Room and Ward 1.1

Oh my god, why couldn't I keep my stupid mouth shut sometimes!? Weld looked at me like I'd grown a second head. Which, given the events of the past few days, didn't seem that unlikely to me. At the moment though, I just wanted to bury the one I had in the ground and vanish from site.

I couldn't help it, I was so hungry! Ever since I had changed last week, hunger had been a constant, gnawing presence. Sure, sometimes it wasn't so bad, and a good meal could take the edge off, but it was always there. A constant desire, no, need, to eat seemed to be my new default state. My meal in the cafeteria had been the largest I had eaten in days, after consciously trying to control my appetite. That was a lost cause now; when I had walked in, the smell of food had been overpowering, I had barely been able to restrain myself from simply jumping over the glass divider and stuffing my face. That was the worst case scenario, but it was clear that I had ruined my chances for a good first im-

"Yeah sure, take it." Weld offered me his tray, and my train of thought derailed.

"I-what?" I said.

Weld shrugged, "I've seen powers mess with appetites before. I barely need to eat at all, it makes sense that there would be someone out there with the opposite problem. You probably need all that extra energy for your powers, so go for it."

I stared at him at a loss for words. My stomach spoke for me though, loudly grumbling. My face flushed a deeper shade of pink and took his tray without a word and started nibbling on its contents. With the initial hunger frenzy over, I found it much easier to eat at a reasonable pace.

The cafeteria food was, for lack of a better word, awful. But, it was still food, and even if the mashed potatoes were cold, the rolls a little stale and the chicken moist and cold, I still happily scarfed it down.

"Thank you," I murmured as I swallowed the last roll. I tried not to hunch my shoulders, an instinctive reaction I had developed over time at my old high school. Even thinking about Winslow was enough to make me shudder internally, and filled my stomach with a feeling of unease and dread. I reminded myself that I wasn't stuck in that hellhole anymore, that I would never have to go there again. It only helped a little.

Weld smiled, exposing a set of perfect silver teeth. "No problem. You ready for the rest of the tour?"

"Yes please." I muttered and set the tray back on the table before I followed him out of the cafeteria.

The Boston Branch of the PRT was noticeably larger and nicer than the branch back home in Brockton Bay, which was saying something. There were at least ten floors of accountants, bureaucrats, PRT agents and officers, and support staff for the Protectorate members. From what I understand, there were several smaller stations setup throughout the city, similar to a police department, but this HQ was the largest and most well established.

The halls were clean and spotless, clean carpets, pristine walls and softly glowing office lights lined the ceilings. The HQ in Brockton Bay had been in good repair, but it was worn, tired and if you looked close enough, it was clear it was starting to fray. In Boston, none of that was the case and it was weird. As a girl that had grown up in one of the worst cities in the United States, being anywhere that didn't look like it was falling apart felt strange and alien to me.

To be honest, this entire situation was unnerving.

A week ago, I had been plain boring Taylor Hebert, victim of Winslow High and otherwise forgettable daughter of Danny Hebert. Then I had… changed. I furrowed my brow as I followed behind Weld, and took steady breaths. I didn't want to think about that, about what had turned me into the walking wad of bubblegum I was now. The nightmares were bad enough, and I had no desire to drag them with me into the waking world. That felt dreamlike enough as it was.

Not only was I now a superhero in all but name (Which was no doubt coming soon), but I was a Ward in one of the premier locations in the Cape community. The only way this could be anymore amazing, was if I'd been assigned to a district under the protection of the Triumvirate.

I suddenly realized that while I had been lost in thought, Weld had been talking to me. I wasn't used to being talked to, especially after the last week where I had spent more time being talked at.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat that?"

"Would you rather see the gymnasium first, the lockers, or the Ward common room? Hunch will definitely be there, but I'd need to check the patrols and see if anyone else is off duty."

Apprehension swelled in my stomach and I almost stopped walking. What I really wanted was to head to my new room, settle down and just hide for the rest of the day. A chance to get my bearings and to just let the entire situation sink in was something I desperately wanted. Exhaustion pulled at my limbs; the past few days had been so chaotic, I'd had no real chance to just sit down and relax. The car ride over was as close as I'd come outside of sleeping, and I'd been too keyed up to relax.

