Chapter 5

November 10th, 2010
Brockton General
09:34, Morning

It was Saturday when Taylor walked into the Brockton general hospital as if she owned it. She wore her Abbess costume that was covered by a warm and armored black cloak with an ornate pauldron with a stylized red cross on her right shoulder. Everyone made way for the obvious parahuman and got out of her way; she greeted everyone she passed by and when she finally arrived in the waiting room, she said, "Good morning, I am the Abbess and I am here to have my healing power tested. Is Panacea already on site?"

The nurse manning the reception desk was a black woman with short braids and thin framed glasses, she looked surprised by Taylor addressing her. "Um, yes she arrived ten minutes before you." She revealed. "Do you want me to call her and the physician responsible for the testing?"

Taylor nodded, her eyes expressing the smile that was hidden by her red lower mask. "Ah, I would really appreciate it Ma'am."

The nurse pointed at one of the benches with blue seats near potted palm trees. "Okay, you can sit on the nearest bench while waiting."

Taylor walked up to the bench and sat, and looked at everyone who looked at her or recorded her on their phone. She sighed, not liking how people liked to post videos on PHO or YouTube at the slightest appearance of capes. Taylor didn't like those behaviors since they had kind of already made her life too 'interesting' even in her civilian identity. Over the course of the week, Taylor experienced a jump in popularity after winning the mini tournament organized by Uber and Leeta.

Teenagers being teenagers, the students had started to call her Darth Hebert behind her back and suddenly the pool of boys and girls after her had begun to focus on her, the jocks courted her, some sports clubs scouted her and the cheerleading team's captain hounded her. Fortunately, hanging out with Victoria and Amy Dallon kept the pests away.

As the days passed, Amy convinced Taylor to come into the hospital for testing of her healing abilities to eventually help her. That was the concession Amy had for Taylor to let her use healing on her. Five minutes later, the Witchblade told Taylor to look up, she finally saw Amy and a mild-mannered looking and grey haired man in a white lab coat coming toward her. Taylor stood up as the man came forward and held his hand out to her, she shook it as he greeted her. "Welcome, Abbess. I am happy that you have come to be tested, when Amy told me that we have another heroic aligned healer in town, I was extremely shocked… and hopeful." The older man said enthusiastically.

Taylor let go of his hand. "Good morning, Panacea, doctor…?" She first looked at Amy who smiled at her, then at the grey haired man.

The man's face reddened and he scratched the back of his head. "Oh forgive my manners, I am doctor Justin MacLeod. I am one of the physician generalists here in Brockton general."

Taylor laughed in good humor. "It's nice to meet you, doctor. Panacea, thank you for doing this." The vigilante said to the healer.

The mousy brunette smirked. "Well, Abbess; helping you is also helping me."

Taylor knew that Amy was tired, she was burnt out; people treated her like a tool, or convenience. She needed help and the fact that Taylor was here was also giving her hope that she would be able to stem the tide of patients. However, they lived in Brockton Bay. Already, Taylor was scheming to give Amy sufficient leeway to live her life a little. "Don't worry, it was my intention since the start."

"Please come with us…" Doctor MacLeod said as he made way for her.

Amy pulled Taylor by the arm toward the ICU.

~o0o~

On the way, Taylor explained what she already noticed that she was able to do with her healing. Minor to fatal wounds were easy for her, brain trauma and broken bones as well. Doctor MacLeod and Amy quickly led her to the ICU, as she passed the white doors Taylor's eyes widened.

This was hell Taylor realized, the moaning and cries for help, the palpable veil of pain and suffering permeating the Intensive Care Unit sickened her. The blood and smells made her almost empty her stomach. But Taylor clenched her fists and bore it. If Amy could do it, so could she.

She was led toward a raven haired man in his thirties laying down a bed, his bloody bandaged left arm simply wasn't there past his elbow. Taylor asked herself what had happened to him when doctor MacLeod said, "As you are already aware of what you can do, we are going to test if you can regenerate limbs. We have already secured the consent of Mister Hart."

Taylor looked at this mister Hart, his eyes were glazed over and he laughed a bit. "Huh, is he alright?"

"Unfortunately no, he is full of morphine for the pain." The doctor said.

Amy nodded, and Taylor was reassured that the man wasn't a druggy, or else she would have refused to heal him. Taylor walked up to mister Hart and cracked her knuckles once she held onto his thigh with her right hand. "Panacea, watch what I do? The flame won't hurt you."

Amy tilted her head. "What flames?"

