Hunt 1-2

The phone's ringing and buzzing startled Nancy enough that she nearly dropped it as she jerked and flailed about. Fumbling, she just barely managed to catch the device before it tumbled out of sight. Breathing hard, her hands still shaking from tapping out the earlier text, she pressed the answer key.

"Nancy?! I'm so sorry, I didn't think - didn't realize - you were watching the news weren't you," Taylor stated, no room for questioning in her voice.

Nancy felt the vice on her heart unclench and she breathed out, the air leaving her lungs in a slow wheeze. She nodded.

"Nancy, are you nodding? This isn't a video conversation, I can't see that."

Grimacing, Nancy grunted and reached over to knock once on the wooden table.

"I'm sorry. I had to play the part of a wounded civilian when someone saw me in the area. I didn't want to get too far away until I knew which direction the mercenaries were going to be going. I…You probably already know, but I started the fight. You don't exactly know where you were being kept and…well, what better way to find the queen than to follow the drones to the nest, right?"

Nancy scowled as she uncurled her legs and started to pace. She stopped by one of the walls and knocked twice then kept pacing back and forth.

"I know you don't like it. But this is the best way to find him." Taylor paused, then continued softer. "And hey, you texted me. That's…that's amazing, Nancy! If I could bake, I'd bake you a cake when I get back."

Nancy slumped against the back of the couch, a laugh burbling out of her as she shook her head.

"Oh shush, I'm not that bad. You love my grilled cheese." The line fell silent again before Taylor said, her voice now a whisper, "I have to go, Nancy. They're starting to pull away from me again, but they're going deeper now. I think I may have found the base. I'm going to check to be sure, then I'll come back, we can talk for a bit, get some rest, and then I'll start my stakeout. We're almost done. You're almost safe."

As Taylor hung up, Nancy stayed splayed out on the floor of Vicky's apartment, her back propped up against the couch. The phone held in front of her face as she kept staring at the tiny screen.

Ok? Txt pls.

Three words. Three, little, words. They didn't even count as words, more like an incomprehensible mess of pop culture nonsense. They were abbreviations at best, slang at worst. They barely made sense except to tweens. Hell, she'd nearly dropped the phone three times trying to finish inputting them.

They were still words. Written communication. Words that she had typed out.

She could type.

She. Could. Type.


Taylor didn't get back for another three hours. Nancy had made good use of that time. As soon as Taylor walked in the door, she blew her party horn, the little paper tube extending out with the annoying sound blaring loud. Nancy also held up her sign, large block letters loudly proclaiming: Welcome Home, Taylor! on them, standing on in stark yellow paint.

Taylor's smile was wide, easy, and bright. Nancy blew her party horn again, playing up the cheerleader aspect. It helped that she actually almost fit into the old uniform that she'd found in the closet. If she had managed to gain back all her weight, she probably wouldn't have even needed the safety pins to tighten the fit up. She would have to get something nice for Vicky to thank her. Not that she'd tell the brute why she was thanking her. That was a bridge too far.

"Hey, what's all this for?" Taylor asked as she set her bag down.

Nancy flipped the board over. We're celebrating!

Taylor laughed as Nancy threw the board to the side and reached down for the pom poms. She thrust her arms into the air and blew the party horn one final time. The tension in Taylor's shoulders finally bled away, and the brunette reached up to take the hair tie out, letting her hair hang down in its natural curls.

Taylor is not thinking about the deaths caused from the earlier fight anymore. She is now focused on your progress, instead of the fatalities brought about from her actions.

Good. Celebrating that she could more effectively communicate was important, but it wasn't important enough to delve into a cheerleader outfit. Making sure that Taylor didn't dwell on things that she shouldn't, now that was worth getting into a short skirt that barely covered her ass and a top that exposed her stomach.

"I know I said I'd try to bake you a cake, but I think we both know how that would turn out. So I picked you up something on the way back instead." Leaning over, Taylor maneuvered a large package out of her backpack and inclined her head towards the table. Nancy didn't miss how Taylor studiously avoided looking directly at her, nor the slight heat to her cheeks. Well how she tried to avoid looking, and was only mostly successful…until Nancy 'accidentally' flipped her skirt a bit as she pranced over to the table. The way Taylor's face lit up like a tomato after that was adorable. And…it sent warm shivers down her spine.

