My hands are trembling, but I can't really do anything about that just now. I just breathe, as quietly and steadilyas possible, while I watch my target pace. He can't see me, I know that, but I keep expecting it...I lean forward to brace myself against the wall I'd put between us, keep up my watch, and think.

He's searching, but not moving. Waiting for me to come to him, but he's not making it easy. I could wait, see if he lets his guard down...no, that's not a plan; I don't know how much time I've got. And I can't just run from this, either. I'm not sure what that leaves. A head-on attack would be stupid, and I can't exactly-

Eyes on me. Who-

"Hey."

I turn, blink several times as my sight clarifies...she's unfamiliar. Pretty, blonde; I wouldn't have immediately labeled her as related to Victoria, but I've never been the best with that sort of thing...

"Uh…hi?" Okay, so this probably looks...kind of bad. Me in full costume, taking cover inside the Pelhams' house without asking. Yes, I'm here for a good reason, but now that I think about it, this might have been an overstep. A little bit. Not that...um...crap, I don't know her name. Laserdream. She doesn't look particularly upset?

More confused, actually. "You're Victoria's friend, right?" She moves off to one side, glancing out the window I'd been carefully avoiding. "Dad said he'd be working with someone today…"

"That's me." I cringe, glance toward the window, then the wall. "Could you not...?" No, that's rude. "I'm hiding. He told me to try and take him by surprise."

She eyes me for a second, then shrugs and steps back again. "Okay."

I relax, slightly. My death-grip on the baton loosens, just a bit, and I frown. Sweating hands. Wasn't really a problem with the tape on the bat, but with this rubberized stuff, I don't know. Might be something to talk about…

"So what are you going to do?"

Oh, right. Getting distracted like this isn't usuallya problem. "I'm...not sure yet." I enhance my vision again. Manpower is still pacing outside; I've left him waiting for a long time, it seems like, but he hasn't relaxed very much. Not enough for me to be comfortable popping in behind him. And I'd already eliminated that option. Just like the rest. Can't hit him from the back, or the front…

Duh. "I'm going to have to come in from above." Still, that leaves some concerns. Like...how am I going to incorporate my new weapon? Consider that's the whole point of this exercise, it's something I have to take into account. Dropping down limits me, there, but I can work with it.

I adjust my grip, and grab the baton at both ends. One more glance at him to check the placement, and work the timing in my head...I'll want to teleport immediately after impact, so I'll need the time to recharge. On the conservative side, that's a five second delay. Falling for that long might give me too much force, so I need to cut that, to be safe.

Maybe a longer fall, but higher up? And then I'll reverse things, move in low, let gravity bleed off my momentum, and take the shorter fall into the hit…

No, that'd never time out. I'm overthinking; chaining a couple of teleports won't kill me. I'll start low and deal with it after.

He's moved again, but that's fine. Easy to account for I close my eyes, take a deep breath in preparation-

-and I fall. One, two, three, I'm just off target, but when I lash out (four, five) I feel the impact. The ground is rushing up at me-

-so I turn, facing up at the sky. My stomach flips, blood rushes, and I twist in the air before I reach the apex of my 'fall'. Get my feet under me before I drop again. I land in a crouch and immediately reorient on Manpower, baton at the ready...

"Not a bad trick." He offers me a nod as he rubs his shoulder...he hasn't moved any closer, but I don't relax just yet. "Definitely overdoing it, but against anyone with a decent Brute rating...?"

It's good to know. "I'm not planning on fighting any Capes on my own."

"That doesn't mean you won't."

True enough.

A few moments of quiet...I guess we're breaking. I let my guard down, a bit, stand up straight, ease my mental 'grip' on my power. "I've never had to judge that sort of thing with a fall." Maybe something I can practice? I'd need to figure out a way to measure things, but that shouldn't be too hard. "I don't think it'll be one of the first things I think of, though."

"Probably a good thing." He starts forward. Not hostile, just...purposeful. "That was a nice recovery, too. Victoria mentioned that your teleporting doesn't negate your inertia?" It's...true enough, so I nod. "In the future you'll want to be careful with that. In the time it took you to turn yourself around safely, I could have been within arm's reach."

"And I would have been on the defensive."

He grins. "You have been listening."

"Doing my best." This is something to take seriously, after all. "So what's next? Another surprise attack?"

He seems to consider that, for a moment, as he stops in front of me. "No, you seem to have that covered well enough...at this point, I think you just need a little more practice in gauging your hits."

Is that really all? "Is this one of those 'practice makes perfect' things?"

"Pretty much." He grins, and spreads his arms. "And this is as good a chance as any to practice."

