Another Way
Part Thirty: Discussing Options
[A/N: This chapter commissioned by GW_Yoda and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
Saturday Morning, December 15, 2007
Sophia Hess
"Uuuugh." The groan that was wrenched from Sophia's lips was deep and heartfelt as she rolled over and slapped at the impertinently buzzing alarm clock. "Whhhyyyyy?"
When she finally managed to smack it into silence, the buzzing was replaced by the underlying noise she hadn't heard until now; her phone was pinging with a text alert every ten seconds or so. Forehead creasing with confusion, she wrapped her hand around the phone and conveyed it haphazardly to her eyeline. Fortunately for her state of mind, she'd never actually used a PIN for this phone, so she was able to cut straight to the chase.
Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she eventually managed to focus on the screen. A whole string of text messages greeted her.
Hey
You awake?
Wake up
Waaaake uuuup
WAKE UP!
Hey, you there?
Poke
Poke
Poke
Poke
Wake up already
C'mon, hero
That's it I'm coming over
On the way now
Can't believe youre still asleep
On your front doorstep
Youre in for it now
A moment later, another one popped up.
Your mom's coming to get you
There was a tap on her bedroom door. "Sophia?" her mother called out. "Are you awake?"
Just for a moment, she thought of saying nothing. The bed was nice and comfortable, perfect for rolling over and snuggling in for the next hour or two. But it was Mom, and if Sophia didn't answer, she'd just come on in. "Yeah. What's up?"
"Your friend Emma's here." Her mother sounded a little taken aback, which didn't surprise Sophia. Not many of her friends actually came to her house; most of the time, she went and visited them. "Did you want to see her?"
Oh, right. Memory was trickling back into her consciousness. She'd set the alarm for a reason, despite the fact that it was the weekend. "Yeah. Tell her I'll be right down." A moment later, she belatedly added, "And tell her I'm sorry for sleeping through my alarm."
The door cracked open and her mother leaned in, just so she could chuckle fondly. "Your teenage years are still ahead of you. I'm sure this won't be the only time it happens." She paused. "Are you feeling alright, after what happened last night?" Getting powers, she undoubtedly meant but did not say. Finding out about it had been a shock for her at the time, but she'd taken it on board eventually.
"I'll be fine." Sophia swung her legs over the side of the bed, hoping her mother wouldn't notice that she hadn't said she was fine. Although she was perfectly healthy physically, thanks to Marchioness' healing ability, she was still coming to terms with the shockwaves that had been echoing through her personal self-image since last night.
"That's good, dear." Her mother, apparently having heard what she wanted to, shut the door again.
Sophia groaned her way to her feet, then hunted through her closet and dresser for something that was worthy for a day out with her friends. They'd decided last night to spend the day together and talk over what had happened, and she knew Taylor was definitely in the loop. However, by the time the gathering broke up, it had been too late to call Claire without the chance of pissing her father off, so they'd figured they would wait until morning.
She eventually settled on jeans, a T-shirt that portrayed Santa (in his sleigh) hunting down the Easter Bunny and the Thanksgiving turkey with a shotgun, and a light jacket. A minute or so with the brush got her hair back into order, then she splashed water on her face and trotted downstairs in good spirits. If she had to have these powers, she decided, it was her sheer good luck to have such amazing friends to help her figure out what to do with them.
Emma was sitting at the kitchen table and chatting with Terry when Sophia arrived downstairs. She could hear her mom in the living room, discussing something with Mr Barnes and Stephen. Whatever they were talking about, she hoped Stephen didn't have much say in it; as far as she was concerned, he was a dick.
"Hey!" Emma got up from the table and came over to give Sophia a hug. "You look nice. Ready to go and pick up Taylor?"
Sophia returned the hug. "So do you." It was only true. Not only was Emma pretty in her own right, but she also had a natural talent for showing off most clothing and hairstyles to their full advantage. "What's Mom talking about with your dad in there?"
"Scholarships, actually." Emma smiled. "Dad and Mom discussed matters last night, and Dad decided to set up scholarships for you and Terry to study whatever you want to at Brockton Bay College. They're just going over the details right now."
Belatedly, Sophia noticed that Terry looked a little shell-shocked. This wasn't surprising, as her own mind was whirling with the news. "What, scholarships? For both of us?" Mr Barnes had told her that she could come to him anytime, but … wow.
"That's the idea, yeah." Emma's smile had become an irrepressible grin. "Isn't it cool?"
