So it turns out I have a particularly strong stomach and that flying, even under someone else's power, was pretty great. Glory Girl for her part seemed to enjoy the chance to show off, hitting higher speeds and doing a few tricks. Thankfully we stayed just high enough that no one seemed to notice either of us.

Eventually she began to descend, dropping us down in front of a large group of people who were either standing or sitting in the outdoor area of a local cafe. I could recognize most of the members of New Wave from their costumes, but more surprising were the PRT heroes Assault and Battery. The moment we touched down all eyes were on us, making me feel just a touch conscious of the situation I was in.

"Victoria I told you this was going to be a team meeting, I had hoped you would realize that meant not to bring along a friend." Brandish stepped forward and examined me for a moment.

"Mom she isn't a friend," Glory Girl paused for a moment before turning to me as if realizing how that might have come across. "Not that you aren't nice I meant, well you know?" she looked honestly embarrassed, but I just waved it off.

"Don't worry," I stepped forward, practically feeling the questioning gaze of the assembled heroes on me. "I was being followed by someone and Glory Girl insisted on getting me somewhere a bit safer."

Brandish seemed to calm a bit at that explanation, examining me for a moment as if trying to pull some sort of lie out of my words before giving a smile to her daughter. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," she turned her focus back to me with a more serious expression. "Do you know who was following you? If it's a case of stalking or gangs I have a few friends in the police who might be able to help."

"Or we could go give them a scare," Assault grinned only for his partner to sigh. "What? We can call it 'settling a possible criminal action' and bill it to the company."

Battery looked at him. "Why do I put up with you again?"

Assault just casually gave a shrug before turning to me. "But seriously, if someone is following you and is making you feel unsafe it's the least we can do to help out."

Any response caught in the back of my throat, I had no real idea how to deal with a situation like this. Most of the offered 'help' from people in authority had been half hearted 'you just need to keep your chin up' speeches. The fact that a group of people who had never met me before was so willing to put forward help was a bit shocking.

"Well yeah I'd hope you could help out, seeing as your pet demon was the one stalking her," Glory Girl looked at the two PRT heroes with a look of frustration.

The smile seemed to slip from Assault's face for a moment, through Battery was the one who spoke up. "What are you talking about?"

"Shadow Stalker was following…" she paused and turned to me, as if just realizing she had never asked my name.

"Taylor, uh Taylor Herbert." I gave a wave to the group, if only because I had no idea how to properly act in this situation.

"Right following Taylor for about an hour before she found me, probably lucky that she didn't turn into an alley," Glory Girl crossed her arms. "Those bolts of hers didn't exactly look like she was planning on a conversation about where she shopped."

"And you're sure it was Shadow Stalker that was following her?" Battery asked, her voice a bit harder as she glanced at me.

"Spooky shadow powers, creepy mask, total bi-"

"Victoria!" Brandish cut off her daughter.

Glory Girl turned her head away from her mom. "Well it's true. Anyway yeah, she told me to buzz off and I sent her running."

Battery and Assault looked at each other for a moment, seemingly having an entire conversation in the span of seconds before turning back. "Sorry Brandish, I need to make a quick call to headquarters. Do you mind if we take five?"

Brandish for her part didn't seem put off, simply giving a nod. "It's not like we've gotten to anything important yet, go ahead."

"And while she makes a call let me buy you a coffee, looks like we ended up causing you a bit of trouble," Assault offered a kind smile and pointed toward the cafe.

Glory Girl looked at me, her face obviously questioning if I felt comfortable stepping away. I could only give a half hearted grin and nod before walking over to Assault as she turned back to her family.

As we entered the cafe he placed my order for me and motioned for us to take a seat near the door. "So I guess this is probably the part where a responsible adult and hero would ask you not to spread this around the internet and slander a Ward's good name."

My heart sank slightly as I realized where this was going, the care that he had shown was most likely just a way to ensure I wouldn't make things difficult for them. But before I could say that I had no intention of doing so he continued speaking.

