Hebert Residence, Brockton Bay

When Annette Hebert's phone went off yesterday, she knew something was wrong. Since returning from summer camp, her daughter had been going out almost every morning to exercise on Rhode Island Sound, although not for as long as she had over the summer. It was a school day, after all.

Except for a couple of incidents, even though the ship girl thing had been confusing and a bit worrying, she was terribly proud of her little owl and how she handled herself.

However, although a phone call had been expected, Taylor always told her mother when she returned to land and was heading home. It was too early. When Annette turned her head to reach for her phone and saw the time, she knew something was wrong.

The person on the other end of the phone was her daughter, sounding much older, much like when she took the form of Newfoundland. However, there was no playfulness of the hospital ship. Instead, she reported what happened as if she was standing in front of an admiral.

Someone had apparently fired upon a Coast Guard ship, and her little owl had gone to their aid and sunk the attackers. Annette knew there was more to the story, although Taylor assured her she wasn't hurt and was never in real danger. The main reason for the call, however, was that Taylor wanted to let her mother know she wouldn't make it to school on time.

And that's what she was worried about!

When Taylor explained that she was on the way to the Coast Guard station with the patrol boat's survivors and would retrieve their dead afterward, Annette's heart broke for the families and for her child, who had been put in such a situation.

As for the rest of the day, Annette sat by the television, joined by Lacy, who thankfully made her eat and take breaks.

Around lunchtime, the President of the United States came on television with an announcement that a parahuman-manned warship had attacked and sunk a patrol craft of the United States Coast Guard and that there were fatalities.

He had nothing but praise for the third party with ties to the Navy, which had come to the Coast Guard boat's aid. He didn't go into more detail other than thanking them for their assistance during the altercation, rescue, and recovery.

The Coast Guard commandant then fielded a few questions and brought up a timeline of what happened but little else, including who had come to the ship's rescue, as it was still an ongoing operation. Details of who was killed and wounded were also not revealed; however, he did thank Panacea of New Wave for healing the wounded.

After a few reporters' questions, Rebecca Costa-Brown, Chief Director of the Parahuman Response Team, came to the podium to answer them. The woman who always appeared unflappable clearly wasn't happy. All questions were quickly deflected with an "it's under investigation."

Still, she did acknowledge that a heavily armed and armored tinker-tech craft, piloted by the Parahumans Skidmark and Squealer, had been involved in the attack and were presumed dead.

She had nothing but a "no comment" as to why the PRT had allowed for such a thing and didn't stop it upon learning that these Parahumans had built what was more or less a warship.

"Holy shit," Lacy said as the President left the couldn't help but agree and then turned the channel to the 24-hour news station.

Opening the door to Taylor's bedroom made her smile. Inside were two girls, both entwined like a pretzel, although the white-haired ship girl lay half off the bed with her head upside little addition had been a shock. Letting the new girl sit in the front, Taylor began to explain how she found Spinner standing on the water upon breaking the surface with the Coast Guard's dead.

The young girl appeared terribly shy and replied to her first question with a single syllable before hiding behind her hands. Annette thought it was adorable, but it raised many questions.

Honestly, Annette never did get the whole ship girl thing. Taylor's insistence notwithstanding, she felt that perhaps she was a Parahuman, just different. Her time with Lustrum had made her super aware of how they reacted. However, her daughter did not act like one, but it was rather hard to believe that she was 'channeling' the spirits of World War Two warships.

Spinner shattered that belief.

"Taylor, time for school," she called out, then laughed.

Her daughter moved, which caused Spinner to finally slip onto the floor, but with an "I'm OK" and a thumbs up, she left them to get ready.

Sometime later, Spinner poured the last remains of a Parahuman Crunch box into her bowl and finished the gallon of milk. "This is soooo good. Can't believe you get to eat like this every day."

"Didn't you like the fish last night? You managed to finish two of them," Taylor asked, amused while spreading a healthy amount of crème cheese on a bagel.

The white-haired shipgirl nodded. "I'm going to like this whole eating thing; it's pretty dope."

"What did you do when you were a ship?" Annette asked.

"Well, spirits don't really need to eat, ma'am. We just sort of hang around. Although I always wanted to."

"Oh, so you were aware?"

"Yes, ma'am," Spinner replied, setting down her bowl before reaching for a bagel. "As I explained last night, not much until Archerfish first came aboard. After that, I felt, well, more alert maybe."

Annette nodded, then turned towards her daughter.

"I only met her once before, off of Long Island, but even then, I knew Spinner was more or less there."

"Didn't expect to find myself standing on the ocean though after being sunk, though," Spinner smirked.

"I didn't either; well, not really, but I wasn't surprised. Even for the wrecks, at least the larger ones, I could feel sleeping. Especially Yuu's cousin U-853. Although she is still fast asleep, I guess I can feel her better."

"So, should I expect more of you girls to appear at the breakfast table?" Annette asked half-jokingly.

Taylor bit her lip. "Maybe."

"Mistral, for sure, although we probably won't be taking her out to eat. Think about it, boss. You left the door wide open."

"Mistral?" Annette asked.

"Emilia's boat."

"Lieutenant Bianchi, your Coast Guard friend, right? Why do you keep calling Taylor 'boss,' Spinner?"

"Because she's my flagship, ma'am."

Neither girl could explain how that worked, so the discussion turned to what everyone was going to do today.

"You want to go to school?" Taylor asked, amused.

"No, I want one of those cute outfits," Spinner laughed. "Come on, give us a twirl."

