colour, was not something that he was likely to risk doing.

But neither did she want to draw Triumph's ire. He was older than her, but they'd had their powers for roughly the same amount of time. The difference between them was twofold; firstly, he had gone into the Wards the moment he had triggered. Secondly, he came from money and privilege, and had a certain amount of expectation toward how his subordinates would react to his orders.

Looking at the matter in a totally fair and honest way – something that Sophia was finding it easier to do, these days – he wasn't precisely arrogant, but he was over-compensating just a bit, and sometimes that would lead him to be just a little more pushy than she found comfortable.

"Fine," she sighed into the throat mic. "Shadow Stalker, returning to position."

Turning, she went to shadow as she leaped from the corner of the building. Her cloak billowed insubstantially, catching the air just enough to glide her across the way.

I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

"Okay," Triumph began. "So talk to me. Why were you out of position?"

He was still in costume, only lacking the lion's-head helmet that served as a mask and to focus his shouts. Sophia had to admit, he was very good-looking. In fact, he was seriously built in every way. If she wasn't oriented toward girls, and toward Taylor in particular, she would definitely be interested, especially as he was only a year older than her.

But she didn't want to do this now. She'd been shut down over the radio, and she really didn't feel like going into it face to face.

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes. It does."

"Why?"

"Sophia, I'm detecting an attitude from you. Is this going to be a problem? Is this going to happen in the future?"

She sat up in her chair. "Rory, I don't want to have an attitude. I don't want to be a problem. But I triggered at a really bad point in my life, and ever since then I've been making sure I never get back to that point. All the time you've been a Ward, doing the right thing, learning teamwork under Battery and the others, I've been solo. I've been learning to think on my feet, to follow my instincts. Out there, today? I followed them. I was going to circle around, see what I could see. But you shut me down. So I followed orders. End of story."

Rory sat down opposite her. "Sophia. You have the makings of a good Ward, a good Protectorate hero, in you. I can see it."

That's right, butter me up. Right before you give me the hard sell.

"But you've got to communicate with the rest of the team. Tell them what you're thinking. If you'd given me your ideas, maybe we could have adapted."

She shook her head. "No. You didn't give me a chance. You didn't ask. You just told me to get back into position. And because you did, because I followed orders, Alabaster and a dozen goons got away."

"You can't be sure of that."

"You can't be sure I'm wrong."

He sighed. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have asked your opinion, found out what you were doing." His gaze fixed on her. "But maybe you should have spoken up earlier, when you saw the hole in the plan."

She tried to keep the frustration from her voice. "I didn't see the hole in the plan until I was on site. I was just going to check out a hunch, that was all. I didn't know there was a way out. If I had, I would've kept going, or at the very least I would have told you. But I didn't know for sure, so when you told me to go back, I went."

Rory drew a deep breath, then held it for a moment before letting it out.

"We're both on edge here, and we're talking in circles. This conversation is on hold; we'll pick it up again later, when we're both feeling a little more like ourselves."

This is me, she told him silently as he walked away. Can't you see that?

Slowly, she got up from the chair, and went to check on the patrol schedules.

Paired with Vista. Oh, well, it could be worse.

"Uh ... Sophia?"

She turned to see the Wards' resident Tinker standing there. He was a little shy, but a nice guy all the same. He didn't have Rory's need to be in charge, to prove himself.

He had joined the Wards about a year before Sophia, but it was obvious that he was still getting used to the role. He simply wasn't used to having powers, not in the same way that she was. He had a suit of armour in red and gold, and a laser pistol, and he was working on a hovering skateboard, but he still had some way to go on that last one. One of his problems was that he still hadn't worked out where his specialty lay, and that was hampering his true creativity.

Never a truly sociable person, she wasn't overly interested in company right now for various reasons. Normally, she would have brushed him off, but here in the Wards she was trying to build a new image for herself, and so she constructed a smile instead.

"Oh, hey, Chris. What's up?"

He took an object from behind his back and held it out to her. She took it, and looked it over.

It looked like one of her crossbow arrows ... sort of. However, instead of the sharp head or the tranquilliser injector that she was used to, this had two prongs and a rather bulky shaft.

"What's this do?"

"I, uh, was thinking about when we took on that guy with the weird blood, remember?"

"Sanguine, yeah," she recalled. "Bastard counteracted my tranqs as soon as they hit him."

"Yeah," he agreed. "So I was thinking how Armsmaster tasered him down. And I asked myself why you couldn't have done the same thing."

