A/N: It seems so odd not having a forum to respond to reviews, especially when the story has had such a favorable response. I've read every one, and I'm thrilled that so far everyone's enjoyed it. Humor can be hit and miss, and my sense of humor is a little odd to begin with, having grown cynical in my old age. All that said, a note about this chapter: Vista has a legit potty mouth. And, this chapter is absolutely choc full of innuendo and locker room humor, but other than language this story is very much rated T. Taylor is a dragon; she quite literally could not care about romance. But pretty things?

Chapter Three: In Which Taylor Meets the Wards (Pretty Things)

"Shhhh! Quiet, they'll hear us."

Carlos gave his friend a flat look which he knew was completely hidden behind his mask. He made up for his invisible expression by staring longer.

Dennis also had on his full regalia as Clockblocker, with a full, featureless silver plate over his face. Even so, Carlos knew he'd made his point.

"What?" Dennis asked.

"You're making more noise than we are, doofus," the third and smallest member of their cabal said. "Besides, I'm taking care of it."

Carlos glanced at Missy and saw that she was using her power to warp the space around them to direct sound away from their target. Where Clockblocker wore white and silver, and Carlos's own costume as Aegis was red, with a shield on his chest, Vista wore green and white, and made it work. He knew she hated the costume because of the skirt that made her look girlish, but then again she was a girl, just ten years old, though her birthday was coming up. Even so, she'd been a cape for almost a year already.

Despite Carlos and Dennis both being older, Vista was more experienced than both of them combined. More importantly, it was Vista who led them on their current mission to the PRT's Tactical Vehicle Bay underneath the PRT headquarters.

The three young parahumans were all members of the Brockton Bay Wards team, a junior-level group of parahumans mostly bound for the Protectorate when they turned 18. Ostensibly designed to train them as heroes, mostly the Wards were a way for them to use their powers in costume and still go to school.

The college fund was nice, too.

The three young heroes reached the base of the stairs and stared at the metal door that led out into the high-ceilinged garage.

"How are we going to do this?" Aegis whispered. "There's probably an agent right on the other side."

Vista solved the problem again by using her space-warping ability to make the frame of the door that held the bolt holes an inch or two larger than the door.

Damn, her power is strong.

Carlos was classified as a weak Alexandria package. He could fly and could take a lot of punishment. He was stronger than the strongest human, but only just beyond what a strong, well trained human could accomplish. But if he were shot in the heart, for example, his power would let him make another organ assume that function. Until his heart healed, his liver could literally pump his blood.

Clockblocker's power was almost as scary in theory as Vista's. He patently broke the laws of nature when he casually reached through the partially opened door and touched the PRT agent stationed there. The man went perfectly still. He wasn't paralyzed—Cockblocker's power was much more profound than that.

The man was frozen in time. In anywhere from five to ten minutes, he would wake with no awareness of time's passage. With that last obstacle cleared, the three young parahumans stepped out of the stairwell and into the garage.

Carlos found he couldn't talk. His voice was literally caught in his throat, like sometimes happened when he was little and got so scared he couldn't scream or make a sound. Beside him, Cockblocker was as still as the agent he froze, while Vista was doing a very quiet but enthusiastic little dance.

"She's so, fucking awesome!" The young girl's voice was hushed but hoarse with barely restrained joy.

Vista had the mouth of a forty-year-old ex-marine, all of which she'd learned from her unhappily married parents. Vista also happened to love dragons. She had a stuffed dragon in her room, and her favorite movies were the Dragonheart movies, and the older movie, Dragonslayer. And it just so happened that an honest to God dragon was curled up and sleeping in the vehicle bay.

Aegis wasn't very good on estimating distances and sizes. His dad could have looked at the dragon and guessed to within an inch how big it was. The PRT transports parked in their individual stalls helped give perspective. The transports were twenty feet long and eleven feet tall. The dragon's reclining body was at least as long as the transport behind her even curled up as it was, with her tail wrapped around her face. Her wings were folded batlike against her body. Her coloring was breathtaking—he could see why Vista liked her so much.

He wasn't sure why Vista insisted it was a girl dragon. Still, her black and silver scales gave her a distinctive appearance, as did the horns and the draconic shape to her Aegis-sized head. What got Clockblocker's attention, though, was what the dragon cradled in her front arms.

"Is that part of Armsmaster's bike?"