But Taylor ignored her and closed her eyes. "O' Holy One, I am in need of your healing hand. In you all things are possible. Hold my heart within yours, and renew this man's mind, body, and soul." Taylor's hand wreathed in white fire and spread over mister Hart's body covering him.

Amy stepped back when she saw the fire spread over the patient, but she realized that she might miss something important so she braved her fear and leaned against the missing limb, feeling the hot temperature and plunged her hand in the white fire. It was warm and soothing and Amy observed with her power how the Abbess was scanning the entire body of the man and healed the minor contusion all over him, purged the morphine out of his body and began to create matter out of energy to replace the missing arm.

For five minutes, the healer marveled as the man's arm was being rebuilt, bones and flesh grew out of the stump and muscles covered it. In one more moment the naked member was slowly getting covered in healthy white skin. Amy marveled the fully recovered limb and touched it, noticing that the arm's muscle tone was the same as the man's right arm.

"This is impossible. She created matter out of nothing!" Amy exclaimed as she looked at the regrown arm.

Doctor MacLeod followed. "How fascinating. Panacea, nothing is impossible you know?"

For another five minutes they continued to examine mister Hart's arm and took notes of what Panacea had observed happening. That Abbess basically used some kind of energy to bolster healing and regeneration by replacing living tissues by using the DNA of the patient as a template. At least she surmised that it was what she was doing. Then there was also the fact that she was able to purge or obliterate drugs and poison from the body of the patient, more testing was needed.

The patient's eyes fluttered open as he was finally waking up, Taylor made a cross sign, while doctor MacLeod asked, "Mister Hart are you cognizant?"

"Eh? W-where am I? " The raven haired man asked, looking from Amy to the doctor.

Doctor MacLeod quickly informed him,"You are in the ICU, sir. Panacea and the Abbess gave you back your arm." The older man introduced the two young women with a sweep of his arm.

Mister Hart lifted his left arm to his face and looked at his newly regrown limb, his eyes misted and fat tears flowed from them in joy and relief. "I… it's back, I have my arm back!"

Taylor and Amy found themselves crying with a 'eep' as they were hugged by the man all of a sudden. "Thank you, thank you-"

The taller brunette patted the man's back awkwardly, then she decided to make conversation as he let go of them. Amy hid behind Taylor, disliking being touched by a stranger. "No biggie mister Hart, how did you lose your arm?"

"I was fleeing a cape fight, hiding in an alley until the Parahumans caught up to me and tossed things and then my arm got crushed under a full dumpster." The man answered with a haunted expression, trying to make himself small.

Taylor cringed. "Ouch…"

After that, Taylor proceeded to heal everyone in the ICU because it was the pool of patients who had the more diverse ills or wounds. The five primary ICU admission diagnoses for adults were respiratory insufficiency/failure with ventilator support, acute myocardial infarction, intracranial hemorrhage or cerebral infarction, percutaneous cardiovascular procedures, and septicemia or severe sepsis without mechanical ventilation. For children it was different, the most common indications for admission to the PICU include respiratory disease, cardiac disease, and neurologic disorders.

The new healer, The Abbess, could cure and treat them. Everyone became excited about it, as she could cover a range of cases that Panacea couldn't. As the day passed, Taylor had lunch with Amy who was musing about the insights she had in seeing how Taylor's power worked so easily and resolved cerebral and neurological cases. She recognized that she may be wrong about how the brain interacts with her powers.

With a gasp, Amy realized that all the medical knowledge she had was secondhand, that she picked it up by hanging out with the real doctors and that no one had ever given her any actual instruction in medicine. That her natural abilities made any actual book learning seem redundant, so nobody really bothered. Her knowledge was also gleaned from reading books and she never hung out with people who had a passing idea of how the brain worked because the great Panacea couldn't heal the brain, could she? Her fears, lack of knowledge and self-imposed limits turned her into a self defeating mess. And that lecture from that old surgeon called Myers when she started healing who droned about how changing the brain destroys the personality of the patient or some such, ingrained that fear into her.

The healer really needed to think more about this.

As the rumor mill rolled, the staff was made aware of Taylor's powers and the hospital's director had come personally while they ate at the cafeteria to offer her a contract that she didn't dare accept without the approval of her mother. "I will get back to you with my team leader and lawyer, director."

The older man seemed to understand, nodded and left with the parting words, "We are available at any point for further negotiations." And handed a business card to Taylor.

As she sat back at the table, Taylor's strategic mind went into overdrive as she thought of her team funding problems; an idea germinated in her mind, *Hospital rotations, open a private clinic, healer on call.*

Amy tilted her head and said, "I am surprised you didn't take the deal."

