After listening to Lisa explain her situation and the deep roots that Coil had managed to sink into the city I hadn't gotten much in the way of sleep. When all was said and done I had the Dollhouse drop me off into my room after ensuring that Lisa would have any equipment she needed.

I had tiptoed through the house to ensure that my dad had made it home only to find him fully clothed and collapsed on his bed and snoring loud enough to wake the dead. With deliberate slowness I closed the door to his room and returned to my own, planting myself at my desk and forcing myself to focus on homework.

One of the many advantages of having my brain replaced by a bit of the Dollhouse was that my body ran at maximum efficiency, so while I still needed sleep the small nap I had gotten in after the Dock's had been enough to carry me over until the next day. By the time I would normally have just been waking up the assignments I had tossed aside for my earlier rest were completed and it was time to pretend I had any interest in a school that was little more than a time sink at this point.

Maybe I could ask Lisa to do something hacking related to make it so I didn't have to bother with it anymore. Then again that seemed like a flagrant abuse of having a former villain on my payroll.

I stepped into the shower to quickly rinse off and found my dad pouring a bowl of cereal and setting it aside for me before collapsing into his own seat and looking at his own through a haze of sleepiness.

"Such luxury," I joked before sitting down and starting in on the cereal before it got soggy. "You sure we aren't at a five star hotel?"

My dad could only provide a grunt to that, forcing himself back into the moment in order to eat. "You know back in my day kids would be lucky to not get a bowl of rocks and be told to make it work."

I nearly gagged on my food for a moment, having to thump my chest to try and force everything down. Dad had just made a joke, maybe not one of the funniest but it was something I hadn't really expected out of him.

My eyes ran over him once more with a bit more detail, and I found a few things that actually shocked me. While he was very much exhausted there wasn't the usual element of defeat that had come to characterize him since my mom's passing. Instead there was a spark of something in his eyes that made him seem more alive then I had seen him in years. It wasn't anything as dramatic as sitting across from a totally different person, but there was enough there that made him look…alive.

"Was everything okay at the Dock's?" I tried to bait some conversation from him, hoping to get some hint about what had him in such a good mood.

"Once we got the crowds gone and the PRT off of the grounds it worked out pretty well, few people got a bit scuffed up but overall it wasn't too bad. Best part was afterward," a genuine smile came across his face. "Some guy came in, one of the old money types that normally wouldn't be caught dead around there and started asking for people to get a job done for him."

It was lucky I had decided to put any further attempts at eating on pause, because it was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. Leave it to Stetson to gain a fortune, invest it into my fathers business, and then not even so much as mention it before presumably heading off. "What kind of jobs?" I managed to ask, trying my best to stay casual.

Thankfully if my father caught on he didn't say anything about it. "Big revitalization process on some of the beaches and docks surrounding them, apparently it's a privately funded deal but the paperwork is legitimate so we can move forward," he let out a small laugh. "There is enough there to keep us busy, but word is that a private investor putting money into the beach is catching some ears as City Hall."

"You think that they might hear out your ferry idea this time?" I cautiously floated the idea to him, after all it had been his brainchild for years to get the ferry going again, but there had always been a reason why the city wouldn't invest in it.

"With our people getting hired and some extra money flowing around, it's the strongest chance we've seen in years," he took a breath and shook his head. "Even if it doesn't go that far, opening up the beaches will be rewarding in its own right. And without the graveyard floating in jagged metal on the tide it's possible that people might start going back to them around the summer," he glanced toward the clock and then turned to me. "You need a ride to school?"

"Uh, no I'll be fine," I slammed back the rest of my bowl and jumped up to my feet. "Think you'll be home today?"

In response he made a small waving motion with his hand. "Maybe? Here just in case," he pulled out his wallet and slapped forty dollars into my hands. "Don't use it on drugs." my dad winked and turned back to clean up the mess.

"Right!" I closed the door behind me and practically collapsed against it, resting the back of my head on the wood. It felt like years since I had seen my dad with that much life in him, and although it was a good chance to see it was so utterly alien to me to see something like it.

"Dollhouse, reverse summon." I brought myself into the Dollhouse and quickly had it chart me a location to Lisa, only to find her collapsed in front of a computer setup in a room that had been prepared for her. I had to give her points for diligence, but I would have to make sure she was set up to ensure she was taken care of.

