Chapter 23, as promised. Hope you enjoy.

"This is Circaetus. Spree covered the Butcher long enough for her to escape. Where do you want me?" Taylor asked, pressing the button on her communicator armband and waiting. While she waited for a response she tilted her arm up, sliding back the plate on her forearm and checking the battery status of her armour. About thirty percent. Good for maybe an hour longer.

'Not the best situation.'

"The Power Enhancer must be draining the batteries more than we expected. Unfortunate, but it can't be helped. See if you can leverage the weakness of the Protectorate into materials for a micro-fusion reactor."

'Mm. Cheeky, but I like it.'

"Circaetus. Meet Dragon and I at the marked location, we need you for search and rescue," Armsmaster said, quiet and clipped. Taylor glanced over the map that her armband projected and sighed.

"No rest for the righteous, then."

A wave of her hand tore open a rent in reality and Taylor stepped into the Warp without breaking stride. She moved quickly through, her boots crunching softly on ground that felt more like wet sand than anything else, the Warp as strange as ever around her. It swirled like mist, vision vanishing a few feet away. Taylor frowned and concentrated, seeing through the ethereal mists. The thoughts of Brockton Bay became clearer to her, the phantom swirl of water around her shins, and Taylor thought she could see the faintest slivers of men and women lost in the vapour, the last thoughts of the dead and dying.

'Never pleasant, is it?'

"No. Never. It is a part of being a Psyker that many struggle with, to see the souls of the fallen as they move on."

'Move on. To where, I wonder?'

The Emperor sighed quietly, his tone gentle and somewhat sorrowful.

"Given our Perpetuality, we may never know."

Taylor glanced down, to her left, frowning.

'Yeah. Yeah, I guess.'

Taylor stepped out of the Warp, landing behind Armsmaster and Dragon with a heavy thud, not bothering to slow her slight fall. Armsmaster turned and nodded to her, his expression set and tired.

"Circaetus. The Butcher escaped?"

Taylor nodded.

"Spree dropped a bunch of clones on me and she teleported out while I was dealing with them."

Armsmaster grunted.

"Still, running her off is good. Means we've got a deterrent for her if the Protectorate decides not to do anything about her. Your armour still good? We need you on search and rescue. Casualties are looking at about seventeen percent, but the faster we find the injured the better."

Taylor shrugged.

"I've about an hour left before I'll have to take off the armour. Should run for decades, but I couldn't exactly build a proper power source on scraps."

Armsmaster nodded.

"Eidolon has set up a field hospital, he's still there. If you can locate the injured and move them to an open space, we'll have a Mover pick them up and take them. You can heal minor injuries, right? You healed Vista and Dauntless?"

Taylor nodded and Armsmaster brought his arm up, tapping at the underside.

"Good, you can perform basic first aid like that. I'll set your armband to lead you to the injured, using the aid beacons of their own armbands. Any questions?"

"What about the dead?" Taylor asked. Armsmaster stilled, fingers curling halfway to a fist before he sighed.

"Try to get them into an open space. Press the button on their armband if you can, and say 'deceased'. It'll mark them for later body retrieval."

Taylor nodded, glancing at the map projected by her armband and spreading her wings. Armsmaster coughed quietly.

"I'm sorry to make you do this, Circaetus," he said, sounding stiff and awkward, "It's not something I want to put on a teenager."

Taylor tilted her head and shrugged, wings rippling in a lazy motion.

"We do all sorts of things that we shouldn't. It's part of being a teenager."

'Though I daresay most teenagers don't get to dredge through rubble looking for corpses. What a fun time.'

"Oh, you'd love my home universe. Teenagers there get to do all sorts of fun things."

'Yeah, yeah. Eaten by Tyranids, sacrificed by cultists, flayed to the last atom by some nutcase Necron. You always have to have it worse, don't you?'

Taylor took flight, soaring between half-fallen skyscrapers and over swirling water. The first place her map led to was a shop, the front fallen in, door blocked by a car that had been hurled through the air. Taylor twisted her wrist, wrapping the car in tendrils of force and lifting it free, gently setting it down in the street before she shouldered through the door, pushing it off its last hinge. She caught it as it fell, throwing it behind her.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" she called. It was dim and dark in the shop, shelves fallen over. Taylor took to the air, drifting over shelves in a manner that would be impossible with regular wings, and stepped behind the counter.

"Oh. Oh, no."

Velocity lay on the ground, unmoving. One arm was a mess of splintered blood and mangled flesh, but worse was his chest. Driven by wave or by impact, a wooden beam had smashed through his chest, crushing it to bloody pulp. The water that still swirled around Taylor's boots was tinged red with blood. She took a step forwards, bending down and pressing a hand against his head, confirming what she already knew: Velocity was dead. Gently she closed his eyes and reached out to the armband on his unshattered limb, pressing the button.

"Deceased," she said softly, a surprising croak in her voice before she let go of the button and offered a few more words, "May you reach whatever afterlife awaits easily, Velocity."

Her armband still indicated a presence in the area, so she closed her eyes and searched with her mind. She felt another mind, a few feet away, and vaulted the counter. Her boots splashed in muddy, salty water and she grimaced, following the faint trail of thoughts to a fallen wall. She reached out both hands, lifting rubble away.

"Hey, Aegis. Can you hear me?"

The leader of the Wards was in terrible shape. Something had torn across his throat, the wound still oozing gore, and both legs had been crushed below the knee, smashed beyond recognition by the falling wall. Taylor dropped to one knee, reaching out.

"Aegis? You there, buddy?"

Dark eyes flickered open and Aegis looked at her, a smile flickering on his mouth for a second. His fingers moved- sign language. Taylor watched, pressing a hand against his knee and soothing his pain.

"Velocity," Aegis signed, "Saved me. Is he?"

"I'm sorry, Aegis," she said. His head slumped, eyes glittering with tears, and she reached up, pressing her fingers to the skin next to the horrible gash on his throat. His powers must be keeping him alive.

"I'm going to close these wounds and take you outside, alright? A Mover will be around to take you to the medics while I go to look for others," Taylor explained, flesh moving under her fingers, crawling and knitting together. He was going to lose his legs and possibly his voice, she thought, unearned guilt clawing sickly at her throat. He nodded slowly and she slid one hand under his back, one under his head, keeping him in her grasp with threading psychic tendrils and stood, lifting him with her. She carried him outside and swung up to the roof with two beats of her wings, pressing the button on her armband with a thought.

