I'm happy to see so many people enjoying my fic! I also like discussing it and feedback on anything from story elements to grammar.

By the way, at some point I'll probably commission some cover art of Taylor in costume, if anyone is interested in a project like that feel free to let me know.

Leaving 'Parian's Dollhouse' and her new friend behind, Taylor returned to the bus stop and rode to Brockton Bay General Hospital, which was not very far from the Boardwalk. She knew that visiting every day was probably impossible even if it would probably make Dad very happy, but once a week was doable and she could always call if she wanted to talk or had trouble.

It had been with some reluctance that she'd originally decided to visit him more. They had still not been on the best of terms when he'd been hospitalised, barely making conversation over breakfast or lunch; him asking her about school and her replying that she was busy, her asking about work and him replying that work was work and things weren't going well as usual for the DWA. But now that he'd been stuck in a hospital room for a week with only the daily calls from her to keep him going, she did not want him to be left alone, perhaps to slip into that old mask of quiet depression that he'd worn since Mom died.

So, here she was. In front of the room he was staying in. She knocked and entered to a "come in!" from her father.

"Hey Dad" she went over and gently hugged the man "How have you been?"

"Better Taylor, the cast is going to have to stay for a few months and I'm going to need a wheelchair but at least I'll be out of this bed"

"That's good to hear dad, have there been any problems with the money? Did the insurance company pay out?"

"They did, and Workers' Comp. There isn't really much wiggle room for them to refuse when something this obvious happens. But why do you ask Taylor? Do you need money? Is everything alright at home?" he asked looking worried.

"No Dad, I just wanted to say that I've earned my first paycheck, a whole $82.40!"

"Really? Congratulations, I'm so proud of you. I know it's wrong of me to say this as a father, but your income will really help us as I recover. I'm not sure if I can do full-time as I did once I'm out of here, at least for the next few months"

"You've been looking after me my whole life Dad, I think I can spare a weekend or two"

"I'm really grateful to have you as a daughter Taylor, perhaps I understand that now that I've had no choice but to sit here and do nothing for a week, spent some time soul searching. I know I've not been there for you"

"That's alright, just be there from now on. And I'll try to do the same, I'll try not to conceal myself from you. Which is why I wanted to say, I'm a cape Dad. I discovered I have superpowers last Sunday"

Danny's eyes widened "Superpowers? Like what?"

"When I'm 'in service' of someone, I get the knowledge of how to do everything they need me to do and then some. Plus, I'm now as lithe as a ballerina, can haul two 3 gal buckets without straining myself and have really nice handwriting. There may be other stuff, but I haven't discovered it yet. While working for the DWA, I knew how to clear heavy dust buildup and maintain industrial machinery, even when I'm not some of that knowledge is still there"

"I'm sorry Taylor. I'm just not really sure how to respond to that" her dad looked down "I know I haven't been much of a father, but this is a bit outside of my area of expertise"

"That's alright Dad, we can talk about it more when you come home. But I did want to say that Benjamin gave me $100 as a bonus on my first paycheck, I think he was really happy with my work"

"You know Benjamin's my boss, right? Head honcho of the DWA. He doesn't give out bonuses lightly so you must have really impressed him. What did you do?" he asked looking back up with a pleasant surprise on his face.

"I cleaned out three of the old warehouses by the drydock in two days. There's still three for me to clean out but Benjamin promised me $1'000 as a bonus for when I'm done with all of them"

"Taylor, those have been there and dirty since my dad's time. How did you even finish one, let alone three in a weekend? I remember the quotes we got for cleaning just one were in the range of several thousand and were due to take at least two weeks"

"Superpowers Dad. I guess it's actually fairly quick if you know the best way to clean one out. I also ended up cleaning up some of the machinery and gave them some suggestions about which could be brought up to operation without breaking the bank"

"So, my daughter is a superhero. I'm still not sure how to take that. Just stay safe alright? I don't want you to join me in a bed here just because you happened to meet a villain while running about in costume. Will you even have a costume?" he asked, laying back down on his hospital bed.