I exited the room and sent a quick command to have a Doll lay her in the room's bed, focusing on the day ahead. Ever since I had gained access to the Dollhouse my preparations for school had changed slightly. Rather than show up at the absolute last minute to hide from the Trio and the cadre of other assholes who made my life hell, the Dollhouse provided me with a solution in the form of an 'Accessory'.

"Accessory activate, Inconspicuous Ape."

Confirmed.

The small toy appeared in my hands, looking no different than one of the Cymbal-Monkey toys that could be found in stores for parents who had no idea what they were in for to give their kids as a noise making distraction. However as a product of the Dollhouse it had its own unique abilities, mainly in that it reversed the normal effect the toy would have on those around it.

The louder it banged together its cymbals the easier it was to lose track of me, from its first setting making it difficult to quite remember who I was to its last of utterly erasing my presence from a given area. The drawback being of course that it had a slow but constant drain the harder someone attempted to focus on finding me. But in a sea of other faces so long as it blanked out my identity with the sound of its cymbals I could walk through school completely unmolested by the usual bullies.

More often than not I was a target of opportunity, not one that people sought out. With a quick command I was dropped off in front of Winslow. "Blood Brain Connection." I said softly.

Confirmed.

As soon as my blood 'string' connected to the small toy it began to bang together its cymbals and rattle slightly in my hand, and suddenly all eyes were everywhere except for me. I was essentially a part of the scenery to everyone else. They would step around me if they were paying attention, the same way that one might have moved around a pillar in their way. Once or twice I banged shoulders with someone and got the usual quick 'sorry about that' before the person was back to what they were doing.

It was essentially paradise for me. Thankfully I was able to make a straight line from the entrance into the classroom as the bell started to ring, sitting at my desk as others got ready for the first part of the day. It seemed that outside of the typical scratched in curse words and images no one had messed with my seat, a small blessing.

School passed pretty much the same, if my name was called I would raise my hand. If a question was asked I would just stay silent. So long as I didn't draw undue attention to myself any minor spikes of interest were quickly erased by the effects of the accessory. Each class seemed to blur together for me without the endless threat of torture hanging over my head. In the short time I had been using the accessory at school my grades had already started to stabilize, and if the look on the Trio's face was any indication they might have been slipping just a bit without being able to steal my work.

Before long the bell rang out and let everyone out for lunch, which of course I decided to take in the Dollhouse. One quick reverse summoning later and I found myself in the grand foyer before making my way to the grand dining room, seeing Lisa hungrily digging into a salad with one hand and furiously typing on a laptop with another. At the sound of my entrance she looked up and gave a nod. "Looking a bit pale there boss." her voice was teasing but I could detect a tinge of worry to it as well.

"Yeah, being constantly drained of blood will do that to you," I collapsed in a seat across from her and let out a small groan. "T.V. Butler, food please."

At my command the Dollhouse summoned up the Doll into the room, a tall figure dressed in a black suit jacket and other formal wear along with a red bowtie. The most striking feature was of course the old box television where a human would normally have a head, projecting on it the face of a kindly old man. "Your usual Taylor?"

"Please," I held out a hand and in a single smooth motion he put an ice cold glass of water into it before stalking away to another room to prepare.

"Wait, you have a robot butler?" Lisa looked down at her salad for a moment. "The weird robot voice told me to come here and then this was just sitting here. I thought this place was just like, teleporting food in or something," she took a long drink from her own glass. "Am I supposed to tip the robot butler?"

I couldn't help but laugh despite how exhausted I was. "The Dollhouse has a huge greenhouse built into it…somewhere," despite more than three months worth of experience within his place I still didn't have a good grasp of how big it was. "No animals or anything, so if you want meat you'll have to go out and buy it."

"Honestly this salad might be the best thing I've ever had in my life, so I'm not complaining," she pushed aside her bowl for a moment and refocused on me. "But enough about your bullshit not-Tinkertech fortress, can we rollback to the 'drained of blood' part?"

"Oh right, whenever I use a Doll outside of this place I have to connect to it through a small strand of blood," I brought a hand to my hair and parted it slightly, willing a panel to open to reveal one of the various place from which I could project my strings. "Just having a Doll activate isn't much of a strain, but if I use a special ability or push what it's doing too much at one time it can get really draining."

