"So to summarize, once things are settled you will be doing a one month rotation with a Protectorate member. Armsmaster is currently off rotation due to a project that he is working on however. The rotation was meant to start the first of December, but between getting everyone settled and everything that's happened this week, plus the holidays we have opted to set it back to the first of the year. Your first month will have you paired with Miss Militia , your second month will be with the team Renik is building for Search and Rescue operations. Your power has a good chance at being useful for both in terms of securing problems and putting patients in stasis, once you have a better handle on what is expected of you, you may be called upon for either team."
"Alright." Clockblocker nodded.
Emily tilted her head a little, the boy was rather subdued, looking around like he wanted to say something but couldn't figure out how to. Emily had expected him to be cracking jokes and acting like Assault or Mouse Protector, but thus far aside from to ask what Mouse Protector had named the potted plant she had, he hadn't even been that weird.
She suspected something was wrong, but if he hadn't spit it out by the time the meeting was over she was going to ask directly.
" Also I see that you are scheduled to be off tomorrow, though I will ask if you wished to work two or three hours about 10. I want to send you and Amy as civilians to the Boardwalk along with the possible new Ward, Emily, to see about getting her some things she needs or wants."
"I can do that." Clockblocker nodded. "I didn't have anything planned really."
"I will have a few agents sent along in plain clothes as well, but it is mostly going to be you and Amy. Don't try to sell the Wards or let on who you are. As far as she knows, Amy is a daughter of one of the office workers here and you are a friend of hers. Neither of you are to talk powers or who you really are unless a class 4 event happens."
"Class 4? Wouldn't a class 3 usually be enough to break secrecy?" Clockblocker asked.
Emily raised an eyebrow, cranking her expectations of the boy up a little. "Normally yes, but your priority is to keep Emily and Amy away from any issues that pop up. Emily's not a Ward and she shouldn't be expected to do anything like she was just yet. Amy would jump in to help and realize later that she doesn't have a mask. Let the agents with you handle it, keeping your cover is your priority, I doubt I need to let you read the reports about what the Teeth did in Boston if they found out about some ones kid. I also don't want any of the gangs to know about her or Amy just yet. I am clearing you to freeze them if you have to to keep them from jumping in in anything short of a large risk of lives from a cape."
"They won't like that." Clockblocker offered.
"I expect not, though you have not managed to catch either of them with your little greeting prank." Emily narrowed her eyes.
"As you said ma'am, Emily's not on board yet and to be honest Amy scares me, I would rather avoid 'ALL the cancers' as she puts it."
"She isn't allowed to do that to any one." Director Piggot chuckled. " She can give you chicken pox or hemorrhoids if she wanted though. Only things that are treatable."
"You are not helping ma'am."
"Was I supposed to?"
Clockblocker huffed though he didn't seem to rise to the bait of the teasing. This made Emily a little more worried on what was bothering him.
"Do you have any questions on your assignments, or the future plans?"
"No Ma'am." Clockblocker offered." This is something I sort of expected to happen when I first joined up, the gun safety in particular given how many I've had to deal with in my time here."
"Alright moving on then. I would like to ask your opinion of the other protectorate members you work with as well as the other Wards. None of this is official record, but it is to help me understand everyone."
"I'm a little leery about what any one else said about me." Clockblocker muttered. "I've never really interacted much with Armsmaster, I think Vista has spent the most time with him, though he always struck me as a little too serious about his job, kinda like Battery actually. Both of them want to be a hero and be the best they can and they don't like when things differ from how they think things should be. Armsmaster will let certain things slide, not because he's cool like that, but like he doesn't understand humor or most normal human stuff or whatever."
Emily blinked, she was starting to suspect that people greatly underestimated Clockblocker, and Dennis as a whole.
"Assault and Mouse are the opposite. They know the job but they have fun with it and it isn't what defines them. Though with Mouse Protector I can't tell how much of her is an act or if there is even a line between her and her costume. " Clock Blocker continued. "Miss Militia and Moon Dog are kinda middle of the road. They can be serious and they can have fun with what they do. I've not seen Miss Militia out of costume so I can't say anything about that, but Moon Dog seems to do okay on his days off, though with how people act around him sometimes I think there might be something with his friend he goes to see that puts people on edge. Probably a known criminal. I doubt it would be a merchant, but it might be some one from the ABB or E88. If it was Faultline's group or another freelance cape no one would be on edge this much."
Emily upped her opinion of the boy even higher. Perhaps his being team lead was not such a risk after all.
