Confrontation (Worm fanfic)

[Ack]

Taylor's encounter against Lung doesn't go very well at all. She wakes up in hospital, and Armsmaster has some questions.

Disclaimers:
1) This story is set in the Wormverse, which is owned by Wildbow. Thanks for letting me use it.
2) I will follow canon as closely as I can. If I find something that canon does not cover, then I will make stuff up. If canon then refutes me, then I will revise. Do not bother me with fanon; corrections require citations.
3) I welcome criticism of my works, but if you tell me that something is wrong, I also expect an explanation of what is wrong, and a suggestion of how to fix it. Note that I do not promise to follow any given suggestion.

Index
Part One: Introduction (below)
Part Two: Discussing Options
Part Three: Costume Discussions
Part Four: Joining the Wards
Part Five: Meet and Greet
Part Six: The Shadow and the Bug
Part Seven: With Friends Like These
Part Eight: Best of Enemies

Omake: Aegis' Thoughts

Sequel

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part One: Introduction


My universe was pain.

I lay on the gravel rooftop, trying to breathe without hurting myself. It wasn't going well. Each time I inhaled, the air was far too hot and stank of burning hair, and there was a stabbing pain that stopped me getting quite enough air into my lungs.

I was fairly sure I had broken bones; my costume had protected me from being eviscerated by Lung's claw-swipe, but it had done little to nothing about the sheer force of the blow. I'd been lucky not to have gone over the edge.

This was such a fucking stupid idea.

At least my costume hadn't caught fire when his flame had washed over me. I hadn't escaped unscathed; I had felt my hair catch fire, had suffered as it burned the back of my head. There was more pain in my buttocks, down my legs, but I wasn't sure if that was due to bruises, broken bones, or burns.

I couldn't figure out why Lung hadn't finished me off; I was certainly not going to get away now. All he had to do was step on me, and he'd probably crush me like a cockroach. And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

The world went away for a little bit; I sank down into warm, soft, pink nothingness, where there was no pain, no giant metal-clad fire-breathing monsters about to kill me. I was fairly sure that I would not wake up again.

<><>​

" … e even alive?"

The voice was hollow, reverberating, masculine. I wasn't alone on the rooftop, and it wasn't Lung there with me. I tried to move, tried to call for help. I might have twitched slightly; my left arm and leg were not responding appropriately. Also, moving hurt. Like an ironclad son of a bitch. My groan wasn't much better.

My head was turned to one side; one of my goggle lenses was smashed – when did that happen? - but I could see a pair of feet in front of me. More figures, at the edge of the roof. Farther off, in some other reality, I could vaguely hear snarls and growls and roars. Lung's fighting something, I decided, and congratulated myself on my deductive ability.

The owner of the feet crouched; I saw pale hair framing a black domino mask.

"He's a she," a feminine voice answered, her voice raised. A girl, maybe my age. "She's hurt bad. Lung nearly killed her."

"Help," I tried to whisper. A whimper came out.

She leaned closer. "I can't help you," she whispered, "but I'll call help for you. You did us a huge favour. It's the least I can do in return."

Her hand touched my mask, lay gently on the mandible over my jaw where I wasn't bruised, wasn't burned. "Hang tight, bug girl. Help is on the way."

The world chose that moment to pull a sharp Immelmann and dive into the clouds. My eyes closed.

<><>​

Metal rattling on concrete woke me again. I was still lying on the rooftop, still in pain. Still couldn't move. Breathing was a little harder.

I'm dying. I'll die here. The revelation came as not much of a shock. I'd been expecting to die ever since Lung got that hit in on me, the one that broke my bones like so many cheese sticks.

I'm sorry, Dad. I wanted to be a superhero. I wanted to be a good daughter.

Heavy boots crunching over the gravel. A masculine voice. Not the same as the other voice. " - the hell leaves a note on a supervillain's face?"

A pause. "Holy Christ." The footsteps moved fast, getting louder. Heading toward me. Stopping next to me. I blinked my eyes, couldn't focus. A pause, then something was pressed to my neck. I heard soft electronic beeping.

"Okay, kid, you're alive." The voice was full of relief. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm Armsmaster. I'm going to get you out of this. Okay?"

I may have made a sound, a movement; I wasn't sure. Maybe he was just talking for the sake of talking. "Good. Right. Now just hang tight for a second, and I'll get you down from here."

Why is everyone telling me to hang tight?

He moved away from me. Leaving me. His voice was still audible. "Armsmaster here. Send a containment van to my GPS location, ASAP. Lung is unconscious, tranquillised, caged. He should keep till you get here. I've got someone else to bring in. Armsmaster, out."

Armsmaster's a hero. He's not going to leave me to die, right?

Right?

I faded away for a bit.

<><>​

When I came to, I was strapped to something and moving. I was on my stomach; something was pillowed around my face so that nothing obstructed my breathing, and I didn't bump my nose. Something clicked into place, and I stopped moving.

Armsmaster held the electronic device to my neck; it beeped at him. "Vitals are down," he muttered. "Gotta move. Hang in there, guy."

Guy? I wanted to protest. Admittedly, I wasn't very well developed, but that was almost insulting. But before I could formulate my words farther, the engine bellowed, and I started moving again.

Engine?

Oh, his motorcycle.

I was strapped to Armsmaster's motorcycle.

We started going somewhere really fast, but after the first turn, I lost interest and passed out again.

<><>​

" … and that should do it."

The voice was light, feminine. It sounded very slightly familiar. Teenage girl, voice I've heard somewhere before. Celebrity?

I inhaled, cautiously. There was no stab of pain. The air smelled of hospital.

Which is a thousand percent better than gravel rooftop, and burning hair.

My eyelids fluttered open.

I was lying in a hospital bed, with my legs and arms suspended in the air by straps. A light cast covered my left arm, and another covered my chest. Bandages swathed my legs and right upper arm.

Beside the bed stood a doctor, a nurse, a tall armoured figure, and a shorter figure in white robes, with something red on the front.

The doctor stepped forward, his face splitting in a smile. I could pick that much up, anyway.

"Good morning, miss," he greeted me warmly. "I'm Doctor Anderson. You had us all worried for a while there."

I blinked at him, then realised that I wasn't looking through my goggles. My mask was off.

They can see my face.

I tried to turn my head away instinctively, but it wouldn't move. Tried to bring my hand up to shield my face, but the straps wouldn't allow it. "Face," I tried to enunciate. "Mask."

"What's she saying?" asked the armoured figure … blue and silver, that had to Armsmaster.

"Hold still," Anderson told me. "You're in a cervical collar. You had a minor fracture of … let's just say, we didn't want you moving your head around before Panacea could get a look at you." He held up what I recognised as a squeeze bottle filled with water, with a nozzle. I opened my mouth obediently, and he squirted some water into my mouth. I swallowed; it barely made it into my throat. I opened my mouth again.

After the second and third squirt of water, I was feeling a bit better. And now I could talk.

"You unmasked me," I told them. "Showed my face to everyone."

"It was kind of necessary to take your mask off," Anderson informed me. "You had third degree burns on the back of your head."

Which was why some sort of cradle was supporting my head in the air, I guessed. I was still trying to think of a way to complain about being unmasked while still being grateful about having my life saved when Anderson raised a finger. "But we didn't out you. We keep a stock of domino masks around, for cases like yours. You're wearing one, right now. And this is a restricted ward."

"Oh." Now that he mentioned it, I could feel something on my face. I felt a little silly, after the fact. But then I remembered something else. "My hair."

"Most of it's gone, I'm afraid," Anderson confirmed. "We had to cut it back so that we could treat your burns properly." And I would have none at all on the back of my head, of course.

"I … uh, thanks," I told him. "And you two, too. Thank you." I swivelled my eyes toward Panacea and Armsmaster. "For saving my life. For healing me. I … thought I was going to die."

Armsmaster nodded his helmeted head. "You very nearly did," he agreed. "And we're going to have to talk about that, later."

I looked at Panacea again. She nodded to me. "You're welcome," she told me in a soft, shy voice. "You're very lucky to be alive. Not many people can go toe to toe against Lung, and walk away."

"I didn't mean to," I told her. "I was trying to stay back, out of the way. He's got super-hearing or something, when he gets big."

Armsmaster tilted his head at that. "You're sure of that?"

I tried to nod, failed. "Absolutely."

He smiled tightly. "That's useful to know. So, are you ready to come out of those bandages?"

"Yes, please."

<><>​

They'd had cloths draped over me for modesty while Armsmaster was in the room. Once he stepped out, the nurse began removing the casts and bandages, while Anderson and Panacea observed. It took a little while; if I needed any convincing that I'd been badly hurt, that would have done the job.

Once the cervical collar came off, I shook my head carefully, then felt the back of my skull. Bare, smooth skin. I turned to Panacea. "Will my hair grow back?"

She nodded. "Of course. There won't be any scar tissue. I can grow your hair back for you, if you want. Any length necessary."

I blinked. "You can do that?"

She ducked her head slightly. "Uh, yes. I don't offer it as a service to everyone, but … well, it's that or a wig, right?"

"Yeah, and my Dad would pick up on a wig straight away," I told her without thinking.

She looked curiously at me. "Your parents don't know?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Not yet."

Doctor Anderson was holding out something to me. "Uh, miss, I believe this is yours."

I took it; it was my mask. Looking closely, it seemed to be scorched but intact, except for the shattered lens. Around the opening in the back, where my hair was to flow free, there were a few stains.

"We washed it," he told me, "but melted hair is fairly hard to get out. What's it made of? I've never seen material like that before."

I grimaced slightly at the 'melted hair' comment. "Spider silk. Black widow dragline silk, to be exact."

"Wow," Panacea commented. "Can I see?"

I handed it to her; she felt it over. "It's so smooth, so flexible. Is it very tough?"

Anderson coughed. "I'd say so. We tried to cut her out of her costume. We couldn't, even with shears. Fortunately, it wasn't that hard to find the zip. Which was when we actually discovered you were a girl for the first time, by the way, young lady." His tone was amused.

I flushed slightly. "It's not my fault," I muttered.

"And nor is it," he agreed warmly. "Well now, Armsmaster wants to talk to you; do you feel up to it? Would you like us to contact your parents, or a legal representative?"

I thought about that. Contacting Dad would out me, if I hadn't already been outed. But the other … "Legal representative? Am I going to need one of those?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. I was just throwing things out there."

"I can stick around, if you want," Panacea offered. "If it looks like you need one, I can call my mom. She's a lawyer."

Of course, I realised, as my brain caught up. Panacea, New Wave, Brandish, Carol Dallon. Lawyer.

"Uh, thanks," I told her. "That would be great."

She smiled, just a little. "That's okay. I'm happy to do it."

"Well, then," Doctor Anderson told me heartily, "let's get you some clothes."

<><>​

"So, are you a hero or a villain?" asked Armsmaster directly. I was still in the hospital bed, this time wearing soft pyjamas, with the domino mask completing my ensemble. The bed was adjusted so that I was more sitting up than lying down. Panacea sat nearby; she had assured me that any feeling of weakness was entirely psychosomatic, but I felt weak all the same.

A rolling tray table held scrambled eggs and a small bottle of juice; I sipped at the juice as I considered my answer.

"I'm a hero," I told him. "A good guy."

He tilted his head slightly. "You'll excuse me if I tell you that I saw you in your costume. You didn't look like a good guy."

That stung, especially coming from him. It was like Michael Jordan saying you sucked at basketball. "That's… not intentional," I responded, not a little defensively. "I was more than halfway done putting the costume together when I realised it was already looking more edgy than I'd intended, and I couldn't do anything about it by then."

There was a long pause. I turned my eyes from that opaque visor, toward Panacea, who gave me an encouraging nod. I glanced back at him, at his chest emblem, a silhouette of his visor in blue against a silver background, and was struck with the ridiculous thought that I had once owned a pair of underpants with his emblem on the front. Who puts a male hero's emblem on girls' underwear, anyway?

"You're telling the truth," he observed. It was a definitive statement, which startled me. I wanted to ask how he knew, but I wasn't about to do or say anything that might change his mind.

"Uh, yes," I agreed. "I really am."

"You're new," he went on, as though I hadn't spoken. "I haven't seen you around, heard of you. What are your powers?"

"I … powers?" I repeated. "You didn't know?"

He shook his head. "You do have powers, correct?"

I nodded. "I … yes. I control bugs."

"Bugs," he repeated. "As in, insects."

"And spiders," I added. "Arachnids of all kinds. Earthworms too, for some reason. Apparently anything relatively small, with a tiny brain."

"So what part did you play in Lung's takedown, with bugs?" he asked.

I blinked. "I, uh, you don't know?" I was getting a bad feeling, but I wasn't sure why.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you," he pressed relentlessly.

"I, uh, he was talking about killing kids. So I had my swarm attack him. Drove his men off, then I had them bite him in, uh, sensitive places. Black widows, brown recluses, fire ants, browntail moths, honeybees, wasps, hornets … basically, everything I could throw at him."

I took a breath, and a drink of juice. "And then he went on fire, and it stopped working. So I went to leave. And he heard me. And jumped up on the roof. And hit me, and breathed fire all over me. And then … something happened. Someone arrived. Something big took on Lung. There was a guy with a funny voice, and a girl with blonde hair. Then you were there. And that's all I remember."

I stopped. Doctor Anderson tilted his head curiously. "Armsmaster, just a question; how did you ensure Lung wasn't going to be a danger when you brought him in? Because I didn't see any restraints past the most basic ones."

Armsmaster turned to look at him. "I have extra-strength tranquillisers, authorised for use on Brutes. Why?"

"Because Brute-rating tranquillisers of that strength could easily interact with the types of venoms she just mentioned. There could be an adverse reaction."

"Adverse reaction?" I asked. My bad feeling was really jumping up and down now.

At that moment, the PA system blared to life. "Code blue. Repeat, code blue. Cleared personnel to room four-five-three. Crash cart to room four-five-three. Code blue. Repeat, code blue."

Panacea's eyes got very wide under her hood, and she leaped to her feet. "Gotta go," she told us.

Armsmaster was also on his feet. "That's the room they've got Lung in," he snapped. He pointed at me. "Stay. There."

Anderson didn't even bother saying anything. He just darted out the door behind Armsmaster.

And then I was all alone.


End of Part One

Part Two

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part Two: Discussing Options


The room was very quiet after they left. I thought it through; 'Code blue' probably meant something pretty drastic. Panacea was running in that direction, so she thought that she would be needed.

I wondered how much trouble I would be in if Lung died of an overdose of bug venom, after he did his best to kill me. Then I decided to see if I could tell what was going on.

Even in a hospital, it was amazing to see how many bugs there really are. I left the bigger ones where they were, and moved the tiny ones around. When one of them encountered someone moving fast, it hitched a ride.

In a hospital, I discovered, people move fast for a variety of reasons. Not all of my bugs were going to the same place, or even the same floor. But enough were going to the same room, on the same floor as me, to give me the idea as to where Lung was.

Sure enough, my bugs picked up Armsmaster and Panacea, both of them distinctive enough that even the crappy eyes of a tiny insect could tell them apart from doctors and nurses. I wasn't quite sure why I was even trying to keep tabs on them; it wasn't like my bugs could do anything in this situation.

I shivered, momentarily. Despite all my preparation, despite all my self-training, Lung had nearly killed me. Had come within seconds of doing so. Even if he'd left me, if those other people – whoever they were – had not shown up, I wouldn't have been able to move. I would have died there, suffocated when my lungs gave out or filled up with blood, or when the infections from my burns got too much for my body to handle. I doubt I would have lived long enough to die of starvation or thirst.

It was strange, though. While that bothered me on an intellectual level, it wasn't really affecting me, not on a personal level. I should be curled up in a ball, catatonic, or screaming my lungs out at the sheer terror I had gone through. But I wasn't. The disquiet went through me, then went ... somewhere else. Somewhere that I could handle it a lot easier.

Giving me time to think about how thoroughly I had screwed it up.

<><>​

It was my own stupid fault, of course; when he climbed up on the roof, I had taken the shot too early with the pepper spray. My hand had been shaking too much, and the spray had been way off target – closer to my own face than his. I'd swung it around and tried to get him, but the spray died just before it contacted his face.

I'd tried to dodge back, to get away, but for a huge guy, he moved fast. I never even saw the blow coming. When Lung hit me, my costume had stopped the claws themselves, but had done little against the sheer crushing impact of his blow. I had been flung sideways, skidding on the gravel, feeling like a truck had just ploughed into me. Hearing your own bones break? Right up there on the 'things I never ever want to experience again' chart.

And then he'd toasted me. Breathed flame all over me. Even now, I could recall how it felt. My costume had not caught fire, had not melted. My back armour had given me some protection, I figured, but nowhere near enough. My legs were seared, even through the costume. My arms as well. My right arm was broken around that time, too. I was a little vague about whether this was when he hit me, or when I hit the roof.

And of course, he had set my hair on fire. I remembered screaming, and being able to do precious little else about it. The stink of burning hair is bad. The stink of your own burning hair, the smell of your skin blistering and melting … ten times worse. Take it from me.

I will remember it until the day that I die.

<><>​

I was still lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, processing my mistakes, when Armsmaster and Panacea returned.

Panacea put a cool hand on my forehead. "Are you all right?"

Her touch was unexpectedly soothing; it felt nice, and brought back memories from long ago, when I had been ill in bed, and my mother had cared for me. Tears prickled my eyes.

"I nearly died," I told her. My voice wasn't as level as I would have liked it, but I wasn't falling apart. "He nearly killed me. It's really hard to get my head around that."

Armsmaster peered at me. "Do you think we should call a doctor?"

"I don't think so." Panacea lifted one of my hands, and held it gently. "Huh."

"Huh, what?" I asked.

"I'd think your heart rate, your blood pressure, should be higher than this. You're still recovering from a massive trauma. It's high, you've got plenty of adrenaline in your system, but you're still well in control of yourself."

"I am feeling a little bit shaky," I admitted.

"Try taking deep, slow breaths," she advised me. "You're hyperventilating, just a little bit."

I deliberately took a breath, like she told me. Unclenching my body, stretching out on the bed, giving my lungs room to expand. Immediately, I felt calmer, less stressed. "Wow, you really know this stuff."

She tilted her head. "I can't really ignore it. The human body's got all sorts of stupid loops it gets into, and I can see all of it, as soon as it starts to happen. The trick is to break the cycle and let you get back to normal operation."

"Like hiccuping," I replied.

She nodded. "Exactly. That's another one of those stupid little loops you can get caught up in. It's like when you're watching a romantic comedy, and something silly happens and you just know the girlfriend is going to come in just when the boyfriend is in a compromising position with the girl next door, and she won't believe him when he says it's all innocent, and there's all this back and forth, over and over, and if she just believed him, it would all be cut short."

I grinned at her. "But yeah, the plot demands it, so it happens. Yeah, I hate those too. So that's what it's like for you, huh?"

She might have rolled her eyes; I wasn't sure. "Oh god, you have no idea."

I paused. "Uh, I can't remember; have I thanked you for healing me? Because I'm really, really thankful, believe me."

She shrugged slightly. "You're welcome. It's nice to just have time to chat to someone, actually."

Armsmaster cleared his throat at this point.

"Or not," I replied dryly. "You were asking me questions, I think?" I paused. "Uh, Lung, is he okay?" Immediately I asked, I wondered why I had. I sure as hell didn't feel any fellow-feeling for him. Maybe I just wanted to be kept up to date.

Armsmaster nodded, his helmet moving visibly, even to my short-sighted eyes. "He was in bad shape until Panacea got to him. Necrosis had started. But he's stable now, they say."

"Necrosis?" I blurted. "Oh shit. I didn't mean for that to happen. I just wanted him to … well, not kill kids."

"I cleared it up," Panacea assured me. "But he'll be weak for a while."

I frowned. "Does he have to be? I mean, is it a side effect that you can't get around?"

She chuckled, lightly. "No. It's a side effect, yes, but I could have cancelled it. However, I think we could all do with having Lung not on top of his game for the time being." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Don't tell anyone."

Given that 'anyone' was standing three feet away, I figured she was joking. "Well … okay."

"I'm going to ignore that," stated Armsmaster firmly. "Now, miss, what do we call you?"

"I, uh, my name?" I stammered. "Aren't you not supposed to ask me things like that?"

"Not your real name," he explained, with heavy emphasis. "Your cape name."

I swallowed. "Oh, um, that might be a problem ..."

Armsmaster tilted his head slightly. "Why?" he asked bluntly. "Are you a known criminal?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," I hurried to inform him. "Last night was my first night out."

"Then where's the problem?" he pressed.

"Um, I don't have a cape name?" I confessed.

"What, really?" blurted Panacea.

I nodded, miserably. "I control bugs. Do you know how hard it is to come up with a single bug-themed name that doesn't sound dorky, or villainous, or both? Because I couldn't."

Unexpectedly, Armsmaster chuckled. "I wouldn't know. I got into the game early enough that I didn't have to worry about missing out on all of the good names."

"There aren't all that many healers out there," Panacea commented. "And I'm kinda more versatile than most of them. So I didn't have to fight anyone for the name."

"Yeah, well," I told her. "That goes without saying. You're famous."

She ducked her head. "Yeah, well, that comes with a downside, too. I can heal people, so they expect me to heal people."

I reached out, grabbed her hand. She was, I guessed, a little startled by the contact. "Hey, I think you're pretty cool in my book, okay?"

Armsmaster cleared his throat again. "As I was asking … do you have a name you'd like us to use? Because I have to put something down for the report. And the file we'll be opening on you."

"Um, um, um, how about 'bug girl' for the moment?" I asked. "With the understanding that it's only temporary."

"You'll pick a better sounding one later, you mean?" asked Panacea.

I shook my head. "No. I'll probably be giving up superheroing altogether. Because I obviously suck at it."

<><>​

Even as I spoke the words, I knew that they were true. I had gone out, I had picked a fight with the biggest, baddest cape in Brockton Bay, and I had been horribly injured. Someone else had picked that moment – probably by sheer accident – to take on Lung, and had beaten him down to the point that Armsmaster had been able to capture him.

I had nearly died.

It was a huge wake-up call, one from which I had very nearly never woken up at all.

"You were woefully under-prepared when you came out," Armsmaster noted bluntly, "not to mention coming out as a solo hero, rather than as a part of a team-up. Two classic blunders, which do lead to more first-time capes dying or quitting than any other reason."

I nodded. I didn't need him pointing out my sheer stupidity to me. Hopefully, Dad hadn't called the police yet. Maybe he thought I was sleeping in or something. If I could sneak in during the day, while he was at work …

But I was going to be a super-hero, I tried to tell myself. I needed this, for there to be something that I could do, that wasn't being bullied at school, or lying to Dad at home, something that I could focus on.

But I really sucked at being a superhero. Powers, check. Costume, check. Execution, fail.

"There's another option," he suggested. "We do have the Wards program." There was no judgement in his tone, no pressure. Just a statement.

I nodded; I had originally considered applying to join, but the notion of escaping the stresses of high school by flinging myself into a mess of teenage drama, adult oversight and schedules seemed self-defeating. So then I had decided not to subject myself to that, and to go the solo route.

Which had turned out oh so well for me.

With the wisdom of hindsight, and as near a near-death experience could get without involving actual death, I found myself reconsidering my decision. Maybe some positive adult oversight might be a good idea. It wasn't as though there'd be any bullies in the Wards, after all. And I bet myself that if I told Armsmaster about problems I was having in the Wards, something would sure as hell be done about it.

And I'd be able to be a superhero. With proper equipment, and backup. Peers I would actually have something in common with.

The more I thought about it, the more attractive it seemed.

"I'll do it," I told him.


End of Part Two

Part Three

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part Three: Costume Discussions

[Author's Note: With thanks to @FeliD and to @Lavanya Six , without whom this chapter would not have been written.]


Richardson lowered his glasses and looked over them at the teenage girl. "So, Taylor," he began. "Can I call you Taylor?"

She didn't answer verbally, but he saw how she was avoiding his gaze, fixing on the ashtray on his desk rather than look at him directly. He cleared his throat and started again. "Taylor. Why do you want to be a Ward?"

