Interlude: Dennis Cook
'You know. I'm just gonna have to go check after I get out of here. That Winslow place must have been built on some indian burial mound or exorcist shit or something. This is just ridiculous.'
This was three for three now.
Sophia was violent, and a little crazy. At least, a little crazy that they could see.
Taylor was nice, and (apparently) a lot of crazy that they didn't see.
And Emma was depressed, sad, and a little crazy that they could see, and a lot of crazy that they didn't as well he was sure
Next superpowered girl that crawled out of there was gonna poison the whole city or something and sing a song while doing it.
And right now they were discussing this very girl. Well… the girls and what exactly to do with them.
He honestly hated this meeting. He didn't want to be here. This kind of thing wasn't for him. He wasn't comfortable with discussing this, making these kind of decisions. His only consolation was that he wasn't here to discuss this, much less make the decisions. He was just here to watch, listen, and observe. Carlos was the Ward Captain now but only for a little while longer. He was set to graduate from Arcadia this semester and then jump from Ward to Hero. After Aegis was gone he'd be the team leader and this would be his responsibility.
God he hoped Carlos would stay young forever. Or that Weld would be posted here permanently rather than provisionally. They were the same-ish age.
"Its that kind of thinking that started this whole mess in the first place." Legend sighed, rubbing his forehead. He couldn't blame him for the sign of exhaustion. This debate had been going on and off for three days or so.
"And what you're proposing could eventually lead to her burning down an entire chunk of the Bay all over again." Piggot's barely concealed sneer couldn't have conveyed her distaste half as well as her voice right now. Grapevine said she was on her way out, he could only guess how much pull or weight her vote actually carried at the moment.
"She shouldn't be allowed to stay in the Bay." Miss Militia agreed, head turned to the side, staring at some spot on the wall
"I'm in agreement with that." Carlos put in. "We can't trust her, and if we can't trust her we can't work with her. Hell, that applies to every Wards team. But I damn sure don't want her watching over my friends."
"She needs stability in order to recover." Yamada, the Bay's newly appointed psychologist, threw in her two cents. "Uprooting her, her family, and placing her in an entirely new place without a medical professional she can trust might end up doing an incalculable level of harm to her… and considering the sheer range of her power…" She trailed off.
She didn't have to specify though.
Dennis could imagine well enough.
Macro-level ice generation and control with a range measured in a one mile radius in just three days and rapidly growing. If she ever went villain or on some kind of rampage the damage she could do to wherever she was transferred or here, was… he didn't even want to think about it really. The sheer danger she presented to any location with any number of people, coupled with her instability, made it impossible to simply not accept her into the Wards and put her under watch.
"She has your phone number. I fail to see what the problem is… if you prefer you could go with her." Piggot shot back.
That was something he also found a little weird. Piggot generally wasn't the nicest person but she was practically biting off Yamada's head from the moment she came into the PRT HQ.
"I'll be staying right here." Yamada answered, meeting Piggot's gaze with a cold one of her own. "To make sure there are no more oversights in terms of the Ward's personal wellbeing…"
And evidently Yamada was willing to bite right back. He was guessing old enemies of a sort. If Yamada really was some old enemy of Piggy, then the rumors of Piggot being out the door were probably true. No way someone would volunteer to work with a director they couldn't stand.
Kind of opposites in every sense of the word now that he got a look at them.
Piggot, late forties or early fifties in terms of age, fat, bitter as can be. Jessica Yamada, late twenties to mid thirties he guessed, beautiful and slender, and had a compassionate streak to her that was so passionate she'd wage war for her patients.
"Whilst I can understand your reasons for wanting to get Ms. Barnes out of the Bay, hiding information from Taylor won't end well." Legend argued. "We've already seen that. She could be kept ignorant of the fact that Emma's become a Ward but there's also a possibility that she could find out. And if she does, what then? If we somehow manage to regain her trust the revelation would irreparably destroy those mended bridges. And if she were to still be a rogue it might just push her over the edge into full villainy."
"The chance that she finds out about Emma Barnes if she's transferred to another state are so remote-"
"The Wards know. The PRT agents here know. Her family will be transferred out with her. We would know. There's enough of a trail to be followed if Taylor really wants to follow it, which she might given the distrust that must exist there... Even if you are right and the chances are miniscule you'd only be making a house of cards ready to be torn down again at the slightest inkling of the truth." What they could see of Legend's face was twisted in a sombre frown. "If we want any chance of getting her back we can't be caught in a lie."
