Vindication

Chapter Four

Brockton Bay had gotten worse in Taylor's absence, and she had almost forgotten how bad it had been to start with. With constant blackouts and massive flooding, at least half the city had evacuated, and those that remained were either starving and sickly or had joined a gang.

In crowded shelters and filthy camps, people would talk to them about how the Empire had split into the Chosen led by Hookwolf and the Pure led by Purity, or how Skidmark's gang had gone from a group of second rate drug dealers to the strongest force left in the city. No one mentioned the Undersiders. That made sense to Taylor. Her old teammates may have been villains, but she couldn't see them trying to take advantage of this sort of crisis. They would keep their heads down.

"So what now?" Taylor asked. Sometimes she felt like she was the leader of their two person team, and sometimes she felt like Vin was. All she knew was that neither of them wanted the position.

"Now," Vin replied, "we find a quiet, secure location, and plan."

WWW

Empty rooms were easy to find. Rooms with broken glass on the floor and mold growing on the walls, rooms that no one else wanted. It didn't seem as secure as most hideouts she had worked in, but Luthadel had been so crowded that if her crew wanted a place where they wouldn't be overheard, they needed to work for it. Brockton Bay with its tall, empty buildings, offered that luxury to anyone who wanted it.

They cased the room in their own ways, Vin with tin and bronze, Taylor with her bugs. When they were done, Taylor covered the walls with her swarm and formed one wall into a crude map of the city. On another wall, the bugs formed the words, "Vin and Taylor's Master Plan."

"Let's start with the goal."

Taylor formed the words, "Rescue Dinah and send Vin home."

"Let's just focus on the first part for now." The part she knew was possible.

"Are you sure?"

Vin nodded, and the last few words were swallowed by the swarm. "It starts with the goal, then we move on to the framework, problems, and finally solutions. You already know where she is, right? So we just need to get her out and keep her out."

Taylor nodded. "That sounds right."

"Now we break the Coil problem into smaller, easier problems." That was how Kelsier would have handled things, and if Vin didn't know a thing about planning a job like this, she at least knew how to imitate someone who did.

Taylor wrote Coil on the wall, and underneath wrote Mercenaries, Travelers, Undersiders, Miscellaneous, Coil, and Dinah. "His mercenaries don't have powers, but they're well equipped and well trained. I've worked with them, and they're not a group we can face directly. Same with the Travelers. The Undersiders ... I don't know. I want to say that they won't come after me. I want to say that they might help us if they can, but ..." She bit her lip. "I don't know. There are a few other capes working for Coil. Circus. Uber and Leet. Small timers and independents, but they add up. Even Coil has powers. He called it destiny manipulation. He could make a coin land on heads several times in a row."

Vin made a face. "Is that controlling destiny or just the coin?"

Taylor shrugged. "Again, I don't know. Whatever it was, it interacted with Dinah's powers. She can predict the future in terms of probabilities. He can run any plan past her, and go through with it only if the odds are stacked in his favor, including coming after us. And honestly that's the biggest problem. Brutes, Blasters, even Tinkers I can handle, but how do you face a precog?"

Vin frowned. That was a problem that Allomancers had been pondering for centuries, and from what Kelsier had told her, there was only one answer. "Do you remember what I told you about atium?"

"A bit. That's the one that doesn't exist here, right?"

"It lets me see the future, and the only way to counter someone burning atium is to burn it yourself." Burning atium could counter anything, making it not just more valuable than gold, but the foundation of the Final Emperor's economy. "Are there any other precogs we could recruit?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of."

When Kelsier hit a wall he said ... "Let's come back to that. So if Coil has an army and capes working for him, we either need to get them out of the way or get an army of our own."

"An army," Taylor said flatly. "You can't just order one of those online."

Online. Taylor had explained that term before. Vin still wasn't quite sure she grasped the concept. "Back home, Kelsier recruited from the general populace. There are always people who aren't happy with how things are, so it would just be a matter of finding them, training them, and equipping them." She shrugged. "But it doesn't have to be our army. If there's another power in the city that can challenge Coil, we could set them against each other."

