Chapter 7 - Taylor II
The click of the button pushing morphine into her bloodstream was Taylors sole relief, her currently mummified status not allowing for much else.
She had woken back up in the hospital a couple hours ago, unable to move, every single slight twitch sending a lance of pain directly into her brain. Taylor didn't even notice her crying dad calling for a nurse, her back and thighs screaming at her in agony. Only after the first injection did she come back to her senses, the warm feeling of the drug spreading through her body relaxing her tensed muscles for the first time in minutes.
She had never understood why drug addicts destroyed their whole life but if heroin was anything like morphine she had just gained a lot more sympathy. It was like she was lifted up by a soft cloud while being hugged by angels. Or something like that at least, she wasn't the best at similes. Or was that even a simile? She wished her mom was here so she could ask her.
After that first hit, a young looking doctor had come by and explained to Taylor and her father that the extent of her new injuries was severe. Third degree burns on her feet and arms, second degree on her back and thighs and first degree burns almost everywhere else. The only positive news was that they didn't need to amputate anything though it had been close with a couple of her toes. She had to stay in the hospital for at least four weeks and would need surgery for skin grafts once the rest of her body had improved the less severe injuries.
Taylor was sure that if she hadn't been heavily medicated, she would have laughed and cried hysterically at what the medical professional was saying. Her first act of heroism and she scarred herself for life, burning off almost all her hair and making herself even uglier than she already was. The universe was apparently really against giving her even the smallest win. Was it her destiny to be a loser? Had Emma been right this whole time?
As if the world was answering her questions, visitor hours ended right after the doctor finished his explanation and now she didn't even have her dad with her anymore either. Only the fact that she could still control the insects around the hospital was stopping her from breaking down.
She had pressed the morphine button a dozen times since then. Every time it felt as good as the last. She knew there was a limit to it, the nurse had told her as much, but she had yet to find it.
As Taylor pressed the button once again and watched the last rays of sunshine over the lip of the building on the other side of the road, someone knocked on the door to her room in the burn ward. Taylor blinked, the whole time she had been in the hospital, the doctors and nurses had never knocked. Not even her dad did.
"Y, yes?" Taylor croaked, her voice small and weak even to her own ears.
The door opened and a well dressed man entered, he was wearing a charcoal suit without a tie. If he hadn't been as muscular as he was, he could have been one of those door to door salesmen for life insurance.
"Miss Herbert?" The man asked her politely, a friendly smile on his fairly handsome face.
"It, it's pronounced Hee-bert." Taylor reflexively corrected him, squinting as she caught sight of a badge of some sort hanging from his belt. She couldn't make out what it was saying without her glasses.
"Ah, sorry, Miss Hebert then. Or I can call you Taylor if you prefer, I was never good with names." The man chuckled, unoffended and stepped further into the room, stopped a good distance away from her bed. "I'm Ethan from the PRT. If you have time, I would like to talk with you about what happened that night."
Taylors breath hitched as she processed his words through the haze of her pain medication. Did they already figure out that she had helped kill Oni Lee? Was she going to get arrested before having even the chance to prove herself?
"T, taylor is fine… What, what do you want to k, know?" She tried to keep the tremble of unease out of her voice but with the way the agent's smile fell a little bit, she didn't succeed.
"You are not in trouble if you are worried about that, Taylor." He tried to calm her down as he pulled over the visitors chair and sat down next to her bed though he still kept a respectful distance. "We have quite a lot of footage and I would say you looked very heroic out there."
"T, there is footage." Taylor faintly answered, her stomach roiling uncomfortably. "O, only you saw it though, right?"
Ethan gave her an understanding smile. "It's not so bad, you haven't been identified yet and the news is a lot more interested in the other guy."
"I'm on the n, news…" She felt herself sink, drowning in embarrassment. When she had imagined her debut as a hero, she had thought about giving an impromptu interview after delivering a major villain to jail, not screaming and fainting. A shiver ran down her spine, the smell of burnt asphalt and skin suddenly threatening to overwhelm her. Taylor wanted to cry and scream, flashes of what had happened trying to invade her vision. Instead of doing that though, she concentrated on the insects, something she could control, something she had power over.
"Everyone has a camera in their pocket nowadays and Lung made a pretty big ruckus." The agent gently reminded her, interlocking his fingers as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "That's also part of why I am here. While we are doing everything we can to stop your identity from getting out there, if you joined the Wards, you would be a lot better protected."
"T, the Wards, why do you think…" Taylor stuttered, the offer coming so far out of left field that she hadn't even thought of a response for it. She had of course played around with just contacting the PRT after she gained her powers, like they always said in their commercials, but it would have felt too much like going to them hat in hand, hoping that they would accept the poor bug girl. She also couldn't shake the persistent and nagging thought that the Wards would be just a repeat of her school life, only this time with superpowers.
The fact that she would have to tell her dad about her powers and the bullying didn't help either but those issues suddenly seemed so small in comparison.
