Finding the Way
Part 25: Complications
Morning, Danny reflected, was hectic enough without having four extra teenagers living under one's roof. Jockeying for a chance to have a shower before school – or going on duty with the Wards, in Brian's case – had been subtle but intense. Fortunately, Taylor had taken up running every morning, and Amy and Brian were running with her; this gave Danny, Vicky and Aisha a chance to get showered before they returned.
It was fortunate that the PRT, while unable or unwilling to spring for off-base accommodation, were granting him a stipend toward their room and board. This altered the living arrangements from impossible to merely problematic. However, as soon as Brian turned eighteen – which would, as it happened, occur within a few days of Taylor turning sixteen – he would be able to move out with Aisha, into his own place; this would take a lot of pressure off the situation.
Until then, or until Amy and Vicky found a place to move into, the pressure would remain. On the upside, he had lucked upon a reasonably responsible bunch of teens with whom to share his house.
Brian was as serious as Aisha was rambunctious; while the younger girl tended to act out on occasion, all that her brother needed to bring her into line was a reminder of where she had been, before moving to the Hebert household. She was respectful toward Danny, and he took care to not treat her as a child. While she still forgot not to swear from time to time, he understood that it took time to lose that sort of habit.
Amy and Vicky, on the other hand, were utterly devoted to one another, and worked hard at not being a problem; any chores that they took on were done quickly, quietly and competently. He could not fault them; they kept their room clean, the floors were swept, the dishes done, the laundry washed and hung out, all usually while he was at work.
Aisha and Brian took their turn at chores as well; while Aisha wasn't exactly lazy, she tended to be slapdash in the way she did it. Danny understood and recognised that she had a short attention span, and generally got her to do those things that didn't take long to do. Brian, on the other hand, got the job done right every time. He even volunteered as cook from time to time.
Of course, in the kitchen, there was usually room for only one cook at a time, so nobody could really help Danny cook breakfast. The exception was Taylor; they never bumped into one another, never got in each others' way. Each of them knew where the other was, at all times, without even thinking about it.
But even when Taylor was on her run, as she was now, he was able to use his powers to speed up the cooking of breakfast. Spatulas and forks came to his hand at a thought; bacon went from packet to hand to pan, and filled plates went from his hand to the table just as fast as they were prepared.
Aisha blinked as a plate of bacon and eggs appeared before her in a puff of purple-brown smoke; an instant later, he had brought a knife and fork from the drawer to his hand, and sent them on to the table on either side of the plate. He was already sorting out the next plate by the time she managed to speak.
"I gotta say, Mr Hebert, even though I've been living here a while, watching you teleport stuff around like that still weirds me out."
"Why's that, Aisha?" he asked idly, bringing an egg to his hand and cracking it over the pan.
She sliced off a piece of egg white and swallowed it before continuing; while nobody had cracked down on her for talking with her mouth full, she had actually made an effort to fit in, manners-wise. It was still very much a work in progress, but he had to admit that she was doing her best.
"I dunno. I didn't grow up with powers. Nobody I knew had powers, till Brian triggered. I guess I'm used to seeing capes punching each other out on TV, or rogues using powers to make craploads of money." She gestured toward where he was working at the stove. "I never seen anyone using a power like yours to do something simple like cook breakfast."
"You never saw anyone," he corrected her. "Saw, not seen. But your point is valid. Most parahumans who get powers, they seem to think 'how can I make money' or 'where's the nearest villain, I want to punch him'."
"What's this about punching villains?" asked Vicky, entering the kitchen while still towelling her hair.
"I was just talking to Mr Hebert about how weird it is to see him using his powers to make breakfast."
"Well, powers can be good for that sort of thing, or they can be utterly useless," Vicky noted as she sat down; a moment later, a plate and cutlery appeared in front of her. "Oh, thanks. I grew up in a cape household; sometimes powers came in handy, but most of the time they're just good for smacking bad guys around."
"And thus, my point," Danny observed, then paused. "They're on the way back."
