Fuse 4-1

You ever wake up and your body is all pins a needles and you can't move? It happened to me once when I was a kid and it scared the hell out of me and I screamed like I had been grabbed by some ugly oozing monster. Mom and Dad had just about broken their necks getting to me as quickly as possible, reassuring me that ever was alright. It wore off quickly enough, but at the time it seemed like eternity.

This time, Mom and Dad were not there to rush to my bed.

The nurse on duty however did an admirable impersonation of a linebacker as she bowled through the two PRT troopers on guard at the door.

"What's the matter what happened?!" She demanded as she frantically looked over the equipment next to my bed.

"I can't move!" I screamed, voice raw and choked from lack of use.

A man in a doctor's white coat tried to press his way through the now much more alert guards. "I need to get in there damn it." He pushes his ID badge into the chest of one of the troopers. "Now move!"

"Elevated heart rate and blood pressure on the rise." The nurse reported.

"Wisp you need to calm down!" The doctor ordered. "You are okay! You are safe!"

"I can't move!" I screamed again the pins and needles growing more intense. I reached for my powers.

Nothing.

My panic worsened.

"Wisp!"

I knew that voice.

"Wisp I'm here! It's okay! Get off me you big idiot." I could just see Lisa with a bandage covering one side of her head trying to pull away from a trooper's grip. "It's just sleep paralysis! Just relax and it will go away soon!"

The doctor frowned in Lisa's direction but didn't argue.

Lisa. I could trust her.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. It's pretty hard to bring your self down off a panic attack because well your brain is already on freak out mode. But let me tell you, if you have the right person there with you, you can do it.

"Assault get this asshole off of me." Lisa's voice came again and I focused on it. She was here. I was safe. She was safe.

A cool hand slipped into mine and set my whole arm to tingling, but as she had promised the sensation was fading. I tried to squeeze her hand and she squeezed back.

"You are here?" I asked her opening my eyes to look at hers.

"Yep." She popped her lips on the end of the word. "Tattletale is dead. I'm just me now."

It took a long moment to wrap my brain around what she had said. Even still I was still full of questions. "Huh?" Was all I managed.

She waved it off. "It's a long and fascinating story you don't have time for that right now. The docs here need to make sure you're okay, you are by the way, but they need to see for themselves."

"Huh?" I asked again.

Lisa rolled he eyes and patted my hand. "Just answer the doc's questions and drink plenty of water. I'll be in the next room with Assault so we will talk later."

So I endured the sterile humiliation that was the removing of all the tubes, sensors, and physical dignity from my body. Then came the questions, and the measuring, and the assurances that everything was

routine. I just went along with it, my mind on what Lisa had said.

Tattletale was dead.

But Lisa had been the one to say it.

Ugh that was too much for my brain right now.

Eventually the doctor left with nurses in tow with instructions to remain in bed for all but trips to the bathroom.

I didn't get to talk to Lisa again until much later. Unfortunately it was in the company of Assault, Battery, and Miss Milita. Each of whom clearly had questions.

Uh oh.

Naturally it was Lisa who spoke first. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I'mmmmm not really sure yet." I answered cautiously. "I don't really know what happened."

"I'll fill in the blanks." Lisa offered. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"You telling everyone to leave with Glory Girl and Panacea. That there was a bomb and you wanted everyone out." I said.

Lisa gave Battery a smug look, one I recognized to be her 'I told you so' look. "Then what?"

I shuddered as the memory surfaced. "Pain." I whispered. "The worst I've ever felt. I didn't know anything could be that bad."

Lisa frowned.

"Then Nothing." I finished.

"It was the bomb." Lisa said in a more subdued tone than I would have attributed to her. "It's was basically a pain bomb when you get past all the tinker BS. To put it simply it cranked your nerve endings to eleven on a scale of one to five. Even just the normal air pressure was enough for your skin to feel like it was on fire."

"Sounds like enough to kill." I murmured.

"It was." Assault said quietly. "The human body can't handle that kind of stress. Your heart stopped. If Tat- Lisa hadn't returned and given you CPR then..." he trailed off.

"I would be dead." I finished.

No one said anything.

"What about the Glory Girl, Panacea, the people in the Bank?" I asked.

No one answered right away, even Lisa looked uncomfortable. "Panacea was out of range, but she came back for Glory ho- mmm Glory Girl." She said with an effort.

I looked around the room. "So they are both okay then?"

"Glory Girl wasn't as lucky as you." Miss Militia said. "The stress of the bomb's effects triggered a stroke in Glory Girl. Panacea tried but..."

I was confused. "I thought she couldn't effect brains."