"Huh, that explains the Lung fight, when Bitch dropped her hounds on Lung you looked ready to pass out," Lisa considered me for a moment. "But how were you able to jump back in after we bought you time?"

I reached into my bag and pulled out a small mint container, pulling out what looked to be a small red mint from within and showing her. "I don't really get how it works, but my teacher gave them to me and said that if I took one it would uh…restock me?" I didn't really know how to explain the feeling of sluggishness being replaced by strength as my body literally refilled with blood in moments after taking it. "It takes about thirty seconds to kick in, but once it does I'm fine. Beyond that," I tapped my head. "I cheat slightly."

My new brain upgraded a ton of aspects in regards to more body, helping to regulate processes that were more bug then feature with most people. And beyond that Riley had performed some (very superved) surgery to boost the effectiveness of my organs and bones over a long weekend where I had convinced my father I was staying over at a friends for the weekend.

I had felt bad at first asking her to do something like that, but she had explained that without being able to do something with her power it might slowly drive her insane from inaction. So far she had managed to get by by having Trauma Bear absorb any negative feelings, but that was at best a temporary measure and not a long term solution.

Eventually Riley would need to leave this place and find a life for herself, though Stetson had told her that she could stay as long as she wanted. There might be plenty she could do out in the world with a mindset cleared of any of Jack Slash's poison, but it was still a long road before she would be comfortable trusting herself without a watchful eye over her shoulder.

My thoughts were broken as a plate of freshly grilled vegetables and a cold glass of tea was placed before me, T.V. Butler gave a small bow before backing away. "Thank you." I said, digging into the food and enjoying the flavor of the meal. Between bites I tossed the blood pill I had pulled to show Lisa into my mouth, nearly moaning as I felt my strength flooding back.

"Man, your school must be hell if you are willing to drain yourself that badly just to be a fly on the wall." Lisa had dropped any hint of playfulness, instead just honest concern in her voice.

The laugh that escaped me had no humor to it, more a resigned sense of exhaustion. "My former best friend and her new best friend have spent the better part of a year making my life hell. And then they tried to kill me by stuffing me into a locker filled with...yeah."

For a moment even Lisa seemed unable to respond. "Within the first week of me being in this city a freak dressed in a snake onesie put a gun to my head and said 'work for me or die'," she put on a rather weak smile. "So you know, same."

For a moment neither of us said anything, but a small laugh escaped me. The laugh seemed to get one out of Lisa, and soon the two of us were laughing at our lots in life until we both seemed out of breath.

"Man fuck our lives." Lisa raised her glass for a toast.

"Fuck our lives." I agreed, clacking my glass against her own.

It took a moment for the two of us to catch our breath, a few giggles starting up a laugh or two as we tried to refocus on eating. "So what do you do for fun outside of all this?" she waved around.

"I guess, I read?'' It had been quite awhile since I had made smalltalk with anyone other than Riley and Stetson, and the rust was quite obvious.

Lisa rolled her eyes slightly. "Romance novels, sci-fi, steamy Legend and Eidolon slash fics? Gotta give me something to work with here."

I nearly choked on my next bite at her suggestions, banging a fist against my chest to try and get it down and force air into my lungs. "What the hell?" I managed to get out.

"Sorry, friends ask these kinds of things don't they?" Lisa seemed to be honestly asking.

"Friends?" the word escaped under my breath, the last real friend I had was Emma, and that hadn't exactly turned out well for me. The closest I had probably gotten to a friend was Riley, and even then I didn't know if the word fit comfortably.

"Yeah, listen I'll be honest with you," she pushed aside her plate and focused on me. "My team consists of Regent, who is an asshole. Grue, who is all business. And Bitch, who is a whole can of worms I don't feel like getting into right now. This is about as close to a normal social interactions as I've had in…fuck years probably," a cat like smile crossed her face. "And you promised to beat the hell out of my asshole of a boss, that makes us friends in my book."

I had no real way to respond to that, but the idea of someone wanting to be my friend was…nice. Maybe a bit uncomfortable as well, but honestly I didn't want to deny the idea. "Yeah, I don't have much practice but I'd like that. If we could be friends I mean."

That seemed to get a real smile out of Lisa, who simply gave a nod. Sadly the moment was broken by a small ring going through the Dollhouse's intercom, meaning that it was time to get back to school. "Are you going to be okay here?" I asked Lisa, grabbing my bag and getting ready to return .