Taylor shook her head. "You need to be prudent with that kind of thing, Panacea. I don't want to find myself becoming a slave for this hospital or cheated of my well deserved money, mom and I aren't what you could call flush with money at the moment, playing hero doesn't put money on the table."

Amy frowned at that, but she didn't argue with Taylor; the healer took a bite of her chicken sandwich and waited for Taylor to continue. It was when she finished her lunch that Taylor who had been unusually silent put a hand on Amy's arm and said, "Today has been enlightening for me, Ames… you know, I really admire you. I lost my nerve when I saw all those people in the ICU; watching people suffer like that everyday? Not everyone can do it."

The healer looked into the verdant eyes of her friend, then looked down. "Right."

Taylor frowned and looked at the exhausted sag of Amy's shoulder and the despondent expression on her freckled face. "You don't like healing? You kinda gave off that vibe to me." The taller brunette asked suddenly.

"..." Amy said nothing as she covered her head with her alabaster white hood, obscuring her face.

"I think I can understand, people find it convenient that you are here everyday and freely dispensing services that you should be paid for. They are taking you for granted."

Amy rose from her seat, outraged. With fist tightening, she glared at Taylor with rage etched on her face.

Taylor snorted, unimpressed by her gaze. "Don't give me that look! Every one of those nurses and doctors are remunerated to use their abilities and skills to heal, why shouldn't you? Why by all that is holy should you be the free miracle giver? Even streetwalkers get paid" Taylor hands tightened on Amy's arm. "You are not a whore. And you deserve to be compensated for your time and talents."

And just like that, Taylor burst the anger bubbling into Amy's mind. It pained the red clad brunette to see her new friend suffering like that, she had seen it at school, how Amy was utterly alone. Beside Taylor and Vicky she had no friends at school, and she couldn't call the nurses and doctors as they were part of the problem that made her miserable. Just like Amy, there were far too many silent sufferers in this city. Not because they didn't yearn to reach out, but because they had tried and found that no one cared about them. But Taylor cared, and that was why she had been rather clingy and tried to be there for her friend.

Amy kept silent, she didn't snark or insult her for what Taylor just said. "..." She sat and sighed heavily, her face set into a thoughtful mien.

"It all comes down to your situation at home, I guess. Someone… I don't know who taught you to hate and fear yourself as if you were a monster or something." Taylor aired her suspicions.

Suspicions that were confirmed as Amy flinched and looked at her with a haunted gaze. Taylor passed an arm around her shoulder in comfort, she ignored the glistening tears that Amy shed silently and didn't comment on them. After a moment, Amy stopped and turned her head to watch Taylor face to face, her eyes were completely puffy and red. "Would you think less of me if I told you that I don't like healing? That I want to be left alone and do something different?"

Taylor shook her head after thinking about Amy's situation. "No, I would think it a chore as time passes, seeing so much suffering and being confronted with human nature would make me jaded real fast." Taylor realized, now she understood why Amy had Panda eyes each morning, why she looked so tired and the cutting snarks she threw at people irritating her, it was self defense.

Amy put an arm around Taylor's waist, getting cozier with her in this position. The two girls kept silent, each of them mulling over what they had discovered about each other. Amy thought that Taylor was bossy, in a good and charismatic way, as for Taylor she realized that she was pushing too far too fast, she wanted to help her friend but that she couldn't help her change if she didn't wish to. She reminded herself of a quote from the author Elizabeth Bard, *Humans don't change, they only grow.*

Taylor decided to change the subject, even though she liked how she felt with Amy this close to her. "Amy…? Do you do anything for yourself, I mean, beside going to the hospital?"

Amy was taken by surprise by the change of subject and awkwardly said, "I read? And um… I hang out with Vicky."

Taylor chuckled and shook her head in disbelief. "And I thought I was asocial, wow."

Amy poked the red clad brunette in the ribs, eliciting an eep from her. "Hey, at least I can string out decent outfits to put on."

Eyes wide, Taylor couldn't believe she went there! She was trying to be good at fashion and color coding, it wasn't her fault that she was bad at matching clothes! "That's a low blow, Ames."

Amy smirked smugly at Taylor, raising her chin with a superior sniff. "I know."

Taylor's eyes filled with a vengeful glint, she averted her eyes from Amy and said idly, "I think I will help you find something to do, are you interested in self defense?"

The healer slapped Taylor's arm with her free hand. "Bitch! You want revenge for that comment I made."

Taylor cocked her head and clicked her tongue in dismay. "Am I that transparent?"

"Hmph. You can't get one over this snark queen, but it was a cute attempt." Amy patted Taylor's arm.

