{A bird hatched in an undeveloped state, requiring care and feeding by the parents}

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

Coming back to myself in the infirmary the second time was faster. I was asleep and then I was awake and the world was perfect, everything was sharp. My head was clear. Even the faint pain that had penetrated my drugged haze was gone now. My head was clear and I could think- but the room was empty.

Mimi and Elle's chairs were empty, and had been moved back to their places by the wall. I slipped off the bed and stood, easy and natural. No one offered me my glasses. I found them set out on the bedside table. They were laid carefully atop a card- just a simple piece of paper with the words 'Hope you feel better' I didn't recognize the handwriting.

I held the paper in my hand, and sat on the bed.

It was quiet, the only sound was the quiet buzz of the florescent lights, and I think, I think that was why I suddenly felt safe. Safe enough to be afraid, and to cry. I could feel the fire on my arm, licking at my toes, burning me up again. I could feel the impact, of something thrown from behind me striking my shoulder, the bones shifting from the impact, breaking.

I had almost died. I had felt how close I came.

My eyes prickled and my vision swam, tears ran down my face- I wiped at them with my sleeve and my hands shook. My breathing was quick and heavy; my hands and shoulders shook uncontrollably. Fire and a faceless shape chased me, behind my eyelids, in the corners of the quiet room. Chased me down and dragged me into the dark. I pulled my legs up to my chest and muffled the thin sounds in my knees.

I was afraid. I was afraid. I was so afraid. My shoulders shook, and stifled my mouth with the back of my hand.

The hysteria settled slowly, quietly, the hiccupping sobs slowed and stopped; the shaking in my hands slowly faded. Take deep breaths, deep breaths.

Someone knocked on the door, and I jumped.

"C-come in." I said, scrubbing at my eyes.

The door opened, and a matronly woman with curly brown hair, a cheery, round-cheeked face, and a twinkling smile stepped in. Her scrubs were green, and her name tag read Woodard.

"How are you feeling, dear?"

I tried to smile, I did. It was too watery, and Nurse Woodard tutted.

"Come here, dear."

I didn't fool her at all, did I?

She hugged me, "How are you holding up? There, there... It's all right."

Nurse Woodard was very understanding and didn't ask me why I'd been crying, and I didn't feel like sharing. She let me lean on her for a minute before I had myself back under control.

"Are you hungry dear?" She asked when I'd stopped sniffling.

"Yes..."

"Well how about we head back to the cafeteria?" Nurse Woodard said cheerily. I found myself smiling back. "Now, let's sign you out and get out of here dear."

I nodded with the suggestion, I did feel hungry.

I was being discharged from the Infirmary. Nurse Woodard stopped by the front desk. The attending nurse... I couldn't see her name tag, but I saw something starting with a 'J'. Nurse Woodard dropped off a clipboard, and asked the nurse some questions, but I was lost in thought.

Nurse Woodard plucked at my sleeve, bringing me back to myself, we kept walking- I followed her, but my mind was still occupied.

"Mimi and Elle went back to medium security, right?" I asked.

Nurse Woodard tutted, "Burnscar and Labyrinth," she said, "And I'm afraid so. Everyone's getting shuffled around for now dear. Things are going to be a little unstable for a while."

"Can I see them again?" I asked, "Visit them? Or have them visit?"

"I wouldn't know, dear. Usually the psychiatrists are the ones that decide that."

"So... If I wanted Burnscar to have lunch with me and my friends, I'd need to talk to my therapist?"

"I suppose." she said, "I'm sorry, dear."

"I promised Mimi I'd ask if she could share a meal schedule." I said, "She's lonely, she needs friends."

"I can pass it along, that you'd like to ask."

I smiled, "I would!"

I'd need to try and talk to Doctor Selmy, or maybe Doctor Yamada, and ask them if Mimi and Elle could get moved over. Mimi said that she got moved around, right? I didn't know much about Elle though. Did they let her move around?

-Fire, eating into my arm, eyes glowing, empty-

I shivered and resolutely told myself I wasn't afraid...

The promise I made to Mimi, to ask for her to share a meal schedule with me... I hesitated, faltered, conflicted, and followed Nurse Woodard.

We kept walking, instead of taking the service corridor as I had with Summer Holiday; we followed the hall into a Hub. The middle of the room was dominated by a security booth. Not as large as the main booth, but larger than the smaller checkpoint gates. It was enclosed in reinforced glass on every side; the walls were lined with elevators and opened up into a T junction, two other hallways crossing.

