- - -Still-Defiant- - -

My request for a leave of absence had been approved almost immediately - much to my great surprise. The Director had asked what I intended to do with it, then wished me luck. Of course, I'm not due to actually begin my leave until the day after next - I had figured that it would be best to give at least a small amount of notice, but all the same.

I'd also requested that the Director not mention the purpose of my leave to Dragon should she ask - operational security, and all that. She'd agreed to it without further questioning, thankfully.

As I pull into my driveway, I ponder what I should spend tomorrow doing. There's some minor administrative duties that I have to see to - handing temporary leadership of the Brockton Bay Protectorate over to Miss Militia among them - and I've also been rostered on for a short patrol at around midday. The patrol is nothing more than a chance to wave the flag, but it's necessary all the same.

What could I spend my time on that would result in the most overall gain?

Nothing overt - I'll have to be subtle about it. Acting on my knowledge of the future in any sort of direct manner at this point seems inadvisable at best.

Perhaps I could spend some time Tinkering with Kid Win? I know he had figured out his specialty without my assistance last time - something to the extent of modular devices, if I recall correctly - but is leading him towards that breakthrough a good move?

I don't see any way that it could hurt.

How about Shadow Stalker? Curbing her… tendencies isn't something I can achieve - not without a prohibitive time-investment, in any case. Maybe if I drop an offhand comment to Miss Militia about the topic? While the Wards aren't technically under my oversight anymore, I still get copied in on all of the reports on their activities.

I pull out my phone, collapsing onto my couch. Quickly flicking to my email inbox, I pull up the reports from her handler. I hadn't been kept inside the loop of the investigation into Shadow Stalker the last time around owing to my… folly during the fight with Leviathan. But, I do know that her handler had been brought up on corruption charges.

Chances are, these reports are - if not entirely - at least partially fabricated. If I can spot an inconsistency, I'll have justification to mention as much to Miss Militia. I don't have all the time in the world to look, however - if I'm to find something, I'll need to do it soon.

I settle back into the couch. I'd have much prefered to do this work at a desk - or better yet, on my helmet display - but needs must.

"There is one more thing you should know."

Hannah cocks her head. The both of us had unmasked for this meeting, held deep in the bowels of The Rig. "And what's that?"

"I was reviewing the reports sent to me on the Wards last night when I noticed something unusual. Several reports from Shadow Stalker's handler were duplicates of each other. I do not know whether it is a coincidence, but if I was not leaving tomorrow I would have it investigated further."

She frowns. "I'll look into it. I doubt it's much more than clerical laziness, but with Shadow Stalker on probation it bears a bit more scrutiny than that."

I nod. Hopefully she'll uncover something. At this point in time, there isn't much else I want to risk doing, though. "I'll leave it in your hands, then. Now, I'd best be off."

I stand, but she raises a hand to stop me. "Hold on a second, Colin. What's this all about? It's not like you to run off so suddenly. Or at all, for that matter."

I furrow my brow. There it is - the dreaded question. If I'm not careful, this will be a prelude to a full Master-Stranger workup. Hannah's expression is one of concern - if I were to guess, she may be thinking that I've got some sort of family emergency to attend to. Depending on how you look at it, you could say that it's true.

Should I tell her the truth - or at least, part of it? I think so - among all the Heroes I know in the Protectorate, she's probably the most trustworthy. I sit back down. "You're aware of how closely I work with Dragon?" She nods. "I'm not going to give you the specifics, but the Dragonslayers have become a problem. I'm taking the time to hunt them down."

She worries her lip for a moment. "And you're working with Dragon on this?"

I shake my head. "Given the nature of the Dragonslayers, I'm keeping Dragon out of the loop. If she asks you, I'd appreciate it if you did not tell her the reason for my absence."

"You're working all by yourself?" I nod. "Colin… This seems foolhardy. I've no doubt in your abilities, but to take them on all by yourself…" She shakes her head. "Let me come with you. If we explain the situation to the Director, I'm sure that she'll accept." She swallows. "Please, Colin - it's too dangerous to do something like this by yourself."

I school my expression. "No - you're needed here in the Bay too much. Besides - I've put a great deal of thought into this. I'm confident that I'll be resourceful enough to manage by myself."

She slumps. "Yeah… you're right about one thing, at least."

The Bay will be put into a tenuous position with just myself out of town - if Miss Militia were gone too, I'm not confident we wouldn't return to a city in anarchy. ...Perhaps that's a little hyperbolic, but the point remains.

She lets out a sigh, pushing herself to her feet. I follow, returning my helmet to my head as she re-ties her bandana. As I turn to leave, she reaches out a hand to grab my shoulder. "Just… Come back in one piece, okay?"

I nod, solemn. "I plan on it."

