Diane Boucher was and still is a rather stern woman. However, by no means, she was malevolent or a bitch, though a lot of people see her as one. So, when the news comes about the death of her precious daughter came it hit her hard. Much harder than anything else could have and now, she was practically alone.
Her Husband, Louis Boucher passed away several years ago due to an attempt at robbery by some druggy with powers. He tried to stop the robbery after one of the hostages was shot and ended up dying a horrible and gruesome death, but in the end, his sacrifice wasn't in vain. Several nearby suits noticed his distorted body flying from the windows and after a so-called "battle" managed to capture the robber. This fact didn't help a now-widow to coup with the death of one of the most important persons for her. But times heals and she simply continued to live for his and Annette's sake.
Now everything that left from Annette is a bunch of old photos and Diane's grandkids. It was partially her fault in never even seeing them, but the other and main cause was a rather complicated relationship with Danny Hebert. After the years, Diane understood that her unwillingness to allow her daughter to be with Danny backfired rather hard, but she simply accepted her misjudgment and continued to roll with it.
She was not of the people who easily admit their mistakes, so her realizing the mistake didn't change the situation all that much. Now she regretted it with all her soul.
If only she talked with Annette more, if only she didn't hold on that stupid grudge towards Danny and tried to fix things, all of this might never have happened. If this stupid conflict was stopped before Annette left France with Danny, they could have easily bought them a house here. Her last talk with her daughter ended on a rather high volume and she despised that her talk with her daughter was so cold. Diane was irritated beyond normal and when the matter of Danny Hebert came up in their dialogue, she simply snapped. She yelled and cursed released all her boiled up frustration. The ending of the talk was an ugly thing she wishes she couldn't remember.
So, when Danny called her and nearly crying asked her for help she agreed without hesitation. She pitied her son-in-law and started to prepare for her fly to Brockton Bay from France immediately after the call.
She never talked with her grandchildren and the only reason she knew their names was because Annette always talked about them. It was a bit irritating, but Diane was the mother herself and simply allowed her daughter to talk all she wants. After all, she didn't have anything better to do.
For someone who is 65 years old, she looked rather fresh. Her dark long hair had only one silver curl and in contrast with her daughter's Diane's hair was straight. The amount of money in her possession allowed her not to be shabby when it came to her looks and health. The only reason her daughter lived in a sub-par house and Danny forced to constantly work is because of their conflict and their pride. If they asked even once to lend them some money she would happily give them for the sake of her grandkids and Annette. Her husband was rather infamous for being an owner of one of the biggest network of slaughterhouses in France. After he passed away, she acquired absolute control over the network and she being much more brutal and straightforward started to slowly, but surely driving other people out of business.
The press and animal rights activist gave her a lot of flak, but she really didn't care too much. She enjoyed being rich and not being dependant on anyone. While her reputation was rather important she still had a heart and anonymously donated rather big sums of money to charity. In case someone manages to find out about her more shady and ambiguously grey deeds, such charity could help her to restore some reputation and make her words of defense more believable. Who said that good deeds can't benefit the one doing them and still remain good?
Thanks to some rather expensive Tinker tech she looked twenty years younger that she might have been without it.
Really, for someone who was born way before parahumans become a norm and were rather skeptical at first, she understood the benefits rather fast. Brutes were excellent workers and Tinkers allowed to create many amazing machines to make any kind of factory much more efficient. The problem was the individual nature of their works. Most of the Tinker creations are hard or outright impossible to reverse-engineer and they were perfectly aware of that. Using this to their advantage and demanding a big paycheck, good conditions, and expensive materials.
A lot of old school executives most of the time can't comprehend the benefit of such an investment. There are good reasons why, though. You never know what Tinker's creations could do in any rather common situations and unique circumstances. Some times Tinkers make their creation to simply break after some time, forcing the buyer to pay them again. Usually you just can't prove that it broke on its own, simply because even for Tinkers' work of other Tinkers can be a mystery.
In the end, no risk no gain.
She finished her affairs and simply said that she needed to take a vacation. She put most of the burden on her deputy and shortly after departure from her homeland. It was rather a pleasant traveling experience and she was rather pleased with the amount of cape-related merchandise in here. It showed her that in comparison to Europe the parahuman community here is much more successful. She could see several shops with cape-related stuff and some kids playing pretend. Which was a rare thing in France, native European capes are called "suits" and they weren't successful at all? And their failure ended in a giant amount of rogues and vigilantly.
They had a rather strong start, but several Endbringers attacks crushed their advanced and diminished their numbers quite a bit. Out of fifty-two suits only nine is remained in the team until now. They lost half of their group to Endbringers and others just left to live a peaceful life. While some could call it cowardly to run, but there's no shame in bailing out if the situation is helpless. Only idiots continue to fight an unwinnable fight and die without achieving anything.
