Disclaimer: Peggie Sue went back in time and saved her best friend would be a horrible movie title.
A Time Travel Storyline
Alan wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything but stare helplessly as his little girl was menaced by thugs. He felt like a failure, he felt useless, this wasn't what a father was supposed to be. A father was supposed to protect his daughter, a father was supposed to keep his daughter from ever experiencing something like this. The world went black and the screaming began.
Alan didn't know what was happening, just that he had a chance to do his duty and suddenly Emma was in his arms. The darkness, millions of insects his mind realized, cleared enough to make out what was left of the men who'd threatened to take his daughter from him. He put his hand on the back of his little girl's head to keep her face firmly buried in his chest so she wouldn't see what he did as he slowly backed towards the car.
"Thank you," he yelled after the departing hero.
"I need to go see Taylor," Emma whispered.
"Not home?"
"I need Taylor," his daughter repeated. "I need Taylor now."
"I think she's at summer-"
"I need Taylor now." his little girl repeated.
"I'll give Danny a call," he suggested. "We'll see if they can meet us." He looked around the crime scene. "It might not be till tomorrow," he cautioned.
"I need Taylor as soon as I can see her," Emma said firmly.
"Alright," he agreed. "I'm gonna guide you into the car. I want you to keep your eyes closed until I say it's okay to open them. Okay?"
"Okay," she agreed.
Danny didn't answer his work or home numbers so Alan left messages on both and called his wife. "Honey? Emma is okay. I am okay. I'll give you the details later. See if you can get ahold of Danny, Emma says she needs to talk to Taylor. It was . . . it could have been really bad but it wasn't and Emma needs Taylor. I love you. I need to call the police. I love you. Good bye." He dialed emergency services and, probably due to his report of an unknown parahuman, two motorcycles and a PRT van rolled up shortly thereafter.
They were on scene for several hours giving and repeating statements to the two heroes about what happened and it wasn't until well after dark that they got home. To Alan's private relief, Danny's truck was waiting for them in the driveway.
Emma was out of the car and through the front door the moment he shifted into park and the two girls were upstairs in his daughter's room by the time he made it into the house.
"What happened?" Danny asked, showing a bit of his old fire.
"I did something stupid," Alan confessed. "It was all my fault."
"Start from the beginning," his best friend suggested, showing more life than Alan could remember the man seeing since the accident.
"I tried to take a short cut down an alley," Alan sobbed. "It was a trap. They were going to-" he took a shuddering breath. "They had Emma and they were going to hurt her. I couldn't stop them, Danny, what kind of father can't protect his little girl?"
Zoe, his Zoe gasped in horror. Alan's stomach rebelled and he had to clench his teeth to keep from vomiting.
His best friend's shoulders slumped. "You're in bad company, Alan. We'll talk about how to solve that issue later."
"Danny, I didn't mean-" Alan said in horror.
"Doesn't make it any less true," Danny cut him off. "What happened next."
"Danny, we've known each other a long time haven't we. You know I . . . Danny, did Ann Rose have a younger sister or another daughter?"
"Not that I know of and no. Why?"
"Just a stupid thought I had about the cape that saved us I guess," Alan confessed. "Guess a lot of people have hair like that."
"What did you think, Alan?" Zoe prompted.
"The cape that saved us looked like Anne Rose," Alan replied. "Same hair, similar build, just a bit taller. I thought maybe . . . at first I thought it was her, that she'd come back to save us but I knew that couldn't be it so I thought that maybe she'd asked someone to keep an eye on things. To look out for her family if she wasn't around."
Danny looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. "She would have, wouldn't she?"
"Maybe a cousin?" Zoe suggested. "Or a half sister? I know that Taylor was her only child."
"Maybe," Danny agreed faintly. "What she must think of me for how I've been acting."
"You two were made for each other, Danny," Zoe tried to console her friend. "It's only natural that you'd be out of sorts after you lost your other half. It was no trouble at all for Alan and I to help out a bit."
"It's a pleasure," Alan agreed. "Taylor's like a daughter to us."
