Chapter 5 - The Trap
Three weeks as a Ward parent had taught Danny Hebert that the organisation had not been designed for him. It was questionable just who it was intended to prioritise but the parents were so far down the list it was frankly alarming. Just getting permission to go into the PRT HQ was difficult; requiring a background check, security pass and a two-hour briefing on discreet behaviour while parking. Even then he was still escorted at all times and, as near as he could tell, was expected to close his eyes and hum when not within designated areas.
Unwelcoming was the word that sprung to mind, tending towards hostile the more time Danny spent mired in the PRT's bureaucratic mud. Danny was unsure how much of that hostility was intentional and how much just the outgrowth of the bizarre game the cape world played when it came to secret identities. Parents didn't fit the mould of the PRT, which given it was an outgrowth of the military was understandable if not forgivable. Once one read past the toothless promises of parental engagement his formal responsibilities boiled down to signing off on Taylor's hours and punishments, making sure that she made it to the PRT building at designated times, and otherwise getting the hell out of the way. There was no network for Ward parents—more secret identity concerns—and no hero-parent evenings to discuss his daughter's progress. Even Taylor telling him how her day went was skirting dangerously close to a number of legally enforceable limits.
Honestly, if Taylor hadn't been flagrantly breaking those laws he wouldn't get more than a 'my day was fine' each evening. That was a situation that he never should have tolerated before and sure as hell wasn't going to tolerate again.
He paused before Mrs Woods' office and drew in a deep breath, fighting down a familiar stab of hot rage. It was a familiar friend given the events of the last few weeks but an unwelcome ally. He'd spent too much time in contract negotiations to harbour any illusions about shouting his way through such a problem. If he wanted to break Taylor's contract then he needed to be cold, furious, but cold.
Raising a fist he rapped his knuckles on the door. A few moments later Mrs Woods opened the door.
"Ah, Danny," she said, with a welcoming smile. "I was surprised to hear you were coming in today. Come in, take a seat."
"Thank you, Mrs Woods." Danny took a final steadying breath before stepping into the room. The office was sparsely decorated, a few photos had been placed on the desk and some books huddled at the end of a bookcase but otherwise there was nothing personable in sight. "New office?"
"I still need to unpack a couple boxes from Boston," Mrs Woods explained, with a pained smile. "It's been very busy lately. Mrs. Stewarts' absence was rather unexpected and there's been a lot to catch up on." She sank into her desk chair and gestured to a narrow seat opposite. "Now, how can I help?"
Danny took a seat, sitting up straight enough that he was still forcing Mrs Woods to look up. Height was the most basic of negotiation tactics but no less effective because of its simplicity. "Thank you. I thought I'd come in to discuss Taylor's punishment personally, and talk about my concerns about the PR event on Sunday."
Mrs Woods winced. "Ah, yes, that was a nasty day for all concerned. Let me get my files." She reached down into her desk, pulling out a small manilla folder and a pair of square-framed spectacles. "Let's see, you got my message about the unfortunate altercation with Shadow Stalker on Friday?"
A grimace twisted Danny's features. Taylor had been distraught after that. "Yes. Yes, I'm aware that Taylor was out of line. I would like to question why those two were put in a room together."
"Uh, I'm unsure on the face of things. I believe that Aegis underestimated the level of animosity the girls shared. It won't be happening again until tempers cool, I assure you."
Danny had to remind himself he was not there to yell. Nor would Taylor be with the Wards long enough for tempers to cool. "And why," he pressed. "Is the Wards Leader making decisions like that? I was under the impression that it was Armsmaster's job?"
"That…" Mrs Wood paused, frowning to herself. "Is a fair question. The Brockton Bay Wards team typically gives more authority to its senior most members than I'm used to. I'll find out if Armsmaster was involved in the decision, I'm sure he signed off on it."
"So you're saying both Armsmaster and Aegis were responsible for putting my daughter in the same room as the girl who caused her trigger event?"