Therefore, when Diane made preparation for this trip she decided to find information about some of the capes here. After all, it would stupid to miss potential workers. Armsmaster sounded promising for her, his ability to put a lot of functionality in the minimal amount of space possible. He was Tinker and she knew how to please them. Give them materials and money and they all yours. They rarely interested in other stuff. Money, drugs, and glory if you believe her is things every Tinker wants one way or another.
First allow them to buy more expensive tools and rare matters. The second allows Tinkers to lose any connection to reality and fully emerge themselves in their work. And third is the nature of a human.
There a reason why some of the countries weaken their hold on some drugs. Sacrifices needed to be made, though you need to prove that you a Thinker or Tinker to acquire and buy them. Most of the time they too a product of Tinker work. Less addicting, less negative impact on physical health, and very specific effects.
Though with Armsmaster it would be really hard to do. He apparently really liked to play pretend in the role of a hero and was rather happy with his position. She only smirked when she read the information that implied his wish to continue to help people.
Brockton Bay lacked any actual airport, so she was forced to fly to Boston. From there she would need to use the train. Diane can't really complain about the wasted time. The more time she has a better strategy for the talk she can make.
Normally such a thing wouldn't take much time, but this once business lady was at a loss. Talking with a family and talking with her company enemy or future ally is completely different situations. In the second case, she is rather well-known for being brutal and cold, delivering subtle insults, and overall dominating the talk. With her grandkids a different approach is necessary if she wants something other then another strained bond.
The problem that Diane never had talked with them face-to-face and she only knew things that Annette told her. They both like to read, Lio was distant and had some problems at school, Taylor is a good and tidy girl. There was also something about the occult and other weird stuff, but she can't remember what it was about.
Not much to go from honestly. So, Diane allowed herself to relax and improvise when the time comes.
By the time she came to her grandkids entrance door the sun already left the sky. She could see that the light is off and tilted her head confused. She expected them to be home at this time of the day. With a determent look, she marched to the door and knocked a few times. The wood responded with a quiet thud. She carefully listened to try and hear if somebody is home.
With a disappointed sigh, she leaned down and flipped the carpet in front of the door, taking spare keys hidden under it. Good thing Danny remembered to tell her in case of an emergency.
She slowly opened the door with loud cracking. Her disappointment becomes even bigger. The house looked like it never was finished and very much worn out. The staircase was in desperate need of fixing or even outright rebuilding from scratch. The wood was creaked all over the place and she wanted to bang her head against the wall. It just looked so bad in her eyes. Even slaughterhouse looked more well-made and maintained.
With a loud sound she dropped her luggage and moved deeper into the house. She really needs to find a kitchen and drink something. Either coffee or something more alcoholic. Drinking in stressful situations was something akin to a hobby for her. She could not do it, but she simply decided that she will. A glass of fine wine helped her out countless times before. And only once she couldn't control herself and drank until she fainted. It was a day when the news about her loss was delivered to her.
With absolute mastery she took the bottle of Bordeaux from her luggage. Red wine normally reserved for special occasions. Well, this was a very special occasion in her eyes. She found a wineglass in one of the kitchen cabinet and without even looking filled it with red liquid until the wine nearly left the vessel.
She savored the familiar taste and started her guilty pleasure. She fell from reality for dozens of minutes and then remembered why she was here. She took out her phone from her jeans and by memory typed the number of Taylor. Danny decided to give her Taylor's number because apparently Lio had a really bad track record when it came to answering phone calls.
The dialogue ended rather abruptly and she could easily recognize that Taylor was both confused and irritated by the call. She lazily lied around the sofa and started to slowly accept the reality of the situation. She was drinking while her grandkids where in the city in the middle of the night. Not the best image for her, but no one is perfect.
With a lot of mental pressure she forced herself to get from the old sofa and walk around for a bit. Better to become accustomed fast she is here for more than a month. She moved through the kitchen to the basement. It looked even worse. She hastily exited it, before it could have offended her sense of beauty too much.
She decided to explore the second floor and moved up the staircase with some hesitation.
With every step the wood creaked under the pressure and she nearly tripped over the hole in of the stairs. Cursing and slowly crawling along the wall, Diane managed to enter the second floor. It looked much better but still wasn't up to her standards.
"Maybe, I should call some of my men here? They probably can fix this mess… Right?" She wondered hopefully.
Boucher decided to talk with the kids and her son-in-law later. She moved carefully and opened the nearby door. Two beds, a telescope, and a computer.
"Taylor's and Lio's room, then." She quickly looked around and finding nothing particularly interesting, left the room and moved to the next.
Behind another door, the bathroom was hidden…
Using basic deduction the last door would lead to Annette's and Danny's door. She skipped it and moved downstairs. She couldn't handle another reminder of her loss. The wound was still too fresh.
