Side-Step NE

Her feet touched ground and she pulled her charge back into herself. The energy spun within her arms and legs, spreading through her muscles and traveling up her spine. Things were quiet since Leviathan, and the last month had done much to let her build her reserve.

She locked hold of the energy as she entered the alleyway.

"Eidolon," Breach greeted as he thumbed through his phone.

"Breach."

She stepped up to him and took his proffered hand.

In a flash the alleyway was gone, replaced by plain white walls. The teleportation always turned her stomach, and it grew worse as she started walking. Breach vanished in a flash, off to collect the next member of their little cabal.

I hate these meetings, she thought.

"Sam."

She raised her head.

"Rory."

She waved to him as they met in the hallway, and he fell into step beside her. They didn't know one another well, but everyone knew each other in their circle. There weren't many of them. Forty or so, as far as Sam could tell. Maybe sixty if she included those who helped but didn't know much.

"Is Vista okay?" she inquired.

"Missy's tough," Rory stated. "She'll survive."

"I heard Labyrinth is—"

"Sane?" He proffered. "Yeah. I met her a few times before. Always kind of vacant"—he waved a hand in front of his face—"like her head was somewhere else. Not anymore. She was chatting up a storm with Stratos when I saw her."

"How?"

"I imagine we'll find out if anyone knows."

They continued down the hall together.

The place was strange. Legend told her a cape made the halls, but she'd never once seen whoever it was. She got the sense they might not be around anymore. Some of the walls appeared faded and worn down. Firm, but not exactly new.

She tried figuring out the location once, but phones didn't have a connection within the halls. Hero probably jammed everyone's signals as a security precaution. All she really knew was that it was located on Earth Bet, and only because Legend once mentioned they'd lost access to all their 'off world' facilities.

They never talked about what those were used for.

The hall widened as they reached the end, leading into an open room. Alexandria sat at the table in the center, talking with Legend. A few others gathered around but only a few sat. There were enough chairs for everyone, but some never sat.

Rory pulled a pair of chairs out and glanced at her.

"Thank you. I'll stand."

He nodded and took a seat, pushing the other chair back in.

Sam crossed her arms over her chest, looking over the faces in the room. She was the only member of the Houston Protectorate who knew anything. Rory the only one from Brockton Bay.

Most of them weren't team leaders. She didn't know why. Cinereal and Rime were both present. Pretender and Arbiter talked to one another. A few other middling capes, but many of them were not particularly famous. Easier for them to go unnoticed for periods of time if they weren't high up the chain. She thought the Triumvirate preferred it that way.

Only one villain sat among them, which turned Sam's stomach even more. Accord sat on the far end of the table opposite Legend, papers stacked around him. She understood the purpose of his involvement, but she still didn't like it.

They were a mix on the whole. Some got their powers from Cauldron. Others through a natural trigger. She remembered a time when their little cabal consisted only of the former, but there weren't as many 'Cauldron Capes' as there used to be. Not as many that the Triumvirate believed could be relied on, at least.

She tried to force the feeling in her gut down as she waited.

"Is Hero still in Brockton Bay?" she asked.

"Yeah. He went to try and talk to Newtype. Figure out what she knew."

Sam thought back to her brief encounter with the young woman. Intense in a way that reminded her of Alexandria, but a lot nicer in overall demeanor. Close to Dragon. In some kind of pissing contest with Armsmaster.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she wondered how that came about.

The seconds ticked by, small conversations dominating the room until Hero entered.

Sam turned to him, trying to get a read on his demeanor. She'd never been the best at it though. He looked pensive, maybe…confused?

"Hero," Legend called.

"Howdy," he replied with a strained smile. "Sorry I'm late. Newtype went downtown for some business thing and I took a shot."

"Did it work?" Alexandria asked.

She was still, like a statue. It set Sam's hairs on end. The woman could be so preposterously still when she didn't bother pretending.

"Don't know," he said.

Hero pulled a chair out to her right and sat down. He folded his hands together and all other conversations died.

