Interlude: Vicky
Vicky felt her upper lip twitch twitching and she could feel the bones in her hand creak as her fist clenched under the table. It took all of her willpower to keep her aura in check as she stared at Aegis across the small field table, forcing herself not to push her Fear Me effect outwards.
God knows the bastard deserved it, but he was only the bearer of bad news - it wouldn't be right.
"This is bullshit."
"I know," he said, his hands flat on the table top, his posture slumped. He wasn't even meeting her eyes anymore. "Glory Girl, I'm running out of ways to explain this."
"Because it is bullshit, Aegis!"
"I didn't make the damn policy, okay! I wasn't even including in fucking meeting!"
"Of course you weren't, because you were demoted! That's what happens when you let a psychopath torture your teammate for months!" she snarled.
That got a reaction out of him. Aegis' head snapped down fast enough that it probably required a physiological change from his power to survive. "I wasn't the only one who failed here. Who hung out with Braid outside of work, huh? Don't throw stones in a glass house Vicky," he snarled, "we'll both come out bloody as hell."
Her aura slipped her control as his barb struck home. Vicky had to breathe deep and slow and try to focus on some of the meditation videos that Uncle Neil had forwarded to her before she could risk opening her eyes again. She knew she'd messed up. She knew that she had missed too much. Taylor had been suicidal for well over half the time that they had been friends and…she had never even noticed…
"This is still fucked up, Aegis," she muttered.
"I agree. But look, Glory, the whole team is a mess right now; Protectorate and Wards both." He sighed, "The Wards especially." Leaning back, he slipped a hand under his mask to rub at his face. "Gallant has already been shipped to Los Angeles with Alexandria, Vista's in therapy, Clockblocker is in the most intensive Empathy course I've ever seen with Yamada and is apparently going to New York afterwards, I'm barely allowed to watch a teacup on my own…hell, Kid is pretty much the only one of us who's made it through this shit show intact and he's still a mess from 'losing' Vista the other day."
"My aunt said that you were getting help," Vicky said, frowning. She shook out her tense fingers and instead crossed her arms.
"Yeah, but you can't just expect two or three Wards to move cities basically overnight. Gallant was a special case for multiple reasons. I think Weld just made it in from Boston a few hours ago, but he hasn't been 'officially assigned' to us yet so he can't come into the Wards team proper. Our replacements should be here by the end of the week, but until then it's a skeleton crew. And the Protectorate isn't much better. They haven't lost anyone, but they're like the walking dead."
"Good."
"No. Not good," he snapped. "Armsmaster hasn't slept more than three hours in two days. Miss Militia hasn't returned to the Rig more than twice in the past week. Velocity is running himself ragged. I haven't heard a single joke from Assault in days, and Battery looks like someone has kicked her puppy through a window. Dauntless is taking things slightly better, but I'm pretty that's just because he's been trying to focus on helping the BBPD."
"If you're all so broken up about how Braid's situation has gone tits up," Vicky scoffed, "then why the gag order? These idiots coming in are going to make things so much worse! I ran into Bastion. You know what his attitude is? That Braid's a fucking villain! The way he was talking he made her sound like Nine material and that he was going to be taking a 'shoot first, ask questions never' approach!"
Aegis groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm just passing the information along, Glory. I told you, I said it was a bad idea too. As far as I understand it, none of these out-of-towners are expected to actually see Braid or Tattletale. They're here to fight the gangs while the anthill is kicked over. The local Protectorate are the ones actually looking for our friend."
"Coulda fooled me."
"Stop yelling at me! I don't make these decisions anymore, Glory! I never did!" he shouted. "Dammit, we can't tell them everything! Do you have any idea how complicated this is? So much of what happened is tied into Braid's identity, if we even hint at what really happened without her consent - her real name and her face are plastered everywhere. We need her consent. We can't fuck this up any more than it already is! She's hiding, let her hide, let the trigger happy idiots exhaust themselves against the real bad guys while our friend calms down for a few days. They'll leave, Braid will call someone, and then in a few weeks we can all laugh about this whole thing over a round of drinks. I'll even pay for them."
"That is -"
"And that's not even getting into Tattletale," he continued, barely even seeming to notice her talking. "God, that is horrific. Legal tried to walk us through some of their issues, it made my head spin. Completely discarding the entire 'used to be a villain' problem, apparently there's so many loopholes and cracks in the law that she's slipping through now - since she was very much dead - that no one is even sure if she's even technically considered 'a person' anymore."
"I'm sorry, what." Vicky asked, blinking rapidly at that statement.
"Supposedly, there's arguments that can be brought up by a good lawyer that she could be considered property, just like a damn pet. Something about 'cape projections' or 'manifestations of cape powers convincingly replicating existing personas'. It's so far over my head and I don't even know why I was in that meeting. I had nothing to contribute. I feel like they were just throwing everyone with some experience with her old identity in there, in the hope that someone might be able to help Legal with Tattletale's case. I've met the girl for…I don't know, thirty minutes total?"
"This is -"
"Bullshit. Yes." He grunted. "Glory, I was asked to deliver the official position. It's delivered. Do with it what you will. Just please remember that if you say too much, it could hurt Braid more than help her. She's not running into any of these out-of-towners right now so their attitude is basically a non-factor. We're just trying to keep her identity from leaking."
