Chapter Text
SAT FEB 26
I woke up early, since I hadn't been sure what we'd be doing for exercise today. Decided to get a workout in before I had to leave, just in case. About forty minutes of weight training later, I started dad's coffee, then called Amy while waiting for the shower to heat up. She sounded cranky, but said she'd already been awake. After informing her that we'd be by in about half an hour to pick her up, I hung up. Then I made sure dad was getting up, and hopped into the shower for a quick scrubbing rinse to get the morning's sweat off.
After that, I threw on something that looked relatively nice, and headed downstairs to meet up with dad. He finished his cup and refilled it for the road, and we drove over to the Dallon's. He parked on the curb and I hopped out, heading for the door. The house was surprisingly active, this early. I could feel Amy in the kitchen with Mark, snacking and pulling from a mug. Carol was in the living room, typing away at a laptop while facing the bay windows taking up most of their street-side front room wall, letting in the morning sun. Vicky... was still in bed, from what I could tell.
When I knocked, Carol was the first to react properly, grabbing her own mug and heading for the door, while Amy took a minute to finish whatever she'd been talking with Mark about. She saw Dad's truck through the windows first, then caught sight of me through the door's peephole. I could feel her grumble slightly to herself before she opened the door. The stare she leveled my way was frosty, but not quite as hostile as I'd expected. Her clothes were nice, but casual. She probably wasn't planning on heading anywhere today. Her mug caught my eye, now that I could see the decals on it. 'Best Mom' set over a medal. It took me a second to recognize it as rather obviously a bronze medal, and I couldn't help but think Amy must've had something to do with it.
Carol cleared her throat. "Yes?"
I flinched at the curt tone. I hadn't intended to freeze up like this. "Uh, is Amy...?" I peered behind her, feeling Amy peel off from the kitchen, taking large gulps of her drink as she came into view.
Her mother snorted, feeling rather amused, though her flat expression barely showed it. "Yes, Amy can come out to play."
The girl herself huffed out a strangled chuckle. "Thanks a lot, Carol." She finished off her coffee, then handed the mug over to her mother as she passed. "I'll be back by 9."
Amy strode right past me, and I glanced briefly between them, before I followed her. Carol rolled her eyes, frustrated but still amused, as she softly kicked the door shut.
She opened the truck's door, and waited for me to hop into the middle seat, before she followed me in. "Is... everything okay?" She hummed inquisitively at my question, so I elaborated. "She seemed... different?"
"Yeah," She muttered, rolling her eyes again. "I told her we told Vicky. She's not happy with you, but she's running out of excuses for her hate-on."
Dad stifled a snort, trying to play the good silent chauffeur, but obviously listening in. I appreciated the effort, but it was a bit of a lost cause in a single-row pickup. "Ah," I muttered. "so that... went well?"
She shrugged. "About as well as it could've. Mark was there, and he likes you."
Dad nodded along, and I got the feeling I was missing something, again. "Right." I drawled.
Amy butted her shoulder into mine. "Don't make it weird. He's just happy that I've been happier, lately."
"Dads are like that, sometimes." Mine cut in, smiling.
I hummed noncommittally, and let the conversation drift off. We spent the rest of the nearly ten minute trip to the nicer part of town listening to the quiet radio playing one of dad's classic rock stations. After we stopped on the curb to hop out, Dad asked again if we'd need a ride back, probably thinking that adding Amy to the question might change the answer, but we declined. So he headed off to grab breakfast somewhere and head in to the office for a few hours, while we made our way to the door.
We knocked, and waited while Cheryl came to answer the door. She didn't seem to be in the best mood, but wasn't outright angry. I guessed she was too happy with Dinah's improvement to be too put out about my bringing a friend today. "Hello, Taylor. And you must be Amy." They shook hands, and from her minimal reaction, I gathered Amy had her powers off for now.
"Yup."
She was irritated by Amy's curt reply, but dropped it to invite us inside. We followed her in, and found the rest of the Alcotts at their table. Dinah looked and felt apologetic, while her father looked stern.
