Call of the Nexus - Worm - Heroes of the Storm Crossover

by TheVampireStrahd

This is a more Heroic tale of Taylor having the Heroes of the Storm in her head.

2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Worm, that belongs to Wildbow. I do not own Heroes of the Storm, that belongs to Activision-Blizzard and Blizzard Entertainment.

Call of the Nexus

Chapter 2

January 17, 2011

The next morning Taylor walked into the kitchen to see her dad making breakfast. He was plating the food as she walked in and she said, "Morning dad."

Danny gave a smile to is daughter. "Morning Little Owl."

This was the first time her dad had used her nickname when she was alert and paying attention and the Voices reacted.

Widowmaker was laughing.

Li Ming chirped, "That's adorable."

Jaina commented, "How cute."

Sarah giggled.

Tyrande chuckled.

Taylor stammered, "D-dad!"

Danny arched an eyebrow, "Something wrong kiddo?" He set the plate of breakfast on Taylor's usual spot at the kitchen table.

Taylor shook her head and moved to take her seat. "Nope. What's for breakfast."

Danny smiled, "Bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes."

Taylor smiled back after looking at her plate. "Looks great."

She dug into her food and started eating. Father and daughter ate their food quietly. When the two finished eating Danny grabbed the plates and put them on the sink. As Taylor was about to leave the kitchen Danny called out, "Taylor, could you please come back and sit?"

The long wavy raven haired teenager turned around and sat back down at the table. She looked at her dad and asked, "What's up dad?"

Danny had sat down before Taylor and looked at his daughter. With a sigh Danny began, "Taylor honey, I know I've failed you." He reached across the kitchen table and took Taylor's right hand. "I haven't been there for you, I know that. We've stopped talking to each other…" He paused for several seconds. "Good God this is hard…" He took a breath, exhaled and resumed, "Taylor...I want to know who did this to you. The cops have been looking into it, but it's been two weeks honey as of today. They've got nothing, no one at the school is willing to say or do anything. The police are coming by today to take your statement. Your principal's stonewalling. I'm strongly thinking about going to take the school and the school district to court. I'm suing the pants off of them."

He squeezed his daughter's hand. "Is there anything you want to tell me? Do you know who did it?"

Taylor looked at her dad and Danny was trying to get a read on his daughter but she just looked at him, blinking owlishly. Then she pulled her hand from out of his grasp. As she looked at her dad tears were starting to fall.

"Now you care?", she asked. She wiped her eyes with the a napkin that she grabbed near her. "I've been waiting for you...and each day you just...you left me all alone!"

More tears were falling from Taylor's eyes as she got up and ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs, into her room, and slamming the door.

Danny clenched his teeth and hands, and growled loudly. He opened his hands, covered his face with both of them and slid them down his face. Danny stood up and paced the floor looking up at the ceiling as he stopped and looked up at the ceiling. Then with a look of resolve he walked out of the kitchen, walked up the stairs and went to Taylor's door where he raised his hand to knock but hesitated. Taking a breath and letting it out, Danny knocked on the door.

Danny waited five seconds then opened the door. "Taylor...honey…" looking in he saw a mound on the bed, blankets covered tightly. "Taylor, please talk to me."

There was a muffled, "Go away...don't you have to leave for work? You're going to be late."

Danny walked into his daughter's bedroom and sat at the foot of her bed. "I called in for a family emergency Taylor. You're my everything, you are all I have left, you are important to me. Little Owl, if something was happening to you at school, why didn't you tell me?"

Silence.

"Taylor, please.", Danny pleaded.

More silence.

Danny stood up. He looked up at the ceiling, tears falling down his face. "Oh Anne-Rose...*sob*, I failed...and now our daughter hates me. *sob* I'm sorry, Taylor. *sob*" Danny walked out of the room sobbing.

Taylor was quiet. But inside her head, it was loud.

"Well, are you proud of yourself?", Sarah asked.

"Taylor, he may have been absent, but the thing is he is here for you NOW.", Jaina said.

The others echoed Sarah and Jaina except for Widowmaker who was quiet. When Sarah asked why Widowmaker wasn't saying anything, she replied, "If I said what I really wish to say, it would not be pleasant. I have no desire to be shoved into the darkness again."

Tyrande Whisperwind spoke in Taylor's mind now, "Young Taylor, your father loves you. You may have a right to be angry, but now he is trying to reach out, to reconnect. H wants to right the wrong done to you. He is your father, Taylor. As an adult, he can act on your behalf, but not if you keep him in the dark. Tell him what was done to you and who was behind it. You are not alone now."

Taylor replied in thinking, "I don't know…"

Tyrande said, "Taylor, on Azeroth my people were gifted with immortality, until the World Tree was destroyed to stop the Burning Legion. It was a gift of long life but we could still be killed. I lost my parents in the War of the Ancients a war that was many, many thousands of years ago. I would love to have my parents in my life over the millennia. Now, get up and go to your father and talk to him."

Li-Ming said, "Taylor, I can barely remember my parents. My parents took me to the Yshari Sanctum and left me there when I was seven. You are lucky to have a parent, yes he's made mistakes, but it is time for both of you to start anew."

Jaina said, "Well said, Li-Ming. Go to him Taylor, now."

Everyone started chiming in, "Talk to him Taylor!", "Get up now!" Go to your dad!"

"Get up!"

"Go!"

Taylor finally sat up and threw her blankets off of her. "Alright! I'm going!"

Taylor got up from her bed and walked out of her bedroom, moving towards her dad's bedroom. Taylor wiped the tears from her face as she walked down the hall. Then as she got close to her dad's bedroom she could hear him. It sounded like he was talking but the words were unintelligible.

When Taylor reached the doorway of her dad's bedroom she saw him sitting at the foot of the bed sobbing as he as holding a framed picture in one hand and the other hand covering his forehead.

The sight broke Taylor. She'd done this.

Taylor stammered, "Da-dad. I'm sorry." Tears were falling down her face. "*sob* I...don't…*sob*...I don't hate you." Taylor moved to her dad and stood in front of him.

Danny looked at his daughter, tears were falling down his face as he saw the tears falling down Taylor's face as well. Taylor could see the picture he was holding, a picture of Annette and Taylor taken at a photography studio when Taylor had been seven years old.

Taylor loved that photo. It brought back happy memories bur her emotions were wild right now. She was still crying as she said, "*sob* I don't hate you dad, *sob* but I'm so MAD *sob* at you! *sob* You left me all alone! *sob* You lost your wife, *sob* I lost my mother! *sob* You checked out. Alan, Zoe, Aunt Lacey, Uncle Kurt *sob* had to come over, you said you would do better, but you still WEREN'T HERE!"

Taylor wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. In between sobs she continued, "You haven't been here! We barely talk to each other! *sob* I tried to handle it myself, I thought it would blow over after they found someone else…", she paused for a few seconds to try and compose herself. "I never thought she'd do something so evil to me."

Danny reached out to Taylor but she was out of his reach. Danny took note that Taylor called his best friend and his wife by their names and not Uncle and Aunt like she'd done for Kurt and Lacey. He also came to the realization that neither Alan, Zoe, or Emma had called to ask about Taylor since she'd been in the hospital let alone come over and visit while she was in the hospital. Then there was the fact that Emma had not been over to the house for at least a year if not longer. Eyes widened and a sinking feeling was felt in his gut as he put the pieces together.

In a tone that was surprisingly calm Danny asked, "Taylor, are you saying that Emma did this? Why?! You two were so close!"

Danny's heart practically stopped when Taylor replied in a soft quiet voice, "If I knew why she did it, I'd tell you."

Fury overcame Danny as he stood up. "Son of a bitch! I'll kill him, I'll kill her!"

Taylor backpedaled, her eyes going wide at the sudden shift in her father. She knew that he had a temper that he kept tightly under control but when he lost it, he was a different person. Taylor watched as Danny went to the closet and grabbed a pump action shotgun and a box of shotgun shells.

Taylor exclaimed, "Dad!? Dad! What are you doing!?"

"Going to go get you some old school justice Taylor. I won't kill 'em, I promise. I'm just gonna wound 'em a little. Put a shell in each leg, right at the knees." Danny was loading the shotgun, quickly inserting solid slugs into it.

"Dad no! You can't do this!" Taylor placed her hands on the shotgun near the part where Danny was loading the shotgun. "Dad, calm down please! You know you can't do this!"

Widowmaker chirped, "I like this, now this is a man of action!"

Taylor gave Widowmaker a shove and Widowmaker quickly said, "I was only kidding! I swear!"

Danny looked at Taylor her eyes widened, tears still falling. Taylor continued to plead with her dad, then she tugged and pulled the shotgun out of his hands. She immediately began unloading the shells from the shotgun. Unknown to Danny, Widowmaker instructed Taylor how to safely unload the weapon and it completely escaped his notice that Taylor was doing it safely.

