Rest

I sipped my tea, while trying to puzzle out the latest crossword in the coffee shop. The tea wasn't very good - I still couldn't figure out why people ranted about Earl Grey so much.

"You're absolutely certain that all of these moles and worms and backdoors and exploits have been patched out?" Piggot demanded up in her office. They had tried to sanitize the building after I had killed Coil in it. They didn't do a good job. And Armsmaster and Kid Win's emergency bug zappers were good, but they didn't help when I could just fly my bugs through open windows or doors, then crawl them along the ceiling or up elevator shafts.

It really was amazing how decent I could hear through just five to ten different insects in a single room. Variety really made all the difference in sorting out the noise from the chaff.

Armsmaster scowled as he glared at the inside of his helmet. At least, I assume he was glaring at the inside of his helmet. He was grunting enough for it and the way he shifted in his seat it seemed to imply that he was glaring at his HUD.

"I've purged the mainframe and Dragon has been going over the base code for the system with me. I believe we are clean. I still want to wipe everything and rebuild it. There is no telling what sort of virus he had installed. He was in our files for a very long time, Director. We should work under the assumption that everything is compromised."

Assistant Director Renick sighed. "At least he didn't have any other villains in his employ to share this data with."

"That we know of," Piggot spat.

Renick shook his head. "Director, you've read the report. You know as well as I do that this Fish character has been extremely forthcoming. If Coil had had other capes in his organization we'd know about it."

"Mime was in his employ," Piggot said. The tip of the pencil in my hand snapped as I pushed it against the crossword too hard. Piggot waved off Armsmaster and Renick before either could speak and she leaned back in her chair. "Shut up both of you. I didn't say I don't believe that it wasn't forced, but she was under his control for long enough to get a deeply personal grudge and no one was the wiser. We need to find out if he managed to seal away any other capes as well. Perhaps ones he was a bit more secretive about. Selective subjects he was more careful to keep a watch on with more compartmentalized knowledge."

"Ones who didn't manage to get in touch with a murderous protector who had a grudge against the PRT in particular?" Renick muttered.

That wasn't entirely true. I didn't dislike the PRT, I just didn't think they could protect Nancy. Coil was smart and his power was bullshit if you didn't know about it. It wasn't really their fault that he'd infiltrated them. Well it was, but information security was everybody's job, loose lips sink ships and all that.

However, it was their fault that no one had listened when I'd tried to tell people that they had a problem. That was why I was annoyed with them.

"Has there been any contact with…Weaver yet?" Piggot asked.

"Assault has said he will be following up on a lead shortly. I've given him authority to act as he sees fit," Armsmaster said.

Assault was quickly becoming my favorite hero. I'd have to get him a gift basket.

"If it pans out, ensure he knows that she needs to, at minimum, register as an official associate of the PRT. I am not at all willing to back down from that. The restraint she showed doesn't escape me. That girl could've murdered half the building before any of us could have even reacted with just the insects in that single room, yet she restrained herself to her sole target and at least gave the appearance of trying to force a surrender."

"You still don't think she would have let him go, Ma'am?" Renick asked.

Piggot scoffed. "Please. That girl ran away from home with her mute girlfriend because daddy pissed her off by coming to us for help. She lived on the streets for all we know just to protect the trauma victim. If that had been me? I would've smothered Calvert in his sleep with a smile. She went for theatrics - as capes do. The principle is the same. Calvert was never going to walk away once she found him. I'm just glad they sent the files showing how deep his rot ran."

Maybe she was right. Maybe I had handled things badly. I probably could have killed Thomas in his sleep. But…I had needed to know. I had needed to be sure that it was him, not a body double, to see the panic and the bargaining and the excuses. At the end, he hadn't bargained, but he'd acted just like I'd expected and I had been sure. It was Coil. And…

I'd made sure that he knew why.

That was…important.

"Director," Armsmaster said, his head turning enough that I was reasonably sure he was focusing on her now instead of his helmet. "A personal question if I may. I know why I and the rest of the Protectorate are invested in finding Weaver and Mime. But this is personal for you as well. Why?"