" And the other Wards?"
"Gallant kinda follows after Armsmaster and Battery in that he takes his job too seriously. Though I know he knows how to relax as he's dating the popular girl in school and those two can get a bit sickening when they get going. Aegis is more relaxed, like Moon Dog and Miss Militia, but he still tends to go full on fearless leader mode at the drop of a hat."
Emily made a note to look into Gallant's Girlfriend in case something might leak. She doubted he told her anything but she might have found something out about him and if they broke up she didn't want that to be an issue, they were only teenagers after all, she would have to check Meadow's notes to see if there was anything about her later.
"Shadow Stalker is outright a bitch and needs to be removed from the team and thrown in the deepest hole you can find and left there."
Emily raised an eyebrow at that, there was some real hatred there. She considered asking about it, but he had moved on to the other one she was concerned with.
"Vista..." Clockblocker sighed pushing up his mask over his head and Dennis stared at her with a worried look on his face. "You didn't hear this from me, but there is some shit going on at her home that really is screwing with her. She rants sometimes when we're out on patrol. I think she does it because she thinks I'll just blow it off or make a joke, but her parents are constantly fighting, nonstop to the point they actually hate each other and the only reason they are still together is because of her and something Youth Brigade set up with them, so neither wants to fight for custody to the level that would be needed. Sure she's twelve, but she's been here longer than any one other than some of the office staff, or Armsmaster. No one takes her seriously due to her age and that drives her nuts as well. Honestly I don't know how she's not snapped yet. "
Emily narrowed her eyes. " Do you have proof over any of this?"
"What like recordings? No. I didn't record her rants, that feels like it would have been a betrayal of sorts, this kinda does too, but somethings gotta happen soon. She needs help or at the very least to get out of where she is now." Dennis offered. "If nothing else can you have some one look into it?"
"I had planned on it, though I didn't have a angle or a reason before. Now I have at least suspicion which is enough. Thank you for bringing it up."
"No problem, I hope it's enough to help." Dennis sighed though Emily noted his tension was still there and even easier to read now that his mask was up.
"It should, now to one more thing. What is it that you are still holding onto? You can't be that afraid of me to be as nervous as you are." Emily stated.
Dennis blinked and smirked a little. "I dunno, half the building heard you go off on Stalker."
"She deserved it. Plus she needs to get over herself. You don't have that sort of record to be afraid of me... unless you did something recently..."
"NOOO no no no, I saw what happened to Mouse, Alucard, and Assault. I have no desire to take an after school job as a janitor." Dennis offered. "Seriously those guys in marketing need potty training videos , no one but them use the third floor bathrooms for a reason."
Emily blinked and decided she didn't want to know but the Janitors pay raise and new hires did just jump up a little on her to do list. "So what is it?"
Dennis sucked a sharp breath between his teeth. " It's …. well it's my dad... he's … the chemo is not working. The bone marrow didn't work... I heard Druid could heal all sorts of stuff like that and I..
"You wanted to know if she could have a look at your dad to try and fix him?" Emily offered.
"Yeah. And you're her mom so I figured I might ask you cause well, after that fight, like I said she scares me."
"You realize I'm the one that trained her right?"
"And I now regret the path I chose."
Emily nodded and tapped a few things on the computer before her. She opened a particular file and put in Clockblocker's info along with the others. "Where is he at?"
"East Brockton Hospice, so does that mean..."
"Dennis. Do you know how many people in this building have issues. Either something incurable or some old injury or what not? We're up to forty seven now and that's just the PRT side of things, we haven't even checked the Protectorate personnel yet. Renik and I started making a list right off. We fix our own people then move out from there.
Amy agrees with this and we are trying to gather everyone we have with an issue at Brockton general for Druids first visit there. I can't expect the people I work with to do their jobs properly if they have a loved one in need of help.
This goes for their pets too, which Amy was very adamant about. Your dad is now on the short list to see if she can help, given how you described his condition there is a high chance it will. We don't want to over work her though. There may be people bitching, but she is only one person and I will not let her work herself to death trying to heal everything.
The last person who insisted that she heal them from their problem a little too forcefully wound up also having to be healed from a number of broken bones in addition to their original issue. "Emily explained." And I made sure that he had to go through normal slow healing."
"Uhhhh."
"Like you pointed out Dennis. I am her mother, and it's not her you should be afraid of." Emily smiled. "Keep that in mind if you think to try and ask her out."
"Noted ma'am ." Dennis swallowed.
