Finding the Way


Part 9: Meet the Wards


Director Piggot tapped the pointer on the electronic board. "Thanks to Compass Rose, we now have a good lead on the bases for every single prominent supervillain gang in the city," she announced. "We've also supplied the Boston Protectorate team with the location of Accord's base, and the location of his office within that building. Likewise, the Adepts in New York."

Miss Militia raised her hand. "Isn't this edging very close to the unwritten rule about not outing capes?" she asked.

Director Piggot shook her head. "Not if we don't use it until the villain group in question goes over the line themselves."

Armsmaster looked up. "Define 'over the line'."

Piggot snorted. "Use your head. Specifically going after civilians. Hurting innocents randomly. Hitting surrendered capes when they're down. Kidnapping women and kids. Murder. Rape. It's not hard to figure out where the line is."

"Not robbery then?" asked Armsmaster. "Assault? Drug dealing?"

"Well, of course you're supposed to try to stop them from basic crimes like that," Director Piggot explained. "And if they deal drugs to kids, certainly. But everyday crimes aren't heinous enough to warrant kicking in the door to a villain's base. If we start playing hardball, they start playing hardball. And there's more of them than there are of us."

She took a deep breath. "Besides, right now, Compass Rose is the most valuable secret weapon we have. Bar none. They don't know we have her, and even when she goes public, they won't know her full capabilities. We'll put it out that she can locate small items within a reasonable radius, say a mile. Not people. And that she needs an hour or so to 'attune' herself to the item. That'll make her seem harmless enough."

"And Pathfinder?" asked Miss Militia.

"We keep the full capability of his power under wraps as well. We do not let anyone know of their close connection, either familial or power-wise," declared the Director. "Too much chance of someone realising who they are. Also, hostage situations are a distinct possibility, then. No, they'll just be two people with similar costumes, whose powers work well together."

"How is she going on the missing-persons front?" asked Armsmaster. "And how are you explaining that away, anyway?"

Director Piggot smiled thinly. "She's cleared seventy-five percent of all the current outstanding missing-persons cases in the continental United States. The ones who are in a good situation, she's leaving for later. Only the ones who are in danger are being passed on for action. And we're notifying the next of kin for those who are deceased." She glanced at Armsmaster. "We're telling people that we've engaged the services of a high-powered precog for a limited time, as a publicity thing. They seem to be buying it."

She powered down the board, and extracted the memory stick. "No-one speaks about this. But if and when it's needed ... we've got it."


Taylor bundled her hair up and secured it, then lowered the helmet over her head and strapped it into place. The goggles fitted into place over her eyes; even as old-fashioned as they appeared, with fittings that looked like leather and brass, they corrected her vision flawlessly, giving her more peripheral vision than was immediately apparent.

She shrugged her shoulders inside the light coat, moving around to ensure that the costume sat well. Looking down, she admired the in-perspective image of the compass rose on her chest, which was itself a little more prominent than she was used to. The padding was discreet, but added inches where they were needed. More padding gave her actual hips, so that she went from skinny and gawky to shapely and slender. She'd been told it was a silicone gel rather than simple cloth, and would appear real to the touch. I think I'll pass on testing that with anyone.

"How are the boots?" asked Miss Militia, breaking into her reverie.

Taylor stamped her feet in them a couple of times. "Comfortable," she said. "I like them." She admired herself in the mirror, the brown and cream tones blending into one another. "Is this what they call the retro look?" she asked.

"I think so," agreed Miss Militia. "It suits you."

Taylor grinned at the older hero. "Thanks," she said. "Let's go see how Dad's getting on." She already knew; she could see him in her mind's eye. But they didn't need to know that.


Danny saw a stranger walk out with Miss Militia, wearing his daughter's costume. He had to look twice, to make sure it was really Taylor. Her costume concealed lifts in her boots, making her a few inches taller. The padding made her seem more mature, more graceful. He could easily believe her to be seventeen now, instead of fifteen.

Taylor looked at the tall, commanding stranger alongside Armsmaster. His helmet had a suggestion of a peak that evoked the idea of a military cap; the heavy, square-framed goggles were tinted and the mask below gave the impression of a strong jaw. He looked mysterious, dashing, dangerous.

His long coat swept behind him like a cape as he moved to meet her. In black or dark grey, he would have looked sinister, even evil. As it was, the cream lining of the coat made him look lighter, friendlier. He held out his hand; they both wore heavy-looking gloves, but with much finer material on the palm and underside of the fingers, so that they could still make tactile contact while wearing them.


