Dreaming - Lost Angles
Who was Taylor Hebert?
The thought was punctuated by stabbing a piece of meat slurry attempting to pass itself off as ribs, splattering BBQ sauce over the rest of her meal. Eventually the cheap plastic gave way, leaving her to sigh before putting it aside and pushing away the meal.
The hospital always had decent food in the cafeteria. Or at least, she always managed to get decent food. But she honestly didn't care about that right now. At the moment, something else occupied her thoughts and, like every other time, it left a foul taste in her mouth.
Taylor Hebert.
Vicky's new friend. They were probably on their way to being BFFs at this rate, and she was being left behind. Vicky's boyfriends had been bad enough, but those relationships rarely lasted. Dean had only stuck around for so long because there was something that kept drawing Vicky back for more. What that was, she didn't know. He was rich and maybe good looking, but other than that, she didn't understand why Vicky thought he was so special.
But Taylor wasn't a boyfriend, or even a school friend. Taylor apparently shared Vicky's obsession with fashion, but that wasn't something she held against her. She had never been that interested in fashion, so that wasn't the source of her discontent. It was… what was it? The fact that there was something she knew they weren't saying? Some secret they shared that Amy wasn't privy to. Like the secrets that she kept for Vicky? That bothered her, that someone else was that close to her sister... shared secrets with her.
You don't… You can't share... Amy frowned at the thought, pushing away the feelings it aroused. Those were too much of a distraction. What was it about Taylor Hebert that gripped her sister's attention? Not the shared hobby, she was sure of that. Was it that other thing? The unintentional hint that Vicky had dropped the other night, that Hebert was also something else?
A Parahuman.
Was that it? The thought that Taylor was out with her sister, beating down thugs together? That Vicky was enjoying the time she spent with Taylor more than the time she spent with her? Probably not, since she herself had never done more than fly with her sister. She didn't have the sort of power that lent itself to the pace Vicky had when patrolling. Taylor had called her Hurricane Victoria and it was, she admitted grudgingly, an apt description.
So that wasn't what stung. Was it the way Vicky talked about her... like she was a kicked puppy that she had to help? Leaning back in her chair, Amy thought of that, her brows knitting together in frustration. Why did that irritate her so much? She knew enough of what had happened to the girl that Vicky's desire to help her made sense. If she were honest about it, Taylor was fairly nice to talk to.
But something just made her dislike the other girl. The way Vicky had forgotten about her... left her waiting at the hospital... all so she could help Taylor. Do things with her. Taking her out shopping, to restaurants, for ice cream and now, if she was right, out patrolling together. The fact that there were secrets they were sharing, all of it made her distrust Taylor Hebert.
She didn't know how to tell Vicky that. How to get her to understand. There was something Amy didn't like about the girl. She couldn't pin down what it was, but something made her distrustful of Vicky's new friend. But she just couldn't come out and say it. Vicky did like Taylor, and Taylor looked like she needed a friend. She just didn't quite think that the friend in question should be her sister.
She didn't want Taylor to be Vicky's friend… why? Her features shifted in thought as she stood and started towards the trash to get rid of her unfinished meal. There had to be a reason behind her distaste of the other girl, beyond simply dislike. She thought back to what she knew about the girl and Vicky's meetings with her. Discussing clothing and fashion, getting that jacket she wore as a gift from Vicky, being taken out to share ice cream by her sister…
Amy froze as the last thought crossed her mind and she thought back to the moment at Fugly Bob's, when Vicky and Taylor had shared a look. Amy had then guessed that there was something they were keeping to themselves. Now, she wondered if the secret was one that Vicky knew. She rewound the dinner in her head, noting the way Taylor had fixed her attention on Victoria, like the rest of the room didn't matter.
Was Taylor interested in Victoria as more than a friend? The thought left her cold. Taylor wanted more out of her friendship with Victoria than her sister had realized. Her lips twisted in distaste at the thought of Taylor taking advantage of her sister's good will. Vicky probably hadn't even noticed that her new 'friend' was interested in her more than fashion.
And if Amy had her way, she never would.
~~~~~~~~
The only sound in his house was the low-pitched hum of the coolant systems for the computers now rigged up in the basement. Even while upstairs in the living room, he could hear and identify the sound. Down the street, he could see a group of children playing with a miniature basketball set. He watched them for a moment, scanning for any signs of traffic that might require him to intervene. When a parent appeared to take charge of their activities, Colin Wallis pulled the curtains closed and turned away, heading toward the kitchen. He stopped in the hallway, turning his attention to look at a picture of his old Wards team. The first Wards team.
Eleven people stood together smiling at the camera; all teenagers save one. He stared at each in turn, their names still etched in his memory even after all this time. He still worked with Hannah; of the others, only a few were still alive. Jason and Reed had their own Protectorate teams to manage. Renee had been lost to them recently, an event that was still raw.
Charlotte was still alive somewhere, he was sure, but he had seen her only once since things had fallen apart. Oscar and Jeanne had died to Behemoth when they had all volunteered to fight the Endbringer. Kay and Mitchell were both dead, lost when they had splintered as a Wards team. What had set that off, he still didn't know for sure, only that everything that had happened and left the first Wards team as little more than a cautionary tale.
"A beacon for future heroes," he muttered, thinking of a speech made years ago. "That blew up quite spectacularly." The Wards program had flourished, but his team was used as an example of what not to do, if they were mentioned at all.
Sighing, he opened the refrigerator and quickly assembled a sandwich. Adding the pickles while he dropped deli-sliced turkey onto the sourdough had shaved eight-tenths of a second off his previous record. He took the sandwich and a small bag of chips downstairs, flipping the lights on with an elbow to illuminate the room.
A table and stool sat off to one side, the table's surface buried under papers and tools.The rest of the space was fitted with some heavy machinery for larger projects and a brand new computer system he had designed and installed. He balanced his weight on the stool as he sat down, slowly biting into his sandwich and turning his thoughts to more recent matters.
Taylor Hebert. His eyes drifted lazily around the basement as he thought about the new recruit and how the entire situation had fallen apart. Taking another bite of the turkey sandwich, he set it aside and woke the computer with a few keystrokes. It began compiling data, a timeline beginning to slowly take shape on the monitor. He chewed methodically while the computer worked, his eyes falling on an all too familiar stack of papers.
Swallowing, Colin eyed the report in front of him for the sixty-seventh time since it had first crossed his desk at work. He grimaced as he looked the well-worn pages over while more and more information was added to the primary display. The large monitor flickered once as dates and notations scrolled past and were systematically broken down into a complete timeline. The entire series of events amounted to nothing less than a total failure. One that he had played a large part in by failing to take Hebert's home life into account.
The whole affair was a complete mess, made official when it was stamped onto the paperwork recently filed and submitted on-site by Hebert's father. The man had left with photocopies, but the originals were now sitting secure in a filing cabinet in the legal department. The Director still had some hope that the situation could still be salvaged, but he wasn't privy to her current intentions at this moment. The larger issue was that Taylor Hebert had completely abandoned her home and school and cut ties. She was still in Brockton Bay and operating as a cape, that much was still true, but they had not been successful in approaching her to start attempting to repair the damage.
Even plain-clothes agents trying to approach her while she was out of costume had been evaded. While she hadn't been violent, she clearly didn't want to talk. Part of that was his fault, he knew. The initial approach, if he was being generous, had not gone as smoothly as he had hoped. Truthfully, it could be seen as a disaster if he wanted to be negative. Almost forty-eight hours since her departure from her home and they had not been able to speak or address her in any significant way.
He turned his attention back to the timeline, his eyes skimming over the sparse facts that he knew were true, trying to piece together where the greatest failings were.
A derisive sound emerged from his throat at that thought. He didn't need to piece together where those were, he knew already. It was his own fault for not properly researching Hebert's situation at home. That was the spark that had set this entire affair smoldering when he unintentionally aired those issues. He took a deep breath and focused on the displayed data. There still had to be more here, something that could help resolve the situation.
"Hebert's first night out was Friday, one week ago," he murmured to himself, dragging the line forward slowly. "We suspect that she was out Saturday night as well, but there weren't any police or PRT contacts available at that time. No activity that we're aware of on Sunday. Monday… that was a wonderful mess on my part. But we thought we had made some headway after Hannah spoke to her and she went to see the Director."
The timeline shifted again and he frowned. "No contact from either Hebert on Tuesday, but she did go out again as Assault and Battery interacted with her. She was terse, but not hostile, by their reports. She ran away from home on Wednesday, apparently departing before her father even had an opportunity to present her with the orientation papers."
He frowned, making a note of that on the computer. How had she known? Her father had stated that the last time they had spoken was that morning, which made what she did later on that day all the more puzzling. Perhaps it was related to her thinker power? She always seemed to know what people were thinking around her. Was it a form of ranged empathy?
Colin shook his head, pushing that thought aside. He couldn't let himself be distracted with that right now. There was something wrong with how things had played out, he could feel it. His own mistake aside, Hebert's situation wasn't the first time they had an underaged parahuman who was at odds regarding their parent's wishes about Wards membership. The Social Services section of PR and Liaison was tasked to smoothing over difficult cases like this. Why hadn't they been brought in for addressing any issues between parent and child? The Director had been here long enough that she would have submitted an inquiry to them, after all.
Colin fished out his earpiece and slipped it in, and set up a connection to a line he seldom had reason to contact. Three rings passed by before someone picked up.
"This is Armsmaster," he said gruffly. "I have a question for you about case file 36-A17, the Hebert file."
"Hebert, sir?" a polite voice repeated after a moment. "I'm afraid we don't have anything on record regarding anyone with that name. If you would like to forward it, I can check into that…?"
"No," he said with a grimace that the person he was talking to couldn't see. "If you don't have the file, that won't be necessary. Thank you for the information." He disconnected the line, a frown forming as he tore open his bag of chips
After eating several chips, the bag was set aside and he tapped in several commands to the computer, before flinging his hands outward Holographic images spread out before him, records of everything related to the Hebert case that wasn't confined to an isolated server. Exhaling, he swiped a hand through the air, paging through several documents, looking for the the request that he knew the Director would have submitted.
One hand was reaching for the chips as his other came to the end of the records. The request wasn't there. The chips were forgotten as his attention turned to sorting through the paperwork again, certain he had to have missed it. Again, he came up with nothing and the frown he wore morphed into a scowl. While it was certainly possible that the Director had forgotten to submit the appropriate requests, he knew her well enough that the idea that she wouldn't was absurd.
A third pass through the files related to the Hebert case turned up nothing and he clapped his hands together, dismissing the holographic projections and returning to his desk. A few keystrokes and he began searching through the case records, focusing on departmental requests sent from the Director's computer. He exhaled a few minutes later, a mix of relief and worry occupying his mind. The record showed she had sent the request and the system even had an acknowledgement of receipt.
A second window was opened, tracking PR and Liaison's active issues. He checked each in turn, reading them over quickly to ensure that he didn't overlook anything. Finding an unusual pointer buried deep in the system made his scowl deepen. Examining its purpose, to send a notification to the Director that everything was fine, made it even more fearsome.
His hands stilled over the keyboard, and he stared at the display. After a moment, he began digging further into the system, looking through records of logged activity in hopes of finding the cause of this issue. There had to be something that would explain this. The person he had spoken to hadn't lied, but the system said that the request had been received while not actually routing it anywhere.
Colin leaned back a bit, rocking the stool as he considered what this meant. A glitch was a possibility, but not one he was willing to give any serious weight. While he was by no means the systems administrator that Dragon was, he had more than adequate experience with one.
An hour later, he let his hands relax finally as he looked over the results of his efforts. Nothing. Whatever the cause of the system flagging the request as received without routing it to the correct location was, he was confident that it was not a glitch or error. The paperwork had been filed, and then systematically erased, while still sending an everything is fine message. The remaining conclusion he had come to left him seething at the possible implications. He retrieved his earpiece and fitted it into place once more, dialing another number.
"Director," he said when she answered. "I believe we have a problem."
--
608
chibipoe
May 18, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.1
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
May 26, 2015
#3,015
3.1
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
My fingers twitched against the brickwork in tightly held irritation as the ABB thug carelessly stuffed another handful of someone's jewelry into a sack. I didn't know who lived down there, but they weren't going to come home happy at this rate. As much as I wanted to blaze in there and put a stop to it, I wanted to be efficient. I was going to catch all three of these stooges together, and not level the building in the process. That wouldn't be fair to the home owners.
'I want to bring it down on their heads,' my simmering anger echoed back at me. The rage was something I had gotten used to over the past few weeks. What my dad… what Danny had done... giving me a chance to find an answer, and then taking it away… going and signing the papers without so much as a warning… It still sat fresh with me.
It was… the only word for it was a betrayal. Just thinking of it infuriated me, and sparked that anger higher, and it made me wonder how easy it would be to simply leave the three of them with broken bodies and nobody the wiser. Just a small bit of relative pressure and snap. I wouldn't do it, but the thought of doing it of taking my anger and frustration out on them felt good.
But while I wouldn't just smash them as much as I wanted to, I knew there was another option. I hadn't started out brute-forcing everything. An idea struck and I smiled faintly. I knew somehow that it wasn't a friendly smile. Beating them silly would be easy, but really unsatisfying. What was the point of smacking around someone who couldn't fight back? I settled on the edge of the building, using flight to keep my weight from disturbing the roof and reached out toward the three robbers.
I could see everyone around me. Pinpricks of light wove together in a pattern that was awesome to behold. Each was different: some were brighter while others had slightly different colors. I had learned what each color meant and, with a bit of experimenting, I learned how to pull at those strings underlying the pattern. I hadn't mastered it, and the results could be unpredictable, but it was possible to tamper with someone's emotions. I observed the three men and started to strum on the strings in their minds, noting how the nervousness that ran through all of them begun to intensify.
Almost immediately, the three became more hurried in their looting, casting harried glances out the windows or through the halls. Within moments, the three had finished and gathered in the main entrance, likely to regroup.
I twisted colors of fear to the forefront of their thoughts and almost smiled as I nudged one with my telekinesis, tapping him into the person in front of him with a bit of force. His companion grunted and swore, even as the one I had adjusted recovered and turned to face the one behind him, accusations of being shoved reaching my ears. The one at the front tried to intercede as peacemaker, but I made his feet drag just enough that he tripped, knocking his outstretched hands into the other two.
All three were arguing now, anger radiating back and forth. I amped their fear a touch more and waited for the first one to draw a weapon as a threat. The one on the left, that I had dubbed Larry, swore in a language I didn't know and pulled out his gun, waving it at Curly and Moe.
Of course, I couldn't have them shooting each other. The arguing stopped when I wrenched the gun out of the owner's hands, and all three erupted into panicked shouting as the gun disassembled before their eyes, the pieces floating to and fro under my direction.
Their panic reached a fever pitch and I could almost taste their fear as they looked around, swearing and gesturing wildly at each other. The house they had been set on robbing was suddenly a lot more frightening with a bit of intervention from me. I kept my eyes closed, the layout of the house visible through Larry, Curly and Moe's eyes. I allowed myself a smile as I shifted a coffee table, the legs screeching across the floorboards.
Moe spun, drawing his own gun, before scrambling back as it too came apart. Curly said something that was too low for me to decipher, and then they moved together toward the front door. The hood of his sweatshirt flipped over his eyes abruptly and he stumbled, futilely pulling at it as Larry and Moe crashed into his back. I noticed some lights coming on nearby. They had finally drawn attention from the neighbors.
"Time to wrap this up, I guess…" I murmured, tracking them as they broke into arguing again just steps from the open door.
I slammed it shut and all three jumped; Larry actually, amusingly, screaming in fright. They were tugging on the door handle, almost screaming as it refused to budge. Thankfully, the people who lived here were out, or they would have long since been woken up by the noise.
"The door swings outward, moron," I muttered to myself as Curly kept pulling. I violently swung the door open and shoved all three, sending them sprawling out onto the porch in a heap. They wasted no time trying to climb over one another in an effort to get away. All three tripped again almost immediately, not noticing that their shoelaces had tied together in the earlier struggle. Cursing, panicked yelps, came from all three as I turned their clothes against them: zipping up their jackets, yanking and tying together their sleeves over their hands in imitation of a straitjacket.
I sighed as a flash of foresight told me that my fun was about to end. Grimacing, I went the extra mile and re-tied their shoelaces to bind their ankles together, leaving them unable to do anything other then crawl blindly on the ground.
"Nothing less than what they deserve," was the thought in the back of my mind as I left them. "But nowhere near as… satisfying." The thought finished just as Dauntless landed on the walkway leading up to the front porch. He looked at the three helpless gangsters, then up to me.
I sat there, and we both frowned at each other before I shook my head. "They give you the short straw this time?" I asked, then waved an absent hand toward the three on the ground. "These three here were robbing this house. The stuff they tried to steal is in the sacks just inside the door. Have fun."
"Sirin, wait," he said, his voice firm. I could feel traces of exasperation and annoyance flowing through his thoughts. "We need to talk."
"We really don't," I corrected, crossing my arms without bothering to move from my perch on the roof. "You've all said your bit, and I've said no. I figure three weeks is enough for you to get that. You can tell the Director the same thing that I said last time. I'll come in when I decide to."
"Sirin," he began again, then held up a hand and knelt quickly, injecting each of the ABB members with what I assumed was a tranquilizer or sedative. "There, they can't hear us now."
"Doesn't matter," I replied, reassembling the two guns and floating them to him. "I've done my good deed for the night, and I'm leaving. You're free to keep the credit if you want. Better yet, you can handle the audience." I waved my hand at the people that were brave enough to leave their homes to investigate the crime scene.
"You know we need you to come in, Sirin," he gingerly accepted the guns and set them aside. "You can't keep doing this."
"Oh look, incoming company," I deadpanned. "Have fun with them, Dauntless."
"Sirin!" he called out as I pushed off the roof, leaving him to deal with the neighbors that had finally worked up the will to approach. I heard him call out my cape name once more before I fully took off, my increasing speed carrying me out of range."
It was frustrating, how often I had to deal with moments like that since I left home. It was less for how they tried to dance the line between leaving me alone and not, but for the fact that they kept reminding me what had happened. I just wanted to move past that, to try and forget about what Danny had done and that I had left home. To focus on the now of helping people, stopping criminals.
But at least once every night, one of them showed up, hanging around or trying to make small talk, refusing when I told them to go away. I'd met all of the Protectorate by now. Dauntless. Velocity, Triumph, Assault and Battery were the most common. Armsmaster and Miss Militia, I saw only rarely. A snort escaped me at the thought of those two; they were not my favorite people.
If it wasn't one of them, it was the Wards. I had gotten to meet all of them too, between them happening upon me while I was out patrolling, to their showing up in the middle of me apprehending someone, like Dauntless had just done. Vista, Gallant, Flechette, and Browbeat – who always felt uncomfortable around me for some reason – were the only ones still trying to reach out. The others – Clockblocker, Aegis, Kid Win – showed up, but most had tapered off in their efforts to engage me after being ignored a few times.
As far as I knew, none of the Wards had been told who Sirin was yet. It was, I gathered, something expected of Wards members to do themselves rather than being told by their leaders. But regardless of what paperwork Danny had filed, I didn't see myself as a Ward and I wasn't volunteering my identity if I could help it.
The most annoying part was the people who approached me when I was out of costume. Those encounters were thankfully rare, and had only gotten rarer as I actively avoided them. I hadn't seen one of them trying to corner me for a talk in over a week now.
I flew higher, coming to a halt high above Brockton Bay and looking out over the city. Surprisingly, I hadn't had truant officers tracking me down for not attending school. I was guessing that Blackwell didn't care enough to inform them. It could have been something else entirely, but I honestly didn't care enough to investigate. I wasn't going to school right now and they left me alone, so that was enough.
I tilted forward and dropped into a descent, making adjustments as I went until I settled on a barren but now-familiar rooftop. The stairwell door swung open with a creak, and I floated down where the stairs once were.
The former firehouse had all the comforts of a home, I thought as I touched down on the second floor landing. I had my choice of bedrooms to sleep in, and while the building itself was no longer in use, the utilities were still running.This at least gave me hot water and electricity for the moment. The reason it was empty was fairly apparent; parts of the roof had been damaged and the stairs had collapsed during a cape fight at some point. After that, I guessed that it had since been left abandoned.
Despite the damage, it was still sound. The walls were well insulated, and a bit of work had the hole in the roof covered up. After some cleaning it was, not only a tolerable place to live, but a good one. There was a small kitchen with appliances and so I was able to prepare food; there was even an internet connection, which had me worried at first. It had seemed too convenient, but no one approached me, so I was moderately sure no one was setting a trap for me.
I snorted at that thought and ducked into the bathroom to change. Eventually, whoever was paying might notice that the utility bill was higher than it should be, but for the moment, it worked. My own place, on unofficial loan from the city. The biggest advantage was the radio system that let me listen in on communications traffic for the police and fire department. That had been helpful, saving me time. Instead of randomly flying around looking for trouble, some nights I could listen to the radio to find out where I could help.
Even so... I'd found over the three weeks since that day that, as efficient as I now am, I still had a lot of downtime with little to do. I couldn't spend all that time just practicing with powers. My mind started wandering after a while until I inevitably started doing the one thing that I really didn't want to be doing… which was thinking about the past few weeks and what had happened.
The reminders from the Protectorate were bad enough, but when I was alone, my thoughts ended up turning to that night when I had been fixing dinner and checked to see if he was coming home soon. Of what I had seen then. I was angry at him, and resented what he did, but I couldn't help feeling that I was partially responsible.
Whether that was true or not, I wasn't going to go back on that decision now. Danny had made his choice and I had made mine, even if I regretted it. I exhaled, blowing a few strands of hair from my face and hung my costume up before heading toward the kitchen. As I did, I couldn't help but smile as I saw the leftovers of last night's meal. The takeout bags still cluttered up the counter from when my friends had come over to keep me company.
Vicky knew where I was staying; I couldn't seem to keep it a secret from her. Catherine and Minako too, found out not long after. They were, at the moment, the only people I had trusted with the information. They would probably be the last for a long time. I still tried to get out and see them as much as I could, but more often than not they came to me.
It was… nice. Yes, that was the right word for it. It was nice. We had spent the night talking together after patrolling, and Catherine and Vicky were hitting it off. I even heard that Glory Girl had met up with them a few times in costume, and they regaled me about it. I didn't regret introducing them to each other for a instant. I don't think they do either.
After that, it was odd fixing food for just myself. Even three weeks later, I kept expecting to turn around and say something to my Da… to Danny as he came home or into the room. Then I would remember where I was. And that, for the most part, I was alone here. Just myself, and occasionally, my friends.
All the same, I kind of liked having space to myself. I didn't have to follow a schedule and could do what I wanted… I was just a bit lonely in exchange. I could deal with that. I would deal with that.
At the same time, it felt… pointless. Leaving had distanced the anger but it was still there. It just didn't flare up the way it did when I went home and talked to him. Or tried to talk. The paperwork still hung above my head, insistent and immovable. And I wasn't sure that I could dodge it forever. The Protectorate and the PRT had been pretty soft-ball with me, but I couldn't expect that to continue forever. Piggot had made her stance clear. Sooner or later, she was going to try and rein me in. The only question was when, and how.
I poked around at the food in the pan with a fork, and when I was satisfied with it, I turned off the stove and set it to the side to cool. At the same time, a pot of tea made itself on the other side of the kitchen; the dual actions let me push aside my worries about the PRT and my dad to think about something else. My thoughts shifted to tonight and how I had dealt with the ABB. How easily I had played them with my powers. Something I couldn't have done weeks ago.
I hadn't given Vicky's theory that I was some sort of power-copying Trump much credence and the theory had become less and less likely as the weeks passed. I hadn't gained anything new as far as I could tell, but my powers had gotten steadily stronger both as time passed and as I practiced with them.
And tonight, I had casually terrified those three gang members... driven them into panic before subduing them. It had been so simple. They hadn't even laid eyes on me, even before Dauntless showed up. There had been no real hesitation, either. That bothered me the most, that I hadn't even thought twice about terrifying them in that manner. It felt right in a way I wasn't sure that I liked.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I floated a plate down and scooped out some of the chicken and vegetable stir-fry before sitting down at the salvaged table. It had been one of the few casualties in the incident that had seen the building emptied. I began picking at my food, eating slowly as I looked around the room.
This… this was perhaps the worst of it. Something about eating alone. Maybe we hadn't seriously talked, but at least we made small talk at dinner. We'd ask questions about the day. I would gloss over things, and he would talk in that strange way... as if he would actually have something good to bring up tomorrow.
I exhaled and my fingers tightened around the fork. Yes, sitting here alone was the worst of it… and at the same time, it wasn't . There was no false hope hanging around, no sense that things would just get better with time. Those feelings had been dashed quite thoroughly when I departed, and I didn't have to endure it any longer. I was free.
And lonely. Even with meeting up with Vicky, or Catherine and Minako, I couldn't spend all my time with them, given that they were still in school and such. Which left me with a lot of time to myself. The first week, it had been okay. There had been the emotional high, and fixing this place up after I found it near the Docks had been a suitable distraction. The second week had started off easily enough. I was a free cape and I could do what I wanted out of costume. I reveled in that fact by going on a personal crusade against unfortunate thugs, interspersed by spending time with my handful of friends and experimenting with my growing powers.
Now after three weeks, the shine had worn off, and as much as it stung me to admit it, uncertainty was creeping in. Was this all there was for me now? Lonely days and nights spent flying around the city looking for someone committing a crime? I wanted more than this, but what else was there? I didn't go to school because I was sure they would try to ambush me there to make me go back to… his place, or to try hauling me in to be a Ward. I was studying to see what a GED required, but I had a while before I could actually test for that.
As much as I had freedom now, I felt strangely boxed in. I could choose, but what was there to choose from? I didn't have an answer for that and it bothered me.
I wanted to be a cape. I wanted to be a Hero. I chose to be one after my powers started growing and I could do more then just make my own life a little better. But now each step I took towards what I wanted sent everything a step behind me into ruin. Would it be better to just give in and become a Ward officially? There were restrictions, sure, but I could deal with those, I thought.
I shook my head. No. It was the fact that I couldn't trust them. They said one thing, and then went and did something else entirely as if they thought I wouldn't care. I wasn't going to give in, but just now, as I sat here, I didn't know what to do next.
I finished my food and left the dishes in the sink for later. Right now, I just couldn't bring myself to care about doing the dishes. I hadn't cooked enough for leftovers and I wandered from the kitchen toward the room I had taken as my own. It used to be an office, but now it was a full bedroom.
A bed, drawers, a desk. I had those simple necessities and I could do what I wanted. That was what everyone wanted, right? I thought about that while sorting through the drawers for my pajamas. I wanted-no, needed a shower and to go to bed. Going round and round with myself about this wasn't going to help me right now.
After the shower, like several other nights during these past weeks, I felt just one thing.
Tired.
~~~~~~~~
The mood in the meeting room was somber when Lily wandered in, balancing three pizza boxes with one hand while holding her mask in the other. She stopped and took in the sight of the brooding Wards, frowning at the scene of Vista and Aegis as one sulked silently while sprawled over one end of the couch and the other distractedly leafed through a pile of papers. Her best bet was that Aegis was just lost in his own thoughts, a state she had noticed he spent a lot of time in recently as he was still adjusting to his recent promotion to leadership of the Wards.
"Let me guess," she said with a half-forced smile as she set the boxes down on the table. "You two got nominated for the 'let's go bother Sirin' duty for tonight. Again."
Vista growled at her, before huffing and turning away. The sound was hardly threatening. "Yes, yes we did."
"And it went as well as usual, I take it?" she asked, flipping the lid open and sliding one of the boxes over toward the pair.
Vista glanced over at Aegis, who looked up at the question before lamely shrugging. "We didn't get blown off, but that's only because we didn't find her at all."
"Better than the first, right?" was Lily's reply as she hung her mask up on the wall.
"I guess," Vista grumbled, sitting up so she could take a slice of pepperoni and pineapple from the box, while eying the other two boxes hungrily. "If only because we didn't get a daily dose of passive-aggressiveness."
Aegis sighed, tossing the sheaf of papers down on the table before reaching for a slice of his own. "I'm sure she has reasons for being hostile," he said, before taking a bite. "We don't know all the details about her recruitment, except that she got signed up and bailed on her parents." There was a pause as he savored a mouthful of sweetly unhealthy food, before brightening up considerably. "Thank you."
Vista shook her head and snorted indignantly, viciously tearing off a bite. "I know. It's why I keep trying instead of giving up the way some of the others have. Doesn't make it any less frustrating. Just wish she would actually, you know, listen. What did we ever do to her? It's like talking to a wall that occasionally tells you to shove it."
The door slid open again, and Browbeat stuck his head in and took a long breath, eyes zeroing in on the pizza before he cast a guilty look around the room. "I heard there was pizza?"
"And depression," Lily chimed in with a more honest smile. "Can't forget the depression. Our patrolling members are back from tonight's rousing session of 'Catch the Sirin'."
Browbeat nodded slightly and entered, reaching for a slice of one of the pizzas. "I had that last night too, along with Gallant. I'm not sure that what she told us to do was anatomically possible. At least for Gallant."
"What isn't possible for me?" Gallant asked as he came into the room, helmet tucked under his arms while he worked at getting his gauntlets off. "I can do anything you can do! Wait…" He looked pointedly at Browbeat. "What did I just say I could do that I apparently can't do?"
"What Sirin told us to do last night," Browbeat helpfully said.
"Oh," he said, blinking in surprise before screwing up his brows in thought. "I take it back. Ugh. She was not in a good mood then."
"Is she ever?" Kid Win asked as he came in next, leaning his hoverboard against the wall. He stretched out, his shoulders audibly popping. "I don't get why you guys keep trying when she keeps telling us no. I don't even bother making a serious effort anymore. It's pretty clear that she doesn't want anything to do with us at this point."
Clockblocker was the last to enter and he glanced around, scowling as he pulled his mask off. "I don't need to be a mind reader to guess what's being talked about here."
"There's pizza," Lily said, claiming a chair for herself at last. "You're last in, so fetching drinks is on you."
"Oh, geez, really?" he grimaced as everyone nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll be right back and all that." His shoulders slumped and he left the room, his grumbling audible until the door clicked shut fully shut.
Vista pointed with the crust of her first slice at Kid Win. "I keep trying because I want more girls on the team! I don't know all about her family or whatever, but I think she's lonely."
Kid quirked an eyebrow. "Lonely? Lonely isn't the only thing she is. Try-"
Aegis cut him off with a look. "Don't kid, Kid."
Kid shrugged and smiled innocently. "What? I was just going to say pissed."
Vista glowered in Kid Win's direction and tossed the crust at him. He ducked and then scowled as the crust hit him in the back of his head, punctuated by Vista sticking her tongue out at him. "She's been rude, sure, but...it's not us she's angry at. She just tells us to leave her alone and when we don't, she gets angry. There's something that Piggot's not telling us."
"Yeah, yeah," Kid Win muttered. "I like Piggy as much as the next Ward, but what isn't she telling us about this assignment? I don't think she's keeping some big secret while sending us out to talk to Sirin. Face it, she's a throwing a bitchy fit and we're stuck trying to make nice."
"That seems a little unfair," Lily said between bites of her food. "I haven't gotten to talk to Sirin much yet, but just saying she's being a bitch seems to be ignoring that there might be some serious problems at home. People don't just run away for no reason."
"And why should we care?" he asked. "Her home life sucking isn't a reason for her to take it out on us when we're just trying to talk."
"Unless we're part of the problem and Piggot didn't tell us. Have you ever seen or heard Armsy or Miss M talking to her? If anything, they seem to avoid her," Vista said, a sour note to her voice as she glared across the length of her pizza slice at him. "And the few times I've gotten her to talk, she always says to tell the Director that she'll come in again when she feels like it. Something happened higher up and now she doesn't like any of us, Protectorate, PRT, or Ward. And remember that time a few weeks back when they had that security thing? When Lily came in?"
