Little Hunter
There was a saying Nanku remembered from Taylor's life.
"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."
Taylor's father had been a wise man.
Vista—somehow—and her mother—somehow—could see through her cloak.
After lingering to see if anyone followed her obviously, she began evading. Better safe than sorry, and she already felt sorry.
She kept Dusk and Dawn hidden in the shadows of nearby buildings. Tucked away and still where no one would see them. Ready to distract or strike. Whichever was necessary.
When simply evading was no longer enough to satisfy her, Nanku went further.
Pe'dte and the Yautja had their own saying.
"Anything that can hurt you, will."
Never be on the defensive. It was a sure way to becoming cornered.
Unexpected action was the best way to jar enemies into making mistakes. It certainly worked on the R'ka.
Nanku didn't quite know what could qualify as unexpected on Earth, but switching her armor for clothes and walking out into a public space seemed as good as any. She went right out onto the street, hands in her pockets and her back straight. Stiff compared to the people around her but the humans paid little mind. Good enough.
Several blocks later, she walked right into Brockton Bay Public Library and waited to see if anyone came chasing. Dusk and Dawn lingered in shadowed spaces on either side of the building. Opposite corners. Places with decent views where Nanku could use their eyes.
Since fleeing her mother's family's home, nothing stood out. Context suggested the Protectorate didn't intend to follow her blindly. Smart on their part.
She needed to be smarter.
Out in the open was her best bet. Earth Enforcers couldn't be much different from the Yautja's. They didn't want to air their business where anyone could see it.
There were more people around and in the library than Nanku expected, but they occupied sitting areas and reading rooms toward the front of the building. Few lingered amid the hundreds of shelves and stacks of books on the multi-floored building. Charting a path through that avoided all of them wasn't a challenge.
That suited her.
She needed a moment.
Or two.
Nanku found a room at the back of the building. long and narrow. A table occupied the center with a dozen chairs and half as many computers. They were spaced out with room for books or papers. Enough clutter to be useful, but not so much it would get in her way.
No one was inside to hear her growling.
"Stupid."
She wasted no time and started one of the computers.
Her mother was Weaver. Weaver was in the Protectorate. That wasn't close to anything she'd expected, and she was still wrapping her head around it, and everything else.
The worst part nagged the most.
She'd exposed herself. Foolishly. Like an amateur. Someone not even ready to be a young blood, let alone blooded.
How did they see through the cloak? Her mother hadn't actually seen through. She simply knew where Nanku had been. Somehow Vista did too… Though nothing Nanku overheard suggested the Ward noticed Dusk or Dawn.
How did their powers work?
Nanku moved the mouse and started looking on the internet. There was a notice that as a 'guest' her searches would be limited. She didn't know what that meant, biy she didn't want to run all the way back to the Bakeman house to start figuring out what to do next.
Vista first.
Nanku leaned toward the screen and hoped she wouldn't have to flee her present residence. The house she'd found was comfortable. Isolated. Secure. She'd already arranged the computer and widescreen.
Nanku liked the widescreen.
So much easier to search the Internet.
Vista is a shaker with the ability to warp and manipulate space around her.
And that was it. That was the sum total of what the Parahumans Online Wiki had to say, and it told Nanku barely anything.
How did that translate into knowing where she was?
Assault bore more information. He absorbed and reflected kinetic energy. Nanku didn't like that. She didn't like that one bit.
Turning her head, she did a focused search of the library. People came and went since she entered, but none approached her. Looked in her direction. Said anything that concerned her.
On the streets, there were no lingering vehicles save a pickup truck. Dusk could see it, and the man inside was too old and fat to worry about. Also busy looking at the girls who walked by. No problem of hers.
There was a police car, but Nanku moved several smaller bugs closer, and there was a spider under one of the car seats. The men were discussing something she couldn't quite place. Innings. Outs.
She typed them into the search and remembered baseball.
Taylor never was a sports person.
With a breath, Nanku sat back in her seat and kept watching. And Waiting.
...
Nothing happened.
No one was coming for her. Not tonight. But they would, and it would make things harder.
Nanku checked the time.
11:46
It was too early to quit.