"Cool?" Sophia's questing hand pulled a chair out from the table so she could drop into it, because her knees weren't working too well at the moment. "It's insane. Can he even afford that sort of thing?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "We might not have the sort of money that Claire's dad does, but Dad does have the occasional bit of cash tucked away for a rainy day."
"Okay, yeah, point." Sophia nodded. "Still, you know he doesn't have to."
"I know that, you know that, and he knows that. But he wants to anyway." Emma gave her a shrug. "I wouldn't argue too hard, if I was you. This way you get that sports scholarship we talked about."
"Yeah, but what if they figure out how to reliably tell if athletes have powers, like they've been talking about trying to do?" Up until now, it hadn't been much of a concern for Sophia, because she hadn't been a cape. With powers, however, it was a different story. It wasn't like she could cheat on the track in any real way with the abilities she'd gained, but she suspected it wouldn't matter.
"Ugh, true." Emma's expression dimmed a little. "Well, maybe you could go into law or something, and be a kickass crimefighter on the side."
"Law, really?" Sophia gave her a what-the-fuck look. "Come on, this is me you're talking to. I've got way more self-respect than that." She shook her head and snorted at the idiocy of the idea.
"Fair point. Anyway, did you want to eat something now, or get breakfast on the run?"
Sophia shrugged. "I'm good to get breakfast on the way."
"Gotcha." Emma turned as her dad came into the kitchen, along with Sophia's mom. "I've just filled Sophia in. She's okay with it, so long as we don't make her study law."
Alan Barnes chuckled heartily. "Well, I can't fault your common sense, young lady. The study of law is a long and thankless task, and even the practice of it is rife with disappointments. Far better to find what you like and follow it where it goes."
Sophia glanced sideways at Emma. "See, this is why I like your dad. He's honest about his job." Then she fronted up to Mr Barnes again. "I was just telling Emma that I'm ready to go pick up Taylor. We can get breakfast on the drive there."
"So, uh …" began Terry. "Is it … are they really happening?"
"The scholarships?" Mr Barnes nodded, smiling. "Yes, son, they are. By the time you've finished school and you've got an idea what you want to do at college, the funds will be there to do it."
"Whoa …" breathed Terry. "Awesome."
"I can't thank you enough," Sophia's mom said, not for the first time if Sophia was any judge. "Just knowing they've got the option to go to college will make a huge difference." She paused to give both of her children a mock glare. "If they know what's good for them, it should make a difference in their grades."
"Totally," Terry said at once. "We really appreciate this opportunity, Mr Barnes."
"Thank your sister." Mr Barnes nodded toward Sophia. "She's the one who really opened my eyes to the understanding that not all good people have the opportunities in life that they deserve." He gestured toward her and then to Terry. "I can't help everyone who needs it, but I can help you two."
Emma nodded and gave Sophia a side-hug. "Damn right."
Taylor
The sound of a car pulling up out at the front of the house came just as Taylor was finishing breakfast. Danny looked around from the morning paper. "I'm not a car person, but that did sound like Alan's car. Even the brakes sound expensive."
Taylor shoved her fork through the last of her egg and bacon, forming a large mouthful which she valiantly attempted to ingest all at once. The trouble was, she couldn't chew and swallow it and jump up and run to the front door, no matter how much she wanted to; not under her mother's eye, anyway. Giving her a don't-you-dare-young-lady look, Annette rose from the table and proceeded down the hallway to the front door.
Taylor heard her open the door. "Good morning," she said politely. "Taylor's doing her best to choke herself on breakfast, so if you come in she might see she doesn't have to hurry quite so much."
Yeah, this isn't embarrassing at all. As Taylor heard Emma and Sophia coming in, along with Mr Barnes, she worked at not proving her mother right. Bit by bit, aided by the last of her orange juice, she managed to swallow her food without either choking on it or looking like a chipmunk with overstuffed cheek pouches.
"Mo-om," she groused, once she was able to. "Did you have to?"
"That depends," her mother said sweetly. "Did you have to stuff all that food in your mouth at once?"
"Alan, how are you doing?" asked Danny from the living room. Taylor heard the mutual back-slapping as they greeted each other.
"I'm fine." Mr Barnes actually sounded like he meant it. "How about you?"
"Well, I've been a lot worse. The Lord's Port reclamation is going well …"
Taylor tuned him out as she wiped her mouth and got to her feet. She had no answer for the rhetorical question, as her mom well knew, so she wrinkled her nose in her mother's general direction as she took her plates to the sink.