It's strange, getting permission from somebody to attack them. But I guess if I could take a hit like he can, I wouldn't have a problem with it either. "You want me to just…" I swing the baton, slowly. He nods again. Can't really misinterpret that, so...I hit him in the ribs.

"Lightening up again? I thought you'd already decided you didn't have a problem trying to hurt me."

I had, but there's a difference between 'fighting' and whatever this is. "I don't really plan to make a habit of fighting other heroes." He just smirks, a little smugly. That's actually pretty helpful.

I hit him again. Now I'm smirking.

"Right. That was a little too hard." I tilt my head, and he shifts his weight. "Try going for a joint this time."

I might as well.

It carries on like that for a time. I hit him, he tries to 'hit' me, and I avoid it by hitting him again. He tells me whether I used an appropriate level of force. Rinse and repeat.

I don't notice that we've drawn an audience until someone applauds a particularly smooth counter. I take a step back, ensure we're done before turning toward the back porch. Victoria and Amy, back from...whatever they'd been going to do. I'd forgotten, honestly.

"Looks like you're picking things up pretty quick." Victoria grins, hands on her hips as she eyes me. "And Crystal said she only found you creeping around inside once!"

"That's...I wasn't 'creeping'." My face heats, and I gesture at Manpower with my baton. "He said to try getting the drop on him, and that was the best cover that still gave me line of sight."

Manpower, for his part, just gives me a speculative look. "It's as good a reason as any, I suppose…"

And that's a great impression to leave with the guy taking time out of his Saturday to play punching bag for me. "Sorry. I didn't think about it until after."

He waves it off with a smile. "It really isn't a problem. You were playing it smart. And you're a guest." A pause and he holds out his hand. "Let me see?" The baton, right...I hand it over. It looks tiny in his hands. "Victoria said you already went over how to collapse these?" I nod as he draws back and slaps it down into his open palm with a smack. "Alright then. I'd say that you good to go." Another smack, and the baton clicks closed between his hands. "As long as you're careful."

"Got it." I nod, and accept the baton back, tugging my sweatshirt up for a moment to holster it. "Thanks for the help. Really, I appreciate this."

"Least I could do." He claps a hand on my shoulder, and I try not to stumble. "But you really should consider something a little more formal. Parahuman or not, a solid grounding in self-defense will go a long way."

"Sure?"

He chuckles and turns away, moving toward the back door. "You should bring her back some time, Vicky. Your cousins could do with a few surprises when they're practicing."

Oh, that sounds like it would be terrible. I shake my head, sharply, but Victoria just keeps grinning. "I'm sure she'd love to help, there."

I...really should have expected that. Ugh. I watch the door close, sigh, and reach up under my mask to rub at my eyes. "So you're volunteering me to work with your family because…?"

"It amuses me to see you squirm." She tilts her head. "And you can't tell me you don't want to take advantage of a valuable learning experience."

"Uh-huh…"

Amy clears her throat, shooting me a glance before turning her attention to Victoria. "Hey, it's almost three. I'm going to need to get to the hospital soon."

Almost immediately, Victoria's expression drops. "What? But I thought you weren't volunteering today?"

"In the morning. I said I was going in later today."

"I just thought the three of us might go on a patrol together, or something. Cover some more space than we usually do, y'know?"

Amy sighs. "They're expecting me. Sorry…"

"Well, I mean, at least let me take you."

"...yeah. Of course."

Victoria nods, smiling again. Maybe not quite as enthusiastically, but I guess that's to be expected. She turns to me, looking sheepish for a moment. "You busy, for the rest of the day?"

That would be a definitive 'no'. "I'm up for patrolling, if you want."

"Cool. I'll have to grab my costume anyway...meet you on that roof you like to hang out on near my place?"

I roll my eyes. "I don't 'hang out' there. It's just the closest place where I can be out of the way while I wait for you to actually be ready to...hero." Okay, that sounded better in my head.

She smirks, turns to hold her arms out. Amy moves in, Victoria sweeps her up, and they rise into the air in an obviously well-practiced routine. "See you in a bit, then."

I wave, as she flies away, just sort of...linger, for a minute. Before I realize what I'm doing, anyway. Then I teleport away.

Maybe I'll stop by home, for a couple minutes. Let dad know I'll be out for the rest of the day.

Let Victoria do a little waiting, for once.

xxxxxxxxxx

Downtown in mid-afternoon isn't exactly a hotbed of criminal activity, but we did get the chance to rough up a couple would-be muggers. Or...is that the right term?

"Hey, what do you call a mugger that isn't after money?"

Glory Girl barely glances my way, focused on something in the distance. "Huh...wait, what?"

"What do you call guys who ambush people just to beat them up? Not to steal from them, or whatever."

She snorts. "Assholes."

