March 28th, 2011 - Monday
Morning
In the days after Lung's capture hit the media, a tense silence fell over Brockton Bay. Nothing overt was happening - yet - but people were nervous. Thugs with swastikas and 88 tattoos were more common a sight in Empire-controlled areas than they've been in a long time, and the kinds of people who had reason to be uneasy around them stayed indoors at night even in neighbourhoods where they wouldn't have done so a week ago, but nobody was in a hurry to make the first move, as if everyone was waiting for some unseen signal.
None of this was on Taylor's mind as she fumbled for her ringing phone, jolted out of sleep at a far earlier hour than she was used to lately. She finally managed to grab it and put it to her ear.
"Hello?" she answered blearily.
"Turn on the news. Now."
Jennifer hung up, and Taylor got out of the bed and turned on the TV in the living room. The first news channel she managed to find was slowly scrolling through a list of names next to pairs of pictures.
"The PRT has not yet released a statement..."
Taylor recognized the people in half of the pictures. They were Empire capes, with pictures of them in their civilian identities right next to them, along with their names. Max Anders. Kayden Anders. James Fliescher.
Taylor mentally rewound backwards. Max Anders? She remembered some high society thing the Barneses dragged their family into, back when her mom was alive. Anders was among the people Alan introduced them to. I shook hands with the man, dammit!
As the newscaster rambled on, Taylor calmed down and started thinking how the Empire would react. She was sure that they wouldn't take it lying down, no matter what. And if they targeted the Elite while lashing out...
She ran back into the bedroom to grab her phone and called her home number, hoping Dad hadn't gone out to work yet. He wasn't.
"Taylor?"
"Dad. Did you see the news?"
"I did. Is this real? Someone's lit the powder keg."
"I don't know, but... Be careful, okay? There's no telling what the Empire might do after this."
"Of course, Taylor. I think I'll-"
Taylor didn't hear what he said next, thanks to the newscaster showing another, familiar face.
"Another of the informant's leaks concerned the criminal record of Shadow Stalker, and her civilian identity's involvement in the events leading to this year's Winslow Massacre..."
"-Taylor, are you there?"
"...They just outed Sophia. I think they're... yeah, they're publishing my journal too. Fuck."
"That's about the right word. I have to go now... I'd ask you to stay safe, but the last time you promised that you picked a fight with Lung not two weeks after."
"Dad!" Taylor exclaimed, but he'd already hung up.
~o~o~o~
March 28th, 2011 - Monday
Evening
Taylor and Martin entered the warehouse. They'd seen Jennifer's car on the way in, and Cameron's was there already, so they were only waiting on... No, Taylor corrected herself. Lim would stay benched for at least a couple of weeks. Jennifer had explained after the job that she could set him up with a healer who could ensure no permanent damage was done, but the cape's power was apparently more reliable on wounds that had healed naturally for at least some time.
When they entered the office, Jennifer held a hand up.
"First things first. Taylor, don't panic." The words didn't help the sudden sinking feeling in Taylor's stomach at all. "I checked on your father's house on the way from work. It's been ransacked, but I didn't find any signs of a fight. Whoever that was, I think they didn't find him. Do you have any idea where he could've gone?"
Taylor forced herself to think. "I did warn him to be careful when the news hit. Maybe... maybe he decided to stay somewhere else? I can think of a few people, but I don't know where most of them live."
"Any names?"
"Kurt and Lacey are probably closest, and I think their house had a spare room. It's the first place I'd think of, but I think they moved houses a couple of years ago and I don't know where the new one is."
Jennifer cracked a smile and reached for one of the drawers, pulling out a stack of papers.
"This Kurt, he's one of the people we've hired to run security for Parian, right? It should be... yes, found it. Convenient place too, we'll be able to check it out along the way tonight."
"Along the way to what?" Taylor asked. The others seemed curious as well.
"Kaiser might be in charge of the Empire, but Othala is what gives them their staying power. Take her out, and attrition turns against them."
"Assassinating an outed cape seems like a risky move," Martin noted. Taylor figured expecting any of the supervillains to voice moral objections first was a bit much.
"That's why it's Plan B," Jennifer replied. "I could do that on my own, anyway. I have a better idea. We capture her and deliver her to the PRT, same as we did the Merchants."
"Um, Boss, I can believe the PRT holding on to the Merchants, but do you really think they'll manage to keep the Empire from breaking out one of their most valuable capes?" Cameron asked increduloisly.