To my consternation, mirrored windows overlooked the Hub, and my power... My power hinted at... Something. People above us, behind the glass, probably.

The booth itself was manned by three guards.

"Hello James." Nurse Woodard said, smiling as always.

"Polly." One tipped his hat, "Got a page from up top." He slid a slip of paper under the document slot to her.

Nurse Woodard picked up the slip, "Oh, my! You've got visitors at admissions."

Visitors? I blinked and looked up at her, "What?"

It took a moment for that to click. I hadn't had any visitors since I'd come to Alchemilla. I'd never heard of family of friends visiting, but I knew it was discouraged. It risked making a connection between civilian and cape lives. But I didn't have a cape life, I'd been sent to Alchemilla before any of that, but I knew of heroes with enemies that could take advantage of that. Fusor had been a big name in Chicago. I thought about Blake- Maser -maybe I knew some villains with enemies too.

The nurse... Polly... She gave me an encouraging nod. "She arrived this morning, your mother?"

Oh. Oh, right Mom had said she'd be coming by. I... I'd forgotten in the chaos... I'd been looking forward to that too.

How could I forget Mom was going to visit?

My eyes prickled wetly, but I thought my face might split in two with my smile.

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

There was a brief aside, wherein Nurse Woodard asked if I wanted to eat breakfast first. But I was already vibrating with energy. I didn't know if I'd be able to manage an appetite even if I had been starving.

Then Nurse Woodard reminded me gravely to not use civilian names. Preserving civilian identities was very important, Mom and Emma had been made aware of the need for secrecy- they had to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements just to get in the building - but I had to do my part too.

So we headed up. I hadn't been to ground level since I'd checked in the first day- and I had seen a different section, the sterile inpatient receiving clinics and containment. That was where I had my power tested and endured an endless battery of tests. Visitors were received in a different section. We rode one of the elevators up to ground level, and it opened onto an open room with a desk and receptionist. Polly glided through and ushered me through a door marked 'women'. Lockers lined one of the walls, and booths lined the other, I'd taken it for a restroom at first glance but reconsidered, it looked like a dressing room.

I was given a black domino mask, one that stuck to my cheeks and forehead with adhesive strips that I had to peel plastic off of. Wearing my glasses on top of it made me look like the dorkiest dork whoever dorked a dork. There was also a grey sweat suit- it was a dressing room.

I took off my scrubs and put the sweat suit on with shaking hands, my heart felt like it'd leap right out of my throat any moment. I felt a little lightheaded and was actually regretting not getting something to eat; my power was telling me my blood sugar was low. Maybe part of it was because I'd been healed?

After I was dressed, Polly showed me out into a kind of small indoor courtyard under a wide skylight.

This part of Alchemilla didn't look like a hospital at all. There were ornamental pillars carved to look like leafless trees, with benches and a pebble garden. There were benches in the park, backless rings around the fake trees. It almost empty, with the exception of two people sitting on one of the benches, their backs to me. I stared at them, intently, because their familiarity burned like torches in the dark.

I broke away from Polly and began to run. I heard her call my name behind me, but I was already running, eyes only for the bench and who was sitting on it.

The sound of me running, my slippers on the stone floor, made the nearest start to turn as I reached them.

I threw myself at her, "Emma!"

She squeaked as I hit her, wrapped her in a hug, and tilted dangerously- I was spinning and laughing with my momentum.

Emma blinked in surprise. Behind her, Mom also looked up, startled.

"Taylor?" Emma asked.

I smiled, and then, then I was crying, I dragged Emma to her in a hug; Mom's arms wrapped around me, and I was home.

"I missed you so much!" I bawled into Mom's shirt, it was mess and my nose was probably running, but I was crying and I was laughing and everything felt right. A knot in my shoulders I hadn't noticed came undone.

Impressions of surprise and joy warred with a moment of shock quickly overcome. I was so happy I could hardly contain it. I pulled back a little, letting go of them.

Emma regained her footing, and struggled for words. She gave me the most perplexing look, "Taylor- you... You're wearing a mask."

"Y-yeah," I stammered, either embarrassed or pleased. I honestly couldn't decide; it was all a tangle I couldn't pick apart.

Emma's face ran through a gamut of emotions. Exasperation, amusement, frustration, and a real surprise- jealousy.

She was jealous? Of what?

I blinked, "It's just a formality thing, I think? In case other people see us?" I shrugged one shoulder.