"Circaetus here. Mark my location for medical pickup, urgent."

"Acknowledged."

Taylor laid Aegis gently on the roof, pressing a gauntlet against his brow.

"It'll be alright, Aegis. Not now. But in time…in time, you'll know that Velocity did the right thing, just like he knew he did."

She wished she could have stayed, but there were more people out there, needing help. And so Taylor hardened her heart, spread her wings and took off, soaring towards the next person and ignoring the fresh blood that glistened on the matte grey of her armour.

Much as Taylor would have liked otherwise, her encounter with Aegis and Velocity set the tone for the rest of her searching. There were very few living injured to find. She supposed that most of the living injured must have been able to get to help on their own, or been rescued during the fighting. She determinedly ignored the chance that many of the bodies she found would have lived for several minutes or even tens of minutes before expiring.

'If this is what it's always like I'm not surprised that a lot of capes don't attend many fights.'

"I suspect it is usually worse than this."

'Worse?' Taylor grunted, lifting the top half of a man in a white-painted Kevlar vest away from a building that was likely to come down any second, leaving a trail of offal behind as she dragged him into the open and let the web of psychic force that had been holding up the roof collapse. She felt the Emperor nod inside her head.

"Armsmaster said that we suffered seventeen percent casualties. Legend said the usual is one in four."

'That's basically half again as many dead. I know I've said this before, but how do they even begin to sustain that sort of damage?'

"Were I a cynic, I would suspect that the majority of the casualties are the weak and the inexperienced, not the stronger Capes who could actually make a difference."

'Feeding them into the grinder. You live once, you've got a good chance of living again, survival of the strongest. Or the quickest. But never winning.'

"Never winning, no."

Taylor laid the body down, marked it for retrieval and took off again, following the path laid out by her armband. She could feel the ache in her bones from the heavy use of her powers, accompanied by a heavy numbness that was sinking slowly into her right arm. She needed a rest, and maybe a bath. That would be nice.

'You think we could stop an Endbringer alone?' she asked, a short way into the flight. The Emperor was silent before a sigh echoed through her head.

"I think it's hard to say. We did the most damage, that cannot be denied, and it was rarely close to severely injuring us. Given another year or two, it is likely that any allies who take the field alongside us would be more hindrance than help."

Taylor grunted in agreement, glancing at her armband and adjusting her path.

'I hate to say it, but given the power the Endbringers have demonstrated, and the possible power of the Parasite, we might have to start looking for a plan B. Like, an evacuation of the human race type of plan, in case we can't stop the Parasite and the Endbringers in time. Only thing is…'

"There is an Endbringer in orbit, and even high altitude satellites have drawn its attention. We would need to deal with the Simurgh."

'In theory, we would only need to distract her. She might not pursue into the Solar System, and she wouldn't be able to pursue into the Warp. We felt Leviathan, it didn't have a soul. It was barely sentient. Gaining access to the Immaterium would be impossible for something without technology on par with the Necrontyr.'

"Indeed. And if they had such technology, they would have no purpose in destroying humanity slowly. Humanity would have been destroyed before I found you, or they would not be causing damage at all."

'Depending on if it was a Necron Dynasty who were still feeling omnicidal or if they were trying to regain their flesh, right. But we shouldn't assume that all xenos would act that way. The Parasite might simply find amusement in the slow destruction of another race.'

"Unfortunately true. But without interacting with it there is no way to tell."

'Yeah, and I'm not too interested in doing that any time soon.'

Taylor landed, splashing into the water that still ran through much of the city, and sighed. A single tattered, bedraggled corpse, slumped limply against a wall. Fenja- or Menja, Taylor wasn't sure- was a mess, one arm missing, the other shattered, chest caved in. Her blonde hair lay limp and soaked over her face.

"Another dead body," Taylor said, tiredness rasping in her voice and making it thicker than the vox-transmitter in her helmet already did, "I'm getting tired of these."

She walked across the wave-swept street, leaning down to press the button on the armband and say the word that had left her lips far too many times today.

"Deceased. Who's next?"

Not far away. Taylor took flight again, hovering for a moment to look around. There was a constant buzz of activity now, flyers criss-crossing the city on search and rescue or body retrieval. Taylor took a moment to breathe and let her powers extend, looking for a single spark amidst the souls in the city. Her Dad.

'He's still alive. Good.'

The confirmation soothed part of her battered soul, the acknowledgement that her Dad would be waiting for her when she was finished. He was a little afraid, but no worse than most of the civilians that she could feel, a miasma of despair settled over Brockton Bay.

'There'll be a lot of work to do. The flooding will have done a lot of damage. Power, food, medical supplies…there'll be a lot of opportunity for criminals among the mess. We'll probably have to pull double shifts.'

"It's a good thing we don't need much sleep. We can help as well- if the Protectorate will provide resources, as we have agreed, then we can build large scale power cells and water purifiers. That will help mitigate much of the problem."

'Agreed. It'll give us a good foot in the door with technology too, let us demonstrate that our gear works. Clean, cheap power is the dream of every state in the world. Once they see we can make it come true…'

"We'll have to be even more on our guard than before. Who knows what people might do to get those secrets? Kidnapping, torture, threatening your family and friends…"

Taylor grimaced.

'Yeah, well, we'll have to deal with that when we come to it. Maybe the human race will surpass the bare minimum for once.'

Taylor dipped a wing and rolled towards the ground. There was a small city park there, and Taylor could see a gleam of white among fallen trees. An unpleasant creeping ran up her spine, her head tipping to check her armband. Yes, this was her next location. She flared her wings wide, catching an imaginary breeze and bringing herself back into a standing position before she dropped to the ground, mud splashing up her calves as her boots hit the waterlogged ground. The white was sheened with blood, she now saw, slowly walking forwards. Taylor closed her eyes for a long moment, still walking, opening them to confirm that she wasn't seeing things. She reached down and heaved away half of a tree-trunk, letting out an exhausted breath.