He enjoyed the look of sudden alarm on Mrs Wood's face a little too much. There was a certain magic to the word trigger in the cape world, one that always got a response from those who worked with capes.
"That's not entirely fair," Mrs Woods began.
"Then was it Aegis' screw up or Armsmaster's? If it wasn't both." Danny resisted the urge to smirk as he watched Mrs Woods sputter over the false dichotomy.
She took a deep breath. "That's not really my place to say," she settled on at last, before swiftly pivoting to the attack. "But also somewhat to the side of our point. Whatever the provocation, attacking a fellow Ward is never the appropriate response."
Danny nodded. "Of course, I quite agree," he said, affecting an amiable tone.
"You do?" The sudden shift took Mrs Woods off-balance. "Oh, wonderful. I thought—"
"And I looked over your list of suggested punishments yesterday," Danny continued, barrelling through. "Given the circumstances; the first offence, the verbal provocation, the lack of any serious harm and the systemic errors of my daughter's direct superiors, I'm willing to suggest an hour of physical training to be reasonable."
Mrs Woods did a double take. "An hour? Mr Hebert, for this kind of offence a Ward is generally given ten hours of recertification work, additional unpaid duties, the cashiering of wages, or many, many hours of PT. One hour is completely inappropriate."
"I'm her father, I have final say on what is or isn't appropriate for my daughter," Danny said sharply. "But I am new to the organisation, how much physical training would you consider reasonable?"
"That's—" Mrs Woods took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Leaving aside that PT is not the punishment I'd recommend under these circumstances—she'd do far better with additional time to bond with her colleagues rather than supervised gym time—twenty hours."
"I understand, five."
She winced. "Mr Hebert, this is not a negotiation."
Danny spread his hands, it very clearly was. They both had to sign off on any punishments before Taylor served them.
"Let's put a pin in this." Mrs Wood flicked through her notes. "We also have to discuss the consequences of Sunday's PR event and that's a good deal more serious."
"Patrol," Danny interjected. "Patrols are defined as traversing an area where crime is known to occur to or with the express intention of suppressing criminal activity. PR events are to raise awareness of the Wards program or other pro-community activities.
"Ah, but just because the Wards were in motion doesn't mean that they weren't on PR duties," Mrs Woods replied. "I'll admit the line between the two can sometimes blur, but Wards being active within a retail area is completely normal."
"Normal does not mean permissible." Danny gave a deep sigh. "But that is an issue well beyond your remit. I will have to bring that up with the Deputy Director in my meeting with him on Wednesday."
Mrs Woods looked momentarily like she'd dodged a bullet. "That would probably be for the best. I'll admit that mistakes were made across the aisle in this case, but why don't you tell me what you'd consider reasonable with your view of events?"
"Of course." Smiling to himself, Danny began. "I want him immediately placed on suspension without pay. I want him removed from all leadership positions over other Wards pending a full investigation. I want a written apology for my—"
"Hold on, hold on, hold on," Mrs Woods waved her hands in a vague attempt to stem the cavalcade of demands. "Are you talking about Aegis?"
Danny adopted an expression of surprise. "Of course I am, my daughter did nothing wrong."
"Nothing…" Mrs Woods shook herself. "Mr Hebert, she walked off in the middle of a patrol."
"As would be within her rights as she has not received my permission to actively patrol as the PRT defines it."
She winced. "I meant PR tour, and regardless—"
"PR tours have official hours and require either my permission to extend beyond their designated time slot or the direct instruction of PRT senior staff. Given my daughter had just been explicitly ordered to, 'Not move. Not speak. Not touch anything.' and abandoned by the only supervising elements of your 'PR tour' she had no recourse but to follow the rulebook. And the rulebook says that when a Ward's time at a PR tour is up they go home."
Mrs Woods met his eye for half a moment before ducking her head. "I'm not saying Aegis was blameless," she began after a long moment. "But leaving without telling anyone is dangerous. If Clockblocker hadn't thought to call her then we would have had no idea what happened to your daughter."