~o0o~

The Docks
Abandoned warehouse
13:34

While Taylor was being tested for her healing licence, Annette was waiting with Betty for the old Lustrum gang to gather. With her Volvo in the disused warehouse, the two women waited with coffee in plastic mugs for their allies to arrive. Betty was almost asleep and leaning into the copilot seat, while Annette was on her guard with a shotgun in her lap; a Benelli M4 Super 90 that Annette was wiping with a gun cloth.

Annette was worried, her little girl was away at the hospital and being tested on the efficiency of her powers. Taylor knew that she should be sandbagging with her abilities, that she should not show them everything. The girl had become rather confident as of late, she moved differently and adopted more refined manners and way of speech with strangers; completely different from when she was at home and with familiar people where she spoke more… crudely. There was something going on with Taylor that the girl wasn't telling her and it made her more controlling and cranky than usual.

Annette was informed by her clone on the warehouse's roof that a lot of vehicles were coming, through her link she told her double to continue observing. A lot of them were high class vehicles, SUVs or convertibles, others were family cars. She simply put the cleaning kit inside its bag and then woke up her best friend. "Betty, hey. Wake up, they are coming."

"Mwah?" Betty looked bleary-eyed as she took in her surroundings.

Annette shook Betty's shoulder. "You were really asleep huh?"

The dressmaker wiped her eyes and yawned while stretching and said, "Well normally I'm working on a new dress at this time, staying idle like this is boring."

Annette rolled her eyes. "I see. Anyway, the gang is coming, come help me open the doors."

Betty stretched one last time and nodded. "Alright."

The two of them went to the doors and opened them just as a Ford SUV stopped before them. Through the vehicle's windshield a black woman in a business suit could be seen. She honked and waved at Annette who grinned at seeing her friend. Then the SUV entered the warehouse and went to park inside. Five other vehicles followed and did the same.

Five minutes later everyone was gathered around an old table and plastic chairs that were already stored inside the warehouse, it was one of Annette's husband's old places for the old Union meetings and for once the place was seeing use. Keisha Cole was the first to come greet and hug, she had long braids and an easy smile.

"Ann, darling." She held tightly onto her friend.

Annette kissed Keisha's cheek and smirked at her. "K, it's been a while."

Keisha snorted and gave a friendly slap on Annette's shoulder. "At least in person, we still keep in touch on facebook."

Annette mock-glared at her, crossed her arms and stomped a foot as she said, "You know that isn't the same! I don't like all this internet social media stuff. People should speak face to face, not screens."

A petite blonde woman in a red jacket and black top and pants approached, a smile plastered on her face. "That's the Annette I know, always with a big opinion."

Betty was the one to greet the newcomer, one of her friends who had chosen to become a backpacker and travel around the world. She was a parahuman with the useful power of portal creation. "Olivia! Girl, where have you been?"

"Around." Olivia shrugged.

Then Ava, a brunette in a formal black dress came forward with her spouse, Harper; another blonde wearing a white shirt and black slacks covered by a white fur coat. Followed by Mia, a redhead with long black hair in a black business suit and tie and a white shirt; she looked rather tomboyish.

Annette's eyes fixated where there was a bulge in Mia's vest, she was definitely armed. Betty looked at Avalon and Harper and sneered at them as she saw their outfits. "Still playing the Divas?"

Ava smirked and directly approached Annette and held her hand that the teacher immediately shook. "Annette, it's good to see you dear."

Betty turned to Annette and whined, "She ignored me, Ann! Ignored!" Then made an exaggerated pout.

Keisha came between Ava and Betty. "Girls, please don't start a fight." She raised her manicured hands to placate the two frenemies.

Olivia and Annette kept laughing at their antics, they reconnected with each other and made smalltalk until it was time to talk business. Harper was the first to ask, "So… why are we here?"

"Well where to start…?" Annette lowered her eyes to her feet.

Betty rolled her eyes at her best friend and then walked up before everyone. "Taylor, Ann's daughter triggered."

"Fuck." Keisha cursed.

"Shit, you too?!" Ava and Harper said in unison.

Everyone looked at the trendy brunette and blonde, Annette, eyebrow raised asked, "What do you mean by 'us too', Harp, Ava?"

It was Ava who spoke, her voice became emotional. "Our girls, Caroline and Erika, they triggered together when they got caught in a skirmish between The Ambassadors and the Teeth." She leaned against the table, and looked rather angry at the situation.

Betty looked at Annette who closed her eyes and pinched her nose for ten seconds as she thought fast. When she let her hand fall at her side, she looked at her friend and said, "I think we need to sit down and discuss what should be done, but to tell you the truth, we called you because Betty, Taylor and I are starting a hero team. Maybe we could help each other?"

