'This place is pretty busy today.' I mused to myself as I observed the packed space below me. The Palanquin was indeed extremely busy, dozens of bodies packed like sardines on the dancefloor as they grinded up against one another in a music induced frenzy.

The music, extremely heavy with bass, thrummed powerfully through my fingers as I rested my hand on the metal railing of the balcony overlooking the dance floor. There were a few people up here with me given that I was technically in the VIP section of the club. I probably would've gotten a few mean looks for it, were it not for the domino mask on my face.

Well that, and the fact that my skin was currently made of metal.

My fingers glinted under the pulsing lights above me as I tapped along to the song playing over the deafening speakers, careful not to press down too hard so I didn't leave indents in the metal. Despite all that had happened only a month or so ago, the past few weeks had been…nice. I had found a new group to care about in the Crew, a new friend in Newter, and my relationship with Christine was getting better. All in all, things were looking up.

If only it hadn't cost me my parents, my home, my life…

I shook my head, not willing to dwell on those depressing thoughts. It had happened, I had mourned, it was time to move on. There was no point dwelling on things I couldn't change. Some may call it a fatalistic point of view but I had always been nothing if not practical.

Of course, I fully intended to kill Hookwolf the first chance I got, but until then, I wasn't going to let my desire for revenge consume my life. My parents wouldn't want that for me.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a sudden pressure on my ankle. I looked down and raised a foot, ready to stomp down on whatever unfortunate creature had decided to invade my personal space, only to stop as I caught sight of the orange skin of the appendage currently holding my ankle in its grip.

I lowered my foot back to the floor and leaned over the railing, spying Newter hanging from the balcony by my ankle. Several people below were staring up at him curiously, "Newter, what the hell?! Don't scare me like that, I nearly broke your hand! You know how strong I am when I'm transformed like this you idiot!"

He grinned from his position under me before transferring his grip to the balcony itself and, with a small grunt of exertion, flipping himself up and over the railing, landing on his feet in a stunning display of agility.

Claps sounded out from down below and Newter turned and gave a theatrical bow to the civilians down below, "Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!" He raised back up, blowing a few kisses to his adoring crowd like a thespian on a well lit stage. "I am truly sorry my adoring fans, but I must go. There is another fan who requires my attention."

He turned to me and grinned as I shook my head in bemusement, "Another fan huh?" I snorted at him, "I should have stomped on your hand." I motioned for him to follow me, leading him to a quiet booth away from the roaring of his 'fans'.

Newter just smirked as he followed me, "Ah, but then you would have to explain to Faultline why her favorite crew member is injured. Imagine how embarrassing that would be."

I snorted as I closed the door behind us, causing the sound of the nightclub to be reduced to a dull drone as the soundproof room did its job. I sat down in a booth, deactivating my power and sighing as I felt the plush cushions mold to the shape of my body.

I just took a moment to enjoy the sensation of the cool cushions pressing up against my skin before turning back to Newter who had sat across from me in the meantime, "Please, we all know Elle is her favorite. And if not her then Gregor."

Newter put on a thinking face, "Yeah, Elle is pretty cool when she's awake. I guess I'll concede the first place spot to her." I opened my mouth to speak, only to be stopped as he slammed his hand on the table in between us, "But there's no way Gregor is ahead of me! I'm like the lovable little brother of the crew, much better than that big lug!" He exclaimed in outrage.

I just smirked, leaning forward in my seat, "I dunno Newt, have you seen Gregor? With that soft spoken accent of his and his massive frame, he totally gives off favorite uncle vibes. There's no way you can compete with that. You'll just have to concede second place too" I held my hands up in a 'what can you do?' gesture.

"Oi!" He pointed at me in mock anger, "I'll have you know that lovable brother beats out favorite uncle any day of the week! You're just jealous that you're dead last in rankings."

Now it was my turn to be outraged, "Hey! I may be new, but have you seen me?" I gestured at myself. I was currently wearing a pair of faded skinny jeans and a tight black t-shirt showing off my pale arms, or more specifically, the toned muscles that they were now composed of. All that training had paid off in spades and now I had a physique any boy my age would dream of.

"I'm hot. And hot blonds beat out lovable brothers any day of the week." I stated smugly, kicking my feet up to rest on the table between us.

"And you're so humble too. Dirty cheater." He grumbled dryly.

I just grinned unrepentantly. My powers gave me increased strength but that didn't mean I wasn't an eighteen year old ex highschooler, I wanted six pack abs like anyone else my age. And if my powers just so happened to make achieving that significantly easier, well, that was even better.

"Anyway miss humble," Newter started, "I didn't just come up here to banter. Fun as it's been."

I frowned lightly, "You're telling me you didn't come up here just to experience my wonderful personality? I'm hurt Newter, truly I am."

He snorted, "You'll get over it I'm sure." He stood, stretching, "Now do you wanna hear why I came up here or not?"

I brought a hand to my chin, rubbing it in mock thought, "I dunno. My feelings are pretty hurt right now. I might need some time to recover before I keep talking to you. You should know better than to toy with a girl's emotions you know. It can be devastating." I put my hand on my forehead, leaning back and closing my eyes like an old timey maiden about to faint.

"Uh huh, sure it can." He said dryly, "And I guess your feelings are too devastated to take the solo job Faultline's offering you?" He shrugged, even as I processed what he had said, "That's fine, I don't mind earning some extra cash."

