AN: So I need to find a better way to translate 'invisible text' into a format that works with . Because I'm not happy with the way I'm presenting it, here. Way too disruptive.

Bear with it, I guess?

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It's not actually a surprise that the closest available mirror is in the girl's bathroom that had been my haven in the months before I'd gotten my powers. With the way today has gone so far, I wouldn't have expected anything less.

Compared to everything else in this place, it's actually in good condition. No cracks, no grime, no graffiti. But just looking at my reflection, at the crumbling stalls behind me, is enough to confirm that it isn't acting like any sort of 'portal' right now.

Can I fix that? Maybe. No, probably. Seeing as how I got us into this, not being able to get us out again isn't an option. So I will do this, just as soon as I...figure out what it is I should be doing.

"So back there, that was the locker thing. Wasn't it?"

I sigh, and squeeze my eyes shut. Lean heavily on the counter in front of me in an effort to ride out a wave of lightheadedness.

"I mean, c'mon. I'm not stupid. We already talked about this stuff."

"We did." Or I did, at least. It hadn't really been a 'conversation' at the time. "What about it?"

Glory Girl moves up behind me, and when I open my eyes I can see her hovering (metaphorically and literally) just over my shoulder. "Are you for real right now? 'What about it'? This...everything about this is six kinds of messed up, and that's without having some nutbar with a grudge tramping all over your Trigger event! You need to get ahold of yourself, Taylor, because you're seriously underreacting here!"

I don't lean away from the steady increase in volume, but I also can't really feel my fingers anymore; I take a second to loosen my grip on the counter before answering. "I think...I'll save my freaking out for after I get us out of here. If that's okay with you?"

She flinches, touching down on the floor and turning away. "Right, whatever. Sorry." She crosses her arms, scuffs her heel, and finally hops up to sit on the edge of the counter. "I didn't miss the way you were bleeding yourself over that mirror back in the hideout. That your plan here?"

"I think the Tinker used my blood to make that thing to begin with." I take a deep breath to pull myself together, reach up to run gloved fingers across the mirror's surface. "There's a connection."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

It's cool. Solid. And when I pull at the freshly scabbed over cut on my other hand to smear fresh blood over the glass, nothing changes. Damn.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah?" Obviously it's more than just blood. Maybe...I press my palm flush against the glass, try to feel the blood. Feel out some edge of my power, like when I was first experimenting with it. "What?"

"If you knew something else about this guy that would help us catch him...you'd tell me, right?"

...I pull back, eye the bloody handprint left behind. "I want to catch him too."

"That's not what I'm asking."

I know that. And she was right; she isn't stupid. And as much as I've been trying to keep secrets, I know that I haven't exactly done the best job. That she's only asking now is probably more than I could have hoped for.

"...if." I glance up at her, but turn back to the mirror before I can meet her eyes. "If I did know something that would help, anything more useful than what we've already figured out...then yeah. I'd tell you." I would. If it made the difference between helping people and letting a murderer go, secrets about my powers go out the window.

Glory Girl nods, slowly. "Okay."

Quiet. Nothing more seems forthcoming. Which is fine, because I should get back to working out this mirror thing. Seeing as I'm still bleeding and my headache isn't any closer to going away.

So I press my hand to the glass again, and reach for my power. Not to teleport, or summon rats, or anything else. Just to feel it. Even when that feeling is a vice clamping down on my skull. Because I know this works, somehow. The Tinker was able to make a connection using my blood, and I was able to use it myself. I just need to figure out the 'how'.

aCcess-

A push brings more of that buzzing pain, and the feeling of energy moving through the blood beneath my hand. For a split second, my reflection vanishes. But then it's back, and I slump against the counter again...tug at my mask until I can pull it up far enough to...yeah, my nose is bleeding. That's not a good sign.

IntErFacE fAiluRe

"Jesus, are you okay?" Another set of hands gets to work undoing my hood, and I wipe at my nose with the sleeve of my coat as Glory Girl takes my mask. "Are you gonna stroke out on me?"

Heh. "Maybe." But not before I get us out of the Void.

AssiStaNce

"Look, just...take a second, alright?"

"You've come this far with what I've given you. Show me something new."

That's probably a good idea. Take a second, relax...and get ready to try again. When I do, the power comes easier. The reflection stays changed for longer. And the pain hits just a little harder. The hand on my shoulder helps, but-

BeaCoN. AsSisTanCe.

