Author's Note: For anyone interested, there are now six advance chapters for Thunder of the Gods available on my : p-atreon/ SkySage24. They can be seen for the same prices that you could previously see three advance chapters.
After spending most of the summer flying around the city from above, Taylor couldn't help but feel incredibly awkward as she walked down the street towards Emma's house.
It was strange. She had only been capable of flight for a few short weeks, while she had spent most of her life walking. This had been her regular route to Emma's house for as long as she could remember.
But now it just felt slow and irritating. Walking down the street as slow and awkward Taylor was nothing like soaring through the skies above, the speed and power of the gods surging through her veins.
This is the safest way. She reminded herself. If she didn't want to expose her secret identity, she couldn't call down a thunderbolt around the neighbourhood all the time. Not when Armsmaster had pointed out that people were noticing the lightning.
Even if it was frustrating to have to do this when Taylor knew she could have reached Emma's house in a heartbeat if she was transformed.
As she turned the corner, the neighbourhood slowly became nicer, and richer. Not that her home was in a bad neighbourhood, really, but the houses were older, and more worn down. The Hebert home itself had been built in the seventies, inherited by Taylor's mother from her parents.
But the houses here, near Emma's home, were newer, shinier. The pavement of the sidewalks wasn't as grey or cracked, and every other house had a garage and a driveway, with expensive-looking cars gleaming in the sunlight parked in the latter.
The Barnes house was roughly halfway down the street, and when she finally reached it, Taylor noticed that their car was conspicuously absent.
It was probably still getting repaired from the damage done to it during the…incident, she realized.
Jogging down the garden path, Taylor rang the doorbell, waiting for a response.
The door swung open after a minute, revealing Mrs. Barnes. A tall, dark-haired woman with blue eyes her daughter had inherited, she smiled warmly at Taylor. She was wearing an apron dusted with flour along with oven mitts and had clearly been baking something.
"Taylor! Come in, come in. I was just making some cookies."
"Hey, Mrs. Barnes," Taylor greeted as she stepped inside onto the wooden floor.
The inside of the Barnes' house was as pristine as always. It was large and well-lit, and as Taylor followed Mrs. Barnes to the kitchen, she was reminded of how much larger it was than her own. The latest appliances were everywhere, and the whole room was gleamed with chrome and stainless steel.
Taylor's mouth watered as Mrs. Barnes removed a tray of cookies from the oven, the smell of chocolate filling the room. Emma's mom had always made the best cookies.
"You're here to see Emma, right?" Mrs. Barnes asked as she arranged a few of the cookies onto a plate. "Take this up with you, okay? You two can share it and-" She lowered her voice slightly. "It might make Emma feel better. She had a nightmare last night. I'm glad you're here, Taylor, it'll do Emma good to have something to take her mind off things."
Taylor sobered, distracted from the delicious-looking chocolate chip cookies. "I'll do my best," She promised, taking the plate from Mrs. Barnes.
"Good girl," Mrs. Barnes was still smiling, but it was tinged with sadness now. "Run along now, I'll bring you two something to drink later."
Balancing the cookies in one hand, Taylor made her way up the stairs to Emma's room. She knocked on the door. "Emma, it's me!"
The door swung open and Emma appeared. She looked tired with shadows under her eyes, but to Taylor's relief, she otherwise looked better than she had the other day. The last time Taylor had visited, her friend had looked worryingly thin and haggard, but it was clear she was eating properly again, at least. Her hair was longer than Emma usually kept it, clearly not having been cut in some time and she was just wearing a set of pink pajamas rather stylish clothes.
"Hey, Taylor," Emma said, smiling, though it was a smaller, fainter expression than Taylor was used to. "Are those cookies?"
"They sure are, your mom just made them! Come on, let's eat."
Emma stepped back to let Taylor enter the room. The room wasn't too different from how Taylor had always known it to be. The walls were painted a bright blue, there was a large, comfortable bed on one side of the room and a dressing table with a mirror directly opposite.
Various posters of models and movie stars decorated the room, and there was even a television in the corner.
But all the same, Taylor couldn't help but notice the small differences, the…almost-mess. Emma had never been a neat freak exactly, but she had been well-organized.
Now…the make-up and comb and brush on the dressing table were strewn across it rather than all neatly laid out, and they clearly hadn't been touched in a while. The bed was rumpled, the blanket strewn across it and Emma had been curled up inside it not long ago.
The room wasn't neglected, per se. Even if Emma wasn't there to take care of things, her parents and her sister had been doing everything they could to make her comfortable.
But it wasn't how Emma had used to keep the room either.
A heartbeat too late, Taylor realized she'd been staring and the silence was stretching on. She hastily deposited the cookie plate on Emma's side table and turned to beam at her friend, desperately scrambling for something to talk about.
But before she could, Emma spoke up first. "Hey, Taylor, have you seen the new cape on the news?"
Taylor startled at the question. "Uh, yeah," She said. "The one in red and gold with the lightning bolts?"
"Yeah," Emma said softly, her eyes looking distant. "She…" The blonde hesitated for a moment. "She's the one who rescued me that day."
