Worm: Tactical Espionage Action (AU)

Chapter 2: The Vigilante

Looking at things optimistically Taylor could say she was a free woman now. She wasn't in prison and she was out doing something that she believed in. However that would certainly be painting an overly rosy picture of her situation. In truth she felt like there was a gun leveled at her head. Play ball or we'll make you a wanted fugitive at best, a smoldering corpse at worst. Truth was she would have probably taken this assignment without the threats involved. Having been forced into the situation she was in left a sour taste in her mouth.

Taylor was going to have to see about either getting some leverage of her own or planning an exit strategy. Being at Director Costa-Brown's mercy held little appeal to her long term. If the Director thought she was going to have Taylor Hebert at her mercy indefinitely then the woman really didn't know who she was dealing with.

Taylor looked out the airplane window at the passing clouds as the sun set over the horizon. She was on a commercial flight and she had always had a preference for window seats. Technically they were tactically the worst seat to have but Taylor couldn't deprive herself of the pleasure of looking down at the world from thirty thousand feet. It always somehow helped her think and put things into perspective as well as calming her emotions. If there was any trouble the tens of thousands of bugs she had snuck into the airplane before takeoff would help her take care of anything unforeseen.

As she sat she went over her situation over and over again in her mind. The more she thought about it the more she realized this was the type of thing she wanted to be doing. In the two years she had been working for the Protectorate she never felt like she had quite fit in. Sure she had become good friends with her partner Robin Swoyer and a few others but Taylor had never felt the whole 'hero' and 'paragons of virtue' attitude they were encouraged to embody for the sake of good PR. In some ways it felt rather ridiculous, like they were expected not only to fight crime but to make a family-friendly spectacle of themselves. Once upon a time, in middle school and high school, she had wanted to be a hero. However that person had died a long time ago.

No, a hero wasn't who she was. Deep inside she still saw herself as a soldier first and foremost. Someone entrusted to carry out missions and neutralize hostile personnel when necessary. This was a chance to do potentially huge amounts of good while doing what she did best. It wasn't an opportunity she wanted to squander even if her recruitment had been unpleasant. Taylor figured that, for now, she would just have to take the good along with the bad.

She couldn't deny that part of her was thrilled and excited by this undertaking despite the circumstances. Still not everything about her current mission was to her satisfaction.

A sudden ringing in her ear startled Taylor which only physically manifested with a momentary agitation of her bugs. It sounded like a digital telephone ring. Taylor took a second to remember what was causing that noise – she had been given a few toys after being released not the least of which was a tiny Tinkertech device inserted deep into her ear canal.

*Ring ring – Ring ring*

Before leaving she had been trained in the use of the device. The earpiece not only had a battery that could last years and could transmit securely from anywhere on Earth, it also picked up subvocal vibrations and translated them into intelligible sound. She knew many team leaders in Special Forces Command who would give their right leg for that type of advanced communication system.

Putting one hand to her ear Taylor did her best to subvocally say "connect". It must have been good enough because there was a distinctive sound of the line connecting.

"Yes?" asked Taylor subvocally having a good idea of who was calling her.

"Taylor Hebert?" came a voice from her earpiece. The voice was rough, masculine and sounded annoyed like it was a major waste of his time to even be getting in contact with her. Two words and Taylor was already starting to dislike him.

"That's right," Taylor replied in a neutral tone.

"I've been assigned to be your contact with the Protectorate and the PRT," the voice said without preamble, "you'll be reporting to me. Requisitions, requests for intel, funding, anything and everything goes through me. I'm also aware of your criminal situation and frankly I'm not impressed. Though I suppose being a proven murder makes you ideal for this assignment."

What… a fucking prick. This was her handler? Taylor had to wonder if Costa-Brown had picked out somebody especially aggravating and abrasive on purpose or if she was just that lucky. "I understand what our respective roles are," said Taylor, hiding her distaste with a crisp professional tone, "what is you name?"

"You may call me… Defiant."

Not even going to give me his actual name. I guess that means I'm not especially trusted anymore. Not exactly a surprise but still feels kind of shitty. "I see. Well 'Defiant', to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"This is call is standard procedure so each of us is aware of who the other is working with. According to my information you'll be arriving in Brockton Bay in a few hours. I'd like to know just why you're going to that city," said Defiant in a tone that was more than a little demanding.