"I remember that," Gallant chimed in, looking thoughtful as he offhandedly snatched a drink from Clockblocker as he returned. He squawked in indignation, having to rebalance his load of awkwardly held cans. "I couldn't get any clear answers from any of the PRT agents about that."
Vista nodded firmly. "I think that was when she first came in. Something must've gone wrong between Sirin and the Director between then and when she ran. That was the same day she became a Ward right?"
"I might know something," Gallant said, shifting uncomfortably as he found all eyes on him. He put down his half-finished slice of pizza. "I.. well.. this isn't…"
"Oh, Gally's not sure how to share private talk with his girl, I take it?" Clockblocker chimed in, his eyes alight with mischief. "Sirin's run around with Glory Girl several times. Do they know each other? Have you been holding out on something that could save us a lot of trouble?"
Gallant looked even more uncomfortable, shifting again. "I can't share Glory's secrets, but… I do think they know each other out of costume." He drew in a long breath. "And… I can't say more than that, because it isn't my secret to tell."
"Wait, wait, wait," Clockblocker interrupted once more. "You know something huge, I can tell… and you aren't going to tell us? Your teammates? Not cool!"
He turned an unfriendly look toward his fellow Ward. "It might surprise you, but I don't relish the idea of my girlfriend, who can break me in two, finding out that I blabbed her secrets to my teammates. Which she will. Because she always seems to know."
Vista smugly preened at the comment. "Of course. A woman's intuition is always spot on."
Clockblocker crossed his arms and hitched an eyebrow upwards. "Perhaps you can tell me where to find one, so I can ask for myself."
Lily reached over and smacked the back of his head, drawing a yelp from him. It was quickly followed as space bent, and he had to duck to dodge a spiteful kick from Vista. "That was incredibly mean, CB. Apologize."
"I don't want his apology," Vista hissed, space warping back to normal as she stood. "Jerk." She stalked out of the room, avoiding attempts to stop her with her powers. The door clicked closed behind her, leaving awkward silence in its wake.
"Gallant?" Aegis asked wearily. He nodded and punched Clockblocker's arm roughly.
"Ow!" he cried. "What the hell?"
"You deserved that," he told his teammate with a shake of his head. "I know you're frustrated too, but you totally deserved it."
"I am going to talk to Vista," Lily stood as well. "I'll get her to calm down. We'll be back when Clock gets a brain."
Aegis brushed back his hair as he sighed. "So around when I retire, right?"
"I swear, I get no respect around here," Clockblocker muttered, trying to sound jovial. "No respect at all."
"Clock doesn't know when not to say something," Kid Win said as Lily left. "News at 11. What about what we were talking about before he insulted two of our teammates? Are we going to talk about that some more?"
Aegis grimaced and helped himself to some pizza. "I don't know what else to say about her, really. We have our orders, but it's clear she doesn't want much, if anything, to do with us. I am open to suggestions though."
"It might help if we could approach her out of costume, get to know her," Clockblocker said after a moment, looking thoughtful as he chewed on his pizza. "As it stands, we're just annoyances distracting her from being a hero. Why don't we know who she is out of costume? That seems like important information. She's technically a Ward right?"
Aegis popped open a drink for himself. "We're encouraged to share our identities with each other in order to make our jobs easier, but we don't absolutely have to. It's strictly voluntary, but highly encouraged that we get to know each other outside the mask. At least, between Wards. I'd say the Director knows, but she isn't going to make exceptions to the rules."
"Well, that's dumb," he replied with a sour look before leaning toward Gallant. "So, knight-boy, who is she?"
Gallant gave him an irritated look, scooting his chair away. "Did you not hear me before? Lily's right, you are missing a brain. Glory will snap me in half. Then Piggot might skin me. And then, the next time we meet Sirin, she'll try to snap me in half. With her mind. Because, you know, confirmed telekinetic, and Glory would tell her I talked."
"Only if she finds out," Clockblocker pointed out. "It's just the five of us here right now."
"Speaking of that," Kid Win said before Gallant could frame a reply, turning to where Browbeat sat. "You're awfully quiet. Almost forgot you were here."
"I was watching Clock stick his foot into his mouth," the other Ward said, retrieving a slice of pizza. "I don't have much to say really. Other than telling us off last night, she's been fairly civil to me. She only gets pissed if we stick around."
Gallant shook his head. "I think she gets confused for some reason. She looks at us weird. Like she's trying to figure something out that she's forgotten?"
Browbeat shrugged. "I dunno. Whatever it is, I'm glad she isn't taking her temper out on us most of the time."
"You think she gets confused?" Kid Win asked with a frown. "Don't you know? You can read emotions."
Gallant shifted in his seat, an odd expression on his face. "I….the thing is….she's blank, ok? I can't read her. It's like reading a brick wall. No, not a brick wall. You would still get the texture off of it. It's like a solid slab of stainless steel. Or simply that there's nothing there. It's… disconcerting."
Aegis stared at him, frowning. "You hadn't mentioned this before."
Gallant shrugged, exasperation clear on his face. "I didn't catch on until recently. Most of the time, it's pretty clear what she's feeling just from her voice and body language, so I didn't even notice. It's almost like…" He trailed off, a pensive frown appearing on his face as he sat back and chewed on his lower lip thoughtfully.
"Almost like…?" Clockblocker prompted.
"What?" He blinked and shook his head. "Oh, nothing. Just reminded me of something else, that's all." Gallant grabbed another slice of pizza, devoting all his attention to that.
Aegis stared for a moment. "We'll shelve Sirin for now until we can think of something else. In the meantime, Clock, you've got monitor duty for a week for being a jerk to your teammates. Think before you speak."
Clockblocker sighed, about to protest, then slumped. "Fine, fine. I'll apologize to her."
"You'd better," Aegis said. "But you'll still have monitor duty." He took another slice of pizza with a slight smile as he ignored Clockblocker's noise of protest.
~~~~~~~~
"Understood," he said as the man on the other end of the phone gave his report. "The usual payment will be waiting for pick up." He let the phone settle back into its cradle as he considered what his informant had just told him. Some worthless scum from Lung's gang had attempted to rob the home of one of his employees.
Employees who were loyal in every sense of the word. Max Anders sat back, considering this development. There had been rumors of Lung growing bolder, that he might have recruited another parahuman. He had dismissed them, as the reptile did not make use of this supposed new asset.
But this was the third time that ABB gangsters had invaded or done damage to properties in his territory in recent weeks. A test, perhaps? The would-be dragon trying to flex his muscles?
Whatever it was, a reminder was in order, to show the lizard his proper place.
He picked up his phone and considered who would send the best message. A smile curved his lips for a moment and he dialed a number.
"Hookwolf," he said when his lieutenant answered. "I have a job for you, Stormtiger and Cricket. One that I believe you'll enjoy."
--
567
chibipoe
May 26, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.2
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jun 9, 2015
#3,365
3.2
Mornings were the worst, in Emily Piggot's opinion. Especially mornings where she had to read reports about yet another dismissal by an increasingly irritating thorn in her side.
Taylor Hebert had encountered Dauntless while he was responding to reports of ABB activity, rebuffing the hero before she departed and leaving him to deal with three incapacitated gang members. Of course, it was nothing that Dauntless couldn't handle, but at this point, she didn't know what irritated her more. The girl's continued refusal, her increasing capacity with her powers, or the fact that she couldn't curb the girl without causing potentially irreversible damage to the Wards program.
In the end, questioning of the three gangers had painted an unsettling picture, and her gut feeling told her something wasn't lining up. Setting down her coffee and the paperwork, she leaned back in her chair to think. The option to forcibly rein in the girl was looking better all the time. But until the girl misstepped, she couldn't. Her hands were tied. A situation she was never fond of encountering.
The girl's father, at least, hadn't made things any worse in the past few weeks. She had tasked an agent to discreetly check in on him at regular intervals, and sent the legal department to try and handle things on that end. Though he seemed withdrawn and defeated, she had not received any indication that he was going to do anything that would further exacerbate the situation.
What he's already done is enough, she thought as her chair tilted forward. She had been occupied with a particularly harsh treatment session when he came and filled out the paperwork before turning it in. It had been an unpleasant surprise to come out of the infirmary to find that someone had chosen that day to be particularly efficient.
Harsh questioning after Armsmaster's discovery had alleviated the worry. Whoever had filed the papers and sent them to legal was merely being overly helpful. It was whoever tampered with the computer system that irked her, even if they probably wouldn't be able to do it again, though much of Armsmaster's explanation on that front had gone over her head. More concerning was the fact they had no one responsible, leaving her empty-handed on all accounts. She had no Ward, no culprit, and no clue as to why it happened.
Consideration of the current issues before her dominated her thoughts as she stared into her coffee mug. The Hebert issue had to bide for now, though she knew the Wards in particular were displeased with their current orders. She would fill in the missing details in time but right now, she had a leak to plug. Or worse, a mole. The fact they had interfered with the due process of bringing in a Ward was secondary to the fact that they were actually able to in the first place.
When she was sure her house was in order again, then she would make her move. But right now, she would tend her unexpected black eye and prepare for the time when they knew who was responsible for this debacle so she had an outlet for her frustrations.
Picking up the papers again, she skimmed through the recent reports from the Wards with a practiced eye, absorbing the details that they offered regarding the Hebert girl's behavior. 'A few more pieces to my puzzle,' she mused as new notes were added and she once again rearranged the schedule of who would be required to approach her and when. The girl was recalcitrant, true, but Emily could afford to be patient a bit longer. It wasn't a problem she was unused to, merely one that rarely had an easy answer.
Her eyes turned from that schedule once the adjustments were done to the one from the Protectorate. A similar survey was done of recent Protectorate reports and she made similar suggestions to their assignments. Armsmaster was the final say there in day-to-day operations, but Hebert was under her purview and how she was handled was up to her.
A knock on the door drew her attention away from that task just as it finished. "Come in."
Miss Militia entered seconds later, looking preoccupied with something. "Good morning, Director."
"Such as it is," she responded blandly, centering her focus on the Protectorate's second in command. "What can I do for you, Miss Militia?"
She displayed a new folder, bearing the seal of the Brockton Protectorate. "Reports, from Armsmaster," she said before settling into a chair opposite the Director, handing her the folder. "We've gone through the backgrounds on everyone employed locally with the Protectorate, starting with those who have access to the computer systems on the Rig. Unfortunately, with no clear idea of when the PRT systems were compromised, we have no way of knowing if it's localized in the PRT or if we've been compromised as well. Armsmaster has been turning over our computers just to be sure. But for the moment, we're clean."
Emily Piggot grimaced, taking the folder and flipping it open as she shifted to make herself more comfortable. "So, three weeks have passed and we have nothing further on who might be responsible?"
Miss Militia shook her head. "Armsmaster is still checking both our systems, but the last update on that is a no. Our only clue still is that whoever it is logged in with an unnamed and untracked Admin account, something that shouldn't be possible. Not without accessing the mainframe here."
Releasing a displeased sigh, the Director busied herself with the task of straightening the papers on her desk and adding the new file to them to keep herself busy. "And it won't happen again?"
It was Miss Militia's turn to look frustrated. "Armsmaster says no, but since something like this shouldn't have happened to begin with as far as we can tell, I hesitate to apply certainty to anything."
The Director paused in thought, before nodding. "I see. I suppose for now, that will have to do. Once we ensure that the immediate leak is plugged, we can move on to finding out who it was. Anyone that can infiltrate us here has a chance to do so elsewhere." She reached over to one pile of paperwork, and pulled out a file. "In the meantime, have you heard anything promising from the others in the Protectorate regarding the Hebert girl?"
"Assault and Battery seem to be the ones who receive the most positive responses from her," Miss Militia said after a moment. "Due in no small part to Assault's habit of playing the fool, I expect."
"Mm," Emily responded noncommittally. "Perhaps. Would you suggest shifting them to be the primary contacts from the Protectorate to her?"
"It might work best. I assume you've picked out some Wards?"
"Vista and Flechette appear to have the most positive responses, based on their reports," she said, then paused to stare at the Protectorate second-in-command. "You obviously have concerns. Out with them."
"Is this truly necessary?" Miss Militia said after a long moment. "Why not simply approach her directly?"
The Director sighed. "We both know that right now, Ms. Hebert doesn't hold us in the highest of graces. Understandably, she blames us for what's happened with her personal life. Anyone in a direct position of authority is going to receive more direct scorn than the dismissals she has given those who have approached her."
She steepled her fingers before her face, watching the other woman over top of them. "Had I another option, I would pursue it. But at the moment, our only course of action is to talk. But before then, we have to find someone she'll talk to. Her father is no longer an option, since she has for all intents and purposes cut ties with him. We've attempted to approach New Wave about Glory Girl's apparent camaraderie with her, but they're stonewalling us."
"It feels wrong, though," Miss Militia said. "I mean, she has no wish to be a member of the Wards."
Emily sighed once more before nodding in agreement. "Unfortunately, that is an option closed to us. I was displeased that the forms submitted by her father were turned over to legal while I was preoccupied, but I cannot fault someone for doing their job, much as I loathe the headache the act has created. The papers are beyond my ability to have them be lost or misplaced, so unless we have probable reason to have her declared unfit to be a Ward or her father retracts her from the program, we have no choice but to continue."
Miss Militia's eyes narrowed. "There's someone else taking an interest then?"
"The reports on her powers have drawn someone's attention. As well as her situation. I do not know what goes through that man's mind, but he clearly believes he can salvage the situation in some manner and there were several recommendations made to me on how to handle the situation."
"Recommendations?" Miss Militia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why does that sound like anything but?"
"For now, he has only offered suggestions. But he has made clear that he feels the situation warrants attention on a deeper level from PR. While Armsmaster's efforts were well-intentioned, everyone involved believes that in his search for the still-unclassified Parahuman, he misstepped in approaching Miss Hebert."
"Odd that they would task Mr. Chambers on something like this."
The Director snorted. "I believe it's to have a grasp of the potential media circus this could turn into when it goes public. It will do so at the worst time, I am certain. By taking an interest early, he believes that with his own methods he can rectify this situation."
"You don't believe he can?"
"I am skeptical, given how little progress we've made ourselves. I will admit he has experience in the matter, but I'm worried that he may be too forward in his own way and will sour the progress we've made."
"You've voiced that concern, I take it?"
She nodded curtly. "I have. He has apprised the Chief Director of the situation, and she is in agreement with him, so his directives will be followed once he has familiarized himself with the situation more, if we fail to resolve it ourselves."
Miss Militia stood. "I have a meeting with Armsmaster shortly, so I'll leave you to your work now."
The Director nodded absently, her attention already focusing on the financial reports she had to deal with since the end of the month was fast approaching. These, at least, possessed none of the stubbornness of a teenage girl, for all that they could be similarly frustrating.
~~~~~~~~
I was busy eyeing the fabric hanging in the air, moving it to and fro with only my thoughts and making adjustments to it. Needle and thread moved at my direction, creating a row of neatly arranged stitches. It had taken a bit of practice to become as precise as a machine, but the results seemed to be well worth it.
While I worked on the replacement costume, I had two mops on the other side of the kitchen cleaning up. Surprisingly enough, even one person seemed to make a mess of things and the whole building or at least the parts I used needed to be cleaned every few days.
The table was covered with papers and other items. The sum total of my current funds sat there as well, and it amounted to another week of food and whatever else I needed at the moment. Two if I was cheap about things. I finished the sewing and sat the mostly finished costume, focusing on my monetary issues.
I could continue to use my precognition to exploit the scratch cards, but I had started wondering if that was still the most effective means of supporting myself. I could start depriving the criminals I took down of their money or belongings, but that had me worrying if I was taking stolen goods that could be returned to someone. Or, as the Wards contract pointed out, have other consequences.
"It would be just my luck to help myself to their money and accidentally take evidence, or be accused of theft," I muttered, considering also that I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with taking from criminals, looting rights or not. I pushed the thought aside for the now, beginning to sort through my sketches while the mops squeezed themselves of excess water and the buckets lifted up in order to be emptied.
Everything else was laid out on the table as well. My sketchbook, from which I was creating a new iteration to my costume – hopefully one that actually hid who I was this time – and the books Vicky got for me. From the library..
Just like that, my thoughts turned to that surreal moment from weeks ago when I had been attacked… but wasn't. Nothing similar had happened since that I had noticed, but I couldn't help but be on guard. It was like chills went down my spine, and I found myself second-guessing if what was happening was real or another event.
I had pushed it mostly from my mind. I had no explanations for it and it hadn't happened again, but I couldn't separate completely from the unease it had brought. Vicky had picked the books up for me because it bothered me to go to the library.
One of the books floated over to me and opened, flipping to the page I had bookmarked. The book moved with me as I wandered to a nearby couch, settling down on it while I divided my attention between the book and preparing something to eat. A sandwich floated over to me on a plate a few minutes later and I sat it down on the nearby table, the book commanding most of my attention.
I finished the chapter and closed the book, turning my attention to dinner. The sandwich went quickly and I stretched out on the couch, considering again what I was going to do for a more permanent solution for money. My mind raced and eventually, I sighed, standing up and adjusting the hem of my shirt where it had bunched up, exposing some of my stomach.
Having no one else around meant I had gotten a lot more lax about what I wore in private. I had almost squealed in surprise when Vicky showed up the other day unannounced while I wasn't wearing any pants. She had laughed at my frantic rush to find pants, but said nothing about it then. All the same, my cheeks burned just thinking about it as I had been in the middle of cleaning when she came in to the sight of me, bent over with no pants on.
Vicky trotted that moment out often to tease me now, apparently enjoying how easily flustered I was. The thought made me grimace as I made my way to the bathroom. I hadn't figured out the best way to get back at her for that yet, but I would. I was sure of it. I brushed my teeth and crawled into one of the beds, switching the lights off with a thought and settling beneath the sheets.
Sleep rushed up as I made my head comfortable on the pillow, claiming me before I had finished.
White. That was all that I saw as I fell. And yet, it was not all. Amid the white, there was a city, the structures shimmering and unfamiliar. Towers of the same burning, pearly white reached into a phantasmal sky and stretched onwards forever in all directions.
Where was I? My descent slowed and I found myself standing on solid ground. I studied the towers, and knew what they were. But at the same time, I didn't. I could only feel that the towers weren't meant for me. They belonged to someone else, someone different. My purpose here was different, and laid elsewhere.
My eyes drifted to the blazing star that crowned the endless expanse of sky. It was white as well, but I knew where it was even if I couldn't see it. Gradually, I turned my eyes from the sky to the path before me. I passed buildings, but saw no one. Moments passed and I found myself turning, catching the briefest of glimpses of people. A child running in between buildings, or an elderly couple crossing the street,
But those were glimpses only and when I looked, there was nothing. I moved onward and though I knew the distance was further than I could imagine, there was no time before I found myself before a door.
My fingers curled around the ornate handle, but I hesitated. What was this place?
Home. That was the answer. This was the heart. All things started and ended here. And so did I.
How had I come here?
It was natural to always return. Why wouldn't I come here?
Who was I?
Everything. And only one thing.
I pulled the door open, knowing that answers lay beyond the barrier it represented.
Roaring flames leapt pass me from the open door, and an echoing cry filled my head.
I…..AM!
I clutched at my head as that voice pierced my mind, fighting not to scream. My eyes squeezed shut, then flared open to the sight of the earth, hanging like a jewel in the sky before fire filled my vision, beginning to take shape. The voice rang out again and this time, my own voice joined it….
I...AM… FIRE…!
A shrill, mechanical sound broke me from sleep and I woke up coughing on the smell of smoke. I coughed again, my eyes opening to the sight of the covers and bed I was laying in wreathed in flames. Panic seized me and I swung my arms at the flames, scrambling on instinct to get away from them before I was burned.
I almost screamed when I saw the flames move with me, tracing the motions of my arms as I flailed and tumbled to the floor. The floor was cold and tiled, a fact that I was grateful for after I landed in a loose tangle of limbs. The fire ate away at the bed and I drew in a shuddering breath, raising an arm that was still wreathed in fire to stare at it dumbly.
It didn't hurt.
My arm moved and the flames moved with it lazily, their motion almost a caress as they coursed across my skin. But there was no pain. A sense of warmth, yes, but my skin didn't blacken or blister.
"What…" I said, my voice raw from coughing as I tried to make sense of this. But then the flickering light of my burning bed drew my attention again. Then I realized, my bed was on fire.
Panic seized me and I drew on my powers, trying to calm the fire, to put it out. Instead, it blazed higher and I swore as the screeching of the smoke alarm intruded on my mind again.
"Shut up!" I screamed, crushing the nearest one with a thought and quelling the sound at least partially. A deep breath, then another as I blinked tears from the smoke that was continuing to fill the room and reached out. I could do this. If I could make things burn, I could put them out, right? Just have to make the fire do what I want, that's all.
Turning my mind on the blaze seemed to excite it as the flames burnt higher, faster, and hotter. I could feel as they hungrily consumed what was left of my bedding and began to sink fiery teeth into the wooden frame. Just had….just had to stop it. Had to make it not burn.
Another breath, then a fourth. I could do this. Calm down, Taylor. You can control fire, you can make it stop. But calm down first. Breath in… and out…
My eyes watched as the flames rose, then dipped, then rose again before dropping. In time with my breathing? I took another breath and watched the flames shift raggedly in time with my suddenly uneven breathing. I watched the flames move in time and I took one last breath, then closed the hand I had been holding out into a fist.
The same moment, I squeezed my eyes shut, preferring not to see the flames roar higher if this didn't work. After a moment, when I didn't feel the warmth on my skin, I cracked one eye open. Smoke hung in the air still, but the fire was gone. Even the flames that had surrounded me were gone.
I let a shuddering breath out and took in my surroundings. Distantly, another fire alarm was still going off somewhere in the building while I sat on the floor, outlines of my hands scorched into the floorboards as I stared at the smoldering ashes that were once a bed. I was unharmed, but unsettled. I took a moment, then another before pushing myself upright, finding that the edges of my sleeping clothes had flaked to ash as well.
I grimaced, but couldn't find it in me to be embarrassed as I went in search of the other fire alarm to shut it off. Hopefully, none of these were connected to an alert system. The last thing I needed was an actual fire response at where I was living. I skimmed ahead, checking to see if I was going to need to pack up and find someplace else to stay.
A breath I hadn't been aware I was holding was released when I found no signs of anyone coming to investigate. I frowned for a moment as I shut off the other fire alarm, wondering once more about this place before I watched some of the ash flake away from my skin. These were ruined, for sure and I would have to do a lot of cleaning up. I started toward the bathroom for a shower to take care of that first. My mind raced, thoughts whirling as I considered how to prevent something like this from happening again.
A city, cast in white.
I froze with my hand on the hot water dial, thinking of that dream, or nightmare, or whatever it had been… I couldn't remember anything like that before… It had felt… more than a dream? I could feel the details in my mind, remember them. But they flitted about. Abstract, ghostly. Each time I tried to settle on one to bring it into focus it darted away and I was left with vague impressions.
My hand closed around the dial and turned. Hot water cascaded down and I thought. I had to. Thinking, that was what I needed. I needed to think, to make sense of everything that had happened recently. Instead, I twisted the dial again, then plunged under the stream of water.
"Oh my god, what the hell did you do in here?" Vicky's voice intruded on my thoughts as I scrubbed at the floor where the bed had been. The smell still lingered, but I had managed to open a window to air out the worst of the smoke. I glanced up at her, half-smiling at the face she was making.
"Oh, you know me. Troublesome child, just thought I'd play with fire. It didn't go so well," I murmured, tossing the rag into a bucket and settling back. "How're you?"
"You know," Vicky said, looking between the scorched floorboards and me. "Trying to burn down a fire station has to rank up there on the irony scale or something. A fire in a firehouse? It's odd."
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, lifting myself into a standing position before staring at my soot-stained fingers. "What's up?"
Vicky twirled a finger in the air. "Oh, I got a visit from Piggy's people the other night, wanting to ask me about Sirin. I blew them off as usual, but… I was running around with Crystal then and she tattled to her mom, who told my mom. And now she's riding me about why the PRT is bothering me about some random cape. She doesn't like it."
"It isn't getting you in trouble, is it?" I asked, frowning.
Vicky waved a hand. "Not yet, but mom can get into moods over the stupidest things sometimes. She hates when the PRT pokes us and she doesn't like not knowing why."
"I don't want to cause trouble for you with your family…" I began, falling silent as she eyed me with a fierce look.
"You aren't," she said, still staring at me in a way that said she wasn't going to back down. "The PRT can get stuffed. Now come on." She stepped up, brushed me off and took me around the shoulder. "Let's go get something for breakfast. I already looked in your fridge and you've got squat."
"I was planning to go shopping today," I protested as she directed me toward the stairwell. "I need to get my shopping list and money and stuff!"
"You can come back for it. Let this place air out a bit. Hopefully no one will wonder why you smell like you've been in a fire."
"I kind of was," I muttered, shaking my head. "Know some place I can practice with my fire that won't be noticed?"
Vicky released my shoulder and crossed her arms. "Taylor, what did you do?"
I shrugged. "I was dreaming, I guess… and when I woke up, I was on fire. It didn't hurt me, but...well, the bed didn't share my apparent immunity."
Vicky arched an eyebrow. "Now you're immune to fire? What, were you hanging around with Lung?"
"If your theory were true, I imagine I'd get more than immunity to fire from him," I replied, rolling my eyes. "I don't know what the hell was going on. I woke from a dream and there was fire."
"Dreaming, huh?" Vicky asked, the teasing lilt unmistakable. "What were you dreaming about that got you so hot, then?"
I snorted. "Oh, put a sock in it. It wasn't anything like that, at all."
"Sure it wa –"
"At all," I repeated, glaring at her and she chuckled, holding her hands up to show she was giving up.
"Okay, okay, no risque dreams causing you to overheat, got it," she said and I merely groaned mentally, deciding to ignore her prodding. "What were they about, then?"
I walked past her to find where I had put my shoes, then changed directions so that I could get some fresh clothes first. "I don't know. There was a city…and everything was white. Then I saw the earth the same way we see the moon… and fire. Lots of fire."
The last thing I saw before stepping out of sight to change was Vicky blinking, then her voice called out. "Fire? You're saying you dreamed about a white city and fire then woke up to find your bed on fire with you in it, right?"
My arms caught in the sleeves for a second and I answered once I had pulled my head through the top of the shirt. "That's more or less it, yeah."
"First world cape problems," she said with a snort and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Anyway, I've been practicing with everything else but my pyrokinesis," I continued. "I'm worried that since I haven't used it since that time at the Boat Graveyard, not seriously, it might need to be used… or it'll just build up and up…"
"Until it bursts all over you and you set another bed on fire," Vicky interrupted and I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, we should make sure you get a handle on this and soon, before you run out of beds."
"You," I said, leaning around the door to be sure she could see my glare, "have a dirty mind."
"I'm not the one having dreams so heated that I set my bed on fire," Vicky fired back as I went for some socks and floated my shoes over. A moment later and I stepped out, glancing to where Vicky now stood, looking pleased with herself.
"Yes, yes." I waved a hand. "Go ahead and get the remarks out of your system. I'm sure you've thought of plenty already." I glanced around and then hooked an arm through a reusable grocery bag.
"I'll save them for later," Vicky said. "More fun to wait till there's people around. Then you do that thing you do, where yo –"
"Right! Let's go!" I interrupted, hating the way my voice squeaked as I shouldered past her and headed for the stairs, her laughter trailing after me.
The marketplace I had been doing most of my shopping at was a few blocks away. It sat near the edges of ABB turf. For all that I knew, it might've been owned or operated by them. But I hadn't been turned away yet for the lack of colors worn or otherwise, and the shops were friendly and the stuff cheap. Both factors made it good in my book. I'd been coming here for three weeks, and so far I hadn't left unhappy .
"How's things with you and Dean?" I asked. I picked out a bag of rice, dropped it into my basket and started looking over the selection of veggies. Vicky blinked and turned her head in my direction, forcing a smile.
"Oh, up and down." She shrugged. "Something's bothering him and he doesn't want to talk about it. Always seems so moody lately. It makes hanging around him a bore."
"That sucks," I said, dropping a green pepper and some carrots into my basket. Just a few more things and I could manage a stir fry, I was sure. "Any idea what it is?"
Vicky shook her head. "A bit, but it's a thing with his friends, like when he ran off that night we were shopping? Private club stuff."
"And you can't… erm, convince him to tell?" I asked, disbelief mingled with embarrassment at what I was implying.
She laughed. "Usually, yes, but he's been so moody it puts me off. He's no fun when he gets like this." She brightened. "But enough about that. Get what you need so we can go get breakfast. I've got a place you haven't tried yet that I think you'll love."
I smiled a bit. "Alright, just have to get a few more things and I'm done. Need to stop by the deli section for some meat and then I'm good to go."
"Looking for some beef, huh?" Vicky asked, grinning at me. I processed it for a moment, before the playful tone hit then I flushed and quickened my pace to get away. I didn't even look closely at what I was getting, simply grabbing something and tossing it in my basket before starting toward the front till. Vicky caught up with me once I was there.
I waited as the clerk started ringing my purchases up and I made room for them in my backpack, my eyes tracking the total cost and doing math in my head.
"Taylor?" Vicky asked, glancing at me with a grin. "You okay?"
I sighed. "As long as someone isn't making every other thing she says an innuendo, sure." I paid for the food and murmured thanks to the old woman before heading for the door.
"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," Vicky said, still grinning. "That was just too easy." I shook my head, but found myself returning the grin in spite of myself. "You seriously need to socialize more so you don't leave yourself open like that."
I honestly didn't know how to respond to that. I just shook my head and hefted my grocery bags, looking around the shopping lot. "Right. Where's this place you found for breakfast?" I asked, changing the subject as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. I looked around, nodding to the few shopkeepers out hanging signs or such that I recognized from previous visits.
Something moved from the corner of my eye and my precog kicked in. Hissing, I grabbed Vicky and pulled her down as I ducked. She made a protesting squawk as more than half of a car ripped through the air where our heads had been, slamming into and bouncing off the wall before and rolling down the sidewalk, sending screaming people scattering.
"What the hell!" she said, glancing in the same direction I was, at the mass of blades shaped vaguely like part of his namesake. Hookwolf. The metallic figure spun into a mind-twisting mess, faster than something that large should move, and another car was torn apart with a discordant screech as it hit the living mass of whirling metal.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she snarled, shifting and preparing to lunge. I caught her sleeve and she turned her head, an irritated look in her eyes. "What?"
"He's not alone," I hissed, jerking my head in his direction and she saw the other two. One, bare chested and wearing a tiger's mask, swiping his arms wide and shopfronts shattering under invisible forces. Near him, moving impossibly gracefully, was a blonde woman with two bladed weapons. She wore some sort of cage fastened around her head, I saw and whipped her weapons around, striking people with the blunt edges when someone got too close.
Cricket, Stormtiger and Hookwolf. But why were they here?
"What do we do?" I asked as we ducked behind the wrecked car that had flown over our heads. "You can just go try and stop them, but… I don't have my costume and it'll take me a few minutes to go back and get it…"
I glanced around, watching as they continued to tear up storefronts and destroy cars. They didn't seem to be targeting people in particular, but while I wanted to keep my identity a secret, I didn't want to leave Vicky alone to fight them while I ran off to get my costume.
"Can't you just swat them without anyone noticing? Your telekinesis doesn't leave any signs, does it?" Vicky asked, shifting and I knew that she was going to rush into the fray within the next two minutes.
"That might work for Stormtiger and Cricket, but I don't know about Hookwolf," I said, then grabbed her out of the way as something ripped past us, punching through the windows of the car we had been using as cover. Air?
"And what do we have here?" Stormtiger growled, his attention on us. Rather, on Vicky. "Someone wanting a fight?"
"Damn straight," Vicky snarled and she shot off just like I had seen her do with my precognition. Stormtiger recoiled for no reason that I could see, then swung his arm at her. Whatever he was doing had no effect, as expected, but an instant after, Cricket swung into her path. Vicky's arm came back to punch her and the Empire 88 member redirected her momentum somehow, sending her crashing to the road, carving a furrow as she did.