She waved away my worries with her freehand. "I'll be fine, I already contacted the others so they know I'm fine. Besides I think there might be a good lead on Heartbreaker that I need to follow up on before it goes cold."

I could only give a nod to that as I prepared myself, looking back to my…friend…and giving a smile. "Happy hunting."

Within a moment I was back on the front steps of Winslow with the Inconspicuous Ape in my hand and my connection running through it. Unfortunately the most difficult part of the day had arrived, having to exchange books at my locker for my second block of classes. The drain could get bad quickly if any of the Trio were sniffing around for their favored victim, and having to wait for a clear path had made me late once or twice to classes.

Today seemed like it was going to be one of those days, Emma and Sophia were both standing near my locker, though Madison was surprisingly absent. All I could do was lean near my locker and wait for them to lose interest.

"I get putting the freak into her place, but maybe she has just gotten too good at hiding," Emma checked her nails and glanced at Sophia as she leaned back against her locker. "It feels like we haven't seen her in a month."

Sophia meanwhile glanced down the hallway, expecting to see me amongst the sea of bodies moving back and forth, never suspecting for a moment that I was within arms reach. "Was she in the classes you shared?"

Emma blinked for a moment, her head set back against the locker as she thought. "I mean, yes?" a flash of confusion crossed against her face. "I mean, I think so?"

"What do you mean you think so?" Sophia seemed to pick up on Emma's confusion quickly, a look of concern crossing her face.

"During class the teacher didn't say she was absent, but I…" she trailed off for a moment, her mind trying to fill in the blanks that my erased presence had left in her memory. After a moment Emma shook her head and refocused on Sophia. "Anyway it's not like I pay attention to every sad freak, she is way forgettable you know?"

Before I might have been hurt by her words, but it hardly seems worth it to care what my former friend had to say. More interesting was the caged look that Sophia seemed to have on her face. "You don't think it's weird that you don't remember if she was around?"

"No?" Emma asked, honest confusion in her voice.

I felt goosebumps raise on my arms as I realized what was happening, somehow Sophia was picking up on my lack of presence. For most people turning the other way and ignoring one or two oddities was simply how they coped, which was how Inconspicuous Ape could manage to erase my presence with a minimal activation cost. Things could get troublesome quickly if Sophia put the Trio on watch duty for me, drawing away more energy than I was willing to spend in a place as potentially dangerous as Winslow.

"Okay, connection break," I started walking, deciding to ignore the books for my next period and slightly bumping Sophia's shoulder and making a production of stumbling a bit, allowing both of them to see me in the crowd. "Oh I'm so s-" while I wasn't the best actor I could at least draw from experience with my discomfort around the two of them.

Emma for her part put on a vicious smile. "See what was I telling you, she is so pathetic it's impossible to notice her." she turned to Sophia as if waiting for her to join in on the mockery.

But for her part Sophia seemed to be in a state of confusion, her eyes glancing everywhere as if trying to see where I could have possibly come from. Finally her eyes locked on mine and a glimmer of something dangerous passed over her.

I met her gaze for a moment, and suddenly I was back on the dark city streets facing down Lung and getting ready to go to war with the ABB's leader. Those weren't the eyes that a normal high schooler was supposed to have, even one as blackhearted as Sophia.

The bell rang and interrupted our sudden staring contest, and I quickly straightened myself out and disappeared into the crowd, activating the accessory in my hands and blanking my presence out as its cymbals began to bang together louder than ever.

Throughout the rest of the day I alternated keeping Inconspicuous Ape active and just using my normal avoidance method for the Trio, desperately waiting for the bell so I could get back to the Dollhouse and get advice from Lisa about what to do. I didn't actually know if a former villain would have any idea about what to do with this sort of situation, but it wasn't like I had any other options.

However from the moment I left my last class to the moment I stepped out of the school I could feel a set of eyes on me. Anytime I would glance over my shoulder there wouldn't be anyone there, but the feeling of being watched was too intense to just be ignored.

I was too drained from my last classes to keep Inconspicuous Ape activated for a long period of time, especially under heavy scrutiny, and taking a blood pill might lead to them being taken by whoever was watching me. Which left me wandering the city, trying to take turns that might throw off whoever was after me. Yet no matter how far I went or what situation I set up I could still feel eyes burrowing into me.