"What do you think I'm doing?" replied Taylor with bite in her voice, "I'm going there to recruit an asset. There's someone there on the list of potential recruits that I want for my team."

"So this has nothing to do with visiting your old hometown?"

Taylor grit her teeth. "No. There's nothing for me there. Trust me I wouldn't go near Brockton Bay if it wasn't for work."

There were a few moments of silence before Defiant spoke again. "That checks out. So I see who it is you have in mind for recruitment. Not someone I would exactly consider a team player or willing to follow orders."

"Well even though there were a lot of names in that file Costa-Brown gave me none of them are exactly first-stringers in the cape world. I'm left with trying to find diamonds in the rough. At least half of the people on that list had powers that frankly weren't that impressive or useful and most of the ones left are either criminals or former criminals."

"Well then you should get along just fine with them," Defiant said bluntly.

Taylor clenched her jaw. "You have something you want to say Defiant?"

"Other than I think placing someone who lost control of her emotions and killed six people in a rage in charge of an illegal black ops team is stupid? That you should have been 'caged? No that about sums up the concerns I have about you Ms Hebert."

Even though she wanted to be mad at him – and she was – the words struck close to home. Losing control and going on a killing spree was not something she had ever thought she would do. She had never lost control like that before even when she'd lost men on the battlefield. When she thought back to that moment it was like… it was like…

Suddenly her head started to hurt.

No, she had been mad that those assholes had killed Robin and she gave them what they deserved. That was all there was to it.

"So I lost my cool when my partner was gunned down in front of me. You know it happened, I know it happened. And you know what? I'm not sorry in the least. I don't need you to like me Defiant I just need you to do your job and be a professional. Do you think you can bring yourself to do that with me?" she asked, suddenly feeling tired.

There was a long silence before Defiant spoke. "The only reason I agreed to take on this assignment is that things are just that desperate. You keep civilian casualties to zero and I'll make sure you get what you need. If you don't you and I are going to have a serious problem Ms Hebert."

Well, that was the best she was going to get and nothing less than what she expected. "I've never in my career targeted noncombatants or put civilians at risk unnecessarily. Despite what you might think of me I'm not so far gone as to want the blood of civvies on my hands."

"Fine. But I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

"Wasn't that your job in the first place?" asked Taylor cynically.

"Don't get cute. Before we log off was there anything else you wanted to bring to my attention? I'm a very busy man."

"Yeah actually… I'm going to need a facility and I'm going to need to bring in some people in order to train my new team…"

o0O0o

As Taylor walked through the airport she drew a lot of looks. The former Green Beret knew it wasn't because she was especially beautiful or anything of the sort. In fact just the opposite might be closer to the truth. No the simple fact was that she was unusual and the unusual always drew attention.

Taylor Hebert was a tall woman just shy of six feet and rail thin. Those who felt generous called it a "runway figure" though most of the boys on her team at Fort Bragg had taken to jokingly refer to her as having the figure of an Ethiopian runner. Taylor couldn't help but think they were being the most honest especially with how ridiculously fit she kept her body. Once upon a time her hair had been her pride and joy as a woman but her Special Forces instructor had refused to let her keep it. Now years later she was used to (and rather enjoyed) her chin-length black hair. Her black eyepatch over her right eye complete with scars peeking above and below it sealed her fate as the most unique and interesting person to look at in most crowded places at any given moment.

Wearing a grey pantsuit and having no figure to speak of Taylor knew she looked more than a small bit mannish but frankly she had ceased to care about that type of thing a long time ago. If there was one thing she had learned was that you couldn't please everyone and there were plenty of people out there who found her attractive enough.

Taylor arrived in Brockton Bay with nothing but a hand held travel bag filled with two changes of clothes, toiletries, her wallet and a new PRT issued phone and laptop (both which she was sure were completely untraceable back to them). It was time to get the first member of her new team on board. Taylor had chosen to come to Brockton Bay first in part because out of all the Parahumans she had her eye on this one seemed like a sure bet. After reading her file Taylor didn't think she would have a hard time convincing this one. Plus her power, while not exactly earth-shatteringly powerful, was perfect for what she had in mind.

Still there was always an element of uncertainty in recruitment pitches. Taylor had studied up as much as she could on her subject. There was no reason to put this off longer than necessary.

