AN: The fourth of several side-stories I'm porting over from Spacebattles. This was again, originally written by anothvortex. Shared here with his permission.

Side-Story: A Cry for Justice

*Twelve Hours after the Death of Coil*

Gripping the arms of her chair, Zoe Barnes fought the urge to scream. Nearly two hours ago, the PRT had burst through her door with claims that Taylor had KILLED someone. They had then confiscated every mobile phone in the house, remanded the family into protective custody, and refused to allow anyone to be alone for more that a few seconds. They even sent troopers along into the bathroom for gods sakes! Yet, despite the supposed danger, they were not being evacuated. Instead, they were left in place with a bunch of PRT troopers taking positions in the various blindspots of their windows. It was all she could do not to leap across the room and hug her terrified eldest daughter.

The Barnes family was not being protected. They were being dangled as bait!

Then their heroic protection showed up.

The hero had not been local, but instead was the head of the Boston Protectorate, Bastion. In addition, he had brought a young Case 53 for backup by the name of Weld. Both had been firm in their demands on the family, and careful to give them no new information about the situation. However, given their attitude, Zoe doubted that they would be trying to bring in Taylor peacefully. Which only angered her more.

Watching Alan get pushed down into the sofa by an uncompromising trooper, her patience finally snapped. "Alright, that's enough! You will stop harassing my family or you can set your fucking trap outside our home! I have had enough of this nonsense! No, you know what? Get out! Get the FUCK out! You are not welcome here!"

That got a reaction, but not the one she really wanted. "Sit down Mrs. Barnes. We're not going anywhere. Until Braid and her accomplice are contained, you and your family are not safe." The phrasing was professional, but Bastion's aggressive stance was anything but. It cleanly said that they were to be seen and not heard, otherwise there would be consequences.

Zoe did not care.

Riding the rush of her anger, she walked right up to the hero and jabbed his chest plate with a finger. "No, you listen to me! You stormed in here, imprisoned us, confiscated our property without a warrant under the abuse of emergency powers, and have treated us like worms on a hook! Taylor won't come here and, even if she did, she would never hurt my family! She had plenty of chances to do so, and instead cared more about our needs than her own! I'm sick and tired of letting you THUGS treat her like a criminal, instead of admitting your organization fucked up!"

Gritting his teeth, Bastion replied. "The Parahuman known as BRAID killed a fellow Ward. That is a fact. She then defected to the local criminal group known as the Undersiders, with whom she had developed a relationship off the books. That is a fact. She then killed the villain Coil and dozens of his henchmen, including two villains from the Travelers while injuring a third. That is a FACT! She has gone off the rails and is a potential S class threat! We will take every action necessary to ensure she doesn't become a danger to the public. So you can sit your ass down and let us do our fucking jobs!"

Seeing the array of shields flickering behind the taller man, Zoe swallowed but stood her ground. She would not allow these assholes to bully her or her family anymore.

Then help came from an unexpected source. Anne stood up as well and snarled, "Then, if we're going with the "facts," let's start with the one that really pisses you off. You're benched here on babysitter duty because no one trusts you not to hook up with the Empire while in town. That is a fact!"

The accusation seemed to punch the hero in the gut. "What...what are you talking about?"

Anne, slightly shaking but just as angry as her mother replied with equal venom. "I've heard about you. Bastion the racist who likes to act like a thug when kids try to get his autograph. Bastion the bully who only avoided a transfer because of all the favors he had built up. Bastion the bastard who thinks that his power means he can get away with anything he wants to! My campus wouldn't shut up about the shit you pulled!"

Weld spoke up then, giving his leader a look. "Ma'am, most of those accusations were taken out of context. I assure you that those rumors were just sensationalized from an isolated incident after a very bad day."

Zoe, however, could smell blood in the water. "If Bastion can't be dragged over the coals because of an isolated incident, then Taylor doesn't deserve to be treated like garbage to prevent fucking bad PR for the Protectorate or the PRT! They've been abusing her for months, violating the terms of her contract left and right! Now they want to act shocked that she would finally have enough? She was a saint to put up with it as long as she did!"

