Chapter 11

Thursday, February 17, 2011

When I woke up that day the Grimoire had offered me power, but I declined it. More magitech possibilities and a sorcerous ability to summon something to my hands via telekinesis or just straight up teleportation if it was within a few feet. Useful, but not something I really needed as I already had several ways of replicating said ability and the magitech… It was alright, except it was drawing from Drakengard, so nothing I made could be above World War 1's level of technology. Neither was worth the point investment in the end, so I declined, allowing the powers to slip back into the endless void within my soul.

My schedule was weird that day, a free morning followed by a round of healing at the hospital, so I started off by heading to my now regular spot on the Boardwalk and enjoying a hot drink while I did some small bits of paperwork. During the course of our patrol, I'd been warned by a local pigeon of a mugging taking place in an alley just off the main thoroughfare. Said mugger nearly pissed himself when a Striker 7 and whatever rating I'd been given (classified according to the Director) nearly landed on top of him. Assault had handed the paperwork for the arrest off to me 'for practice', the jerk.

My morning got complicated when Lisa slid into the booth across from me, as she seemed to now have a habit of doing. "Mornin'," I muttered in greeting, barely even sparing her a glance, until I processed what I saw and stared at her. "Yo, Lisa, are you good?"

The girl looked like she'd been through the ringer, her eyes bloodshot, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail rather than the french braid she usually preferred. Bags stood out beneath her eyes and her head drooped precariously close to hitting the surface of the table. "Coffee."

"Yeah uh…" I bent sound and waved down one of the baristas, who shot me a thumbs up when she spotted Lisa. "Holy hell, what happened to you?"

"Coffee."

"Lisa-"

"Mak, I've been awake for nearly thirty hours straight. I have more caffeine than blood in my veins right now and it's the only reason I haven't crashed out yet. Now wait for more coffee or I'll tear down your ego so hard, it'll never recover," Lisa growled dangerously at me.

I winced in sympathy. "You've been overusing your power, haven't you?"

"Mrghl."

I took that as agreement and made a 'please hurry' motion toward the barista. She giggled in response before settling a drink in front of Lisa. "Enjoy!" She chirped cheerfully.

Lisa made a noise more reminiscent of an animal than a human being and then began sipping at the scalding liquid. I pushed over my untouched croissant and watched her fall upon it like a starving hobo.

After a few minutes she'd regained some semblance of dignity. "So you've been messing with Coil, haven't you?"

I winced again. "He's been pushing you pretty hard?"

"Yeah. He's desperate for information on Magus. Heard he might be hiring some cape mercenaries too to augment his forces. I hope you're going to move soon…"

I nodded, wove an illusion over us, and then set a hand against Lisa's forehead before muttering a small incantation. Mana flared through my pseudo-magic circuits and gentle golden light emanated from my hand, practically straight into Lisa's brain. She made an entirely inappropriate sound of relief and slumped face first onto the table.

"How much?"

"How much for what?"

"For you to come do that to me every time I use my power. Money? Blackmail info? The knowledge of how to seduce one of your coworkers? I'll do anything!"

I snorted and shook my head. "We're friends, Lisa. Just call me if you need healing that badly. Did you come just to get some free coffee and healing out of me?"

"No, I've been working on that side project you asked for too." Her eyes flared with anger. "Like I said, a trigger event… Let's just say I'm eager to get Shadow Stalker out of town." She drew a folder out of her purse and slid it across the table. "Here. Legit information that any good P.I could have gotten ahold of and some less than legitimate, but very damning evidence." An evil grin creeped onto her face. "I even got ahold of some texts that were freely given. Shadow Stalker's antics don't exactly generate loyalty."

"How freely given?" I asked with a sigh.

"Eh, a couple Ben Franklin's never hurt a high schooler's wallet. And in the case of one nasty girl, mmm, Maddy I think or something like that, all it took was destroying her self esteem and some threats of juvie." Lisa's grin could make sharks scared. "It was easy."

Well, not like they didn't have it coming. "Thank you. I'm kind of surprised you got on this so quickly."

"I'm a selfish bitch, but I'm not heartless," she scoffed. "It helps that you're now paying me with healing. God I haven't felt this amazing in forever."

"Glad my phenomenal cosmic powers are good for curing a headache."

"Hey, nothing I've ever tried has worked before. That's worth quite a bit in my book." She smiled and then pondered something for a moment. "It's her, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Last week, you mentioned you knew a girl you thought I'd get along with. It's this Hebert girl, isn't it?"

"Why do you say that?"