Brandish was dead. She had known it from the moment she saw the woman, white and orange costume crimsoned with blood. A tree branch had skewered Brandish through the back of the neck, punching through her throat and still standing up in gory display. Taylor reached out a hand, wrapping Victoria's mother in psychic force and gently lifting her free of the branch.

"Oh, Glory," she said softly, "I'm so sorry."

"New Wave may not survive this."

'Depending on how many lived. Poor Glory, she'll be heartbroken. I don't think she's ever lost a family member before. Definitely not one so close,' Taylor replied, remembering the agony of losing her mother, her lips twisting grimly. She lifted Brandish, laying her on a tangled bed of tree branches rather than drop her in the watery mud.

"Brandish was a grown woman. She knew the risks of facing Leviathan."

'Sometimes I think that makes it worse.'

Fifteen minutes and four more bodies later- Taylor reckoned the ratio of dead to injured was about five to one, which wasn't exactly inspiring- her armband bleeped at her. Taylor sighed, pulling up and hovering in the air, wings spread.

"Circaetus," Armsmaster said, "Come to the headquarters. Alexandria wants a word."

"Can it wait? Search and rescue-"

"There are hardly any left, Circaetus. Eleven bands left active, we have Heroes en-route."

Taylor sighed, slowly turning in mid-air.

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way."

Taylor didn't take the Warp this time, electing to fly. It gave her a better view of the city, and a better assessment of the situation. Heroes and Villains alike were strewn throughout the streets, most working on search and rescue, but a few were propping up buildings. A few of them noticed her, waving to her, but most didn't look up. They'd won- or something like it- and they weren't interested in anything but rest. Here, in the streets, the weariness of the defenders overwhelmed the cloying taste of fear from hiding civilians. Taylor caught the breeze, winging towards the makeshift hospital that had been set up in a warehouse. There were tarpaulins set up outside, protecting tables of computers and other equipment from the rain. Armsmaster was in the centre, with Dragon next to him, and Taylor landed heavily enough to draw his attention.

"Circaetus," he greeted. Taylor nodded to him.

"You said you needed me here?"

Armsmaster shrugged.

"Alexandria wants to speak to you, as I said. Probably about the Butcher. I don't see why it can't wait, though."

"I would have preferred to wait, but I can't stay here long. If the Butcher needs dealt with, I want to set things in motion quickly," Alexandria said, striding across. Armsmaster glanced up and shrugged, returning to his laptop. Alexandria nodded.

"Circaetus. Good to meet you."

Taylor took the offered hand, shaking it. Alexandria had a strong grip, but Taylor barely felt it through her hardened armour. Still, she got the impression that Alexandria didn't squeeze too hard. No attempt to assert dominance. Tired though she was, Taylor strengthened her grip on the Warp, eager to pick up on any stray thoughts that Alexandria was particularly interested in.

"Her mind works quickly. She must have some sort of mental increase as well as physical."

'Makes sense.'

"I wanted to thank you for your actions. There were a lot of people here, but none of them managed to throw Leviathan as badly as you did."

"I'm sure Lung had an impact," Taylor said, demurring gently. Alexandria shook her head, sodden cape moving on her shoulders.

"I doubt that, but I won't press you. Now. The Butcher."

"Hmm…some suggestion of recruitment. But for what? Not the Protectorate, I'd say."

'The illustrious high ranking Protectorate member has something else up her sleeve? I am shocked, positively shocked.'

The Emperor chuckled, but Taylor felt his curiosity. She retrieved her hand from Alexandria and spread her hands.

"The Butcher. What do you want to know?"

Alexandria folded her arms.

"I need to confirm, mostly. You saw the Butcher standing before Leviathan, attempting to sacrifice herself to the Endbringer. You assumed that she was doing so in an attempt to possess the Endbringer?"

"Yep."

"Following that, and the broadcast to stop her, you tackled the Butcher and teleported both of you to a safe location. Then what?"

"Asked her what the fuck she thought she was doing and she started throwing punches. Hit the record button on my armband just in case. Given that she was attacking me, I started fighting back."

"This was immediately before I told you to deal with her, yes? Don't worry about the answer- I think we can all agree that you were protecting yourself."

"Yeah, right before that. We engaged for a while, she's hard to get hold of thanks to her teleportation, but I managed to wear her down in the end. I was gaining an advantage when Spree arrived, sent a swarm of his clones at me."

"And the Butcher used the clones to escape? Teleported away?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to the clones?"

Taylor lifted a blood-soaked gauntlet.

"Take a guess."

"Hmm…she's definitely assessing you for something. I'm more interested in that thought that just crossed her mind, though…does 'natural Cape' imply that there are artificial parahumans to you?"

'It could mean that she thinks my attitude is a natural fit for being a Cape.'

"Possible, but it strikes me as unlikely."

Alexandria nodded.

"You killed them. Alright, fair enough. And then you contacted Armsmaster and returned here?"

Taylor nodded and Alexandria sighed.

"Like I said, don't worry about breaking the Truce or anything like that. Right now, I think the Teeth have pushed their luck entirely too far. They've lasted this long by being good at running and never being major enough to draw too much attention, but now…we won't have any choice. If the Endbringer Truce is to remain respected, the Teeth must be destroyed. At the very least the cell here, and the Butcher taken into custody."

"I wonder if she'd be so eager to punish a hero."

'Mm, you cynic. You're right, though.'

Alexandria turned, cape swishing wetly around her, and looked over the city.

"Armsmaster, I'll divert as much support as I can to you, and try to persuade the other Protectorate leaders to do the same. If you don't mind me asking, Circaetus, I'd ask you to help as best you can."

Taylor shrugged.

"It's my home city, too."

Alexandria let out a tired chuckle.

"I suppose it is. If you don't mind me asking something else…that attack on Leviathan. What was it?"

"That's interesting. I wonder who Doctor Mother is? I've certainly never heard of her."

'Non-Protectorate maybe? Or a Thinker or someone that they keep locked down and away from notice. Either way, looks like we've drawn more attention than I like.'

"Technically you didn't have to hit Leviathan with that attack. We could have ridden out the storm and stayed fairly low-key."

'Somehow I doubt that. Besides…I don't like the thought of sacrificing people like that. I'd prefer to avoid it.'