By now, Emma was coming through into the kitchen with Sophia trailing behind. "Hey, Taylor," Emma said cheerfully. "Ready to go, or are you still trying to put on weight?"
"About the only way she's putting on weight is vertically," Sophia observed. "You know, like a skyscraper. Longest legs I've seen yet in someone our age."
"Well, it's not like I want to be taller than you guys," Taylor protested half-heartedly. Truth be told, she enjoyed being taller than the average. If she ended up anywhere near her mom's height, or even her dad's, that would be kinda cool. "But yeah, totally ready to go."
"Have fun, dear." Annette gave her a hug as she turned away from the sink. "Take care out there, and let us know if you need a lift home."
"I think I'll be okay," Taylor assured her, returning the hug. "Between you, Mr Barnes, and Claire's dad, we'll have enough options if we need a lift straight away." She shrugged. "And in a pinch, I guess we can ask one of the Mercia to help us out."
"I'd really rather you not call on them unless it's an emergency," Danny said firmly from the living room. "Yes, they've helped us in the past, but I do not want them to suddenly decide we owe them extra. Or for Marquis to decide that he now wants in on the Dockworkers."
Taylor nodded. "Okay, yeah, good point." She patted her pockets to make sure her purse was still in place, then headed through into the living room and nodded to Mr Barnes. "I'm ready to go, once you're finished catching up with Dad."
"Thank you, Taylor. We'll only be a few minutes." Mr Barnes turned back to Danny. "So, have you spoken to Earl recently? All going well on that front?"
Knowing they'd be busy with shop talk for a little while, Taylor stepped back into the kitchen. "You two are looking good, especially after what happened last night. How are you feeling?"
Emma shared a glance with Sophia. "A few bad dreams, but things could've turned out a lot worse," she admitted.
"Likewise," agreed Sophia. "I'm just glad the Mercia turned up before anything bad happened."
"I'm glad Mr Hebert had the idea to add us to his protection plan," Emma added.
Sophia nodded fervently. "Yeah, no crap." She stepped forward and spontaneously hugged Taylor. "Thanks for being here. Thanks for being a good friend."
Taylor rested her forehead against Sophia's. "Hey, anytime."
Boardwalk
Marchioness
"Are you quite sure, Miss Marchant?" Despite keeping his language formal due to the number of people around, Jonas quite clearly didn't want to leave yet. He glanced from side to side, taking in the people wandering along the Boardwalk, evidently sizing them up as threats.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine." Claire didn't roll her eyes, because Jonas deserved more respect than that. He'd gone far above and beyond in the fight against Damsel of Distress, and nearly died saving Claire and her father. Using the biomass they kept in storage, she'd gotten him back on his feet and replaced most of the enhancements she'd originally given him. There were just a few more to go, but she was letting his system adjust to the ones already there. "There are people here, and Emma called to say they were on their way. Nobody's going to recognise me for who I am."
Her last sentence had a double meaning, but it was valid either way. To combat the chilly breeze that swept in off the ocean, she wore a jacket and jeans and sheepskin-lined boots, but none of it was high fashion. As Claire Marchant, she didn't have a huge media presence.
Her father had made sure of that, explaining to the editors of any papers that might have been tempted to publish pictures of her how his thirteen-year-old daughter was out of bounds for such shenanigans. Specifically, he possessed the legal resources to buy outright any publication that tried it, then fire every member of the staff. Nobody had tried to call his bluff, which was fortunate, because it was no bluff. It also helped, she suspected, that she wasn't known for going out and doing stupid things in public.
It was a given that nobody at all was going to recognise her as Marchioness, which was also useful. Either way, her chances of drawing hostile cape attention were minimal to zero. Hostile non-cape attention, she wouldn't even break a sweat dealing with.
Jonas sighed and lowered his voice. "Your father ordered me to stay with you until your friends arrived, chick. He knows you're good at taking care of yourself, but he worries."
"I get it, I get it." To Claire's dad, women were to be protected, not put on the front lines (Kayden and Abigail notwithstanding). He was kind of old-fashioned like that. In addition, the events of the last twenty-four hours had to be weighing on his mind; as illogical as it was to be concerned over her going out in public alone during the daytime, the fact remained that villains were infiltrating Brockton Bay. It just wasn't as safe as it had once been. "It has been a hectic time, hasn't it?"