Indeed, the dragon was clutching the front fender and handelbars of Armsmaster's famous motorcycle in her paws like Vista would her stuffed dragon.

"She's so fucking awesome," Cockblocker said, echoing Vista. "She ate Armsmaster's motorcycle."

The dragon moved. The three went perfectly still when one massive, bat-like wing began to unfold toward them. Aegis's stomach did a visceral flip of fear as the wing covered an impossible amount of ground until somehow the clawed tip reached right between a paralyzed Vista and Clockbocker.

Aegis tensed, ready to fly to save his friends. Instead, the clawed tip of the wing somehow hooked the door handle and pulled the door.

"GO AWAY, I'M TIRED."

The words were so deep that they made Aegis's guts tremble. He spun on his heel, aided by flight, and jerked back with a voiceless, soundless scream that emerged as a little squeak in the back of his voice when he saw two brightly glowing golden eyes just a few feet from his face.

"Sure, no problem!" Clockblocker turned and ran up the stairs.

Vista stood frozen, her jaw gaping. Suddenly she blurted, "Can I hug you?"

The massive head cocked sideways, almost like a dog. "SURE."

Vista squealed. It hurt a little, if Aegis was honest. The squealing continued as Vista warped her way across six feet in a second and then glomped onto the creature's neck. "Oh my God you're so fucking beautiful! I love you! Please join the Wards! Please, please, please!"

Hugging done, Vista turned and ran squealing back into the stairs. "Wait until that little bitch Donna finds out I hugged a fucking dragon! BEST…DAY…OF…MY…LIFE!"

For a moment, Aegis could only watch as the girl ran up the stairs. He'd never seen the normally mature girl act so...girlish. He turned back to the dragon, only to freeze as if someone had grabbed him by the balls.

The most beautiful girl he'd ever seen stood right in front of him, staring at him hungrily. Lips parted to reveal sharp steely teeth; bright golden eyes stared at him with vertical pupils. He saw the points of sharp ears protruding from rich black hair, made all the darker by a streak of silver that looked almost as if it glowed. Her dress was sheer and made of some type of tinker fabric that looked like the night sky.

She was so close her chest almost touched his. "I don't suppose you want to hug me too?" she purred.

Aegis tried to talk, but only a squeak came out. She moved closer, putting arms around his shoulders until her nose almost touched his. "You smell really good," she whispered to him. His breath started to hyperventilate as she lowered her face to his neck. "I bet you taste really good too."

"Taylor, please don't eat Aegis."

Salvation and hope came in the form of Miss Militia, who was actually running toward them with an expression of worry visible in her eyes.

"Not even just a nibble?" Taylor asked. "Maybe just a leg? What about his foot?"

"I should be going now!" Aegis shouted. "Bye!"

He didn't run back into the stairs, he flew. Unfortunately, the door had closed. He bounced off the door hard, only to quickly pick himself up and open the door before flying back up.

"Was that necessary?" Miss Militia said as she walked out from behind the PRT transport she'd been working on.

"He smelled cute," Taylor said with a shrug. A second later she returned to her normal form, and ate the rest of Armsmaster's bike. "UM, STILL GOOD TO THE LAST DROP. I'M GOING BACK TO SLEEP. IF AEGIS COMES BACK, HE CAN CURL UP WITH ME. I'LL KEEP HIM WARM."

With that, Taylor curled her tail back around her body and dropped back into a deep slumber.

~~Wyrm~~

~~Wyrm~~

Rory Christner was three months shy of becoming a full-fledged member of the Protectorate.

Aside from the hefty pay raise (the starting salary for a full-time Protectorate cape in Brockton Bay was $100,000, with heft combat bonuses), Rory couldn't wait to truly be regarded as an adult superhero. After all, the power of his sonic shout could flip cars. In power testing, his sonic harmonics could shatter bone. The fact he'd never had a fatality was for him a mark of restraint that he hoped would put him in position to eventually lead his own team one day.

He couldn't wait, because he despised his costume. He couldn't rebrand until after three years of Protectorate service, according to the contract he signed when he joined the Wards. But the moment he could? Oh, he couldn't wait for Triumph's new look.

Of course, the three-year clause in merchandising and image wasn't usually a problem. Unfortunately for Rory, the former head of the Brockton Bay PRT ENE Media Relations department was an asshole named Dan Kushner, who just happened to be a former city employee that Rory's dad had to fire when he first got elected mayor. As a result, Rory's costume as Triumph made him look like an extra from a period Italian porn movie, complete with cheap gold pauldrons on his shoulders in the shape of lions' heads, a Lion-shaped helmet over his visor, and a gladiator-style kilt over a skin-colored bodysuit.