Everyone wanted to know.

Would today be the day the world learned the truth? Aliens exist. Aliens grant powers. Aliens tried to destroy the world. Aliens weren't humans in makeup and could barely be recognized as alive? Well, one to two aliens. Sam found hive minds difficult to comprehend in practical terms.

They wrote the risk off after Cranial died. The kids broke out of holding, but none of them had powers outside of whatever enhancements Cranial put into them. They continued writing it off. It didn't seem like they'd be remotely capable of finishing her work on their own.

Then Labyrinth vanished. They'd barely managed to start organizing before Vista was kidnapped, Aisha Laborn taken, and everything ended before Hero's team could take position. Almost like the kids knew they'd face impossible odds if they didn't pull everything off rapidly.

Guess Cranial thought things through, Sam thought sourly. I killed someone for nothing.

"Well?" Alexandria turned her head only slightly. "What did she say?"

"More than she thought," Hero answered. "Less than I'd hoped."

"Run down?" Arbiter requested.

Hero nodded.

"I went over the video StarGazer supplied. Newtype's little robots didn't get yanked into the portal, so they caught everything. Newtype, Laughter, Kid Win, Vista, and the Undersiders minus Sovereign vanished with the children, and then reappeared on the ground without them."

"Exposure?" Alexandria asked.

"Kid Win and Vista remember nothing coherent," Hero explained "I'm sure Labyrinth does, and Newtype as well. I'm not sure about Laughter or the Undersiders. Tattletale is an innate risk factor in this situation, but despite her name I don't think she's dumb. If she knows something she'll keep her mouth shut. I don't think we're at risk of spillage."

The room collectively relaxed a little. Sam didn't. Legend once told her he'd prefer to tell the truth, but only if it didn't make the world worse. Things were too chaotic 'now' to say anything.

'Now' was two years ago.

"And the other issues?" Legend asked.

"Labyrinth's psychosis has dissipated, and Aisha Laborn is awake. She's on the video leaving with her brother. The other victims of the Case-66 incident at Winslow have all made sudden recoveries."

"And their recollections?" Alexandria asked.

"In line with what we've gotten from survivors in the past. Visions of the war, and a woman with dark skin and green eyes."

Sam's lips twitched at her mention. The bogeyman, as far as she could tell. Or bogeywoman in this case. She was the consistent factor in broken triggers. People saw pieces of the Gold War. Bits of the battle, but rarely the same ones. They always saw her.

"I did manage to get confirmation from Newtype. She did see the trigger vision when the incident happened, and she saw her. Even tried to figure out who she was."

"And how did that go?" Alexandria asked sardonically.

"Strangely." Hero tapped his finger against the table in front of him. "She got scared when I mentioned her."

Sam raised her brow, and a few others shifted around the room.

"Scared?" Alexandria asked. "Most people we talk to say they found her presence comforting, not scary."

"I know," Hero noted. "I didn't tell her that. There's something here. Something strange."

"What?" Arbiter asked.

"I talked to Stratos and Miss Militia after they got back. Miss Militia said she was worried. Said Newtype looked shell shocked. She was shaking."

"That's not unusual," Rime noted. "She just found out there's an alien space monster in her head supplying her power. Most of us got a little shocked when we found out."

"Stratos blew me off," Hero stated. "Nicely, mind you." At Sam's side, Rory shifted uneasily. She looked down at her. He shook his head. "He watched Labyrinth," Hero continued, "like a hawk. Was still refusing to let the girl leave his sight when I slipped out."

"You know his history," Legend pointed out. "The bombings? Kids getting hurt is a soft spot for him."

"I know, but this felt off." Hero hung his head slightly. "He looked at me like he was measuring a threat."

"Triumph?" Arbiter asked.

"I don't know anything about it."

He hid his hand under the table, fingers clenched into a fist. Sam placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She understood. Vista and Kid Win were his Wards not that long ago. Stratos was his teammate.

She'd been in that position herself.

It wasn't pleasant.

