Thomas paced. In one timeline, he was ten miles out of town, in a small apartment he kept off the books. The man had bought it had no idea he'd given Thomas everything he needed to know over the course of a few hours of torture. Now, Thomas had a safe haven that nobody knew about…

Save for that fucking precog. He should have arranged a way to kill her. Tattletale had told him that they might have a way to get her back under control.

In his base, he was on the phone with her.

"Why did the PRT shut down their systems?" Thomas growled. Normally, he could dedicate a timeline to getting the truth, but he couldn't now. He couldn't risk it, not with the Butcher gunning for him. He'd pulled back most of his men, but he had to leave some out…

"They aren't stupid, Boss," that annoyingly smug voice said. "They went over the hospital records and think that she's either a high-level thinker or precog, and well, she's the fucking Butcher now. That's why they're keeping their horns in—no heavy hitters, no Triumvirate, not until they know she's not going to do a suicide run."

"And your plan?"

"Oh yeah, they're complete boy scouts. Told a little sob story about the widdle girl trapped in her own mind and they were falling all over themselves to help us. They're used to going off the reservation and they agreed to not contact Armsmaster or any of the Wards."

Thomas got up and started pacing. I still have a safe timeline… Granted, dropping this timeline might lose him everything. He'd have to start over…

But the only way to get the Butcher off his back was to get the Butcher. Just killing the Butcher would lead to another, with even more power, and likely still gunning for him, because they knew about him, if for no other reason.

But it was maddening. He couldn't keep pruning timelines, not now, not here. Which meant that he had to work with Tattletale and the bitch knew it, he could tell that from the tone of her voice.

"What do you need?"

"Okay, Boss, the plan is to capture her and get her into the PRT."

"WHAT?"

"Unless you want a crazy Butcher. Your own records said it, Panacea has been softballing what she can do, and if she can't fix the kid, I'd sure as hell rather find out with the PRT around than just us. After that… We break her out."

"How?"

"Shadowdancer's portals. Remember: 'Oh, the PRT will take her and put her in the Birdcage, or down a mine shaft, think of that poor little girl… But don't worry, Coil isn't that bad of a boss and he'll keep her safe…'" There was a pause. "And, with me and a precog on your side… You've been looking for some extra muscle, right? Brute 6, and a Mover 8… The people who helped take down Lung… But they'll want a meet with you."

Coil found himself clenching his hands. She was right. A team like that would match anything the PRT or the Empire could send, and they were already well liked. Better than the Undersiders. But if they did this and then left the PRT because of… moral concerns, it would position Coil perfectly, while he pretended to try and find a way home for them.

I could get everything. A precog, new employees… But he'd have to let them get close to him.

No he wouldn't. He would still have his safe timeline. He could keep it up until he was absolutely certain it wasn't a trap. Until he knew exactly how to use them… how to control them…

"Agreed. If you can do this, there will be a big bonus in it for you." A medical bed next to Dinah's. With the kind of firepower Tattletale was going to bring him, he'd no longer need her on the outside.

"You got it, boss," Lisa said. She clicked the phone off and pulled the batteries, before sticking it deep in a pouch.

"He bought it?" Grue asked.

"Hook, Line, and Sinker." Lisa grinned at their little group. "He's so focused on getting Dinah back… He's blind. He hates it. But he also thinks that he can jump out if things get too hot."

"And we need to keep him thinking that," Jim said. The Trollhunter looked around. "We won't be safe until the plan is completed, and he's dropped his safe timeline."

"And that part of the plan depends on Panacea, and us getting Dinah." Lisa glanced at Jim. He didn't know the other part, nobody did but Tattletale and Regent. And I can't tell you that, not yet. If Coil had a hint of that part of the plan, they were all dead. The only reason she'd told Regent was that he needed to be read in to play his part. "And speaking of that…" Lisa looked down the street, out of the alley where Claire had jumped them. There was a line in front of the Palanquin. "Let's go jump the line!"

"Wait," Grue said. "Jim and I talk, not you. You and Faultline can't stand in the same room without getting into it, and we don't need that now."

"But I—"

"He's right," Jim said. "Timetable, remember?"

"It doesn't look like the place is more busy than normal," Orb Weaver said. "I've been here once before."

"Oh?"

"Tracking an ABB soldier who was meeting with Faultline. I didn't go inside." Orb Weaver tilted her head, the camera lenses over her eyes giving her an intimidating look. "I don't directly use my people when parahumans might get involved."

"Let's go," Jim said. Everyone nodded.

"You know," Claire said. "I could portal us…"

"But that might piss off Faultline," Lisa said. "Besides, if you're seen going into the Palanquin, it'll help sell Coil on the idea that you really are working for us."