She looked up at him, then. Her eyes were large and dark behind round-lensed glasses. Several strands of hair were hanging over her face; she didn't bother to brush them away. "So I can be a superhero." There was the faintest edge of scorn in her voice. He couldn't blame her; it had been a fairly obvious answer to the question.

I think I deserved that. At least she's engaging me, now.

"Why do you want to be a superhero?" he prompted.

That brought her up short. Twice, he watched her open her mouth to make a reply, then close it again, words unspoken. Her gaze darted around his office, alighting on a dozen different points, not one of them being his face.

He waited patiently, schooling his features toward mild interest. His hands itched to do something to pass the time, to pick up a pen or drum his fingers on the desk, but he did neither. He merely watched her, and waited until she was ready to say what was on her mind.

When she spoke, the words came suddenly, almost violently. "I want to do the right thing. I want to help the people who can't help themselves." She drew a deep, shuddering breath. "I want to do something with my life that doesn't turn to shit!"

Silence fell again. Brockton Bay's newest Ward blinked a couple of times, then muttered, "Sorry for swearing."

Richardson shook his head, hiding a smile as he did so. "I've heard worse." He observed her; she had a sheepish expression on her face. He was almost certain that she had not intended to say what she had, or at that level of vehemence.

No matter; that little outburst was exactly what he'd been looking for. It was the most honest thing she'd said since she walked into his office.

"You want to be a superhero," he went on. "Not a villain, or a rogue?"

She shook her head, her expression wary. "No," she replied. "Definitely a hero." Again, she glanced away from his face.

Before she could withdraw into herself again, he spoke up. "Well, you definitely did a lot of work on that costume." A tilt of the head, inviting her to express herself. "How long did it take you to make it?"

She cleared her throat. "A-about three months, more or less. I couldn't work on it all the time, of course, going to school and stuff, and I had to start fresh a couple of times, but … yeah, I started it back in mid-January. Once I learned I had powers, and what I could do with them."

He nodded judiciously. "And a very nice piece of work it is, too. You told Armsmaster that it's made from black widow spider silk?"

Her head came up; her expression became more animated. "Yes. I use a specific type called dragline silk. It's the second strongest spider silk in the world."

He opened a folder on his desk, and pulled out a glossy eight by six photo; it showed Taylor wearing the costume after Panacea had grown her hair back. The only signs that it had even been in a fight were the scorch marks, and the shattered lens on the mask. This gave the image in the photo a strangely lopsided gaze; on one side was a staring yellow insectoid eye, while on the other was a quite human brown eye. The human eye was the one that appeared out of place.

"I have to admit, Taylor, that I've seen many costumes come through that door in my time here, with people who want to join the Protectorate or the Wards, and your costume has every single one of them beat for design and execution." He glanced up at her, over his glasses. "I'm assuming that it's all your own design, from start to finish."

She nodded firmly. "Once I figured out that my powers were bug related, I decided to go with a bug theme."

"Bug theme, indeed." He chuckled warmly. "You certainly did that." He tapped the photo with a fingernail. "I particularly like the mandibles around the jawline. It's detail, it's useful, and it makes you striking. Memorable."

She began to smile, then the expression fell off of her face again. "Armsmaster said I looked like a villain."

"Armsmaster," Richardson told her firmly, "would not know what tact was if the definition were uploaded into his helmet heads-up display." She smiled uncertainly. "However, he's not entirely unwarranted in his comment."

The smile vanished once more. "What do you mean?" she asked sharply.

He drew a deep breath. "When looking at you, and your costume, I am faced with some questions that I would really rather have answered, before we go any farther."

He tapped the photo again with his fingernail; she watched the movement, her expression unsure. "What questions?"

With the tip of his finger, Richardson circled the head of the masked figure in the photo. "You never intended to become a public figure, did you? You were always going to be in the shadows, never interacting with the public. Am I right?"

Taylor blinked, looking at the photo, then back up at Richardson. "I … uh … what makes you say that?"

For an answer, Richardson took off his glasses and tapped his eyesocket. "Eyes. People like to see them. It lets them connect with others. Your costume hides your eyes. This intimidates people, more than they are willing to let on, even to themselves."

He opened his desk drawer, rummaged around for a moment, then produced a pair of sunglasses. Putting them on made things dark as well as blurry, but it wasn't an issue.

Then he tapped his nose, and the corner of his mouth. "Nose. Mouth. People expect to see a face when they look at someone. Not seeing it makes people uneasy. It's why our troops wear full-face visors. Keeps people at a distance." Pulling his handkerchief from his pocket, he held it in front of his face, concealing his mouth and nose. "Do I look friendlier and more approachable like this … " He removed the handkerchief and changed out the sunglasses with his regular spectacles, " … or like this?"

Taylor nodded slowly. "Yeah, I get it. If I can't see your eyes, your face, I do feel a little threatened, a little intimidated." She indicated the photo. "That's what my mask does, huh?"

"By George, I think the young lady has it." He smiled, in answer to her tentative grin. "So, did you intend to come across as intimidating and impersonal? Or was that just the design you came up with?"

She frowned. "I think … maybe a little of the intimidation. But mainly because I didn't want anyone seeing my face, any part of it, and maybe identifying me."

The emphasis on words had been odd; the first part of the last sentence had been firm, unquestioned. But the last bit had come across as being tacked-on, an afterthought.

I didn't want anyone seeing my face.

That was another truth; very likely, one that Taylor Hebert had not intended to let slip. Why she even felt that way was not something he was prepared to answer right at that moment, but it was clear that she had some sort of self-esteem issues.

Her hair was another matter; the mask was designed to let the hair flow out. Which would not normally have been a problem, except for Lung and his fire.

Richardson was not an expert on hair, but Taylor's dark-brown curls were well cared for. She wore it long, and she had designed the mask to show it off, while hiding the rest of her body. It was obvious to him that she liked her hair – and it was probably about the only thing that she liked about herself.

He decided to shelve that matter, and to carry on with a more pressing one.

"Now, you say you spent two and a half to three months making this costume."

She nodded, readily enough. "Yeah. It was a real bear, sometimes. Dragline silk shrinks a bit when it gets wet, and I couldn't count on staying dry all the time, so I had to make it a bit oversized and then wet it down. Sometimes I got the sizes wrong. Can you imagine trying to cut Kevlar with ordinary scissors?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I imagine that you can't."

Her smile was wry. "No. I had to use metal cutting shears, and even then it took all my time. Why?"

He rubbed his chin. "It's just that … another thing I have noticed about those people who have come in with pre-made costumes, they always picked the name before even starting to put together a costume. In fact, in a lot of the cases, the name informed many choices about the costume. After all, costumes come and go, but names are what stick in the mind." He nodded to her. "In those three months, why is it that you didn't come up with a single name that you like?"

She paused; her expression became hunted once more, her gaze sliding off of his face, to seek refuge somewhere else in his office. He leaned back, folding his hands before him, seeking to project an air of harmlessness, of mild curiosity. The last thing I want to do is push her into a corner.

The silence wore on; despite the rather excellent air conditioning, it suddenly felt to Richardson as though the very atmosphere in his office was becoming stuffy and humid. A fly buzzed across the room, turned in a complete circle, then buzzed back. He wasn't sure if she was showing off, expressing her nervousness, or wasn't even controlling it.

"I – like I told Armsmaster, I couldn't think of one," she confessed suddenly. "They were all taken, or sounded like villain names, or were just plain dorky."

"Ladybug," he suggested.

"Sounds too kiddish, and I'd have to change the colour scheme."

He nodded, conceding the point. "Swarm."

"Villain."

"Stinger."

"Taken. Missile tinker, on the west coast."

"Hm." He hadn't known that. "Hive Queen."

"Way pretentious."

"Weaver."

She hesitated. "Uh … it makes it sound like I'm more into making cloth than fighting crime."

He pushed down his glasses to give her a dry look. "Weak excuse. Buzz."

"Huh?"

"Buzz. As a name."

"Uh, sounds more like a guy's name?"

He smiled. "What, like Dragon? Shadow Stalker? Battery? Narwhal? Brandish?"

She sighed. "Okay, I get the point. Weaver's a fine name, and so is Buzz."

He nodded. "A name isn't supposed to outline everything about you. It's supposed to be a verbal shorthand that people can recognise you by. But if you're not comfortable with it, that's when it's an unsuitable name. Now, you had three months to think of names. Why is it that you think that you couldn't come up with one that you actually wanted to use?"

She shook her head, looked off to the side. "I don't know."

A warm smile, to break up the gathering tension. "Well, it doesn't really matter now. We're going to have to spend a few days kicking around costume ideas -"

She half-raised her hand. "I – kind of like my costume the way it is."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Understood. And it's your right to keep it that way, if you so wish. I was just thinking we could take a bit of the edge off of it, make it a little more public-friendly. Add a little colour, a little light to it." A burst of inspiration suddenly struck him. "Maybe metallic shades, like some of the what do you call 'em, iridescent beetles. Looks cooler, and less scary."

She blinked. "I … we could talk about it, I guess."

He grinned broadly. "Excellent. We'll run computer simulations to see what it looks like before you have to make any decisions. All right?"

A nod. "Okay. We can do that."

He drew a breath. "And one more thing. We can't really have someone running around calling themselves 'the Ward with no name', so in the next few days, if you could figure out a name that fits your idea of the hero you'd like to be, I'll be glad to hear it." He skimmed a card across the desk. "My personal number. Any time of night or day. If you want to talk costume, name, or just, well, talk. I'm available twenty-four-seven."

She took the card and looked carefully at it, then tucked it into a pocket. "Thank you, Mr Richardson."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "You're welcome, Taylor. And you're a Ward, so feel free to call me Gerard." A wry grin. "Everyone else does."

A faint answering grin. "Okay." She stood. "Was that it?"

"Oh, there's more we're going to be talking about," Richardson assured her. "But that's it for today. I don't want to throw everything at you in one day."

She ducked her head. "Thanks," she murmured. "I appreciate it."

"You have a nice day now, Taylor," Richardson told her.

"I'll try. Thanks."

As the door closed behind her, Richardson stretched out in his chair and sighed; a vast release of tension. Talking to Taylor Hebert had been like walking through a minefield, not being entirely certain which step was going to lead to a blowup.

That there was a blowup ready to happen was something he was sure of; he just didn't know what the trigger was going to be. Although he had an idea as to the answer of the question of why she hadn't picked a name.

She took on Lung on her first night out. If Armsmaster hadn't rescued her, she would have died.

Maybe, on some subconscious level, she wanted to.

You don't need a cape name if you're dead.

In neat, careful handwriting, he made a note of this, to be passed along to whoever handled Taylor's therapy. That she would need therapy, he was equally certain. The girl was hurting.

Picking up the phone, he speed-dialled a number.

"Gerard, dear boy. How did it go?"

"About as well as can be expected. We talked about her costume and her name."

"Did you cover the issue of scary bugs?"

He sighed. "No. Not yet. I can't see her being happy to discard the majority of her arsenal."

Glenn chuckled complacently. "Present her with the problem, and let her figure out a work-around. The girl built herself a state of the art costume using spiders. She's a problem solver."

Richardson nodded. "You're right, of course."

"Of course I am, dear boy. I have to go now; someone just caught one of our little darlings using unsuitable language on live TV. Best of luck with the bug girl."

"Thanks. You too." Richardson hung up the phone, and leaned back in the chair, eyes closed.

I think I'm going to need it.


End of Part Three

Part Four

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part Four: Joining the Wards


Monday, April 11

I picked up the phone and dialled. It rang exactly once before it was answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Dad," I responded. "It's me. Taylor. I just want you to know that I'm okay."

"Oh thank god, Taylor," he exclaimed. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, Dad," I assured him. "It's really me. I'm all right. I'm not hurt." Not any more, anyway, I told myself. Panacea, sitting beside me, put her arm across my shoulders and squeezed encouragingly.

"Where are you?" he demanded. "I've been going out of my mind with worry. When you went out last night and didn't come back … "

I took a deep breath. "I'm at the PRT building, Dad," I told him. "I … there's something you need to know."

"What?" He seemed totally taken aback by my revelation. "Why? What's going on? Why are you there?"

Time for the half-truth, just in case someone was listening in. "I've kind of gotten a job with them. But we need you to come in and fill out some paperwork."

"Wait a second," he protested. "You're only fifteen. What did they hire you for? And why out of the blue like that?"

He was asking way too many questions. "It's uh, a kind of internship," I temporised. "But we really need you to come on in. Look, gotta go, see you when you get here, bye."

I put the phone down, then clasped my hands in front of me, trying to make the shaking go away.

Panacea looked sympathetically at me. "You okay?" she asked.

I nodded, then shook my head. "I hate lying to my dad."

She grimaced. "That must suck. My dad already knows about me being a cape, of course, but you know, teenage daughters are gonna find something to get in trouble for."

Her tone was so dry at the end that I giggled involuntarily. "Look, thanks for sitting with me," I told her. "I really appreciate it."

She smiled in reply. "You definitely made the morning interesting. Is your hair the right length?"

Thus distracted, I ran my hands through my hair. It felt really full and bouncy, like I'd spent a month's allowance on hair care product, and just gone wild on it.

"Yeah," I allowed. "If it's not, then I can't see anyone noticing. Thanks for growing it back for me."

"Well, between that and saving Lung's life from a cocktail of amazingly versatile venoms, yeah, I haven't had a boring moment all morning," she responded mischievously.

I closed my eyes and gently bumped the back of my head against the wall. "I am never going to live that down, am I?" I asked the air. "I didn't mean to nearly kill him. I thought the venoms would just put him down."

"And they almost did," she assured me. "The beating he got after that had him down and unconscious." She lowered her voice. "It was the tranquilliser that changed everything."

My eyes widened. "So it wasn't me."

"No." She looked warningly at me. "But if you say anything, Armsmaster gets in all sorts of trouble, and he did save your life by getting you to the hospital on time."

"Oh god," I groaned, bumping my head against the wall again. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"Careful," she advised me, only half-seriously. "I can't affect brains. If you give yourself a concussion, you have to live with it."

I sighed. "Okay." Turning my head, I looked questioningly at her. "Can't affect brains? Like, at all?"

"Nope," she replied flatly. "The rest of the body, I'm good. Comes to the brain, my power just switches off. Won't do a thing."

"Huh, that's a weird limitation," I mused. "I suppose that's so you don't accidentally lobotomise someone you don't like while you're healing them."

She snickered, but there was a hollow sound to it. "I guess."

I put my arm around her shoulders; she looked a little startled. "Anyway, thanks for being here. For helping. I … well, I really appreciate it. A lot. And if you ever need anything, just ask. I mean it."

She ducked her head, but I saw the pink flush start in her cheeks before her hood covered her face. "That's okay," she mumbled.

Just at that moment, a voice exclaimed, "Ames! There you are! I've been wondering where you got to!"

We both looked around as Glory Girl burst in through the door. I knew her, of course; she was one of the better-known teen heroes in Brockton Bay. She barely spared me a glance, darting to her sister's side. "Seriously, Ames. This thing with you getting up in the middle of the night and walking to the hospital has got to stop."

Panacea shook her head. "People need healing, Vicky. It's what I do." From the resigned tone of her voice, I got the impression that this was not the first time that they'd had this argument.

Glory Girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Anyway, I go to the hospital, and I find that you've come to the PRT building. What's with that?" She appeared to notice me for the first time. "Hi, who are you?"

I was suddenly seized by shyness. "I, uh -"

"She needed healing," Amy put in. "And the PRT want to talk to her, so she's here now. And I got a lift with them."

I was very grateful that she had; she had seemed know that I needed someone to talk to, just so I didn't curl up in a ball and hide under the table. Everything was happening too fast; it wasn't until I had gotten to the PRT building that I had finally decided to make the plunge and call Dad.

It wasn't that I absolutely had to; Armsmaster had informed me of that little tidbit. But the PRT was usually much happier if the parents of their Wards were informed of what was going on. And so, I had decided that telling Dad and weathering the storm now was probably better than having him find out at some inconvenient moment later on, and having it happen then.

"I … thanks for being here," I told Panacea. "It helped, a lot."

"So why do the PRT want to talk to you?" asked Glory Girl. "You're not a criminal, or they'd be processing you. Not a witness, or they'd already be talking to you." She blinked, connecting the dots. "What, you're a cape?"

Panacea raised her head, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, why don't you say that a bit louder, Vicky? I'm not sure if they heard it in Boston. Seriously, she's only new, so cut her some slack."

"Hey, hey, ease off, Ames," Glory Girl told her sister placatingly, holding her hands up in surrender. "Victoria Dallon. Pleased to meet you. What do you call yourself?"

I gingerly shook her proffered hand; Glory Girl was widely known as an Alexandria package who could reportedly bench-press trucks. One took care when shaking hands with a Brute. "Uh … I don't really have a cape name yet."

Glory Girl frowned. "Huh? Wow, you are new. What are your powers?"

I shrank back; in the face of Glory Girl's relentless questioning, my resolve was starting to erode. However, Panacea came to my rescue.

"Leave her alone, Vicky. She went up against Lung last night. It didn't go well for her. So back off, okay?"

Glory Girl blinked, then stared at me. "You went against Lung, and survived? Shit, you must be tougher than you look."

"I nearly died," I admitted, in a very small voice.

"As opposed to actually dying, that's a pretty big contrast, especially when it comes to Lung," Vicky told me admiringly. "I could maybe take him, but I don't think I'd really want to try. Going up against Lung, unless you're in the Triumvirate, that takes balls of solid titanium."

Both Panacea and I winced at the same time; I did it because I recalled just where I'd been having my bugs bite and sting Lung. She must have been recalling the mess I'd made of them. Glory Girl didn't even notice. "Anyway, Ames, Mom wanted me to remind you not to be late to school. So I thought I'd fly you in."

Panacea rolled her eyes. "School. Yay." She turned to me and gave me a hug, which I returned after a moment. "Keep in touch, okay?"

"Uh, if it's all right?" I asked, unsure.

She grinned and knuckled my forehead gently. "Sure it's all right. I want to see how you're doing."

"Okay then." I smiled back at her. "I'll do that."

I watched them leave, and the waiting room got a lot quieter after that. Someone came in and asked me if I wanted something to eat or drink; I asked for tea, and got it in a paper cup. Cookies came with it; I nibbled some while I sipped my tea.

While I waited, I spread my senses out. There weren't all that many bugs in the PRT building; at least, there weren't as many as in the surrounding air and buildings, and certainly not as many as on the ground. But there were enough for me to get a good feel for the layout, and where I was in it. Interestingly, I noted levels below ground level; how far down this building extended, I wasn't sure.

I didn't do anything with the bugs, of course; I was a guest here. And as it was, I could barely use their senses to get anything understandable to my human brain.

Dad's arrival came as almost a surprise; I only recognised him via the bugs after he'd entered the building. He was escorted up in the elevator to my floor, and along the corridor to the room I was waiting in. I was already standing by the time the door opened.

"Dad!" I flung myself into his arms.

He held me tight, lifted me off the ground. "Taylor. Oh thank Christ you're alive. What happened? Why are you here? And why are you wearing those clothes? And where did you go last night?"

Once he released me from the hug, I looked sheepishly down at the clothes I had been given. They weren't really my fit; jeans that were just long enough in the leg, but required belting way in to fit my waist, and a t-shirt that basically hung off of me. Fortunately, my underwear had survived Lung.

I took a deep breath. "Dad … sit down. I need to talk to you about … stuff."

Slowly, he sat down. "Taylor, I'm going to need some answers. I don't understand any of this."

"Yeah, and I'm really sorry, Dad. Okay, I lied a little bit when I said I had an internship job here. The truth is, I have powers."

I stopped talking; he blinked at me.

"You have powers." His voice was flat.

I nodded. "I have powers," I repeated. "And I have a costume. And last night I went out for the first time, and I did something stupid, andInearlydiedbutI'mgoodnow, and they want me to join the Wards," I finished in a rush.

"Wait just a minute," he told me. "Back up just a little. The bit after you did something stupid."

I couldn't look him in the face. Staring at the carpet, I mumbled, "I kinda nearly died."

His arms went around me again. "Taylor! What were you thinking?"

My voice rose in response. "I was thinking I want to be a superhero, Dad! I have powers! I have a costume! I can help people!"

"Or you can run into someone who nearly kills you, apparently," he retorted.

The door opened, and Armsmaster stood there. "Which is why we would like her to join the Wards, Mr Hebert," he observed.

I wondered if perfect timing was a power that he had, or if he was just listening in. On second thought, I went with 'listening in'."

Dad looked from me to Armsmaster and back. "And why should she do that? It's obviously too dangerous for her."

"No, it's not -" I began, at the same time that Armsmaster started talking again. I shut up and let him go on.

"Perhaps, Mr Hebert, you'd like to know exactly who she went up against."

Danny tilted his head. "Do tell."

Armsmaster smiled slightly. "Lung. And he's now in custody, thanks in great part to Taylor's efforts."

Dad stared at him, then at me. "You went up against Lung?"

I shrugged. "Said I did something stupid."

"But you helped capture him?"

Another shrug. "Maybe not 'helped'. Made it easier, maybe."

"Mr Hebert," Armsmaster interjected. "Your daughter has powers. It's very hard for someone with powers to not use them. We can help her train with them, provide a safe working environment, and a team to fall back on if she gets in trouble. All she has to do is join the Wards."

Dad frowned. "Well, when you put it that way … "

I stayed silent. Please say yes, please say yes.

"There's a stipend, and a trust fund that money is paid into while she's in the Wards. She gets access to it when she turns eighteen," Armsmaster noted. "What school does she go to?"

"Winslow," Dad replied absently; he was still, I knew, thinking about it.

"Hm," Armsmaster responded. "It would make it easier if she was at Arcadia, but we can definitely work with Winslow." At the time, the comment seemed a little odd to me, but I let it go by. Later, of course, I would realise the significance.

"Dad … ?" I ventured, unable to stay quiet any more.

He sighed and turned to me. "If I said no, you'd sneak out anyway, wouldn't you, kiddo?" His tone was a mixture of exasperation and fondness.

"Maybe," I admitted, dropping my eyes.

He turned to Armsmaster. "And you'd make sure her grades didn't suffer?"

"It's part of our mandate," the armoured hero assured him firmly. "She would attend class just as often as she was able."

Dad nodded. "Right. Well … as it seems that I'm already outvoted in this matter … I guess I'm going to have to say yes."

I flung my arms around him again.

<><>​

That Afternoon

Shortly after Taylor's interview with Richardson

A knock sounded on Gerard's office door; he looked up. "Yes?" he called.

The door opened, revealing Aegis standing outside. "You called for me, sir?" His tone was polite and respectful.

"Yes, I did. Please, come in."

As Aegis did so, Gerard squared the files on his desk, then pushed his glasses up his nose a little. "You've been made aware that we have a new recruit joining the Wards?"

"Yes, sir; Armsmaster briefed me in, earlier."

Gerard allowed himself a slight smile. "Good. That makes my life a little easier. She's doing the paperwork right now. Once she's finished, I'd like you to introduce her to the rest of the Wards."

A frown creased Aegis' face. "Uh, yes, sir. I was going to be doing that anyway ..." He trailed off as Gerard raised a finger. "Uh, sir?"

"I also need you to do something else for me," the head of the Brockton Bay PR department stated. "I need you to ensure that Shadow Stalker is out on patrol before you do that."

If anything, the frown on Aegis' face deepened. "I'm … not sure that I understand, sir."

Gerard sighed. "Taylor is … fragile. She was badly shaken by her near-death experience, and is suffering a lack of self-esteem, of confidence, as a result. Also," he went on, raising his voice slightly as Aegis went to open his mouth, "I'm getting the distinct impression that she's undergone some sort of harassment or bullying, and not so long ago. Anything that comes across as a denigration of her self, her heroic identity, before she has a chance to get comfortable in it, could drive her away from us for good. I'm not sure that we could trust Shadow Stalker in this matter, even if you told her to leave the girl alone. Thus, patrol."

Aegis nodded slowly. "I can do that." He paused for a moment, apparently thinking. "I'd written up the roster so that Vista was due to go out on patrol with Browbeat. I'll switch it around so that Shadow Stalker goes with him instead."