I hiss, fingers curling against the mirror as the reflection ripples.

compliance

"Uh...was that supposed to happen?"

"Maybe?" Our reflections aren't there, so the other side has to be the real Winslow bathroom. Which means all I need to do now is-

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This isn't like before. I know that. Because it's...foggy. Unreal.

"This is a dream."

"It is."

The Outsider is here. That makes sense. "But it's not just a dream, is it?" I turn...or maybe it's the Void turning around me. "This is really you."

Black eyes. A smile (and it's so very clearly fake). "I'm no less real than any other dream."

"If that's supposed to be an answer…" The Void shifts. Or my attention does. There's an ache in my bones as I bleed in front of a mirror. "...who is he? This Tinker." I turn away. "Did you give him his powers?"

Silence. Another smile. And his eyes turn elsewhere. "From a certain point of view."

Tick. Tock.

The gears turn beneath our feet. I let the motion carry me. "So that's a yes?"

"It is what it is."

"Useless, you mean."

"Only to someone not clever enough to find one."

I want to wake up. I want this day to be over. "Just...go away."

And then, nothing.

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I wake up with a massive headache and the lingering taste of blood in my mouth.

Trying to sit up is an exercise in futility, for the moment. I settle for turning on my side and waiting for some of the stiffness in my back and neck to fade.

That gives me the time to recognize the room as Victoria's. That the reason it took me so long to work out is because I'm lying on the bed, not the floor. Perspective is important, I guess...there's a glass of water on her bedside table, and what looks like a bottle of aspirin. Worth the pain?

Definitely.

Propping myself up against the headboard takes time. Keeping my hands from shaking as I drink isn't as difficult, but still annoying. And getting the bottle open...yeah. I'm glad that nobody else is here, because this would be embarrassing, otherwise. Still, I get it done. Down the tablets, and as much water as I can stomach. Think.

I was asleep, long enough to dream...long enough for someone to take care of the cut on my hand. Most of my costume has been removed, and...I don't feel any dried blood on my face. So I must have been really out of it-

Could have confirmed the time by looking for the alarm clock. Or out the window. Almost seven, at night, which means I lost most of the day. After leading New Wave into an empty lair and burning out my powers out trying (and failing) to catch murderous Tinker...who not only got his powers from the same source as me (from a 'certain point of view'), but has also seen my face. And that can only be a bad thing.

What can I do about it? The thing with New Wave...I don't know. They were there, they're experienced heroes. And I guess villains do get away. So maybe not something I'll have to worry about. The power burnout? I close my eyes...and tentatively enhance my vision. It doesn't help my headache at all, but it's not the stabbing pain from earlier.

And if the quiet footsteps in the hall hadn't tipped me off to an incoming visitor, seeing Victoria lingering just outside the door would have.

She freezes, the door half open, and I blink a few times to clear my vision again. Note her casual clothes and the basket full of grey-black before offering as close to a smile as I can manage right now. "Hey."

"'Hey'?" She relaxes, tucking the basket under her arm and slouching against the doorframe. "I guess as far as post-coma greetings go it's not so bad, but you really need to work on your delivery."

Post...for a second, I have trouble breathing. Because if I was in a coma, then I would have lost a lot more than a day…but then I realize that, of course, she's joking. "I wasn't in a coma."

"The next best thing, according to Amy." Her expression sobers, a bit, and she pushes away from the doorframe, nudges the door shut behind her. "She couldn't figure out the why, but she was all for getting you to the hospital." That...wouldn't have been good. Victoria catches my expression and nods, setting the basket down at the end of the bed. "Considering what little you've shared about your powers 'tiring you out', I figured giving you a chance to sleep it off might be a good idea."

"Thanks." I edge a little further back against the headboard, wince as something in my back pulls uncomfortably. "I'm guessing you left the water and stuff, too?" She smirks again, and I roll my eyes. "So thanks for that, too."

"Yeah, I know. I'm the best."

I roll my eyes. "It's nice of 'the best' to have brought me my costume back."

She snickers, lifts up to 'sit', legs crossed, just above my feet. "Well, I was feeling kinda generous, since you were so kind as to not bleed all over mine, this time."

Yeah, can't say I'm unhappy I managed to avoid that. "Least I could do."

