Finding the Way


Part 5: Revelations


Panacea met Miss Militia in the hospital corridor.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, keeping her voice low by habit.

"We've had the ward cleared," Miss Militia replied. "Daniel Hebert's a newly triggered cape, with a head injury. His daughter was the reason he triggered." Swiftly, she filled Panacea in on the facts as she knew them. "They've got him stable, but we'd really like you to have a look at him."

"I don't do brains," said Panacea reflexively.

Miss Militia shook her head. "I'm not asking you to. But this guy teleported a truck halfway across the city. And teleported himself and his daughter from his school to here, after he got the head injury. He could be a huge asset to the Protectorate."

Panacea nodded briefly. "I'll see what I can do." She walked into the room, pushed aside the curtain.


Daniel Hebert was a tall, skinny man. He had a splint on his left leg, and bloodstained bandages on his head. Panacea looked at him for a long moment. He got injured trying to get to his daughter and save her.

He must love her very much.

She's so lucky.

She laid her hands on his, and went to work.


Danny's eyes fluttered open. Where …? He made an incoherent noise in his throat. Taylor. Where's Taylor?

"Shh … shhh," said a voice soothingly. "It's all right." The voice was young, and feminine. Not Taylor, though.

He knew where Taylor was, however. She was about four yards that way. He rolled his head over to look in that direction. There was a curtain there. Taylor was asleep or unconscious. He had no idea how he knew that.

"Mr Hebert," came the soft voice once more. "Can you hear me?" He turned to look. A hooded girl, white robes, a cross on the front. Panacea, from New Wave.

"Nggg hrrrr yng," he mumbled.

Her hand lifted his head gently, and a cup of water was held to his lips. He drank clumsily, but most of it went down his throat, rehydrated his parched mouth.

"I can hear you," he said, once he finished drinking. "Thanks. Is Taylor all right?"

He thought she smiled. "She'll be fine. I had to deal with you first. Do you know what happened to you?"

He blinked; his hands came up reflexively to his face. "How can I see you so well? Where are my glasses?"

"I gave you a little impromptu eye surgery," she explained. "I hope you don't mind."

He shook his head. "I guess not. What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," she said gently. "See what your memories are like."


Widower, his file said. One daughter. Taylor.

Her powers told her more; he was in reasonable health for his age, non-smoker, non-drinker. Not overly fit, but not inclined to put on weight. Still has all his teeth, had his appendix out years ago.

No apparent brain damage that she could see. Which was a good thing. I don't do brains. Not even for the new up-and-coming wunderkind teleporter that they say he is.


"I … was at work," he said hesitantly. "Taylor called. Said she was trapped in a locker. I started driving over there. Ran a red light." He stopped, looking at her.

"Go on," she said with a smile. "I'm not here to bust you for that."

He nodded. "Next thing I knew, the truck's piled up in front of the school gates. I went to go in, blacked out, found myself outside her locker. I wanted to open it, so I got my pry-bar and opened it. Got Taylor out, went to the principal's office, gave her a piece of her mind, got Taylor to the hospital." He frowned. "Not sure how. The truck was pretty beat up."

She nodded. "Mr Hebert, there's more to it than that." She looked around, gestured to Miss Militia, who was chatting to Glory Girl. I told Vicky she'd get bored, but she insisted on coming.


"What?" he asked. He began to struggle to sit up. Is it about Taylor? Oh my god, Taylor!

"Please relax, Mr Hebert," she urged him. "You had a fractured skull, a subdural haematoma and a shattered left kneecap, along with various minor contusions. You've also lost blood. You are going to feel weak for a little while. Please don't strain yourself."

Miss Miltitia came straight over. Danny grabbed Panacea's arm. "Is Taylor all right?" he asked urgently.

"She'll be fine," she told him again. "I'm just going to look in on her now." She glanced at Miss Miltitia. "His memories and mental acuity check out just fine," she assured the older hero.

Miss Militia nodded. "Thank you, Panacea," she said. She sat down alongside the bed. "Mr Hebert – Daniel," she said. "Is it okay if I call you Daniel?"

"Danny," he said reflexively. "No-one ever calls me Daniel."

"Danny," she repeated. "Well, then, do you know why I'm here to talk to you, Danny?"

He frowned. "Um … no. Did a supervillain shut Taylor in the locker?"

She chuckled. "No. It's more simple than that. Do you know how you got from the school to the hospital?"

