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Montreal, Canada
Another house busted.
Sitting with his elbow against the armrest of the door, Nico Vasil watched moodily as the pedestrians went past as they waited in traffic.
The taxi driver was a good sort; that is to say, he didn't speak or interrupt his thoughts. Had he tried, Nico would have shut him up, not physically of course. Much better ways to do that, over the course of his life the man better known as Heartbreaker had learned what emotions to incite in a person at the right time.
But he didn't need too right now, and that suited him.
Although...
Having a loyal driver at his beck and call would be useful... the last one he had had to leave at the previous safe house when the PRT broke down his door, he had managed to get out the back with one of two of the kids as guards whilst the rest and a few of the unpowered grunts distracted the PRT. They were getting better and better at working out his location, he half wondered whether they had compromised one of the kids into turning tattletale.
But he did regular enough sweeps to keep them loyal, they shouldn't be able to turn against him.
Where to go next?
He had most of his children in the cars ahead and dispersed through the city; he had learned from previous incidents that they normally targeted the nicer cars, expecting him to be in those. But the battered, beaten-up car a few hundred metres behind? Much easier to dive away, to take an alternative route when that happened, skirt around the inevitable attempt to bring him down.
Still...
He had been rather liking his previous situation, it had been a bit more upmarket as a house than usual, but he had really been able to settle into the place, make it his own if only for a little while. Sure the brats had been loud and there had not been much room for them, but hey they had the downstairs whilst he took the top, honestly, they should have been glad. Well, they were glad when he made most of them glad but still, the point stood.
Some people just did not know how good they had it.
But still, he needed to find a new place, he'd find somebody, somebody normal enough, out of the way and perhaps not his usual type so that the PRT wouldn't think anything was too amiss. He'd use the usual tactic, somebody single in a bar perhaps, get them to bring him back to their place and work his magic as needed and then---
The window imploded, there was a screech of tyres as the driver slammed on the brakes, as there were shouts and screams of surprise from the driver, he tried to shout in surprise himself, but he couldn't. It was like all the wind had been forced from his stomach
It took Nico Vasil a moment to look down, as the metre long piece of metal that was sticking out of his chest, and realise that he was fucked.
Brockton Bay
Miss Militia found herself in an odd situation that she would much rather not be in.
"There has been a few... unusual things on the search history from an IP address registered to this property, and a number of items purchased from a site called CapeCollectibles that have led to some cause for alarm, would you happen to know anything about that?"
"..." the girl looked away, at once unable to maintain eye contact.
She was tall for her age, pale and struggled to keep eye contact at times. Miss Militia had found the house and knocked at the door, and the Hebert girl had, after the inevitable confusion and blinking of eyes, allowed her in. The girl's father was there as well, she had made sure to time this meeting for the weekend, if he did not know about all this then it would be an awkward conversation, but it might help in forcing out the truth.
"I did buy something, yes," she said, although it certainly was not with much good will as she did so. Moreover, it sounded petulant and forced.
"May I ask what you bought?" she already knew, but it was part of the process, to have a person say so, to feel somewhat in control of the situation.
"A sock."
It was... certainly an odd thing to buy. But if some people online chose to buy the used underwear of strangers, then a sock was hardly unusual, people were strange creatures and even if only one in a hundred was a little odd, in a city of three-hundred thousand that would still be plenty of weird sorts. It was not Miss Militia's right to judge that... but when it was a relic of a villain then it was harder to turn the other cheek.
"So, why did you buy one of Heartbreaker's old socks?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice painfully neutral and encouraging.
Perhaps it was a bit much to send a Hero to speak with a youth about this matter, but public outreach like this was just as important a part of the job as some aspects of fighting Villains, to lose the hearts and minds of the public was far more dangerous to the PRT that anything else. Although this was less reaching hearts and minds than a concerned call.
"... Yeah, I bought it, I..." the girl was visibly floundering under both their gazes, so Miss Militia took a sip of the tea to ease the pressure.