"What about transferring her out and then telling Taylor she was accepted?" Militia suggested. "Best of both worlds."
"Its crossed my mind but I'm worried that might look like we're taunting her or something. My suggestion is to take her into the Wards and then let Taylor choose if she's to be transferred out. Or, let her stay and bury hatchets." Legend spoke.
Yamada leaned back in her chair. "You want to give her some kind of agency in the choice. Not just decide and then expect her to accept it…" She hummed in thought. "I can see how that could mollify her. Smart."
Legend shook his head. "This whole thing is a crap-shot. Every plan carries a degree of risk that's nearly unacceptable. I'll send the information to the think tank to see if they can tell us which is the best course of action."
"What we really need." Carlos spoke up for the first time, drawing the eyes of the others towards him. "Is Dinah."
Legend nodded. "Yes. Her ability would be invaluable right now." He turned to Miss Militia. "Where are we on the issue of Coil?"
"I don't think we've plugged the last of Coil's spies here." She answered. "While our intel has managed to give us the location of three of Coil's bases, whenever we arrive he's cleaned out his operations and moved somewhere else."
"You could have gotten every leak and instead the theory of his thinker power being that of a Pre-cog is on target." Yamada put in.
"If that's the case then why would he go through so much trouble to kidnap another Pre-cog? It doesn't make sense." Miss Militia put in. "She's powerful of course, but if he was a pre-cog himself he wouldn't need her. Now that we're talking about it, it's very likely he's been using Dinah's precognition to stay ahead of us."
"All he'd need to do is ask her what the chances of X base getting hit next and he'd know immediately which one he had to move." Legend mused.
"He can't have endless real estate to keep leapfrogging through." Piggot added.
"No but he can stall us with the run around long enough to escape the Bay with all of his operations intact. We're on a strict time-table here." Militia argued.
Legend tilted his head, curiosity shining through. "What are you planning?"
The woman took a breath, then, looked at them. Pointedly.
They, and everyone else, got the message.
"Aegis, Clockblocker." Legend spoke, smiling sadly. "Might you excuse us please."
(X)
When he and Carlos entered the Wards dorm they were both quiet. Carlos was brooding. Guy wouldn't admit it if asked, but Dennis could recognize brooding when he saw it.
"What're ya thinkin?" He found himself asking.
"I'm thinking this is a real fucked up catch-twenty-two." He answered. "I get why Piggot and Militia want her out. Caused Taylor grief beyond compare and is as unstable as Taylor is too. Hell I want her out. But I can get Legend's thought process. We can't keep lying like this. If we were truthful from the very beginning none of this would have happened."
Carlos sighed, rubbing his hand over his mask before he just flipped it off and rubbed his actual face.
"I fucking hate this."
"What's going on?"
Dennis and Carlos turned and looked up towards the second floor, where Missy leaned on the railing, staring down at them.
Carlos sighed then reached down towards his wrist communicator, opening all Ward channels. "Roll call." He demanded. "How many of you all are still in the building?"
One of the room doors opened, revealing one of their two latest transfers. Weld.
He was a little ashamed to admit that the metal based Case 53 was a little intimidating. Then again, he hadn't really had a chance to speak with him or Flechette over-much since they arrived. Too busy, too much crap happening. Didn't help that Weld didn't go to school like the rest of them. "I'm here."
"This is Browbeat," Brendan's voice crackled through the comm. "Me and Gallant are on our way back from patrol. Twenty-minutes tops."
"This is Flechette, thirty minutes for me and Kid, captain."
"And Vista is finishing an after school project… We're having a team meeting." Carlos said. "Time we sat down and talked about… everything."
(X)
Two hours later, after Browbeat, Gallant, Weld, Flechette, and Kid Win had returned, delivered their reports, got changed, and showered, they were all in the main living-room in a circle.
Carlos and Dean on the chairs. Chris next to Weld on the couch. Vista was sitting beside him on the other couch. Flechette was sitting on the kitchen island bar stool a little ways off, facing them.
"Alright." Carlos sighed. "We gotta talk about this…" He paused, working his jaw. "Fact is...we might be ending up with a new teammate."
Vista fell back in her seat. "This is crap. Why!?"
