Chapter 17

Armsmaster didn't say another word during the ride back to base, nor during the walk to the hospital wing. He came close at one point after noticing that I wasn't by his side anymore, and turned around to watch me limp as I tried to keep up with his pace, but he swallowed his words, his frown deepening. As I caught up with him, he silently produced a halberd from the back of his armor and handed it to me to use as a walking stick.

That was unexpectedly thoughtful of him, but I wasn't about to complain or refuse out of stubbornness. As much as I hated displaying weakness in front of him of all people, every step on my injured leg brought a fresh wave of pain I had to brace myself for with clenched teeth, and I was glad for the reprieve of being able to rest my weight on something other than my leg.

He resumed walking, matching my pace as I hobbled.

The adrenaline rush had passed, letting the exhaustion seep in, but my range hadn't gone back to normal yet, extending outside the bounds of the handful of blocks I'd grown familiar with over the past few days.

It didn't help that the hospital wing was on one of the floors where my power was canceled, which my frazzled mind now interpreted as a prelude to an attack. I could still feel the handful of bugs hidden away in dark corners, but they wouldn't respond to my orders, much like with the machine in the building I was teleported to.

I tried to focus on the differences between Armsmaster's smooth, background white noise and Leet's clunky, shouting-in-your-face commands, to remind myself that it wasn't the same situation, but the part of my brain that expected a threat wasn't governed by logic.

On the rooftop, my bees were on edge, more responsive than usual, gathering at the entrance of their hives to defend them from an imaginary assailant, but I couldn't call them to me for the same reason I couldn't reach out to the bugs already present on this floor. Not to mention that showing up covered in a swarm of bees would probably give Panacea the wrong impression.

That was another source of anxiety. Given our past meetings, I couldn't anticipate her reaction to seeing me again. The threats she'd made at the bank were still on my mind, and I wondered whether she was vindictive enough to go through with them even after I switched sides.

She could very well have decided not to stay despite Armsmaster's request, and I couldn't have blamed her, but as we arrived at the nurses' station, I found her sitting on a chair beside it.

A nurse came out of the station, holding a clipboard, and led me to a room across the corridor as Panacea followed. Armsmaster remained outside with his halberd.

Once in the room, the nurse produced a form entitled Parahuman treatment authorization and consent, essentially laying out that I consented to receive specific medical care for my injuries, and that Panacea consented to administer said care. We both signed, and the nurse signed as a witness. That made me feel somewhat better about the threats. I doubted Panacea would try to take revenge on me on the records.

There was still a measure of apprehension as I removed my glove to allow her to touch me. She poked my hand with one finger, and the pain vanished.

"Deep tissue lacerations on the trapezius and deltoids, left triceps and brachialis, and right soleus," she stated as the nurse took notes. "This will take a minute."

I nodded, observing her as she did the same. She looked tired more than anything, with painted-on shadows beneath her eyes like she hadn't had a good night's sleep since I last saw her in the hospital after Leviathan. She also didn't look too happy to be here, and I couldn't blame her, given our previous meetings.

"So, you're with the good guys, now," she spoke after a moment of silence.

"I am."

"It doesn't change anything," she stated, her expression severe. "You still robbed a bank, took hostages and threatened me along with Tattletale. You still crashed the fundraiser. You were still a villain."

That gave me pause. Was I wrong in my assessment of what she was and wasn't willing to do for revenge? With that line of thought, she might rationalize that I deserved it even after switching sides.

"I can tell that you're nervous," she stated with a small smile.

"I think anyone would be. What was it that you said at the bank, that you'd make me morbidly obese? Make everything I eat taste like bile? Or give me a heart attack or cancer?"

The nurse's eyes widened, and she hurried to scribble something on the form, as I'd hoped for. If nothing else, a paper trail would give Panacea second thoughts. She glanced at the nurse, then back at me with a snooty look on her face.

"You'll just have to trust that I'm a decent enough person not to do anything," she said, with less vitriol than before.

I was reminded of what Tattletale had said about her at the bank. All bark, no bite.

"I'm sorry for what I did," I told her honestly.

She huffed. "It doesn't change the fact that you did it."

"But I'm not a villain anymore. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Again, it doesn't change what you did."

"They're giving me a chance," I said. "I guess you don't have to do the same, as long as you don't give me cancer or something."

She gave me a dirty look, but didn't say anything else until she was done, then she left in a hurry.

"Thank you," I called out after her.

I reached with my right hand to inspect my upper back and left arm, and found only smooth skin beneath my tattered costume, so I put my glove back on and left the room with the nurse. Armsmaster was waiting for me beside the nurses' station.

"Miss Militia wants to see you in her office to do a proper debriefing," he said before escorting me to the elevator, where silence accompanied us to the sixth floor.

After leaving the elevator, Armsmaster led me to a door not too far from his workshop, and knocked.

"Come in," came Miss Militia's voice.

I opened the door and stepped into her office. It was small, unassuming, with boxes of paperwork piled on the floor all around the desk. A map of the city was spread on the wall, as well as team posters of the local Protectorate and Wards, from before Leviathan.

