Verity sat on top of a roof as she consumed her lunch, making her able to see a great deal of Downtown Brockton Bay's streets.

As for why? After she had finished with the AMA she had immediately gone on her patrol and was now taking her mandatory lunch break.

As she looked out, she couldn't help but compare it mentally to Pittsburg back home. The most obvious difference was that Brockton Bay was…

Well, it was significantly cleaner, even with the infrastructure damage caused by Bakuda's Brockton Bay Bombing, so she really couldn't compare it to good ol' Shittsburg, as she would call it, but it was the closest comparison she had.

It was also, somehow, more violent than Pittsburg, with a lot of white supremacicst-types, so that was automatically a massive demerit.

And that schools like Winslow were allowed to exist was also a massive demerit. That was something she was planning on working on.

Really, all of that was things she was planning on working on.

Even if it wasn't where she was born and raised, Brockton Bay was her city now.

So it only made sense she was going to be taking the utmost care of it, and make sure it stayed healthy and safe.

Which was why, after she was done with her shift, Verity would be going back to PRT headquarters and seeing what legal hoops she would have to jump through to clear out the 'graveyard' everyone kept saying about. Set up a meeting with the Mayor, most likely, since if Miranda was right-

"Heh, Miranda Rights…" She couldn't help but chuckle.

-she would just need to talk to him about it and then it would be easy peasy lemon squeezy boat melty.

With that thought, Verity finished the third of her packed sandwiches and after quickly dusting herself off, got up from her perch and got back into her patrol.

Or rather, she would be in a moment, as her added patrol partner hadn't showed up just yet.

"Sorry for being late Big V," Came Vista's voice as she walked onto the rooftop.

"No problem, Little V." Verity said with a grin. "Probably my fault for being on a roof, right?"

"Nah, it was parents being late in picking me up from school and driving me to base," She answered. "Though before we begin… could you be honest with me?"

"If it's about Santa Claus, no, but anything else? Probably." Verity said. "It is my name after all."

"You know Weaver well right?" She asked as she looked up at Verity, the height difference oh so massive.

Verity forced her smile to stay in place even as her heart dropped, worry filling her at that. "Yeah, I'm not going to go into how because we're technically in public and it's not my place to say right now, but I think it's safe to say yes." She couldn't help the worry that filled her next sentence. "Why, did something happen?"

"Did Stalker really cause her to Trigger, if so how is she still here?" Vista asked in a tone laced with a bit of anger.

"...Okay, that's a long conversation, that should be after we're off the clock, is that okay?" Verity said, internally panicking at the fact that, somehow, apparently, word had already gotten out within a day.

"Yeah, but you better not mince words because I am a 'little girl' or some bullshit like that," Vista responded.

"Language!" Verity scolded, before checking her armband. "Listen, this is definitely a conversation for later, we're already ten minutes behind schedule, we should get going. Do you want a ride?"

"..." Vista moved her eyes up and down Verity's body before giving a cheeky smile. "I'll take a ride on you."

"...Okay, that don't sound right." Verity said. "I'm talking about on my shoulders."

"I know." Vista replied. "This is gonna be an awesome tag-team, the Vs against the World of Crime!"

Silence reigned for a few seconds.

"So you gonna pick me up or not?"

Xxx

"Damn, not much today," Vista muttered as she sat on Verity's shoulder, their shift about to come to an end as they went through a small park looking for illicit activity.

"That's a good thing, Little V." Verity noted. "Probably. It implies nothing bad happened today."

"Yeah I know, but I like kicking ass and taking names," She complained. "I wish we could at least end our first patrol on a high note, for you are the second coolest Hero in the city."

"...Second coolest?" Verity asked, both amazed she was apparently considered that, and a little confused who would be cooler.

"Yeah, cause you can't be better than me," She replied smugly.

"Ahh, I see, I see." Verity said with a nod. "Is the third coolest Glory Girl, by your metric?"

"Nah, that's Panacea considering she heals our asses," Vista corrected her.

"You have got to stop cursing so much, Little V." Verity said for what felt like the umpteenth time this patrol.

She answered by cheekily sticking out her tongue. "I-" Any worded response was cut off as the sound of massive speakers turning on crackled through the small park.

"Good evening Brockton Bay!" Came the voice of a guy that sounded way too full of himself over the speaker.

"I hope your ready for another round of entertainment from your favorite villains," Said another just-as-self-absorbed voice.

"Today's show is going to be spectacular, for you're going to have!"

"Über!" From the trees jumped out a person dressed as the red Power Ranger.

"What."

"And Leet!" And out came another, this one dressed as the green Power Ranger.

"Vs The snakey hero that makes men rock hard, MEDUSA!"