The doorbell rang. Both Taylor and Danny looked at each other then Danny growled, "Shit, the police."

Taylor freaked, "The police?! Why?!"

Danny slid a hand down the front of his face. "I told you they were coming today, just thought it would be later! They know you're out of the hospital, they've been wanting to take your statement about what happened ever since they got the case but first you were in a coma, then you were in the mental ward! They couldn't talk to you until now!"

Cursing some more Danny went to the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth, got it wet and started wiping his face with it as he walked down the stairs. The doorbell rang again and Danny called out, "I'm coming!"

Taylor had finished unloading the shotgun and set it back inside the closet. She rushed to the bathroom to wipe her face and clean up as well. By the time she was drying her face she heard her dad opening the door and voices downstairs.

Taylor heard encouraging words from Tyrande and Jaina to get downstairs. Walking down the stairs Taylor saw her dad, an older man, and a young woman. The older white man looked to be in his mid forties with a salt and pepper beard, brown hair that was thinning, tired looking gray eyes and a rumpled suit that had some food stains on the suit jacket. The young woman looked to be in her early thirties with jet black hair and brown eyes. Her clothes were sharp, black pants, blue blouse and black suit jacket.

Danny turned and said, "Taylor, these are the detectives investigating your case."

The young woman spoke first, "I'm Detective Kim Voight, and this is my partner John Wellington. We'd like to get your statement about what happened on January third if you're okay with giving it today."

Taylor nodded, "Yeah, sure."

Danny gestured to the detectives to sit in the living room. Taylor asked, "Do you want anything, coffee or tea?"

"I'm good." said Detective Kim.

Detective John said, "Black, two sugars please."

Taylor said, "Okay, be right back." The raven haired teenage girl went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee. Her dad had made a pot for breakfast and the coffee was still fresh so she began making the cup for the detective.

As Taylor was doing that Danny was quick to ask the detectives, "Have you made any progress?"

Detective John Wellington shook his head while his partner Kim said, "I'm afraid not sir. We're hoping your daughter can give us something we can use."

"No one from the school is cooperating? There had to be more than a dozen kids who should have seen something!", Danny exclaimed.

Taylor walked in with the cup of coffee for the older detective scoffing and saying, "It's Winslow dad, you could walk in there and shoot someone in front of the whole school and no one will say a damn thing. Here you are sir, black with two sugars."

The older detective thanked Taylor, "Thank you, young lady. Sadly Mister Hebert, you're daughter's right." He quickly took a sip and hummed in satisfaction.

Taylor sat down on the couch next to her dad while the detectives were sitting in the chairs her mom and dad used. The young woman detective took out a recorder and a notepad. "Taylor if its okay, I'd like to record our conversation."

Taylor said, "Okay."

Detective Kim clicked the recorder to start and she began, "This is Detective Kim Voight with Detective John Wellington taking the statement of victim Taylor Anne Hebert, age 15. This is regarding the Winslow Locker Incident that happened on January 3, 2011. Also present is Taylor's father Danny Hebert. Taylor, will you please tell Detective Wellington and I what happened that morning?"

Taylor took a breath then she began telling what happened that day. She described the huge group of students that were waiting by her locker. She told the detectives that Emma, Sophia, and Madison had been waiting at the front of the group. Taylor paused as the memory of it came back. Danny squeezed her hand for comfort and reassurance.. Taylor described the horrible stench coming from her locker and Emma's words to Taylor. Then Taylor described what happened after she opened her locker, what she saw and smelled, then the blow to the back of her head and being shoved inside and locked in. She talked about how the kids laughed at her, how Emma and Sophia made light of her pleas to be let out and all of them leaving her to suffer

By the point she reached being attacked she was crying. Danny wrapped his arm around Taylor's shoulder in a side hug.

Danny looked at the two detectives and asked, "Can we please stop and let Taylor have a few minutes?"

Detective Kim nodded and Detective John said, "Of course."

Taylor got up and left the room to compose herself. She headed up the stairs and went to her bedroom. Danny looked at the detectives and asked, "Is that enough?"

The older detective said, "We need to ask her some follow up questions."

Danny sighed then asked, "You really have no leads? No one's come forward? I can't believe that no one's come forward!"

The older detective grunted while Detective Kim sighed. Then she said, "I'm sorry sir, but Winslow being what it is…getting cooperation is next to impossible. No one wants to be known as a snitch."

Danny growled, "Son of a bitch." He ran hands through his thinning hair and asked, "The school isn't cooperating?"

Detective John scoffed, "I'm afraid I can't comment on that sir."

Danny looked at the detective and got the implication. He was about to say something when Taylor walked back in and sat down next to Danny again.

"Are you alright, kiddo?", her dad asked. He rubbed Taylor's back a couple of times and patted her on the shoulder.

"Yeah.", she admitted after taking a breath and let it out. In her hands was a small stack of notebooks. Looking at the detectives she said, "I have these notebooks that I've been logging all the incidents of bullying, including emails since February 2010 that Emma, Sophia, and Madison have been doing to me but they've been bullying me since start of my freshman year in 2009. Emma and Sophia at first, Madison joined in a few months later and it's been the three of them getting the entire school against me."

Detective Kim took the notebooks from Taylor and opened the top one and started reading. Danny was doing his best to stay under control. Kim closed the notebook after reading the first few pages. She looked at her partner then said, "Thank you, we'll look these over, make copies and bring them back to you. Now, I have some follow up questions Taylor."

Taylor nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Detective John asked, "Did you speak with teachers, the principal about the bullying?"

Taylor scoffed and replied, "Yeah, I've complained so much that I've pretty much given up. They don't do a damn thing."

Detective John asked, "I have to ask this question. Did you do this to yourself?"

Taylor and Danny both looked incredulous. Danny's face turned red with rage and Taylor stood up and hissed, "Hell fucking no. How could I do this to myself? How could I lock myself in my own fucking locker? You expect me to reach through the fucking locker door, pick up the fucking lock and lock myself inside?"

Danny grabbed Taylor and pulled her hand to get her to sit down and chided, "Language honey. Let your dad do the cursing." Turning to look at Detective John, Danny snarled, "What the hell is that? Are you out of your goddamn mind?! What makes you think she'd do something like that to herself!?"

Detective John looked flatly at Danny and responded, "Just asking the necessary questions Mister Hebert. There have been statements from witnesses claiming she did this to herself."

"Taylor asked in an angry tone, "What?! Lemme guess, Emma, Sophia, and Madison have already told you their lies and right away you believe them!"

Detective Kim reached across and gave a reassuring pat on Taylor's arm. "I'm sorry Taylor.", she looked at her partner and gave him a glare. "We need to ask these questions."

Taylor hissed, "It's insulting. Seriously, did you see the locker? Did you check my lock for prints at least? How could I lock myself in?"

The older detective chimed in, "You could have had help."

Turning to look at Detective John she snarled, "What part of social pariah do you not understand? I'm unwanted even from the rest of the pariah's at that school! Seriously, are you guys even trying or are you the C Team?!" Taylor got up and ran up the stairs, rushing to her room.

Danny looked at the two detectives angrily. "I think that's enough for today. I think Taylor's given you some leads to chase down." He stood up and the detectives stood as well.

Detective Kim thanked Danny. "Thank you Mister Hebert, we'll let you know if we need to ask Taylor anymore questions.'

The two left the house and Danny closed and locked the door.

He ran a hand over and across his face as he sighed. He walked up the stairs and entered Taylor's room where he found her sitting at the foot of the bed looking furious.

Taylor looked at her dad and changed her expression from fury to more of a calm one.

"They're gone, Taylor. The woman detective said that if they have more questions for you they'll come back."

"I see.", said Taylor.

"I wish you would have told me Taylor.", Danny lamented.

Taylor said, "Can we just...drop it? You're right, I should have told you but by the time I thought to tell you...it was just too late. Emma had the whole school against me, teachers didn't care, the principal was a negligent bitch…" She sighed and continued, "I just thought they'd stop eventually."

Danny knelt down on one knee and reached over and hugged his daughter. She was stiff at first then she melted and she started crying. Danny switched between rubbing her back and patting her back to soothe his child. "I'm here now and I promise, I'll find a way to make this right."

Sniffling, Taylor pulled back to look at her dad's determined expression. "How?"

"I need to think about it, but I think I'm going to call in some favors. C'mon, let's take our minds off of this for a bit by watching a movie."

He stood up while still holding Taylor's hand and pulled her up. He led her out of the bedroom and the two went back downstairs to the living room.

"Dad, I have to ask, how are we going to pay for the hospital bill?", Taylor asked.

Danny gave a reassuring smile, "Relax Taylor, you're on my health care plan. The Association does have a good health care plan."

"Has the school called? Has Blackwell made you an offer?", she asked.

"Taylor…", he paused. "Okay, yes your school has made an offer but I told your Principal that I needed to think about it. Pick a movie, I'll make popcorn." Danny pointed at the DVD collection as he walked over to the kitchen.

