"Shut UP!" Neil Pelham bellowed at the top of his voice, literally making the windows rattle. The roar made everyone present jump and the massive argument that had now gone on for over half an hour abruptly ceased. The enormous man looked around, then nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you," he said at a much more reasonable volume. "Now can we please discuss this like adults, quietly and maturely? Carol, you're being difficult again, and Mike, you're not helping. Both of you calm the hell down, will you?"
The siblings glared at him from opposite sides of the table the entire extended family was gathered around at the Dallon house, which was large enough for everyone to meet up. None of the children were there, they were at the Pelham house along with a trusted babysitter, behind a very paranoid alarm system. The babysitter in question was a late-twenties Israeli woman Sarah had met a couple of years ago, who had moved to the US shortly before then to live with her boyfriend.
She was also ex-Israeli special forces, a martial arts trainer, and one of the single most lethal people Sarah had ever encountered. The Pelham woman felt quite safe leaving the children in her care, being pretty sure that even many Parahumans might well find themselves wanting if they started anything. And their house was only a block away to boot so they could be there in well under a minute if anything did happen.
No one had thought it a wise idea to let the children overhear what was likely to be a fairly acrimonious debate, as it would only cause problems later and upset all of them in the near term.
They'd been arguing for hours, and this latest back and forth between Mike and Carol on one side, and Sarah and Jess on the other, had become pretty nasty, hence Neil losing patience. Sarah took a deep breath, then exhaled very slowly, before saying as calmly as she could, "Thank you, Neil. I agree, we're getting far too emotional about all this and we're in danger of no one listening to anyone. Let's take a break and just calm down for a few minutes, shall we?"
Carol folded her arms and glared at her, but nodded. Mike threw his hands in the air, stood up, and stomped out into the garden with what was left of his glass of beer. Neil exchanged a look with Carol's husband Mark, who shrugged, then took the last of the cheese sandwiches and began eating it slowly while looking thoughtfully into the fireplace. A small fire, the first of the fall, was burning there and he seemed fascinated by the crackling flames.
Jess looked around, then sighed quietly and reached for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table, tipping the last drops in it into her glass, which she drank. "Probably best not to open another one," she commented, looking at Sarah with a twist of her mouth that was almost but not quite a smile. "Tempers are high enough without adding more alcohol."
"All too true," Sarah agreed, annoyed still at how both her siblings were doing the usual double act of being completely unreasonable and assuming the worst, then reinforcing each other. She still couldn't quite work out why they could be so damned rigid in their opinions but it had caused problems in the past, and was looking likely to do the same again.
After a moment, she got up and went into the kitchen for a fresh glass, which she filled with cold water and stood drinking for a while, looking out into the back yard where Mike was pacing back and forth in a rather angry way. The dim illumination from the back porch lights was enough to show his presence but she couldn't make out details. Of course the dark didn't affect him nearly as much due to his own powers.
Hearing someone come to stand next to her, she looked around at her husband, then leaned on his immense chest. "God, this is difficult," she said very quietly.
He held her and nodded. "You knew it was going to be. Hell, we all knew it was going to be, even Carol." He was keeping his voice low to prevent the others overhearing. "Your sister is… not the most logical person I've ever met," he added with slight amusement, making her snort.
"You don't have to tell me, that, I grew up with her," she replied. "And Mike. Who can be even worse. When they get together like that, well… you'd probably need Blaster powers to get them to change their minds."
He snickered. "Yeah. I know what you mean." They stood there comfortably for a little while, until he asked, "Do you really think this is the best thing for Amy?"
She nodded slowly. "I do, I'm afraid. I love that girl, and I really regret how badly we've handled everything surrounding her. She doesn't deserve all this, not even a little. I hate to say it, but I suspect Carol feels in some way that she does, though. Mostly as a way to get back at Marquis." She looked up at his face, seeing he was frowning out the window at Mike's pacing form. "I don't think she really realizes that, but I do think it's part of the whole problem. You know what she's like when she sets her mind on something."
"Almost impossible to shift," he sighed.
"Yes. Even, or especially, when she's wrong and knows it. She really doesn't like being wrong."
"Most people don't," he pointed out.
"Sure, but most people can eventually accept it even if they don't like it," she muttered. "Carol… is more contrary."