"My powers aren't really much good in a fight Dad. I mean what will I do when Hookwolf turns the corner? clean him? I'm going to open a cleaning business and stay out of the cape fights. I like working for the DWA, but I know they probably can't afford me in the long term, so I'll focus on wealthier clients or businesses that need complex cleaning or repairs done. Oh, and yes, I met this nice girl, Parian, who was willing to make my costume in exchange for working at her shop for a few hours. I'll show it to you when it's done"

"A cleaning business?" her dad mused "Anne hoped you'd go into teaching like she did, but if your powers are that good then I won't deny that you could make some real money, even in this city" he adjusted himself on the pillow and turned back to her "Please, ask your old man for advice with it. I know nothing about cape stuff, but I have run a business in the past and I've got connections all over the dockyards, I could give you some pointers on where to advertise and who to talk to when getting things started"

"Thanks, Dad" Taylor put her hand on his "I'm not going to lie, I half-expected you to shoot up and put me in the Wards then and there. But I wanted to trust you, and I'm happy you support me"

He looked back at her with a smile "If you don't want to join then that's fine. A friend of yours, Parian right? Girl with the fancy clothes shop on the Boardwalk, yeah, I pass by that shop plenty enough when I'm out on errands and I've even gone for a look inside, out of curiosity, a few months back. If she can run a shop as a parahuman, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to run a cleaning business, perhaps she could give you some pointers?"

They chatted a while longer, but with the sun growing ever closer to the waters of the Bay, Danny insisted she get going. He supported her, and that took a load off Taylor's chest as she took the bus home.

It was Wednesday when she and Sabbah finally shared a phone call. Enjoyable conversation along with an agreement for her to come and clean up the shop after school while the tailor worked on her costume. Perhaps her good mood showed too obviously as it only took Emma, Sophia and Madison until lunch to find her and resume their usual mockery.

"Hey Taylor, by that smile you've got on I'm guessing your scrawny ass finally got laid? So, which of the Merchants was it? Did his dick stink as you sucked it? Or was it a girl? Clam chowder for dinner then" Emma smirked, passing her "I hope you used protection, wouldn't want to get knocked up with a deformed drug baby"

For good measure, Sophia shoved her into a row of lockers, causing pain to burst into her shoulder. She walked on, refusing to allow herself any tears as stares followed her into Computer Class.

She clutched her arm, hoping that the throbbing would subside as Mrs Knott explained the day's assignment and eventually left them to work on their computers. Even before her trigger, she'd been good in this class and there was something of an unwritten rule that if you finished your work in her class, Ms Knott would allow you to do what you wanted, provided the quality of your work was acceptable to her.

Locking eyes with the teacher and receiving an understanding nod from her, she switched off the word processor and began to look up cleaning businesses. After speaking with her dad, Taylor realised that unless she wanted to go Villain and not pay taxes, she would have to register her business and fill in a bunch of forms. But even before that she'd known that her business needed a name, customers and cleaning supplies, up until now she didn't have the time or an internet connection with decent speed to look into those things.

First, the name of her business. Probably as important as her cape name since it would be her main interaction with the public at large, given that she didn't intend to fight capes but just run her business. Name… Name…

She wanted something interesting, not just something like 'Servant's Cleaning Services Ltd' which was a positively generic name. Perhaps reference some of the writings and pictures she'd used in her costume designs? Something like 'The Gilded Age Ltd'? No, that sounded pretentious and gaudy, like the sort of firm a millionaire would hire to maintain a mansion which he never visited. She wanted to keep at least some of her roots as a daughter of the Bay. How about 'Brockton Cleaning & Repairs Ltd'? That sounded closer to what she wanted; she continued to scroll through the listings online for inspiration. 'Foremost Ltd: Specialists in parahuman cleaning and repair', is what came to mind.