"That's the point. It will force the Empire's hand, make them predictable. After that..."
Jennifer proceeded to explain her plan.
~o~o~o~
March 28th, 2011 - Monday
Late Evening
Jennifer and Taylor were in a car, headed for Empire territory in search of their safehouses. Gathering information, as expected, was the first step of the plan - it was unlikely that they'd find Othala herself, but the Empire capes were unlikely to be sleeping in their own homes tonight, and that meant Jennifer would comb the Empire territory with her insects while Taylor played bodyguard. This part of the plan relied a lot on luck, but it wasn't particularly risky, which meant Taylor had plenty of time to fret about her father.
So far, all they'd found was a potential drug stash, which Jennifer noted contained some bottles with Medhall labels. They took a detour toward Kurt and Lacey's place, and Taylor waited for Jennifer to just tell her he's there already...
"Found him," Jennifer said after what seemed like forever. She looked at Taylor with the corner of her eye, smiling. Taylor felt her nerves settle... then Jen's eyes widened and her smile froze.
"A car just pulled over nearby. Four guys, all armed. I'll drop you off just out of sight, but you'll have to move fast," she said, motioning towards the glove box. Taylor opened it, found a handful of earbuds, and put one in while Jen navigated the streets. A minute later, the car took a turn into the street, and Taylor jumped out, sprinting towards the house. The skinheads had split up, each seemingly planning to break in through a different window. The one nearest to her finally spotted her when she was fifteen feet away and tried to shoot her, but she jerked to the side at the last moment and the bullet went wide. He didn't get another shot off before Taylor slammed him headfirst into a wall, but he managed to cry out before going down. The gunshot will have alerted the others, anyway.
Hearing the other three windows break was confirmation of that. She circled to the left, peeked in the window, and saw a skinhead in the kitchen, creeping towards where the one who tried to shoot her would've entered through. Taylor spotted a rolling pin on the kitchen counter within easy reach of the window and climbed in. The grass crunched beneath her feet and the skinhead started turned around, but she grabbed the pin and threw it at his face before he could pull the trigger, then dashed forward and ripped the gun out of his dazed hands before punching him right below the sternum. He collapsed, and she moved to hunt down the third.
"He's lurking in the second doorway to the left. I'll distract him, go on my signal," Jennifer's voice rang in her ear.
The "Now!" was accompanied by a loud slap coming from the room. Taylor jumped in and disarmed the thug, who was too distracted by the handful of spiders crawling over his face to pull the trigger in time.
While she was busy with that, she felt several spikes of anger from upstairs, and a gunshot rang out as one of the angry people faded out. No, no, no...
Taylor dashed upstairs, uncaring of the chance of running into a gunman. She was furious enough that the gun wouldn't have done him any good, even if he was...
Even if he wasn't lying unconscious on the floor, surrounded by her dad, Kurt and Lacey, the latter standing behind the fallen thug with an omnibus edition of Lord of the Rings that was a gift to her from Taylor's mom. Taylor stared slackjawed at the scene in front of her, while the three froze up at her sudden intrusion. After a few moments, Kurt lowered the baseball bat in his hands.
"We meet at the strangest times, Taylor. Was that you causing the ruckus downstairs?"
"Yeah... yeah, there were three more, but they're out cold now. Are - are you guys alright?"
"We're fine," her dad rasped out. "Just got grazed by that shot at the end, that's all. Had worse, but I'd best bandage it up anyway," he said, before heading towards the bathroom to presumably do just that.
"The neighbours have already called the police. I've had the gold widows bite the thugs, but we really have to get out of here fast."
"Sorry about this mess," Taylor said. "Bringing you into our problems..."
"Don't worry, Taylor," Lacey answered. "It's what friends do."
"...Thanks. I have to go now."
Jennifer and Taylor drove away while the police sirens were just starting to sound. They continued their search for Empire capes for a couple more hours, before hitting the jackpot while passing an abandoned animal shelter.
"Not very abandoned," Jennifer said as she circled it from the edge of her range. "Plenty of dogs in there. Smell of blood. A handful of thugs, and... yes, that's him. Hookwolf. The others could be Stormtiger and Cricket, I think."
Jennifer spent a few minutes scouring the place with insects, before taking Taylor to her flat.
"Get a good night's sleep, Taylor. Tomorrow's going to be fun," she advised, before driving off.