"That it has, chick." Jonas shook his head. "I would never have believed someone could cut through your protections so easily, after Leviathan."
Claire grimaced. "That was our bad. We assumed that because we've already been winning, that we can't lose. Like Dad says, we can't make the mistake of falling into that trap again." She raised her head as she spotted a familiar-looking car. "There's Alan Barnes's car now." Lifting her hand, she waved to get their attention.
Jonas smiled; a rare expression for him in public. "I have faith in you and your father to figure out how to show these new villains the error of their ways." Neither he nor Claire were stupid enough to think that the Orchard and Damsel of Distress had been the only bad guys looking to carve out a piece of the Brockton Bay underworld.
Claire smiled, but didn't show her teeth because Alan Barnes had parked his car and the others were climbing out of it. "Damn right we will."
Emma
Claire frowned, looking out to sea. "Is it just me, or isn't it all that cold right now?"
"Well, it's not exactly warm." Emma pulled her jacket a little closer around herself against the onshore breeze, then took a bite out of the hot churro; part of the batch they'd bought from a mobile kiosk. It was delicious, just the thing for a chilly winter's day.
"Trust me, it gets a lot colder in Boston." Claire looked around, then took a bite out of hers. "Where's the ice? The snow? Do the roads even get icy here?"
"Not often," Taylor said, reaching over to grab one for herself. Like Emma and Sophia, she didn't seem to be suffering overly from the cold. "Dad says I-95 gets a bit of ice where it comes over the hills to the south, and where it goes north, but there's some trick of local geography that ensures it rarely goes down to freezing here in the city proper." She held it up. "As a bonus, these things stay warmer longer."
"Huh." Claire shook her head. "That might actually explain why so many capes congregate here. Spandex isn't friendly at low temperatures."
Emma thought that was pretty amusing. "Yeah, it'd be hard to brood on a rooftop when you have to keep taking breaks to warm up again."
"That would suck." Taylor giggled. "Forget the villains, worry about the frostbite. Actually, I heard a funny story about a villain over in Chicago who was casing a bank in the middle of winter. He got up on a high building to watch the comings and goings of the staff, but he was only wearing a thin costume and it was really cold and it got to the point where he couldn't move his fingers, or even feel them, so he couldn't climb back down. In the end, he had to wave his arms and call for help, because otherwise he would've frozen to death up there. The number of 'put him on ice' jokes on PHO was phenomenal."
Emma had heard that one before (from Taylor, even) but she laughed anyway, along with Sophia and Claire. It was kind of hilarious.
"Um," said Sophia into the pause that followed. She looked around at the people strolling past. "Could we maybe find a place with a bit more privacy? Got something to tell you guys."
Emma glanced at her, fully aware of what she was talking about. She's braver than me. I don't know if I'd just come out and start talking about it like that. Except maybe to Taylor, who was like a sister to her.
From the way Taylor looked at them both, she'd seen the glance and was aware something was up. Emma wasn't as used to Claire's tells, but the other redhead seemed to suspect something as well. Since she trusted Sophia's instincts, she wasn't about to second-guess her.
"Sure," said Taylor, leading the way to a set of steps leading down to the beach. There wasn't anyone on the beach; even the sea birds were few and far between, standing on the sand ruffling their feathers and looking miserable. "Let's go down here."
They descended the stairs and moved a little way away down toward the waterline—it was low tide—while eating more of the churros. Despite knowing what Sophia wanted to talk about, Emma let Sophia take the lead; she was the one with the powers, after all. It was her issue to air, or not, as she saw fit.
"Well, this is all very serious," Claire said after a few moments, her expression more solemn than humorous. "Is this about last night? Because whatever you had to do to survive, I'm not gonna judge. I've been there."
Sophia blinked. "Yeah, I guess you have. Okay, Emma's already in the loop about this, but it would be really weird if we knew it and you guys didn't, so I'm gonna tell you. But first you have to promise not to tell your parents or anyone else. Swear on it."
Taylor glanced at Emma, who nodded briefly. She was in agreement with Sophia that it would be unfair to keep the secret from them; if Taylor ever got powers, Emma was pretty sure that she would be the first one to find out. "I haven't told my parents," she assured the group.
"Okay, if it's that important, sure." Taylor took Sophia's hand. "I swear, whatever you tell me, I'm not gonna tell Mom or Dad." She tilted her head slightly. "Unless the secret's that you're running off to join the circus, because I think I might have to tell someone then."