"What."

"And the gremlin of the Wards, VISTA!"

And she could even hear the OG theme start playing.

"I take back my previous words," Vista said in a dead tone.

"You better listen here, you absolute insults to all that is good and Righteous, you do not deserve to wear those outfits!" Verity declared, immediately furious.

Uber and Leet had already been pretty high on her shit-list, relatively speaking, for having led to the Undersiders getting out, but this?

This insulted her on a deep, primal level.

"I thought you guys only did video games!" Vista shouted at them.

"Yeah, but we couldn't find anything that fit giant snake slaying other than God of War and Monster Hunter, and we already did that. So Power Rangers it is," Leet said.

"And there are Power Ranger games, even if they are shit."

"And we are not done yet!"

And at that Leet pressed a button on his belt and from the sky came a fifteen-feet tall Megazord that landed in between them.

"You even have a- how could you possibly be using this stuff without realizing you're the bad guys right now?!" Verity asked, feeling a blood vessel about to burst.

"Wow snakey is mad, calm down Rita Repulsa minion, it's just a show," Über stated.

"...Vista, can you do your thing to bring us closer to them?" Verity asked quietly as her anger looped around to 'seething hot rage' at that.

"No I can do something better, for I am not dealing with this," Vista said as she held up her hands and twisted it to the right.

And the Megazord, which she could now see was rather haphazardly made, like a panel was gone on the right leg.

And then it was a pretzel.

Literally.

Vista in the span of seconds had twisted the thing into the shape of a pretzel.

Which resulted in the villain duo just looking at their crushed Megazord in what was probably shock.

"Leet I thought you had put the Manton Generator in to prevent that!" Über shouted at his partner, while Verity carefully placed Vista on the ground.

"I did! It must have gotten loose or short circuited when it landed," Leet shouted back while the music still played, well it was a different remix of the theme.

"Dammit Bro secure- gah!" Über began to retort but was cut off.

Namely because Verity's hand was around his throat, her other one around Leet's.

"You. Are. Not. Worthy. To wear those helmets." Verity said as a snake lashed out and crushed the tennis ball-sized snitch-styled drone that she noticed floating behind them between its jaws. "Now then, mentlegen, I believe there are some people at my office who would like to have a talk with you."

"This isn't how you play the game!" Leet whined like a little bitch.

"This is real life, you sad sack excuse of a person." Verity said. "Vista, can you call the-?"

"Already on it!" Vista shouted jovily. "Eat shit assholes, this paypack for last time assholes, you gave Gallant second degree burns with that blue shell you used! Yeah we are at Minor Arcadia Park…"

This in turn made Verity more mad at the two as she switched to using her snakes to hold them so there was no worries about choking or whatever, but then also removed Uber's helmet followed by Leet's. "You know, you two could have been pretty good as independent heroes with tech like that, streaming would have been a pretty good gig even if you weren't PRT. So I do have to ask: what in the name of all that is Morphinomenal caused you two to be villains, huh?"

"We aint going to reveal shit to you," Leet growled. "Also taking of masks is not fucking cool."

"Leet, most people know what we look like."

"It's the principal of the matter."

"These aren't your masks." Verity pointed out. "Also, technically, these are copyrighted, you do know that companies can levy lawsuits over stuff like this even if you weren't criminals, right? And because you are, it's a wonder stuff like this hasn't been used like Al Capone's Tax Evasion against you yet."

"Can't be sentenced if you're never caught," Leet argued back.

"Well, would you look at that." Verity said flatly. "Caught you. Game over. You lose."

"Are you sure about that?" Über asked and in a flash of light the two were gone.

In two beams of red and green light.

Exactly like in the original Power Rangers.

"...WHAT!?" Verity demanded.

"Oh… so that is how they keep getting away…" Vista said in realisation.

At this, Verity felt the urge to scream in anger, and while internally she lamented the lack of proper sound deafening tools, externally she could not prevent herself from releasing a sound of pure, unadulterated rage skyward.

"Wow, they really pissed you off Big V," Vista whistled in amazement at the Kaiju-like roar she had let out.

Verity panted in sheer anger (and admittedly, shortness of breath) for a moment as she continued to stare at the sky. "...Yeah." She growled. "They really did. And next time I see them…" She took a deep breath to try and even remotely calm herself. "This isn't happening again." She coldly swore.

"Nah it's going to be something new next time, Leet can only make anything once, and that thing is scrap," Vista said.

"I mean those two walking away."

"Cool, which one of them can I get as a lawn ornament?" She asked 'innocently.'

"The right legs."

"Bru-hu-tal."