"I think Newtype said something to him," Hero proposed.

Alexandria moved slightly. "She's smart enough to put two and two together. If she knows about the agents, then she probably figures we know. The PRT and Protectorate, I mean."

"It's worse than that," Hero said. "She talked to me, but she brought Chariot along. Didn't hide her face well when she thought I was paying attention to him."

"And?" Rime asked.

"She was terrified of me."

Sam pursed her lips. Legend looked uneasy, and Alexandria surprised. Sam could use a lot of words to describe Hero, but never 'scary'. He was Hero. All the arrogance it took to take that as a cape name and he made it work.

She hated to think what they'd be without him. Legend was a great hero and the perfect leader for the Protectorate, but he was too idealistic. He'd never do the things that needed to be done. Alexandria would do them too easily.

"Define terrified?" Pretender asked.

"Like she expected an ambush any moment."

Sam's arms loosened around her chest. That seemed an extreme reaction.

"Piggot has described her as paranoid in the past," Accord stated. "Has she not?"

"This wasn't paranoia," Hero replied. "Paranoia is an irrational uncertainty. This was more solid. I think she knows something more than just the existence of the agents. She said she went looking into the Gold War. I think she's aware of Scion's true nature."

Alexandria leaned forward. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm not sure. She was avoiding my questions. Giving answers she thought I would believe. It was a good effort, actually. I almost bought it until she flinched when I asked about the woman." He tapped his finger on the table. "I think she was surprised."

"Surprised by what?" Rory asked.

"Surprised that I wasn't asking the questions she expected."

The room went silent.

Sam glanced around, trying to gauge the rest of the gathered capes.

"I think Newtype talked to someone," Hero offered. "Or something."

Sam stiffened. Several of them did. Rory leaned forward, hand tightening against his lap.

"Her passenger?" Legend asked grimly.

Sam frowned.

There were a few capes they thought ended up talking to their powers, their passengers. It never ended well. The capes went insane. Slowly lost their minds. Did things completely out of their normal behavior, like kidnapping children. Accord proposed it as a theory for the origins of the Butcher.

"Do we need to act?" Cinereal asked.

"I don't know," Hero said. "I'm not sure. She didn't seem irrational, just anxious and frightened. What I'd expect from someone her age getting a huge curve ball thrown into her face."

"Preemptive action could save a lot of heartache," Arbiter noted. "If we'd acted more decisively with Cranial, we could have avoided this."

"That may not be a practical option at this time."

Hero glanced to Alexandria. Sam watched the woman but…It was something about them. The three of them. They could hold entire conversations without uttering a word. And they did keep secrets.

"StarGazer?" Legend asked.

Hero nodded.

Sam glanced down at Rory. He shrugged. StarGazer was powerful. She'd shown how powerful in Boston. Did the Triumvirate fear her retaliation if anyone moved against her partner?

"Do we want to make this mistake again?" Arbiter asked.

"We acted as decisively as we could," Alexandria said, switching the discussion in a very unsubtle way. "We dealt with the problem as soon as we realized."

"We ignored the children." Accord shook his head. "That was a mistake."

"We're not killing children because we're scared," Legend said firmly. "There's a line."

Grand, a thinker from the Las Vegas Protectorate spoke up, saying, "There was no way to know they could keep her tech running without her. It was logical to assume they simply didn't trust PRT custody."

"There is a line," Hero agreed. "However she acts, Newtype is only sixteen. And we don't know that she's dangerous. I could be reading too much into this."

Arbiter clearly disagreed. Sam frowned at him. The other woman ignored her.

"We can have thinkers look into it. We may want to relook into the children's escape," Alexandria suggested. "You're certain the tech they had was similar to Haywire's?"

"It was different," Hero answered, "but yes. It was similar."

"How did Cranial get it?" Sam hoped that the topic of killing kids wouldn't come back up. "Isn't all of Haywire's research locked down?"

"It is. As far as I know, Toybox never had enough of it to do anything with." He turned to Accord. "I think you were right. Teacher is involved here."