"Is it that girl?" Asked Weld. "Emma Barnes right?" He looked around. "While Flechette and I were told a few things… we're still spotty on the details." Missy growled.
"What you gotta know is that she's a worthless bitch." Missy snarled.
"Enough, Missy." Carlos spoke out. "Look, Legend, Militia, and the others have been going back and forth with this for days. They've tossed around the idea on moving her to another state, but… given everything, it looks just as likely that Emma's gonna be staying. At least that's what it was leaning towards when Dennis and me left the conversation."
Dennis saw his teammates shuffle in their seats. He heard Missy breath angrily through her nose.
Lily looked confused.
"Ok… Look. Like Weld said we're a little spotty on the details. But I've run guard duty on Emma once or twice. She's definitely got a couple of bolts loose but that's a Shaker 10 at least, with her power's range growing by the minute. Maybe we could contribute if we knew a little more here. Lets take it from point A. What's the deal between Emma and the teammate of yours that went ape-shit?" Lily asked.
"Emma was the reason Taylor triggered at Winslow." Chris said sullenly, looking at the ground. "Taylor never talked about it. But we've more or less figured out that Emma, along with another former teammate of ours, Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker, basically tortured Taylor for nearly two years until she finally triggered… "
"Shadow Stalker was one of yours while this happened?" Weld asked. "You allowed someone like that on your roster?" Weld asked curiously.
"Not our decision. We were 'undermanned' and needed another cape. It definitely didn't hurt that she's a 'Hard counter'," Missy air quoted. "To a lot of villains in the bay. Yeah. Piggy wanted her with the Wards."
"It was ultimately Piggot's decision to keep Hess on the roster yes. She was always violent and stand-offish, but competent at least."
"So what ended up happening after Herbert Triggered?" Flechette asked.
"Hebert." They all-sans Weld, corrected her automatically.
"Ooookaaay. Sorry. Hebert. What happened?"
Dennis decided to take up the slack since it looked like Carlos was gonna drag this out even more than he had to. "Long and short of it?" The question was rhetorical, he didn't even bother waiting for an answer. "Didn't take Director Piggy or Halbeard long to figure out Hess was responsible for the trigger. Hess violated her parole with that kind of damage so it should have been an open and shut case to ship her off to juvie. We had something of a drug problem in the Bay though, some Tinker tech stuff that had like a really really high body count. None of the heroes here are strangers, everyone knows them, undercover cops are scared of taking this drug with the high death rate, so Piggy gets an idea. Milk out Stalker for all she was worth. She sent her undercover to find whoever was selling this crap to the Merchants."
"They're defunct now, aren't they?" Lily mused. "And… isn't sending a Ward undercover like, against the rules or something?"
"Yes, but that was the deal she cut. Sophia would find the dealers and then she'd get sent to LA to be under Alexandria boot camp or something." Dennis finished.
"Heh, talk about trying to have your cake and eat it." Weld mused.
"Yeah well, that's what's gotten us here." Carlos said. "Long and short of it as Dennis said, before Sophia transfers out, Coil attacks the prison. I don't know how he found out so much or what exactly he did but Taylor and Sophia were brought together. Taylor found out and that anger or whatever was used by this Master that took control of her enough to turn her against us. The rest as they say is history. Which brings us here, discussing how recruiting Emma is going to affect us and possibly Taylor as well."
Missy hissed. "I want nothing to do with her, even if she joins the Wards. Taylor was our friend. I'm damn sure not gonna smile and pretend everything is ok with the person that fucked her over! Its not right!"
Carlos sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "No one is asking you to..." He paused. "Listen, Barnes won't join until she's psychologically fit too, it won't be till a while."
Missy glared and Carlos passed a hand over his face. "Look, Missy, I don't want her in either. Its clear that this girl is poison to the team, none of you who knew Taylor want her here; you're all chomping at the bit to rip her head off and are snapping at everyone around you because of it. So no. I don't particularly want her on the team if that's any consolation but I have to accept that right now this situation is something no one is gonna be happy with till everything is said and done, if ever."
"Yamada did say that she regrets what she did." Chris spoke, eyes glued to the table or the floor. Dennis couldn't tell.
"She's a fucking moron then." Missy snided. "What she did to Taylor for that time at Winslow, collaborating with Sophia to fucking torture someone who was her friend? And for what? What the hell was the point of it all!? This is the very last person I want with me in a fight for my life and if Yamada can't see that then she's a fucking moron!" Missy hissed.