But, I wasn't one to easily give in to my basic wants, hunger notwithstanding. If I ran off to my room now, I'd just be putting off the inevitable. Better to rip off the band-aid, so to speak, and then I could rest without having to worry about meetings and social interactions. This would also, hopefully, show me exactly what to expect in the future.

Dad had worked hard to convince me that going to the PRT was the right call, and I still wasn't entirely convinced it had been. But I was here now, the least I could do was find out if I had really left the worst of Winslow behind, or if it would follow me no matter where I went. Armstrong and Weld so far suggested the former, but I was cynical enough to think they were exceptions, not the rule.

I looked at Weld and said, "I'd like to meet the others, if it's not too much trouble."

He nodded, "Alright then, that'll be this way."

We took an elevator down to the first floor where the Wards were located, and he lead me down a series of sterile hallways to a large door and touch panel. Weld took off one of the gloves he was wearing and placed a metal palm to it. The screen flashed green and there was a low beep from the other side of the door.

He pulled the glove back on as he looked at me, "Warning to anyone inside so they can mask up, just in case."

I nodded and looked at the screen curiously, "Um, how did it know it was you if you're…?"

That actually made him laugh, "My body is made of metal but its 'biologically accurate' down to the cellular level. My hands still have fingerprints, they're just made of metal."

Huh, who knew?

The screen flashed again, and the doors slid open to let us inside. The Ward common room was a kitchen living room combo, each individually larger than the first floor of my home.

The common room had polished wooden floors, with angular red furniture neatly arranged on a large blue grey rug that stretched from one end of the 'living room' to the other, stopping just at where the kitchen began. Each set of couches was set up around a knee-high table, one of which was currently littered with empty soda cans, chip bags and - oh my god, where those twinkies!?

Focus Taylor!

With a force of will, I tore my eyes off the twinkies and glanced at the kitchen. It was separated from the living room by a large granite top, a material spread to the rest of the kitchen counters. All the cabinets were made of some sort of dark wood with stainless steel handles and two stainless steel fridges. A similarly armored oven rested between them with a shiny sink set into the countertop and currently filled with dirty dishes.

All in all, it certainly seemed cozy and lived in.

Unfortunately, it was also very occupied. Five sets of eyes all focused on me the moment I stepped through the door, and I froze on the edge of the threshold. There was a moment of painfully awkward silence as I internally panicked. I should say hi, introduce myself, say something! The last two years had done nothing for my social skills, but was I really so out of practice that a simple greeting to a group of people my age was too hard to dredge up!?

Evidently so, as no words came to me. Thankfully, one of the Wards broke the silence.

"Holy shit! I knew she'd been tall, but I didn't think she'd be that god damn tall!"

Weld sighed and glared at the end of the couch, "Hunch, we talked about this. Watch the language. Also, she's standing right here."

The boy, Hunch, was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old? It was hard to tell, his body was a twisted mass of bone and muscle. His left arm was shrunken and practically vestigial while his right was overly long and attached to a bulging shoulder. He was hunched over, which might explain the name, to the point that his head seemed to jut from his chest, and he was dressed very plainly. The only normal part of him was his face, and even that seemed to be stretched abnormally long, with one eye noticeably larger than the other.

He smirked at Weld and held his good hand up to his mouth, "Oh, sorry, let me try again. Holy shit, I knew you'd be tall, but I didn't think you'd be that gosh darn tall! There, better?"

I tried not to blush and shrink in on myself. It was a habit from school, a defense mechanism I used to try and avoid attention. As a plain skinny girl, it worked wonderfully at Winslow. As a nearly seven foot tall walking piece of bubblegum, it probably wouldn't.

Thankfully, there was no time for anyone to register my reaction, as I suddenly found myself surrounded by a trio of young boys, all of them younger than Hunch and practically identical. I flinched back in surprise, I hadn't even heard them move!

"Hiya!" They spoke in unison, in equally excited voices.

"I'm Alfonso!" said the one farthest in the back.

"I'm Carlos!" chimed in the second.

"And I'm Nicholas!" the last one declared proudly. "We're the Trio De Danger! What's your name?"

Carlos cuffed Nicholas upside the head, "We never agreed on that, you know that stupid!"

"You think it's awesome!" Nicholas shot back, "You just won't admit it!"

"Don't lie to me, pendejo!"

Behind them, Alfonso cupped his face and sighed while I just stood there unmoving. A small part of me was convinced that if I started moving again, they would suddenly remember I was there, and then they'd direct their attention back at me.