The name sent Sam's stomach-turning again.

Teacher.

Or rather, the Second Teacher. Alexandria, Accord, and Arbiter were certain it couldn't be the same one as the first. The power was slightly different. It offered more control over the victims. Some of the people he'd enthralled had never even met the first or been anywhere near him. He couldn't still be walking about using it on people from within the Birdcage.

A second Teacher was the only explanation, though he might as well be the only Teacher. They didn't talk about the one in the Birdcage anymore. He wasn't the problem.

"Could Teacher have supplied the tech?" Pretender suggested.

"It would imply a penetration into our security deeper than any thus far," Hero pointed out. "Someone on my team would have to be compromised. Maybe even me."

"I doubt that," Legend said.

"I think we've been blindsided too many times now to doubt anything." Damocles stood a bit off from the table, hand tapping the pommel of her sword. "Is there anything he wouldn't know if he'd compromised you?"

"He'd know everything," Hero admitted. "But I'm not sure that's what we really need to be worried about. Teacher has Doctor Mother's notes. We should just assume he knows more than we do."

Sam glanced to Alexandria. Reading the woman was a lesson in futility. Except when 'Doctor Mother' came up. Alexandria pointedly looked away from the group at the name, not meeting anyone's gaze.

The woman behind Cauldron, before it became this cabal. The one who'd figured out how to put powers in a bottle. She died in Madison. That's all Sam had ever really known about her. Killed when Teacher set the Simurgh on Cauldron and brought it to an end. Given what she knew, Sam wondered if he hadn't done the world a favor. Just that once.

"We're wandering," Alexandria stated. "Hero. You don't think we're at risk of any disclosure concerning the passengers or the entities?"

"No. I think we can say Labyrinth and Newtype know passengers exist. Maybe we should just assume the Undersiders do as well. I threw a long shot out to see if I can catch anything on that front but I don't think anything will come of it. None of them seem dumb enough or unstable enough to let anything slip."

"Labyrinth will be in the Wards soon enough," Accord said. "Shame. Faultline's crew were such reliable assets. They'll be far less effective without her."

"We can keep an eye on her," Arbiter agreed.

Sam didn't like the sound of either of them keeping an eye on anyone.

"Do we have any explanation for her new grip on sanity?" Rime asked.

"A few," Hero acknowledged. "I'm wondering if it might be something akin to broken triggers, but less severe. We know the connection remains active and erratic after a Case-66. It can last a long time, dragging the trigger event out."

Sam tried not to think about that. She'd never had a real trigger, but she remembered drinking that gunk. It wasn't a pleasant sensation. She imagined the real thing could only be worse. Not much of a mystery why so many capes became violent and dangerous.

"Maybe going to the entity's dimension corrected the problem."

"It would explain Aisha Laborn as well," Alexandria pointed out. "Her passenger corrected itself. By proximity?"

Hero hummed for a moment, then nodded. "I can try and figure how Cranial managed to do it but most of the equipment was fried. Perhaps in a few years we could attempt to reach the dimension ourselves. We know it's possible now."

"If we have that kind of time," Accord said. "I don't think we do."

"Why wait?" Arbiter asked. "We could—"

"Lines," Legend repeated. "She's thirteen. We're not using her as a lab rat."

Rory nodded beside her.

"It might be impossible regardless," Hero revealed. "The entities don't want us going to their dimension. I don't know how Cranial managed to get past that block. I might never manage it."

"The dead agent problem?" Rime asked.

Hero nodded.

It was a theory of his. Battery—when she was still Battery—tried wrapping her head around it once, but she'd given up. Lots of tinker talk. She only got the basics.

Hero thought his—and her—passengers were 'dead'. Something about how the first entity died. It was weird wrapping her head around the idea of something being both dead and alive, but the entities weren't like humans. They didn't operate on the same rules.

Because Hero's agent was 'dead' he'd only ever access what it knew in 'life.' It couldn't innovate new solutions or ideas. He thought it was why his tech had reached a plateau a few years ago, one that he seemed unable to get past.