"Langua-"
"Oh fuck you!"
Carlos closed his eyes, taking a deep, calming breath. He turned towards Dean who was leaning back in the chair, head thrown back with his eyes closed. "Dean. You've been quiet so far."
"Hard to think." The Empath answered. "You're all at a fever pitch. Dennis is confused, angry, sad. You're stressed and irritated beyond belief. For Missy I'd best keep quiet. No offense. And Chris is trying to distract himself from this with his work. Plus he's depressed as hell." He leaned back into the seat. "For my part?" He rubbed at his aching head. "I'm with Yamada here."
"You can't be serious!" Missy snapped.
"I've run guard duty with Flechette." Dean retorted. "Empath remember? I've been sensing her whenever she has a therapy session. And its clear from the few times the subject of Taylor is brought up that she is actually sorry for everything that happened. She's freaking terrified of everything. She practically jumps at shadows and flinches whenever something or someone new shows up."
"Thought it was just me really." Flechette offered.
Dean shook his head. "Nah. Its not. Sadness, desperation, fear. I can feel it all there. Its just a slew of negative emotions. The girl has some serious damage but we're not gonna do anything productive by laying into her. I'm not saying you have to love her and become best friends or something, but yeah. At least be civil if she becomes a teammate. That's my vote."
"No offense, but this is a real mess." Weld commented.
"What's your take on it, Weld?" Asked Carlos, as everyone turned their heads to him.
"Well, nobody bite my head off here, but I didn't know Taylor, never met her, so maybe I'm just more detached from this than all of you, but I'm gonna go with Stanfield's suggestion. You don't necessarily have to be her friend but being civil shouldn't be out of the question I'd say."
Missy rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say. Your stay here is temporary…"
He held up his hands. "You're right. But that's my vote for whatever its worth." Weld turned towards Flechette. The Asiatic girl perked up. "What's your take on this?"
"Well… I'm gonna go with you and Dean. Can't say I know Hebert or Barnes but if she's actually sorry then I say she deserves a second chance. I mean, this is a free country and second chances are a given right?"
They fell into a quiet, it took a while but Carlos eventually broke it.
"Anyone else have something to add?"
No one said anything.
"Alright… well… we've all said our piece. World keeps spinning and we still have work to do. Missy. You and me have patrol in twenty minutes. Everyone else can go do whatever I guess."
He stood, Missy did the same, the two of them marching up the steps as Chris got up and went to his room and shut the door. Brendan found the remote and turned on the TV while Lily and Weld joined him.
Dennis took a breath, got up, and marched right out of the dorms.
He began walking through the base, hands in pockets. He walked past the gym, the cafeteria, some of the offices, and finally made it to the infirmary. It was empty. Thank god for Panacea. He'd never forget the night of the prison raid. It'd been the first time he'd seen this room filled to capacity and he hoped to god it would be the last.
He pushed through towards the warded wing reserved for patients that required isolation.
He opened the door and was surprised to find Legend of all people sitting out in the hallway.
The man looked up. "Oh. Clockblocker, what can I do for you?"
"Uhhh, nothing sir, didn't even know you were here to be honest."
The man glanced at the door behind him. "She's in a session right now with Yamada. I don't think you can interrupt."
He nodded. Doctor patient n' all that he guessed.
Legend leaned back, his head to the wall. He shook his head. "You know… I keep asking myself… over and over again: 'How the hell can I make this work?'" He scoffed out a laugh as though remembering some old private joke. "What can I do to help Taylor and do the right thing regarding Ms. Barnes, those goals seem irreconcilable, to be honest."
He saw the man's lips purse. "I want to help both girls without putting one's life over the other." He looked at Dennis with a wry smirk. "If anyone ever tells you that being a real hero is easy, Mr. Cook, you have my permission to tell them to go to hell."
"I could time-freeze their car at high noon while they're inside. Ever been stuck in a car for ten minutes with no air conditioning? Not pretty."
Legend barked out a laugh at that.
Dennis found himself fidgeting where he stood and, suddenly self conscious, he didn't want to seem stiff and awkward by standing like an idiot in the middle of the hallway.
Then again, the only available chair was next to Legend.
"Umm… may I?" He asked.
"Please, by all means." The man answered gesturing towards the chair.