"That is your prerogative, of course."

"It was a focused attack, built up over time. My powers are fuelled by a sort of extra dimension of energy that I can draw on. Rather than using it as soon as I drew on it I built it up then dumped it all into a single kinetic blast," Taylor said. For a moment she wondered if she was explaining too much, but really- did it matter? There wasn't anything there that could trouble her. There was no way to cut someone as powerful as the Emperor off from the Warp. Even the presence of a powerful Blank was merely an irritant to him, where it would send a normal Psyker into a screaming fit, unable to access the Warp. Alexandria made a quiet noise of understanding.

"That's why it took so long. You were preparing the attack."

Taylor nodded.

"Takes a while to build up the energy. Didn't do as much damage as I was hoping, though."

"Better than most of us can manage," Alexandria muttered, before holding out her hand to Taylor and inclining her head.

"Thank you, Circaetus, for your aid. Armsmaster? I'll leave her in your capable hands," she said, briskly shaking Taylor by the hand and taking flight. Taylor watched her go, a long sigh dragging itself from her mouth.

"Well, there's that. And she wants us to take down the Butcher? Not that I'd be opposed to a rematch, but it's not exactly the easiest thing to do."

Armsmaster grunted in agreement.

"The teleportation is the biggest problem. Maybe we can just keep her sedated the whole time. Make it a lot simpler."

Taylor shrugged, glancing over the city, and Dragon let out a staticky sigh.

"Normally, Armsmaster, that would be considered inhumane. I had hoped you would provide a voice of reason in this case, Circaetus."

Taylor glanced at the robot.

"She tried to tear my wing off, I'm not in a charitable mood. But she might have to wait. What's the most important, getting the city back on its feet or taking down the Butcher?"

Armsmaster tapped a hand against the table, metal clinking on hard plastic.

"The Butcher will be difficult to contain without power. Most of the lines are cut, water supplies are contaminated, food shipments will be at risk…"

There was a commotion a dozen feet away and Taylor turned, saw a familiar figure in soaked white and gold descending from the skies.

"Ah. Shit. Armsmaster, I'll be right back. Glory is-"

"Hmm? Oh…Brandish. Of course, Circaetus."

Taylor quickly walked past him, moving on an angle to cut Glory off. She arrived in front of her friend, blocking access to the makeshift hospital. Glory almost ran her down, eyes wild and hair dishevelled. Taylor saw Gallant over Glory's shoulder, looking battered but alive.

"Circ? Why are you- my Mom. She's in there, right? Do you know what's happened?"

Taylor felt her heart twist and squeeze painfully, her lips tightening in a grimace. She folded her wings, reaching up and popping the latches on her helmet. Glory stared as Taylor pulled her helmet off, tucking it under one arm.

"Glory- Vicky. I'm sorry."

"No."

The word fell from Glory's lips in a whisper, barely more than a breath. Taylor closed her eyes for the space of a long breath, opening them again.

"Glory, I…you might not want to go in there. It won't be pretty."

"Won't be- Circ. Taylor. What do you mean, it won't be pretty? How do you know that!"

Taylor didn't flinch in the face of the sudden, desperate anger, looking down into the mud.

"I- I was the one who found her, Vicky. There was…there was nothing I could do."

The choked sob that Glory let out was like a fist around Taylor's throat, suffocating her words. She floundered in silence for a second, platitudes failing before she looked up, looking Glory in the eye. Her friend's face glistened with tears, thick trails running from each eye and Taylor bit her lip.

"I…I'm sorry, Glory. I'm so sorry."

Glory moved and Taylor stepped aside, wings flaring to keep her balance as Glory shouldered past her, rushing through the door. A steadying hand fell on her shoulder and Taylor looked up, past the arm and into Gallant's helmet. Her heart stuttered, icy with the pain she felt for Glory, but she knew what she had to do.

"Go with her, Gallant. She'll need you a lot more than she needs my excuses."

"Circaetus, I-"

"She's known me for a couple of months, Gallant. Time to step up."

Taylor watched Gallant rush after Glory, heard the wail inside the hospital, joining the chorus of cries within, and rubbed her forearm across her face, scrubbing harshly at the tears that had formed. Too tired to continue, she walked the few steps back to the banks of equipment and sank down, onto an empty crate where the equipment boxes were stacked. Armsmaster had been watching, from just a few feet away.

"New Wave will likely be broken," he observed, tone quiet and clinical, "Useless to us when we need them most."

Taylor's fist went through the box next to her, the sudden fury surprising her nearly as much as it did Armsmaster.

"She just lost her mother," Taylor snarled, her voice harsh and thick with anger, "And you're talking about her use as an asset?"

Armsmaster went still. Taylor felt an urge to stand up, get into his face and demand more from him, but she was just too tired. Too tired to do anything besides pull her arm out of the box and let her head sink into her hand, fingers cradling her forehead.

"Fuck," she said, low and rasping, "She's just a kid. She's too young to be looking at that."

Armsmaster took a seat opposite her, sinking onto a crate of his own with a quiet groan. Taylor pushed her head back, looking at him between armoured fingers.

"I'm sorry," he said, halting, "I…I speak without thinking. I don't mean to dismiss her pain, but…"

"But?" Taylor asked, sighing and sitting up. She looked at her bloody fingers, grunting in aggravation. There would be blood on her forehead and hair, she knew. A nuisance. Armsmaster locked his fingers together, bending over and interlacing them between his knees.

"The Protectorate here has always been under-strength. New Wave has helped even the field a little. But now…with the casualties from Echidna and now Leviathan…"

"What's the butchers bill?"

Armsmaster let out a growling sigh.

"Miss Militia and Triumph were too injured to fight, they remain in critical condition. Battery was injured against Echidna, she'll likely recover soon. Assault lost an arm against Leviathan. Velocity is dead. Only Dauntless and I remain combat ready."

Taylor pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning over.

"And the Wards?"

"Shadow Stalker and Vista remain in critical condition from the Echidna Incident. Chariot was killed by Leviathan. Aegis has lost both legs. Clockblocker sustained a head injury, we don't know when he'll recover, or if he'll recover. Only Kid Win and Gallant are uninjured."

Four. Four capes, total, of the entire Protectorate team.