Emma just snorted- leveling out into exasperation, the other emotions fading into the background and I laughed again. I didn't know what else to say, fortunately Polly caught up to me, huffing and puffing slightly.

"Hello Mrs. Hebert, Miss Barnes."

Mom disentangled herself from Emma and me, brushing her blouse down absently, and offered her hand, "Annette Hebert."

"Polly Woodard." Polly and Mom shook.

"I trust Taylor hasn't been giving you too much trouble?" Mom asked.

"Not at all." She gave me a smile with just a touch of admonishment where I stood, hands around Emma's shoulders, grinning ear to ear like a loon.

"Good, good. I've hear a lot of good things about Alchemilla. Taylor has said that the staff has been very supportive."

"Taylor has made great strides, we're all very proud of her." Polly beamed.

I had to sit down. That run had sent my head spinning, and I swayed a little. Polly gave me a shrewd look and I just knew she knew.

"Come with me, Taylor skipped breakfast and I suspect you are hungry as well."

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

Emma and I lay on the floor, staring up at the skylight in the park with the fake trees. Our legs rested on one of the benches, and I watched fluffy white clouds pass above us. A tray with two plates and the remains of scrambled eggs with bacon, a bit of crust from some toast, and two empty glasses of orange juice lay between us. Emma's emotions were subdued, reflective, and maudlin, she was in a contemplative mood, and strangely, so was I.

The past week had been difficult, but Emma being here had reminded me of what I was working towards, of what life had been like before. There was a normal, ordinary world out there that I remembered. She was wearing jeans and a blouse and sneakers and was in high school- I'd be skipping a grade when I got out, but I couldn't wait to have something ordinary like school to worry about. Mom had told me all about the little dramas and juicy scandals at the Brockton U and we'd laughed all through breakfast. Then Mom had talked about the parahuman scene in Brockton Bay, about how she'd started following the neighborhood watch and the Wards newsletter. Emma, though, had been strangely reticent.

I fidgeted.

"I missed you." I said.

Emma took a moment to reply, and her voice was quiet, "I missed you too."

I perked up, "There's a lot of parahumans here! I've met at least a dozen, and I've even made some friends!"

The limitations on my correspondence didn't apply to just talking to Mom and Emma. There wasn't risk of electronic interception, or hard copies getting lost. Mom and Emma had to sign NDAs before they could even get in the door. Which was a very good thing, I thought. Emailing Mom and Emma had been an exercise in frustration because I actually wanted to talk about the people, I wanted to know what Mom thought of Labyrinth, or Burnscar; Glassboom or Sadboy (even if I wanted to call them Elle, Mimi, Heather, and Nick).

Now that they were here I could just tell them. I could just tell them everything. I knew that while I had been growing up Mom been worried about me not making many friends beyond Emma. Now that I'd made some, I wanted to tell them everything.

"First there was this girl, Glassboom, she's got some kind of kinetic reflection power? She's... A little odd, but I think you'd like her." Heather could be a little irritating. But she was really imaginative and funny. "And there's Sadboy. He's nice too, and likes Glassboom, I think. We eat lunch together." I said, "Burnscar and Labyrinth are a little hard to get right away, but they're good people. Oh, and when I got burned, I met a boy called Wine, he had an interesting power-

"When you got burned?" Mom asked.

I blinked, "Oh, right. Labyrinth had a flare-up, her power effected most of Alchemilla, I think. That's how I met her and Burnscar..." I'd told them everything I could; and Mom got very quiet. Nurse Woodard's smile had looked a little strained. She and Mom had stepped to the side and started talking very urgently in hushed tones.

"-believe this, how can you... Taylor's leaving, we're l-"

"-ert, there aren't many alternatives for your daughter. She is committed by court order. Do you want-"

I listened with one ear. I guess I should have seen Mom's reaction coming. I... Wasn't surprised, but I was caught off guard, I hadn't thought about it.

Would I be leaving Alchemilla?

Part of me wanted to, wanted to go out and be a hero, use my powers to make a difference. Part of me, part of me I wasn't proud of- I was afraid. But... I'd made some friends here. And I'd barely gotten to know most of them. I promised Mimi I'd have lunch with her... I wanted to ask Emma, but there was still that strange distance I didn't recognize. And it left me... all talked out. And now I was just lying there with Emma.

While we'd been growing up, I'd always been the one that talked more, been the motor mouth. Sometimes it felt like I couldn't stop talking even if I wanted. I felt like I was eight again. I alternated between talking nonstop, asking question I could think of, and being all worded out.