Taylor nodded. "The heroes, the Empire—or at least what's left of them. Hmm. If we were to kidnap Purity's daughter and make her think that Coil did it ... no, that's a dumb idea. That's a terrible idea. But if we can leak the right kind of information about Coil to his enemies, we could cause him trouble."

That too had been part of Kelsier's plan. A house war to weaken enemies they weren't strong enough to face. It was a subtle maneuver, and to make it work they needed ...

"Which brings us to the next point, information. We'll need people to infiltrate his organization to keep an eye on him." That had been her role in the crew.

"I might be able to do that with just my bugs, as long as I'm close enough. I can't hear or see with them very well, but I can keep track of most people just by touch. Actually, I might be able to have my swarm carry in a tiny camera and plant it ..." She snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

"What?"

"I'll carry in a tiny camera, or hell just a microphone, and get it to Dinah. She'll be able to tell us what Coil asks her, what her predictions are, and we might be able to ask her to make a few predictions for us too. We might be able to get her to spy on him for us. I've been down to his base a few times, and it might be too secure for a person to sneak into, but it's not bug proof."

Bugs formed the word "Infiltration" under Coil, then an arrow pointing at the word "Dinah."

"As for capes," Taylor continued, "I want to try to get my old team to help. If I can, we'll be up four capes and Coil will be down four. I don't think any of the heroes will help us, but we might be able to grab some independents. After that, the only thing to worry about is the army. How did your last team recruit them again?"

"Underground meetings with a lot of emotional Allomancy." Setting up those meetings had taken a network that neither of them had, and Kelsier levels of charisma that they both lacked.

Taylor made a face, then shook her head. "I don't feel comfortable Mastering people into dangerous situations. Not innocent bystanders, at least."

Emotional Allomancy was a matter of influence, not control, but Vin didn't press the issue. "I don't think it would work here anyway. The element of surprise is worth more than an army would be, and we can't hide an army." She hesitated. "Can we?"

Taylor shook her head. "No, you're right. Our army won't be as strong as Coil's, and if it was he would just leave. He has to think he's winning every step of the way, at least until Dinah's free."

"So we're back to distracting his army, not fighting it," Vin said.

"And recruiting capes, but no henchmen."

"I can find people with powers more easily than you can. I'll spend a few nights looking for people who aren't attached to any established groups."

"And I'll try to smuggle in something to Dinah."

The two of them stared at the wall. "You said that breaking it down would make it seem easier," Taylor said. "This still looks impossible."

Vin considered that. The plan basically boiled down to keeping their eyes and ears open, hoping that Coil would reveal some massive weakness or that some other miracle would occur. "Well, I'm just trying to do things the way my last crew leader did. He was insanely optimistic. He would smile all the time."

"What, like this?" Taylor grinned at her.

"I think it was more like this." She grinned back.

"You look like a serial killer."

"So do you."

They looked at each other for a moment, then broke down laughing. Not amused laughing, more we're going to die and we know it laughing, but sometimes they had to take whatever levity they could get.

WWW

They never meant to establish any specific area as their territory. It just ... happened. They had intended to lay low, holing up in one of the abandoned buildings, but neither of them could hide when people were being attacked on the street, and these days that happened nearly every night.

Taylor's swarm drove away some miscreants, biting and stinging them until they fled while she hid safely in her room. Vin attacked others, dropping out of the sky in the night. She had started using chains instead of coins. They were less likely to kill someone by accident, and with her control of metal they acted like a mix between bolas and boomerangs.

Ultimately, word got around. Two days after their planning session, Taylor's bugs detected a pair of visitors arriving in broad daylight, riding a very large dog.

No.

What did they want? Just to say hi?

In a sudden panic Taylor wondered where Vin was. One of her powers could detect capes, so she had likely spotted Taylor's old teammates first. She sent her swarm along the rooftops until she found a cloaked figure.

Stop, her bugs formed the letters, buzzing loudly. Was that clear enough? Mine, she added.