Hookwolf was moving as well while Vicky took flight once again, a fierce scowl on her face. None of them gave me any attention and I frowned, ducking towards a half broken storefront and peering around the damaged window. Was it some part of her powers? I knew she had an aura, but I'd never felt it myself. Maybe that was keeping their attention on her?
I could use that. I hoped. I didn't want to run off for my costume but I was sure I could help her without giving myself away.
Vicky, however, had other ideas and slammed into Hookwolf with the force of a train, sending him tumbling away and into the street. She weaved mid-air, dodging an attack from Stormtiger that carried past and sent part of a storefront collapsing inwards, driving several people who had not yet fled to the ground as Cricket strode back into the fight.
"I've got these three," Vicky yelled, sounding supremely confident. "Everyone get out of here!"
I swore at that, trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't assume they were stupid and knowing my luck, if I took off and got my costume, Stormtiger would put two and two together after seeing us together. I didn't want to take that chance after he had seen me with Vicky. Only an idiot would fail to connect dark haired girl with dark haired cape.
Vicky swooped down toward Cricket. The Empire Eighty-Eight member cartwheeled out of the way at the last second, drawing a frustrated growl from her. I watched as people began rushing from the area, some helping those who had been hurt to get away while others ran off, ignoring the fallen.
I have to do something. But what? I ducked to another section of storefront that had gotten broken, nudging a piece of debris flying toward me just enough that it missed. My first instinct was to look ahead, to see how the fight would go. Vicky was experienced. Would she need my direct help?
Maybe I could help indirectly… Throw the three of them off-balance the way I had done against those three gang members the night before… My focus shifted away from my thoughts as Vicky dove towards Cricket, who avoided her again and made it seem carelessly easy.
Only this time, Stormtiger's attack hit her head on. Vicky went flying in a careless tumble, but was airborne quickly, narrowly avoiding Cricket's lunging strike. I glanced toward where Hookwolf was and saw that he was continuing to tear up the area, seemingly confident that his partners had Vicky at bay. They weren't hurting her, but they worked together so fluidly that she couldn't land a hit.
Vicky… Worry filled my thoughts as I weighed my options. As long as they were keeping her busy, she couldn't counter Hookwolf and any time she tried to gain height and get around them, they found a way to bring her down and keep the fight more or less at their level.
My precognition flipped on and I watched as they began herding her once again. Her irritation and anger as they bounced in and out was working against her. They couldn't hurt her, but she wasn't going to be able to stop them. And Hookwolf….
I flinched as the metallic neo-nazi cornered a storekeeper in the future, and that set things in stone for me. I wasn't in costume, but I would have to help. I wasn't going to let them hurt any more people. I glanced around quickly, seeing that most of the people around were running away and not looking back. Then, taking a deep breath, I tracked Glory Girl's movement as she dove for another strike that would, as the others had, fail if I did nothing.
Cricket moved in a way that would carry her past Vicky harmlessly and leave her open to one of Stormtiger's attacks. This time, though, I caught Vicky's arm with my telekinesis and pulled it to the side, turning Cricket's dodge into a tumble as she inadvertently smashed herself into Vicky's fist and went sprawling.
There, I broke the pattern. Vicky looked confused for a moment, then glanced in my direction for a second before she focused on Stormtiger. That would give her some breathing room from being the mouse to their cats and I could focus on Hookwolf, who was moving toward the shop that I had seen him at.
Hopefully, I could keep him away from causing more harm without drawing too much attention to myself...
550
chibipoe
Jun 9, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Evolution - Relocation
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jun 17, 2015
#3,454
So, this is a side arc, an experiment, if you will. We'll see how it is received.
Evolution
Act I - Relocation
This is a recording prior to session number two of patient number 346's mental evaluation, Dr. Merkerbah Stane attending. This will be my second meeting with my new patient, one Emma Barnes. So far Ms. Barnes still seems unbalanced by the transition into new environs after such a traumatic event as to what I am led to believe happened, but I am confident that we have started to make progress. While she is not yet settled into our little town, she seems to be adapting, albeit at a slow pace.
I remain concerned, however, as the underlying issues to her recent mental break remain unresolved. Indeed, she is unwilling to even consider them in depth. Her father offered to share all that he knew, an offer that I declined, preferring that Ms. Barnes volunteer that information of her own accord. That she remains recalcitrant has proven troubling, but I am confident that she will, in time, offer insight of her own volition.
There are two figures that stand prominent in her world-view, one more so than the other, I have been able to glean that much from when she is willing to speak. Beyond that, she has proven frustratingly vague on revealing their identities, names, or significance in her life. She primarily identifies one as 'a friend' and the other has 'that girl' whenever we broach the subject. Both I believe are critical to understanding Ms. Barnes' most deep-seated issues.
While I believe that to be true, there is still something I am missing. I have a vague shape of the collapse, but not of where it started. My findings so far lead me to believe that there is something farther back in Ms. Barnes' past that is the keystone to her trauma. While discovering the identities of the two mystery figures will help both myself and my patient resolve her issues, I can't help but feel that unless this source is identified and resolved any progress made is only going to be temporary.
The information I seek is something that she seems unwilling to put forth and I find myself considering whether declining her father's offer was the best choice of action or not. Whatever information he had might by the key to unraveling the puzzle before me and aiding Ms. Barnes on her recovery…
"The papers you asked for, Mr. Barnes."
A sheaf of paperwork as thick as a finger settled on Alan's desk. The nineteen year old intern turned and walked away, presumably to head back to her desk. In turn, he tiredly stared at the pages laid out in front of him; all that he needed to bring a new office of legal representatives into being and provide them with everything necessary to do their jobs. Provided, the only one employed was himself and currently at the expense of the home branch back in Brockton Bay.
It was a promotion, undoubtedly. He was functionally now his own boss, and as new hires came in, he would be their boss as well. New Paltz was a thriving university town, and home to the State University of New York. It was just what he and his family needed. It was what Emma needed right now. A lush countryside surrounded the town, and there were plenty of kids her age. It was a peaceful place. And best of all, there were virtually no Parahumans or vastly powerful gangs. It was the perfect place.
Just perfect.
But he couldn't help but sigh that a week after her incident, Emma wasn't showing signs of getting better. "What do I do?" he muttered to himself. She still jumped at shadows, and combinations of red and green sent her into nervous fits. He had sprung for the best psychologist in town to try and help, but at home...at home he just didn't know what to do. Emma had always been so outgoing, so social and happy that he felt as if any problems would be obvious. But now it was clear he hadn't seen just how damaged she still was from that day until it was too late.
And now he didn't know how to so much as hold her without kid gloves because he was afraid. His baby girl, once so proud of herself, now hid in colorless clothing. She didn't smile anymore, or at least not behind the hair she styled to hide her face. The bruises were gone, but even so, in the course of the week, she had turned around completely. Introverted and quiet, nervous and distant.
"Mr. Barnes?"
He snapped out of his daze as the voice of Amelia, the intern, called out from the front desk. "There's a call for you Mr. Barnes, a Dr. Stane? He's asking if you have time to discuss something?"
"Stane?" He asked. Then it hit him. The psychologist he had hired. "Of course! Pass the call to my phone, would you, Amelia?"
"Of course Mr. Barnes," echoed back to him from the front desk, as a light on his desk phone lit up. Almost immediately, he picked up. "Barnes. Dr. Stane?"
"Here, Mr. Barnes. I was calling in order to discuss your offer of information. Initially, I turned you down on the basis that by having your daughter naturally disclose, she would in turn be healthier for it. However, based on the scope of the issue, I believe it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if I reconsidered my stance."
He nodded, regardless if the Doctor saw or not. "I see. If it's for Emma, of course. What would you like to know, Doctor?"
"Primarily, there are three things I was hoping you could clarify for me. Firstly Emma mentions two people, but doesn't explain who they are. She refers to them as 'a friend', and 'that girl' but the descriptions seem to be interchangeable. Do you happen to-"
"Taylor Hebert, and Sophia Hess," he said with certainty, cutting off the doctor. "Taylor was Emma's friend for years. They...they broke up eventually. She made a new friend afterwards, Sophia."
"Taylor….and….Sophia. Very good, Mr. Barnes, now please, go into detail if you would," the Doctor's voice requested, his tone thoughtful. Alan paused for a moment, running everything he could recall about the two girls through his thoughts before beginning to speak.
~~~~~~~~
"Tuh-Taylor?"
"Yeah, it's me, Ems,"
"I'm suh-sorry."
Emma shook her head and tried to bury it deeper into her pillow, fighting to banish the words as they drifted to the forefront of her thoughts once again. That hadn't happened. It couldn't have happened. Taylor couldn't have been there. She had shown she was strong, had cast Emma aside the way Emma had done to her. There was no way she had been there at the hospital, had been in the room and held her hand.
It was impossible. Strong didn't come back to pity the weak. Sophia had been taken, Madison deserted her, and she had been left alone and weak. She had tried to show that she wasn't, to prove she was strong, that what she had learned was true, that Sophia was strong and so was she.
And there had been no proof of strength. There had only been pain. Pain like that first time, only no one had arrived to interfere. She had fought and proved nothing but that she was still weak.
And she had nothing else now. No friends. No one who was strong, to show her the way. Nothing. Her father didn't know what to say, though that wasn't anything new. All that was new that he insisted she had to see that shrink. As if he could do something to help her.
But he couldn't. He couldn't make her strong. All he wanted was for her to talk about how she felt. Talking didn't fix things. Talking was pointless for proving oneself, unless you were using the words to show your superiority.
Like you did with Taylor? The thought made her flinch and burrow further into her bedding. Taylor was not Taylor as she was supposed to be. Sophia hadn't gotten the opportunity to talk to her during her suspension and when she came back, she was gone. Emma had tried to understand what had happened amid rumors flying through the school, ranging from the unlikely to downright ridiculous.
One had said that Taylor beat Sophia within an inch of her life with a cane, another claimed Sophia had gone crazy trying to kill the teachers before being taken down. A clear image of what happened had eluded her and the papers were shockingly silent given what she had been able to piece together. There had been mention of a disturbance, but no real details. One day Sophia had been there, the next she was gone.
Emma shifted, reluctantly turning to stare at the ceiling. In the wake of that, with her suspension ended, she had come back to Winslow, and a completely alien situation. Taylor was popular… had friends… and gave her barely any notice at all. It was like someone had switched their lives around. She was the one ostracized, left alone and scorned. She didn't even know why. All of a sudden, she was the enemy and Taylor was the popular one.
She had tried asserting herself, to put Taylor in her place, but nothing had worked and the one she had tormented gave as much attention to her as you would an ant. Something had changed and she fell back, simply watching. It had to be an act and all she had to do was be patient.
Emma had seen it then. She knew Taylor. How she acted, what she did when she was happy or content. There was none of that here. It was like watching a stranger who looked like the girl who used to be her friend. It almost like looking at herself. Taylor was the one the other two flocked to. Like Madison and Sophia had been with her.
No. No. It just wasn't possible. It couldn't be Taylor. That wasn't her. It would never happen. It could never happen. Taylor wasn't popular. Taylor didn't dress fashionably, or make friends. She didn't just ignore her. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she was sure that whoever that was, it wasn't Taylor, they only looked like her.
If there was something she was still sure of, it was that she was the one that knew Taylor best. She knew every habit, every pattern. She knew what made her happy and what made her sad, she knew the buttons inside and out. Of anyone in Brockton Bay, she knew what made her tick.
And that wasn't Taylor.
Emma exhaled slowly, raising one hand toward the ceiling. The room was so dimly lit that she could barely make out the outline of her arm. She closed her hand slowly into a fist, pushing down the thoughts of Taylor as she did so. She lowered her arm and then curled up, pulling the bedding tightly around herself.
Tomorrow, she had school, even though everything wasn't unpacked or even all here yet, but her dad insisted that she start fresh as soon as possible. So, she had this new school, where she knew no one. No history, friends, or anything. She was… unsure of what to do now. The pattern she had developed, that made sense, that made her strong was gone.
Without that, what was she supposed to do? Who was she supposed to be?
Emma fell asleep long before she figured that out.
~~~~~~~~
The main office for New Paltz High School was too bright and Emma found herself wishing for the lights to be dimmed. Anything that would lessen the headache she was feeling, or let her escape the looks she was sure that people were giving her when she wasn't looking.
"Well, Ms. Barnes, everything seems in order," the vice principal said, closing a manila folder as he spoke. He didn't take his eyes from his computer, though and she wondered what he had there. "I'll have someone show you around, but I did want to cover a few final things with you."
Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak while she waited for him to continue. "Now, I know you're probably used to something of a different environment than you'll find here at New Paltz. Brockton Bay being what it is and all. However, looking over some of the notes on your records, I want to make it clear that there is certain behavior we do not condone here."
She stared at the surface of his desk and shifted in the chair, trying to make herself smaller as his hands came together in the middle of the cluttered space. "Now, I'm not going to make an issue of it. We're having this talk and you'll go out of this room with a fresh start, I simply want to stress that the sort of activities that lead to your suspension at your previous school are absolutely unacceptable."
Taylor. He was talking about how she had proven she was strong. She didn't move from staring at the desk.
"Is that clear, Ms. Barnes?" he asked after a moment.
But she wasn't strong, was she? All of that and it was Taylor who had been strong, in the end, who had torn them all down. Taylor who was strong. And she who was weak.
"Yes, sir," she said quietly. "Is that all?"
He was silent for a moment and then he sighed. "That is. Ms. Calliver will show you around and escort you to your temporary homeroom. She's waiting in the outer office. I hope you'll enjoy your time here!"
Emma nodded and left the principal's office. One of the women at a desk looked up as she exited and locked her computer, rising.
"Emma Barnes, yes?" she asked with a smile. "I'm Stacy Calliver. If you'll follow me, I'll show you around and where your homeroom class will be." Emma nodded and fell in step behind her, following but barely listening as she was given the dime-cent tour. The school seemed in better condition than Winslow, but it was strange, all the same, to walk down a hall and not see students openly sporting gang colors or something that was in a questionable state of condition.
Everything was clean, well-maintained. Unassuming even. Winslow, while safe, always had that air of wariness. You had to be in control to be sure you were safe. Here, there was none of that. But she couldn't escape the sense that she was being watched, judged, that they knew she was weak.
"And here is your homeroom," Stacy said, pausing before a door that looked much like any other she had seen. The brunette offered her a sheet of paper. "This has your schedule and there's a small map on the back, if you get lost. Any questions?"
Emma shook her head, taking the paper and looking at it for a moment.
"Have a great day, Ms. Barnes," she said before leaving her standing in front of the door. Emma stared at it for a moment before tightening her grip on the paper and crumpling it slightly. A moment later, she steeled herself and went in.
--
So, here you go, for viewing. 3.3 is in beta and I am aiming for Friday for it. IN the meantime, enjoy this thing.
463
chibipoe
Jun 17, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.3
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jun 20, 2015
#3,489
3.3
Have you ever tried to take out a villain while trying to appear as someone merely cowering before the rampaging capes?
The question drifted across my mind as I tried to do just that. And it couldn't be against someone low-tier, like Boneyard or even Mush. No, I was trying to take down Hookwolf, while Vicky fought Stormtiger. And I was trying to do it in secret. Because I couldn't let him run wild the way he would if I went and changed into my uniform.
I have to figure out a better way to handle my costume in case something like this ever happens again.
I shoved that thought aside as Hookwolf stomped across a car, the blades and hooks of metal that made up his bulk tearing into it and leaving gouges of rent metal behind. I eyed the car as it shifted beneath his weight and an idea came to me.
That might work...
With a push of my telekinesis, the car roof collapsed inward, trapping Hookwolf's metal limbs. It did not, however, slow him down. He tore through the car with a metallic screech, leaving it an unrecognizable husk as his body reshaped itself and pulled free.. Okay, so that didn't work. What else was there?
Need something tougher to hold him. Something he can't cut through.
I turned my head, searching for something might work. Stone and concrete were out; they would just crumble as I lifted them up, and he'd be able to dig his way out. Maybe if I…just held him? I could do that, right? I was certainly strong enough. I could hold him in place till the other two were dealt with, and no one would know.
Right. If I could pull Mush's armor apart, then I should be able to do this. I glanced in his direction and started closing my power around him.
Just need to hold him. Don't want to crush him. The mantra repeated as I watched his forward motion halt and he began twisting left and right, clearly baffled at whatever was keeping him from moving forward. I had experience with fine control over delicate objects, but not with handling something that was actively fighting back against me. I could feel it as he tried to break free and I had to tighten my grip.
He was still moving forward, albeit slowly, the shriek of metal on pavement akin to nails scraping across a chalkboard. I tightened my focus in an effort to stop him, but he kept inching forward, pushing ahead by digging into the pavement for leverage.
Take away his traction… The thought drifted across my mind and my hold on him faltered for a moment. Hookwolf surged forward, what passed for his head searching left and right for whoever had held him. I didn't waste a second, reasserting my hold on him quickly. If holding him in place wasn't working, maybe…
Movement from the corner of my eye caused me to peek towards Vicky and Stormtiger again. Both seemed to be in a stalemate, with one trying to swat the other out of the air. Cricket was still slumped on the pavement, but she was starting to stir. I needed a way to take Hookwolf out before she woke up.
Take away his traction….!
I tightened my hold on him and envisioned the chains yanking him upward. There was a rasp as his blades tore free from the concrete and his limbs flailed uselessly at the air. I changed what I was holding him with into a perfectly smooth sphere and watched as he tried to keep his footing. It was almost comical as he began slamming himself against the invisible barrier holding him. It shuddered under the impact, but reinforcing it took almost no effort at all.
Without warning, he shifted from a vaguely wolf-like shape to a twisting, rotating mass of blades that slammed against every surface they could reach, countless pinpricks jabbing at the prison I had shaped for him.
Each felt like tiny needles being stabbed into my skin. Not overly painful, but constant and distracting. I shifted again to get a better look in the direction where Vicky was fighting Stormtiger, hoping that she had dealt with him. Unfortunately, she hadn't..
I strengthened the sphere around Hookwolf and started to relax when I heard sirens in the distance. As much as I didn't want to deal with them, I was more than happy to let the PRT deal with these three. I focused on where Stormtiger and Vicky were still fighting, then down to Cricket.
She wasn't there.
A flash of precog prompted me to throw myself back as the blade of her weapon sliced through where my shoulder would have been. She was faster than me and the precognitive image played out a half-second ahead of her movement. The weapon shifted and the future shattered, my vision exploding into proverbial stars as something solid rocked my head backwards like I had been kicked by a mule.
I fell back, hands going up to my face as warmth flooded between my fingers. I felt my hold on Hookwolf dissolve, heard the sound of him crashing to the ground over the ringing in my ears. But Cricket was nearby, and the only clue of her location was the sound of her feet. Spikes of panic ran through me as rubble nearby shifted beneath her weight. My foresight reassembled itself and I saw an image of Cricket's weapon rising for what I knew to be a killing blow.
I'm gonna die!
"No!" The denial was nearly inarticulate as I shoved with all that I could. I barely saw a look of surprise on her face as she went flying away from me. She crashed into the far wall hard, cracking it, and her weapons clattered to the floor. Cricket slumped slowly down the wall onto an overturned shelf. Her descent left behind a small trail of red and I settled back cautiously.
My precog kept running while I tried to ignore how much my face hurt and attempted to stem the flow of blood coming from my nose. I could hear Vicky shouting nearby in what was clearly a taunt. My power let me see why: Stormtiger and Hookwolf were retreating as Protectorate and PRT forces arrived.
With nothing showing as immediate danger, I relaxed my precognition a bit and just focused on ignoring the pain. A moment later, I heard someone land nearby and sure enough, a flash of blonde hair told me who it was.
"Taylor!" Vicky called out upon seeing me. I waved with one hand, but couldn't bring myself to say anything that wasn't a nasally wheeze. "Get someone over here! My friend's hurt!" She crouched down, the glint of her face coming into focus and I forced a weak smile.
"Geez, you're a mess," she said, worry clear in her voice. Her head shifted and my vision cleared enough that I could see she was scowling in the direction I had thrown Cricket. "Cricket's down over here, too!" I heard something shift and then Vicky was lifting me.
"C'n walk," I muttered, embarrassed at the way she was carrying me.
"Probably, but this way you don't fall on your face," Vicky said.
"L'te for th't," I retorted, shifting my grip and wincing as my nose protested. "St'pid."
"Hey, she's down and you're alive," Vicky returned. "That's a win in my book. They'll get you patched up and I can get Amy to fix you up later."
I snorted, and instantly regretted it as a fresh wave of blood burst forth along with a surge of pain. Vicky said something, but I ignored it as I squeezed my eyes shut. A moment passed and she was settling me onto what I thought was a stretcher while someone leaned over me.
"Miss, if you'll move your hand so I can take a look… thank you," the paramedic said and began prodding gently at my face. As gently as they could, at least. Even the lightest touches sent pain lancing straight to my brain, making a sickly crunching noise.
I choked off a scream and gripped the sides of the stretcher tightly, fighting the instinct to shove the medic away as they did something that made my whole world into pain for an instant.
"Sorry about that," a woman said, her voice coming from somewhere seemingly far away. "It's usually best to set it quickly. Preparing for it often makes it hurt worse." She began cleaning off my face and applied tape and gauze firmly around my nose. "Unfortunately, it's still broken fairly badly. You're going to need to see a doctor about it. Especially as they will want to keep an eye out for a concussion."
I shook my head. I did not want to go to a hospital. They would want to contact Danny and I wasn't going to deal with that while I was hurting like this. The fact that the PRT would likely jump on the chance to have me somewhere I couldn't just fly out of made it even less appealing. But the look Vicky was giving me told me I likely didn't have the choice.
"If you'll give us a moment, ma'am," a voice I recognized asked politely. I suppressed a groan, but at least it wasn't Armsmaster or Miss Militia. Velocity, at least, wasn't bad to talk to and he never hinted that he had any clue who I was out of costume, as far as I knew. The paramedic said something in response and moved off to offer assistance elsewhere once she had finished securing the tape.
"Glory Girl," he said, inclining his head. I saw a still unconscious Cricket being secured to a stretcher with straps that were more like chains and other heavy looking restraints. "Would you mind giving me a rundown on what happened here?"
"We were shopping when they started tearing through here," Vicky said easily. "I don't know why. They noticed us and my friend hid while I fought them. Cricket somehow got away from me and took a shot at her before I could stop it, but I dealt with her. Stormtiger and Hookwolf ran off as you guys arrived." She turned her head, and I heard something from behind me. Someone I couldn't see?
"Oi, Barbie," Assault's familiar voice said and I tensed slightly, then forced myself to relax. "Is it possible for you to go anywhere without breaking things?"
"I had very little to do with the broken stuff!" Vicky retorted. "That was all Hookwolf, Stormtiger, and Cricket."
"Skipper not out with you today?" he asked her, turning his head in my direction curiously. I shifted and my hair fell so that he didn't have a clear view of my face.
"I'm sure she's got better things to do than waste time on Nazis," Vicky said with a shrug. "Anyway, they want to keep an eye on my friend in case of a concussion, so I'm going to ride with her."
I turned slightly toward Vicky and shook my head carefully. "Don't w'nt hospital."
Vicky scowled fiercely. "Too bad. Either we go for for the doctor, or for Ames. That or live with a crooked nose for the rest of your life. Sounds like you're chewing gravel there." I glared at her, but didn't try to speak again as she was right about that much at least. I did sound horrible.
"So, you bagged Cricket?" Assault asked Vicky.
"It was a thing," Vicky said. "Sneaky bitch got a hit on Tay, though."
"You're lucky to just have a broken nose," Battery chimed in, having heard the last bit of Vicky's words as she approached. "You should have run away instead of hanging around. That's a good way to be collateral, or worse."
"Eh, ease up on her, puppy," Assault said. "She stuck around for her friend. That takes guts."
"As fascinating as this is," Velocity interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. He had been silent since Assault arrived, apparently making notes on a tablet. "So, you two were here and they just showed up? They weren't here for you specifically, Glory?" In the background, I could hear more cars pulling up and the stamping of feet. PRT agents?
She shook her head. "Nope. I don't know what brought them out. Really though, they're Nazis, do they need a reason? Maybe they decided standing around and yelling Sieg Heil or whatever it is Nazis do in their spare time was boring?" Velocity said something I couldn't make out, then vanished in a blur while Vicky continued talking to Assault and Battery.
I tuned out the discussion, looking around slowly. Some distance away, separate from the PRT and police that were doing what they could to clean up, stood a figure I had seen once or twice in my visits here. He was broad shouldered, something of an anomaly for the typical Asian build, given how muscled he was. Like every other time I had seen him, a slender asian man stood attentively at his right shoulder. No one had really told me who or what he did, but he appeared to be a figure of respect to a lot of people in the neighborhood.
What was it they had called him? Ken-something? I shrugged mentally, he was probably just checking up on the neighborhood. Whoever he was, the shopkeepers clearly had no problems bringing their concerns to him, and the next time I looked he was gone from the crowd, along with his companion.
"It'll save the ambulance for someone else who might need it, so if you want, I can fly you to the hospital," Vicky said, drawing my attention. I made a face, but nodded slowly.
"Right," Vicky announced as I agreed. "Air Glory Girl, flight of one, coming right up!" I climbed down from the stretcher, my hand tightening around its side as I regained my bearings. I hadn't noticed it before, but I was definitely more than a little woozy. My vision fuzzed for a moment, and I suddenly noticed that someone was holding me by the shoulders.
I glanced to my left and saw Vicky standing there, worry clear on her face as she held me up. "Come on, I'm getting you to the hospital. Ames should still be there and she'll get you fixed up." Both Assault and Battery had moved in two, at least from the corner of my eye, but had backed off when Vicky caught me.
However, Battery still looked concerned. "I'm not saying you shouldn't help your friend, but do you really think she should be flying in her condition? Especially with a potential head injury? It might be safer to let the paramedics take her…"
Vicky just shook her head. "I'll take it easy. Low and slow till we get to the hospital. Think you can handle that, Tay?" I nodded carefully, not trusting that the world wasn't going to spin around me again. How hard had Cricket hit me?
Vicky nodded. "See? Even flying low, we'll get there faster than the ambulance. And if my sister's taking a break, she might be on the roof."
Battery was still frowning, but she sighed and nodded. "Alright, but try to get her there in one piece, okay?"
"One piece?" Assault started to quip. "Fro-"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off in a pained huff as he was mercilessly elbowed by his female counterpart. This time, Battery actually smiled. "Just be careful Glory, and you too. Hanging around cape fights isn't the best idea ever unless you're a cape yourself."
"You two have fun with the Nazis," Glory said, lifting me into her arms and taking flight. I closed my eyes and just concentrated on keeping everything from spinning.
~~~~~~~~
Battery stood still for a moment, staring off after the departing figures. Her reverie was broken a moment later as her partner slung an arm around her shoulders.
"You're quiet," he said, voice low and pitched in a way that made her wish they were home and doing something else entirely. That, or he was still trying to get air back in his lungs. "Lemme guess, worried about Skipper there, right?"
"Ass," she hissed insistently, frowning at him. "Don't talk about that out here!"
"Oh, who's going to figure it out, puppy? It's not like she's got her name out there yet. I mean, come on, Glory had to be really worried if she thought we bought that story about her taking Cricket down while fending off the other two. Plus, come look at this." He dropped his arm from her shoulders and she grimaced at the loss of contact. Only one moment passed before his hand twined with hers as he lead her toward a broken storefront.
"Ick," she said in distaste, eyeing the smears of reddish brown on broken stone. "What am I supposed to- Wait…" She glanced at the floor, then at a spot directly opposite the damaged wall.
"You see?" he asked, crossing his arms in a way that said he was entirely too pleased with himself. "Guessing since she didn't have her costume, she took cover here… and Cricket blindsided her before getting punted into the wall. Pretty nasty hit too. You see that nose? Like a-"
"Like a?" Velocity asked, zipping over to join them
"A real mess. This place is trashed," Assault smoothly finished, waving a hand at the wall. "Looks like that's where Glory smacked Cricket into after she hit the civvie girl. Tay-tay or whatever Barbie called her."
"Armsmaster's not going to like this," Velocity said, looking around sourly. "The last thing we need are the ABB and E88 getting into a pissing contest over who does the most damage. Rumor is Lung runs this market, and he isn't going to let this slide anytime soon. Especially after his casino got hit recently."
"It is weird that they just came here out of the blue, though," Battery said. "I can't think of anything that the ABB's done to piss the Empire off recently"
"Besides just existing?" Assault shrugged. "Like Glory said, they're Nazis. Just being asshats is their reason for any given action."
Velocity just shook his head. "I'd agree with you on any other day, but Battery is right. They don't poke each other unless something sets them off. Kaiser wouldn't send three capes to trash a shopping district unless he was making a point over something. So what's the point?"
Assault shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine, honestly. Maybe an asian cut in front of Kaiser at Fugly Bob's? You know as well as I do it doesn't take that much to have him making an example of someone."
The group stepped out of the ruined storefront, and back onto the sidewalk. Velocity and Battery looking around at the damage while Assault kicked a pebble, sending it skittering across the lot before continuing. "Either way, they got busted. Glory held off two and conked out a third. Can't not call that a win. Kaiser tried something, and got bruised for it."
"Maybe," Velocity said with a frown. "There's more to this, I'm certain."
"And," Assault answered with a slight mocking tone, "you can go back to HQ and share your crazy theories with Armsy. We can file it right next to his crazy ideas on the firebird."
"Ass," Battery said, rolling her eyes. "Were you poking in his notes again?"
"No," Assault snorted. "But remember his last report on that? I bet you he has an alphabetized index filled with crazy theories. He was a bit obsessed with that at first, remember?"
"Anyway, the crews are done taking statements," Velocity said. "The clean-up crews need to get in, so we should split."
"Who's telling Armsy about this?" Assault asked. "Puppy and I are not it, by the way."
"Thanks ever so much," Velocity muttered, then raised an arm. "I'll do it. I'll be there and gone before you two even get started."
"There's a joke there," Assault said. "But it's beneath me. Just like-" He cut off as Battery elbowed him in the stomach again, the faintest hint of red in her face around the little that was visible behind her mask.
"Why do I have to keep hitting you? Do you enjoy it?" She asked sardonically.
"Well, I was thinking about you, me, whips and chains…" he began, dodging another attempt to elbow him.
Velocity shook his head. "Now that is my cue to leave. I'll see you two later."
"Bye, speedy!" Assault said, catching Battery's next attempt to punch his arm as the speedster raced away. "There, he's gone. So, wanna head home and…?"
"I can't believe you're serious, we're on the clock!" Battery protested.
"I meant to talk about this thing, but if you want to take time for a quickie…I won't complain."
Battery stared at him for a moment, then buried her face in her hands and groaned. "Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"
~~~~~~~~
Lisa clicked her tongue against the back of her front teeth, eyeing the results of their recent caper as she dutifully split the profits. The hit on the casino had proven lucrative, pulling in a hefty haul of cash despite the risks involved. She finished sorting the profits and the bonus provided by their boss into their separate piles, which were quickly swept up by her fellow Undersiders.
"Awesome, now I can go buy a real couch," Alec quipped, rifling the bills exaggeratedly. "I've got a nice one I've been eyeing. And all we had to do was raid the dragon-man's cave for something more comfortable than an upholstered stump. Think I got splinters the last time I sat on it."
"We're lucky that it was easy as it was. But we should lay low for a bit," Brian said, crossing his arms after stowing his own share. "Lung and Oni Lee weren't there, which was good, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to come looking for his money at some point. We should be scarce until something else gets his attention."
Alec shrugged, pocketing his cash. "Fine by me. Could use the time to get some new stuff. That one thug clipped my costume and I need to get it patched. What about you Rache?"
