I don't like hospitals. It's a very recently formed opinion, and probably not entirely fair, but that doesn't change anything. It really makes me wonder just what I'm doing, sitting stiffly on the edge of an examination bed, killing time while I wait for someone to show up and fix me.

"Why are we at the hospital?"

Glory Girl doesn't turn away from the mirror where she's been fussing over the blood drying on the collar of her costume for the past five minutes. "Because some psycho stabbed you with a needle bigger than the straws at Fugly Bob's."

That's...got to be the weirdest comparison she could have made. "What?"

She pauses, then growls and shakes her head. "It's a giant needle, is my point!"

And I really do get that part. After all, I've been sitting as still as possible since she dropped me here, doing my best to think of anything other than the piece of metal still lodged in me. Or what it might imply about the guy that attacked me. "I thought we were just going for first aid."

"That was before I realized that you'd been impaled." She glares at my reflection, and I look away. "If you were still bleeding, we wouldn't just be waiting on Amy. Trust me."

It really is bad enough that she didn't let me walk in under my own power. The way she basically commandeered this room for us to wait in...I can deal with that. Having to bring in actual doctors, making this whole thing into an even bigger thing? No thank you. I'll just shut my mouth and give her this one.

"So what happened back there, anyway? That guy came out of nowhere."

That's the big question, isn't it? I've got my suspicions on the 'who', but the 'why'...I don't know. "I didn't exactly get a lot of warning before he tackled me." All I really know is that he had a Charm. And that means either he found a Shrine and took it...or he built the Shrines, and he's pissed at me. For taking the things that were there. Which would...actually, that makes perfect sense.

Shit.

"It was kind of hectic." I try not to sound too much like I'm deflecting. "Not much time to ask questions, you know?"

Although he hadn't had much of a problem with it. 'Why do they work for you?'

That had to be important, somehow...

"I'll bet." She pulls a face, tugs at the hem of her cape before turning away from the mirror. "You know, if you hadn't been a cheating teleporter, I wouldn't have been off looking for you three blocks away." Her smile is a little brittle. "So when you think about it, this whole thing is kinda on you."

I smile too, despite myself. Because she isn't wrong. This is probably all on me. Which means that not only is she not wrong, she's been...right.

"He had a Bone Charm."

"...he had a what?"

The door opens. I'm not sure whether Amy's timing is great, or terrible. Maybe it's just my timing. Or maybe I'm an idiot. Why the hell would I choose now, of all times, to just slip something like that into conversation…?

I hiss under my breath as Glory Girl shoots me a sharp look. She watches for a moment before pasting on a smile and turning to her sister.

"Hey, Ames."

"What happened?" Amy is in front of her almost immediately, hands hovering over the spots of red on her costume. "Are you okay?"

Well, it's nice to see that sort of concern. And it's good to know that Glory Girl finds the idea of being hurt so hilarious. "What? No, no, I'm fine." She's grinning as she swats Amy's hands away, but it fades quickly when she turns back to me. "She could use some help, though. This crazy Cape attacked her out of nowhere, and now she's got a giant needle jammed in her neck."

"It's really more into my shoulder." I feel the need to clarify, reaching up to trace down from above my collar, to the point where I feel what I think is the end of the thing. Even that pressure is enough to send a sharp pain up my neck, and I grit my teeth as I settle back again. "I stopped bleeding, but I would really appreciate getting it out." A pause, as she just sort of stares. "I wanted to just yank it out and get bandaged up. Glory Girl insisted we come see you."

"Because you're a dumbass."

Amy takes a deep breath, pinches the bridge of her nose. "That's...it's a good thing you came in, yeah. You probably could have just gone into the emergency room, though."

"I mean, maybe." Glory Girl huffs. "But you're here now, right? And if we can save some time here, maybe we can get back out and do something about this thing."

Wait, was that part of the plan? I wasn't consulted about that. And the last time we went out looking for people, we just wound up wandering around for hours on end. "We can talk about what to do about this."

"Right, that too."

Another few moments of silence, and Amy sighs, stepping around Glory Girl to approach me. "I have your permission to heal you?"

I almost nod before catching myself; that'd be painful, right now. "Uh, yeah."

"Right." She reaches out and takes my hand, eyes going distant...my shoulder goes numb, then the side of my neck. And as nice as not being in pain is, not feeling anything there is almost as bad. "Alright, that's...more than I was expecting. Vicky, can you come over here and pull this thing out?"

"Eargh. Okay, sure." She's there a second later, and I tilt my head back a bit. Pressure, and then a tug. "Oh, what the hell?"