Thank god, I was saved before that happened. Not by Weld, surprisingly, but by the last inhabitant of the room. A short stout girl came up behind Nicholas and Carlos, grabbed them both by the ear, and yanked on them hard, making all three boys yelp in pain.

"Alright you little turds, that's enough!" she bellowed, and firmly pulled them away from me. "Grab some drinks from the fridge, then come back when you've calmed down, okay?"

Nicholas let loose a few expletives in spanish I had never heard before, prompting the girl to shake him by the ear. "Aiye! Yes, yes, I understand!"

"We understand, Erica!" the other boys agreed.

Satisfied with their answer, she released them and let them scurry off to the kitchen. Then, she turned her gaze on me. She was maybe five foot even, with short black hair that stood out hard against her almost albino colored skin. Her face was lined with acne scars, and dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief, even as she craned her neck back to look up at me.

"So," she said, chewing on something as she spoke, "You're the new Ward, eh?"

I nodded mutely.

She smirked, "Well, my name's Erica. You're Taylor, right?"

Again, I nodded.

"Nice to meet ya," she said, then reached into her pocket and offered something to me.

It took me a minute to recognize it as a stick of gum. I looked at her, brow raised. Weld stared at her with silent disapproval, and Hunch had moved to the edge of the couch watching us with bated breath. I couldn't see the triplets in the kitchen, but I imagine they were eagerly watching. She wore an innocent smile on her face, but her eyes sparkled with mischief, while she very slowly and deliberately blew a giant bubble with the gum she was chewing on. There was a loud pop, and I felt something break.

And then I started to laugh. I couldn't help it, this whole situation felt so absurd, and I'd been so high strung for the last few days that her stupid joke or insult or whatever it was supposed to be broke me. So I laughed and laughed until I was leaning over, hands on my knees and gasping for air.

When I finally calmed down, I stood up and wiped a tear from my eye, while smiling at Erica, "That joke was terrible! Are you sure you're not an undercover supervillain?"

Her lips turned up in a smile, "I'd be a pretty bad villain if I told you that, wouldn't I?"

"I've seen worse," I sighed, and accepted the stick of gum. I didn't actually want it, I couldn't eat gum, but I wasn't going to be rude either.

I slipped it into the pocket of my jacket and said, "Yes, my name is Taylor Hebert, I'm the new Ward here, I think."

"You think?" Hunch spoke up and looked at Weld with mock horror, "Did someone mess up the paperwork again!?"

"It's the only explanation for why you're still here." Erica said dryly.

"Oooh!" the trio chorus'd from the kitchen.

Weld sighed and gestured at them all, "Taylor, these are, unfortunately, the Boston Wards; the majority of them, anyway. Allow me to introduce Hunch and Glacies. The trio in the kitchen are Gestalt. Kelvin and Link are still on patrol and won't be back till later this evening."

I nodded and put on my friendliest smile, "It's nice to meet you all. I guess we'll be working together a lot in the future?"

Hunch looked at Weld dryly, "Let me guess, she's a thinker?"

"Be nice." Weld warned.

Hunch raised his vestigial arm in surrender, "Okay, okay, I'll tone it down."

He looked back at me and smiled, "Sorry if I'm a bit much. When you look like this, everything kind of becomes a joke. Let me know if I take it too far; apparently I'm really bad at knowing when I've crossed a line."

"No line crossed yet," I told him. "Though if you don't mind me asking, what do you all do? I tried doing some research before I got here, but there wasn't a lot of time for it."

"Right, Cape Witness Protection." Hunch said. I shrugged wordlessly. I wasn't sure how much I could talk about my unique circumstances to the Wards yet. I made a mental note to ask Director Armstrong the next time I saw him.

"Well," Hunch started, puffing his chest out the best he could, "I'm a precog. I can look at something, and give you a pretty accurate guestimate at how it ticks. Like you for example."

He cocked his head to the side and his eyes lost focus, "You're… more durable than anyone in this room… you have a sweet tooth that would give a dentist a heart attack… and...that's it." he shook his head, shuddered, and pointedly stared at the ground

I cocked my head to the side and he shrugged, "It varies person to person. I only get vague ideas about people. Sometimes I can get four or five things at once, but a lot of times it's only one or two things. Capes can be hard sometimes, especially if they have weird powers with arbitrary limits." he glanced at the kitchen but said nothing.

