Summary:
Easily the darkest parts of the story so far.
Content Warnings include: Reminders that teenagers are sexual creatures, young teens with sexual histories, examples of indoctrinated misogyny, bigots being bigots, off-screen sexual assault and death, mental breakdowns.
Chapter Text
Recently updated the content warnings for this story. The Lee fights have been pretty gratuitous, so adding 'graphic depictions of violence' just in case. I fully intend to never show any rape, anything overtly sexual at all really, 'on-screen'. However, one of the segments here deals with the direct aftermath of a girl suffering an assault and triggering. Add in Kara's oblique references and the fact that there are half a dozen other characters with histories of sexual abuse that haven't gotten mentions yet, I felt adding 'Rape/Non-Con' was likely appropriate.
I still feel that 'no content warnings apply' is also valid, though. As I'm not going to be getting too overly graphic with the violence, and all the assault happens off-screen. It's just a sad fact of life that in aiming for realism, sexual assault is tragically common to the point of being unavoidable.
I do not believe I need to upgrade the rating itself from 'Teen' to 'Mature'.
---
SUN FEB 27
She knew it was mean to basically ignore him, but she was busy doing her job. Thus entirely justified, she only idly replied to the chatter about some movie she didn't actually see. Yes, Actor B is hot, he's buff and had the same sort of chiseled jaw as Dean. Yes, Actress D was cute. She wasn't gay or anything, but she knew hot and leggy when she saw it. Yes, that action scene was cool, but she was a little busy staking out the docks looking for Merchants when she was supposedly watching it. Being a hero was busy, tiring, time-consuming work.
Vista stepped out into the rooftop, Clockblocker taking the same few steps to go from nearly two blocks away to right behind her. She let the warped space snap back to how it was, and threw her hands out in front of her. The space just ahead warped, a dozen viewpoints scouring as many locations, overlaid on the same space in front of her. Alleyways, rooftops, storefronts... she checked them all in a matter of seconds, like scrunching an entire wall of high-definition security feeds to the point where she didn't even need to glance away to see all of them at once.
Everyone else always said the 'visual distortions' caused by her power just made their heads hurt. It wasn't her fault their eyes sucked and couldn't get any useful information out of them.
Shrink, step, wait, release, search, reply, repeat. She understood that being seen was important, and she could be 'on' for the crowd whenever necessary, but that didn't stop her from wanting these patrols to be useful. So whenever she could get away with it, she sped through them like this. When they got to the end, they either asked to run a different route, or asked to be done. Most of the time they were told to either run it again, or do it again on the sidewalk to interact with people this time.
On this new pass through the area, she noticed something different. She squinted and dropped the other warps to focus. A backpack? On a roof? It looked kind of familiar, too. "What is it?" Clockblocker asked, causing her to turn his way and realize she'd been staring off in the actual direction of the bag, while she thought.
"It's nothing." She stated, perhaps a little too quickly. He gave her a look that indicated he was well aware 'nothing' always meant 'interesting', apparent even with his helmet from posture and history. She pinched space ahead of her and stepped through, forcing him to drop it at least momentarily or risk being left behind. She didn't know whose bag it was, but she wouldn't want someone going through her stuff, and the gangs wouldn't use rooftop drop points. The only one that might being the Empire with its fliers, and they were too far outside their territory for that to make sense. Besides, it was hardly the weirdest thing she'd seen on one of these patrols. It couldn't be that interesting.
"All Wards, all Wards," The agent running console today called. "Terraform is currently showing off at the Boardwalk, current recommendation is to give her space, we don't want her to feel hounded before she's settled in."
"What? But I haven't even gotten to meet the new girl, yet!" Clock whined.
"No means no, Clock." The agent replied. "We both know this order's aimed at you and Assault."
He heaved an exaggerated sigh. "You know, if I knew my name would be this literal, I wouldn't have picked it. It's like-"
"Piggy 'blocking your clock' every chance she gets, we know." She sniped, and he fake-sobbed and clutched at his heart. She took a moment to consider things. Sure, she was also fairly unhappy being told where not to be when something interesting was happening, but at least she had a mystery gnawing at the back of her mind that she could pick away at instead. Now, to ditch the ham. "You know, if you're that upset, that ice cream place you like is just down the street."
He hummed theatrically, stroking his helmet's chin like a beard. "I do like ice cream... and I love having fun on company time... and we are encouraged to interact positively with the community..."
Vista made a show of rolling her eyes. She waved her hand and the air beside him warped. "Bring me back some caramel fudge."
Clockblocker stared at her, long enough that she started to think he wasn't going to fall for it, but then he shrugged. "Sure."
She waited until he took a few steps to wind up two and a half blocks away, dropped her power's effect, and heaved out a relieved sigh. With that out of the way, nothing was stopping her from investigating. Naturally, she had to be careful about it, it might be booby trapped, or the owner might still be nearby and take a dim view to someone standing over or even rummaging through their stuff, so she let her powers do the work. The distance shrank to nothing as she knelt down, putting the bag within arm's reach. She definitely recognized it, but whose bag it was wasn't popping to mind, so it wasn't one of her classmates. It was a bit big for a middle-schooler, anyway. Probably... the only thing she'd done differently recently was head to Arcadia with Dean and Carlos...
Aha! That Taylor girl! It was her bag!