"Dork." Sophia grinned fondly and shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that." She took a deep breath, glanced up and down the beach, then lowered her voice. "Last night, when they had Emma tied down and they were gonna do horrible things to her, Marquis' capes hadn't gotten there yet. I was terrified and going all-out to break free and failing, and I … well, I kinda triggered with powers."
Emma watched Taylor and Claire closely. Taylor's eyes widened, while Claire blinked a couple of times.
"Wow," Taylor breathed. "I mean … wow. So … you saved her? It was you, not them?" Hero-worship was already burgeoning in her eyes.
"Well, a little bit yes, a little bit no," Sophia admitted. "I took down one of them, but the other one was holding Emma hostage with a knife to her neck, right up until a bunch of Legion's ghosts came in through the wall and hauled him off her."
"But you took one of them down?" Claire's eyebrows rose and she gave Sophia a look of deep respect. "How'd you do that?"
"It's kind of a long story, because my powers are weird, but I basically stabbed him with a blade that wasn't really a blade." Sophia wiggled her fingers. "He wasn't actually injured, but Marchioness said his body was reacting like he had been. So yeah, yay for powers?"
"That's exactly what happened," Emma confirmed, holding two fingers a fraction of an inch apart. "They were this close to doing something really fucking horrible to me, and Sophia just came in through the wall with her hand looking like a really big wide spear, and she stabbed the one guy and said, 'get away from her, you son of a bitch'. I mean, the only way she could've been more badass is if she'd kicked open the door wearing a mech suit."
Sophia rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry that I couldn't find a mech suit for you to geek out over."
"Hand like a spear?" Taylor stared at Sophia's fingers. "You can do that? Does it hurt?"
"Wait, you came in through the wall?" Claire surreptitiously poked Sophia's arm. "Like one of Legion's ghosts?"
"Quit it." Sophia poked Claire back, pretending to sound annoyed, though Emma got the impression that she was rather enjoying the attention. "Emma says I looked more like a moving shadow than one of his ghosts, but my hand was solid black, like midnight in a coal cellar during a power outage level of black. And I could still do the blade thing when I was solid again."
Emma nodded. "That's totally what it looked like. Trust me, I had a ringside seat. I'm not into girls, but I could've kissed her right then."
Taylor smirked and elbowed Sophia in the ribs. "Missed your chance there, hero."
This time, Sophia rolled her eyes, and swayed her hips to bump Taylor sideways a little. "Oh, ha ha. Very funny."
"Help. Assault." Taylor drawled the words deadpan, even as she raised her arm to lay her wrist over her forehead in an overly dramatic fashion. "I've been assaulted by a parahuman. Oh, the humanity. I need the police. I need the PRT. I need a responsible adult. I need—"
"You need to put a sock in it, is what you need." Emma grabbed Taylor in a mock headlock and proceeded to administer a noogie. "That was worse acting than the time that idiot Maddy tried to convince Mr Wilson that he'd forgotten to give her the homework."
"Wagh, pfft, get away!" Taylor flailed, but not too hard, until Emma let her go again. She eyed Emma balefully from behind a curtain of curly hair. "You wait. I'll get you for that. Someday you'll be totally minding your own business, with no idea that your hour of doom is at hand, when wham! My vengeance will catch you unawares, and you'll totally regret this moment." With an imperious motion, she tossed her hair back off her face and stood there with one hand on her hip in a pose even cornier than the one she'd assumed before.
Sophia smirked, and Claire giggled. "Ooh," Emma retorted. "I'm shaking in my shoes."
"Actually, is there a hero called Assault?" asked Sophia. "Just now, when Taylor said help, assault, it almost sounded like she was asking someone called Assault for help. Is there actually a hero called Assault?"
Emma paused, thinking about that. If the silence emanating from the others meant anything, they'd never heard of anyone like that either. In fact, the more she thought about it, the stupider the idea sounded.
"… I can't see it," Taylor admitted. "I mean, what kind of hero would name themselves after a crime? Now, a villain? I can totally see that happening."
Claire frowned. "Oh, I dunno. A really edgelordy type of vigilante might go that way. I can just picture it. Someone in the street yells out, 'help, assault!' like you did, and he swings down from the rooftops. 'You called?'."
"And then Challenger shows up on her motorbike and bitch-slaps him for being an idiot," Emma filled in. She'd seen a couple of Challenger's interviews on TV, and the woman did not take any shit.