"Fuck," Taylor whispered, not finding any other words to explain it. Armsmaster nodded.

"Most likely we'll receive two or three Capes as support, most likely a mix of Wards and full members. I'm hopeful that Myrddin will remain for a time. But…"

"I'm going to have to carry a lot of weight, aren't I?"

"My apologies."

"Yeah, yeah, don't bother. Give me like seven hours of sleep and a coffee and I'll be ready for almost anything. But I can't be everywhere. We're going to have to hope that Lung, Kaiser and whoever takes over for Coil plays nice."

Armsmaster nodded.

"If we can get power re-established…I'll have to call in some favours for that."

Taylor raised a hand.

"I might be able to help with that, actually. My power cells…they're solar cells. I can up-scale them to full generators, they're highly efficient. Might even be able to use them to power a desalinator or two, get fresh water flowing."

Armsmaster leaned back, lips pursing thoughtfully and a hand cupping his chin.

"You can? That would be helpful."

"Yeah, my agreement with Piggot…if you can help me get the materials I need, I can build them. Shouldn't take too long. Then if we've got the power and the water, we can use that as leverage over the gangs until we're back on an even keel."

"Blackmail, Circaetus?"

Taylor shrugged, hooking her helmet into her lap and lifting it.

"I mean, I like to think of it as negotiation from a position of strength. But sure, call it what you like."

Taylor set her helmet back into place, feeling the latches click shut with reassuring solidity.

"Now. What else do you need me for? I'll need to change out of my armour soon, it's running low on power."

Armsmaster shook his head.

"We're going to be cleaning up, now. We'll call the all-clear and the PRT and Disaster Relief teams will start taking over. Capes aren't needed as much now."

He stood up, brushing at his legs.

"Go home. Make sure your father is alright. And get some sleep, we might need you soon."

Taylor watched him stride away, shaking her head.

'I wouldn't want his position for the world.'

"And yet, in the future…"

'I know. I'm trying to avoid thinking about it.'

Taylor stood with a sigh, glancing at the hospital behind her.

'I should check on Glory, at least. Then I can change armours and go find Dad. Head to the PRT HQ, start designing the solar cells and the desalinator. Think they'll have a collective panic attack if I tell them it's the first stage of a full terraforming rig?'

"I doubt they will believe you. Terraforming devices could be an avenue to take if you intend to become vital to infrastructure, though. Turning useless desert into valuable agricultural land."

'A big target for the Endbringers though. They don't seem to have acted with much purpose, but I'd prefer not to test it.'

"Unless you can become strong enough to destroy them. A trap is much more effective when the bait is particularly sweet."

'How very strategic of you.'

Taylor pushed through the door, the smell of blood and death filtering through her helmet. She creased her nose, grimacing. The big warehouse had been split off- almost half was closed off by surgical curtains, presumably the actual hospital. The other half was filled with bodies, laid out on the floor. Taylor glanced across the Heroes and Villains there, mourning or shocked, and walked through, avoiding them all until she reached Gallant. Glory was on the floor, collapsed over Brandish, with Gallant standing a few feet back. Taylor tapped him on the shoulder and spoke softly, although from what she could tell…Glory was too choked in misery to pay any attention.

"Nobody else here?" she asked. Gallant shook his head without looking at her, his helmet moving slowly.

"Lady Photon was injured, Shielder and Laserdream are with her. I don't know where Manpower and Flashbang are."

Taylor shook her head, moving to stand next to him. Glory wasn't sobbing anymore- Taylor suspected that she'd run out of tears. She was just lying there, arms wrapped loosely around her Moms body, white costume slowly staining red. Brandish's blood was wet from the rain, Taylor thought. She looked away.

"It hurts, you know," Gallant said, softly. His voice cracked as he spoke and Taylor reached back, her left hand running along her wing without thinking of it. The feathers felt glassy under her gauntlet, the Warp energy forming them not even attempting to feel like real wings.

"I see everything people feel. Looking at her like this…and I almost died. I didn't think about it, but if you hadn't saved me…"

Taylor didn't say anything, just sighing through her helmet.

"It happens. I'm sorry that I couldn't save more people."

Gallant shook his head, looking at her for once.

"You did the best you could. And you're here, now, checking on her. You have family in the city, but you're here making sure that Glory is alright. Or doing your best to. You're a good friend."

Taylor shrugged.

"I know my Dad is alright. Made sure that he went to a shelter," she said, half lying. She knew he was alright because she could feel him, but it wasn't technically a lie.

"Just your Dad? Not your Mom?" Gallant asked. Taylor let go of her wing, fingers rubbing together and lips pressing closed for a moment. Glory's grief was too raw, too potent. It reminded her too much of a rainy funeral and a Dad who'd never really come back.

"Car crash. Few years ago," she said, her voice gruff and harsh. Gallant flinched.

"I'm so-"

"You didn't know. Don't worry about it."

Taylor shook her head.

"You'll look after her, right? I have to actually make sure my Dad is alright, and with the state the Protectorate will be in…"

"I'll look after her," Gallant promised quietly, before he flinched slightly and added to his sentence.

"You said the Protectorate…how bad is it?"

"Right now? Armsmaster, Dauntless, Kid Win and you are all that's left. Aegis and Clockblocker are injured. Velocity and Chariot are dead."

She saw Gallant put his head in his hands.

"You probably could have delivered that a little more gently."

'I know. But the sooner he knows, the sooner he can process it. Most of them will live, even if they're injured. We don't have time to grieve.'

"Careful, Taylor. You're starting to sound like me."

Taylor clicked her tongue, putting a hand on Gallant's shoulder.

"Glory has my number. Contact me if you need me- I'll see you at the PRT HQ soon, hopefully."

Gallant nodded at her, a slow motion of his chin. Taylor turned and walked away from the echoing whispers of the dead and dying, striding out to the damp smell of the rain and sweeping into the air.

Her lair was intact. Taylor had been slightly worried that it might have flooded from the waves, but it remained dry and secure. She took her armour off, grimacing at the smell of sweat and desperation that clung to it, despite the ceramite gleaming from the rain. She changed into her white armour, letting the less covering plates sit more lightly on her body, her coat swinging around her shoulders and enfolding her in a comforting embrace.