To be completely fair, seeing her grandkids weren't the only reason why she took this vacation. She could see that her efficiency drooped significantly at work, to the point where she started to forget documents and overall act to impulsive to her own liking. She needed to relax after years of constant work and stress. Massages and visiting salons helped her with reducing stress, but she felt a bit hollow when her husband passed away. The family was important for her, even if there were some disagreements she would forgive them. That what family does.
With heavy sight she moved to the kitchen and started to prepare tea. Normally her secretary would do it, but this time she needs to do everything herself.
"If you want something done right, waste the guy yourself… or do it yourself. It depends on occupation, really" She mused.
When Diane finished making tea, the door opened with loud creak forcing her to frown from the sound.
The first one to enter was a lean girl with dark hair. Her clothes were the most conservative and unimaginative she saw in a long time. But she could see that they were rather comfortable and warm. Her hair was curly and a tad bit wild. Her face was rather familiar-looking and she was definitely a bit concerned with something.
"Wonder why…" The girl noticed her and smiled weakly. Diane nodded in acknowledgment and continued to enjoy her drink on the sofa. "So this is Taylor, huh. She truly looks like younger Annette."
Her heart clenched a little thanks to a reminder, but she quickly stopped the impulse inside.
And then entered the male twin. He managed to fix his hair along the way and make himself look a bit more alive. Still even then his a bit rugged look was showing. His missing t-shirt wasn't really helping his look. But what made Diane stop enjoying her drink was a look in his eyes. Very familiar look. The look of somebody she sees in the mirror. He tried to hide his nature behind a glint of satisfaction, but his pragmatic and calculative nature was a shining trough.
The moment his eyes landed on her, they both understood each other. Diane's grin was filled with anticipation. When her eyes landed once again on Taylor a glimpse of understanding was also shining there.
A silent dialogue was exchanged between three people in the house. It was mostly between Lio and Diane, but Taylor also contributed.
Diane was the one who decided to end this staring contest. With fake cough the broke eye contact and decided to introduce herself, this time face-to-face.
"I happy to see you both in a good mood. I am Diane Boucher, the director of the largest pork processing company in France and your grandmother." Her grin turned malicious for a second. "Remember both parts."
"Taylor. Happy to see you!" Said female twin with all enthusiasts she managed to muster.
"Lio. Nice to meet you, Gram." He said a bit detached. His mind was still mostly filled with strategies against Endbringers. There wasn't a lot, but they anyway needed some part of his mind to process.
"Why are you wearing a coat on a bare body?" Diane asked confused.
"Hmm. I forgot to grab my shirt…" He lied unconvincingly.
Grandmother only massaged her temples and decide to drop the issue.
"Let's move straight to the point. I am going to be here until your father healed enough to look after you, but before that point I am going to be the live here and watch over so you don't kill yourself out of boredom by doing some dumb shit. So please no drunk friends and satanic rituals. 'key?" She asked in a sweet tone.
Both teenagers simply nodded. Kirschtarie already moved all tools for the rituals to their hideout and he doesn't really have friends here, outside of Taylor and an acquaintance in the form of Emma. She was rather close with Taylor and if he was not around Taylor generally hang out with Emma. As far as he was concerned Emma find him rather weird and creepy, because of his unnaturally calm attitude and tendency to remain silent. Though they didn't see each other after Kirsch decided to be a good brother. Apparently Emma came to give Taylor some support, while Kirschtaria was finishing last touches for their base.
He was rather thankful to the girl. She helped his sister with emotional turmoil. Kirschtaria was really bad when it came to normal human emotions. He is improved over time, but the upbringing by the old mage family left its mark. It was hard for him to completely comprehend other's emotions. He knew how to manipulate them and make people think a certain way, but that was part of being a political figure at the Clock Tower.
They continued lazy talk for a near half-hour. It was a rather refreshing experience and they ended on a good note. The twins moved to their room, while Diane decided to sleep on the couch.
But so far he was rather happy with their granny. She was rather perceptive and had a rather lively attitude for someone who is supposedly in their sixties. He expected someone with an old way of thinking, but he could feel that she could become an ally and big helper with their game in heroes. He needed more time to completely give his final judgment, but so far she looked rather promising.
His plan, for now, was to play a good nephew, while doing several rituals to find some candidates. He needed to expand his team and while he will no longer follow the will of stars, he still will ask them and use their bits of advice. It was a handy thing, that could prove rather useful. Plus, he needs some people to test some magecraft and rituals.
He could try on himself, but why do it when there someone else who could play the role of the dummy? Despite having a high opinion of humanity, Wodime understood that not all people deserve salvation. He wasn't a messiah or a savior, he was Kirschtaria Wodime and he understood that sacrifices need to be made for the sake of a better world.