3.2
Three Days Later
"How do I get her off of my butt."
The words brought me up short and I almost jerked where I was standing. "I beg your pardon?"
"I said," Kid Win sighed as he was hovering over the rooftops on his board. "How do I get her off me. Aisha. The girl is a horny vulture!"
"Well, she's interested in you." I replied looking up at him from the sidewalk, strolling the rows of shops on the Boardwalk. I looked to the side, seeing my reflection in the glass windows.
I changed my ash armor daily. It was a little bit of...vanity...and a little bit of curiosity and an interest in just mixing and matching.. Some days I have more armor around my legs. Some around my chest. I usually have spikes. On my bracers, shoulders and such. My fingers usually had claws. Dean got on my case and Dennis made jokes but I liked how it looked so they could just be ignored on this issue. The big change though usually was my helmet. Normally the change was just skin deep so to speak, maybe one day my helmet had Raven style wings, on others it'd be a bat. Maybe one day it'd have a dragon style motif. Sometimes with a T shaped visor, others with a V, sometimes it covered my mouth other times it didn't.
This time though, the upgrade was a lot more significant. Instead of a normal PRT issued helmet; this one was handed to me just the other day by Armsmaster after we did another Power Test Session. The Helmet was customized just for me. It had a built in communicator that can connect to the PRT communication's and Police Dispatch, a black visor with a Heads-Up Display with my my heart beat and vital signs and those of my Ward teammates nearby. A simple disk shaped 'map' of sorts that showed how distant they were from me in a diameter of around thirty-five meters . A temperature sensor to view how hot my fire and ashen Idols were growing and a full visual spectrum. And the Night vision lenses were designed to block out bright lights automatically so no glaring off my retinas by using my fire.
So it was like the old glasses. But more professional and hero-ish and...a million times more awesome.
"Yeah but still, I mean, I appreciate it but...like...I'm…" Kid Win sounded unsure.
"You're what?" I asked up at him, waving at some passer-bys. They waved back a little stiffly, staring.
"I mean, is Aisha cute? Yeah...hell she's kinda hot...but" I rolled my eyes at that. But at least Kid is honest. I notice he's always tried to be honest with me since that car ride to Fugly Bob's. I appreciate it. "And she's peppy, funny but...I just don't feel it...You know?"
I chuckled a bit. "Well, whatever floats your boat Kid." I jumped on a stairwell outside a hotel and hopped up to the roof tops using my ash-enhanced strength. That had taken a lot of getting used to in the practice areas. Its one thing to be told you can jump far because of enhanced strength. Its' quite another to not try to instinctively jump as hard as you can when running off the edge of a building and just overshooting your landing and falling anyway; only that time it would be even more painful.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Right...so, I've been meaning to-"
"We got a call." The communicator in my new helmet crackled to life with the voice it was from Battery. The two of us instantly shut up and listened in. "Black woman assaulted pretty badly. En route to hospital now."
"Who's our perp?" Miss Militia's voice this time.
"Before she passed out, she described the perp as white. Shaved head. So likely E88"
"Location?"
"Found by the boardwalk, couple blocks north of downtown near the shopping district. The person that called the police called as the attack was taking place so Empire boy couldn't have gotten very far. Probably ran when he heard the sirens. Attack happened when the woman, Andrea Young, was just getting done at her part-time job and walking home."
We are in the vicinity. My hand went to my helmet but Kid beat me to it.
"This is Kid Win and Ashburn. We're by the boardwalk. Search and Intercept?"
"Affirmative. You two know the drill." Miss Militia signed off and me and Kid Win looked at each other.
"Ladies first?" Kid Win gestured as his hoverboard kicked up into the sky.
"You're gonna catch up anyway!" I called back as I started jumping, I began hopping buildings with ease, hearing the whine of Kid Win's board over head. I leapt, arms flailing as I jumped to the ground, landing on the sidewalk and continuing my run unhurt. I'd have to practice to make that look a bit more graceful. I probably looked like a mentally challenged chicken or something.
We advanced a few blocks, our eyes panning over the streets as best we could searching for any sign. Bloodied knuckles, a bloodied shirt, even a slightly harried or nervous looking bald guy that would fit the E88 look.
During the search we jumped at a loud noise of crashing and clanging. It was quite a ways off but it was still loud. I saw a dumpster grind onto the road. We both stopped.
"Possible cape." I whispered into my comm-link.
I had my hand to my helmet again. Oni-Lee 2.0 this was not going to be.
"This is Ashburn, we may have a low ranking cape."
"Power set?" Asked Battery.
"Uhh...brute maybe? I don't know, just saw a flying dumpster."