As Taylor was looking at the DVDs to pick a movie the Voices were talking.

Snarling Widowmaker was the first to speak, "Merde! Please, Taylor let me out. Widowmaker will show these putain de chiennes et traître that you are no longer their target!"

Li Ming said, "Taylor, I'll cast electrocute on them. I can make it so that when I cast it, it'll chain between the three of them and shock them all at the same time!"

Sarah said, "I just can't believe the things you've gone through Taylor. Let me take care of it for you, I'll make them change their ways, hell I can even make them bark like dogs, meow like cats, or how about this, I'll make them cluck like chickens for you."

There were giggles from Taylor, Li Ming and Sarah while Tyrande chuckled. Then Jaina chimed in, "I'll turn them into sheep."

Everyone was silent. Taylor gasped and Li Ming asked, "You can do that?"

Widowmaker asked, "Surely la demoiselle Jaina is joking, yes?"

Tyrande popped in, "She is not. She learned the spell of Polymorph when she was an Apprentice to the Archmage Antonidas"

Taylor whispered quietly, "Holy shit."

Her dad walked in with cokes and set one by his chair and the other by the couch. "Popcorn's almost ready, you got a movie picked yet?"

Taylor turned to look at her dad and said, "It just came to me right now as you asked. Lord of the Rings okay?"

"That's fine Taylor, guess I better make two bowls of popcorn."

Chuckling Taylor reached for the DVD of the chosen movie and put it the DVD player and got it ready.

"What are we about to watch?", asked Jaina.

Li Ming, and Tyrande chimed in, "Yes, what is this?"

Sarah answered for Taylor before she could. "A DVD is a disc that allows data to be stored whether it is books, music, or visual entertainment. The machine she put the disc into reads the disc and we get to see the movie. Think of it as a play or concert you can watch whenever you want instead of going to the theater or opera house."

Tyrande asked, "Then there is not a tiny person inside the machine?"

Taylor couldn't help herself, she started giggling.

Taylor quietly said, "Just watch the movie and enjoy everyone, it is based on a series of books written by one of my mom's and mine favorite authors."

Danny walked in with two bowls of popcorn and set one by Taylor's spot, sat down in his chair then said, "All set kiddo. Start 'er up."

"Right, here we go dad, the Fellowship of the Ring, Earth Aleph version!"

Pressing 'Play' on the remote the movie started and the Voices in Taylor's head, especially Tyrande, Li Ming, and Jaina became enraptured with the story.

During the movie Taylor fell asleep. Danny waited and made sure that she was asleep before quietly standing up and moving to the kitchen. He wrote a note and placed it by the coffee table so she could see it if she woke up before coming back.

Quietly grabbing his keys, he left the house silently, got in his truck and drove away from the house.

His destination: Winslow High School. It was time to have a chat with the bitch that was the school principal.

Winslow High School

Danny Hebert parked his truck in the school parking lot and grimaced. The school looked more like a prison than a high school. Walking up to the front doors he shook his head at seeing the poor condition of the doors and he couldn't help but bark a laugh when he walked through the metal detectors that did not work. He paused very briefly to see if there was a security guard but didn't see one so he kept walking to the office.

He opened the door and skipped by the front office receptionist who was on the phone.

"Hey, you can't do that!", the woman barked.

"Save it, I won't be here long.", he said as he walked to Principal Blackwell's office door, opened it and walked in, then closed the door behind him.

Carrie Blackwell was working on her computer, turning to look at Danny and said, "Who the hell do you think you are…"

Danny cut her off. "Save it. I'm Danny Hebert and I'm here to talk to you about my daughter Taylor and what you and your staff has allowed to happen under your watch."

The door opened behind Danny who turned and saw the secretary that was Blackwell's assistant. "Ma'am?"

Danny looked back at her and said, "Just having a meeting with your principal."

Carrie Blackwell said, "It's okay, I'll handle this."

The door closed and Danny sat down in the chair in front of Carrie Blackwell.

Looking like she swallowed something sour, the mid forties blond haired bowl haircut woman seemed to actually look older than Danny. She cleared her throat and said, "Mister Hebert, you don't have an appointment with me today. Make one and we'll talk."

Danny shook his head. "No, the way I see it, my money pays your salary. You don't get to pick and choose when to speak to the parent of a child. I'm here now and we're going to talk. Starting with the offer you made. My answer is I'm rejecting your offer and countering with one of my own. I want the hospital bills covered plus, your resignation, your vice principal's resignation, and the resignation of any teachers that have turned a blind eye to the bullying my daughter has gone through for more than a year and half. Also, I want Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess, and Madison Clements expelled and finally, five hundred thousand dollars for Taylor's pain and suffering. I think that's rather cheap all considering. I take this to court, the school district would end up having to pay millions."

Carrie Blackwell coughed and cleared her throat. "Mister Hebert, that is out of the question. I'm not resigning, nor is anyone of my staff. Neither will I be expelling three students that don't even have anything in their records that would warrant expulsion. As for the cash, I'm willing to offer and additional five thousand bringing it to ten thousand dollars in addition to covering the hospital bills provided you sign an agreement that you will not sue the school or the school district. Now, the prank…"

Danny cut her off growling, "That's the best you can do? Lady you don't know how to negotiate in good faith do you? And don't you dare call what happened to my daughter a prank! Prank my ass, that's assault with biohazardous waste, forcible confinement, minimum. A prank is nothing like that and you know it."

Looking like she'd bitten something even more sour, her lips pursed she brought her closed fist to her mouth and coughed. "Sir, I cannot talk about the investigation as the police are still investigating it but I must say that some of the students are saying that your daughter did this to herself."

Danny cut her again before she could continue and Blackwell looked like she really didn't like being interrupted. "Bullshit lady and you know that."

"Mister Hebert, I must insist that you don't use such language in front of me.", Carrie said in a harsh tone.

"Then what are you prepared to offer me to ensure that what's happened to my daughter won't happen again? What punishment are you going to impose on those responsible?", Danny asked.

"Mister Hebert, I can offer you my promise that I will make sure that nothing will happen to Taylor. I will instruct my staff that they are to pay close attention to her and that any so called bullying is to be stopped. As for punishing the ones responsible, if such person is found then they will be punished accordingly. That's all I can say."

With a scoff Danny said, "You've done a shitty job so far, that's not very reassuring."

Never losing that sour expression on her face Carrie said, "Mister Hebert, I must insist that you do not use such language in my office.", Carrie Blackwell raised her voice slightly.

Danny started talking again, not letting Principal Blackwell continue what she was saying. "Miss Blackwell, let's be honest. You've never conducted a true investigation other than to ask my daughter's bullies if they've done anything and of course they deny it and for you that's seemed to be enough to take the words of three girls against one. Did you question other students? I doubt it. Did you question the teachers? Again, obviously not."

Principal Blackwell was trying to project an image of calm and collected but it was obvious to Danny that he was getting to her. "Mister Hebert, it's my understanding that Taylor is out of the hospital. I'm willing to extend her another day or two of absences but when will Taylor be returning to school?"

Danny leaned back into his chair, giving a pondering expression. "Well let's see here, I was thinking between when the devil serves ice water in hell and hell no will I let Taylor come back to this school with you still in charge."

"Now see here Mister-", Principal Blackwell exclaimed.

Danny interrupted her again, "How you've managed to keep your job as Principal is something I'd like to know. You've allowed the gangs to run rampant in this school, you've allowed the worst of the worst teachers to keep teaching in this school. This school used to be the Arcadia of Brockton Bay before Arcadia was built and you've allowed this school to collapse and become gang infested under your watch. Lady, and I use the term loosely, I've been head of hiring for the Dockworkers Association for a long time and I've kept the gangs out of the docks. Even when AllFather and Marquis were here in the city, I kept the Docks clear of the gangs. It's not all that hard really, it just takes hard work and dedication. Kaiser still tries every now and then but like I said, hard work and dedication to the job in keeping the Docks clear. It's something you obviously lack."

Principal Blackwell was losing her temper, her face was beginning to turn red as Danny continued to speak, his own face in an angry expression. "You've let my daughter suffer needlessly for more than a year simply because you refused to do your damn job and believe the popular students and I'm done. I want you to do your damn job for once. Now. Are you going to do what I want?"

With a furious expression on her face Principal Carrie Blackwell snarled, "This conversation is over Mister Hebert. Get out."

Danny stood up and walked to the door then turned and faced Carrie Blackwell. He pointed his finger at her and said, "I'm putting you on notice that I'm filing a complaint with the District School Board over your incompetence and negligence over this matter. I'll be calling Superintendent Wilkenson and speaking to him directly. You couldn't even negotiate in good faith."

Carrie Blackwell stood up and screamed, "GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!", her face was a rictus of rage

Danny opened the door and waked out. Unsurprisingly there was a security guard waiting and the guard stepped forward and said, "Sir, I'm going to be escorting you off school grounds now. Please come with me."

