A/N - I would like to take this moment to remind everyone that this Taylor doesn't have a swarm she can shove her emotions into.
Mercy of mercies, Selene allows me to sleep at her cave before she sends me home. To be fair, if she didn't, I'd have just headed to my camp and crashed there.
Once I teleport home, I quickly check the time before I start packing my books for today. Just after nine, if I get the bus I won't get to the union office until after ten. But then again, that's why I have the key to my room, so that I can use my powers.
Nodding to myself, I teleport into my room at the union office and immediately have to fight not to gag on a smell like rotting cigarettes in ash tray that's been filled with off beer, and then had a mouse drowned in it for good measure before being left in the sun for a few days so that the mouse can ripen. Underlying the whole thing is that sickly sweet smell that pervaded the bathrooms at Winslow that nobody went to unless they were using.
Through the door I can hear a man shouting with a British accent, assuming the man had gargled a bunch of sandpaper.
"…prissy cunt just sit there when I'm offering ten large for a couple of meat-heads to do two hours work at one of the wharf's one night soon. That's two and a half fucking grand each, and you're such a shit stain that you're going to say no to that money?"
While they're shouting, I fight against my need to gag and choke on the taste of the air.
"If you think a fucking streetsweeper is going to stop me from getting my product delivered…"
Eventually I lose my battle with my reflexes, and I let out a hacking cough that's halfway between dry heaving and coughing.
"…Who's that, I thought you said the place was empty."
I lean heavily against the door as another man grumbles loudly, "Fucking door was locked boss."
The first man shouts, "Well kick it down numbskull. Don't move prissy, otherwise the first cap goes through your head."
Panic floods my mind as I try to get into the right frame of mind to teleport back home while retching, even though it still takes me around 30 seconds to activate that power.
Abruptly there's a thump at the door, and I jump with surprise. A second thump is accompanied by a loud crack as the door jam split. I'm not sure if the next sound is a gun going off or the person at the door, but the next thing I know, I'm being roughly pulled out the room by a man who's so dirty it's impossible to tell what color his skin is. In the meeting room there's another man, who's pointing a gun through the door to dad's office.
Regardless, they're not nearly as recognizable as the man wearing a dirty blue cape and a dirty blue bandana with eyes holes roughly cut out of it. The infamous Skidmark. "What's a bitch as fresh as this one doing locked up in a place like this. Listen cock sucker, I tried to be nice and deal with you fucking fairly. I was even willing to shoot you some shit. But no, you had to go and fuck it all up and bring guns into a friendly fucking negotiation." He turns around and grabs at my tit, "Now I'm going to take this prime piece of pussy and…"
I can't help it, when he touches me like that I just want to scream and get everyone away from me, and suddenly they all go flying and I can think again. It only takes me a second to start running into the office as I grab one of the coffee tables and pull it towards the door.
I've barely got through the door when Skidmark shouts, "What are you waiting for, get her!"
I don't hesitate though as I slam the door closed and jam the coffee table behind the door handle. Then I look at dad's office, really look, and the first thing I see is dad holding his side as blood drips between his fingers. As I stare slack jawed, Lacey lowers her own gun and hurries away from the wall beside the door and over to dad's side.
"Taylor. Taylor!"
Lacey's sharp shout snaps me out of staring at dad and I shake my head, "Dad! We need to… I can…"
Calmly, Lacey says, "Taylor, we need to get your father to the hospital. Can you help?"
Lacey's matter of fact tone helps me calm down, though my voice is shaky as I say, "I can get us to a healer."
Lacey nods, "Do it."
I walk around the desk so that I can touch both of them and focus on teleporting home with them. Just before I get into the right frame of mind, I notice the sawn off shotgun that's lying on the floor beside dad's leg. Suddenly, the three of us are in the upstairs hall beside Selene's picture of the moon.