Piggot looked to the ceiling letting out a long breath of air as she seemed to nearly deflate. "Thomas Calvert and I were the only survivors of Elisburg. I knew he was a sociopath, even back then. I never was able to stop the PRT from employing him again as a contractor and then Strike Leader after he left the main service. That he was able to do this right under my nose…That he could traumatize not one, but two teenagers so thoroughly they were willing to murder him in front of all of us, on top of robbing one of those same girls of her very words…And he was planning to kidnap the Mayor's pre-teen niece and do it to her too? No. Not in my city. Not on my watch. Weaver won't be prosecuted for this, but I can't let her just run around my city without supervision either. Especially not with a loyal Thinker giving her directions. If she's not going to work with us, then she needs to be working with someone else. But she can't be out there alone, not with her power."

"She could take care of the gangs all on her own…" Armsmaster murmured.

"I am aware," Piggot said, just as softly. "And yet, we both know that no one would be able to ignore her if she killed half the villains in the city. She'd force our hand by public opinion alone. Someone who can kill you by drowning you in bugs? When no facility is ever truly bug free? We have to find her Armsmaster, we have to find her before she gets it into her mind that such a path is a good idea."

I pulled the bugs back out of the office as they started to talk about less interesting topics.

They weren't really wrong. I probably could kill Kaiser and most of the Empire, except Alabaster, and maybe Hookwolf. But I doubted I could do much against Lung. I'd have to get him while he was sleeping, work slow, move a few bugs here and there into his lungs, then start weaving webs without waking him up and increasing his regeneration and…

Maybe they were right. Maybe I did need therapy.

Eh, I was fine. I wouldn't go lethal again unless someone tried to kidnap my girlfriend. Then they would have a very bad last day.

I smiled as I filled in the last block on the crossword. My girlfriend. I had a girlfriend. How had that happened? How had I, Taylor Hebert, Victim Extraordinaire, managed that?

However it had happened, I wasn't going to question it. Good things in my life were too rare to pass up on.

I pocketed the completed crossword, grabbed my backpack and stood. Downing the last of my tea, I grimaced down at the empty mug.

"What is with this stuff? It's horrible!"


I trudged the last few blocks to my destination after getting off of the bus, my steps slowing with every step. I really didn't want to do this. I still didn't know how I had been talked into it. This was a bad idea, such a bad idea. I should go back to the PRT instead, that would be easier. Or I could go and…clean the apartment?

My house fell into my range and some of the tension in my shoulders bled off. Vicky was already there with Nancy, both sitting on the swing chair on the patio. Dad was inside in the living room. He had to know that they were there. At least he had learned to respect some of our boundaries if he was letting them stay outside until I got there. That was…nice. I guess. Probably. Sure. Nice.

Plastering a smile on, I quieted the frantic web weaving of the nearby spiders and hurried up the front steps. Nancy lifted her hand in an enthusiastic wave as Vicky stood. The taller blonde quickly pulled me into a hug, that had my ribs aching before she stepped back.

"Hey. Told you I could get her here."

"I know you did, and we trust you," I replied back, the fake part of my smile melting away to be replaced by a more genuine warmth. "Thanks, Vicky."

"It's cool. Not a problem at all. You two sure you don't want me to stick around for moral support? I know how issues at home can go and, well, I'm free for the afternoon if you want me."

Nancy coughed and we glanced over to her. She held up her tablet, eyebrow arched and a half smirk on her face.

Gallant won't get mad?

"How do you know about - why you little!" Vicky's words didn't match the blush on her face or the way she rubbed the back of her neck. Aww, Nancy had made a friend. That was good. We both needed to expand our circles. Co-dependence wouldn't look good when talking to a psychiatrist.

Nancy tapped out a reply on the tablet and turned it back over.

Word to the wise: Glory Girl shouldn't be rumored to date someone when Victoria Dallon dates someone else. Sometimes rumors can just be rumors, but a Thinker is always a Thinker.

Vicky groaned and slapped her head. "I'll remember that the next time we're actually dating again. You know there's not many Thinkers in this city, so it's not something most of us actually remember could be an issue."