"That that was even an option was a complete and utter failure on the part of the PRT and the Wards organisation," Danny pressed with just a twinge of guilt. Mrs Woods was a pencil pusher at best and clearly had no idea what to do in the face of an irate parent with no intention of being calmed or meeting the PRT half-way. "I want a full investigation into the circumstances that allowed my daughter to be put at such risk, again, by your organisation."
"I…" Mrs Woods closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll put it into the system, but that's a decision made above my level."
Danny huffed. What was the point of a Wards representative that didn't even have the authority to investigate problems? "It had better be fully investigated. I'm not letting my daughter set foot in the PRT building until Aegis is removed from his position as team leader.
Wincing, Mrs Woods worried her pen for a moment. "I'm not sure that's really commensurate with the circumstances."
Danny leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Oh?" he demanded, his tone low and threatening.
"Wards Team Leadership is considered a preparatory role for Protectorate membership. It is assigned by age to give everyone an opportunity to shine and it is… unusual in the extreme to be removed from the role and will affect his heroic career going forwards."
"And?" Danny drawled.
Mrs Woods sighed. "Please be reasonable Mr Hebert, while I admit that the circumstances were regrettable, losing his position is well beyond the scale. Some unprofessionalism aside, no one got hurt and at most I'd expect my counterpart to assign him additional training."
"That is not in the slightest acceptable," Danny snapped. "In the course of a single day Aegis: gave my daughter the aforementioned unreasonable and endangering orders. He yelled at her against all professional standards. He ordered my daughter to appear in public with no form of identity protection, in direct contradiction of half a dozen of the Wards' own statutes. He failed to issue her with the bare minimum of equipment, not even a radio to request help in an emergency. He illegally ordered her to attack a civilian, despite the fact that my daughter is neither certified to do so and it contradicted his previous instructions. And that's not even starting on the deceptive practice of calling a patrol that engaged in police action a PR tour. In short, I want him fired. I will accept his suspension."
For a count of ten the only sound in the small office was the ticking of a clock and the gentle murmur of a distant voice on the phone.
"Pisces was certified, I signed it myself," Mrs Wood said, her voice struggling to fill the hole Danny's tirade had left in the conversation.
"The physical certification, yes. She failed the written portion," Danny continued waving the objection off. "That is irrelevant to the matter at hand. I am not letting my daughter back into this building when there is even the possibility of Aegis' abusive leadership further harming her. If you do not remove him from his position then I'm going to file complaints about the PRT perpetuating a hostile work environment to everyone from Child Protective Services to the Better Business Bureau. Understood?"
Mrs Woods closed her eyes. "Understood," she admitted with a sigh. "I'll talk to my superiors."
"Good. Call me as soon as they can bring themselves to make a decision. If something is not done by the end of the day then you will not be seeing my daughter again as a Ward."
That earned an actual blanch. "Mr Hebert, you can't refuse your daughter access to Ward services," she protested.
Danny huffed. "What services? My daughter is a Ward because your organisation assured me it was better than a trip to Juvenile Hall. Aegis' actions are making me reconsider that assessment."
"I promise you, Mr Hebert, it will not come to that," Mrs Woods said, drawing herself up. "I'll see that this is fixed. It is my top priority."
"Good." Danny stood. "I expect to have news by the end of the day." He turned to leave.
"Oh, but Mr Hebert," Mrs Woods interrupted. "About the punishment for Friday?"
Danny paused, turned slowly on his heel and fixed her with a look. "One hour PT, that's all I will agree to."
Mrs Woods winced. "It won't be accepted."
"Then call in a mediator."
Danny left, closing the door behind him just hard enough to make a bang without truly slamming it. He glanced around and, seeing his assigned minder watching, restrained his wild grin. Instead, he restrained himself to a mere self-satisfied smirk. Score one for the good guys, at last.