"And Mike isn't helping."
"No." She looked at her brother's vague figure, seeing he'd stopped and was now staring up at the waxing moon. "He's a control freak and has never really been the same since… what happened."
"Man's tightly wound, I'll give you that," Neil commented softly. "I hoped that Jess would… I dunno, unwind him a little, but if that's happening it's happening pretty slowly."
"He is better than he was, the last year has definitely allowed him to mellow a little, but it's a long trip from mellower Mike to not-controlling Mike," she said with regret. "And all this is bringing back memories he probably doesn't want to think about. The Marquis operation affected us all."
"Not as much as it affected Marquis," Neil joked. She chuckled, shaking her head.
"No, I suppose not." They were silent for half a minute or so, then she said reflectively, "Is it wrong that I feel bad about even inadvertently harming his daughter?"
"Not at all," Neil replied, gently turning her head with one hand to look up at his face. "Amy is an innocent little girl who was caught up in things completely out of her control. She deserves better, and I'm afraid that we haven't managed that. We made a promise, which even if it was to a criminal, was also to a father who cared about his kid. I think we need to honor that promise, or we're no better than he was in a weird way."
After a few seconds, she sighed. "The horrible part is that if the situation was reversed, I think he'd have kept his word if we'd asked him to take care of Crystal, or Vicky. I don't like him at all, I never will, but I have to admit that he genuinely did keep his word if you could get it."
"He was a more complicated man than most villains are," Neil nodded. "Not a good man, not even slightly, but not as evil as some people are either."
Sarah almost smiled. "How are we in the position of almost admiring a man we put in jail for life and having my sister come out second best?" she asked wryly, making her husband laugh silently.
"We live a strange life in a stranger place," he responded with a grin.
"Seems that way." A moment later, the back door opened and closed again, Mike joining them in the kitchen. He moved past them without a word, yanked open the fridge, and pulled out another can of beer. Sarah neatly plucked it out of his hand as he walked past heading for the living room again.
"No. You can have this when we're done. You need a clear head."
"Hey!" he exclaimed with annoyance, reaching for the can. She held it out of range and fixed him with a hard look, causing him to eventually look away. "Fine. Let's get this over with."
"'This' is something important, Mike. It's not choosing a new car. Amy's a six year old girl who we have to do right by," she snapped.
"She's Marquis's kid..." he began, only to close his mouth abruptly as she glared at him.
"Six… Years… Old..." she grated. "Don't be an ass. Who her father was is irrelevant."
He shrugged and walked into the living room. She slammed the beer down on the kitchen counter and followed, fuming to herself, with Neil behind her. When they'd all sat down again, she looked around.
"All right. Let's go over it again, shall we? Amy is not happy, for reasons we've learned recently and discussed a lot tonight. I don't see any feasible way to change that if things stay the same. Carol is… doing her best." Which was blatantly untrue in many ways but she really didn't want to get into that yet again… "We made a promise, possibly one that we shouldn't have made, but at the time we didn't really have a choice and looking back on it I don't see what we could honestly have done differently. Regardless, we can't change the past, but we can change the future. We have to do right by that girl. Leaving aside our own actions, it's the humane thing to do anyway, the same thing we'd hopefully do for any child."
No one said anything when she fell silent, although both Mark and Neil nodded, while Jess sighed a little. Carol was still sitting with her arms folded in petulant annoyance, making Sarah feel that for a mid-thirties professional lawyer and superhero she was acting more like a child than Amy did. It was embarrassing. And Mike was just lounging in his chair listening with an expression that showed a near-total lack of interest at the moment.
"Leaving aside the oddities around how Amy keeps ending up at the Hebert house for the moment," she went on after a while, "there's no denying the fact that their own daughter may well have saved Amy's life that day. She was in that park, alone, underdressed for the weather, and hungry, for nearly eighteen hours! And it was nearly six hours before we even knew she was missing!" With a deliberate effort, she lowered her voice as it had been getting louder once more. Carol shifted in her chair, not meeting her eyes.
