Ignition 3.2
The conflicting combination of being absolutely livid, worried, anxious, intrigued, and (for some reason) excited, was overwhelming and generally distracting, so Amy shoved all of that into a metaphorical 'think about it later' box and settled for 'mildly irritated'.
Dammit Hunter, don't bleed on anything important.
Amy struggled to disentangle herself from the gangly girl's unresponsive limbs while also avoiding the arrows sticking out of her. She hauled the dead weight off of her and knelt next to the Tinker's unconscious body.
What the fuck, Hunter?
Part of her still wanted to scream for Carol, but she couldn't quite bring herself to go through with it. This weird… thing… with the murderous vigilante was hers, and it was one of the few parts of her life that existed outside of her normal obligations. She didn't want to hand it over to Carol, like everything else.
So, instead, she reached up and touched the exposed skin of Hunter's face. She normally asked permission, but Hunter had already dared her to shut down her organs, so Amy assumed that she wouldn't mind.
Holy shit.
The arrows weren't just stuck into Hunter the mundane way, they were fused with her bones at a molecular level. No wonder she had come to her, despite the Tinker's access to miraculous and horrifying concoctions.
There was also a ridiculous amount of scar tissue around the metal, like Hunter had ripped open and then re-healed the same areas over and over. Which was probably exactly what happened, considering the effects of the blood vials and what Amy had seen the last time she took a peek at the girl's biology.
Of course Hunter wouldn't bring her anything that was easy to fix, but something in Amy was thrilled about the challenge.
Since she couldn't affect the metal directly, Amy began to work her biokinesis on the areas just outside of the strange bonded bits. She also forced Hunter's heart to keep beating, even though it kept stubbornly trying to fail.
She carefully separated the tissue and bone surrounding the arrows from the rest of Hunter's body, until there were three cylinders of flesh that weren't actually attached to her.
It was a bizarre experience, but Amy reached down and pulled out the three tubes of tissue and metal. They were grotesque cross sections of anatomy, with all of the layers exposed. Like an ant farm, or something. Weird.
For lack of anything better to do with the arrows and accompanying tubes of meat, Amy threw them into the trash can next to her desk.
Once the arrows were gone, it was child's play to reform and regrow the empty areas. Hunter didn't exactly have much body mass to spare, but it was better than being riddled with holes.
Finally, the repairs were complete and Amy sat back on her heels.
She took a couple deep breaths and made sure the 'think about it later' box was tightly closed, then reached out one more time and woke Hunter up.
Her black eyes blinked spastically above her scarf.
"Oh, that's much better," Hunter said dazedly. "You know, I considered dying on your front porch, just to see your face when you opened the door in the morning."
"You're actually insane," Amy said.
"Just a smidge. It's a side effect of dying. I feel pretty great, though. Coming an inch and a half from death is a hell of an endorphin rush."
Hunter dragged herself into a sitting position against the bed and took off her hat. Her hair was a mess, wild curls draped in every direction.
"You still shouldn't have come here. Showing up at my civilian house is a huge breach of the rules," Amy grumbled.
"Well, it was that, or try to cut those bolts out of myself with my saw cleaver," Hunter said "I didn't like my odds of surviving that, so I figured I would risk the impropriety,"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's just… I'm not supposed to be Panacea here," Amy groaned. "Can you imagine if every sick and dying person came knocking on my window?"
Hunter's face fell, behind the scarf.
"Wow, okay, I didn't really consider that. Sorry. Really. Look, I just…" Hunter seemed at a loss for words, for once.
There was something different now, whispering back and forth in her moonlit bedroom. It wasn't the same as yelling at each other on the hospital roof, especially after Hunter almost died on her carpet.
"It's been a very, very long night," Hunter finally said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "I wasn't really thinking straight. Not sure if I am now, either, come to think of it."
Amy sighed and turned, pushing herself backwards until she was sitting braced against the bed next to her unexpected guest.
"What the hell happened, anyway?" Amy asked after a moment.
Hunter looked over at her appraisingly.
"Shadow Stalker broke into my house and tried to kill me."
"What? The Ward? Why the fuck…" Amy tried to wrap her mind around that.
She hadn't personally exchanged more than a word or two with the dark cape, although she knew that some of the other Wards complained about her attitude.