Ava and Harper looked at each other, it was the brunette who answered Annette with a, "Maybe?"

So the band of women sat around the table, Keisha had brought drinks and food and served it to everyone. Then as they ate, the women began to discuss what was going on. The group was aware that some of them were Parahuman, and that they didn't trust the PRT or Protectorate to have the best of intentions for them or their recently triggered children. The parents amongst them determined that the government goons would send them to their death against Endbringers. The PRT cared only about PR and having bodies to throw at Endbringers after all.

Annette waited for everyone to finish their lunch as she just totally devoured her ham salad. Once they had their fill she started the conversation with, "So we need to found our own team, create a supporting corporation that will hire staff to support us and our kids. We could become affiliated independent to the PRT but nothing more, we all know the score with them already, they are incompetent and barely doing their job." The teacher let the flat of her hands fall on the wooden table and leaned forward as she waited for her friends' questions.

It was Ava who asked first. "What about training? Obtaining a base and resources?"

Those were good questions, they couldn't operate out of their home or some random warehouse like the one they were in as an HQ. Annette had ideas about exploiting the healing gift of her daughter to open a clinic and monetize her service for the team. A hero team with a healer onboard was a non-negligible force multiplier.

Keisha coughed and everyone turned their attention on her. The black woman gave them a self-indulgent smile. "I could easily get that for you."

"The training? Or the base?" Ava lifted her two hands and showed her two index fingers.

"The base will be easier, you just have to register yourself with the PRT and go to the Mayor to obtain a disused building, there's a ton of them in the bay. As for the training, you could take the courses the PRT offers to affiliated independent teams." Keisha worked as a Mayoral assistant in Brockton Bay, she was fully aware of what it took to do what she described.

Betty spoke for the first time as she put her tea filled travel mug down. "I wouldn't do that in the bay, do you think the Boston PRT would be better for the training they offer?"

Annette put on a thoughtful expression and linked her fingers under her chin. "You know, the gangs always succeed in breaking out their powered members, I think there's moles infesting the Brockton PRT and they sabotage their chances of getting rid of their criminal organizations permanently. So, yes I think you are right Betty, we should all get our training somewhere else. We don't want to tip the gangs off about our members' capabilities."

Already, most of the parents in the group had reached a consensus to create this new independent hero team. The married couple, Ava and Harper were millionaires and barely used their degrees in criminology and political science, but were willing to make this work. As for Keisha, she wanted to stay in a supervisory position to advise Annette and the rest; until everyone focused on Olivia and Mia to know what they wanted to do.

Annette smiled at their wandering friend. "Olivia, would you like to be part of the team? Having access to your portals for missions would boost our mobility."

There was a 50/50 chance for Olivia to accept to stay, the woman was loath to put down roots because of the problems she perceived everywhere she moved. Everything she owned could fit into her backpack; she tried to avoid big cities to escape people like The Elite who would exploit her for her portal manipulation powers.

Olivia leaned in her plastic chair and looked at Annette in the eyes. "Weĺl, I was getting bored with roaming North America anyway… so yeah."

Everyone subtly looked at each other, knowing that Olivia might be out of funds and that she may have no choice. They were used to lending money to the blonde against services that only she could give them.

Annette clapped. "Excellent. "

"What about you Mia?" Betty asked.

Mia was running a bodyguard service with an associate of hers; so Annette wasn't surprised to see the woman shake her head and say, "Sorry, I am still between jobs, so…"

Annette was disappointed, Mia was good with weapons and she had been a marine; her expertise could have been invaluable. "Oh… It's okay, then would you be agreeable to having a consultancy with us?"

Mia seemed to think about it and nodded. "That is actually a good idea. I might have stuff and contacts for you." The woman was also worried that her friends might get into trouble and wouldn't forgive herself if she couldn't help them to be on top of things.

After determining everyone's roles Betty decided that it was her time to shine as she took her sketchbook and opened it. As she placed it on the middle of the table the women looked at the skimpy costumes.

Betty smiled and made jazz hands at them in a 'tada' manner. "I've brought sketches for the team uniforms and the theme we are going to use."

The sketchbook was filled with faceless models in different nun outfits, armored or clothes with notes about how they were all fireproof, slashproof and had all manner of immunities. What weirded everyone out was the theme that all the costumes shared.

Keisha gave a look to Betty. "A religious format? Really?"

Betty shrugged. "It's the better choice, religion brings hope. And Taylor is already running about in one of my costumes… so let's roll with it."