Gaping at her claims, Weld swallowed. "Ma'am, she killed people. She killed a teammate. That is a very serious set of circumstances, and a little more severe than yelling at an agressive fan."

That was when the third member of the family decided to speak up. "Really? She jumped right to lethal force without provocation? That's interesting seeing as I helped write Taylor's Ward contract. She made sure to emphasize in big, bold letters that she was never supposed to patrol or interact with Shadow Stalker in any way, shape or form. Yet the PRT had her running joint patrols with said teammate for months, violating her rights without real consequence. Well, until now that is."

Bastion straightened his spine, "Sir, that's not funny."

Alan Barnes stood, his broad form surprisingly threatening in the confines of the living room. "Do I look like I'm joking? Shadow Stalker, no, SOPHIA HESS created a toxic environment wherever she went. My youngest daughter is currently being deprogrammed after that bitch took advantage of her. But the local PRT didn't want to hear it. They wanted boots on the ground, and thought that ignoring the weaker Ward without a proper advocate would take less effort. It got so bad that my colleague's TEENAGED DAUGHTER was able to successfully argue over the protests of a PRT LEGAL TEAM and get a restraining order against the bitch. A restraining order that she must have violated to be attacked in the first place. That is not funny at all!"

The hero looked like he was going to throw a punch before one of the troopers spoke up. "Sir, Console wants to talk to you. Please turn to channel A-7."

Shooting the family a glare, Bastion tapped his helmet. He whispered into his receiver in an increasingly aggressive tone before hanging up.

Turning to the troopers, he spoke in clipped tones. "We are lowering the coverage for this area. The Think Tank believes that Braid wants to cut and run, so the chances of her reaching out to known acquaintances is low. Weld, you and officers Richmond, Andrew and Smith will remain here on reduced duty. The rest of us are to go back up Hellhound. Apparently the Empire is trying to take advantage of the chaos and needs to be contained. Move out people."

Just like that, their family was left alone with three troopers and a Ward.

Zoe wasted no time in gathering up her daughter into a hug. After a moment of consideration, she grabbed her husband as well. She could feel him shaking, either in rage or fear, but had never felt more proud. Finally he was acting like the man she married instead of a sniveling apologist.

A throat clearing behind the huddle broke the moment. Turning, the Barnes Matriarch faced the PRT trooper who had interrupted the confrontation earlier. "Since we have downgraded our security precautions, here are your phones back. Now that we have confirmed no contact from Braid or her associates since the beginning of this incident, there is no reason to keep them. I do have to ask that if she decides to make contact, that you direct her to the PRT at once. Hopefully, we can get this straightened out sooner rather than later."

Looking over her device, Anne snorted. "I'm surprised that jerk didn't have you just toss them in the trash. He sure as hell didn't care about anything else we complained about."

Weld looked like he was about to speak up, before the trooper waved him off. "I'll admit that Bastion was out of line, but in his meager defense most of the Cape's that have come in from out of town haven't been given much information. I think it's a twenty minute briefing about Braid and her girlfriend's threat ratings, the bare bones of what set off the incident, the current Truce arrangement with the remaining Undersiders, and how bad everything could get if left as is. They don't really care about the background. They can't let themselves get that involved."

Staring at the trooper, one of his associates growled out. "Richmond, that is Need to Know, and civilians definitely don't require that information! What is wrong with you?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the talkative trooper replied. "You and I know that the second this incident is resolved everyone will have to sign a Non-disclosure agreement. Heck, all three of them are covered by the paperwork that enrolled Braid into the Wards in the first place."

Frowning, Alan spoke up, his gaze filled with questions. "NDA's cannot be used to hide or suppress information concerning criminal activity."

Snorting, the trooper replied, even as his companions seemed to want to glare holes through his head. "Well, I'm just a simple Trooper trying to make causal conversation with people of interest in a bit of a cluster fuck. You're the one with the law degree, Mr. Barnes."

Recognizing the double talk from a few political dinners she had attended over the years, Zoe shot the man a smile. "Well thank you for your courteous behavior, Trooper...Richmond was it?"

The masked man nodded his acknowledgement. "Yes Ma'am. Although, since we're going to be here a while, you might as well call me Dave."