"I knew her, in our civilian identities. She tried to kill me before, out of costume. Before I got my powers. She was a monster," Hunter said, her voice twisting around the word.
"That's… no, that's insane. You're lying, or something," Amy shook her head. Heroes didn't go around murdering people out of costume.
Hunter just shrugged.
"Believe me, or don't. Doesn't really change anything, now."
It took a moment for the wording to catch up with her.
"Wait, you knew her, past tense. Did you…" Amy trailed off.
Hunter just stared at her.
"You killed her," Amy whispered in horror. "You killed a Ward."
"Yes," Hunter said. Her tone was carefully neutral.
Amy knew that should terrify her, or make her even angrier, but… she just couldn't quite manage to muster her righteous indignation. All of this was just… too much, to worry about all at once. She felt like a wrung out sponge.
Hunter may have implied that Shadow Stalker tried to kill her first, but she didn't directly say it outright. And Amy didn't have any way of knowing if it would have mattered. Hunter hunted people, at her own admission.
Still, the frustrating blood Tinker didn't seem like the type to kill innocent people in cold blood. She went out of her way to avoid it. But…
Killing a Ward was… a lot. And Amy didn't know what to do about it.
Carol would be losing her mind right now, but Carol was also a bitch.
It was quiet in the dark, for a while. Hunter let her head fall back against the bed and closed her eyes again. Her breathing was slow and even.
"What does it feel like?" Amy asked suddenly, in spite of her better judgment.
"You'll have to be more specific," Hunter said, not opening her eyes.
"Killing someone."
"It's… it depends," Hunter said. "The Nazis were my first hunt. It was… all too easy, actually. I thought that things would never be the same, that tearing their lives from them would change me, but… it didn't, not really. It was… exciting, but the actual killing itself, in the moment, didn't feel important."
Hunter pulled her long legs up to her chest and wrapped her skinny arms around her shins.
"Sophia was different. She hurt me, so fucking much, for so long, and now she's gone, forever. Because of me. She'll never hurt me, or anyone else, ever again. It was personal, and it feels… really fucking good, if I'm honest."
Amy nodded slowly.
"Are you going to kill me?"
The question popped out of Amy's mouth before she could stop herself. It was a stupid question. Even a murderer wouldn't just tell their victim in advance. Besides, she wasn't defenseless. If she could get a hand on Hunter, it would be over in a heartbeat.
Hunter opened her eyes and stared at her with a strange expression.
"Of course not," Hunter scoffed. "I don't… look, I know I said I'm not a villain, even if that's not technically true, anymore. And I'm sorry for lying to you, for what it's worth. I didn't mean to. But I… my work, my Tinkering… I need blood. Normal, parahuman, my own, all of the above. I can't do what I need to do without it. And I really do think that it's better to take it from monsters, beasts, who deserve it."
Amy looked up at the ceiling, pale strips of moonlight filtering through the window. The 'not thinking about it' box was leaking.
"What if I deserved it?" Amy whispered. She didn't know why she was saying any of this. Who cared what this bloodstained vigilante thought of her?
"Probably not, still," Hunter said. Dark curls and darker eyes looked down at her. "I enjoy our little chats, and I'm not above some selfish indulgence. Plus, you did just save my life."
Right. Amy had already forgotten about that.
"That doesn't make sense, though. Your whole justification for killing villains is that they deserve it, so why does it matter if you like me?" Amy said.
Hunter shook her head.
"It's not some hard and fast rule. I need blood, and my powers want to be used. I want to figure out what my dreams mean, and realize more of the designs in my head. I would just rather kill bad people than good people, when I have the choice," Hunter said.
Amy didn't know what possessed her to bring this up at all. She should have just healed Hunter and made her leave. Or not healed her at all and called the PRT.
Why was she sitting here opening up to an unrepentant killer who, by all accounts, just murdered a Ward?
She still couldn't help herself, though.
"So your reasoning is just… because you want to?" Amy said, sarcasm seeping back into her tone.
"That's the only reason anyone does anything. They just pretend otherwise because it's easier," Hunter said.
"Don't bother with that freshman year philosophy bullshit, it doesn't work on me," Amy rolled her eyes.
"You're the one who asked," Hunter grinned behind her scarf.