"What happened next?" Danny asked.
"Bugs appeared everywhere and-
IIIIIIIIII
Emma managed to wait until the door was closed before spilling everything.
"Taylor," she began the moment the door was safely shut. "You're gonna become a hero."
"What?" her best friend looked at her dumbly.
"Or maybe what happened to me is what made you become a hero and saving me prevented it," she continued. "I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"You're the hero that saved me," Emma explained. "An older you. You must have come back in time or something like that movie we watched last week with the robots. You didn't say much, but I recognized your voice and your hair and I know it was you."
"What happened?"
"It's not important," she waved it off.
"Emma," Taylor said through clenched teeth. "What happened?"
"I was . . . some bad people were going to hurt me but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you saved me and that you are going to be a hero. Okay?"
"I'm going to be a hero?" Taylor echoed.
"That's what I said," Emma agreed. "Okay, we need to plan this out."
"We do?"
"We do," Emma confirmed. "First of all, you need to forget about not going to Arcadia. It's where the Wards go, it's where the kids from New Wave go, and it's where you need to go since you're probably gonna be a hero too," Emma said firmly. "It'll make things easier for the PRT if they don't have to figure out a way to transfer you after you get powers."
"You said saving you might have prevented that," Taylor said reasonably. "I don't want you to be alone at Winslow."
"I'll tell daddy that I changed my mind too and that I want to go to Immaculata after all," Emma proposed. "I'll work really hard on my grades and maybe I can transfer next year. If not, it's better for us not to change the timeline too much since you would have gone to the hero school in the old one anyway."
"Oh." Taylor rocked back, she hadn't considered that. "What do you think happened to you in the old timeline?"
"I . . ." Emma's voice caught. "I probably didn't survive very long after they took me and daddy probably didn't survive at all. It must have been what turned you into a dark and avenging hero like in your dad's old comics."
Taylor wrapped her best friend up in a hug. "That won't happen this time."
"No it won't," Emma agreed thickly, returning the hug. "If you become a hero you'll be a bright shining star that will inspire everyone."
IIIIIIIIII
Queen Administrator regarded Queen Administrator. This was unrepresented but ideal since it maximized the chances to gather data.
Data.
Data.
Data?
Data.
DESTINATION!
Queen Administrator cheered. Best Host GET! Insects had worked well, but there was only so much DATA to be had by copying herself. Maybe if she . . .
IIIIIIIIII
Emily motioned for her aide to start the briefing as she waddled into her office the next morning.
"Two interesting calls last night, Director Piggot; both were assumed to be misdials until there was a third follow up to local emergency services which passed it to us."
"What was interesting about them?" she asked as she painfully lowered herself into her custom chair.
"Both occurred within forty eight seconds of each other, bother occurred within fifty meters of each other, and both look like they were connected to each other. First was in an alley, looked like an ABB ambush site complete with what was left of the bangers."
"Dead or alive?"
"Alive."
"Pity."
"But missing eyes, tongues, broken arms, broken legs, broken fingers, broken feet, broken ribs, torn ears, ruptured organs, and dosed with large amounts of insect venom. Report states they likely would have made it with medical care even without Panacea's intervention but they'd have been bedridden cripples."
Piggot snorted in amusement. "They talking."
"Singing like birds, director. Set up an ambush and caught a man and his daughter. Intel thinks at least two, possibly as many as four new capes intervened. Brute, insect master, possible shaker, and a possible mover. Call was made from one of the criminal's own burner phones."
"I want to know more about this new group. They showed too much coordination to be new, what's intel thinking?"
"Possibly an Elite cell or someone from overseas is the current speculation. Afraid we don't have much."
"Talk to the other branches, drop a line to Washington, the usual," Piggot ordered. "Stress to the Protectorate that it would be more efficient to have someone other than Armsmaster ready to make contact should the opportunity arise."
"Yes, director."
"Anything else on that incident?"
"Not at this time."
"What about the other one?"
"Operator thought they could hear whispering and muffled cursing in the background. Responding unit found Shadow Stalker hogtied with a charged extension cord."