It was Gerard's turn to frown slightly. "Browbeat's only been with us for a few days. Shadow Stalker tends to be fairly abrasive. Is it wise to pair them together so early?"

Aegis tilted his head in acknowledgement of the point. "Browbeat isn't exactly a people person either, sir. I doubt that he'll be interested in talking too much."

"Your point is valid. Very well, let's see how this goes."

"I'll go change the roster now, sir." Aegis turned and left the office, closing the door carefully behind him.

Gerard sighed and leaned back in his chair. Removing his glasses, he closed his eyes and rubbed them with finger and thumb.

Some days, he mused, this job is like tap-dancing in a minefield.

<><>​

I had thought the interview room was quiet before, while I was filling out the forms. But since the clerk and come and taken them away, even the sound of pen scratching over paper was gone. I looked around, at the large mirror covering most of one wall.

"Wow," I murmured to Dad. "It's like every police drama ever. I mean, I know for a fact that's one-way glass, with a room behind it."

The anechoic tiles on the floor and walls and ceiling simply took the sound of my voice and swallowed it; I found myself working my jaw, to pop my ears. It didn't help.

He looked quizzically at me. "What, your bugs tell you that?"

I shrugged. "I just know it is; why else would they put such a large mirror in the room? Also, yeah, there's bugs in there. I think there's also recording equipment, but it's all turned off."

He was staring at me. I blinked. "What?"

"Your powers. I'm still getting used to them. And the fact that you even have them."

"I really wish you hadn't had to find out this way," I apologised sincerely. "But there never really was a good time to tell you."

He sighed and nodded. "I guess. I've been pretty well caught up in my own problems. I guess I needed a wake-up call."

I put my arms around him, held him close. "I think this is a good thing for both of us. Now I can actually do something with my life, instead of the same old, same old at school."

He returned the embrace. "As well as," he corrected me. "But you're still going to school, remember? And I doubt that being in the Wards will be totally free of problems."

"Yeah." I rested my head on his chest. "But at least the problems I have in the Wards won't be the problems I have at school."

<><>​

"I don't fucking believe this!" snapped Shadow Stalker. "I had plans! And now you've changed the fucking roster around!" She jabbed a forefinger at the offending piece of paper. "Has that little snitch Vista been complaining to you about me?"

Aegis stood firm, though he took note of the slip. I might need to speak to Vista. "No," he stated flatly. "She has not. I changed the roster for my own reasons. One of which is that Browbeat is new to the Wards, and you know the city better than most. If anyone can show him where the trouble spots are, you can."

"He's a Brute! He'll slow me down!"

"I suggest that you adapt, then. You can't always choose the teammate you go out with." His tone hardened. "And if you ditch him to go off on your own, I will be noting it on your file."

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Have it your way." She fitted her mask on her face and headed over to where Browbeat was sitting at the monitor console with Kid Win.

<><>​

"- so you switch between these screens using this monitor, and you can set it to four, nine, sixteen or twenty-five subscreens – oh, hey, Shadow Stalker."

Browbeat looked up as Kid Win greeted the dark-cloaked Ward. "Hi," he ventured. "Kid Win's been showing me the monitor console. It's pretty cool." He checked the time on the screen. "Oh shit; I think I'm supposed to be going out on patrol soon. Have you seen Vista?"

Shadow Stalker shook her head. "Roster's changed. You're coming out with me. Ready to roll?"

Browbeat blinked. "Oh, uh, sure. Just let me mask up and get a drink of water."

Shadow Stalker tapped her foot. "Hurry it up. There's muggers out there who haven't been beaten senseless yet." A pause, as both Kid Win and Browbeat stared at her. "A joke," she told them. "It was a joke. Come on, move it. I haven't got all night."

<><>​

I looked up as the costumed teenager entered the room. "Hi," he greeted us. "Aegis. Pleased to meet you."

Part of me wanted to look around to make sure that it was me - me! - who Aegis was addressing, was offering his hand to. Awkwardly, I rose, and shook hands with him.

"I, uh, hi," I managed, then flushed with embarrassment. "Taylor – um, sorry, Buzz."

His smile was easy, unforced; his teeth were very white against his tanned skin. "That's okay, Taylor," he replied. "We all have trouble getting used to our cape names at first. You're a Master, right? Bug control?"

I realised that I was staring at the very impressive muscle definition of his torso, as outlined by his costume, and jerked my eyes back up to his face. Way to go, Taylor. Officially a Ward for less than an hour, and already ogling my team leader.

Dad saved me; he rose from his seat and shook Aegis' hand. "I'm Danny Hebert. I want to thank you for giving Taylor this opportunity."

"Trust me, sir, it's our pleasure." Aegis nodded toward me. "Taylor promises to bring a very versatile powerset to the Wards, and we'll do our best to keep her safe while she learns to use it to its fullest potential."

I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah, bug control, that's me."

His smile turned into a comradely grin. "Well, at least they got that right. I'm here to officially welcome you to the Wards, and to take you to meet them, and show you our base, if you want."

"I, uh, sure," I stammered. "I got my costume, here," I added lamely. "I can wear it … "

He nodded. "Sure. It'll probably be a good idea, just to give us an idea what you'll be wearing when you're out and about."

They'd shown me where the restroom was; I grabbed the carry-bag that had my costume in it, and scuttled out of the interview room, to get changed.

When I returned, Dad and Aegis were chatting familiarly about management, of all things. Of course, it kind of made sense; Dad was chairman of the Dock Workers Association, and Aegis was in charge of the Wards. On the one hand, Dad had more people to worry about; on the other, the Wards had powers, and regularly went out to fight crime. I did not envy either one of them.

Aegis turned as I entered, and I saw his eyebrows raise, under the mask. "Okay ..." he murmured. "I've seen pictures, but that costume's much more impressive in real life. I see you fixed the lens?"

I nodded. "I had spare swim goggles, and I made it so I could change them out if necessary."

"Good thinking," he praised me. "And those are armour panels?"

"Bug chitin bound together with black widow spider silk," I confirmed. "I don't know exactly what they'll stop, but they're the best protection I could create."

Dad was staring at the costume. "Taylor," he choked, "when exactly did you make this? I had no idea … "

I shrugged. "Weekends and after school, usually down in the basement."

He shook his head slowly. "Damn. I don't know whether to be impressed with your ingenuity, or upset with myself for not noticing something this big going on in your life."

I stepped forward and hugged him; hesitantly, he hugged me back. "You're part of it now, Dad," I assured him. "No more secrets."

Aegis slapped me on the shoulder. "Well, are you ready to meet your teammates?" He grinned. "This is going to be kind of a surprise to them. You get to make a big entrance."

All of a sudden, I didn't want to go. I glanced at Dad. "Can you come with … ?"

Regretfully, he shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo," he told me. "This is your world, now. I don't belong in this part of it." He forced a grin. "Besides, do you really want your old Dad turning up with you at your first day in your new job?"

I rolled my eyes, unseen, inside the mask. "When you put it that way, Dad, yeah, you have a point." I hugged him again. "Thanks for being so supportive."

His arms were tight around me. "It's what a dad's for, kiddo. Sometimes I might have forgotten that, but I'm going to try to be better from now on."

I felt a warmth in my heart, and I may just have sniffled slightly. "Thanks, Dad. I'll see you at home, and tell you all about it."

He gave me an extra squeeze, then let me go. "I look forward to it. Now go on, knock 'em dead."

I headed for the door; Aegis lingered a moment to shake Dad's hand again. "Thank you for being so understanding for Taylor, sir. Many parents would not."

"It's her choice," Dad reminded him. "Now please, take care of my little girl."

"I'll do my best," Aegis promised him, then joined me at the door.

"Bye, Dad," I called over my shoulder.

"Bye, kiddo," he replied.

<><>​

"Your dad seems like a good guy," Aegis observed as we headed for the lifts.

"He's the best," I agreed. "He's always tried to look out for me."

He hit the button for the lift; the doors interleaved open almost immediately. We stepped in, and he swiped his ID card and hit the button for the lowest floor.

"So what made you pick Buzz for a name?" he asked casually.

I shrugged. "It makes sense, and I do pick up a certain amount of information from the bugs; you know, the buzz, as in the news?" I frowned, thinking about it. "Actually, I think Mr Richardson suggested it, earlier, and it stuck in my head. Anyway, it's on the forms now."

"Well, we can always change it if need be, later," he assured me. The doors opened, and we stepped out into the stainless-steel corridor. "Down this way," he told me.

"I know," I replied. "There's bugs in the room. I can tell the other Wards are there."

He glanced at me, looking somewhat impressed. "Nicely done. We're definitely going to have to work with that. I think you've got a lot of potential for information gathering."

I smiled a little, under the mask, glad he couldn't see the slight flush on my cheeks. Getting praised by a well-known hero like Aegis was something I still wasn't used to.

We reached a retinal scanner, and Aegis paused. "I'll set it up so it can read you," he decided. Swiping the card, he typed something in, and pointed at the scanner. "See if it can read you through the lens."

I leaned forward, the laser probed my eyeball, and the machine beeped to show it had a good read.

"Excellent," he declared, typing something else in. "Right, you're now a known user. Give it another look at you."

When I repeated the procedure, the light turned green. However, when I pressed the button to open the massive steel doors, nothing happened.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked apprehensively.

He shook his head. "Sorry. Should have warned you. There's a time delay. When the door is activated, a buzzer goes off inside, to make sure that anyone who's unmasked can mask up."

"Oh, uh, that makes sense, yeah," I agreed. At that moment, the doors beeped and then slid open.

Aegis stepped through, into the Wards base; I followed.


End of Part Four

Part Five

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part 5: Meet and Greet


"Christ," muttered Shadow Stalker. "Could Aegis have possibly saddled me with a more useless partner?"

She paused on the corner of the roof and tapped her radio earbud. "Are you going to be catching up any time soon?"

There was no answer; she tapped it again. "I said, are you going to be -"

He puffed into view. "I heard what you said," he replied. "I'm doing my best, all right?"

"Oh," Sophia responded, belatedly realising that he'd heard her 'useless partner' crack. "Well ... hurry up, okay?"

"Doing. My. Best." He didn't say any more, but she saw his pace improve a little.

Turning, she leaped and shadow-glided across to the next rooftop.

<><>​

Aegis stepped though into the Wards base; I followed, gawking at the interior of the room. It was shaped like a big dome, with partitions blocking off areas from view; I guessed that was where the more private areas were. It wasn't much of a guess; my bugs had already located bathroom facilities and what felt like bedclothes.

"Everyone, your attention please," Aegis announced. "I've got someone for you to meet."

I gulped; it was nerve-wracking enough to meet the Wards, much less meet them as one of them. A formless terror rose in me; what right did I have to even presume I was good enough to be a Ward? These were all heroes; what was I but a kid in a homemade costume -

"Hi!" called out a tall blond guy, wearing T-shirt, jeans and a domino mask. "It's great to meet you."

I blinked as he strode up to us - to me - with a wide, genuine smile on his face. Almost, I looked behind me to see who he was talking to. But no, it was me. Reaching out, he took my unresisting hand and shook it firmly. "It's awesome to have someone else on the team," he assured me, almost as if addressing my unexpressed concerns. "And hey, that's a pretty cool costume. Must've cost you a mint."

"I, uh, made it myself?" I ventured.

His eyes widened behind the mask. "No kidding? Holy crap, that's seriously impressive. I'm Gallant, by the way. What's your cape name?"

"I, uh, Buzz," I mumbled.

"Well, let me tell you, Buzz, being able to make your own costume? Hella useful. You see Kid Win over there?" He jerked his thumb at the brown-haired kid sitting at the computer terminal, who offered me a friendly wave. I saw that he was wearing a visor that obscured the upper half of his face.

Gallant lowered his voice conspiratorially. "He's the one who actually made my armour and maintains it for me, which basically means that whenever he gets distracted, which is basically a daily occurrence -"

"Screw you too, Gallant," Kid Win interjected, though I could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't mean it. "Hey, Buzz. Nice to meet you. And he's right. It's a pretty impressive costume. You some kind of cloth Tinker?"

"Cloth Tinker? Is that even a thing?" asked a red-haired boy in casual clothes, wearing another domino mask.

"Well, isn't that what Parian is?" retorted Kid Win. "Buzz, meet Clockblocker. Yes, the name's deliberate. Yes, he picked it himself. And yes, that does tell you everything you need to know about him."

"I, uh, thought that Parian animated cloth with her powers," I objected timidly. "Not Tinkered with it."

"Yeah, but that's no fun," Clockblocker argued cheerfully. "I just love the idea of someone stitching together cloth golems and sending them off to do her bidding."

While I was still trying to get my head around the idea of 'cloth golems', a door opened in one of the partitions, and a girl poked her head out. "Did I just hear – hey wow, who's this?"

She, alone of the Wards who had been here to greet me, was costumed up; I recognised her immediately. This wasn't hard, given that she was young, female, and not black. Her costume was teal and green, with a skirt.

"Uh, hi, uh, Vista," I greeted her, offering a bit of a wave. "I'm Buzz. I just joined."

Space distorted, and she was right there in front of me. Even as I blinked, trying to process what had just happened, she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "We've got another girl!"

"Um … I thought that Shadow Stalker … " I ventured, tentatively returning the hug. Of all the ways that I had envisaged being welcomed to the Wards, this was not it.

Kid Win snorted in response to my comment. "Yeah, but according to Vista, she doesn't count."

"You gotta admit, though," Clockblocker observed, "she is kinda -"

" - not here, and you're not going to talk about her behind her back," Aegis interrupted sharply. He turned to me. "Well, these are the Wards on base. The others are on patrol; you'll meet them sooner or later. I've got to get going, so I'll leave you to their tender mercies."

I blinked. Somehow, I had expected him to wait while I got to know the others. But of course, he was the team leader, and had other duties apart from me.

"I should be fine," I told him, with more optimism than expectation, "but, uh, about unmasking … is there a requirement … ?"

He smiled and shook his head. "All the Wards here know each other, and they've unmasked to Shadow Stalker, and vice versa. Browbeat hasn't unmasked, so they stay masked around him. You can opt to not unmask to all or some members of the Wards, but if you do that, you're expected to keep track of who knows your face and name, and who doesn't." He paused for a beat. "Got it?"

I nodded. "Okay, yeah. Thanks. I appreciate it."

He offered his hand. "You're welcome. And in case I forgot before – welcome to the Wards."

I shook it; his grip was firm without being overly crushing. "Thanks," I told him. "It's good to be here."

With a nod and a smile, he turned and hit the panel to open the heavy doors. They whooshed open, he stepped through, and they closed behind him. With a sudden feeling of loneliness, I turned to face the Wards, fully expecting them to have lost interest in me.

Far from it; Vista, who had released me from the ambush hug, grabbed my hand and towed me to a table. "Come on, sit down," she urged me. "It's been so long since I had another girl to talk to in here. What TV shows do you like?"

"Whoa, wait up a moment," chuckled Gallant, bringing the excitable young Ward to a halt with an outstretched arm. "Give her a moment to breathe, will you?" He turned his amused gaze on me. "I can see that you're a bit overwhelmed by all this. So take a moment if you have to. Look around. We've got sleeping alcoves, places you can store your stuff, spare costumes and the like. If you're interested in computers, Kid Win can show you the monitor console."

I blinked. "I do like computers, yeah," I replied. "But those look a bit out of my league."

"Ah, it's all pretty easy to learn," Kid Win told me cheerfully. "We all take our turn on monitor duty."

"Yay," Clockblocker and Vista retorted in near-perfect unison, their voices flat and robotic. "Monitor duty."

"Hey, I like monitor duty!" Kid Win protested.

"Which only gives more credibility to my idea that your armour cuts off the flow of blood to your brain," Clockblocker asserted. "Monitor duty is perhaps the most boring job on the face of the earth."

"I can think of fifteen other things that I'd rather do than monitor duty," Vista added. "And fourteen of them involve rearranging my underwear drawer."

"Not going to ask what the fifteenth one is, then," Clockblocker observed in a teasing tone of voice. "I – oof!"

I blinked again; Vista had done her space-twisty thing, and had neatly elbowed Clockblocker in the ribs, despite the fact that she'd been over five yards away from him at the time.

"Medic," he wheezed, hamming it up, staggering dramatically. "You're all witnesses. She assaulted me."

"All I saw," Gallant told him firmly, "was you asking for it. So don't go trying to play the sympathy card with us. And Vista?"

"Yes?" she beamed, turning toward him.

He could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Don't do that in front of our new guest, okay? It might give her the wrong idea about how we do things."

"Or the right one," Kid Win put in dryly. "Buzz, quick tip? We're not like this all the time. Just, you know, most of it."

I nodded. "Right. Thanks. Got it."

"So sit down," urged Vista. "Talk to us. What do you do?"

I frowned under my mask as I sat. "Uh, do?"

Vista seated herself, looking my costume over with intense interest. Gallant also took a seat, as did Clockblocker. Kid Win did something to the console, and came over as well.

"Yeah," Clockblocker clarified. "Your powers. How come you're in the Wards?"

I looked carefully at him, but the question didn't seem to be critical or derogatory. He honestly wanted to know.

This was a new experience for me; a bunch of people who I looked up to were interested in me. So I said the first thing that came to mind; "Wait, the Wards? You mean this isn't sale day at Macy's?"

There was a frozen pause, then they all burst out laughing. Kid Win slapped Clockblocker on the back, and even the redhead was grinning ruefully as he chuckled at my feeble joke.

"Nicely done," Gallant told me. "Clock, looks like you've got competition."

"Uh, sorry," I apologised almost at once. "It just slipped out."

"That's what – oof!"

I looked at Clockblocker; he had finished his statement almost before starting it, courtesy of an elbow via Vista.

"You were going to make a crude joke," she informed him primly. "Not in front of the guest." She grinned at me. "Well, not until we find out if you'd be offended, anyway."

"I'm fine," I assured her. I wasn't going to tell them about it, but I'd grown up around dock workers, who weren't always careful with their language. I was pretty sure I could match them for off-colour jokes. "Anyway, you were asking me about my powers."

Kid Win nodded. "Going by the theme … I'm thinking something insect related."

"Basically, yeah," I told him. "I sense and control bugs. Insects, arachnids, earthworms, crabs -"

Clockblocker perked up. "Do you mean -"

"Both types," I informed him hastily.

"Aw." He subsided, apparently mildly disappointed that I'd spoiled the incipient joke.

Gallant spoke into the subsequent silence. "So, uh, when you say 'sense' -"

I looked at him. "I mean that I know where they are, to the millimetre, and I can sorta-kinda tap into their senses. Bugs, by the way, have crap senses."

Vista was nodding. "And you can control them? How precisely?"

For an answer, I had a beetle fly over from where it was lurking in the corner. It circled her head twice, landed on the table in front of her, and walked in a circle. She looked somewhat taken aback.

"Wow," she managed. "That's pretty impressive."

Kid Win was rubbing his chin. "I'm guessing you can control more than one bug at a time."

I nodded. "Yup. I have a radius of about two and half blocks at the moment."

"And how many bugs can you control in that area?" asked Clockblocker.

I didn't even have time to answer; Gallant got there first. His jaw dropped. "Holy shit. All of them?"

My jaw dropped in turn. "How did you know that?"

"You were feeling so pleased with yourself, it couldn't be any other answer," he replied with a grin.

Clockblocker rolled his eyes. "You realise, if you keep doing this, you're going to have to turn in your not-a-telepath card."

"Wait, what?" I protested. "You read my mind?"

"No," he corrected me. "I saw your emotions. I see everyone's emotions. I can't not see them. It's what I do."

I frowned. "I thought you were some kind of Tinker." I paused. "Well, I did, until you told me that Kid Win made your armour."

He shook his head with a grin. "No, I'm an empath, and I can fire off bolts of light that give people a mild stun, and alter their emotions. The armour's just for personal protection."

"Actually, talking of that," Vista put in, reaching out to feel the sleeve of my costume, "what is this made of?"

"Well, actually, we were just talking about that," Clockblocker put in. "You see, apart from controlling bugs, she's also a cloth Tinker."

Vista blinked. "Wait, what?" She stared at me. "How does that even -"

Gallant chuckled, shaking his head. "Ignore him. It was something that came up before. Buzz made the costume herself." He looked at me. "Would I be correct in assuming that it's something bug related?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's black widow dragline silk. The armour panels are insect chitin held together by more spider web."

Vista stared at me, then at the costume. She pinched a bit of sleeve between her finger and thumb. "You had spiders weave this for you?"

"Took me months," I confirmed. "But it's the toughest thing I could get hold of."

"Okay," she declared. "It's a bit edgy and dark looking -"

Clockblocker coughed into his hand; I caught what sounded like 'Shadow Stalker!', but he looked innocently back at me when I glanced that way.

" - but," she continued, "it's also the coolest costume here, by a wide margin. The coolest costume in the Wards. Easily."

"I, uh -" I began.

She looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. "Could you make me one too?"

"I, uh -" I began again, but then Gallant cleared his throat.

"Vista, you did hear her when she said 'months', right?"

"I can wait," she protested. "Have you felt how smooth that is?"

"Uh, the other problem?" Clockblocker put in. "Buzz, I'm guessing that you need more than one or two … what was it, black widow spiders?"

I nodded. "Second strongest webbing in the world. I'd need a thousand or more."

"Right, right," he agreed. "Black widows. A thousand black widows. Where were you thinking of keeping them while they wove your new costume, Vista?"

"Oh," she told him with a sweet smile, "I was thinking your room."

He shook his head violently. "Oh, hell no."

"The point is probably moot anyway," Gallant noted. "We'd have to run it past the Director."

"And Miss Piggy would be all 'nope'," predicted Clockblocker.

"And we'd have to smuggle them in anyway," Vista added.

"And we'd get caught, and we'd be stuck in probation until we reached retirement age," concluded Kid Win. "You're right. Bad idea."

"I know," Clockblocker replied with a grin. "Let's do it."

I couldn't help smiling under my mask. They were just chatting, being serious and silly by turns. In other words, being typical teens. "Wait a minute," I protested. "Did you really just call the Director -"

Gallant rolled his eyes. "It was Clockblocker's idea. Her name's Piggot, and you have met her, right?"

I had, for a very brief interview, and I had come away with the impression of an overworked bureaucrat. One who was, I had to admit, noticeably overweight. Her blonde bob, almost certainly a dye job, didn't help her image, as far as I was concerned. Apart from that, I hadn't actually formed much of an opinion of her, either way.

"It's a bit mean, and disrespectful," I ventured.

"My point exactly," Gallant responded. "She's not the nicest person in the world -" He paused, apparently waiting for someone to challenge his statement, but no-one seemed to want to take the bait. " - but she's fair." Clockblocker looked like he wanted to object, so Gallant amended his words. "Tough but fair, okay?"

Reluctantly, Clockblocker nodded. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled.

I tentatively raised my hand. "Uh, I feel kind of silly all costumed up. I mean, you can't even see my face. Is there some place I can take my mask off? And can I borrow one of your domino masks?"

Gallant chuckled. "Sure. In fact, they're your domino masks now. They're there for anyone to mask up, if and when the door buzzer sounds." He nodded to Vista. "Go ahead and show her where she can change masks."

"Okay!" she replied eagerly, leaping to her feet. "Come on," she urged me.

I got up and followed along; she showed me to a small alcove with a bed and a chest of drawers. "This is mine," she informed me proudly. "We'll get you a room too, so you can leave stuff here, like Gallant said."

I looked around. "Cosy," I commented.

She grinned, and the walls began to recede. The bugs in the area gave back weird readings; I wasn't quite sure where they were, in relation to me.

"Better?" she asked, her expression mischievous.

"Wow," I commented. "Just wow. How do you do that?"

"I manipulate space," she explained, confirming my suspicion. "I can expand or shrink it, but not if there's people in the way."

I looked around at the suddenly-cavernous area. "I'm really impressed."

"Hey, I'm impressed with your bug control," she replied. "You can affect a wider area than I've tried working with so far, and there's lots and lots of bugs in Brockton Bay."

I grinned at her. "Oh, I know. Trust me – I know."

She looked up at me. "I'll leave you to change your mask, but I want you to know, it's really great having another girl on the team." Quickly, impulsively, she gave me another hug, and then she was gone, the door closing behind her.

