AN: So this chapter is short. Very short. But it's also a critical point for Nancy and it just wasn't right to continue forward with the chapter past this point. Next chapter will be of normal length.


Hunt 1-1

"Again, if your commute takes you anywhere near 32nd and York, we strongly urge you to find another route. While the fighting between the Coil's gang and the Archer's Bridge Merchants has begun to subside, there is still a distinct chance that it could flare up to the previous levels at any moment. For your own safety, it is highly recommended to avoid the surrounding blocks for the next several hours."

Nancy clutched her arms tighter around her legs, the pillow stuffed between her thighs and her chest squeezed to a thin ribbon of nothing. It was just the news. It was nothing important. It was a normal fight. This was Brockton Bay, this sort of dust-up happened all of the time. It was nothing.

"As you can see several civilians have been injured as the supervillain Mush fought against the soldiers called in by Coil's personnel. We go now to Marcus Lokel, live at the scene. Marcus?"

The camera feed switched, and Nancy forgot to breathe.

There was a flash of black, curly hair in the background walking away from an ambulance. The owner of said hair had an Armsmaster backpack.

Taylor had black, curly hair.

Taylor had an Armsmaster backpack.

Taylor hadn't texted her since the fight started an hour ago.

"Thank you, Helen. We're still not certain what exactly set off this clash, but we can say that it is finally beginning to break apart. It appears that the Merchants have managed to get a hold of a crate of supplies that the mercenaries associated with Coil's gang had been attempting to secure. There were 10 people hurt during the running battle, including three fatalities."

Nancy's fingernails dug into her palm as she stared at the screen. The camera was too focused, the angle too narrow. She couldn't see the girl with the backpack. Was it Taylor? Was she hurt? Was she okay? Was she one of the fatalities? Was that why she hadn't texted to let Nancy know she was fine?

"We've received unconfirmed reports that the Merchants were tipped off about this movement by an unknown third party. At this point in time, it's believed that one of the locals was trying to curry favor with their local dealer and things got out of hand when more people than expected on each side turned up."

Her power tried to rise and say something. She pushed it down. She didn't want to know. And if she needed to know then she would need her power at full strength later. She hadn't been getting headaches as much lately, but those could return at any moment. For now, she needed to be careful. And careful meant being conservative - until she knew what was what. Until she knew for sure.

Nancy's teeth ached as she ground them together, her hand shaking as she lifted the phone in front of her eyes. She needed to be sure. She needed to know.

It took five tries before her fingers were able to tap out the message. It wasn't impressive. It wasn't much. It was more than she had been able to do in weeks.

Ok? Txt pls.