Emma hmmed, and I glanced at her, she was still looking at the clouds above us, eyes hooded.

Once upon a time, I remembered jumping from the top bunk in Emma's room with a blanket trailing behind me as an improvised cape. Emma had giggled and tipped over, tears streaming down her face. I remembered all kinds of laughter, all kinds of tears. There had been a time when Emma and I had been sisters, when there hadn't been any kind of secret I didn't share with Emma. I trusted her implicitly.

There was a distance now. I didn't like it. When I'd imagined Mom and Emma visiting... I hadn't imagined this.

"Emma?"

Emma blinked, and looked at me, "I'm sorry Taylor, it's just..."

She hesitated and I waited. The clouds overhead gently drifted by, blue sky in between.

"I'm having trouble in school." Emma said at last, "There's... There's kind of a gang war happening right now. A bunch of guys... They won't stop bugging me."

Her voice was small, and her hands rested on her stomach, twitching slightly like she wanted to be doing something with them but couldn't think of what.

"You mean, like they want you to... join a gang?" I asked.

"No, like..." Emma paused, "They're... they keep bothering me. One, this guy walked up to me and asked me if I- I ever had sex."

I blinked at Emma.

"I told him to leave me alone and he started asking me if I- I'd ever given anyone head. I-if I'd ever done more than one guy... I saw two of them Wednesday after track. I think they're following me." Emma whispered. She was... She was afraid.

Horror washed cool down my face. I never imagined Emma might be afraid, when we were younger, I was always the one hesitant and shy. Emma was always so fearless and sure of herself.

I looked over at Mom.

Mom and Polly sat a few paces away on the other side of the pebble garden. Mom had stopped talking about taking me away, and was asking Polly about Labyrinth's world, the crater and ruins, but Polly couldn't say anything. The staff had restrictions on information on patients- nothing was given out without a long string of paper forms and written permissions and an entire separate battery of NDA forms. I'd encountered that bureaucratic wall my first month in Alchemilla.

"-Mrs. Hebert, You have to understand... we work under many restrictions here-"

"You should tell your Mom." I said, "Or my Mom. I can't help much from here."

Emma sighed, "Okay." But her heart wasn't in it. It wasn't sincere. She wasn't sincere.

I wasn't certain what to do. If I tried to press the issue... wasn't that strange, Emma had always been the one that pulled me along, the one that took initiative. Not the other way around. Everything was different; where was the life I recognized, that I'd dreamt of when I was homesick? Something had changed while I was gone, and now my life was different, it wasn't there anymore. Instead of the joy I'd imagined there was this little melancholy talk with someone I didn't entirely recognize.

"-are those my only options?" Mom asked, "That cannot be all-"

I wasn't leaving today, was I?

"Are you going to visit again?" I said.

Her emotions were distant, not deeply invested; it surprised me how shallow they were. She was struggling with three emotions. Sadness, confusion, and... Again, jealousy.

Emma was... Jealous? Of me? Yes, she was. Why? I wracked my brain trying to imagine why- powers.

She was jealous of my having powers

I... I was unsure. This entire conversation had left me unbalanced, not reassured.

I was starting to feel drained, with the constant emotional back and forth. My eyes were starting to prickle, which felt unfair, I... I was so happy to see Emma and Mom again. But nothing was like it was supposed to be, I didn't want to cry for something that I thought, hoped, believed was still there. Attention settled on me, and tensed a moment before I realized it was just Mom, walking over to us.

Emma and I stood up.

"I wish we had more time." Mom said, "Nurse Woodard gave me a card, I'm going to be reviewing our options, I don't want you to stay here."

"I'm not leaving?" I didn't know if I ought to be relived or disappointed. I knew Mom on a mission could move mountains, but the list of faculties equipped to manage parahuman patients was small. Sure, my power was relatively weak, but I remembered Mimi's bleak helplessness. I didn't like my chances.

"... Not today." Mom's worry-helplessness-determination blazed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Polly said, "We can schedule additional visits."

"Next month?" I asked, hopefully. A glance at Emma had my heart sinking, her expression was closed and muted, "Or the next?"

Her helplessness deepened. No, probably not.

"I'll do my best Taylor, but it's quite a ride out to Alchemilla." Mom said gently, I could feel the emotion in her.

-Conflicted; yearning, affection, sadness, desperation-

"I'm going to be talking to the Protectorate Liaison Office in Brockton; we might have some options closer to home."