But what the hell was it doing up here?
The bag definitely looked like it'd been set down up here, rather than tossed from the street. That meant someone was coming back for it... she didn't want to actually touch it or move anything, in case that tipped them off. It was one of those saddle-flap style bags, though. With a little work...
It took a few moments, and a slight strain of mental effort to set up, but she stretched the gap between bag and flap from nearly nothing to two feet wide, layered a few warps through that space so that she was looking down into the bag instead of up through the flap, which conveniently let light down into it...
It was full of clothes. Kind of a let-down, really. No drugs or money, or anything exciting. Something about the dark-green, white, light-green pattern of them was tugging at her memory. It didn't fit anything she tried to match it with. They weren't pants, and it wasn't quite right for a denim jacket... She reached out. It made her think of uniforms, or costumes... her hand froze. She had seen this color pattern before. The pictures and news pieces on that new hero, from Canberra.
This was Terraform's costume, in Taylor's bag. Both of them were tall, lanky, flat girls, with dark hair.
Taylor was Terraform.
She slowly withdrew her hand, let the warped space snap back to normal, and slumped backward from her squat to land on her ass. Terraform was Taylor. Shit, what was she supposed to do, now? She certainly wasn't going to report it, she didn't think her camera was running right now, she didn't want to use the information... the only things she could do were keep quiet, or... come clean.
"Hey, Vista? Could I get a lift?" Clock's voice chirped in her ear. Right, the patrol. She'd lost track of time in her mental rambling. She hopped to her feet, took a moment to dust off her costume's skirt, and ran her scan of the area to find him. Then she shrunk the space to the edge of the roof, and from there to where he was standing. He stepped through, handed her a paper bowl of ice cream, and hummed while glancing around. "Sooo... whose bag was it?"
She sputtered, nearly dropping her treat. "No- it wasn't- there was no bag!" She quickly rattled out.
"Uh-huh." He hummed knowingly, bringing his own ice cream up and smearing a bit on his mask, where his mouth would be.
Ugh, jokesters were always worse with props. She turned and pulled the PRT's roof to herself, hopping through. "We're done!" She snapped into her comms. "Patrol over!"
He followed, chuckling, and letting her beat him to the elevator and shut the doors on him. She dutifully ignored the query over comms, and Clock replying that they were calling it early for 'lady problems'. She shut the line down with a growl to be extra diligent in her snubbing. Her free hand came up to rub at her blush, and she took a few deep breaths before the elevator let her out. She tromped her way into the Wards area, and into her room. She locked the door, tossed the ice cream onto her desk, and flopped down on the little bed to scream into the sheets.
Right. All she had to do was dodge every question from Dennis until he dropped it, sit on the secret of the new indie's secret identity forever, and... ugh. Should she skip out on the Friday thing? It'd been fun, but... with Taylor there running it...
Well, she had a whole week to dally on figuring out what to do about that. Right now, she had ice cream to eat before it melted.
---
MON FEB 28
Colin took a moment to pop his neck. This was going to be one of those meetings. At precisely the hour, he strode into the room and closed the door behind him. He tilted his head to acknowledge the seated occupants, while running his eyes over them behind his helmet's visor. Aegis looked confused, Miss Militia had a distinct air of stern disappointment, Director Piggot had settled into the calm 'damage control' mode that indicated someone was dead to her and wasn't going to enjoy it, while Deputy Director Renick had a pursed and pained look to him while he sorted and settled several sheets of paper.
"Now that we're all here..." Piggot rumbled from the head of the table. "Armsmaster. Status tracking Hess."
He glanced over the bullet points outlined on his HUD. "GPS tracking had localized both of her cell phones to her home. On further inspection, they hadn't moved in three days. They were assumed to have been abandoned, but a search was mandated regardless. Search performed Saturday the 26th, approximately 9:20AM. The room was nearly pristine, recently cleaned and dusted. No signs of struggle or hurried packing. Her mother noted a few of Sophia's personal effects were missing, but couldn't give a conclusive list. Sophia's phones were found in the pocket of a sundress in the back of her closet, in battery conservation mode, and hooked up to portable recharging batteries. This configuration could have seen them last a week, maybe two, before they powered off. It would be another 20 hours after that, an alert would be sent by the automated monitoring systems, to check on her."
"Really?" Aegis muttered in confusion. He wilted as every eye turned to him. "Sorry."
"No," Piggot cut in, her sharp stare narrowing back on Armsmaster. "do go on."
His teeth grit at the waste of time, but he nodded. "The programs monitoring Wards GPS signals are fairly simple. For example, one of them compares sudden movements against the owner's powers, known powers in the area, and patrol times. If a Ward's signal jumps across the city with no explanation, their superiors are alerted. The ones relevant here notify someone if the Ward isn't in a known 'safe' zone at certain times of the day, and how long they have gone without returning to one of their zones. A Ward's home, school, and local headquarters are automatically added, and others can be added by their guardians in the event multiple false alarms are triggered by overnight social activities. They are not sophisticated enough to differentiate between safe zones, which is often considered a feature rather than a bug, given how often some teenagers forget their phones at home or in gym lockers." He focused back on the Director. "I have to assume at least part of her belligerent attitude was intentional, letting her test the limitations of the system, and later utilize them."