"Shut up."
Hunter just laughed at her before turning serious again.
"Do you think you deserve it?" Hunter asked softly. "You seem like a decent person to me, but I don't actually know you all that well."
Amy snorted.
"I threatened to melt your organs," she said.
"Everyone does that occasionally. Nothing to get hung up on," Hunter chuckled.
Amy glared at her. Something about her uncaring attitude just made Amy want to prove herself right.
"I think about using my powers to hurt people, like, all the time," Amy admitted. She had never told anyone that, but… what was Hunter going to do? Tell the PRT? Tell Carol?
"I kill actual people and steal their blood," Hunter shrugged, "and their organs and bones, too, sometimes. If I have time."
"I am not using you as a barometer for moral authenticity! You're a villainous mad scientist or whatever, you don't count," Amy said, smiling despite herself.
"I'll have you know… actually, you know what, never mind, that's fair," Hunter said, laughing quietly with her.
Then her dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"I guess… you can only really decide if you think you deserve it. You can't speak for anyone else, and that doesn't make it true."
"I told you, no bullshit philosophy-"
"Sorry, sorry," Hunter said. "Apparently, I can't help myself."
It was quiet again. For some reason, Amy didn't want this strange conversation to end. It was like they were tucked away in their own little bubble, and the rest of the world had stopped being important, for a while.
So much of her life was public, or ruled by Carol and her bullshit, or subject to Victoria's whims, or locked up in that fucking hospital…
This one part, hidden away behind a curtain of blood and secrecy, felt… nice, even if it shouldn't.
Something else Hunter just said caught up with her.
"What did you say about dreams?" Amy asked suddenly.
Hunter looked a bit uncomfortable, but she answered anyway.
"Ever since I got my powers, I've been dreaming about the moon, and peaceful seas of blood. It feels like the answer is always just beyond my reach, and I don't know why," Hunter said.
That was too big a coincidence to ignore.
"I dreamed… tonight, after analyzing the blood vial you gave me, I had a dream about a full moon, floating in a calm blood lake," Amy said. The words felt strange in her mouth.
Hunter's eyes widened.
"That's…"
Whatever Hunter was about to say was cut off by the sudden knock at the door.
Amy's blood ran cold. They had been getting steadily louder, uncaring of the fact that it was after four in the morning and the rest of her family was asleep. Her parents' bedroom was on the ground floor, but Victoria's bedroom was right next door.
Please let it be Vicky and not Carol…
"Amy? Is everything okay? Who are you talking to?" Her sister's voice filtered through the door.
Better than the alternative, but still. Fuck.
…
Adrenaline fired through Taylor's veins like an electric shock.
How had she forgotten that she was still in New Wave's house? There were three other very dangerous capes within a hundred feet, and she was sitting and talking with Panacea like they had all the time in the world. It would be irritating to die on Brandish's blade after going through so much trouble to survive.
The healer's eyes were wide and terrified as she scrambled to her feet.
"I'm fine, go back to bed," Panacea called.
She couldn't even bother to come up with an excuse?
"I'm coming in," the voice at the door said.
There were really only two outcomes, here.
Either Panacea was meeting with Hunter, the villain who recently killed a bunch of Empire thugs and robbed Medhall, or Amy was meeting with Taylor, who definitely hadn't killed anyone, ever.
Taylor made a very quick and possibly very stupid decision.
Amy and whoever was at the door had no way of connecting Taylor's face back to the dead girl from Winslow. It would probably be fine. Just to keep their cover intact, for the time being. She owed Panacea that much, since the healer still went to the trouble of getting those arrows out of her even after Taylor had invaded her private space.
Taylor moved as quickly as her superhuman reflexes would allow, pulling off her tattered coat and bloodstained scarf. She shoved the coat, scarf, gloves, injector holster, and hat under the bed.
She also kicked the trash can with the arrows in it under Amy's desk. There wasn't much else she could do about that.
Her sweater had multiple holes in it from the crossbow bolts, and her jeans were similarly bloodstained and holey from the Medhall trip, but they were both black and probably wouldn't be obvious in the dark.
Hopefully.
Taylor forgot about the rune on her forehead until the last moment, quickly pulling her hair forward to cover it.