Scoffing, Danny snarled, "Finally decided to show up to do your job now? Don't bother, I know the way out." Danny walked past the guard and left the office to head to the front doors. He took long strides with his legs, moving faster than the overweight security guard that was walking behind him. Danny returned to his pickup truck, got in and drove off. This time he was heading back to work. He had to talk to some of his people.

---

The Hebert House

Taylor woke up from her nap to find the movie paused at the point after the Fellowship had fled the Mines of Moira after watching Gandalf the Grey fall after fighting off the Balrog. As Taylor was shaking the cobwebs, she spotted the note on the coffee table and at the same time the Voices were talking.

"Please, you have to let us see the rest of this!", pleaded Jaina.

"Yes!", echoed Tyrande and Li Ming.

Widowmaker said, "I remember seeing a film adaptation of this but it was nothing like this."

Sarah said, "This version was lost to us, a pristine copy like this would be worth a fortune in the Confederacy. The only versions that exist are far more recent. They remade the trilogy in 2246 and again in 2479. I got to see the newest remake when Jim showed it to me one night."

Taylor couldn't help but open her mouth over the years that Sarah had mentioned. She was still coming to terms over everything that the Voices had told her over the last few days with regards to who they were and where they came from. Sarah telling her that she had been born in the year 2473 and her history was quite the story.

Everyone was trying to get Taylor to listen as they begged and pleaded to see the rest of the movie. Taylor had picked up the note she saw on the coffee table and saw it was from her dad telling her he had to go out and would be back for dinner.

Simultaneously everyone asked, "Please Taylor?"

Taylor looked up and exasperatedly said, "Alright! Stop with the chatter!"

Everyone cheered at once. "Elune Be Praised!", cheered Tyrande, "Yes!", cheered Jaina,"Merveilleux! ", Widowmaker cheered, "Let's do this!", cheered Li-Ming.Sarah cheered, "Awesome!"

Taylor grabbed the remote and pressed 'Play' starting the movie at the rest of the Fellowship outside the Mines of Moira, mourning the loss of Gandalf briefly while Aragon urged Boromir to get everyone on the move. There was popcorn left so Taylor helped herself and sat back and enjoyed the rest of the movie.

Jaina was the first to speak as the credits rolled, "It says To Be Continued in The Two Towers! Please say you have it!"

Taylor started picking up the dishes and walked into the kitchen saying, "Yes, I have The Two Towers and the conclusion as well, The Return of the King."

Li-Ming chimed in, "You will play these for us, yes?"

Taylor returned to the living room, grabbed the last of the dishes and returned to the kitchen saying, "Yes. I'll play the sequels for you later. Right now, I need to eat something better than popcorn." Taylor opened the refrigerator and looked inside to see what to fix.

"If you want, I can teach you to fix some Westfall Stew...although, I don't think you have Murloc Eyes or Goretusk snouts. I might have the ingredients though."

Taylor closed the door of the refrigerator, her mouth open then she mouthed the words 'Goretusk snouts'. At the same time Widowmaker and Sarah both voiced their objections at the same time, "Mon dieu, no!", "Uh, thanks but no thanks?"

Taylor said, "Nevermind, salad it is." She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the lettuce, carrots, and radishes and started preparing her simple meal. She grabbed some shredded cheese and some croutons to add as a topping and a vinaigrette salad dressing.

As she ate her food, Taylor was thinking what to do while her dad was out.

"I have a suggestion, may we watch The Two Towers?", asked Tyrande.

The Voices cheered and echoed Tyrande's request.

Taylor sighed.

---

Dockworkers Association Building

Danny Hebert parked his pickup truck in his assigned spot at the Association building and walked into the building. As he walked in, the receptionist Susan looked up and saw him

"Danny!", Susan exclaimed. "I thought you said you were staying home, Is Taylor alright?"

Stopping for a moment he said, "Yeah, Taylor's home now. I'm just here for a little while, I need to make some calls. Can you page Kurt for me please? Tell him to come to my office, thank you."

"Sure Danny."

Danny unlocked the door to his office and entered it. Sitting at his desk, he grabbed his rolodex and started looking for certain phone numbers. As he was looking for the phone numbers he needed his friend and fellow Association member Kurt walked in.

Kurt stood by the door, "You wanted to see me Danny?"

Danny looked up and saw his friend. Gesturing for him to close the door and sit, he waited for Kurt to do that.

"Thought you were taking the day, Danny. How's Taylor?", Kurt commented.

Danny sighed and said, "She's home." He paused then he said, "She finally told me what's been going on and I'm furious. Furious at myself, furious at Taylor for not trusting me, I could go on…", He took a breath and let It out. "I let her down Kurt. I let my little girl down." He shook his head, looking down at the desk. Then he raised his head and looked at Kurt. "I found out my little girl has been bullied by her former best friend and two other girls and the goddamn school won't do anything. I went over there, spoke to that ghoul of a Principal and she insulted me by refusing to do a damn thing. The bitch offered to just cover the medical bills and give me five grand, then she upped it to ten grand."

Kurt tried to be reassuring, "Danny, I...Jesus…" He took a breath and looked at his friend. "Danny, have the cops said anything?"

Sighing but still angry in his expression Danny replied, "They finally came over to talk to her today and get her statement. That's how I found out about everything and who she believes was responsible." He looked up at the ceiling, took a breath and let it out loudly then looked at Kurt and stated, "It was Emma."

Kurt's eyes went wide in shock. "Emma? Taylor's Emma? No, no way. That's just…evil! How!? Why would she do this to her best friend!? Does Alan know?"

Danny brought his hands to his face and slid them down. "I can't believe it myself but last year after Taylor came back from camp she went to see Emma and Emma had made friends with another girl and Emma ended things there apparently. Taylor didn't tell me until now. Then when high school started Emma and her new friend started bullying Taylor and it just got worse as time went on. A third girl joined in the group, Taylor called them "The Trio". As for Alan, for his sake he better not know what his daughter's been doing because if he did know and did nothing…" Danny's expression darkened.

Taking a breath Danny continued, "Kurt, one thing I'm going to need is to put the word out to the guys, I need to have a chat with the membership. I'm going to ask you all for help."

Kurt nodded and affirmed, "Whatever you need Danny, when did you want to do it?"

"I dunno, maybe tomorrow...I want to see if the cops get somewhere now that Taylor's given them some leads. But I'm so tempted to just.."

Kurt reached across and grabbed Danny's hand and squeezed it. "Hey, hey now, I know that look Danny and you don't want to be doing anything stupid. Don't go over there and do-"

The phone rang in Danny's office cutting Kurt off. Danny picked up the phone, "Yes, Susan?"

The receptionist Susan said, "Sorry to bother you Danny but I have an Alan Barnes on line three for you."

Surprised, Danny was silent for a moment then he said, "Thanks, I'll take it." She disconnected and Danny looked at Kurt. "Alan's on line three. Go ahead and go back to work, I'll come find you. You probably don't want to hear this conversation."

Kurt stood up and nodded his head. "Alright, you come find me before you go. I'll talk to Lacey and we'll swing by the house tonight if that's alright?"

"Sure.", Danny replied.

With a wave, Kurt left the office. Danny counted to ten then just before he was going to push the button of the phone line that Alan was holding on, Danny decided to push the "Record" button. It was a feature on his phone due to the nature of his business that phone calls were recorded so that if a client tried to alter deals that had been worked out, the Association had the recorded phone calls to support them. Taking one last breath, he pushed the button.

Alan's voice immediately came over the line. "Danny? What's this bullshit about you and Taylor accusing Emma and her friends over what happened?"

Gripping the phone tight, he counted to three before replying with sarcasm, "Why hello Alan, so nice of you to call. I mean it's been what, two years since we last talked?"

Alan was having none of it. "Cut the crap Danny and answer my question, why are you accusing my daughter and her friends?"

Danny snarked, "Oh, I don't know, because it's the truth?"

Alan fired back, "The truth? You have evidence? I didn't think so."

Danny said, "It's only a matter of time Alan before the cops find something or someone talks."

Alan retorted, "I highly doubt it, it's Winslow. No one talks to the cops, you know it. The gangs see to it that no one talks about anything over there. Emma tells me of knife fights at that school and no one's arrested so no one's going to support you or Taylor's lie that Emma and her friends were responsible for what happened to Taylor. I'm sorry for what happened to her, it was unfortunate. This is me as your friend telling you to stop."

Gripping the phone handset tighter Danny asked, "Or what?"

"I'll sue you and Taylor for slander.", was the response.

Danny pulled the headset away from his ear and looked at it. He silently mouthed "what the fuck" and he put the headset back in place and he said, "So that's it? Twenty five years we've known each other and this is how it is? You won't even think about that your daughter is lying to you? Think Alan, when has Taylor ever lied about anything?"

