AN: Last of the Wards' epilogues by anothvortex on Spacebattles.

Side-Story: A Warm Welcome: Miami

Looking around his new quarters, Carlos tried to feel some enthusiasm. After a month of political infighting and awkward conversations, he was officially in the Protectorate. Admittedly, he had never planned on establishing himself in Brockton Bay permanently. But a much smoother transitional period after finishing off his tenure as Wards leader had been the goal. Being aged out in order to transfer him more efficiently felt like a dodge. Rather than a hero with a bold new future ahead of himself, he was one of the dirty little secrets of the Bay.

As a result, instead of a posting in New York or Houston, he had been unilaterally shipped off to Florida. Given the fact that most of the more powerful local villains were in the Elite, or possibly subcontracted with the Disney corporation, the young hero was not expecting much in the way of career advancement any time soon.

Hearing a knock, he opened his door to see a PRT trooper waiting for him. "My apologies sir, but Director Santana would like a moment of your time. If you could follow me?" Checking his uniform quickly, Aegis closed the door and did as he was told. That at least was a familiar feeling.

The layout of the Miami office was nearly identical to Brockton Bay, but the view was quite a bit better. Various personnel in PRT uniforms moved between offices and cubicles with single minded purpose, while ignoring him. Carlos did not take that personally. He knew that the real test of his future would be the reaction of the Director and the head of the Protectorate. They would already know his past, and have had plenty of time to judge him for every damn decision made.

Hopefully, he was not already screwed there.

Before the young man could allow himself to fall down that rabbit hole, they had arrived. Praying that his stress could be managed by simply adapting to any possible aneurysm, Carlos entered the office. Sitting at the desk was a deeply tanned man with pepper gray hair and a clean shaven face. Standing next to him was the local Protectorate leader Dynamic, looming in his signature green and yellow leotard. Swallowing back his fear, Carlos stood at attention. "Aegis reporting for duty, Sirs!"

The Director looked him over before nodding. "At ease, Aegis, and welcome to Miami. Dynamic and I were just discussing your file. It made for some very interesting reading."

Ah, there was that moment of terror wrapped up in a fog of nerves.

Dynamic chose that moment to clap his hands together. "Alright kid, before we do anything else, I want to look you in the eye properly! Let's see what type of person you are!"

Blinking, and seeing that the Director nodded his agreement, Carlos hesitated only a moment before meeting Dynamic's gaze. After a mere moment he felt like he was being sized up and left wanting.

Dynamic for his part, just nodded once, breaking off the stare and turning to the Director. He stated, "Alright. I'm satisfied. I'd say we shift to our unofficial stomping grounds for the full talk."

"Agreed," the Director nodded. "Aegis, change into civilian attire. We're going to cross ninety five."

Blinking, the young Parahuman wondered what the hell they were taking about.

About an hour later, Carlos had discovered that crossing route ninety five got you smack dab in the middle of Little Havana. More importantly, it got you access to one of the damn best sandwiches he had ever experienced. Taking another bite of the flattened Pan Cubano, he thanked all the lucky stars that he was being given such a great meal before whatever bloody hazing he was going to have to endure.

Dynamic, or Juan out of costume, took a bite of his own sandwich. "Kid, I don't know what sort of garbage you had to stomach in New England, but I never let anyone come to Miami without trying a legit Cuban Frita. So, just enjoy the experience for now."

Wiping the sauce from his face, Director Santiago, or Alberto in plain clothes sighed. "If there was ever a reason to hit the gym, that would be it. Still, finish up so we can find a place with a smaller potential audience. Unofficial or no, I think this talk does have to happen sometime this year." Swallowing, Carlos finished up before taking a last sip of his soda.

Excellent food or not, there was no reason to get that distracted.

Juan led them to a small park without anyone around. Tapping something on his belt, the Parahuman seemed to relax. "Alright, I've got the silencer up and running. We should be good for a bit without hassle. You want to go first? Or should I?"

Director Santana cupped his chin before nodding. "Well, I'm the one in charge, so I should probably break the ice." Looking Carlos in the eye, the older man took on a serious air. "Son, so far off the record you wouldn't believe it, you fucked up. But you were also screwed over, which does affect things a bit."

Blinking, the teen did not even know how to respond to the outlandish statement.

Rolling his eyes, Juan broke in. "Yeah, yeah, water is wet, the sun comes up, and the kid got screwed. Got to love the facts of life. Carlos, officially you are in deep shit. Believe me, there were not a lot of people interested in taking you on at the risk of alienating Isis. What she went through was horrific sure, but as bad as it is to say, it happens to a lot of us. You get the short end of the stick though because she won the power lottery at the end of the day. Word is that Glenn Chambers still has a third of his staff dedicated to smoothing over the multiple homicides she did against the racist fucks. Weeks later and she's still glowing like a lightbulb. We're due for an Endbringer attack any day now, and even the idea that she could help a single person stand back up afterwards - to say nothing of what she might do to the bastard itself - has everyone falling over themselves. As it stands, she's untouchable, and everyone is overcompensating like a bunch of assholes."