'Foremost Ltd' sounded like a decent, confident name, and it wasn't already taken, at least in the context of a cleaning and repair firm in the United States as far as she could see. She began to find and put together the documents she had to file as she considered how she'd get clients. She had no money for billboards but perhaps some flyers wouldn't bankrupt her. Then, since she was a parahuman, a PHO post about her business might do the trick in gathering some interest, though she'd have to check the forum's rules to see if any approval was needed, no point getting banned if advertising wasn't allowed. There were also the contacts Dad mentioned, they'd probably be in the dockyard area and she could do some real good if they were businesses who'd otherwise be unable to continue working, but there was always the risk that her employer would talk and link her to Danny as more than just a contact of his. So, she resolved to try to find some jobs herself before resorting to those.

She'd just begun to consider the practical aspects of a cleaning business when the bell rang and she had to put her business project on hold. It could wait, and perhaps showing Parian her ideas and getting some feedback wouldn't hurt.

Sabbah had originally quoted her a week when she'd inquired about her costume that Monday. The fact that Parian was showing her the full costume on a mannequin just barely two days after she'd placed the order was incredible.

It took a few minutes for her friend to finish up the costume for her, touching up some areas and raising the hemline a little at her request so there was no risk of the dress dragging as she walked. It looked really nice and Taylor cursed herself for not putting on anything nicer than the pair of sneakers, which were currently on full display as Sabbah finished her skirt and apron.

"Well then, give it a twirl Taylor" The woman smiled as Taylor looked herself up and down in a full-length mirror "It's been a while since I had so much fun with a costume"

"It's gorgeous. Thank you, I really appreciate this"

"Don't forget your mask!" the tailor passed her a strip of cloth.

Taylor awkwardly tied it around her eyes, hoping that the contact lenses she'd purchased would be enough for at least decent vision. In truth it was barely a hindrance, the cloth did mess with her ability to see the finer details somewhat, but whatever Sabbah was using as a fabric was both light enough and had enough holes that she could see her surroundings. Short of using a mask with visible eyes this was about as good as she'd probably get.

She was still moving her eyes around, getting used to this new filter on her vision, but what drew her attention back to her friend was her sudden silence, she appeared to be gawking at her, mouth somehow wide open under her doll mask "You look amazing, Servant. This absolutely fits you, and compared to the girl who came in with dark glasses on Monday; I genuinely don't think I'd recognise you"

It was true, her reflection in the mirror was a woman with her beautiful dark hair in a neat bun covered by a white cap, the black dress ensemble giving her a visible pair of hips and a chest which was at least present, unlike her own cutting board. The white linen apron, and the starched collar, all of it gave off the impression of a woman at least five years her senior, one who knew exactly what she wanted and was confident in her skills.

Honestly, Taylor did not know what to say to that. Words would struggle to describe her feelings in that moment, but she was happy, perhaps it would be best to leave it at that. Still, she did have some questions despite how good the costume looked on her.

"Hey, Sabbah, I don't want to complain because you've really done an amazing job. But, did you have to go for the full historical undergarments as well? It's all a bit hard to put on"

"Well, there was a good reason why these garments were worn for almost a century. Sure, in part, it was because they didn't have many of the modern materials of today, but there were also advantages to it. For example, reach into your pockets"

Taylor felt around until she founds the two slits on either side of her dress, hidden masterfully within some pleats to be almost invisible. She reached in and was surprised by the sheer amount of space, in comparison, her Jeans had a modest pair of pockets which was enough for her wallet and keys, nothing more. These were big enough to probably hold an adult cat, assuming you could find one patient enough to be subjected to such insolence.

"And since your corset is fitted it will provide support while you work, but it is also loose enough that there should be no discomfort. I've also added a few light panels of Kevlar, just in case. I know you don't want to fight, but neither did I and sometimes there is simply no choice but to do so"

"Alright, thank you, I appreciate it. Still, are the bloomers really necessary?"