The butch girl just stashed her share as well. "Things," she said, before heading off to a corner with her dogs.
Brian looked at Lisa, raising a questioning brow silently.
"We can take some time off. I may have a job for us soon, but it won't have anything to do with the ABB. So, take it easy for now." Lisa then gathered up her own portion of their earnings and tucked it away.
"You're going out?" Brian asked after a moment when she didn't offer anything else.
"Have some errands to run, deposits to make, that sort of thing," she said with an easy grin. "Shopping to do, too."
"Will you need any help carrying?" he asked.
"It's appreciated, but a few of the places I have to visit are near places where you would get a less than friendly reception." Lisa shook her head, her expression filled with distaste. "They won't bother me, but…"
Brian scowled. "You're sure?"
"I'll be just fine, Brian," she told him seriously. "Not in their territory, just near it. Close enough that someone could wander over to start trouble though."
He looked worried and she merely grinned, patting his shoulder. "I'll be fine, seriously. Go take care of your own stuff. I've just got a few errands to take care of. Nothing that will get me into trouble or dangerous, I promise."
Brian stared for a moment and she began to worry that he was going to push the matter, before nodding and breaking into an easy smile. "Alright. If you do need backup, let me know. We should look after each other, being a team and all."
"You'll be the first to know," she told him before strolling out of the room nonchalantly. She exhaled once she was out of the building, an ill feeling in her stomach. Nothing dangerous… right.
She had withheld information from her employer and so far, there appeared to be no indication that he knew what she knew, the way he did sometimes. Whether that was because he was simply waiting to catch her in the act as he had done often at the outset of her employment or because he truly did not know, she was unsure.
Lisa thought it was because he didn't know what she was planning. Or maybe he did and was playing coy. That would be like him, to let her think she was fine and then pull the rug from beneath her feet. Before, with no way to tell when or how he used his powers, she had been completely at his mercy. Now, things had changed. There was someone who knew when he used his power.
She needed Hebert's help if she was to break from him.
Her plans were so much dust in the wind if Coil knew. She needed that ability, that capacity to know what happened when he split. With that, she had a counter to him. But approaching her was like walking on eggshells. The girl was paranoid, and flipped through emotional tracks faster than a busted jukebox. She needed something to give her some goodwill. If she just approached her and said she wanted something, she would probably get burned.
She hummed to herself, stepping onto the bus as it came to a halt. She absently dropped the fare into the deposit box and found an unoccupied seat, taking the one closest to the row to discourage anyone who wanted to sit beside her. She couldn't afford to wait forever. She needed to move soon. The longer she held off, the better the chances that Coil would know, or get tired of pretending he didn't.
The mall was her first destination and she spent a bit more time than necessary there, indulging herself with a few extra purchases. Life alone, and being financially secure had a few perks. But that wasn't why she had come to the mall. The real reason was out back, in an ugly van parked in the shadows.
She rapped on the side door, the metal pinging sharply before it cracked open and an unwashed face peeked through. Lisa frowned at the smell that wafted out, but didn't comment. "You have it?"
The man, more like a boy, looked around carefully before nodding. "Ya. The passwords and everything you gave me worked fine," he said before handing a sheaf of dirty paper through the crack. "There's more, but this is a good chunk of it. Man's gotta lotta money."
"He does, indeed," she said to herself, gingerly accepting the papers and tucking them away before handing over a taped bundle. "As promised." The bundle was snatched quickly and she heard paper tearing before he looked up.
"Good. You know how to reach me if you need anything else," he said, the window rolling up without another word.
The meeting over, she looked over the papers as she walked away. Hardly a quarter of what amounted to Coil's empire, but it was a start, to go with the other bits and pieces she had put together. She couldn't move against him now, but she could prepare. Make sure that when the time came, she could pull his empire down around him.
He had recruited some others recently, though she was certain he had not pieced together that she had realized that. They hadn't done much in Brockton Bay yet, but she had traced enough of his finances to piece together that he had hired them, if not the why of it yet. He was planning something. Something big.
Hopefully, whatever target was being painted, it wasn't on her.
~~~~~~~~
Maybe it was the fact that it hurt to keep my eyes open, but I could feel the people around me more clearly than usual. Their emotions stood out in stark relief, creating a tapestry that dazzled me. Vicky was a mix of worry directed at me and certainty that her sister could fix everything. Her sister, even some distance away, I could feel as well.
Her emotions were a more sour note in the flow of things that shone like a beacon. Displeasure at having to wait, irritation that her sister was asking her to heal someone and… jealousy? I knew, with an instinct I couldn't place, that it was jealousy, directed exclusively at me.
Amy Dallon, Victoria's sister, was jealous of me? Why?
I had barely asked the question of myself before I realized the answer. The patrols. The time spent together. Countless little things adding up. Was she jealous of the time I was spending with her sister? The pieces fell into place carefully and I frowned a bit. Vicky had been around a lot since I went out on my own. Amy having issues with not seeing her sister as much made sense. I tugged at the strands of color, trying to decipher them completely as we got closer to the hospital.
There was something I was missing in the web of emotions radiating from Amy, something I couldn't quite identify. Maybe she was burying so deep I couldn't identify it? Either way, I was shuffled off to an empty room to get healed shortly after we arrived. A nurse looked me over, checking the gauze and replacing it as well as helping clean away where blood had dried on my face and neck.
"Amy will get you fixed up," Vicky said confidently after the nurse left. "I texted her and she's got a couple of others she has to finish helping then she'll be right over."
Strange. I could feel Amy, and she was close by. But she wasn't actually immediately near anyone. None of the people that I could feel near her gave any impression of being ill. I nodded faintly to Vicky's words, keeping my eyes closed as I tracked Amy by the emotions she radiated.
Was she….was she standing us up? She didn't dislike me that much did she? I racked my brain, trying to think of what I might have done that would inspire this sort of distaste. but all I kept coming back to was the thing I had noticed before.
Jealousy.
"Maybe," I said, swallowing once before trying again. "Maybe you could go check on her? I think she might be…" I trailed off, trying to think of a way to convey what I wanted to say.
Vicky interrupted before I could. "Yeah, I'm going to go check on her. It doesn't usually take this long." She slipped out of the room and I focused on my breathing, ignoring the random stabs of pain that came from shifting my face the wrong way. The pain had mostly faded to occasional throbs, but it wasn't going away anytime soon.
Strangely, the pain was clarifying. It was like a focus, dulling the other senses almost. It was strong, but not dominating. It let me look outside myself and at the emotional web around me with a newfound clarity that I hadn't had before. I tracked Vicky that way, saw when she found her sister.
A flash of emotion ripped through Amy in that instant and was buried just as quickly. I was almost able to recognize it, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It had been a strong emotion, something invested. It left a churning feeling in my gut, but not because it was sour or wrong. Rather, that sense of familiarity, of knowing it made me nervous.
What I did notice and identify, though, was what had buried it. I knew that well. Guilt. Amy piled it high and deep over the emotion. I observed while puzzling over it, turning my attention more to the other emotions on display. Stubborn refusal, punctuated by flares of anger as Vicky's temper spiked. Then, after a moment, her resistance crumbled and she began moving after Vicky, albeit slowly. The defiance that had filled her replaced by a sense of pointlessness.
As if she felt there was no reason to argue with her sister, that her complying with her sister's wishes was inevitable…
I frowned at the thought, trying to decipher the riddle of Vicky's sister as the door clicked open and Vicky returned, Amy in tow a moment behind her.
"'lo, Amy," I said, watching as dislike and jealousy spiked in my direction. I couldn't argue it now. Those were definitely aimed at me.
"Taylor," Amy said, the single word clipped. "Do I have your permission to heal you?"
"Sure," I said, raising a hand absently. Amy nodded and touched my hand. A moment after she did, the pain in my face vanished and I must have made some sort of sound as my nose shifted in a way that did not feel good at all.
"Hey, Ames, can you fix her eyes so she doesn't have to wear contacts?" Vicky chimed in cheerfully, apparently oblivious to the undercurrents of emotion her sister had toward me. Amy's emotions spiked again and for a moment, the negativity coloring her emotions was almost frightening.
"No, that won't be necessary," I managed to say. Without a crushed nose, I was able to actually speak clearly. "I'll look at the mundane options for that. Fixing my nose is fine. Thank you, Amy."
The negativity hung around Amy for a moment, clearer than words and I resisted the urge to pull my hand away, when it was suddenly replaced by a sudden, overwhelming dread. In the space of an instant, she had switched from disgruntled to almost outright terrified. Her hand recoiled like it had been burned and my bare skin was a fire before she backed away as fast as she could. Just before she did, my vision shifted and I winced.
"You've got perfect vision now," Amy said shortly, the blob of color that represented her turning toward her sister. "Happy?" Then, with what I thought was a glance in my direction and another spike of that almost-terror, she all but ran from the room.
"Amy!" Vicky said. "What the hell?"
I held my eyelids open and floated out the contacts, relief flooding me as the room snapped into focus. She had fixed my eyes after I had said no. Out of fear? Or some other reason? I put the confusion over Amy Dallon and her feelings aside.
"I'm sorry, Taylor, I don't know what's up with her," Vicky was saying. "She wouldn't tell me why she was stalling… and now she just ran away for no reason."
"You should go check on her," I said gently. "Maybe she's missing her sister? We have been hanging out a lot. I can manage to get back to the firehouse on my own."
"Are you sure?" Vicky asked, frowning at me as I deposited the now useless contacts in the trash. "I mean, even with her fixing your nose and eyes… you still got hit pretty hard and she doesn't do brains."
"She would have mentioned if I was bleeding though, right?" I asked before making my next words insistent. "Go. Make sure she's alright. I'll be fine." There was a moment where Vicky looked torn, then her hesitation faded and she nodded.
"Right, I'll give you a call later," she said and left the room in pursuit of her sister.
I looked at my shirt and the blood staining it. At least I had somehow avoided getting anything on the jacket. Swinging my legs around, I stood up, waiting for any sign that the room was going to spin around me. When none came, I relaxed and adjusted my jacket to cover the stains.
My precognition unfolded and I sorted through possibilities that fit what I wanted while tracking the movements of Vicky, Amy, and the countless hospital employees.
How do I get out of here without being stopped or noticed?
A moment later, I pushed open the door and fell into step just behind a group of doctors talking about a surgery one of them was participating in later today. I turned left as they went right and I continued on my way, following the map laid out before me that would take me out of the hospital.
~~~~~~~~
He surveyed the damage done to his casino with distaste. Investments ruined, his reputation and that of those who had tied their banners to his own damaged. It was unacceptable.
"Sir?" his lieutenant said after the silence drew out, unable, as always, to keep himself composed, to stay in one place. The trait served him well at other times, but when silence was needed, it was not a place for restlessness.
"Lee, go inquire of our visitor," he said, directing his second and adjusting the cuffs of his shirt while he did so. The buttons were undone discreetly as Lee approached one of them. Dauntless was his name. He remembered. The faces of everyone he had fought were embedded in his memory. This one had even scored a hit on him with a weapon not unlike the one he carried now.
He had taken great pleasure in breaking that weapon across the so-called hero's back. But that was the past and this was the present. Dauntless, as he called himself, did not know him as anything more than the manager, a man who seldom spoke to anyone.
"Ah, Mr… Nakamura, was it?" Dauntless asked as Lee approached, wariness clear in his body language. Something had put him on edge? Perhaps he was not as foolish as he seemed.
"Nakamura-san, please," Lee said blandly, crossing his arms behind his back. "Have you found anything on the ones responsible for this?"
"Unfortunately, there isn't much we know, Nakamura-san," he said, an apology clear in his voice. "They're a relatively new gang, called the Undersiders. The information from your employees matches what little we know."
The Undersiders. An absurd name. A weak one. "I see. Thank you, then. I have remodeling to arrange, it seems, so if you'll excuse me." He didn't wait for the hero's acquiescence and simply walked away. Lee was too hasty, too filled with the need to be moving. He had leashed that, given it direction, but it still tugged at him from time to time.
Lee said nothing as he returned to stand at his shoulder, knowing that he would have heard all that was said. The Undersiders. Children. Filled with thoughts of their own invincibility. He would need to correct that. There was another matter than demanded his attention now, however.
"Come," he growled, walking back toward his office, then down through an entrance tucked away there to where his newest lieutenant was working. His mask was on a table near the door, and was quickly replaced by his shirt as he became Lung once again. There was no one else but Lung, but times sometimes required he put that aside as to move with at least minimum discretion.
The Empire had struck against what was his. Had injured those under his protection. Why, he knew not. Nor did he truly care. This was an insult he could not abide.
"What do you have?" he growled as he approached the woman. She was working intently and almost jumped at his speaking.
"Boss!" she said, then straightened and turned toward another table, replete with machines that she had been building for him. "I've got a few more to finish, but almost everything you asked for is there."
"Good," he rumbled. "Lee, you will place these where I instruct. Then, we will teach Kaiser why it is unwise to provoke me."
--
Man, Taylor's just bad at this secret identity thing, isn't she?
Last edited: Jun 30, 2015
535
chibipoe
Jun 20, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.4
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jul 25, 2015
#3,664
3.4
"Then everything changed when the Air Empire attacked," I said, mimicking the girl narrating the show. I was watching television in my hideout, curled up in a chair with a blanket wrapped around me. Even after being healed by Amy, I hadn't felt like going out the past few days. The close encounter with Cricket still stung, as well as the fact that she knew who I was. Or at least knew my face.
She was in PRT custody now, but if she ever got out… I still remembered how close she was to killing me, the way she had stood over me, weapon raised in what would be a killing blow if I had been a hair's breadth slower in shoving her away. It was frightening.
So now here I am, hesitating and hiding in my hideout. How appropriate. How do I handle this? I honestly don't know. Which was why I was still sitting here, watching a show I enjoyed in order to distract myself. I heard a door squeak somewhere within the building during a lull in the television sounds and my precog spiraled into effect as I mapped out the most effective means of dealing with whoever intruded.
"Anyone home?" a voice that I recognized called out. Dismissing the visions, I raised a hand in greeting for Catherine and Minako as they came up the stairs into the living space that I was curled up in.
I switched off the TV after a moment and stretched. "Sorry I didn't notice you come in. Got sucked into watching The Last Firebender. How are you two?"
"Well, we heard from a source that you got roughed up a bit and thought we'd come visit," Catherine said, grinning. "And watching Firebender, huh? How far in are you?"
"I just finished Season two, where Zuko nearly got sliced in two by that crazy Airbender," I caught myself about to touch my face where I had been hit by Cricket. I put my hand down and smiled sourly, "They were running a marathon before season three starts."
"That was a horrible way to leave things!" Catherine said. "The Earth Kingdom's fallen and Zuko's hurt really bad."
"It will be all right, I think," I said. "He's got to face the Air Emperor still."
"I do not mean to interrupt, but we are here to inform you that you will be going out with us," Minako said, a frown creasing her normally serene features. "We have to visit Chronicles, but there was another matter we wanted to discuss before we do so."
I glanced between them, noting the frown on Catherine's face too. They were practically radiating discomfort. "What's going on?"
"Well, we met someone last night," Catherine said, her frown shifting into a scowl. "Lousy know-it-all loudmouth…"
"Catherine," Minako chided, interrupting what was clearly the beginning of a rant. "While she was abrasive, the person we met insisted that she wanted to talk to Sirin. She seemed certain that we would know how to get in touch with her."
"What," I said flatly. I felt my stomach twist unpleasantly and shook my head, not sure I had heard her correctly. "I… what? Someone just came up to you about me?"
"Some blonde twit," Catherine groused. "Said her name was Tattletale."
I shook my head. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place where I had heard it. "I don't know her." Another person knows who I am? And was harassing my friends to get my attention? That burned.
"There was one other thing," Minako spoke ahead of whatever Catherine had been about to say, cutting off another potential rant. "She had a time and place to meet, but she wanted us to carry a message to you. She seemed absolutely certain you would come once you heard this."
"I can't imagine there's something that someone I've never met could say that would make me want to meet them, but okay." I shook my head, trying to make sense of this as I gathered up the blanket off the couch. Truthfully, I was curious why someone I'd never met was trying to get in touch with me. Someone who knew who I am.
"'I can tell you the truth about the library'," Catherine said. "That was her message."
I froze in the middle of folding the blanket, certain I hadn't heard her correctly. "Repeat that."
"She said to tell you that she can tell you the truth about the library," Catherine repeated. "I'm guessing that makes sense to you?"
I exhaled. "It does. I don't like it, but it does make sense. She gave a time and place?"
"Mall, seven pm, food court. She said she'd find you," Catherine said, her distaste morphing into worry. "You really do know what she's on about, don't you?"
"As much as I wish I didn't, yes," I muttered, mulling over her words. The food court at seven? That was one of its busiest times. Going as Sirin would draw all sorts of attention, but…
I felt like I had been doused with cold water. She knew about the library. That meant I could confirm that another person knew that I was a cape. And I didn't even know this person at all.
"Why the hell do I even bother with a mask?" I snarled, slamming the blanket down onto the couch. "I should just use my real name. That would be more of a secret identity than what I have right now!"
"No one would expect a cape to actually use their real name," Minako pointed out. "They would assume it to be a trick of some sort."
"Not helping," I grumbled, running a hand through my hair as I considered what to do. "Okay. Seven pm. That's a few hours away. You two up for a trip to the mall?"
"You want us to come with?" Catherine asked, the beginnings of a smirk forming. "She gave the impression that this was a come alone deal."
"And?" I snorted dismissively. "She jerks you two around to deliver cryptic messages to me. After the library I'll be damned if I walk into a possible trap alone. What she wants or doesn't want can go hang for all I care."
"This library thing bothers you," Minako observed, a crease forming between her eyes. "What exactly occurred?"
"Didn't I tell you two?" I asked with a frown. They shook their heads and I sighed. "Damn it, I thought I had. Well, a few weeks back, before… well, all of this…" I waved a hand at the interior of the firehouse before giving them a summary of what I had experienced.
Minako nodded slowly after I finished. "And nothing similar has happened since?"
I shook my head. "Not that I've noticed and it's kind of obvious, at least to me, when it happens."
"So, we're with you on this then. We can hit Chronicles and then swing over to the mall," Catherine said after a moment of thought. "You do want us with you when you talk to her, right?"
"Just nearby," I said, trying to decide how I wanted to deal with this. "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, that sort of thing."
Catherine nodded. "We can do that."
"We should go soon, if we wish to manage our other errands before then," Minako said. "Christa Poe is speaking at Chronicles shortly with another reading and I would like to be there."
"Let me get dressed and we can go," I told them, heading toward the bedroom to change.
"Does it smell like something got burnt in here?" I heard Catherine say behind me and I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to answer.
~~~~~~~~
Krouse stared at the immense doors with a scowl, glad that his mask hid his expression. "And you're sure she'll be fine here? That you can help her?"
"As I've explained before, I have contacts and resources already devoted to finding a solution to Ms. Meinhardt's condition," the almost unhealthily thin man murmured smoothly. "Anything within my power will be done for her."
He nodded slowly, not looking at the other Travelers arranged behind him. They weren't happy with this arrangement, but they didn't have any other options at the moment. Accord didn't want them in Boston after what had happened before Coil had offered his help with Noelle. He just had to hope that there was a solution. The alternative wasn't one that he wanted to entertain. They were in it together. All of them.
"You said you had a place set up for us?" he asked as the rest of the Travellers looked expectantly at their host.
Coil didn't miss a beat as he nodded, waving a hand down a different concrete hall. "Indeed. I took the liberty of arranging rooms nearby for you. If you'll follow me?" He didn't wait for a response, simply starting down the hall. Krouse followed after a beat, the others continuing to trail behind him by a short distance.
"You mentioned jobs that you would want us to do while we're in your employ," he ventured after a moment. "What do you want done?"
"Yes. As per our agreement, I do have a few tasks lined up for you. It would be preferable if you were prepared." Coil pushed open a door and walked into a wide, nicely furnished common room. "The first task will take place in just a few days. Your abilities will explicitly be needed for it. There is an asset I intend to acquire and I'll need you to divert attention at the appropriate time."
"An asset?" Ballistic's voice inquired and Krouse bit back a sigh, hoping that this wasn't going to be a repeat of Boston. Established villains like Accord and this Coil weren't known for being the most stable of individuals. Questions were better off not asked unless offered.
Coil did not appear to be offended, however, making an absent gesture. "Indeed. Once I have it secured, it will prove beneficial, both to myself and your group. All you need to do is secure it when the opening is provided."
Krouse frowned beneath his mask, but nodded slowly. Just acquire something for him as their first job? They could do that. All they had to do was make sure no one got hurt. "I don't see a problem there."
"Excellent," Coil said. "I'll provide details closer to the date. For now, feel free to get settled in. Every necessity is provided. There are individual rooms off to the sides, as well as one for the the unique needs of your companion, Genesis."
The rest of the group said nothing, but he could feel them shifting awkwardly, particularly the smaller form that Genesis had taken for this meeting. He himself was not pleased at hearing this. How much did this Coil know? How did he know?
He hated unanswered questions. But he knew better then to ask them. This would work. It had to.
"I shall leave you to get settled, then," Coil said pleasantly, slipping out without another word. The rest of the group did not say anything to him after their host had left, scattering to different parts of the room, Genesis leaving to retrieve her actual body. The tension left him, and he flopped into a chair and pulled the rim of his top-hat over his face. This would work out. It had to. He wasn't sure what they would do if it didn't.
~~~~~~~~
The food court was bustling when I arrived. I looked around for a moment, but there were so many girls with blonde hair around that picking out which one was Tattletale would be a waste of effort. Muttering in irritation under my breath, I started toward one of the miniature restaurants and ordered some fries to nibble on. If she wanted to talk, then she could come and find me.
I let my eyes wander around the food court while I waited for my food, looking for a good place to sit. There were a few open seats near the windows, but I wasn't going near those if I could help it. I collected my tray and took a corner seat away from the windows. Not as far away as I would prefer, but the tables were mostly filled. Catherine and Minako had come in from a different direction and were keeping their distance. The fact that they were still close by in case something went wrong lent me a feeling of comfort. Minutes passed and I found myself growing bored as no one approached.
My thoughts turned to whoever this Tattletale person might be and I squeezed out some ketchup in the basket holding the fries. Maybe she was one of the other independents in Brockton Bay? I picked at the fries, rolling one around in ketchup and tracing patterns idly. I knew this. I'd heard the name before, recently even. She had apparently heard of me at some point. So why couldn't I place it?
The biggest thing bothering me was that she knew about the Library. I didn't know the first thing about what happened. The fact that someone else did left me feeling more than a bit irritated. I bit off a fry, then pushed the tray away slightly, realizing they had grown cold already. I stared at them for a moment, then glanced around the food court to see if anyone was looking in my direction. Maybe I could heat them up?
Taking a deep breath, I extended my powers, thinking of how I had managed to make things burn. Warmth flooded over them in a rush and I drew the power back quickly before they caught on fire. A tentative touch told me I was going to have to wait a minute for them to cool now. I had overdone it. Well, not bad for a first try. At least I hadn't burnt them.
I turned my thoughts back to Tattletale. So she knew about the Library. That was a start. How she knew was the question. Where could someone even-
I blinked, a flash of memory hitting me. The Library. There had been a blonde there, hadn't there?
"No way," I said to myself, frowning. "It couldn't…"
"Cold fries suck, don't they?" an unfamiliar voice asked and I looked up to a lightly freckled blonde standing nonchalantly in front of my table. She frowned for a moment as if something didn't make sense to her. "Mind if I sit down?"
I didn't immediately respond, instead just looking at her. And surely enough, recognition bled through. The smile especially. It was the same girl from the Library. The one that was off in the aisle, watching… Suddenly, I couldn't help but feel a spike of hostility as I made the connection.
She had been watching alright. She had been watching me. There was no other explanation for it. Her smile faltered, slipping for a half-second as I let my defenses down and felt a sudden drop in her confidence as it was overtaken by a split-second of panic, before control was exerted and she was smiling again as if she had never stopped.
"I'm not stopping you from sitting down," I finally said, though the words felt hollow. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and centering myself. Getting angry wasn't going to help me here; I needed calm.
Like this? Just like when I had been trying to figure out what to do with Hookwolf, it was as if I prompted myself into doing something with my powers. My anger dissipated, leaving calm reason in its wake. "What do you want?"
"Well, I wanted to talk to you, you know, girl to girl," she said with a grin that I couldn't quite identify. Not quite smug, but bordering on it. Like she knew something no one else did and found it hilarious that she was the only person in on the joke. It wasn't, I decided, a grin I liked.
"That's great," I said, unwilling to be baited into whatever game she was playing. "What do you want? Or am I going to be meeting more soldier friends?"
"No," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Someone would have to be insane to launch that sort of attack in the middle of a crowded mall."
"The downtown library around lunch time is okay, though?" I retorted. "I'd ask what the difference is, since clearly someone thinks there is one."
"I had nothing to do with that," she responded. "I was just scouting for a possible recruitment offer."
"Recruitment…" I let the word trail off before laughing, the sound a touch off-key. "That was a job offer?"
"The health benefits are unreal," the blonde said with a lopsided grin. I stared at her for a moment, struggling to rein in my temper at her joking.
"What do you want?" I finally forced out, the words bitten off and tense. I didn't come out here at the lure of this person to endure a comedy routine. "If it was to annoy me with bad jokes, then I'm just going to leave. If you're here to talk to me, then actually do it."
She was silent for a moment, before nodding and offering a somewhat more sincere smile. "Right. Business then, I suppose. I guess I should actually introduce myself. My name's Lisa."
What I told Catherine and Minako about my real name being a better secret identity than my cape name came to mind. If she knew who I was, then there wasn't any point in trying to hide my name.
"Taylor," I said, giving her an unfriendly look. "But you already knew that, right? You said you knew about the library. I guess it's because you were there."
Lisa held her hands up. "Guilty."
"You were watching me," I said, thinking back to the moments before everything had gone crazy in my mind. "Why? To see how I reacted to… whatever that was?"
"I was only observing, to get a feel for you and your personality," she said. "That's all. I had no idea something was going to go down, or not go down as the case may be."
I narrowed my eyes at that. She did know. But there was something else I caught onto there. "Observing for who?"
Lisa shifted slightly, her shoulders hunching in and I felt a current of fear trace through her being. "My…employer… if you will."
"And this job offer you mentioned?" I asked. "From him? You?"
She grimaced. "Both. I wanted –" Whatever it was that she wanted as cut off as something caught her attention in the parking lot below. Her eyes widened and I before I could lean forward to see what she was seeing, I heard a muffled screech and the muted sound of metal scraping against concrete. Shouting rang out from others sitting near the window, and by the time I could see there was a giant woman in armor with a spear approaching an overturned armored car.
"PRT prisoner transport," Lisa remarked. "They're likely rescuing their teammate that got arrested the other day."
I felt cold settle over me as I realized who that likely was. Sure enough, Hookwolf appeared and began slicing into the truck while the woman, either Fenja or Menja, stood guard. I could hear sirens in the distance, and in the background people were either clamoring closer to the window or moving away.
"Either way it's none of our business," Lisa continued on as I stood there with a lump of ice in my stomach. I could swear I heard the snap of cameras from somewhere nearby as people started gawking. Air hissed between her teeth as she turned to me. "Or… it is?"
She sounded unhappy at that as I clenched my hands into fists as a familiar head of blonde hair emerged from the eviscerated transport. Cricket. They were rescuing her. Where the hell were the Protectorate that they were just letting them do this?
No. I hadn't gotten my face nearly smashed in; hadn't been nearly killed by this bitch, just to let her escape this way. I shifted my backpack off one shoulder, glad that I was wearing most of my uniform beneath the loose fitting shirt I had on. I was actually kind of thankful that I could hide most of it since the pants looked more or less normal. My jacket was neatly folded inside the backpack and I just needed to find a place to get the mask on from where it was bunched up beneath the overshirt.
A hand grabbed my upper arm and I started, turning to see Lisa standing there, her face reflecting worry. "Listen, that's Hookwolf and Menja. Fenja's probably somewhere nearby along with who knows who else. They get arrested and get out. It's just a big game of cops and –"
I shrugged my arm free. "It isn't a game to me, so spare me." I looked toward the food court to see Catherine and Minako approaching, both looking worried. "If you actually have something important to say, you'll stick around to say it after. If not, leave."
She looked frustrated but I turned my attention to Catherine and Minako. "You guys going to be okay?"
They exchanged frustrated looks before Catherine spoke. "We've got our stuff… but…"
"We...we are not prepared for this kind of a fight. She is right, Taylor. Fighting them is dangerous. We should focus on making sure no one else is hurt," Minako finished, the statement sounding sour.
I could feel they wanted to help but I wasn't surprised, this was bigger than anything they had done that I knew of. My jacket slipped free of the backpack. "I understand. This.. I can't let this go. I can't let her go. Can you keep an eye on Lisa here if she sticks around?"
Unfriendly looks were directed at the blonde, who looked a little ill at being the focus of their attention. Catherine still looked very unhappy though, crossing her arms while alternating between glaring toward the scene outside and at Lisa. "I think we can do that."
I glanced between them, feeling their worry for me. I didn't bother with deciphering the mixture of emotions from Lisa as I pulled the overshirt off and quickly shoved it into my backpack. "I'll be careful, I promise." I threw a glance out the window, just in time to see the E88 starting to retreat. Without another word, I shoved my backpack into Catherine's arms and took off toward the escalator, taking the steps two at a time till I reached the ground floor and headed towards an service door. A quick burst of power turned the inside of the lock into scrap metal as I forced it open without a second thought and ran full tilt down the narrow hall.
I stumbled for a moment while pulling my mask into place and felt a tension I hadn't realized was there evaporate when it settled. It felt right. Before it had just felt good to put it on, but this instant, it was something more. The locked door at the end of the hall didn't stay locked for long, and I emerged outside the building alongside the road for the delivery trucks.
My feet stayed on the pavement for only a second before I was airborne and above the mall, orienting myself toward the first obstacle in sight. Menja. With Hookwolf and Cricket as well, who was hobbling away from the transport still in what looked like heavy manacles and some sort of face mask. I swallowed for a moment as I thought of the former, then shook my head. I wasn't afraid of her. I wasn't.
Which was why she was going down first. Afraid or not, I wasn't giving her the chance to sneak up on me again. I barreled down at the retreating form of Cricket. Menja's spear swung at me as I passed her, but I merely swerved around it, the attack not keeping me from closing in on my real target.
Cricket went down on the pavement in a sprawl with a telekinetic slap that I probably put more force into than was necessary. But it was gratifying to see her out in a daze again as I seized hold of some scrap metal from the crash, using it to pin her down. She wasn't going to get a second chance. Not this time.
It had taken no time at all, from start to finish a few seconds. But with Cricket dealt with, I now realized I still had two more to handle. I wasn't sure that they would be so easy. Especially as a third leaped off a nearby rooftop, growing in size as she did so. Fenja. I caught her mid-air with a telekinetic grip, saw her expression shift in realization and –
...she slipped through my grip, suddenly shrinking as I was left holding nothing but air instead. Shrunk? What the hell? I frowned as she landed on both feet, already regrowing with her sword and shield at the ready.
I shot upward to avoid another swing of Menja's spear from behind, and to avoid Hookwolf's attempt to claw at my legs, noting she had grown larger than a small building now. On the ground, Hookwolf growled before moving towards Cricket. If I didn't do something to handle him, he would have her free in moments.
No. I didn't need to approach him to stop that. A telekinetic shove forced him away from the fallen neo-Nazi. Now to – I shifted my attention to deflecting the immense sword that Fenja wielded. I shoved her off-balance but no sooner than I moved to press the advantage, Menja interposed herself, stabbing at me with her spear in a series of rapid-fire strikes.
I busied myself with that, cycling between the three while I ran through my options. Fenja and Menja had near perfect teamwork, and even with my precog, I was forced to devote more attention to them. I could see that if they kept me occupied like this and I let them dictate the pace of the fight, it would only be a matter of time until Hookwolf freed Cricket. Then they would retreat, backed by reinforcements from the rest of the Empire.