Clearing his throat, the Director fixed Carlos with a look. "Unofficially, anyone who actually reads the damn reports can't really hold you completely responsible. Sure, you were the leader of the Wards team, but honestly that and a dollar will buy you a candy bar. Piggot acknowledged that Isis was not supposed to be paired up with Shadow Stalker, but that she willfully failed to disclose the reasoning for it to you. Using the financial penalties involved to keep her from complaining too loud was just the icing on the cake. Personally, I doubt Piggot realized just how bad she messed up with that one. Emily loved docking pay from anyone and everything; she thought it taught them moral fiber. The old bitch never considered that some people live near the poverty line."

Carlos twisted his hands together. "Thank you sir, but I know I have to take my lumps. I was their teammate but I missed all the signs. I guess I just wasn't leadership material after all."

Juan snorted. "Kid, being a Wards team leader doesn't make you an expert on leadership. You need time, experience, and training. Near as I can tell, your last command basically gave you a pamphlet and threw you at assholes with powers or cameras all day. No one learns to become a leader like that."

Director Santana rolled his eyes. "Some people have natural leadership potential, but most of us gain that through stages of development. Honestly? If all you had going for you was the training that Piggot approved, then I would never put you in charge. Scandal or no."

Swallowing, Carlos forced himself to maintain eye contact. He could not fuck this up. "So, what does that mean for me in practical terms?"

Glancing at each other, the locals sighed in unison. Juan clamped a hand on his shoulder. "Not going to lie, kid, but you are on some pretty bad shit lists. Legend is personally insulted by everything that happened in Brockton Bay and, well, won't be sending you any Christmas cards. The Chief Director AND Alexandria are both unhappy about the mere possibility of screwing up relations with Isis and would gladly serve your head up on a platter if it would make her happy."

Shaking his head, Carlos replied. "It wouldn't. I'm not her favorite person, but we cleared the air and she accepted my apology. It's her girlfriend that I'm more worried about, not to mention that Vicky was pretty pissed about everything before her... incident. They're the one's who hold grudges."

Director Santana sighed. "Well that's a relief. No offense, son, but I'd rather not have half my roster drained to death because she decided to use you as a snack. Now, the top brass is concerned with Isis, but knowing she's not holding a grudge is good and it means we can deal with what I'm concerned about. You're problem was a lack of oversight and attention to detail. You were team lead and you missed problems that should have been glaringly obvious. I've read the reports and seen the interviews. There were at least four different people on your team who were practically screaming for you to do something and you didn't notice any of the red flags."

Carlos started to say something but the Director continued on, shaking his head. "It's not insurmountable. You're young and you had very little to no training for your role. We're going to fix that. By the time you get to be team lead again, you'll know what to do, and you'll know what you should be on guard for. As for your cape persona itself, we have a couple of options. First, a full rebrand. Aegis retires and we set you up as a new, low exposure Cape that can build up their reputation over time. It won't push your career forward any faster, but it will allow you to leave Brockton Bay behind. It's probably the best option if you want to really have a future at this point."

Juan smirked. "Then there is option two, the old bait and switch. You come on as Aegis, but are kept on the shit duties for a bit. It will be harder because dollars to donuts the local press will put two and two together about your official part in the Isis incident. But if you work hard and prove you're in it for the long haul, I think you can overcome the whole fiasco. Probably won't get on Legend's good side while he's in charge, but he can't stick around forever."

Looking down at his hands, Carlos thought.

A new face, a new look, a chance to move forward...

Taking a breath, he shook his head. "I've got to own it. I worked hard to make Aegis my own. I'll be damned if I give it up that easily."

Patting him on the back, Director Santana smiled. "Well then, I unofficially welcome you to Miami. It's going to be rough, but I'll gleefully throw Piggot under the bus as many times as I need to if it will give you some breathing room. There is respect for the position, then there is being an idiot. But you didn't officially hear me say that."

Juan crossed his arms, and Carlos was suddenly facing Dynamic out of costume. "I'm going to work you into the ground. I don't want you to patrol for at least a month while we get you trained on the stuff you should have been certified in properly. The team might be a little rough, but we will help you learn from this. Or drive you insane, whichever comes first. Now let's get back to the office and have your official meet and greet. Otherwise, I might just be tempted to have another bite and I have to contractually watch my figure at this point."

Standing, the young man looked at the two and asked the question that had bugged him since they had left the PRT building. "I'm sorry, but can I just ask one thing? Why are you going out of your way for me? Why are you bothering?"

Juan answered easily, despite his serious expression. "It's in the eyes, kid. I've met a lot of Parahumans both in and out of the Protectorate. Some of them wanted to be heroes, but by and large there were more that wanted the paycheck or the glory. I've worked with a few bastards who would have fucked Isis over just for shits and giggles. You didn't do it because you enjoyed it. You did what you did because you were a kid, being fed bad Intel, and denied the chance to do the right thing. In other words, you're a symptom not the disease."

Alberto frowned. "We're not giving you a free pass here, but you deserve a chance to do better. My advice? Worry less about the posters or the toys. Think about the people you can help, the kids that you can inspire to do better. You don't have to be the next Legend or Chevalier or even Mouse Protector. You just need to try and make the world a better place than it was before. It might be cheesey, but it's better than ending up like Bastion. At the end of the day, if you put the work in, we'll get you the tools to make a difference. Understood?"

Looking up at his two bosses, Carlos felt his first bit of hope in far too long.