Taylor had started that fight for her. She'd started it to find Coil in order to help her. She'd known that people would probably get hurt and would most likely die. And she'd done it anyway.

Taylor was no White Knight, but she was exactly the sort of person that Nancy needed and wanted. More than anything. And if that meant dressing up like a bit of an airhead to remind Taylor that she was appreciated and steer her thoughts away from dark places, so be it.

Celebrating a massive leap in progress was a nice bonus too. Now she could communicate. Now she wouldn't have to feel guilty about liking her savior. Now if they did end up going to the authorities for help after it was over, the therapists and Youth Guard wouldn't be able to force them apart 'for her own good'.

Stupid fucking Youth Guard. They could kiss her ass. She could write now. She was independent.

"Tada! I, uh, know it's not much, but I didn't have time to wait for them to actually make a real decoration on it, so it was all I could get…"

As Taylor opened up the box Nancy's heart jumped into her throat and the world got a bit blurry . It was a cake. A cake with 'Congratulations, Nancy!' written on it in red icing. A tiny cake, but…a cake.

Nancy bit her lip as her heart fluttered deep within her chest. Taylor looked at her and she managed to hold up one finger before grabbing for the tablet she had carried to the table. Her finger still shook as she stabbed at the display, but she was already better than she had been just three hours ago.

[̵͔̇͑H̷̳̀ó̷̖̮s̸͈͗̽t̸̞̕]̵̳̕ is calmer now that Taylor is sitting within line of sight.

She chose to ignore the implications of her power's input and instead finished the message. Flipping the tablet over, she held it out so Taylor could see it, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes.

You actually got me a cake?

Taylor read it, her smile dropping away into something far harder to read. Nancy didn't want to use her power for this. She wanted to communicate like a real person. She wanted to understand Taylor without cheating. She wanted to…she wanted to keep getting back what she had lost…she wanted…

Taylor's arms closed around her shoulders and her cheek fell to rest against Nancy's own. Nancy reached up to squeeze Taylor's hand as Taylor hugged her. "Of course I got you a cake. You can write. When we met you could barely even grunt; now you can knock out replies, give elaborate answers with charades, draw other things, and even write. You're amazing, Nancy. If I was in your position, I'd be a wreck."

No. Strong.

"I think you overestimate me." Taylor pulled back, smiling as Nancy's sniffles slowed. "Where did you get the outfit anyway?"

Vicky's closet.

Taylor chuckled. "I'm not usually into cheerleaders, but you look, um, really good in that." Taylor looked away, focusing back on the table. She couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks though. Before she could stand and move back to her seat, Nancy reached out and folded her arms around Taylor, hugging the girl as hard as she could. Leaning up, Nancy gently brushed her lips against Taylor's cheek.

Thank you.

\/\/\/\/

/\/\/\/\

Hunt 2-2

I gently laid the bedsheet back over Nancy brushing the stray blonde hair away from her face as she continued sleeping. It had been a long day for her. She needed sleep. And I needed to start my stakeout. I couldn't stay here any longer - as much as I wanted to.

Leaning down, I kissed Nancy's forehead, made sure she had her phone on the nightstand and closed the door behind me as I retreated from the bedroom. Leaning against the door, I quietly breathed out. Was I really going to do this? This was my last real chance to back out. My last moment to stop, to call Vicky, and bring New Wave into it.

Nancy rolled over, squeezing the pillow next to her, nearly squashing the bugs I had left to keep track of her.

No. I wasn't going to let Coil have a chance to get near her again. Even from just listening in to his conversation with the body double's radio earlier today, he was still hunting for her. Those crates contained more drugs, drugs intended for her. Her and another Thinker he was trying to track down. I hadn't gotten the second Thinker's name yet, just that she was a girl.

It didn't matter. He was never going to get to that girl either.

I cut myself a small piece of the cake for breakfast before grabbing my backpack. Breakfast of champions. Though was it really breakfast when it was midnight? It didn't really matter. It was food. I had energy bars and water in my bag, I just needed something to give me a bit of a boost to start off. Coil was probably sleeping. He was likely to start making his new choices in the morning.

I knew where he slept now. I knew his base, and I'd found his home. Building his Endbringer shelter base less than four blocks from his actual home was not smart. Not smart at all. He should've planned for people with large ranges.

But he hadn't. And that was going to be his problem now. And my win.

Time to start marking off 48 hours Mr. Thomas Calvert.