The night Scott sent his email, Dragon of Brockton Bay PRT received an email that at first glance was somewhat unassuming, but at closer inspection revealed to be something quite illegal. It was a rip of someone's phone. Shadow Stalker's civilian cell phone to be exact. There was a note in the email, 'Your Ward's been acting up ;).' Dragon was tempted to delete the email without examining it before having a cursory glance at what this person might have been referring to. It did not take long to find a string of text messages and photos that painted a very unflattering picture of Sophia Hess. If the contents of the email were to be believed, there were things the PRT definitely did not know about that they absolutely should. It would require deeper investigation for certain.

If the email were permissible in court, she would be back in juvie. Her first thought was that these documents had to be fake, but closer examination revealed that it was either a very detailed fake rip or it was genuine. Dragon tried to trace the email back to the original sender. With all the processing power and decryption methods at her fingertips, she could only narrow it down to a device that was in the United States at the time of sending. It wasn't that surprising considering how simple it was to mask an email's origin with simple configuring.

After a small bit of research through email accounts that belonged to Sophia Hess, she found that Sophia Hess had undoubtedly been behaving in a manner unfit for a member of the Wards. Some further investigation indeed...

-SHADY-

Phillip Jackson was driving down the street in an unfamiliar Brockton Bay. This was only the second time he'd ever been to this city in his 55 years of working for the DoD and it had seen better days . He was fairly excited about his prospective recruit. SPC Scott Hebert had been doing good work in the Intelligence Community, providing real time battlefield surveillance to troops on the ground in Sudan. He received glowing reports for his good conduct and skill. But more interesting than that was his capture and impossible victory over Abu Hassan, a cape that had been on his radar for six years. The aftermath of the fight was brutal. His body had been torn limb from limb and his henchmen varied from shot to shredded meat. Some black ops operators worked their entire careers and never made as many kills as Hebert did in one day. His potential was noteworthy to say the least. There was only a vague description of his abilities, something about projecting a monstrous dog creature, but nothing on official record he was willing to trust.

Hebert was a tall young man, having left boyhood some time ago. He was cleanly shaven with a fresh military haircut with what brown locks he had on top combed to the side. His face was hard with a strong jaw and wide mouth and sharp cheekbones that stuck high out to the sides. He looked slightly awkward in his obviously new suit, likely because he didn't own a suit before Philip had requested he wear one. He stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone who knew what to look for. The green watch, the haircut, the unnatural looking posture. He was a military man all right.

As Hebert stepped into Phillip's car, he noted that the young man looked slightly haggard, like he had a shadow hanging over him. The sight of him set a chill down Phillip's spine as he looked at the way he kept his eyes still as he regarded him. They were eyes that seemed to see more of him than he showed and at the same time nothing at all. Like the eyes of a sleeping being.

The small talk was easy, if a bit stilted at first. The only questions Phillip asked that he didn't already know the answer to was about his family and how they were doing. Phillip didn't really care about them.

They were going to a secure facility that was a good 30 miles south of Brockton Bay. It was an NSA site with an empty office he had reserved for this very meeting. Of course if it wasn't empty, there would be no problem in making it so quickly. Nobody in the Department of Defense said no to Phillip Jackson. Or at least not his boss.

His goal today was to ascertain the nature of Hebert's abilities and persuade him to serve his country in a capacity he was not yet familiar...

-SHADY-

Scott looked down at his red badge as he walked down the hallways of one of the secure facilities at Fort Hoover Joint Base. The red badge meant that he was required to have an escort at all times. It rankled him a bit, having not had to deal with this since he first arrived in South Carolina.

"Don't worry about it. We don't have the time to do any extra bullshit paperwork today anyway. Besides, it's not like we're gonna talk about anything classified anyway." He snickered at his own joke. They likely were going to talk about something classified, hence the security of the current location. In Scott's experience, there was nothing funny with joking about security like that.

They arrived in a locked office, with a variation of 'DO NOT DISTURB' plastered on the front of the door. When they both took their seats Mr. Jackson began.

"I want you to know, before anything else, that now that you have triggered as a parahuman, you are no longer eligible to be a member of the armed forces as per the law."

