1.10

Amy entered Room 303 at a trot. There were three more rooms to hit on this floor, and then she could go home. She was exhausted. Too exhausted to manage her normal guilt trip about healing.

The Protectorate had called her in for- how many Merchants had it been- 20? 30? Something about them getting caught up in a parahuman fight. She still wasn't sure what had happened there. The PRT had captured Squealer and Mush though, and she'd personally confirmed Skidmark's death.

It wasn't something she'd admit to anyone- one of a long line of such things, but she was pretty damn glad that Skidmark had finally died. The city was literally a better place without him around. With luck, the Merchants would dissolve now. Another gang would move in on their turf, but the Merchants would still be gone. She wouldn't have to heal any more elementary school kids who overdosed, or fix girls that the Merchants had gotten hooked and sold for sex.

It was a small, ugly consolation, but it gave her the boost she needed to keep going.

The man in 303 was thin, middle-aged, wearing a breathing mask. He was asleep when she came in. That was a problem. He couldn't consent if he was asleep. She checked his chart.

Possible Attempted Suicide- Drowning. Submerged for some time, likely brain damage and damage to lungs from water inhalation. Unconscious since he came in. Next of kin was listed. She'd have to talk to the doctor about consent then.

The door shut behind her.

Amy turned to look out of reflex.

A man was standing in front of the door. He wore a full suit of armor, covering every inch of skin under thick plates.

Amy tried to scream, but the man moved like lightning. He caught her wrist and locked his hand over her mouth. Her scream came out as a muffled whimper.

"Easy, girl. I mean you no harm." The man said, his voice calm. Amy groped blindly for her phone, trying to hit the combination of keys that would activate her silent alarm. Victoria could be there to save her in a matter of minutes.

"I said, easy." The man grabbed her other hand, holding both of hers with one massive gauntlet.

He pulled her away from the door. Amy struggled harder, trying to get away. Her breaths came out short and ragged, hissing between his fingers. The man finally tired of her struggling and shoved her into a chair.

He leaned in, his face only inches from hers. A single, ice-blue eye stared at her through the slit in his visor.

"I am not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." His voice was still calm, but firm. "I am going to take my hand away, and you're not going to scream. Okay?"

Amy nodded frantically. The man pulled his hand away. She immediately tried to scream. Someone would hear her. Someone had to hear her. His gloved hand clamped over her mouth like a vice.

"Maybe we have different definitions of what screaming is." He said, a note of laughter in his voice. "Let me rephrase it. My name is Allfather. Do you know who I am?"

Allfather? That was impossible. Allfather had led the Empire before Kaiser, but he'd died years ago. He'd been one of the old-school villains that fought Marquis and the Teeth. Carol had mentioned him occasionally; called him 'a Nazi psychopath.'

She fell silent. Allfather nodded knowingly. "I see that you do. I give you my word that I will not harm you. I swear that I just want to talk to you."

Without waiting for her to acknowledge him, Allfather let go of her and backed away. Amy stayed where she was. She let one hand stray to her pocket, but kept her eyes locked on the supervillain.

Allfather turned his head, looking at an empty chair by the bed.

"What do you mean, 'I didn't have to grab her?'" He said.

Was he using a communicator? She took advantage of his distraction to get her hand on her phone.

"…Oh. I believe I misunderstood you." Allfather said. He sounded embarrassed. "My apologies, Panacea." He gestured at the empty chair. "My associate and I had a miscommunication."

Amy stared at him. "Y-your associate?" She said.

"Yes. I'm very fortunate to work alongside her. Isn't that right Ta... Toten… uh- er... Empress. My partner, Empress."

He hesitated for a moment, still staring at the chair. "What do you mean you don't like it? I can't very well call you by your real name, can I?"

Allfather turned back to Amy, his composure ruffled. "She's invisible. Like a ghost."

Amy nodded slowly. Right. Allfather was completely and totally insane. She started surreptitiously dialing the number for her alarm.

"Empress asked me to speak to you about this patient." Allfather continued. "It is vitally important that this man not die. Will you take a look at him?"

She looked at him incredulously. "I was going to. If you hadn't grabbed me, he'd already be healed."

Allfather sagged. "You don't have to agree with her." He said to the chair.

"I'm going to heal him now." She moved toward the bed before Allfather could disagree. The sooner she fixed him, the sooner she could get the hell out of here.

It took only a single finger pressed to the patient's hand for her to feel him.

Three cracked ribs, a broken collarbone, bruising on the chest and mouth. That was probably from the CPR. Damage to both lungs, lowered oxygen levels in the blood. Some hemolysis from water inhalation.