'All the power's out. Decent chance that there'll be refugee sites setting up? I'd build a power cell for here, but that's asking for trouble. Then again, it isn't too cold. Dad can probably come back home, he'll just have to do without power for a while.'

"Restoring power will almost certainly be the first priority. Emergency generators won't last long. Canned food and bottled water will exist in the city in sufficient quantities, but losing every patient in critical condition at Brockton Central is terrible PR."

'And a bit of a issue from a moral ground, right?'

"Well, that too I suppose."

'Yeah, great. Alright, we'll find Dad and then…we'll come back here. About four or five hours sleep and I can start working on technology. And once we have power back, I'm going to find the Butcher and break her back over my knee.'

"That would inarguably prevent her from causing any more trouble. Although, I wonder if her shard of the Parasite takes that into account? If she lives but is crippled, is it crippled with her? If she was put into a stasis chamber, would that remove her from play? What of Bakuda's time-stop grenades? There are many questions."

'Yeah, and the answers are too risky for experimentation. What a nightmare.'

Taylor left her workshop, spreading her wings and launching herself into the air with a short jump and a wingbeat. She rapidly gained height, slicing through the skies until she was high above the city, in the fresh air. Wind buffeted her, pulling at her coat, and she tipped her head back and let the cool air run around her. Her Dad had gone to the PRT shelter, so she would find him at the PRT HQ, but for the moment she just waited, in the rain-laden wind.

'It's a long way from the locker, isn't it? From hitting Nazis with a baseball bat I found to this.'

"You sound regretful."

'I miss it in some ways. There was always the looming threat of the Parasite, but we're outgrowing Brockton. There'll be no more street level fighting unless we're genuinely handicapping ourselves. I'm approaching a level that few others can reach. Thinking about it makes me feel…'

"Lonely."

Taylor drifted for a minute, chewing her lip.

'Yeah.'

"The fate of the powerful is to stand apart. It will only get worse as you grow stronger."

'Guess I had better get working on my plan to vanish once the Parasite is dealt with. I could change my look, I suppose, but I like what I have now. It's familiar.'

The Emperor chuckled. Taylor bent a wing and descended, rain spotting against her coat and helmet as she swung through the air, aiming for the PRT HQ.

'I wonder if I could give everyone in the world collective amnesia about my appearance?'

"Hmm…a fascinating prospect. Of course, you would need to destroy all electronic copies of your appearance as well, or it would be wasted. But in the event that you could…a single world, after all, may not be too hard to affect."

'We'll put that on the 'maybe' list. If we're lucky everyone will respect my wishes to be left alone. And if we're really lucky, we can find a way back to your universe and spend a few centuries there, come back when everybody has forgotten me. I know I can technically remember humanity reaching out to the stars from you seeing it, but…I'd like to watch it happen myself, I think.'

"It was something to see," the Emperor said, his tone sombre with memory, "For the longest time I thought…I thought I had become redundant. It was a strange feeling, but not an unpleasant one."

Taylor thought about that as she flew, eyes skimming over the city beneath without really seeing. Night was beginning to close in and the city was dark, unlike every day before, lights out. Only in certain places did brightness pierce the dusk, the shelters and hospitals with their emergency power generators. Taylor briefly mused on visiting the hospital, providing healing, but in the end…useful as it would be, it tired her quickly. She would be better off providing support to Armsmaster. Taylor descended through the air, landing gently outside the PRT HQ and nodding to the PRT Troopers who were lined up outside.

"Captain."

"Circaetus," the woman said in reply, "Let her through."

Taylor walked past the troopers and into the building. As far as she knew the PRT shelter was under the HQ, to make sure that an evacuation would be easy. The building was coming back to life, Troopers and staff members taking over- Taylor made her way to the reception desk and leaned against it, waiting patiently. She watched as people made their way past, gathering uncertainly in clumps in the wide foyer of the building and sighed.

'They don't know what they're doing yet. The tidal waves were mostly stopped, but some houses will be ruined. Will they return to their homes, will they stay here, will there be housing provided by disaster relief? Nobody knows yet.'

"The higher-ranking officers likely know, but they haven't told anyone yet. It might be worth waiting, even after we find you father."

Taylor leaned back.

'Yeah, I guess.'

She tucked her hands into her pockets, wincing. Her right arm, the one she had used to direct her attack against Leviathan, was almost entirely numb. Pins-and-needles ran through it where it wasn't numb, the bone feeling prickly. It was a long way from pleasant, and her shoulder ached.

'That attack was a bit bigger than we were ready for, wasn't it?'

"Unfortunately. That said, you don't seem to have taken any actual damage, just a degree of backlash from the Warp overflow. A good sign."

'Didn't take me out of the fight until much later, as well. I wouldn't want to try it without the Enhancer, but at least we know that if we're in the power armour we can take a shot like that and walk away. Maybe we should try to convince Armsmaster into making a pre-emptive strike. Go and find Lung and take him out of the equation before we even begin.'

"Not a bad idea, but we may wish to wait. Lung is still extremely powerful, if we can avoid engaging him before dealing with the Butcher then we should. Equally, the ABB may grow in power. Lung provided much of their strength and he remains, while the Empire took far too many losses against Leviathan."

'Gangs from out of town will be clamouring to tear at the scraps. Accord already has a foothold with the Merchants, he might make a bigger move. And I doubt Tattletale will be happy to just wait and see what happens.'

"Make an example of the first few and hope the rest understand the message."

'Isn't that what the Butcher is for?'

"I suppose you could think of it that way, although I've always preferred more than one example. It really drives it home that it isn't a one-off."

'Sometimes I forget that you were pretty much a tyrant. And then you say something like that-"

"Taylor!"

Taylor cut off her train of thought at the shout, turning and spreading her arms as her Dad approached at a jog. He wrapped his arms around her, dragging her into a hug and she laughed in surprise.

"Dad. I'm fine," she said, squeezing him back with her left arm, "I'm fine."

He let go of her and stepped back, eyes raking across her with nervous energy. She could feel his worry, slowly being consumed by the blossoming warmth of relief.

"I know. I know, but- cut your old Dad some slack, eh? I was worried."

Taylor rubbed at her numb wrist, frowning.