Her friends were less sure about that. Ava and Harper could barely imagine a fifteen year Taylor wearing such an outfit. They decided here and now that they wouldn't let Betty choose their daughters' costume and maybe help Taylor with a new one.

Mia asked, "Do you have a name for this team?"

"Actually yes." Annette nodded as she showed the stylized Templar-like cross symbol on Betty's sketch with one finger.

"Nice logo and what is the name you two chose?"

Betty said with an impish smile, "The Order."

~o0o~

Brockton general hospital
15:23

Taylor was tired and rested in the staff room that the hospital had reserved for Amy. It was a disused office that had been turned into a comfortable sitting room with a foldable bed. There was a kitchenette and a stocked mini fridge as well, it was cozy; Amy was on the largest sofa and surfing on PHO as she rested before leaving for home.

They were waiting for a PRT courier to bring the healing licence Taylor had applied for and successfully obtained. The mousy brunette was laughing as she read a fanfic about Mouse Protector while Taylor meditated. When Taylor opened her eyes, she felt grounded and ready to call it a day. She turned her head toward Amy and pitied her and was a bit disappointed in her sibling and parents for their negligence.

She shook her head as there was no reason to dwell on her friend's problem; after all, Taylor could only help Amy when she would ask for it and not before. Their friendship wasn't that strong yet. Standing up from the cushy green sofa, Taylor stretched her body; not noticing that Amy's eyes were glued to her bodacious curves with a hungry expression. When Taylor stopped and turned to Amy, the healer averted her eyes just in time and pretended to look at her screen.

"Hey, Ames." Taylor called out her friend.

Amy stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "Mhm?"

Taylor walked up to her and sat at her side, crossed her legs and took off her mask. The tall brunette's smile was exposed as she asked the healer, "You still want help with finding a hobby?"

Amy shook her head. "Have you any idea of what we could do?"

Taylor smiled as Amy decided to include her out of spite, she was the same as her, they didn't have any good friends. Beyond Emma she hadn't been interested in developing another friendship, she now regretted it, there had been so many squandered opportunities. That was why Taylor decided that their shared activities should be more social.

"Yeah, a book club." Taylor said as she gently tapped her hand on Amy's arm.

Amy slowly weighed the idea, and realized that it wouldn't become a physically intensive activity and she might make some friends who weren't annoying like Victoria's own. "That's actually an attractive idea." She mused as she stroked her chin.

Taylor nodded. "We could even set it up to rotate between my house and yours, do you know anyone who would want to join?"

After thinking about it for thirty seconds, Amy said, "Maybe one, you remember that girl, Motoko?"

Taylor frowned as she tried to remember who that was. When she did, she asked, "The one I fought against in the star wars tourney or Vicky's friend?"

The two people had the same name but were completely different, one was a fashionable and bubbly type of girl, the other was a kenjutsu otaku who tried to make Taylor join her family's dojo. She was tenacious… and attractive.

Amy's answer took Taylor out of her contemplation. "It's a strange coincidence that there's two girls with the same name at school, but yeah the first one."

They started planning about their future club activities, until it was time to go. As they were ready to leave, a raven short haired nurse in pink scrubs with piercings in her left ear accosted them and told them that the courier from the PRT was there and along with him were a couple of Protectorate heroes.

"Miss Militia and Armsmaster are here." The nurse informed the two healers.

Taylor cursed. "What for? I am on the fence with them as it is."

Amy looked worried for her friend and worriedly asked as she held onto Taylor's arm, "Abbess… don't you want to meet them?"

Taylor huffed, "Miss Militia? Certainly, she's actually my favorite heroine in the bay after you. But Armsmaster, he can die in a ditch."

The nurse, feeling that she was intruding left, while Amy tried to defend the older Hero. "Hey that's kinda mean for the guy, I know he can be…"

Taylor waved away mid-rant. "It doesn't matter, I will go meet them but…" Taylor walked up to Amy, and whispered in her ear something. The healer nodded and began to smile evilly.

Taylor put on her mask and her cloak and three minutes later, Taylor found herself on the first floor at the reception desk, facing a man wearing a PRT uniform, covered by a chain mesh vest, and as usual for a PRT goon, a helmet covering his face. Present as well were Miss Militia in her practical freedom warrior costume and a surly Armsmaster in his blue armor who held tightly onto his halberd.

The tanned beauty nodded slightly, her eyes smiling. "Good afternoon, Abbess. We are here to hand you your licence." She held her hand to Taylor who took it without hesitation.

Smiling, the brunette shook Militia's hand and said, "Miss Militia, I'm happy to see you. I'm a fan."

