When the Wards and Protectorate alike were called into the briefing room, Jim and Claire sat together.

It's always hard to figure where to sit, Jim thought. When they were with the Wards, they were, well Wards.

But they also attended the morning briefing for the Protectorate, most recently with the unredacted files.

Carlos didn't seem angry, but Jim sometimes wondered. Every one of the Wards bitched about not being treated like they knew what they were doing, and Jim and Claire had… Just shown up and were now working closer with the Protectorate than any of them.

On the other hand, maybe they noticed all the extra bruises Claire and Jim were accumulating, or the fact that Claire had been grabbed for power testing after Animos had used his power neutralizing scream on one of her golems, and well, nothing had happened.

The Teeth had retreated after that, but then they'd vanished and Jim didn't think it was due to Claire.

Please decide to have gone elsewhere…

The Teeth were just creepy.

"Where's Triumph?" Claire asked.

"Director Piggot called him in this morning," Carlos said. "Something family—"

"Your attention please." Director Piggot said. "We have some very important information about the Teeth. Some… very unfortunate information."

Piggot looked angry… No, angry and disturbed.

Oh, Boy.

"This morning, BBPD was called to the aftermath of a cape fight," Armsmaster said. He gestured at the screen, showing a gleaming glass statue. "The vehicle was destroyed by advanced tinkertech munitions, possibly used by Coil's forces."

"Possibly?" Velocity asked.

"They were unpowered, but Coil is the only gangleader in town who commonly equips his troops with tinkertech weapons. These bombs are, according to the ATF/PRT Joint Task Force, produced by a new Tinker who triggered and attempted to hold her college hostage. Current information is that she's working under the name Boom-Boom, either in association or as a formal part of the Elite." Armsmaster took a breath. "But the important factor is that upon arrival, we were able to confirm that the Butcher was among the dead."

"Shit…" Assault breathed out. "Any idea who the poor bastard who got Butchered was?"

"Yes." Director Piggot's voice was absolutely emotionless. She touched a button, and a voice filled the air. It was a girls, young but…

"Mo-mom, I can't come home."

"Dinah?" At the name, Missy shot upright. "Dinah, what's wrong, you ran away—"

"You… you didn't believe… Coil did. He grabbed me and I stopped—shut up, I'M TALKING TO MOMMY, SHUT UP!"

"Dinah, what's wrong!"

"Too many voices! I run the numbers but the scream, they always scream if I ask the wrong questions. Chance of me running the Teeth in a week, 99 percent! Chance of getting away, 0.5 percent. They… They promise they don't care about you. They'll work with me, but I have… No I won't do that! Stop it! STOP IT!"

"Dinah, Honey, come home, please! We can talk to your doctor, we can get help. I know you think…"

"I think we think, everyone thinks but I know…" the voice went sing-song for a moment. "Sometimes they're quiet… But not always. But I can ask questions… If I do what they say, am I a danger to you in a month…" She paused. "5 percent chance… But I can't ask too many questions. They say I should hold them in reserve. Who is dangerous, who do I kill, what do I—we want…"

"Dinah, please—"

"Gotta go, Mom… Butcher one saw a picture of you, he says you're ho—stop it! STOP IT!"

Then the phone went dead. Armsmaster called up another image. "This was the phonebooth Dinah Alcott made her call from. Fortunately, it was in view of a store's security cameras." A small girl stood at the phone booth, then she evidently screamed, her mouth open and just started demolishing the booth with her hands. A moment later, she vanished, and the screen split, another security camera showing her appearing in an explosion that scattered the people around her, before she started running off, moving far too fast for a small girl.

"From the evidence, we sadly must confirm the fact that Dinah Alcott evidently triggered with an unknown power and was chosen, either due to causing the Butcher's death or some other unknown factor, to be the next Butcher. From her phone call, she is clearly already unstable." Piggot's voice was leached of emotion. "Triumph has been sent to assist her family with… coming to terms with this."

Missy still had her hands to her mouth. "I…" She gulped. "I mean, we had a project we were working on, but she said she got too many headaches. I mean, she can't be the Butcher! She's Dinah."

"I'm afraid the evidence suggests otherwise," Armsmaster said.

Jim winced. He really needs a robot filter on what he says.

"I—" Missy took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Because some Butcher's circulate around their former haunts before joining the Teeth, we have to be concerned that Miss Alcott might do the same." Piggot still had that toneless voice. "For that reason, we will be deploying Armsmaster, Trollhunter and Shadowdancer to her school. Vista, you will remain here, as we do not want to risk you being outed. The Teeth are not known for abiding by most limits when it comes to attacking parahumans."

"But I know Dinah!" Missy said.

For a second, there was a crack in Piggot's voice. Sympathy. "No, Vista. You knew Dinah. My decision stands. Dismissed."

Vista went stomping off to the Wards quarters, refusing to look at anyone. Jim frowned, but Velocity shook his head.

"She doesn't want to see you two, not yet," the older hero said. "Not anyone. She doesn't want people to think she's a kid, and…" he sighed. "She's not old enough, not yet, to realize that having a cry over someone you've lost is about as far from being a kid as you can get. I'll have Miss Militia check on her in a bit."

"Thanks," Jim said. Claire was flying up the stairs heading for Merlin's lab.

Claire had read about the Butcher, and some of the reports of those he'd taken—while they could still give reports. Only a few. Most of the Butchers intended to take his power, with only a few heroes falling to it. But it was possession. And she had been possessed.

