Breathe 03

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me, Armsmaster."

I looked up from the game of rummy Vicky, Lisa, and I were playing. Frowning, I increased my energy draw slightly - not by much, just enough to be able to hear the conversation beyond the door clearly.

"Good afternoon, Alexandria." When did Armsmaster get to HQ? Why hadn't he come in to check how things were going? Wait…was that why we had suddenly gotten peace and quiet as of two hours ago?

"I can't be away from my team for very long, Armsmaster." Oh my god, that really was Alexandria outside!

Lisa glanced up, laying her cards down as she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, glancing between me and the door.

"That's an admirable view. Not very many Protectorate Heads realize the value of being present for their teammates. I was one of those who failed in that aspect until just recently."

"If you would kindly step aside…"

"I'm sorry, was I not clear in my chair's placement?" My eyes widened, and I gasped. He really was acting as gatekeeper. "Visiting hours don't resume until tomorrow."

I needed to buy that man a gigantic block of chocolate. Or maybe he would prefer if I got him an old computer he could take apart? Or I could slap him full of power so he could avoid sleeping for a week…

"Jokes do not suit you." Her voice couldn't get any drier.

"Do I look like I am joking? Fire me. I'm likely already under an inquiry for my actions earlier. I'm still not moving from this spot. Those teenagers have been under near constant stress and have not had a moment's peace recently - some in months. Isis, in large part, due to personal failings. I do not care who you are, what your position is, or what you are here for. Get out. Come back tomorrow. Let them have tonight."

"I am -"

"If you are here now that means that it was not a time-sensitive matter. If it is not a time-sensitive matter, come back tomorrow." Holy crap, Armsmaster just cut off Alexandria!

"Armsmaster, you don't appreciate how tenuous -"

"I. Do. Not. Care." He did it again! There was a scraping that sounded an awful lot like armor sliding against wood. Was he…slouching? Oh my god…"Isis has not even gone to see her father yet. She asked to be allowed to do so tomorrow; she specifically stated that everything was quite overwhelming. You are a member of the Triumvirate. That girl just resurrected two people in four days, both of them very close to her. She was kidnapped, her friends were kidnapped. The organization that was supposed to protect her failed at every turn. We all failed. She can probably heal her father, but she's scared to do so, because of the attitude we've helped to reinforce. You are - I repeat - a member of the Triumvirate. It does not matter what you have to say, she will defer to you. I will not allow you to take advantage of her. We have done that enough already. Come back tomorrow. She will be rested. She will have support, and you can make your case - whatever it may be - then."

All the computers. He was getting all the computers.

"…Perhaps I have been hasty. It's just…Never mind. You're completely correct, I shouldn't abuse my station like this." Alexandria sighed. "You're right. It can wait. If it works, it works, if it doesn't it doesn't. A few hours - a few days - isn't going to make any difference. I'll come back."

"Thank you, Alexandria. They've all been through enough already."

There was a pause, then she replied, "Armsmaster, thank you for reminding me that being human is important too. You may not believe this, but that's part of why I'm here. I think…No, I know, somewhere along the way, I forgot that. The goal became everything. It's funny, I used to scoff at Nietzsche's quote: 'Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.' I've fought monsters for a very long time, Armsmaster. I had a friend once, he was the best of us, he kept us, heh, he kept the abyss back. He kept us human. Have a pleasant evening. I apologize for disturbing you."

"Taylor? Why are you tearing up? I know Lisa keeps winning, but we both know that she's cheating. You don't have to cry about that. I mean, she'll probably let you win if you just give her puppy dog eyes or something." I dialed my essence draw back down, letting my hearing drift back to normal levels and met Vicky's gaze. "Actually, can you do the puppy stare? If not, girl, have I got the skill to teach you! Dean just melted whenever I used it. Turns out he was an idiot, but the stare is still useful!"

Lisa snorted, rolling her eyes as she flopped backwards onto the shared bed. "Tay's lost in whatever conversation our guard was having with an interloper. Let me guess, hmm, Mis-nope Ar-Armsmaster!"

"He was telling Alexandria off! For us! So we could rest!" I did not squeak. Whoever said otherwise was wrong.