"I know, Dad. I can't- I can't blame you."

Her Dad peered at her, his brow wrinkling in concern.

"Taylor? It was that bad, huh?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Whatever you're thinking, it was probably worse. I didn't do too badly…Leviathan had a hard time even getting close to me. But a lot of the rest…"

Taylor half turned, looking around the room.

"There's going to be a lot of funerals in the next few days. And clean-up's going to take even longer."

Her Dad nodded, looking grim.

"That's always how it is," said a fresh voice. Taylor followed the sound of the voice to see Dauntless, his armour streaked with mud and blood. He inclined his head to her.

"Circaetus. Glad to see that you're alright. Mr Hebert, this might not help your worries but- we'd have had a much worse time without Circaetus there. She did a better job helping than people who've been Capes for longer than she's been alive. You should be proud of her."

"I am," her Dad said, his voice filled with a fragile sort of pride, "I am."

Dauntless nodded.

"Circaetus, sorry to do this, but Armsmaster sent me to find you. You know what he's like- he's asked that you get to work on the technology you promised as soon as possible. There're a couple of labs here that Armsmaster and Kid Win use when they aren't at the Rig, he's given you pretty much full rein. If you'll follow me I'll unlock them for you. Mr Hebert, you can come if you want. I don't think- well, I don't think that it's a good idea to go home tonight. If the aftermath of practically every other Endbringer attack has shown anything, it's that the looters come out in a hurry while Capes and emergency services are distracted."

"Yeah. Good point- what are we going to do about that? Food, water, and so on? I assume this place has supplies, but…"

Dauntless sighed and set off, Taylor and her Dad following.

"Normal procedure is to use whatever PRT Troopers and Heroes are available to secure stockpiles of resources and set up rationing. Try to keep things steady. Issue is that a lot of the time there aren't the resources or the people…aid will start to be flown in tomorrow, staying with the usual timeline. This technology you've offered, you mind me asking what it is? Armsmaster was even less chatty than normal."

Taylor shrugged, following him through a door. It wasn't powered, she noticed, the electronic lock disengaged. Building was running on emergency fuel.

"Solar powered desalinators, that should help with the water issue. Plus maybe some efficient solar cells to replace the generators, help get power up again."

"Desalinators, huh? Those would be useful. Didn't know they were in your wheelhouse, though."

Taylor lifted her left hand, wobbling it from side to side.

"They're- it's complicated. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, right?"

"Huh. Yeah, right. If you want I can get a couple of camp-beds set up in the lab- there'll be tents outside the HQ, but sometimes Tinkers have preferences."

Taylor nodded, despite being behind Dauntless.

"Yeah, if you can. I'll throw together some schematics and a test model, but I could do with a nap. Especially if…"

"If?" her Dad asked. Taylor glanced at him.

"I- A lot of the heroes in the city are out of action. I might need to do a lot of heavy lifting, and I don't want to be trying that without any rest. I might be alright, I don't need a lot of sleep. But the option would be nice."

Dauntless shrugged.

"I doubt anyone would begrudge you a few hours, Circ. Better to have you fresh tomorrow than tired today."

Taylor didn't reply, still rubbing at her numb wrist. Dauntless led them to a door, the keypad next to it still lit.

"A couple of places are important enough that they get some of the power supply," he explained, tapping in a code, "But I don't think this will stay locked. I'll cut it off, it's not like there'll be any security issues with you in there."

He waited for the door to slide open and gestured inside.

"I'll send some people down with camp beds, like I say. I've got to get back to organising the Protectorate team as well as I can, now that I'm basically second in command."

Taylor nodded to him.

"Good luck with that."

Dauntless snorted.

"Yeah, I'll probably need it."

He walked away and Taylor headed into the lab, lights above flickering on. They were dim, in low energy mode, but more than good enough to see by. Taylor headed across the room, sighing.

"Take a seat, Dad. I might be at this for a while."

She searched around, finding cabinets with supplies- mostly electrical equipment, but good enough. She found what she needed and levitated it over to a workbench, her right arm completely numb now and hanging at her side. She glanced down at it, worried.

"It will heal soon. A momentary issue, as I said before."

'That doesn't make it any less strange. Or concerning.'

Taylor dragged a stool over to the workbench and sat on it, finding a stack of papers and a pencil. She rested her chin on her left hand as the pencil moved across the paper, propelled by her will- her Dad seemed fascinated.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Dad," she said, after almost ten minutes of silence. The camp beds had been left alongside some food- packaged meals. Taylor chose to stay away from them for the moment, chewing on a few nutrition bars that she'd picked up from her own workshop.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for, Taylor?" her Dad asked. Taylor sighed, the scratching of the pencil ceasing as she focused on him.

"I didn't want to have my identity revealed. I didn't want to put you in danger. And now, it's only gotten worse."

She went quiet again, reaching up to pull her helmet off and set it on the workbench. The wide, dark visor stared back at her, looking blankly into her heart. Her Dad shifted on his chair.

"I don't really understand, Taylor."

Taylor shook her head, closing her eyes as she tried to find the right words.

"I…I've made a lot of enemies. The Merchants, the Empire, the ABB, the Teeth. None of them would think anyone of going after you. But maybe I could have managed that, maybe I could have arranged proper protection, dealt with it myself. But then Leviathan…"

"What about Leviathan?" her Dad asked, concern seeping into his tone. Taylor laughed mirthlessly, a harsh bark of sound.

"What about him. I hit him, Dad, harder than anyone else there. I blindsided him and I dropped an attack that knocked him through three buildings and almost took his arm off."

Taylor laughed again, dropping her chin onto her chest.

"All those big name heroes there, and I was the one who hit him hardest. But that's not all a good thing, is it? I've gone out and made a name for myself, and I know that there are plenty of people who want to exploit that. And when it comes to exploiting someone like me…"

"The best way is through family," her Dad said, so very softly. He pulled off his glasses, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.

"Taylor…"

"I know, Dad. I should have laid low. I should have waited, made sure you were safe before…"

"What? Taylor, no. No. I'm proud of you, Taylor. If you had let people die to try and keep me safe…I'm not worth that, Taylor."

Taylor looked at him, blinking against a sudden wetness in her eyes and a croak in her throat.