"Hunch is mostly mission control." Weld explained, "He gives us field advice, lets us know where we're needed. You'll be hearing him a lot once you start going on patrol."

"Unfortunately." Erica said with a smirk.

Hunch rolled his eyes and sank back into the couch. Erica frowned, almost hesitating before she shrugged and turned to me, "I'm a Master. I can create constructs out of ice and control them remotely. Can't go much bigger than you though, and I can't control more than two or three at a time. As long as I'm directly controlling them, they can operate in normal temperatures. Well, normal Boston temperatures, I haven't tried using them in a desert or anything yet."

At that moment, the triplets returned, dragging in several twelve packs of soda and nearly slamming them on the table. Alfonso came up and offered me a drink, which I gladly took, "And you three? I'm guessing you're some kind of hive mind?"

"Yup!" They said in unison.

"Anything they feel, we feel! We can also look at what the other is thinking or doing, but we can turn it off."

"Thank god," Carlos added, "I'd go insane if I had you two stuck in my head all the time."

"But we're not just a hive mind." Alfonso added. "We also have this really cool ability where we can combine into one person!"

I blinked, "Um, wow. That's… I don't think I've ever heard of a cape with a power like that."

The boy beamed, "It's pretty cool, but we aren't allowed to do it very often."

"Their combined form can only be maintained for a few minutes and afterwards they're almost always unconscious," Weld explained, "And if they're hurt while combined, all three of them carry the injury with them. They're a lot stronger combined, but we only save it for emergencies."

At that, all three boys folded their arms and started muttering darkly under their breath. Obviously they didn't appreciate being stuck on the sidelines.

"So," Erica interjected, clapping her hands together, "We've told you what we can do. But what about you, Bubblegum? What can you do?"

I opened my mouth to respond, when I was interrupted by a beep from Weld. We all turned to look at him; he was checking his phone, and frowning. He slid it back in his pocket and sighed, "Sorry everyone, looks like we'll have to cut things short. They need Taylor to finalize some paperwork. We can finish up introductions tomorrow."

"Aw!" the triplets whined.

Erica snickered and shrugged, "Ah well. Guess we'll have to wait then."

She fixed me with a melodramatic stare, "But for the sake of the triplets, you better be prepared for some hardcore quizzing on what you can do tomorrow."

At that, I actually smiled. "I look forward to it."


The rest of my day was nowhere near as exciting as my meeting with the Wards, for better and for worse. Weld did a good job of familiarizing me with the local facilities the PRT HQ had to offer. When we finished with that, he brought me to the people I needed to talk to in order to finalize my paperwork. The one thing I could say for certain about my day was that Weld was one of the most patient people I had ever met. It was a relief to ask someone a question and not have them blow me off or mockingly laugh in my face for it.

That said, when Weld and I finally parted ways, the rest of my day became a struggle. The last week had been nothing but paperwork and bureaucracy, and today proved no different. I was, to be frank, completely over it, even if it was necessary. At one point, I found myself dozing off while an accountant had explained how the PRT would be paying me during my stint at the Wards. This happened again several more times throughout the day, and it took all my effort not to simply collapse onto the floor of my room and go to sleep once it was all over.

My room, my room as a Ward. How weird was that to think about? I certainly didn't feel any different; I still felt like Taylor Hebert, awkward girl extraordinaire. But apparently being turned into pink rubber was enough to qualify, and so here I was.

The room I had been assigned (that felt better), was only a little larger than the one I had at home, which was a surprise. It had a small attached restroom with no shower or bath. Those were, as far as I knew, in the Ward locker room which was connected to the common room. Which of course, made the restroom useless to me as I hadn't actually had to go since my transformation. So there was a positive, I guess.

My new bed was large, though it would have to be to fit me. There was a nightstand on the right hand side, and a dresser on the far wall across from it. A decent sized TV was suspended from the wall above the dresser, but aside from that the room was very bare. According to Weld, I could decorate it and change it as I saw fit in the next few days, so if I wanted I could make it a practical carbon copy of my room at home.

I sighed, tossed my bag on the floor, and flopped backwards onto the bed. Sleep called to me, dragging at the frayed corners of my mind. A quick glance at the digital clock told me it was only 5:23 PM. Which meant dinner had just started up; the thought of food banished any and all thoughts of sleep.