I closed the door behind me.

"Take a seat," she told me.

After I sat down across from her, she asked me to explain in details what happened. I relayed the night's events, as well as my suspicions that Coil was behind it.

"What worries me is that he would make an overt move like that," she said after I finished. "He doesn't strike me as the type who would kill a Ward as revenge for sharing his plan with us. The damage is already done, and it doesn't seem like him to draw unnecessary heat."

"He might be trying to retain plausible deniability by making it look like Shadow Stalker was working directly with Über and Leet," I pointed out. "I mean, we know they work for him, but we can't prove it, unless they confessed."

"Which would be hard since they managed to get away between the moment Assault was incapacitated and when the squad arrived as backup."

I nodded, having expected something like that.

"As for Coil," I continued, "it's possible that Dinah told him that his plan had better chances of succeeding with me dead. But if his only goal was to kill me, he could have teleported me a hundred feet into the air, or into a burning building, or had a squad of soldiers ready to fire as soon as I arrived. Which means that he had something to gain even if I didn't die, though I suppose that my death would have been a nice bonus."

I'd had the time to think it over on the way back to base, and involving Sophia just seemed like an inefficient way to kill me, especially when Dinah could predict the likely outcome. Sophia's presence made much more sense if it was all for spectacle, though I doubted she knew that. Just another pawn on his chessboard.

"That makes sense," Miss Militia said, frowning.

"I think this is a follow up to the Shadow Stalker leak," I told her. "He's creating a narrative and trying to undermine the PRT, especially after all the fanfare about me joining the Wards. The leak got attention all over the country, and so did my debut, which means that he's got a captive audience already. If he can generate enough public outrage against the local PRT, he might be able to force a restructuration and install one of his puppets as leader."

"Which means that he'd be looking to publicize the incident, then."

"I think the building had security cameras," I said. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, since I didn't exactly have much time to look around, but I think I caught a glimpse of one of them. He'll probably leak the footage and blame the PRT for failing to protect me from Shadow Stalker."

She picked up her phone to send a text message, presumably to Piggot. Once she was done, she leaned back into her chair, exhaling loudly.

"We almost certainly still have moles in our ranks, if he knew your patrolling schedule and route and even managed to get his hands on the protected data about your power," she said. "From now on, I'll communicate your schedule directly to you rather than through the memo, and I'll ask Déjà Vu to keep an eye out for you once her power comes back, in case Coil tries anything else. As a preventative measure, you will also be benched from confrontations with any of the parahumans in his organization, not just the Undersiders."

I nodded, and she continued.

"As for the footage, we'll have a response ready by the time it drops. We might also preemptively address the incident to short-circuit the narrative Coil is trying to push and point to him as the culprit. We'll see what the Director decides to do."

She clasped her hands together over the desk and leaned forward before speaking again.

"That was a rather eventful first patrol, and I have to ask. Do you feel comfortable enough to continue patrolling?"

"I do," I said.

I didn't want to stay cooped up inside on perpetual console duty and be treated like I was made of glass because of Coil and Shadow Stalker. Anyways, I doubted he would make another move against me until he had milked this incident for all it was worth, especially if I was right about his main target being Piggot. He might make another attempt later to hammer the point home and try to kill me again, but with Déjà Vu watching out for me…

It occurred to me that he might have engineered the events leading to her power being out of use tonight specifically so she couldn't warn us about the trap, and I shared the thought with Miss Militia.

"That's definitely possible," she said. "We're short-staffed until we get some transfers in, but I think I'll pull her from field work, so she can remain behind the scenes full time, watching out for Coil, coordinating the supply convoys and distribution to avoid attacks from the gangs, and anticipating situations where the Protectorate needs to deploy."

I nodded.

"I was wondering," I said. "Tonight, with Shadow Stalker, she wouldn't have been able to cut through my old spidersilk costume. Could I maybe wear it under the new one? At least, until I can finish the bodysuits I'm currently working on?"

"We'd have to check with Image, but I don't see why not, especially since this is a safety issue. You'll have to see Maureen anyways to get your costume repaired. I assume they issued you a few spares you can wear in the meantime?"

"Yeah."

"Good. If you're okay with it, I was also thinking of assigning you off the records to some of the supply convoy ride-alongs, since you can sense trouble coming like you did today. Coil has his own trucks bringing in supplies, and so far, the teams under him haven't attacked the convoys. It's mostly Hookwolf's group and the Archer's Bridge Merchants. Déjà Vu usually does some last minute adjustments to the schedule or trajectory, but we can't avoid all confrontations, especially when they happen near the delivery points. Your situational awareness would be useful to better coordinate our response, and would most likely allow Déjà Vu to make more detailed predictions."

"Okay," I answered.

"Good. Now, I also wanted to check in, to see how things are going for you," she said, "especially with the other Wards."

"It's fine," I answered, careful to keep my voice even. Kid Win and Vista can barely stand to be in the same room as me, but Clockblocker seems to be making an effort, probably because you asked him to as temporary leader. "I understand that it takes some getting used to from everyone, especially with their losses," I added, more honestly.