Seemingly mollified, she leaves the room ahead of me. Inside, the knot that had settled in my gut slowly uncoils. By my judgement, I managed to evade suspicion - once I mentioned Dragon, she seemed far more understanding.

I depart, consulting my schedule for the rest of the day as I do. I need to finish up some more paperwork before my patrol, then after that I've got a few hours to Tinker by myself. Dragon had informed me that she'd be preoccupied for most of today, so we likely won't get a chance to chat. I don't have too much time anyway - I might be able to manage some more minor tweaks to my Combat Prediction or Lie Detection software. Though, the latter needs a full rework before it's in a state that I'd be satisfied with - I definitely don't have the time for a task like that today.

Once Kid Win is finished with school, I'll be meeting him in the workshop in the PRT building for a collaborative Tinkering session. He'd jumped at the chance when I suggested it to him this morning. I'm not expecting much in the way of usable Tinkertech from the session - it's mostly just an excuse for me to nudge him towards his specialty. We've had similar sessions in the past, so I don't think it should raise any eyebrows.

"Hey Armsmaster!" Kid Win just about bounds into the lab, clearly eager to get to work.

I give him a nod, the curl of a smile touching the corner of my mouth despite myself. Admittedly, I'd been rather hands-off with the Ward the last time around, but Kid Win's unabashed enthusiasm at this point in time was something that managed to stick with me. Once I became Defiant, the brusque messages we'd occasionally exchanged about our Tinkering had been just another lingering reminder of my mistakes.

"Kid Win." I fold away my halberd, putting it aside.

"So, what're we going to be working on today?" He sets down a messenger bag, clearly filled with loose leaf papers. His ideas for projects, maybe?

"I figured that I'd leave that choice up to you this time. I don't think we've got the time to start something new, but a project you've got in progress that you think we could work together on would be a good choice."

His expression shifts - still a smile, but there's a hint of something else in there too. He hums. "Yeah, I think I might have something." He moves over to one of the project lockers, opening it up. His body blocks the view of most of the things inside, but it seems to be rather full.

Eventually, he surfaces with what he was looking for, throwing it down on the bench without much care for the device itself. I don't comment - if it isn't rugged enough to handle that, it's a far cry from being ready for field use.

"What am I looking at here?"

I pick up the device, inspecting it. To my eye, it looks like the chassis of a weapon of some kind - larger than the pistols that he normally uses. It's shaped more like the body of a man-portable machine gun. A memory pricks at the back of my mind - is this that weapon that he'd deployed against the Undersiders when the Wards had fought them? If it is, I can't see very many similarities.

"Well, it started out as a rifle version of my Spark Pistols - you know the ones?" I nod. "Yeah - anyway - I got a bit carried away and it turned out too bulky to use how I wanted to, so I shelved it and started working on something else. It's most of the way to being functional - the power source needs some modifying to work portably, but the rest of the internals work fine." He stops, looking up at me expectantly.

I pop open one of the panels, ideas flowing through my mind. "What sort of use did you have in mind for it?" I pop off more panels, exposing the inner workings of the unfinished weapon.

"Something for longer ranged fights - my Pistols are good, but they aren't much use if I stay too far back. I figured if I had more options, I could use my hoverboard to keep the fight at the range that favours me the most."

I nod. "I think you're onto something there. What sort of performance were you aiming for? Sniper rifle? Assault rifle?"

He shakes his head. "I'm not sure, but it wasn't ever going to be a Sniper Rifle - I don't think something like that would work too well on a hoverboard."

I hum, considering. "With the right sort of computerized assistance, you might be able to manage it." I shake my head. "But, you're right - better to keep it simple." Snapping the panels back onto the chassis, I consider it's heft. Right now it lacks all of the trappings of a firearm - no stock, sights or grip. It's little more than a hodgepodge of laser technology. "Alright - I've got an idea for how we can use this."

He looks at me. He's chewing the inside of his cheek, a hesitant expression on his face. How do I spin this right? I need to lead him towards his specialty without being too obvious about it.

"As it is now, it's bulky. That isn't too much of a problem - if we put our heads together, I'm certain we'll be able to slim it down without too many issues. Once we've done that, we'll have a great core to work off of."

"Core? What do you mean?"

"I figure that a weapon with a variable deployment profile is the best choice. Keep the core of the gun the same, but build it so that you can swap between various stocks and laser emitters as the situation calls for it." I nod, as if affirming the choice to myself. "Yes - a weapon like that should give you the sort of versatility you're after."

I could see his mind working away, processing what I'd just said. Had that been too direct? Eventually, he mumbles, clearly distracted by something. "Yeah-" He shakes himself from his thoughts. "Yeah! I can definitely see that working."