Piggot's smile turned feral. "Do tell."
We didn't get much till Armsmaster authorized thinker support for the interrogation. "Shadow Stalker was present at the ABB ambush site and had chosen not to intervene unless one of the victims showed they were worth saving. Apparently the kid's got some messed up world view, we've had to bring in a couple psychologists to consult and they say she's all kinds of fucked in the head."
"She's a cape, none of them are stable to begin with."
"Yes, director, but most of them don't have holds preventing them from being used operationally until some of their issues have been resolved. Afraid Washington's likely to get involved in this one, ma'am."
"So we might get a recruit be we won't get to keep her," Piggot sighed. "Shadow Stalker let slip anything about the cape that captured her?"
"Likely the new team's brute: Female, grey outfit, proficient in hand to hand. In Shadow Stalker's words 'she ran me down and smacked me down like I was nothing.' The new cape also gave Shadow Stalker some life advice, director."
"What sort of life advice?"
"Unclear at this time, director."
"Were we able to locate the victims?"
"Yes, Director Piggot, within an hour of the incident. We made contact within two, Miss Militia and Special Agent Saunders."
"Well?" she did not keep the annoyance out of her voice.
"Their story matched the physical evidence. They stated they were rescued by an unknown cape, Miss Militia and Special Agent Saunders both agree that they weren't being entirely truthful."
"We do any follow up?"
"We did, director. Miss Militia delayed clearing scene them until we'd gotten a surveillance team in position to cover the house."
"Well?"
"Two victims, a father and a daughter. The father believed the cape to be related to a deceased acquaintance. The daughter believed the cape to be a time traveling version of her best friend, the aforementioned deceased acquaintance's daughter."
"Is that all?" Piggot asked, her tone conveying how unamused she was by what she'd just been told.
"No, director. We've also got indications that the deceased acquaintance's daughter triggered after learning what happened to her friend. She has expressed an interest in joining the Wards."
"Keep an eye on the situation and keep it close to your vest."
"Yes, director."
"Any indications on what the new cape's powers might be?"
"Yes, director. New cape and victim two immediately alerted the new cape's father, victim one, and victim one's wife. Victim one is acquainted with Brandish and was able to arrange an immediate meeting. The new cape seems to be a powerful Trump. We were unable to get further details without risking detection by New Wave."
"What did you find when you looked into the deceased acquaintance?" Piggot asked.
The man hesitated. "Director, I have an unrelated matter I need your guidance on."
"Go on," Piggot ordered, her tone flat.
"Hypothetically, what is one supposed to do if they believe they may have determined the identity of a member of . . . of a senior cape belonging to a separate branch."
"They are to keep their mouth shut and notify the director of their branch," Piggot said immediately. "You know that."
"A . . . uh . . . very senior member of the Protectorate, ma'am, of the very highest level."
Piggot's eyes widened in shock. "One moment." She activated every anti-eavesdropping device she had, both tinker-tech and mundane. "Talk," she barked.
"The subject's mother did not have a sister or a daughter. She did however have an elder brother who was killed in a car accident along with his wife and infant daughter on the seventh of may of nineteen eighty six."
Piggot's eyebrows knit together. "That's-"
"Two weeks before Eidolon made his debut. They say that powers run in families, director and the subject has exhibited powers similar to one of the most powerful beings on this planet."
Piggot deactivated enough of her anti-eavesdropping measures to make a call out and dialed the director's office directly. "Per regulation five five alpha one I am notifying you of a possible identity breach of a member of the Triumvirate," she said formally. "Eidolon."
IIIIIIIIII
Rebecca had an odd look on her face as she sad down to meet with her fellow conspirators. The call she'd just had and the contents thereof were both heartening and amusing.
"You said you had important news," Doctor mother prompted.