"Wow. Seriously?" Vicky turned towards the door, gaping slightly. "Damn. Are we sure he didn't replace his balls with steel?"

"Yeah, Armsy grew up. Good for him!" Lisa said. "Shame it took one his Wards being fucking murdered for it to happen."

"Lisa!"

"I know, I know! Don't be a bitch," she sighed. "I'm working on it, Tay. I'm sorry, I default to barbs and it's been a long day." She cracked an eyelid and stared at the two of us. "You both know I'm not actually using my power in this game, right?"

"Mmm, you've won three out of the last five hands," Vicky commented. "That's suspicious."

She laughed. "I grew up a bored-ass, rich kid, Vic, literally all I did when I wasn't partying was play card games or steal my parents' cars. I don't have to cheat, I know how to beat your asses fair and square. Even if I didn't, you both have so many tells, cold reading alone would be enough to win this game. I'm actively trying to avoid looking at either of you to make it last longer!"

I groaned and let myself fall beside her. "We need to play something more random."

"Wild idea," Vicky said. "We could, I don't know, sleep."

"How about Yahtzee? I know the Common Room had a score sheet and some dice. That's entirely random! The only strategy is how to choose which scores to take when!"

"Taylor's afraid to sleep unless she's cuddling you until your…what did you call it, Tay? Her Flame? Until your flame stabilizes."

"I'll go get Yahtzee!" I ignored them both, as well as the blush creeping up on my cheeks.

"Wait, Taylor, is she being serious?"

I paused, one leg off the bed, groaning. Not looking back, I mumbled, "Please don't read anything into it, Vicky. You're very attractive, and you've been absolutely amazing, but it's not - I mean I'm not - I mean - it's not like that. I just - until I know for sure that you're going to be fine for the few hours that we need to sleep, I'd prefer to be either awake, or in constant contact so that I can top your essence off unconsciously."

A shudder ran through Vicky's entire body, powerful enough that I could feel the bed shake. "Fuuuck, I hadn't even thought of that. I could literally die in my sleep. Christ, okay. Tay, go get Yahtzee. Whenever we get too tired to count the dice easily, then, maybe, we go to sleep. And I'm sleeping with my damn shirt off. You are too. Fuck modesty, I'm not dying tonight!"

"Not again," Lisa muttered. "Look, girls, easy solution. Two easy solutions. We have a guard. Ask him to come inside, keep a watch on us from in here instead of out there. Then just wake us up, if Taylor rolls too far away and you start coughing or getting pale. Or, I could just stay awake while you both power nap."

"That is not fair to you, Lisa," I sighed. "I am…okay with Armsmaster sitting in the room though. I don't really roll around, and there is a minute or two grace period so…"

Vicky bit at her lip, after several seconds, she nodded. "Can we ask Dragon to set up a monitor in here in order to keep watch also? God, I never thought I'd be scared of sleeping of all things."

"We can do that. And, Miss Militia is a noctis cape, so that would work too."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Taylor. A really good idea." Vicky shuddered again. "Man, I really wish I wasn't stuck in this room right now. I could use a damn drink."

"You and me both, zombie sister."

"You've already had your breakdown. Stop being a bad influence, Lisa!"

Lisa snorted, raising both hands to point at her chest. "Former villain, Vic. I might as well have Bad Influence tattooed on my forehead!"

"You're good for me," I mumbled.

"Yeah, well, um," Lisa, rolled over and met my gaze, her amused smirk falling off and being replaced with a warm smile instead. "You bring out the best in me, Tay. I like living up to your expectations."

"Good." I reached over and squeezed her hand, her grin infectious. "Because I like proving you're nicer than you think you are."

"You girls are way too cute," Vicky said, her smile radiant.

"Thank you. Now, play nice you two. I'm going to go ask someone to grab Yahtzee and track down Miss Militia."

"Yes, Taylor," two voices parroted with matching eye rolls.

I ignored them both and went to the door. Cracking it open I poked my head outside. Armsmaster really was sitting on a chair, planted right in the middle of the door to the room we had occupied, a book in his hands, his halberd leaning on the wall beside him.