"Miss Hebert." He nodded to me. "And miss…?"
Amy bit a sigh back to a long exhale through her nose. "Amy Dallon."
The parents glanced at each other, and I felt the moment they realized why they recognized the name. "Dear," Cheryl muttered, turning back to us. "you're Panacea?"
Amy gave in to the urge to sigh, this time. "Yeah, that's me."
"Oh my," She actually swooned a little. "if I'd known… Dinah, dear, did you…?"
Her daughter grimaced under her gaze. "I d-" She stuttered, shaking her head. "It's study time. I knew you'd make a big deal out of it. I didn't want… a party or something."
Cheryl chuckled. "Ah, I… suppose that's fair, dear."
Her husband laughed a bit, too. "Well, now. That changes things. Come on, sit, sit! We have-"
"Can you heal my parents?" Dinah asked, loudly cutting him off, and staring longingly at Amy.
"What?" The rest of the room asked, while Amy glared back.
"Please." Dinah begged, her eyes tearing up. "They don't think I know, but… they've been going to the hospital, and lying, and… They keep saying everything is fine when I know it isn't. I know it."
Right, with her power it must be easy to tell if something's wrong, or that something bad could happen. If she's been asking about this, and getting worse and worse answers? I couldn't imagine how horrible it would be to know someone I loved was going to die, and know just as certainly there was nothing I could do about it. "Amy…" I muttered, imploringly.
Dinah's father was blustering, indignantly trying to form a denial without shouting. Her mother was more successful, though her body was blooming with internal stress and fear responses. "Honey, we're fine…"
"No, you're not!" She yelled back, her voice growing a manic edge.
Amy was growing steadily more frustrated, and seemed to have had enough. "I can't do anything without their consent. If they're sure nothing's wrong, I can't change their minds."
"But you can check, right?" Dinah asked, desperately, turning back to her parents after Amy hesitantly nodded. "She can check, right?" Her mother started making a vaguely dismissive noise, so she continued. "If nothing's wrong, then she can prove there's nothing wrong. You can… you can go to your doctors and tell them she said nothing's wrong, and they'll believe her."
The parents glanced at each other, but that seemed to convince them. "Alright, dear. If it'll make you feel better, there's no harm in checking." Cheryl held her hand out to Amy, who tensed slightly- turning her senses back on, I guess- and took it.
A few seconds later, she was shaking her head. "I'm sorry. Stage two breast cancer."
Cheryl pulled her hand back, as if burned. "But…" She shook her head, glancing to her sad but determined daughter, and her husband. "I can't…" She started hyperventilating. "It can't be. I can't have cancer."
Amy shrugged. "Everyone has cancer." That stopped Cheryl's panic spiral well enough, but left all of us staring at her in confusion. She sighed, and continued. "Cancer's been killing things for more than a billion years. Most animals, humans included, are built to handle the vast majority of cancers before they could even be detected. Over ninety-nine percent. I can guarantee, if you're old enough to ask if you've had cancer, you've had cancer. The rest are either benign, like those nodules on your thyroid, or the stuff the body can't handle. Never assume you can't get cancer, that's what the screenings are for." She dropped out of lecture mode, shaking her head. "I'm assuming they found something?"
"I…" She hesitated, swallowing before she continued. "I thought it was just another false positive…"
"Those suck," Amy nodded, "but the tests are built to have as few false negatives as possible. It's hard to get perfect." She hummed to herself. "Anyway, it's not in your brain. Did you want me to heal you?"
She hesitated, stuttering. "Yes. Yes, please."
Amy took her hand again, and I sat down next to Dinah. "Are you okay?" I asked softly.
She nodded, drawing in a wet, nearly sniffly breath. Her father was stunned, to the point he didn't seem aware of us. About a minute into the healing, I started feeling restless, and began piling my plate with waffles, fruit, and eggs. I was hesitant to actually start eating though, for the same reason I hadn't spoken since poking Dinah. It seemed… a little too rude, given what was going on. Still, I nudged her again, trying to keep the guilt and shame that threatened to overwhelm her relief at bay, prompting her to start nibbling thoughtfully at a strawberry. Then I started a plate for Amy, just to keep my hands busy.