And if Blinky, Mr. Stricklander, Jim and Toby could free her… She opened the door and before Merlin could say anything, she spilled out what had happened. Then.

"Well?"

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "Well, what?"

"How do we free her?"

"We don't." Merlin turned back to his work.

"Don't you do that!" Claire snarled. "Vista's in her quarters crying, and a girl is being possessed right now! You're a wizard! You can fix this!"

Merlin sighed. "My dear, these powers are mechanical. There is no sense of the mystical about them. A possessing Demon? A sorcerer casting her soul out? Those I can handle. But this has nothing to do with the soul. None of these powers do."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Claire snarled. "What kind of machine could stop time, could put someone in a bubble… could, could…" She tried to think of the most ridiculous example she'd read of, "make bear shaped ghosts!"

"Well, it's nice to see you're finally thinking. You're right, it is ridiculous, but I have no answer for you. Machines are the product of intelligence, but powers seem to be anything but… not to mention the fact that they all seem to come from the same pair of tiny organs."

"Not all, some case-53s don't have brains, not like that." Claire corrected. "But… We have to do something!" she finally burst out.

"Do we?" Merlin looked at her. "Then perhaps more thought and less anger would be appropriate. I expect all are very angry at a little girl being so harmed. Leave the anger to them, and the thinking to you. Now, what do you want to do?"

"I… I don't know," Claire admitted. "I… Catch her first, so we can figure out what to do?"

"Well then, you have your mission. Don't forget your lessons tonight." With that, Merlin turned back to his work.

Asshole!

But he was right.

Fucking asshole.

Less than an hour later, Claire, Jim and Armsmaster were standing in front of an assembly of Dinah's school. There were PRT troops and BBPD outside, while a steady stream of parents were showing up, preparing to take their children home. Every one in her class, and any who knew her outside of class were being provided with panic buttons, while the Thinktank and some hastily recruited child psychologists were trying to model what she might do.

Claire looked out at the kids. They'd been bouncing in their seats, excited that their heroes were showing up for an unexpected assembly. Now they were quiet, some faces pale, some looking confused, some crying.

"And in conclusion," Armsmaster said in front of the TV, which had just finished playing his informative and not-traumatizing at all synopsis of the Butcher's powers, personalities and interactions with the Teeth, "you must not, under any circumstances, approach Miss Alcott. While we believe that she has not yet been completely compromised by the Butcher collective, she is clearly unstable and that is likely to get worse, and her powers make her lethal." The hero paused. "I know some of you entertain hopes that she can be cured. However, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to free her from the collective and so if you do see her, you can best help by calling the PRT hotline or pressing your panic button, so she can be brought into custody and prevented from harming herself or others."

Locked in a cage for the rest of her life, Claire filled in.

At that, one of the aides in Dinah's class, turned and ran for the exit. She hadn't been the only one. The adults knew more about the Butcher and what the PRT would do than the kids did.

"For today, I, Shadowdancer and Trollhunter will remain at the school. However, we will be on duty, so please do not seek us out for social interaction."

With that, the assembly was over and the kids were being herded back to their rooms. Armsmaster went to consult with the BBPD, PRT and administration while Jim and Claire patrolled.

They had been chosen for a reason. Jim was tough and fast and Claire had left a beacon in a cell at the Rig. If they could get the Butcher, Jim could hopefully hold her long enough for Claire to drop her into the Cell, or for Armsmaster to foam and tranq.

If she showed up at the school. Claire had her doubts. But it would give her time to think.

Like Merlin wanted.

"You want us back in town?" Lisa asked. "I thought we were out here away from the fighting building up our rep as misunderstood teens solving crimes. I was even going to get a van painted up."

"Yes. You're needed here," Coil's voice was…

Worried. No. Frightened.

She'd never heard him like that. What the hell could have gone wrong?

"I was… recruiting a parahuman. Dinah Alcott. Twelve years old, possessed of a powerful precognitive gift." Coil paused. "In the chaos, I thought I should protect her."

Lying. Lisa wrinkled her nose. She didn't need her power to tell her that.

"However, there was a fight and she was… Possessed by the Butcher."

Oh fuck. Poor damned kid.

"You want us to bring her in?" She shook her head. "Boss, we're not really set up for that. Our heaviest hitters are Bitch's dogs and that… well."

"You need to capture her." Coil paused. "After all, you do have someone on your team who could control… and make use of the Butcher's powers."

Regent. Oh you fucker… "Boss, we're sort of trying to keep that on the down low, remember? Team of plucky heroes and a Master 8 don't exactly mix, especially when he's one of Heartbreaker's kids."

"I'm afraid I'm unable to agree… But I will offer 250,000 dollars for this mission, and in addition, I will compensate Regent for his assistance in helping this poor girl."

Lying. Then Lisa realized it. "She's coming after you, isn't she?"

"I have made preparations to keep myself safe," Coil said. "But they are interfering with my operations in the Bay. It would be better for all concerned if you took this job."

A threat. Of course it was. If they didn't help him on something like this, the Undersiders would be useless… And Coil can always let people know who Regent is, in addition to just shooting me in the head. Fuck.

"You got it, Boss," Lisa said cheerfully. "Just let me talk to everyone else and we'll be coming back in."

And maybe find some other friends to deal with you. For a few bright days, Lisa had entertained the thought that Coil really was going to let them go, or just use them as heroic muscle.

Now that came crashing down.

And I'd almost finished getting the van painted green and blue. Goddammit."