"God only knows what might have happened if Taylor hadn't found her and taken her home. This city is not kind to innocents, we all know that far too well," she said, looking around the table. "We got very, very lucky, as did Amy. And we got more lucky that the Heberts called us rather than the cops. We all know that if the police and the PRT ever really started digging into everything with the aim of causing trouble, they'd find things we'd prefer they didn't. Things that should really stay buried for everyone's sake."
She took a breath, and continued, "The New Wave movement is all about accountability, and I realize we're all being a bit hypocritical about this in a sense, but at the same time no good for anyone would come from official attention. Especially for poor Amy. If people found out she was Marquis's daughter..." She shook her head. "I fear what might come of that. There are far too many people with an ax to grind where he's concerned and I'm certain she'd get caught in the backlash, as would we."
"So the solution is just to give her away to some people we have no idea about other than there's something very strange going on with them?" Carol snapped. "Brilliant idea. Nothing can possibly go wrong."
Sarah glared at her. "I think that we have a chance, possibly the only real chance, to have things work out in a way that benefits everyone, despite how you put it. Taylor clearly adores Amy, and the feeling is just as clearly mutual. The Heberts are a good family, and love their daughter. I have zero doubt they'd love Amy just as much, which to be honest is part of the problem we're having right now, isn't it?"
Her sister glared back and went red, but didn't manage to say anything before Sarah overrode it by resuming, "They've offered something that for one reason or another we can't provide. Thinking just of Amy, it's obviously the best choice in my opinion. And it prevents all sorts of potential problems for us too."
"Personally, while I don't like to admit we failed, I think Sarah's right, Carol," Mark commented with a calm voice, causing his wife to look at him. "Amy isn't happy, we both know it. I'm not blaming anyone, but I think we need to consider her best interests. Vicky can still see her, they seem fine with that and even offered from what I understand, and it would put the girl into a much better environment. And take a lot of stress off you."
"We don't know anything about these people, that's the part I have trouble with," Mike put in, again interrupting whatever Carol had been about to say and making her sigh heavily. "You said yourself that something weird happened the last time when that old woman turned up. Not to mention whatever the fuck is going on with the kid. Or whoever else is somehow getting Amy over there in the middle of the night. You're sure there's no Parahuman power involved because I can't see any other fucking possibility."
Sarah suppressed an urge to kick her brother in the shin, the same urge she'd been having since she was about ten and one that she was too old to pander to as much as she'd like to. Or as much as he often deserved it. With a shake of her head, she replied, "As far as I can determine none of the Heberts are Parahumans. Obviously I can't guarantee it, but I know what to look for and I didn't see any of it. I'll admit I have no idea how Amy ends up over there unless it's magic or something but does that actually really matter at this point?" She spread her hands and smiled a little. "We won't need to worry about it if we do this."
"And that old woman? She paralyzed Carol or something for god's sake! How can that not be a power at work?" he insisted, leaning forward.
"I don't know how she did that," Sarah sighed. "I honestly have no idea, except that somehow I don't think it was a Parahuman ability at all. What it was.." She shook her head. "Not a clue. But I do very much believe that Mal is not someone we want to upset. For that matter, I'd suggest that neither Annette or Danny Hebert are either, just based on things I've dug up on them."
"Like the fact that Annette Hebert used to be one of Lustrum's minions?" he asked snidely, making her pause, then sigh.
"How did you find that out?" she asked as Carol stared at their brother, then her, her face going dark with anger.
"You're not the only one with contacts in the BBPD," he replied with a smirk. "I checked. Yeah, she was one of Lustrum's girls. The same Lustrum who's in the Birdcage."
"I'm aware of that, thank you," Sarah said with a sigh. "Did your contact tell you that she left before Lustrum started getting excessive, and that it was her husband who helped her get out? She's not a villain, Mike. She was only a woman who was taken in by someone who turned out to be more trouble than anyone expected at the time. Believe me, at the beginning it wasn't like it ended up."
"She was a minion of a villain?" Carol demanded.
Sarah put her hand on her face and squeezed gently. "She was a member of a feminist movement and left before the leader of that movement was branded a villain, Carol," she replied patiently. "If you call that a crime, there are about two hundred other women who are also criminals. I might have been one myself at one point if things had gone differently." Lowering her hand, she looked at her sister, who was staring at her in shock. "Lustrum had some valid points in the early days," she added.