"That being said, I'm not going to try and twist your arm or anything. You got followed by a Ward on an unauthorized patrol across most of the city if what Glory Girl said is true, so I can't say you aren't in your rights to call her whatever you want to whoever you want," Assault brushed aside the issue rather easily. "If you do something stupid you're supposed to face consequences, through I'm probably the last guy in the world who should be saying that kind of stuff." he offered a grin and a slight chuckle.

Once again I was caught off guard, I didn't get the impression he was trying to get on my good side, he seemed like the type to say what was on his mind and brush off anything else. "I wasn't planning on saying anything,"

"Then you are a better person than me." Assault said with an honest smile.

"I just don't really get why she was following me," that was the point my mind kept coming back to, throughout my entire history as Thread I hadn't once run into Shadow Stalker, and even if I had the odds of her knowing who I was outside of being a hero were slim. While I hadn't done the best job of disguising myself I was fairly confident that I hadn't been found out yet.

"Yeah that's the million dollar question," he leaned forward slightly. "No bragging to your friends that one of the Wards was better, or making one of the Edge Stalker jokes in public?"

"Nothing like that, the only person who I know that hates me enough to stalk me is…" I realized suddenly where I was going and shut my mouth. Assault's relaxed attitude somehow made it easy to talk to him.

His smile slipped for a moment. "Listen I'm not the best at acting like it but I'm still a hero, do you think there is a reason anyone would be stalking you?"

"This girl from highschool, she uh, doesn't really like me," that was putting it mildly, given that she had almost killed me seemingly for shits and giggles a few months earlier. "I bumped into her while walking down the hallways today and I've been doing my best to avoid her, so I thought maybe she was going to do something after school."

"Yes, that sounds like a reasonable reaction to someone bumping into you in a hallway," his voice was thick with sarcasm. "Does miss anger management have a name?"

I thought about not giving the name, it wasn't like it would change anything in the long run. But at the same time this had been the first time I had talked to an adult other than Stetson about my issues, and while I loved my teacher to death he was a tad more detached from normal life. That being said he had offered to send her to the moon if I wanted, which given what Nihlis had pulled off didn't seem like an idle threat in retrospect.

"Her name is Sophia Hess, well her and two others but she is the worst of it." It felt good to speak honestly about the situation for once.

"Ah, so between you and me what kind of bullying are we talking about? Stealing notebooks, bitchy rumors, that sort of thing?" Assault's questions were casual, but there was a slight edge to his voice that wasn't there before.

While it wasn't his fault a spike of anger did rise out of me at my experiences being so casually dismissed. "Try attempted murder."

"I'm sorry, what?" his voice took on a more serious tone. "Could you elaborate on that please?"

Maybe if it were a different day I would have taken back what I said and kept quiet. But I was light headed from being low on blood and a flight halfway across the city so instead I answered honestly. "A few months ago I got to school and my locker was filled with…" my face became a bit green at the memory. "I felt someone push me in and lock me inside, and I could hear her and the other two laughing," the smell came back, the tight space, all of it. "I was in there for…I don't know. I kept getting sick and it was hard to think…" Despite my headspace I was at least able to add the lie that Stetson and I had added. "A janitor found me a few hours later and let me out, told me to go home and he would clean it."

It was so frustrating remembering that event, remembering how close I had come to dying, or even becoming 'infected' as Stetson had called it just because some girl who I hadn't even known before high school decided I was her punching bag. Even now that I was strong enough to flatten the entire school if I wanted it still made me feel weak.

A harsh sound drew me from my thoughts, and I could see Assault pressing his fingers against the laminated wood of the table and causing it to let out a groan under the pressure. It took a moment for him to notice, curling his hand into a fist and sliding it under the table. "Hey uh, could you hang out here for a second, I have to go yell into a phone and I don't want to get Battery and I banned from another coffee shop." The smile on his face was anything but pleasant as he stood up. "Seriously though, you aren't in trouble or anything and if you want to leave I won't stop you. But if you hang around for like, twenty minutes it will be worth your time." He tried again for an easygoing smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes and he walked out.