Militia acknowledged that fact with a nod, she knew that she was one of the best rated heroes in the bay and a model for young women and she took it seriously to behave in a way that didn't damage her image. Militia turned to the PRT goon and said, "This is agent Ford."

"Ma'am." Ford moved forward and handed a manila envelope with her nom de guerre written on it.

Taylor took it from his hands, he saluted her, turned heel and left. Taylor raised an eyebrow at the man's brusque departure, then looked at Militia who shrugged. "Anyway why are you two heroes here?"

Militia sighed, "We understand that you had an altercation with Armsmaster the last time and he wishes to apologize for his zeal."

"Oh?" Taylor cocked her head as she saw Armsmaster walking up to her; his expression somber.

He greeted her and then began to say, "Miss Abbess, I want to express my deepest apologies for the misconduct I perpetrated upon your person a few days ago. I am not good with expressing myself; so, I will be succinct… I am a very professional person and I value my work. I can be a bit 'overzealous' when I am in the field. I wanted to assure you that such an incident will not happen again and I will do everything again to gain back your-"

Taylor had heard enough and cut him off by saying, "I accept your apologies, Armsmaster, you don't have to abase yourself so much for little old me. Um, thanks for coming all this way, you didn't have to."

Armsmaster seemed relieved, but Taylor had a bad time interpreting his body language. "Very well. I... thank you for your magnanimity." The Tinker said.

"To err is human, to forgive, divine." Taylor quoted.

Armsmaster sighed as he heard the religious nonsense Taylor was spouting. It was Miss Militia's turn to address her. "Abbess, we wish to ask you some questions." The heroine began to say.

Crossing her arms, Taylor asked guardedly, "Ah, what do you want to know? I won't answer anything too… personal."

Armsmaster nodded, then asked, "We would like to know more about your Team. How many members do you have?"

Taylor pondered if telling them their current number was alright, but she mischievously decided that it was okay as her mother was currently recruiting for their Hero Team. "Oh that's easy! So far it's just my mom, my aunt and myself."

Raising an eyebrow at the revelation, Miss Militia asked, "Are they all parahumans?"

"Yes, but I cannot say more about their abilities. 'Operational security' mom called it." Taylor made air quotes with her fingers at operational security.

Armsmaster praised Taylor's mother's good thinking. "It's sensible, speaking about your abilities in a public setting is dangerous, you never know who is recording." The armored hero looked around them and saw that indeed some people were taking an interest in what they were saying.

Taylor raised her chin, happy that someone agreed that her mother was particularly smart. "Indeed. What else do you want to know?" She was tired of all the questions already.

It was at this moment that Taylor understood that someone was feeding questions to them, she noticed the headset in Militia's ear. She could almost hear what was being said as the person asking them was pretty loud. Militia and Armsmaster looked at each other, the armored man gestured to her to speak. "We would like to know if you would be interested in ever joining the Wards and submitting to power testing?"

Taylor shook her head. "At present? Beyond working as affiliates with your organization, I'm sorry to say that my team and I are not interested in ever joining the Protectorate proper nor its Junior League, nor reveal what we can do nor be on the receiving end of government oversight, like I said earlier, operational security. My mother, our leader wants us to be safe and stay together, that is why she is creating our Team, you see."

Armsmaster lips curved down at Taylor refusal. He looked straight into her green eyes, finding that he couldn't watch anywhere else safely as she wore that red tight-fitting fetish wear. "The Wards are the safest option for you, do you know how long independent heroes survive or get gang pressed?"

Taylor knew the answer to that, and sweetly said, "Six to seven months from the official sensus on the PRT website, but I am also aware that those statistics are skewed. Anyway, safety comes in our nearness to God, not in our distance from our enemies." The young woman put her fists on her hips and took on a heroic pose, showing that she wasn't afraid of the criminal organizations in the Bay.

If the E88 or ABB ever tried to forcefully recruit her or harm her family, she had decided long ago to do to them what she did to the Merchant. *I will break them.*

Miss Militia seemed to understand that the Abbess wasn't receptive to the Wards recruitment offer, but also realized something else. "You don't trust the PRT, do you?"

Looking rather pained, Taylor emitted a drawn out sigh, looked at Miss Militia and said, "There's a reason for why I am not trusting a government sponsored organization such as the PRT or the Protectorate. You use fear mongering, propaganda, and misinformation to control the mundane people. You are used to containing and mitigating Parahuman conflict. Notice that I didn't say 'dealing', because after all, you are unable to keep a hold of your prisoners and they become a recurrent problem. This city is a prime example of why the trust the public has in your two organizations is misplaced. Oh, I know you are doing your best, you are understaffed and outnumbered, I don't begrudge you about this as this is surely a bureaucratic problem, it is most assuredly the work of higher placed desk jockeys in their tall ivory tower who ignore the plight of the little people by quoting useless platitudes."