"I don't want to hear it Danny. Emma's done nothing to Taylor, it's not her fault Taylor has made bad choices and got where she is. So, if you continue this baseless accusation against Emma, I will take you to court and you will lose Danny. I'll take your house, your truck. You'll lose everything and you and Taylor will be on the street penniless."

"Well, I guess I know who my friends really are, I see where Emma got her backstabbing skills from. You, Zoe, and Emma never called, and none of you came and visited when Taylor was in the hospital. That should have been my first clue that Emma had ended things and that you had ended our own friendship. But like a schmuck I had my head buried in the sand. Well, I know the truth and deep inside you know the truth too. Your daughter's become a monster of the worst kind. So, when this explodes and you find yourself up to your neck in shit I'm going to be there to tell you I Told You So and then I'm going to throw the anchor so you fucking drown in it. Fuck you and fuck Emma. Goodbye."

Danny slammed the phone down hard. He screamed in a rage over the betrayal and loss of his best friend. Looking at the wall that he so desperately wanted to punch through he counted to ten and he walked out of the office. Walking down the hall he went to the back of the DWA offices and knocked on the door of the in house legal counsel.

"Come in.", the voice from within said.

Danny opened the door and walked into the office closing the door behind him.

"Christian, I need to talk to you, can I have a few minutes?", Danny asked.

The man named Christian was an older man in his fifties. He still had most of his hair although it was graying out but it gave him a distinguished look. He was shorter than Danny, only five foot six inches tall and he was of thin build. The man was the DWA's legal counsel for more than thirty years, having taken over the position from the prior legal counsel when his predecessor retired. Having made many friends within the DWA by helping the DWA win legal cases his friends called him Chris for short.

"Certainly Danny. How can I help you?", Christian asked.

"I'm going to need a lawyer Chris, maybe two lawyers. I don't have the money right now, but I think the cases will be worth a lot of money."

Stroking his well trimmed beard with his index finger and thumb Christian replied, "I see, take a seat and tell me what you're up against."

Danny sat down in the chair, sighed and began telling the story. After about twenty minutes he finished and Christian was looking completely floored. Christian blinked his eyes as he processed what Danny told him. Then he said, "I need a drink."

He got up and went to a very old cabinet and opened it with a key. Reaching inside he pulled a bottle out and two glasses. Danny saw he was going to pour some for him but as much as he wanted a drink at that moment he held up his hand and said, "None for me Chris, I'm...I'm not in a good head space."

Christian nodded his head and said, "That's good. At least you're thinking somewhat clearly", He poured himself a shot and drank it. Setting the bottle back inside the cabinet he closed it and sat back down.

"Jesus Christ Danny. I'm at a loss for words." He rapped the desk with his knuckles a couple of times as he thought things over. Looking at Danny he asked, "Who are you going to sue?"

With a growl Danny replied, "The school, the principal, the school district for starters. I want to sue Emma and the other two girls and their families as well."

Christian leaned forward, scooting the chair forward to bring him closer to the desk as he looked at Danny. "As much as you think they're the ones responsible, there's no proof yet. You take them to court, you will most likely lose. If the police find the culprits and successfully prosecute them, then you have yourself a civil case. Right now, you have a better case against the school and the administration."

The fact that the Principal's been talking to you instead of the school district's legal counsel is a sure sign that something's rotten. Then there's her settlement offer, totally lowballing you, that's also suspicious as hell. I have to say it was very smart of you to not sign anything that woman offered. Now, you said you were going to file a complaint against the school with the Superintendent, did you do that yet?"

"Not yet.", Danny replied gloomily.

"You need to do that today. Right away. I'll look up some contacts of mine, see if they're willing to take your case on contingency and get you some names."

Rising from the chair he was sitting on Danny said, "Thanks, Chris. I appreciate it." Danny extended his hand for a handshake, Christian stood up and the two shook hands. Christian walked Danny to the door and said, "Make that complaint right away Danny."

Opening the door Danny responded, "I will, I'm going to go do that right now."

Patting Danny on the back, Christian said, "Good, I'll have those names for you shortly."

Danny thanked Christian and walked away back to his office. Sitting down at his desk he opened his old school rolodex and found the number he was looking for. He picked up the phone, dialed the number, and waited.

"Brockton Bay School District, Superintendent Wilkenson's office how can I help you?"

Calmly, Danny replied, "Yes, I'd like to speak to the Superintendent please. Tell him it's Danny Hebert."

There was a pause then the female voice replied, "Just a moment sir, let me see if he's available to take your call. Please hold."

Danny was placed on hold and had to endure a few minutes of hold music. Then the voice returned, "Just another moment sir, I'm transferring your call now." There was a click and Danny heard the sound of a ringing tone.

Then the phone was answered, "Danny? To what do I owe this call for? If you're trying to find work for your people I'm afraid I have none to offer."

Danny said, "Actually, I'm not trying to drum up work from you this time. I needed to talk to you directly. Are you aware of the incident that happened at Winslow High School on January third?"

Silence.

Then the Superintendent replied, "I don't have all the details, just that something happened there to one of the students. Principal Blackwell says it was a prank that was overzealous and even though the police are investigating, nothing's turned up."

Danny counted to ten in his head then responded, "Brent, I really think you're not being told everything. First of all, what happened was not a prank. You don't stuff a locker with used tampons and other feminine hygiene products over the Christmas break and stuff a student in that locker, lock it, and leave that student to die. That's not a prank. Second, that student that this happened to was my daughter Taylor."

Danny paused and was able to hear the Superintendent quietly say, "Shit."

Then Danny continued, "My daughter was in the locker for hours. Hours. She suffered, Brent before some janitor finally came across the horrendous smell and opened the locker to find her stuffed in there. She was in the hospital for thirteen days Brent. That ghoul you have in charge of that school has made me an offer to pay the hospital bill and give me ten thousand dollars. I told her to go pound sand."

Superintendent Brent Wilkenson cut in, "Wait, she contacted you directly and offered to cover the medical bills and pay you ten thousand dollars?"

"Yes, she made the offer the night I was at the hospital when it first happened. Panacea was there healing Taylor, she overheard us talking and I know she heard Principal Blackwell try to make me not sue the school in return for covering the hospital bills and a five thousand dollar payout. I told her I'd think about it. I went to the school today to give her a counter offer which she rejected and she upped her cash amount to ten thousand. That's when I told her to go to hell."

Before the Superintendent could say something, Danny kept talking. "The reason for my call Brent is I wanted you to hear this from me directly. I'm filing a complaint against Winslow High, against the Administration, the faculty. Principal Blackwell's been negligent, and incompetent, and she's never attempted to negotiate in good faith. Now, I made my demands to Principal Blackwell, and I'm sure you'll just want me to talk to your legal people, that's fine. Go ahead and send them over and we can talk. But, I want my complaint about Blackwell on the record Brent. I want her fired, I want the entire administration gone."

Clearing his throat the Superintendent said, "Danny, much of what you've said, is news to me. I'll have to investigate these troubling allegations you've made and get back to you."

"Brent, don't try and bullshit me, you know Winslow is a shit hole, I know Winslow is a shit hole. You've been sending the worst teachers that won't retire or you're unable to fire to that school for a decade and if you weren't sending the worst, you were sending teachers that just got their teaching credential that had no experience and no friends or contacts to get assigned to a better school. Then you top it off with one of the worst administrators to run the school, I don't know which grave your predecessor dug Carrie Blackwell out of, but you need to bury that bitch."

"Danny, let me look into this, I'll get back to you."

"Alright Brent, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Don't let me down."

Superintendent Wilkenson said, "Talk to you soon, Danny." The call was disconnected and Danny hung up the phone.

Letting out a sigh Danny stood up. He locked his office door and returned to Christian's office.

Christian was on the phone and put the person on hold briefly. "Danny, here's some names I can recommend, if you have any questions let me know." Christian had a sheet of paper and held it out to Danny who reached over and took it. Looking at it there were four names on the list.

Danny looked at Christian and said, "Thanks, Chris I talked to the Superintendent personally to file my complaint. He'll get back to me and based on what he does will determine my plan of action."

"Ah. Well, good luck then. I gotta get back to this call, talk to you soon Danny."

"Thanks, Christian.", Danny replied and he left the office and close the door.

From there, Danny walked over to the machine shop where Kurt and some of the dockworkers were busy at. Walking in, he waved Kurt to come over.

Kurt walked up and asked, "You alright, Danny?"

"I'm...better I guess. Look, I have to go, I don't want to leave Taylor alone at the house for too long. I'll see you tonight?"

Smiling, Kurt replied, "You bet. Hey! I talked to Lacey, she says she's gonna cook dinner tonight, so don't worry about eating ramen tonight, okay?"

With a smile of his own, Danny said, "Okay, that sounds good. Taylor is going love seeing you guys. We'll see you tonight then, say 6:30?"