Verity took another deep breath as she carefully slotted the anger she was feeling away for later, compartmentalizing it down, down, down into her psyche. "Okay. Let's clean up their mess, get back to base, and then we can have that conversation, yeah?" She said, sounding almost completely calm now.

"Armsmaster and the truck are about to arrive to clean the trash up, so we just have to wait for them, and yeah let's have that con then," Vista concurred.

"Yeah." Verity said as she raised herself up on her tail, crossed her legs, and began meditating, since she knew that if she didn't, she was very liable to explode at the next thing to mildly annoy her, and they would not deserve the fury she was working on pushing away for now.

For now.

Xxx

"So talk now?" Vista asked as they sat within her Ward Room.

"Sure." Verity said, now significantly calmer, hydrated, and really more 'emotionally burnt out' than 'actually calm', as what usually happened when she got truly upset, but it was close enough to calm to work for now. "What were we going to talk about again?"

"Sophia and Taylor, like I just want to know if she did Trigger Taylor and if so why she is still here," Vista said once again. "And as for how I know, well this past Tuesday, Taylor 'talked' with Sophia and it got loud and she forgot to close the door to Sophia's room," She motioned to her own closed door. "So the sound proofing wasn't on as it were. Just to have it confirmed, as Taylor doesn't want to talk about it. And I am…" She seemed lost for words on how to continue the thought.

"It's…" Verity started, not really sure how to go about this, as apparently Taylor had gone and confronted Sophia already, which was hopefully on her terms not Sophia's, but oh god. "There's no beating around the bush on this. Sophia is a horrible person."

"Knew that, but I didn't think that she… was that bad," Vista said as she took off her visor.

"How much did they say?" Verity asked.

"Sophia didn't say much, Taylor just shouted and set hard boundaries," Missy answered.

"Okay, that's good." Verity said with a nod. "...Well, not good but better than I was expecting, at least."

"And how is she still here? Why is she still here? Taylor is around the person that caused her to Trigger, and just, that is just the worst feeling," Missy as she got even more upset.

"...Little V, are you near the person who caused your Trigger event frequently?" Verity asked, suddenly extremely concerned.

And that Missy went from looking upset to looking like a deer in the headlights. "This isn't about me."

Verity got down to one knee to be closer to Missy's level. "Missy, you can honest be with me. Are you near the person who caused your Trigger event against your will?"

"Persons, and it's not like you can do anything the PRT have tried, my parents made very good puppy eyes at the CPS to be better," She answered bitterly.

"...I'm assuming you don't want to be anywhere near them, right?" Verity asked slowly, thanking the fact she was already emotionally burnt out and thus could more easily strangle down the anger into cold hard focus.

"Yeah, that is why I spend every weekend here and take as many patrols as possible," Missy said.

"Okay, then... in that case, there's a few options. We could go and get you emancipated, as in not under your parents jurisdiction."

"Can't you only do that when you turn like fifteen or was it sixteen?" She asked. "That is what I saw online when I looked it up."

"Right, different state, my bad." Verity said with a nod. "In that case, uh… well honestly if that's not an option, the best one I can see would be getting different parents."

"Well that would require them to die first, and as much I hate them I don't want them dead… not yet."

"Not like that, geeze why are the kids in this town so morbid…"

"Why do you think?" Vista asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know, I know, it was rhetorical, I'm just…" Verity sighed. "If your parents are a problem, we can get you different guardians." She said, unable to say what she was trying to say outright.

"But that would require them to give me up right? That is never going to happen," Missy refuted.

"Well, if you're okay with a lot of eye-searing orange, I could... be personally involved in the process." Verity said.

"..." Missy's eyes went wide. "You want to? But you? They wouldn't… you barely know me?"

"I think the same could be said about most parents upon meeting their children." Verity joked, internally screaming as she said that. "I mean, my parents didn't exactly know I was going to be me."

"You really would… But again how? They would never agree to that, them losing me would hurt their social status."

"Do I look like I care about social status?" Verity asked. "And anyway, unless your parents are billionaires or something, we have the PRT on our side here. And before you say it, yes I know they tried before, but I wasn't here before. I think I've proven I have a tendency to change things. So even if you don't want me to become your guardian, which would be completely understandable, I will help you find the best home possible, no matter what."

Missy just stared at Verity. "Don't… don't say stuff you can't promise, the PRT tried, but my parents threatened to have me removed from the Wards, and then I wouldn't and I… and I need this place…" Missy cried.

"Oh, come here." Verity said, lightly pulling Vista into a hug. "See, that's the thing: I can promise you that I'll get you into the best home possible. Because a good kid like you deserves to be in a good home."

Missy just cried harder.

Xxx

Verity was beginning to wonder if she had the secret superpower of making people be more honest about their feelings.