"Miss Hebert, collecting relics of Villains is not a healthy past time, especially when it is villain"
"Listen I had a reason, okay, I don't... I would never want to collect something of Heartbreakers!" to her credit, the girl did look genuinely revulsed, and Miss Militia raised an eyebrow. It was a strong reaction, and not one appropriate for somebody collecting villain paraphernalia out of some strange whim.
"... I have a power..." the girl finally admitted.
Miss Militia blinked.
This was going to complicate things in some way, wasn't it? Not only would she have to give a warning about the dangers of villain worship, but she would also have to try and give the Ward recruitment pitch as well. She could feel the seed of a headache beginning to build, or threatening to do so perhaps. But nonetheless, she wondered just what the girl's admission actually had to do with the sock that was at the heart of this, so she settled on a neutral tone of voice to keep the conversation going.
"I see."
The teenager looked away, visibly deflating, perhaps she had expected a grander response. She bit her lip, frowned, that expressive face looked both down and a little hopeful, before settling into something close to apathy.
"It's kind of weird but... when I throw things, I can make it go to a person, but I need to touch an object belong to them first..." she said, and Miss Militia slowly nodded.
Well, that was an odd power indeed... and it also made sense with the power.
"... And so, you used CapeCollectibles to purchase something that belonged to Heartbreaker with the intention to throw something at him?" Hannah said, slowly, as if to make sure that she understood the situation. The girl nodded.
"What did you throw at him?"
"..."
"Miss Hebert?" Getting information out of this girl was an exercise in patience, but that was something that Hannah had built up over the course of many years in the PRT. It was essential when dealing with paperwork, petulant Wards, and worst of all... members of the public and press.
"Um... I threw a piece of rebar," Taylor said, rubbing at her arm.
Oh.
Images of a police report, of PRT documents surfaced, the talk of the metaphorical town of recent had been the death of Heartbreaker, one of the most feared masters in North America, killed by a random piece of metal that had pierced the windscreen of a taxi like a javelin, right into the man's heart. It had been widely celebrated, and the irony of the Heartbreaker being pierced through said organ? Well, there were a lot of tasteless images going around suffice it to say.
"I see, why?"
Well, a lot of things were making sense now.
"Taylor, you're not in trouble," she reassured, and the girl looked back to her for a few seconds, just a few seconds, for the first time in minutes.
"... I kind of wanted to use my power, I don't know, I was stressed and some stuff was... yeah. So, I kind of just... decided that if I should throw something at someone it should be... yeah."
Well, there were a lot of villains that people, both civilian and PRT, were especially hateful of. masters, especially the sort of Master that Heartbreaker was, were easy to hate and the sort of bogeyman that everyone feared meeting, the sort of person that stripped away your ability to resist or even fully know what had happened to you. So, the girl had gotten hold of something of his and used her power to take out some frustration?
Debatably, she had planned and executed his death.
There was a lot that the department could do to the girl, there was probably some way to strong arm her into becoming a Ward. Hannah took a stealing breath. Hopefully that would not be needed, the girl, despite some of her petulance and unwillingness to talk, seemed more scared than anything else.
That, and her instincts were saying that something was off.
The house was perfectly nice, but there was a sort of... gloom over it. Not something generated by a power, but that sort of feeling that came with an extended period of time when a home's residents put the bare minimum of effort into maintaining it. The girl shied away whenever she focused on her, and whilst Hannah couldn't see any indications of bruises...
"Well then, that explains the purchase," Hannah said, trying to sound positive, trying to lighten the girl's concern with her voice. "Could you perhaps demonstrate your power for me? Although not with a sharp object, I am not sure if I want to trouble Panacea today."
Emily Piggot listened to the report passively.
Well, this was a rather strange situation to be in. Of course, the killer of Heartbreaker would be a teenage girl living in a small suburban house in Brockton Bay, really, they should make this city the first place they look for such strange oddities at this point.
"---so yes, I went in expecting a deluded girl and found a Cape," Miss Militia helpfully summarised, as if she had not been laying out the story for the last fifteen minutes.