Vin held back, and Taylor changed into her costume. She found the dog lying in the middle of an empty plot. Bitch was sitting on its back, with Tattletale leaning against it, scrolling through her phone. There was no sign of Grue or Regent. Did they not want to see her? Or were they afraid they'd scare her away?

"Hey, Skitter," she said. "Long time no see."

"Yeah." She tried to keep her voice as casual as Tattletale's. She tried to sound like the last time she had seen her, like she hadn't quit the team in a fit of righteous indignation. Like she hadn't left expecting—assuming that they would be enemies the next time they met.

"Do what you have to," Taylor had said, "and I'll do the same."

That had been contingent on her moving against Coil. She hadn't done anything more than plan, but between Tattletale and Dinah, planning could be enough. "What are you doing here?"

Bitch's face was impossible to read behind her dog mask, but Tattletale looked sad. "So. That's how it is. Straight to business."

Skitter felt a spike of guilt. Bitch had saved her life, not as an ally in an Endbringer event, but as a friend. And Tattletale, Grue, even Regent ... if there was any chance she could save Dina without going against them, she'd take it. She owed them that much. "Sorry."

"No, I get it. Honestly, I could ask you the same question. You seemed to be doing pretty well for yourself over in Boston. Maybe you should have stayed."

That was no revelation for Taylor. She had thought about staying a hundred times a day while she was there, and she thought about going back a hundred times a day after she had returned. It would have been easy. All she would have had to do was forget about the child she had sent to hell.

"Is that why you're here? To convince me to leave?"

She shrugged. "I have to at least try. You can't pretend to be neutral if you stay here, after the way you left the team. I told you before it was a test, Coil showing off his ... pet. If you had left a week later you could have played it off as a personal or family issue. At the very least you could have transferred your funds into an account he doesn't have access to. But he knew within the hour that you quit, why you quit, and he won't ignore you as long as you're staying in his city."

His city. He was planning on taking over. From anyone else, it would have sounded like a bad cliche, but he had made it sound reasonable when he had told them about his goal, even an improvement. Now, it sounded like a nightmare.

"I understand."

"Of course, if you were to 'officially' rejoin the team, we could sell it like you just needed a break. You could—"

"No." She had rationalized joining the Undersiders, robbing the bank, and becoming a villain, and what had it gotten her? It had been a pleasant dream while it lasted, having friends she could count on and committing victimless crimes, but she couldn't go back to sleep anymore.

"Just one more job? You'll get access to your accounts long enough to transfer everything, with a hefty bonus on top, and I'm guessing you're running low on cash."

She wasn't wrong. Skitter had never needed money before, and honestly had felt too guilty to spend anything she had gained as a villain. Now that she needed it, it was all gone.

"Does this one more job involve kidnapping anyone?"

Her face fell. "Not that I know of, but ..." But she hadn't known about Dinah either. "So that's a no? Keep in mind that it's not just Coil you have to worry about. The heroes are going to be gunning for you too."

Taylor smiled behind her mask. "I'm pretty sure they have more than enough to deal with right now." There were Merchants rampaging throughout the city, drug-crazed anarchists actively impeding reconstruction. The two Empire splinters were at large too, and even Coil was more of a threat than Skitter.

"That's because you're thinking practically. The Protectorate is a political organization, and they need a win. And you? You're weak enough for them to handle."

"So are half a dozen independent villains."

"None of them have broken the Endbringer Truce."

Skitter blinked. "What?"

Tattletale's eyes widened as though surprised by how little Skitter knew, then she gave her a pained look. "This may surprise you, but Armsmaster? He's an asshole."

Skitter blinked. "That doesn't really surprise me."

"Then it shouldn't surprise you that when you jumped out the window with your mysterious new partner," Tattletale said, nodding toward the distant rooftop where Vin was perched, "Armsmaster gave a very one sided version of events that you weren't around to challenge. He said you two attacked him in the hospital before your dastardly escape. And with him as team leader being judge, jury, and executioner—"

"Wait, executioner?" She glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. There were a few onlookers, but they kept their distance.