Kurt replied, "Sounds like a plan, see ya boss."

As Kurt walked away back to work, Danny called back, "Stop calling me boss!"

Everyone in the machine shop yelled back, "Yes, boss!"

Shaking his head in amusement Danny left the machine shop and headed back to his car. He got in, started it and left the DWA part of the docks and started driving home.

---

The Hebert House

After Taylor had her lunch she rejected Tyrande's suggestion to watch The Two Towers. The Voices were not happy at first but then they cheered up when she said she wanted to use her ability to pull the different voices out from in her head and bring them out like she had done last night.

Standing in Taylor's room was the exotic woman Li-Ming. She was in her early twenties with long flowing raven black hair, her long robes of white and purple with gold trim. Her attire was similar to Jaina's but allowed for better mobility. In her hand she was holding a small staff like object that had a purple orb floating above it. Arcane energies glowed within the purple orb.

Li-Ming walked around Taylor's room, she spoke arcane words and an orb floated above her hand. She cackled, saying "Well, well, well, my magic works here as well. Magnificent!"

Taylor spoke in Li-Ming's mind now and she huffed in frustration, "Okay, that's three of you looking like you are supermodels, so not fair."

Widowmaker couldn't resist, "Jeune fille, did I not tell you that I was once the best ballet dancer in all of France? I was not a model, but I did have to endure many photoshoots, not unlike a model."

In an effort to be peacemaker Tyrande says, "Let us discussother things. It is clear that this power of Taylor's will allow us to do the things we were capable of back in our homes and our universes. Taylor wants to be a hero, but what does that mean here? We need to know more about this world we find ourselves in."

Taylor said, "Alright, Li-Ming see that mid sized box on the floor next to my desk, there's a button in the front. Push it."

Li-Ming turned to look at the item described. "This...thing?", she asked.

"Yes, there's a button on the right side in front, push that.", Taylor said.

Li-Ming did as instructed and the box turned on and a whirring noise could be heard. Li-Ming backed up a few steps.

Widowmaker laughed, "Hahaha, she's never seen anything like this!"

Li-Ming said haughtily, "Not funny! This may be what you're used to, but you're right. I've never seen anything like this. These "TVs", and "phones", horseless carriages, and you have machines that fly!"

Widowmaker laughed again. "Next thing you know you will tell me your buildings lacked indoor plumbing!"

Li-Ming defended her world of Sanctuary. "The city of Caldeum did indeed have indoor plumbing as well as the city of Westmarch!"

Widowmaker couldn't resist, "What about your world Jaina, Tyrande? I bet your world has no indoor plumbing either."

Taylor cut in, "Knock it off Widowmaker, so Li-Ming, Tyrande, and Jaina come from a world not as advanced as yours or mine. But, they have magic!"

Jania said, "The achievement of plumbing is indeed in existence within many kingdoms of Azeroth. Additionally, there are many magical ways of handling sanitation issues."

The monitor for the computer was on now as the boot up process was over and the log in screen was on display. Taylor said, "Look, we can compare worlds later, Li-Ming sit in the chair and put your hands on the keyboard then do what I say."

Li-Ming looked at the device on the desk. Taylor called it a keyboard. Listening to Taylor she pressed the specific keys that Taylor told her to do and was rewarded with looking at a new screen.

"Ha! I did it!", she declared.

"Okay, Li-Ming now put your hand on that object next to the keyboard, it's called the mouse.",Taylor gave more instructions to Li-Ming and soon the web browser was loading.

That was when Sarah complained, "Oh my God. Taylor this is not a computer it's a relic of the dark ages!"

Taylor retorted, "Sorry Sarah, it's not like my family has a lot of money. When mom bought this, it was state of the art."

Taylor directed Li-Ming to go to a web site and now they were waiting

for the web page to load over Taylor's slow internet collection. Li-Ming and everyone could feel a sensation of eye rolling and it was Sarah complaining again.

"My God, snails move faster, what are you using?", Sarah asked.

The web page loaded and Taylor gave more commands as they were now on the PHO web site. Taylor replied, "As I said, money's tight. We only have DSL."

"What is Parahumans Online?", asked Widowmaker, Tyrande, and Jaina at once.

Sarah sighed, "I won't say it." It was clear that Sarah was not impressed with Taylor's computer or internet connection.

Taylor said, "It's what I am, Parahumans are those people with powers. Now, we're looking for information about the gangs so you guys can know what villains are in the city."

As the web page finished loading Sarah said, "DSL?! Okay, that's it I can't take anymore. Let me out, I have a faster computer and I can get us faster access to the internet."

Li-Ming said, "Yes, as much as I want to learn all this, this is way too slow!"

Li-Ming focused on Taylor as Jaina had instructed and Taylor now focused her thoughts on the one called Sarah. Now Li-Ming's clothes began to ripple and change. Her black hair was changing in style and in color, from black to brown, then to a red color. Her long flowing hair shortened slightly and turned into a pony tail. Li-Ming grew a couple inches and her body size adjusted. The long flowing robes changed to a skin tight cat suit that was silvery suit with blue piping that glowed.

Sitting in the chair now was the young woman named Sarah Kerrigan. Sarah could feel Taylor's frustration at yet another beautiful woman was now present. "Calm down Taylor, you're still growing. I was a stick growing up myself. Now, let's get to business." She had a gear bag and she opened it and removed a small box followed by another object that was very thin.

Sarah smiled and grabbed a cable from her kit. As she hooked the cable to the small box then connected it to the thin device that Taylor thought looked like a router/modem. Sarah pulled the monitor cable out of Taylor's computer and connected the monitor cable to the box.

Taylor asked "Wait, you guys use USB? Guess you're not that high tech after all."

Sarah scoffed, "Adaptive technology my young friend. The computer makes the connection it needs in order for it to work."

Gasps of amazement were in Sarah's mind from everyone. Sarah continued to set things up and soon the monitor was showing the same website that they were looking at before, the Brockton Bay section of the Parahumans Online web site and the internet connection was extremely fast. Instead of using Taylor's keyboard, Sarah was using a hardlight hologram interface that projected from her forearm.

"Okay Taylor where are we going?", asked Sarah.

"Alright you want to go here.", Taylor directed.

Now they were looking at a web page that was dedicated to the gangs of Brockton Bay as well as an ever changing updated map of gang territories marked out by color code. Sarah took note of it and she asked, "So, these are the bad guys…" Sarah murmured. "So, give us a breakdown Taylor."

Taylor said, "Alright, as you see there's the ABB, Empire 88, the Merchants, and this new villain called Coil. The ABB is an Asian gang controlled by Lung. You can look him up, but he's strong enough that he took on the whole Protectorate team from Brockton Bay and won. They're known for drugs, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and illegal gambling. Then there's the Empire 88, they have the most Parahumans in the gang and they're a bunch of Neo Nazis."

Widowmaker hissed, "Nazis?! Nazis here in this city?! What year is it again? Comment est-ce arrivé? Please, Taylor I beg you to let me kill them. Le seul bon Nazi est un Nazi mort. I will kill all the Nazi scum for you, Taylor!"

Taylor interrupted, "That's enough of that. No, there will be no killing. Even if they are Nazis."

Widowmaker huffed.

Jaina, Li Ming, and Tyrande all asked at once, "What is a Nazi?"

Sarah sighed, "500 years in the past and I forgot that Nazis are still a thing."

Widowmaker was about to say something but Taylor cut her off. "Nazis were a political faction that started in another country more than seventy years ago that rose to power, their leader ordered and started the second world war which caused Eventually the Nazis were defeated by the opposing faction that this country was a part of called the Allies. The Nazis were responsible for and committed many atrocities, and practiced racial superiority, specifically the supremacy of the white race. I'm really giving you the short, short version but even with them losing the second world war other people have taken up their banner of white race supremacy this evil faction practiced since then. The Empire 88 is one of the largest white supremacist groups in the country. They attack and murder minorities, uh I mean people with different skin color that is not white. They also sell drugs and weapons.When we have more time I'll let you read about the history of the Nazi's rise to power and their fall. These guys are really, really bad and I definitely want to get these evil people out of my city and in jail."

"These evil people must be punished!", Jaina declared.

Sarah declared, "Oh yes they will. That's a promise."

Taylor said, "Then there's the Merchants. They are a drug running gang. They sell drugs, they traffic drugs, and there is a lot of stuff going around that they forcibly addict people to drugs, they've got a few Parahumans."

"Such evil should not be allowed to exist!", declared Li-Ming.

Tyrande said, "That they would poison themselves and forcibly poison others to such filth, we must remove such a blight from this city."

Sarah clicked the Empire 88 gang information which listed what was publicly known. She looked at the information about the different Parahumans under the Empire 88 banner. She hummed as she took in the information.

"Wait, this guy turns into a metal wolf?", asked Sarah.

Taylor replied. "Yes."