"You two have the greenlight. If it's too much to handle, fall back. I'm sending Triumph in for backup around your area." It was from Armsmaster this time.
We moved forward, I dropped down to street level and moved as quietly as I could, Kid was on the roof ready to shoot down with his lasers once I was in position.
"Ready." He whispered.
"Yeah...me too." I answered, my back hugging the wall.
"Now!"
I swiveled around, hands lighting up in flames and...stopped.
"Fuck fuckity fuck fuck!" The person that was in the hallway was on her knees checking at a person's pulse. I recognize her…
"Glory Girl?" I asked, the New Wave heroine flinching as if lightning shot down her spine.
"Oh...hey Ashburn. What's up?" She asked, laughing nervously as I approached, the look on her face akin to a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Kid Win landed behind her and looked down.
"Vicky?" He asked before looking down at the man slumped against the wall. "You-"
"Glory Girl…" I asked. "What happened here?" The blonde stood up, hand behind her head scratching it.
"Well...c-can it wait? I need to call Amy. He's hurt bad."
"Is he a cape?" Kid Win asked, pointing at the dumpster
"No he isn't...that was me." Glory Girl sighed in defeat as she got out her phone, probably looking at her map as she murmured "where am I…" My eyes went up in surprise.
"So you threw a thousand pound dumpster at him?" I asked, then looked down. "Oh crap! Is he dead?" Could Panacea even fix this?
"He pissed me off okay! Stupid skinhead fuck." She put her phone to her ears. ""Hey sis? Yeah...well...I uh...kinda sorta-messed up." She winced and I could almost hear Amy's shrill voice on the other side of the phone. "Yeah. Look, I'm sorr-" She sighed. "Ok, can we talk about this later? Yeah. I'm at Spayder and Rock, there's this little road that runs behind the buildings. Right by the boardwalk, yeah. Yeah? Thanks."
I knelt by him. All Wards learned quick first aid but this was...damn…
"How is he?" Chris asked.
I switched on my helmets' diagnostic function. God and Scion above praise Armsmaster and Tinker-tech.
"Broken collar bone, shoulder blade, cracked hip joint. Lacerated cracks in his spine..."
"Mother of fuck." Victoria cursed. I turned on her.
"You nearly killed him!" I heard Kid exclaim. I closed my eyes a headache pounding at my skull.
"I know alright! Damnit, should have taken care of it faster, maybe slapped him, that way he wouldn't talk shit with a broken jaw…" She muttered as she leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"How did you find out about-" Kid Win paused, snapping his fingers as he answered his own question. "God damnit Gallant."
Dean really has to keep his lid shut on stuff like this. "God damnit Gallant." I added in.
"Hey! He didn't tell me alright! You think New Wave doesn't have its own police scanners or people that call us in the department? I was the one who found the girl he beat up! I was already on this before you guys were even here."
"Vicky this went way over the line here. It's a normal." Kid sighed, rubbing at his face.
"I didn't mean to! I...I snapped okay." She sighed, hand to her head. "He called me...See You Next Tuesday."
My face scrunched up in confusion. "See you next-Ohhhhhhhh." Yeah. That word. Yeah, that can be a berserk button. Heck, I would be pissed off being called that. But...still. "This was too much Vicky, even if he...called you by that word you had no right.." I shook my head. That just about summed it up it seems.
"Oh damnit Ash! You know how this crap is!" Glory Girl tilted her head. "Don't pretend I'm the only one that ever hit a normal too hard. You dented the sides of trucks with them on your first night out! Half of those guys are probably walking around with a limp or a cast! And that Dry Dust raid? I heard about that too. Tearing half that Limbo chick's arm off and don't get me started on the normals you roughed up. Don't stand there and pretend I'm the retard of the family here! You have no right!"
I was taken aback, my mouth clicked shut…
She...had a point...
" Victoria?" Both of us turned towards the alley, seeing Panacea in her white robes approaching. She stopped as she saw us, her pale face a little paler. "What are you two doing here?" The tone of her voice clipped and sharp.
"We were in the area and we heard about the attack" Kid Win filled in for me. Panacea seemed to understand the context and sighed.
"God damnit Gallant."
"Oh for the love of Scion leave Gally alone! He wasn't the one who told me and if he had he'd just be trying to help!" Glory Girl shouted. I could feel her intimidation aura slamming over us. My own warmth power quickly countered the effects before the foreign influence could take hold. I saw Kid swallow hard looking away. Maybe this wasn't the first time he'd felt Vicky pissed off.
Amy didn't say a word, marching past us to place her hand on the goon's face. "For fuck's sake Vicky!"
"I'm sorry alright!? Look just...fix him up ok."