That drew an amused snort from Claire. "I didn't say he'd be a good hero. Just a hero. Anyway, we're getting away from the point here. Holy shit, Sophia. You have powers. That's kind of awesome. Also, my deepest condolences."
"Um, condolences?" Taylor looked from Claire to Sophia. "Why condolences? Getting powers was a good thing … wasn't it?"
Claire grimaced. "That kidnap scare I told you about? One of my bodyguards died more or less in front of me. The other one got powers from the trauma of being shot four times through the chest. I still had her blood-splatter on my face when she got up and killed everyone who was trying to kidnap me. Afterward, she broke down and cried for about an hour. Getting powers is never easy, or fun, or nice, no matter what bullshit the PRT tries to feed us. They're caused by bad things happening to us, and somehow your problems just keep on being problems after the fact." She sighed. "Abigail was never really the same afterward."
"Oh, man. That sucks." Sophia put her arm around Claire's shoulders in a hug, and was shortly joined by Taylor and Emma. "I'm still getting used to it, but you're totally right about how getting powers doesn't actually fix shit. It just moves stuff around a bit."
"Thus utterly wrecking my childhood dreams of getting amazing powers and fixing the world," jibed Emma before she got serious again. "I know I was in a bad place, but you must've been in an even worse situation mentally if you're the one who got powers and not me." She added an extra supportive squeeze.
"Well, I'm not gonna pretend that I'm all wine and roses even now," Sophia admitted. "Dunno if I ever will be again, not really."
Taylor took a deep breath. "So, uh, you said you were telling us so it wouldn't be weird, but I can't help feeling there's more to it than that."
Emma chuckled dryly as they broke the clinch. "You always were the smart one."
"Yeah." Sophia nodded. "I've got these powers, but that doesn't answer the question of what I should do with them." She started off along the beach, kicking at shells and driftwood as she went.
Claire frowned slightly. "Maybe I'm missing something, but I would've thought the simple answer is 'be a hero'. At least that's what it would be, back in Boston." She took the lower side, on the firmer sand, while Taylor took the high road.
Emma grinned and ruffled her hair. "Things are always a bit more complicated in Brockton Bay. You'll figure it out. But yeah, Sophia wanted to ask you guys what you thought about her options before she committed herself."
"Okay, now I'm lost," admitted Taylor. "What options are you looking at, here?"
"There's at least four, depending on how you count them," Sophia said. "First one is to sign up for the Wards; you know, be a hero. Second one is to go independent as a vigilante. Third one is to become a rogue and do cape stuff for pay. Fourth one …" She hesitated. "Well, Marquis might've made me an offer to work for him. And he did kinda pull our asses out of the fire."
"Though I'm certain he'd never hold it over your head, either," Emma reminded her. "That's not how he operates. He's a villain, sure, but he's not an asshole villain."
"While we're spitballing, there's number five," Claire pointed out. "Independent villain. Not that I'm saying you should," she added hastily. "Just being completist."
"Haha, fuck no," Sophia said, not sounding the slightest bit humorous. "Not in Marquis' town. I've seen how hard he rides roughshod over the other villains if they don't fall into line. That option is dead and buried with a stake through its fuckin' heart." To underline her point, she grabbed Claire around the neck and gave her a noogie while she squawked and struggled to get free.
"Okay, let's look at the others." Side-stepping the incipient affray, Taylor ticked off points on her fingers. "I think Wards get paid. Not much, but some. I guess independent heroes can grab drug cash if they find any …"
Emma nodded. "There's actually rules about that. I looked it up last night. If the hero doesn't get too greedy, he can get away with taking some cash every time he busts a druggie, or any other bad guy who's holding money. I think it adds up to about ten percent of what they're holding. Anything over that, the PRT starts paying attention."
"I doubt you could get away with doing that with a mugger, though," Claire panted, pulling free of Sophia's grasp. "That's actually stolen money, which I guess is kind of different to illegally earned? Maybe?"
"Wait, why are we concentrating on how much money I can get from my powers?" asked Sophia. "That's not me. That's not what I'm about."
"Costume, duh," Taylor snarked. "Unless you want to get around with a ski mask and a baton for the rest of your career, you're going to need some sort of income to fix your costume when stuff breaks or gets torn." Leaning down, she picked up a flattish rock, and skimmed it out to sea; whether she'd timed it just right or she was just lucky, it skipped a few times before it sank.