She clasped his hand; they felt their minds click into full contact.

"Compass Rose," said Danny, the mask making his voice a little more resonant, a little deeper.

"Pathfinder," she responded. They shook. "It will be good to be working with you."

"Likewise," he replied, with a grin inside his mask.

Even though she couldn't see his grin, she knew it was there, and she returned it in kind.

Miss Militia walked around them, eyeing them up and down. "I think you two look good together," she observed. "The visual effect is ... striking."

Armsmaster nodded. "They don't look like father and daughter. Perhaps brother and sister, even."

"Equal partners, anyway," Miss Militia agreed. She turned to the pair. "Do you know where to take us?"

Taylor's eyes unfocused for just a moment; she picked a Ward at random. Clockblocker. The image unfolded in her mind. She could see him, chatting with blurry figures. She knew exactly where. And, through their link, so did Danny.

"Yes," he replied, about one second after the question had been asked.

Miss Militia laid a hand on Taylor's shoulder; Armsmaster repeated the gesture with Danny. Miss Militia grinned. "Take us out, Number One," she said.

Purple-brown smoke billowed around them. When it dissipated, they were gone.


Three feet to Clockblocker's left, purple-brown smoke billowed out of nowhere, then faded away, to leave four people standing there.

"Christ!" he blurted, and dropped his drink.

It puffed into smoke halfway to the floor, and reappeared in the hand of the tall masked figure standing beside Armsmaster. Danny stepped forward and handed it back to the white-clad Ward. "You dropped this," he said, his voice resonant inside his mask.

Dennis accepted the drink. "Ah ... thanks?" he said. The tall figure bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement.

Taylor squeezed her father's hand in amused reproval. Showoff, she thought.

He picked up her amusement, and squeezed back. And?


It had been a very impressive entrance; all eyes were on them. Armsmaster stepped forward and raised his hands. "Everyone!" he called out. "We would like you to meet Pathfinder and Compass Rose! Pathfinder is joining the Protectorate, and Compass Rose is joining the Wards!"

A tall youth moved toward them. He wasn't masked; his features were Hispanic, and his long black hair was tied back. "Hi, Compass Rose," he said, offering his hand. "I'm Aegis." He grinned, his teeth very white against his swarthy skin. "But you can call me Carlos."

Taylor glanced at Danny and got a fractional nod in return, then unclipped her helmet and lifted it off. She shook her hair out and let it fall free. "Hi, Carlos," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm Taylor."

"Come on," said Aegis. "I'll introduce you to the gang." He led her away, leaving Danny standing with Miss Militia and Armsmaster, and Clockblocker watching her retreating rear-view.

Crap, thought Dennis. Another hot chick joins the team, and I have to go make an idiot out of myself.

And then he became aware of Pathfinder leaning down beside him.

"Just so you know," said Danny, just loudly enough for the teen hero to hear him, "if you're thinking what I think you're thinking about her ... she's my daughter."

Clockblocker froze, almost as if he had used his own power on himself. Danny patted him on the shoulder. "Good lad."

Then he moved off with the other two, to meet the other members of the Protectorate, leaving Clockblocker standing alone.

"Hey!" said Vista. "Come and meet the new girl! She's cool!" She grabbed him by the arm and tugged him along; he had not the spirit to resist.


"So you're the reason Shadow Stalker's no longer with us?" asked Kid Win. Helmet off, he had introduced himself as Chris, and had pleasant features and brown hair. His question was curious rather than accusatory.

"Uh, yeah," said Taylor. "I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but ... she did something really bad. And it happened to me. And Dad had to come and get me out of it. When Dad triggered ..."

"Wait, wait," said Gallant. Unmasked, he had told her to call him Dean. "Pathfinder's your dad?"

Taylor grinned. "Yeah. He got his powers the same time I got mine. Cool, huh?" She was starting to relax and enjoy this.

Vista nodded. "It would be great to always have someone at home you can talk to about having powers." She rolled her eyes. "With my family, it's always 'have you tried not using your powers? Why can't you be normal?'" The whiny, nasal tone drew smiles from around the group.

Taylor giggled. "Yeah, it is really nice. Not having to pretend. No secrets. No awkwardness."