"Not really, but if you're going to all this trouble to look like an Edwardian Maid, you may as well go that one step further to make it look authentic. Besides, it might protect your modesty on the off chance you're fighting a villain with certain types of powers"

Taylor sighed and simply nodded. Sabbah knew her stuff and had years as a cape on her, it was all probably good advice, and given the accommodations made to her, she did not want to argue.

"Now then. We've agreed that you'll be cleaning for an hour today. Since I've got customers coming in you should keep your mask on at all times, no need to speak to them, just stick to the cleaning. I must admit that I'm interested to see just how good the result will be"

"Of course, Mistress Parian, I shall see to it that you are not disappointed with my work" Servant curtsied, eliciting a laugh from her friend "Where would you like me to begin?"

"My workshop is in the back behind that curtain, it's a bit messy so just do what you can about that. There is also an old Singer sewing machine there that got jammed recently, see if you can do anything for it. Then, if you have time move to the showroom and clean it up with however much time you have remaining. I don't want you to go upstairs though, alright? That's my apartment"

"Yes Mistress, I shall begin at once. Excuse me"

As Taylor began to examine the workshop she had a stray thought. What was it with the vernacular, the accent, it was barely recognisable to her. Was it a quirk of her Thinker power that, when dressed as a maid with a client who expected her to be maid-like, she got the power to speak like she imagined the most proper lady's maid of the era would? More to think about when she got home, for now, there was a job for her to do.

Unlike with the warehouses she'd cleaned at the docks, Parian's workshop did not have many issues with dust, yes there was some, but clearly, her friend took cleanliness seriously; leaving her little to do on that front. Rather the issue was the disorganisation of the place, bolts of fabric lay around randomly as a storm had passed through the room and while there was a cleared work area with a chair and table, the rest had clearly been neglected.

She began by lifting up each bolt, dusting it off as well as doing what she could for any spots or stains that had ended up on the fabric, then she tied them into a neat roll and added a perfectly handwritten note labelling the type of cloth, the design pattern and the rough age of the fabric. There was nothing in the shop older than a few years, but she thought it would be useful for Parian as the shop expanded and certain fabrics required specific storage conditions for optimal longevity. Sure, her friend was an expert tailor, there was absolutely no doubt of it, but it cost her only a few more seconds and might be helpful in the future.

Now the floor was mostly bare, leaving the wooden floorboards the be covered by only smaller snippets of fabric, assorted strings and the occasional needle which must have gotten lost in the pile at some point. She disposed of anything too small but kept the smaller fabric pieces, putting them in a tub for Parian to decide their fate later.

All that remained of her work was the sewing machine, a Singer 605C Heavy Duty, which was supposedly stuck on something. Taylor opened it up and took a look at the inner workings, as far as she could see some of the wheels were stuck tightly. It took a liberal application of lubricant and force, but eventually, they began to move again.

With her tasks in the back complete, Servant exited the curtain and bowed to Parian before moving to vacuum the floor and then mop it. Her friend was currently talking to a client, a blonde girl wearing a hoodie which looked somewhat familiar, though she did not recall from where.

The blonde stopped to stare at her as the vacuum cleaner began to quietly do its work "Parian, since when do you have a maid? Why is she blindfolded? Did I just walk in on…"

"No! It's nothing like that" the woman raised her hands defensively "This is Servant, a new cape in the Bay, she's doing some work for me at the moment"

"That still doesn't make any sense though. Why would you have a cape cleaning your shop, while dressed in a maid outfit, while blindfolded; can she even see through that thing?"