How old is she, anyway? I wondered. She can't be more than twelve.

I dismissed the speculation. Age, in this case, didn't matter.

Sitting down on the bed, I lay back and breathed deeply, taking a moment to de-stress. This had, I realised, been the intent all along. I didn't need to go to another room to change masks; all I'd really needed to do was turn my back. But Gallant had seen in me the need to be alone for a few minutes, so he had made the suggestion, and Vista had picked up on it.

I appreciated it; I hadn't noticed the tension in my shoulders, but it was draining out of me as I relaxed in the quiet. It gave me time to think, to adjust.

So I'm in the Wards now, I told myself. How am I doing so far?

The Wards were … nice. Aegis had been friendly, welcoming. Gallant was making a particular effort to live up to his name, probably with the help of his emotion sense, and it was working. Even though I knew now that he could see what I was feeling, he was still succeeding in at putting me at my ease.

Kid Win was a nice guy, and Vista was just sweet. Clockblocker, on the other hand ... he was obviously a bit of a jokester, but I already knew that from his name. The fact that he was a redhead ... it didn't change matters. He didn't really remind me much of Emma, and his brand of humour wasn't mean or vindictive.

I think I could get to like these people.

Sitting up, I pulled off my mask and ran my hands through my hair. Holding up the domino mask to my face, I considered it. Should I just unmask to them right now, and get it over with?

I wanted to, I really did. I wanted to have the knowledge that I could trust them with my deepest secret. I wanted to be able to associate with them outside of the Wards. Going shopping with Vista … now that would be an interesting experience.

But I couldn't chance it, not quite yet. There was too much hurt, too many issues. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Taking a deep breath, I fitted the domino mask to my face. Then I pulled a pair of glasses from a pouch and put them on over the mask. I must have looked a little silly, but I didn't care.

<><>​

Browbeat increased the capacity of his lungs yet again, and fine-tuned his leg muscles once more. Shadow Stalker seemed intent on pushing him to his limits, or maybe beyond them. He didn't know if this was personal, if she had some reason for doing this, or if this was a kind of initiation; send the new guy out with Shadow Stalker.

He wasn't going to complain, not yet. Not unless the hazing went past what he personally considered to be unacceptable levels. Right now he was getting a good workout, so that was okay. But if she ditched him in some rough neighbourhood, to let him make his own way home, then he might consider putting in a complaint.

He still didn't know whether she'd meant him to hear the 'useless partner' comment. It may well have been just an impulsive outburst on her part, or it may have been calculated to wear down his morale. Either way, it had stung, just a bit. Just because I can't rooftop run like she can …

Still, he must be keeping up with her, and not holding her back too badly, because there had been no more comments like that, cutting or otherwise.

But something else was starting to bother him. He wasn't as knowledgeable about the gang territories as he'd like to be, but he'd looked at the map when he had found that he was going to be on patrol. And it seemed to him that something was off.

"Shadow Stalker," he stated.

The dark figure on the rooftop up ahead paused. "What is it, Browbeat?" Her voice was sharp, impatient.

"Uh, haven't we kind of overshot the patrol area?"

She sighed, clearly audible through the earbud. "Have we stopped any crime yet?"

"Uh, no. It actually looks pretty quiet."

"Which means we haven't gone far enough to find it yet. So we keep going."

"Is this a good idea?" He didn't think it would get the response he wanted, but he had to ask the question.

"If I wanted your opinion, Browbeat, I would have asked. Did I ask? No. Now, if you want to go back home to mommy, feel free. I won't stop you. But if you're on this patrol, you're on this goddamn patrol. Is that understood?"

He almost flinched, from the anger that came through with her words. "Uh, yes. Understood."

"So are you on this patrol or not?"

The way he saw it, he really didn't have a choice. "I'm on the patrol."

"Good. Now, keep quiet unless you've actually got something to say. And try to keep up."

Her voice cut off, and he saw her leap to the next building over. Grimly, he kept going, working to keep up with her.

<><>​

When I emerged, there were several cans of soda sitting on the table, including a Coke at my place. "This is mine?" I asked, picking it up.

"Sure," Gallant told me. "I wasn't quite sure what you liked, so I got you that."

"Because everyone likes Coke," Kid Win added dryly.

"I'm more of a coffee or tea drinker," I offered, "but sure, I'll drink soda." Pulling the tab, I took a drink. "So, what else did you want to know?"

"Who are you, and what did you do with the scary bug girl?" quipped Clockblocker. He grinned at me. "No offence, but you look a lot nicer when we can see your face. Nice glasses, by the way."

I didn't feel offended; in fact, I felt a slight flush start on my cheekbones. He said I looked nice.

"Oh, uh, thanks," I replied, and took another drink of soda, to hide my confusion.

"May I see?" asked Kid Win, holding out his hand. After a moment, I realised that he meant my mask, and I handed it over. Putting down his drink, he examined the mask carefully, looking at it inside and out.

"Spider silk as well?" he asked.

I nodded. "Armoured as well as I could. I was going to make it fully enclosed at the back, but then I decided that I was just stalling, so … "

"Got it," he agreed. "Sometimes you've just got to go out there and do it." He held up the mask on his hand, fingers spread, and looked into the empty goggle lenses. "You need glasses … lenses set in the goggle lenses?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I have several spare pairs."

He turned the mask around, running a finger over the detail. "I am really, seriously impressed. I especially love the mandibles. They give you a real don't-screw-with-me look."

"No, that's the whole costume," Clockblocker interjected. "Actually, you know what that costume would be great for? A villain."

Silence fell, as everyone looked at Clockblocker. Everyone except Gallant, who was looking at me. Who could detect, I was pretty sure, the sudden feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt that Clockblocker's words had awakened in me.

"Armsmaster said that too," I told them in a very small voice.

"Clockblocker, you idiot," Kid Win snapped, scathingly.

"But hey, what do I know?" Clockblocker went on brightly. "You know what? One person's villain costume is another person's ultra-cool hero costume. And seriously, are you gonna take my word for anything? Come on. You've met me."

"He's right," Vista told me, putting her arm around my waist. "I've been on this team longer than everyone but Aegis and Gallant, and I've seen some pretty good costumes. That one is super awesome."

"But Armsmaster -" I began.

Clockblocker snorted. "The day I take fashion advice from the Halbeard -"

Kid Win and Gallant both sprayed soda on the table; Gallant started coughing, and Kid Win patted him on the back.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'll live," Gallant rasped. He stared at Clockblocker. "Where the hell did you get that from?"

Clockblocker rolled his eyes. "Someone used it on the PHO forums. I thought it sounded about right."

Gallant shook his head emphatically. "You do not use that name again, ever. Ever. We don't use it in public, and we don't use it in here. Calling Director Piggot Miss Piggy is bad enough; we don't let anyone hear us using a nickname like that for the head of the Protectorate here in Brockton Bay. Am I understood?"

Clockblocker frowned. "Aegis is in charge, not you -"

"Aegis," declared Gallant, "would come down on you twice as hard if you used that name in front of him." He eyed Clockblocker. "Tell me I'm wrong."

"But it's funny -" began Clockblocker.

I took a deep breath. "Armsmaster saved my life, last night," I stated, my voice firm. "Please don't disrespect him."

All four of them turned to look at me. "Last night?" asked Gallant. "Last night, Armsmaster brought in Lung."

I nodded. "I know. He also brought me in." The air in the base wasn't that cold, but I shivered anyway, and wrapped my arms around myself. "I took Lung on, and nearly died."

Four sets of eyes were fixed on me. "Holy shit," Vista managed. "You took on Lung? And survived?"

I nodded, and reached out to take my mask back off of Kid Win. "Yeah," I managed, past the lump in my throat. I held up the mask, so that the opening in the back was visible. "Those stains? Burnt hair. My hair."

Silently, Vista squeezed me. I leaned in to her support.

Clockblocker frowned. "But wait, if your hair was burnt -"

I shrugged. "I got lucky. Panacea was there. She grew my hair back, after."

"I'm guessing your injuries were more extensive than burned hair." Gallant's voice was quiet.

"Yeah." I glanced at Clockblocker. "And the only reason – the only reason – I'm sitting here is because of Armsmaster. So please don't use that nickname for him."

Clockblocker sighed. "Damn puppy-dog eyes get me every time. Okay, not using it any more. Happy?"

I smiled wanly at him. "Thanks."

Kid Win turned to me. "So how -" he began, but the question was never completed. Something blared on the computer console, and he leaped from his chair and trotted over to check on it.

"So about your favourite TV shows -" Vista began.

"Guys," cut in Kid Win. "We've got trouble. Shadow Stalker and Browbeat need assistance."

Vista rolled her eyes. "Dammit. Every time."

"Aegis has been notified," Kid Win went on. "He'll meet you on the roof, Vista. You guys go ahead – it'll take me too long to put my armour on."

Gallant nodded, and turned to me. "Feel up to going out?"

I nodded, although I didn't feel anywhere near as certain as I tried to look. "Might as well get back on the bike, right?"

Clockblocker slapped me on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. Let's buzz off."

Vista gave him a disgusted look. "You've been just waiting for an opportunity to say that, haven't you?"

He tried to look innocent. "Who, me?"

<><>​

Sophia wasn't sure what she hated more; being in this sort of danger, or being forced to call for help. On balance, she decided that it was having to call for help that was the most distasteful; after all, she had been in many dangerous situations in her career, and had emerged from most of them unscathed.

Of course, sometimes the odds caught up with you. As they had in this case.

She wasn't sure what Browbeat was doing; maybe growing bony plates on his arms? In any case, the newest Ward was also bulking himself out, his muscles growing with inhuman speed. Whatever it was, she hoped it was good. Against Stormtiger, they were going to need it.

If she had been on her own, she could simply have put some distance between her and the Empire cape. But Browbeat was here, and he couldn't outdistance Stormtiger.

Normally, this would not have been an overly problematic dilemma. But Browbeat was known to be out with her, and he had a phone too; if she simply abandoned him, he would certainly be able to notify the PRT of that fact. The reception that waited back at the base for her would certainly not be pleasant.

When the pair encountered Stormtiger, he'd had five mooks with him. Browbeat had wanted to hang back, but Sophia had pushed in for the attack.

It had not gone well; while she had taken down three of the mooks, and Browbeat had dealt with the other two, Stormtiger had not been idle. Sophia had taken a nasty slash on her left arm that had rendered the limb effectively useless, and Browbeat was limping.

The shirtless man, his face covered by a blue and white tiger mask, gestured, and Sophia felt odd breezes blowing around. "Bit off more than you can chew this time, Shadow Bitch," he taunted. "Your partner's big, but size isn't everything - "

"Is that what you tell your girlfriend?" Browbeat broke in, trying to circle around behind the man. Stormtiger turned to face him. Sophia moved to reload the one crossbow she could use at the moment.

"Very funny, Ward," Stormtiger sneered. "I'll be sure to repeat that joke to Kaiser when I see him next." His hand slashed down, and Browbeat tried to throw himself out of the way. He almost succeeded; the blade of air meant for his face hit his shoulder instead, and he fell sideways with a cry of pain.

Sophia brought up the crossbow and loosed the arrow; without seeming to even look, Stormtiger reached out with a gust of wind, and caused the tranq arrow to fly wide. Another blade of air slashed out at her; she went to shadow form, and it smashed through the centre of her. It couldn't touch her, not really, but she could feel the immense kinetic force behind it. The swirl of air disrupted her as it passed through her immaterial body

She rolled sideways, still in shadow, and reloaded on the way. Coming back to solid form, she went to take aim -

- and a second blade of air slashed into her leg. She fell, trying to track him with the crossbow. Too late and too slow; he came in hard and fast, kicking at the crossbow with one booted foot. The weapon went flying, and his follow-up kick would have taken her head clean off, but for the bulky figure that tackled Stormtiger at the last instant.

The two figures rolled over and over, then separated. They came to their feet, the Empire villain and the teenage Ward. Browbeat was unsteady on his feet, and blood ran down his arm from the wound in his shoulder, but the limb itself was still operational.

Sophia gritted her teeth and pulled out her knife. If she could cut a bandage from her cloak -

A thick buzzing cloud of bugs surrounded Stormtiger, covering his face and eyes. The neo-Nazi staggered back, conjuring winds to clear them away, but more and more swarmed in. He stepped back again -

- and froze solid, as Clockblocker seemingly appeared out of nowhere and touched him on the back of the neck.

"Well done," Aegis told the white-clad teen as he swooped in from above. "No other Empire capes around. Browbeat, how you doing?"

"Been better, sir," the bulky teen replied. "But I can fix the damage. Shadow Stalker's hurt worse than me."

Sophia, for her part, was looking up at the tall, skinny insect-themed cape who had stepped up to her. Bugs swarmed around the girl, and when she spoke, they added their buzzing noises to her voice.

"Hi; the name's Buzz. I just joined. Need a hand?"


End of Part Five

Part Six

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part 6: The Shadow and the Bug


I had heard of Shadow Stalker before, of course. Who hadn't? She was the PRT's public-relations triumph for Brockton Bay; an edgy lone-wolf vigilante who chose to join the Wards rather than stay out in the cold. Able to turn to shadow, she reportedly carried crossbows that shot tranquilliser arrows. To a certain subset of the teen scene in the city, she was the coolest of the cool.

Never in my wildest dreams had I considered that I might be meeting her as a fellow cape, much less being part of a rescue party. But here she was, and here I was.

She had a lot of the lone-wolf mindset; I could tell that from her whole demeanour. She didn't like having to ask anyone for anything. But her left arm had been slashed by Stormtiger, as had her right calf muscle. She was kneeling up on the asphalt, with her right hand clamped around the leg wound; her left arm hung limply at her side.

"If you could help me stop the bleeding, I should be fine," she requested reluctantly. I couldn't see her expression behind the stern gaze of her full-face mask; she had to be in some pain, but none of it showed through in her voice. I kind of had to admire that, just a little. When Lung had taken me down, I hadn't been anywhere near as stoic.

"Sure, I can do that," I responded. The bugs in my storage compartment located what I needed and guided it to my waiting hands. First was a small bottle of medical disinfectant, which I squeezed on to a cotton ball. I used this to wipe away the blood from her arm wound; she hissed as the antiseptic stung the wound, but did not complain. Tossing the blood-soaked cotton ball to one side, I tore the cover from a sterile pad, covered the wound with it, then started to wind a bandage around it.

Shadow Stalker watched me as I worked; she didn't comment, which I appreciated. I had done the first aid course, but this was my first time dealing with a real wound, and I needed to concentrate.

Once I finished with the arm, I got another cotton ball and added disinfectant. The leg wound was going to be worse; blood was still oozing from between her fingers, even though she was applying pressure.

"Hey, Buzz, need a hand?" We both looked around at that; it was Clockblocker, coming over to see how we were doing, now that Stormtiger's time-frozen form was encased in containment foam.

"Nah, she's got it." Shadow Stalker's comment surprised me; it was utterly casual, as if I were doing her nails, as opposed to preparing to dress a potentially serious wound. It also heartened me; she considered me to be at least competent to do this.

"Actually, Clockblocker, something you can do for me," I requested. "That pad, could you open it up? Gonna need to slap it on as soon as I've finished cleaning the cut."

"Pad?" he asked. The pad in question danced in front of him, held up by two large moths. "Oh, that pad."

As he took it and started opening it, I nodded to Shadow Stalker; she pulled her hand from her leg, and fresh blood flowed. I swiped the cotton ball through, cleaning away enough blood that I could see the size of the wound, then reached up with my free hand. Clockblocker dropped the pad into it, and I slapped it on to the wound.

"Hold that for me?" I asked; Shadow Stalker complied immediately. The pad was already staining through with blood as I wrapped the bandage around; she moved her fingers out of the way as I completed bandaging the wound. I eyed it critically; it didn't seem to be bleeding through.

"That should hold till you get back to sickbay," I told her; even as I spoke, my bugs were collecting the bloody waste and dropping it in a zip-lock bag. This I sealed and dropped into my storage compartment.

<><>​

"Nicely done," Sophia noted, accepting the skinny girl's help to stand up. She was stronger than she looked; definitely stronger than that Hebert wimp. "You've done this sort of thing before."

Now what made me think of Hebert? Must be that they've got the same body type. Same kind of hair, too. But this one's taller.

"Just paid attention in first aid class, I guess," the girl – Buzz – responded. "How's it feel?"

"Stings like a motherfucker," Sophia told her frankly, leaning on her supporting arm just a little. "But I can deal. How come you're so crazy prepared?"

"Because the first time I went out, I wasn't." Buzz squared her shoulders. "I nearly died. So I've learned better."

"Hey, shit happens," Sophia pointed out. "I've come close, a couple of times. So you control bugs, huh?"

"Doesn't she ever," enthused Clockblocker. "Did you see that, how she distracted Stormtiger, and blocked his vision, so Vista could get me into position? That was so cool and so creepy, all at the same time."

"I don't mean to be creepy," Buzz protested.

"It's not creepy, it's badass," Sophia declared. "Bugs can be fucking terrifying. You need to work that, build your rep. Imagine, a bunch of ABB punks, they see a swarm of bees and hornets and shit, and then it parts just a bit, and they see those yellow lenses of yours. That would be as intimidating as hell."

"It's also kinda villainy, and I want to come across as a hero," Buzz stated. "I don't want to scare people, I just want them to respect me."

"Hey, rule number one of getting respect," Sophia told her almost kindly. "You gotta earn it. Best way to earn respect from someone is to scare the living fuck out of them. You're already set up to be the scariest motherfucker on the block; if you use that properly, no-one'll be willing to fuck with you."

"Stop trying to corrupt our newest member," Aegis commented mildly as he landed beside them. "How are you doing?"

"I'll be fine," Sophia replied. "Buzz fixed me up okay. Where've you been hiding her? I hadn't heard of any new transfers."

"She's new in the Wards. Joined just today." Aegis' voice was curt. "What I really need to know is, why were you so far outside your patrol area?"

"Because there was nothing inside the damn patrol area," she retorted. "When I go out, I want to get results before I come back in."

"The patrol areas are set out for a reason," he snapped. "You and Browbeat could've been seriously hurt, even killed, if we hadn't turned up in time."

Sophia shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? It's our job to go out and make the city safer. Giving us patrol areas just makes sure the criminals stay out of those areas. They don't get to do that, not when I'm around."

"No, you're the one who doesn't get it," Aegis told her, his voice cold. "You endangered yourself and your teammate through your own stupid recklessness. You'll be facing disciplinary action over this. And I will be reporting it."

"Fuck!" Sophia went to throw up her hands, but thought better of it as pain shot up and down her left arm. "Okay, fine. I'll be off duty for a bit anyway, till this shit heals."

"We'll talk more when we get back to base," Aegis told her. "Buzz, walk with me."

He led the skinny bug-controller away, lowering his voice so that Sophia couldn't hear him until they were out of earshot.

"She's new to the Wards?" she asked Clockblocker, who up until that moment had been trying very hard not to be noticed.

"Yeah," confirmed the white-clad boy. "Took on Lung last night, and Armsmaster brought her in and recruited her."

"Holy shit, she took on Lung?" Sophia stared at the retreating view of Buzz. "She's more badass than I thought."

"Yeah, well, to hear her tell it, she didn't do so well," Clockblocker noted. "But she's okay now, and she's actually getting along with everyone fairly well. Vista likes her."

Being liked by Missy was not high on Sophia's list of desirable traits in a teammate. "So she's new. But she uses those bugs pretty effectively."

"Hell yes," he agreed. "You see her costume? She used black widow spiders to weave it. How damn cool is that?"

Sophia nodded. It just confirmed her initial impression of Buzz, as someone who could be truly badass if she put her mind to it. I think we're going to need to have a talk. A nice long talk.

<><>​

"What's up?" I asked as Aegis led me away from Shadow Stalker.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," he replied, and I didn't think he was referring to the disagreement about her going out of patrol boundaries. Or at least, only to that. "Shadow Stalker has … discipline issues."

"Well, she was a vigilante for a while, wasn't she?" I asked reasonably. "It must have been hard for her to adjust to a new set of rules, to not being her own boss."

He turned and gave me a steady look. "That's part of it, yes. I'm guessing that this is why you went out on your own to start with, before you joined the Wards?"

I nodded. "I … rules have never done me any good, before," I admitted. "I couldn't see them helping me as a cape. But … "

He tilted his head slightly. "But … ?"

"But I'm getting along with everyone," I admitted. "Even Shadow Stalker. I mean, I can see she has her rough edges, but she thinks my costume and powers are cool."

"No, she thinks they look dangerous and badass," he corrected me. "And she's not wrong. If I didn't know you, know what you were trying to do, I'd have that impression, too. Your costume is good," he went on hastily, as I went to say something, "but it's also something we're going to have to talk about."

"Gerard, uh, Mr Richardson, mentioned something about that," I noted. "He suggested painting it in iridescent colours. Like a Christmas beetle or something." I'd thought about it, and I liked the idea. If I was going to be in public, then the bolder, brighter insect colours were probably the way to go.

Aegis tilted his head, and looked me up and down. I flushed a little, hoping he wasn't checking me out in my costume.

"I could actually see that," he agreed. Oh. He was just thinking about that. I didn't know whether to be pleased or disappointed.

"Yeah." I didn't want him to realise what I'd just been thinking. "I, uh, was thinking that kind of shoulder guards might add to the beetle look, and make the costume look a bit cooler?" I hovered my right hand over the opposite shoulder, miming the shape in the air.

"What, painted in bright iridescent colours? I could see that," he agreed. "When we get back, I might get Kid Win to do a computer mock-up, see how it looks."

I smiled under my mask. "I'd like that. But I won't be able to stay long. Dad's expecting me home."

"Oh. Yeah, of course." He slapped me on the shoulder. "Another time, then. But it was good working with you, Buzz. Your bugs were really handy."

"Glad I could help." Now I was blushing again, from the praise. "It was fun."

He went to say something, but at that moment, Stormtiger snapped out of Clockblocker's time-freeze, and began struggling against the foam encasing him. Aegis' attention switched to him, and the moment passed.

<><>​

Sophia entered the Wards area, limping a little, with a new dressing on her leg. She was still wearing her boot, but the costume had been cut off at knee level on her right leg to allow the nurse to get at the injury.

She just hoped someone would make a 'hopalong' joke, so she could get in their face about it, but no-one said a word.

Pausing to sit down at the table for a moment, she looked around. Kid Win was at the monitor console, Missy was just emerging from her sleeping alcove …

"Where's Buzz?" she asked. "Didn't she come back here?"

"Uh, no," Kid Win volunteered. "Aegis said she was going home."

"Oh, okay." Inside her mask, Sophia grimaced. I wanted to talk to her. There's an apex predator if I ever saw one. She just needs to be shown how.

"Uh, Aegis said that he wanted to talk to you when you got in?" Kid Win ventured.

Sophia shook her head. "Listen, cover for me, will you? I'm done. I just want to go home."

Swivelling on the chair, Kid Win looked over at her. "Okay, no problem. But you'll owe me."

"Eh, whatever." Climbing to her feet, Sophia limped onward, back to her sleeping alcove. Last thing I want to do is talk to that moralising do-gooder. One more speech about how the rules are there to protect us … hah. They're there to protect the weak. And the weak don't deserve protection. Not really.

Slowly, carefully, she began to change into her civilian clothes.

<><>​

I opened the back door and stepped inside. "Hi, Dad, I'm home," I called out.

"Upstairs," he called back. "Dinner's in the oven."

"Ooh, excellent," I exclaimed. "Hungry. Superhero work is more tiring than I thought."

He came downstairs and entered the kitchen, just as I was setting the warm plate on the table. "So how'd it go, kiddo?" he asked.

"Oh, it was just a rescue run," I told him, between bites. "Two of them were out on patrol, got into trouble, so we went out there and helped out. Captured a member of the Empire Eighty-Eight. It was pretty real."

His eyebrows rose as he sat opposite me. "Nothing happened … "

"Like with Lung?" I shook my head, even as I recalled the debacle that had been my encounter with the ABB cape. Even now, it sent a chill down my back. "No, Dad. I never went near him. It was Stormtiger, by the way, but we don't tell anyone about that until it comes out in the news."