"I'll pass. You really need to spend time in the baths. I also need to introduce you to Rachael, and I bet Kurt wouldn't mind you hanging around the docks for now."

"What are we going to do about the President?"

Annette almost dropped her book bag while listening to the discussion. "Like the President of the United States?"

Taylor rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, sort of. I spoke to the Coast Guard this morning while in the shower. I think he wants to thank Astoria. So, do you think it would be OK for me to miss another day of school? I'm sure Miss Leigh would let me retake my pre-calculus test if I got a note from him."

Her mom raised an eyebrow and answered with a "No."

Taylor shrugged. "Oh, well."

"Do you mind?" Spinner asked, pointing to an unused game console.

"You just want to sit around all day, play video games, and eat junk food."

The white-haired girl looked shocked at such an accusation. "Hell, yeah."

"Mom?"

Annette laughed, then waved her hand. "You have my number if you need me."

Taylor grabbed her own book bag. "I'll see you after class; we'll go to the docks afterward."

"Sounds like a plan, boss," she replied, turning on the console and grabbing a controller. "And have fun with your math test."

Dock Workers Association Warehouse 18, Brockton Bay

"This is the life," Spinner sighed, slipping into the bath with the water up to her chin.

Both girls could feel little aches and pains vanish as the water did its magic. Of course, the bath was filled with more than water, a mixture of chemicals, including harmful items such as oil, benzene, and lead. Oddly enough, it all mixed well, ending up looking clear with none of it evaporating. Even so, unless it was being used, it was covered so no one could accidentally fall in.

Vulcan was glad it was built, although she had no clue where the plans came from. They suddenly appeared in her captain's cabin, and she immediately understood that it was needed for her own health. Spinner, who was now swimming in circles making boat noises, seemed to agree.

"So, was that Carole Dallon?" Taylor called out as the front door to the warehouse opened and closed.

With everything going on, she forgot that Rachel's lawyer would stop by today. From the little she was told, shenanigans were going on with the young woman's whole trigger.

Mark, who had escorted the parahuman lawyer to the building, came over. He started to warn them of the chemical pool before realizing who he was talking to.

"You girls made the news yesterday," he said, walking up, followed by the Parahuman Bitch.

She hadn't said a thing, only stared at the second girl in the bath.

"Yeah, a bit of a mess; the Coast Guard's been speaking to Archerfish throughout the day. She's probably going to have to go talk to the Navy."

Before Mark could ask anything else, Rachel commented, "She's one of you."

Taylor nodded. "Spinner, say hi. That's Mark; he used to be a Marine, and that's Rachael; she's our guest and lives upstairs."

"Spinner, as in?" Mark questioned.

When he enlisted in the early 2000s, the Marine Corps, much like the rest of the military, was a shadow of what it once was when his grandfather landed with the 1st Marine Division on the southern Solomon Islands during World War Two.

Even so, one of the assignments that had been part of the Marines' duty since 1775 was on Navy ships. Although not many of them go to sea nowadays, those that do need Marines.

Mark had spent the better part of a year on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, and late at night, he could almost feel the ship. Even the older hands would lovingly talk about her as if she were a real woman. But everyone on the Kitty Hawk believed that the carrier was more than just steel.

When Vulcan mentioned that she was the spirit of a repair ship, most of the people who were listening laughed, but not all. If Vulcan claimed that her new companion was the spirit of the patrol craft lost in combat, it must be so.

"USCGC Spinner," the white-haired ship girl gave a small wave and a girlish squeal. "Puppies."

She then emerged from the water wearing a white one-piece bathing suit adorned with a red stripe and the word "USS Coast Guard."

"Be sure to shower first," Taylor called out, causing Spinner to steer herself in that direction, followed by a pair of happy dogs.

Rachel gave a small smile and then followed.

'Who's a good doggie?" Mark could hear as he turned to Taylor. "How are you doing?"

"Surprisingly, alright," she leaned back. "Thankfully, yesterday morning turned out quite different from the Battle of Savo Island. Not sure if you heard, but I sort of brought out the big guns."

"No, the news hasn't said a thing. I assume bigger than the Yuudachi?" Mark asked.

Although she was only a destroyer, the Shiratsuyu class wasn't small, being some 300 feet in length.

"USS Astoria, New Orleans-class cruiser."

Mark's eyes opened wide, then let out a soft whistle.

"Yuudachi lies on the same seabed, so not too surprised Astoria came out to play," Taylor gave a small chuckle.

"How does that work?"

"I called, she answered. Hey Spinner, you need to get back in for another hour," she called out.

"Ok, boss."

"How are things working out with Mrs. Dallon, Rachael?"

The Parahuman crossed her arms. "She wants me to turn myself in."

"We have an appointment on Tuesday in Boston to appear before a Federal Judge," Mark added. "Whomever you spoke with, Vulcan got this fast-tracked. Turned up a lot of other issues that caused the whole court to go into a tizzy as well. Carole's pretty much in the opinion that they will put it under a poor Trigger reaction. Lacy will also join them to ensure that the Judge knows that Rachel has a place to stay and a job."

"That's good," Taylor smiled.

"Dogs."

"Right," Mark sighed. "She refuses to go until someone does something about a dog fighting ring. Seems the E88 started one somewhere in the docks."

"Sweet, sounds like I need to punch some Nazis," Spinner cheerfully added before slipping back into the bath.

Thanks to everyone who commented. I blame Grammarly for any mistakes. :)

And a big thanks! toAirsoftALwho reviews the story here /QfXP-woZSyI