"Okay, yeah, got it." Ever competitive, Sophia hunted around for a stone herself, and flicked it in the wake of Taylor's. This one only managed two skips before it vanished beneath the sullen chop. "Being a rogue basically means I wouldn't be getting into fights and I'd automatically get paid, but … what could I do with my powers that wouldn't involve fighting and people would want to pay me for?"
Emma looked thoughtful. "From what I saw, you can go into a shadow form and make your hand into a blade that hurts people without killing them. Maybe … I dunno … handling dangerous animals?"
"Great, a zookeeper." Sophia's voice was heavily sarcastic. "At the Brockton Bay Zoo That Never Was."
"Okay, yeah, let's put being a rogue on the back burner," Taylor decided. "What about the last one? Working for Marquis." She eyed Sophia closely. "What are your feelings about that?"
"Mixed," Sophia admitted frankly. "I'd like to think I'm not the criminal type. I've never taken anyone's lunch money, I'm nice to my mom, I don't tell Stephen what I think of him even when he's being a dick …" She trailed off.
"You fractured your wrist trying to get free and save me," Emma added, giving her a quick side-hug. "Trust me, I'm not likely to forget that bit."
"Damn." Now Taylor looked thoroughly impressed. "And this was before you got your powers?"
"Yup," Emma confirmed. "Anyway, you're not a Mover-Brute type like the Mercia, but you'd still rock one of those long-coats like nobody's business. And the pay would have to be pretty damn good. You just know Marquis isn't the type to stiff his people."
Claire looked thoughtful. "And correct me if I'm wrong, Sophia, but from what I've heard of the man, none of what you said before would actually disqualify you from working for him."
"Wait, wait." Sophia held up her hands. "Are we honestly talking about me going to work for Marquis? Because I thought we were just joking about it. You know, 'you could always go to work for the villains, ha ha ha'. That sort of joke."
"Well, for most villains it would've been a joke," Taylor admitted. "But Marquis isn't Kaiser, and he definitely isn't Lung. He's not even the same as what Dad says Galvanate used to be like. When he takes money to protect someone, they're protected."
Claire picked up a pretty seashell and rubbed the sand off it with her thumb. "I mean, we're not saying you should, not if you don't want to. If I'm reading the room right here, we're just saying that it's not a terrible idea." She handed the shell to Emma. "Look at the colours. Isn't that beautiful?"
"Yeah, it is nice." Emma examined the shell closely, appreciating the shading of one colour into another, then in a moment of whimsy held the shell to her ear. "Hello? Hello?" She looked around at the others, then shrugged. "Wrong number."
Sophia rolled her eyes. "Oh, god, that joke's gotta be older than dirt. Here, have a wreath of appreciation." Grabbing up a strand of seaweed, she advanced on Emma with intent.
"Nope, nope, get that shit away from me." Emma backed away, watching Sophia warily. She knew that if she needed to make a run for it, she'd be fine so long as she could keep ahead of Sophia for the first few dozen yards. But there was no way in hell she was going to be washing seaweed gunk out of her hair.
Marchioness
Taylor grinned as she watched Sophia pursue Emma with the seaweed, both of them laughing. "I think Sophia's gonna be okay. Hope so, anyway. She's a nice person. And a really good runner."
"You're faster, though." Claire knew she didn't need to point this out, but did so anyway. "I've seen you run."
"Yeah, well." Taylor acknowledged the point and tossed it aside all in the same phrase. "She hasn't had things easy in life, not like you and me. I think she deserves the chance to get something out of this, if she can."
Not for the first time, Claire was struck by Taylor's casual optimism. She'd seen Taylor's house, and Taylor still blithely equated her lot in life to Claire's. "So, you think she should take Marquis' offer?"
Taylor shrugged. "Well, I sure as hell wouldn't blame her if she did. Or she could join the Wards. Either way, she could kick ass, take names, and help make Brockton Bay a better place. But with Marquis, she'd at least be paid better."
Emma was on the way back, still un-seaweeded, while Sophia was beginning to flag behind her. Still, Claire knew few kids of their age would've been able to keep up with either girl in the impromptu track meet. She decided to make a joke of her agreement. "Yeah, and she'd have a lot better chance of affording college. If they do pay the Wards a wage, I bet it isn't all that much."
Taylor glanced over at her. "Oh, uh, don't tell anyone this, but Emma's dad's actually going to be covering college for her and her brother Terry. They were hashing out the details this morning."