He nodded earnestly. "Of course."

"But yeah, it was awesome," I told him, beginning to get enthused. "Vista got us close, then I sent in a swarm to blind and distract him. When he was looking the wrong way, she moved Clockblocker right up behind him, and zap, he was a lawn ornament."

He smiled, caught up in my mood. "It certainly sounds like you're working well with them."

"Oh, they're great," I agreed. "Clockblocker's as much of a smartass as you'd expect with a name like that, and Kid Win's cool, and he's promised to show me how to use their computers, and -"

His smile widened, and he gestured at my fork, where a piece of steak had been slowly cooling while I gestured animatedly. "You might want to eat that, before the flies get at it."

"Hah, that'll never happen," I reminded him. "All the flies in this house belong to me. Plus all the other bugs. Every single one. They want to touch my food, they have to ask me first."

"Oh," he responded, his eyes widening slightly. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Yup," I agreed with emphasis, and popped the steak in my mouth. After pausing to chew and swallow, I went on. "So yeah, Aegis is a bit serious, but he's a good guy. Gallant is really nice – he sees emotions, did you know? I didn't. Vista's just sweet. I didn't really get to meet Browbeat – he was one of the other two on patrol who got in trouble. I did meet Shadow Stalker. She was cut up a bit, and I got to bandage her."

"Huh, wow," he observed. "A busy second night out. Any trouble? Shakes, bad memories?"

I drew a deep breath; for some reason, I did feel a bit shaky. "Nothing really. A couple of moments when I remembered what happened last night, all too clearly, but … yeah. All good now. I'm in a team. They've got my back and I've got theirs." Despite my brave words, my voice was starting to sound a shade brittle. I smiled shakily. "They really want me in the team."

He reached across the table and took my hand. I squeezed his large hand, and he squeezed back, carefully. "I'm proud of you. Really proud. And I'm happy that you've found your place."

"What, you aren't mad at me for … you know, hiding it? Going out? Nearly getting killed?" My voice was shaking noticeably, now. But, I was obscurely proud to note, there were no tears yet.

He shook his head. "No. God, no." He got up from his chair, came around to my side of the table. I got up to meet him, and he hugged me. His arms were tight around me, and mine around him. I felt the tears come, despite how badly I wanted to hold them back, and then something deep inside told me that it was okay to let it out. That I was safe. At last.

And so I cried, and my Dad held me and gently rocked me in his arms, and my dinner cooled unnoticed on the table.

<><>​

I slept badly that night, my dreams full of fire and pain. When I woke the next morning, I was still exhausted, so much so that I gave up on my morning run before I was halfway through.

"Do you want to stay home from school?" Dad asked me over the breakfast table. "I can write you a note."

I shook my head. "No. I faced up to being a superhero, even though a villain nearly killed me. And it let me save two more heroes from another villain." I took a deep breath. "I can face school."

"That's the spirit, kiddo," he agreed encouragingly. "Want me to drive you in? We can talk some more, if you want."

I smiled slightly as I considered this. " … yeah, Dad," I agreed. "I'd like that."

<><>​

"So what's it like, having powers?"

I turned to look at him as we backed down the driveway. "Seriously, Dad? You sound like a cape fanboy."

"So what if I am?" he asked. "I was born before all this happened; hell, I was out of middle school. By the time we knew enough about super-powers to understand that teenagers tend to get them more than adults, I was out of my teens, even. I never got the chance to daydream about getting powers, until I was too old for daydreaming to be a thing I could get away with doing much."

"So you're projecting on to me, is that it?" I was grinning as I said it.

"Mayybe," he admitted, with an answering grin. "So, what's it like?"

"It's a rush," I told him honestly. "I don't know what it's like for other capes, but when I let the power go full on, I've got insect senses reporting to me from blocks away, all around me, all the time. I know where every single one is, what type it is, more or less what it can see and hear, and I can tell every one of them what to do, all at the same time."

"Do you get headaches?" he asked, looking a little concerned. "I've heard that some capes, with mind-intensive powers, get headaches a lot."

"Not me," I assured him. "I was scared about that at first, but it just never happened. Like I was wondering if I had an upper limit, but if I've got one, it hasn't happened yet."

He shook his head slowly. "And these bugs. How much are you into their heads? Do they have feelings and emotions? Are you going to be all 'no bugs must die' now?"

I snorted. "God, no. Seriously. They're just bugs. A million get hatched every day, just in Brockton Bay. Just as many die. If I got sentimental over bugs, I'd never stop crying. No, there's no danger of that."

"Well, that's a relief then," he replied, miming a wipe of his brow. "I mean, I wouldn't mind you keeping a few as pets, but we've only got so much space."

"Uh … yeah, Dad, about that," I told him. "Just so you know, I have been keeping some black widows in the basement, to weave my costume. I've moved most of them out again, but you know, when you go down in there, just keep an eye out, just in case, okay?"

He took it pretty well, all told. "I … yeah, okay," he agreed. "Uh … do I need to ask, why black widows, in particular? Couldn't you have made do with a boring old non-deadly spider instead?"

"Uh, because they've got the strongest silk you can find in the States, and they're native to Brockton Bay," I told him. "Second strongest in the world. Strongest is in Madagascar. It's called the Darwin's Bark spider, and it can spin an eighty-foot strand that won't break under its own weight."

"That's … pretty impressive?" he ventured carefully.

I sighed. "Dad, that's the equivalent of … uh, you know, one-inch steel cable?"

He nodded immediately. "Yeah, I know those."

"Eighty feet of unsupported spider web is the equivalent of a hundred fifty miles of one-inch cable, proportionately speaking."

There was a long silence while he digested this. "That can't be right."

"That line of spider silk? About one ten-thousandths of an inch in diameter."

He went silent again for a few moments. "Christ," he muttered. "We're using the wrong stuff."

I grinned. "Not really. It's a lot easier to get steel cable than to get spiders that are willing to weave silk on demand." I paused for effect. "Well, up till now it was, anyway."

"And you've got a costume woven out of the stuff," he noted. "Is it, you know, bulletproof?"

"I have no idea," I admitted frankly. "Knife-proof, I hope. I have armour panels. It saved my life, Sunday night."

"You still got hurt pretty bad," he pointed out. "From what you told me last night."

"Yeah, but without it, I would have been eviscerated and then fried to a crisp." I drew a deep, shuddering breath. "His claws got me on an armour panel. I got broken bones, but nothing worse than that."

"Ah." He was silent for a few moments, driving the car. "So I guess I should thank God for Panacea."

"And Armsmaster," I put in. "And whoever it was who found me, who beat up Lung. They left a note for Armsmaster on Lung's face, telling him that I was on the roof."

He shook his head. "Christ. So what you're telling me, if I threw a thank-you party, we'd have to hold it in the back yard?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

We both fell silent then; I watched the road roll by, my head pillowed against the backrest. I didn't really want to go to school, but nor did I want to let Emma and Sophia and Madison think that they'd won, that they'd driven me out of Winslow on Friday with their stupid juice prank. I still hated them, still despised everything they did, but they just weren't as important any more.

Since I had seen them last, I had nearly died, and then I had turned my life around, become a Ward, and actually saved lives. Next to that, what they did to me was nothing. I felt like I could take on the world. Or at least a major part of it. The part that held Emma Barnes, anyway.

Fuck her. She doesn't matter any more.

<><>​

"What the fuck's taking her? I'm gonna be late for school, here." Sophia lounged back in a computer chair in the Wards base, her booted feet up on another chair.

Deputy Director Renick frowned over the video link. "Panacea's on call strictly as a favour to us. You could consider her feelings in the matter, you know."

Sophia rolled her eyes; Renick would not be able to see it, of course. "Okay, fine, yeah, but she doesn't have to worry about her secret identity. I do. And if I show up at Winslow with a bandaged arm and leg, there'll be blood in the water. People saw that damn fight, and I'm sure there's at least one video of it online."

"Most people are watching it for Buzz's first appearance," the Brockton Bay Deputy Director assured her. "I understand she helped save your life."

"She did," admitted Sophia. "I think I'm gonna enjoy working with her."

"That's nice," he replied neutrally. "Ah; I just got word that Glory Girl and Panacea have arrived at the PRT building."

Sophia rolled her eyes again. "Fuckin' finally."

"Shadow Stalker," Renick chided her, "I'm sure you've been warned about your language -"

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "Not in public, got it."

"I've left word for her to be fast-tracked down to you," the Deputy Director assured her. "As soon as you're healed, you get to school. No excuses. Understood?"

"Yes sir, understood sir," she replied, cutting the link just in time for him to miss her giving the screen the finger.

She stood up and limped toward the door, pulling one glove off as she did so. Unlike some of the Wards, she had never shown Amy Dallon her face, and never intended to. The girl was a healer, and a good one, but she was still such a wimp that Sophia could never really respect her.

Not like Glory Girl; now there was someone who kicked ass and took names. With her bright costume and flashy tactics, she was definitely someone that Sophia could respect, even if the way she did things was more or less the opposite to what Sophia did.

In any case, Sophia was looking forward to getting to school; she wanted to see if Hebert had finally decided to quit going altogether. After the prank on Friday, she had her hopes. But Hebert did have an annoying habit of shrugging it off and coming back for more.

I'll just have to see, she decided.

<><>​

"Holy shit," I heard Sophia say from behind me. "I heard it but I didn't believe it. What the fuck are you doing back, Hebert? I thought you'd gone for good."

"Seriously, Taylor," Emma put in, "Where were you Monday? Crying yourself to sleep?"

That line put my teeth on edge; it was typical Emma, throwing my confidences to her back in my face. I began to feel my resolve waver; it was one thing to think of Emma and Sophia being insignificant in the face of Lung, but with them facing me, it was another thing altogether.

I took a deep breath, and recalled Aegis' praise after saving Shadow Stalker's life. "Why don't you just fuck off, Emma," I told her boldly. "I don't have time for your shit."

Emma's eyes opened wide; I hadn't spoken to her like that in … forever. Nor did it go unnoticed among the others standing around; some were Emma's cronies, while some weren't. Several people gasped, and a few hid smiles. They might not be my friends, but a good burn was always amusing.

Sophia noticed it, too. "You don't talk to her like that," she snarled, stepping up and shoving me backward. I shoved back at her; I wasn't as strong as she was, but I was taller and I had better leverage. She pushed harder, and I stepped to the side, sticking my leg between hers.

More by luck than design, she tripped, landing hard and rolling up on to one knee. I moved in to push her over again, then felt a burning pain in my scalp as I came to an abrupt halt; Emma had grabbed my hair – the hair that Amy had carefully regrown for me on Monday morning. She wasn't pulling it, so much as preventing me from advancing on Sophia.

"Hey!" I yelled, turning and shoving her in turn, surprising her so much that she let go my hair. "Didn't you know that pulling hair's for first graders?"

Fully aware that I had turned my back on Sophia, I was just about to turn back to her when I felt my arm being pulled hard up behind me, in a painful lock. Too late. Ow.

"Now apologise," she gritted from right behind me, "or I'll see if I can't dislocate it."

"Apologise?" I snapped. "But you started it!"

My arm was wrenched another few degrees upward, and I grunted in pain. "Apologise!" she snarled.

It was starting to get seriously painful, and I was considering giving in, when a whispering ran through the crowd; Sophia let my arm go and stepped back, just as one of the Home Economics teachers rounded the corner. I shook my shoulder back into what felt like its normal position, and made my escape.

For the barest moment, I considered telling Miss Goldsworthy what had been happening, but then I recalled every other instance of my attempting to complain. Nothing had happened then, and nothing would happen now.

I'd have to be careful to avoid Sophia for the rest of the day, however. From the look in her eye, she'd be out for blood. And I did not intend for it to be mine.

<><>​

Buzz looked around as Shadow Stalker entered the Wards base. "Oh, hey," she called out. "How's things?"

Shadow Stalker shrugged. "Had better days," she grunted.

"Yeah, me too," Buzz agreed. "Aegis, tell her what you were telling me."

Aegis cleared his throat. He was rather proud of his idea. Whether it would stand the test of reality was quite another matter. "I was going to put you on monitor duty, Shadow Stalker, but I've decided to try something different. You seem to get along with Buzz, so we're going to do a three-person patrol; me, you and her. She's new, and you're still on notice from last night, so I'll be along to make sure nothing goes sideways. Okay?"

By 'okay?' he meant 'do you understand?' rather than 'is that okay with you?', but he was sure that Shadow Stalker had already figured that out.

Interestingly, she didn't object immediately to the idea. "Sure," she agreed. "Sounds cool to me."

"Yeah, me too," Buzz added. "I won't be able to travel as fast as either of you, but I should be able to keep a good lookout all around."

"So wait, you've got an effective Thinker power as well as Master?" asked Shadow Stalker.

Buzz nodded. "Yeah, and Aegis says my suit gives me a sort of Brute rating, plus with bugs giving me camouflage, I've got a sort of Stranger rating as well."

Shadow Stalker nodded. "And you still don't think your power is all kinds of badass?"

"Hey, yours is pretty damn cool too," Buzz told her.

Aegis cleared his throat. "Back-patting competition later, ladies. Right now, time to go on patrol. Ready?"

Shadow Stalker nodded. Buzz echoed the gesture.

"Good," Aegis stated. "Let's go."


End of Part Six

Part Seven

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part Seven: With Friends Like These


Aegis knew that Shadow Stalker didn't get along with many people; as the leader of the Wards since Triumph had stepped up to join the Protectorate proper, he also knew why. It had begun when she joined the Wards; the public had been told that she had decided to voluntarily give up her lone-wolf vigilante ways and become one of the good guys as a bona fide superhero.

The truth was less appealing; her record of violence had kept her on the watch list, but action had not been taken until a gang member had been found, nailed to a wall with one of her trademark arrows. The man had almost bled to death; he survived, but the deed had been done. Shadow Stalker was tracked down, arrested, her real identity uncovered.

The offence would have had her sent straight to juvenile detention – secret identity intact, as far as the general public was concerned – except that someone stepped forward to plead her case. That someone was Alan Barnes, divorce attorney; apparently, Shadow Stalker had saved his daughter's life at some earlier point. He proposed instead that she be placed in the Brockton Bay Wards, where she could continue her crime-fighting activities under supervision, as opposed to simply being locked up.

Such was his eloquence, his testimony toward her character, that the review board was swayed, and Shadow Stalker was granted probationary status in the Wards. More to the point, she was on probation until her eighteenth birthday, and any further serious offence could put an end to her freedom. But all the same, she chafed under the restrictions which had been placed on her, and took it out on everyone around her; or perhaps she was just an unpleasant person to begin with. Whichever it was, Aegis surmised that if she didn't have those restrictions on her, she would be a lot nastier.

As a result, she had not formed any friendships within the Wards. She tolerated them, and they her, but there was no closeness, no sharing. Until now, that is.

Buzz was an interesting case; also starting out as a lone vigilante type, she had immediately fallen afoul of one of the stronger capes in Brockton Bay. Her life saved by Armsmaster, she had agreed to join the Wards as an alternative to hanging up the cape for good. She didn't have much in the way of self-esteem and was eager to please, which would normally have set her up as a target for the rough edge of Shadow Stalker's tongue. But her competence in helping rescue the other ex-vigilante, and the sheer scariness inherent in the ability to control tens of thousands of bugs at once, had earned her the grudging respect of the problematic Ward.

And so the two of them had formed an unlikely friendship, one which left Clockblocker and Kid Win scratching their heads. Aegis didn't bother wondering about it. He was just pleased that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to be a problem for their newest Ward, and that Buzz actually seemed happy to be partnered with her.

He just hoped that the situation would not end up shooting itself in the foot, as had happened with the last patrol that Shadow Stalker had been on. But, amazingly enough, it seemed to be working out so far.

<><>​

Aegis took point, flying above the buildings and looking around for obvious signs of trouble. Shadow Stalker ran the rooftops, turning to shadow so that she could traverse the spaces between buildings that much more easily. Down on the ground, I did my best to keep pace without wearing myself out; in the meantime, I used my bugs to survey the surroundings out to the limit of my range, gathered a swarm to use in case of emergency, and stewed about the day at school.

Since the initial run-in with Sophia and Emma, I'd had to be more careful than usual. Deciding to be more proactive with my powers, I had started using my bugs to scope out the school when I arrived in the mornings, as well as my bag, my seat and surrounding classrooms as I moved around the building. As soon as I detected Emma, Sophia or Madison, I put bugs on them, and made sure to keep out of their way between classes. Sophia definitely had it in for me, and to begin with, she kept me on my toes; no matter how careful I was, she always seemed to be on the verge of catching up with me just as each class started.

After a few close calls, I had figured it out; when the three main bitches lost track of me, they were getting their cronies to keep an eye out and text them with my location. So I tagged them as well, and did my best to keep out of their line of sight. In a way, I supposed that it was good practice for evading villains during a battle, but I wished that just once, they'd give it up and leave me alone.

The most irritating aspect of it was that I was a Ward, a superhero, and that I was having to dodge common school bullies. I couldn't use my powers to defend myself, for fear of outing myself at the very least, and getting into all sorts of trouble to boot. And I couldn't just tell them, because that would out me, and I didn't want to know what they'd do with that information.

I knew that Principal Blackwell was aware that I was a Ward, and had apparently told the teachers to pay even less attention than normal to me, so that I could come and go as needed. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to extend to protecting me from bullies; the assumption was probably that, being a Ward, I wouldn't need any such protection.

Yeah, that was working out so well for me. A few days in, I had it pretty well figured out, but it was still a pain, having to dodge the bitches while at the same time trying to get an education. If it was still happening by next Friday, I was going to have to say something to someone.

In any case, there was another issue that I needed to raise, but this one was with Aegis, and now was as good a time as any.

<><>​

"Aegis."

"Yes, Buzz?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

" … okay. I need to ask you a question, and I need a truthful answer."

"It depends on the question."

"Do you trust me as a Ward?"

Carlos paused, looking down at the figure of Buzz, jogging steadily along between the buildings. Where's this coming from?

"Yes, I do. I trust you as much as I do any Ward. Why?"

"Why did you hold me and Shadow Stalker back from that bank robbery yesterday? If we'd been there, I'm pretty sure I could have shut the lot of them down."

"You know, she's right," Shadow Stalker added. "Between me and Buzz, we could've had the Undersiders calling 'uncle' in about one minute flat. As it was, they made you look like idiots."

"You know very well why I held you back, Shadow Stalker," Aegis admonished the other girl. "I just didn't want to air the reason."

"What, because I've got a mad-on for Grue?"

"Grue?" asked Buzz. "Who's Grue – oh, wait, the Undersiders guy?"

Aegis sighed and drifted down to land next to the bug controller. Shadow Stalker took this as her cue to leap down from her building; she turned solid just before she landed, her cloak flaring dramatically. He had no idea how long she must have practised to get just that effect.

<><>​

"Yes, that guy," Aegis told Buzz. "Shadow Stalker doesn't like him, and goes after him every chance she gets."

"I do not," objected Sophia.

Aegis merely folded his arms and gave her a steady look. After a few moments, she sighed and threw her hands into the air. "Okay, fine, so I don't like the guy. His powers creep me out."

"Creep you out?" Buzz seemed to think about it. "Darkness generation, right?"

"More than just darkness," Shadow Stalker told her. "Radios don't work. It just plain stops light. And when I get in there, it screws with my powers. And he can see through it, so if he gets me into his darkness, he has the advantage."

Buzz nodded. "That sounds like a problem, all right."

"Yeah, well, I don't accept that. So I don't run from him. I face him."

"Which is the problem," Aegis interjected. "Every time it looks like we might encounter Grue, Shadow Stalker aggressively pushes to confront him. This could have a problem when it comes to teamwork, so this is why we had to pull you from that particular incident. Okay?"

"Okay." Buzz nodded. "You know, you could've just told me that, then."

"I was told to not fill you in unless you asked." Aegis sounded uncomfortable.

He couldn't see her facial expressions, but she appeared to be puzzled. "Why?"

"Because we didn't want to prejudice you against Shadow Stalker."

She sounded even more puzzled. "Why would that prejudice me against her?"

He paused. "I'm not sure. In any case, there seems to have been nothing to worry about. Shall we continue?"

After a long moment, Buzz nodded; Aegis lifted into the air.

Sophia took the opportunity to step up alongside Buzz. Clicking her mic off for a moment, she asked quietly, "Do you really mean it when you say it doesn't bother you?"

"No," Buzz replied, just as quietly. "Why should it? You've got to face your fears."

She frowned. "Wouldn't say I'm scared of the jerk, but yeah, if anyone's gonna take him down, it's gonna be me." She ran toward the nearest building, shifted to shadow, and began to climb it swiftly.

I'm beginning to think that this thing with Buzz will work out.

<><>​

"Heads up."

I looked up as Aegis came down for a quick landing beside me; moments later, Shadow Stalker landed, only a few yards away.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just got word," he told us tersely. "There's a fight going on near the Trainyards. Bakuda's there, along with a lot of ABB thugs. They want me to scope things out."

"Crazy bitch," muttered Shadow Stalker. "Who's she fighting? Merchants? ABB?"

"That's the problem." Aegis' voice was grim. "She's fighting the Undersiders."

I felt as much as saw Shadow Stalker come to attention beside me. "So we're going?"

"Easy, tiger," he advised her. "You are going back to base, or continuing the patrol. I am going to see what's going on, make sure no civilians are caught in the crossfire."

"But -" Both of us spoke at almost exactly the same time.

Aegis flashed us an exasperated look. "But nothing. I take you there, you'll zero in on Grue, even if I tell you to hold back."

"What if she doesn't?" I asked. "Shadow Stalker, surely you can put it aside just this once?"

She clenched her fists, turning away from us. I stepped forward, caught her shoulder. She shook my hand free. "Leave it."

"No." My voice was firm. "I might be new to this, but I know that partners work together. You know I've got your back."

"And Grue?"

I shrugged. "I find him, I'll keep track of him. When we get the go-ahead, I'll introduce him to my little friends. I'll have him covered in bugs before he can say 'where's the Raid'?"

"And his darkness?"

"Lead boxes don't stop my power," I reminded her. We had actually tested this out. "I doubt a little darkness is going to matter all that much."

She turned back to me. "Okay, fine, this I have to see."

Aegis frowned. "You're saying that you won't go after Grue?"

Shadow Stalker shrugged slightly. "Buzz says that she'll take care of it, when the time comes. And I kind of want to see him covered in bugs. Preferably the stinging, biting type."

He sighed. "Okay, fine. But if you disobey orders and go after him anyway, it's monitor duty for a week."

"Whoo!" Shadow Stalker raised her hand; after a moment, I high-fived her. "Let's go kick some gangland ass!"

<><>​

"Whoa, holy shit."

I wasn't quite sure who had voiced the comment; at least one of us had, maybe two. From high above, we looked down at something that could have been a war zone; storage sheds crumpled and blown apart, with smoke rising here and there. There was even gunfire going on, faint pops in the distance.

"Buzz." Aegis. "Can you pinpoint where people are? Specifically, anyone who doesn't look like they're a part of this?"

"Working on it, but I could do with being a bit lower." I had already started gathering bugs in the area. "I've got a vehicle, and lots of people on foot. Who else is in the Undersiders?"

"Regent is a kid with a face mask and a frilly shirt," Shadow Stalker supplied. "Tattletale's got a sort of purple costume. And Hellhound just wears clothes, but she's got dogs with her. She makes them grow."

"No dogs in range," I replied immediately; dogs had fleas, and there were no fleas talking to me. "Ah – right. Got some people in -"

"Incoming!" yelled Aegis, and let go. We fell.

Well, I'd wanted to get lower.

<><>​

Comic books get it wrong all the time, and even TV shows don't really demonstrate how awkward it is for even a strong flier to carry two passengers. I had been dangling from his left hand, and Shadow Stalker from his right. It had been rather uncomfortable on the shoulder muscles, but I suspected having him hold us around the waists would have been uncomfortable on a whole other level; he was, after all, somewhat built, and such close proximity might just have fried every circuit in my brain.

However, being dropped from a height is a whole new level of unpleasant. I would have ridden on his back horsey-style to avoid that. No matter how uncomfortable it made either of us.