"Just be careful," I said, bumping her shoulder with mine. "Just because you're indestructible doesn't mean that others are, and they can get to you through them."

Vicky frowned as she looked at me. "That got dark fast."

"Hey if it makes you feel better, at this point I'd probably end up hunting down however kidnapped your people too."

Vicky blinked and just stared. "Seriously?"

"You're literally the only person who listened to me, and you didn't turn us in. You're a friend, you get perks."

Nancy nodded. She came beside me, flashing a thumbs up with one hand and her tablet with the other.

Don't worry, she's only mostly joking.

"I still can't figure out if you two are creepy or adorable." She shrugged, back to smiling. "Either way, just to be sure, one last time, you really don't want me here for dinner to ease the air a bit?"

I shook my head. "It's okay. This is going to be awkward anyway, no need to drag more friends into it. And we already actually have a buffer."

"You do?"

"Assault."

Vicky snapped her head to Nancy, eyes wide. "She's joking again, right?"

Nancy was already holding out her tablet.

Nope.

"How…"

"My dad has been talking to him. I listened in on a few conversations while tailing Coil and overheard Assault talking in the PRT too. He's a nice guy. He's been…helpful. And he also didn't tell anyone I was a cape - well not until I…you know." Not until I had killed a man. Drowned him in bugs, replaced a statistically significant chunk of his bodily fluid with venom, eaten bits of his flesh…I should feel bad. I should be a mess.

I shouldn't be utterly convinced that I would do the exact same thing again in a heartbeat. I shouldn't be secretly glad that Calvert chose the PRT over whatever other timeline he had where I had offered a quick death.

I had issues.

"Yeah," Vicky murmured. "I know. Taylor, I was serious when I said you girls could stay in the apartment however long you need. Just wash everything before you both head out, and let me know. Okay?"

"We will. It'll probably only be for another few days. Depending on how this dinner goes, we may move back in here. And if that doesn't work, there's always Option B."

Vicky nodded, clasping my shoulder. "Alright. I'm going to take off. Call or text if you need a rescue. I'm sure I can fake a cape emergency well enough to get you out of the house."

Thanks, Vicky. Stop by for another game tomorrow? I need to regain my crown.

"Count on it!"

She flew off leaving just me and Nancy. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, my bugs in their little holes doing their dances and chattering away, letting out my anxiety through my insects.

Nancy's arms draped around my neck, hugging me close as she leaned up to gently kiss my cheek. She was pulling back before I could react, her pad held out.

Don't worry. This'll be fine. And if it isn't, things will still be fine.

I nodded, feeling more tension loosen as I reached for her hand. She met me halfway and interlocked her fingers with mine. I laid my forehead against hers and just rested against her for a few moments.

"Sorry I'm a bit of a downer right now." I felt her head rock side to side against me. "I promise, I'll be a better hero in a few hours."

Nancy pulled back, she stuck the tip of her tongue between her lips as she tapped out a short message. I glanced over and chuckled.

Not a hero. A Dark Rogue. My Dark Rogue.

"As you wish," I murmured, pulling her against me again.

Nancy laid her head on my shoulder, her lips right next to my ear. That was probably the only reason that I heard her as the air ghosted out of her lungs in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Thank you, Taylor."


Closing AN: So, I was planning to do an epilogue almost entirely from Vicky's perspective with her acting as an intermediary for Taylor and Nancy towards the PRT, acting in their interests and hardlining Piggot. Except as I wrote this chapter I realized that I got the personal interactions that were going to be shown/implied between the three down already with their bit towards the end here and I already got the PRT reactions as well with the bit at the beginning. So really the entire point of the epilogue was/is moot. (Especially since I like the interactions with the girls more here than how it would have played out in the other version.)

So, sadly, no epilogue. Happily, this story can instead still end pretty much right where I had initially envisioned it instead (Lisa finally being able to talk again - to Taylor at least)! This work was never really intended to be extremely long like a lot of my others, it was more of a closer character driven story exploring a wildly different take on Lisa's essential nature and how things could change if Coil had early on followed through on his threats.

I had a lot of fun writing this one and I feel like it really expanded my range with getting into things. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!