She had a year, but languishing about wasting a day wasn't something she wanted to do.
She needed to achieve something. Finding her mother and discussing her father went immediately wrong. Something needed to come from it. But she couldn't be stupid.
Nanku typed the name into the computer and found him without much effort.
~ ~ ~
The duplex looked familiar. An older brick building amid a dozen others all in a row and set slightly back from the street. Three stories tall. Windows front and back. Three doors in and out. Front and two back.
There was a man inside, settled into a recliner before a television.
Nanku didn't feel like waiting until morning or any later in the night. Dusk and Dawn flew from roof to roof. Close and overlooking the surrounding streets. Most people were inside, and only a few cars came or went. The air was still stinking but relatively quiet.
After a third switch into human clothes in one night, Nanku walked up to the door and knocked.
The man didn't rise from his seat.
She knocked again.
Still nothing.
She knocked again, harder.
The door popped open, her fist hanging in the air.
No alarm went off, and still, the man didn't move. Was he dead?
He couldn't be dead! The Black Warrior always won. It had no reason to ruin her explicitly!
Cautiously, Nanku leaned her head inside. "Kurt?"
His last name was a blank.
She stepped inside. A strong scent greeted her. Even after so much time, she knew the damn smell. It sent shivers under her skin.
The air reeked of alcohol.
Bottles piled up by an overfilled green bin. Beer and gin according to the labels. Large empty jugs of vodka. The floor was passably cleaned but lazily. Dust clung to the corners by the wall and some of the bottles too.
Checking the door, she found the latch loose to the point of nearly falling off.
That was just poor security.
With one final check of her surroundings, Nanku dared to enter despite the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She wasn't giving up now, and if Kurt was dead she needed to know.
Nanku left the door open behind her and proceeded into the living room. The television played some program with guns and explosions, but the sound was off. The light from the screen illuminated the room itself. An arm hung off the chair, fingers grasping a bottle set on the floor.
Waiting a moment, she decided to stay close to an exit and fly a fly into the man's face.
He jerked up with a start. His hand swatted the air, but the finger still closed around the bottle. The glass flung across the room and shattered against the wall, and curses spilled from Kurt's lips.
"Fucking bugs."
Nanku's brow rose.
His voice was familiar to her. She remembered it. She didn't remember him sounding so tired, or having so much alcohol.
Kurt sat forward and scratched his head languidly. He reached for the bottle only to swipe at the air. It was then he looked across the room and noticed the broken glass.
"Fuck," he said.
His movements were clumsy as he stood. Drunk. Incredibly drunk. Drunk enough Nanku felt herself coiling up inside at the idea.
It might not be the best time to try talking to him.
Nanku started to back up quietly, but Kurt turned her way as he mumbled.
He hadn't heard her. The look on his face said that.
"Anne? That you?"
Nanku froze.
"Hey." His voice slurred the longer he spoke. "I wanted to say thank you. For coming to Lacy's funeral. Th—"
"Lacy's dead?" Nanku asked.
It hit harder than she'd imagined.
The kindly woman had always been nice to Taylor. Watching her some nights. Sneaking her sweets at times. Maybe it was because Taylor's mother fell apart, and she remembered Lacy more fondly, but the memories stuck with Nanku.
"How?"
"Cancer," he answered with a long face and a broken look in his eyes. "You know. The big C?"
Nanku bowed her head.
Everyone dies, she told herself. Sooner or later.
"Was really hard." Kurt started forward, and Nanku was surprised he didn't have more to say about her presence. "I know you're busy with your new job, and we don't talk much since Danny, but—"
Nanku blinked. She watched the man pass her absently. He was so drunk he didn't even make any note of the open door behind her. He didn't take any note she was not her mother. Did they really look that alike?
Nanku balled her fists at her side. "We all go. Eventually."
"Guess." His voice was resigned with old pain. "Miss her."
He shuffled toward the kitchen and passed more empty bottles.
Nanku trailed at a distance. No one else in the house she could see. A single room on the top floor was oddly well-cleaned. She had to move bugs inside to look around. Like it was the only room Kurt cared to clean.
"What brings you by Anne?" Kurt asked as he reached the fridge. "Taylor doing okay?"