About three minutes after she'd started, Amy nodded. "Alright, done." Cheryl thanked her timidly, clasping her hands together in front of her. "You wanted me to check, too?" She turned to asked Chris, who shared a glance with his wife. She was staring pleadingly at him, and he nodded. Amy strode over to where he was still seated, laying a hand on his. "Hypertension, cholesterol plaques, minor organ failure…" She muttered to herself, before scoffing and speaking up. "I'm a little surprised you managed to go this long without a major heart attack or stroke. I'm seeing some damage that could've been a prior cardiac event, people don't usually miss those." Her waspish tone wasn't helping any, and she sighed when she realized it. "I assume you want me to heal you?"
He nodded and muttered his agreement, and she sat down to work. I'd run out of busywork for my hands, so I turned my attention outward. Trying to distance myself from the world enough to meditate also seemed a touch too disrespectful, especially considering how short the time until she'd be done was. So I focused on the neighbors in the nearby blocks of houses. They were actual lots with proper yards and space, but they still crammed a lot of them into the area. It was easy to detect the people, see generally what they were doing. It was a little harder to try and figure out what people were saying, what they were eating… it was also a challenge deliberately ignoring the three couples nearby… coupling.
I'd become somewhat inured to it, over the past month or so. Before, I could just stop focusing on them, let them have their privacy and try to stop feeling like a pervert for what watching I did do. Now though, it was more difficult. Like the difference between being able to glance away, and trying to ignore something you were staring right at. Like having so much extra brainpower you couldn't force yourself to ignore every little itch and wiggle on your skin, because there was always more to your attention that had nothing better to focus on.
Cheryl turned to glance at us, and I forced a wide smile for her benefit, which she timidly returned.
In the end I wound up meditating anyway, better able to force myself not to care about the minutes ticking by. Eight minutes in, Amy was done. "Alright, you," She indicated Cheryl. "might be hungrier than normal for the rest of the day. While you," She turned back, waggling an accusing finger mr. Alcott's way. "should talk to your doctor. If they set you on a diet, or a prescription, stick to it."
He stared warily at the finger for a moment, then gave a hesitant nod. Cheryl was nodding along with her words, her emotions shifting from worry and anxiety to an odd mix of gratitude and resignation. "Thank you." She said to both of us, glancing down and eyeing the plates I'd set up for us. "Why don't you girls head on up? We can worry about the dishes later."
"Are you sure, mom?" Dinah asked hesitantly.
She glanced back at her husband, and nodded. "It's fine, for today."
"Alright." I cut in. If she wanted some privacy, I wasn't adverse to giving it. Healed or not, she wasn't having the best day right now. I grabbed the plates for myself and Amy, nodding toward the stairs. "Thanks for breakfast."
She murmured a demurred sentiment as we filed up the stairs. Dinah was right behind me, and we set the plates down on her desk, which already had some of her books and homework open and out. Amy shut the door behind us, and I watched Dinah's parents sit together, holding each other and muttering, emotions flaring between panic, relief, worry... I shook my head. They were dealing with it, they'd be okay.
Amy had been fuming since we left, though I think I underestimated by how much when she venomously hissed at Dinah. "So, is that why you wanted me here?" The girl turned away timidly. "You couldn't have asked beforehand? Or convinced them to just see me at the hospital?"
"I'm sorry." She replied, sitting on her bed, which made her seem even smaller compared to us. Then the glanced back at Amy, a bit more steel in her spine, heart filling with determination. "But, I love my parents. I knew you wouldn't say no."
"Amy," I cut in, drawing her attention so she wouldn't snap at the girl. "she was scared and desperate. I know I was that impulsive at her age, we should cut her a little slack." Amy scoffed, but didn't snap or rebut the point. I turned to Dinah, who'd folded in on herself contritely at my words. "But, we're a team now. The most important part of teamwork is communication. If you need help, just ask for help. We need to learn to trust each other, and this isn't helping any."