Standing in front of his office mirror in full costume, Rory couldn't help but wince whenever he moved.

The door opened as his friend and fellow Ward Dean Stansfield walked in. "Yes, you're beautiful."

"Fuck you muchly," Rory muttered.

Dean snorted. "Seriously, it's not that bad. I can tell you most of the girls who see you don't mind."

"I mind."

"Well, only three more years and then you can do that gray-blue number you like so much. Did Militia call you yet?"

Triumph frowned. "Militia? Why?"

Dean grinned. He was a few inches shorter and two years younger than Rory, with a shock of roguishly dark hair and a friendly smile. "Well, you know, you're going to be an adult soon. And Militia is a very lonely woman…"

"Don't make me beat you again, Dean."

Suddenly his phone rang. Checking the display, he saw that it was indeed Miss Militia, though he doubted the attractive but far older woman was about to profess her love. "Triumph," he answered.

"Good morning. I wanted to let you know that I'm heading up with a new Ward. Can you have the team assemble, please?"

"New Ward? That's great! Yeah, I'll get them together."

"Thank you, Triumph. We'll be up in ten."

And just because Dean had to joke about it, Rory couldn't help but imagine a note of longing in the older woman's tone. He dismissed it. "Well, you were right. She wants to go out on a date right after my birthday."

"Dude, seriously? I can see emotions. It's my power. You can't lie to me."

Rory met the boy's eyes squarely. "I fucked your mom last night."

"No you…" Dean flushed. "No you…fuck you! You didn't…"

Triumph smirked and walked past him.

"Hold up, how'd you do that?"

"Well, first I took off her blouse, and then…"

He laughed when Dean smacked the back of his head. He then slipped his ridiculous helmet back on and led the way out of his office into the common room. He put just a touch of his power into his voice.

"Ladies and Vista, front and center! We have a new Ward on their way up!"

"A new Ward?" Vista ducked her head out of her overnight room. "Is it the dragon? Please tell me it's the dragon."

Triumph tried not to grimace. He'd heard all about the dragon from Vista and Clockblocker when he came in that morning, but he didn't believe them for a second. After all, Aegis had been with them and refused to say a word about it.

The alarm went off. Their newest Ward —Kid Win—stumbled bleary-eyed out of his lab and slipped on the visor which went with his red and gold power suit. Triumph frowned and made a note to himself to check the logs. It looked like Chris spent the night in his lab again. A quick tally revealed the entire team. Vista and Clockblocker were there. Aegis hovered close to where Rory and Dean waited. After all, Aegis was next in line to lead the team, at least for a few months.

Dean put on his helmet and shifted his body language, becoming Gallant in that instant. Though he was actually a master and blaster, Armsmaster made him a set of power armor to make him look like a tinker instead. Capes whose primary power was to read and then affect other's emotions were not very popular.

The door opened and Miss Militia walked in with…with…

Triumph had a hard time breathing. He could feel Aegis and Gallant both go very still. Chris simply stared, his jaw gaping.

"Another girl! Vista said, completely oblivious to the boy's reaction.

"A pretty girl," Kid Win blurted.

"What am I, chopped suey?" Vista demanded.

It wasn't just any girl, though. It was a Case 53 girl, but one like out of one of Chris's Dungeons and Dragons games. She stood three inches taller than Miss Militia with waves of pure black hair that hung around her shoulders, highlighted by a single, thick strand of silver locks that seemed almost to glow under the overhead lights of their dome.

Striking golden eyes regarded all of them with an intensity that made Rory blush. They were set in a face of perfect skin and proportions but with noticeably sharp ears poking out from under her hair. She wore the most amazing dress, like a curtain of night filled with stars that sparkled like diamonds that somehow still accentuated a drop-dead gorgeous body. He could see the hint of pointed, sharp canines from her parted lips. Her fingernails were black, and long, and sharp. She looked dangerous and inhumanly sexy and...

Rory glanced at Aegis and saw the younger boy had paled in a way his power made even more profound.

"Wards, this is Tiamat, your newest team member," Militia said. "She signed on just this morning."

"Are you the dragon?" Vista asked. She almost breathed the word.

"I am," Tiamat said.