Sarah looked over each listed Parahuman under the Empire 88. The Voices asked questions which Taylor tried to answer.

Sarah said, "Seems we'll have to gather more intel. This site is a good start but we may have to do on site intelligence gathering."

Sarah clicked on the next gang, the ABB and clicked on Lung's information. As she and the rest of the Voices read his information Jaina chimed in, "This Lung becomes a dragon the longer the fight goes on? What a monster!"

Sarah looked at the other listed Parahuman, Oni Lee. "This gang holds all this territory with two of these Parahumans? I can see this Lung being a force of nature but this Oni Lee, ah...his teleportation power that makes clones of himself, that would be a force multiplier. I think I can stop him easily, both of them actually."

"How so?" asked Taylor.

"I can melt their brains."

Five voices in Sarah's head asked, "What?"

"I am a very powerful psychic. When I was tested as a child, I broke the scale they used to measure psychic strength. They had to make a whole new scale for measuring psychic strength which I'm still at the top of. Turning to look at Taylor's bed, the bed began to rise from the floor.

Sarah remarked, "Telekinesis and telepathy are just a couple things I can do. I used to be an assassin for the Confederacy, It's not what I would have wanted for myself but I had no choice for a long, long time. I was made to do some very bad things, things I regret doing. But, melting another person's brains out from the inside is a skill taught to only the strongest psychics that were forced to do the Confederacy's dirty work."

Widowmaker quietly said, "They made you into a weapon to suit their needs. It is what Talon did to me."

Tyrande and Jaina offered words of comfort to Widowmaker. Sarah was quiet, she just clicked on the gang information about the Merchants.

Instantly revulsion was felt by everyone as the information about the gang's Parahumans was read.

Widowmaker hissed, "Dégoûtant!"

Jaina chimed in, "If that means what I think it means, I wholeheartedly agree."

Li-Ming exclaimed, "Ewww, ewww, ewww", upon seeing Mush's power description.

Upon finishing looking through the Merchants gang data Sarah shuddered, "God, I need a shower just reading all of that."

Everyone said one of two things, "Ditto" or "Yep."

Sarah was using her powers to gain a sense of who was nearby and she sensed someone parking a car in the driveway. Sarah said, "Taylor, your dad's home."

Taylor said, "Okay, time's up."

Taylor focused her thoughts and pulled herself forward, Sarah began to change, and in seconds Taylor was sitting in the chair. In astonishment Taylor said, "Hey! Your computer is still here!"

Sarah commented, "Huh, well that's certainly unexpected."

Jaina added, "A test that I would have liked to have attempted sooner or later, very nice to have this confirmed so soon! A welcome surprise to be sure."

Taylor stood up and walked down the stairs and as she reached the bottom, the front door opened and her dad walked in. He stopped up short in surprise.

Danny blinked in surprise and said, "Taylor."

"Hi dad.", Taylor chirped. "Just coming down to start cooking dinner."

Danny closed the door and locked it. Turning to face her he said, "You don't need to do that", Taylor was about to say something but Danny continued, "Kurt and Lacey are coming over and Lacey's going to cook dinner."

Taylor's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Is she going to make her taco casserole?"

Chuckling, Danny remarked, "That does sound good, doesn't it. I don't know what she's making. I'm sure it will be a surprise."

Taylor smiled at her dad and she went into the kitchen to see what they had for cooking.

The doorbell rang shortly before 6:30pm and Taylor rushed to the door and opened it. She smiled as she saw two people she hadn't seen for a long time. Both the man and the woman were holding shopping bags filled with groceries. The brown haired woman cried out in greeting, "TayTay! You're looking good kid!"

Taylor blushed as she saw Kurt and Lacey and she heard her Aunt Lacey call her 'TayTay.'

Sarah and Jaina said, "Awww, how cute!"

There were chuckles and giggles from Widowmaker, Tyrande, and Li-Ming.

Kurt said, "Heya squirt, how ya doing? Dang, can't really call you squirt anymore, you've grown kid!"

Taylor's smile was wide as she said, "Hi Uncle Kurt! Hi Aunt Lacey! Oh you brought stuff, here let me move out of the way so you can come in."

Taylor stepped aside and the two adults walked in and headed straight for the kitchen. As they entered the kitchen they saw Danny sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey Danny!", the two greeted.

Taylor closed the door and walked into the kitchen and said, "Hey dad, I let these two strangers in, is that alright?", Taylor pointed at Kurt and Lacey with her thumb and she was grinning.

Danny smirked as his two friends placed the grocery bags on the kitchen table. "I dunno Taylor, did you have a good reason?", Danny responded.

Taylor shrugged, "Eh, they had bags of food."

Danny nodded, "Seems like a good enough reason."

Kurt looked at Danny and Taylor and said, "So, that's how it is huh?"

Lacey was cackling at the antics. "Hurry up and help unload the bags oh husband of mine, I gotta get started cooking!"

Taylor hurried over to the table and started pulling items out of one of the bags as Lacey started by grabbing the cutting board. "Taylor, grab the veggies and start washing. I'm going to be needing …"

Just like that, Aunt Lacey seized control of the kitchen and started giving orders. Taylor helped while Danny and Kurt left the kitchen to go to the living room and watch TV after Kurt finished helping Taylor with unloading the ingredients.

The two ladies chatted as Lacey asked how Taylor was doing after getting out of the hospital. Taylor told Lacey that she was feeling great after being healed by Panacea. Lacey tried to talk to Taylor about things that did not involve hospital stays and anything to do with school. She asked about what books Taylor was reading, music, TV. Taylor was suitably distracted as she helped Lacey with the food prep.

While Taylor and Lacey were working in the kitchen, Danny and Kurt watched TV and talked a little with Kurt trying to keep Danny distracted from the crap he had to deal with at Winslow and his talk with the School District Superintendent. There was no booze as well, Kurt and Lacey were going to make sure that Danny didn't do any drinking while they were there.

After about an hour, the food was ready and Taylor came over and told Danny and Kurt to join them in the kitchen. The two men got up, went to the bathroom to wash their hands and joined the ladies in the kitchen to see what was for dinner.

"Alright, what did you ladies end up making for dinner tonight?", Danny asked.

Taylor replied, "Well dad, we have right here a New England Clam Chowder for the soup that Aunt Lacey and I made to start."

Lacey chimed in, "The main entree is a Crunchy Hamburger Casserole. It's got ground beef, egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, and a lot of cheddar cheese with some other ingredients and crispy fried onions for the crunch. Enjoy."

Everyone dug into their food and there were sounds of contentment as they savored the food. The four enjoyed the meal and they all had a good time. Kurt and Lacey spent the time telling stories of various antics that had happened on the Docks. Danny and Kurt handled dish washing duties after the meal while Lacey put the leftovers into food storage containers. Then they went to the living room for a while and chit chatted until Kurt and Lacey had to go home. Taylor hugged Kurt and Lacey as they were about to leave for the night.

Before Kurt and Lacey had left they promised that they'd start doing this more often and that once the weather warmed up that Danny would start hosting barbecues in the backyard again. The two got in their car and Danny and Taylor waved goodbye as they pulled away.

The Voices in Taylor's head had enjoyed the food, even Widowmaker was complimentary of the cooking. They laughed in Taylor's mind at some of the stories being told, especially ones of Taylor's antics when she used to run around on the Docks when she was a little girl.

Jaina said, "Taylor, you're a Daughter of the Sea."

Taylor blinked at that and found it to be true.

As they were heading back inside Danny said, "I need to to you real quick Taylor."

The two sat in the living room again, Danny in his chair while Taylor sat on the couch. Taking a breath, Danny said, "Taylor, I need to talk to you about what happened after I left when you fell asleep. I went to see your Principal Blackwell to talk to her about what happened and talk about her proposed offer."

Taylor was silent at first and said, "I bet it wasn't much."

Angrily Danny replied, "You're right, it wasn't a whole lot. Sorry, sweetie. She only offered to cover the hospital costs and to pay us five thousand as long as we signed a document to not sue the school or the school district."

Taylor looked appalled, she exclaimed, "What the fuck?"

In Taylor's mind the Voices were equally surprised and shocked.

"That's not right!", exclaimed Jaina.

Widowmaker cursed in French at first then finished with, "This woman is too stupid to live."

Tyrande was calm as she expressed her displeasure. "Is she an Goblin or does she have Goblin blood? She offers a deal that one from the Bilgewater Cartel would offer."

Jaina affirmed Tyrande's statement. "Yes, she must have a goblin relative to be so cold and callous."

Sarah was quiet but Taylor could feel the simmering anger over the news.

Li-Ming demanded, "Let me out and I will cast Electrocute and shock her ass!"

Danny snorted and said, "She upped her offer to ten grand in cash as well as covering the hospital bills if I promised not to sue. I told her to pound sand. I also said that I would file a complaint with the school district, which I did. I talked to Superintendent Wilkenson this afternoon."