Aegis only realised just how badly things had gone wrong when he received the call to Armsmaster's office. Armsmaster didn't keep office hours in the PRT building, nor was he particularly fond of snap meetings or even casual chats. A summons just after the utter catastrophe of the Sunday patrol was not unexpected, but the suddenness was the first toll of the doom-bell.
"Ah, Aegis. Take a seat."
Armsmaster's office itself was small, unadorned and in an out of the way corner of the PRT building. It was easily missed save for Armsmaster's name on the door and the large silver chair behind the desk built to hold a suit of power armour. Armsmaster did not look up as Aegis entered, fiddling with a set of screwdrivers as he dug through the guts of one of his eponymous halberds.
Dropping stiffly into the seat Aegis fought down the adrenaline shakes and leant on his enhanced biology to keep his expression neutral. It didn't pay to look like an overly emotional teen. "How bad?" he asked, his voice catching slightly.
Silence stretched between them. Finally Armsmaster finished whatever Tinker task he'd been attempting, and set down his tools. He looked up. "One week's administrative leave while your interactions with Pisces are reviewed."
Aegis pinched his eyes shut. That was bad, and had the potential to become worse, but it wasn't the end of everything. "Okay… Okay."
"Do you understand why we have to do this?"
Biting down on the honest answer, which was Pisces' attempts to destroy the Wards program from within as far as Aegis could tell, Aegis fell back on his prepared response. "I lost my temper. I gave bad orders. I missed the obvious loophole."
There was another moment's silence. Armsmaster wasn't a man who spoke without thought but the anticipation was killer. Aegis was pretty sure he was developing a second heart to beat in his throat.
"No." Armsmaster shook his head and sighed. "Those are all problems, but they aren't why you're being suspended. You broke at least seven individual regulations sending Pisces out on patrol, endangered her secret identity and members of the public ordering her to restrain a suspect without certification."
Aegis' mouth formed an 'o'. "What?" He demanded. "She was certified. I put the paperwork through myself."
"She has not yet passed the written portion of her certification."
"The—" Aegis sputtered indignantly. "Everyone passes the written portion!" he exclaimed. "It's open book!"
Armsmaster merely gave him a flat look. "There is also no provision for sending a Ward onto a PR tour without their costume."
"No, no, no. There is. I found that one myself. 'At the discretion of the Protectorate leadership or Wards Team Leader, a Ward may appear out of costume if their power effects provide sufficient protection of their secret identity.' It's right there in the handbook."
"Indeed, but that rule is from the section covering deployment to emergency situations when a costume is not available. It has never been used in a PR context, nor was it intended to circumvent the process of a Ward receiving a costume all together." Armsmaster sighed, lacing his fingers together. "Aegis, you have a good head on your shoulders. Why did you persist with the PR tour when you saw that Pisces had not yet been issued with a costume?"
"Why?" Aegis shot back, indignantly. "Because I knew that she wasn't going to have her costume! For two weeks we've been training, we have not once started on time due to a hundred petty excuses. Further, she has taken bathroom breaks every fifteen minutes during my lectures. She has deliberately broken training equipment and called it an accident. She once wandered off after a meeting with Mrs Woods and was found in the third floor break room reading Catch-22. That was forty minutes later and we were about to raise the M/S alarm. I knew she was going to do everything in her power to make the patrol as difficult and aggravating as possible and prepared appropriately."
"Huh…" Armsmaster cocked his head slightly. "I haven't seen any complaints about this in the system."
Aegis glowered. "None of them were considered substantial enough to see any official response," he ground out. "Sir, she is a menace. She is actively sabotaging us."
A beat passed. "I wouldn't say that in the formal review," Armsmaster observed. "It would give the impression that you have something against Pisces and—" he held up a hand to forestall an angry interruption. "—whether or not that is true you can not present yourself as anything but an impartial Wards Leader who made an error in judgement."