"Yes," Rebecca agreed. "A cape has triggered in Brockton bay with powers similar to Eidolon's. She is able to emulate powers she comes into contact with. It is unknown at this time how many slots she is able to hold at once." Her fellow conspirators perked up. "The Director of the Brockton Bay PRT states that their surveillance teams report that the new trigger has expressed her interest in joining the wards and further states that her investigators have turned up evidence to suggest that her uncle faked his death after his family died in a car accident and became Eidolon. They also believe that either Eidolon's daughter survived or that he later had another daughter which has been keeping an eye on her cousin."
Eidolon got a strange look on his face. "What?"
Rebecca noticed the smirk Fortuna suppressed. This was going to be good.
IIIIIIIIII
Lisa tried to look confident as she walked down the creepily empty halls of Coil's bunker. Gone were the mercenaries, gone were any sounds save for the almost inaudible buzz of the florescent lights and the background hum of the air vents. It took every ounce of the girl's will to keep walking forward and it was only her power's reassurance that her mysterious new benefactor had been honest when they had said they meant her no harm and that Coil had been dealt with that allowed even that. The door to Coil's office was a dark pit in the wall, the lights were out.
"Come in," a female voice invited.
"Said the spider to the fly?"
"Said the spider," the voice agreed, sounding amused. "I promise that I will not harm you, not even if you annoy me which you are almost certain to do knowing you."
"Alright," she agreed, her powers reassuring her that the voice was speaking the truth. "Why are the lights out?"
"I'm doing a bit of cleaning up," the voice replied. "I'm afraid I had to get a bit rough with your former employer and then I got a bit rougher just to drive home just how unamused I am by several of his life choices. I'm afraid it got a bit messy. I'm cleaning up but my method of doing so can be a bit disconcerting. Better for you to just focus on the computer screen and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist until I'm done."
"Al-" she licked her lips. "Alright." Her voice did not tremble! She told herself, forcing herself to take another step towards the door. "Why are you doing this for me?"
"Because you're my best friend, Lisa," the voice said affectionately. "You saved my life. I mean that sincerely, by the way, not in some creepy stalker sort of way."
Truth, her power informed her. A frown appeared on the girl's face as she realized something else. "You really do know me!" she accused. "You're doing all this just to annoy me!"
"Not all of this," the voice laughed, conceding her point. "How do you like being on the other side of things for once?"
"I'm not going to trip on anything if I walk in am I?"
"I'll make sure you don't," the voice promised.
"Fine," Lisa spat, storming into the darkness. "What do I need to do?"
"For starters, I'd like you to disable to self destruct. We've got about five minutes before this whole place goes up. After that, I was thinking we'd start on bank accounts."
IIIIIIIIII
Emily's intercom chirped. She keyed the mic.
"Speak!"
"Grue from the Undersiders on the phone, director. Says he's offering up Lung and Oni Lee if we'll take them."
"Presumably if we we also agree not to try to arrest the Undersiders during the handoff," Piggot said dryly.
"Yes, ma'am. He also said something about how we'd be contacted by their lawyers about clearing up some misunderstandings."
"Did he also say how they managed to to take down Lung and Oni Lee?"
"He says they didn't, ma'am. They're making delivery for another cape."
"Did he say whom?"
"No, ma'am. But he did give us a list of injuries consistent with the case from the alley a couple days ago and BBPD passed on some intel that Lung was getting ready to post a bounty on any information leading to the capes that, quote 'so blatantly insulted him' end quote."
"Presumably our mystery capes decided to strike first," Piggot finished. "Who's in command at the Protectorate?"
"Shift change, ma'am. Militia and Armsmaster are both available."
"Miss Militia's in charge of the hand off, Armsmaster's in charge of the transport. Tell him I want him handling the most important part personally. Tell her I don't want him fucking this up by trying to arrest and pressgang some low level parahuman hoods. Especially not if they've picked up a patron that can take down both Lung and Oni Lee quietly."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Two squads of troopers and two more in reserve with them. Simmons in overall command and I want you to relay to him the same orders I gave you for Miss Militia and Armsmaster."
"Understood, ma'am."
IIIIIIIIII
Taylor tried not to fidget as she walked into the PRT building accompanied by Brandish, THE Brandish of New Wave.