His frown deepened. "Uhhh … not really?"

He could see the smile stretching the scarf around her mouth. "You have powers, Danny. You're a teleporter."

But he wasn't paying attention any more.


Taylor felt herself gradually emerging from sleep. She didn't want to wake up. She wanted to stay down there in the nice safe soft warm darkness, where the horror of the locker wasn't. She was scared that she'd just gone away from herself for a while, and when she came back, she'd still be in the locker.

But she woke up anyway. She was looking up at a blurry accoustic-tile ceiling, and a girl in a white hooded costume, one with a red cross on the front. She was a little slower to recognise Panacea than Danny, because the last of the sedatives were still clearing themselves out of her system.


Panacea knew that she would be more lucid in just a minute. Her system was strong; she was a fundamentally healthy person.

She gets her skinny genes from her dad; she'll never be overweight. Poor girl will never get past a B-cup.

And then Taylor seemed to come into focus.


Where am I -?

And she knew, even as she posed the thought.

Brockton Bay General Hospital, third floor, west wing, second ward, bed 36.

Where's Dad?

Four yards that way.

Alive, awake, concerned, thinking about me.

Aww, that's so sweet. I love you too, Dad.

The girl – Panacea, of New Wave, she recalled now – looked at her with just a little concern as she closed her eyes again.

"Are you feeling all right, Miss Hebert?" she asked gently.

Taylor nodded. She sat up by herself, reached out, grabbed a cup, poured water from the plastic jug, drank.

She never once opened her eyes while she did it.

"I'm fine," she said, once she had swallowed. "Is Dad okay?"


"Taylor," said Danny, and sat up in bed. He swung his legs over the side, grunting in annoyance at the splint. Then he disappeared in a cloud of purple-brown smoke.

Panacea jumped as purple-brown smoke billowed out of nowhere, then dissipated to reveal Danny by Taylor's bedside. Taylor opened her eyes and hugged him tightly; his arms went around her, no less tightly.

"Dad …" she said, her face buried in his chest.

"Taylor …" he replied, tears leaking from his tightly shut eyes.

"Dad …"

"Taylor …"

They were silent for a moment then, as Miss Militia came around the curtains to stare at them.

"Damn," she said.

"That was precision teleporting, right there," said Panacea. "Six inches clearance in any direction."

"Damn," said Miss Militia again.

Danny let his grip around Taylor loosen just slightly, and he pulled back to look at her. "Are you all right, kiddo? Really all right?"

She nodded, tearfully. "Really all right," she said. "Now that you're here."

"Not going anywhere," he assured her.

"Uh, just so you know," interjected Panacea, "Taylor had several cuts and bruises and other contusions. Also, several minor infections. What the hospital staff did not fix, I did. So she's totally healthy."

"Thank you," said Danny, his relief heartfelt. "Thank you." He didn't let go of Taylor.

"And Dad?" said Taylor to Panacea. "Is he okay? That bandage … that splint …"

Panacea nodded. "He's fine. I healed the injuries he took. There was no appreciable brain damage."

"Thank you," said Taylor. "Really. Thank you."

Panacea smiled. "It was the least I could do." She paused. I need to find out what happened.

"Miss Miliitia," she said, keeping her voice casual, "could you please take Mr Hebert for a walk, and tell him about what he needs to know? I need to have a talk with Miss Hebert here about some basic medical issues."

Miss Militia frowned, but nodded. "Danny," she said, "do you drink coffee? There's a machine down the hall that produces something that pretends to be the stuff …"

Danny allowed himself to be led away.


Panaceea turned to Taylor, who was looking puzzled. "What medical matters?" Taylor asked.

Panacea lowered her voice. "Taylor," she said carefully. "You can tell us. We need to stop whoever did this to you."

Taylor felt the emotions that had been assailling her in the locker all rush back, just for an instant.

Out in the corridor, Danny paused and almost turned back. Miss Militia stopped. "Danny," she said firmly, "Panacea said she wanted a private conversation with your daughter."

He frowned and went on. What just frightened her? Then he paused. How did I know she was frightened just then?

In an effort to distract himself, he turned to her. "Sorry," he said. "You were saying I'm a teleporter? When did that happen?"

She smiled. "In times of stress, Mr Hebert …"


"You want to know who put me in that fucking locker?" demanded Taylor, her voice rising despite her intent to keep it quiet. "The same three bitches who have been making my life hell for the last two and a half years. They've been bullying me, taking my stuff, destroying it, and laughing at me. And nothing I do works, and they always get away with it."