Wrenching Menja's spear from her hands, I almost growled as it began shrinking and slipping away. I caught it and brought it up so it was floating beside me while the giantess snarled something that I thought was supposed to be unflattering.
"I suggest you just give up," I called out in what I hoped was an intimidating voice, swatting Hookwolf away from Cricket while hovering out of range of Fenja's sword. I could take that away too, but taking away their weapons entirely made them more unpredictable. With just Menja's spear in my possession, I knew that Fenja was going to take a running leap to reclaim it right… now.
She went airborne as I had expected, but I realized when she was almost in front of me that her target wasn't the spear.
It was me.
I threw my hands up, forcing her considerable bulk away and felt my grip on the spear fail as my focus shifted. Damn it!
Menja vaulted backwards, her weapon once more in her hands and growing again to match her sister. I ground my teeth together, realizing they worked together better than I had assumed. Trying to anticipate what they would do was tricky, even when I could see it before it happened.
Hookwolf was making another attempt toward Cricket and I smacked him away once more, snarling to myself as he just dug into the concrete to get his feet under him, heading towards Cricket again. I was tired of this game of keep away. He wanted to keep getting my attention like that? Fine. He was going to get it. I didn't bother slapping him away again so I could stay focused on the twins. This time I grabbed hold, weaving away from Fenja and Menja as I trapped him in a sphere, repeating my trick from the other day. I was done with him being a distraction. It was time he made himself useful.
I didn't give either of them warning, simply turning back to the pair as I yanked the sphere holding Hookwolf toward me. Unfortunately for her, Fenja was still in the way and the Hookwolf-ball slammed into her back at high speed. She grunted and pitched forward, her armor still ringing like a gong from the impact as she crashed down onto the pavement. Her sister leaped forward, trying to knock away Hookwolf mid-swing. I saw it coming, and merely shifted his course, swinging him around like a flail at her again.
Menja tried to deflect with the spear, but whatever it was made of was not up to standing against the force I was using. The shaft of the spear shattered and my makeshift weapon slammed into her torso, sending her to the ground as well. While she was reeling, I glanced toward Fenja, who had gotten one foot in place and was moving to stand.
The sound made when I slammed Hookwolf into her knee was quickly drowned out by her scream of pain. Her sister gained her feet, shouting something at me that was filled with rage while her emotions dissolved into worry and panic. She positioned herself over the other, who was shrinking slowly back to her normal size, clearly intending to defend her from me.
The worry and panic I could feel from her almost made me smile as I glanced toward where I had trapped Cricket. She was still unconscious. I focused back on Menja and sneered at her defiant expression. A beat and she ducked down, aiming to pick up her sister and wrench Cricket free. Planning to run.
No. Not just no. But hell no. There was simply no way I was letting them escape. Especially after what Cricket had done to me. Hookwolf-the-ball slammed into her shoulder as she was half turned with a gratifying crunch. Unlike her sister, she didn't make much more sound than a grunt as she twisted her body to fall away from her companions. She managed to roll out of the way of a strike to her knee, but from the way her arm was hanging, I didn't think Menja was going to be carrying both of them.
The second blow did not miss and Menja screamed just as loud as her sister when her knee shattered. Unlike her sister, she didn't fall, holding herself up with her arms. Neither of them were getting up now, but I wasn't finished. I brought Hookwolf around, and relished the split-second look on her face before my weapon slammed into the side of her helmet, watching her slump to the ground like a massive puppet whose strings were cut. I held onto Hookwolf until she was back to normal size and used some of the nearby rubble to make sure they wouldn't be moving if they should wake.
Hookwolf was still sluggishly moving inside the sphere I had been using as a flail and I stared at him for a moment. The impact as he crashed into the ground was almost as satisfying as the one before, and I buried him in scrap and rubble.. I could see some of his limbs sticking out, weakly twitching, but I could see that he wasn't going to be an issue anymore.
A shuddering breath escaped me as I surveyed the area, noting how eerily quiet it was. There were sirens in the distance… but why hadn't anyone arrived yet?
That was forgotten as I surveyed the scene again and realization set in. I had just taken out four of the E88 by myself. How in the hell had I –
Cricket groaned, the sound reaching my ears from where I was floating. Right. They were all down and I had hit her pretty hard to open. I should probably check on her. The last thing I wanted was to have the PRT breathing down my neck for excessive force or whatever bullshit they would try and drop on me.
Touching down beside Cricket, I threw a quick glance toward the other E88 I had taken out, making sure that they were still down for the count. The twins were still out, and Hookwolf wasn't getting up anytime soon. I really had taken out four of the Empire… I shook my head, still trying to make sense of that and turned back to Cricket.
I had half-bent to check on her when she exploded upward. Pain exploded in my face as I felt something… her forehead? make contact. I stumbled back, my hands going to my face in mirror of a moment three days ago
I saw Cricket's weapon rising for a killing blow. The memory of what had almost happened surged to the front of my thoughts. And with it, fury.
I couldn't quite see between tears and stars dancing in my vision, but I heard metal scraping against concrete. She wasn't entirely free. Had she been playing dead and working to get free the whole time?
"F'king b'ch!" I said, the words garbled as I slammed my power at her in imitation of what she had done to me the other day. Her own sound of pain was gratifying. I wiped at my eyes and as my vision began to clear, I saw Cricket laying. in a half-twist, her stomach mostly to the ground. She nursed her face in the crook of her arms, blood staining her prison suit, as she looked at me with hate in her eyes.
"See how you like it," I forced out, each word a stab of pain. I wasn't sure if I made sense, but she seemed to get what I had said and the hate was replaced with… amusement?
She thought it was funny? Cricket continued to stare at me and the way her shoulders shook spelled it out for me clearly. She was laughing.
She was laughing. At me.
I snarled, the pain forgotten. I gestured for effect and I was gratified at the flash of alarm before she rocked backwards, her arms flailing as something she couldn't see moved her. An instant later, she slammed into the pavement face first with a sharp crack. If she wanted to headbutt something, I could oblige her.
"Still think it's funny?" I asked, uncaring whether she even understood me as I jerked her back up. Her face was a mess and there was a dazed look in her face. I held her there until she started to focus and her shoulders shifted. Her head tilted back a bit, then jerked forward and I flinched, even with the distance between us. Something hot and wet smacked against my cheek. I stood frozen for a moment before I wiped away the mix of blood and phlegm with the back of my hand.
The metal holding her down scattered as I picked her up and threw the villain across the lot, bouncing her off the now-dented hood of someone's car before she rolled to a rest. I stalked forward, picking her up again and holding her in place while I hammered home a storm of telekinetic strikes, her body curling around each blow. Spit in my face? I would –
Light erupted in front of me as my power screamed threat. I pushed off the ground into the air as a glowing figure dropped into place between me and Cricket.
"That," Purity said in a firm voice, "is enough."
I stared at her. "I don't think it is."
She didn't move for a moment. "You're a vigilante, right. A hero?"
"And you're a Nazi and her teammate, what about it?"
She tensed for a moment. "I'm no longer with the Empire."
"Then why are you stopping me?" I shouted, not dwelling on the absurdity of what was happening now.. "She's –"
"Had enough!" Purity's voice cracked over me, cutting off what I was going to say. "Look at her!"
I almost laughed in her face. Purity was a member of the Empire for as long as I could remember. She was claiming she wasn't now? Telling me… My eyes drifted to where Cricket had fallen, the way she was lying still.
Did someone's leg even bend that way for real?
"I…" I shook my head, feeling the rage that had been fueling me ebb slightly. I wobbled as I dropped onto the street, taking a moment to really look around at the stretch of street I had been fighting them on for the first time. Craters dotted the street and from the shape, I knew none of them were the work of the Empire. There were several men near the overturned transport, tending to each other. Had I even thought about them when I went after Cricket?
Did it matter? The Empire had been around before I was born and the Protectorate didn't do anything to stop them. In the last ten minutes, I had done more than I ever remember anyone else doing. And it felt good. I turned to look at Purity again. She hadn't moved, tension radiating from her body as she watched me.
"And if I don't believe you?" I asked, my voice eerily soft. "You don't get to be a Nazi for most of my life and then say you're not out of the blue."
The light surrounding her grew brighter. "I don't want to fight you."
I snorted, the anger buoying me once more. "Oh, trust me, it won't be a fight."
"That's right," a familiar voice interrupted and a figure I had seen just days ago dropped down, skidding to a halt, followed by the faintly glowing figure of his partner. Assault and Battery. "I think everyone's broken enough bones for today. How about you let us clean this up, Skipper?"
"Assault," I said, taking in a slow breath as my eyes flicked toward approaching PRT squads. The anger fled in a rush, leaving me feeling empty. "Fine."
"See? That was easy," Assault said cheerfully before turning to look at Purity. "How ya doing, Lightbulb?"
"Don't call me that," Purity retorted, though it had the feel of a habitual response, rather than one she actually expected to be followed.
"You did all this?" Battery asked with a hint of something I didn't care to identify in her voice. "Making a statement?"
"I suppose," I answered. "It kind of got out of control."
"Just a touch, Skipper," Assault said, his attention returning to me as he leaned down. "Ouch. She got you good, huh? Lemme see…" I almost jerked back as he brought his hands up, but when I realized he was just feeling the area around my nose, I settled down. I didn't feel like being prodded by the paramedics like the other day. Especially if it was broken again. Setting it had hurt just as bad.
"Well, good thing is," he finally said, clapping a hand on my shoulder, "nothing is broken. I would recommend getting some ice on it soon, though. A lot of ice. You're kind of burning up, you know?"
I shrugged. "I feel fine, other than the nose."
Assault whistled. "Huh. If I were you, I'd check your temperature. Oi, puppy. Come over here and check Skipper, tell me if she's running a fever or not."
"Moron," Battery replied absently, her attention mostly on Purity. "We're on the clock, you know."
"It's fine," I said, shaking myself. "I should go, I guess. No sense in sticking around now."
"Well, we need statements," Assault interjected. "You know the drill. How did dee and dum end up out cold next to wolfie? Chirpy over there looks like she ran into a meat tenderizer, several times, too."
"They were helping her escape. I didn't let them. Cricket likes to play dead and she headbutted me ag –" I cut off, feeling my temper start to flare again. "They tried to get away. I stopped them. The end."
Battery's shoulders slumped at my words as she looked around at the fallen Empire members. "Sirin, this time, I'm not so sure about that."
--
And here we go. Sorry for the long delay. 3.5 will be much faster since it is around half-done.
575
chibipoe
Jul 25, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.5
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jul 31, 2015
#3,865
Alright, here we go...
3.5
Emily Piggot did not personally care for public relations. Whenever she was given free rein, she would employ different tactics rather than limit herself to catering to the nature of public opinion. The fact that she was in a position where the perception of how those under her employ was a vital part of her responsibilities? Well, the irony was not lost on her in the least. But as long as it was part of her job, she would make sure the image presented was perfect.
But that same situation did bring its own set of peculiarities, in that the image she had to present wasn't always one of her own design. Sometimes, it was the design of the oft inscrutable PR division. More often than not, it was the design of one particular overgrown man-child and his obsessions as he directed the public relations machine of the PRT and Protectorate across the country. The same man was currently seated in her office.
Glenn Chambers.
She was aware that many of those who had to interact with him found him distasteful, but she had known him for a long time and she enjoyed talking to him whenever he came to visit. She didn't care for his methods, and would have prefered to handle the issue her own way. But she had run out of time, and now it was his turn.
"So, your opinion?" she finally asked as he closed the report on Sirin and laced his fingers together over the manila folder. Like usual, he did not immediately say anything and she busied herself with calculating the possible effects of recent Empire and ABB skirmishes on the tenuous balance of affairs in Brockton Bay.
"You are," he began, then paused, ordering his thoughts as he did when he was inclined to phrase something politely, "on the horns of a severe dilemma."
Emily almost laughed as a rejoinder came to the forefront of her mind. "I should watch how I sit, then?"
Glenn smiled thinly. "In all seriousness, this is a colossal disaster in the making. The father has not retracted his consent?"
She made a disgusted sound. "The man did not take his daughter departing well. He barely has the cognizance to tie his shoes currently, let alone retract consent for anything."
Glenn arched an eyebrow. "Have you made an effort to change that?"
Emily gave him an almost unfriendly look. "One, I'm not the man's caretaker, nor is the PRT. Two, overtures were made. His responses bordered on the anatomically impossible, if not outright obscene. I know you read the whole thing, which makes me wonder what the point is to have me restate something you already know?"
"Point the first, he was noted by the agents who approached as being highly intoxicated," Glenn said, curling back one of his fingers. "Point the second, no attempt made after the first, beyond a token discussion with a lawyer."
"And?" she asked. "He wasn't receptive then either, though at least he wasn't drunk out of his mind. However, he still refused to withdraw the forms on grounds that he believed it was 'for the best' even after we attempted to show him otherwise."
Glenn frowned. "I missed that, didn't I?"
Piggot snorted and smiled hollowly. "Quite likely. The man is nearly in a state of walking catatonia. He refuses to budge. We have been considering other options given his current state…"
"And a legal separation won't worsen the situation?" he asked, catching on instantly.
"Daniel Hebert is barely able to care for himself, let alone a headstrong, teenage girl who can break him in two with her mind," she said with a note of disgust. "She's already cut herself off from him, and as far as we can tell, she has not contacted him since. While I do not relish the idea of placing more of her welfare into our hands, it is impossible for us to do a worse job than he is currently."
She shuffled the papers on her desk for a moment, to give her hands something to do before continuing. "If you read the relevant sections, then you'd know that our investigations suggested that the girl was doing more to care for her father in the aftermath of his wife's death than he was for her. She's headstrong, largely self-sufficient and possessed of a power that our analysts are concerned about. While the situation is still fairly tame, it… she is getting further out of control, steadily and surely."
"Hm," the sound was thoughtful as he leaned back in his chair. "The report I had seen mentioned only a telekinetic power?"
Emily eyed him for a moment then shook her head. "We don't have conclusive proof, but based on an encounter with her before she met with me, Armsmaster thinks she was responsible for the damage to the Boat Graveyard. The scale exhibited there was beyond anything she has demonstrated in encounters with local criminals or other parahumans, but…"
"I believe I saw something about that," Glenn interrupted. "But wasn't there records of heat damage? Things melted?"
She nodded. "That's why it hasn't been conclusively attached to her. She hasn't shown any ability of that sort, but telekinesis with no apparent use condition is concerning to them. Especially after the latest incident."
"Ah, yes, that was an impressive showing, was it not?"
"Reckless and foolhardy is a better description. The Empire isn't going to take this lightly, so I'm having to prepare for reprisal when they try and free those four. To say nothing of the fact that Kaiser will have his people gunning for her now. That entire mess is too public a slight for him to let pass."
"She does seem to have matters well in hand, judging from her performance."
"And Cricket nearly caved her face in for the second time as many days. Power she has, yes, that isn't in question. But when to use it. That is knowledge she clearly lacks. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should."
"So, you don't approve of her actions?"
"Hookwolf, the one who could arguably take the most damage, was the least injured," she almost spat. "Both sisters have a shattered kneecap, with Menja having a severe concussion. Fenja has a broken leg in addition to the knee. And then there's Cricket. Broken bones in her arms and legs, her rib cage was pulverized and she had a major concussion. We had to call Panacea in just to be sure that she wouldn't be sipping through a straw for the rest of her life! Shall I go on?"
Glenn started to say something, but she went on without waiting. "And the best part? Someone filmed the whole thing and released it onto the internet, complete with Purity, of all people, trying to talk her down." She clicked her mouse several times until she was at the right place and then hit play.
Her companion said nothing until the video had finished and left behind a black screen. "Well, the use of Hookwolf as a weapon was inventive, you have to admit. That sort of improvisation is something that I might be able to work with."
"You aren't seriously suggesting that there's a way to salvage this?" she asked, eyeing him askance. "The girl went overboard and a video got out of her being accused by a Nazi, former or not, of being too violent. There's no sound, thankfully, but the intent is clear. How, precisely, do you intend to spin this?"
Glenn shrugged slightly. "She'll need some tempering, but a willingness to give back what their ilk dish out will appeal to certain demographics. The key will be controlling the presentation of these releases. We wouldn't want her to appear to be actively violent, but certainly willing to act when necessary."
Emily eyed him for a moment. "Did you have something to do with that video's release?"
"Please credit me with some discretion," Glenn replied. "I would have taken care to render the last part unintelligible. Being chastised for brutality by a Nazi, former or otherwise, doesn't help the image I would have her present."
"You're serious?" Piggot asked with a skeptical air. "You truly think you can craft an image that will appeal to the public? With her having this sort of disregard for the safety of those around her? She ignored the agents in the truck in favor of pursuing a vendetta against Cricket."
Glenn held up a hand. "Permit me a moment, if you will. You have an assortment of Wards here in Brockton Bay, but they all run toward more, shall we say, light-hearted stereotypes. Your newcomer, Flechette, is the closest to the sort of thing I envision. With Sirin, we have a powerful addition to the Wards that will serve as a deterrent solely by the fact that many of the criminal element won't willingly engage someone who would do that sort of thing."
"Two problems with that," she countered. "One, the most important; Kaiser's reprisal. The girl has likely brought the whole of the Empire down on her head with this stunt. Two, assuming she survives that, she vehemently refuses to interact with the Protectorate. The Wards have been rebuffed repeatedly."
"Our avenue of connection isn't the Wards," he said. "It's Assault and Battery. She has quite an amicable relationship with them."
"Which is likely to sour the moment they try and convince her to come in," Piggot said.
"Emily, you're looking at it with a hammer when the tool needed is a scalpel, or a screwdriver if you will. We simply have to turn things in the proper direction."
"Deception isn't going to work, either," she told him. "You don't actually read the reports I send you, do you? She has a thinker power, some sort of advanced intuition. She will know if someone's trying to play her."
He waved a hand. "I'm aware. Which is why we'll proceed delicately. The two of them have a favorable association with her. We want to encourage that. The rest will fall in. Interactions with her are to be limited to those two and whichever Wards she gets along with best. They're not to be told anything, simply given their assignments."
She frowned. "And that way, they won't give away something they don't know. I can see how that might work, but this latest incident has pressure coming down, Glenn. We don't have the sort of time to make your long game work. More importantly, this is exactly what I was doing before. Look where it's gotten us!"
"I realize that this is a difficult situation," Glenn began.
"No, you clearly don't," she interrupted. "I can't have renegade parahumans dropping this sort of violence at will. I've got heat from above coming down on this. I don't need a PR campaign, I need a solution on how to get her under control. Either give me one or get out."
He sighed. "The fact is, there aren't any quick and dirty solutions. The girl's power is formidable, one that makes her difficult to contain without risking severe injuries to our agents and property. Beating the crap out of members of the Empire isn't going to get you permission for sedating her indefinitely."
Emily Piggot sighed. "And you propose that doing the same thing I've been doing will somehow work better?"
He held up two fingers. "There are differences. I'm not throwing just anyone at the situation to see what sticks, for one. For two, you're assuming this is the only thing I have in mind."
Then he fell silent.
"Are you going to share your elaborate plan or simply keep me in suspense?" she asked.
"I could," Glenn said, allowing himself a small grin. "But I think it might be best if I just took point on the issue and spare you the frustration of dealing with it. I have to make some calls to back off the pressure on your office as my first step."
"That would be helpful, at least," she admitted. "With what's likely to come down on us now, I don't need the distraction."
"After that," he took a deep breath, "I've got some feelers out on the situation with her father, but I'm going to see about arranging a meeting with Sirin myself. We need a resolution with her father or for her to put the request in to fully break from him. She's hostile to both us and him because she sees us as a combined enemy. That needs to change."
Emily Piggot felt her lips curve in a half-smile. "Go ahead and get the higher ups off my back, if you can. As to that… best of luck. I think you're underestimating the situation, so you'll need it."
Glenn smiled faintly and stood, adjusting his tie. "We'll see. I wouldn't be where I was if I couldn't spin just about anything. I'll see you later, Director."
She nodded absently as he left her office, her attention turning to the latest set of reports that had crossed her desk before his arrival. Perhaps he would be able to turn this around. She'd seen him manage some difficult situations in the past. Putting it to the back of her mind, she began reviewing possible responses for when the Empire came calling for their downed members.
~~~~~~~~
The room was mostly dark, save for the light coming off the television. The movie they were watching was nearly halfway through when Jessie shifted next to him, making a soft noise that he knew meant something was bothering her. Ethan didn't need that sound to know, though. She had been moody ever since they finished their shift and saw the fallen Empire members put into confinement. He was merely surprised that it had taken her so long to express her discontent.
"Penny?" he prompted, holding a copper colored coin up before her. He flipped it away, bouncing it off the edge of a counter and watching it land with a tink in a jar that was half-filled with pennies, labeled 'Puppy's Thoughts'.
Unlike other times, though, the action did not elicit a snort of amusement. Jessie merely made a disgruntled sound and burrowed closer against his side. He paused the movie and waited for her to respond. After a moment, perhaps two, she finally broke the silence.
"I don't like this," she said. "Any of it."
"The movie?" he asked, hoping to insert some levity, but she poked him in the ribs in response.
"Sirin, the whole thing with her," she said. "You didn't report that we knew who she was out of costume, did you?"
"No," he admitted. "I was surprised you didn't, either. You're usually pretty by-the-book."
Jessie didn't say anything for a moment. "I did some snooping. I don't like the way they're handling things upstairs, but... "
"Hold on, hold on," he interrupted. "You? Snooping? Stop the presses."
"Shut it," she whispered, poking his ribs again. "Be serious. I… the whole thing just irks me. Especially after reading all of that. I can see why she's so angry…"
"I expect she doesn't see good choices either way," he interjected after a moment. "I'm guessing she's rolling with them as best she can, but there's undoubtedly a lot we don't know that's putting pressure on her."
Jessie shifted a bit until she was comfortable again. "I get that, but at the same time, what happened today. That was a bit over the line, Ethan."
"Understandable, though," he pointed out. "Cricket did a number on her the other day."
"You know as well as I do that there's a difference between payback and revenge. Even with getting clipped again, Cricket was a wreck far beyond what would have been reasonable."
"You're too strait-laced, love," Ethan murmured. "You didn't even take the chance to put a career criminal down hard for the things he had done to you personally, when you had the chance. Your definition of reasonable is a bit more restrictive than most people's."
"You're saying she was justified?" Jessie asked, a quizzical note in her voice.
"No, I think she did go too far, but not as far as you're thinking. I mean, take it this way. You're her age… say, fifteen or whatever. A hardened criminal busts your nose, you're likely to get a concussion. You swat her away just –"
"I knew you didn't buy Barbi –" she caught herself, ignoring his brief snicker. "Damn it. What Glory Girl said. I knew you didn't buy their story!"
"It was a nice attempt," he said, shrugging. "But no, I didn't. At any rate. Hardened criminal is about to kill you and you manage a last minute hurrah to take her down. The whole thing's gonna hit you hard. Scare you. I'm guessing Skipper started out after them, it was just to make sure Cricket didn't get away, after what it almost cost her to bring her down."
"And then…?"
Ethan shrugged. "You saw her face like I did. She took down the three idiots and went to make sure Cricket wasn't too hurt, I'd wager. Cricket was playing dead and clipped her but good. At which point, she lost her shit. All the fear she had probably buried surged into anger. That's a bad combo with her kind of power."
"Bypassing the Manton limit, you mean?" Jessie asked.
He shrugged again, careful not to upset how she was settled against him. "The medic who looked at her couldn't identify anything as the type of weapon from the bruising. It was like she just got hammered by nothing. It's as good a theory as any."
Ethan frowned and looked at the frozen pictures on the television. "Honestly, I think she needs someone adult to talk to. After we figured out that Barbie's friend was Sirin the other day, tonight was as good a time as any."
"Ethan, what did you do?" Jessie demanded, giving him what he was certain was a glare without even looking at her.
"I slipped a card with a contact number and my name when I was checking her over," he said.
"What? Ethan, you have no idea –" Jessie began, falling silent as he pressed a finger against her lips.
"I didn't mention you, and it's a phone I rarely use, but I felt it was fair after the other day," he explained. "Who else is she going to talk to? We already know she all but hates Armsmaster and Miss Militia. She barely tolerates Dauntless or Velocity and Triumph's too fresh out of the Wards."
"You should have said something to me before you did that," Jessie said, poking his side. "What if she flips out on you?"
"I'm pretty good at getting away if I need to, puppy," he said, giving her a familiar grin.
She laughed, smiling as she leaned into him. "I remember when someone was better then you." Her smile faded though, as she stared off into an imaginary distance. "But then again, I suppose one needs a place to run away to in the first place, right? So, where does she have to go now, with no one looking after her but herself and no apparent limits on her power? Is not having any limits a good thing?"
Sighing, he shifted his arm so he could curl it around her side. "It can be, but it's pretty rare for it to stay a good thing. One day you're riding high and suddenly everything crashes. It is nice to have someone keep you in line, though. Nothing like having someone pull on the leash every now and then, you know?"
"Ethan!" she said, her face burning as she looked up quickly. "Do have to turn everythi-mmph!"
He drew back from her lips after a moment. "You were saying?"
"You're impossible," she breathed out softly, poking his side again. "Why?"
"You were getting too moody," he told her. "I don't like it when you're like that."
"Doesn't mean I'm wrong to be moody," Jessie retorted with the beginnings of a pout.
"No," Ethan agreed smoothly, with a small smile, "but it does spoil the mood."
"What mood?" she asked, the faintest of sparkles in her eyes.
"This one," Ethan said, one hand reaching for the remote as he leaned down. The television went off, plunging the room into darkness.
~~~~~~~~
The image in the mirror made no sense to me. I stood there, unable to make sense of what I was seeing, even when I reached up to touch my face and confirmed that yes, what I was seeing was real. Other than the blood I had washed off my face and neck, as well as what had stained the top half of my costume, there was no sign that Cricket had headbutted me. No bruising, no pain, nothing.
I turned my head toward where the costume was soaking. I would still need to wash it properly, but whatever the fabric was, simply soaking in warm water seemed to take care of most stains. I could almost see the streaks of red against the yellow emblem lifting away as it laid there. I glanced back at the mirror, turning my head left and right to examine my face again.
Nothing.
"This is...not possible?" I asked my reflection. "There should be bruising or something, shouldn't there?"
"Maybe she missed my nose somehow?" I continued. "Assault didn't think anything was broken but...damn, it did hurt." But now, it was like nothing had happened. Blood that had mostly been washed away was the only sign of Cricket attacking me. But I knew that it had happened. It hadn't been like the purse thief or at the library. I had evidence and people I had talked to. There wasn't any of the weird happened-but-didn't visions from those moments. This had been real.
And yet, it was like it hadn't happened. I frowned and grabbed the shirt I'd brought in with me. I had it mostly done up as I exited to the living room. Catherine and Minako were sitting on the couch, watching something on the television. Nearby, looking uncertain, was the blonde from the mall. Lisa. Tattletale. Whatever. That was one thing for the fight being real. We were thinking about where to go when she had just said my place, and rattled off the address.
So much for privacy. I had managed to hold back from blowing up at her when she dropped that little bomb. Her employer, whoever he was, likely knew as well. Wonderful.
I crossed to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water. They were watching a news report and I could see a wind angle recording of the fight playing out on the screen as someone talked over it. Grimacing, I floated the remote into my hand and shut the TV off.
"You guys know watching trash like that rots your brain," I said, trying for levity and then scowling. The words felt forced, even to me. I sighed and looked toward Lisa. "You. Your employer. Who is it and what do they want with me?"
She looked from me then to my friends and frowned, clearly trying to organize herself. Something was bothering her but I wasn't sure what. After a moment, her shoulders slumped and she took a deep breath. "His name is Coil."
"Coil? The one no one's even sure has powers? With the mercs downtown?" Catherine said before Lisa could continue. "Dad says he's bad news. Says we should avoid tangling with him. But you never really hear about him actually doing anything."
"He prefers not to advertise," Lisa retorted with a roll of her eyes. "He does plenty, believe me. He just keeps a low profile."
"That's great and all," I cut in. "But it doesn't answer the most important question. What does he want with me?"
"The same thing he wanted me for," she said. "He's sorta like a collector. He likes to collect things he finds useful, or thinks will be useful."
"Right, that isn't helpful beyond establishing that he has a fetish for teenage girls," I snorted. "Why are you useful, then?"
She shrugged, a lot of the earlier energy having left her. "My power isn't very flashy or doesn't do much by itself. But I suppose you can say that it's pretty useful to other people. It's rather good at letting me know things. Or things other people want to know, like Coil."
"Know things…?" I prompted. "Like what?"
"Like, for instance, you're spooked by the fact that your face is completely healed, when you should at least have some nasty bruising, at minimum." Lisa answered, raising her hands at the look I was giving her. "What? You asked. Call it a form of hyper-intuition, or that I can read minds. I just know stuff."
"You can't read minds," I said abruptly, the words leaving my mouth without thinking.
Lisa's head tilted to one side. "How do you know I can't?"
I shrugged. "Does it matter?"
"We are getting away from the central topic, Taylor," Minako pointed out. "This individual, Coil, he wants Taylor for his 'collection', as you put it? To what end?"
Lisa took a deep breath. "He first found out about her from some camera footage from a Kwik-E Mart. Something with lottery tickets. Then there was a distant clip of Taylor running with her pack damaged, off the mall's parking lot cameras. He knows you're a precog."
"And how," I asked, my grip on the water bottle tightening so much that the bottle crumpled, "does he know that?"
Her expression turned a touch green and I could tell from her emotions that she wanted to be anywhere but here right now. I didn't give her the opportunity to speak. "You told him. You figured out with your powers, didn't you?"
Her eyes widened and she swallowed, then shook her head once quickly. Denial? No. Something else. "Well?"
A moment and she sighed, her emotions dipping into something bleak and unpleasant. "Yes. He sent me the videos to review and I figured it out from the one involving the tickets. I told him that you had precognition."
"You stupi –" I began, then closed my eyes and pushed down the anger. She was being honest. Maybe she wanted to make up for it? That could be why she had gone out of her way to get my attention. That, or an elaborate trap. Either way, blowing my top wasn't going to help right now, no matter how much I wanted to. When I got my hands on this Coil, though…
"Alright, fine, whatever," I said. "That's done. Where do I find him?"
Noise erupted from all sides as soon as I finished speaking. Catherine and Minako both raising protests while Lisa expressed disbelief. I waited, letting them talk while I considered my response.
"I'm not going to run off and attack him," I said after they finished talking. "I want to know where I can find him, once I have figured out what I'm going to do about this."
"I can tell you about his power," Lisa said after staring at her hands for a long moment. "You've already experienced it, twice now, but he doesn't know that you are aware of it to the best of my knowledge."
The pieces fell into place. "The thing at the library."
"Bingo," Lisa said. "His power lets him split events, essentially. He can perceive two sets of actions and choose between them. In one, his mercs attacked you… in the other, they didn't."
"Then why did he drop? I was…" I let the thought die, unwilling to admit to weakness in the face of someone who might not be trustworthy. That this might be a trap was an idea I was unwilling to give up yet.
She shrugged, calmer now that she felt the situation was more stable. "He likes to appear infallible. I don't know what you saw exactly, but it was probably more costly than he liked."
I thought about how I had ragdolled the men attacking me before I had passed out and the incident had undone itself. That made sense. If his men were hurt badly enough, he might withdraw rather than ruin his image. "And where can I find him?"
Lisa's face twisted for a moment and I could sense her grappling with indecision. "He's got several bases. His main one is downtown." She rattled off an address and I repeated it in my mind, trying to place the location against my mental map of the city.
"Ok, fine," I said, tapping my precognition for a moment to help with my decision. "Does he know about this place? That I am here?"
She shook her head. "As far as I know, he doesn't..." she said, looking and sounding less than confident. Something that was easy to pick up, even without powers.