Scott had no reply. He stewed in his seat, anger just below the surface.

"But before you get the wrong idea, you have to understand. You parahumans are like WMDs. If our military publicly employs parahumans to fight its wars, we will have international trouble. I'll tell you right now, NATO is dissolving."

"What?" This was an unexpected turn of events. Namely because NATO was an alliance forged in the fires of war and had stood the test of time into the modern age. If it actually dissolved, there would be chaos.

"It's true. The tension surrounding the Endbringers and the criminal elements all across the world, our old allies have begun to close themselves off from us. They are weary of our influence. Germany in taking measures to remove our permanent stations in its borders. The world is changing around us. The rules we used to play by are not working anymore. It seems no matter how much we fight, threats come from all corners to replace it."

Scott was not sure how to respond. It was honestly shocking to hear these things.

"We have started to evolve. The threats are all around us. Germany. The Taliban. Iran. Russia. China. They all smell blood in the water. They have been breaking the rules since the beginning. They employ capes to do their dirty work. International law states we cannot employ capes to wage war, so we publicly deny capes from our armed forces. But we cannot allow our enemies such an advantage.

I have a team of capes. A team of US servicemen and women just like you who triggered while serving their country. We work under the direct authority of our Secretary of Defense."

"But first let me see your power. I know you have something special." Mr. Jackson was looking pleased with himself.

"Alright." Scott was almost nervous. "Yogorzabothl!"

-SHADY-

A creature snapped into sight before Philip. It was hideous. He yelped as his eyes widened in fright. The creature was black with four legs and a mass of shambling tentacles for a head. It was about his height and the tentacles writhed around its body, reaching down to its eye covered feet. The sight visibly unnerved him, his eyes bugging out of his head and skin sheet white. Hebert was standing next to it with a hand on its side. What was almost as unsettling as the creature itself was the way Hebert was looking at the thing with affection.

"W-What is it?" His question came out shaky and breathy.

"I'm not sure what she is, but she appears when I call her name."

"You have a terrifying projection? Is that your power?"

"No, she's real. She's the one who took out Abu Hassan. She has great strength and endurance. She survived several rounds of 7.62 NATO to the body that day." Scott could tell that he was not comfortable with her in that form and dismissed her. He didn't think showing off her human form would be a good idea.
"What about that fear aura? What was that?"

"It's something she can't turn off. She can ramp it up several notches and sometimes make the target crap themselves or worse."

"That is some ability." He wiped some sweat from his brow as he tried to regain control of his faculties. "We'll need to do some more tests in the future if you're amenable."

"Well I'm still not entirely sure what this agreement would entail…"

"Oh, right! I'll get on with it."

He explained to Scott that he would essentially be a part of a military Superhero team that carried out missions that mostly revolved around neutralizing foreign parahuman threats and assisting JSOC with high profile missions as well as responding to Endbringer attacks and other such threats. They would be known as Task Force Green Wings. Scott would be paid as if was still in the Army but with hefty 'signing' bonuses and extra allowances. It wouldn't be extremely lucrative, but definitely more than what he was currently making, even with the flight pay. He would have to go to various schools before he went on any missions to ensure he could withstand the demands of the field. Scott was getting excited just thinking about the kinds of schools he could be sent to. There was Sniper school, there was Ranger School (well… maybe after I've had some time to prepare), and even combat diving school and specialized combatives training! It was unquestionably a sweet deal. He'd just have to read the fine print to be sure he wouldn't be screwed over. He'd be stationed in Fort Madison, New Hampshire just west of Manchester. A lucky break if he ever got one for sure, to be so close to his family. After so long in the heat of South Carolina and later Sudan, He could not wait to get back to more comfortable weather.

"You understand the importance of the secrecy here don't you?"

"I think so. I can't tell anybody about what kind of team I'm in. I can't talk about mission specifics or any classified material. I know this song and dance."

"You might, but in this case, you need to know less than 500 people even know that we have a Task Force Green Wings. You must keep every bit of your involvement a secret. You will be in the same platoon as the other members as what's technically a support platoon for JSOC. Your personnel files themselves will be classified. You will be on a tight leash for some of the time, but you will soon find that this team gets a good bit of action."