Neither of them chose to comment on that; they knew about his deep and abiding connection to Taylor. Aisha was more than half done as it was; she kept eating while Vicky traded casual small talk with Danny.
Just as Aisha got up to put her plate in the sink, the side gate twanged; a moment later, the back door opened. The other three members of the household trooped in, in various stages of sweaty exhaustion. "I'll go shower, you guys eat," Taylor told them.
"Works for me," Brian agreed; he sat down, and Danny 'ported a plate in front of him. Amy stopped beside Vicky's chair to give her sister a hug and a kiss, then stole some bacon from her plate. In the meantime, Taylor stepped up next to Danny; he turned just in time to give her a hug, then went back to cooking while she headed upstairs.
"So how was the run?" asked Danny, sliding bacon and egg on to a plate for Amy.
"Pretty good," Brian reported. "Taylor's doing well, and Amy's coming along nicely." He got the orange juice pitcher from the fridge and poured juice for himself, Amy and Danny.
"Amy is staggering along at the back of the pack," Amy retorted, trying and failing to slap Vicky's hand as she stole a piece of bacon in revenge. "But Taylor and Brian seem to think it's a good idea, so I'll keep doing it."
Finally, Danny sat down at the table with his own breakfast; Taylor's bacon and eggs sat on the stove, the heat turned down so that it did not burn. "It's definitely a good idea," he agreed. "If you don't have a power that gives you a good chance of evading your enemies, then building up your stamina so that you can run away is always worthwhile."
Amy poked her fork at Brian. "Mister muscles here doesn't seem to need to worry about either running away or building up his stamina. Every time we stopped to let me catch my breath, he did push-ups. Push-ups!" She managed to sound mildly insulted.
Brian shrugged. "I like to stay fit. Sue me." He grinned broadly at Amy, his teeth very white against his dark skin. "Pretty soon you'll be keeping up, and then we'll start you on the push-ups too."
"Oh god," Amy groaned, so theatrically that Danny strongly suspected that she was putting it on, "no way. It's not going to happen."
"What's the matter, Ames?" teased Vicky. "Pushups are easy."
"Says the girl who can bench press a Mack truck, and fly," retorted Amy.
"Well, I didn't say they were easy for you." Vicky grinned as Amy stuck her tongue out at her.
Danny looked up as he noted that Taylor was moving along the corridor to the room she shared with Aisha. "Shower's free."
Brian looked at Amy. "Want to go next?"
"No, it's good." She glanced at Vicky. "We're staying to do the dishes, and then Vicky's flying me to school. So you can go now."
"Okay, thanks." He scraped up the last of his egg and finished his orange juice. "And thanks for breakfast, Mr Hebert."
"You're welcome, Brian." Danny kept eating as Brian put his plate in the sink and left the room. He glanced at Aisha, who was leaning back in her chair, nibbling on the last piece of toast. "So how are things at school these days, anyway?"
"Eh, so-so," she admitted. "Not great, but not horrible."
"Not using your powers to duck out on classes?" he prodded gently.
"Uh, no," she replied; he was pretty sure she was lying.
He sighed. "Aisha. It's good to be able to go to school. You learn things that you wouldn't have learned, otherwise."
"I can do that outside school," she pointed out.
"Such as?" he asked incautiously.
She ticked off on her fingers. "Where the Merchants keep their stashes. What Director Piggot does in her spare time. Who's seeing who in the Empire Eighty-Eight, and how they like it when I put itching powder in their underwear drawers."
Danny willed himself not to react too obviously. Amy and Vicky were staring wide-eyed at Aisha. "You did that?" asked Vicky, looking very impressed.
"'Course," Aisha confirmed. "It was easy."
"And incredibly risky," Danny replied, working to keep his voice even. "What if they decided to catch you, and set a bomb with an electric eye trigger?"
"Yeah, well, I'm not going back," Aisha assured him. "I bet Rune's pissed, though."