I reach out for the channel to the third world, and suddenly we're standing on grass. I immediately start to look for the next crack in the world as Lacey scrambles backward a look of surprise and panic on her face. "Taylor, what the fuck just happened?"
"I'm taking us to see a healer. If you've got any metal on you, you need to remove it otherwise this could hurt you."
Lacey doesn't even hesitate, she undoes her belt and kicks of her shoes and pants. Then she immediately goes back to holding the gunshot wound.
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In one respect it takes entirely too long to get dad to Selene's camp, and he's looking frightfully pale by the time we arrive. On the other hand, it takes long enough for me to calm down and remember that I can pray to Selene, and give her a heads up on the fact that dad's injured.
While Selene's healing dad, Lacey looks at me with a slightly freaked out expression, "Taylor, what's going on?"
I point down at the stream, "Come on, we can talk down there while you clean up."
Lacey huffs, "That's not going to get you out of an explanation young lady. I've been around the block enough times to know that powers don't work like this."
I start walking to the stream and chuckle, "These ones do. I'm sure that dad will be able to explain about them in depth once you're back at work. I'm sorry I froze up, I, I don't know what happened."
Lacey crouches down by the stream and starts to rinse the blood off her hands, "Taylor, you're 15, you shouldn't need to be worrying about freezing up or not. Look, Taylor, Danny and I, hell most of the dockworkers for that matter. We expect this sort of thing and we could have handled it. Violence is just part of being a docker, always has been and always will be. Next time it happens, just get out of there."
I shake my head, "He was pointing a gun at you."
Lacey shakes her head, "Skidmark was just posturing, he does it once or twice a year, and eventually he runs out of steam and fucks off. Danny wouldn't have even touched his shotgun if you hadn't been there. Look, just promise me that next time you'll run instead of sticking around."
I shake my head, "Only if you can promise that he's not going to go looking for revenge."
"I can't do that Taylor, you know that."
I nod, "I know," I start ticking off my fingers, "Lung, The Undersiders, New Wave, and now Skidmark. They all know I have powers, and they've all seen my face. Except, now Skidmark knows that I'm linked to you too."
I sit down on the grass and look up at the clouds as Lacey says, "And we'll do what we've always done. We'll circle the wagons and make the bastards bleed so much they'll wish they'd never been born."
I look over at her skeptically, "Really? You could make Lung bleed?"
Lacey looks over her shoulder, "Well, not Lung."
I shake my head, "I haven't talked to dad about this yet, but I've been reading all of the Wards stuff, and I can't do it. I can't join them. I don't think I can even trust them or the PRT. I mean, one of the things they've buried in the contract is that Wards have to use PRT approved trainers, and have their powers evaluated. When you add that to the fact that dad would need give them legal guardianship. How long do you think it would take them to work out that I can grant anyone powers? Or how long before they try to forbid me from seeing Selene?"
Lacey shakes her head, "Taylor, how did you get from circling the wagons to The Wards?"
"You'd be circling the wagons to protect me, but that won't work. That means that there's only two things I can do to be protected, and for you the most obvious one is to join The Wards."
From behind me, Selene asks, "And what is the other option?"
I bend my head backwards to look up at Selene with a smile, "Continue training with you, and remember to take my staff with me."
Selene smiles gently at me, "I am glad to hear it. Lacey, I have finished healing Danny. He is up by the campfire. I would like to talk to my apprentice for a minute before she takes you back to the mortal world."
Lacey nods, as she stands up I notice that she's soaked the ends of her sleeves, and they've still got blood stains on them. As she walks past she says, "Taylor, remember, dockworkers look out for their own."
Selene sits down next to me and puts her arm around my shoulders, "How are you feeling?"
I lean into Selene's should and say, "I don't know. I feel like I shouldn't have frozen up, and I should have done something, anything before they got their hands on me."