For a moment, Taylor wasn't sure why Emma was acting like this was a grand revelation, before she remembered that no one had ever told Taylor Hebert the details of what had happened. Her other self knew, but all Taylor knew was that her friend had been attacked and saved by a cape.
"Really?" Taylor tried to inject as much surprise into her voice as she could. "That's awesome, Emma."
"She was amazing," Emma said softly. "I…don't know what would have happened to me if she hadn't shown up, Taylor." Her friend looked pale and withdrawn, even the small smile she'd had earlier now gone.
Taylor swallowed. She didn't want to think about that. The way those goons had been standing over Emma, holding a knife…she really didn't want to think about it.
"Well, I'm happy she was there," Taylor said instead. "I'm just…I'm so glad you're okay, Emma." She said quietly, reaching out to take Emma's hand with her own.
Thankfully, Emma responded in kind, her fingers curling around Taylor's tightly. Her nails were trimmed short and a little unevenly, Taylor noticed. Not badly, but it was something that had been done at home as opposed to the professional manicures that Emma loved.
"I'm happy she was there too. I don't…it was so scary, Taylor. I was terrified. They…they were talking about selling me as a slave." Emma's words came out small and afraid as if it was a shameful revelation.
Taylor stiffened with outrage, feeling her temper flare. How dare they think of doing something like that!?
But as soon as the anger came, it was doused by concern for Emma, who looked smaller and more afraid than Taylor had ever seen her.
Without thinking, Taylor reached forward and pulled Emma into a hug, just like she had done after rescuing her. She wasn't the Captain right now, not a living goddess capable of conjuring lightning bolts from her hands, but it felt like the thing to do.
Emma was surprised, but she didn't resist, wrapping her around Taylor.
"You're okay, Emma," Taylor whispered. "I promise, everything is okay."
Emma clung to Taylor just like she had that day, even if she didn't know it. "I know," She whispered. "I just…I wish I could thank the cape for saving me."
"I'm sure you'll get your chance," Taylor promised. "I don't think the new cape is going anywhere, after all."
Emma pulled back slightly and gave her a watery smile. Her eyes still looked haunted, making Taylor shiver.
Taylor couldn't put it into words. There was something in that look that scared her more than any of the bad guys she beat up.
"Yeah, good point," Emma said as she wiped her eyes and cleared her throat before speaking again, clearly trying to appear stronger. "Now, how about those cookies, huh?"
As Taylor walked back towards her house a few hours later, she wondered what to do next.
Emma wanted to meet the cape who had rescued her again, but Taylor wasn't sure how to justify that.
It wasn't as if she could say 'Hello, Emma, your friend, Taylor Hebert, reached out to me and asked me to meet you again'
Maybe she could just say she'd wanted to check in on someone she'd rescued? But then people would wonder why she'd only checked in on Emma alone, instead of all the other people she'd saved.
Maybe…maybe she should tell Emma the truth? Taylor was sure Emma wouldn't betray her secret, but part of her wondered if it would put Emma in danger.
But it would be nice to have someone to talk to about all this, about her new powers, about what she was trying to do.
Maybe she could ask Victoria and Crystal for advice. They didn't have secret identities, they must have some experience with the idea of people knowing who they were.
The meet-up wasn't for another…Taylor checked her watch. Another two hours.
Taylor sighed. What was she going to do for two hours?
She didn't feel like going home, so Taylor wandered a little aimlessly, around the Boardwalk. She didn't bother going into any of the shops, though. She didn't have any money to buy anything and she didn't feel like dealing with any of the enforcers.
The Boardwalk was a hive of activity right now, in the morning at the height of summer, filled with both citizens of Brockton Bay and tourists doing their shopping. It was easy enough for Taylor to fade into the crowd as walked around, window shopping and wondering what on Earth to do.
She wished she could talk to Dad, but…he'd been so distant since Mom died. And Taylor knew he'd want her to join the Protectorate, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.
Victoria's words about the Protectorate having their problems swirled through her mind, as did Crystal's warnings about the police.
Even if the PRT didn't have as many problems as the police, that didn't mean they didn't have problems at all. Dad might work for them, but Taylor wasn't sure if that made them trustworthy or not. Should she call Miss Militia? Ask her about it? The older heroine would be biased in the Protectorate's favor, but still, it would help to have a second opinion.
Maybe she should go to the Rock of Eternity again. Not just for her magic lessons, but maybe the Wizard would have some advice-
Taylor's train of thought was cut off as she passed a row of televisions in a store, her eyes widening at what she saw.
"The gang known as the Chorus has attacked the Bright Star Mall," A newscaster was saying. "New Wave, which was already at the scene, has engaged them, and evacuation efforts are underway, but things remain tense. Citizens are advised to stay away from the mall and surrounding areas until-"
Taylor didn't wait to hear more. She took off, sprinting down the street and jumping into the first quiet-looking alley she found.
A moment later, the sound of thunder echoed across the Boardwalk despite the cloudless sky, startling everyone and distracting them from the red-gold blur that shot through the sky, heading directly for downtown.