By the time Victoria Dallon finished opening the door, all evidence of their clandestine activity was hidden, for the most part.
Of course, Panacea was busy turning towards the door while stumbling to stand up, so she didn't actually see any of this.
"It's not what it looks like," Panacea said shrilly, holding out her hands like she could ward off her sister's judgement.
The floating blonde girl framed in the doorway blinked in surprise.
"Well… shit, Ames," she said. "You should have just told me you were sneaking a girl over, I would have covered for you. I was worried a villain had come after you or something."
"What?" Panacea said in bewilderment.
Taylor decided to head her off before she gave away the ruse.
"Sorry about waking you up," Taylor said quietly, standing up behind her. "We got a bit carried away."
That was even true. She hadn't meant to be so loud, but talking to Panacea was very distracting.
The healer looked back at her and did a spastic double take. She really needed to work on her poker face.
"It's okay," the girl in the doorway said. "I'm Victoria, Amy's sister. Although, you probably already knew that."
Taylor made the snap decision not to give her real name. Neither of them would know the difference, and it would buy her time if they decided to research her.
"I'm Anne," Taylor said with a smile. "Amy's… friend."
Were they friends? Slightly unwilling colleagues? Confidants with socially dubious healing powers?
Panacea still hadn't managed to close her mouth, so Taylor probably wouldn't be getting any clarification any time soon.
"That's awesome!" Victoria said, turning back to her sister. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"
Panacea managed to pull herself together enough to answer, at least.
"I just… you know how Carol is, and the New Wave stuff…"
That wasn't the most articulate answer, but Taylor supposed that it was better than nothing.
"I mean, yeah, sure, but you could have told me!" Victoria said, shaking her head. "Whatever. It's super late… or early? I don't know, but I'm going back to bed. But we will be talking about this tomorrow."
Victoria gave Panacea a look and then flew back down the hallway.
Panacea closed the door in a daze before spinning to face her.
"What the fuck was that?" Panacea… Amy? Hissed at her.
"I figured that it would be better if you weren't seen with a villainous mad scientist," Taylor whispered back.
"I don't… I just…" Amy spluttered. "I mean, yes, but… you shouldn't have…"
"If it makes you feel better, my name isn't actually Anne," Taylor said.
"It doesn't. It really doesn't. Jesus… fuck," Amy flopped down on the bed and groaned into the blankets.
Taylor let her wallow in whatever this emotion was for a few minutes. She didn't really see what the big deal was.
"So, your sister seems pretty cool," Taylor said eventually, lacking anything else to break the silence.
"I hate you so much," Amy's voice was muffled by the blankets. It was entirely possible that she was trying to suffocate herself.
Taylor chuckled in spite of the situation.
"Also, my lab kind of got destroyed when I was fighting Shadow Stalker. Any chance you would be willing to help me get set back up?" Taylor asked.
Amy rolled over and stared at the ceiling for a long moment before looking up at her.
"I… you know what, let me think about it. I don't know if I really want to get involved with your bloody business," Amy said, sitting up on the edge of the bed.
"Come on, it will be tons of fun. You can check out all my weird concoctions and make sure my next experiment isn't going to turn me into a nightmare monster or something," Taylor said, mostly joking.
Amy glared at her.
"Still not happy about the mass murdering thing," Amy said.
"Look, you can help point me towards people who deserve it. That's fun, right?"
"That is not fun. That is the very definition of not fun."
"I'll get you your own cool hat and edgy coat," Taylor offered.
"Absolutely fucking not."
Taylor couldn't keep a straight face, but Amy was also smiling grudgingly so it was worth it.
"Do you mind if I call you Amy? When you aren't in costume?" It occurred to Taylor that she should probably ask. It seemed like the polite thing to do, or something.
Amy snorted.
"I don't exactly have a secret identity to worry about," she said bitterly. "Knock yourself out."
"Cool."
Amy looked up at her, and for some reason Taylor couldn't bring herself to look away. She should probably leave. Or say something else.
But she didn't, and Amy didn't, either.
Maybe she didn't know what to say, either.
Maybe she didn't want this weird, separated, in-between space to end, either.
Finally, Taylor blinked and took a moment to recenter herself. It had been a really long night, and her emotions were all kinds of unbalanced. She desperately needed to sleep.