"She punched me right in the trigger, just like you," she said bluntly. "And you've mentioned precog knowledge before…"

"Yeah uh…" Shit, in for a penny… "In a possible future, she joined the Undersiders and you two were best friends. At first it was just like you said, a punch to the gut that made you take pity on her, but it eventually became a genuine friendship in the end. I think I've derailed things a bit too far for her to join y'all." Because I'm gonna try recruiting her first. "But I think you two might still be good friends if given the chance."

Lisa hummed to herself thoughtfully and stared off into space. "That's kind of sweet of you, if manipulative. People aren't just chess pieces that can be moved around."

"Hey, I'm no Coil. But I mean… Look, I'm not trying to force anything, but I just thought I'd give it a try and this girl, she really needs friends. Really badly."

"How far gone is she?"

"On her first night out in costume, she attacked Lung."

"...Fuck."

"Yeah. Not in the best state of mind. But she's crazy loyal to friends and will go to basically any lengths to do what she thinks is right. Hence the 'attacking Lung on her first night out' thing. She overheard him talking about shooting kids. He was talking about you guys actually, but she thought he meant a school or something so she jumped in and almost won."

"A rookie almost took down the freaking Dragon?!" Lisa's tone told me that she didn't believe a single word I was saying.

"Her power is strong, a lot stronger than she realizes. Anyway, it's your decision if you want to introduce yourself to her or not, I just thought I'd give a little nudge."

Lisa nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll think about it."

"Thanks. She's a good kid and needs support. If I wasn't in my twenties, I'd try to befriend her myself, but that'd look kind of sketchy."

"Oh yes, we wouldn't want you to be seen consorting with teenagers and working your adult wiles on them," Lisa said sarcastically with an arched brow.

"Oi, you approached me."

"That's not what I could tell the police," she smiled slyly at me.

I grumbled something about troublesome blondes under my breath and she laughed.

Once I was settled in costume, altering my hair into a nice shade of dark brown and eyes into a lighter brown (purposefully mirroring Panacea in fact) I drove toward the hospital with Battery as my senior Protectorate member/ bodyguard.

"So Assault tells me you already know… stuff," Battery ventured once we were seated and mobile in the back of one of the PRT's vans. "Like that we're married. You know anything else I should be aware of?" She phrased it teasingly, but her eyes were slightly worried.

"Oh I know lots of things, that's mostly why Coil wants me gone," I chuckled. "But nothing bad." I shrugged. "Like, I don't really know your real name. You're actually the only member of the Protectorate I can say that about."

She blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Mhm. My knowledge is really arbitrary, but people don't seem to believe me."

"You've got your sound field up?"

"Yup."

She took off her mask revealing a pretty young woman, about my age give or take a couple years. "It's Samantha, but everyone just calls me Sam."

I took off my mask and let the illusion on my hair and eyes drop. "Mak."

She smirked slightly. "That isn't what Ethan told me."

I grimaced. "I'm not saying the whole thing. Mak is good enough. It's nice to officially meet you, Sam."

"Same. Glad you chose to join us, even if it's been a bit of a rocky start."

We both put our masks back on and I projected my illusion again. We fell into an amiable silence until the van pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

I hopped out and greeted the nurse who had been sent out to meet us. Instead of Brockton Bay Memorial (where Panacea tended to frequent), I'd been sent to Brockton Health Clinic. It was smaller, but a bit more specialized, having a larger oncology wing, long-term care facilities, and those awaiting surgery. It catered to a larger percentage of the wealthy population, being a tad closer to BBU, Arcadia, and the large tracts of expensive housing that had been built when Brockton Bay was still a bustling port city. Panacea still made her rounds here of course, but as there are usually fewer emergency cases and a larger number of comatose patients who Panacea couldn't help, she spent more of her time at Memorial where she typically could help a larger number of people.

It also hadn't taken long to figure out that it was where Dennis'- Clockblocker -father was being treated for cancer. Why he hadn't just asked Panacea to just clear the oncology center (or why she hadn't done so on her own) I had no idea, but so long as it was in my power, there wouldn't be a cancer patient in this city.

"Alrighty, just take me on over to the long term care wards, oncology, ICU, all those spots," I said cheerfully, giving my cane a little twirl. "I'm itching to get started."

"Oh, first we were going to have you clear the children's wing and then there's a number of cases in the ER that could use your attention," the nurse began to say.

I made a brief cutting motion with my hand. "Those folks are hurt, I understand, but I'll do more in the long run if you just take me to the places where people have been trapped for months if not years."