"Don't say that, Dad. Don't. You're worth it to me."

He looked away from her, guilt on his face. Taylor swallowed hard.

"Besides, isn't it frowned on to attack Cape families? I thought I heard that somewhere."

Taylor huffed out a breath.

"The Unwritten Rules, something like that. Don't attack families, don't attack Capes out of costume. Trying to make it more civilised than it is. Doesn't really work a lot of the time. Have you ever heard of Fleur?"

Her Dad shook his head.

"I don't think so."

Taylor tried to flex the fingers on her right hand. They moved, but there were now pins and needles shooting through the whole limb, sensation coming painfully back. She suppressed a wince, talking to distract herself.

"Fleur was one of the founding members of New Wave. Not long after they unmasked she was caught at her home by some goon from the Empire. Shot and killed on her doorstep. There were a lot of rumours that Kaiser had strung the guy up, crucified him as a peace offering or whatever."

"Were they true?"

Taylor laughed again.

"Not even a little bit. I did some research on it a while ago- the guy got caught by the Protectorate soon after. Went to prison, got out a few years ago. Probably got a heroes welcome from the Empire, because that's what it is. The Unwritten Rules are just a polite fiction that keeps people in line so long as they feel like it, and I don't trust any of the gangs in this city to keep to them, never mind gangs outside the city."

Except, maybe, Tattletale. Taylor would need to speak to Tattletale soon, now that she thought of it. With the other gangs weakened, this could be a chance to strengthen Tattletale and help her gain a control on the city underworld. And better the devil you know. Taylor glanced at the papers, seeing how far along her schematics were. Pretty far. Almost good enough that someone could build a solar generator from them.

'Hopefully they won't look too hard. It wouldn't be easy to turn these into the weaponised version that I use, but it wouldn't be too hard either.'

"Most likely they will not care. If you are providing a steady supply, they have no reason to try and undercut you. Especially as trying to cheat someone of your power is not merely bad for business, but bad for health."

'That sounds like it comes from experience.'

"Hmm. Corporations during the Dark Age of Technology were very cutthroat and frequently short-sighted. It was a good time to make a fortune if you were clever and ruthless."

'I assume you made more than one fortune, then?'

"I was never poor. Make of that what you will."

Taylor leaned back, stretching her back. A wave of her left hand and components rose into the air, assembling themselves under her will, placements finer than any human hand could manage. Her Dad watched, fascinated.

"Does it have to be made like that?" he asked, before waving a hand. "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

Taylor chuckled, shaking her head.

"I can do this and talk, no problem. No, I could build it by hand. Just that my right arm is a bit stiff. Easier to do it like this."

"What is it?"

Taylor contemplated the best way to answer- her Dad wasn't stupid, far from it, but he wasn't as versed in technical terms as Armsmaster. In the end she shrugged and went with it.

"It's a machine that'll desalinate water. Pour salt water into one end, get fresh water and collected impurities from the other. Solar powered, too, so it'll work for as long as you keep it maintained. It'll take a lot of pressure off the aid groups, and…"

Taylor paused for a slightly tricky bit, turning her focus to the desalinator for a brief moment before continuing.

"And given how valuable that sort of thing is, I'm hoping it'll get my technology a bit of exposure. Not that I'm aiming to be rich or anything, but having money makes a lot of things a lot easier."

A lot easier. If she had to hide her Dad, or upgrade her gear, or hide herself having funds would be necessary. And hopefully this would get the attention of a lot of companies, a lot of people. Positive attention this time, not the attention of various gangs. And besides that, it would probably provide more help to the world than Taylor could ever manage by beating up villains. Alright, probably not more important than stopping the Endbringers. Definitely not more important than bringing down the Parasite. But access to clean, fresh water, at a limited cost? An enormous change in countries with less developed infrastructure, and those regularly hit by natural disasters or Endbringers.

"I feel a little dirty doing this," she confessed, shaking her head again, "It almost feels like I'm taking advantage of the unfortunate. But the fact is…I can make these better. I can…this isn't all I can do. With the proper resources, I can build on these, to the point that I can create a whole terraforming device. Deserts turning into fertile farmland, forests brought back, global warming reversed…I can do so much. I just need the money. The resources. Money still makes the world go round, even with the Endbringers and all the powers Parahumans have."

"It is inevitable. Better us than someone who will use their wealth for only their own gain."

'I know that slope is slippery, but put the sled down.'

"Better you than some CEO who doesn't give a damn about anything but profits," her Dad said, unknowingly echoing the Emperor. Taylor tilted her head, staring at him.

"Dad?"

He flushed in embarrassment but continued on, fingers lacing together in front of him.

"I've lived in Brockton all my life, Taylor. I remember a time- not that long ago- when this city wasn't a crime-ridden hell. When there was still steady work on the Docks, when you could find a job. When you didn't walk down the street and wonder if you were going to be killed in some gang feud. The loss of shipping…that was Leviathan, yes. But there were companies here. Most of them didn't even try to weather the storm, just left. And the criminals. They just got worse."

"Do you remember Marquis?" Taylor asked, softly. Her Dad grimaced.

"I had just started working for the Dockworkers Association when he was arrested. I remember the older members telling us that- he was more like a mafia, I guess. You paid him protection money and he provided, and his only motivation was the money. No Nazi ideology or whatever Lung has, just money. He was a criminal. I'm glad he got arrested. But in some ways…"

"In some ways, he was better," Taylor murmured, clicking the last part of the desalinator together. She let it drop into her hand, looking at it. Her Dad sighed.

"In some ways it was better," he said softly. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Taylor. I can't stay up late anymore, I need some rest."

Taylor nodded, watching him stand up and take a bed. She stood herself, moving slowly from tiredness, taking a bed herself, nearer to the door than he did. Protecting him, she thought, leaving the example desalinator on the table for the moment. A flick of her hand and a switch was tripped, the lights going out, and Taylor closed her eyes.

All I want is a few hours. Surely nobody will interrupt a four-hour nap?'

And that's another chapter down, even if not that much happened. And now I have to write an actual arc for Glory Girl, because I killed Brandish on a whim and now I have to deal with it. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed and reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated.

I'll see you at the next chapter.