I was left a bit adrift for a moment at that, but then a thought occurred to me. One of the big things that Battery and Assault were noted for around the Bay was their help with various outreach programs, and Assault was always spoken of pretty well in relation to his work with them. It was weird to think that someone else could get so angry on my behalf when I had just met him, but maybe under the jokes and stuff he was just a nice person? It was weird to think about any adult in a position of power giving half a shit about me being bullied, but it was my best guess.

"Huh, I don't think I've ever seen Assault look that mad," a young woman sat across from me, looking down at her own cup of coffee. Like with most members of New Wave I was able to recognize her pretty easily as Panacea, the hands down best Parahuman healer in the world. "So yeah."

I didn't really know how to respond to that, just sort of giving a small nod. Eventually one of the baristas brought over my drink which I was more than a bit grateful for, slurping down the coffee in hopes of it giving a bit of life back to my brain. However the drink was overly sweet and left a harsh aftertaste "So uh, why are you here?" I realized how rude that must have come off. "Sorry I mean, you know sitting across from me."

For what it was worth she didn't seem mad at my sudden question and gave a small sigh of annoyance. "Well we saw Assault storm out of the building, and with the rest of the shit you've been through Vicky thought you might need to talk to someone. And given that I 'work with sick people' all the time I would probably be better at talking and making sure you were okay."

"That, what?" I was lucky my drink was still cooling, because the snort that escaped me would have been terrible otherwise.

"Right? I barely know how to make normal conversation. 'It sucks that you were stalked by a creepy edgelord, want to talk to a complete stranger about it'?" Panacea lowered her head and let out a sigh of utter exhaustion. "That being said…"

"No, thanks for the offer but uh, I'm kind of tired of talking about it by this point," I just felt emotionally drained by this point, honestly my confusion wasn't even a factor anymore. "But, thanks. You could have said no and I really appreciate you coming in anyway."

She seemed a bit taken aback by my thanks, looking down at her cup and for a moment I could have sworn I saw a smile. "No problem. Anyway what did you get, it smells amazing."

"I think its coffee with a chocolate bar melted in," the cafe had listed its items with names in a language I wasn't familiar with and had the ingredients under it, and I had just gotten the first thing I saw without putting my thought. "It's way too strong."

"Want to swap?" She offered her own cup, an iced drink that seemed more on the tea spectrum than coffee. "I stayed up most of last night helping at the hospital and if I don't get more caffeine I might actually fall asleep."

Without much thought I swapped drinks with her, enjoying the much more mild taste of whatever was in the cup as she practically gulped down the sugary coffee I had gotten. "I think you're supposed to drink that a bit slower."

She put down the now mostly empty cup and let out a sigh of relief. "Which one of us has a PHD?" Panacea seemed to realize what she said and blushed, putting up a hand. "Okay sorry that was way too bitchy of me."

"It's fine, honestly I'm pretty sure you could insult everyone in this city to their face and you would still probably be morally in the green," If I had a chance to save half as many people as the girl in front of me I would have done a good job.

"I'm not really all that impressive," she said under her breath, looking into the drink. "Shit I was supposed to come in here and help you and now I'm just being whiny, sorry."

"No really it's fine, I'm serious," I waved away any concern. After all, despite my worries there had been no real danger to myself. I could have disappeared at any time and found some excuse, or if it had turned out to be someone dangerous flattened them. "Just talking to someone is great uh..Panacea?"

"Please just call me Amy, it's a special privilege that people who give me their coffee get," she raised the cup and I smiled, tapping my own cup to it.

"Then call me Taylor, but you already knew that."

"Yeah."

The two of us fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying our drinks and the nice atmosphere of the cafe before Battery came into the building and walked over to us, giving a quick nod to Amy before turning to me, giving that smile that adults gave to kids to try and make it seem like everything was okay.

"I'm sure you have already heard this, but I'm sorry about what happened. I want to assure you that Shadow Stalker will be disciplined in regards to this event and you have my personal promise on that," Battery's voice was calm but serious, a bit like how I remember my dad's voice before…

Well before.