Her jowls tightened as she clenched her teeth. She drew a steady breath as she slowly turned to Aegis. "And nothing in her behavior recently gave any indication she might be up to something? Why wasn't her lack of contact brought to our attention?"
"Honestly? We all just thought she was finally cashing in on the PTO that's been building up since she joined." He shook his head, and his shoulder twitched in an aborted shrug, before the propriety of the situation reasserted itself and he switched to stoic reporting. "She's always been abrasive, but last week she had a particularly bad fight with Chris, and stormed out. Then I got an email from her, saying she was talking to her handler about taking some time off to cool down. I just assumed that went through, and she was spending time with her girlfriend."
Militia muttered the word under her breath, and Piggot's brow quirked. "The Barnes girl?"
"That's correct." He replied with a nod. "She was the only person Sophia ever mentioned by name, so she was clearly important to her. There may have been... uh, speculation, as to how important."
Groans were stifled around the table. Of course the children would be betting on whether the girl who hated all of them was just gay, and didn't like boys, or girls too young to date. Everything always came back to sex, with teenagers. "She never mentioned other friends?" Piggot pressed. "Other students? She never discussed her school, or her activities, there?"
He shook his head. "Not by name, no. And no ma'am, Sophia's a fairly private person."
Colin swallowed the sigh at Carlos' choice of words. He was a good kid. At times like this however, the aggressive optimism he'd developed since joining the Wards was more painful than helpful. He may very well still be holding out hope that Shadow Stalker could still be a Ward once the dust settled.
Piggot ground her teeth as if literally chewing on his unhelpful statements. "Instruct the other Wards to turn in reports on her behavior. At this point we're grasping at straws until we can dig up a lead. Conversations, outbursts, coincidental run-ins on the street. If it's significant enough that they remember it at all, it's significant enough to report on." He gave a hesitant nod, and she turned to Renick and Hannah. "And what about our other lead? The Hebert girl?"
Renick shook his head. "It's not looking good. Nothing from the police investigations indicate any interaction with her. There's some circumstantial evidence that paints a better picture of Stalker's behavior at school, but nothing that can point us in a particular direction to narrow the search. Reinforces the link between Hess and Barnes, where we find one we'll likely find the other, but there's no indication of there being any new information we could dig up that hasn't already been found." He shifted the documents in front of him, pulling out and opening a pair of folders. "Thinker support indicates a good likelihood that Miss Hebert is a Parahuman, but the ratings are low. Well within possible for a normal human, however more consistent with a well-trained soldier or specialist asset than even an impressive showing for a teenage girl."
"And Terraform?"
He shifted his hand to the other folder. "Thinker responses are consistent with known A-class threats. The fact that the two have such divergent indicators was sufficient for the analysts to conclude the two are not the same person. Requests for further Thinker resources on either topic was denied." He took a moment to close and pile the folders to the side. "I'm of the opinion that it's better to assume the worst, that Hebert is Terraform, or at least that both have a decent chance of becoming hostile threats in the event they learn Miss Hess was a Ward."
She turned to Hannah. "Gallant's assessment?"
Aegis shifted uncomfortably. He still didn't like using powers to spy on people. Miss Militia straightened up to report. "Emotional spectra consistent with an abuse victim over-correcting to aggressive self-competence, given the opportunity for control over their life."
"WYSIWYG." Colin muttered loudly. Zero new information, there.
"She seems nice." Aegis cut in, pausing as attention shifted to him. "Nice enough, anyway. She's friends with Vicky and Amy, hangs out with the queer crowd, and runs a self-defense class on Fridays. She's... strong, physically. And martially skilled. You don't get that without powers or a lot of time and dedication. I'm worried about her work/life balance."
That's what Militia just said, Colin forced himself not to say.
"Threats are threats." Piggot frigidly stated. "We simply don't have the resources or official channels to offer more than a pat on the back as incentive for independents to keep good relations with the PRT and Protectorate, which could easily be insufficient to sway a child from blind vengeance against their trigger." All three capes winced, Aegis far more obviously than the others. "Terraform will get any reasonable concessions for herself and her team. Hebert will get the soft sell, assuming she shows obvious powers or starts acting as a cape. Both are to be treated as potential threats, just in case." She leaned back, letting some of the stress and tension ease out. Then she addressed the room. "See if you can figure out if Terraform's 'team' is a thing that actually exists, and if so, who is on it. We may be able to form enough of a rapport that they could hold her back from an unfortunate incident, in the worst case scenario." She puffed up briefly. "Dismissed."
Colin nodded and started back to his secondary lab to catch up on maintenance. He also made a note to double-check that the nearby departments, especially those out West, were quietly looking out for a rogue Ward. It was the obvious direction they could have gone, but it was obvious for a reason. West and a bit south, and they'd hit the central US with its relatively sparse population, sufficiently isolated islands of infrastructure to raid for supplies, and more limited Protectorate presence. He just hoped the girls kept playing it smart, keeping their heads down and staying safe.
A rogue Ward could be dealt with. A dead Ward was a tragedy they didn't need. An ex-Ward villain was the worst possible outcome. At the very least, she should be smart enough to avoid the heat called down by that last possibility, for now.