She looked around at the group. "Now, I know you stop time," she said to Clockblocker, "but I'm still a bit unsure on what you do," she added to Vista.

Vista grinned. "I can stretch or squeeze space, so it might take you all day to cross this room, or make it in a single step."

Taylor's eyes widened. "That's an awesome power."

Vista nodded. "It can be. So what do you do?"

Taylor grinned. "I locate stuff."

"Yeah?" asked Browbeat. "Like what?"

Taylor shrugged. "Basically, anything I've got enough details on to make it unique. I get a mental image of it, and I know its exact location."

"Like ... anything?" said Kid Win.

Taylor shrugged again. "Try me."

Carlos spoke up. "My mother lost her favourite necklace last week. She doesn't know where it's got to."

"I'm going to need more details than that," Taylor told him.

"Silver and turquoise," Carlos said. "Actually, hold on, I got a photo of it on my phone somewhere." He flicked through pictures until he found one, and Taylor looked at it.

Her eyes went unfocused for a moment. "Got it," she said. "It's in a pawn shop, downtown." She gave him the address. "Currently under the counter. It hasn't been put on display yet."

He stared at her. "You .. got all that, just from the photo?" he asked.

She nodded. "It's what I do," she said. "Actually, if you want, we could get it back for you."

"We?" he asked.

"Me and Dad," she clarified.

He frowned. "Go there and ask for it back, you mean?"

She grinned. "Not exactly." She didn't even look around, but purple-brown smoke billowed beside her, and her father was standing there.

"You wanted me, Taylor?" he asked.

Everyone around her stepped back with varying shock and surprise on their features. Vista looked delighted. "Oh, that was awesome!" she said.

Taylor took her father's hand. "Stolen property," she said. "Get it back?"

He held out his free hand. A puff of smoke later, and the necklace lay coiled up in it. Aegis stared at it, hypnotised. Taylor picked it up and handed it to him. "Tell your mom hi from me," she said with a smile.

He cradled it in his hands. Everyone was goggling at Taylor and Danny. Taylor looked around, shrugged slightly. "What?" she asked.

Danny grinned, gave her a one-armed hug, and said, "I'll get back to the adults now. Call me if you need me." And then he disappeared in his characteristic billow of smoke.

Vista squealed and hugged Taylor. "That was fantastic!" she exulted. "Can you and your dad do that all the time?"

Taylor grinned and hugged her back. "Mostly, yeah," she said.

Browbeat turned to Clockblocker. "Do you believe what you just saw?"

Clockblocker shrugged. "I dunno. What did you just see?" Someone way out of my league. He tossed his drink back, and went looking for another.

Kid Win clapped Taylor on the shoulder. "Well done. Welcome to the team."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Chris. It's nice to have new friends."

He grinned at her. "Likewise, Taylor. Is your dad going to be working with us a lot?"

"Actually," said Taylor, "I'll probably be working with him a lot. We, uh, work well together."

"Except when you're doing monitor duty and stuff," said Vista.

"Maybe even then," said Taylor. "Miss Militia says we're a special case."


"Taylor seems to be getting along well with the others," observed Miss Militia.

Danny nodded. "She's needed friends of her own age for the longest time. At her school ... she was bullied a lot. Which, in a roundabout way, is why we're here today."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I know," she said. She put her hand on his arm. "If you ever need someone to talk to ..."

He looked at her, slightly surprised. "I, uh, guess, yeah, sometime I might do that," he said.

The moment was interrupted when Assault slapped Danny on the shoulder. "So, Pathfinder, is it?"

"Call me Danny," he said with a grin.

"Danny, right." Assault offered his hand. "Ethan. It's good to see another family man on the team. And you, what, teleport?"

Danny nodded. "I haven't figured out all the tricks I can do with it, but Taylor's helping me out with that. She's very imaginative like that."

"I'm sure that'll be a very useful addition to the team," said Battery. "Can you teleport other people? Oh wait," she said immediately, putting her hand to her forehead. "You arrived with Compass Rose, Armsmaster and Miss Militia. Sorry."

"Uh, yeah," he said. "Normally, one other person. But when Taylor's with me, my capacity improves a lot."

"How much is 'a lot'?" asked Dauntless curiously.

Danny shrugged. "Haven't hit a limit yet."

Triumph shared a glance with Assault. "We are gonna have to test that out," declared Assault.

Danny grinned. "Any time."


End of Part 9