"Itching powder?" he asked, thinking he knew what the answer would be.
Grinning, she nodded. "That, and I swiped her stash of whites-only beefcake magazines."
Robe-clad, Taylor peeked out through the barely-open bedroom door as the footsteps reached the top of the stairs. It sounded too heavy for Amy, which meant that it was Brian. She was right; a moment later, he came into view, reaching for the bathroom door.
"Brian!" she called softly, opening the door. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure," he agreed, turning from the bathroom door and approaching her doorway. She opened the door wider and stepped back.
He stepped into the doorway; she caught his scent. Heavy, sweaty, masculine. "What's up?"
"Uh -" She paused, hesitating, her brain momentarily misfiring at his close presence.
"What?" He tilted his head.
Her voice was a rush. "Brian, would you like to go on a date?"
That got his attention. "A ... date?"
"Yeah," she confirmed, regaining her equilibrium. "A date. Gallant's asked me if I want to come out on a double date. He'll be bringing his date, and I thought I could bring you. If you're interested."
"Uh, what's your father going to say?"
She shrugged. "Asked him. He said he's fine with it. Called you a 'very responsible young man'."
"Oh." He seemed taken aback. "I'm glad."
She gave him a searching look. "So is that a yes or no on the date?"
"Sure, I'd love to go on a date with you," he blurted. He ducked out of the bedroom, heading for the shower.
She watched him go, then closed the door, took off the robe, and finished dressing. Good. That's sorted. Humming to herself, she strolled downstairs.
Danny looked up as she entered. "Your breakfast is on the stove, Taylor," he greeted her.
"Thanks, Dad." She collected the bacon and eggs, and sat down next to him. The juice pitcher materialised in his hand, and he poured her a glass. "Oh, thanks."
"You're welcome. So I'm guessing that Brian said yes?"
She looked around, puzzled; Amy and Vicky were now sporting secret smiles of their own, while Aisha was grinning like a loon. "What?"
Danny cleared his throat. "Brian and the date. He said yes, right?"
"What?" She coloured a deep crimson. "Oh god, you all knew?"
Aisha quite literally fell off her chair, cackling loudly. Amy was trying not to laugh, but wasn't being too successful at holding it in; she was getting redder and redder in the face, and letting out a series of high-pitched squeaks. Vicky just whooped with laughter.
"I kind of let it slip earlier," Danny explained. "Everyone's glad for you."
Aisha climbed back on to her seat, and held out her hand to Vicky. "Pay up," she demanded.
Taylor, still red, looked from Aisha to Vicky. "What?"
"She bet Vicky that he'd say yes," Amy explained, still very red in the face. "I didn't bet. I didn't think it was right."
"That, and we wouldn't let you bet, in case you tipped him off first," jibed Vicky. She pulled a note out of her wallet and slapped it into Aisha's palm. Aisha folded it and tucked it into her top.
"I wouldn't do anything like that!" protested Amy.
"Not even if there was money involved?" asked Aisha.
Amy hesitated. "Uh -"
"Ah-ha!" Aisha crowed. "Yeah, no betting for Amy."
Taylor looked at her curiously. "Uh … you're not upset that I'm going on a date with your brother?"
Aisha shrugged. "Eh. I don't need any details, but I'm a big girl. I can deal." She leaned closer and added in a stage whisper, "Besides, I'm seeing Regent. What Brian doesn't know won't hurt him."
"How long before you figure he'll know about it?" asked Danny mildly.
Aisha shrugged, supremely unconcerned. "None of his beeswax. He starts getting upset with me, I'll throw this in his face."
"Wow, it's just a date." Taylor rolled her eyes, and started on her breakfast.
"Yeah, with Amy and me, it started out with just a date too," Vicky commented dryly. Amy giggled.
Taylor flushed, but ignored them.
After breakfast, Danny and Taylor strolled out into the back yard.
"So what's with this date, anyway?" he asked. "All you told me, earlier, was that you needed to ask someone, and that Brian was the most obvious candidate."