---
WED MAR 2
Cassandra dragged her feet as she got home, trudged into the living room, and plopped herself in one of the couches. It was never a good day when Victor sent her a text telling her to come home. The best option, it was more marching orders that Kaiser didn't feel the need to dole out personally. Usually however, it was because she'd done something worth 'disciplining' her over. She glared halfheartedly at him from across the short, skinny coffee table. "Well? I had to cancel my plans today for this. So what's this about?" She didn't bother sparing Othala a glance. Kathy was a 'good conservative wife', the sort that would only ever argue with her husband when they were completely alone. But she was also sitting near, but not with, her husband. A subtle support, indicating she either didn't know what this was about, or wasn't planning to speak up on his side. It wasn't like he could do much, he and Kaiser already had veto power over her schedule and privileges, and it wasn't like he was allowed to actually hit her.
Derrek's face was stony, silently inspecting her, probably using some mind-game interrogation technique to try and get in her head, before he finally spoke up. "I've heard you've been hanging out with the Arcadia dykes."
She rolled her eyes. That's what this was about? "Like I've been telling everyone, I'm just infiltrating. God, it's like no one's heard of a damn shell game."
His eyes narrowed. "And they believe you. I'm not as convinced you know what you're doing. Are they even worth infiltrating? What do they have or know that's worth your time?"
Cass shrugged. "They're the dyke squad, right? I'm sure they've got a clubhouse or something somewhere we can raid. That's always fucking great for morale." Othala winced. Neither of them liked thinking of the last time the Empire had 'sorted out' a women's shelter that'd been harboring the 'wrong types'. Great for 'morale', terrible for PR. Heads had literally rolled over that one.
"There are reasons they haven't been a high priority." Victor replied, leaning forward in that slightly-intimidating, passively-firm way his skills told him to. "Leave them to the initiates, your time is too valuable for that."
She didn't want to stop hanging out with them, though. They hadn't given her a warm welcome, but it hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd expected. It also helped give her ins to hang out with Taylor, which tightened her chest at the thought of leaving. Running away. Fighting the Empire. No, now wasn't the time for scaring herself. "Everyone needs hobbies. Why can't I spend my own time on this?"
"Because it sends the wrong message. You're not as subtle as you think." Another pause, while the hint of venom drained from his tone. "You enjoy spending time with them, don't you?"
Her teeth grit, eyes darting over to the worried but silently watching Katherine. "And if I do? They don't like me, but at least they're not shallow suck-ups or scared chicken-shits. It's refreshing." She drawled mockingly.
His lip twitched. "I think there's plenty of cliques who don't know or care about who you are. Pick a different one."
Cass stared for a second, before tilting her head negatively. "I've already put the effort in here. Less work and more benefits to the cause here, rather than starting over."
He leaned back, idly tapping his knee. "I suppose we could always make them a priority..."
She grimaced at the threat. "Oh, so now they're suddenly worth the effort? Make up your mind, it's not like you let me pick targets before. Why the shift in policy? Does Kaiser know you're letting a little girl call the shots?"
"It's worth keeping our assets from turning dyke on us."
Cassie barked a laugh. "Oh, so that's what this is about? Why didn't you say so? Can't let the impressionable girl have any bad influences. Have to step in and 'protect' me, like you think I don't know they're sick deviants."
And now, he had to choose between calling her incompetent, or admitting she knew what she was doing. Either she could press for less time in the field, or get to have her new... acquaintances? Her new maybe-friends. She cut in when he tried to retort. "It's not like Brian, or Kyle, or Jeremy were 'good influences' either."
The mention of her aborted attempts at 'boyfriends' just pissed him off more. "You have an acceptable outlet for your urges."
That had her honestly laughing. "You think that sop Theo would fuck me? The only reason 'daddy' hasn't killed him for being a fag is because Kayden ran off with Aster, and he needs to 'secure an heir'." She simpered the last air-quoted words. "As much as I hate the brat, I've actually tried, and it didn't work."
Derrek jumped to his feet. "Well maybe you should try harder, instead of running around with the dyke whores!"
Cass hopped up to meet him, matching his glare. "Maybe if you actually let me fuck boys, I wouldn't have to go looking at the girls!" She snapped, pulling at whatever she thought would hurt most.
The clap of flesh against flesh thundered through the room, snapping her head towards Othala. Her shocked wide eyes stared out toward the woman covering her mouth, tears welling in her one visible eye. Cassie took in a shuddering breath, eyes narrowing into a glare. First at her cousin for sitting back and letting this happen, then defiantly at her cousin's husband. For all his 'skills', she could see the hesitation in his eyes. The one thing, the one thing he was adamantly never to discipline her with was any sort of violence. At first she thought it a kindness, but now she was convinced her family didn't want him 'damaging the goods'. Either way, a spark of victory flared to life, in the heat of her glare and the slight upward turn of her snarling lips. She'd won this argument, and they both knew it.
Rather than wait for him to try and claw some manner of concessions even in defeat, she stormed her way to the door and slammed it behind her. She took a deep and heavy breath, nearly gagging as it spilled back out. What the hell had she been thinking?
She wasn't a lesbian. She was absolutely sure of that. The thought of sucking some dyke's cunt still turned her stomach every time. She knew what cunts were for, and what they were. They were dirty things, full of blood and gunk and sticky mess... even when she'd been sexually active, she'd never put her mouth on anything that'd touched there, too much of that dirty filth for her to foul her mouth with it.