Or at least cry.

"Hello Miss Mendax, did you and Vista have a good patrol together despite the small hiccup at the end?" Deputy-Director Renick asked as he approached Verity in the hallway she was walking through.

"Yeah, ignoring the ending, the patrol went fine." Verity said. "How was your day, sir?"

"It was a pleasant one," He replied. "So why are you slithering about here at this hour? Shouldn't you be home by now?"

"Oh, yeah, just needed to schedule some potentially important stuff for the future, make sure No Face got here alright, that kind of thing." Verity said, remembering her tattoo was today. "You know, for the tattoo thing."

"Ah yes he came in earlier, he is setting up in the infirmary," The Deputy-Director responded. "So what do you need scheduled? I can take it to Miranda now while you go and deal with the tattoo?" He suggested.

"Well, one of the things is a bit personal and probably should be directly between me and the director, not… I don't think it's an iss-... no it's an… it's too personal to be relayed." Verity said, floundering for how to say this. "The other thing's about clearing out the Ship Graveyard, which from what Miranda said I just need to schedule a meeting with the mayor basically."

"Boat Graveyard," He corrected. "But I understand, for that last bit you just need to call the Mayor's office, if Miranda has already approved of it, and as for Emily, she is still in her office and is free, I believe."

"Great! Then, have a good night and weekend, sir." Verity said with a smile.

"You as well Miss Mendax," He replied as he walked past her. Verity noted he was nice, and that she should probably memorize his name, but put that aside for later as she continued to the Director's office.

After listening for a moment in case she was in the middle of something, Verity lightly knocked twice.

"Come in!" Came the reply.

"Hi Director!" Verity greeted as she did so.

And upon entering Verity saw the woman's face twitch a little. "What can I help you with Medusa?"

"Well, uh," Verity started as she closed the door behind her. "Came across a bit of an issue after my patrol today with Vista." She then heard her own words and quickly moved to correct herself. "Vista is not the problem here, to be clear, she's a great kid."

"Then what is it?" She asked, sounding a bit snippy.

"Weeeell… You probably already know about the issue, namely the litigation involved with getting Vista out of her parents' grasp, considering they are abusive and worthless excuses for human beings." Verity said, unable to prevent her anger slipping into her choice of words.

"I do."

"Well, I was wondering, would it make it easier if there was someone seeking to help her out and potentially act as her new legal guardian if need be?" Verity asked. "The only custody battle I'm familiar with was family in PA so I'm unclear on details about this."

"No," Was the short answer.

"Ah."

"Medusa do you think us idiots?" Piggot asked.

"No, I was just thinking maybe everyone was busy, I-this is the most competent government organization in existence, I think, with the only competition being the IRS, maybe? I honestly don't know Director, I just want to help." Verity admitted, flustered.

"Well you can not," She replied. "Do you not think we have tried every legal avenue ever since Vista joined the Wards two years ago?"

"Director, things can slip through the cracks. Blackwell and Winslow are proof of that." Verity said. "Plus, I… I don't fully understand how this world works, y'know, even with what I think are mostly complete memories there's still new things that keep surprising me, and like, I'm only 21, it's not like I fully understood how the world worked before, either."

"Yes, you're barely an adult," She replied.

"Yeah!" Verity agreed readily. "And I- I just- I just want to help people, you know? And obviously I don't always-ever, I don't ever really know the best way of doing that, which was why I came to you and asked, because you're The Boss."

"Well you're definitely more responsible than most Parahumans, but unfortunately Vista's homelife is a snaggle of bureaucracy with the CPS and the Courts, for there is no evidence of any wrongdoing on the parents end, Vista is both fed, clothed, not physically abused and neither parent have a criminal record. And their ongoing 'divorce' makes it even more complicated," Piggot responded.

"That's… ridiculously frustrating." Verity said, running a hand through her hair as she tried to think of any way through that kind of mess.

"Yes it is, and when we tried to press them, they threatened to have Vista removed from the Wards Program, which would then make it even harder for us to be involved, and as you said it is ridiculously frustrating," Piggot sighed.

"That sucks." Verity said. "Like, there's nothing? Would convincing the parents directly do anything?"

"Again, tried but I have never dealt with more stubborn people in my life and my job is handling this not-as-leaky-as-it-used-to-be ship," Piggot responded. "To them Vista is a tool to defeat the other."

"Isn't that in and of itself proof of emotional abuse?" Verity asked.

"They never said that of course, just an observation that Miss Militia made when she tried to do what you suggested," Piggot answered.

"Damn." Verity said. "...Dammit. This sucks." She said, lamenting once again that she was a Brute and not the kind of person who could do the kind of helping people she was used to.