She repaired each injury as she found it and moved on. The hemolysis was the worst. She fixed it, and repaired the damage it had caused to his heart. Allfather was silent as she worked.

Decreased brain function caused by hypoxia. Loss of functionality and working tissue in around 15% of the brain. Lowered oxygen levels in blood flow to the brain.

That… that was all bad. She couldn't fix his brain. She stimulated higher oxygen intake to correct the levels in his blood, but that was all she could do for his brain.

"Done." Amy said. She straightened up, stretching her stiff back.

"He's going to be alright?" Allfather said.

"I fixed all that I could."

"Meaning…" Allfather said.

"Meaning that I fixed his body. I can't do anything for his brain."

Allfather glanced at the chair. "She wants to know if he'll wake up."

There was an awful sinking feeling in Amy's stomach. She knew it very well. It happened every time; people always reacted the same way.

"I- … No, I don't think he will."

He went very still. He was still looking at the chair.

"I'm very sorry, but I have to go." Amy said. She rushed to the door, but Allfather caught her arm.

"Hold it." He pulled her back to the bed. "She wants you to try."

Amy shook her head. "I can't. I don't do brains."

"Can't, or won't?" Allfather said. "I don't see what makes the brain so different."

She couldn't. It was one of her rules. One of the lines she could never cross. Not for anything. She didn't trust herself to do it. Someone as loathsome as her couldn't have that kind of control over other people.

"I can't!" She shouted.

"Keep it down." Allfather growled. He looked to the chair. "I should… No, you can't. You can't offer her that kind of deal. She'll blow the whole thing wide open."

Allfather continued having a conversation with someone that wasn't there. Amy reached for her phone again. It was awkward; Allfather had her so she had to reach across with her opposite hand.

"Yes, I understand that but- no, I don't think you're going to do that. Not if you don't want-" He flinched suddenly. "Don't scream like that. I keep thinking they'll hear you."

Amy managed to get her fingers around her phone before Allfather spoke again.

"I- fine. I understand. He's important to you, and I would do the same."

Amy stumbled as Allfather let go of her, falling onto the bed.

"Panacea, Empress would like to offer you a deal."

"I don't make deals with Nazis." Amy snapped.

Allfather ignored her. "In exchange for you healing Mr. Hebert here, Empress will resurrect one dead parahuman of your choice."

What. Seriously. WHAT.

"What?" Amy gaped at him.

"It's exactly how it sounds. I'm only speaking to you because of her ability. Show her Skidmark."

A man appeared from nowhere. He was filthy, his clothes ragged and unwashed. The only indicators that he was a parahuman was his cape and mask. Both of which appeared to be made out of old t-shirts. Amy recognized him. She'd just seen his body that morning.

"Holy shit, it's really Skidmark." She whispered.

"It's about goddamn time that someone was fucking glad to see me." Skidmark crossed his arms. "Not a single one of you dick-shitting cocksluts has any appreciation for just how fucking important I-"

Skidmar vanished.

"Thank you." Allfather said to the chair. Amy took a moment to recalibrate. A dead man had just appeared from nowhere. So…

"There's really a person sitting in that chair?" She said to Allfather. He nodded.

"Oh yes. We're going to be making a lot of changes in this city." She could hear the smile in his voice. "Now, Panacea, there must be a parahuman out there that you'd like to see again."

She stared at him blankly. He'd put her on the spot, and she had no answer.

"Empress tells me you're part of New Wave. I think a couple of your members were around when I was. Maybe they'd like to meet someone? Or maybe one of them has passed away since then?"

The magnitude of what Allfather was proposing hit her. She could see Fleur, or Shooting Star or… Good God did she know a lot of dead capes. Their names came easily. She knew them by heart by now. Each and every one made their appearance any time she had a nightmare. That was something she'd never told anyone but Victoria.

Diamond Dog, who'd died of pancreatic cancer two weeks before she got her powers. Fleur, murdered in her own home by E88 thugs. Lightstar, who'd lost hope when Fleur died and did a suicide run against Behemoth. Versailles, who'd died in her arms after she couldn't heal his brain aneurysm. Hominem, shot to death by a mugger. Lachesis, killed by…

Amy shook her head, banishing the parade of dead heroes back to her memories.

She could see one of them again.

And all she would have to do would be to compromise her rule. But… it could be for more than just her. What would Carol say if she could see Fleur? Mark could see his brother again. Would they finally accept her if she made that sacrifice for them? Would they understand if she told them?

…how would they react if she said no? That she'd denied them a chance to see their family again out of her own selfishness. What if she was just getting scammed? It wouldn't be the first time that someone had tried to bilk her into healing someone.