"That really sounds like the set up for a sudden betrayal," Claire said.

"I know, that's what makes it work!" Lisa grinned.

The security guard at the entrance took one look at their group and just opened the door. Inside, the light was dim, people dancing on the floor.

Jim was surprised. You'd think that with the Brockton Games going on and the Butcher wandering around, people wouldn't be so eager to be in one place. But…

"Wow, you must be looking for trouble, Tattletale," The voice was from an orange-skinned…

Teen? He looks about my age, Jim thought. Newter. Right, that was his name. The teen was reclining in a couch with two women, leaning against him, smiling dreamily.

Claire tensed. "What happened to them?"

"Oh, you know, got a taste of the newt and just—"

"It's fine," Tattletale interrupted. "He's not drugging them against their will and…" She peered. "Huh, no actual physiological addiction. That's interesting."

"That's me, free will for a fun time!" Newter said, hopping up. "So, how can I help you?" He glanced at the six parahumans. "Pretty heavy hitters for a casual visit."

"We need help," Jim said. "And Tattletale says that Faultline can give it."

"She said something nice about the Boss, wow, I—"

"We should talk about this upstairs." Jim looked over to see a woman wearing some kind of welding mask, standing at the stop of a flight of stairs. She gestured for them to join her.

Well, here we go.

When they entered the office, Jim noticed there were two people in the room other than Faultline. One was a man wearing a jacket and casual pants, his skin transluscent with shell-like growths on it. Next to him was a woman wearing an armored bodysuit with a green clover on it.

Gregor the Snail and Shamrock.

"So," Faultline said. "Your pardon, but I'm surprised that Tattletale found herself needing to seek out my assistance."

"We need your help," Grue said. "You know the Butcher got another host."

"Yes," Gregor said. "A little girl." He shook his head. "That is a tragedy."

"Yeah," Grue said. "But what you don't know is that it happened because of Coil. The girl has a really powerful precognitive ability. Coil was trying to get it."

"And?" Faultline asked. "We don't normally have to worry about the Teeth, and we can't help her…"

"Actually you can," Jim said. "We need your help. But we can free her from the Butcher, and takedown Coil, once and for all."

"Free her, how?"

"We've got a plan," Tattletale said, smirking. "Now, I have to keep it quiet—"

"No deal," Faultline said. "I want to know the whole plan and why you think that you can handle the Butcher, and why a pair of Wards are here."

Jim glanced at Claire. "Coil can split timelines. We don't know if they're really timelines or some kind of simulation, but he has the PRT completely infiltrated. All he has to do is torture the right person, and he's got all the information he needs. He's gunning for leadership of the Bay, and everyone in it."

"Then he closes the timeline," Tattletale provided. "And then he has all the information, none of the exposure, but he's vulnerable now, because the Butcher's gunning for him and he only has two timelines, one of which he has to keep far away to be safe."

"So what do we get out of it?" Faultline asked. "We don't work for free."

"Everyone knows you're trying to figure out what's going on with the Case-53s," Tattletale said. "How about we help you with that?"

"Oh, and how could you do that?" Faultline asked.

"I'm good with numbers. Coil's got a lot of information," Tattletale said. "Maybe we could track the information down that way."

"Merlin's been teaching me how to post-cog," Claire said. "I did it in the past, but not intentionally… Maybe he or I could look in and see… What happened before you lost your memory."

"Could you do that here?" Faultline asked.

Claire frowned, then stiffened. "No… Not here. Like I said, Merlin's teaching me… But I'd need more time and stuff than we have here." Her voice was tense.

"Fine, that's one part of my payment, if we decide to do this." Faultline frowned. "Now, why do you need us?"

Tattletale looked at Jim and Grue, then nodded. "Newter can take out the Butcher, without hurting her. She's gunning for Coil and we aren't working for him and you never work in the city, so she won't be picking us up. Then we take her to Panacea and see if she can fix her. By the way, Panacea's actually a biotinker."

"How do you know this?"

"Coil had files on both the girl who became the Butcher and Panacea. He thinks she's a percentage based precog with a limited number of power uses before she gets a thinker-headache."

"He… thinks," Faultline frowned. "There's an awful lot of 'thinking' going on here." She paused. "And in return, we get a promise that someone might help us find out about the Case-53 issue."

"Once we get the girl fixed up, you could ask questions and—"

"You can't promise that," Jim said. "We don't know what D-the girl will want to do."

For a moment, Tattletale stared at him. "You really—okay, what then?"

"How much money does Coil have?" Jim asked.

"Oh, shit, lots and lots. He's been building up resource—"

Jim turned to Faultline. "There's your payment. Everything Coil has, everything we can recover, to you."

"We were sort of going to need some of that," Tattletale said.