All. The. Computers. And definitely a buff too.

"Hi."

He didn't visibly startle, though he did close the book and look my way. There was a…slight twitch in the line of his mouth. "Good evening, Taylor. Is there anything you require?"

"Thanks for…before."

"Ah. You heard?"

I nodded. "I really do appreciate having the night to just, um, process things."

"Of course."

"So I was talking with Lisa and Vicky, do you think someone could bring up Yahtzee? I think we had a copy down in the Wards room. And we were hoping that Hanah might be around? We're getting a bit tired and…It'll be easier to sleep if…"

"Someone is standing by to wake you if there is an issue with Miss Dallon?"

I nodded again, swallowing a lump in my throat. "With Lisa it was…I didn't really sleep the first night. At all. I know that I can fix any issues unconsciously. But I do roll, and even a little roll could be…bad. I wasn't really…I wasn't planning to sleep tonight either but…I mean if…I'm not supposed to be alone now, right?"

Now there was definitely a change in his expression. I couldn't read what it was though. Sometimes I wished I had Lisa's ability. "No, Taylor. You're not alone. You never were, we were just negligent, blind fools, who let an entire Wards team crumble through no fault of your own. I'll have someone bring up the game in a moment, and I'll call for Hannah. Go, be with your friends. Would you like me to send Missy up? You mentioned earlier to let you know when she was free, and I believe she just finished a session a few minutes earlier."

My eyes lit up - metaphorically at least, I doubted they could literally get any brighter at this point. "Yes, please! We could make it a real girl's night! Now the only thing that's missing is Alec and his dress."

Armsmaster opened his mouth to say something, but slowly closed it without comment a second later. Then he stated, "I…am going to choose not to delve into that."

"Probably for the best," I agreed. "Do you want me to juice you up a bit? It's probably been just as long a day for you as for us."

He shook his head. "You should keep that power for Miss Dallon."

"Oh it's…really not a problem right now. I'm, well, very topped off. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Goodnight, Taylor."

"Goodnight, Colin."

It wasn't long before Missy had joined us. It was almost quickly enough that I was convinced she had skipped a few floors entirely thanks to her powers. Missy and Velocity were some of the few capes who could go faster via the stairwell than the elevator. Well, I suppose I was included in that number too now.

"Out of all of the games we have down there, you have to choose this one." She was glaring at me, a rather adorable scowl etched on her face. Not that I would make the mistake of telling her that. I wasn't stupid.

"Hey, I like this game!"

"Some of us aren't as quick with basic math, Taylor."

"How are you so bad at this game, Missy?" Lisa asked, staring at the dice on the table. "You're the only one of us who can actually cheat here! You should be kicking all of our asses!"

"Wait, what?" Missy cast her gaze at the dice, then looked at Lisa with narrowed eyes. "Bull."

"Shorten a tiny bit of space just before the die stops rolling if it's not a number you want and -"

"Hey!" I yelled. Reaching over, I clamped my hand over my girlfriend's mouth. "I chose this game so no one could cheat! Missy, don't you dare."

She threw her hands in the air. "I wouldn't even choose the right numbers. I suck at this game. We should do karaoke again. Or…what do people do when they have a sleepover? I've never had one."

Lisa licked the palm of my hand. I groaned and let her go. She winked at me, and leaned back against me as she held up a finger. "Well, I could braid your hair. But that is ridiculously cliche. Bad form. I don't recommend it."

"You didn't offer to braid my hair," Vicky muttered.

"Your hair is iconic. And it's waaaay too long! I am not volunteering for that. Besides, before we were Zombie Buddies and Necromancer. Now we're just Friends. That's a totally different dynamic."

Missy winced, turning to the side and refusing to meet my eyes. I poked at Lisa. She subtly shook her head and squeezed my hand. I could take a hint.

"Missy, have you been okay since I, um, well, ran away?" I asked.

"Of course I have."

"It's okay if you had some issues, you know?"

Missy lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "I said I was fine, Taylor."

Vicky started to say something, but Lisa shot her a look and shook her head. I kept talking instead. "Missy, you know you couldn't have stopped me from leaving Coil's base. Right?"