"As far as you know? As in –"
She scowled. It was one of the few honest emotions I had seen on her face since she got here. It was actually refreshing in a sense. She was telling the truth, and her feelings were for the most part genuine. But there was always something that made me feel the need to doubt her. Not this time, though.
This time, she spoke with a bitter and sharp tone, an edge of frustration in her voice. "As in yes, I don't know for sure. He...cheats. He can figure stuff out in one part of the split, and use it in the other. It's like he can read minds. He'll pry secrets from someone on one hand, then use them against them with the other. I'm not sure what he doesn't know. The best I can do is figure out what he does. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't know about –"
It was sudden, a surge of tension welling up in the back of my mind as my precognition went crazy, strong enough to make me flinch. It probably saved me when my eyes caught on something glinting in the rafters.
There.
Tucked in the rafters, I could see a metal cylinder taped down, the source of what I had just seen. I could see the lights blinking on one side, and I didn't need to have watched action movies to know what it was.
"Get by me, now!" I shouted, throwing a bubble of telekinetic force around it as the three of them started to move. Too slow. Seconds left.
Catherine, Minako and Lisa all squawked in surprise as I grabbed them, pulling them closer and surrounding us with the strongest shield I could as whatever it was exploded. But it was just the first.
The world erupted into sound and light went off, shattering my concentration like a hammer. I couldn't see or hear. I couldn't tell if my eyes were opened or closed, the light was so bright. The shield did nothing to block it out. Distantly, I thought I could hear the others screaming while I tried to keep the wall up as more explosions went off, the room devolving into discordant insanity.
The floor rumbled, and suddenly the air was clogging and thick. I couldn't hear myself cough, but I could feel it. My lungs burned, and my stomach started to flip upside down. Like the light and sound, the shield did nothing to stop whatever it was as hot streaks started to pour down my face.
Need to get out!
I seized Catherine, Lisa, and Minako, or what I hoped were them, huddled around me and shoved us all toward the closest opening to the outside that I knew. Glass shattered as more explosions went off, making me think my ears were bleeding from the shrill sounds. The smoke or gas seemed alive, following after us as I fought to get some fresh air into my lungs.
The world spun on its axis and I staggered, suddenly on the ground. I felt a moment of panic as I realised Lisa, Catherine and Minako weren't nearby, throwing out with my powers toward where I thought they were to stop them from falling. Just as abruptly, one of them wasn't there, replaced by something else and I felt the other two jerk as if they'd been hit by something just before I dropped them onto the ground as lightly as I could.
Everything upended on me and I was somewhere else once more. There were people around me; I couldn't see who, but I could feel them. I threw out a barrier, shoving them away on instinct as another dizzying moment hit me again. This time, I staggered as something hit me in the neck right after I was somewhere else again.
I stumbled, feeling the strength flee my limbs immediately. Like the library, but faster. I took one step, then felt my legs give out. My vision cleared for a brief moment, revealing the ground rushing up just before darkness swallowed everything.
--
There's 3.5. 3.6 should follow tomorrow or so. No, I'm not retreading Acceleration.
519
chibipoe
Jul 31, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.6
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Jul 31, 2015
#3,994
Note: Italics denote thoughts here. Except for this first little bit:
3.6
"I..won't –"
"Tell me… "
"...empire will…"
"Stay b –... I'll… anything…"
"...fire…. of life… you dare…"
I choked back a scream and jerked upright. Immediately, the room spun, forcing me to shake off a wave of nausea. After my stomach settled, I looked around in a bid to determine where I was. My survey of the plain room told me little and another wave of nausea shattered what little concentration I had. The room seemed too small and I shifted, pushing back until I was against the wall the bed sat along, the cheap blankets bunched up as a barrier around me.
A shrill beeping hit my ears and I flinched, glancing at its source. The machine fell silent with a thought, sparks erupting from it as something inside its casing broke. I choked back a sound of panic at the sudden flare of light. What… why did that…
My eyes fell on a pitcher of water sitting on the nightstand. Condensation decorated the outside and a glass sat beside it. I reached for it, then stopped, staring at my hands as they shook visibly. What the hell was wrong with me? Where was I?
The door swung open and I jerked, retreating back to the corner even as I felt ready to smash whoever it was. I wasn't going back!
Back? Why couldn't I remember? I had… I had been talking to.. Catherine? Minako? Someone else…?
A woman in a nurse's uniform stood by the door, her hands held up to show they were empty. "Easy, Miss. We just heard the alarm from the nurse's station and…"
"Where…" I began, then swallowed, trying to get moisture to my suddenly dry throat. I wanted… what? Something… "Where am I?"
"Brockton Bay Memorial's general clinic," the woman said. "You were dropped off yesterday evening out of nowhere. We're a little cramped, I'm afraid. With all that's happened recently…"
The hospital? How did I get here? My eyes drifted to the pitcher of water for a moment before I tried to scoot back. No. Can't trust the water, can't trust…
"What day is it?" I forced out, biting my lip to force away an upswell of panic.
"It's April seventh," she answered calmly. "Two thousand-eleven."
I shook my head. A week? "That… no. It's the twenty-ninth of March!"
The nurse's expression softened. "Is that the last date you remember?"
Nodding, I winced and curled inward as another wave of nausea assailed me. "Y-yes. How… I mean…"
Poor girl… left outside like someone had just tossed her away like trash.
"What did you say?" I demanded, fighting past another bout of nausea as a sharp stabbing pain speared into the side of my head.
"I asked you what the last date you remembered was," the woman said, frowning. Possible memory loss? Damage to short-term memory as well if she's not remembering questions asked just seconds ago. Maybe she got caught in the bombings? The things those were doing...
I shook my head as what I was hearing turned into a wave of revulsion. Whatever the woman was feeling it was... I took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. "That wasn't... " Whatever else I meant to say ended as my stomach heaved and I clamped a hand over my mouth. The nurse was at my side immediately and my impulse to shove her away dissolved completely as my throat and mouth burned with an acidic, bitter taste, the meager contents of my stomach splattering into the pan she was holding in place.
"T-thank you," I forced out, trying to ignore the hideous taste lingering in my mouth. The nurse, if that was what she really was, murmured something and rubbed my back in what I suppose was meant to be a comforting gesture.
"Did you want some water?" she asked, reaching toward the pitcher.
"No," I said, shaking my head quickly in spite of how it made the room wobble. Again, the thought that I couldn't trust the water struck me and I glanced sideways at the pitcher with no small amount of dread.
"Doctor Smith will be in to speak with you shortly, okay?" the nurse finally said, gently helping me settle back on the bed. The bout of nausea had robbed me of what little strength I had and I let her rather than fight. The bed was a touch too soft for my tastes but that didn't matter right now. What the hell was going on? The seventh of April? A whole week?
I remembered… talking to Catherine and Minako. And that other girl… Lisa. Tattletale. Then?
Light. Sound. Darkness. That was all. Nothing after that. There should be something, shouldn't there?
"What the hell happened?" I whispered to the now empty room, prodding at the empty spot in my memory. No. Not empty. There was something there. Like a word you can't quite remember on the tip of your tongue. But nothing I did nudged it from that grey fog that seemed to permeate the stretch of time after the attack at home.
My stomach twisted with nausea again, prompting another glance at the water. I shook my head and winced as I began shivering. I fought to keep from shifting, pulling the blankets tighter around myself. If I could get warm, it would stop, wouldn't it?
It didn't get any better and I was barely keeping my teeth from chattering. The room spun and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore the way it felt like the bed was tilting. Trying to focus failed, my thoughts scattering wildly like shooting stars dancing across the night sky.
"...I am fire...," the words slipped from my lips and I shuddered once more as the room abruptly stopped moving. Clarity faded back in, and I could see the ceiling above me again. At some point, I had slumped over and was almost entirely off the bed. Getting an arm under me so I could push myself back up was like trying to lift a mountain. All that I managed was a graceless flop backwards, narrowly avoiding hitting my head against the bedframe.
"Ah, you're awake...and trying to fall out of your bed," an accented voice said. "Come on now, up you go." I found myself sitting upright and staring at a slender man in a lab coat, held in a gentle, yet surprisingly strong grip. Brown hair in need of a comb crowned his head and he had the barest hint of a smile on his face.
"Right, then. I'm the Doctor. Doctor John Smith, if you will, and you… are Jane?" When he seemed convinced I could sit upright on my own, he let me go and took the clipboard from the end of the bed. His eyes skimmed the paper then before he set it down. "Jane Doe, is it?"
"That isn't my name," I said, putting a hand up and wiping away sweat. Just the little activity had worked me up enough that I felt like I'd been running a marathon.
"Course it isn't," he said. "You don't look like a Jane at all. So, if not Jane, then what is your name?"
"Taylor," I said, closing my eyes. "Are you really a doctor?"
"Well, yes," he said, pulling up a stool with one foot. "A bit out of practice, but with things as they are right now, I figured I'd help out. Now, Annie said you thought it was the twenty-ninth?" He was leaning close when I opened my eyes, giving me an assessing look.
"That's the last thing I remember, yes," I said. He nodded and pulled out a pair of glasses, putting them on and taking out a penlight from his labcoat.
"Hold still for me, would you?" The light lit up and I tried not to flinch as he shone it in my eyes, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"Well, we weren't entirely sure what had happened to you, to be honest," he said, scratching at the back of his head after switching off the light. "We rushed some blood tests and they… well, I didn't recognize half of the compounds in your bloodstream. Not surprising for memory loss with that sort of cocktail, though. Telol, Triopenin, to just name a few."
I sucked in a breath. "I was drugged?"
"Our best guess, yeah. Like I said, a lot of what was in your bloodstream was unrecognizable, but what I could identify, well, yeah, memory loss isn't surprising. Funny thing, though, it looked like some of it had been broken down for quite a while. Weirdest thing I'd ever seen." He peered at me for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, not the weirdest, but still pretty strange. How are you feeling right now?"
"I wish I had some water to wash the taste of my own vomit out of my mouth," I said, scooting back toward the corner slowly.
"Oh, yeah, nasty stuff that," he said, making a face. "Want me to pour you a glass?"
I shook my head quickly and he froze in the act of reaching for the pitcher of water. "Ah, got it. Tell you what, how about this?" He straightened and walked to the other side of the room where a sink and some cabinets sat. A moment of searching and he found an unopened box of disposable cups. He kept it where I could see and opened one of the packages, filling it with water from the sink.
"Fresh from the tap!" Doctor Smith said cheerfully and I stared for a moment, then fumbled for it, gripping the cup between my hands. They shook slightly and some of it splashed out, but I brought it to my lips.
The water tasted tangy, the familiar taste of unfiltered tap water drawing a shudder from me for a moment. But even with that, it relaxed me slightly, the cold liquid rinsing out the aftertaste and pouring down my throat until the cup was empty.
"Mmm, a touch dehydrated, I think," the Doctor was saying. "We can get you an IV for that if you want…"
I shook my head before I even knew why. I didn't voice it, but something screamed in my head about needles. I didn't want needles anywhere close to me. There was a cold, hard nugget of fear that hadn't been there before that promised it would kill someone before another needle came near me.
"Right," he said, drawing the word out with a click of his tongue. "More water?"
"Please," I said and he filled several cups and sat them on a rolling tray that he pushed over for me to pick them up from. "Now, you said your name's Taylor. Any parents or relatives we can contact?"
A week? I shook my head quickly. "No. No one who cares."
"All alone?" he asked and there was something in his voice that prompted me to actively touch his mind. I almost recoiled at the sadness I felt there, so strong, so intense that I felt my eyes starting to tear up. His eyes met mine and then the feelings vanished, buried somewhere deep in his mind. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I… do I have any clothes?" I asked, hoping I had something more than the hospital gown I was wearing and that it would distract me from the strangeness of this doctor.
"I think they're around here somewhere," he said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "They were a bit ragged, so they might have gone to the laundry. I'll have the nurses check on that. There seriously isn't anyone we can call, though?"
"No," I answered again. "I'd like whatever things I had with me, please."
"Right," he nodded. "I'll see what we can do about this. Just hit the buzzer if you need more water, alright? I don't want you hurting yourself trying to get over there yourself."
"Okay," I agreed. "Thank you, Doctor."
He held a hand up and gave me a lopsided smile before slipping out of the room. I took another cup of water and drank it greedily before setting it aside. My thoughts drifted away from the strange doctor. The nurse who had first come in had said I'd shown up the night before out of nowhere, but I could have sworn I heard her say I was dropped on the curb like someone tossing out the trash.
I'd heard her… but I hadn't… My hands curled in the blanket as I tried to make sense of that. There was something different, but what?
It was like a switch had been flipped as I realized what the matter was. The noise beyond my barriers had changed. There was something else scrabbling at the walls around me now. Not impressions of colors and intent, the swirl of emotions intermingling around me. Something loud, something pervasive. For the briefest moment, I opened a tiny crack and listened.
"Ugh, what a me-did I schedule the date at six or eig-eedle marks around the neck. Repeated dr –" I hissed at the sudden rush, closing the breach. The seal had more mental weight behind it than it probably needed, reducing the 'noise' to almost nothing.
What was that? It wasn't like feeling people's emotions. I was… hearing them? There had been several voices…
I was hearing… reading their thoughts? That… that wasn't possible, was it? I thought over what I had heard, trying to make sense of the jumbled together sentences.
Needle marks around the neck. Was that referring to me? My hands flew to my neck and I hissed, feeling abraded skin, like something had been wrapped around it and chafed the flesh. I gave up after a moment. I had no idea if there were needle marks. What did those even feel like?
I brushed against the barrier I kept up and steeled myself. I could feel people outside the room, even through the walls and I looked for anything – anyone I could recognize.
The nurse, Annie, was found first.
I swear, sometimes Doctor Smith is the most exasperating… I have my licensing… why am I stuck fetching laundry while that… that airhead just prances in with his ridiculous credentials from wherever he had gone and takes over…
I recoiled, shoving my walls back against the influx of annoyance that came barreling in along with the thought. Again, I felt that spike of pain, but it faded quickly. Thoughts. I was reading their thoughts as well as feeling their emotions?
I'm a telepath?
I shook my head. No. Telepaths didn't exist. There was suspicion about the Simurgh being one, but I don't think I had ever actually heard of someone who could do that.
At least that girl has a name now. Annie's 'voice' intruded and I flinched a little. She looked frightful when they brought her in. One of the hobos said she just dropped out of nowhere… I wonder if she did or if he was just drunk and imagined it? Doctor Smith said her name was Taylor. I swear if that man forgot to get her last na –
The brief laugh that escaped my lips was a touch hysterical as I looked around the room. What the hell had happened to me after the firehouse? I was hearing people's voice… thoughts… I was reading their minds!
No. There had to be an answer. Maybe they were just talking and I was hearing them. Super-hearing was a power, wasn't it?
I get why I'm having to do this, but I swear, Armsmaster did this just to keep me out of the action. I'd rather be out helping clean up the last of the ABB than touring the hospital to boost civvie morale.
A knock sounded on the door just after I heard that and I downed another cup of water quickly. "Come in."
A familiar masked face stuck his head around the door. Dauntless raised a hand in greeting. "Hi, mind if I come in and talk for a bit?"
I stared dumbly. He didn't recognize me? Oh, right. We'd only met in costume. "Um, sure."
"Thanks," he said, leaning on the doorframe for a second before entering the room fully. "I'm just making rounds, introducing myself to everyone. Given recent events, I'm on watch duty here while we mop up the ABB."
"The ABB?" I had heard the nurse say something about bombings earlier. Maybe he could tell me more. "I'm sorry… I just woke up and the nurse said it's been a week since the last thing I remember…"
Dauntless paused in the act of pushing the single stool over toward the bed. Wonder what happened to her? She looks like – His thought cut off abruptly and I felt his emotions shift to self-reproach. "A whole week? That's really terrible. I'm sorry to hear that."
I forced a shrug. Maybe I could get him to hang around and talk, ask him about what the hell had happened… and if this whole missing a week business was real and not some elaborate lie. "It's a thing. Could I... could I ask you some questions about what's been going on? The nurses haven't said much, being busy, I guess…"
"Well," Dauntless said, settling onto the stool. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Light. Sound. Darkness. A bird made of fire swallowing me whole. I shuddered at the memory. "Um… stuff blowing up?"
He winced. "Sounds like you got caught up in the ABB's attack on the Empire. Ouch. That's… well, I'm sorry."
Was that what had happened when I was talking with the others? "The ABB and the Empire were fighting?"
She would ask that first. Ugh. He sighed and for a moment, I felt nothing but exhaustion from him. "That… well, it's a long story. Short version. The Empire got set back a bit when some of their people were arrested, and the ABB took advantage and bombed the hell out of their territory."
"I'm going to guess it got worse from there?" I asked, frowning as I processed this information. The ABB bombed my place? I wasn't in Empire territory. Maybe they had, but that didn't seem right.
"Understatement," Dauntless said wearily. "We got everything under control, finally, but cleanup is just getting started." And I'm not even sure we've gotten them all. There could be bombs waiting to go off if someone breathes wrong.
I concealed a wince. This close, even my walls weren't helping and the thread of denial I had been clinging to about telepathy was rapidly fraying. "I.. I'm sure there's lots you can't talk about and all, so thank you for telling me this much at least."
Dauntless shrugged. "There is, but nothing I've said so far goes near that. Between you and me, it's kind of nice to sit down and just talk to someone versus avoiding a screaming wacko trying to take your head off with a brick."
Cricket standing above me flashed across my mind. "I guess it would be."
He straightened, pushing away his exhaustion with an act of will. "Well, I hope I haven't been too much of a bother. I suppose I should get back to my rounds. It was nice talking to you, Miss…?" He slapped a hand over his face and groaned.
"What?"
"I never introduced myself," he said, sweeping into a bow. "My name's Dauntless."
I felt my lips quirk into a smile at the theatrics. That was he willing to take the time to talk to a random person in the hospital and was putting some effort into cheering me up despite being exhausted made me wonder if I had been too hard on him before. He was a nice guy. "Taylor. I'm Taylor."
"It's nice to meet you," he replied. "I hope you'll get better soon."
"Thank you," I murmured. He raised a hand and quietly left the room. I could feel his thoughts even so and tracked him for a moment before I sucked in a breath.
I really was a telepath. How? Vicky's theory that I was some sort of Trump who gained new powers based on who I was around flitted to the forefront of my thoughts. I had ignored it then because it didn't feel right, but maybe she had been on to something? I frowned and pushed it from my mind, realizing that there was something else I needed to take care of.
My eyes flicked to the half-open door that Dauntless had left through, then toward the small bathroom tucked in the opposite corner of the room. Grimacing, I swung my legs off the side of the bed and winced as my feet touched the cold floor. I gripped the headboard with one hand and forced myself to stand, ignoring the shaking in my legs.
Crossing the room to the door to close it took longer than I expected and I could already feel sweat forming on my forehead. I took a step away from the door and wobbled unsteadily for a moment. Each step after that was steadier, but I still felt like I'd run a marathon by the time I flipped the switch to turn on the light in the bathroom.
A few minutes later, feeling better, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The thought Dauntless had about my appearance made sense now. My hair was flat and looked in need of washing and I looked underfed. Combined with dark circles around my eyes…
"What happened to me?" I asked, turning my head left then right to eye the circle of chafed skin around my neck. A closer look did show spots that I thought were needle marks and I swallowed.
This wasn't the ABB's doing.
Why couldn't I remember? What the hell had happened?
I jumped after hearing someone knock on the door. The wood began to creak as I gripped it with my powers, prepared to shove it into whoever was there. Foresight unfolded and I saw who was there and what she was going to say. "Taylor, I brought you some clothes. Do you need any help?"
The nurse. Annie. Right. I relaxed my grip on the door. "No, I'm alright. I'll be right out." I washed my hands, then made sure the hospital gown was done up properly before I made my way out of the bathroom.
The nurse had a pair of pants and a shirt neatly folded and sitting on the blanket. I stared at them, feeling a frown form as I realized they weren't the clothes I last remembered wearing. That, and... "Um… is this all?"
Her expression blanked for a moment before she offered a hand to me for crossing the room. "While we didn't see any evidence of sexual assault, if that's what you were concerned about, we can't rule it out and the things you were wearing are to be turned over as evidence just in case. We can have an in-depth check done if you are worried about the possibility."
I drew in a breath, considering the offer. The thought of rape didn't evoke any particular feeling in me the way other things had. "No, I… no, that isn't necessary."
"If you're sure," Annie said, helping me sit down on the edge of the bed. "You're sure there's no one we can call for you?"
A week. Has anyone been looking for me? What happened to Catherine and Minako? To Lisa? I need answers.
"Actually," I said after a moment, realizing who I could call. "There is someone I'd like to call, if it isn't too much trouble."
~~~~~~~~
The door flinging open with more force than was necessary made me jump, but I relaxed an instant later when I saw Vicky. "Taylor! Gods, where have you been? Are you alright?"
My fingers curled in the blanket for a moment. "The first is a question I'd like answered and the second… I just woke up in the hospital a bit ago… what do you think?"
Vicky came to stand by the bedside, worry dominating her thoughts. "You look terrible, so I'm going to say not alright."
"A brilliant deduction," I retorted. "Sit down. Is it really April seventh?"
"Uh, yeah, what would it be?" Vicky asked, looking confused.
"March twenty-ninth."
"Wait, what?" Vicky grabbed the stool and sat down. "What the hell's going on, Taylor? The girls called me last week, said your place had blown the hell up and they'd been knocked out in the process. Didn't know what had happened to you and now you turn up at BB Memorial. Have you been here all this time? Why didn't you call us?"
"I haven't," I forced the words out slowly, a kernel of worry for Catherine and Minako popping with Vicky's words, "been here all week. I just woke up. Apparently, I showed up, to quote the nurse, 'out of nowhere' out front last night. I remember everything going nuts and then nothing till I woke up here."
Is she joking? Vicky's thought made me wince. "What… nothing at all?"
"Nothing, and no, I'm not joking," I said, brushing my hair back to show her my neck. "This is all I have to go on right now."
"You're not joking, okay… I didn't say you were…?" Vicky said, leaning in to look at the marks on my neck and scowling.
"Yes, you did. You aske –" I stopped mid-word. "Ah, fuck."
"No, I didn't, I…" Vicky's eyes went wide and her voice was faint as she went on. "I thought that. You heard me think? That isn't possible."
"Not… exactly," I sighed, reinforcing my walls and working to make them as thick as I could. I wasn't sure it would help. Dauntless had been wide open sitting the same distance away that Vicky was now. "Apparently, I can read minds now?"
She shook her head. "No, you can't. I'm studying that. They've figured –"
"– that even with powers, you'd need a brain many times larger and more complex than anyone anywhere could ever hope to have. I know." I sighed, running a hand through my hair and instantly regretting the greasy feeling it left behind on my fingers. "It's impossible. I can't be reading minds or hearing thoughts. But what do you call it then?"
"It's... some sort of intuition?" Vicky offered, looking just a touch pale. "You're just drawing correct conclusions on what I'm thinking based on cold-reading, physical cues and all that."
"I'm not Tattletale," I rolled my eyes, thinking that Lisa's powers had sounded a lot like what Vicky had just described. "I can prov –"
"Wait, wait. Leave that craziness aside. Who the fuck is Tattletale?" Vicky asked. "Isn't she a member of some gang or another? The Overunders or something stupid?"
I shrugged. "Undersiders, I think. The others didn't mention that when they called you?"
"They told me you were missing, but I haven't had much time. It's been all anyone could do to keep a lid on things." Vicky shook her head. Her face was sunken with fatigue and I could sense revulsion coming off her in waves. "You're lucky you missed this past week, really."
"Considering I can't remember the last week, I'm going to hold back on believing that," I muttered. "Dauntless said that too. But what the hell exactly happened? The ABB and the Empire fought?"
Vicky's laugh was bitter. "The word 'fought' is an understatement. After your scene at the mall, the ABB started a fucking war. Buildings all over the city just started blowing up, and there was armed mobs in the streets with ABB colors. That bastard lizard got a new parahuman, some Tinker named Bakuda."
She laughed again, though this time it wasn't bitter as much as hateful. Her face twisted in a scowl, and she looked ready to hurt someone. No, she was ready to hurt someone. "She makes bombs, you see. Bakuda? Bomb? Apparently it's fucking funny. We've spent the last week trying to stop them. I hear Piggot even cut the Empire a deal –"
Maybe if you hadn't flipped out and put the stupid Neo-Nazis down by four, the ABB wouldn't have done this. Vicky recoiled as the thought finished, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Taylor… I… I'm…"
I shook my head, the movement prompting her to fall silent. "Don't… just.. no, okay? You said Piggot cut the Empire a deal. Do you know what it was?"
Vicky's face twisted unpleasantly. "I don't, but I can guess. Fenja, Menja and Cricket were let out. Apparently it was the only way the Empire was going to actually work with anyone else."
"She's out?" I snarled in question. "After… gods… that stupid…"
She brought a hand up, catching my attention. "No one's actually seen her since the end of the War, though. That was two days ago and the Empire's been making a show of strength in their territory. Though, a place downtown went up last night. They think it was some bombs that hadn't gone off yet."
I nodded absently, worrying over Cricket. She had seen my face before then clearly put two and two together at the Mall scene and gotten Sirin… if she figured out my name…
"She could go after my dad," I whispered, going cold. I was not happy with him right now, but… I didn't want anything to happen to him. "And no one's seen her? Shit… I need to get out of here."
"Are you sure?" Vicky asked. "You do still look awful. I can do a check-up on your dad then go get Amy to fix you up, if you want?"
"I… no, but thank you," I shook my head, staring at the clothes Annie had brought me and ran another hand through my hair. The greasy feeling was still there, no surprise, and I began untangling my hair as best I could.
"Taylor, gods, your neck… what the hell?" Vicky's thoughts polarized into outrage and worry and I froze. What was she… Oh.
I let my hair drop, feeling it cover the marks on my neck. "I don't know what it is… Some of the doctors think something was there, injecting drugs. They found traces in my blood, they said. I don't remember anything though. There's... I can't call them memories. Impressions, maybe but nothing substantial."
God, I've been blathering on and blamed her, but she looks awful. What the hell happened to her?
I smiled a bit and laid a hand over hers. The thought from before still stung, but I could tell there was something deeper bothering her but not what exactly. "It's okay, Vicky. I'll do a fly-by and check on my dad. There is something you might be able to help me with, though."
"Name it," Vicky said, relief coloring her emotions.
I felt myself flush. "Um, apparently, when I showed up out of nowhere, these were the clothes they gave me as mine are considered evidence now and there's no... um…"
Vicky glanced at the shirt and pants. "There's no…?" She looked at me, then back to the clothes. "Oh, I get it. Um, yeah, I can see that being a problem. Evidence? You weren't…"
"I don't think so and the doctors don't either, but," I shrugged, "can't remember. Not going to worry about it for now."
"I can go get some for you real quick," she told me and I rattled off sizes for her, feeling my face heat even further at asking someone to get those for me.
"Thanks," I said when Vicky stood to go. "Once I'm out of here, I'll check on my dad, then back by the firehouse, to see if anything survived. I hope the jacket you got me didn't get ruined."
"Taylor," Vicky said. "Don't worry about the jacket. Worry about getting better." She left the room in a rush to do as I had asked and I took a deep breath, then grabbed one of the last cups of water on the tray and downed it in one gulp.
Get all the clothes, get out of here, check on my dad, then the firehouse… and after that, I had to figure out what had happened. And what I was going to do to whoever was responsible.
~~~~~~~~
Getting dressed and having actual clothes instead of a hospital gown actually helped me feel more like a person. Seeing my bare feet made me groan in frustration, though. I forgot to tell Vicky to get me some shoes and socks as well, but I would have to just deal with it until I could see if any of my stuff had survived the explosions. Something had clearly been bothering her that she wasn't talking about and I let her go look at her family or to take care of whatever it was.
There was a knock on the door while I was trying to get used to the cold floor and Annie the nurse stuck her head in. "Taylor, are you up to talking some more? There's a few people here to see you."
People? I stretched out and felt the familiar presence of Dauntless, along with several others I didn't know. Why was he back? Who was he with?
The door opened a bit more as the nurse leaned in, and I caught a glimpse of uniform black. It connected instantly, as my eyes darted down and saw a belt decorated with a holster.
Police.
I closed my eyes and counted backwards from ten, already piecing what had happened from their thoughts. They had, since I'd woken up, contacted the police. The circumstances of my showing up at the hospital had flagged the PRT, possibly my giving my first name as well. Damn. There went getting out of here easily.
"Fine," I said as they filed in, trying to bridle my frustration. Sneaking out of here was going to have to wait, it seemed.
Dauntless commandeered the stool and I almost smiled a bit as he directed an apologetic shrug at me. "Sorry about this, Taylor, but the report the hospital submitted had someone concerned and they sent us to talk to you."
"Concerned about what?" I asked, turning a puzzled look from him to the police men.
One of them flipped open a small notepad to a page about halfway through. "There were some concerns, given your condition, that you might have been abused in some fashion. Is there anything you can tell us?"
Stupid waste of time. The report said she didn't remember the past week. Probably got snagged by the Merchants and used while she was drugged out of her mind. Not going to be able to tell us anything worthwhile.
I almost growled at the thought, but managed to control myself. "No, I'm sorry. I remember things starting to explode around me on the 29th, and then I woke up a few hours ago in here. The doctors can probably tell you more than I know, to be honest."
"You don't remember anything at all?" the other cop asked in what sounded like a good cop tone of voice. The fact that I could read what was he was thinking took away that illusion though.
"There's impressions, like things I want to avoid, but that's it. I didn't want to drink any water that I hadn't seen get poured and the thought of needles… bothers me," I answered, nudging the folds of the blanket with one finger. "That's all, though. I try and remember and it's just a big hole of nothing."
"Nothing at all?" the first cop asked. Like I thought. A waste of time. Feel bad for her, but doubt there's much we can do here. Why the hell did we have to have Dauntless along anyway? Girl looks so ill a stiff breeze would blow her over…
I shook my head. "I'm afraid not, I'm sorry. If there was something more, I'd tell you, I promise."
The second cop nodded and they asked me a few more questions that I gave what answers I could. Dauntless was silent and I could sense he was simply waiting until they were gone. His words from before worried me. Since was back, had the report and mention of my first name flagged something with the PRT? Did he know I was Sirin?
"That's all we have to ask for now, Ms. Hebert," the first officer said, after they took pictures of the markings around and on my neck. "Let us know if anything comes back, if you would."
"I'll be sure to." The two men left, leaving me alone with Dauntless. For a moment, he said nothing, then he folded his hands together and leaned forward slightly. There weren't any thoughts connecting me to Sirin that I could hear from him, but I wasn't sure if that meant anything or not.
"So, let me just say you're not in trouble, alright?" his tone was calm, pitched to soothe. "No one's blaming you for anything, but we did have some concerns. The hospital's report mentioned some irregularities in how you got here. Since I was already here, I got tapped to ask you about it."
I snorted. "If I knew how I got here, I'd have an idea of what exactly went down in the past week. I wish I could tell you something there, but from when I was meeting my friends and everything started getting blown up to waking up is a big blank."
"The report mentioned that you had several spots on your neck that resembled injection points," he remarked. "I know you let the officers take pictures, but may I take a look at them?"
I swept my hair back without a word and he leaned in to look at them. After a moment, he drew back and I let my desperately in need of a wash hair fall into place once more. Dauntless said nothing for a moment before he reached over and gave my hand a comforting squeeze.
"I know this probably bothers you a lot, Taylor," he said. "But I promise we'll make sure that no one comes and tries to take you out of here. Given the odd circumstances you showed up, I should be able to justify getting some PRT agents tasked to keep an eye out at your door…"
I felt his thoughts as a mix of concern and outrage on my behalf. He really did mean every word he was saying to me. I smiled slightly, touched by his concern… but I wasn't going to stay here any longer than it took him to leave the building. "I… thank you. I imagine I'll be out of here soon though. I'm already feeling better since my friend came by. Having clothes instead of a hospital gown does wonders."