"Wait, he's doing that for her?" Claire was impressed. That was very much a 'money where his mouth is' gesture from Alan Barnes. This was something her dad needed to hear about, she decided. From such small gestures, he'd once said, came the measure of a man. And Earl Marchant, known to some as Marquis, was definitely interested in the measure of those he intended to do business with.
"Oh, yeah," Taylor confirmed. "Sophia totally deserves it. She hasn't even put on a costume yet, but she's already a hero in my book."
Claire tended to agree. As far as she was concerned, being a hero in no way invalidated Sophia's chances of getting employment with Marquis' organisation.
Privately, Claire hoped Sophia would accept the offer. In her expert opinion, the girl would be wasted with the Wards.
Sophia
She had a lot to think about as they climbed the stairs back up onto the Boardwalk.
While she still hadn't made the final decision, a lot of good points had been made in all directions, so she figured she had a lot better chance of making an informed choice. Before she'd shared her revelation with the guys, it would've felt more like closing her eyes and throwing a dart at a list of choices, but now she actually knew what to expect each way.
It was great having friends who listened to what she had to say and accepted it, rather than trying to enforce their ideas over hers. They totally had opinions, but they didn't automatically assume they were right and she was wrong. It wasn't like she had to fight and struggle and push just to have her views heard and accepted, which was kinda cool.
The whole college thing with Mr Barnes was also a major brain explosion thing. Nobody, and she meant nobody, had ever done a thing like that for her family before. She was pretty sure that Stephen was kinda pissed that he hadn't been consulted, but she didn't give a good goddamn about what he wanted.
"It's getting close to lunchtime," Emma announced, drawing her back out of her own head. "Who wants what? My treat."
"Why don't we go to the Market and split a pizza?" suggested Taylor. "I'm fully aware you heathens don't believe in pineapple on pizza, but I can go without for once."
Emma shook her head, raising her eyes to the heavens. "Lord, forgive her, she knows not the heresy of which she speaks."
Right then, Sophia was feeling pretty good about herself. She'd shared her greatest secret and had it taken seriously, plus the run on the beach had helped clear her head. It wasn't like she'd actually caught Emma, but it had been a lost cause from about ten seconds in; Emma had just too great a start on her.
Plus, Taylor was a good friend, and a good runner, and she didn't lord it over everyone when she won.
"You know what?" she said. "I don't actually dislike pineapple on pizza. It tastes good wherever it is. Taylor, I'll go halves with you on a pizza, and we'll let these haters miss out."
Taylor grinned and nodded, then poked her tongue out at Emma. "That sounds like the best—" she began, then broke off. "Look out!"
At the same time, the clattering of an approaching skateboard got Sophia's attention. She turned to look, just as the guy on the board tried to swerve to avoid them. He managed it, but didn't quite pull off the recovery; the board went out from under him, and he sprawled on his ass.
"Wow, haha," Emma said. "You okay there, buddy?"
"I got the board," Taylor said, bolting off after the runaway conveyance, which seemed determined to capitalise in its break for freedom.
"Yeah, I'm—ow, no, I'm not." The guy, a kid just a few years older than Emma, went to get up then grimaced and clutched at his ankle. "Ow, sonova—uh, nutcracker, that hurts."
The deliberate pivot away from swearing evidently amused Claire, because she chuckled as she knelt down alongside him. "Don't try to get up. Let me have a look at that."
"Okay, I guess." He looked doubtful, but allowed her to unlace his shoe and slide it off. "I wasn't trying to be a dick or anything, I swear. I was just off in my own little world for a bit, and when I looked up, you guys were right there."
"Hey, it's okay," Claire assured him with a smile. She should be a doctor or something, Sophia decided, because she had a great bedside manner. Her fingers pressed here and there on his ankle. "How does this feel?"
"Little bit sore, but it's getting better. I'm not trying to be brave or anything. It's really getting better." He gave Claire a grateful look.
"Yeah, it looks like you strained it just a bit." She helped him put his shoe back on as Taylor came trotting back with the skateboard. "Try to keep off it for the next hour for any inflammation to go away."
"Totally." He climbed carefully to his feet and accepted the skateboard back. "Thanks. Hey, uh, where'd you learn that first aid stuff? That was pretty neat."
Claire flushed slightly and pushed her hair back from her eyes. "My bo—a friend of mine insisted that I learn, so I did. I'm Claire, by the way. What's your name?"
He chuckled self-consciously. "Haha, oh, wow, I nearly barrelled into you, and never told you my name. I'm Jay. Pleased to meet you."
End of Part Thirty