"Well, not literally," Tattletale said. "But no one's going to listen to your side of the story until after you're locked up, and by then it will be too late. Armsmaster won't cut you a deal with his reputation on the line, and any judge will want to make an example out of you."

"But that's not what happened! They arrested me on the spot as soon as I got there, no one told me why, no one would even talk to me except to taunt me about what was going to happen. So, I found a way out and I took it." Technically, only Vin had attacked anyone when Armsmaster had tried to stop them, but she wasn't going to throw her under the bus.

Tattletale nodded. "That sounds reasonable. Actually, it sounds like Armsmaster was trying to recruit you."

She blinked. "What? What? He had me chained to a bed wondering if my friends were dead because he wanted to recruit me?"

"It's standard procedure to restrain injured capes until they can be released, though it's usually only employed against independents and villains. But it's also standard procedure to explain to them what's going on. Conveniently, it slipped the minds of ... everyone involved."

"Sure. Convenient."

"I'm betting he left you there to sweat a bit and was going to grab Legend to give you the good cop, bad cop routine. Armsmaster would tell you how they could no longer tolerate small-time villains and how he wouldn't be able to keep the kid gloves on, and Legend would go on about how the Wards could be a second chance for you to do what's right for your city, blah, blah, blah."

Skitter stared at her, feeling her incredulity becoming overshadowed by her disgust. That's it? That's it? She had gotten crippled, nearly gotten killed fighting an Endbringer with them, and they had tried to play her like a couple of dirty cops?

Would it have worked? If she hadn't been able to free herself, would she have seen their posturing for what it was? After quitting the Undersiders, finding herself alone again, and seeing the city get destroyed, would she have been able to turn down goddamn Legend?

She honestly didn't know. And that made it even worse.

"But that blew up in his face," Tattletale continued. "He bent the rules, so he has to shove the blame onto you instead. And if the Merchants, the Chosen, and the Pure are too dangerous for the Protectorate to go after, well, there's a nice little trucebreaker or two down the street they can scoop up if they need a good headline."

That made her sick, right down to her toes.

Tattletale snapped her fingers. "That reminds me. You know those armbands we all got? I'm guessing you didn't stop to turn yours in afterwards."

"What?" she said, feeling off balance. "Why?"

"It's Tinkertech. It's Dragontech. If you need money, I can sell it for you."

"What would that involve?"

Tattletale shrugged. "You give it to me, I give it to Coil, he sells it to the Dragonslayers or some two bit Tinker who thinks they can reverse engineer it to hack Dragon's mechs."

Skitter hesitated. "Can they?"

She laughed. "What do you think?"

Probably not. "It still means working with Coil."

She shrugged. "He'll take his cut, sure, but so what? The richest man in the city will become slightly richer. But for you? It could make a difference."

She had a point. Vin would need more metal when her supply ran out, Taylor wanted to make her a costume, there was the remote audio surveillance device she needed to smuggle in for Dinah, and then there were the basics like food and clean water.

"Okay. I stashed it in the bathroom ceiling of the women's shelter on ..."

"Venture Avenue?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Got it."

Tattletale and Bitch left right after that, so quickly that Taylor almost wondered if that had been what they were after the whole time. But that was ridiculous. The armband had broken down halfway through the fight. What use could it be to anyone?

WWW

A/n You know, one of the things I really liked about Mistborn was how early on Kelsier got the crew together to plan out the entire job. Did everything go according to plan? Of course not, but the plan was always adjusted instead of abandoned. That way, whenever something happened, you could go back to the master plan and say, "Oh, so we're this far along."

Is Vin and Taylor's plan as good as Kelsier's? No, but they're kids. Give them some time. This chapter has been edited by Exiled and supported by my Patrons Exiled, Prime 2.0, Sphinxes, Kelsey Bull, Hubris Prime, Apofatix, Janember, Yotam Bonneh, Svistka, LordXamon, Victoria Carey, and Kurkistan. Thank you all for reading, and Merry Christmas.