Also, if they came to her after she had done something they thought was impressive, even if she herself didn't feel that way at all, that could maybe change things.
"I'm not here to pressure you or anything. Just letting you know that the offer is on the table." Ethan grinned at her answer, like he had expected it, and pulled a business card out of his jacket pocket. "Give this card to your dad and have him call me if you want to talk about it."
Taylor watched him put the card face down on the nightstand, swallowing at a sudden realization. Her eyes looked down at her bandaged appendages, the bandages heavy with some kind of solution that was supposed to stop her skin from cracking too badly. "I, it's going to take months before I can get out of the hospital though."
The agent perked up at her implicit agreement, his eyes shining like a dog who had just been told he was going to go for a walk. Taylor looked away, unused to people looking at her with happiness. "The Protectorate has some healers and the PRT has a deal with New Wave for Panaceas services. She could have you out of here quickly."
To be honest, the thought of parahuman healers hadn't even crossed Taylors mind. That perk alone made her want to join the Wards on the spot, being bullied for having a bad power had to be better than how she was currently feeling. She couldn't imagine herself being able to endure the normal healing period without going out as a real hero and doing some real good. Just the possibility of not using her powers for such a long time made her nauseous.
Unfortunately… "I haven't even talked to my dad about what happened to me. I, I'll tell him and, and we'll discuss your offer." She really wanted that healing but she had to be realistic. A minor couldn't decide to join a government organization without their parents approval and even if they weren't as close to each other as before her moms death, her dad still loved her and wanted the best for her.
His distraught and crying face when she had woken up earlier today flashed through her mind. Yeah, she would tell him everything and they could figure out a way forward together.
"That's great." Ethan clapped his hands and stood up from his seat. He smiled at her and gently kicked one leg of the chair with his heel and it, seemingly by itself, slid like it was on ice to its old place in the corner of the hospital room.
Taylor gaped at the casual display of superpowers and the agent, or was it hero, winked at her with a cheeky grin. Her brain felt like it had stalled.
"Now we are even." Ethan nodded, seeming inordinately happy with himself. Taylor's heart hammered as she was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to do that. In the movies they always defended their identities to the death. Reportedly Armsmaster had even built an electric taser into his helmet so nobody could take it off but him. When she was younger she thought that was the coolest thing she had ever heard.
The fact that… Assault, probably Assault, had just casually revealed his face to her as a show of trust shook her. She didn't think anyone had ever extended so much trust towards her, except maybe Emma, but those memories were irrevocably tainted.
If, if she could work with Assault or Ethan, she wouldn't mind joining the Wards.
"Looking forward to seeing you soon, Taylor." The older man waved one last time and gently closed the door to her room behind him.
"Bye." Taylor was pulled out of her shock at having missed him walking away and quickly tried to wave him goodbye, but winced at the agony the action shot through her burned skin.
Her finger hovered over the morphine button but she held herself back. A hero didn't need drugs just for a bit of pain. She would endure and tomorrow she was going to start her hero career in earnest. A couple of butterflies flew happy loops a block down the road.
Then, about an hour after Ethan had left and Taylors excitement dimmed enough that she started to doze off for the first time, her window started to rattle. Her eyes locked onto it almost immediately, the latch holding it closed opening by itself. A painful shiver ran down her spine as she watched the window sliding up, letting in the cold winter air. She knew that the opening mechanism stopped far before it was large enough for a human to fit through, probably to prevent break ins.
Taylor was halfway to ordering the mass of insects she had gathered since waking up to start swarming whoever had decided it was a good idea to peep on her, before a tiny dark ball flew through the opening. She blinked at the about a foot tall construct as it hovered there for a moment before the window suddenly closed behind it.
"Long time no see, Taylor" The deep voice startled Taylor, the familiar tones recognisable to her immediately. She had been kind of preoccupied with her own situation to think about the man she had helped back then.
Before she had passed out, she was in a kind of delirium, the heat and pain making it difficult to remember details. One thing stood out though: How he had triggered, turned into a black ball and then somehow sheared off Lungs arms.
"H, hey." She muttered as she watched him grow back to human size and form, wondering what his powers were. Some kind of breaker form that could destroy anything it touched? "Why, why are you here and, and how do you know my name?"
"I knew as soon as I saw you." He answered with a slight chuckle, the chair Ethan had sat on sliding over the floor toward him with an uncomfortable rattle before he was sitting himself right next to her bed. Closer than her own father had sat just earlier today.
She looked directly at his dark, almost featureless face, it was like looking at the deep sea, a dark abyss where any number of monsters could lurk right underneath the surface. It was so different from when she had seen it last time, no trace of wounds or fused fabric to be seen. The raw humanity she had witnessed that night was completely absent. Still, Taylor remembered the absolute willpower in his eyes as he got back up on his feet after defeating Oni Lee before even getting his powers.
"As for why, well, I have a plan for this city and I want you to be a part of it."
Taylor swallowed and her thumb came down onto her morphine button.
AN: Taylor, don't you know? Winners don't do drugs.