Right. And that seems to be as much an answer as she's got for me, at the moment.

She's been pensive, like this, for almost ten minutes now. I have this sinking feeling I know why. But I'm not about to start that conversation; all this stuff, the school, the bullies? I'm just looking to put it behind me. If she wants to worry about it, then...then that's not really fair. Dammit. I should never have said anything in the first place. 'Emotional catharsis' aside…

"So…"

Nope. "Manpower was pretty friendly."

She drifts ahead a bit, brows furrowed. But then she sighs, and smiles. "I think he tries a little too hard sometimes."

"I don't know. I didn't think it was so bad."

"Uh-huh." She turns, as we reach the edge of the building. I have to stop, but she just circles around to hover in front of me. "Just remember, that's my uncle." A pause, and she waggles her eyebrows. "My married uncle."

What does that have to do with...oh. "No. Just...no." She grins, and I roll my eyes, move across the street. Glory Girl's laughter heralds her return, and I do my best to ignore it as she trails along beside me.

"Oh man, I wish I could have seen your face!" She turns over in the air, rising up to roll over my head. "Seriously, I bet it was just...urgh." She faces me again to demonstrate. It's not a flattering expression.

"You really had to put that thought in my head, didn't you?"

"Hey, I saw my chance, and I took it." She settles again, actually dropping to the rooftop to walk with me. "Trust me, you'll look back on this later and you'll recognize my comedic genius."

"I'll bet."

She nods, and hums, folding her hands behind her back. We reach another corner, and this time I offer a hand to take us across. We barely miss a step.

"You know, if you joined the Wards, I bet you could get a transfer to Arcadia."

God. Dammit. "I'm already handling the situation."

She scoffs. "The way you told it, your 'handling' isn't working out so well."

"I'm handling it."

Silence. And, after a second, Glory Girl lifts into the air again. "Whatever. Come on, there's nothing going on around here." She eyes me, as she rises further. "I haven't seen you 'flying' yet. Think you can keep up with me?"

"I can give it a shot."

She smirks, and accelerates straight up. I take a running leap off the building and follow her.

xxxxxxxxxx

At some point this whole thing stopped being about finding bad-guys. I think it was about the time Victoria decided it would be a good idea to nudge me into a spin while I was building up my momentum again. And, yes, I mayhave retaliated by...using her as a springboard, to change direction.

Eyes at my back, and I twist in the air, trying to get a good idea of how long I-

"You're it!" The open-handed slap catches my arm and sends me tumbling to the side, and I barely hear her laughter over the wind as she takes off again. Tricky. I move-

-straight up to recover, and see if I can't get a bead on her. The rooftops rush up at me from below, but I've got time...there. A flash of white and gold darting in low. I straighten out, and pick a point that seems to be on her level-

-and my stomach flips as I appear, there. 'Falling' is 'flying' again; at least for the next few seconds. Enough time for me to spot her again, to orient myself properly, to make sure I'm not going to run into anything when I move closer.

I'm dropping, arcing towards the ground-

-and then up. Glory Girl glances back, spots me almost immediately. Her eyes widen, and she makes a hard left, looking to lose me by darting between buildings. I just go up, again, let my speed bleed away until I can twist in the air-

-and land, feet-first, on her back, my legs collapsing under me to kill whatever momentum I'd had left.

"You're it!"

She yowls indignantly as I push away, and I just barely dodge a backhanded swipe. I watch her as I fall, and grin beneath my mask.

And then I'm in the sky again, and doing my best to gain some distance before Glory Girl can recover enough to spot me and give chase. I learned pretty quickly that I can't match her in raw speed or acceleration. But I can make up for that with a little bit of subterfuge...I've been spotted. Guess it's time to move.

I go down, directing myself away from the prickling feeling that's settled at the back of my neck. Skimming low over the rooftops won't slow her down at all; Glory Girl has far more control in the air than I do, so she doesn't have to be nearly as careful. She will catch up.

But that's fine. Because I'm not looking to outrun her.

As I hit the top of my next arc, I turn to look...there she is. Bearing down on me with a vicious, victorious grin.

I wait, I count, and as she puts on a burst of speed to close the last few feet-

-I appear in the alleyway I'd passed just a few seconds before.

Inertia carries me up, and impulse has me reaching out to grab the railing of a fire-escape before I can rise any further. The whole thing rattles and I hang, almost weightless, for a moment. But then gravity reasserts itself, and I plant a foot on the edge of the platform, catching myself...easily enough.

Quiet. I do my best not to break it, as I pull myself over onto the platform proper...no Glory Girl swooping in. I think I might have actually pulled that off. Ha. I lean against the railing, and take a few moments to catch my breath. I feel shaky, and aware; probably adrenaline. I could definitely get used to the feeling.