Taylor sighed. "It's Gallant. He was having trouble getting over breaking up with Vicky, and I gave him some advice which has apparently helped him. So he wants to go out and have a social evening with me, just to say thanks. So he told me to bring a date along. And that's Brian."
Danny chuckled. "So he's a hero, and you're bringing along an ex-villain on a date. Impressive."
"It's the way of the world, I guess." Taylor shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."
"That they have." Danny went to lead the way back into the house, but stopped. Taylor peered past him to see Vicky and Amy in a clinch. Neither of them was aware of Danny or Taylor.
Quietly, they backtracked into the yard, closing the door as they went.
"Bag?" Taylor asked, putting her hand on his arm. A moment later, in a puff of purple-brown smoke, she held it. She gave him a hug. "See you after school."
He returned it. "See you then. And if I forget to tell you later, have fun on the date, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
She rolled her eyes. "Da-ad."
He grinned.
School was a lot easier, Taylor decided, since she had gotten powers. Not as a direct result, of course; while there were probably ways that she could use her location powers to increase her academic standard, they were most likely illegal. Cheating, in other words.
The way that things had become easier was a lot simpler than that. Getting powers had allowed her and Danny to join the Protectorate, and to get the goods on Sophia and her friends. Discovering that Shadow Stalker was one of her bullies had been a shock, but not as much of a shock as it obviously had been to the Director. Sophia's attempt to flee upon discovery had been a godsend; that made for assumption of guilt, and subsequent searching of her locker and her bedroom at home had unearthed a stash of her forbidden sharp arrows. Shadow Stalker had gone down, hard.
Also, not only were Emma and Madison undergoing investigation for the bullying activities – in an attempt to lighten the sentence upon herself, Sophia had spilled the beans on them – but they were also being charged for the attempt to steal Taylor's purse from the restaurant. Danny had informed her with quiet glee that Alan Barnes had been warned off the case by Carol Dallon; if he stepped in, then so would she.
All in all, the prior bullying stance against her had utterly collapsed; people who used to shove her or call names behind her back now almost tiptoed around her. It helped that she had had what they thought to be a growth spurt, adding a couple of inches to her height, and several to her bust, turning her from gawky to graceful. While she was by no means a beautiful swan as yet, she was certainly no longer an ugly duckling. Thank you, Amy.
Unfortunately, this did draw a different type of attention, for which she really wasn't prepared. Specifically, boys who were interested in her, and girls who wanted to be her friend. Which begged the question; who among these kids were those who had always wanted to be her friend and had been scared to do so, and who were seeking to curry favour with the new apparent power in her year? She was still coming to terms with her new body image; still unsure about how she felt regarding how others saw it.
She had barely been sitting down for thirty seconds in the cafeteria when a couple of boys, ones she barely knew, approached the table. "Uh, can we sit here?" asked one.
She already knew that several other tables were still unoccupied; she gave them a cool glance. "Why?"
"Uh, so we can eat our lunch?"
Yeah, right. "Sure, sit down. Be my guest."
They sat, and applied themselves to their lunches. Silently, also eating her lunch, she counted seconds in her head by visualising the cafeteria clock. She had barely got to 'forty' when one of the boys cleared his throat. ""Uh, you're Taylor Hebert, right?"
Why, fancy that. "That's me, yes." Her tone was carefully neutral. She didn't recall this boy being one of the ones who had followed Emma's lead in taunting her, but that meant nothing.
"I was wondering, there's this party on Saturday night, and maybe you'd like -"
She smiled briefly. "Sorry, but I've got a date already. You know how it goes."
"Oh, so I might see you there -"
She spoke over him. "No. I don't go to parties. Not since the last one I went to, where every single person turned away and refused to speak to me." She looked into his eyes. "Have you ever been alone in a crowd? I've been there. It's not fun."