"I remember some of my hospital visits from before I got my powers. I understand completely." Dauntless chuckled as he stood and stretched. "I should go turn in my report. I'll have someone here to keep watch soon, alright?"
I merely nodded, my smile still fixed on my face as he waved farewell and left. I tracked his thoughts, keeping focused on him out of everyone else as he walked further away. The moment that the elevator doors closed to take him to the ground floor, I swung my legs off the bed and forced myself to stand.
Time to go. I split my attention between tracking him and mapping out my escape, carefully moving out of the room and toward the elevators as well. Dauntless was stepping outside when the elevator closed to take me to the roof and I heard his thoughts as clear as if he were standing beside me.
Still not sure why they said to talk to her. The guys in investigations covered everything… Curiosity radiated and I felt the moment when he connected the dots. I couldn't work up the effort to get upset that someone else knew now. I had more important things to worry about.
I knew that hair looked familiar. Ah, hells, Piggot's not going to like this at all.
I used my powers to go airborne, not wanting to cross the gravel-strewn roof with bare feet, even as I felt Dauntless change directions, heading back toward my room.
"Sorry, Dauntless," I thought and I could almost see him skid to a halt, looking around wildly. Then I dropped my contact with his mind and left the hospital behind.
~~~~~~~~
The light was on in the living room and I could see my dad moving back and forth between there and the kitchen. Two of his friends, Kurt and Lacey, were there as well, talking to him and there was, I could feel, a slight undercurrent of tension in the room. He seemed animated, though it took me some effort to ignore the feeling of hopelessness he was radiating. I couldn't see how Kurt or Lacey weren't able to tell as I saw one of them start laughing in response to something he said.
I pulled my gaze away from the house, stretching my thoughts out in all directions.
"Tonight, I'll get Marie to try…"
"God, is he ever going to learn how to do that… oh…"
"I will one day, she's going to tell me to fix her dinner and I'm going to…"
I stopped paying attention to the actual thoughts and began sorting through the feelings, looking for anyone I recognized. If Cricket was here, then I would find her… and she wouldn't get a chance to come near him. Or anyone else.
My probing stretched as far as I could push it, sweeping across neighboring blocks until I finally drew back, sighing. The moon had moved quite a bit and I saw the lights were dim across the street now. How long had I been keeping watch? I shrugged and rose up, leaving the neighborhood behind with one last glance toward the house.
It took me only a couple of minutes to reach the firehouse. More of it was intact than I expected. But even so, several windows were shattered and the inside was dark, a forbidding maw that I almost didn't want to enter. I floated slowly in through the window that I had, by my reckoning, just jumped out of only hours ago.
I called a sphere of fire into being above my left hand. I almost flinched at how bright it was, despite its size. It had come easily, unlike before when I had fumbled with just heat at the mall. My thoughts shifted as I slowly looked around at the damage around me. The furniture, the TV, the walls, all wrecked. Fire and water damage was visible everywhere. I clenched a hand into a fist, feeling my anger flare at the ruin of what I had started considering home. Was there anything salvageable, that was the question
Shifting around rubble beneath the hovering light of my flame only turned up one thing. It was a bit battered, but the jacket that Vicky had bought me was still intact. I slipped it on and grimaced at the way it sat just a bit too loose. I needed to get something to eat and soon. Another search didn't find anything useful. The half-finished costume I had been working on was ruined and I couldn't find any money amid the wreckage. The lockbox I had been keeping it in was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the ruin, just a blown out husk of metal.
"Guess they're not rated against explosions," I muttered before floating outside. My gaze fell on a patch of grass out front of the building. It was where I had dropped Catherine and Minako, if I was remembering everything right.
"Vicky said they were alright, so I'll go see them tomorrow," I said aloud. There was one other place I wanted to go right now. I took off toward downtown, rising up above the city's skyline until I was just over the area I wanted to go to.
Descending, I checked the street names until I found the address Lisa had given me. Mentally, I sighed that I could remember that so clearly, but not what had happened after the explosions. The sight that greeted me was not what I had expected. I'd noticed a few places that had clearly been damaged by the attacks, or war as Vicky put it, but this…
What was left of the place Lisa had said was Coil's base was a slagged ruin that teetered on the edge of a blackened crater. Walls were collapsed and some even looked like the brickwork had melted. I didn't bother shifting anything with my power. There wasn't, I knew with absolute certainty, anyone alive under that. With the moon overhead, I could peer deep into the crater to see the holes in its walls that were likely hallways at some point, and bisected rooms.
The surrounding area wasn't any better. Neighbouring buildings were pock-marked and scarred, some even missing their fronts or sides. I had seen the aftereffects of the war I had missed on my way here, but this trumped most of them. It was like the aftermath of a truly massive explosion.
"Well, this was a waste of time," I muttered, no closer to answers than I had been at the hospital. Maybe I could…
Everything twisted and disorientation seized me as I found myself somewhere other than the patch of air I had been floating in. My stomach rumbled at the twisting sensation and I staggered, the sensation pointedly telling me that I should be in bed trying to get better rather than flying around while I was unwell.
I managed to not empty my stomach and froze as the vertigo settled. I was on a rooftop and I wasn't alone.
"Oh, you idiot, why did you do that?" I heard someone say. "Now she's going to –"
"Quiet," a female voice that I didn't know cut off whatever argument was about to develop. I turned warily, putting up a bubble of telekinetic force around myself and prepared to attack at the first sign of hostility.
There were six of them. Five in costume arranged behind the sixth, a brunette who might have been my age or a bit older. I wasn't entirely sure. She had her hands up so I could see that they were empty.
"I'm sorry about that. Krouse can be a bit eager, sometimes. We didn't mean to startle you, only to talk."
I didn't know who they were, but the feeling when I'd swapped places. That, I knew and remembered. "Talk? About what?" I tapped my precognition in case any of them tried to attack me and what I saw made me blink and replay the sequence. What the –
While I tried to make sense of what I was seeing, the woman – Noelle – walked forward until she was standing in front of me. I kept my attention divided between her and the one they had called Krouse as she shifted awkwardly, trying to find the appropriate words.
"My name," she began, then swallowed before continuing, "is Noelle Meinhardt. And… I… thank you!"
Whatever composure she had dissolved and I staggered, even with my knowledge of what she was going to do, I barely held back from flinging her away as she abruptly hugged me, repeating her last words over and over. Noelle buried her face against my shoulder and I could feel her tears soaking my shirt.
"I… um… you're welcome?" I said, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She was thanking me? For what? What the hell had I done for her that I couldn't remember?
--
569
chibipoe
Jul 31, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.7
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Aug 18, 2015
#4,491
3.7
March 30th, 2011, 12:06 AM
The sound of a voice she didn't know broke through the fog weighing her down. Clearing her eyes seemed to take an eternity, but they eventually opened to a sight that burned away the fatigue pulling at her.
Metallic flakes surged out in a flood, forming a whip that slammed into the man crouched over her friend. He hit the ground and rolled several times as she pulled back with her power, leaving it to shift restlessly in the air near Minako.
"Fucking bastard," Catherine snarled, pushing upright. Even with the burst of adrenaline, her arms and legs were slow to respond. "Mina, you awake? Mina?" She saw the man begin to rise, blood visible from where he had hit his head. A quick look around showed the normally empty neighborhood had more people than she was expecting to see.
Some had Empire colors, and some were ABB, but most just appeared to be people fighting. What the hell was going on? She gave Minako a nudge, hoping she would wake while drawing up more of her power, tagging everyone in range.
The man who had been assaulting Minako was on his feet, staring at her with crazed eyes. "Bitch, gonna fuck you and the sloke –"
She didn't let him finish, slamming him away with her power. He kept his feet, if only just and swung his arms futilely at the rapidly growing cloud around him. Catherine fumbled in her pocket as he shouted something incoherent, bringing out her lighter and flicking it to life in one motion.
"No, I'm going to fuck you up, bastard," she snarled, a stabbing motion setting the thin strand of material floating near her alight.
The man's face turned a sickly yellow under the artificial color of the streetlights. He tried to run away, but the cloud followed and a moment later, he was ablaze as multiple sounds like small explosions erupted in quick succession.
"You… have been eating too many marshmallows again," Minako's voice said slowly, as if from far away. Catherine fought back a giggle despite the situation they were in and the sound emerged as an odd-sounding snort.
"Are you alright?" she said as soon as she had cleared her throat, keeping an eye on the area. The spectacle Catherine made had spooked the people who were fighting nearby.
"I… appear to be. What happened?" Minako asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Taylor freaked out and grabbed us and then…" She frowned and scanned the area again. "Um… Taylor and the other girl are missing."
"What?" Minako sat up and Catherine caught her before she fell back and cracked her head. "That... hurt."
"I remember lots of sound and light, and then not a thing. I think Taylor was shielding us from the worst of it, but…"
"I think I may have turned my ankle somehow," Minako said. "And the world appears to be spinning much faster than it should be."
"Oh, boy, maybe you should turn on your side befo –," Catherine cut off as Minako did so, in her direction. She hastily threw together a shape from the flakes to contain what was about to happen, setting it on the grass in front of her.
"This is one of the least pleasant things we've done together, I think," she said as her friend expelled the contents of her stomach into the construct she made, a high-lipped, crude basin.
"I… am sorry," Minako said after a moment. "I think I can walk now, maybe. Your parents are probably out looking for us."
"Ugh, they're going to yell at us…" Catherine muttered, reaching into the pocket where she kept her phone. "Do you have your phone?"
Minako was still for a moment. "It appears to be gone. Stolen?"
"If so, then mine's gone too," she said, the words coming out with more than a small amount of worry. "And Taylor… I'm worried, Mina."
"Help me up," Minako instructed, glancing down at the torn section of her shirt with distaste. "I do not think we should remain here much longer. Whatever occupies the authorities is likely not to keep them forever." She turned her eyes toward the building they had been talking to their friend inside in. Faint hints of orange could be seen from within and Catherine thought she could see the beginning curl of smoke emerging from within.
Slowly climbing to her feet, Catherine offered her hands to Minako, who helped her stand on shaking legs. A pained look crossed her friend's face as she gingerly settled weight on her right leg and the brunette carefully drew the other girl's right arm across her shoulders.
"Lean on me, Mi-chan," she said softly, holding firm as her friend settled against her.
"I should walk beside you, not as a burden," Minako said, a hint of stubbornness in her voice. Catherine smiled and began walking, taking care to keep her pace matched to her friend's.
"You're not," Catherine said. "After all, who patched me up when I got ganged up on in elementary? Consider it repaying a debt, if it bothers you that much."
"Cat-chan," the use of the old nickname made her half-skip a step, nearly upsetting Minako's pace. She recovered quickly, adjusting her weight to keep her friend from falling. "The present should concern us now, not the past."
The exhalation was sharp and bitter. "Yeah. I was trying not to think of that. Since that blonde twit is gone too, do you think it was Coil?"
"I do not care to contemplate the alternatives," Minako replied, drawing a sour look from Catherine. "But his actions are the most positive where our friend is concerned."
"Positive?" Catherine said. "She may have been kidnapped… what is –"
Two of Minako's fingers pressed against her lips. "If it was an attack, there is another option. A group she recently did a lot of damage to."
"The Empire." Catherine breathed when Minako took her hand away. "Shit. I didn't think of them. But…"
"Unlikely, given how soon this occurred," Minako said. "But ruling them out would be foolish."
"We need to find a payphone," Catherine said, throwing a worried look around. There were people still fighting. Most wore Empire colors and ganged up on others wearing ABB colors. "I have some change, so I can get a call to my dad. I don't think we want to be on the streets any longer than we have to."
"You are not wrong," Minako answered, tilting her head slightly like she was listening to something. "All the noise is helping me, though. What do you suppose is going on?"
"All hell breaking loose, it looks and sounds like," Catherine said after a moment, eyeing a distant section of skyline ahead that was tinted orange. "Looks like we've got some fires off that way… guessing something touched off the Empire and ABB fighting."
"This is not a good situation," Minako said, her voice sounding stronger, more collected. "We should hasten to be away from here before –"
Glass shattered somewhere nearby, followed by a thunderous roar that seemed to go on forever before cutting off with a sick squelching sound. Catherine and Minako both froze, but thankfully avoided tripping or unbalancing one another.
"What the hell was that?" Catherine asked, her voice a touch high as they began moving forward once more.
"Whatever it was, we are in no condition to go investigate," Minako answered. "I believe that is a payphone ahead, by the way."
"I think it was a payphone," Catherine said as they reached it. The light that should have been on above it was out and there were lines cut nearby, dangling from a nearby pole. Carefully, she lifted the receiver and brought it toward her ear before dropping it in disgust. "Dead. I guess that's not a surprise."
"Those people fighting," Minako said, looking toward a small group that was trashing a storefront, "we can relieve one of them of their phones."
"You up for that?" Catherine asked, readying herself by replenishing the material she had used against Minako's attacker.
"I am not inclined, but I do not believe we have a choice. We need to know what has happened, what is happening." Light started to glow around her hands. "Do not give them the chance to retaliate?"
"Wasn't planning on it," Catherine said, sweat popping on her forehead as she filled the air with more and more of the gunpowder-like substance. It fell on the men in a rush while Minako drove one away from the rest with beams of light, hammering him until he fell in a heap. The other three went down not long after that, battered by a combination of Minako's powers and bludgeoning strikes from the cloud of flakes, shaped by Catherine's control over it.
"Lemme go check that guy for his phone," Catherine said. "Keep an eye on me?"
"Always," Minako answered. Catherine flashed her a grin and quickly crossed the street, checking the downed gang member and coming away with a old flip phone. Keeping an eye on the gang members they had taken down, she crossed back over to Minako.
"Get away from here before we use it?" she asked as Minako's arm settled across her shoulders again.
Minako nodded, already looking around before using her free hand to point at a nearby service ladder leading up the side of a stubby building. "High ground is the best choice. We should not be down on the streets, exposed."
"Right," Catherine nodded, slowly helping her over to the ladder. "You're up first." Minako began climbing slowly, her ascent sluggish to avoid putting too much weight on her injured ankle. Meanwhile, Catherine kept close as she climbed the ladder behind her friend.
The roof afforded them some measure of privacy and Catherine knelt, carefully easing off Minako's shoe to examine her ankle while the other girl called Catherine's parents.
"Yes, the two of us are fine," Minako was saying, sucking in a breath as the brunette prodded gently at her ankle. "We will explain when we are safely away from here. No, I will not. Nor will Catherine. We are–" She tuned out the phone conversation as Minako stated their general location.
"Angry, I take it?" Catherine asked, carefully slipping the sock and shoe back onto her friend's foot.
"To put it mildly," Minako answered, exhaling sharply as the shoe closed around her foot. "We may have to wait for a bit. The situation further out in the city seems similar to what we have below, only more so."
"Shit," Catherine growled. "Did they say why? What the hell's going on?"
"I did not ask and they did not say," Minako said. "They merely said to keep a low profile and they would get here when they could." Catherine sighed and sat down beside her friend, letting her back rest against the lip of the roof.
"Empire or Coil, what do you think, really?" she asked after a few minutes.
"About Taylor?" When Catherine nodded, Minako drew in a slow, thoughtful breath. "I suspect this Coil. The blonde, Lisa, seemed certain that Coil saw Taylor as an object to possess. Perhaps he has been watching her all this time and struck because of Lisa's actions?"
"Maybe it was a trap and she baited Taylor into it," Catherine muttered.
Minako nodded, a slight gesture. "That is a possibility as well. Though risking one asset for another would suggest against it."
She thumped her fist on her left leg with a growl. "I don't like this. Taylor could be in a lot of trouble right now and we're stuck hiding out here on the roof."
"I share your frustration, but without more information, it would be foolish to go off right this moment. We do not have our costumes, or equipment. Nor do we have any idea of this Coil's, if he is indeed responsible, resources."
Catherine snarled, but her expression quickly turned thoughtful. "That girl was talking like he's some sort of Bond villain. I still don't know, but it sounded like she wasn't working for him because she wanted to, if she wasn't the reason that all happened."
Minako said nothing for a moment before nodding slightly. "If she is responsible or played a part in this knowingly, we will chastise her for such actions."
Catherine stretched her arms and then looked around. "Think we should move over there by the AC unit so we're not right here at the edge where someone might see us?"
"That might be best," Minako answered after a moment's thought. "Help me up?"
"Always," Catherine said in imitation of an earlier remark. Minako smiled and the two moved across the roof. Gravel shifted as they settled down and stared off into the distance. The skyline was mostly dark, a change from how the city core would light up the night just like any city. But now the lights flickered spastically, new lights blazed into existence and died just as quickly all over Brockton Bay's skyline. Distantly, the sounds of fighting and sirens could be heard, and a rhythmic yet heavy thump punctuated the explosive flares. The faint hum of the AC rumbled against their backs as they watched the scene before them, together.
~~~~~~~~
March 30th, 2011 1:20 AM
The group of Empire members scattered like bowling pins as she dropped to the ground in a perfect three point stance. She had seen it from an imported Earth Aleph movie and wanted to use it, but it had taken her a while to get perfect.
It was just too bad that none of these racist jerks appreciated the effort she went to for making a dynamic entry. Most of them took one look at her and ran away as soon as they got to their feet. A few brave ones tried to attack her; well they were stupid in her opinion, but they thought they were brave, so that was something, right?
She let the first grunt swing his pipe at her, not even acknowledging the attack before she casually backhanded him. Only one other had stayed and he swung a broken bottle at her. Without bothering to comment, she turned on the next one, catching his arm mid-swing and squeezing till it cracked and he screamed.
Victoria Dallon shot off to the others, barely giving them any more attention than it took to knock them down. The past few hours had been hectic, the city going up in flames both figuratively and literally. ABB and E88 were swarming the streets in open arms. She had gone out earlier to blow off some steam after seeing some late night news reports that were being less than kind about who they felt was responsible for all of this.
Like the miserable bastards who haven't been in a fight once in their lives have any idea what it's like to be in a cape fight. The thought made her grimace as she took out another cluster of gangsters.
It wasn't long before she had broken and left them in a moaning, insensate pile. She needed to talk to someone and Amy was still in a snit over something. Dean was busy with Wards duties. And the only other person she could reliably talk about this with wasn't answering her phone.
"Damnit, Taylor," she muttered as she flew away after calling in the gangsters she had just taken down. "Answer your phone already. You only have like three people who call you. It even has caller ID, so knowing who's calling you shouldn't be a mystery!"
She sighed and scanned the streets below, looking for something else that she could bust up. Tonight, she had her pick of mobs she could break up. Even hours after it began, the fighting was still in full swing. New Wave was out in force, alongside the Protectorate and Wards.
Vicky had foregone joining them, though, and was roaming around on her own, glaring at her phone from time to time.
"I should have swung by earlier," she grimaced as another message went straight to voicemail. She had tried the numbers she had for Hanabi and Rockshow as well and got the same thing. It was starting to worry her. All three falling out of touch while all this was going on? You didn't grow up in a family of Heroes and not know the cliches.
"Might as well swing by and make sure she's alright," Vicky mused, banking to the left and towards the Firehouse. She hadn't been around for a day or two, so hopefully they were just having issues with cell service or something.
She paused a couple of times along the way to break up some fights before coming to a halt in the air above Taylor's hideout. For a long moment, she simply hung there, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
The large picture window on the second floor was shattered. A few pieces of glass still hung in the frame, their edges glinting from a nearby street light.
"What the hell?" she said aloud, dropping lower for a better look. There were no lights inside, but the flickering of flames was visible between shifts of the smoke slowly billowing out. She took a deep breath before barreling in. A quick sweep through, even with the gathering smoke, told her that there was no one inside.
Still holding her breath, Vicky drew an arm back. A moment later, a section of the floor shattered under her fist, sending the burning debris tumbling to the lower level and onto the concrete floor below.
"Taylor?" she called out, hoping the noise would catch her attention if she was still inside. No response came and she went from room to room, often plowing through walls as the fires and smoke started to spread, but she couldn't find any sign that Taylor or anyone else was here.
"What the hell happened here?" Vicky asked aloud, floating out through the hole and moving to where she had a view of the area. There were a few gangsters fighting a block or so away, but no signs of anyone beyond that.
A few had stopped to stare, so she floated there and dropped in front of them, cracking her knuckles once. She let her aura flare a bit, her worry over what might have happened here feeding it. "Hey. You guys wanna tell me what happened here?"
One of them stepped forward, sporting Empire colors and sneering. "Why should I tell a bitch like you?"
She didn't bother to reply to him, launching forward and flicking her finger at his chest. He tumbled away, knocking several others down. She crossed her arms, staring at those still standing. "Let's try again. What happened over there at the firehouse?"
The rest stood for a moment, faces etched with fear, before they broke and ran in different directions.
"Damnit," Vicky swore, pulling her aura back as she realized her temper had set it higher than she had intended. "Stupid. I can fly… why do they always think they can run away?" She rotated, trying to decide which one to pursue.
One of them was sporting that incredibly stupid trend of wearing their pants below their hips and she saw it hindering his efforts to escape. "Well, you get picked because that look pisses me off."
She caught him by the back of his neck, arresting his movement and lifting him into the air. "Now, as I was saying…"
"Oh god, don't kill me!" he cried out, struggling against her grip.
"Stop that!" she snapped, turning to face the firehouse. "And I'm not. I just want answers! What happened here?"
A familiar ring tone interrupted him and Vicky closed her eyes, counting to ten slowly as the music of her phone continued. "Ugh. Hang out over here, okay? I need to take this." Hoisting him up, she hung him from a nearby light post.
"You can't leave me up here, you crazy bitch!" the man yelled.
"You'll be fine," Vicky said absently, fishing out her phone. "Don't go anywhere, alright? I'll be right back after I take this call."
"I'm a bit busy with something, what do you want?" she asked after putting the earpiece for the phone in place.
"Don't take that tone of voice with me, young lady," her aunt answered. "We are having some trouble containing a mess downtown. The PRT asked for our help after a skirmish with the Empire."
"I don't have time for Nazis," Vicky protested. "I've got –"
"You are a member of New Wave, Victoria, and I am telling you to get over here and help us. Whatever you're off doing can wait. PRT HQ, now."
The call ended and Vicky swore several times before stuffing the phone and earpiece in her waist pack. She turned in midair and looked at the firehouse and the smoke curling out of its gaping hole for a long moment before flying off toward downtown.
The conference room was far too small for the number of people crammed into it. Vicky held a corner to herself, wishing she didn't have to be here. Aunt Sarah had been waiting and rushed her in almost as soon as she had landed. Now she was stuck listening to the Director drone on about the situation. It was all stuff she already knew. The Empire started attacking everyone in response to four of their own being arrested and the ABB had exploited the chaos to hit the Empire hard and now Brockton Bay was going up in flames.
The only difference was that the Director was talking about outright cooperation between New Wave and the Protectorate. Aunt Sarah was promising their full aid, as well. Hearing that, Vicky almost groaned. That meant she was going to be paired off with the Wards, basically getting babysat with them and assigned to low-danger areas. How the hell was she going to look for Taylor while dealing with that?
Maybe Taylor had been out and was busy smashing gangsters that she wasn't aware of what had happened? If Hanabi and Rockshow were with her, then maybe they were just busy with that and had turned off their phones? It was possible. She couldn't see them not being out in this, cleaning streets and taking names. But she couldn't banish that niggling feeling that she might be wrong.
Either way, she wasn't likely to find anything out while being stuck patrolling with a Ward. She'd be lucky if she knocked in more teeth then she could count on her fingers before the night was over.
"This sucks," she muttered, kicking at the floor.
"What does?" She looked up to see Gallant standing beside her, clad in full armor.
"Talk about it somewhere else," she muttered, ignoring the glare she was feeling from her aunt as she grabbed his arm and left the room. If she had to stay in here, she was going to break something.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Roof," she told him. "Remember the ass-chewing we got the last time you brought me into the Wards' little private space?"
"Stairs are faster," he said, frowning at her for an instant before leading the way. His frown deepened as Vicky brushed past him and took to the air, navigating between the stairs and up the stairwell quickly. He followed as fast as he could and stopped once he was on the roof, pausing to take in the sight of her lit up by the roof's lights and the night breeze ruffling her hair.
"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at the way her shoulders tensed at the question.
Vicky took a long time to answer, releasing a heavy sigh before finally speaking. "I swung by where Taylor's staying after I couldn't get hold of her. She wasn't there."
"Maybe you just missed her?" Dean asked, trying to get a feel for what she was thinking. Ordinarily, she was an easy read, even accounting for his powers not always working right with her. But now, she was almost a blank slate, not giving any hint of anything beyond obvious upset.
Vicky's head moved, a slight motion that indicated disagreement. "Maybe. I'm not so sure. Her place was trashed, like someone had set off bombs inside. Everything was scorched, there was a fire starting to get out of control… and no sign of Taylor. Her phone goes straight to voicemail when I try."
Dean tilted his head thoughtfully, walking up behind her and slipping his arms around her. Vicky leaned against him for a moment. "That doesn't mean she herself is in trouble. She could be out late and not have her phone on. Someone maybe hit her place while she was out? There's enough crazy in town right now for that to be possible."
She pushed away, releasing an exasperated sound. "I don't know. I feel like something's wrong and because Aunt Sarah's pushing this cooperation with the PRT, I can't go looking for her."
He watched her stalk around the roof and the thought that she reminded him often of a very angry cat drifted to the forefront of his mind. "Have you tried talking to her? To tell her your concerns?"
She huffed. throwing her arms up. "I was trying to and she just cut me off without letting me finish."
"Look," Dean began, moving closer to give her a hug, but she moved away and he let his arms drop. "I'm sure she's fine. Probably out trying to keep things under control. After this evening, do you really think anyone's going to willingly tangle with her?"
Immediately, he suppressed a sigh at his choice of words as Vicky spun around, eyes wide and her voice a hiss. "What's that supposed to mean? You… shit. You know. Taylor's gonna kill me."
He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I haven't told anyone, I promise. But I've met Taylor, remember? And I've met Sirin. Even if I hadn't met her in costume, those newspapers where someone sold pictures of the two of you against Mush would have been enough to figure it out."
She stared at him for a moment and then covered her face with a hand. "This is such a mess. Someone else knows who she is, which is going to piss her off. Well, it would if I knew where she was. But, with the whole town going to shit in the past few hours, I don't know if I'll even get to tell her any time soon."
"Tell you what I'll do," Dean began. "I'll volunteer to partner off with you. We can look into this while patrolling."
Vicky dropped her hand. "Do you really think they'll let us pair off like that? They'll think we're going off to make out or something."
"Won't know unless we try." He flashed a smile. "I can be convincing, you know."
"You certainly can," Vicky replied, her mood swinging into something happier as she grinned at him. "Remember when you…"
"So, since you two snuck off, you weren't there for pairings," a voice interrupted whatever she was going to say. Both turned to see Assault leaning against the railing of the stairs that lead down into the building. Behind him, fidgeting nervously, stood Clockblocker. "So, to make sure you two aren't engaging in inappropriate behavior, you're with me and my buddy here."
"I'm in hell," Clockblocker grumbled. "It's stupidly late and we're not done yet and these two were probably going off to –"
Vicky glared at him, taking a step forward. "I will murder you if you finish that sentence."
Assault raised a hand, cutting off Clockblocker's reply. "I have everyone's attention? Good. Gallant, go take Mr. Foot in Mouth downstairs. Get a soda or something. Barbie and I will be down in a few after I convince her to not wear Clock's ribcage as a hat"
"Sir?" Gallant asked, hesitating.
"I didn't stutter," Assault said. "Go on. I promise Barbie will be fine." Gallant hesitated for a moment more before nudging Clockblocker back down the stairs.
"I wouldn't really rip out his ribcage to wear as a hat." Vicky said, crossing her arms as the sound of the door in the stairwell clicked shut. His look was clearly skeptical, even through the mask he was wearing and she almost growled. "I wouldn't!"
"Sure, sure," Assault said. "But something's bothering you. That was a little violent with him. More than usual, I mean."
She stared for a moment. "And, what? You've appointed yourself my shrink?"
He laughed once, a short sound. "No, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What do you –" Vicky began, but fell silent as he held up a hand.
"Let's walk over here a bit," Assault said, slipping past her to move out toward the center of the landing pad. She stood for a moment, frowning, before following him.
"What was so important that you wanted to talk to me alone?" Vicky asked, still frowning.
"You know, I was a teenager once," he told her, looking out in the direction of the bay. "I remember that, and before you say anything, I'm not that old. I definitely remember thinking I was pulling one over the adults around me."
"And?" Vicky said, wondering where this was going.
"Do you really think we're all stupid?" he asked. "I mean, really, I've met Sirin while she was running around with you and I've met Taylor doing the same. Two and two equal five, you know?"
"What… You – Not again!" Vicky's jaw dropped and she swung an arm up to point at him. "Shit. You. You know. And that means she knows too?"
"Puppy?" Assault asked, then nodded. "Figured it out the other day when you busted Cricket. Or, rather, you claimed to bust Cricket. You're a horrible liar, by the way."
"Shit, someone else knows," Vicky snapped. "Taylor's going to be so pissed. Everyone and their brother knows, it seems like. Fine, you know. What do you want?"
Assault blinked. "What do I want? What sort of question is that?"
"Taylor's told me all about the PRT bugging her," Vicky said. "How do I know this isn't more of that?"
He snorted. "Barbie, I'm the last person the PRT would have toeing the line on some agenda. I figured it out and I did some digging. I don't like the situation she's in, so I want to help."
Vicky didn't say anything for a moment before sighing. "Fine. It's on you if she pops your head like a zit."
"I live dangerously," he retorted. "But seriously, I wasn't wrong about something bothering you?"
"No…" Vicky admitted.
"It has to do with her, doesn't it?"
"I couldn't reach her on her phone earlier, so I went to where she was staying and the whole place was trashed, like it had gotten bombed. There was no sign of her and I haven't been able to reach her or the other two she hangs out with."
"Those two indies, right?" he asked. Vicky nodded. "And bombed? Like regular bombs or the crazy kind that the ABB nutjob seems to use?"
"I dunno. Normal, I guess?" Vicky shrugged.
"Tell you what," he said, starting toward the stairs. "Let's go collect Clock and Gallant, then you show me where and I'll take a look. That sound good?"
Vicky grimaced and followed him after casting a worried glance out toward the city. "It's better than what we were going to do at least."
~~~~~~~~
Waiting, Catherine decided, sucked. Her dad had shown up and they'd climbed down to the van. The whole trip home had been him expressing his displeasure and not letting her get a word in. The brunt of it had fallen on her, as Minako was faltering and really out of it by that point.
For her, though, Catherine found everything was too in focus. The lethargy that had clung to her initially on waking had faded in the rush of adrenaline that followed her defense of Minako and though she still felt detached, there was no urge to sleep. Her mind raced, worrying about Mina, Taylor and growing increasingly frustrated that they couldn't go looking for her.
I bet it was that fucking Coil. The thought made her shift in agitation, remembering her talk earlier with Mina. As much as she wanted to believe that, there could be any number of possibilities. The blonde could have just been a really good liar and was just setting this Coil up to take the blame. Who better to blame than a Villain no one ever saw, much less no one was certain even had a power in the first place?
An angry sound punctuated a kick at the floor. The coffee table in front of her was what she wanted to kick, but it was old and she had learnt her lesson about that years ago. Catherine glanced toward the phone and then shook her head. Trying Taylor's cell phone wasn't likely to give her anything more than voice mail the way it had the last few times.
One of the family's laptops was sitting on the coffee table and she lifted it into her lap, switching it on. Maybe she could find something useful about Coil while she was waiting. She could faintly hear sounds from the kitchen, her parents tending to Minako. That gave her a few minutes at least before-
"You can turn that off." She looked up to find her dad standing over her. She hadn't even heard him enter. Inwardly, she bristled at the order, but slowly closed the laptop. "Now, you are going to explain yourself."
