AN: This was an epilogue chapter by Mat92 on Spacebattles.

Side-Story: An Unusual Recruitment

As he made his way to the room on the Rig which had been given over to Lisa and Taylor while they tried to work out their future living arrangements Regent ignored the stares he received from the PRT employees with casual ease. His façade of nonchalance only failed him when he came to a stop at their door, it was his first time seeing the two of them after everything and a cowardly part of him wanted to keep it that way. He knew what he'd caused, he wasn't sure he wanted the dork to call him out for it... Or worse she could forgive him. After a deep breath he knocked on the door and waited to be let in (look he was trying to be on his best behavior here) through the door he could hear heavy clomping footsteps approaching, then with a mechanical whir the door retracted revealing someone who was decidedly not Taylor or Lisa. Standing in front of him was Armsmaster with power armor gleaming. The image was somewhat tainted when a muscle spasm in his leg brought him to his knees as Regent turned to run.

"Wait!" Armsmaster cried out. "I'm not here for a fight. I just wanted to talk before you saw Isis, they're on their way." Alec came to a stop and turned back.

"You really expect me to believe that?"

Armsmaster gave out a sardonic chuckle and nodded his head.

"The protectorate is... I'm trying to rebuild bridges with Isis. Attacking one of the few friends she has in this city would be rather counter productive. Don't you think?"

"Fair play, what do you want then?" Regent demanded. Armsmaster clambered to his feet before continuing.

"A few minutes of your time that's all. I ask Soon as the two of them arrive I'll leave you three alone."

Regent gave a mocking bow and gestured for Armsmaster to enter the room first.

The two sat at a small table in awkward silence as both tried to compose what they wanted to say. Eventually it was broken by Armsmaster.

"I'm here to offer you membership in the Wards program."

Those calm words hung in the air for a moment until Regent's sardonic laughter rang through the room. This lasted for a minute or two until he finally calmed down enough to respond.

"You want me in your little boy scout troop? You guys really that hard up?"

"Yes, Aegis, Clockblocker and Gallant are all going to be transferred out of the city. As it stands Vista and Kid Winn would be the only Wards in the city. That is too much responsibility to put on either one of them right now. I'll likely be the next one to be transferred out and I'd like to fix this one thing before I leave. Hence I'm asking you if you would like to join the Wards. We are also planning to make attempts to contact Grue and Hellhound."

Armsmaster said this in a calm even tone that none the less made it clear he was desperately trying to sound calm and even. Regent leaned closer and with a mocking smirk asked.

"So that's why you want me, why do I want you? Not like you were any good for the dork."

Armsmaster winced as that strike hit home, nonetheless he carried onward.

"What happened to Taylor should never have happened we agree on that. But joining the Wards could still be a benefit to you."

"And why is that?"

Armsmaster leaned in closer.

"Did you know prior to being assigned to Brockton Bay I was part of the Protectorate strike teams?"

Regent shock his head at this seeming non sequitur, realizing that was all the response he would get Armsmaster continued on.

"I was part of an early attempt to take down Heartbreaker... It went poorly." Despite himself Regent leaned back in shock and at the sight of that just the slightest smirk came across Armsmaster's lips.

"I made a point of keeping tabs on all the newest information about him after that. He became one of my white whales as it were and not that long ago something very interesting happened. Can you guess what that was?" A cold silence came across the room as he waited for a reply. When none was forthcoming he gave a shrug and continued on.

"One of his sons Hijack left. Now obviously we don't know where he is but let me posit a scenario for you. Let's assume he left because for whatever reason he couldn't be a part of it anymore and eventually settled down in some random city somewhere. Despite not wanting to be part of what Heartbreaker does he still decided to remain a villain, maybe it was simpler, less awkward questions I don't know the reason but lets say he did. Then one day things with his new crew go badly and he realizes that the people he's working for are just as bad in their own way as his father and in spite of everything he still has a spark of decency and he tries to help fix things. In doing so his team, his safe haven falls apart. Now what do you think would be safer for this hypothetical person remaining on their own or joining with the Protectorate and having their resources to protect them."

Colin sat back and let what he just said sink in for a moment.

"Obviously, your situation is nowhere near that extreme but I think it illustrates my point about the safety the Protectorate offers."

"Obviously." Regent chocked out in a strangled voice. Afterwards he made a few halting attempts to speak before finally regaining control over himself.

"Why do you want me, why do you want the Undersiders? No bullshit, you could transfer in other people. You don't need us."

Armsmaster gave a small sad smile.

"But we do need you, or at least we need people like you." Armsmaster leaned in and his voice gained a quiet intensity.

"I've been thinking long and hard about what happened to Taylor, what we did to Taylor, what I did to Taylor. Trying to figure out how we could let it get this bad, how I could let it get this bad and I think I figured it out."

"Fine enlighten me then." Regent snarled.

"We got complacent. We were so sure in our morality, so certain of our good character that we never questioned our actions. After all we're heroes obviously anything we do is for the best and no innocent people would ever be hurt by us. Taylor and who knows how many others paid the price for our hubris and to stop that from happening again we need people to remind us that maybe we aren't so good and maybe our enemies aren't so evil. I think you and your friends could be that for us. After all you know what can happen when we lose sight of that."

"Look, I'm going to do something very uncharacteristic of me and be honest. I get what you're going for and I can get behind it but I'm not the guy you're looking for. Good luck with Grue and Bitch though."

Armsmaster shook his head.

"No I think you're exactly the type of person we need. Over the course of all of this I've had to face the fact that I'm not as good a person as I thought I was and wrestle with how to deal with that. But based on what Taylor's told me I think you are dealing with the opposite issue. Regent... Alec. You aren't as terrible a person as you think you are and regardless of whether you agree to this or not, I think you can be an even better person."

Alec sat in stunned silence as he attempted to process what he just heard.

"Before I say yes or no. I need you to answer one question."

Armsmaster nodded his head.

"Hypothetically speaking, if that kid from your scenario was sitting here instead of me and he said no. Would you take him in?"

Armsmaster stroked his beard as he contemplated the question and then slowly, haltingly began his answer.

"If you'd asked me that a few weeks ago I would have said yes without question, honestly I doubt I would have even made the offer but now... I think I need to reevaluate my tendencies to go for results at all costs. Maybe I should offer a bit of trust, have some faith in people. No as I am right now I would not take him in."

Alec nodded as he took that in.

"One last question. If you're on the way out why are you so invested in what happens here after you're gone?"

"I was one of the people who broke the Protectorate here and much as I would like to be I can't be the one who fixes it. I just, I don't deserve that honor. So I'd like to leave whoever comes after me with what I think they'll need to fix it and build it back better than it ever was under me. Some small act of repentance I suppose."

The two of them sat in a companionable silence exhausted from the conversation. Finally Armsmaster slid a stack of papers and a pen across the table.

"So, what do you say?"