"Oh, but that won't happen -"
"This time?" She heard the edge in her voice, and wanted to rein herself in, then decided, Fuck it.. "Because I'm not the pariah any more? Not the outcast?" Her voice lowered, so that he had to lean forward. "Understand this; the fact that you, all of you, decided to change your treatment of me just because of something that happened, says far more bad things about you than it does good things about me. Now, I don't care about your parties. I don't care about your social scene. I don't care about you. And if you can't eat your lunch quietly, go and find another table. I'm done talking."
She went back to eating her pita wrap. The boy she had spoken to got up, looking hurt, and moved to another table. His friend didn't go; he stayed, eating quietly. When he finished, he got up, paused, and spoke one word before leaving.
"Sorry."
Taylor didn't reply, didn't respond in any way. She pulled out a book from her bag, opened it, and kept eating. Knowing now that they would be talking about her, but not knowing what they would be saying. Telling herself that she didn't care.
She had finished on the wrap and was starting on the banana when someone sat down opposite her. She raised her eyes from the book with words already forming on her lips.
"I told you I -"
She looked into the face of Madison Clements.
For a long moment, she stared. She was tempted to get up, to just walk away. But then she reminded herself, I don't run away from people like this. Not any more.
"I thought the cops were talking to you for trying to steal my purse."
Madison, for the first time she had ever seen her, looked worn down, a little ragged. She had done her best to maintain the 'cute' look, but the strain was showing. "They are. But I've also got the right to attend school."
"With me." Taylor's voice was flat. "Wouldn't they have a restraining order or something on you?"
"Get real." Madison snorted. "I never used violence. I'm not a threat to you. Mr Barnes pulled Emma out just ahead of a suspension, and Sophia's just … gone. I'm not quite in enough trouble to suspend or expel me, but I'm not quite in the clear. Turns out I've got a metric ton of 'accessory' charges hanging over my head."
"Plus that theft thing," Taylor said dryly.
"Plus that theft thing," Madison agreed.
A light clicked on over Taylor's head. "You rolled over on them."
The slightest of shrugs. "Emma would've done it to me, if she'd thought of it first. Soon as I saw how serious it was, I batted my eyes and started singing like a canary." She gestured at the cafeteria. "And here I am."
"So why are you here, talking to me?" demanded Taylor. "To ask me to plead your case? If you're hoping for that, then you've got a long wait coming. Everything that's coming to you, you deserve."
Madison snorted again. "Doubt you could do a thing now, anyway. Sophia's obviously talking too, wherever she is. There's enough evidence to nail all three of us to the wall. So you can, you know, gloat a bit if you want."
Taylor twisted the cap off of her fruit juice and took a drink. Swallowed and put the bottle down. "I don't want to gloat." That wasn't strictly true; there was just a little tiny bit of gloating going on, inside her. How the mighty have fallen. "What I want is to know why you're here, at this table, talking to me. Because I can't think of a valid reason." She shot Madison a suspicious look. "Unless you're looking to pull one last prank on me, in which case I will kick your ass across this cafeteria and back. And not a person here will lift a hand to stop me."
She knew that Danny would be feeling the sudden tension, would know that she was concerned. If anything threatened, he should be able to pull her out before anything major happened.
"No, no, no pranks." Madison leaned forward across the table. "I just wanted to tell you that you're doing it all wrong."
Taylor blinked, long and slow. "You fucking what?"
"You're doing it wrong," insisted Madison. "You want to just be left alone, ignored, but not pushed around or bullied, right?"
"I … yes?"
"Well, then." Madison dusted her hands off. "You're doing it wrong. Snapping at people who want to sit next to you? Giving them no kind of leeway? That's setting the wrong tone."
"I'm not asking them to sit next to me," Taylor replied defensively.
"Not verbally, no," agreed Madison. "Look, you're not great at this whole teenage social scene thing, are you?"
Taylor took another drink of the orange juice, and considered dumping the rest over Madison's head. As tempting as it was, it probably wouldn't help her cause any. "Whatever gave you that idea?" she retorted.