My eyes snapped open and I shot up, turning toward Newter who had a massive smug grin on his face, "Wait wait wait! I didn't say that!" I spoke hurriedly.

In the past few weeks I had been on a couple of jobs, mostly just shadowing another member of the crew so I could see how we operate. I still got paid of course, but not nearly as much as I would have if I was an active participant or by myself. And while it was nice having a bit of money coming in, I knew it could be more.

I had asked Faultline if she could give me a solo job. Nothing too difficult, just something simple that would help me start building some funds. She had said she would see what she could do, something that at the time, I took to mean no. I understood of course, I've only been a parahuman for about a month, of course she wouldn't feel comfortable sending me on a job by myself.

Instead, it turned out she had actually listened to my request and looked for a job that I could do by myself.

I righted myself in my seat, leaning across toward the grinning Newter eagerly, "Of course I'll take the job! What is it!?"

He laughed, "Calm down Val, I'm not gonna take it. I was just messing with you." He reached into one of the large pockets of his cargo pants and retrieved a manilla envelope. He placed it on the table between us before sliding it across to me.

"You aren't as funny as you think you are." I grumbled as I caught the envelope in my grip. He laughed as I opened the top of the envelope and retrieved its contents, a piece of paper detailing the contract and a photo. I placed the photo on the table as I looked through the contract first.

My eyes eagerly roved over the paper as I read through it. It was a simple bodyguard contract. Some rich business man was coming to the Bay to close a deal with Medhall Pharmaceutical and had apparently heard about the volatile nature of the city. He was worried he would be robbed or something similar while here and had decided to hire a bodyguard.

He had been introduced to our crew by some of his associates and decided to hire us to protect him for his short stay in the city, a little over sixteen hours. He was offering ten grand to the recipient of the contract, a good bit above Faultline's standard rate for a job like this.

As I continued reading over the contract, I felt a small frown form settle on my face. Apparently, the location of the meeting was set deep into Empire territory, not too far from my old neighborhood. In fact, the maker of the contract, David Beller, had cited the location as the reason for the increased pay.

I set the contract down and picked up the photo, and I immediately discovered why the man was so worried.

David Beller was a black man. In the picture he was wearing a sharp grey suit with a dark blue tie. His hair was cropped short and he had a full beard that curved nicely around his white toothed smile. I felt my frown deepen as I studied the photo.

"What's wrong?" Newter asked me from across the table as he saw my frown.

I shook my head, "This whole thing stinks of shady corporate shit. The contractor is black and he's being sent to attend a meeting a block away from my old house. The contract doesn't say anything about his company giving him funds to hire bodyguards for him so he must be doing this out of his own pocket."

I placed the photo on the table, "A black business man being sent into the middle of Empire territory for a business deal that could be held anywhere else in the Bay? It doesn't make sense. The meeting is a formality at best if the contract is to be believed."

Newter frowned as well as he caught on to what I was getting at, "You think he's being set up."

I nodded as I picked up the contract, looking for anything else that would give me insight into what the man was thinking and finding nothing, "It's the only thing I could think of that makes sense. You know how ruthless those corporate types are, maybe he shit in someone's shoes high up at the company and now they want him, if not gone, then at least out of the picture. Hospitalized by a 'random' mugger who had an issue with his skin tone."

I sighed lightly as I placed the contract back on the table, "Of course my first solo job would be some type of shit like this."

Newter hummed in agreement, "So you still gonna take the job? I could ask Melanie to find another one for you. She probably wouldn't be happy about it but I'm sure she'd understand."

I just grinned as I gathered the contract and photo and placed them back into the envelope, "Are you kidding? You think I'd give up an opportunity to foil some shady corporate business and possibly kick the Empire in the teeth at the same time? Of course I'm gonna take it."

Newter laughed, looking oddly pleased with my decision, "Alright then, I'll tell her you accept. The client should be here sometime tomorrow morning so I'd go ahead and get some sleep. Don't want to be tired on your first big job."

I nodded as I closed the envelope and stood up, beginning to make my way out of the enclosed booth, "I'll go do that, see you later Newt."

He waved back at me as I placed my hand on the doorknob and activated my power, my skin being overtaken with a metallic sheen as it changed to match the material of the small piece of metal. I took a moment to get used to my form, I didn't want to crush the doorknob by accident, before turning the handle softly.

I opened the door and was immediately blasted with a cacophony of sound from the busy nightclub. I ignored the sound and made a beeline for the stairs to the upper floors of the Palanquin, my mind abuzz with thoughts of my impending job.

While I wasn't exactly happy to return to my old neighborhood so soon, I knew it was eventually gonna happen. All things considered, I was actually kind of happy the contract was so close by, it was familiar territory after all.

'Still…' I thought to myself as I walked through the base proper, waving hi to Gregor as I passed by him cooking something in the kitchen, 'I'm not sure I like how much this job stinks of corporate espionage' Distantly, I wondered if the man knew he was likely being set up. Considering that he had gone out of his way to hire a bodyguard, it was likely, but given that this was Brockton Bay, it was also common sense.

"Oh well." I said out loud as I entered my bedroom, "I'll find out tomorrow either way." For now I needed to get some sleep, Newter was right, it would be a bad look to show up to my first big job half asleep and I was going to be in enemy territory tomorrow so I needed to stay sharp.

And if I just happened to come across any Empire members on the job, well, it's hard to mug somebody with several broken bones, and I could hardly be blamed for wanting to keep my client as safe as possible.

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