Even as we fell, I quickly discovered the reason for his dropping us. Down below, in the open-topped vehicle, someone had fired a shoulder-mounted missile. This was tracking in on Aegis, who was doing his best to evade it.

Well, first it went for Shadow Stalker, who turned shadow just in time for it to lance through her body, then it went after Aegis. But I had other problems. Really pressing ones. Problems that started with 'G', ended in 'D', and rhymed with 'imminent crushing impact'.

Of all the bug powers I didn't get, 'fly like a bug' would be favourite right now.

"Buzz!" screamed Shadow Stalker, and grabbed my ankles. "Curl into a ball!"

There was no time for panic. I did what she told me.

<><>​

I wasn't quite sure what she did, but as the ground rapidly approached, we tumbled over one another, faster and faster, until I couldn't tell which way was up. The ground and sky whirled around one another; I felt nauseous, and concentrated on not throwing up in my mask. There was a distant explosion.

The wind whistled in my ears; the ground was coming up really fast now. And then, instants from impact … Shadow Stalker became shadow.

While I was on the top of the loop.

<><>​

It was too much to hope that the upward momentum from the spin would totally overcome our downward velocity, but it certainly reduced it from 'fatal' to merely 'painful'. As luck – or Shadow Stalker's aim – would have it, I landed on a tilted wall, remnant of a storage locker. I glanced off of this with bruising force as it gave under the impact.

Still curled into a ball, arms covering my head, I skittered sideways for some distance across cracked concrete, losing momentum – but fortunately not skin, thanks to the hard work of thousands of black widows – as I went. Eventually, I fetched up against the side of another storage shed with a resounding clang. This knocked the wind out of me; my consciousness decided to take a brief leave of absence.

<><>​

"- uzz. Buzz!"

I was back on the rooftop, with pain lancing in from every part of my body. One of my goggle lenses was smashed. Lung loomed over me, shaking my shoulder -

"Buzz! Hey! Are you okay? I can't tell with this stupid mask in the way!"

Blinking, I focused. It wasn't Lung; it was Shadow Stalker.

"Yeah," I managed. "'m okay. I think. Hurts."

She settled back on her knees. "Thank fuck for that. Where does it hurt?"

I took a tentative breath. That hurt. Doing anything hurt, but breathing hurt more than most. "Everywhere. Mainly ribs, I think. Maybe cracked or broken."

"Fuck. Don't move much. You might have a punctured lung."

"Don't think so," I replied. "Had one of those. Doesn't feel the same."

"If you say so. Look, you can't lie out here in the open. I've gotta get you under cover."

"How long was I out?" I asked, apropos of nothing.

"Minute or two," she told me, helping me sit up. Then she took hold of my arm to help me to my feet.

"Ow. Fuck. Arm."

Stopping what she was doing, she checked my arm. "Fuck, that definitely feels broken." Shifting to my other side, she grasped that arm. "Not broken?"

"Not broken," I agreed. Nor was my back or my legs, though they were certainly sending me enough pain messages; slowly and painfully, she assisted me in getting to my feet. As she did so, I was rebuilding my awareness of what was going on around us.

And just in time, too. As I regained my balance, I grabbed Shadow Stalker and pulled her sideways, so that we collided heavily with the storage shed. Her protest was drowned out by the scatter of shots that whipped through the air, just where we had been standing. More shots were not forthcoming; my hastily-assembled swarm fell on the two shooters, and they went to their knees, screaming and clawing at their faces.

Staggering slightly, I regained my balance. Shadow Stalker stared at the two thugs, then back at me. "You saved my life."

"Hey, you saved mine, so we're -" I broke off, as she was pointing one of her crossbows directly at my midsection.

"Don't. Move." Her voice was low and deadly.

There was no way I could dodge; she couldn't miss me if she tried. My eyes widened. "What -"

She pulled the trigger; the arrow whipped out to strike me in the chest.

Only she had flickered to shadow form for just an instant as she did so; being similarly ghost-like, the arrow went straight through me, and out the other side. I heard a groan and a clatter; painfully, I turned my head, to see another ABB thug crumple to the dirty concrete, his gun having preceded him to the ground.

"You missed one." Her tone was light. "And you should really learn to trust me."

My tone was wry. "I do now. Thanks -"

"Save it. We need to see if Aegis survived."

"We also need to call in backup."

"My radio isn't working. Yours?"

I tried it. No joy.

"No. What did they hit us with, anyway?"

"Some sort of missile. Must've been a, whaddaya call it, visual signature thing. Went for the largest thing around. Me, with my cloak, then Aegis."

"I've never been so glad to be skinny."

She put her arm around me, carefully, to help me along. "Skinny but awesome. Never forget that."

<><>​

There was a lot going on, but I was able to figure out where Bakuda was; or at least, the person in the open topped vehicle who had shot the missile at us. I wasn't able to do much physically, and Shadow Stalker was busy assisting me to move, but my bugs were up to the task. Everyone who came near us was swarmed to the ground; Shadow Stalker disarmed them, secured them, and we went on.

We weren't after Bakuda; we were looking for Aegis. And we found him, soon enough.

"Someone up ahead," I managed. The stabbing pain in my side wasn't going away any time soon, but I was pushing past it. "People. Over a body. I think it might be the Undersiders."

"Let's go see." She helped me around the corner, and there they were; the Undersiders, all right. Three of them, anyway. They looked somewhat the worse for wear, but not as bad as the body on the ground.

It was Aegis, or at least, most of him. As we came into sight, I heard one of them, a girl, saying, "Okay, that goes there. Push it into position -"

"Hold it!" shouted Shadow Stalker, letting me go so that she could aim both crossbows. "Step away from him slowly, and let me see your hands."

They turned to face us, caught on the back foot. I hobbled closer, careful to keep out of her line of fire. It was Aegis, all right, but … "Oh god," I muttered. "I'm so sorry."

He had taken the hit in the lower abdomen; both legs had been blown off, along with one arm. Half his face was missing, and one eye was gone. I could see where intestines had been gathered and stuffed hastily back into place; blood was smeared over everything.

Shadow Stalker moved closer, her crossbows aimed and ready. One was pointed at the guy in motorbike leathers – Grue, as I recalled – and the other at the boy in the Renfaire outfit. I couldn't recall what Shadow Stalker had called the other two. "Don't even think about it," she ordered them. "What were you doing to him?"

"Putting him back together," the girl in the purple costume answered simply. "He's got a better chance of survival this way."

"Survival?" I choked out. "He's dead. Nothing could survive that."

"Not … true." The voice was raspy, almost inaudible.

I stared downward, and gaped. His one eye had opened, and was vaguely focused on me.

"Aegis! You're alive!"

A very faint nod. "Yeah … just gimme … moment."

The eye closed again.

"Aegis!" I went to my knees, wanted to shake him, but decided not to, as something might fall off. "Aegis!"

The girl in purple put her hand on my shoulder. "He's alive. But he'll need someone like Panacea to get himself all back together."

I looked up at her. "How do you know that? And who are you? Your voice is familiar."

Expertly, she helped me back to my feet; Shadow Stalker moved closer still, one crossbow aimed at Grue, the other at the boy in Renfaire clothing.

"Don't you remember me? I -"

"Wait." I frowned. "Something's wrong."

Shadow Stalker glanced at me. "What?"

"I've been swarming Bakuda and her thugs to keep her occupied, but I can't see her any more. Or her car."

"That's a bad thing, isn't it?" Shadow Stalker glanced around. "Where was she, last you saw her?"

"About fifty yards that – oh."

I had turned to point, and just then, the jeep rolled around the corner. With it came a hemisphere of clear air, about twenty feet across. Every bug that hit the surface of the hemisphere ... vanished.

Fuck.

<><>​

"Ha!" crowed the woman standing up in the back of the vehicle. "I thought I hit something with that!" Even with the mechanical monotone, I could hear the triumph in her voice.

"Bakuda?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth.

"Yep," agreed the girl in purple, just as quietly.

It figured; the woman had dark hair and wore some sort of elaborate gas mask, with goggles and breather. My bugs hadn't been able to get into her eyes or mouth, and so she had obviously Tinkered up something to keep my bugs at somewhat more than arms' length.

One of her minions was driving; the other was pointing what looked like a very nasty machine-gun of some sort at us. The implication was clear; if we made a hostile move, we would become ground zero for a lot of lead. Shadow Stalker would be fine if she shifted fast enough; the rest of us, not so much.

"Well, then," Bakuda went on, when no-one answered her initial sally. "All my enemies in one place. Such a pleasure to meet you all."

"The Wards have got nothing to do with this," Grue stated unexpectedly. "Let them go."

Bakuda shrugged. "They interfered, they die." She rolled a couple of golf ball sized spheres around in her hand. "I'm wondering what these two will do if they go off in conjunction with each other. Even Shadow Stalker there should feel the effects of this, I think."

"I'll give us cover," muttered Grue. "We all run."

"But Aegis," I protested, just as quietly. In any case, I couldn't run. And Aegis was alive. I wasn't going to abandon him.

Before we could say any more, Bakuda tossed the balls over the windshield of the jeep, toward us.

Or rather, that's what her intent must have been.

Instead, she tossed low. They struck the windshield and bounced back into the vehicle, disappearing from sight. "Fuck!" she screamed, still in monotone, and dived into the footwell, obviously trying to retrieve the bombs.

"Everyone down!" shouted the girl in purple. Grabbing me, she pulled me to the ground, rolling under me so that she took the main impact. My ribs still protested, but it could've been a lot worse. At the same time, blackness rolled over us. Grue's darkness, I realised a moment later.

There was a shudder through the ground, but I heard nothing, felt nothing. After a long moment, the darkness faded, and the girl in purple helped me sit up. Shadow Stalker was first on her feet, her crossbows still aimed at Grue and the other guy.

I wasn't paying attention to that; I was looking where Bakuda had been. My one eye was fuzzy, due to the smashed lens, but the other could still see pretty well. And Bakuda was ... gone. As was the jeep, and the two guys who'd been in it with her. Even the concrete was gone, in a perfect circle. In its place was a smooth expanse of rock, grained here and there with odd textures.

"What the fuck ... ?" muttered Grue.

"Lava flow," the girl in purple explained. "I'm guessing that those bombs set off something else she was carrying, and that did something to her bug disappearing field. It disappeared her. Swapped her to another world."

"Wow," I murmured. "Did she even survive?"

"Now that I can't tell you," the girl replied with a cheeky grin. "I don't believe that we've been introduced. I'm Tattletale, that's Regent, and tall-and-dark over there is Grue."

"And you're all my prisoners," Shadow Stalker snapped. "Buzz, move away from Tattletale. And don't listen to her. She's got a way of twisting your head around."

"Wait a minute," Grue protested. "We didn't even start this. Bakuda ambushed us."

"Yeah," agreed Regent. "And she abducted Bitch, too."

"Probably locked up somewhere," Tattletale put in. "She'll starve if no-one finds her in time."

I wasn't quite sure who 'Bitch' was, but they sounded concerned about her. Or at least Tattletale did.

"We can look for her," Shadow Stalker stated remorselessly. "After you're behind bars."

"But we didn't even commit any crimes. We're the victims here," Grue pressed.

"Don't care."

I could sort of see their side of things, but I didn't want to argue with Shadow Stalker over this; besides, we did have them dead to rights. And helping bring in the Undersiders, in my first week as a Ward, would look awesome.

"I bet I could say ten words that would convince you to let us go," Tattletale suggested impishly.

"If she talks again, Buzz, fill her mouth with bugs."

"No, I want to hear what she has to say."

"She's dangerous, Buzz. She's a Thinker. You never let a Thinker talk."

"Okay, I get it," I told her. "I've been duly warned. She's not a Master, is she?"

Reluctantly, Shadow Stalker shook her head. "Just a Thinker."

"Right then." I turned to Tattletale. "I accept your challenge. What are the ten words?"

Tattletale cleared her throat. "Hang in there, bug girl. Help is on the way."

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" demanded Shadow Stalker.

But I knew. And I knew that Tattletale was right. I was going to let them go. "You were the ones, on the roof, that night." My voice was quiet.

"We saw you in trouble," she affirmed. "Lung was about to stomp you. Rachel brought her dogs in, hammered him into the ground. You probably don't remember, but I sat with you and held your hand till Armsmaster showed."

"He said he got an anonymous tip ... " I murmured.

Grue nodded. "That was us."

I took a deep breath, and turned to Shadow Stalker. "They saved my life."

"They're villains." Her tone was harsh.

"They've done their best to save Aegis' life, too." I indicated the recumbent form.

"If he survives." But her tone was wavering.

"And if we take them in, their partner might die."

"Not our problem." But then she shook her head. "Fuck."

"You know it's the right thing to do."

"Fuck," she muttered again. "You're gonna make me do this, aren't you?"

I shook my head. "I can't make you do anything, Shadow Stalker. What you do is your choice. It always has been."

"Fuck, I can't believe I'm even considering this." The crossbow she had pointed at Grue wavered, and for a long moment, I thought she was going to pull the trigger. But then it lowered, as did the one pointed at Regent. "Go on, get out of here. Fuck off."

They didn't need telling twice. Darkness billowed over them; the last I saw of the Undersiders was Tattletale winking at me. And then they were gone.

Shadow Stalker turned to me. "So now we - fuck, are you all right?"

I was swaying on my feet, and flashbulbs were going off behind my eyes. "Don't think so," I mumbled.

She caught me as I fell.

<><>​

The first to arrive was Velocity. He surveyed the scene; Aegis lying there like the aftermath of a botched autopsy, Buzz in the recovery position, and Shadow Stalker guarding the both of them.

"Are they alive?" he asked.

She nodded wearily. "Yeah. Aegis has a really weak heartbeat, but it's there. Buzz is breathing, but apart from that, I have no idea."

"So what happened?"

"Bakuda," she replied simply. "Crazy bitch took on the Undersiders. Shot us out of the sky. Had a Tinkertech malfunction." She indicated the circle of lava flow. "Last known position."

"Why haven't you called for assistance?"

She tapped her ear. "Radios went dead when she shot Aegis down. I think it was some sort of EMP."

"Right. Okay, I'll call for the medics. Anything else? Where are the Undersiders?"

For a long moment, she hesitated, then she shrugged. "Fucked if I know. Haven't seen them."

"Okay then. Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "The medics?" she prompted. "I'm worried about Buzz."

"Got it." He pulled out his phone and dialled. "It's Velocity," he reported. "You're never going to believe this … "

<><>​

I gradually surfaced once more, feeling a distinct sensation of deja vu. Instead of a hospital room, I was in the PRT infirmary, but the bed was much the same, and I was once more lacking my costume and mask.

"How are you feeling?" asked Panacea.

"Pretty good, now," I replied, then my eyes opened wider and I sat up slightly. "Aegis. He -"

"I've already seen him," she assured me. "He barely needed any help at all. Last I saw, he was headed for the cafeteria, to eat his body weight in steak."

"Oh, good." I began to climb out of bed. "That takes a weight off of my mind." I paused. "Shadow Stalker?"

"Waiting outside." She handed me my costume. "She was pretty worried."

"Worried? Why? It was only a broken arm and some cracked ribs, right?" I climbed into it and she helped me zip it up the back.

"Not hardly. Is that all you thought it was?"

I pulled the mask over my head and ensured that it was seated right. I'm going to have to replace that lens. Again. Ugh. "Uh, yes. What else was there?"

"Well, let's see." She opened the door, ushering me out before her. "Fractured patella. Ruptured spleen. Three cracked ribs, two broken. You knew about the fractured ulna and radius; your wrist was also badly broken. Ruptured liver. Fractured spine."

Shadow Stalker rose from where she'd been sitting. "And you told me it was only some cracked ribs and a broken arm. I thought you were okay to walk!"

"I told you everything hurt," I retorted. "And it's not like we had a choice in the matter."

"Well, you're all right now," Panacea told me. "Don't make a habit of this, all right?"

Impulsively, I hugged her. "Thanks. And if you ever need to talk to anyone, remember that I'm there, okay?"

For a moment, she leaned against me. "Yeah, thanks. I might take you up on that, soon."

I rested my forehead against hers for a moment, before I let her go. "Any time. See you later, Panacea."

"See you later, Buzz. And you too, Shadow Stalker."

<><>​

As we left the infirmary, I glanced at Shadow Stalker. "So what's happening?"

"Well, Renick wants to see you for your report on what happened today," she informed me. "Aegis and me have already done our reports. After that, we're off duty. Want to come meet my bestie, take in a movie or something?"

I blinked. "I … you want to unmask?" Unmasking was a big deal. The amount of trust involved was enormous. I felt a swelling in my throat, that Shadow Stalker was willing to trust me with who she really was.

"Sure," she replied breezily. "You rocked out there today. I can't think of anyone I'd rather share my secret identity with."

I nodded. "I kinda feel the same way. But you know, we've only been partnered for a week. Less. Besides, I want to get home and fix my mask." I indicated the broken lens. "Raincheck on that movie?"

She nodded easily. "Sure. Baby steps. Save each others' lives today, unmask tomorrow."

"And if it follows the usual sitcom formula, it turns out that we're best friends already," I noted with a grin.

"Can't be," she replied with a chuckle. "Wrong colour hair. Anyway, see you tomorrow?"

"See you then, tough girl." I offered my hand. "And … thanks."

"For what?" She took my hand and shook it anyway.

"Saving my life, doofus." A handshake wasn't enough; I grabbed her and hugged her.

"You saved mine, too." Slowly, her arms crept around me. It felt good.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't gonna let some ABB goon shoot the coolest girl in the Wards."

She chuckled as we disengaged from the hug. "Good point. See you tomorrow – tougher girl."

<><>​

The warm feeling stayed inside me all the way through the verbal report that I gave Renick, and all the way home on the bus to home. Dad greeted me, and I gave him a blow-by-blow account of what had happened.

I spent the evening fixing the mask, then I watched TV with Dad. It was a good evening; I was finally content, for the first time in weeks. I was in the Wards, I was kicking ass, and I was carrying my weight. And I had a partner who respected me, and who I respected in turn.

Maybe I should've taken her up on unmasking and meeting her bestie. A night at the movies would've been nice.

<><>​

"So is this Buzz person really all of that?" Emma reached across and stole some of Sophia's popcorn. "Bug control doesn't sound like much."

"Keep it down," Sophia warned, even though the soundtrack of the movie had mostly drowned out Emma's voice. "Yeah, she's all of that. She's tough. She's strong." She shook her head. "And bug control … yeah, it's more than you'd think. You gotta see it to understand."

"So when are they gonna sign you on with someone else? All I've heard this week is Buzz this and Buzz that. Usually they move you around a lot."

Sophia tilted her head. "You sound jealous. Holy shit, you are. You're actually jealous that they've finally got someone in the Wards who's worth partnering?"

"I dunno," jibed Emma. "When's the engagement?"

Sophia threw a handful of popcorn at her.

<><>​

I went out on patrol with Shadow Stalker twice more over the weekend. It was relatively quiet; we stopped a few muggings and a convenience store robbery, but nothing of consequence. Shadow Stalker would go in while I held back and supported her with what she called 'bugpocalypse'. I objected to the term, which of course ensured that she used it all the more.

We didn't bring up the idea of unmasking, although it certainly crossed my mind more than once. I tried to figure out why I didn't want to do it; eventually, I decided that while I definitely trusted her, I wasn't sure if I really was the right person for her to reveal her secret identity to.

And then Monday rolled back around and we were too busy to think about things like that. We went on to night patrols, and while I took the bus home or got Dad to pick me up, Shadow Stalker always went home in costume, roof running all the way. So we didn't get to share a ride, where the topic might come up again.

More to the point, Emma and her friends were stepping up the pressure at school. They hadn't managed to pull off a successful prank in days now, and it seemed almost as if they felt threatened by my ability to evade them. My email accounts continued to fill up with abuse, and I couldn't help running afoul of Sophia in physical education, but my tactic of tagging them with bugs tended to work on the whole, and I actually managed to hand in two assignments without outside interference. Powers, I decided, rocked.

The new tactic, I figured out, involved recruiting more patsies – I mean students – to keep track of me, until it seemed that half the school was sending a text as soon as they saw me. Emma must have convinced them that it was part of some new game or other; I was pretty sure that most of them didn't even know who I was.

Still, I managed to stay ahead of the three bitches until Friday, although it got that little bit harder each day. They were starting to learn my routine and the devious routes I was taking through the school to get from class to class, and it got harder simply because there were only so many ways I could get from point A to point B. I was reduced to using bugs to distract some of them in subtle ways, so that I could slip past; technically a use of my powers, but not in a way that could really out me.

<><>​

As it was, come Friday night patrol time, I was itching to get out there and cause problems for someone. I clasped hands with Shadow Stalker as soon as I saw her; it was good to see a friendly face, so to speak. Friendly mask, anyway. We had worked well over the week, refining our tactics, so that we barely had to speak in order to communicate our intent to the other. Aegis, fully recovered of course, was coming along with us once more.

"We'll be looking at the Merchants tonight," he told us. "You know the drill. Observe, report, but don't engage unless civilians are in danger."

"Aye aye captain," I agreed; Shadow Stalker muffled a snort.

"I don't know which of you two is worse than the other," he observed. "I see that Buzz is picking up some of Shadow Stalker's lack of respect."

"I'm totally respectful," I objected. "Just, you know, happy to be going out. Kicking ass."

"Taking names?" he finished.

"What do we want their names for?" asked Shadow Stalker, and I high-fived her.

Aegis rolled his eyes. "Let's get moving. I'm intending to cut you two free to do your own patrols next week, and I want to get this done before I change my mind."

Shadow Stalker nodded. "Let's do this."

<><>​

The first part of the patrol was relatively routine; little nothing crimes that we broke up, securing the perps and calling the cops to pick them up. But things began to warm up, a couple of hours in.

"There's a report that the Merchants have set up a good old-fashioned drug den slash bordello," Aegis informed us. "Downstairs, they hand out the drugs. Upstairs they've got girls that the Merchants have gotten addicted to the drugs, servicing customers to pay off the drugs that were forced on to them in the first place."

"Okay," I growled. "This is the sort of place that needs a visit. From us."

"Bugpocalypse time," Shadow Stalker supplied.

Aegis winced. "Must you call it that?"

"Bugageddon?" she suggested; I chuckled.

"Please stop," he requested, then cleared his throat. "Okay then. We'll be going in to support the police on this one. We don't think any Merchant capes will be in evidence, but stay on your toes just in case. And don't screw this up; some of those girls are younger than you two, and we want to get them out of this situation."

"Got it." I pretended to crack my knuckles. "Kicking ass, taking names, and saving the innocent. All in a day's work."

Shadow Stalker checked her crossbows. "What she said."

<><>​

Aegis dropped us carefully on to the roof of the building. To the casual eye, it seemed to be partially abandoned, with just a run-down takeaway on the ground floor, but my bugs told me a different story.

"Windows are all boarded up," I reported. "The place is horrendous. Bugs everywhere, the rooms are tiny, and the girls don't seem to have much chance to wash, or even sleep. Downstairs, it's even worse."

"Drugs?" asked Aegis.

"Basement," I supplied. "Big cache of it. At least, the bugs that I've got burrowing into it are going loopy."

"Right," he agreed, and passed the information on to the police. "Okay, when you're ready."

I took a deep breath. 'Bugpocalypse' was a technique that Shadow Stalker and I had evolved. I would inflict the target with bugs, and the target would leave cover, to be taken down by my waiting partner. She got a kick out of it, as the target often gave up as soon as she confronted him. Having bugs crawling into places that one did not know bugs could crawl into tended to seize one's attention.

"Top and bottom. Let's do this."

<><>​

Sophia loved watching Buzz at work. She was so utterly casual about it, not making any particular bones of the fact that she had tens of thousands of bugs at her beck and call. The 'top and bottom' comment was to do with the fact that she would swarm the men on the top floor, and those in the basement, first, then move the two swarms together.

From all around, clouds of bugs moved inward, entering the upper storey via chinks and cracks in the boards covering the windows. As the first sounds of distress began to filter outward through the walls and roof, Sophia took the cue to ease her way down into the building.

There she found men in all stages of undress, covered in literally thousands of crawling, biting and stinging bugs, while the painfully young girls cowered in their tiny beds, untouched by a single insect. Sophia didn't have much time for the girls; if they couldn't help themselves, she wasn't about to help them.