Even her voice was super-sexy. Like a super-hot model was talking over a lion. Wait. "Dragon?"

The girl sidled forward, her golden eyes almost devouring him. "Would you like to see?" she purred.

"Tiamat," Miss Militia said, a little alarmed. "There's not enough room in here."

"He smells cute," the girl said casually over her shoulder, dismissing the warning. "Can I have him?"

"What would your father say?"

"Dad can get his own toy, I claimed this one first," came the response.

Miss Militia rolled her eyes. "Tiamat, you can't 'have' a person. He's not like a chicken tender or Armsmaster's motorcycle."

The golden eyes seemed to expand in Rory's field of vision as his knees trembled. "I bet I could eat him too," she said in a voice that made the blood drain from his head so fast everything went dark for a moment. When he came to a second later, he heard Militia and Tiamat having a discussion about what was appropriate and not. It didn't sound like it was going well.

"...not allowed in the workplace."

"Why not? I'm a dragon. I can have whatever I want. And I want him."

"I thought you said Aegis smelled cute," Militia said.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Aegis said.

Rory forced his eyes open just in time to see the gold-eyed dragon girl smiling at the other Ward. "Why can't I have him, too?"

"Could I have Gallant?" Vista called from the couch. "I mean, if we're dividing them up?"

"Sure," Tiamat said with a sharp-toothed smile.

Militia shook her head. "Not helping, Vista."

"Not kidding, Miss Militia," came the smartass ten-year-old's riposte. "Gallant smells cute to me, too!"

Rory looked to see where the cape in question was and saw Dean in the console chair, head in his hands and shaking with some barely controlled emotion-either tears or laughter, he couldn't tell.

"Tiamat, what you're doing is sexual harassment," Militia said, growing more exasperated.

The dragon girl's expression curled into a deep scowl. "Sexual? Ew, I don't want that. I just want him. He can be my translator! He can wear a kilt and oil his chest and feed me steak and sheet metal. I don't want anything gross! I just want something pretty to look at. I like pretty things."

"I'm so confused," Rory muttered.

"Tiamat's a dragon," Vista said helpfully. "We saw her last night. She's so gorgeous! She let me hug her and I couldn't even get my arms around her neck. And she ate Armsmaster's motorcycle and there wasn't anything he could do about it! I love her so much."

At the console, Gallant stood and walked out of the room. He appeared to be having trouble breathing.

Rory looked back to see where Miss Militia was staring from Tiamat, to Aegis, and finally back to him. "You want them because you like pretty things."

"Well, yeah. Of course."

"Not because you want to do anything inappropriate?"

"Is rubbing them down with motor oil and licking it off them inappropriate?"

"YES!"

"But...it's just motor oil! What's inappropriate about that?"

Militia threw her hands in the air. "No touching. No licking. No...do nothing to your teammates, Tiamat. You have an orientation class in half an hour. Don't be late." With that, Militia walked out.

Tiamat walked with a disturbing sway to her hips and sat down on the couch opposite Rory and Vista. "So, think we got her?"

Rory stared, uncomprehendingly. Beside him, Vista started giggling uncontrollably. Dean returned to the lounge, walked straight up to Tiamat, and handed her a $10.

"What's this for?"

"For all the bets I'll lose against you," he said.

Tiamat nodded wisely and took the money. "Smart. Sit?"

Dean sat, and then removed his mask. "Dean Stansfield. I'm much prettier than Triumph."

"He really is," Vista said, between giggles.

"It was a joke?" Rory said.

Aegis drifted closer. "All that was a joke?" he echoed.

"I heard Armsmaster talking about me. He's worried I'm an animal, with animal instincts," Tiamat said with a wry, alarmingly fanged smile. "I think he's upset I ate his motorcycle." She turned and accepted Dean's hand. "Taylor Hebert. Nice to meet you."

"So, you were joking about the whole licking and motor oil thing?" Rory said, still trying to get that through his head.

When she smiled, her canines made her look almost vampiric. "Why? You interested?"

"No!"

"I'm pretty sure motor oil would be bad for his skin," Dean said. "Maybe vitamin E oil? Or massage oil?"

"Wonder what that tastes like," Taylor said. "Do we have any here I could try?

"Please stop," Rory said. "You win."

Dean looked too satisfied. "Damned right I do. I see emotions."

"Besides, Dean's spoken for," Taylor said archly. "Right, Missy?"

"We're going to be good friends," Missy declared.