Stepping out of Brockton Bay International Taylor hailed a cab and gave the man direction. Forty minutes later they were outside a large solid government building. After paying her fare Taylor strode inside like she owned the place, chin held high and a severe look on her face that had caused many new recruits at SOC to quail in fear at the sight of her. She briefly eyed the grey and black sign that proudly announced "Brockton Bay Juvenile Correctional Facility."

Taylor walked up to the receptionist who quailed a little at seeing her serious expression, her eyepatch and her scars.

"Tylor Hebert. I have an appointment to speak to one of your inmates," she spoke in a no-nonsense fashion.

The woman behind the desk stared a bit at the unusual sight in front of her before her brain rebooted. "Uh, of course. Yes, yes I have it right here. You're a few minutes early but that shouldn't be a problem. If you'll just show me your ID and come over this way…"

After reading and signing a small stack of forms Taylor was led through a twisting maze of hallways. If it wasn't for the bugs in the building it might have been a bit disorienting. Eventually she was led by a guard though a metal door to a large room with a half dozen metal tables and chairs bolted to the floor. Normally they would be full of people visiting inmates but Taylor had arrived after hours. Only special arrangements had made it possible to speak to the person she was recruiting after dark.

Taylor sat down and pulled out her new high-tech phone and set it down on the table before folding her fingers to wait patiently. Ten minutes later another door opened and the prisoner she had come to see was escorted in. Her hands were handcuffed together in front of her and she was wearing a too-big orange jumpsuit. The girl was maybe five-seven, had dark skin and hostile brown eyes. She had an attractive chiseled feminine face with a strong jaw. When her eyes landed on Taylor they widened slightly before quickly settling into uncertainty and suspicion. Something about how she held herself told Taylor that the girl was a rather proud person but that her current ordeal had been taking a toll on her.

After being prodded by the guard the girl sat down sulkily in front of Taylor. Yes the girl had most definitely been feeling the pressure and it was weighing her down. She looked exhausted and there were heavy bags under her eyes. By the look she was giving Taylor the girl didn't seem to think the older woman's presence was good news. Time to change her mind.

Her new phone was Tinker-tech with a lot of neat features in it. With the push of a button Taylor activated a number of countermeasures that would prevent anyone from eaves dropping on their conversation. The kinds of things that were to be discussed really shouldn't be recorded anywhere for everyone's benefit.

"Sophia Hess," Taylor began, "my name is Taylor Hebert. I'm associated with the Protectorate and the PRT."

Sophia's eyes widened in realization before they narrowed in a hostile glare. Well. Taylor couldn't exactly blame her for such a reaction.

"What the hell do you want? Last time I talked to one of you guys it was Piggy telling me 'the Protectorate is done with you for good Ms Hess. These men will escort you to a holding cell pending trial'" Sophia said using a high pitched nasally voice. How very mature.

"By 'Piggy' I assume you mean the East-North-East Director Emily Piggot?" asked Taylor in a casual disinterested voice.

Sophia seemed a little puzzled but her suspicious frown didn't ease. "Yeah, who else? You're not from the Bay then?"

Good. It does seem like she has a working brain. "No I am not based out of Brockton Bay. I flew in from out of town to speak to you specifically."

"Uh-huh," said Sophia suspiciously but Taylor could tell there was a hidden strand of… hope? In there somewhere, "is there a reason this conversation couldn't wait until morning? It's way after lights out and as far as I knew there were no exceptions to the visitation rules."

"I'm a busy woman Hess. I wasn't going to wait until tomorrow if I didn't have to," Taylor said. Without even thinking about it she had fallen into the military habit of calling people by their last names. Deciding there was no good reason to not do that Taylor decided to just go with it.

"Ok, yeah," said Sophia, leaning back and slouching on her chair with her hands on her lap. "so why don't you tell me what this is all about?"

Time to frame the story. Taylor was a little bit uncomfortable doing this… not the least of which was because it felt a bit too similar to what Director Costa-Brown had done to her just days before. Still this was really in Hess's best interest in the long run, Taylor was sure. She just needed to get the girl to see that.

"I spoke with the Assistant District Attorney on the phone just hours ago about your case. It seems they have decided to try you as an adult," Taylor said carefully and as gently as she dared. Hess's reaction was instantaneous.

Her eyes widened in fear and her skin paled. She kind of bent over onto herself as if she wanted to roll into a ball but was too proud to do it in front of someone else. Then a few moments later she straightened out and looked Taylor, eyes angry and a little wild.