The nurse bit her lip, nervous now for some reason. "Let me just talk to my manager, we had a very specific route in mind for you when you came to visit."

I frowned to myself, but followed as we went inside and into one of the admin office's. "Magus, I understand there is an issue with the healing we needed from you today?" The admin was a woman of middling years, face and demeanor perfectly pleasant, but I detected an undercurrent of tension.

What the hell? "Yes, I wanted to clear out the oncology section as well as ICU and any long term, maybe comatose patients that you have stuck here. I get that other people need healing, but they've had their injuries for only hours or days, I could end years of suffering while I'm here. Hell, I'm surprised that Panacea herself hasn't cleared out all those cases."

The administrator didn't so much as twitch. "Seeing as this is Brockton Bay, a city of over 350,000 souls and a great deal of gang violence, Panacea's aid has always been needed elsewhere. After a rough night healing gangbangers and their victims, we try and send Panacea home for a little rest."

It didn't take superpowers or tinker-tech lie detectors to smell the utter bullshit. I juggled the idea that was forming in my head and thought I might have uncovered what I was looking for. "This is about money."

"I'm sure I don't know what you-"

"Don't bullshit me," I bared my teeth and if the shadows around me danced a little bit, well then that was purely coincidence. "Cancer treatment, those with other long-term ailments, coma patients, all of that must net the hospital a pretty penny. If the best healer in the world just stopped by and spent an afternoon curing all the long term patients, well, then that would eat into your fucking profit margin wouldn't it?" I knew that healthcare in the U.S was run like a business, but I thought they'd have at least a little integrity and an urge to help ease the suffering of their patients.

"Panacea chooses where she performs her healings and-"

"Amy would heal a scrape or a bruised knee as soon as a cancer patient because she wants to help however much she can, even if it drives her into an early grave," I snapped, hot rage flaring through me. "I'm not some teenager that can be manipulated into only healing what's convenient for you, I'm here to do as much good and ease the most amount of suffering as possible."

The administrator's nostrils flared slightly. "Magus, I'm afraid that the route you are to take and those you are allowed to heal have already been approved. If you could just cooperate, then I'm sure we can finish this evening more quickly and you can get on to your other duties as a hero."

My teeth clenched and the air suddenly became thick with mana. It wasn't something a normal person could ordinarily sense, but the sheer weight of my intent made both the administrator, as well as Battery begin to sweat intensely.

"Fuck that," I said quietly. "I'm not stepping foot into this hospital again until I have approval to heal anyone who consents to it. Battery, I'll be waiting at the van."

I allowed darkness to consume me and stepped back out of the shadows that were on the side of the building. I went and stewed in the rear of the van until Battery finally made her way back.

She was silent for a minute and when she spoke, her tone was neutral, though not necessarily hostile either. "This could backfire on you from a P.R standpoint."
"Mhm."

"Piggot will probably be pissed."

"Yeah."

"There are still people in the hospital that can use healing."

"I'm aware. None of them are on death's door or else suffering as badly as the people that really need my powers."

Battery nodded. "So long as you understand." She knocked twice on the side of the van and then climbed in with me. We got back on the road, presumably towards PHQ or the Rig. "For what it's worth, I think it's rather admirable of you to stand by your principles like this."

"...Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Director Piggot sighed as I stood at attention across from her. "This won't look good to the public. I understand your reasoning, but… Refusing to heal people like this…"

"I understand ma'am, however I'd like to point out that due to the alterations to my contract, there was no mention of healing powers or usage in what I signed. Any and all healing that I perform is purely voluntary," I said as diplomatically as I could manage. "I will not allow my abilities to be taken for granted just so some hospital admin can report that they've made a profit on their next quarterly review."

Piggot stared at me and tapped her desk every so often. "Magus, things aren't looking good for you right now. I know that there have been exceptional circumstances, but it's important that you begin building a rapport with the public. Healing children would have gone a long way in doing that."

"Children with broken bones or milder injuries. They wouldn't have let me near all their cash cows. It's all just…" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I'm looking like an insubordinate ass right now, but I can do so much more good and they aren't letting me."

Piggot tapped her desk again and then sighed. "Indeed. Well then, I suppose it would be a shame if people were healed anyway."

A glimmer of something like hope sparked in my chest. "Ma'am…?"

"While approval was given by the Think Tank for your healing powers to be used, they were never officially added to your file. If a Stranger with healing power just happened to sneak into the hospital…" Piggot shrugged. "Well such a good deed wouldn't be dug into too deeply."