Taylor raised herself from her work and turned to the customer as Parian looked to her "Greetings valued customer. I am Servant, a new cape who specialises in cleaning and repair. I am currently in the employ of Master Parian and she has charged me with the cleaning and organisation of her shop"

The blonde just looked back at Parian "And she calls you 'Master' as well? Are you seriously telling me it's not a se…"

"Victoria, please, it's not a sex thing" It seemed as if the newly named Victoria's final remark had been enough to knock her friend back to function "She's a friend of mine and I offered to make the costume for her in exchange for a few hours of work from her. She came up with the design without my input, besides the mask, I just made it for her"

Victoria still looked a bit suspicious of her but lightened up a moment later as she turned to Servant "Well then, it's nice to meet you, I'm Victoria Dallon of New Wave, you may have heard of me as Glory Girl. Always good to have another hero in town, but… is your power seriously just cleaning? That's kinda underwhelming when you've got people like Alexandria flying around"

Taylor looked to Sabbah, she shrugged but nodded, she looked back to Victoria "I'm a Thinker who receives all the knowledge necessary to best serve my employer. My power isn't really much for combat, so I think I'll just stick to running a cleaning company, I just haven't gotten around to starting it yet" she admitted.

The conversation was interrupted by Victoria's phone ringing and she rushed to answer it "Amy? Now? Yeah, I'm at Parian's right now, I'll fly you there in a moment" horridly paying with a black card before grabbing the bag her friend had on the counter and waving them goodbye "Sorry new girl, I'd love to chat but my sister needs me to give her a lift to the hospital, no hard feelings yeah?"

"Yeah" Taylor muttered as the hero flew off "Nice meeting you"

Sabbah closed the shop door before sitting down on the sofa "I'm sorry about her"

"Don't worry, it was nice meeting another cape, especially Glory Girl herself" Taylor mused returning to mopping the floor, her friend watching every expert move with a tired eye.

"Most of the Protectorate uses tinkertech for their costumes, so New Wave or at least some of them are my main customers, along with a few villains. I was making her a spare after her last got torn up by something or other"

Taylor paused "Wait, you do work for villains?"

"It's probably the best way to keep yourself from becoming their target. There isn't much point in risking a kidnapping of me when they can just come to my store and get their costumes made. It's mostly a few of the Empire that comes by, every time they try to give me the soft sell, there's also a few independents and minor villains like Über and Leet"

"I guess I can't fault you for that" Taylor sighed "I don't think I could do that though, clean the house of some cape who'd just come back from beating up ethnic minorities or whatever else Empire does"

"You don't have to, even if it's riskier that way. But if there's something you don't want to do, don't, that's my advice. You may be dressed as a servant, but you don't owe them anything"

The two sat in silence for a while, before Taylor returned to her work, continuing to clean the furniture up front until it was time for the store to close and Sabbah saw out the last customer of the day.

Her friend was shocked to see her new workshop, the fabrics organised, the floorspace cleaned and her sewing machine restored to perfect order. Looking back once to ensure the door was locked, the woman sat down on her stool and turned to face her. "You weren't kidding, I don't know when my workshop has last been this clean. You even labelled the fabrics; I didn't know you could do that"

"Powers" Taylor shrugged "I still don't know everything I can do, it's like the manual they gave me for them had half the pages torn out"

"That's odd, from the moment I triggered I knew everything I could do, even if it took a few years to get my control sufficiently fine to actually use in dressmaking"

"Yeah well…"

There was a knock at the storefront door.

Parian stood up and opened the curtain. Outside stood five Asian men in leather jackets, staring at her, she opened the door confidently and stepped out, a few strings of fabric following after her as she faced the men head-on.

"Please leave, you are not welcome here" she ordered.

"Listen here white bitch, the Dragon of Brockton Bay is once again offering you, his protection. You pay up, we'll keep the rabble out of your doll store" spar the one with tattoos on his arm "He has been patient with you so far, but no longer, you pay or we burn this place to the ground"

When Taylor looked to Sabbah, the woman looked lost behind her mask, her hands clenched into small gloved fists as her fabric flowed like rapid waters in the store behind them. If only she could help, if only she'd triggered with some normal power that would have let her blast the ABB gangsters before them into next week… But she wasn't defenceless, was she? Her Mistress was in danger, which meant that she would have needed her service as a bodyguard. But she was pretty much done for today, would her power even recognise her as 'in service' and let her protect her friend. Yes, it would. Her mind flooded with information, from bodyguard certifications to martial arts to law enforcement training, all of it entered her mind and clicked into place.

