"Taylor? Can I talk to you?" Gallant asked. "In private."

Loki smiled; she had expected this.

"Of course, we're teammates, after all."

She got up to follow him out of the room. Missy looked at her, half curious, half convinced they were going to make out or something.

She was cute when she was jealous. She supposed Dean himself was the only one who hadn't noticed the girl's crush.

"Out here, in the hallway, I'm listening," said Taylor, her back against the wall, arms crossed.

And her ankles too. It was a very casual, carefree posture. Something that, until very recently, she never thought she could adopt naturally, ever.

That was life, things could change very quickly.

"Look," Gallant said, "I don't want to put you on the spot, but I've noticed you seem a little happy about what's been happening with Sophia lately."

"I've noticed," Taylor repeated. "You say that as if it has nothing to do with your powers."

She scoffed openly, a little risky, perhaps, but it just came out that way.

"Yes," Dean admitted easily. "Yes, it's true. I'm used to people not liking me talking about it, even though they might assume that's the reason."

"I understand. Would you mind if we went to my room or yours? Look, I wouldn't want the rest of the conversation to be caught on camera. Before you say anything, for Sophia's sake, not mine."

Yes, that was the reason she hadn't cut the conversation short earlier, so that the cameras would capture the beginning. It wasn't certain that someone, maybe Armsmaster, maybe Miss Militia, would review the recordings or start to suspect in the first place. It wasn't certain, and she hadn't planned Gallant's visit, but it wouldn't hurt to recognize an opportunity and squeeze it for all it was worth.

"Okay," Gallant said finally. "Wherever you want, mine is closer," he added.

"I'd feel more comfortable in mine." It wasn't that she thought Dean was so intelligent or suspicious as to have installed recorders, microphones, or anything like that in his room, hoping to catch her. Fine, but one had to be cautious.

"Okay," Dean shrugged. "Okay, whatever you want."

Gallant followed her to her room, going inside. Taylor always went home to her father. At the moment, she had only used this room on the first day, but it could always be needed, so it was good that each of them had one. Taylor sat on the bed, she hadn't even bothered to decorate the room, it was just a room, after all, four walls like any other place.

"It's true," Loki admitted. "Seeing Sophia tense, pressured, makes me happy. So what?"

"So what?" Gallant repeated. It was clear he hadn't expected that question.

Taylor shrugged.

"You must have another reason for starting this conversation, right? Because nobody likes Shadow Stalker. I'm not the only one who's happy."

"She blames you," Gallant said.

"And you suspect me because of my emotions."

"They're quite a bit more intense than other people's," Dean admitted.

"That's natural. Sophia bullied me at school, after all. At Winslow."

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"And why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't I? New school, new team, new beginning. I have no intention of sabotaging her. I don't know how long you've had that power, but I guess you must have learned by now that what you feel is one thing, and what you do is another."

A very curious expression crossed Dean's face. She couldn't tell what it meant.

"Sure," he said finally.

"Sophia made my life hell, and she would have kept doing it, if it weren't for the fact that I got powers because of her."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

Taylor put on her best sad smile. A smile of someone who punishes herself for feelings she shouldn't have.

"I know it's wrong to be happy that she's having a hard time. Believe it or not, I'm ashamed." Okay, the time had come. This part was very important to sell the story. Correct. Shame. Naturally, the best option to feel shame, easier and faster, was to think of her mother. What would Annette say if she could see her now? She wouldn't be ashamed, obviously, of her strength of spirit. That she didn't give up. That she did everything possible to avoid being just a victim again. But what she was doing and what she planned to do in the future... surely that would cross many lines for her mother. She wouldn't turn her back on her. She wasn't that kind of woman. But she would be disappointed in her. She was almost one hundred percent sure. Ashamed. "It's not something I'm proud of, believe me. But I can't just snap my fingers and avoid it. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, I understand." Dean swallowed.

"Don't tell anyone what she made me suffer, okay? Well, almost nobody. You can talk about it with Vista, if you want. I also told her. She's a good girl."

Gallant's smile widened a little.

"Yes, she's a very good girl. I'm proud of her. Sounds weird, doesn't it? I'm not that much older than her, but I'm proud."

Taylor shrugged.

"Weird, why? Gallant, do you understand, right?"

"I don't know if I know what you mean."

Taylor suppressed the urge to click her tongue.

"I'm not doing what Sophia says I'm doing. I enjoy what she does to herself, that's all. But she can't help but think of me because of the history we share. I mean, the things she's done to me. It's natural to think I'd want revenge. I don't blame her for that. I think she's just stressed, you know, because the secret might come out. The kinds of things she does. What she made me suffer. A Trigger Event. That would end her probation completely. That's for sure. So I understand that she's stressed, but..."

"And I also understand why you want to keep it quiet. But if that's true, Taylor, then this doesn't just affect you. How many other people could she bully, and push to the brink? She's a teammate, after all. I don't want to do something like that to her, but... I don't hate her. Sometimes she makes it difficult, but I don't hate her. Still, we should think about the innocents she could hurt. Don't you want to stop this before there's another person in your place?"

Loki almost wanted to bite her tongue off. She had planned everything meticulously down to the last detail. She had practiced and perfected the strategy to deceive Gallant, which in the end hadn't been that much. The kid could read feelings, not her mind, after all. Feelings were fickle and easily manipulated, even hers. But never, ever had she anticipated that the biggest obstacle would be that the name Gallant suited him well. For innocents, for nameless and faceless strangers, people who had nothing to do with him, he was willing to earn such a headache.

To sink one of his teammates, for better or for worse. And Loki didn't want that.

It was too soon, too easy.

"I'll give you some time," Dean said finally. "I'll give it to you. But if you don't tell the truth, I will."

Loki slowly looked back at him. Anger, suppressed as much as possible, boiling beneath the surface. She had to choose her words even more carefully.

"Do you really want to do this to her?" she asked finally, just after Dean turned to leave. "Don't you think she has a chance to change? Or that she deserves it?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance," he said without a second thought. God, she didn't know how he could say phrases like that with a straight face. "But she wasn't just playing around. A Trigger Event is something very serious, Taylor. That's something all parahumans know perfectly well."

"I have more right than you to punish her," she replied finally. She didn't add: And I'm leaving her alone, anyway. First, because, all things considered, anyone would assume that's how the sentence ended. And second, because it would be a lie. She was perfectly allowed to lie; it's not like Gallant was going to guess. He read her emotions, not her thoughts. But Taylor liked to lie with selective truth. It was elegant and somewhat more challenging.

"Listen," Dean said, softening his voice. "It speaks well of you that you want to move on. But, I repeat, this is not about you. It's about other people who will surely go through the same thing. It's not revenge, so you don't have to feel guilty. It would just be doing the right thing."

What a stubborn idiot. Until now everything had gone smoothly, and now a stupidly honest stubborn idiot was going to be what ruined her plan?

She refused. She simply refused. But what the hell could she do? How could she convince this imbecile who only wanted to do the right thing?

The only variable that she hadn't taken into account.