"Young lady…" Armsmaster started to say as he started to clearly get angry.

Taylor sighed and decided to ignore Armsmaster as she continued. "My parents gave me a decent education, Armsmaster, Miss Militia. They taught me to read between lines and to always question what I am told. To see underneath the underneath to not get blindsided by what people are telling me and to look for the truth. That is why when the Lord graced me with his gift that I decided to become a hero, someone who can be looked up to. So, like I told you, I don't intend to join your little club, I am not a PR monkey and won't receive orders that ignore the dire reality of everyone living in this city, I intend to do what it takes to help everyone around me. My team and I shall help the little people, we have to. Contrary to some others, I am not in it for celebrity or money, I genuinely wish to aid my fellows. I am committed and willing to sacrifice my life if I must, for what I believe in, but I am not worried as I know deep inside that the Lord will grant me his protection as I go on and do his work." The young heroine joined her hand in prayer.

Taylor noticed that people were pointing their phone at them, and that her impassioned speech had caused some of them to applaud her. Armsmaster seemed to glare at the public and hold his spear even more tightly. Miss Militia, visibly upset and wanting to add her own two cents to Taylor's rant, started to talk when Taylor's phone vibrated in her belt pouch. She took her phone in the pouch, saw that she had a call and looked up at the heroine and said, "Excuse me, I must take this."

Sliding her finger on the smartphone's screen to unlock it, Taylor answered the call. "Mom?"

Annette's voice was tightly controlled as she said, "Taylor, come back home. Your aunt Olivia will come pick you up before the hospital's door."

The young heroine frowned at this, did her mother know that the Protectorate had cornered her in the hospital. "You are already aware that…"

Annette interrupted her. "Yes I saw Miss Militia and Armsmaster enter the hospital. Don't look behind you, one of my clones has been keeping a watch on you."

Taylor stiffened and used one of the reflective chromed surfaces of a bench at her disposal to look behind her. There was a glasses wearing petite dark haired woman with goth makeup on her face, she was clothed in a leather jacket, a tight dark tank top showing an impressive neckline, pants and combat boots playing on her phone. A clone of her mother.

"Mom, I thought you trusted me!" Taylor blurted out.

She had thought that her mother thought her responsible enough to do her own things, but it seemed that now that Taylor was aware of her cloning and teleportation abilities that the term hovering parent described Annette to a T.

"I trust you Taylor, but I don't trust others." Annette said softly on the phone.

She was paranoid and Taylor understood that after the death of her father that Annette was afraid for her. "Ah. Fine, but next time tell me about the tail."

Annette harrumphed. "We shall see. Now, go outside, and don't be surprised when a blue portal opens."

Taylor knew about her aunt Olivia, she always thought that she was fun but she was a slob and unaware of how she should keep watch on kids. When she was younger and Emma was there, she participated in their pranks and was a bit immature. Still, she gave Taylor the best souvenirs from her travels. The fact that she was a portal making Mover, was slightly surprising, but explained so much.

"I should go through it?" Taylor asked.

"Yes, now hang up and excuse yourself." Annette ordered before hanging up.

Taylor sighed, locked her phone and placed it in its pouch on her utility belt and turned to the two heroes and moved toward them. She stopped before Militia and a still upset Armsmaster. "I must cut short this inquisition. Something urgent has come up. Miss Militia, Armsmaster. It was nice to meet you."

"Wait…" Armsmaster was about to say something but his female teammate put a hand on his left pauldron and stopped him from speaking. Taylor found it hilarious that the man was trained this well.

"Is there anything we can do for you? Give you a lift?" Militia asked suddenly.

"Oh, don't worry, that's already taken care of. Goodbye." Taylor walked off, strutting like she owned the place.

As she arrived at the front doors, she pushed them open and wasn't surprised to see a masked petite blonde woman in a red leather suit similar to hers. People were giving her a wild berth. Taylor walked toward her, she saw as the woman snapped her fingers and a glowing electric blue spherical aperture in space slowly grew and stabilized to become a circle with a hazy shimmer inside. The woman who was surely her aunt Olivia gestured for to enter.

Taylor obeyed and passed through, she was rather surprised to see her mother with a blonde wig styled in a warrior braid and a white costume that was a mix of a corset and a robe with some piece of armor on her shoulders. As she looked around she noticed that they were in some disused warehouse and behind her some other women were present.

"Welcome Abbess, you may call me Mother superior."