I probably would have phrased that a bit more strongly; I swallow, as she holds up the...needle. I mean, it definitely looks like a hypodermic needle. I just didn't know they came in that size. "Okay. So that's different."

"There's a lot of bruising, there." Amy speaks up, eyes narrowed as she stares at my neck. "You weren't injected with anything, but I think...whoever did this was drawing blood."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Thanks, Glory Girl. "You're sure?"

Amy rolls her eyes, and I wince as my shoulder goes from 'numb' to 'pins-and-needles'. "I'm pretty sure, yes."

Alright then. He was after blood. That's…I...don't really know what to think of that, right now. "Right. Thanks, Amy."

"Just try to keep it from happening again, please?" She sighs. "It's busy enough around here."

"They've got plenty of doctors here you know."

"And I can help with things they can't take care of themselves."

An awkward sort of silence, and I look away from the pair as they stare each other down...I'm not the only one with family drama. Knew that, but seeing is different, obviously.

"Guess we'll get out of your hair then, huh?" I almost jump as Glory Girl nudges me, and turn my attention back to her. She waves the needle in front of me until I reach out to take it, then turns back to her sister. "See you at home."

Amy lingers in the doorway, but then steels herself, and nods "Sure."

The door closes. For a few seconds, Glory Girl is just sort of standing in front of me, watching it. And here I am, sitting here, wondering if I'm supposed to say anything. Maybe just wait? That seems like the best option. Gives me a chance to stretch my neck out, a bit, and figure out what I'm supposed to do with this needle...thing.

Shit. It's got to be almost six inches long. No wonder it hurt like hell…

"Hey." I look up, and blink owlishly as Glory Girl presses a finger against one of the lenses on my mask. "Take us outside. I want to get home so I can take a shower. And some clean clothes or something."

"Sorry for...bleeding on you?"

"That's great!" She grins, and I rock back for a second as she pushes. "So you can make it up to me by telling me about how some random Cape out of nowhere got his hands on one of those creepy-ass things you keep telling me are so useful."

Figured that was coming. I sigh, stand, and grab her arm to take us to the roof. "Just...let me know when you want to meet."

"Oh yeah. I'll give you a call." She waves, lifting into the air before accelerating away.

It probably won't take her very long to get her stuff settled. Which means I don't have much time myself. Time to clean up, to change into something that isn't quite as bloody...and to figure out just how much I really know. How much of that I'm willing to share.

She's been worried enough about the Bone Charms. I can only imagine how she'd react if I actually told her about the Outsider.

Speaking of…

"I don't suppose you have any cryptic advice for me?"

Nothing.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

xxxxxxxxxx

It should surprise me more that, despite all the shit that's happening in Brockton bay, the Boardwalk is still drawing a crowd.

Late in the day, it's a quiet sort of crowd, but that doesn't change the fact that these people...I don't know. It all seems ridiculous, somehow. "Not where I would have chosen."

"That's kinda the point." Victoria glances back at me, like she's trying to make sure I'm still following her. I can't quite bring myself to meet her eyes. "C'mon." She doesn't miss a step, leading us on ahead. Past shops and kiosks, the obvious tourists and a few groups of equally obvious locals.

There's a man in a suit standing at the door of the coffee shop. Victoria smiles and thanks him as he holds it open for us. I can't help but notice the way his jacket tugs against something hanging under his arm.

I don't know that it's a gun. But there's a reason there's no gang presence on the Boardwalk. And it's something I should be aware of.

"Sit." Victoria points to a table jammed into one corner of shop, and I move as directed. Watch her breeze up to the counter as I work to tug my chair out as unobtrusively as possible. The wait is nerve-wracking, but when it's over I almost wish that it had lasted a little longer. She's already sliding a paper cup across to me, and I'm still not sure what I'm going to say.

"...I don't really like coffee."

She palms her face, takes a deep breath, and shakes her head. "More for me, then." She takes the cup back, and considers it thoughtfully for a few seconds before setting it down next to her own. "You know, I'm starting to notice a pattern, here."

Yeah, she's not the only one. I sigh, force myself to relax a little. "I do something stupid, then spill my guts when you refuse to take 'no' for an answer?"

That earns me an actual smile. "Well hey, you actually do have a brain. I was starting to wonder." I roll my eyes, and her smile grows. Holds, just for a second, before dropping. "Not sure I like that that's a pattern, you know?"

I nod. She takes a drink, and watches me for a moment before leaning over the table and letting her voice drop. "So, let's skip the 'I told you so' part of this and get right to the fact that this guy had one of those bone-thingies."