Amy turned, glaring at her sister. It was the first time I could remember her openly display something other than bored apathy. The look on her face was...pure venom. She opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to remember we were still standing there (as in me and Kid Win) and clicked it shut.
Three seconds later- "Done. Broken bones are fixed. Left the cuts and bruises though. Nazi deserves a taste of what he did to that woman." Victoria turned to us breathing far easier it seemed. "Ok...Right. Its done then. You guys...er."
I blinked. I knew where this was going. "You don't want us to tell anyone what happened?"
Kid shifted where he stood, and suddenly the tense atmosphere of the alley became a choking mess of apprehension.
"Please guys. This was a mistake. An accident. I...if this got loose…"
Kid frowned, the look sad. "New Wave was supposed to be about accountability Vicky."
"I am New Wave." She snapped, hands rising up to thread through her hair. "Me and Amy; that's all that's left! Dad barely goes out, mom's behind a desk, Crystal's in college...everyone that's supposed to be New Wave is just off doing their own thing. I'm the one that comes out here, day after day and still tries to do something. It was an accident. And it was just a Nazi for gods sake! Everything I've done can't be outweighed by a shitty decision from me against this piece of shit! At the end of the day who does more good? Some skinhead misogynist fuck or me?"
Her voice was shrill as she ended her rant, tears were prickling at her eyes as she panted.
Amy stood, looking at the two of us. "Look. He's fixed. This is done. This won't happen again ok? Just let it go. We'll take this guy to the cops and move on with our lives. He's not worth the BS for any of us, guys. The public outcry..."
Public outcry…
That's what they were worried about. That was there concern. Not that Victoria almost killed somebody. Probably would have killed somebody if her sister didn't have these specific healing powers.
Public outcry...
I shook my head. I couldn't do this right now. Couldn't deal with this.
I turned, stalking out of the alley and had to struggle to not run out rather than walk ignoring Kid and Vicky as they called after me.
It was minutes later that I heard the thrum of Kid Win's hoverboard behind me and we stopped.
"You ok?"
I shrugged, shoulders rising before slumping back down."Are we going to report this or not?" I asked.
"I…" He sighed. "I don't know...I mean...it is a Nazi and they said this was a first time mistake… The last thing we need is to hurt the good guys by giving some E88 goon ammo to shoot out Glory Girl's wings…"
I nodded...it made sense…
I still felt...filthy.
Its just a Nazi Taylor…
Just a Nazi.
Same as I was just Taylor. Just that nerdy girl when measured against the Trackstar and local high school model. I was just that insignificant when looked at next to them…
I didn't hurt anyone. I didn't discriminate...but this whole thing made me sick to my stomach.
I…
"I'm going home...after patrol."
"You have to report in-"
"You handle it...I'm going home." I couldn't do it….I could not do it. I would not sit there and lie bold faced to cover this up right now. My disgust was warring with my anger, my disappointment and my sadness. I could feel it churning in my gut, subdued by my powers but…
I wasn't going to deal with this right now.
Kid didn't look at me, but I caught his nod out of the corner of my eye and his whispered "Ok."
"Let's just….get this over with." I sighed.
(X)
We finished our shift on patrol and made it back to the PRT HQ without much of a word.
Chris de-costumed and went to give his report, and I went to the Wards dorm to get my stuff. It was late and quiet. I was hungry, but didn't want to settle in and eat. I went up the stairs. I can hear the lull of Missy's low-volume pop music from behind her door and I went to my room. I sent my ash into a sealed and pressurised container created by Armsmaster (a box) and closed the lid shut. I removed my watch and helmet and placed it to the side.
Then I picked up my cellphone.
He answered after the first ring.
"Hey kiddo. What's up? Its a little late. You've got school tomorrow."
"Hey dad. Can...can you come pick me up?."
"...What happened?" His tone was strange. I didn't have the energy to place it but it was close to angry...or seemed like it.
"Nothing happened…" I shook my head. "I'd just really like to go home today."
"I'm leaving the docks right now."
"Thanks dad. I'll...meet you at the boardwalk I guess."
"No. You stay there. I'll jump through the hoops and talk to the checkpoint people. Thirty minutes tops."
I nodded, then I hung up and got my backpack and books for tomorrow's' classes and left the dorm. I didn't see Chris.
I grabbed my phone again. Hesitated. But after a moment decided to send the message. I didn't need them freaking out about me leaving without a word.
Going back home for the night. Will be back tomorrow after school. I sent the text. Didn't get an immediate response. Hopefully Hannah would catch it late enough that I could avoid twenty questions.