"I thought you were thinking of becoming heroes," Claire asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn't keep the lights on."

Suddenly, Faultline was smiling. "But what about the warm feeling that you're now a hero…"

"You're going to do that, really?" Tattletale asked. "I mean, with a girl's life in the balance?"

"Fine," Grue said, his voice echoing. "Tats, ten percent of what Coil has, is that enough for us?"

Tattletale didn't say anything for a few seconds, then sighed. "It'd be a lot, if we liquidated it… Maybe five or ten million?"

You're fighting over getting more that? Jim shook his head. It was Grue's call.

The Undersider's leader turned to Faultline. "Ten percent for us, ninety for you. That enough?"

"What about the others?" Faultline gestured.

Orb Weaver shook her head minutely. "I'm fine with a few hundred thousand. Enough for my needs."

"Really," Faultline smirked. "From what we've heard, you've been doing well enough financially on your own. If you're interested, I'd like to talk to you later."

"Fine."

Finally, she turned to Jim and Claire. "And you two?"

"We're good with our pay." But wow, if they're throwing this much money around, no wonder some people don't go with the Wards.

"You may not have it after this," Faultline cautioned. "I bet you contacted the PRT in some way you thought was secure, but if this blows up, they could always toss you under the bus."

"Maybe, but it's worth it," Jim said his voice growing deeper. "We're not letting Coil or the Butcher keep her."

Tattletale's voice wasn't a chipper as normal. "And she may still be fighting the Butcher. They can't… drive someone insane, not instantly. It's not a power, just having a bunch of voices screaming at you, but she's 12, so they might be able to cow her, but if we give her a way out…"

"Especially one her power agrees with," Claire added.

"Yeah. But we can't wait. Not for very long."

Faultline paused, then nodded. "Understood. I'm holding some of our take on this in reserve for you. If you get kicked to the curb, I could use you, so don't be too proud to drop by."

"I…" Claire touched his arm and Jim nodded. "Fine."

"Then let's get started," Faultline said. "Taking out Coil will earn me enough goodwill with the PRT that it might be worth it, and taking out the Butcher will calm things down… in addition to the payment." She paused and then nodded. "But I expect help from you, Shadowdancer."

"Right…" Claire said.

Why is she nervous? Jim wondered. Tattletale glanced at him and shook her head when Faultline looked away, calling the rest of her team to the office. Tattletale knows, or thinks she knows… And Claire sounded tense. Faultline probably wouldn't notice, but…

Did she see or feel something that made her think it was a bad idea to try to post-cog them right now?

Whatever. Jim could ask her later. Right now, they had a kid to save.

"We're letting Jim and Claire take on the Teeth?" Miss Militia stared at Colin like he'd gone mad.

Colin had brought each and every member of the team in, using his lie detector on them. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but in this case he couldn't trust anyone. When they'd been cleared, he'd told the entire team, including the two new members, Sere and Dovetail. Glory Girl was there as well, because for this, they would need as much mobility as they could have. The girl had become…somewhat more serious since her family had started to fall apart, and more importantly, the Protectorate mentor program gave Colin a freer hand in using her than he had with the Wards.

"We have no choice," Colin told her. "In addition to the fact that we cannot be certain there may not be actual agents in the PRT, there's the danger that the closer our coordination, the more effective Butcher 15's precognitive ability may be able to warn her. Tattletale is attempting to maintain her group within a blindspot.

And how well that will work… Colin shook his head. They'd find out soon enough.

"Because of that, we will have to separate as teams, working in parts of the city that are standard for our deployments. As much as I would like to, we cannot simply gather as a single group—that might warn Coil, since he no doubt is familiar with our policies. Velocity, you, Glory Girl and Dovetail will likely be the first responders, along with Dauntless, due to your mobility, in addition to whoever is in the area." Colin expected to be in the area, because he'd mapped out the highest probability regions of Teeth activity.

But now it was time for the most difficult part of the briefing, the part that came after everyone else had left the room, leaving only Colin and Triumph. "Triumph. Are you ready for this? Director Piggot has directed that the Wards be removed from the city, to put them away from any possible retaliation. If you want…"

"No. If Dinah needs me, I'll be here."

"You realize that the probability is very high that Dinah will have to be permanently incarcerated. We are relying on the plan of some Wards and Tattletale." And thinker plans, when they went wrong, went very wrong indeed… Which was why there was a containment unit that would keep whoever had been placed into it in a coma state until they could be placed in a secure location.

Panacea was on standby, along with Merlin. And the thought of what might happen if something went wrong and the Butcher jumped to her…

Colin shook his head. First, they had to secure the Butcher.

"I know, but I'll be there anyway."

"Understood. Let's move out."