Panacea frowned. "So you know for a fact who put you in there?" she asked.

Taylor fell back on the pillow, her eyes closed. "Oh, I always know who does it to me," she said, her arm over her face. "But I can never prove it, and no matter how many times I complain, they always walk. I have no idea why. Maybe someone in the faculty just hates me for some reason."

"That's terrible," said Panacea, reaching out and taking hold of her hand. "What are their names? Maybe we can pass them on to the school and ask that something be done."

Taylor sighed. "Fat fucking lot of use that'll do."

Panacea squeezed her hand. "I'll go myself," she promised.

Taylor chuckled. "I'd like to see that, actually. Okay, Emma Barnes –"

She saw Emma, practising piano scales. And she knew exactly where she was; upstairs in her father's house.

Wow, that's weird, she thought. I've never seen her wearing that outfit.

"Yes?" asked Panacea.

"Oh, and Madison Clements," said Taylor. And as she said the name, concentrated on the person, she saw Madison curled up on a bed in a strange bedroom – 1743 South Privet Drive, she knew without knowing how she knew – talking on a mobile phone. She knew exactly where Madison was.

That's so weird, she thought.

"And the third?" pressed Panacea.

"Uh, Sophia Hess," said Taylor. Of the three, Sophia was the one she was most scared of. Emma could hurt her with cutting words, and Madison with cruelly calculated pranks, but Sophia left bruises.

As she said the name, she saw Sophia. In a room she didn't recognise. Other figures were standing around here, but were blurry. But she knew where the room was.

She took her hand away from her eyes. "That's really fucking weird," she said out loud.

"What is?" asked Panacea.

"Sophia Hess, at this moment, is in the PRT building, downtown. Talking to someone. Why is she there?"

Panacea stared at her, nonplussed. "What do you mean, she's in the PRT building?"

"I mean, she's in the fucking PRT building. Right now. Or I'm having the weirdest fucking hallucination." Taylor knew her language was getting away from her. "Sorry, sorry."

She saw Glory Girl looking around the door, drawn by her raised voice. "Sorry, my bad. Won't happen again." Glory Girl frowned and disappeared.

"Glory Girl," called Panacea. Vicky reappeared. "Could you get Miss Militia for me?"

Vicky nodded, and disappeared again.


Miss Militia had just talked Danny into stepping from one end of a length of hallway to the other and back, with the characteristic clouds of quickly-dissipating purple-brown smoke, when Glory Girl appeared at her side. "Panacea wants to see you," she said quietly.

Miss Militia turned to Danny. "I've got to –" she began., but Danny had already disappered.

"He doesn't even make a noise when he does it," she complained.

"Would you prefer something like 'bamf'?" quipped Glory Girl. Miss Militia shot her a dirty look.


When she got back, Taylor was sitting up in bed.

"I'm not kidding, Dad, I swear to you!" She was somewhat agitated, but she was holding both his hands in hers. "She's right there. Talking to someone. I can see it as clear as I can see you!"

Panacea met Miss Militia at the door. "Can you tell me if a student named Sophia Hess has been taken to the PRT building?" she asked quietly.

Miss Militia paused. "Why do you ask that?" she said carefully.

Panacea went to speak, then stopped. "Just humour me, okay?"

Miss Militia turned away and pulled out her comm.

"Miss Militia to base, please respond."

"Base to Miss Militia, reading you five by five."

"Base, I have a location request for Shadow Stalker, repeat, Shadow Stalker."

"Miss Militia, I have Shadow Stalker on base, in conference with Aegis. Would you like a connection?"

"Negative, Base. Miss Militia, out."

She turned back to Panacea. "You're right. She's there. How did you know?"

Panacea looked at her. "I think ... I think they both triggered."

Miss Militia stared. "Both?"

Panacea nodded. "So … you have two capes on your hands. And I think Taylor is a Thinker, a locator."

Miss Militia ran her fingers through her hair, looked over to where Taylor was sitting up, holding Danny closely. "Damn."

Panacea paused. "I have a question. Is Sophia Hess … a Ward?"

Miss Militia frowned. "I can't answer that. If she was, it might reveal her secret identity."

"But what if she was one of the people who put Taylor in that locker?"

Miss Militia stared. "Say that again."

It didn't sound any better the second time around.


End of Part Five