He thought it explained some of the differences between Cauldron's capes, granted powers from the first entity called 'The Thinker', and most natural capes, granted powers from the second entity. The Warrior. Scion.

The one her namesake managed to kill.

Sam didn't think about him often. She knew she was just a replacement. Someone who came out with a strong power and could fill his shoes in the broad scheme. Be useful in the situations where the Triumvirate tried to keep things from exploding.

"Even then," Hero continued. "I suspect Labyrinth will simply bide her time. When she turns eighteen she'll go back to Faultline. We'd have to deal with her as an independent villain."

"They're mercs," Legend mentioned. "We could pay them. Labyrinth already knows anyway, so is there even an exposure risk that isn't already there?"

Hero nodded in agreement.

Arbiter started to speak.

"No," Legend snapped. "We will not be 'dealing' with the problem."

Arbiter raised a hand and nodded. "I'm just making sure we're considering all options."

Sam glanced to Alexandria, but futile is futile. The woman was a rock no matter what her gut told her.

"What do we think Teacher's goal was?" Sam asked. "If he was involved, I mean."

"Trying to get to the body of the entity," Hero mumbled. "That would be my first guess. But he never showed up. No one did. It's possible one of the capes who went after the kids is a pet. He planned this out well."

"Cranial," Cinereal said.

Legend nodded. "I agree. I think Cranial was the pet. It would explain things. We know Teacher can grant new powers to parahumans."

"And he hoped to reach their dimension through her," Hero continued. "Gain access to a new garden of flesh."

The words sent a chill down Sam's spine. She liked not thinking about exactly where that vial came from. Hero and Legend destroyed that place when the Simurgh hit Madison to prevent Teacher from taking it. She didn't know the full details, but it made sense. He had Doctor Mother's research, and the perfect power to take advantage of it.

"Then," Arbiter mused. "Cranial's children simply carried on the mission, absent Teacher's knowledge?"

"Probable," Accord said, "Teacher is devious but his plans have frequently run into problems a more proper thinker would be able to avoid."

"It would be the most direct explanation," Alexandria agreed. "But Teacher is rarely direct. There is still the matter of the Shadow Stalker incident, and his involvement with Blue Cosmos. I wouldn't put it past him to have another plan within this plan."

"It's like playing Pictionary," Damocles grumbled. "Except, everyone is keeping their hands behind their backs."

"An apt description, and what about Newtype?"

Hero looked solemn suddenly.

"I lied to Militia," he admitted. Rory raised his head. "No offense, Triumph but there is a rapport between Newtype and Miss Militia. A measure of trust and unlike Stratos she wasn't looking at me like a threat. I asked her to watch everyone involved closely. Told her I was concerned about master and stranger effects that might be harder to see. She said she'd do it."

Legend reached over and patted his shoulder.

"You're doing what you can," Legend assured.

Sam nodded in agreement.

She didn't like lying to people either, but it wasn't like they could go around telling everyone. The world already teetered from one disaster to the next. Blue Cosmos kept amassing political power. If it got out now that powers were aliens? That they manipulated the minds of parahumans in ways so subtle most didn't notice?

She'd needed no convincing on that. Sam could imagine the horrors that followed. The secret needed to be kept. At least Hero had the conscience to know there was nothing glorious about it.

If Newtype talked to her passenger and went the route of madness like the others…She tried not to think about it. She seemed like a good person. But, so did Cranial once upon a time from what Dragon said of her.

"We'll watch her," Legend promised. "Maybe this time, if we catch the signs soon enough we can help. Maybe she's just fine and we're imaging things. We can run it by some thinkers and precogs. Look for any red flags."

"Could this be related to the multiple Gemmas?" Arbiter wondered. "We've never had the chance to scan the brain of someone who might have talked to their power before. She has nine of them."

"I doubt it," Hero said. "I know far less about the passengers than I'd like, but I think that remains a distinct mystery. It might be connected to why she remembers her experience while others have forgotten."