Wait, she thought.

She did know someone who had the exact power to help here.

But…

That would be for later.

"Yes it indeed does 'suck' but you right now have another appointment don't you?" Piggot asked.

Verity sighed in frustration. "Yeah, yeah I do. Thank you for your time, Director."

"You should be, now out with you, I have to reevaluate Über and Leets profile since thanks to you we now know they have a working teleporter," Piggot dismissed her.

"Happy to hear at least something good came from that encounter." Verity said as she left and headed for the Infirmary which was apparently where No Face was setting up.

Verity was still, on several levels, a bit nervous about having someone with the name 'No Face' directly doing things to her face with needles.

And nervous about getting her first tattoo.

And nervous because it was only just now clicking for her that oh god there would be needles.

By the time she reached the infirmary, Verity's nerves were tightly bundled, so to speak.

"Ah there you are, I was starting to get worried you had gotten cold feet and I had come all this way for nothing," A suave male spoke from behind a rather creepy looking mask.

"Aheheh, yeah no I was just, uh, had a talk with the boss, took a bit, sorry about the wait." Verity said nervously. "Uhh, so, uh, we're heading in right?"

"That is why I like to be my own boss and yes we are," No Face said as he opened the door and they headed inside into the prepped infirmary. "Just lay down on the table and I shall get to work."

Verity looked at said table, which seemed to have been designed specifically for her? Or at least altered for her, since there was a gap where she could relatively easily slide her tail into (not quickly, mind, she had a lot of tail, but easily), which she proceeded to do, marveling for just a moment at the fact she was laying on her back, to a degree, for the first time since her awakening.

"So do you know how this works?" No Face asked as he and a small table on wheels slid over to her.

"No, not really." Verity said, the nervousness ringing clear through her voice. "I, uh, I've always wanted a tattoo, but uh. I know it involves a n-needle?"

"That is correct, a tattoo is made by puncturing a small hole into the skin where ink is dropped into which reacts with the immune system in such a way it stays there," No Face explained. "Now with normal people a stainless steel one is all that is needed as the needle but for certain brutes such as yourself they don't cut the mark and can't puncture the skin. Which is where my power comes in."

"Lemme guess, you can puncture anything?" Verity guessed as she moved her hair to be out of the way.

"Partially correct," He responded. "I can produce ultra sharp needles from the tip of my fingers, so I just cut them off with another and put them in my machine," He said as he pressed a button on the needler in his hand and Verity saw what looked be over twenty ultra thin and very pointy needles move up and down.

Verity couldn't help the squeak of terror at seeing that, before quickly covering her mouth with her hands and feeling her entire body heat up in embarrassment at the noise she had just made. "Uh-um, I mean, does that- is this- how much is it gonna hurt?"

"No more than pressing a finger into your own flesh, it barely grazes the nerves as it doesn't go very deep, for if it did, people would die of ink poisoning," No Face said in what was probably meant to be a reassuring tone. But his voice made it sound like he only knew because he had done that to other people.

"Aheheh." Came the very nervous, very squeaky laugh from Verity that had no mirth in it whatsoever, only nervousness and fear.

"...Well a few do, but only if they get too many and they go to shit practitioners, but don't worry, Medusa baby, I am a professional," No Face said.

"Okay yeah I'm going to trust you to know what you're doing, just, j-just, just do it." Verity said quickly, leaning back and closing her eyes so she wouldn't see the needles that would be way too close to said eyes.

"Hmm, hmm ehem," No Face hummed and Verity heard the sound of metal scraping against metal as her skin was punctured and she…

Didn't really feel anything.

It felt like pushing a pen slightly hard against the skin if she had to make a comparison.

And so Verity just laid there for a good while, not really keeping track of time mentally as No Face did his work, she only focused on breathing and not moving.

Which she did until he was done.

"Well Medusa baby your little eye has come out nicely," No Face said as the machine ceased making sound.

"Are we good? Are we done?" Verity asked, still not moving nor opening her eyes just in case.

"We are, wanna see the finished result?" He asked.

"Obviously, yeah." Verity said as relief filled her that they were done, and she opened her eyes to see her reflection there.

Now with a third eye instead of that blasted annoying C.

Precisely how she and Chambers had designed it. It was even red now instead of black.

"Wow, that's, that's perfect." Verity said excitedly as she looked at her reflection, and for the first time since waking up with this face, could find nothing wrong with it. Nothing that made her want to avert her gaze.

"Well I am glad to have another satisfied customer," No Face replied in a happy tone of voice.

"Yeah, I mean that was honestly way nicer than I was expecting, n-no offense!"