"Yes, sir." It was a bit more than Scott expected. "I think this sounds fairly reasonable. I'd be willing to go ahead and sign if you're ready."

"Of course, the minimum mandatory contract is 3 years with a signing bonus of…"

-SHADY-

Scott stretched in his folding lawn chair that sat on the shore of the Atlantic. It was crisp, but it was a welcome sensation. He had just called his unit back in South Carolina to tell them of his recent new assignment, much to their dismay. The sun was setting behind him as he watched the waves roll back and forth on the sand. Next to him, in a lawn chair of her own sat Yogorzabothl. She was wearing a grey sweater and a pair of jeans. Her black hair contrasted with her pale skin that seemed to glow in the red light of the sunset. She blinked her brown eyes and shifted them up and down the horizon as if watching for the coming of a ship. They were totally alone on the beach.

Scott stared at the creature. His partner in her human shape. "Do you think I made the right choice?" Scott looked at her searchingly, worried and unsure.

"I think you made a good first step."

"But is this the right thing to do? Am I making a mistake?"

"I will not tell you I agree with your decision. But I will say that the resources you will gain from these people may be invaluable. They can teach you in ways that I can't. They will give you tools you need." It was true. They would outfit Scott with anything he needed, right down to tinkertech bodyarmor and gadgets. But it wasn't something he couldn't get from the PRT. What he couldn't get from the PRT was something more dangerous. "You will be a weapon for the machinations of another. A tool."

"It's not much different from where I came from. I was at my superiors beck and call. I'm used to having to follow orders. It wouldn't be much different than if I had joined the PRT. This arrangement is better in some ways."

"How so?"

"I'm not in the public spotlight. I'm not restricted by their ridiculous civilian rules. Nobody has to know who I am for me to be a hero."

"But will you be a hero?" She leaned closer, more agitated. "How many lives will you save by taking the lives of your nation's enemies? To them, you are a villian. How do you know that your nation knows what's good for this world? What right do they have?"

"I have seen the kinds of people we fight! They are scum! They rape and kill and kidnap and torture their own people! You know the threat they pose. This country has felt it. Our fight is not hopeless."

"Is that the true enemy? What about the ones right here, the villains in Brockton Bay? Are they not more of a threat to your country?"

"They are far from the most dangerous." Scott was red in the face. Angry that she was saying such things, asking such questions. His brothers and sisters in arms had suffered for that cause. LT Watson's sacrifice was not in vain. In a few ways, she was right. The villains were wreaking havoc on Brockton Bay. He didn't really know who was actually the greatest threat. His family was right in the middle of a dangerous and volatile gang war. Where was he supposed to be?

"I just want you to think. I know you don't plan on staying with this team forever, but I want you to understand that no group like that can offer you a true fight for good. There will always be compromise, more so with these people. They will wring you dry. They will use you."

"I know that. I swore allegiance to this nation. It's my home. I know it seems dumb to you, but I can't just toss aside these obligations, my duty. I will make a difference for the better. I understand what you're trying to say, but I don't believe the world would be better off if I didn't do this."

"It's not that it's detrimental to your goal but it's not nearly as productive as being a real hero. You will have a different kind of power then. I believe that soon this planet will have great need of men like you. Where they can see you and follow."

The two were silent for a while. Scott not willing to say another word on the subject and his partner not entirely at peace with it.

"I'm sorry I got upset with you." He looked at his hands instead of at her.

"It's alright. I shouldn't have questioned you like that. I just want to help you."

"It's fine. It was stuff I probably needed to hear, anyway." Scott sat back in the chair, eyes slowly drifting closed in the lull for a minute before opening again. There was something else on his mind.

"What else can you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when we were in Sudan… you just destroyed those people. Pulled them apart with your limbs and shrugged off their bullets. When I started talking to Mr. Jackson about it, I left some stuff out, but I realized I don't even know exactly what your abilities are."

"Some features of my biology are that in my native form I am a creature of great strength and fortitude. I see and hear quite well by human standards. We could communicate telepathically with others of our species. Other species, it varies. It seems I can affect the minds of humans with effort, as you might have seen with Abu Hassan ."