"A Cape who, in effect, has an auto-targeting ability for thrown objects so long as she has an object belong to a person, and, so on her own initiative, decided to purchase one of Heartbreakers old socks and then proceeded to throw a potentially deadly weapon with the intention of killing him?" Emily asked, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers.
"Yes, ma'am."
Well then.
"... What a frightening power, what is the distance between here and Toronto?"
"I checked, it's about four-hundred and fifty miles, ma'am."
Emily glanced at her window, as if half expecting a piece of projectile reinforcing bar to come through it. It was certainly an audacious entry into the cape world, killing one of the most wanted Capes in North America not only from another state, but across a national boundary with a piece of construction material. They would not even be able to charge the girl with a crime; that would be for Canada to pursue.
If they did not simply give the girl a medal and a reward.
Miss Militia evidently took the pause as a prompt to go on.
"It only affects things she has thrown, I had her demonstrate---" Piggot raised an eyebrow at that. Parahumans showing off their powers was not an unusual thing, but with what Miss Militia had been saying so far... "I gave her one of my dog tags and she picked up an orange and under arm threw it at a window, it turned around in the air and flew at me."
Well, there were no obvious bruises or orange juice marks on the Cape, so evidently, she had caught the projectile-fruit.
"So, fruit and rebar, did she mention other times she has used it?"
"She didn't mention... she seemed a little skittish, although I got her to open up a bit with time, I wondered if there was something going on at home to be honest ma'am but she didn't give an indication."
"Does the girl have any previous indications that might indicate a trigger event?" she asked.
The other woman nodded.
"She was hospitalised a short while ago, something to do with an incident at Winslow."
Winslow, according to Shadow Stalker, their Ward, was practically a hive of trouble so it only made sense. Although Emily had always wondered whether the abrasive Ward was speaking in hyperbole when she described the place.
"Look into it more and send anything relevant my way, see if there is anything that may indicate trouble at home... how did she react to the pitch?"
"Hard to know to be honest, I am not really sure I sold her on it well but she seemed... open to the idea?" Miss Militia ventured, as if somewhat unsure herself. A girl who had the willingness to throw with the intent to kill Heartbreaker... Well, if a lot of people suddenly gained the magical ability to kill one person, a good number would have had Heartbreaker in their top five to use it on. It was much easier to justify killing somebody with a rap sheet like that, and far fewer people would take issue with it.
However, in the back of her mind, an idea was formulating.
The girl's power was rather fearsome, despite its limitations.
A lot of things could have gone wrong, had Heartbreaker not been fleeing from the authorities, had he not been in a taxi driving at speed that had met the piece of rebar head on then the attempt would likely have failed. If he had been in a house, or any sort of building then the attack would have failed.
In many ways, the girl's random attempt had struck at the perfect moment.
"Okay then. Once you have taken a look through the reports, I want you to see this girl again," Emily decided, and Miss Militia straightened just a fraction. "First, and most importantly, tell her that she is not in trouble at all, I want her to have as positive a view of the PRT as possible. Secondly, I am authorising you to expand the normal promises to a prospective Ward."
"Ma'am?"
"Whatever caused her trigger we'll deal with it when we find out, if she's being abused then promise her protection from it, we'll provide housing or a foster family as needed. We need this girl in the Wards, Hannah," Emily said, using the woman's name to impress the importance of this. Judging by the way her eyes widened slightly, she understood. Good.
With that, Emily dismissed the Cape, and for a minute sat with fingers steepled. It was a very interesting conundrum she faced. The potential new Ward had a power that could be incredibly useful if it was used right.
If it was used ruthlessly.
Killing Heartbreaker was evidence enough of that, but that had been a lucky shot. But as a Director, Emily Piggot knew plenty about Capes and their powers, and about the Capes in other branches.
People working together, finding teams and individuals who cooperated for a shared goal was the oldest force multiplier in human history, as soon as one ape could work with another. Combining Capes was much the same, although a bit more luck than science, some powers worked extremely well together. Vista and Clockblocker was just one example, one could shorten the distance for the other to use his power, or manoeuvre all manner of objects into the right place at the right time.