"A lot taken," The man replied. "No faith in my skills," He shook his head in disappointment.

"N-nuh-nonono, I'm, I'm afeared of needles, and it was near the eyes and I didn't even know they had this table for me, I-it wasn't anything about your skills!"

"I am just messing with you Medusa baby so cheer up, when people say no offense, people usually respond with none taken, so I thought it would be funny to say a lot taken instead," No Face sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Need to work on my jokes, and no they didn't. I tried to find one for you, but I couldn't so I just cut a hole in it myself."

"Oh… oh, okay, I was, I was worried for a second there because I wanted another- wait did you say you damaged PRT property?" Verity asked, her relief replaced with a new issue.

"Eh?" He shrugged with no care as he held up his hands.

"...So do you have enough time to do a quick little Triforce tattoo because I don't know if they'll let you back because of that." Verity asked, wanting to get the tattoo she'd wanted for most of her life before she (potentially) never saw the man again.

"Of course Medusa baby, now lie back down and I get to work, where do you want it?"

"Uhhh…" Verity stalled for a moment, as the main places she had wanted it before were now scaled. "Upper arm, up here." She said, tapping a spot on her left one.

"Okay, though do remember you are paying for this one," He said.

"How much?"

"200 dollars," He answered.

"Damn, alright, in that case… how much more for a bigger one?" She asked curiously. "Just for decision purposes."

"About ten dollars per millimeter, do remember you have a professional doing this for you Medusa baby," No Face said.

"...Okay yeah, no, not willing to drop like a thousand dollars or more on a tattoo, not today anyway, I'll take the little Triforce."

"Very well, one Triforce coming right up, now just stay sitting this time since you want it on your shoulder," He said.

"Sure."

Xxx

"Well I definitely say that tattoo looks much better on you," Sabah commented as Verity sat down at the table while she put dinner on the table.

"Thanks!" Verity said with a smile. She herself had been enjoying the new look already, especially since she wasn't constantly covering her forehead anymore. "For the compliment and for making dinner, you really didn't have to do that Sabs."

"Well, I was getting bored and I remembered you would be home later than normal so I thought… why not," She responded as she took a seat herself. "So how was your day?"

"...Well, other than the bit near the end of my patrol till around when I got the tattoos, it was pretty good." Verity said. "Hey, on an unrelated note, what are your thoughts on kids?"

The expected spit take happened. "Wha-what?" She asked with a face of utter confusion.

"Sorry, I probably should have phrased that better, that's my b." Verity said. "One of the Wards… isn't exactly in the best home life, and I've been entertaining the idea of adopting/fostering/whatevering if it would help her out, but apparently said parents are some sort of genius savant actors at convincing people like Child Protective Services they aren't horrible, despite literally all the hallmarks of emotional abuse being there, like there should be a case there, I looked into this on the way home, but there's some kind of fuckery going on, and honestly I'm starting to think there may be some sort of super-powerful telepath in this town actively making everything worse whether they know it or not because there absolutely should be a case there."

"It's not a Simurgh plot," Sabah replied. "So I'm guessing it's either Vista or Shadow Stalker, leaning on Vista."

"...Oh shit I said 'her' didn't I?" Verity asked, realizing in her rant she may have let loose more info than she meant.

"Yeah," Sabah replied. "And you think some fuckery is going on? Or maybe it's just the CPS being incompetnent or corrupt, or one agent at least?"

"I mean, it could easily be corruption, but I'm serious, it feels like there's some kind of fuckery going on with this whole town." Verity said. "Like, it might just be because this universe has superpowers, and the nature of how people get them being 'intense trauma', but even the non-parahumans seem…" She struggled for the word. "When I'm looking at the current events for the world, it feels like it's… like it's bending over backwards to be as dark and fucked up as possible? Which shouldn't make sense, this is reality regardless of which one it is, you know? And it makes it so much harder to figure out what I can do to help."

"I think it is due to the presence of powers as things were relatively normal before they appeared according to those over fifty," Sabah theorized. "I am not an advocate of Power Corrupts but rather Power reveals what is truly within the depths of man's heart, and the proximity to it does the same to those that don't have Parahuman abilities, like two american cities have been quarantined due to how many villains there were, and multiple others thanks to villains destroying everything. And then there are the Endbringers, maybe things are going as bad as they are because people have succumbed to despair having realised the world is going to end… Sorry I am just rambling."

"No no, it's fine, I was straight up ranting just now." Verity said. "Plus, I like hearing you talk."

"...Well what are you planning to do about the situation with the Ward?" Sabah asked, going back to the original topic.