She shrank back in on herself. "I'm sorry, Taylor." She muttered pitifully.
I sat down next to her, bundling her up in a hug and rubbing at her back while she fought back her oncoming sniffles. I hesitated, lost for words, until I decided to just think of what mom would say. "It's okay, sweetie. We're all learning. We'll get better together, okay?"
She nodded and smiled, nuzzling into my shoulder a bit. I glanced at Amy, who'd begun fidgeting as her heartrate picked up. She was blushing a little, and felt stressed and ashamed after a brief spike of jealous envy. I jerked my head slightly, silently asking if she wanted to turn the hug into a cuddle pile, but she glanced away, blushing harder as her frustration spiked. Oh well, I was hopeful she'd get over her thing with touching eventually.
A couple minutes later, I nudged my shoulder against Dinah, jostling her slightly. "You feeling better?" She nodded shyly. "Okay. Do you want to start with homework, studying ahead, talking about powers, or team stuff?"
She sat up fully and sighed. "We might as well do powers."
I nodded. "Okay, I'm Terraform. I'm a Shaker, with control over classical elements, and some of their weird esoteric properties I think, like water being linked to healing." That made the most sense to me, anyway. "I'm also fast, and a bit stronger than normal." I looked over to Amy, who rolled her eyes and grumbled.
Her gut and muscles clenched slightly, her eyes twitched downward, and her breath hitched. Outwardly I wouldn't notice, but she was gearing up to lie. "Panacea. Striker. I can heal people, and see their biology." That sounded right, but... she had to be omitting something, then. Whatever it was, it bothered her enough to prompt mild stress and fear responses just avoiding it. I knew I didn't have much room to talk, since I was also omitting things I didn't want her to know...
No, she was my best friend, and I trusted her. She deserved to know I was reading her like a book. I decided then that I was going to tell her, when we left for home. Dinah was a sweet girl, but she still had trouble catching all the little quirks her power had her slipping into. She wasn't ready for all our secrets, yet...
I pushed down the dark part of myself that just wanted to know what her secret was. She was a good person, and I trusted her. Whatever it was, it was fine.
"I'm... uhh..." Dinah demurred, fidgeting again. "I... kinda' want a name?"
The fact that she seemed to be asking to be allowed a cape name was both cute, and... a bit sad. "That's fine, I thought you'd want one eventually, I just wasn't pushing you."
She nodded, a bit more confident with my open approval. "I think... I like Shatterpoint."
Amy and I glanced at each other, curious and... a little alarmed. That sounded like a fighter's name, rather than a support role like a precog. "Are... you sure?"
She nodded. "It's a term that's come up in regards to future-prediction. It's kind of obscure, someone took a fiction reference and used it for a real thing. It's... uh," She took a moment to blush and fidget. "it's a point or event, which can radically change the future, depending on how it goes. Or something that causes so much change, it's hard to precog what comes after." I gave an impressed hum, while Amy blinked. "I... I want to change the future. It... seemed like a good name."
I barked a short laugh, and chuckled as I rustled her hair. She mewled unhappily about it, but I knew she was smiling. "That sounds like a pretty good name, then."
She took a moment to breathe and calm down before continuing. "A-anyway... I'm a Thinker. I get... visions, sometimes. It's hard to remember them, since my power changed. If I'm asked the right sort of question, or if I ask them, then I get numbers. Percentage chances for how likely something is."
"Your powers... changed?" Amy asked, her tone worried with a hint of incredulity. I could tell she was shocked and intrigued, though.
Dinah nodded. "I used to get really bad headaches after only a few questions. Now I don't see things very often, I get less specific numbers... but I have a lot more questions per day."
Amy glanced my way and I shrugged. "I have no idea."
"Powers don't just change." She stated.
Dinah glanced away, but nodded. "I know. Mine did, though." She leaned forward, and started talking faster. "I had mine for weeks before Taylor found me, and they were always the same since I got them. Ever since Christmas, when dad... got sick." She hugged her arms to herself and curled slightly.