Servant stepped out from behind Parian, her apron fluttering in the evening breeze as she inspected the assailants through her mask. Besides the one with the tattoos, the ABB gangsters stood arrogantly clutching their respective weapons, their stances inexperienced and clearly convinced that they could beat the two women in front of them. Only the last one took them seriously, his weapon was still concealed, likely a firearm of some sort, which meant she had to disable him first.

As the gangster opened his mouth to start threatening again, Servant burst into action. She had transferred much of her things into the pockets of her costume in the latter parts of putting it on, so she clutched the leather of her wallet and hurled it at the most dangerous of them. As is instinct, his eyes moved to the object hurling towards his head, leaving her to dash towards him in under a second, slamming a palm into his throat and forcing him onto the ground as her leg moved inside his calf to throw him off balance.

He hit the ground, releasing his grip on the pistol, which clattered to the floor. Taking the briefest moment to kick the gun away from him. She moved to another gangster, one swinging a baseball bat down on her head as she moved toward him. His eyes widened as she neared even closer, her right hand grabbing the grip of the bat and stopping it mid-swing, he was then collapsed by a sharp knee to the thigh.

Looking up, she saw Parian restrain two, but one was still coming at her, a roar on his lips as he brandished a switchblade. Panic set in, but was instantly dismissed by hundreds of cumulative years of knowledge on the combat arts, self-defence and the defence of others. She dashed behind him, her strides long and balanced as she grabbed him by the collar, spun and planted him face-first into the pavement.

"Servant! Are you alright?" Parian ran over as her ropes tied up the rest of the gangsters.

Taylor stood, retrieved her wallet and kicked the pistol further away from the man who'd been reaching for it "Are you alright my Lady? I apologise for not acting faster but I would recommend a call to the constabulary to have these ruffians escorted off the premises" Then she paused, and suddenly hugged the woman "You're alright, I was so scared for you Parian, one of them was coming at you with a knife, and you weren't looking…"

"It's alright Servant. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the AAB has demanded protection money from me, and just like the last time my answer to them will be a middle finger. I'm sorry for getting you involved in this; they might be after you too now"

"Even so, I would have helped you. That one with the tattoos had a gun on him, he might have shot you before you could restrain him. I'm not going to let anyone hurt my friends, the first I've had in so long"

Parian returned the hug and left Servant to guard the men as the police and PRT were called. She stood stalwart, her hands behind her back as passersby began to surround them, obvious tourists pulling out their cameras or phones to take pictures of the scene; as if it was some film set that they were visiting. She warned a few not to approach the obvious crime scene and luckily, a squad car came along quickly enough. She'd given her statement, called for Parian to give hers and offered to help the investigation however she could. The officers thanked her and let her go.

"So, not much for combat" mused Parian as she closed the shutters on the store "I'd say you handled yourself pretty well for a newbie"

"The best way I can explain it for now was that you needed someone to protect you when you faced those gangsters. My power gave me the skills to do so, if you were to fight me now, well I'd probably do as well as any other 15-year-old girl"

"You know, with your costume and height, I could barely tell, I thought you were 17 or 18 when you first came around" She opened the back door and nodded to Taylor "Thank you for your work, and for your help. I suggest that you change, I'll give you an unbranded bag for the costume and you can head out that way to avoid a crowd"

"Thanks" Taylor smiled "Let's hope the rest of my time working for you is less eventful"

First fight scene! So, it is revealed that as the needs of the person Taylor/Servant change, she gains the knowledge necessary to meet the new needs, logically this would include acting as a bodyguard when someone assaults her employer.

Also, I had fun writing the costume parts, hope you enjoyed them.