"How do I even know you're telling the truth? My lawyer said we wouldn't know until tomorrow at the earliest and that there was a good chance I would still be tried as a minor." It made Taylor uncomfortable to see how hard Hess was trying to hold it together.

Taylor shrugged with one shoulder. "The way he made it sound was that he went with Director Piggot's recommendation to have you charged as an adult. If that is the case then the decision was probably made some time ago. The DA's office was probably just waiting for what they felt was a good time before they announced it."

Sophia looked at Taylor wide eyed, face locked in disbelief and in the pain of seeing your whole future fall apart. It was, truth be told, heart wrenching to watch.

Then Sophia Hess exploded.

"SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed and jumped up out of her chair.

It was a good thing both the chairs and table were bolted to the ground because Sophia made an effort to throw them both but failed. She briefly went transparent and shadow like (so that was her power looked like) before she rematerialized with a yell. Her ankle monitor had given her a nasty shock. In her frustration she brought her hands together and with a wild scream slammed them down on the surface of the metal table. She hit the table a half dozen times screaming incoherently.

Damn. This one was going to be a handful wasn't she? Taylor sighed internally. Well no one said this assignment was going to be easy.

The guard had started to jog towards Sophia but Taylor stopped him with a harsh glare. The man stopped and after hesitating backed away. It seemed the PRT had a lot of pull in this place.

Standing up Taylor moved to the screaming Sophia and slapped her across the face hard enough to get her attention. That just seemed to redirect Sophia's anger towards Taylor. Even handcuffed the girl charged and tried to hit her, aiming with a wild overhand swing. Taylor side stepped, grabbed Sophia's wrist and swept out her feet from under her in one smooth motion forcibly making the girl sit back down in her chair. When Sophia went to struggle to get up again Taylor grabbed her hand and put her in a painful thumb luck. The girl screamed in pain as the connective tissue hyperextended. Hess sputtered and cursed and ranted… but using some good-old fashioned pain conditioning it wasn't even two minutes before Sophia was fully subdued, breathing hard and glaring but no longer fighting.

"Now. Did you get that out of your system?" Taylor said in a flat unamused voice as she stared Sophia down with her single intimidating eye.

To her credit Sophia actually managed to glare back for a few seconds before her resolve broke first and she looked away. Aw crap. Now she looked like she might start crying. I'm so not equipped for this kind of shit. Well some happy news should cheer her up right?

"Hess," Taylor began in the tone of voice she used for unruly recruits, "now listen here. If you stop your blubbering I can actually tell you why I came here in the first place. I have an offer for you that might be able to keep you out of prison and get you out of juvie. Now are you going to sit and listen calmly like a sane person or do I need to have the guard haul your ass back to your cell?"

That seemed to do the trick. Young people, especially when charged up with out of control emotions, were (generally speaking) incredibly easy for her to read and Sophia Hess was no exception. Taylor could see the desperation in her eyes and Taylor knew the girl would agree to anything she asked as long as it kept her out of prison.

It honestly made Taylor feel kind of guilty. Even after all the stupid shit she had done Sophia was still just a kid who obviously had problems. Dragging her into a black ops team formed to do wetwork was hardly going to do the girl any favors mentally.

Still, thought Taylor, I'm going to make sure she knows exactly what she'd be getting into. If this kid still wants to join well… I suppose I'll just have to do my best to watch out for her.

o0O0o

A minute later they were seated across from each other again. Sophia, who had first come in still looking proud and somewhat defiant, now looked somewhat desperate. There was a certain wildness around her eyes Taylor wasn't sure she liked. The older woman at that point felt Sophia would agree to work at a cathouse if it kept her out of prison. Taylor held back the urge to sigh. Well there was no way she would go forward with this without doing her due diligence.

"So," began Taylor, "you used to be a vigilante by the name of Shadow Stalker. The Protectorate arrested you after they found out you had almost killed a man with one of your crossbow bolts. Instead of sending you to juvie they took you on as a probationary member of the Wards. By all reports you never got along with any of your teammates. Two months ago someone pieced together that you were still going out patrolling at unauthorized times with lethal munitions. It said on your file that you are suspected of causing the death of one drug dealer and critically injuring three other gang members over a period of three months. How am I doing so far?"

Sophia swallowed, doing her best to keep her chin high and look strong. "That's what you read in my file, right? Don't have much to add to that. The DA seems to think they got enough on me for a conviction."