"I know things must be awkward, but that's only for a week or two until the transfers arrive."

It was the same thing Battery had said a few days ago, like it would solve all my problems. I doubted it would change much, especially if the Wards being transfered already knew the other Wards. I didn't say anything.

"Are you coming to the memorial's unveiling tomorrow?" She asked after a moment of silence. "I'll ask Déjà Vu to look out for trouble, to make sure Coil doesn't try anything, but the main concern is that the Nazis might try to hijack the event to celebrate Kaiser, and I'd like to have more than one set of eyes watching out."

"I will," I answered.

"Good. Have you been in contact with your father? I know he wanted to hear from you."

"We spoke on the phone yesterday."

"I'm glad. Well, that's it for now, but don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything."

"I will, thanks."

She gestured that I could go, and I did, heading to the elevator.

When I arrived to the Wards headquarters, the three others had already turned in for the night. I grabbed my pajamas and went to the showers to scrub off the crusted blood where my wounds used to be.

I was drying myself off when the alarm rang, announcing a visitor. Discreet bugs converged to them, and found a tall, muscular silhouette wearing armor and a visor. Armsmaster. He walked down the corridor and stopped in front of my room, knocking on the door.

I hurried to get dressed and leave the bathroom, to see what he wanted.

"Apiary," he greeted me as I arrived. "I have a new phone and earpiece for you, since yours are out of commission."

He handed them to me, and I went into my room to retrieve the old ones, then gave them to him.

"I also have this," he continued, giving me a small, cylindrical device the size of the key chain pepper spray my dad had gotten me when I started to run, with two buttons at the top.

"The red button triggers an emergency beacon," he explained. "In case you're ever stranded again without a working phone and in need of backup. It can also deliver a short distance EMP, in the event that you encounter another machine messing with your power. Just aim the bottom of the tube toward it and press the white button."

That was odd. Had he put this together just now? Not a gesture I would have expected from him, though I supposed he had to at least pretend to care about my safety now that we were on the same side.

"Thank you," I told him.

He left without another word.

The next morning, I went to see Maureen to deliver my tattered costume and ask about wearing my old suit beneath the new one.

"As long as it's just the bodysuit, I don't see any problem with that," she said, handing me the box with my old costume. "Don't tell Glenn, though. He'll see it as a metaphor."

I definitely wasn't planning to.

I went back down to the Wards headquarters to remove my costume and put my old bodysuit underneath, before putting the rest back on. Then, I went to the canteen to grab breakfast.

Before I could retreat to my room with my food, Clockblocker waved at me from the Wards' usual table, where he was sitting alone. Like me, he wore a domino mask to be able to eat. He was red-headed, I noted, with blue eyes.

"Kid Win and Vista aren't here?" I asked as I sat down across from him. I'd felt them leave the building while I was changing, and I doubted he would have waved me over if they'd been here.

"They had an errand to run before going to the memorial's unveiling," he answered.

I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee as he observed me.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "I heard about what happened last night."

"Panacea put me back together," I said, shrugging.

Would he try to bring up the bullying again? Awkward silence lingered as I tried to think of a way to deviate the conversation away from it, but I felt like an elephant in a minefield.

"I guess you were right about us not really knowing Shadow Stalker, huh," he spoke awkwardly.

I looked at him, searching for his intentions as he busied himself mixing his bowl of cereal.

"Only took you two assassination attempts to figure that out?" I asked him.

He grimaced.

"In my defense, the first time was presented without context, and you were a villain while she was a teammate. We're generally supposed not to immediately assume the worst about those."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Does that go for me too?"

He paused for a moment, eyebrows raised as he observed me, like he hadn't expected me to turn his statement against him.

"I guess it should," he finally said. "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I dunno. Someone more… villainous?" He said, gesturing vaguely with one hand. "The kind of person who would enjoy choking people with bugs?"

"We're all just people at the end of the day," I pointed out. "None of us rub our hands with glee at the thought of hurting others. Except maybe Coil and the Nazis."

And Shadow Stalker, though I didn't want to bring her up again.

"I suppose it's true," he conceded. "Still, it's hard to imagine the people we fight against being anything other than the image they project."

"That's the purpose of image."

His eyes dipped to my costume, then back to mine.

"Speaking of, Glenn doesn't seem to have scarred you too much?"

"We came to a compromise of sorts," I told him. "I'm fine with bees. They're versatile enough. Had to use the rest of my swarm in an unsanctioned maneuver when I got stranded without bees yesterday, but I don't think he'd blame me, given the circumstances."

"I thought your power was disabled?"

"Kind of. There was a machine broadcasting conflicting orders all over my range, canceling mine, but I managed to get away from it."

He nodded, then glanced at the clock on his wrist, and started shoveling cereal into his mouth.

"We'll be late if we don't hurry up," he explained between two spoonfuls.

I finished my bagel and coffee as he worked on his cereal, then we brought our trays and dishes to the rack in the corner and made our way down to the lobby.