Chapter 32

-Emma-

I shivered a little in my perch on a rooftop, behind the access stairwell, as the Undersiders passed the street below on their dogs. I wasn't cold. Hadn't really felt cold since my Taylor gave her gift to me. Besides, my new outfit, procured thanks to Taylor's little friend, was quite good for the weather. Long jeans, heavy jacket, scarf hiding half my face, hair tied back - the perfect image of a new vigilante on her first night out.

I was sure as hell nervous, though. Tonight was the night. Probably. I wasn't certain, but something in my gut told me it was. I'd had a rough idea of where in the Docks Sophia could be hiding, even if I didn't know the exact spot. Which meant we needed to draw her out. None of the Undersiders really liked the idea of letting her take another shot at them (and oh how Sophia had raged when Grue was seen out and about again so quickly after she shot him the last time, seemingly none the worse for wear), but having her waiting out there was a disaster waiting to happen as well. Either way, after visibly returning from a few Empire raids past this area, we'd hoped that Sophia would try for an ambush here.

The dogs turned a corner, and I swore under my breath. I wanted to get back at Sophia, yes, but almost more than that I wanted the waiting to end. As I got up to move to the next spot along the route Taylor's new friend Tattletale picked out, something drew my attention to one side. A shadow flitted across the rooftops, closing in. Finally.

"Hey, Soph," I greeted her as she was running past my hiding spot.

She all but floored herself stopping. A few more feet of stumbling, and she'd have tripped over the edge of the roof, and wouldn't that have been a sight to see?

"Emma? What are you doing here?" she hissed at me. Good. It would've been awkward if she somehow hadn't recognized my voice. "I thought—"

"That I stayed home, crying like a child?" I asked. "Let the PRT catch me and throw me in a cell for helping you escape? No, Sophia, I'm better than that. Especially now."

She frowned at my words. "You triggered," she said. It didn't quite sound like a question.

"Yes," I lied smoothly. What happened to me was so much better, but nobody needed to know. They'd never leave my Taylor in peace if they did. "I suppose you were holding me back all this time."

That wasn't quite as much of a lie. If it weren't for her, I could've been with Taylor all this time.

Even if Taylor wouldn't be who she is now. Hm. Would I still—

Sophia shook me out of my thoughts. Quite literally, at that. Her hands were clenched around the collar of my jacket.

"You would be dead if not for me," she snarled in my face. "Lying in a fucking alleyway, killed by some ABB trash. I saved you."

"Oh, yeah, great save, you stood there and watched as that bastard held a knife to my face," I called her out. "You only came when I broke, when I was about to die because I fought back. Perhaps I'd have earned my power then, if not for you. Or if I hadn't used you as a crutch ever since."

I wouldn't have, of course. But it was fun getting under her skin. And I needed her angry enough.

"...You ungrateful bitch!" she shouted, winding up a punch. There we go.

Her fist seemed so much slower than when she'd show off after a good patrol. I shoved her off balance, and got a kick into her ribs for good measure. She turned shadow to dodge that and leapt back in, a frantic flurry of punches that would've had the old me crying on the ground. I managed to knock most of them aside, only one slipping through to my stomach. I took it with a grunt and punched her in the face (shadow again) and leapt around the corner of the roof access to get out of her sight, and reached under my jacket.

When Sophia phased out of the wall behind me, she was met by a stream of pepper spray. She screamed, and I hit her. And again. And again. She tried to turn shadow again, but the lingering spray forced her back to normal. One last good hit, straight to the temple, and she was out cold.

I dragged her unconscious body downstairs and out into the street. Tattletale and Grue were waiting near one of the few street lamps on this side of the road that were still working. Grue was holding a long coil of cable in his hands, while Tattletale was fiddling with the lamp's insides.

"Okay, put her here," she said after a quick glance at me and Sophia. "You banged her up pretty good, but she'll wake in a couple of minutes, tops. Probably not too much permanent damage." She didn't sound too concerned about that.

I put Sophia next to the lamp, her back to the pole. Grue wound the cable around her, and Tattletale fiddled some more with the ends, the lamp going dark temporarily. It turned back on just seconds before Sophia started grumbling.

"Okay, time to go," Tattletale whispered, and they both walked away, carefully staying out of where Sophia could get a glimpse of them. The official villain left a cheap phone out of sight. Its screen was already lit up by an outgoing call - to one of the PRT's secret numbers Sophia had had me memorize what felt like forever ago.

I waited for her to raise her head and lock eyes with me.

"Don't turn shadow," I said. "That's a live wire around you." It would be embarrassing if Tattletale forgot to turn the mic off.

She didn't. Good.

"What are you doing, Emma?" she snarled.

"Returning the favor. You stabbed me in the back, Soph. After me and Dad went through all this trouble when you got in over your head."

"I didn't need—" she began.

"You did," I cut her off. "The PRT caught you, and kept you on a leash. I can't believe I couldn't see how full of it you were back then."

"I got away from them once," Sophia snarled. "I'll do it again." I could tell she wasn't all that confident, though.

"Because I trusted you," I said. "I won't make that mistake again."

Frankly, it was obvious she'd go after me again if she ever did get out. I could take her, though. And she would never listen no matter how I warned her. So I didn't.

"Goodbye, Sophia," I said, standing up. "'Till never again."

I walked away from my old friend, ignoring her furious screaming.

I waited around a corner where she couldn't turn her head to look with the way she was tied up, though. It would be a waste of so much effort if she escaped because nobody was keeping an eye on her.

I waited until she stopped shouting.

I waited until she tried to phase out, getting jolted by the cable and forced out of her power.

I waited until the PRT car drove up and found her.

Then my waiting was done.