Getting right into things. Okay then. "I'd teleported us up, trying to get loose. We were falling, fighting...and he pulled out a Charm."

"Like the ones you've been finding." I nod. "That can't be coincidence."

"Probably not."

She leans back again, turns to look around the shop. "So what, he just decided to show it off or something?"

"He jammed it against my neck." I reach up to rub fitfully at the spot. I'd thoughthe was just trying to hurt me, shake my concentration, but after what Amy said, I've had to consider something else. "He got my blood all over it, before I could get loose. Then he broke it, and vanished."

Victoria just looks at me, for several long moments. "You think he used it to teleport." When I nod, she takes a deep breath, lets it hiss out between her teeth. "And he was after your blood...fucking trumps." She picks up her coffee and waves it at me. "You're getting rid of those things."

"No, I'm not."

She scowls, then winces as the lid pops off her cup, the stiff paper deformed in her grip. She's quick to set it down again, giving it a baleful look before turning back to me. "The hell you're not...Taylor, this guy was after you, specifically. Probably because of those 'charms' you keep telling me are so great. For all we know, this was the whack job that booby-trapped that stupid mask of yours...and even if he's not, how the hell do you think he found you today? Huh?"

"We weren't exactly being subtle, earlier…"

"So what, he just got lucky? No way. It's gotta be those things. He can track them or something…"

"Then he's had close to a month to find out where I live. Or to attack me before." I clench my fists under the table, doing my best to stay calm and...confident. "If he can track them, then getting rid of them still doesn't actually help me."

"You-" She bites down whatever she was about to say, visibly composing herself. And then her brows furrow, and she leans forward again. "...there's something going on here."

I'm...pretty sure there is, yes. "That's what we're talking about, isn't it?"

"No, I don't mean what happened today…" She frowns, tapping the table. "You've been so set on keeping these things from the start. And whatever, they're useful. But you didn't drop them the second somebody tried to kill you for having them."

That isn't a road I want to have to go down right now. "Considering having them is what saved my life the first time that happened-" She opens her mouth, but now I scowl, cutting her off before she can continue down that line of reasoning. "Look, this is already happening. I doubt that just dropping them now is going to stop this guy from showing up again at some point. That's the problem that we're looking at now, right?"

"...yeah." She sighs again, head dropping into her hands...and then she scoffs, and tosses her head, slumping back in her chair to eye me again. "Yeah, I guess it is."

That...feels like a crisis nicely averted. Even if it does make me feel like shit. "So, can we focus on what we're going to do about it?" A pause, and I relax again, try to project my sincerest wish to be done with this particular conversation. "Please?"

She nods, turning her attention to her coffee cup. Doesn't respond until she secures the lid again and manages to actually take a drink. "What we're going to do, huh? I could talk to my parents about this, you know. Get the rest of my family in on things."

I'm honestly tempted for a moment. More backup...would be great. But it's probably not a good idea. "You remember what happened the last time we stumbled across something dangerous?"

"Yes. Friggin' Bakuda…"

"And you got grounded?"

"That was a curfew thing!"

I wait all of five seconds, and her indignant expression fades.

"Well, it was mostly a curfew thing." She grumbles, setting her coffee down again. "What about my cousins? I can convince them not to bring it up with their parents, and a little extra help is better than none, right?"

It's...probably not as bad an idea. "Maybe…"

"Great. So that covers the 'who'. Not sure what we're gonna wind up doing, though."

That one might not be as difficult. He already found me once. Next time...he won't get another chance to surprise me. Us. "I'm already helping you keep an eye out for the Undersiders, right?" Victoria nods, and I shrug. "So...you just help me keep an eye out for this guy."

She tilts her head, thinking that over for a second...and then she smirks, arching a brow at me. "You know what this means, right?" I'm...not sure I do. She chuckles, as I shake my head. "It means that we both have...uh...a nemesis." The smirk turns into a frown. "Nemeses, right?"

"That's...yes. 'Nemeses'."

"Awesome. We're nemeses buddies now."

"..." I sigh again, and shake my head. "Sounds great."

"Doesn't it?" She nods, and slides the second coffee cup over. "Now drink up."

"I don't like coffee."

"Tough. Drink."

Ugh...I pull a face, and take a drink.

It's...not so bad, actually.

"'Don't like coffee', huh?"

"Shut up."

"Make me."

She's grinning, at this point, and I manage to hold a glare for all of ten seconds before letting out an undignified snort. and lifting my cup. She doesn't hesitate to tap it with her own, and take another drink.

I think that means we're good.