"I… I need some time to think about this." She said.

"That's not an option-" Allfather paused. "She… Empress accepts, but also hopes that you make your decision quickly. The offer will stand until you make your choice."

Slowly, Amy stepped away from Allfather and toward the door. He made no move to stop her. Her steps quickened until she slammed the door behind her and ran pell-mell down the hallway.

Patients and staff looked at her as she ran, but she kept going. She burst into the stairwell and then pounded up the stairs. Her panic had turned into disgust at some point. How could she be so selfish to deny Carol and Mark this opportunity? All for her stupid rules. The ones that only existed because she was an awful, pitiful excuse for a person. Too disgusting to even do good without rules to guide her. So weak that she had to be bribed into healing someone by a fucking Nazi.

The roof was deserted. She went up there to smoke sometimes, but now she only dialed furiously for Victoria, mashing the keys with her clumsy fingers.

"Hey, Ames, you ready to-"

"Pick me up!" She yelled into the phone. "Get me out of here!"

Amy fell to her knees. The concrete was ice-cold, but she stayed there, staring into the sky for the one person in the world who actually cared about her.

And when Victoria finally came, Amy didn't say a word about the deal.

I slumped in my chair, exhausted in mind and body.

"Notice how she didn't argue too hard about not healing your father. She can do it." Allfather said. He was leaning against the wall beside me.

"Yeah. You think she'll take the offer?" I said.

"I have hope." Allfather said. "God will provide."

I snorted quietly, but kept my words to myself. God had sent us a healer who wouldn't heal.

"I could always just kill her." He said matter-of-factly. "She'd likely be more agreeable as a ghost."

"What the fuck, Allfather?" I gave him a flat stare. "That's Panacea. She's a hero. A real hero. It's not the same thing as hunting down Shadow Stalker."

He made a noise like "hmm."

"I don't think she'll be back any time soon." I said. "If she takes too long, we'll go to her house. To talk."

We lapsed into thoughtful silence. Allfather's suggestion was an option, but I wasn't going to take it any time soon. I would get Dad back to normal, but I sure as hell wasn't going to go around murdering heroes to do it. If Panacea wouldn't come around, I'd find some other way.

"It is a terrible thing, to see a parent like this." Allfather said suddenly. "How are you feeling?"

I squirmed on the chair. "I… I just need some time. I feel a lot better now that I've had a chance to talk to him. For what that's worth. We'll still take care of your Empire stuff, but I need some time to- for all of this." I waved at the hospital room. "I'm not going to let him die like this. Dad'll wake up. I'll make sure of it."

He put a hand on my shoulder. Physical contact was so unfamiliar to me that I almost fell out of the chair with surprise.

"Take all the time that you need, Taylor."

I looked at Dad. He looked like I felt. Tired and frail. Stretched thin.

"Yeah." I turned to Allfather. "By the way, I'm still mad about the Empress thing. That's the Nazi-est name you've used so far. I am not calling myself that."

He shrugged. "It just slipped out."

"Panacea thinks I'm a Nazi now."

"Good." He held up a hand at the look on my face. "Better for two Empire capes to take an interest in your father than for people to know who you really are."

"I-…" Fuck. He had a point there. "We're still not using Empress."

"Don't rule it out. It may be a useful alias. For now… how about… Baroness?"

"I'm a teenage girl, not the She-Wolf of the SS."

Allfather laughed. "Seele. German for 'soul.'"

"That's kind of pretty." I said. "Maybe."

"I'm getting closer. How about…"

Allfather kept suggesting names, and I kept refusing them. He didn't seem to mind though. We ended up talking for hours, laughing and joking with each other across Dad's bed. I knew that he was just trying to make me feel better, but it worked. There were two people in the world that I could talk to at the moment, and I was glad that one of them was him.

It was only when I woke in the morning that I realized I'd fallen asleep. Allfather was gone; he'd returned to my power while I slept. I stood and stretched, aching from having spent the night in the uncomfortable hospital chair.

"Please wake up." I whispered to Dad. I tried to hold his hand again and failed.

One of the nurses bustled in to look him over and I made my exit. I'd be back to see him later. I'd said I'd needed time, and Allfather had given it to me. I still hurt inside; still wanted to break down screaming, but I was calm enough now to hold it back while I attended to other things.

I had contracts to fulfill.

Or more immediately… I looked upward, staring at a patch of ceiling. Not there, but on the floor above. I could feel the connection. It was faint. Not the beacon that Skidmark had been, but not as faint as Allfather.

There were ghosts in the hospital.

SPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAKSPEAK

Haha, I know nothing about medical science. Just consider Amy's bioscan to be a whole lot of technobabble.