Right now, though, I should probably get up to the roof. It wouldn't be very fair to just hide out here for the rest of the day. A moment of remember a bit more detail than 'flat', and I close my eyes,-

-drop a few feet to land in a crouch in the gravel.

Eyes on me already, above, toward the next building over. She must have been circling. Probably assumed that I'd try something clever like that...

A metallic crack. Something big flying toward me.

I don't move in time to avoid it, and then I'm on my back, and there's pain, lancing through my neck and shoulder. Weight pressing me into the gravel; I try to cry out as something hisses by my face, but I can't do more than gasp uselessly for breath.

Cold, settling in around the pain. A steady whirr, ragged breathing…

Move.

I'm falling. Except that isn't right, I realize as something hits my mask and snaps my head back. We're falling.

I push, and hear a strangled curse, a metallic snap. The pain in my neck doubles almost immediately, but I have greater range of motion…

How long have we been falling?

I don't risk it. Back up. And then up again. And, finally, I blink away the stars in my eyes and get a look at my attacker. The face-mask covers his mouth and nose, but it's his eyes nearly throw me. I don't like what I see there.

Up. This time I see him pulling back to hit me, and I bring an arm up to defend myself. It hurts, and sets us spinning, but I can't risk getting knocked senseless. Not here…

A hand snakes past my guard, gripping the front of my sweatshirt. More pain as something jostles...he fucking stabbed meand there's something still stuck there. I finally take a steady breath-

-and take us up, again, before he pulls me close enough to smell his rancid breath as he screams in my face.

"WHY DO THEY WORK FOR YOU!?"

I try to twist away, but that just turns us over. An elbow to the side of my head nearly knocks my mask out of place.

"TELL ME!"

I don't know where we are anymore. I really don't want to hit the ground from here. I want to get away from this psycho.

So I move us, one more time. Feel the shift of momentum as we climb. Feel the scrabbling of rats beneath my sweatshirt as I summon them, and the moment of bone-deep weariness as I assert my control over them immediately after. Too much, too quick, but I'll manage...they swarm him, clawing their way out of my sleeves and hood to latch on. Several go for his bloodied hands...bloody. I can feel the blood soaking my collar. Shit.

I can worry about that later. Now, I kick, and shove, and I command the rats to bite and claw. He screams again, wordless frustration, and tries to shake them off. He manages to free one hand, swipes at the rest of the rats for a moment...but then he reaches into the heavy coat he's wearing.

He pulls out a Bone Charm.

Oh, shit…

I let out a breathless cry as he shoves it against my neck...and then I'm free. We're still falling, but he's let go. Why…?

I manage to meet his eyes, just for a moment, before he lifts the bloodied Charm and tears one of the bone pieces out of its mounting.

He's gone.

But I'm still falling.

I turn to look down...I've got a little time. Enough to pick out a good, clear section of roof to appear above. It's almost thoughtless, at this point, to bleed off my momentum before setting myself down. No real effort, there. I still collapse almost immediately, falling to my knees and struggling to regain my breath. To...process. Because that was...that whole thing had just…

That had just happened. Out of fucking nowhere.

Someone's spotted me. I stagger to my feet as quickly as possible, and turn to...Glory Girl. I almost go to my knees again, relieved, but then she's beside me. Propping me up.

"Shit, T- Crow. What happened? I saw you-" Her eyes widen, as she looks down. I try to turn my head enough to see what she's looking at, but another jolt of pain discourages me. I guess it's probably obvious what got her attention, though. "What the hell?"

"I don't...fucking know." I hiss. "Can we figure it...out later?" Because right now, I'd really like to stop that bleeding before it gets any worse. "This really-" I gasp as she tries to get my arm up. "-hurts."

"Jesus, fine, yeah. Okay." She backs off a bit, and I wince at the bright red that's seeped into her cape at the shoulder. "Dammit, you need to stop this crap. It's just getting ridiculous."

I find myself in agreement. "I'll try."

"'I'll try' she says." A nervous chuckle, before she moves to my other side and just hauls me off my feet. "That comfortable?" I glare, but I don't think she can really tell, so it's something of a useless gesture. "Great. We'll get you to my place, we can do some first-aid, and then when Amy gets back from the hospital she can check you over."

God, I have this sinking feeling that I'm going to wind up owing Amy my firstborn or something. "Take it slow, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah. No problem…" I grit my teeth as she lifts off, and do my best to settle in.

We fly in silence, which is good. It gives me time to try and think.

I'd had my concerns about the trap at the last shrine, but I'd let myself forget. Focus on other things. It hadn't seemed like the most important thing to be worried about, with everything else that was happening. But now…?

Now I'm going to have to rethink that.