Brockton Bay may not be as well staffed as many Departments, but it was by using its assets wisely that had kept a PRT presence in it for this long.
Emily, snapping from her reverie, picked up the phone.
"Hello, Director Hatchson."
"Director Piggot, how are things in the Bay?"
She looked dismissively towards her window.
"Nothing currently on fire, no rampaging dragons yet so it is a good day," she said to lighten the tone, even if she struggled to force humour into her tone. Honestly, some cities just dealt with weirdos who thought they had magic, or parahuman business interests but Brockton Bay got the dragon and the Nazi's.
"Well, that sounds like an improvement." Laugh it up Hatchson, laugh it up. She would have liked to see just how half of her contemporaries would deal with the situation she faced down on a daily basis and whether they would be laughing it up. But for the sake of politeness and vested interest, Emily forced a short, chuffing laugh to make it sound as if yes, it really was rather comical. Wonderfully hilarious, to deal with budget constraints and the insanity of the Bay.
"I wanted to discuss the plans to accelerate your Wards transfer to the department, I appreciate that I have been requesting the process be expedited but the city has had a recent trigger that would make for an excellent partner to her," she said.
"Oh? Tell me more."
"I am afraid I cannot until the last of the paperwork is signed, but take my word for it, working together they could make an incredible difference not just in Brockton Bay but across the entire country."
Taylor felt just a little nervous.
Despite everything, despite all she had been through she was now a Ward.
It had all happened so fast, just a day after Miss Militia had come to visit the woman had been there again, this time there was no suspicion at all, actually, she had gotten off killing a man scott free.
She was not sure how to feel about that.
No matter how bad he was... she had killed a man. But nobody cared, it was a good thing, actually.
She had done a service for humanity, they said, by throwing that piece of metal in a fit of rage, out of a need to just... do something with her power.
And she had a Cape name now; Gungnir. Apparently, it was Odin's spear, which always hit its target or something. It was a bit clunky to say, GUNG-Nir, but it was also something cool. Better then... something else that would fit her power. Certainly, better than some of the titles that some people had given Heartbreaker's killer, like 'the Rebar Revenger'.
Just this year she would be putting more money away in a trust fund than her father earned in a year, although naturally she could not touch any of it, but she could now contribute. Her new superiors were all nice to her, she had been worried about them coming down on her like a tonne of bricks, but they were all so... obliging. It made her suspicious, waiting for the next shoe to drop but so far it had not.
It was all so very odd.
She was a fish out of water, a person without real friends, little school or social life and now she was a teenaged Cape preparing to be presented to the public, her, Taylor Hebert.
And now here she was, standing on the Protectorate Rig in the literal centre of the Bay, a faint breeze making her hair whip around a little, wondering what was going on. She had been asked to come, transportation had been provided and now she was waiting.
There was another girl as well, one that she had not seen before, she had a much nicer outfit. Taylors own outfit was nothing grand, the other Ward looked much cooler, but apparently this was just her prototype outfit anyway and a finished version would be coming down the line. Right now, it was simply a bodysuit with some basic armour, and a visor of her own. That was the main thing they were keen on, giving her a full field of vision.
Miss Militia arrived, waving to both of them.
"Hello Gungnir, Flechette, how are you both enjoying the Rig?" she asked, and after a moment looking at one another, Taylor spoke up first
"Um, its very neat, I've always wanted to come here again, I came on a school trip once but it was very short."
"Yes, most of it is closed off to the public but it is for the best, we used to have problems with people poking their noses where they really should not." Hannah clapped her hands. "Okay, introductions first, although I just said your names Gungnir, meet Flechette. Flechette, meet Gungnir. Gungnir is new to the Wards Flechette, so if you'll please look out for her when you can, that would be much appreciated."
Awkward exchanges were made, the girl looked more relaxed and casual in this setting than Taylor, who still felt painfully out of place.
"We would like to conduct a brief power test to see if you two would be compatible as partners from here on out."