"Uh-huh."

There's a moment of quiet that stretches just a little too long to be comfortable, before she shakes herself out and drifs off to the side to set down on her feet again. "Anyway, now that you're awake, you can call your dad and we can head back to your place for some commiseration slash celebration."

Back...oh, shit. Dad. I groan and palm my face. "He's probably freaking out."

"He called a little while ago, asking if you were here." She gestures vaguely as she tosses her closet open and starts digging. "I told him Amy wrecked you in a friendly family flag-football match and you were hiding in the shower."

"You-" No, of course she did. I sigh, and watch her for a few seconds as she starts putting together what looks like an overnight bag. "Okay. I'll give him a call."

"Should probably hop in the shower, too. Make sure you got all the blood off of you." She straightens up, shoots me a smile that isn't quite as happy as it should be. "You know, 'cause you were bleeding all over yourself."

"...got it."

I guess I'd better get up, then…

Hold on. "You said 'celebration'? What are we supposed to be celebrating?"

Oh, that's not a comforting expression.

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So. Apparently, I went viral.

Or, 'Crow' has, anyway. Considering the amount of attention the video has gotten, I don't think it's a name I'll be getting rid of any time soon.

Victoria waited to drag me up to my room, at least, until I'd apologized to dad for forgetting to leave a note (again), and for engaging in team sports with a family of Parahumans ('Flag football, Taylor? Really?'). But then she'd taken almost sadistic pleasure in shoving her phone in my face and making me sit through ten minutes of…

Well...me.

It must have been one of the teenagers in the crowd, because it starts with the tail end of Clockblocker's bomb story, and ends with an overly serious Vista insisting the person shooting the footage put their phone down and evacuate with everyone else already.

It also includes the entirety of my awkward attempt at recounting my attack on an ABB safehouse, lots of Grue-induced darkness, and my sneak-attack on Tattletale. The fight between remaining Undersiders and Protectorate is kind of interesting; watching Grue get tossed out of his own fog and into a table hard enough to break it is, in some ways, even satisfying. But the fact that the villains escape spoils any real enjoyment of what would otherwise be an 'awesome cape-fight'.

Particularly embarrassing is the fact that my snap decision to badmouth the other heroes got caught as well. Just barely; cell-phone microphones obviously aren't meant to pick up audio from across the room. But whoever posted the video apparently decided that it was important enough to tweak the volume, because as distorted as it is…

"'Payment for services rendered'?" Victoria is grinning at me, and I feel my face burning as I bury it in a pillow. "That's gotta be, like, plus eight style points. Way to go."

Of course she'd approve. "I regret everything." Well...almost everything. Hitting Sophia in the face was pretty much necessary, so that's not a concern.

"Aww, don't be like that." Victoria sets the phone on the back of my neck, tapping at it for a few seconds. "They majorly dropped the ball, there. And public opinion's mostly on your side, so that's pretty cool."

"I guess." It really could be worse. Somehow. "It probably wouldn't bother me as much if I hadn't dropped the ball today."

"Hey, we did what we could. And you went way further than you needed to, trying to get the guy." She picks up the phone again, taps it against the back of my head, and flops onto her back. A moment later, my muffled voice sounds again; the beginning of my story. The bit that Victoria had missed, before I started over to catch her up. "Totally not the same thing."

I'd really like to believe that. "I guess you're right."

"I'm always right. It just tends to take people awhile to figure it out." She smirks, her full attention on the video. "Don't worry. Eventually you'll get used to it, and trust me, agreeing with me from the start is a huge time-saver."

I roll my eyes, press my pillow into her face, and-

-move across the room, well outside the range of any sort of retaliation. There's a bit of momentary discomfort, a little like sinus pressure, but it disappears quickly enough. "I haven't eaten all day. I'm starving. So I'm going to go and fix that. You're welcome to come along if you can put the cape stuff aside for a few minutes."

"I think I can manage that."

Perfect. That'll be another immediate problem out of the way.

"But can I share this with your dad, first? I can't exactly brag about interesting parties with my family-"

"I will feed your phone to the rats under my bed."

"Okay, eww." Victoria's legs jerk up and away from where they'd been hanging over the edge of the mattress. "Don't even joke about that...that was a joke, right? Taylor?"

I'm already halfway to the stairs.

"Taylor!?"