She looked again at the arrow in her hand, and thought about his words. "Chris ... is this a taser arrow?"

He nodded vigorously. "Yeah. There's a capacitor in the shaft that will put out a fairly serious jolt; it should pretty well mimic the effect of a standard taser. I just don't know how it'll work against an actual target, shot from an actual crossbow."

She grinned. Unexpectedly, it felt as though she meant it. "Well then, let's go see, shall we?"

"So ... you okay?"

Shadow Stalker looked across at Vista as they stood on the rooftop, scanning the area.

"What?"

Vista looked at her. "I said, are you okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Vista shrugged. "I heard the radio chatter on the warehouse raid. I saw Triumph chewing you out later. I just wondered if you wanted someone to talk to about it."

Sophia sighed. "Okay, first off, I was wrong. I went off position without telling anyone. Secondly, he didn't chew me out, he just ... had a word with me. Thirdly, are you my personal therapist? Do I look like someone who needs a shoulder to cry on?"

Vista sounded hurt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I just wanted to ... I thought I could ..."

The dichotomy was interesting. On the one level, she saw Vista as a weakling, eager to please, someone who would be easy to keep in her place. But on another level, she saw a teammate, someone who had approached her, opened up, offered help.

And abruptly, she felt terrible, as if she had kicked a small puppy.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," she blurted. "Come here, come on." She held out her arms and hugged Vista; the younger girl hesitated, then hugged her back.

"I'm sorry about that," Sophia told her after they disengaged. "I get a bit bitchy sometimes. And that thing with Triumph ... I'm not really sure I deserved to get told off like that, you know?"

"That's all right," Vista assured her. "Rory's dad's the mayor, you know? He feels like he's got a lot to live up to. It's not really personal. He sees his dad telling people what to do all day, and he wants to make sure that he can do the same thing, now that he's the leader of the Wards."

"Huh. I never thought of it like that."

Vista sat down on the edge of the roof. "C'mon, let's take five. We're ahead on the patrol schedule anyway."

Sophia sat beside her, spreading her cloak out behind her. "Sounds like a plan."

They sat for a few minutes, looking out over the city skyline. Then Vista nudged Sophia with her shoulder.

"Hey, got a question. If you were interested in dating any of the boys, which one would you pick?"

Sophia turned her head and stared at the younger teen.

"Seriously? You're asking me that? You're not even old enough to be thinking about shit like that."

Vista chuckled. "Just because I'm not developing yet doesn't mean I'm not thinking about stuff like that. I was just ... curious, is all."

"Well, you're out of luck," Sophia told her. "I bat for the other team."

Vista was startled. "What, really?" She paused. "So what you're saying is, you'd pick me?"

Sophia shook her head. "Sorry, you're too young for me. No, I've got a girlfriend. Or someone I like a lot. But ... we're not together right now."

Vista's voice was all concern. "Aww, what happened? Did you guys break up or something? Did she leave you?"

Sophia sighed. "No, it was me. I fucked up. I've just got to ... well, I guess, show that I can be better than I was."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Joined the Wards, didn't I?"

Vista's tone was incredulous. "You joined the Wards to impress your girlfriend?"

Sophia looked around. "Keep it down, keep it down."

Vista lowered her voice, but she was still grinning broadly. "Wow. I mean ... wow. She's one lucky girl if you're willing to do this for her."

"Yeah, well, whenever we talked about it, I said I'd join if she joined first."

"What? She's a cape too?"

"Yeah. Breaker."

"Wow, she's your girlfriend?"

"What about it?"

"I saw the Hookwolf fight. I'm seriously impressed."

Sophia sighed. "Yeah. We were going good for a while. Then I fucked up, and yeah. Figured that the best way to prove I meant that I'd changed was to join the Wards. And then ..."

"And then, this thing today with Triumph."

"Yeah. That."

A few moments passed, and then Vista climbed to her feet, dusting off the seat of her dress. "Come on, we've lazed around long enough. Time to catch up with the patrol schedule."

Sophia rolled backward, went to shadow, and reformed in a standing posture. Vista watched with a certain amount of admiration.

"You're pretty good with your powers. Do you practice a lot?"

Sophia prepared to leap off the edge of the roof. "Off and on. Mainly by going out and kicking ass."

Vista's tone was amused. "And taking names?"

Sophia snorted. "What do I need to know their names for?"