Vicky stood up, her chair lurching back a full three feet from the force. "I don't agree with this at all. Someone is going to get killed by letting them keep thinking she's an out of control psycho."
"Glory, we - you know what, fine, whatever, I'm done arguing. I didn't make this decision, I have no say in it, I'm not even sure I agree with it; you're arguing with the wrong person. Will you at least rest for a few hours? I know you're angry with your mother and your aunt since they're both staying near their neighborhoods, so there's a cot here for you. You haven't slept in what, 36 hours?"
"I can sleep later. I'm fine."
"Please -"
"I'm fine," she spat. "I still have some of the super-caffeine that Armsmaster gave New Wave weeks ago. We never used it before. Now's as a good time as any."
"Oh for fuck's - Do whatever you want, Glory. We're just going in circles and I have no authority over you." She moved to leave the small tent and he coughed. She stopped, one hand on the door flap. "Wait, one last thing. Please call Armsmaster. He's been trying to reach you for an hour and you keep dismissing his calls."
She scowled as she glared over her shoulder at him. "If my mother wants to yell at me more about how 'New Wave needs to stand together in these difficult times' then she can come yell at me herself. Or at least get my aunt to do it as our actual leader."
"I don't think that's what -"
"I made the mistake of taking his call once already. I'll go home when my best friend is safe, thank you very much!" Vicky didn't need to listen to this anymore. She stopped walking, and lifted off into the air. "I'm going to watch Bastion to make sure he doesn't kill Braid while my back is turned. If anyone gets an idea of where she's staying, text me."
"Glory!"
She flew outside, the fabric rippling momentarily around her. Then the city fell away below her and she was free.
Now she just needed to find the bastard who was most likely to hurt her friend.
He'd probably be near the Nazis. Asshole.
Vicky had been right, Bastion had been near the Empire. She was still trying to decide if that had been a good or bad thing while punching Alabaster across the street and lodging him halfway into a brick wall.
Hopefully the Nazi bastard would stay down this time. Well, trapped. Stay trapped. His power would fix him, but maybe he'd at least stay trapped.
"Where is our backup?" Bastion shouted from across the street. "There's too many!"
"There's only four! Ask your friends where they are, the locals are busy!" Vicky shouted back. She flew to the side, dodging away from Menja's spear swipe. Actually growling, she reared back, her fist raised, and as she felt her shield reset, flew forward striking the Valkyrie's with all of her strength.
It didn't do as much damage as she had hoped, barely even causing a minor dent in the helmet. Fucking Breakers.
"You dare!"
"Fuck you!" Vicky screamed back. "One goddamn week of peace! Is that too much to fucking ask!?"
"You are such a naive child," Kaiser scoffed. A wave of metal exploded up from the street, the steel blades angled for her. "We did not start this war. But we will end it."
Vicky hissed as she flew higher, glaring at the gang leader. "It's embarrassing that we have to call for others to deal with you. You're a stain on Skidmark's underwear, let alone this fucking city!"
"Says the child that can't even gather the support of her own family," Kaiser chuckled. "Are they searching for the missing Ward? Oh that's right, they're sitting at home. Don't worry, after we're done with this little war, I'll be sure that your friend is aware she has options - people who really care about her and her pain. People who would never let a dirty ██████ treat her so horribly." She didn't need to see his face through the slit in his visor to know he was smirking at her.
Kaiser knew about Taylor. Kaiser knew about Taylor and she wasn't supposed to tell the racist member of the goddamn Protectorate?!
"Glory Girl, stop! He's baiting you!" Bastion shouted.
Vicky ignored the man. She knew Kaiser was egging her own. It didn't matter. Menja was stuck behind a forcefield, Alabaster wasn't strong enough to do anything to her, and she was fast enough to avoid Kaiser's blades. Letting out an inarticulate howl, she rocketed forward, her fist extended. She'd wipe that fucking grin off Kaiser's face if it was the last thing she did.
Dodging through the field of blades that shot out of the ground and the buildings around her, she closed the gap. Fifty feet became thirty, thirty became ten, ten became four. She twisted, ready to strike.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a gleam of metal. There wasn't time to move. Fenja's sword rang across her back, coming from her blind spot, as the Valkyrie lurched from behind a building.
Her shield shattered.
Vicky was still angled towards Kaiser as something smooth and sharp pierced through her back. His helm tilted down. The triumphant ecstasy on his face was…horrifying. As was the cold that enveloped her. She couldn't feel…anything.
"Wait," Kaiser shouted, his voice raised in a shout that was more fake than the worst actors in drama club. And those were high school kids. "I thought you were invulnerable!"
Something shifted, and then the ground rushed up to her, taking away her view of the bastard.
Her forcefield didn't lessen the impact.
Shit.
Well…maybe this would rouse New Wave…two murders by the same gang…
It would've been nice to be able to say goodbye to her friends first…
AN: Regarding the blacked out text, I'm certain most people will be well aware of exactly what Kaiser is saying there. I personally am not comfortable using that sort of language. In order to stay true to the situation and character in a fic that isn't primarily about that sort of thing, however, I figure this is a semi-decent compromise. If you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to let me know.