Eventually I found myself downtown, a long walk but not one that particularly winded me after working so hard on my exercise routine. Even with larger crowds I still felt like I was being watched. However it seemed like luck might have been on my side, because I noticed a possible outcome from my situation on the sidewalk, Glory Girl in full uniform and offering a smile for a picture with some fans.

I quickly pulled out a notebook and pen, scribbling a message and walking over once the crowd around her gave way. "Hi, uh, Glory Girl. I was wondering if I could get an autograph." I prayed that she paid attention to the paper before signing, and it paid off as she turned to glance at me.

'I think someone is following me please help'

My handwriting wasn't the neatest and I had to work fast while walking, but she seemed to pick it up easily enough. "Sure, always have time for a fan," she offered a bright smile and took my pen, leaning forward. "Keep walking and turn down the street about two blocks, then go to the building with the blue door. And if this is a prank I'm not going to be happy, got it?"

I gave a nod and a quick smile of thanks as she made a quick autograph in my notebook. "Well lots of stuff to do, stay safe." with that she took off into the sky and left me on the streets.

With nothing else to do I followed her instructions, still feeling the eyes on me the entire time until I found myself in front of a clothing store with a bright blue door. Before I could react I felt myself being pulled up by my arms, letting out a not quite so heroic yelp as I was placed atop the building by a concerned looking Glory Girl.

"Well you were definitely being followed," Glory Girl looked toward the opposite side of the building and squared up as if ready for a fight. "Now let's find out why."

A mist of darkness seemed to fly up from the side of the building, landing in front of us before turning into a young woman holding a crossbow in one hand and dressed in black. I vaguely recognized her from some publicity photos taken of the Ward's, but it was Glory Girl herself who managed to speak first. "So I get that your name is Shadow Stalker, but following high school girls around is a bit much don't you think?" Despite the playful attitude of her tone Glory Girl's stance was set for a brawl.

That threw me a bit for a loop, why would a Ward be following me around this closely?

"This has nothing to do with you Dallon, why don't you fly off?" Shadow Stalker's voice was muffled by her mask, but the scorn in her voice was clear.

"Why don't you?" Glory Girl deliberately put herself between Shadow Stalker and myself, widening her stance slightly and staring her down. "If I remember right didn't Gallant say you were supposed to be off missions for a week because you pulled a…well you?" her tone was accusatory. "Let me guess, this girl probably said that Vista was her favorite and you were going to threaten her, that's about your normal level of security isn't it?"

Shadow Stalker's hand tightened on her crossbow as if deciding whether to raise it or not.

"Unless you can give me a reason that you were following her then maybe you should be the one leaving and we can pretend I wasn't wasting time up here," Glory Girl tightened her hands into fists. "But if you think I'm going to let you just harass someone for no reason, you must not know me very well."

Shadow Stalker seemed to weigh her options, glancing behind Glory Girl at me before scoffing under her breath. "This isn't worth my time." with that said she stepped off of the roof and disappeared.

Glory Girl let out a breath before turning to face me. "Man you must have pissed her off pretty bad, which means you are probably a good person given her bitchy attitude."

"I honestly have no idea what I did to make her angry at me." I answered honestly, a bit put out by the situation.

"Well honestly you probably wouldn't know how she is," Glory Girl pulled out her phone and sent a text message. "Honestly I wouldn't feel right just leaving you out here given how pissed she probably is, but I really have to meet with my family."

"I'll probably be fine." if I could just get a moment of privacy I could enter into the Dollhouse without worry.

"Yeah no, Shadow Stalker is a vindictive bitch but if she has you in her crosshairs it's usually a bad thing," she seemed deep in thought for a moment before nodding. "How about I take you with me to meet the rest of my family, get a few autographs and we can get you a taxi home or something. I'd be a pretty ass hero if I just let you go."

I tried to form a response, but honestly I had no real idea how to turn her down. It had been a long time since anyone had gone out of their way just to be nice to me, to offer some form of help because they saw I was in a bad situation. "I don't know what to say." I responded.

"Just say you don't have a weak stomach," she grinned and picked me up. "Okay hold on, this is going to be really cool."

To be fair to her, flying with one of the first genuinely nice people I've come across was pretty cool.