Drawing in a sharp breath Aegis accepted that as technically good advice. Not particularly comforting advice but good for his long term career. "Okay…" he murmured, his voice low and defeated. "I can say— I don't know what I'll say."
"You do not need to worry overmuch, you are a Ward and are not held to the same standards that a full time hero would be," Armsmaster assured him. He picked up his tools and began to adjust one of the unidentifiable widgets in his halberd. "When asked you should emphasise that you were acting in the perceived best interests of Pisces and the Wards program in general, and that it was only after the incident that you realised your error. Stress that Pisces was the one who left a PR event without instruction. Stress that you were in hot pursuit and didn't have the time to consider your actions."
Aegis frowned. "That makes me sound irresponsible."
Armsmaster shrugged. "You are a teenager, so a degree of irresponsibility is expected. Play up the angle that this was a learning experience and you'll be fine."
"Sure." Aegis shook his head, wishing that he could believe that. Silence descended between them as Armsmaster continued to tinker, it was usually a sign that one was free to leave but the hearing wasn't the only issue.
"Sir, what do we do about Pisces?"
Armsmaster looked up suddenly from his tinkering. "Do?"
"Yeah, do. Sir, she can't be on this team. Not with Shadow Stalker, not with me."
"The Wards organisation is open to all young parahumans, no matter where they come from and no matter what they need," Armsmaster replied, quoting chapter and verse from the handbook.
Aegis drew in a pinched breath. "Then send her somewhere else."
"Pisces' parents have refused a transfer offer."
He threw up his hands. "Then move Shadow Stalker! New York has an archer, we could do a swap."
A dark shadow passed over Armsmaster's face. "Brockton Bay is not considered a safe location for transfers, particularly in Fléchette's instance. Besides, Shadow Stalker's family have also refused relocation."
"One of them needs to go, sir," Aegis pressed. "I don't know what happened between them as civilians but Shadow Stalker can't keep her mouth shut for five minutes, and Pisces is barely above attacking her on sight. I can't keep them apart forever, the Wards do too many events as a group and they share a common room."
Armsmaster nodded slowly. "It is our hope that Pisces will restrain herself in the future, attacking another Ward is never acceptable, particularly not for a parahuman as dangerous as Pisces is. Shadow Stalker has also been warned not to interact with Pisces given that their relationship as civilians is under investigation."
"What, they've tried to kill each other in civvies as well?" Aegis scoffed.
There was a poignant pause and Aegis' eyes widened.
"They tried to kill each other in their civilian identities?" he demanded, his voice peaking in alarm,
Armsmaster ducked his head. "I should not comment on an internal investigation before it is completed."
"God damn it!" Aegis dropped his head into his hands and fought down the urge to scream. "Sir, I can't fix—" he fumbled for the right words. "Whatever the hell those girls have between them. Shadow Stalker barely listens to me as is and Pisces listens just enough to screw me over. I have tried everything I can think of to get Pisces on-board. About the only option I have left is to throw the book at her for yesterday and hope that at least some of it sticks."
"I would suggest focusing on her actions in the group meeting," Armsmaster began after a few moment's thought. "You have fewer conflicts of interest and Pisces was clearly in the wrong. Once you've established your authority in this matter she will hopefully be more willing to listen going forward."
Aegis pinched his eyes shut. It was not a very good plan if he had to be honest. Pisces had proven that she knew the rulebook better than Aegis and was willing to use it as a rapier. However, if the stick was the only option she'd give him, then the stick was the only option he'd use.
"Okay. I can work with that. When is my hearing?"
"We've booked time for Monday next week. Take the time off to prepare your arguments and an apology for Pisces. Clockblocker will be handling affairs in your absence, but I'm suspending patrols until your return regardless. You can start with a fresh slate then."
"Understood, Sir," Aegis stood. "And, er, thank you for the advice."
"You're welcome. And remember, if you need anything my door is always open."
Aegis nodded sharply and left the office. The door slammed behind him, dragged shut by the overly tuned closing arm.