"Ma'am are you saying-"

"I'm merely stating that your contract made no mention or provisions for healing powers. Further, what my capes do in their freetime is their own business, so long as it doesn't violate any laws, of which I don't believe there are any about curing cancer. Do with that what you will. Now, I have a very busy schedule, was there anything else?"

"Actually ma'am, I did kind of need to speak with you about a different matter…"

"How urgent is it?"

"Important, but not life threatening."

"Speak to my secretary then and schedule a meeting. Dismissed."

I saluted and walked out, feeling rather… conflicted. Piggot had basically given me permission to sneak into the hospital to perform my healing, but the fact I had to do something like that… it left a rather poor taste in my mouth, most of it aimed at the admin staff of the hospital. It also made me feel rather badly for Amy if that's the sort of people she'd been dealing with since she triggered.

I approached Piggot's secretary. "Does the Director have any available appointments soon?"

The secretary consulted her calendar before giving me a small nod. "She was supposed to have a meeting tomorrow morning with Thomas Calvert, one of our contractors, but he's been absent for over a week now and we haven't been able to get ahold of him. If you're here in the morning and he isn't, then I can let you have his spot."

"Thank you, pencil me in then."

"Of course, Magus."

I made my way back to the cafeteria and settled in for some lunch, picking half heartedly at a sandwich and sipping a Coke. My day felt rather… sullied.

I felt a hand slap my back lightly and I jumped only to meet Assault's grinning face. "Hey there champ. What's gotcha down?"

I grimaced and shook my head. "Hospital admin wouldn't let me heal long term patients cause it wouldn't be profitable to them."

That made him blink. "Well shit, I was kind of wondering why Panacea never just cleared out those places. You think…?"

"That they've been giving her the runaround for years? I do. It makes a sick sort of sense, if you're only concerned about money at least."

Assault scowled. "Man, the freaking establishment. What a damned joke."

"We are the establishment," Battery reminded him as she joined us.

"Oh right…" I picked at my food some more. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Supposed to be doing a joint patrol with Gallant in an hour. Thought I'd grab a bite so I'm ready to rock. Hey, you doing anything this weekend?"

I frowned and checked my calendar. "Not really, I'm not on the patrol or standby roster at least…"

"Cool. Barbeque at our place then. I'll text you the deets. Bring some friends if you want. Oh and beer. Battery says I'm not allowed to pick them out anymore after the third IPA I brought home."

"Oh uh… I was kind of planning on getting some training in, but…"

"Magus," Battery interrupted my line of thought. "You can't wear the mask all the time. You can train all day if you want, but Saturday night, you should come over and meet some of your new coworkers out of the mask, drink a few beers, and unwind."

"There's a strict no-work talk policy when we're at home," Assault explained. "Which Battery enforces rather strictly."

"Something my old mentor taught me," Battery confirmed.

I frowned in thought. "Old mentor? You don't mean…?"

"Legend? Yeah. The guy is one of the best heroes in the world and still manages to be a great family man."

Well when she put it that way…

"Alright, I'm game," I agreed. "And I'll make sure to find some actually good beer. IPAs are trash."

"Hey, you take that back!"

"They're just all bitter and hoppy!"

"Its an acquired taste, but awesome once you get used to it."

"Boys…"

It looked like my time table had moved up. I had actually been planning on using Saturday night to take care of Coil.

Looks like the afternoon it was.

Friday, February 18, 2011

"Thank you for seeing me, Director," I said politely as I sat across from her, folder in hand.

"You actually went through the proper channels rather than barge in demanding a meeting," Piggot said wryly. "Most of the Protectorate need at least a few reminders before getting the memo." She scribbled something down on a notepad (paper had become more popular in the office following the outing of Coil and his various moles and bugs) and turned her whole attention onto me. "I do not mean to be rude, Magus, but I am a very busy woman and I have a lot of other appointments to get to. You requested an urgent meeting with me, so what is it?"

I held out my folder. "I believe Shadow Stalker is a bully, thug, and murderer. Here is the evidence I've assembled."

"...Shit." Piggot tiredly accepted the folder and began flicking through the contents. "Start from the beginning."

/

A/N: Unfortunately there won't be a chapter next weekend. Going to have family in town and there just won't be any time for me to write or post anything. If I get some time the week after, I'll try and do a double post in two weeks, but I can't promise anything. The hospital stuff isn't canon, obviously, but when I thought about it, it's kind of the only thing that makes sense, cause why else did Dennis have to ask Amy to heal his dad as a favor?