The other woman stared for a moment longer, then looked away. "Fine. Whatever. I still think there's something very odd with that family."
"Oh, I agree there, yes," Sarah replied. "Very odd indeed. But not something criminal. Just… weird. That's not illegal, especially in Brockton Bay. We specialize in weird around these parts."
Jess giggled, making Sarah smile at her. "Truer words have never been spoken," the younger woman said.
"Indeed. This city is an absolute magnet for strange things. Some of the things I've heard about in the docks..." Sarah shook her head. "Not important."
"Strange?" Carol looked obstinate. "That woman did something, then offered a deal, and a… a… boon as she put it. Who does that? It's like a fairy tale or something. What could she actually do for us?"
"I have no idea, but I sure wouldn't say that to her face, Carol," Sarah warned. "I don't know who she is really but I get a very strong impression that it was be a horribly stupid idea to underestimate her. And considering that you nearly started something right in their living room, she wasn't out of line doing whatever it was she did. On the whole her reaction was quite restrained, thinking back on it."
"I don't like her. Or trust her."
"Tough. You don't need to like or trust her, since it's basically Annette and Danny we need to deal with." Sarah shrugged a little. "But I'd be polite to her just in case even so."
"Did you try finding out more about this Mal woman?" Mark asked.
"Yes." Sarah nodded. "It's difficult. There are very few people who seem to know anything about her as far as I can tell. Not surprising in a way, since I think from her accent that she'd not local. She said she flew in, and that may have been from Europe. I don't really know anyone over there who I could ask."
"I know someone who might have some contacts that could help," Neil said, causing them to look at him. "He knows a lot of people all over the place and is a good source of information."
"Who?" Carol asked, looking slightly curious.
He smiled mysteriously and pulled his phone out, unlocking it and quickly working the keyboard, the device looking comically small in his enormous hands, until he found the contact he was looking for. "Let's see if he can help," he said, pressing the dial button, then putting the phone on speaker and placing it on the table.
A ringing tone sounded a few times, then a man's voice said, "Hello, Manpower. It's been a while." The voice sounded familiar to Sarah but she couldn't immediately place it.
"Hi Myrrdin," Neil replied, making several pairs of eyes widen. Carol's rolled, as she felt the self-styled 'wizard' was a deluded fool, his power aside. They hadn't got on very well on the times they'd met, the last of which was in Boston about eighteen months ago. "How's it going?"
"Not bad at the moment," the other man said. "Took down a couple of major players in Chicago last week which made everyone pretty happy. Not quite as major as Marquis, I'll admit, but big enough." He sounded in a good mood. "But I doubt you called to find out what our success rate was. How can I help?"
"You've got quite the contact list," Neil remarked. "We're trying to find someone who could get some background data on a person we've come into contact with. We suspect she's from Europe for various reasons, and can't really dig up anything on her locally."
"Ah. A villain?" His voice was curious now.
"No, or not that we know about. More along the lines of a business deal. We just wanted to know more about her."
"Fair enough. Got a name? I might recognize it, but even if not I could ask around."
"Yeah. Mal Linwood."
There was a very long pause.
"Did you just say Mal Linwood?" Myrrdin asked carefully, like he wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.
"I did, yes."
Another pause, then the other man muttered something under his breath too faintly for the phone to pick it up. More loudly he said, "Listen to me, Neil. Listen to me very, very carefully. I would strongly advise that you walk away. She is not someone you want to enter into business with if you can avoid it."
Sarah's husband looked at her in surprise, then down at the phone. "Is she a criminal?" he asked, startled. "Now I'm getting worried."
"You should be. No, she's not a criminal. She's much more dangerous than that." Myrrdin seemed to swallow if the sound was accurate, then asked, "How did you happen to meet?"
"It's somewhat complicated," Sarah cut in. "Hello, Myrrdin, this is Sarah Pelham. For various reasons we happened to meet her daughter and things have become a little involved since Mal turned up."
"Her daughter?" The man sounded shocked. "Oh, god. I didn't know her daughter lived in Brockton Bay." Then he laughed ruefully. "Mind you if I had to guess, I couldn't think of anywhere else it could possibly be. And you actually met Mal? Face to face?"
"We did. She's… memorable."