"...when he had a heart attack." Amy stated.
It took a moment, but Dinah nodded. "It wasn't like the ones on TV. He was just... tired, all of a sudden. Said he was sick. They went to the hospital the next day, and he didn't believe them."
Amy rolled her head in a halfway-nod. "If he was hiding chest pain behind some bullshit machismo, I could see how it might look like that."
We were quiet for a few moments, before Dinah spoke up again. "Amy?" She hummed in response, and Dinah continued. "...thank you, for saving him, and helping mom."
The healer glanced away, waving off the sentiment, before our continued silence prompted her to sigh. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome."
I couldn't help but smile, thinking they might get along after all. "Okay, so. Team stuff?" I got nods, so continued. "We've got the three of us, plus Glory Girl, now. Dinah, do you mind me asking some questions?"
She shook her head with a small shrug. "Go ahead?"
At first my thought was to ask about the chances of recruiting other capes over the week, and the next month or so. That brought my mind to Rune, and her plea for help. "I... have something to tell you both first, actually." I took a breath, and dove right in. "I was approached by some villains over the past few days."
"What, who...?" I waved down Amy's outburst, and her eyes widened slightly before she growled.
"I'm getting to that." I said, before she could work herself up any more. "First off, Rune says she doesn't want to be a part of the Empire anymore. I believe her, but I don't know how to help her, or even if it's a good idea." I took a deeper breath and thought up a few questions and how to word them. "So first off, was Rune being honest when she said she wanted out? Will she keep wanting out in the future?"
Dinah stilled with that little internal flinch I'd come to associate with her power activating. "87 percent."
Well, it was good to have that verified, at least. Amy scoffed, her emotions bubbling into an indignant fury at the thought of helping her. I ignored that for now. "Would helping her be the best thing for her sake? For our team's sake?"
"78 percent yes, 65 percent yes." Dinah replied, a touch woodenly.
I nodded. "That's good enough for me. Amy? Dinah?"
Dinah looked a little surprised I asked for her opinion, but Amy glowered at me. "You really want to help her? She's-" I shushed her when her voice started getting too loud, pointing down toward the Alcotts downstairs. She huffed, but kept her voice lower. "She's a villain. She's killed people."
I took a deep breath and turned back to Dinah. "What are the chances she'll commit a hate crime, if we keep her away from the Empire and her family?"
The girl blinked owlishly. "Two percent."
That sounded pretty good to me, but Amy was still bristling. "What are the chances she kills someone in the future, if we recruit her?"
She winced. "66 percent."
I cringed and thought about it for a second. "What about the chances she kills someone who isn't themselves a murderer?"
"Thirteen percent."
Amy was looking victorious, so I glared her way and snapped, "Same questions, if we don't recruit her."
Dinah scrunched her nose cutely as she pondered the questions. "32 percent chance she commits a hate crime, 88 percent chance she kills someone, 58 percent chance she kills an innocent person."
I gave Amy a 'fucking see!?' look, and she grimaced. "Alright, fine." She muttered. "It's better to get her out of the gangs. Just don't expect me to like her."
"Dinah?" I asked, and she closed her eyes. I could feel her tense a couple times, likely additional questions she was asking her power, before she looked back my way and nodded. "Alright, what are the chances she'll join up if I just… ask her to?"
She glanced up for a moment, then back. "76 percent."
I grunted with mild surprise. "Better than I thought. Okay, that's Rune handled for now. I'll set up a meeting and talk to her, then we can go from there." I took another fortifying breath, then forged on. "I also met another villain." I opened my mouth to continue, but paused. Did I really forget to get Lisa's cape name? That… sounded really stupid, but exactly the sort of mistake I'd make when tired. Ugh. "A member of the Undersiders. Their Thinker."
"Who?" Amy asked, seeming resigned to the fact that I was hip deep in weird contacts already.
"The Undersiders, they-"
"Small time thieves, I know. I don't remember their names, though."
I grimaced, and started to fidget shamefully. "I… forgot to get her cape name."