Taylor ignored her. "Due to and I quote 'the especially vicious and violent' nature of your crimes they want to try you as an adult. That means at best one count of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. That's at least twenty years of hard time in a federal penitentiary. Luckily because of the nature of your powers and the fact you committed the crimes while still a minor you're unlikely to get Birdcaged."

Sophia looked off to the side, clearly disturbed. She must have known all this already but must have held out hope that having committed the crimes as a minor would shield her from the worst of it. Sure enough her next words were: "This whole thing is bullshit. I don't know why Piggot is trying so hard to fuck me even more. Everyone knows if you do crimes as minor you get a lighter sentence."

"That's actually not even close to being true," Taylor said, "children as young as eleven years old have been tried as adults in this country. Basically you're only guaranteed to get tried as a minor if the powers that be decide your crime isn't severe enough. You can't murder people and expect to get off anymore just because you're under eighteen. Besides you'll be eighteen in five days and you were seventeen when you committed the crimes you're about to be charged with. That doesn't spark a lot of sympathy."

The girl swallowed thickly. "Yeah. I suppose I can see that. So… listen lady, you said you had some kind of deal. If you're trying to make me sweat then consider it mission fucking accomplished. What is it you want?"

Right. Let's jump right into it. Taylor took a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke. "I said I was affiliated with the Protectorate and the PRT. That's because I'm putting together a team that won't be associated with the PRT or Protectorate in any… official capacity. This team will be comprised entirely of capes and will be led by me. The deal is that you come and work for me. If you do that in ten years you'll be set up with a new identity and a clean record. At that point you'll be a free woman, free to do whatever you want. Until then you belong to me. And trust me I'll make you work your ass off, but we'll also be out there getting our hands dirty and doing good work."

Sophia bit the inside of her lip looking intrigued. Still she asked questions instead of immediately saying 'yes'. That earned her a couple of points in Taylor's book. "So going by what you just said I guess that means you're a cape?"

Taylor nodded once.

"What's you power?" Sophia asked.

"You'll find out if you take the deal," said Taylor.

Sophia nodded at that looking thoughtful. "Ok fair enough. So… why me? If I had to guess it has something to do with the 'work' you'll be doing?"

"Why you?" asked Taylor sardonically, "I'll give it to your straight kid. You're not afraid to get your hands dirty and I need someone like that. Most kids your age balk at potentially life-or-death violence but it doesn't seem to bother you too much. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but it's something I need. Your power will be extremely useful and frankly you're the only half-decent candidate I found with a Stranger rating. Finally you're young. I'm going to have to beat some serious training into you if you're going to be of any use as part of my team. Young people handle being trained and molded to an expected role better than older people do. The fact that you're in a bind ugly enough to want to accept my deal without too much of a fuss also played a role in your selection."

Sophia was silent for a long time. "So… you're saying you're recruiting me for an 'unofficial' team that will handle 'life-or-death violence' and that my willingness to put the serious hurt on the scum out there is a plus. Is that about right?"

"Yes," said Taylor simply.

Sophia gave her a long questioning look. "That sounds like some seriously shady shit, you know that right?"

Taylor gave her a tight humorless smile. "Oh you have no idea."

Sophia looked both intrigued and a bit unsettled by that. "Why don't you tell me more about what I'd be doing?"

"Sorry but if you decide not to join I can't have you knowing too many details. All I can say is that this will be hard, probably the hardest thing you've done in your entire life. But we'll be doing good work. You also have my personal guarantee… that I'll do my best to watch out for you, on and off the field. Teams like this have a tendency of becoming closer than family. You take this deal and I'll do everything in my power to support you and help you, make sure you put in your ten years and come out squeaky clean on the other side. You have my word," said Taylor seriously, her one eye looking unwaveringly at Sophia.

Sophia stared at Taylor, looking more thoughtful than the woman would have originally given her credit for. After a few minutes she rubbed her face with her hands. "Yeah I think I got a good idea of what you're saying without actually saying it," she said. Deep breath. Then she looked at Taylor and gave her a huge wicked devil-may-care smile. "Hell what do I have to loose right? I used real bolts on the scumbags of this city for a reason. Taking things to the next level and actually being sanctioned to do it… maybe that's exactly what I've been missing. All right Hebert. You've got yourself a cape. Let's go be a bunch of desperados. Now when the fuck do I get out of here?"

o0O0o

A/N: I had confused Defiant with Dauntless. Fixed.