Finale

I sat back, taking in the sunshine as I lounged in a lawnchair I'd set up on the roof of my apartment building

Negotiating with the PRT was long, hard, and exhausting but... By the end of it, the bad PR they were getting and the fact that people were inexplicably taking my side in the public won out. Other than some outright outrageous stuff I threw in just to have a place to negotiate down from, I ended up getting everything I asked for.

All charges against me were dropped, most charges against the Undersiders were dropped or reduced as low as they could go, and some people from the PRT were talking with the state government both here and up in Maine about getting Rachel pardoned for the stuff that was outside her control.

With Lisa in charge of Coil's operation and having stolen all of his assets, even after shutting down all the illegal stuff we really don't need to worry about money so we're thinking about going legit as rogues or maybe even vigilantes... The idea of being a 'hero' doesn't sit right with me anymore and that's going to be several really long conversations regardless.

Not long after all that bullshit got settled down, Dad got contacted by a representative from a tech firm that we're pretty sure is a front for the Elite. He turned them down but that's something that we're keeping an eye on.

The biggest victory, for both of us, however, is that... Apprently, neither my Zerg nor Dad's tech are technically "Tinker-Tech" or "Power Constructs" by the most strict definitions so with a bit of creative lawyering... Let's just say that NEPA or whatever it's called isn't blocking Dad from equipping the city, our neighbors, and Civilian Law Enforcement all over the country with Terran Tech, not to mention that the Dockworkers Association, in general, are suddenly getting a lot more work due to the fact that they have the most-slash-best Terran tech equipment and thus can get jobs done a lot more quickly and efficiently. Mayor Christner seems to think that the Bay's economy is going to improve significantly because of it.

I was still trying to figure out how exactly to monetize my powers. So far my best ideas have been renting out zerglings as private security and having drones pick up and deliver things like groceries, but I think I need to do more research on logistics before I fully commit to drone deliveries.

The rest of the team was still a little weirded out by how much more affectionate Rachel was with me after being infested, with Lisa even admitting to me that she'd used up all her thinkering for a day trying to figure out what our relationship was now, but the truth is I don't think we know either.

In other big news, we managed to get a federal Judge to examine the details of Canary's trial and, upon agreeing that due process was violated, the new judge placed an injunction barring enforcement of her Birdcage sentence barring a retrial with a new judge and a new lawyer at a neutral venue. My interview with the local news was picked up and replayed nationally for some reason, and between that and the knowledge of just how badly Paige's trial was handled being more widespread there was a movement to amend the laws regarding the Birdcage so that if a Cape could be contained elsewhere, they would be, even if sentenced to the Birdcage until they'd expended all appeals that a non-prahuman criminal would have been entitled to after being convicted for similar crimes. Time will tell if that ends up happening.

Also apprently the judge from Paige's orignal trial was taken into protective custody after almost being lynched by a mob of defense attorneys. I don't know if I caused that or not.

I also got a weird letter from a girl claiming to be a big fan. She said she's coming to Brockton Bay with her family really soon and she really hopes to meet me and that she's got a big surprise for me, but... I can't make heads or tails of it and Lisa thinks she might be a stalker so that was something to watch out for. For some reason, the letter smelled like a hospital.

School isn't happening anymore. Even private schools... I'd attract too much attention and, honestly, after the bullshit that led up to my trigger, I was just done with the whole concept of schooling. We were considering our options, and so far it was looking like we'd be hiring private tutors so that I could get my GED when I turned 18.

Dad's teaching me to drive. I'm turning sixteen soon and he thinks that getting my license, now that I'm no longer a wanted felon, will give me a sense of normalcy. I'm not sure if he's right or not...

He's also refusing to buy me beer, even after I explain that it's not like it can hurt me. Buying alcohol for minors is a crime, and he wants me to stop drinking and using on principle. Lucking he didn't say anything about anti-freeze.

I'm not sure, exactly, what that big threat that Kerrigan warned me about was. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open, but for now, I want to focus on myself. I'm... I'm not well, everything that's happened...

Part of the process of clearing things up with the PRT was a civil settlement, the PRT paying for damages, and the like. There honestly wasn't that much, and I didn't need money but... the exact terms of the settlement are that they'll pay for any therapy I might need going forward, no matter the costs. I should probably get some kind of counseling, but... I'm not sure if I can trust a therapist right now...

Still, I was breathing more easily now than I had been in a while, feeling better than I had been in months, feeling free and safe for the first time in months. No matter what happens next, I feel like I'm going to be okay.

AN: So obviously this isn't what a lot of you, if anyone's still here, were hoping for but... This story was the first major fanfic I ever wrote and as time went on, I mean... In hindsight, a lot of stuff especially early on dependent on things that I now know to be people acting out of character with the source material, there's stuff that I could do so much better now if I tried so I kind of cringe looking back and, honestly, as time went on it got harder and harder to write for this.

Still, it wouldn't be fair to the people who like this story for what it is to leave it unfinished forever. It needed some kind of ending, so eventually, I sat down and forced what I hope is a reasonably satisfying conclusion out and, hey, if inspiration ever strikes me, the door is open for a continuation though please, no one hold your breath.

In the meantime, if you like my work I've got three other Worm crossover stories, and a pure Marvel story entitled Call Me Massacre that I started recently, got a lot of work done on in a very short amount of time, and I'm very happy with so if you feel like checking those out if you haven't already you're all more than welcome to.