Nanku frowned… and she lied.
"She's okay."
"Good." Kurt nodded lazily. "You know it's not her fault, yeah? Danny dying like that. Taylor didn't do anything wrong."
Nanku's hands tightened at her sides. "Right."
"Still struggling to try and tell her that?"
Her eyes fluttered. "What?"
"Telling her. Telling her it's okay. It was just some fucking milk how was anyone supposed to know he'd get mugged?"
"Mugged?"
"Danny's fault, if anyone's." Kurt pulled a beer from the fridge and closed it. "He should'a known better. Should'a been smarter."
He collapsed into a chair so hard he almost knocked it over. Nanku moved on reflex. She caught the back with a hand and shoved her weight forward to right it.
Kurt didn't notice, preoccupied with the bottle.
Nanku took it from him.
"Is that what happened?" She twisted the cap off easily and handed him the beer. "He was mugged?"
"Probably." He took his beer from her but seemed unable to raise it. "Or the gangs killed him 'cause he wouldn't play ball. Or some asshat wanting money. Drugs…"
"No one came around the Association? Made threats?"
"That happens all the time. How it is."
Happens?
"You just tell Taylor," he whispered. "It's this damn city. Brockton killed Danny, not Taylor."
Nanku turned, looking toward the open door.
That was… Not something she'd considered. And if Kurt didn't know anything and her mother was a massive complication… Where did that leave her?
"Does 'QC' mean anything to you?"
"Yeah," Kurt mumbled, not answering her question. "The city. Kills us all, one way or another."
Not good enough. "What about the day he died? What did he do? Did you see him?"
"Told the police everything, Anne. Danny dropped by the office. Looked around. He was always doing that. Checking in. Making sure we were all okay. No one was messing with us." Kurt lifted the beer. "Then he went to get some milk for Taylor. You know what happened."
Quietly, Nanku went back to the front and pushed the door closed.
Returning to the kitchen, she pulled out another chair and sat.
Kurt looked at her, eyes fluttering with confusion.
"Taylor? What are—" He paled, stilling wobbling back and forth and stinking of booze, but suddenly alert in a way he hadn't been before. "Taylor?"
Nanku sat back and set a hand on the table, contemplating.
That wasn't good enough.
What was she supposed to do with that? There had to be more. She needed more. She…
Kurt raised his head, eyes unfocused.
He looked worse than how Nanku remembered her mother. Her mother had become twisted. Frantic and depressed. Kurt looked beat down. Like the world ground everything out of him and kept grinding out of petty spite.
He was a shell.
A man hollowed out and left to linger.
"Old. Drunk. And crazy." Kurt looked away and shook his head. "Figures."
Nanku held her tongue.
She sat with him, waiting and thinking while he talked.
About Lacy. About her father. About Taylor. It brought back older memories. Smaller things she'd forgotten of another life.
She didn't press him again.
She was no brute, and she wouldn't kick a beaten dog just to make herself feel better.
Nanku held her peace, let a man torn down babble as much as he wanted, and when he fell asleep, she threw a blanket over him, checked the back door, locked the front, and left.
She wandered after, lost in thought and frustration until eventually she calmed.
What did she expect? It had been ten years and more. She was never going to find her quarry in a week. Not even a month. Not unless she got smarter.
Kurt said it happens all the time, she recalled. It happened when her father lived, and it continued after he died.
Maybe that was a place to start. Ten years was a long time, but there had to be some who remembered. She only needed to find them.
Yet, Kurt's words lingered in her head.
This city killed Danny.
The city changed in ten years, but even on a casual stroll, she saw them. They hid in back rooms and basements. Alleys. Plain sight even. Drug dealers and pimps. Robbers. Murderers. Cowards preying on people too weak to defend themselves. Parasites feeding on a sickness.
Someone murdered her father. She still intended to hunt them down.
But even as a child, Taylor knew what Brockton Bay was. In her wake, Nanku felt fate turning around her.
Pe'dte was an enforcer. She hunted bad bloods. Her entire clan hunted bad bloods.
And Nanku found herself in Brockton Bay again, with purpose and chance her tailwind.
Bad bloods were bad bloods, no matter where they were.