Soon enough, I walked out the front doors, PRT guards and personnel were either coming or going with the shift changes. I moved quickly to avoid any that might want to ask. Walking down to the main gate and waiting at the curb.
About ten minutes later I saw my dad drive up the bridge and around the loop here by the main gate. He parked right in front of me as I jogged up and opened the door to get into the passenger seat
"Hey Taylor."
"Hey dad." I responded as I buckled up and felt him drive down the ramp. There was no traffic at this hour. So there was going to be an hour to an hour and a half till we get home...should I talk to him?
"So, you wanna talk?" He asked, looking at me.
I shrugged. Didn't say anything. It was unfair, I know he's only trying to help but this isn't a conversation I want.
We drove on in an awkward quiet.
Dad pulled up into a Quick-Stop drive through. "What do you want? Number three or number five?"
QuickStop, the East Coast's answer to the popular west coast In-n-Out. Even though my diet plan told me to stay away from fast foods...I can indulge once. It's with my dad after all. I smiled up at him.
"Three. Its too late for spicy."
By the time we arrived back at the house it was already past midnight. Thankfully we managed to talk on SOME things, mainly how my school has been going and what my friends have been up to.
Dad opened the door and we walked inside and I settled down on the couch and dad sat next to me.
"Okay. So, we had dinner. We talked on school and friends. I'm glad to hear they're doing well. So how bout we talk about what's bothering you?" Dad said as he focused his attention squarely on me.
The frown came back as the subject matter reared its head again.
"Taylor. Please don't think you have to keep secrets from me again…"
I winced.
It took me a moment. A lot longer than it should have really. But I did eventually start talking. "Well...at school. One of my friends...well, two actually, they did something...bad."
"Bad as in..."
"Well..." I measured my words. Trying to make it gender neutral. It wouldn't take a genius to link something like this to Victoria considering I was the only other female Brute in the bay.
Wait...does Battery count as a brute?
I shook my head. "There was a fight. Words were exchanged. Shoving here and there. And...my friend got a little carried away."
"What did your friend do?"
"Well...the bad guy got a lot more hurt than he should have. Like...I don't even know… Lets just say it was that bad and leave it there."
Dad didn't say anything.
I had to fight to stop myself from wringing my hands like some nervous wreck... "Anyways, another friend of mine came and I saw what happened and...well, no one else knows about it…"
Dad took a deep breath through his nose. Looks like he'd caught on to what the issue was.
"No one knows." I continued. "Only me and the friend that was with me. And I just...don't know what to do. I was asked not to tell because it would cause a lot of problems for…My friend... But how is that different from Winslow where everyone covered for Emma, Sophia and Madison?"
Dad took a deep breath, removed his glasses and picked at his eyes a little. "Oh boy…" He muttered as he seemed to be deep in thought.
For a long time, neither of us said anything, just sitting in the half dark living room, the light from the kitchen filtering in on us.
Then he said the very last words I wanted to hear from him right now.
"I don't know how to advise you. I can't say covering up something like this is the right thing. But I know how much you want to make friends. I can see how happy it makes you that you have them now. And I know how much damage coming out into the open with this could hurt those friendships no matter how good your intentions are and you'd be doing this, for someone who might even deserve worse than whatever your friend did to them or might not even appreciate the sacrifice you'd make."
He took another breath,this one releasing it in a huff. "There are two sides of me right now...as...I'm sure that there are two sides to you. One wants to be the good parent; the other wants to say do the right thing Taylor. Tell them what happened. Be honest. And there's another part of me that...knows...that doing the right thing will bring more pain than anything else…"
He swallowed, taking off his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose. The grimace I could see on his face I no doubt shared at some point today. "And I've just seen you go through too much pain already to ask you to take on more kiddo."
I bit my lip, sniffing. I wasn't gonna cry. Heroes don't do that. I swallowed down the lump in my throat.
"In the end…" He finally breathed. "-you just gotta know that whatever you decide...I'll back you one hundred percent no matter what."
I bit my lip and looked up at him. I knew he would support me to the bitter end, and I hugged him. "Thanks Dad..."
"Your welcome kiddo. Anytime." He kissed my head. "Now, you get to bed. You have school in the morning. I'll wake you up." I smile and nod, standing up and heading up the stairs, saying "Goodnight" as I did.
"Dad?"
"Hmmm?" He perked up at me as he was locking down the doors.
"Thanks." Dad smiled.
I smiled back and went upstairs to my bedroom. Still the same as I left it the last time I was here. I shedded off my clothes, got into my pajamas and crawled into bed and under the familiar covers. I sighed in contentment. I can hear Dad's footsteps as he turns off any lights and goes into his bedroom.
I yawn and feel my eyes slowly close as I get to sleep.