Amy stared. Dinah glanced my way. I kept fidgeting. "Really?" She muttered, finally.
"It was right after Canberra." I spat, throwing my hands up. "I was tired and worked up, it slipped my mind, since she gave me her real name."
"What?" Amy chirped incredulously.
I shook my head. "She wasn't in costume. Neither was I. She gave me the name she's going by around town, and her real name, I didn't think to ask about her cape name." I heaved out a tired sigh. "I was too busy trying not to strangle her for jumping me on the way to school."
Amy kept staring for a moment, before she sighed, too. She dug her phone out, and muttered, "Keep talking." while fiddling with it. Dinah shifted closer to her desk, to start on her food while she listened.
"Well, they've all got problems. Regent ran away from home, and just wants money and to be left alone. Bitch is wanted for murder, but apparently it was an accident when she triggered, instead of premeditated like the PRT thinks. Grue is gathering money, trying to get custody of his sister, and thinks being a villain is the best way to do that for some reason. And… uh…" I wasn't sure if I should just tell them Lisa's name, or not. Amy solved that problem for me.
"Tattletale." She said, still skimming. "Thinker. Doesn't have her own page, just a suspiciously sterile blurb in the Undersider's information."
"Right." I muttered. "Tattletale says she never wanted to be a villain, but she was recruited by their team's shadowy boss at gunpoint. With what Dinah's been saying, I believed her when she said people are willing to recruit Thinkers like that." The girl shuddered, and I rubbed at her shoulder. "She wants help taking down their boss, Coil."
Amy muttered the name, and I assumed started navigating to his information, when Dinah shouted. "95 percent chance it's him!"
"What?" We asked, though I was starting to think I knew what she was going to say.
"The snake-man! The one that wants to lock me in the bad room from my visions! 95 percent chance it's Coil!" She was shaking, holding herself and rocking slightly after her outburst. I took a moment to watch her parents, to see if they'd react to the noise, but they hadn't.
"Well," I muttered, glancing at Amy, who looked alarmed and confused. "I guess that makes this personal, then."
"What is she talking about?" She asked lowly.
I shook my head and sighed. "The whole reason I started a team was because Dinah said someone was trying to kidnap her. Or at least her powers said they were planning on it, and intended to do so. I wanted to help her, and she said forming a team was the best way to do it." I turned back to Dinah. "Are you safe right now? What are the chances he'll try to kidnap you before the month is over? What about March and April?"
She shuddered a little, but answered. "Five percent this month. 25 percent next month, 50 the month after."
"Those are… oddly well defined numbers." I muttered.
She shook her head. "I think it's my powers rounding around his powers. I don't know." She snapped, gripping at her scalp and rocking again.
"Are you okay? Do we need to stop?" I asked sharply, rubbing at her back again.
She leaned into the touch, to the point where she started folding into my side again. I started running a hand through her hair while the other held her. "It's not my head, my powers are fine, it's just…" she shook her head and shuddered in my grip. "…I just need a minute."
I looked to Amy, who shrugged. "Why don't we eat? We can keep going once that's done." The others agreed, and Dinah slowly peeled herself away again.
We took about fifteen minutes to eat quietly, while Dinah calmed down. We piled up the plates and sat ourselves down again. Amy in the desk chair, me and Dinah on her bed. "Okay. We ready for more?" They both nodded, Dinah resolutely, while Amy was playing along. "Alright, where were we?"
"The Undersiders?" Amy prompted with a slight edge to her tone.
"Right." I nodded, turning to Dinah and muttering, "How to make it a future question…" before I spoke up. "What are the chances Tattletale will try to break away from Coil at some point? …Would she stay a villain if she did? …What about if we helped, or tried to recruit her?"
"90 percent chance she tries to get away from him." Dinah replied, closing her eyes to focus on the questions. "80 percent she stays a villain if we don't help. 20 percent if we do. 65 percent chance she'd join if we tried to recruit her."
"More of those five percent numbers..." I muttered.
She nodded. "Either her power messes with mine too, or it's her proximity to Coil."