So why had she thought saying something like that was a good idea? She groaned and choked down the bile bubbling up. She'd been angry, that was all. She'd won. Kathy would take her side after that, talk Derrek down. The threat of calling the Clan down on him for striking her would keep him at bay long enough for her to find an opportunity to get away.
Cass shook her head, taking another breath and starting for the bus stop. Best to settle her stomach with something heavy to eat.
---
THUR MAR 3
A cunning huntress stalks through the fetid underbelly of her criminal cesspit of a city, gentle footfalls carrying her leagues as she searches for threats and activity. Night had settled in less than an hour ago, freeing her to prowl the streets unseen, aided by the dark cloak over her costume. She'd already scanned the gang's borders and swapped the memory card and battery pack for the cheap camera she'd set up to watch a Merchant warehouse. Now it was time to check the usual haunts; hit the Boat Graveyard in case a new trigger was testing powers, check the area around Lord's Market for drug peddlers, skip over the Boardwalk entirely, then scan over the slums to make sure no one was hassling the few working girls that weren't associated with the gangs, and push south to see if she could hit the airport and watch some planes coming and going toni-
Missy groaned when her pocket dinged. She must've forgotten to silence her civilian phone before heading out. Great, who the hell was killing her buzz this time? If it was Dennis pinging her out of nowhere with some 'funny' picture again, she was going to trip him the next time he was walking to the couch with a bowl of custard for his fishsticks. He'd deserve it for butting in on her venting stress, after nearly getting Lee'd and having to dance around Terraform's secret identity the entire time they were patrolling together. Staring down Lung should earn her a week without pestering on principle.
SpecificProtagonist (7:42PM): Missy
SpecificProtagonist (7:42PM): You there
SpecificProtagonist (7:42PM): I need help
False alarm, she supposed. Dennis could earn his faceful of custard some other way. She muted her phone and navigated back to the PHO app to reply.
SpecificProtagonist (7:43PM): Please
MissedByAMile (7:43PM): With what?
SpecificProtagonist (7:43PM): I think I killed someone
Ice flooded her veins, and she took a few moments running her eyes over the words, trying to interpret them differently. This had to be some sick gag, right?
MissedByAMile (7:44): That's not funny
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): No
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): No joke
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): Serious
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): Please
MissedByAMile (7:44PM): Not helping you.
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): I know your vista
She'd been gearing up to call the police on Madison, her mind awash with rage and betrayal, when all those feelings were stricken from her. How the hell could she know?
MissedByAMile (7:44PM): That's ridiculous.
SpecificProtagonist (7:44PM): I know
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): You are
MissedByAMile (7:45PM): No I'm not
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): You always get
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Your always so sure
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Whenever I say anything
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): About the wards rooms
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Or procedures
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Shoot down all the fanon
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Always so sure
SpecificProtagonist (7:45PM): Know them too well
The rage burbled back to life. Plans to call the police morphed into plans to call the PRT, or text Militia's line, or track 'Madison' through everything she knew about her and find her home... Missy sucked in a deep breath, gritting her teeth as she replied.
MissedByAMile (7:46PM): What do you want?
SpecificProtagonist (7:46PM): Help
SpecificProtagonist (7:46PM): Please
MissedByAMile (7:46PM): I can't
SpecificProtagonist (7:46PM): Take me in
SpecificProtagonist (7:46PM): Catch me
MissedByAMile (7:47PM): What
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): He was empire
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Gangs will be after me
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Cops too
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Soon
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Please
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Trust you
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Take me in
SpecificProtagonist (7:47PM): Catch me first
What the actual fuck? The thought dominated her stalled mind while she processed the situation. Okay, if Madison wanted to be brought in, Vista could do that. She had a pack of zip-cuffs. She'd catch some flak for running a solo patrol, but it was better than getting outed or blackmailed.
MissedByAMile (7:48PM): Where are you
SpecificProtagonist (7:48PM): 13th and devonshire
SpecificProtagonist (7:48PM): In the alley
SpecificProtagonist (7:49PM): Hiding
SpecificProtagonist (7:49PM): Hurry
MissedByAMile (7:49PM): Omw
It was a matter of minutes for Vista to traverse the city to the area in question. Rather than rush in bullheadedly, she took a few deep breaths to cool down from her run, and warped space until she had an angle to scan the alleyway with. She found a figure, huddled and curled around a glowing screen, and tugged the warp to get a better look.
She nearly yelped when she realized what she was seeing. The thing she saw wasn't human. It had the right general shape, but everything was too thin. Willowy and waspish, she was practically swimming in the jacket that should have been sized properly for her, the bloody shirt under it sticking more to itself than to her or the jacket. Her pants looked fairly normal, belted down atop her jagged hips.
Either she was the most unfortunately anorexic girl in the world, or she was a parahuman. Vista twisted the space a little, to get a view of her face. Brown eyes reddened and puffy from crying darted up, anachronistically cherubic face showing shock, then alarm, and she hopped upright. Madison's body shifted, skeletal limbs flaring and lengthening into lithe and whiplike forms, torso and hips bulking out, straining her skinny jeans and actually starting to fill her shirt.
Her aborted shriek choked itself into understandable sounds. "Who's... Mi... stuh... Vista?"
