Interlude A
"You could very well have gotten everyone in that room killed."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"You could have gotten everyone in this building killed," Piggot growled.
"Yes, Ma'am," Hannah said, barely suppressing her wince.
"Purity is a Blaster 8. Within 2,000 miles she is second only to Legend."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"You not only allowed her step-daughter to walk into a room with the girl who might as well have caused her trigger, but you allowed the situation to deteriorate to actual blows being exchanged."
"Yes, Ma'am." This time she did actually cringe.
"You quite possibly prevented us from learning anything about the girl's powerset."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"We had her Hannah!" Piggot shouted, spittle flying as her hand slammed on the table and she leaned forward halfway over the desk. "We fucking had her!"
Hannah lifted her head to meet Piggot's eyes and scowled. "I realize that. How was I supposed to know that she was telling the truth? She's living with Purity! She's a Nazi and she set Nazis on the only black Ward. I didn't know that Sophia would be in that room, but I knew her habits and I knew there were better than even odds and she deserved a chance to air her grievances to the Nazi that set the assault in motion!"
Piggot's lips curled and she fell back into her seat, folding her hands in front of her and taking several deep breaths before she spoke again, her voice perfectly level and monotone. "You are a cape. Further, you are a Protectorate cape. You deal with people on a day to day basis. You are not Armsmaster. You do not have issues with people. You should have been able to read that room as easily as I could."
"Ma'am - "
"Be quiet," Piggot hissed. Hannah's mouth snapped shut with an audible click. "That girl is alone. She is desperate. Purity is currently her sole influence. We had every chance to change that. We had her agreeing to regular interactions with the Wards. We were weeks if not days away from having her sign up with us and getting her away from Purity's influence entirely. Aegis was agreeing with everything she was saying and I have not had a single interaction with Sophia Hess that leads me to doubt anything the girl claimed. Hess' own statements, that you and Kid Win have reported, further confirm it. Hebert wanted to have peers. She wanted to have someone who would support her besides her Nazi step-mother. And you just drove her into the hands of the enemy!"
"We don't know how much Purity has already corrupted her," Hannah said, her voice soft and the excuse weak even to her own ears. How could she have missed this? It had been right under her nose the entire time. The Wards were her responsibility. That this could have slipped right past her…
She was supposed to be taking care of them, watching out for them.
"And now we may never know," Piggot snarled. "If I was in her position, I sure as hell would not be humoring us by completing the power testing."
"She…has to…"
"Nothing was signed before she left. It was going to be signed after she had interacted with one or two of the more well-adjusted Wards. While we had time to draft the initial NDAs. Which we also didn't get signed. Neither she nor Purity are under any legal obligation to withhold what they know about Shadow Stalker's identity or actions. We are forced to trust in their goodwill. The goodwill of a parahuman child whose sole influence is a Nazi."
"I…" Hannah hung her head again. "She stopped with just two punches. She could have gone further. She…should have gone further with what Sophia was implying. If she had that sort of restraint, I doubt she would release any of the information she has. She also likely will still go to the testing."
"We can only hope." Piggot shook her head. "You really fucked this up, Hannah. I used to think that out of all of the capes in this godforsaken city, I could at least trust you to act rationally."
"Yes, Ma'am," Hannah murmured.
"Miss Militia, I've already spoken with Armsmaster, you are no longer second in command. You will no longer oversee the Wards. Assault will take your position with the city and Battery will take your position with the Wards. You will remain in the city, however you will endeavor to have no interactions with either Purity or Cherub. Normally I would put you on paperwork or console duty, however we both know that I don't have the manpower to do that at this time."
"I understand, Ma'am."
Piggot let out a small sigh. "I never thought I would see the day that Armsmaster would be better at personal interactions than you. You're dismissed."
Before Hannah stood, she had to ask, "Ma'am…Hardlight, she's still not going to be punished for her actions? She set Nazis on a girl. Ward or not, that should have consequences."
"As a civilian yes, it should. Not as a cape. No one was aware of powers, it was a dispute between two teenage girls. One of whom had threatened assault and the other of whom escalated in self-defense when no authority figures responded. What would you have preferred to happen, Hannah? That she incite the media? Get a camera and record the abuse at the next attempt? Let's assume she was able to get that footage and find a network willing to give her fifteen minutes. Do you realize what would have happened at that point?"
"Sophia would have had to face the consequences as we would have become aware of the events," Hannah immediately replied, frowning.
"No. She would've been murdered before the day was out as every nearby Empire member looking to increase their standing tried to make a go for her." Hannah's eyes widened and she gasped at Piggot's nonchalant statement. "I can cite you three incidents off-hand of that exact same circumstance. Ironically, Hebert managed to keep things quiet in her attempt to escape her torment. Did she have options? Certainly. Options that her step-mother admitted to being in the process of pursuing, options that the teenager was not aware of. We cannot prosecute her as a cape. We cannot even begin to prosecute her as a civilian; no lawyer would look twice at this as there is nearly no chance of a conviction."
"But -"
"I have worked with Legal for years, Hannah. Prior attempt on her life. Self-defense. Continued fear for her life. Attempts to de-escalate. No submissible proof. Incriminating statements by Hess. Systematic administrative corruption." Piggot snorted. "By the end of the first day, the DA would be lucky to walk away with their job. Now that Tibbets isn't stonewalling things, lawyers would be chomping at their bits to get at this. The best case scenario is that it stayed in the civilian sector and that only the school was brought into it. So yes, Hannah, Hebert is getting off free. The PRT can't do anything because it's not realistically a PRT case until it becomes one and then we all lose. I for one, would prefer to at least try to rebuild the burned bridge between the strongest blaster in the city and her daughter with god-knows-what powers. At least then, maybe we can pull something positive out of this dumpster fire."
Hannah hung her head, nodding slowly. "I just…they are Nazis."
Piggot sighed. "I understand. I do. There are no good answers here, just less horrible ones. If you truly wish to make this a hill to die on, do it as a civilian, Hannah. But I warn you, at minimum you'll be going against Carol Dallon, because now her firm is going to be willing to take this case if the Heberts ask." Piggot shook her head. "There's no actual evidence yet that Hebert herself is inclined to her step-mother's extremist views and every chance we can take to further distance the two should be jumped at. She's a desperate teenager whose only resource is Purity and she's a recent trigger to boot. Parahumans are not stable at the best of times, and she goes to Winslow, I shouldn't need to remind you of their reputation. Do you really think that there was ever any option of this not happening when Sophia continued to push her, Hannah? Truly?"
Hannah's head dropped into her hands and she bit the side of her mouth. "How did I miss this?"
"You trust them too much. I don't trust them at all. I don't trust any of you. And yet, somehow, I missed it too. This shitstorm isn't just on you, Hannah. Go. Do whatever it is you do to rest. I need to try and fix this before it gets any worse."
Post note: Piggot's 'Cherub' comment is not a typo or an intended slight, she is unaware of Taylor's chosen name and MM's lack of correction is also not an intended slight, she just has other things on her mind at the moment.