On the other hand, she was there to deal with the men, which she did, with considerable enthusiasm. One after the other, she took them down, subdued them, and secured them. And looking at the girls now peering out of their rooms, she was damned if she didn't feel a certain amount of satisfaction at a job well done.

<><>​

"They should be coming out the front door any moment now," I reported to Aegis. "There's a lot of them, but they're pretty well covered in bugs. Once you've got them subdued, I'll debug them."

"On it," he confirmed, and lifted off of the roof; I didn't need him up where I was, and the police would likely have need of another pair of strong hands. I was content to observe Shadow Stalker at work, and ensure that nobody slipped past her, or sneaked up on her.

Someone kicked the boards out of a window on the second floor, and I frowned. Shadow Stalker was at the wrong end of the building to intercept, and the police were all around the other side, awaiting the expected exodus.

Screw it, I thought. I've been wanting to hit someone all week. And I'm not letting this sonovabitch get away.

Even as the would-be escapee finished clearing the window, I was hurrying down the fire escape; as I reached ground level, he began to slide down the drainpipe. I kept track of the harried denizens and staff of the drug house as they attempted their escape, even as I watched Shadow Stalker deftly subdue yet another patron.

My own personal escapee reached the ground, looked around to get his bearings, then began to hurry down the alleyway. He was looking over his shoulder, and didn't expect for someone to step out from behind a dumpster and trip him; with a most satisfying thud, he went sprawling in the garbage.

"Hi," I told him, letting the bugs buzz in time with my voice. "The name's Buzz. Give up or things get worse."

He looked up at me, seeing a skinny teenage girl in a costume. He should have looked harder.

Just as he lunged at me, I swept a swarm of moths into his face and stepped aside; as he stumbled past me, I smashed my baton into his kneecap. He cried out and fell, rolling on to his side as he clutched at his kneecap.

"One more time, dirtbag," I told him. "Give it up."

He swore at me; normally I would have ignored it, but he chose to insult Mom. That, and I was already feeling particularly on-edge. This time I targeted the hand he was using to support himself, then kicked him in the face as he went down.

<><>​

Sophia found the small corner room and the window that had been kicked out. The rest of the floor was clear; she could hear the police coming up from below. Outside the window, however, she could hear the sounds of a scuffle. Jumping from the window, she drifted to the ground in shadow form.

She was just in time to see Buzz kick the man in the face.

"Now are you going to stay down?" demanded Buzz. All she got in reply was a groan.

Well now, mused Sophia. Buzz has interesting depths. She moved up behind Buzz. "Building's clear. You want to kick him again, feel free. I figure he's asked for it."

<><>​

I shook my head. "He didn't ask for this. I've got this thing -" I paused, not willing to go on. Abstractedly, I closed the baton.

"Let me guess," Shadow Stalker commented. "Civilian life problems. No-one knows you're a Ward, and you're just not getting the respect you deserve?"

"It's more than that," I told her. "There's this girl -"

"I know, right?" interrupted Shadow Stalker. "Bitches just not knowing when to give up. I've got the same problem myself. I just need to -"

"Ahem."

<><>​

The police had everything well under control around at the front; Aegis took off once more, looking for Buzz. She wasn't on the roof, but a quick search located her in a side alley, along with Shadow Stalker and one more man. The man appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear.

Great, he thought. Here I thought Buzz was a good influence on Shadow Stalker. I have to nip this in the bud.

<><>​

Shadow Stalker and I turned as Aegis continued. "I'm disappointed, Shadow Stalker. I really am. While a little excess of force can be tolerated while subduing suspects, to beat them up once they've already been captured is not permissible. I'm afraid that this will be going on your record -"

"Wait, wait," I objected. "Shadow Stalker didn't do this. I did."

He stopped, frowning. " … what?"

I stepped forward, showing him the baton in my hand. "I saw him running down this way, so I … intercepted him."

His frown deepened. "You're a Master, not a Brute. You should be staying back out of fights. You should have called one of us to deal with him."

"You were around at the front, and Shadow Stalker was busy inside," I evaded. "He might have gotten away, so I basically ambushed him."

He examined the prisoner, and his lips pressed together. "He was hit on the face after he was already on the ground. The blood has only trickled sideways."

I grimaced. "He said something about my mom. I … I lost my temper for a bit."

Another long searching look, and then he jerked his chin upward. "Right. I'll let this one pass, but don't do it again. Stick with me; I'll fly you back to base after the police are done here. And then we're going to have a talk."

I looked at Shadow Stalker; she looked back at me and shrugged slightly. "Talk?" I asked. "About what?"

He gestured at the supine form of my prisoner. "You'll see."

Reaching down, he picked up the man by the back of his belt and flew back down the alleyway, discouraging further questioning. Silently, I followed, with Shadow Stalker at my side.

<><>​

"So talk."

I glanced at Shadow Stalker, and she looked at me. Everyone else had been shooed out of the Wards base; it was just Aegis, her and me. We were seated on either side of one of the communal tables; Aegis had a soda. I hadn't gotten one, and nor had Shadow Stalker, given that we both wore full-face masks.

"Talk about what?" I asked cautiously, when it became clear that Shadow Stalker wasn't going to ask the question.

"About what's bothering the two of you," he replied. "Especially you, Buzz, but you're also pissed off, Shadow Stalker. I can tell. So what's going on here? Is there a problem between you two that I don't know about?"

I shook my head; Shadow Stalker did the same. "No, god no," I exclaimed. "Shadow Stalker's not part of it at all. It's a non-cape thing. Civilian identity problems."

"Yeah, like Buzz says," Shadow Stalker chimed in. "I've got no problem with her. She's kickass. My problem's elsewhere. Nothing to worry about; I'll have it dealt with soon enough."

Aegis shook his head. "No, this isn't good enough. Is it a home thing or a school thing? Are your parents giving you trouble?"

"No, Dad's great," I assured him. "He's not so thrilled that I'm a cape, but he's right alongside me being in the Wards and all. It's a school thing, not a home thing."

Shadow Stalker nodded in agreement. "Mom's okay with it, I guess. No problems there. It's something at school. No biggie."

"I'm inclined to think that it is a biggie, from the way you've each been acting. Now, you both say it's a school thing." Aegis paused. "Now, I have to ask your permission for this. Does either of you mind the other knowing which school you go to?"

I shrugged. "Not a real hassle with me." Turning to Shadow Stalker, I continued, "Arcadia, right?"

She chuckled. "I was gonna say the exact same thing."

Aegis shook his head. "No. Each of you is from Winslow. And as you're both from the same school, I was thinking that maybe you're having problems with the same person – or persons."

I shook my head. "No. I can't see it. Nobody I know is having as much a problem with these bitches as I do."

Shadow Stalker chuckled lightly. "Maybe I can help you with that. Throw me some names, and I'll pass the word for them to back the fuck off. For their own protection, of course."

Aegis frowned. "I'm not so sure that this is the best approach."

"Sounds better than anything else that's happened so far," I pointed out. "Sure. Emma Barnes. Sophia fucking Hess. Madison Clements. You know 'em?"

Silence fell over the table. I glanced at Aegis; his face had – amazingly, given that he was somewhat swarthy of skin – gone quite pale. With Shadow Stalker I couldn't tell, but her eyes were now boring into mine from behind her mask.

"What?" I asked.

"What … the … fuck?" Shadow Stalker's voice was ragged, a ghost of itself. "No. No fucking way."

"What?" I asked again, but a creeping suspicion was starting to make itself known. Little tiny hints, gathered over nearly two weeks of association, were coming together in a picture that I just couldn't believe."What?"

Aegis opened his mouth, went to speak, but Shadow Stalker beat him to it. "No fucking way. Not you. You can not be Taylor fucking Hebert."

It was her voice that did it. Overcoming the muffling sound of her mask, those sneering tones pronounced my name in a very particular fashion. I recognised it, and I wished to God that I didn't.

"Sophia Hess?" I screamed. "You're Sophia Hess?"

<><>​

I didn't know if she just didn't see me move, or if some part of her recognised what I was doing and accepted it, letting me carry it through. But I had the baton out and, before Aegis could intervene, I swung it in a short arc which terminated at her face. Her mask shattered, and she fell off the chair; I stood so fast that my own chair went over backward. I wasn't sure what I was going to do then, but Aegis got there first.

"Hold it!" he snapped. "Not another move!"

Numbly, realising what I'd just done, I let him take the baton from me, and I stumbled away a few steps and sat down on another chair. He knelt beside Shadow Stalker – Sophia – and checked her pulse.

"She's alive," he reported, "but I'm pretty sure you broke her jaw." Touching his radio earpiece, he added, "Medical personnel to the Wards base. One casualty, unconscious."

"Good," I muttered peevishly.

"No," he told me. "Not good. This is very not good at all. You're a Ward, and you injured another Ward on a personal matter which should have been aired long since. And I was here when it happened."

At first, I thought that he was talking about himself being a witness, but then it dawned on me; he felt responsible for having us sit down like this, only to discover our real relationship with each other. Shadow Stalker – Sophia – had been hurt on his watch.

"Oh," I muttered. "Sorry."

He grimaced; it could almost have been a smile. "That's all right. Now, Shadow Stalker needs to go to the infirmary to get checked out; that was a hell of a hit you laid on her. Once the medics get here, I'm going to report this incident."

I lifted my head. "What happens to me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll probably be placed in a holding cell while I discuss this with Armsmaster and the Director."

I swallowed. "Am I ... am I under arrest?"

"Only if you try to get away," he assured me. "What you did to her didn't come out of nowhere. After I finish telling them what happened, we'll all sit down with you -"

"Can Dad be there too?" I asked.

He smiled faintly. "I was about to ask if you wanted him present; not all Wards do. We'll all sit down, and find out exactly why you just did that."

I looked him in the eye. "Is this going to be some sort official cover-up, a whitewash because Sophia's a Ward?" That explains so many things.

His jaw set grimly. "Not hardly. For one thing, you're a Ward too. For another, I really do want to find out what's going on here."

"Yeah, well," I told him. "It's not going to be a fun story."

I knew I wasn't looking forward to telling it.



End of Part Seven

[A/N: Due to much (constructive) criticism, this chapter was considerably rewritten from the original. Therefore, comments may not match the text.]

Part Eight

 

[Ack]

Confrontation

Part Eight: Best of Enemies



Aegis had insisted upon ensuring that I had no more dangerous items upon my person; this was, I figured, regulations. However, he had taken me upon my word that I was fully disarmed. I appreciated that; I bore no ill-will toward him or anyone except Sophia Hess. It wasn't as if I was going to attack anyone else, or go on a rampage through the PRT base.

Of course, we had both known, even as I handed over the pepper spray, the spare baton, the folding knife and the brass knuckles, that these were the least of the weapons that I could bring to bear. Every bug within … huh … three and a half blocks was mine to command. I wasn't entirely sure as to why my range had expanded, but there it was.

However, I wasn't hostile toward Aegis, the Wards, the Protectorate or even the PRT. I was angry that they had somehow let someone like Sophia join the Wards and stay there, even as she helped carry out a vicious bullying campaign against me. Someone had dropped the ball, big time.

I supposed, as I sat in the holding cell, that had I known about Sophia being Shadow Stalker at the time Armsmaster suggested I join the Wards, that this would have tipped the balance for me. I would not have wanted to become part of any organisation that could tolerate her.

But now I was a member – for however long they let me stay in, I guessed – and I liked it. I liked them. Aegis was like an older brother, and Vista like a younger sister. Not that I'd ever had either one, but they were like what I thought having siblings would be like.

Shadow Stalker had fit into that frame of reference too, I realised, somewhat belatedly. She'd been that bitchy cousin who acted out because nobody really liked or understood her. Not that she made herself easy to like. She saw the world on her terms, very black and white. It was just that they weren't the terms that everyone else saw it on.

I turned my mask over and over in my hands, staring into the dull yellow lenses, trying to work through what I really thought about Shadow Stalker.

I wanted to tell myself that I had never really liked her, that I'd had some inkling, at some time, as to who she really was. What she really was. But I hadn't. I had liked her. I had trusted her. We had shared danger, and a few laughs, and I had been on the verge of accepting her offer to unmask. To meet her 'bestie' – Emma, of course – and go to the movies with them.

Now, of course, I couldn't help but wonder how that particular scenario would have turned out. Would she have rejected me? Would it have overturned her whole worldview to realise that Buzz was actually the girl she had tormented on a daily basis for so long?

And even if it had, even if she had changed, would I have changed? Or would I have done as I did, and attacked her with a deadly weapon?

I'd had an immense amount of respect for her, especially after seeing her in action. And yes, I had liked her. To others, she came across as rough-edged, almost hostile; to me, she was just direct. Of course, her admiration for my bug control probably had a great deal to do with her respect for me. And had she liked me? I believed so. After all, it was she who had raised the subject of unmasking. Capes didn't unmask in front of mere casual acquaintances.

And as for understanding her ... in a way, it was easier if I divided her into two people; Sophia Hess and Shadow Stalker. In her costumed identity, the impression I got was anger. Anger at the world, anger at the criminals who were dragging the city down. It was an emotion with which I could agree, even sympathise.

As for the other side of the equation ... I couldn't even begin to understand why she had targeted me in her civilian identity, but I had a nagging feeling that it had to do, somehow, with Emma. Well, of course it had to do with Emma; she was just as eager to bully me. But just as Emma was following Sophia's lead, there had to be some reason, related to Emma, that Sophia had chosen me to target.

I drew a deep breath, realising that the bugs with which I was in contact were agitated, swarming in greater and greater masses. With an effort, I sent calming impulses outward, even though I didn't feel much like calming down myself. The swarms gradually began to disperse, to settle down, and I leaned back, closing my eyes.

This was perhaps a mistake; almost immediately, I started going through a slow-motion replay of the reason that I was in the holding cell in the first place. The realisation, pulling the baton, swinging it. I had been sitting to Sophia's right, but we'd had our chairs half-turned, facing one another. In fact, we'd just finished agreeing that we didn't have a problem with each other.

Irony, thy name is Taylor Hebert.

I could still feel the impact as the weighted tip of the baton smashed into her mask, shattering the hard plastic. It was probably the only thing that had saved her life; the force of my blow had apparently broken her jaw in two different places. Had I struck her anywhere but the mask, I could have severely concussed her, or even killed her.

I could have killed her. We were friends. We were partners. She saved my life, and I nearly killed her.

That was the part that was twisting me up inside the most; while I despised Sophia Hess with every fibre of my being – which was why I had swung that baton with every ounce of strength that I had – I didn't dislike Shadow Stalker. I had seen her in her element, and I had wanted to be like that. I wanted to be that good, that practised, at what I did.

As Buzz, I had come face to face with her, neither of us knowing who the other was, and she had accepted me. She'd been cool about it. I had appreciated that; from what I saw, Soph – Shadow Stalker – did not want to be seen as weak, and yet she had accepted my help when she was wounded. We had connected, even; it might have been on a relatively weird wavelength, but we had understood each other. Kind of. Which was more, from what I gathered, than any of the other Wards had managed so far.

Of course, when I was talking about my problems, I was talking about her, and when she was talking about her problems, she was talking about me. Once more, I was forcibly reminded of the irony inherent in the situation.

I wondered how she was doing, if she had regained consciousness yet. And then I wondered at myself, for worrying about the well-being of someone who had helped bully me incessantly for eighteen months.

Shut up, I told myself. I'm worried about Shadow Stalker, not Sophia.

The fact that they were one and the same person, I tried hard to ignore.

I had to move. Sitting still just wasn't doing it for me. Standing up, I began to pace back and forth. I couldn't figure out why Shadow Stalker had made such a strong impression on me. We'd only known each other a few days. She had a forceful personality, sure, but that wasn't really it.

Sophia had that same forceful personality, but it had all been aimed toward hurting me. Shadow Stalker had acted like I was someone she wanted to spend time with, to team up with. She had admired me, admired my powerset. She had affirmed me as a hero, and as a person; as she was someone whom I suspected was hard to please or impress, this had pleased and impressed me.

But Sophia …

Sophia's not Shadow Stalker, I decided abruptly. Shadow Stalker's who Sophia wants to be, but she can't always reach that goal. In or out of costume, she needs an enemy to beat.

I wasn't sure why she had picked me to be said 'designated enemy', but as Shadow Stalker, she had obviously decided that I was an ally. She had admired me, and I had admired her.

Which made my hatred for Sophia all the harder to assimilate.

Fortunately, before I could twist myself into even more existential knots, the door opened. Aegis leaned into the holding cell.

"They're ready to see you now," he informed me.

Getting up, I wiped my suddenly-sweaty palms on my legs. "Thanks," I replied with a weak smile. "Should I mask up?"

"You can if you want." He paused, then added in a deliberately casual tone, "I wouldn't bother, if I were you. Everyone there knows who you are."

He didn't say any more, but I caught the unspoken message anyway. The mask makes you look scary. You don't want to look scary. It was the same thing that Mr Richardson had told me, not so very long ago. "Okay," I replied just as casually. "I'll leave it off then."

Besides, I belatedly realised, masking up makes it look as though I have something to hide.

Whatever impression I wanted to make, that was the very last one.

<><>​

Aegis escorted me to a conference room, not unlike the one in which I had had my initial entry interview into the Wards. It may well have been the same one; I wouldn't have been surprised. Several people were already there when we arrived – Director Piggot and Deputy Renick, Mr Richardson, Armsmaster, Shadow Stalker, in costume but unmasked, and a woman I didn't know – but I only had eyes for one.

"Taylor!" Dad exclaimed, rising from his seat and coming toward me. I met him; we embraced. "They called me, told me it was urgent," he told me. "What's happened?"

"They didn't tell you that bit?" I asked.

"Only that you'd had a disagreement with one of the other Wards," he replied with a frown. He hooked his head sideways to where Shadow Stalker sat. Is that her?

I nodded very slightly. Yes. "Did you bring that stuff I asked them to tell you about, from home?"

Puzzled, he nodded. "Yes, and I glanced over it. When this is done, I'm going to have words with Alan about -"

"Dad." I hated to cut him off. "That's not important right now. You gave it to them, right?"

"He did, yes." That was Director Piggot. I had spoken to her only once before now, but I had come away with the impression that those who dismissed her as a know-nothing bureaucrat did so at their peril. She tapped at the stack of papers before her. "I have perused it. The material is somewhat disturbing, if true. Ms Hebert?"

"I'm not sure," I told her. "May I see?"

She slid the pages over to me, and I leafed through them. The only sound in the room was that of rustling paper, as I turned one page after another. The dates all matched up, and nothing seemed to have been added in or removed.

"It's all there," I told Piggot, sliding the sheaf back to her. Belatedly, I realised how I had just addressed the woman who very likely had ultimate power over whether or not I continued in the Wards. "Uh, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Every word."

"Hm." She eyed me for a moment. "Sit, please. And you too, Mr Hebert. Aegis."

As we took our seats, Aegis closed the door and moved to take his own seat at the table.

There was a gap between me and the Director, with Deputy Director Renick on her other side, and Dad beside me. Armsmaster was alongside the Deputy Director, and Mr Richardson on the other side of Dad. At the far end of the oval table, probably not by coincidence, Shadow Stalker sat with Aegis on one side of her and the blonde woman on the other.

"Excuse me." Everyone looked at me. "Uh, who's that?" I indicated the woman. "I was told that everyone here knew who I was." I addressed her directly. "I've never met you."

"Oh. Uh, sorry," the woman replied. "Kirsten Bright. I'm Shadow Stalker's handler."

I frowned. "We get handlers?" If so, I'd never met mine.

Armsmaster shook his head. "No. It's due to Shadow Stalker's status within the Wards, not a factor of belonging to the Wards themselves."

There was something I wasn't getting. "I -"

"This is beyond the point, Ms Hebert," Director Piggot stated, cutting me off. "Ms Bright has been read in on your identity. Her presence here is not your concern. What is your concern is that you are accused of assaulting a fellow Ward on base, in the presence of your team leader, an attack that could have resulted in serious injury or death. Do you deny this?"

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "No, I don't deny this."

I felt Dad's hand steal over mine and clasp it tightly; I squeezed back. Armsmaster, the Director and Aegis seemed to relax slightly. Mr Richardson leaned forward fractionally, as did Shadow Stalker. The woman called Kirsten Bright didn't seem to react one way or the other.

"Very well then," the Director noted. "In this case -"

"Wait a minute," Dad interrupted, earning him an irritated glance. "Aren't you even going to ask her why?"

"Oh, the cause seems to be eminently cut and dried," the Director pointed out. "The papers which you brought from home match Taylor's handwriting, have been verified by Taylor to be genuine, and outline a rather extensive program of bullying against her since September of last year."

I took a deep breath. "The year before," I corrected her. "I only started to write it down last September."

"Indeed," she acknowledged, accepting and dismissing the information in less than a second. "Well, that's outside our purview. The beginning of your written account, however, does coincide, more or less, with Shadow Stalker's induction into the Wards. It's not that much of a stretch to imagine that when you discovered that Shadow Stalker was your bully and nemesis, you snapped. A weapon was at hand, and you used it."

I blinked. "Uh, yes. That's about it." This seemed to be too easy.

"Unless, of course," Armsmaster suggested, confirming my supposition, "you already knew of Shadow Stalker's secret identity, learned perhaps over the course of your patrol, and you manoeuvred yourself into a position where you could attack her in front of a witness and claim 'heat of the moment'?"

"Uh, no," I blurted. "No, that wasn't it at all. At school, we fought, Tuesday last week. I tripped her, she put me in an armlock, but then a teacher came past and they had to let me go. But she doesn't take insults like that lightly. She's been trying to catch up with me ever since then, but I've been using my bugs to keep track of her and her friends."

"So that was it!" Everyone turned to stare at Shadow Stalker. "No wonder I couldn't corner you!" I had been avoiding looking at her up until that point, but now I looked, and her expression wasn't the hatred or dismissal that I was used to; it was wariness, and maybe respect. I couldn't be sure of that last one; I wasn't used to seeing respect on her face.

Ms Bright murmured something to her, but she waved the woman off. "Doesn't matter now, does it? I misjudged Hebert. Never thought she'd have the guts to do something like this. But now that I know that she's Buzz, I'm not surprised. If she's got one tenth the shit written down about me that I think she does, then I'm done. I'm gone." She shot me a look in which baffled fury warred with the previous emotions.

Director Piggot leaned on the table and stared down at Sophia. "So you're admitting to everything that Taylor Hebert is accusing you of doing?"

Sophia shrugged. "Here's the thing. I deny it ever happened, you look into it, you find out I'm lying. I go to juvey. I cop to it, I still go to juvey. You got me. I admit it." She paused meaningfully. "But it wasn't you who brought me down. It was Buzz."

"And that's important to you?" asked Armsmaster.

"Sure it's important," Sophia replied readily. "Hebert was either weak, or pretending to be, all the time that shit was going down. I can't respect weakness. You get strong, or you die. Buzz is strong. I saw that from the moment I met her. She took on Lung, for fuck's sake."

"Language!" snapped Director Piggot.

"Oh, puh-leeze," Sophia retorted. "What are you gonna do? Throw me in juvey?" She looked back at me. "So all that time, you gathered that shit on me, and now, you take what I did to you, and use it to bring me down. That's ballsy, right there." She gave me a measured nod; I couldn't help but wonder if she would have been so accepting of her fate if the 'weak' Taylor Hebert had presented the evidence instead. But her words raised another question.

"So wait," I objected. "You're in the Wards because it keeps you out of juvey? How does that work?"

"Shadow Stalker shot a man," the Deputy Director explained. "A criminal. He nearly died. She was brought in, but a hearing decided that she could serve out her sentence in the Wards. However, she is under probationary status. Which she has just broken."

Which meant, of course, that Sophia would be going to juvey.

The trouble was, I suddenly realised, I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want Shadow Stalker to go to juvey. I disliked her as Sophia Hess; that was a given. But as Shadow Stalker, she was … not someone different, exactly, but someone who expressed herself in a different way. In costume, she was more free to do what she wanted, be who she wanted. I couldn't help wondering if her attacking me out of costume wasn't in some way down to a feeling of constraint, of frustration, at the rules she had to follow in her civilian identity.

