Twinkle 2.1

When I followed Sophia out of the room, both of our masks back on our faces, we were immediately faced with the stares of seven heroes, most of them accusing.

"Shadow Stalker," Aegis said, and his voice was hard. "You know what Armsmaster's been telling us?"

"If it's about my trigger," I offered, stepping up beside Sophia, "then yes, she does."

Aegis stared at me. I didn't know what his face looked like under his mask, but I had a strong feeling it was incredulous. "You're—" he stopped.

I smiled. "Annatar," I said. "Yes, I'm the girl she shoved into the locker. We've reached an understanding."

Sophia snorted. From her perspective, I knew, nothing had changed except that her probation might actually be enforced now. She saw this as just another "last chance." I was determined to disabuse her of that notion.

But that could come later.

"An understanding?" Aegis sounded floored. "You can forgive something like that?"

"Far from it," I replied. "But it's better to have another hero on the streets than a villain, and I want to see if I can make Shadow Stalker into a hero."

"And that's a more than admirable goal," Armsmaster cut in. "But let me be clear, Shadow Stalker: as far as I'm concerned, you've already run out of chances. You're here because Annatar wants you here. The moment I see you step an inch out of line, you'll be out of the Wards and off the streets before you can put away your crossbow. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir," said Sophia venomously.

Armsmaster studied her for a moment, and then looked away, glancing among the other Wards. "You all have the rest of the day off from school to get acquainted with your new teammate," he said. Then, to me: "Annatar, Director Piggot and I would like to see you in about an hour about your transfer to Arcadia."

I nodded. "Thank you, Armsmaster," I said.

He sighed. "Thank you," he said dryly. "You've been more understanding than I could have hoped for. Let me know if you need anything."

With that, he left. The moment he was out the door, Sophia stepped away from my side as fast as her legs would carry her and flung herself into a couch. "Fuck," she grunted. " 'Step an inch out of line.' The fuck's that even mean? I'm already on probation!"

"I'm pretty sure you're getting a new probation officer," I told her coolly. "One that'll actually do their damn job, I hope."

"Fuck you, Hebert," she grunted.

"You certainly tried to fuck with me," I said, tearing my helmet off of my head. "Sophia, I really don't want to deal with you, and the fun thing is, I don't have to. So shape up, all right?" I glanced at the other Wards. "Also, she definitely just unmasked me, right?"

Aegis was staring over at Shadow Stalker and seemed unresponsive, so Gallant stepped up. "She did, yes," he said, reaching up and pulling the helmet off of his suit of power armor. The young man underneath it looked to be a little older than me, with tanned skin, black hair, and piercing blue eyes. His teeth were bright white as he smiled. "Dean Stansfield. I guess we'll be going to Arcadia together."

I smiled and stuck my helmet under my arm. "Taylor Hebert," I said, sticking out my other hand. He shook, giving me a warm smile from his handsome face.

"I have to say," he said, "I have to admire your restraint in allowing Shadow Stalker to stay on the team. I just hope it doesn't come back to haunt you."

"I've been stabbed in the back before," I said dryly. "I can handle it as long as I'm expecting it."

"Okay, no, really," Vista said suddenly, her voice sharp. "Why the fuck are we still putting up with the bitch, again? Annatar, I get that it's heroic and all that to, I don't know, turn the other cheek, but I don't want to have to deal with her anymore, either. None of us do."

"Don't speak for the team, Vista," Aegis cut in, shaking himself out of his stupor.

"You don't suddenly start pretending you give a fuck about me," Sophia interrupted him.

I gave her a look. "Sophia, are you sure you want to be making more enemies right now?"

"Fuck you."

I ignored that and turned to Vista. "I'm going to be watching," I said honestly. "You're all going to be watching. If she does anything more than be vaguely obnoxious, she's out. I know it's annoying, but…" I sighed. "Better the viper where you can see her."

"We can see her if she's in juvie," Vista grumbled.

"She's a breaker," I said emphatically. "She'd be on the streets, as a villain, in days. Hours, even. Best-case scenario, she gets picked up by the Merchants and gets hooked on something that keeps her dumb enough to be non-threatening, or tries to make it on her own and gets herself caught again."

This was something of a lie. Juvenile hall could have easily been rigged with electrically charged walls and other systems to keep Shadow Stalker contained. It would have been an expenditure of resources which I hoped to render unnecessary, however.

I had a use for Sophia.

"It's not as though she could join Empire or the ABB," Vista argued. "She's black! Neither of them would take her, and what's she going to do on her own?"

"Hunt me down," I said with a wry smile. "Even if I hadn't unmasked—even if she'd just gotten put into juvie for what she did to me, without knowing it was because I became a Ward, she'd blame me for it."

"Maybe don't talk about me like I'm not here?"

"Maybe grow up," I shot back. "Vista, she's got a friend who knows where I live, even assuming she doesn't already. She could come after my dad."

"She could do that anyway," said Browbeat cautiously.

"Not if she's confined to the Rig and house arrest."

"You what?" Sophia roared.

"You'd prefer juvie?"

That shut her up.

"She's here because I want to give her a chance," I said quietly. "That doesn't mean giving her free reign. I'm the one that paid for it, last time she was cut loose. I'm not making the same mistake again. She's not getting any solo patrols, and the only three places she'll be besides patrol are here, her house, and Winslow. And she's going to be watched at Winslow."

Vista sighed. "We still have to deal with her."

