Some called it and caught it, some did not, Taylor was drunk as hell on the Dark Side last chapter, do enjoy the followup.

Oh and as a clarification there was only one thug that clearly saw Taylor's face, and she's dead, the rest of them were too busy suffering severe trauma to even bother looking closely through the shadows of her hood.

It was yet another early morning that greeted Annette when the alarm resting on her bedside table went off at five AM to snap both her and Danny from the realm of Morpheus.

The fact that she managed to hit the snooze button without following the compulsion to bitch smack the radio alarm across the room was a simple testament to her self-control; though she did have to snort in amusement as her husband plaintively whined out, "Why!?" as he stared up at the ceiling in impotent rage as consciousness overtook him.

Smiling she reached over to play with his hair a bit while replying with, "Because you are a hardworking man who inadvertently made himself the leader of the DWU, primarily due to attrition and the simple fact that you are the singular focus who has the drive to rebuild the bay's shipping industry now that the inlet is clear."

Danny let out a very tired sigh at that before rolling over pulling Annette in a tight hug while muttering, "Damn…way to use logic on me Beanpole," followed with a tender kiss.

Annette smirked as she burrowed into the hug and returned the kiss, "What I'm here for Roughneck."

Getting Danny set out Annette knew she couldn't fall back to sleep anytime soon so she put water on the boil and prepared her favorite tealeaves, and soon had a wonderful cup of chamomile seeping as she watched the morning news.

Sipping her tea she more or less let the news of the ongoing violence in the city wash over her with practiced indifference when Taylor ran down the steps, entered the bathroom, then proceed to loudly vomit into the toilet.

That…That cannot possibly bode well.

Entering the bathroom Taylor huddled in the corner shaking back and forth muttering to herself, her arms wrapped around her knees muttering quietly with her head bowed, crying.

Every protective instinct Annette had lit up like the crescendo of fireworks on the Fourth of July as she rushed towards her daughter and took a knee next to her. Touching Taylor's arm her daughter jerked to attention, focused on her a moment, then let out a sob as she pulled herself into Annette's arms.

They sat there for a time, Annette making calming, reassuring noises as Taylor sniffled, and eventually the young teen in her arms calmed down enough that she felt it was safe to question her daughter.

"Little owl, what happened?"

If a man had so much as thought of Taylor in anything resembling a sexual manner much less going through with his perversions she was going to burn this mother fucking city to the ground. No one would be safe from he-

"I did something really really bad, and I don't know if I can ever make it better."

Deep breaths Annette, deep breaths, "What did you do love?"

Taylor was quiet for a time, then she whispered out, "I meditated, was trying to center myself, then I had a vision. Most of it made no real sense, but at the end I had one like I did last year, when I saw you die while texting and driving."

Annette grimaced at that, the frantic call she'd received from Taylor while she was grading papers had been enough for her to take a different route home. The end result, around the time she would have been passing Elm and Greenwich a drunk driver plowed through the guard rail and ended up nose planting into the lower embankment. If Annette had been in his way, she would have been the one to die in that accident.

So, it was time to take this seriously.

"What did you see love?"

Taylor shivered as she burrowed herself closer to her mom, "Uncle Allen and Emma getting attacked by the ABB, they beat Uncle Allen until he stopped moving and dragged Emma into an alley by her hair. A woman, the leader I guess pulled a knife on her and..and… She told Emma how she was going to let 'her boys' gang rape her, then sell her off as a sex slave, and if she dared to fight back she would mutilate her face and…"

Taylor was hyperventilating now and it took all of Annette's focus to stay in the here and now to keep her daughter from losing it.

"It's ok little owl, let it out, I'm here for you."

Taylor took a minute or two to calm down before gulping and continued on, "I… I lost it mom, I pulled on a hoody, grabbed my lightsaber, and jumped out the window to save her but… I wasn't fast enough, I needed something more to save my Emma…I…I drew on the Dark Side."

Oh my child.

Taylor was breathing heavily as she tried to formulate a way to express her feelings then eventually gave up as she muttered out, "It was exactly like sensei said it would be. It was intoxicating, it was overwhelming, all encompassing, and it was….freeing. I made it to the alley in time to stop that bitch from hurting Emma, and…and I gave them a chance to back down. When they refused I hurt them…badly, then Shadow Stalker showed up which was you know…new, and we worked together to stop them and…"

Taylor's brow furrowed a moment and she actually blushed a bit as she muttered, "Also she's really hot and I ended up flirting with her which surprises the hell out of me because I didn't realize till now that I might be a little gay and I am really bad at flirting…"

It took a lot of effort on Annette's part not to break out laughing at that bit, "Ah like mother like daughter, you're quite likely bisexual little owl, best to just accept it and move on."

Taylor shifted in her grasp as she turned to meet her mom's gaze, "Wait, what?"

Annette rolled her eyes as she pulled her daughter closer, "I ran with Lustrum Taylor, do the math."

Taylor for her part blushed then nodded as she calmed down a bit and continued, "I...when I'm truly part of the Force like I was last night people can't lie to me… So after we took out the chaff I confronted the woman who had leaded the attack on my Emma and… she surrendered."

Taylor was quiet for a time then she whispered, "I told her 'Good for you, then you get to die a coward,' and then…and then…I stabbed her in the heart…"

Taylor broke out sobbing again and Annette could only pull her closer while a singular thought rang through her head.

Like mother, like daughter.

After a time, Taylor calmed down and her mom let out a heavy sigh as she loosened her embrace to pull the distraught girl from her and held her by the shoulders while meeting her sullen gaze, "Can I tell you story?"

Taylor tilted her head to the side in confusion, but then nodded as Annette collected her thoughts a moment, "When I was a junior in college I had already been part of Lustrum's movement for two years, low level stuff I won't bore you with. There was a serial date rapist on campus making his rounds at the time which obviously drew our attention."

Taylor stiffened up at the phrase 'serial date rapist," and Annette suddenly had her full attention; the utter rage boiling in her dark green gaze was powerful enough to spark a fire of pride in her feminist mother's heart.

"My friend…ok ex-girlfriend was being hounded by a jock and brushed him off every time he tried to woo her. Then one night, she left the bar with him."

Annette took in a deep breath before turning her head towards Taylor, "She is a lesbian, no interest whatsoever in men. I followed them and…look she was in a compromising position, I had a crowbar, and…I did some things I'm kind of proud of to someone who deserved it. Would I have handled it differently if I had been thinking more clearly? Yes… Yes I probably would have, but I hadn't been thinking clearly, and I reacted to the danger of one of my sisters about to be raped the only way I could."

Swallowing back old emotions, Annette ran a hand down Taylor's jaw while shooting her a wan smile, "What I learned from that entire car wreck of a situation is that sometimes the only way we can win is to escalate and dominate with overwhelming force, and damn the consequences. Just, well, if something like this happens again let me know, I kind of have experience in the whole 'hiding evidence' scene."

Taylor was silent for a time, then nodded slowly while seeing her mom in a new light, "I…I guess…I understand… But I did just…execute someone, and then there is the whole Shadow Stalker thing…"

Annette smiled at that then nodded as she met her daughter's gaze evenly, "Ah yes, about that, you're grounded."

Taylor reared back in shock as she cried out, "Mom!"

Annette did her very best not to break out laughing at the expression on her daughter's face.

Ah, to be young again.