Sophia Hess was someone I hated, but Shadow Stalker was someone I could be friends with. And I had few enough friends that I could not afford to not stand up for them.

Not that I was excusing her from her actions in any way; what she and Emma and Madison had done to me over the past year and a half was inexcusable. She had done the wrong thing, and she needed to pay for it. But … was locking her up the best way to do this?

"Which means that you're going back to juvenile detention." Deputy Director Renick went on, "Just as soon as the paperwork is completed."

I cleared my throat. "I … have an alternative suggestion."

Director Piggot turned to stare at me. "Ms Hebert, what the Deputy Director is proposing to do is the best result for you. Shadow Stalker has been tormenting you for more than a year, according to you. What possible alternative could you suggest to that?"

"She hasn't been bullying me as Shadow Stalker," I pointed out. "As Sophia Hess, yes. And I don't like her in the slightest." I paused, hoping that they'd get the fact that I was differentiating between the two. "But Shadow Stalker accepted me as a Ward. She's good at what she does. She can do good on the streets."

"We've heard these arguments before," Piggot stated dismissively. "They got her out of juvey once. It won't work a second time."

"I want to give Shadow Stalker a second chance," I told her boldly. "People can change. Most people don't choose to, because there's always ways to get around needing to change. But if they really have to, they can." I looked down the table at Sophia. "Maybe, before, when I was letting you bully me, I was weak. I'm not, now. Maybe you're a bad person. You don't have to stay that way."

"I don't understand," Renick objected. "This girl helped make your life hell. How can you be forgiving her, this easily?"

"I'm not," I told him with a shake of my head. "I'm not forgiving or forgetting. I'm just not … throwing her away."

"But why?" demanded Armsmaster. "Why even give her another chance? Surely she's used up all of her chances."

"I'm the one who attacked her, not the other way around," I reminded him. "If she'd attacked a fellow Ward, then yeah, all her chances would be used up, but that's not the case here."

"Yes, but you were provoked -" he began.

"And so what?" I overrode him. "I'm supposed to be the hero. I'm supposed to exercise restraint. I didn't. And for that, I guess I owe her a little bit of leeway here. So I am personally asking for you to not send her to juvey." I took a deep breath. "When I met Shadow Stalker, I liked her. She liked me, I think. I can work with Shadow Stalker. It's Sophia Hess I hate. But I think maybe Sophia Hess is the mask and Shadow Stalker is the girl. I want to give the girl under that mask a second chance."

Mr Richardson rubbed his chin. "She certainly violated her parole," he noted.

"Agreed." That was Renick.

"But ... she's already known as our 'success story'. And if we dump her now, and the truth gets out ... that's bad PR."

Piggot's expression was as sour as her voice. "Please don't tell me you're going where I think you're going with this."

Richardson's voice was meditative. "Ms Hebert, the victim, has expressed a desire for her not to go to juvenile detention."

Renick frowned. "Get to the point."

"The point, I believe, is that we desperately need all the capes we can get out there. On the streets."

"So you're saying to put her back on the streets." Piggot's voice was disbelieving.

"Still on probation," Richardson hastened to add. "Under supervision at all times."

"There's one big problem," the Director stated flatly. "We still have the problem, as Aegis pointed out, that nobody likes to partner her on patrol. Buzz was the only person who seemed to get along with her. Now that this has happened -"

I cleared my throat. "I'll still partner her."

<><>​

My statement could not have stopped her more thoroughly if I had asked Armsmaster to marry me. She stared at me; Armsmaster's helmet swivelled to point straight at me. Even Shadow Stalker was eyeing me as though I had grown two heads and started dancing the polka.

Shadow Stalker was the first to speak. "The fuck?" Her tone was heavy with disbelief.

"Language," responded Armsmaster, but he seemed half-hearted about it. "Ms Hebert – Buzz – do you know what you're saying?"

I nodded. "Yes. I do. You saved my life. You gave me a second chance. Like I said before, I think second chances count for something." I took a deep breath. "Look, if anyone has the right to demand that Shadow Stalker gets punted straight into juvey, it's me. She's hurt me more than … let's just say, she's done a lot to me. But if I'm willing to plead her case, that should say something."

"Yeah," Sophia replied directly. "It says you're nuts. Giving me another chance after … after what I did to you? You have to be." But her expression said something else; the wariness was back. She seemed to be trying to figure out where I was coming from, and failing.

"As much as I hate to agree with Shadow Stalker on anything … " murmured Aegis.

"No. I'm not." I looked squarely at the Director. "What would help the city more? To have Sophia Hess in juvenile detention, or to have Shadow Stalker out on the streets, saving people, doing good?"

It was a question with only one answer, and she knew it; her lips tightened. However, she rallied, as I had suspected that she would. "We can't allow her to just go out again and not suffer any penalties," she insisted. "It would send entirely the wrong message. In fact, doing this at all sends the wrong message."

"She's right," declared Armsmaster. "Crimes must be punished."

"It depends on the message, and how it's sent," Mr Richardson – I just couldn't think of him as Gerard – put in unexpectedly. "After all, if there is precedent for a supervillain to change sides and become one of the good guys, then there's precedent for a Ward gone wrong to turn over a new leaf and learn to better her ways."

Silence fell over the table; Director Piggot looked as though she had bitten into a particularly sour lemon. I wondered which superhero – which supervillain – Mr Richardson was referring to; it certainly didn't sound as though he was making an example up on the spot. Sophia, Ms Bright, Armsmaster and Renick all looked toward the Director for her response. Dad squeezed my hand again and leaned in close to me. "I hope you know what you're doing," he murmured. I didn't reply, but I nodded fractionally. So do I.

When Piggot next spoke, her tone was cautious, as if picking her words with care. "So, you're proposing that you will partner Shadow Stalker. Act as her probation officer, so to speak. Watch her to ensure that she doesn't transgress again."

I nodded. "Yes. In costume and at school." A shrug. "What she does at home isn't my problem."

"Oh, in the off-chance that we go along with this," the Director declared, "I will insist on a tracking bracelet that will only be disabled while Ms Hess is at school or on Wards business. When she's at home, she'll be under house arrest. Also, just so that she doesn't get the mistaken idea that she may be getting off scot free, her wages will be garnished; half her Wards pay will be going to you as partial compensation for her crimes." Her gaze on me sharpened. "Is that satisfactory?"

"Um, okay, sure," I agreed.

"Uh, Emily, Buzz may be capable, but she's not a qualified legal adult." This was the Deputy Director.

The Director shut him down with a gesture. "You're certain that you can do this? Ensure that she doesn't embarrass us again?"

I wanted to smile, but I repressed it. "I would demonstrate, but this might make you nervous. But yes, I can keep track of Sophia every minute, every second, that I'm within range of her. Trust me, you've never had a probation officer like me."

Piggot still wasn't convinced. "And this won't limit your heroic capabilities? Or impinge upon your academic studies?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Sophia objected. "You're all talking about me like I wasn't here. Don't I get a say in this?"

I met her eyes. "Yes. You do. You get to say 'yes', or you get to say 'send me to juvey, pretty please with flowers on top'. You don't get a third option."

Her gaze was challenging. "Maybe I don't mind going to juvey. Maybe I'd prefer it than have you watching over my shoulder with your goddamn bugs, morning, noon and night. Ever think of that?"

Her words were one thing, but under the tone was something else. Something that seemed to say, convince me …

"In which case, you go to juvey." My shrug was pure unconcern. "I really don't give a shit. I'm not married to the idea of you staying out; if you don't want to do it, then I can not, and will not, force you to do it. I'm just saying this because I don't want to send you on a one-way trip without at least giving you a chance to make right what you've done."

"Make right. Hah." Her sneer was magnificent. "Same old wimpy Hebert. Can't face up to sending me away."

Almost, I took the bait. Almost, I turned away. But I didn't. I'd seen that look a thousand times before, and this time, to me, it rang hollow. There was no conviction behind it, merely habit. So I didn't take the bait, didn't condemn her, as some small part of me wanted to. Instead, I matched her, sneer for sneer. "Maybe. Or maybe you're too weak to face up to what you've done."

A long blink. "The fuck did you just say to me?"

"You heard." I paused for effect. "Coward."

"No." She shook her head. "No. You do not get to say that shit to me."

The script was running on track. "Prove me wrong." My tone was challenging. "Run away and hide in juvey … or prove that you're brave enough to be a real hero."

"I am a real hero!" I had broken through to the real Shadow Stalker; now, I saw real anger on the surface, not just simmering away in the depths.

Leaning back, I folded my arms. "Haven't seen it yet. All I've seen is someone who's so brave they have to have friends along to bully one skinny fifteen year old."

For a moment, I thought that I might have gone too far. The glint in Sophia's eyes promised me dire retribution. But then she got a hold of herself; she knew as well as I did where this would go if she kept shouting. Already, Ms Bright was grasping her by the shoulder.

She shook off her probation officer and glared at me. "I can stick it out as long as you can."

"So that's a yes?" I asked.

Grudgingly, she nodded. "Yes."

"Director Piggot." My tone was formal. "Do you have a problem with this?"

"Many." Hers was less than thrilled. "But when one deals with parahumans, it seems that one must make compromises." She glared at me, then at Sophia, with what seemed to be equal amounts of venom. "Ms Hebert, I do not appreciate having my meetings hijacked like this. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded respectfully.

Next, she looked to Mr Richardson. "Gerard. Do you see a potential PR hazard in this?"

"No, ma'am." He shook his head. "In fact, if this goes through, it solves a potential problem in the making."

Her jaw muscles tightened. "I was afraid of that." Before I could work up the nerve to ask her what she meant by that, she was going on. "Buzz. You will partner Shadow Stalker. You will monitor her activities. Ms Bright, as her previous probation officer, will be your immediate supervisor in this matter. You will call her at any time of night or day if you have any queries, problems, or even if you just want to discuss the case or get advice."

Her gaze switched to Kirsten Bright. "You will make yourself available to Buzz twenty-four seven. You will help her to the very best of your ability. I will expect a written report for myself, and the Deputy Director, at the end of each week." Pausing, she looked back and forth between the pair of us. "If Shadow Stalker goes off the reservation in any way, at any time, I want to know about it."

She glared at me. "You will not soft pedal. You will not omit something because it was a 'one time thing'. You will not give her 'one last chance'. If she does something that would violate her probation, then I want to hear about it soonest."

Sophia opened her mouth to protest, but Piggot was already swinging toward her. "Shadow Stalker. You are beyond your last warning. You don't get an appeal; screw up from this and you are gone. Buzz, through some improbable level of goodness in her heart, is giving you this chance. She could just as easily have condemned you." She pointed at me, while still looking at Sophia. "There sits your very best friend. Her goodwill is all that stands between you and juvenile detention." A pause. "Is there any part of this that you do not understand?"

"Yeah." Sophia's gaze on me was once more challenging. "Why? And don't give me that 'second chance' bullshit. I want to know why you're really doing this. 'Cause if it's just to psych me out before dropping me in the shit, then forget it. I'm not playing."

"I've been out with you." My voice was quiet, but everyone in the room heard it. "I've seen you in action. You're good at what you do. When you want to be, you're a hero." I paused, thinking of what I was going to say next; she went to speak, but I waved her to silence. Wonder of wonders, she heeded me.

Taking a deep breath, I continued. "When I didn't know who you were, when you didn't know who I was, we got along. We worked well together. We were friends." Pausing, I grimaced. "I don't think that's going to happen again, not for a long time, if ever. That bridge burned down a long time ago. But we don't have to be friends to be teammates, to work well together. We just need the will to do it. I'm prepared to give it a shot. Are you?"

She gave me a long, considering stare. "And what if I said no? Next stop juvey?"

I glanced at the Director; she gave me a nod. "Yeah," I told Sophia. "That's about the size of it. Is that what you want? Because you seemed pretty chill about it, earlier."

Sophia snorted. "Yeah, no, fuck that. Juvey can kiss my muscular black ass."

Director Piggot frowned. "I'm still not totally convinced that this is a good idea, but Buzz has made a good argument. Deputy Director?"

Renick pushed his glasses up on his nose, and peered at me through them. "Ms Hebert, are you certain that you want to take on this level of responsibility?"

"If I don't, then who will?" I looked at him directly. "The way I see it, the PRT has not only failed me, by letting Sophia have her head to torment me, but it also failed Sophia, by neglecting to set and enforce boundaries on her actions. Sure, she should have been more responsible, but let's get real, here. Teenagers with superpowers are a powder keg with a lit fuse anyway. Bad judgement is something that we do really good, and that's without powers to mess up our heads."

Sophia brightened. "Hey, yeah, that's right. I'm not responsible -"

"Shut up, Sophia."

She shot me a glare. "Make me."

"I'm warning you, you won't like it." My tone was mild.

"Yeah, what're -" She broke off, coughing, as a bug flew down her throat.

"Told you that you wouldn't like it." I turned back to Renick. "I've made my own mistakes – who doesn't? – but I'm trying to learn from them. I want to give Sophia the chance to learn from hers."

Sophia was still coughing; Aegis helpfully slapped her on the back. The bug flew out of her throat and buzzed away. Sophia shot me a dirty look. "That was fucked up."

"Sophia." My voice was still mild. "Don't test me."

There was a long pause, as Sophia eyed me critically, as if she were trying to determine exactly how serious I was. Perhaps she even recalled what she had said about my bug control being badass. Whatever her thought process, she gave me a grudging nod.

"Okay," she agreed. "I can work with this."

I nodded in return. Boundary set.

"Good." I looked at the others. "So what else do we need to do here?"

Mr Richardson raised his head. "Shadow Stalker is already attending therapy. I would like to recommend that Buzz also attends regular therapy sessions, and that they attend joint sessions. No matter their good intentions, it's almost certain that the tensions between them will crop up again, unless they're dealt with."

I wasn't sure if I liked that idea. "Dad?"

"It's a good idea, kiddo." He squeezed my hand for emphasis.

If I can't trust Dad, who can I trust? "Okay, I accept," I stated firmly. "Sophia, you on board with this?"

Sophia frowned. "No, fuck that. No way I … " She trailed off. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "You know what? Great idea. Joint therapy for me, all the way."

Now, that's weird, even for her. I stared at her, trying to figure out the reason for her sudden about-turn. She was staring back at me, as were Aegis and Ms Bright.

No, wait. They're looking past me. I turned, as did Dad and Mr Richardson. To my right, the Director also turned.

The large window overlooking the city had been admitting bright sunlight just a few moments ago; now it was darkening, covered by thousands and thousands of bugs, with more arriving every second.

"Huh," I muttered. "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. They tend to swarm when I'm irritated or upset or frustrated." I told the swarm to disperse, and they did; moments later, there was not a one to be seen.

"I see," replied the Deputy Director. "Does this happen often?"

"Not really," I assured him. "As soon as I notice it, I just tell them to go away. They don't go apocalyptic on the city or anything."

"I'm pretty sure that we would have noticed such a thing," Mr Richardson agreed gravely.

Director Piggot cleared her throat. "I'm approving therapy for both Buzz and Shadow Stalker. Ms Hess, be warned that failing to turn up for a joint session will be -"

" - a violation of probation, got it," Sophia finished. "Don't worry, I'll show. I don't think I want Buzzpocalypse there mad at me."

I eyed her suspiciously. The 'Buzzpocalypse' line seemed a little close to our 'bugpocalypse' joke. Is she just putting on a show? Pretending reluctance, because that's what people expect of her?

Director Piggot was looking around the room. "Was there anything else before we conclude this?"

Dad raised his hand briefly. "Yeah. I want the other girls that have been bullying Taylor to be brought to account."

"We can inform the police of the matter," the Deputy Director agreed. "Show them the evidence you brought us."

"Plus a sworn statement from Sophia," I added. "That should nail it down nicely."

Sophia eyed me for a few moments, then shrugged. "Sure. I was going to be cutting ties with those bitches anyway."

Ms Bright stirred. "I can see to that if you want, Director."

Piggot shook her head. "No. I want you to stay, once we're done here. We need to discuss your … reporting priorities."

"Yes, Director." Kirsten Bright did not look particularly happy at the idea. Not that I cared all that much about her happiness; if she had enabled Sophia in what she did, I gave the Director all joy in that conversation.

"I'll deal with it," Mr Richardson offered. "She'd need to bring them to me to get them notarised anyway."

Piggot nodded. "See to it." She looked around the table. "Any other business?"

No-one had any; she nodded. "Meeting over. Shadow Stalker, Buzz, you're rostered off until tomorrow morning. Roster sheets will be posted up in the Wards' base. Aegis, Ms Bright, please wait back a moment. Armsmaster, Paul, a moment also, please. Everyone else, dismissed."

<><>​

Outside the meeting room, Mr Richardson turned to Sophia, Dad and me. "I can do those statements now if you want," he told us. "My office is just along this way."

"So you're a notary public as well as what you do here?" asked Dad as we followed him.

"In addition to Public Relations officer, yes," Mr Richardson explained. "It's amazing how many documents need to be witnessed on a daily basis in a building this size."

"I can't even imagine," I commented truthfully.

"Let's just say 'enough' and leave it at that," he replied with a warm chuckle. "Here we are now. If you can just wait for a moment, I'll get the forms so you can write up the statements; Mr Hebert, I'll get you to witness them, and I'll notarise them."

We took our seats in the outer office area; I glanced at Sophia. "You aren't saying much."

Her shrug was minimal. "Waiting for the, whaddaya call it, other shoe to drop."

"Trust me," I told her. "You'll know when it does."

She paused and lowered her voice. "Tell me something."

I moved my seat closer to hers. "What?"

"What you said in there. Did you really mean all of that, or were you just fucking with me?"

"I meant it," I told her immediately. "As Shadow Stalker, I like you. But you're also Sophia Hess. Who I can't stand, for obvious reasons."

She nodded. "Well, yeah. Can't exactly blame you for that."

"Yeah. So here's the question. Are you still basically the bitch who bullied me for eighteen months for shits and giggles, or are you the superhero who trusted me to get a bandaging job right, and who saved me from falling to my death? Wrong answer, you'll be going back to juvey pretty soon. Right answer, you stay a Ward. Your choice."

She frowned, as if trying to work through something. "So wait, what you're saying is that you're still willing to give me a fair shake. Just because I wasn't a dick to you, the first time we met in costume."

I thought about that. "Basically, yes," I conceded.

" ... huh." Sophia sounded almost puzzled. "I'm going to have to think about that."

<><>​

"Aegis." Director Piggot's tone was hard, even harsh.

"Ma'am."

"You brought this on us with your insensitive handling of the situation."

"Ma'am, yes, but I -"

"I wasn't finished."

"Ma'am?"

"You could have driven Buzz away for good, or caused Shadow Stalker to suffer permanent injury or even death."

"Ma'am, I was trying -"

"- to do something you weren't trained for, and didn't know how not to do."

There was a long pause. "Yes, ma'am."

"You're being relieved of the position of the leader of the Wards. I am appointing Clockblocker in your place. You will undergo whatever training I deem necessary until you are fit to lead the Wards again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Dismissed."

She waited till the door was closed, then turned to Kirsten Bright. "Now, Ms Bright. This whole fiasco could have been avoided if you had just paid more attention and done your job as you were instructed to do."

Pale-faced, Kirsten nodded without speaking.

"Even more than Aegis, you are at fault here. There had to be some mention of Ms Hess' tendency toward aggressive interactions with the other students."

"If there was, I don't know what it was," Kirsten replied defensively. "Her grades were acceptable, she was getting prizes in track and field - "

"Complaints?" asked Armsmaster. "Detentions?"

"A few," admitted Kirsten. "But every kid gets detention at some point or another."

"So why was I not informed of any of them?" asked Piggot harshly.

"I, uh, didn't want to bother you -"

"Well, guess what. What bothers me is that you failed to keep us in the loop, and as a result, this happened." The Director leaned forward. "Not unlike Shadow Stalker, you have one last chance. Don't screw it up."

As the door closed behind Kirsten Bright, Piggot leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

"Make you feel any better?" asked Renick.

Piggot shook her head. "Not really," she admitted. "Hess is pretty devious. Caught us all on the back foot."

"You think Buzz will be able to handle her?" asked Armsmaster. "She is only new."

"For both their sakes, I hope so," muttered the Director.

<><>​

"Well, fuck you too!"

I paused at the entrance to the cafeteria. Sophia was storming away from a seated group of girls, which included Emma and Madison. She saw me and almost visibly decided not to alter course to avoid me. Once outside in the corridor, she stopped and punched the wall.

"Problems?" I asked mildly.

"You weren't listening in?" She was breathing heavily, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I rarely do." Plus, bugs have crappy hearing.

"Fucking Emma." Her voice was a growl.

"Not that I don't agree, but what about fucking Emma?"

She rolled her eyes. "She's pissed at me because of that statement. Wants me to use my 'Wards influence' to step in on her side." She didn't make air quotes; I suspected that she would punch anyone else who did so in her presence.

"And you told her that you couldn't or wouldn't," I guessed.

She punched the wall again, not as hard. "So she 'just happened' to mention the dirt that she and her dad have on me. Stuff that could come out if it comes to court."

I had my phone out. "Bad stuff?"

"Stuff the PRT doesn't know about yet." Which made it bad, almost by definition. "What are you doing?"

"Damage control." I hit the speed dial for Kirsten Bright.

Three rings later, she answered. "Yes?"

"Got a potential problem. Here's Sophia."

I handed the phone over, and Sophia had a brief muttered conversation. I didn't try too hard to listen in, but I didn't walk away either. I caught references to 'he just fell' and 'had a gun', but that was about it.

When she was finished, she handed the phone back. "She wants to talk to you."

I held it to my ear. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for contacting me on this. I'll get our legal team on to it immediately. Director Piggot will want to speak to Sophia about withholding information. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment."

"I'll talk to you later then."

I put the phone away and turned to Sophia. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not right now."

"Fine then. How about telling me something else?"

She eyed me suspiciously. "Like what?"

"Like why Emma turned on me like she did."

"What, you don't know?"

"No, Sophia, I don't know."

"Huh. Okay, sure, I'll tell you."

<><>​

I sat, staring into space. Sophia nudged my shoulder. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. I just can't believe it."

"Can't believe what?"

"Can't believe that that crock of shit is what put me through utter hell for eighteen months."

"Hey." Her voice was defensive. "That 'crock of shit' got me through some bad times."

"And it put me through some pretty damn bad times, too." I gave her a hard look. "So what are you gonna do?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. Geez, if I'd known you were gonna be busting my balls like this … "

I waited; she didn't go on. "Yes?"

She grimaced. "This 'feeling sorry' shit sucks big time."

"Get to the point sometime this century, already."

"Fine." It was a sigh. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to go through with this." Opening her bag, she pulled out a long narrow cardboard box and offered it to me.

I didn't take it. "What is it?" I asked suspiciously. "And go through with what?"

"Open it," she told me. "You'll see." She seemed to be bracing herself for something unpleasant.

Cautiously, I took the box and opened it. Inside, it was lined with tissue paper. In the tissue paper …

I fumbled it out of the box, heedless of the litter I was dropping on the floor. The flute was old, worn. The damage once done to it had been carefully repaired; the marks of it were still there, but that was all they were, marks. I looked it over, trying to blink back the tears that welled in my eyes.

"My mother's flute."

She nodded, still apparently bracing herself. "Yeah. I got it back from Emma, the day after you stood up for me. Took me awhile to do something with it. And when I did, it cost me almost all my savings. But yeah, this is kind of me saying sorry. Okay?"

I grabbed her, hugged her, squeezed her tightly. "Thank you," I breathed. "Thank you."

Slowly, her arms went around me. "Yeah, don't make a habit of this, all right? I still don't know how to deal with this emotional bullshit."

Grinning through the tears that were now running down my face, I gave her an extra squeeze before letting her go. "No promises, Sophia. No promises."


The End


[A/N: Buzz and Shadow Stalker may return in a sequel to Confrontation, but this is as far as this story covers. Thank you for reading.]

[A/N: Due to much (constructive) criticism, this chapter was considerably rewritten from the original. Therefore, comments may not match the text.]

Sequel.