Scott flinched at the mention of his torturer. He avoided thinking about his time in captivity. She pretended not to notice.

"In this form, I'm a mortal human, my strength limited to the body I inhabit. But I mimic the biology of a human, even down to my DNA." Scott's eyes fell to the curves her body and felt an unbidden bout of lust well in him before he could quell it, shaming him. He had no right to think of her in such a way. He held no worth to her in that manner.

"But with my knowledge of the Eldritch Truth, what spark I can grasp, coupled with my native biology, I can change myself into different forms. Also with what connection I share, I do not truly die. I will reconstitute my body at the place of my birth when this body is destroyed or when I am dismissed. And when you call to me, I can come to you."

"When you leave me you essentially destroy yourself?" Scott was dismayed at the revelation.

"Yes. But do not think of it as such. My body is only my expression of my will upon this universe. The only way I can affect it. If I wished, I could not have a body, although I'd be deaf, dumb and blind."

"You are immortal?"

"No. I can be killed. But probably not by means of this earth. A being of sufficient power could destroy me completely or prevent me from reconstituting myself."

"How did you get this ability? Why are you so powerful?"

"It is because I completed a sacrifice to gain a Spark of the Eldritch Truth. It was a ritual steeped in the Occult and death."

"Occult?"

"Magic. Eldritch power. The powers of the Gods and their spawn made accessible to the mortal races of existence. You humans do not seem to have much of a knack for it. The only possible users are these capes. But even then, they do not draw on true Occult power, but more like power gifted to them by a powerful being."

"Someone like Scion?"

"It is a likely answer. But, I do not know where he came from or how he became so powerful. He does not share the usual traits of the Gods and their spawn. It's possible he is an exceptionally powerful human."

"What would happen if I, uh, if I tried to get a Spark? Could I do it the same way you did?"

"Why would you want to do such a thing?" The creature was looking at Scott with hard eyes, mouth tight and lines on her face that were not usually present.

"I-I…" Scott withered a bit under her gaze but continued, "I want to see more of what you try to show me. I want to know what it means."

"You don't truly mean that. If you knew, your mortal mind-"

"But I can feel it! It's calling to me. It shows me just a taste..."

"...Like you want to drink the ocean but can only grasp it with a spoon?"

"...Yes. That's a way to put it," The blood in Scott's veins was running hot. His ears and face warm with embarrassment and emotion.

"Does it tug at you? Do you feel it when you sleep?"

"I dream about it. It haunts me every day. I want to see what you see… I want to find the truth. I need it. It's like I'm dying of thirst but I can only get a drop at a time..."

She was silent for a moment. Her eyes turned to Scott's. "There is no guarantee about the effects of the ritual. It could kill you. It could give you power beyond measure or it could drive you mad. It could even give you more questions than answers and drown you. Every single being reacts to the truth differently. I was lucky to have survived with my sanity for so long, enlightened as I am."

"If I lived my whole life wondering, I would be very miserable. It's an agony I did not know existed. It's like there's a whole lush jungle for me to explore but I can only smell."

"You want this." She had a stern frown on her lips. Scott felt her at his mind. Searching for something. He opened his mind to hers as best he knew, feeling a tightness in his chest, a heat that rushed through his being. The way a child would lean into his mother's touch, he embraced the warmth of her in his mind and he saw the beautiful vision of her home. It was swirling and chaotic in a way he had not seen before, warped in sadness and frustration. It was disconcerting.

"Yes. I do."

"It is a sickness. Your thirst for knowledge. You may drown in it. In truth, you have tasted madness. It infects you even now."

"..."

She was quiet for a while. She sifted through Scotts mind, finding that foreign piece of him. The part of his brain he wasn't born with. The one that let him call out to her. It was the root of his madness, his connection to her. An inseparable parasite was leeching on him as he was leeching on it, the barrier between the two degrading as she watched it. She did not know what would happen when they became one.

"I will teach you the steps. But it will take time."

"Thank you!" Scott was almost weeping as he stood and embraced her in his arms, quiet tears of joy welling in his eyes.

A/N To anyone who was wondering, I do currently serve. Anyways, I just wanted to thank everyone who left a review last chapter. You're all so cool!