"Now if you're not here for me I can only assume you're coming in to see Emma. Now… Mr. Cook, this is gonna sound a little threatening but there's no other way to really say it in a non threatening way. But I trust you understand that this young woman's psyche is rather fragile and that you're not planning on doing anything…" He paused searching for words.
"No sir." He spared him the effort. "I just wanna talk and if she wants me to leave I'll leave."
"Hmm." He nodded. "Can I ask why? None of the other Wards come by unless they have to."
Dennis took a deep breath. He wasn't really sure. But if he had to give an answer…
"I… I guess that what I really want is an opinion sir. If we're gonna be working with her I may as well just get a read on her."
"I get it. Are you… upset, at the possibility of her staying?"
"A bit. Split on it really."
Before they could continue the conversation, the door opened and Yamada stepped out. The woman paused when she caught sight of him though. "Mr. Cook. I didn't know you were assigned today."
"Uhh." He stood up. "I wasn't, I just dropped by. Wondering if I can get a look and conversation with uhh-" He bit down on the joke he had on the tip of his tongue. "Ms. Barnes if that's at all possible."
Yamada tilted her head, eyeing him.
She turned and opened the door a crack. "Emma?"
"Yes?" He heard from inside the room.
"There's someone here who'd like to speak with you if that's alright?"
"Who?"
"Clockblocker, from the Wards team. Is that ok?"
There was a pause and Dennis almost missed the near whispered "Ok." From inside.
Yamada nodded. "It'll just be a moment." She clicked the door shut. "She said yes. Dennis. I don't have to tell you that."
"Don't worry. I won't screw around. I just wanna talk. If you want you can keep the door open to listen in."
She nodded, and opened the door. Dennis walked in, first thing he saw was the shock of red hair.
She was pretty… kinda thin with bags under her eyes from sleep deprivation… but still kinda pretty. Maybe.
"H-Hi…" It came out very meek.
"Hey." He said, reaching over for a chair and pulling it over. "Well I'm Clockblocker, Clock for short. I like watching reality TV, music videos, and basketball. What about you?" He smiled a bit, though she'd never see it with his mask on.
"W-Well… you know my name already and…" Emma paused.
When it didn't look like she'd continue he decided to prod a bit. "And… what… are you into? Games, fashion, sports? Might get a conversation going with two out of those. In the third I'll just listen and pretend not to fall asleep." He joked, shrugging.
She smiled lightly. "Basketball. I like the Celtics… f-family's always been big fans." Dennis smiled.
"I was there in Boston when they beat the Lakers to win the championship. Amazing atmosphere right?" Emma perked up.
"Y-You were? That's great." She still had a nervous look on her face, but her tone of voice seemed a bit more accepting. So far so good…
"Yup. Mom and dad went bonkers and stuff. This was before I became a parahuman so it was when I had something a lot more valuable. Free time." He laughed, she just smiled.
He was wondering how to broach some of the more sensitive issues when there was a sudden commotion outside, a slew of voices sliding into the room from the hallway.
"What's going on?" Emma asked.
Dennis stood and marched towards the door. "Dunno, I'll go find out."
He opened it, just in time to hear Legend's voice. "I want this whole building swept from top to bottom! Now! Send out a team to his home, freeze his bank accounts. The works. This gets done yesterday!"
He looked to Yamada who stood just a little ahead of him. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked.
She looked over her shoulder to answer. "Coil. Someone just dumped information all over Piggot's email. His civilian ID, accounts, business holdings and properties, everything. Coil doesn't have an agent in the PRT, Coil is in the PRT. His name is evidently Thomas Calvert."
"Calvert?" He blinked. "The guy that runs the treasury and logistics? Holy shit was he hiding right under our noses or what."
"It seems like it." She answered.
"Not any more." Legend promised, mouth set in a thin line as the troopers ran off to do their assigned tasks. "Alright all we need is to-"
Militia stepped into the room. "Legend, we've swept the building roof to basement he's..."
The base alarms went off.
"What the hell?" He asked, somewhere he heard Militia answering her phone. "Hello? What?" Over the loudspeakers, he heard Piggot's voice.
"This is Director Piggot. All protectorate heroes and Wards are to report immediately to the operations room. This is neither a request or a drill. We are entering a state of heightened emergency as of now." Dennis' mouth dropped
'What the hell is going on now!?'