"That's the official reason." Lisa eyed the Heroes. " It's more like she shouldn't. The brain is just as much a mystery as it was a hundred years ago. Sure we know how it works but not why. Even the smallest change to the brain could have any number of life altering effects. So even though Panacea 'fixed'" Lisa mimed quotations. "There was no knowing what effects it would have on Glory Girl."

"Was?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"She is alive but very much a different person now." Lisa's brow knitted in they way I had known her to when she was presented with a puzzle she actually had trouble with.

I hadn't known Glory Girl all that well so the news that she was, well basically, someone new didn't hit as hard as it might have. Still a disturbing thought though. From a certain perspective it could be seen as that the old Glory Girl had died and this new person was just some kind of poor imitation in her skin.

I shuddered. "How is D- uh Gallant holding up?"

Lisa purses her lips and leaned back, clearly drawing the line of where she wanted to be involved.

The adults exchanged looks. "Recovering." Miss Militia answered wearily. "Though without Panacea it will be a long one."

"I thought Panacea didn't get hit by the bomb?"

"Wasn't the bomb." Assault shook his head. "After her sister... well she won't touch anyone let alone heal them."

Lisa opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it and settled back in her chair again.

I thought back to the bank, I didn't remember seeing the other Wards. I said as much.

Another look was shared and Assault took a deep breath. "Now is as good a time is any."

It was a good thing Lisa was there. I don't think I could have held my self together even half a well as Assault laid out everything that had happened over the last few days.

.

As soon as I was able, I walked, shuffled really, over to visit The other Wards.

I sat with Dean for a little while, he was still sedated. Just as well. I don't know how much help I would have been. Out of all of the people at the Bank, Dean got the worst of it. Physically anyway.

Dennis' room was next door so I visited him next. He was full of false cheer and optimism. His way of coping I guess. He tried to show me his scar but I begged him not to and he seemed to get some small thrill of threatening me with the sight of it. I left with both of us feeling marginally better.

It didn't last.

Poor Missy was taking things pretty hard. Sophia, the bitch, had dislocated Missy's jaw and shot her in the knee with a crossbow bolt. She was in for, at the very least, a few weeks of recovery for her jaw alone. The girl was tough and though she was frustrated about having to communicate via tablet or notepad she could handle that. It was her knee that really got to her. It was currently immobilized leaving her stuck in bed.

"Hey." I greeted as I slipped into her room. I all but fell into the cushy chair that sat against the wall next to her bed.

She lifted her hand in a small greeting.

I persisted. "How are you feeling?"

She waggled the same hand in a so-so gesture and I smiled. She was playing it strong and staying tough. She pointed at me.

"Me? Still shaky I guess." I returned, my body still trying to catch up to having my nerve endings plugged into the sun.

She heaved a sigh through her nose.

"What's the recovery time on your jaw?"

She held up five fingers.

"Ouch, but could be worse." I offered.

She gave me a skeptical look.

I smirked. "Could be six weeks instead."

She rolled her eyes and flipped me the bird.

She looked out the door where the nurses station could be seen. Lisa, head still bandaged, was leaning on the counter chatting with one of the nurses. Her curves evident in profile, even in the oversized T-shirt and sweatpants that had been loaned to her. She looked good considering the circumstances.

Missy wrote something on her note pad and showed it to me.

'Who is that?' it said.

"Uhh..." I paused, well this was awkward. Lisa had been in the hospital a day or so before I had woken up. I had assumed the other Wards knew about her.

Missy scratches another note and showed it to me. It read, 'cape identity?'

"Well sort of. I guess." Lisa didn't have one anymore really. Tattletale was reported dead. Killed by a traitor in the PRT whom was immediately sent to another facility after their arrest.

Lisa glanced my way and I gave her a pleading look. I knew she could read me like a book.

Lisa smiled brightly and my stomach sank. Lisa liked her mischief far too much for that smile to be anything but trouble for me. Nothing serious to be sure, but humiliation and embarrassment was all but guaranteed.

I waved her over for Missy's benefit. Lisa slipped into Missy's room and slid into my lap, forgoing the other chair.

Missy's eyebrows rose up nearly to her hairline and I'm sure her jaw would have been hanging open if it wasn't secured.

"Hi, I'm Lisa." Lisa introduced herself. "Taylor's girlfriend."

I opened my mouth to correct her but she pinched me where Missy couldn't see.

Missy scribbled on the pad and held it out. 'I don't believe you.' She looked at me.

I shrugged, I had no idea what game Lisa was playing. So, I wrapped my arms around Lisa's slender waist and leaned into her a bit. I could play along for now and let Lisa take the lead.