It took Missy a second, but it seemed to her that Madison had gone from small, tiny, weak and nonthreatening... hiding, to what looked like a form purpose-built for speed and running. Definitely some sort of Changer, one that might not actually have full control of her powers yet. She swallowed the lump in her throat, took another fortifying breath, and dropped her warp, squeezing a pair of far simpler warps to step through, putting her about fifteen feet off the other girl. Hopefully enough space to stretch it, if she tried to pounce.
"...Madison?" She hesitantly called.
The girl shrank down a little, and Missy wasn't sure where the effects of posture stopped, and whether powers were involved. "H-help me. Please?"
"What happened?" She asked pointedly, trying to be firm without making anything worse. She wanted to comfort the girl, but it just wasn't safe. A new trigger who couldn't control her Changer form probably had Brute strength. Madison would just snap her spine or crush her torso, and most likely panic, finishing the job or going into shock until Missy was too far gone to save. She had to keep her distance, physically and emotionally, as much as it hurt.
"I... He..." She sniffled, snorting the snot and wiping her eyes with her forearm to clear her face. "The... school is nothing but gangs, now. You can't... you have to pick a side, you have to." She snapped at the end, startling herself. Madison wrapped her arms around her tiny midriff and shivered. "He said he'd protect me. Keep the rest away. Keep..." Her voice broke, and she swallowed. "Said he would, if I... agreed to... sleep with him." Her voice petered into a whisper. She worked her jaw, eyes tearing up, but no more words came.
"He was Empire." Vista stated. The Merchants didn't have the kind of pull to protect anyone, and if even half the rumors were true, no girl would trust the ABB to actually keep their word about that.
Madison nodded, took a few more deep breaths, and started again. "I went over, and we... I..." Vista gave her the time to work it out of her system. "I realized then, it didn't matter. I wouldn't be safe. I'd never be safe. I'd never be free." She sobbed, her face furling into a rictus of rage, her next words a furious growl. "He'd own me."
"You triggered."
She paused, mouth moving to taste the word, and remember what it meant. "I... hurt him. I ki-" She choked again, curling into a huddled ball on the ground. "Oh god. He... so much blood... He's dead. He's dead." Her body started rocking, mouth muttering 'dead' and 'murderer' and half-formed words around them.
Missy wanted to help, but couldn't figure out how. She thought of the older heroines, and how they'd have handled this. Miss Militia and Battery would've already called it in, so that help was on the way, then they'd find the words to help. Battery would empathize, connecting with the pain and understanding it, using kind and gentle words to coax the girl out of her shell. Militia's kindness was more stern and motherly, she'd know what to say to help you pull yourself out of the pit, and want to be better. Missy couldn't do that. She didn't have their experience, their methods wouldn't work for her. She strained for any solution at all, and thought of what Sophia might do...
Vista reached out through a warp in space, her palm sharply clapping against Madison's cheek.
The girl turned wide, shocked and terrified eyes to her. "He was trying to rape you."
"But-"
"He was going to rape you." She continued, louder and more firmly. "You triggered, and you stopped him." She swallowed, the argument firming in her mind. "He made you trigger, and he died, and that's what happened."
"I ki-"
"That's what happened. Do you understand?" Madison's teeth grit at Missy's words, but her eyes were still streaming tears, full of guilt and fear. "You're allowed to protect yourself, Madison. You're allowed to save yourself. It's not your fault you suddenly had new powers to do it with. He was in the wrong, not you."
Madison closed her eyes, straining against her sobs, but she nodded.
"Okay." Missy swallowed the tension in her throat. "Okay, now I need to call this in, okay? We'll get you help, we'll keep you safe. You aren't going to prison for self-defense, alright?" When the other girl nodded, dropping her head to her knees, Missy reached up to her visor and held her com button, to power the system on. When it beeped a successful connection, she tapped it again. "Console, this is Vista."
"Vista?" Dennis' voice chirped over the line. "I thought you were off for today, after earlier?"
"Something came up." She stated, turning her attention back to Madison. Maybe she wouldn't get in trouble, after all? "One of my friends triggered."
"...shit." That summed up the day fairly well.
"I need a squad with a crime tech to 13th and Devonshire, along with Militia or Battery, if one of them's available."
It took a few moments for him to respond. "Alright, they're on their way. Miss M is with them, Battery is rerouting from her patrol. ETAs fifteen and eight."
That was probably the best thing about Clockblocker. For all the joking and fun, he knew how to shut up and get shit done when it was serious. "Thanks." She turned her attention back to Madison, who was staring at her, half askance- like she didn't think Missy would notice she'd been glancing toward the open street and contemplating running. She shrank away, shimmying further into the wall, when Missy closed the distance from just under four meters to just over two. "It's going to be okay. Help will be here in ten minutes, and we'll have a ride to leave in fifteen, alright?"
Madison nodded, and they settled in to wait. Missy felt a bit awkward, standing around watching while the older girl started intermittently rocking, or muttering, or crying. She caught a lot of 'I'm sorry's and 'I did it's, and even an 'I'm so sorry, Taylor' once. For all that he was a rapist bastard, she seemed really broken up about that guy. Hopefully they'd get her a grief counselor, and a few sessions with whatever therapist wandered through town in the next month would help.
Another couple minutes of listening to comms chatter while Madison was in a quiet phase, and she spotted a blue blur skid past the entrance of the alleyway. A couple seconds later, Battery jogged back into view. "I'll be right back." She scrunched the distance and stepped out beside the older cape. "Hey."