She launched herself into space and turned insubstantial a moment later. As she glided toward the next rooftop, Vista chuckled and squeezed the same distance so that she could step across.

"So, hero, how's it going in the Wards?"

Sophia constructed a smile for Taylor, keeping her voice as low as her friend's.

"It's going great. Peachy. Actually, they're looking for new recruits. Have you thought some more about joining?"

Taylor raised one eyebrow slightly. "That bad, huh?"

Sophia's forehead hit the cafeteria table with a light thud, and she crossed her hands over the back of her head.

"It's worse," she groaned. "Rules and regulations and don't do this, and monitor duty that, and I miss you so bad."

"But you see me at school."

Sophia shook her head, rolling it back and forth on the table. "Not the same. I miss going out with you. That night we took down Hookwolf was intense. I never felt so alive in all my career."

"You nearly died," Taylor pointed out reasonably.

"That's why." Sophia raised her head and looked at Taylor. "Being out with you is fun. I know what your powers can do, and how to work with that. In the Wards, when we're in a team situation, I have to work with everyone's powers in mind. I'm a loner. I know that, you know that. I can work well with you, because I want to work well with you. But more than that … it gets hard."

Taylor reached across the table and took her hand. Sophia squeezed it as hard as she could; it wasn't like Taylor couldn't take it.

"I'm sorry that it's so hard for you," Taylor told her softly. "I really, really appreciate you doing this."

"But can't you join as well?"

Taylor shook her head sadly. "Sorry. I've got to make sure that I don't accidentally rip someone's arm off or something in the middle of a fight. I don't think I've got that level of control yet."

"But they can teach you that level of control."

"I'm tempted, oh god how I'm tempted. But I really think you should do this on your own. If I'm there, you might start slacking off or something."

Taylor stood up; her hand slid from Sophia's grip.

"But I'll see you at school, still?" asked Sophia.

Taylor nodded. "Of course you will. I still feel the same way about you as I did before. I just want to know who it is that I'm falling for."

And as Sophia watched, she turned and walked from the cafeteria.

Strong and confident.

Sophia vowed that she would see it through, win Taylor's approval.

No matter what.

Harry's Gym was old and decrepit, much like its owner. An ex-pugilist, Harry had taken the money from his last big win and invested it in the gym that still bore his name. But it had fallen on hard times, and he was on his way out as well.

Still, people were turning up and using the equipment, and so on a good day he could pretend to himself that his Gym was still in its heyday.

It was mid-afternoon; half a dozen of his regulars were using the weights, or working the bags, or sparring in the ring. The sounds of grunts and hisses of breath, of fist on canvas or flesh, were the breath of his life, the blood in his veins. The locker-room smell of sweaty clothes washed all too little, the dust that was settling more and more these days, the mold where water was getting in by a leak in the roof, they were also a fact of life here.

The last straw was the punks coming around demanding 'protection' money. He didn't have it, and even if he did, he wouldn't have given it to them. In his day, he would have taken them on, two or even three at a time, if they'd given him a fair fight, instead of bringing knives and guns along. But they had; they'd shown up, threatened him and his customers. Demanded money. Gone away with the promise that they next time they showed up, things would get very bad.

Harry had thought about going to the police, but what could they do? He had no names, no descriptions worth a crap. They hadn't actually committed a crime, or if they had, he didn't know the law well enough to figure it out.

And so when the slim form darkened the doorway, he thought for a moment that they'd shown up again. But he slid from the tall stool that he normally sat on, and stumped toward the door, and saw that it was a girl.

This threw him for a moment; the sort of girls that boxed were not this type. They had weight and muscle on them; this one was skinny, almost boyish. And even though she was tall for her age, she still couldn't have been more than nineteen. He knew the families of all the men here; she wasn't the daughter of any of them. So what was she doing here?

"Help you out?" he asked. "You lost or something? Need directions?"

She shook her head, the motion drawing flashes of reflected fluorescent light from her glasses. "I'm where I need to be, I guess. I need to learn how to box, how to fight. Can you teach me that, here?"

Again, that gave him pause. Her tone was matter-of-fact, blunt. She wasn't silly, giggly, like he remembered girls of this age being.

"Sure, I can teach you," he grunted. "But a thin little stick of nothing like you? You don't want to learn how to box. Boxing's all about power and heft. Someone like you's probably got the speed, but you won't be landing a punch worth a damn."

She smiled; her mouth was wide and expressive.

"How about you let me worry about that."

End of Part Ten