"That would fit with our hypothesis concerning Labyrinth and Aisha Laborn as well," Alexandria offered.

Hero nodded. "A side effect of their abnormal connections to their passengers."

Alexandria rose from her seat. "It sounds like there's not much to do right now. We'll hand this off to thinkers discreetly and we'll revisit the topic at our next regular meeting."

"You alright?" Sam asked as the group started going its separate ways.

"I'll manage." He shook her hand. "Sorry, again."

"It's not your fault," Sam said. The image of a body blowing apart before her flashed through her mind. She pushed it back, but felt somewhat relieved it still disturbed her. She'd killed others before, but…

"You had to do it because Forecast saw me coming."

Sam remembered. They'd hoped to let her 'get away' and 'remove' the threat more discreetly. Out of sight. Somewhere and someway they could handle the children more personally. If things had gone according to plan…

"Not that I blame her, or anything," Rory continued. "She did the right thing with what she knew. We're the ones stalking in the shadows."

"It's alright." Sam breathed in and smiled. She repeated Legend's words. "We're doing what we can."

Rory nodded in agreement.

She wasn't so sure about herself.

Sam lingered, watching a few small groups gather and talk. She considered approaching Hero.

Anyone who gets used to killing should stop calling themselves a hero, he told her once. Just because we have to do it doesn't mean we should be proud.

She went home. Breach ferried her back to Houston, and Ethan was slaving away at the stove when she walked through the door in her civilian clothes.

"Puppy!" He cheered. Then he saw her face. "One sec."

"Sorry."

"This about that stuff in Brockton?" He pulled off his 'I'm man enough to keep the house' apron and joined her in the living room. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, and no."

She'd told him what she was allowed. Ethan knew not to blab about such things. Lying to her friends and co-workers was hard enough. She couldn't lie to him.

"It's not the Wards is it?" he asked.

"Hero says Vista and Kid Win are fine. Labyrinth too shockingly."

He smiled slightly. "Then what's wrong?" He sat on the couch and patted the space beside him.

She fell back, relaxing her muscles into the cushions. She felt her charge rolling through her body. It amazed her how there never seemed to be a limit to how much she could store. She worried about that from time to time early on in the Wards, when she was just Battery.

"Hero is worried Newtype talked to her passenger."

Ethan's face became solemn. "The tall skinny girl? Chip on her shoulder. Actually puts her robot where her mouth is?"

Sam's throat cracked with a laugh. "Yes."

"They're not going to—"

"No," she said quickly. "No. I mean, I wouldn't put it past Alexandria to suggest it, and Accord and Arbiter to go along with it, but Hero and Legend would put their foots down before things went that far."

She looked ahead at the wall, photos of her and Ethan at various locations around the world. They didn't get much vacation time, but Breach would take anyone anywhere as a favor so long as you didn't ask too frequently.

"But they are worried. Hero tricked Miss Militia into keeping an eye on it."

Ethan took her hand in his. He was a big man, and she was fairly petite herself. His palm dwarfed hers.

"You don't have to keep doing it, you know?"

"I know."

Hero did allow people to leave. Some got their memories wiped. Others simply faded into the background. Hero jokingly called it 'joining the reserve'. Sam wasn't sure how many there were, but she got the sense the cabal had been going through capes even before she joined it.

She'd considered it, but, "There's too much at stake. I can't ignore it just because it turns my gut sometimes."

"You shouldn't have to."

"It's important, Ethan." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Fate of the world kind of stuff."

"They asked you to kill someone," he whispered edge. "I know she wasn't a saint, but—"

She squeezed her fingers into his palm.

"Yes. I killed her, and it doesn't seem to have done much good." She closed her eyes, happy to just sit for a bit and enjoy the smell of brisket. "Sometimes you do everything you can, and you still fail." Well, maybe she succeeded a little if it kept a pet from reaching the entity's dimension and doing who knew what. "The world is cruel like that."

"Then maybe someone should change it," he offered.

She smiled.

"Someday."