"Calm down, Taylor." I growled even as I sat up and prepared to sprint through the door. A small part of me chafed at this; after all, it had only been five hours or so since my last meal, that was way too long!

I shook my head, annoyed at how easily I was distracted. It would be more polite to wait until the majority of the building had eaten before I went down myself, if only to make sure everyone else had enough to eat in the first place. Of course, this would also mean there were less people staring at me as I inevitably pigged out, but that was absolutely not at the forefront of my mind, honest.

Besides, there was more important business for me to attend to. On my nightstand next to the digital clock, was a landline phone. This made what I needed to do next easier, because I had never owned a cell phone before. I dialed the number to call, picked up the receiver, and anxiously waited for him to pick up, anxiously wrapping the cord around my fingers while I waited.

After the third ring, a tired voice answered, "Hello, this is the Hebert residence, Danny speaking."

"...Hey dad." I said softly.

"Taylor!" my dad's tone did a complete 180, all exhaustion banished to the sidelines, "Oh my god, my little owl, it's so good to hear from you! How are you, is everything going okay in Boston?"

I smiled a little, bitterly amused at the irony. This entire event had done more for our relationship than the two years of grieving we had done since the… the accident. I tore my thoughts away from that and focused on the call.

"Yeah, I made it okay without issue. Director Armstrong seems nice, and the Wards are… special."

"I hope you mean that in a good way." Dad said, half joking.

"They're about what you'd expect from having a bunch of super powered teenagers in one place." I admitted.

"There's a lot of ways to take that, Taylor." Danny said, though his tone was a lot more joking.

"They were nice. A little eccentric, but nice." I clarified. I took a steadying breath and added, "What about you? How're things back in Brockton Bay?"

Dad sighed, "About the same. The ABB and Empire look like they're getting ready to ramp things up, and there was a brief scandal at the PRT. One of the Wards was caught violating their probation, but they're being very hush hush about it. The city is on edge right now."

I tightened my grip on the phone, and pulled the cord tight enough to cut into my fingers. "Are you going to be safe? Have you sold the house yet?"

"No; even if we were in the nicest safest neighborhood in the country, it would take more than a week for me to sell off the house." Dad said, and I could sense the sadness in his voice.

It was a hard thing, giving up our old home. But for this to work, for the both of us to be safe, it was necessary. I had made a mistake in those first few hours after my transformation. I had just walked right into the front door, where plenty of people had seen me. Everyone knew, at bare minimum, that a cape was tied to our home. It was dangerous to stay in Brockton Bay even if you had no cape affiliation. A target on our back that big meant that we simply couldn't stay. That was why I was transferred to Boston; it was why we were giving up our family home.

It didn't alleviate my guilt.

"Dad, I'm… I'm sorry that you had to do that. I know how much the house meant to you, and your job. I…"

"Taylor…" Dad sighed, "at the end of the day, it's just a house. It's just a job. You are the most important thing to me in the world. As long as you're safe, as long as you're happy, then I'm okay with losing the house."

I bit back a bitter remark. He didn't know, and I couldn't blame him for not knowing. About how alone I had been, about the bullying, about everything that happened after the accident. After my mom died. Grief hit everyone differently, I knew that, I understood that. That didn't help with my anger.

Focus Taylor, focus.

"So," Dad mercifully changed the subject, "these Ward's are pretty eccentric, huh? How kooky are we talking?"

I finally grinned, a full fang toothed grin. "Well, first there's the triplets, oh my god you have no idea how excitable these three are…"

And so it went. At least for the next hour or so, I felt normal again.


A/N: Character introductions are hard, especially when you have to make them up from whole cloth. Part of the reason I took a while in this chapter was because I went power hunting to figure out good powers for the Wards that weren't too close to the ones we know from Canon. I certainly hope that I succeeded in both their powers and their personalities, at the very least in introducing them.

It's gonna be a little bit until the next chapter goes up. In general I'm modifying my update schedule to fit the three stories I'm working on, with my bare minimum being one chapter every week. The cycle goes: Majin, the Collector, Echoes of Yesterday. So it could be a week or two until Majin updates again, or I could churn out the chapter by Friday depending on my mood. Figured I'd give you a headsup now though so you knew.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to leave comments and (Constructive) criticism. See you next time!