"I don't know." Verity said. "I want to help her, I want to help everyone and this is something that I, by all means, should be able to help with, but… ugh, I was going to be an accountant, I'm not like a lawyer or anything, I only took a few civil law courses, my word's not going to be trusted more than her parents even if they are quantifiably bad…"

"Well, I can think of two options, either go and talk to a lawyer or blackmail them with dirt," Sabah suggested.

"I think I'd have to do the first one, because if child abuse isn't sufficient dirt to get their child taken away, there is no dirt-" Verity stopped in her talking as she remembered the option she thought of earlier. "Sabah, you're a genius."

"Thank you for acknowledging that fact, even if you only did it just now."

"Alright, I think I have a plan now." Verity said as the gears turned in her head. "Yeah... yeah I think I've got this now, so I'm going to go quickly write this down, and then we can just have a nice dinner, yeah?"

"That would be nice."

Xxx

"Hello, is this TT?" Verity asked as the number she dialed picked up.

"Didn't expect you to call me so soon, so you were serious about the brownies thing?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, not tonight, but Monday would work since I don't work then." Verity said. "I'll even make something nice for the doggies as an apology for scratching them too hard, if you want me to."

"I am pretty sure Bitch would appreciate that, though you're just not calling about the brownies are you? You need help with something… no you need my help to help someone right?"

"Spoilers, TT, I was getting there." Verity said in a faux-scolding tone. "But yes, I… I need your help to help someone else."

"So you want me to be your private eye? And it's nothing the PRT… no they have tried to help the one you want to help but they failed didn't they?" She asked in a smug voice.

"Yeah basically." Verity confirmed, not caring about the smug. "And that's why I'm calling you. I need you to investigate… I'll say specifically what it is if and only if I get your word that nothing I say will be repeated, on threat of never having my brownies."

"...Shit it involves a Ward," Tattletale said in slight shock. "Yeah, I'll never tell... Jesus Christ, doing that would result in my death."

"Not your literal death." Verity assured. "But yeah, you understand the gravity of what this is about. It would probably be best to discuss the actual specifics in person, yeah?"

"You don't say?" She asked sarcastically.

"So, the 'usual spot', Monday at 7-ish? Or is there somewhere or sometime else that works better?"

"Old Trainyard Dog Park would be better," Tattletale responded.

"Alright, see you then TT~." Verity sang. "Make sure to bring the crew!"

"Yeah I will see you then you Best Snake, and I will be sure to, though I can't promise the presence of Bitch, you kinda scare her a lot." At that the call ended.

"Alright, that's squared away, now what's on the docket for the weekend…" Verity said, grabbing her day planner and flipping it open. "So that's Monday at the Old Trainyard Dog Park, need to have brownies ready by then… Work tomorrow, work Sunday… best time to schedule the meeting with the mayor would be earlier Monday and then clear the yard on Tuesday…" She muttered to herself as she planned out the week.

And written in, across both weekends was three little words.

Check on Taylor.

Xxx

Verity was nervous.

After a relatively uneventful patrol (thankfully), she had come home, washed up, helped Sabah finish with dinner, and was now standing on the Hebert porch.

She had been standing there for about five minutes, hand hovering to knock but having trouble bringing herself to do so.

Verity, was of course, fully expecting the following to play out:

She would knock on the door. Taylor would answer, and then immediately slam the door shut in her face upon seeing who it was. Verity would go home dejectedly, knowing she had likely ruined the relationship forever.

Or worse, if Danny answered, and Taylor had actually told him about what happened, she… wouldn't be able to fault him for any reaction he would have.

And as such, she had entered a state of decision paralysis, hand hovering near the door.

One part of her wanted to just knock and get it over with, another was saying she might be okay now, but every other part was screaming at her that 6 days was still too soon.

(Un?)Fortunately for Verity, that 'one part' willing to knock happened to be Charlie, who grabbed her wrist with its mouth and made her knock, causing her to glare at the hair snake who just hissed and discorporated into hair.

And after a few seconds the door opened up and Danny greeted her. "Hello Verity." His tone was rather neutral, which could mean good or bad things for her.

"Hey Danny." Verity greeted, forcing a smile onto her face. "I was just uh, just here to invite you and Taylor over for dinner, if you wanted. We made pizza, like the handmade kind."

"Well that would be lovely, but before that you and Taylor are going to have to talk and make up," Danny replied.

"Ah." Verity said. "I suppose she followed my advice and told you what happened?"

"That she did, and I understand your reasoning, I would have probably done the… well my wife would have I think so," Danny corrected himself. "And I think Taylor does too, but I think she is just acting like a teenager right now because she thinks she has to."

"I mean, she's completely entitled to it." Verity said. "But if you're willing to help smooth things here… can I come in?"