"Don't trust the numbers too closely about Thinkers. Got it." I was trying to keep from relying on her anyway, despite how easy she was trying to make it. Couldn't afford to lock up if something happened to her, because we'd always thoughtlessly go with whatever she said was best. "What about the Undersiders? If we offered them what they wanted, would they quit being villains and join up?"
"Seriously?" Amy muttered, groaning into her palm as Dinah answered.
"60 percent yes. What were their names again?"
"Grue, Bitch, and Regent." I stated clearly.
"Grue, 53 percent yes. B-bitch..." I got the feeling she didn't get the chance to swear often. "79 percent yes. Regent, 55 percent yes."
I groaned. "At least it's not worse than a coin flip... Bitch was the one I wanted to help, anyway. Tattletale said she doesn't care about being a villain, as long as she can take care of her dogs." I shook my head and sighed. "Well, it's not like I was going to try anytime soon. That can wait for later, I don't want to waste all your questions on them right now." She nodded at the reasoning. "We do need to figure out Coil, though. Chances he'll be in Brockton Bay tomorrow?"
Dinah chirped out "95 percent." sounding confused.
"Chances he'll spend most of next month in Brockton Bay?" I asked, and Amy seemed to catch the purpose behind my question, from her feeling of realization.
"90 percent." She stated firmly.
"Well, at least we know he's local." I muttered.
Amy tapped her pocket. "He doesn't have much information online, but it said he's never seen, he tends to hire normal people to do things instead." She scoffed. "It also described his outfit, so grain of salt, there."
I snorted. "Fits what Tattletale said about him, being the shadowy plotter type." I shook my head, this was supposed to be serious. I could joke about him being vain enough to pose for an internet description later. "If we found him, say... tomorrow, and tried to take him down, would we win?"
Dinah nodded, grinning excitedly. "80 percent yes!"
I gave a shocked grunt. "That sounds... way too high." I hummed for a second. "What're the chances something terrible happens if we're not careful enough when we do take him down?"
Dinah's good mood crumbled. "90 percent, yes."
"That'd be why Tattletale hasn't managed it, yet." I mumbled into my fist, tapping it against my lips thoughtfully. "Is he going to do anything against our team or anyone on it, in the next week or so?"
"15 percent, probably not."
"Then we've got time to figure something out. I'll try to get more information from Tattletale whenever she gets back to me, it's only been a couple days. I'll have more questions then." I gave that a beat, "Speaking of, how are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Dinah said, projecting a brave face. "I don't have a headache, yet. I think I've used about half my questions before that, though."
She had to have answered twenty or thirty questions by now. I think she said she had about fifty before the headaches started, these days. I didn't want to push her too hard. "Just a few more, okay?" She nodded. "Alright, recruitment. If we assume Rune's going to say yes, what are the odds we'll have at least six capes on our team by the end of the week?"
"46 percent." Huh. That was pretty good.
"I've got an event set up for next weekend, to try and recruit some of the indie capes. Uh," I hesitated a bit, glancing over at Amy, who was ruminating on our Q&A session. "Both of you can come, if you want. I'm not sure about costumes, though..."
"I'll ask Vicky, assuming she's invited?" I nodded. "We'll see, then."
Dinah hummed hesitantly. "I'm... not sure I should go. I don't have a costume, and going out as a cape makes the bad numbers go up."
"Fair enough. Anyway, what are the odds we recruit at least one cape as a result of that meeting? Is it better if Amy or Vicky go?"
"At least one? 83 percent. It goes up to 96 percent if they go."
I hummed. "Worth taking it seriously, then." I turned to Amy. "Do you have any questions?"
She shrugged. "Aside from if any of the heroes get hurt in the next week?"
Dinah winced. "98 percent. That one's always really high, because severity of injuries is hard to narrow down. 48 percent chance a local hero suffers life-threatening injuries. 23 percent chance someone on our team does. Higher than normal, but the chance of getting into a fight always hovers around thirty percent. 34 right now, to be exact." She held up her hand, her body indicating a little over a dozen questions asked in quick succession. "Monday and Thursday are the worst for injuries, but only Thursday has a higher chance of fights than normal, right now. I guess... watch out for cars on Monday?" She shrugged helplessly. "Head's starting to hurt a little, now."