Missy's eyes widened and she scribbled on the pad again. 'You are Tattletale.'

"Oh bravo." Lisa purred. "The munchkin is smart."

Missy's eyes blazed with anger and I squeezed Lisa's waist.

"Oh, Sorry." She apologized to Missy. "Old habits die hard. Yes, I used to be Tattletale, but she is dead now so now I'm just me."

Missy's brow furrowed in thought.

"Don't think too hard on it, I'll explain." She snuggled in closer to me. "How about the short version from the beginning?"

"How can anything be the short version when starting from the beginning?" I asked her.

"Well I'm not going to start from the end." She placed a kiss on my forehead. "Now shush."

So I did.

"Ok. So I got powers, it sucked, same as anybody, but my parents found out and tried to use me to make money instead of helping me."

She had told me about her parents while I had hidden out with her in the hotel room. They were some pretty shitty people if Lisa was to be believed. Which I did.

"So, I took all their money and ran away." Lisa continued.

Missy frowned.

"I lived the high life for almost a year as I blew through their savings until they eventually got it sorted out with the bank." Lisa blew out a breath. "I was here in the Bay at the time and without money I started stealing. Eventually I got caught by a villain and was forced to become a villain with the threat of death if I disobeyed." Lisa paused as Missy wrote a question onto the pad.

'Who?' It read.

"We're getting to that. Anyway I was a villain with the Undersiders for near two years until I met Taylor the wannabe Hero." She smiled at me. Presumably to show she was teasing.

"This girl," she gave me a small shake, "Was in our territory and scaring off a would be car thief when we found her. She was obviously a new trigger. You know the type, eager and naive. She let me walk right up to her."

Missy gave me a disapproving look.

I squeezed Lisa's waist again. "I should have left you on the rooftop."

Lisa patted my arm to get me to let up on the pressure.

"I'm glad you mentioned that." She continued after I let up on her waist. "Taylor was still getting a handle on her powers at the time so when she tried to help me down from the rooftops after my teammate left me up there, get this, she accidentally teleported us right into her bedroom."

Missy snorted with laughter then groaned. She must have tweaked her jaw.

"Well, we met up often enough after that." Lisa said in an airy tone. "Mostly out of costume except this one time Lung tried to kill me."

Missy looked like she wanted to hear more about that but Lisa pressed on at her own pace, as was her way.

"Then, well," Lisa looked at me. "Her Dad found out about her powers. He all but forced Taylor to stop being an Indy Hero and get all official. And like my very own knight in shining armor, Taylor wanted to use it to help me get out of being a villain." She grimaced. "Then the Bank clusterfuck nearly killed us all."

Missy grimaced and gestured to Lisa's bandaged head.

"No, not at the Bank." Lisa pursed her lips in thought. "It was in the Protectorate HQ actually. I was in custody, getting set to sellout in order to become a Ward and save me from going to the big house when my old boss tried to have me killed." She gestured to her head. "Bullet just grazed me but I'll have a hell of a scar for it." She mimed a line from just behind her left temple to the back of her head. "Took a bit of my ear with it but they were able to fix that. Mostly. I think. I haven't seen it yet."

The lack of her usual penchant for drama told me just how much her literal brush with death had affected her. I hugged her middle and was rewarded with the tug of a smile on her lips.

"My cell flooded with foam before he could get another shot off." She gingerly touched a hand to the bandage wrapped around her head. "Helped control the bleeding too."

The silence that filled the room was heavy.

Eventually we were saved by another question from Missy. 'Are you going to be a Ward now?'

"I have to have a trial first," Lisa glanced at me. "It will be very hush hush with me supposed to be dead and all, but if things go right then yeah, I'll become a Ward."

Her expression made me wary. "What's the catch?" I asked.

"No matter the turn out, they won't let me stay in Brockton Bay."

There was no grin, no hint of a smile, no happiness in her features at all. She was serious. They were going to take her away from me one way or another.

.

Author's Note: Sorry about the cliff hanger. I just can't help myself.

Hmmm, I don't really have much to say... Its the start of a new Arc and we have a bit of exposition and recap going on here. Some developments mentioned that will come up later in the Arc, both big and small. Not calling Taylor/Lisa officially yet so don't grab onto that and run off. They are both dealing with some heavy emotion right now so lets wait and see before I go and tag it in the story.

Thank you all for your support for the last chapter after the long wait! I'm doing my best not to fall into Lisa's power trap again so we can keep rolling.

(lets pretend I had some really clever way of requesting reviews instead of this bit)

K. Raiden