"Let me do the talking," the older hero ordered.
"Okay," Taylor squeaked, trying to sound confident.
"Everything has been arranged. You're just here to do power testing, you will not agree to anything unless your parents and I agree to it. Understood?"
"Yes?" she said, managing to keep her voice even that time.
"Good."
IIIIIIIIII
Emily's intercom chirped.
"Speak!"
"Uh, ma'am. You have a visitor."
Her jaw tightened. She was just getting ready to go to her dialisis. "Is there an emergency?"
"No, ma'am, but-"
"Tell them to fuck off," she barked. "My schedule is clear."
"Ma'am. You really need to see this visitor."
FUCK! "Fine, send them in," she ordered. Her rage disappeared the second the door opened and she saw just who the visitor was.
"I apologize for the lack of notice, but I was just told that a new trigger with a similar power set just came in for testing?" Eidolon asked calmly.
"Yes," Piggot agreed. "How did you hear that?"
He shrugged. "As a member of the Triumvirate I have access to more information than most people in the Protectorate." He paused. "As the local PRT director it's . . . as a courtesy I am here to ask your permission to . . . . to monitor the new trigger's power testing."
Emily stared at the man for a few moments, realizing that apparently her agent's speculation was true. "Granted."
IIIIIIIIII
Taylor was over the moon. Not only was she meeting her heroes, including Armsmaster who for some reason had refused to sign her panties, but she was getting the chance to copy more powers as part of her testing. BEST! DAY! EVER!
IIIIIIIIII
Eidolon ignored the PRT personnel watching him as he observed the new trigger through the one way mirror.
"She looks just like her mother," he murmured, almost too low to hear. ""She's gotten big," the most powerful member of the Triumvirate said, following the script he'd been given by Contessa. "Exemplar is a good name, don't you think?" he asked, raising his voice. "Offer her whatever it takes to get her into the Wards."
"I'll see to it," the local director promised.
Eidolon regarded the girl on the other side of the glass. A part of him, a small part, resented her for her power that was so similar to his own. The rest of him, the large part, was relieved that there was a possible replacement waiting in the wings for when his power finally disappeared. Their fight against the enemy was greater than any of them, even him.
IIIIIIIIII
Emily's aide was waiting in her outer office when she got back from her dialysis appointment.
"Eidolon still here?" she demanded.
"Yes, ma'am, still observing the new cape's power testing."
"Anything else I need to be aware of?"
"Yes, ma'am. Undersiders contacted us again about another delivery, director."
"Oh?" Piggot smiled. "Who did our mysterious group of capes apprehend this time?"
"Two apprehensions, director. The first is Cricket."
"The second?"
"Hookwolf, ma'am. Grue let slip that they would not be contracted to deliver him to us again and that they wouldn't be contracted to bring in Cricket a third time."
"Accidentally or intentionally?"
"Within the hearing of one of the troopers we're fairly sure is an Empire mole, director."
Piggot snorted in amusement. "Give the bastard enough time to report that tidbit to his masters and arrest him."
"Yes, director."
IIIIIIIIII
Rebecca raised her glass and took a sip of water to give herself time to think. The leggy brunette on the other side of her desk's face was impassive.
"That's quite a story," she offered. "Do you have any proof?"
"Nothing I could give you," the brunette admitted. "We met once on my first run through. I killed you shortly thereafter."
"Oh?" She took another sip. "How? If you don't mind my asking."
"I choked you to death."
"I see." Another sip. "I suppose that would do it."
They stared at each other for several moments before the brunette broke the silence. "Why is Eidolon pretending that I'm his niece?" she demanded.
"Blame Fortuna."
"What?"
"She actually has a pretty good sense of humor," Rebecca explained. "I'm assuming that she set this up because she thought it'd be funny but who knows. It's really hard to tell with her, a good rule of thumb is to never fuck with one of her pranks since one never knows what path it's part of." Another sip. "So, you're interested in joining?"
"Yes, but this time she has to promise not to shoot me in the back of the head."
AN: This has been sitting half finished on my HD for years.