"I should probably go," Taylor said softly.
"Yeah," Amy said, before her eyes widened. "Wait, I got distracted! We need to talk about your blood vials!"
Right. That was the original reason for their scheduled meeting tomorrow. Tonight?
"Oh yeah. I actually ran out on the way over here. I need to fix that," Taylor mused. "So, are they safe for human consumption?"
"I have no idea!" Amy exclaimed, walking over to her desk drawer and grabbing the gifted vial. "My powers can't make heads or tails of this crap, but I don't think it's actually blood and I don't think it's still human. I don't know what the hell you do to it, but it's totally fucked."
Huh.
Taylor shrugged.
"I know what I do, but not why it works, if that makes sense. It just… works?" Taylor said.
"It's some kind of hyper-reactive cellular fluid, but it makes no sense at all to my power. Like it's constantly shifting and warping itself and the space around it and inside it. I don't even know if it's safe for you to put in your body, let alone anyone else's," Amy said. "I'm sort of surprised it hasn't mutated you into some kind of Nilbog monster."
That was… concerning.
"Well, it's a good thing I have you to keep an eye on me, then," Taylor grinned. "Make sure to let me know if I start growing extra limbs or eyes or something."
"Not funny," Amy glared at her.
It was kind of funny.
"I'll bring you more samples to work with once I get my lab set back up," Taylor said. "I'm probably going to lie low for a while. Or try to, at least."
Amy nodded, still staring absent-mindedly at the blood vial.
Taylor still didn't want to leave.
"What's your phone number?" Amy asked eventually.
"I don't have a phone," Taylor said. She hadn't even thought about that.
"Why am I not surprised," Amy rolled her eyes. "Well, you should get one. So you can just call the next time you get filled with arrows instead of showing up at my window and collapsing on top of me."
Had that happened? Taylor's memory was a bit fuzzy, there at the end.
Amy scrawled her phone number on a post-it note and handed it over. Her handwriting was atrocious.
"If you give this out to anyone else, I'll give you those extra limbs and eyes myself," she threatened.
"Sure, you know the violent vigilante business has a thriving social scene," Taylor said sarcastically.
"I can put those arrows back where they came from, if you want," Amy snapped, but Taylor could tell she was trying not to smile.
Speaking of which…
"Oh, I should probably take those with me. It might be a bit difficult to explain where you got them," Taylor said.
She reached down and grabbed the bolts out of the trash can. They had strange cylinders of flesh and bone wrapped around the last few inches, like the world's grossest marshmallow on a stick.
Taylor would experiment with that when she got back to the Hospital.
She also grabbed her various costume articles from under the bed, throwing her coat on and wrapping the scarf under her hair.
Taylor pulled her favorite hat back into place, and all was right with the world once again.
"Right," Taylor said, looking back at Amy. The healer was staring at her with an unreadable expression. "I guess I'll call you?"
"You better. Are we still on for tonight?" Amy asked, somehow still acidic despite her words.
"If you want," Taylor said.
"You owe me a pack of cigarettes," Amy said. "For the healing. And not turning you over to the PRT for killing a Ward."
"I guess that could be arranged," Taylor smiled. What was stealing one pack of cigarettes, after all the murder?
"Good," Amy said.
"Fine," Taylor said.
They stared at each other for another long moment.
Taylor still didn't want to leave.
But she really, really needed to sleep. Even the lab tables at the Hospital sounded comfortable right now.
Taylor walked over and opened the window.
"See you around, Amy," she said, looking over her shoulder at the frazzled healer.
"Later, Hunter," Amy said.
It was incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid, and short-sighted, but… Amy hadn't told the PRT about her activities, despite having plenty of reasons to do so. She could probably be trusted. Plus, it felt… unfair. She let Taylor call her by name, and she had saved her life.
No matter how much Taylor wanted to deny it, there was a part of her that craved a real connection with someone aside from her father, after being alone for so long. And maybe… it seemed like Amy wanted the same thing, however much she complained about Taylor's antics.
"Taylor," she said quietly.
"What?" Amy asked.
"My name is Taylor."
"Oh."
There was another long beat of silence in the moonlight.
"Goodnight, Taylor," Amy said eventually.
"Goodnight, Amy," Taylor replied.
And then she left.
…