"You have no idea…" he muttered.
"We have a small problem she's offered to help with," Sarah added, "In fact it was her idea how to solve it. She offered us a deal and we were debating whether to accept."
"A deal. With Mal Linwood." She got the distinct impression he was trying not to scream. "Next you'll tell me she offered you a boon."
"She did, actually. In that exact wording."
"Fuck."
Everyone exchanged glances, even Carol and Mike now looking confused and curious. Eventually, he said, "Well, it's too late to walk away. If she's that interested, you'll only insult her, and you really don't want to insult Mal. Never ends well. About the only thing you could do that's worse is threaten her or something." He laughed nervously.
No one said anything.
Myrrdin groaned.
"Oh, hell, you didn't..."
"Carol… may have been slightly upset," Sarah began.
"Don't tell me. I don't want to know. I can only assume that you guys have either the best luck or the worst luck in the world." He sighed faintly. "OK. Look, I honestly can't tell you everything. Not won't, can't. It would be… bad."
"Bad?" she echoed.
"Bad. Don't push it. Forget I said anything, in fact. Let's just concentrate on your problem, and believe me, you have one." He took a breath, clearly audible to them. "You've managed to get mixed up in things you really shouldn't, but it's too late now, you have her interest and all you can do is hope it works out. Whatever this deal is, accept it, take the boon, and this part is absolutely critical, do not under any circumstances deliberately offend her. Be as polite as you've ever been in your life. Stick to the terms of the deal, don't deviate, don't try to get clever and alter anything, don't give her any cause at all to decide that you weren't honest, and with any luck it will work out. She must be in a good mood or we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Who the hell is this woman?" Carol demanded.
"Carol, I assume?" he asked. "She's fucking bad news if you piss her off, I can tell you that much. You haven't got the faintest idea how much bad news and you wouldn't believe me if I could tell you. On the other hand, get on her good side and you've got an ally like you wouldn't believe. That's not easy, though. Ideally you want to conclude whatever business you have with her and walk away, then pray you never cross paths again."
"Is she a Parahuman of some sort?" Neil asked. "Do the PRT know about her?"
"No she's not a Parahuman, but I can't say anything more about that," Myrrdin replied after a moment or two. "The PRT higher-ups have nightmares about her and her kind. They'd shit the bed like nothing you'd ever seen if they knew she was in Brockton Bay. Or that her daughter lived there… Jesus, I can't believe that. Yet another reason never to come to your city."
They all exchanged looks again. He sounded genuinely scared, which was extremely odd and more than a little worrying.
"Thank you for the information," Neil finally said when it appeared nothing more was forthcoming.
"I hope it helps," Myrrdin replied. "And for god's sake, please don't mention my name to her. I really don't want any trouble from that direction. Good luck, all of you." Sarah almost thought he added "You're going to need it," under his breath before he hung up, but she decided she was probably imagining it.
When Neil had put his phone back in his pocket, the room was silent, until Jess said brightly, "That was weird."
Sarah looked at her, then rubbed her forehead as Carol instantly started complaining. She could tell this was going to be a long evening.
"Psst! Amy!"
Amy's eyes snapped open, then she rolled over and looked at the floor, grinning when she saw Taylor smiling back up at her, her head sticking out from under her bed.
"Hi, Taylor," she said happily.
"Bob told me that he heard from Gary, the monster in your mom's dryer, that your aunt Sarah and the other guys finally decided that Granny Mallie is right. You're going to come live with me! I thought you'd want to know."
"Really?" Amy clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle the squeak of joy. "You're not joking?"
"Nope! Bob's sure about it. And Bob's a nice monster, he wouldn't lie." Taylor looked at the door when both girls heard a sound outside it. "Oops. Gotta go, see you tomorrow. Bye!" She stuck a hand out and waved, then vanished under the bed again. Amy quickly rolled over away from the door and closed her eyes.
"Shh! Frank, be quiet! Yes, you can come too, of course Amy wouldn't leave you behind. You're her monster."
The faint voice faded into the distance. By the time her babysitter opened the door and peered in, somewhat suspiciously inspecting the darkened room, it was completely silent aside from quiet breathing come from the small girl on the bed.
Who was wearing a wide smile even as she fell asleep again.