Taylor looked grim as she said, "That's all good but what are we going to do about the hospital bills? I know you said that your insurance was going to cover it, but are they going to cover all of it?"

Danny reached over and squeezed Taylor's hand. "Not to worry about it Taylor, my insurance should cover it all or at least most of it. We will have to tighten our belts so I can cover some of it, but its okay; we'll be okay Taylor."

Taylor looked at her dad and it was clear that he was hiding something.

"Dad, are we going to lose the house?", she asked.

Danny looked surprised, "What?! No! No, Taylor we are not going to lose the house."

Taylor asked, "So, you filed a complaint with the district? What does that mean?"

Danny replied, "I did, and it means that they're going to start investigating your principal. He was surprised she made us an offer which means she was doing this without his approval or authorization. Hopefully that means they'll take this seriously and look into her more thoroughly."

Taylor snorted and scoffed, "Sorry Dad, my faith in authority figures is not all that high."

Danny sighed and looked at his daughter. "I know kiddo, but we gotta start somewhere. I dealt more with his predecessor than him recently but I've known him to be fair."

"So, what does that mean about school? Do I have to go back?", Taylor asked.

Danny shook his head and said, "No, no Taylor you're not going back there. At least, not until that waste of space pretending to be a principal is gone. I'll go over there and pull you out of the school when I have a chance. I should have done it today but by the time my meeting with Blackwell ended I was not welcome."

Jaina said, "I do enjoy teaching, I can teach you!"

Li-Ming echoed, "I'd like to see if I can teach you how to do magic too! Jaina, you can't have her as an apprentice all to yourself!"

Widowmaker said, "Do you have more guns in the house? I can teach you how to shoot. I can also teach you how to fight and kill with your hands."

Tyrande said, "It would be wonderful to teach you the ways of my people and to see if Elune can guide your path."

Sarah chuckled, "Pretty sure you're not psychic Taylor, but I can teach you hand to hand and how to shoot as well."

Taylor thought, "You all have ideas, and I am interested in some of them. We'll talk more about it."

After a brief pause Danny continued. "I went to work to talk to the DWA lawyer about suing the school, your principal, the district, and Emma, her friends, and their families. He gave me some names of some lawyers to reach out to."

Taylor watched her dad, he was angry. Taylor was upset too. For too long she was a victim and now she was done with it. She asked, "Something happened besides Blackwell and you filing the complaint. What happened, dad?"

With an angry snort and a grunt Danny said, "Alan stabbed me in the back.", Taylor looked surprised as Danny continued. "He called me at the office, and threatened to sue us into bankruptcy if I didn't retract my accusation that Emma was behind all of this. Although, how he found out I named her, I'd like to know."

Taylor blinked as she took in that news and grew even more angry. Everyone in her head was equally upset to hear the latest news.

Taylor scoffed, "Now I know where Emma learned her backstabbing skills from."

Danny chuckled as he said, "Funny, that's what I told Alan."

Taylor blinked owlishly at her dad. "You didn't!"

Danny nodded.

"That's so crazy! You've known Alan longer than I've been alive, how can he turn his back on you, on us!?"

Sadly Danny said, "I don't know, I guess being a lawyer and rich has changed him. Don't worry too much about it, I promise he'll get his."

The Voices were echoing Danny's comment and that they were ready and willing to help in any way.

Taylor got up from her seat, grabbed another coke from the refrigerator and put it back when Widowmaker said, "No more sodas today! Start drinking more water! You need to start thinking about getting in shape!"

Sarah added, "Yes, Taylor if you want to be a Hero, you'll need to get in better physical shape. We'll talk more about that later."

Taylor grabbed a glass and filled it with water and said, "Going to the living room dad, I need to chill."

Taylor walked into the living room and turned on the TV. Instantly Jaina asked, "Can we see the Two Towers?"

Taylor rolled her eyes. She should have known. The she decided why not. She went to the DVD shelf, grabbed the DVD case and opened it. The Voices of Tyrande, Jaina, and Li-Ming were cheering the loudest although Widowmaker and Sarah were also cheering.

Taylor said, "Hey dad, I'm gonna start The Two Towers."

Danny said, "That's fine, I have some work to do in the office. I'll join you later if I can."

"Okay.", Taylor said.

Pressing Play on the remote the movie began to play and the Voices were extremely happy.

After the movie there was a lot of chatter between the Voices. They wanted to see the conclusion but Taylor wanted to to her room. Taylor was walking up the stairs to her room when Sarah started it.

Sarah asked, "Okay, I need to know ladies. Aragorn or Legolas?"

Jaina seemed to actually radiate embarrassment. "What do you mean?"

Li-Ming cheered, "I'll take both, please!"

Widowmaker gave a sexy moan. "I know who I'd take to bed."

Taylor actually started to blush as she knew exactly what Sarah meant and she hissed, "Knock it off, I'm only fifteen!"

Sarah asked, "That includes you Taylor, Aragorn or Legolas?"

As Taylor walked into her bedroom she said in her mind, "I'm not doing this, I'm not…"

Then Widowmaker seductively said, "If not Aragorn or Legolas, perhaps Arwen, Galadriel, or Eowyn?"

Taylor hissed, "Knock it off or I'll put you all in the dark. I'm serious."

Sarah quickly apologized, "Sorry Taylor. I'll stop."

Widowmaker was also quick to apologize having no wish or desire to be pushed down again.

Jaina seemed to not have a clue at first. "Sarah, what did you mean by...oh. Oh! Oh my!" Taylor could feel embarrassment radiating from Jaina.

"Sorry Taylor.", Jaina chirped right as Taylor was putting her palm to her face and sliding her hand down slowly.

After taking a calming breath, Taylor started getting ready for bed but she stopped after changing into her pajamas and went to the little computer that Sarah had left behind. She asked, "Sarah, can I plug my keyboard into your computer?"

Sarah replied, "Yes, just take your cable and insert it into the back, the computer will adapt to take the connection."

Taylor did as instructed and she felt the USB cable connect to Sarah's computer. Now that she had done that, she turned on the computer and monitor and in a few seconds the computer was on. Following Sarah's instructions she was online again and they were looking at the gangs page of Parahumans Online once more.

Taylor noticed that the gang borders for Empire 88 showed an increase into ABB territory and an ABB increase into Merchants territory.

Taylor looked at the latest gang fight report from the website and everyone in her head was reading the information with her. Then Taylor decided to finish looking at the gang information and clicked on Coil and was extremely disappointed to find out absolutely nothing about the villain other than he liked to use professional mercenaries with tinker tech and other high tech equipment and weapons within his downtown territory.

Letting out a huff Taylor said, "Well that sucked, we don't even know if he has powers, or if Coil is a man or woman."

Li-Ming said, "Is that all of the bad guys?"

Taylor said, "Those are the major players." She backed out and went to the website that displayed the known Parahumans in the city. She pointed out on the web site that there were other villains out there that were not part of a gang. "There's Uber and Leet and Circus and there is supposedly a new group of villains but no one's seen or posted anything about them except as possible rumors."

"Well, we've got a lot of information on these bad guys and this map helps us know where the bad guys are. Taylor could you please point on the map where your house is so we know where we are right now?", asked Sarah.

Taylor leaned forward to look at the screen and grabbed a pen and put the pen cap on the screen and said, "The house is here. We're in between Empire and ABB territory, kinda neutral at the moment."

Tyrande asked, "Has your neighborhood been captured by these gangs in the past?"

Taylor responded, "No, my neighborhood hasn't ever been caught in the middle. Although this is making me nervous."

Taylor could hear her dad walk out of the upstairs office and he poked his head in Taylor's room. "Good night Taylor, sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"Night dad."

There were giggles from the Voices at Danny's good night saying.

Tyrande said, "I can make sure there are no bed bugs Taylor if you need me to."

Taylor chuckled, "It's just a saying, my bed has no bedbugs otherwise I'd be covered in the when I woke up."

As Taylor looked over the PHO website and was gathering information with the Voices asking Taylor questions about what they were finding.

At around 11pm Taylor was yawning and decided it was time to finish getting ready for bed. She turned off the computer and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and brush her hair. Ready or bed she closed her door again and slid under her covers then turned out the lights.

The Voices all said "Good night" to Taylor in their own way. Tyrande said it in her native Night Elf language. Jaina wished Taylor a peaceful slumber. Widowmaker said good night to her in French. Li-Ming wished her a sleep without nightmares. Sarah wished Taylor pleasant dreams. Soon Taylor was in a sound sleep.

Author Note: More French translations that I used Google translate for.

* merde – fuck or shit, apparently its used for both,

* putain de chienne et traître – fucking bitches and traitor

* la demoiselle – Lady

* jeune fille – young lady

* Merveilleux – wonderful

* mon dieu – my God

* Le seul bon Nazi est un Nazi mort – the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi

* comment est-ce arrivé? – how did this happen?

* dégoûtant – disgusting