"Yes," Aegis said firmly. "We do. So try not to make it harder than it has to be, Missy."

Vista sighed. "Fine, fine." She reached up and pulled off her visor and helmet. "Hi," the young blonde girl said, a wry smile on her face. "Missy Biron. Sorry if I'm a little bitter that you had the chance to get rid of Shadow Stalker and didn't take it."

"I understand," I said honestly. "I really, really understand."

She grunted. "I'm pretty sure you do," she said. "Oh, God, Armsmaster told us she caused your trigger. No details, but that's..."

I shook my head. "It was," I said flatly, "but… part of my power helps me deal with it. Don't worry about me. Everyone's trigger events suck."

"Ain't that the truth," muttered Clockblocker, pulling off his helmet. Underneath, he was a pale, freckled guy with a shock of unkempt red hair atop his head. "Dennis O'Donnel," he introduced, sticking out a hand for me to shake.

"Don't do it," Sophia drawled from the corner. "He'll freeze you and then we'll all have to wait half an hour for you to wake up."

Dennis stuck his tongue out at her. "Spoilsport."

I chuckled. "Maybe we wait on the pranks until introductions are done?" I suggested.

"Fiiiiiine," he whined, winking at me. "But I'll get you, my pretty. And your little dog, too."

I laughed at that. "I'll pass the warning on to Toto."

"Okay, wait," Kid Win said, coming forward and pulling off his visor. Under it was a pale kid, maybe half a year younger than me, with wavy, unkempt brown hair. "You're a tinker, right?" he asked. "Armsmaster said you were a tinker."

I nodded. "I specialize in powered items."

"Powered? Like power armor?"

"No," I chuckled. "Powered, like Dauntless."

"Oh." He blinked at me. "Damn, that sounds broken."

I giggled. "It is, a bit," I admitted.

"Introductions," Aegis muttered, nudging the tinker.

"Oh, right," said Kid Win, shaking himself. "I'm Chris—Chris Thompson. Looking forward to working with you."

"Likewise," I said, shaking his hand.

"Browbeat?" Aegis prompted.

Browbeat stepped forward. His posture was slightly hunched, which looked a little silly with his nearly six feet of bodybuilder's muscle. "Hi," he said, slowly pulling off his full-face cowl. "I'm, uh, Sam Keene," he introduced. His voice was surprisingly soft and gentle for such a big guy. Timid, even.

"Taylor Hebert," I said, putting my small hand into his larger one. "A pleasure."

"And I," Aegis said, pulling off his mask to reveal a face the color of adulterated coffee, dominated by large brown eyes, "am Carlos Casiano. I'm leader of the Brockton Bay Wards."

I grinned at him. "Should I call you 'sir' then?" I asked.

He shook his head with a slight laugh, matching my smile. "Please, no," he said. "I prefer to think of it as 'first among equals,' if it's all the same to you."

"Glad to hear it," I said. "I don't do well with authority."

"Gee," Missy said sarcastically. "I wonder why. It wouldn't have anything to do with how Winslow hung you out to dry, now would it?"

"Missy, I'm sure it wasn't like that," Carlos said.

"On the contrary," I said, treating Missy to a wry smile. "It was exactly like that. You know, local schools are compensated for having Wards attend?"

Missy twitched. "No," she said flatly. "No, they didn't let you get tortured just for a little extra cash. No, that's b— that's garbage."

"It is," I agreed, "but it's also exactly what happened, I'm afraid."

"Fuck that," Vista said succinctly.

"Language, Missy," Carlos said wearily. "We can't be heard like that on patrol."

Missy sighed. "And this isn't worth a couple f—?" she cut herself off. I got the impression it was an old argument. "Never mind, I—sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Carlos said. Then he turned to Sophia. "Shadow Stalker," he said, and his voice was hard. "You want to give us the details of your deal with Annatar?"

"I don't really know them," Sophia replied coolly. "I just figured it's probably better than juvie. And, I mean, I can always pick juvie later if I'm wrong. Some bullshit about trying to be a real hero."

I nodded. "You and I," I told her, "are going to be working together a lot, I think. Partly so I can keep you in check, and partly so that maybe you can actually learn something."

Sophia grunted. "Just don't hold me back."

I stared at her and slowly began to reach for Narya's power. Slowly, all of the other Wards backed away from me slightly. A conversation that had started up between Kid Win and Clockblocker, after they'd both introduced themselves, cut off mid-word. All of them were staring at me, Narya's power demanded their attention. It was as though I was silhouetted against a light that was less behind and more within me, and the shadow I cast demanded respect.

Sophia seemed almost to be shrinking, her posture hunching, slightly, as though she was trying to curl up and hide from my gaze.

My voice was quiet, but it cut through the silence like an elf-blade. "I wouldn't worry about that, Hess."

I gradually released my hold on Narya's power. The room seemed to come back into focus around me, the shade receding from the walls, floor, and other Wards.

"No," I said dryly, my eyes seeking the beady glint I saw behind her mask. "I wouldn't worry about that at all." I glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'd better go see the director about getting the hell out of Winslow," I said. "I'll be back in a bit, probably."

The Wards were totally silent, watching me as I walked out. I hoped Presence hadn't too badly ruined my first impression.

My fears were allayed as, in the moment the elevator door closed behind me, I heard a whispered, "That was awesome," from Vista. I smiled to myself even as the small pod started to rise.