She scowled, slamming a fist onto the bed. "I froze! I goddamn froze! I've been on the Wards the longest. I'm the senior member! I'm the one who's seen the most messed up stuff in this city! I have the shitty home life that no one cares about. I'm the one who stitched myself up after running from Hookwolf. And I freaked out over my friend having a second trigger!"

"I didn't actually -"

"Yes, seeing a dead body - someone I knew and liked - probably had something to do with it, but still! You needed me and all I could do was stand there and whimper!"

Now Lisa cut in. "Missy, Coil did what he did very well. He spent a lot of time figuring out how to break people. He had two methods of getting people to work for him: the carrot and the stick. And he almost always eventually ended up using the stick after a certain point. It's just who he was. Once the three of us were down in that room, it was only ever going to end one way. You didn't fail anyone. That you're not a blubbering mess right now is a testament to how much of a badass bitch you are."

"You're just saying that," Missy grumbled, still not looking up. I could see the pink in her cheeks though, and knowing Lisa, I was willing to bet that her words had gotten to the younger girl.

"Take it from Lisa, she knows the actual Bitch," Vicky stated. "Heh, I still don't get the logic of that name."

"Well, when a girl dog -"

"Hardy har har." Vicky reached over and playfully punched Lisa's arm, sending the two into a small giggle fit.

Then, reality reasserted itself as Vicky's giggles were replaced with racking coughs that shook her entire body. I eyed her core, watching her flames as they overlaid each other, even as I reached out to touch her. Pausing, I cocked my head to the side.

"Huh…"

"Uh, Taylor," Lisa murmured.

I sped up. The overlay was stretching, covering Vicky more fully. The flames of the overlay were feeding into Vicky's own flame. It wasn't enough to be self-sustaining, not entirely, not yet, but…

I tapped her wrist, fed a trickle of essence into her. The overlay reached for me, caressed against me, for a brief instant I was certain I could feel a presence brushing beside me in a direction I didn't have a name for, then it was gone. There was a brief surge between the overlay and Vicky's flame. It wasn't quite strong enough, though it came close. I finished feeding her the rest of the strength she needed to grow back to normal, and the overlay pulled back to the faint echo it had been earlier.

I shook my head, letting the world slow back down to normal.

Vicky shook herself. "Man, I hate that. Fuck. What was different this time? It felt…tingly?"

I frowned, trying to find the right words. "I think…I think I was just teaching your…power how to feed you a bit of energy on its own. It didn't really understand what to do though. It didn't get it right. It didn't use enough essence. But it was trying to help. I think it…likes you? I don't think you'll be tied to my side for quite as long as we had been expecting, Vicky."

Vicky blinked repeatedly, her mouth working soundlessly for several seconds. "Wait. I'm sorry. Tay, what are you trying to say? That my power has a crush on me?"

Lisa burst out laughing, her arms wrapping around her middle as she cuddled up into my chest. "Please, please don't say that! Oh god, I don't need that mental image, Vic! I'm not going to be able to get that slash fic out of my head now!"

Missy cracked a smile, shaking her head. "I don't think I want to ask what slash fic is."

"No! Don't! You're too innocent, child! It's horrible, horrible! And now I can't get the perfect one out of my mind!"

I just squeezed Vicky's hand. "Having more friends is a good thing. Even if your new friend is, well, maybe a tad bit eldritch."

"Way to make me feel better. Taylor," she grumbled.

"I mean, I am a necromancer. I apparently don't specialize in that." Smirking, I grabbed the dice and took my turn. "Hah! Yahtzee!"

AN: So there is a distinct chance that this may be the last proper chapter. The following ones will likely just be shorter epilogue snips to show how things proceed from/for various directions as...this is a rather decent ending and covers where I was aiming to reach for this story. Taylor's in a better place, she has friends. Others are starting to support her and stand up in her corner, and not just because she's useful. Not everything is fixed, but things are looking better and there is a path forward. How I move forward from here will largely depend on how I feel as I sit down to write the remaining few scenes I have in mind, as most of those are, well, epilogue scenes anyway.

Thank you for sticking with me so far, and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed this expanded story as much as I did writing it!