"Oh, just a few hints, here and there." Madison raised her chin. "Whereas, I'm good at this shit."
"So you're here to watch me squirm, to gloat, is that it?"
"Hardly." Madison's tone was dismissive. "This is how it's going to happen. I'm going to tell you where you're going wrong. Then you'll reject what I'm saying, tell me to stay the fuck out of your life, and spend the next week avoiding me. I'll watch you flail around for about a week, doing exactly the wrong things and totally failing to get what you want, and maybe then I'll gloat a little. After that, you'll come back to me and ask me how you should do it. I'll give you pointers, you'll end up where you need to be – that is, the top of the heap, where people will respect you enough to leave you alone when you ask them to – and I'll be right there beside you, back on top where I belong."
Taylor glared at her. "Got it all figured out, have you?"
"Pretty well." Madison tilted her head in self-acknowledgement. "I know this stuff like the back of my hand, after all."
"So, did you show Emma how to do it?"
"Nah." Madison shook her head. "She can do that sort of stuff like a duck can swim. I gave Sophia the occasional pointer, sure – she was more about the physical stuff than the mental – but once she got her head around it, she could deal."
"So why even talk to me, then? Why not rise to the top by yourself?"
Madison smiled at Taylor; a sweet, unaffected smile. It looked so genuine that Taylor was almost taken in. "Because I'm cute, but that's not quite enough to be queen bee all by myself. I need a figurehead, someone for people to focus on, and that's you. You don't want to be the centre of attention, and that's fine. I'll deflect most of it away from you. You just have to look like you're in charge."
"And what if I don't want that?" Taylor tried to make her tone challenging.
"Then you ignore what I've got to say." Madison shrugged lightly. "You keep putting people off, they'll start calling you a snooty bitch, and you'll be alone in a school that either doesn't know about you or doesn't like you. That is, right where you started."
Taylor tried to muster an answer that didn't sound exactly like 'go fuck yourself'', and couldn't. She took a deep breath, and at that moment, her phone went off. Her Wards phone. At almost exactly the same time, Danny's emotions spiked a little; she figured that he had gotten a call too.
Pulling the phone out, she pressed the answer icon. "Yeah?" she replied.
"Are you alone?" It was Aegis.
"Oh, hi, Dad. What's up?"
"Got it. Get somewhere out of the way so he can pick you up. Something's going down; we're needed for a briefing."
"Oh, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that." As she spoke, Taylor rose from her seat and slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Problem?"
"No, something pretty insignificant, all things told." She looked directly into Madison's eyes as she said that. "See you after school."
"See you soon."
Hanging up the phone, she glanced at Madison. "Sorry, gotta run. Just remembered some homework I've got to do before my next class."
Madison raised her eyebrows. "You can't run away from this."
Taylor shook her head. "I don't give a fuck about this."
Turning, she strode toward the cafeteria exit, vaguely aware of Madison rising to follow her. The doors opened, and she turned right as they closed. No-one was in view. Okay, Dad. Now.
A burst of purple-brown smoke, and her father stood before her. She walked straight into his arms; he folded them around her, and the smoke billowed around them once more. In her mind's eye she could see Madison leaving the cafeteria, looking left and right with a puzzled expression.
Not my problem right now.
Looking around, they were in the Wards area; Danny pulled her Compass Rose costume from home and placed it in her arms. "See you at the meeting," he told her. A quick hug, and he was gone.
As the cloud of smoke faded, she turned to see Aegis; he was mostly costumed up, with just his mask hanging down at the back of his neck.
"What's up?" she asked, setting down the costume and helmet so that she could bundle her hair up at the back of her head.
"Apparently the Empire Eighty-Eight's making a move," he reported tersely. "More information at the briefing session. Good to see you, Taylor."
"And you too, Carlos," she replied, removing her fake glasses before pulling her helmet over her head. It felt like coming home. "Let me costume up, and we'll go see what's going on."
End of Part Twenty-Five