"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused even as his expression became more forbidding and he crossed his arms.
"You went off this evening, without telling me or your mother anything, don't answer your phone for hours and when we do finally hear from you, it's from an unsecure phone to tell us you're hiding on a roof. So, explain yourself."
Her lips pressed together in a thin line. "I think you just did a better job than I would."
"Do not," he growled, "mouth off. What was it? Hanging out with your friend, the one you barely tell us anything about? Getting into trouble with her? Taylor's her name, right?"
"She had nothing to do with what happened to us," Catherine retorted. "I don't even know what happened to us, really. And I don't care. My friend is missing –"
"Minako gave us a run down already," he interrupted. "Sounded like an example of disorienting tactics. Snatch and grab, probably. And this blonde and your friend are missing now. So, clearly they were the targets. Which means it was her fault."
"It was not!" Catherine snapped, surging to her feet. "Taylor got attacked tonight and is god knows where and you're telling me it's her fault?"
"Sit down, Catherine," her dad told her. "Your friend doesn't concern me. She isn't my responsibility. You and Minako are. I let you go out and do this with the understanding that you would follow orders. Tonight, you did everything but that and look at where it got you. Minako's hurt again and was clearly assaulted, though I gather you dealt with that before it could become anything more serious. All because you were out with your friend."
"We didn't go out on patrol or anything like that!" Catherine retorted, her voice raising. "It was hanging out with my friends. Where does getting attacked or whatever fit in that?"
"Your friend was likely abducted by someone, or the person with her was and she got taken as well, either way, you got in trouble and hurt as a result!" he fired back. "You are my daughter! And Minako might as well be, given we take care of her more than her family! You two are more important to me than some girl I've met a handful of times!"
"You might not care, but I do!" Catherine yelled. "What, I'm supposed to just forget about my friend? You're the one who taught me that you don't leave anyone behind! I don't know where she is-"
"I taught you to follow my orders too!" he almost roared. "That was our agreement if I let you go out and participate in the cape freakshow!"
"Freakshow," Catherine repeated, her voice low yet hard. "Does that mean I'm a freak, dad? That Minako is?"
"Catherine, that isn't –"
"Isn't what? What you meant? You said 'if I let you go out and participate in the cape freakshow'. I think it was pretty clear what it meant, don't you?"
"Now, wait just a moment! That isn't what I meant and you are going to listen to me! You are not going out looking for your friend."
"No, you listen," Catherine said, her voice staying in that same low tone as her power surged and the air around her filled with countless flakes, shaping into a loose cloud with shiny tendrils surging off at random intervals. "I listened, because you know a lot of stuff. You were the one who taught me how to fight. But I did that because I wanted to, and that's all. If I don't want to listen to you anymore, how are you going to stop me?"
Her dad took several steps back as her voice rose into almost a yell with the last words. He straightened and opened his mouth.
"What the hell is going on in here?" her mother demanded, standing near the hallway with Minako just behind her. "Catherine, put your powers away, now. You know the rules. Ryan, what the hell? I could hear you in the back room."
Catherine stared at her dad and did not acknowledge her mom. The cloud created by her power shifted several times, roiling in mirror of her mood before it dispersed. A second later her dad walked out of the room without a word.
Leanna Greene stared after him for a moment before turning to the two girls. "I know you're frustrated, but it's really dangerous outside right now. So, you two are going to go to bed and get some rest. In the morning, we'll work out what to do, alright?"
"We will do so," Minako said, forestalling anything Catherine had been planning to say. "Thank you for your hospitality."
"Told you that you don't have to thank me, Mina," Catherine's mother said. "Go get some sleep, both of you."
Catherine made a face, but said nothing as she slipped an arm around Minako to help her. Her foot had been bandaged, but she was still limping.
"I don't want to wait," Catherine said in a voice that only Minako could hear.
"She is correct about one thing," Minako replied, her tone just as soft. "We require more information before we can act. We should try and get in touch with Taylor's friend, Victoria, as soon as we can."
"Fine, fine," Catherine conceded, then grimaced as she yawned hugely. "I hope she's alright, though."
"We must have faith," Minako said. "She has managed to look after herself so far."
--
3.8 is underway and we'll briefly see the Travelers, then jump back into present time.
Last edited: Aug 18, 2015
470
chibipoe
Aug 18, 2015
View discussion
Threadmarks Dream Eater - 3.8
View content
chibipoe
chibipoe
Catradora is life, Catradora is love
Moderator
Aug 22, 2015
#4,541
3.8
April 4th, 2011 6:05 AM
"Heads or tails?" Coil asked, balancing a coin on his fingers. "Heads, Noelle lives, Tails, my pet does."
Krouse stared and shook his head. "I won't…"
"Tick tock, Krouse," Coil cut him off, waving the gun he held at the two girls kneeling in front of him. "Choose, or I kill you, then her."
"Heads," he said. "Heads, damnit!"
The coin lifted into the air and the smack as it landed in Coil's palm was thunderous.
There was no mirth in the cold eyes as the coin was shown.
Tails.
The gun came up –
Krouse woke with a scream.
April 4th, 2011 10:07 AM
Krouse flipped a coin, watching it twirl through the air and land on his palm. Tails. He growled, trying again.
Tails.
Cursing his luck, he shoved the coin into his pocket and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. A few days had passed since he did that snatch and grab for Coil. The two girls had been spirited away somewhere within the base. Where, he wasn't sure, but the glimpse he had of the dark-haired girl wouldn't leave him alone. While she and the blonde girl had both been tied, the blonde's restraints were far less severe.
Still, those mercs who carried the girl away held her with surprising care. Maybe they were just being cautious. He hadn't told the others about that yet and he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell them at all. The whole thing put a foul taste in his mouth, like bile was rising up his throat.
It would help Noelle, though, so that was what mattered. Wasn't it? The thought rolled through his mind and he frowned, shoving up from the chair.
"I'm going out," he said, though no one else was around to hear him. He went and changed into street clothes before leaving through an exit that came out several blocks away, behind a butcher's shop. The shop was closed like many others, the owners likely choosing to stay home to avoid the chaos the past few days had brought.
Thankfully, the fighting only really happened at night, but he wasn't sure that would last. It had already begun to spill into the day and while there hadn't been any large scale clashes, it was only a matter of time.
Coil was probably aware of this, which was why he had only sent them on that one job. And from what he had told him, there was only more to come.
With your help, the other half of what I need shall be in my reach. And with it, my goals shall be realized.
His mouth curled in a sneer. Another kidnapping. Like before, Coil had skimped on the details, but he didn't expect it to be any more likeable than this 'task' had been.
Krouse stopped at a street corner, taking a look around. The only thing he saw was an old woman preparing to cross the street across from him.
He swapped places with her, moving forward and ignoring her surprised cry. A gust of wind prompted him to shove his hands into his coat's pockets and soon enough, he found himself at the restaurant he discovered after they first came here.
Thankfully, it was still open. Twenty minutes later, he left with a heavy brown paper sack in one hand, going back to the hideout. No one bothered him as he went to his destination, but he knew they were watching.
The heavy doors opened and he winced slightly at the smell of rotting meat that had already taken root inside the chamber Coil had provided.
Calling it a chamber made him snort at the thought. More like a holding cell.
"Hey, girl," he said. A figure shifted in the shadows at the corner of the room. "I brought some sandwiches. They're from a place down the street. Nice little place that I think you'll like."
"What do you want, Krouse?" the voice asked. It was her voice, but it wasn't. Today was one of those days.
"To have lunch," he said, holding up the sack. "I brought your favorite, you know. Even if I don't see how you can stand spinach ever. Does it give you super strength like Popeye?"
"You should go away," Noelle growled.
"Nope. I wanted to talk to you and we haven't had lunch together since we got here to Brockton Bay."
"Go away," she said, a heavy thud punctuating the words.
"Nope," he repeated, closing his eyes to the venom in her voice. "I got your tofu and spinach sandwich, complete with hot sauce and extra cheese. I even got one for myself, and we're going to have lunch and talk. I need… I need your advice."
There was silence for a moment and he was afraid she was going to lose her temper. Then, an indrawn breath.
"Tofu and spinach?"
"Yup! Plus those hideous vinegar chips you like. They even had the right brand."
"...Thank you," she said. Then he heard a scraping sound. "Come over to the left, it's clear." He nodded and settled down beside her, fishing out one of the sandwiches and half unwrapping it before handing it over.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked after a few minutes of nothing but the two of them eating.
"Ah, just a sec." He held up a hand and concentrated. A moment later, the paper bag that had held the sandwiches vanished, replaced by a sparking camera. "There. Now we've got some privacy."
"What's bothering you, Krouse?" Noelle asked after the camera fizzled out.
"I…" he trailed off, feeling his hands tighten around the half-eaten sandwich he still held. "I don't know. I'm trying to find a way to help you, to get you better and I… I think I've done something terrible."
"What did you do?" she asked, her voice stern.
"I… the one who promised that he could help you," he began, then swallowed. "I helped him capture someone. I... I don't know what he's doing to her… and I… I justified it because it was all for you, but that isn't making it easier to deal with."
"I think you should leave."
"Noelle, I—" He began, climbing to his feet.
"Get out, Krouse. Now!" Her roar was guttural and he scrambled away toward the door.
"I'm sorry," he said, slipping outside. Her only reply was something heavy slamming against metal after the door had closed.
"Trickster," a coldly familiar voice said from behind him as he leaned against the door and squeezed his eyes shut. "Explain why you disabled the camera inside Ms. Meinhardt's room."
"It was a private conversation. A personal one." He dug into his pocket and gave the coin a flip. Tails. "Nothing you needed to hear or record, that's all."
"Any information that I can gather will help in alleviating Ms. Meinhardt's condition," Coil said. "From the sound of it, it will be some time before she will be calm enough to permit a replacement."
He shrugged, starting to walk away. "Watching her twenty-four seven isn't getting her a cure, so I don't really see why you need that. I've got some stuff to do, if you don't mind."
"I will require your services once this situation with the Empire and ABB has died down," Coil said. "Your talents were invaluable in acquiring my newest asset. They will be equally invaluable for my next asset."
"Sure, whatever," he said, absently waving a hand. An asset? Was that all he saw the girl as? And what about the other one, the blonde? "Just tell me when."
He continued to walk. Coil's eyes never wavered.
April 5th, 2011 6:43 AM
Tails. Krouse pocketed the coin, stepping forward. Noelle had insisted that the lights in her room be turned off, but at least she was talking to him again.
"I'm not sleeping well, Krouse," she said, her voice sounding dazed. "I dream and all I see is fire."
He ran a hand over his face. "Haven't been sleeping well either. Do... do you want me to try singing to you?"
"Please," she said. Krouse cleared his throat, thinking of a good song. He had never been much of a singer, but for her, he would do anything.
April 6th, 2011 5:27 AM
"Heads or tails?"
April 6th, 2011 7:00 PM
The coin landed on tails and he sucked in a breath. The others were all in the common room, playing cards while he sat off by himself.
"Guys," he said, glancing toward one of the places he knew there to be cameras. "I have to tell you something."
April 6th, 2011 7:43 PM
The others were yelling at him right now, but he only had eyes for the coin in his hand. Tails, again. He stuffed it in his pocket and focused on his friends. They had disabled the cameras so they could talk in privately.
"Look," he said. "I thought it would help Noelle…. that was what I've been trying to do, to keep us safe and help her. I did something stupid and I screwed up. I get that. I want to fix it."
"Even if it means losing this guy's help with Noelle?" Marissa asked, her voice tightly controlled. She was not far from throwing a sun at him.
His lips pressed together for a moment. "Even if. I… robberies, the other stuff, I could deal with that, we needed money. But kidnapping… It's too much, and he wants me to help him grab someone else soon. I can't… I don't know what he's doing with her. But he wanted her bad. Maybe she can help, or find us someone who can."
"Grasping at straws," Luke snorted. "You're a dumbass, Krouse. Next time, talk to us before doing shit like this! Christ, man!"
"So, what are we doing?" Jess asked. "Helping this girl and then… what? We won't have a place to stay any more if we turn on Coil."
"You guys see what you can get out of his systems, assets or whatever," Krouse said, the beginnings of a plan forming. "I'm going to get the girl out."
"This has got to be the dumbest thing you've ever said," Oliver spoke up. "What do you think you're going to be able to do?"
He grinned and looked over his shoulder at his his team, his friends, his family. "I'm hard support, remember? You guys just take care of the rest." He didn't wait for their response before striding out of the room. He adjusted the grip on his cane and started down the hall toward where he thought the girl was kept.
April 6th, 2011 8:00 PM
"I confess, I don't understand the motivation behind this act, Trickster," Coil said, standing in front of him. Behind him, with mercenaries watching, the rest of the Travelers knelt, their hands cuffed behind their backs. "I was providing all of you a valuable service and you attempt to betray me."
"You're a bastard," Trickster replied. "Getting me to help kidnap some girls? How's that going to helping us or Noelle?"
"I suppose, before I terminate our arrangement, I can explain what you would have jeopardized," Coil said, pressing a button on the remote he held. A partition lowered, revealing a large window. Inside the room, huddled in one corner of a cot, was the brunette.
"Now, pet," Coil said, the words causing the girl to flinch. "Tell me what the future holds."
The girl shifted and he saw several lights blinking from a collar that encircled the girl's neck. Her eyes were clouded, distant, like she was seeing something else or somewhere else.
In jerky motions, she started to stand, coming to the window. He heard a muttered word from one of the others, but he couldn't take his eyes off the clearly drugged girl.
Although she clearly wasn't seeing anyone in the room, he still felt like she was staring right at him.
"Heads, tails, and the edge dividing," she began, her voice an off-key singsong. "Six becomes seven, fire burns and birds fly."
"Something useful, if you would," Coil said, exasperation clear in his voice as he raised a small remote. The girl recoiled at the sight of it and Trickster felt his stomach twist again. What the hell had he helped do to this girl?
"I'm sorry," he said aloud, drawing all eyes to himself as he fixed his eyes on the girl, preparing to draw on his power. "I'm sorry I played a part in you ending up like this."
"How very touching," Coil said. "Now—"
"Take care of Noelle for me, guys," he cut off the villain. Shouts rang out from his friends as he used his power. Swapping his location for the girl. Only the girl.
The collar bit into his neck and he felt something stab into his skin. Concentration splintered and he saw Coil retreating down a corridor as chaos erupted on the other side of the glass.
Maybe this time it won't be tails? The thought brought a smile to his face as red and gold consumed his vision.
April 6th, 2011 9:57 PM
The inside of his mouth felt stuffed with cotton and he blinked several times, unsure what was going on or what had happened.
"Krouse, shit, are you alright?" Marissa's voice was coming from somewhere nearby. He tried to raise up and winced as muscles in his neck protested.
"What… water?" he croaked. "What happened?"
"Your stunt saved us… I think," Luke said, helping him sit up. "The girl flipped her shit as soon as you swapped with her. The mercs… shit... She just…"
"Remember that old science fiction movie you dared us to watch? By Cronenberg?" Marissa asked, her face a bit green. "Popped their heads like overripe tomatoes."
"What the fuck did I do?" Krouse grimaced, feeling his neck throb. "You got the collar off me? What happened to Coil?"
"Nope, that was her," Oliver said, sitting nearby with Jess. "She cut the window open and peeled it off you. And Coil's probably dead. You've been out for a while, so as soon as we were free, we retreated back here. The mercenaries were fighting for a bit and I saw some blonde girl run by a while ago. It got quiet about ten minutes ago."
"Shit, we need to get Noelle and get away from here," Krouse said. "I don't want to be near a pissed off Scanner or whatever the hell she is."
"She some sort of precog?" Luke asked. "Is that why she was babbling?"
"I guess," Krouse said. "That's why Coil wanted her, I think."
Luke helped him to his feet and they started toward Noelle's room The halls were eerily silent and they had to stop several times to lift Jess' chair over the bodies of several mercenaries. Their heads were exactly as Marissa had described.
The entrance to Noelle's room was bent aside, like a hand had seized it and just ripped it away. Noelle was there, hanging in the air, held by some unseen force. She was raging, shouting at the girl, a slight figure in green and gold.
"Don't hurt her!" he yelled, panic and worry overtaking all else. He shrugged off Luke's hands and charged forward. The others were moving as well, ready to attack.
A hand covered in golden fabric came up in an absent gesture and they all froze. Krouse's eyes widened, or tried to, but nothing responded. It was like he was nothing more than a living statue. He was able to see and breathe, but movement was beyond him.
Noelle's raging grew louder and he would have winced at the things she was saying, were he able to.
"Twisted." The girl's voice was like a hammer blow and would have screamed as he realized that she hadn't actually spoken out loud. He was hearing her in his mind! Noelle fell silent and he saw her lowered to the ground before the girl. He could see muscles quivering, but she appeared to have no more ability to move than the rest of them.
"Disrupted." The words rang in succession and he wished he could shake. The others had to feel what he did. Any minute, there was going to be screaming that just wouldn't stop.
"Rebirth." This time, the words were spoken, lacking the broken singsong from before. He could swear there were voices overlapping hers now, speaking the same words in unison.
The girl's hands came up and she grabbed Noelle's face. Whatever was holding him released and he staggered forward.
Peace, lost one.
The voice drew him to a halt. It wasn't like the Simurgh at all. The screaming that had been her work was a discordant, terrible thing. This… felt nothing like that. Warmth suffused him, lIke being enfolded in the embrace of his mom when he had hurt himself as a kid. Certainty filled him, now as then, that everything would be alright.
Fire sprung up around the girl, taking shape before his eyes. Wings spread out and the head of some great bird rose above her, beak open like it was crying out. It held that shape for a moment, then folded down around both Noelle and the girl.
His calm shattered and he cried out in alarm just before the fire blossomed, rushing out and over him and the others. He stared at his hands, watching the flames dance across his skin. They didn't burn.
"What—" he began, then started as the fire collapsed inward, the shape of the bird visible for just a moment before it dispersed.
The figure he had become used to was not there. A figure he hadn't seen in years stood in front of Coil's former prisoner. Their foreheads were touching and both appeared to be clinging to the other for support. He saw Noelle's hands start to slip from the other girl's shoulders and her legs begin to give way.
Krouse was at her side in an instant, pulling off his coat and slipping it around her. The girl simply stood there and watched before raising a hand. A very familiar sensation overwhelmed his senses for a moment, fading just as quickly. They were in the parking area now, where several vans sat.
"We need to get out of here," Jess said abruptly "I think she's hinting at that by dropping us here."
He nodded. "I… yeah. " Carefully, he scooped up Noelle, then looked around. "Wait… she isn't here. And what about that blonde girl?"
"Krouse, if we stay, I don't think we're going to like what happens!" Luke yelled, pulling open the door of a van. "Get her loaded and help Oliver lift Jess in. We're on the clock, people!"
Silence reigned after Luke's words as he worked to get Noelle into the back seat. She was breathing, but didn't appear entirely conscious yet. Once she was in, he helped Oliver and they all piled in.
The van started and they quickly drove out, Luke taking care not to go too fast or draw undue attention.
A moment later, the ground shook, bouncing them and he found himself twisting to look back toward Coil's base. Or what had been Coil's base. Fire erupted in a pillar from the building and he could hear brickwork collapsing with a thunderous rumble.
"Holy shit," Oliver whispered in an awed tone. "I… think she was angry?"
"Can't imagine why," Luke said from the front. "What do you suppose we do now?"
"Well, we need to find some place to crash and get Noelle checked out... " Krouse began, then flinched as a burst of flame welled up in the empty seat on the other side of Noelle. The girl was there now, slumped over and unmoving, wearing the stained clothes she had when he first saw her behind that window. "And… we need to get her to a hospital?"
"You sure that's a good idea?" Luke asked. "Probably a missing person report out on her now…"
"I've got that handled," Krouse said. "But yes, whatever shit he was drugging her with… she needs a doctor to look at her and besides, we kind of owe her."
There was little dissension after that.
April 6th, 2011 11:12 PM
Krouse eyed the girl for a moment before turning his attention to Marissa, who was walking toward the entrance to Brockton Bay Memorial. The lights over the overhang where ambulances pulled up flickered fitfully and he waited until she was close enough that the people inside had a line of sight.
A moment later and Marissa was sitting in the van and the girl slumped to the ground. Someone shouted and a moment later, several nurses rushed from inside to help the girl.
"Shit, is it really a good idea to just dump her here without a word?" Luke asked.
"Maybe not," Krouse said. "But we can't exactly walk up and say, 'oh hey, this girl got kidnapped by a bad guy and drugged, could you please look after her?' We can come by after we've got Noelle checked up, hopefully she'll be awake. Come on, let's go find some place for the night. We'll check on her tomorrow."
A scream died in her throat as she jerked upright. The room spun and she shoved back against the wall, eyes darting around the shabby room she was in. Cheap blankets bunched up around her legs, prompting her to kick them away.
Where…? She tried to recall what had happened to her. There had been someone… a voice speaking… singing to her? A girl. That was right. A girl she had said terrible things to. Then…
Fire.
The radio sitting on the nightstand abruptly jerked, sparks flying from it. She flinched at the popping sound, wrinkling her nose as the smell of burnt electronics reached her nose. She looked around again, trying to determine where she was.
A hotel room, if she was any judge. But how she had gotten here eluded her. And where was…
The door in the corner of the room, that connected to another room opened and several people piled in. Her eyes widened at the sight of her friends and she clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Hey, Noelle," Krouse said, standing at the forefront of the others. Luke. Jess. Marissa. Oliver.
"I... " she trailed off, unsure what she meant to say, then kicked at the blankets again, the cheap material irritating her.
Kicked?
The blankets were torn away in a rush and she heard the others mutter, but she didn't pay it any mind, her eyes fixed on her legs.
They were normal. She was normal. She stared at them for a moment, then willed her foot to move, followed by her toes. They wiggled slightly and she felt a hysterical laugh well up.
"Noelle…?" Marissa asked, drawing her attention. They were still standing there and seemed unsure of what to do, all of them but Krouse eyeing her with worry.
"I… I'm fixed? What… how…" Her thoughts sharpened and she looked at her legs, then back to them, realizing what was missing. "Where's Taylor?"
Her friends exchanged looks, but it was Krouse who spoke first. "Taylor? Who is… Is that the girl's name?"
Noelle nodded and swung her legs off the side of the bed. A flash of memory made her grateful that someone had gotten her some clothes. The feel of carpet against her feet made her flinch for a moment, but she managed to stand up.
She wobbled for a moment and waved Krouse away when he started to move closer to help. "No, let me!" Nothing else was said as she took a step, then another, feeling more confident with each movement.
"I'm me again!" she cried out and spun in place, then lunged and caught Krouse in a hug. The others backed away, but she didn't pay that any mind.
"Ok," she said after a moment, noting the way the others relaxed as she drew back from Krouse. "Now, let's go find some better clothes for me and then we can find someplace to eat. While we do that, tell me what's going on? I remember Taylor standing in front of me and then… it's a blank til I woke up."
No one said anything for a moment and she frowned. "Okay, what?"
"You're not...well…" Jess began, trailing off as she searched for words. "Well, you're not… I mean, are you…?"
"Not what? Creating monsters?" she asked. "No, I'm not. I'm me. Now, like I've asked, where's Taylor?"
"Well, um…" Krouse spoke up this time and the way he was hesitating said she wasn't going to like what he was going to say. "She had, ah… been drugged, so we.. I…"
By the time he was finished speaking, her arms had crossed and she was tapping her foot impatiently. "So, you just left her on the sidewalk in front of a hospital? God damnit, Krouse!"
"I made sure the nurses were coming out before we left!" Krouse protested. "You were still… we weren't sure if you were alright! I wasn't going to—"
She held up a hand. "Enough. We're going to get me some clothes and then food. After that, we'll go meet with Taylor. Right now, let's go. I want a tofu and spinach sandwich!"
~~~~~~~~
"...after that, we came here to wait for you," Noelle finished and I looked from her to the others. My attention lingered on the one called Krouse and the thought I had connected as they told their story. He had a part to play in whatever had happened to me, but if what they had told me was true, he had also helped in getting me out and to the hospital.
I took in a slow breath, turning my attention back to Noelle. This close, none of them were a difficult read, even with my shielding. Noelle, in particular, was clear as day. Like if I just reached out, I could speak to her thoughts.
I suppressed the urge to do so. They had powers and I wasn't feeling like getting into a fight, especially after just escaping the hospital. Suddenly mindspeaking them was likely to set them on guard, if not make them hostile.
Which left me sorting through what was true. Everything they had told me was true, I could tell that, but I could also tell there was a lot they weren't telling me. Did I care enough about that to make an issue? Or, more importantly, did I want to squish Krouse's head like a grape more than I wanted a positive relationship here?
Screw it.
I stared at him for a moment, then looked at the others and sighed. "Alright, fine. Clean slate. So, I'll introduce myself. I'm Taylor Hebert."
The tension among them slackened and I saw Noelle's face split into a smile, felt her emotions as a surge of happiness flooded through her. It was… almost disorienting and I found myself wanting to smile as well from how strongly I felt her emotions. Far stronger than the others and I couldn't pin down why.
Their retelling of my escape suggested I had done something when I cured Noelle, though I still wasn't sure how I did it or what they fixed. More importantly, how did I do that? I could cure people with fire now? I was pretty sure that you didn't make people better by burning them, so what the hell had I done?
I pushed the thought aside and strode forward, pointing at Krouse. "As for you! You get a pass for now. But don't ever use your powers on me again. Clear?"
He nodded. "I promise. And I'm sorry."
They finally introduced themselves and I could feel a variety of emotions. Noelle was overwhelmingly friendly and grateful. Krouse was grateful, but there was wariness mixed with guilt too, big surprise. The others… grateful, wary and an undercurrent of fear. That wasn't a surprise either. The telling of what had happened the night before had clearly rattled them, though the words were only words for me. The past week remained an empty gap in my memories.
I pushed those thoughts aside and looked toward Noelle. The others seemed to defer to her so I was fairly certain that she was the leader. If I had read them right, Krouse had taken the lead while she was ill or whatever, but it appeared that she had taken control. Which meant decisions were likely made by her now.
"Ok," I said. "Can we get off this roof now? I know it's a bit late, but there's a place for food that's open all night on the boardwalk, right? I could do with something to eat, seeing as I can't remember when I last had some real food."
"Our van is down in the alley," Noelle said. "You're welcome to ride with us, if you want. Less conspicuous than flying?"
I shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many people don't look up, even in a city full of capes. Do you want some help down so you don't all have to climb?"
Noelle blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing special," I said, a sudden urge to show off prompting my next action. "Just this." I spread a telekinetic surface beneath their feet and lightly held everyone to make sure no one fell over, lifting them all to the ground beside a nondescript van.
Noelle didn't appear bothered, but the emotions of the others shifted as we touched ground. I ignored the fact that they shied away from me slightly and glanced at the van. There was a girl slumped over in a wheelchair. One of the six suddenly dissolved and the girl blinked slowly, straightening up. At the same time, the figure's mind and awareness shifted to the girl.
"Sorry about that," she said as we climbed into the van. "It was easier to get up there that way rather than trying to climb."
I nodded and frowned at the tint of bitterness in her thoughts. "I.. um, I guess I didn't fix that when I was… doing whatever it was I did?"
She shrugged. "I'm used to it, don't worry about it." I settled back in my seat at her words, trying not to wince. I had fixed Noelle, apparently, but not Jess? Why? What the hell had I done and why couldn't I remember?
"So, I want to ask something," Luke murmured and I twisted in my seat to look at him curiously. "Like, when you did… whatever that was… there was a lot of fire and it looked like a bird. Did you have something to do with that bird that appeared in the sky here a few months ago?"
I grimaced. That would be the question he opened with. "I didn't think so, but after what you told me, I guess I was."
"You guess?" Marissa asked. "You don't know? Wouldn't that be pretty obvious?"
"I wasn't exactly aware when that happened," I muttered. "It was a thing. If I did it, it wasn't consciously." Which was, I realized with a grimace, now a recurring theme. I was unconscious in the locker, too. And the only similarity was that I didn't remember either of them.
"This is the place you meant, right?" Krouse asked from the driver's seat, pulling into the parking lot of the only twenty-four hour restaurant on the boardwalk. I nodded and we climbed out. We took a few minutes to help Jess down, then the seven of us entered the restaurant.
~~~~~~~~
I tucked the piece of paper with a contact number for Noelle into one pocket. With my stomach full, I felt a bit better. Noelle was, as I had figured, the leader and had stated her intent to remain here in Brockton Bay. There was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction from some of the others, but they weren't my team, so I wasn't going to comment on it. She could handle them, I was sure.
I felt an extra piece of paper in my pocket and pulled it out, reading its contents. Assault had given me his number… I tucked the paper away with the one Noelle had given me. I would worry about that later. Right now, I couldn't even bring myself to get worked up over what it probably meant; that he knew I was Sirin.
I needed to get a new phone, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. I didn't feel like going to a chain store right now and there was something I still had to do now that I wasn't sidetracked. I glanced at my feet and sighed. Maybe I should—
A spike of irritation rang in my mind and I frowned, tracing its source. My frown deepened. I had noticed it on the roof, but… even miles apart, I could still feel Noelle's thoughts and emotions.
"I really need to figure out what the hell I really did last night," I muttered as I hung in the air, staring down at the house at the end of the road from the safe confines of the night sky. Vicky had said she had talked to them, so I knew they were at least alive. But I didn't know anything more than that.
And there was still the matter of Lisa, but I had no idea what I was going to do about her and nothing in the story the Travelers had told me gave me any hint whether she set me up or not. Maybe after I talked to Catherine and Minako, I could look into that.
Where the hell was I going to sleep tonight?
"Questions for later," I muttered and dropped toward the ground, coming to rest on the stone path that led to their front door. Motion lights came on as I walked up to the door, pushing in the doorbell's button. I heard voices inside and felt them moving around. A familiar presence approached, bristling with irritation at having to answer the door. There was a moment where I almost smiled as I felt surprise, then elation erupt in her emotions. I heard Catherine's voice call out as locks shifted and turned.
"Taylor!" I had to brace myself with my powers to keep from being bowled over as both Catherine and Minako surged out of the house to hug me. I didn't say anything at first, simply slipping my arms around them both as best I could.
"Sorry if I worried you," I said finally, surprised at how rough my voice sounded.
"You— We tried looking for you, what happened, oh god, you look terrible, are you alright?" Catherine asked in a rush. "Your neck… god, we should have—"
I interrupted her with a raised finger. "More importantly, are you two okay? I tried to get you down on the ground safely, but it was kind of crazy."
"We.. We are fine," Minako said, her eyes bright as they took a step back. "Do you want to come in?"
I let my new power stretch out, feeling the thoughts of everyone. Catherine's dad was cautious. Not hostile, but there was definitely something akin to dislike for me. Her mother was neutral and my friends were an easy read.
"Yeah, yeah I do," I told them. "If that's okay?"
"Dad?" Catherine asked and I didn't even need my powers to pick up her uncertainty. Her voice quavered for a moment and nervousness practically screamed from her posture. Something had obviously broken down between them.
Her dad didn't immediately answer, analyzing me. If I was remembering right, he was former military and I was pretty sure that he wasn't missing any details about my condition.
Finally, he nodded. "It is. Come in, Taylor. I think we should all sit down for a talk."
Catherine was apparently a better judge of her dad's moods than I, even accounting for the fact that I had empathy and telepathy. The smile that split her face told me all I needed, and I didn't protest as Minako and Catherine pulled me inside to the pleasantly lit warmth of their living room.
I still didn't have all the details yet, but I was alive, free and my friends were okay. That was enough, for now.
538
chibipoe
Aug 22, 2015
View discussion
First
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Last
Threadmarks
Staff Post
View content
7 more messages…
Not open for further replies.
Share
Worm
Style chooser
Contact us
Terms and rules
Privacy policy
Help
RSS