"Alright, we can stop for now. You can ask more questions tomorrow, anyway." I nodded to myself. "Oh, before I forget, you two should swap numbers, just in case."
They did so, and we spent the next few hours on bookwork. Well, Dinah and I did, Amy mostly just watched us while trawling PHO on her phone. She piped in a few times, but mostly seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere, and being away from all the usual stressors in her life. The homework and studying couldn't last forever though, and we still had a bit until lunch.
"So, I was thinking..." Dinah said, closing up her books. "...we don't have a name for the team, do we?"
I groaned. "I've been trying to think of one, but nothing seems good enough. Everything seems way too generic, like 'the Guardians' or 'the Wardens' or 'the Militia'... or way too nonspecific, like New Wave. What does 'New Wave' even mean anymore?" My head dipped to bonk on the desk. "If I try to make a reference like that, people either won't get it, or they'll make fun of it." Amy coughed into her hand, and couldn't seem to decide if she was amused or offended. "...no offense."
"Nah, I get it." She grumbled. "A 'New Wave' of heroes that petered out for a decade gets jibed up and down the street, we're used to it."
"...sorry." I sighed and sat back up. "But yeah, nothing sounds right, so I've been procrastinating. Waiting for more people, and for someone to have a better idea than 'Terra's Team of Terrific Teens'!" I threw up my hands when I spat it out, then choked out a startled cry and collapsed onto the desk again with a thud. "That's the best idea yet, and it's the worst, cheesiest name ever." I chuffed out little crying noises for a few moments, before I capped the melodrama with a quiet, half-hearted wail. "Never let me name anything. I am the worst."
Dinah giggled at the display, while Amy sighed. "Well, we're not going public yet. Vicky and I still need to talk to Aunt Sarah about being on both teams. It's not fair to her for me to just ditch them out of the blue." Like she'd been planning, honestly. Vicky must have said something to change her mind.
I perked up as a thought hit me. "Well, speaking of, I was thinking of how to set up the team, and I think doing something like New Wave would be best. It lets us sign up as a team for things like health insurance, shows we're accountable by having our books in the open, things like that. I've got no idea how to set it up, though. Pretty sure I'm going to need a lawyer or someone without a secret identity to do it for me."
"Probably, but... health insurance?" Amy asked incredulously.
I huffed and rolled my eyes. "You don't heal everything, and it's mostly for therapy anyway. Mental health is important, too." She hummed, but didn't disagree. "Anyway, it's that, or jump right in bed with the PRT, and try to set ourselves up as an affiliated team from the start. Armsmaster seems to like me, I think he'd help if I asked. I want to have all my bases covered before we decide on anything, though. Do you think your aunt would talk to me sometime, maybe after you have your talk with her?"
Amy hummed reluctantly, but nodded. "I can ask, at least."
"Thank you. I know this isn't easy, but..."
She waved me off. "I'll be fine."
I hesitated, but nodded. "Right." I checked on Dinah's parents again, and they seemed... okay. Chris had called in, staying home with his wife, and the two had spent the morning in a daze. They seemed functional despite their shock and apparent melancholy, though. "I think... we should probably head out for lunch." I didn't want to put more pressure on them, today. I turned to Dinah. "Are you going to be okay? Did you want to come with?"
She thought about it, and shook her head. "I should stay..."
"It's okay," I said softly, gently rubbing at her shoulder. "You be here for them. Did we have anything else?"
Amy shrugged, shaking her head. "I could do with food."
"Alright." I gave Dinah one last pat. "Keep us posted, okay?"
She nodded, and we all headed downstairs. Amy and I continued right outside, not bothering to stop for money for the tutoring, this week. We were heading to lunch, then we'd probably head home. And then? I really needed to talk to Amy about those secrets we had.