"Are you alright?" Battery asked, giving her a brief assessing glance before turning her attention back to the unknown. When Vista replied she was fine, she nodded. "Sitrep?"
"Rape trigger. Friend of mine. Her name's Madison." She quietly conveyed. "Changer, seems subconscious. I'd guess Mover, Brute. I've kept away just in case." There was more, but it could wait for the debriefing. Battery nodded again, and they started back over to where Maddie was.
"Hello, Madison, right?" Battery called quietly, motioning Missy to stay back about two meters off. The girl looked up, giving her a wet thousand-yard stare. She still seemed scared, but looked more resigned than anything, now. "Do you mind if I come closer?" It took a few seconds, but Madison shook her head. She slowly made her way to a couple feet to Maddie's right. "May I sit?"
She nodded, but Battery stayed where she was. She drew Madison's eyes back up with her hands, leaned closer, and indicated something Vista couldn't see. It took a few moments, but Maddie eventually managed a stuttered "Yeah".
Verbal agreement obtained, Battery crouched down and settled herself against the wall just outside a normal's easy arms' reach. "It'll be okay." She stated, after the silence had hung for a bit. Likely building up a slight charge, in case she needed to dive away. "You're not in trouble, and you're going to be okay."
Madison hiccoughed a little, as she drew in breath to rebut the hero. "I k-killed..."
"You're hardly the first hero to kill someone." Battery muttered sadly. "Especially during their trigger event. I can't give any details, but even locally, there's at least a couple. I still consider them good people, and good heroes. Bad days can change you, but you don't have to let them define you."
Maddie started crying again, and Vista couldn't tell if they were tears of relief, or more sorrow and shame. Battery seemed content to let her vent it out, though. It didn't take much longer for a pair of transports to rumble up next to the alley, disgorging half a dozen troopers and Miss Militia. It was only her experience working with them that led Missy to believe the two hanging back and armed were male. The rest were more obviously women thanks to their clear faceplates. Aside from swapping helmets and not having rifles or foam sprayers- three of them leaving off their sidearms as well- they were still fully kitted and armored.
Militia took point as she approached and inspected the scene. "Are you hurt?" She asked all three of us, but addressing Madison. She didn't answer, but Battery and Vista shook their heads. "You're not under arrest, but we'd like you to come with us. We have a transport that'll take you straight to our medical wing." Maddie flinched, but couldn't manage more than a strangled choking noise. "Can you stand under your own power? Do you need help?"
When she continued to fail to communicate, one of the troopers armed only with her taser and grenades knelt down and offered her a hand up. After a moment, she hesitantly accepted and was slowly pulled upright. "I'll stay with her." Battery offered, standing at the same time.
Vista couldn't help her grimace. Right, secure the kiddy heroes first. She wouldn't be allowed to stay with Madison until they were sure she was actually safe to be around. Battery led Maddie, the trooper she was leaning on, and sidearm, to the transports. Militia jerked her head, indicating Vista follow her to the other. When she passed, she saw the other transport was set up in EMT configuration- the backs of the seats on one side folded down into a gurney-like bench, which Madison was being gently belted into the harness of.
She kept following to the other, where they and the other clear-plate troopers swapped places with another trooper and a CSI tech. The one with Maddie started up its lights and sirens, quickly growing to outpace them on their way back to the PRT building.
"Report." Militia firmly ordered.
Vista sighed, and began from when she started getting messages from Madison. They didn't need to know she was already out patrolling, it wouldn't have taken her long to costume up and speed across the city, anyway. The recounting of the story still took the entire trip. When they got out, she asked to wait nearby with Madison. They wouldn't let her into the same room, but there shouldn't be a problem with her sitting in the waiting area. It took a little pushing, but not as much as she'd expected.
She and Militia made their way to the PRT building's small hospital section. It was minimal enough that there was only the one real 'waiting area' for all of it. There were little benches in the hallways, but this was a little room they'd knocked the walls down to convert the corner of the hallway into a tiny lounge. A few chairs, a coffee table between them, and some endtables with magazines and a coffee machine. Assault and Battery were already there.
"Hey, squirt." He greeted as she sat down. "Friend of yours?"
"Yeah." She replied. Miss Militia made some noises about getting back to work, and left.
He was never one to abide silence outside a warzone, though. "So, how did you meet?"
She gave him a sour look, but then contemplated how to answer. "She's... an author. Writes cape-fic." Did she bother? It's likely they'd find out eventually... "Goes by SpecificProtagonist."
"Huh." He glanced down the hall. "Am I the only one that thinks it's ironic the girl with a thing for 53's kinda' looks-"
"Ethan." Battery hissed quietly.
He raised his hands defensively. "Sorry, yeah."
Vista really wasn't supposed to know any of the Protectorate's real names, but she'd been a Ward for almost three years at this point. The more time you worked with someone, the more chances there were for things to slip out. His was the first she'd learned, exactly because of situations like this. Missy wasn't sure how Assault and Battery worked as a couple. She kept having to reign him in and force him to act seriously, they always seemed to be arguing about something or other behind the scenes, and there was some squicky weirdness in the rumor mill about him being six or seven years older than her and having met her when she was a teenaged Ward. Not that she could throw stones there, she liked boys a few years older than her, too.