"You are a remarkable young woman, and you have a talent and tenacity for learning that I have rarely seen matched. However, you have still only seen 15 summers, and I have taught you for but a fraction of that. Take pride in the fact that you did act, even if it was later than you wanted to. Because of that your father is not suffering through a long recovery as his magic struggles to both keep him alive and heal his wounds. Could someone else have done better? Always, there will always be someone else that could have done better than you. But they were not there, you were, and you did your best."
I smile as I say, "Thank you, but I still feel like I got dad shot because I couldn't concentrate to teleport before I coughed."
"Then you will invite me into your inner world before you sleep tonight, and we will look at what happened together. Before then, I feel like I must ask. When you brought Lacey here, did you expect me to give her my mark?"
I shake my head in confusion, "No! Why would I do that? I only brought her here because she was holding dad's wound closed."
Selene nods, "Some of those I have favored in the past have done just that. In future, I would prefer it if you didn't bring strangers to my camp unless it is necessary. Not only is it my home, but you are also granting mortals enough power that they could face a large army and win handedly."
"Are you saying I shouldn't bring anyone into the dream?"
Selene shakes her head, "Not at all, but bringing them to two worlds before your own camp would guarantee that they have sufficient magic to stand amongst your heroes with their heads held high, but not so much that they could threaten a city without extensive study and practice. If you wish for them to have just enough magic to make use of the plaques in your house, then taking them one world further would do that."
I frown, "Why would they threaten a city?"
"Taylor, did Emma not prove that all people can change. Magic is a blessing that cannot be taken back once given. Each person that you gift magic to can also gift magic to everyone that they trust. That is why even we gods didn't give the gift of magic out unless we truly trusted the people we were granting it to. If a mortal choses to take their gift, and use it to make their way deeper into the dream, then they deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work. As by working for their power, they will not only respect it more, but they will be more likely to understand why we don't give it out to everyone else."
I flinch when Selene brings up Emma, and that immediately makes me imagine what Sophia could have done if she had magic. As they were bad enough without powers. Eventually I sigh, "I get it. I wouldn't want Sophia to get magic, as she'd use it to make everyone's lives a living hell. Why did you tell me to bring Catlin here then?"
Selene chuckles, "Why, to see to your safety. You now have two places that you can build houses and plenty of lumber in the jungle to make both of them. It was pure serendipity that her child also has magic, so she can now learn to use that power, and will be able to teach Connor once he is old enough to learn. It would not do to have my apprentice disembodied before she is able to defend herself properly."
I sigh, "Honestly, I hadn't thought of that. I just thought it was a neat shortcut."
"Can it not serve multiple purposes at the same time? Now go, you need to take your father and Lacey back to the mortal world. And do not forget your spear this time. While you are there, would you also be able to buy me more mortal seeds. I have been impressed by the potatoes I was able to grow, and I would like to try some more fruits and vegetables from the mortal world."
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Once we get back to Earth Bet, I'm about to teleport us back to the union office when dad says, "Don't. Lacey and I will take the bus, and pick up some of the guys on the way."
I stare at dad and put my hands on my hips, "But dad, I can help."
Dad shakes his head, "Not this time Taylor, I might not be as good at repairing stuff as you, but I can do it."
"But dad…"
"No Taylor, there might be some fighting if Skidmark hasn't already gone. I want you to go home. In my room is the pot you made for us in 3rd grade. Take $20 and do your school work at the library today."
"But my…"
Dad shakes his head, "No Taylor, this is union business. You can come back on Monday."
"But my purse is…"
"Taylor, this is not a discussion."
Lacey interrupts, "Danny, you need to calm down. Taylor, we know that you can handle yourself. But you're still innocent, and so you'd be a liability if there's any trouble. We can't look after you and look after ourselves, especially your father. We also have a duty of care to keep you safe now that the letters for Home Instruction have been sent to the Superintendent and the State Board of Education. Now, can you be a good girl and be visible else where for today?"
I grind my teeth together and teleport home rather than answering.