I could see her expression, and I felt one of my own like it crack just before I covered my face.

"Taylor..." Mom said, but I threw my arms around her.

We didn't talk- just stood there, silent. I wanted to stay there forever, I wanted for it to feel better than it did, but instead it felt like uncertainty. That sense of drifting, the fear of not being as close to Emma as I remembered, as I had hoped. "I'm not crying," I said.

She smiled, "I know." Mom said.

"I'm really not crying." I replied, just a little bit petulant.

Well, I wasn't.

"I know." She grinned. That did the trick- I couldn't help but smile a little; I could sense playfulness, and gentle amusement from Mom.

"My brave girl wouldn't cry." Mom said, and we pulled apart.

"Stay strong, Taylor." Mom said, "I know you can do it."

(•͈⌔•͈ ﾂ

There were more goodbyes, eventually we parted. Emma smiled for me, but I could tell her heart wasn't in it.

Polly and I walked back to the changing room. She ushered me into one of the booths and... That sweat suit I stared at in the mirror for several moments. It was a strange notion- this was as close to wearing a costume as I had ever been.

When I was younger, I'd filled pages and pages of notebooks with colorful illustrations of capes and leotards and bright metal armor. Helmets and gloves, usually accompanied with bright flashes of light or flame. Alexandria's costume might have come up a few times, all blacks, reds, silvers and golds in its various iterations. She had a lot of variation in her costume because it was technically part of her, and it changed a lot. Eidolon's hood and robe might have come up a few times, and Armsmaster's blue-silver combination inspired a few. Hero... Hero was kind of untouchable, timeless. He embodied the Protectorate's ideals more than any other, and he was the strongest of them all. His iconic gold and red remained a constant, even if a Tinker's repertoire was changing constantly.

I looked at myself in the changing booth's mirror, plain sweat suit. It didn't even have the Protectorate emblem.

"Are you all right in there Auspice?" Polly asked.

"I'm fine!" I replied.

I pulled off the sweats and started pulling on the scrubs. That was not the right way to be thinking and I wasn't going to start thinking like that. I was getting all mopey about a costume. Not when my mother and best friend had just visited me. I didn't know how many patients had visitors, but I knew it wasn't something talked about. Heather's reaction, to learning I had Mom and Emma and I was emailing them... I was trying to imagine how she would react to learning they had visited me.

I had it good, I had mother that loved me and Emma was the best friend I could ever ask for.

Why was I asking where Emma was, when I needed her? Emma didn't have me either. I wasn't the only one with problems.

"Almost done." I called, and considered the mask, "These things are disposable, right?"

"The mask? Of course dear."

I picked at the corner on my cheek a little, until it folded over and I could get a real grip on it. The mask peeled away.

"All right," I said, stepping out.

Polly and I walked back towards the elevators. I was buzzing with questions, but didn't want to ask Polly. What could I do to help Emma if she didn't want to be helped? My case wasn't up for review until the end of the month- then I'd have two more weeks as a Blue patient before release. And then... I'd be a hero, I think?

The checkpoint at the hub, the booth and guards- different ones this time. They called an elevator. Polly and I got in.

I leaned against the back wall rail on the elevator, thinking hard.

I didn't know if I wanted to sign on with the Wards. But I didn't know if I wanted to go independent- be a vigilante or a rogue. Brockton Bay was a good place for it, sure, especially if you operated in Marche territory. But Emma had talked about the gang violence taking a turn for the worse, of a new gang moving in- I'd read about that, the Fae. Mom had skirted the issue, but my power had hinted at it. She was worried, and it took a lot to rock Mom. Things were bad in Brockton. And regardless of the invincible image the Marquis liked to project, I couldn't depend on that as a safe haven.

I needed to look up independents. I could join the Brockton Bay Brigade, maybe... And what if I did become a Ward? What would that entail anyway?

I'd need to do some reading.

The elevator opened, and I was finally back in my Ward. The walls were that same soothing cream and the floors tiled that same black and white. I could feel my power reach out and ping on familiar halls and rooms, a map entered my mind, and in it were motes of familiarity moving in it. Heather, Nick, Charnel...

"We're here!" Polly said.

I took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. Finally being back after everything... I had things to do.

"Do you know if Doctor Selmy is in today? Or Doctor Yamada?" I needed to talk to someone. I needed to ask about Mimi and Elle and... And I needed to ask questions.

Polly frowned, "Not off the top of my head, dear. But I can ask." She gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"Thank you."