"That she is, and you can she is up in her room, just go up the stairs and at the end of the hall is her room," Danny told her.

"Okay, thank you… Wait, the stairs inside are more sturdy than the ones outside, right?" Verity asked as she entered the house, minding her tail as she did.

"They are, it was just that one step that was rotted through," Danny responded.

"Okay, just checking." Verity said, heading for the stairs. "Uh, wait, do you want to be in the room for this? I don't want to intrude on her room, you know that like, 'this place is mine and is safe' thing?"

"No this is something you two have to do on your own," The man said back. "Now up with you."

"Your the man, Dan." Verity said with a shrug before heading up and towards the door he'd said. No decorations or anything on this side, which only stood out to Verity because of what her own door looked like back when she was that age, as she took a deep breath to calm herself, before very lightly knocking on the door.

"What is it dad? Is dinner ready already?" Came Taylor's voice.

"In a way, yes." Verity said and she heard the sound of movement before the door was opened and in front of her stood Taylor with a frown on her face.

"What do you want?" She asked in the most 'I am a teenager that is angry with you' tone of voice Verity had heard in her life, and she was including her own usage of it.

"Well, uh, Sabah and I made pizza, like homemade pizza, and I'm here to invite you and your dad over to partake in some good old fashioned pizza togetha." Verity said, unintentionally slipping into a vaguely New York/Italian accent as she spoke.

"And you have nothing else to say to me besides that?"

"What do you want me to say?" Verity asked, not angrily or rhetorically but softly and sincerely.

"...I don't know… have you apologise even more? I don't know, and I hate that, and all these goddamn feelings," Taylor's face went from stone cold to on the verge of crying in a split second.

"I...I won't say I understand fully. I'm not conceited enough to think that, considering. But… I do know that bottling feelings never works well in the long run." Verity said. "So… try just letting it all out. Lay into me, if you need to. Don't keep all that in your head where it'll just rot and fester, you know?"

"I know that, I know that! I just… I just… you did so much good for me and then you… I don't know how to…" Taylor collapsed to her knees as she began to cry.

"Oh, Taylor…" Verity said, feeling herself start to tear up but forcing herself not to cry as she got down to Taylor's level. "Can I hug you?"

Taylor nodded her head.

Verity gently pulled Talyor into a hug. "Your feelings are not invalid, you know." She started after a moment. "Conflicting or otherwise. I did something that should have been your call, and I am sorry for not telling you sooner. But… I did it because I care about you, skitterbug."

"I know, and I hate that I know," Taylor responded. "I just want to hate you for it, to throw you out of my life… but I can't. It hurts me everytime I think about it. I just… I just…" Tears choked her words.

"I know, I know." Verity said soothingly. "There's… there's a saying that I like. Forgive, but never forget. This isn't me saying you have to, or even need to forgive me, that would be absurd. I'm saying… I'm asking… for maybe a second chance? At, at whatever this is?"

"I do… I do…" She cried. "I missed you, I wanted to talk to you, I wanted to hug you."

"I missed you too." Verity said, giving Taylor a reassuring squeeze. "And, I want you to know, that no matter what happens, you can always come to me to talk. No matter what."

Taylor just nodded her head in agreement at that. "Can we… can we go and eat now?"

"Yeah, of course, that's what I came here for." Verity said with a smile. "Pizza time."

"Pizza time," Taylor said with a chuckle.

"Alright, let's go, Sabah's waiting with the 'za, brah." Verity said, now sounding more like a ninja turtle as she got to her feet, helping Taylor up as she did. "Also your da, he's waiting downstairs."

Taylor nodded her head as she got to her feet. "I missed you so much."

"Snrk." Verity snorted. "I think you're the first person to ever say that to me."

"Bullshit."

"Language!" Verity 'scolded'.

There was a moment of silence, before they both laughed.

"I am hearing laughter. Does that mean you two have made up now?" Danny asked from downstairs.

"Yeah, dad it does," Taylor responded. "I am sorry for acting this way, Verity."

"You really don't need to apologize, skitterbug." Verity said as she began heading for the stairs. "I'm gonna head down awhile, you need a moment?"

"I am fine, I am fine, not like I use makeup or anything like that," She replied.

"Alright." Verity said with a shrug as she headed down the stairs, which as always came with the problem of tail management, but she managed it pretty well, and a moment later Taylor was down as well. "Alright, lets-a-go! Hope you like-a de alfredo!" She said, now sounding like Mario.

"Well that is a tremendous amount of cringe," Danny commented.

Which got a chuckle out of Taylor.

Xxx

A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my Sub scribe Star (slash) StreamingViking and read commissioned stories. Along with voting for which stories will be updated next via Polls. And chapters before they are released here.