"That being said," she pulled out a business card and put it in front of me. "This is my direct number, if you feel unsafe, like someone is following you, or you just want to talk, call me whenever. I might not answer right away but I will get back to you. It's the least that I can do after this."

"Thanks," my voice was a bit tight as I looked down at the card, unsure of how to feel about this. It all felt like too much, suddenly being surrounded by people who actually seemed to take something bad happening in my life seriously. "I told Assault but I'm not going to go and post about…whatever happened."

The smile seemed less stressed as I said that and she gave a small nod. "You have our appreciation for that, we aren't going to brush this under the rug. But at the same time…"

"I get it," I really did, Shadow Stalker already had a bit of a reputation, and despite whatever happened today it seemed like a step too far to ruin someone's career for something I couldn't really be bothered to feel worried about. The entire time I had felt her coming, and from what little I knew she had little chance of actually beating me before I could call a Doll to put her down. "Just, thanks."

"You're a good kid Taylor, I just have two questions and then you are free to get out of here. I can call a cab…actually no, I'll give you a ride home after we're done here. If you want." Battery said.

I had to admit, under all the jaded bits that didn't trust authority and the slight narcissism that came with being holder of the largest collection of tools in the world, riding along with a superhero did sound really cool. "Yeah, I would like that."

"So the first question, how were you able to figure out that Shadow Stalker was following you," there was genuine curiosity in her voice. "She ranks as one of the best and brightest when it comes to stealth training, and while I'm happy you were able to notice it's important to know for her future."

I carefully schooled my features to not show what was on my mind, mainly that I wasn't sure how to answer that question without giving away my own abilities. My brain provided me with a sort of sixth sense and mildly enhanced senses, nothing truly amazing but probably a bit better on average then most people. "I guess it was just a feeling, I might have seen a shadow or something or noticed someone watching me." The lie wasn't quite well received and I could see as much on Battery's face, but she didn't call me on it.

"Right, and secondly you said Taylor Herbert, you wouldn't happen to be related in any way to Danny Herbert would you?" The second question didn't have the same undertone as before, but more of a sense of apprehension behind it.

"Yeah that's my dad," I could hear the breath she drew in, a nonzero amount of confusion plain on my face. "Why?"

"Lets just say I'm glad you are taking this well," the answer was a bit half baked, but I wasn't pressing any further. "Anyway when you are ready to go just come out and tell me, I'll leave you to drink until then." With that the hero walked out and left both myself and Amy alone again.

"What was that?" I asked.

Amy blinked at my question and smirked. "Oh right, we were meeting today to discuss how we could help with the Dockworkers reopening the beach. You know publicity and stuff and we wanted to send a request to allow us to lend a hand. I'm guessing that Battery was worried that if you decided to get sue happy at being stalked that it would blow up in the PRT's face."

"Huh," I didn't really know how my dad would react to what had happened today, that being said, the few times I could remember his calm nature giving way to anger did involve threats to my safety. I could see how things could have gone really badly if I had decided to be more angry then apathetic to this situation. "I guess so."

Amy finished the coffee and grabbed a napkin, writing a phone number on it and looking down at it, not quite meeting my eyes as she spoke. "So listen, I uh. I'm not really great at this, but if you want to talk more. Well yeah."

This was the second time today that someone had offered me some level of friendship after a conversation, and honestly I was still just as thrown off as the first. But I had honestly had fun talking to Amy, and I couldn't find a real reason to refuse. "I just have my house phone, but yeah that would be nice." I borrowed her pen and wrote my own number, taking the napkin.

For a brief moment our hands touched, and she seemed to freeze for a moment, blinking for a moment and looking at me with a bit of confusion. Before I could ask what was wrong she took my own number. "I uh, guess I'll hear from you later?" her voice sounded a touch off, but I wrote it off as the coffee hitting her.

"Yeah, sounds good." I got up myself and dropped the empty cup into the trash and went to see about getting a ride home.