"Whatever." She muttered, too exhausted after today to actually care. "That's her. Don't bring it up around her for a while. Probably going to be a sore spot."
That speared down any enthusiasm for conversation for the next couple of minutes, after which their comms chirped that they were to report to the Director's office. Missy considered arguing to stay, but didn't have the energy for it. She could come back, after. They all trudged to the elevator, and up to the office. Militia and the Director were already there, and Vista wasted no time slumping into one of the seats.
Piggot's eyes tracked down to her. "Vista. I hear you've had a fucking day, today."
She snorted at the levity that didn't quite make it to the woman's eyes. "Just a bit, ma'am."
A couple minutes later, Aegis and Armsmaster arrived, taking one of the other seats and settling between the desk and the wall, respectively. "Now that everyone's here..." Piggot drawled, her posture straightening and her tone hardening. "We have a fresh trigger in our medical ward. She has given verbal consent to joining the Wards. I want this process expedited, before anything else in this city decides to explode." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "We need to contact her family. The problem we face being that she may not be capable of returning to a human-standard form."
She paused to give everyone a chance to process that, before she continued. "There are three options. We could present her as a new 53, but that's sure to bite someone in the ass, eventually. Option two is to not bother hiding her civilian identity, let it be an open secret. Outed capes come with their own bushel of problems, however. This is not a safe city to be outed in." Unless everyone you lived with was also an outed cape, capable of protecting themselves. Even then, it wasn't a perfect solution. "I'm going to be pushing for option 3; retiring her civilian identity until such time as she can safely maintain it. The girl will officially be sent off to live with relatives, or placed in hospital care in another city, sent to Juvie, or just declared missing. Sorting out a 'return' to the city at a later date is more cost-effective than dealing with an outed Ward. Any questions?"
"We do know who she is, right?" Aegis asked.
"Yes. We're currently contacting her family, and the Wards will learn her identity if she chooses to share it." Piggot gave her a silent glare to keep her mouth shut.
He must have taken it some other way, as his next question was, "And why is Vista here?"
Missy heaved a breath and sighed it out, pushing herself back up into a less unprofessional seating position. "She's a friend of mine. I found her, I brought her in." He apologized, and she waved him off. "It is what it is." She turned her attention back to the Director. "What about school? Or her online accounts, and whatever other friends she has?"
Piggot's lips pursed at someone actually asking something. "To be determined, along with the majority of things regarding her old life. Internet locations can be spoofed, she can stay in contact that way. She will still have the option of attending school in her cape persona, unless it is deemed unsafe for her to do so. That, however, is a big step towards being declared unsafe in general, which would see her sent to a specialist site for care or treatment." Locked in the asylum with the rest of the 'monsters', everyone knew. "Anything else?"
"I want to stay with her." Vista replied, then cut back in as the adults moved to deny her. "Put me in plate glass or something if you have to, she should have someone there with her. Someone there for her."
They were silent for a moment, before Armsmaster addressed the Director. "Assenting to the girl's comfort and mental wellness would increase odds of successful recruitment, once she's back to a more normal frame of mind." Vista gave him an odd look for that. Not the cavalry she was expecting on the subject, but she'd take it.
Piggot had a sour look, but she nodded. "Fine. You may sit in the room with her, against one of the far walls. An armed guard will be stationed outside the door. Once her parents arrive, if they ask you to leave, you leave. That's an order."
Missy hopped to her feet, having gotten what she actually wanted from the meeting. "Understood." She left them to their bickering over details, or whatever else the rest of the meeting actually was. She didn't have the energy to care, right now.
The guard was already at the room when she made it down, which felt weird. Maybe they were always planning on sending one, or they were already nearby just in case and she hadn't seen them earlier. The mental map her powers gave her, with splotches of immutability where people were, didn't tell her why someone was there. It only came into focus when she wanted it to or someone got too close, anyway.
It didn't actually matter, and the guard let her into the room. Madison and the doctor that'd been talking to her watched silently as the door shut behind her. "Hey, Maddie." She said to the girl curled up in a blanket cocoon on the medical bed, then regarded both of them. "Do you mind if I sit in?"
"That's up to her." The woman answered. "There's not much testing we could actually do for a Changer, and everything's either done or opted out of, aside from lab results."
The girls shared a tired stare. "I'd like her to stay." Madison croaked.
"I'll get out of your hair, then." The Doctor said with a kind smile, nodding to Vista on her way out. From the look of things, she'd just been keeping Madison company, so she wouldn't have to be alone. Missy took a seat in one of the chairs by the wall, the same sort of chairs that seemed to populate every hospital room except the operating suites.
They sat in silence for a while. Madison's breathing gradually sped up, then hitched. "Thank you." She muttered through the budding tears.
"Any time." Missy replied. "That's what friends are for."
She didn't know why that just set Maddie crying harder.
Missy didn't try to console her after that. She stopped crying after a couple minutes, and they settled into an uncomfortable- but supportive- silence. It was a while, but eventually the parents arrived. Vista introduced herself and warned them about their daughter's new strength, but suggested holding hands was probably safe enough.
Of course, they asked her to leave so they could have some time alone with their daughter. Missy made her way back to the Wards rooms, trudged into hers, and flopped down onto her bed. After the day she'd had, it was no surprise she was out in seconds, not even bothering to remove her costume.