Taylor blinked. Partners, already? Had this all been planned? It must have, and it seemed to be just as strange to the other girl as to her.
"Um, okay?" Why were they testing for compatibility out here though? The view of Brockton Bay was nice and all, but it was a little chilly out here on the Rig's open surface and she would much rather do a power test in an actual room designed for the purpose, where there were far fewer prying eyes watching her.
A target was set up at the edge of the Rig, a selection of javelins of all things were brought out. The other girl, Flechette, was looking at both curiously.
"We wanted to test if both of your powers could interact together, if not then you will still make a good team but if it does then the Director has some special plans for you both. Now, Gungnir needs to be the one to throw the javelin, but Flechette if you would please imbue it with your power at the last moment."
Awkwardly, both girls stood shoulder to shoulder, Taylor holding a piece of broken off plastic from the dummy in her other hand to act as the focus for her power. Having two people throw a javelin at the same time was rather difficult it turned out, the first time the other girl accidently gripped it at the last moment, arresting the momentum to the javelin, and whilst it was still thrown it was very slow, ominously floating through the air like a balloon. It hit the dummy and gently pushed it over, apparently whatever power Flechette had had failed to be applied.
The second time, they managed to throw it far better.
The Javelin went straight through the dummy like a bullet, leaving a large puncture hole, and then it continued straight on through the other side, Taylor's power used up. In the end, it fell into the ocean.
Oh.
"Hey, you're a really good throw considering how awkward it is," Flechette said, a smile on her lips. Taylor rubbed her arm, somewhat unused to being complimented.
"Not really, my power takes care of all that, um, it kind of... autotargets things I throw." Understanding evidently dawned, the other Ward's mouth made a little O shape, she shifted her posture to face her more directly.
"I see, so you don't even need to look at where your target is and it will still hit?"
"Ehehe... I don't even need to be in the same country," Taylor said wryly as another dummy was set up. Should she tell the other girl about the Heartbreaker incident, or was that not some sort of confidential information? Better to clear it with somebody else first, this was only her fifth day as a Ward, after all.
"Oh wow... wait, so if we are going to be working together from here on... huh, I see why they were so keen to put us together now."
"I guess, what does your power do?"
"Oh, I can make things ignore laws of physics, err, sort of. It's hard to describe at times to be completely honest... usually things I use my power on just go straight through whatever I fire them at, but I can also use my power on my suit and stuff. My power’s pretty dangerous."
By the end of their first meeting, and four more dummies down, the decision had been finalised and apparently, they were a 'stunning success', although Taylor felt just a little daunted by the evident excitement of everyone else around them.
"Emily, what the hell is going on in the Bay?"
"You will have to be more specific; our resident Nazi population recently lynched a man in his yard and half a block was burned down in retaliation by our resident overgrown lizard."
"In the past week your department has claimed responsibility for no less than four Kill orders across the country, could you possibly explain this?"
"Ah I see. Well, rest assured that those Kill Orders were all verified and confirmed by Dragon, and the relevant documentation has been provided in all cases. What is the issue?"
"How can Brockton Bay possibly be claiming responsibility for them?"
"Brockton Bay has recently gained two new Ward's whose powers work incredibly well together. In effect, Hatchson, I have created the ultimate Kill Order execution team, which, with a little preparation, can perform a lethal strike on any individual across the continent and perhaps further regardless of their brute ratings."
"Emily, you are using Ward's for this!?"
"Yes. Their next target is Shatterbird of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Thus far they have a one-hundred percent success rate. Admittedly only over four uses of their combined powers, but the higher ups are very keen to remove a few more problem targets... and to test them out against the Endbringers."
Taylor had a somewhat... odd status as a Ward.
It was all a bit odd, to be frank. She had a limited number of patrols compared to the others, she had had the most scripted and bare bones of introduction to the public as well, she did not even have any merchandise as far as she knew unlike some of the others. Within a week or so she had been largely forgotten, and she could not help but think that that had been planned. Her name barely turned up on PHO forums, beyond the introduction and some speculation on her powers.
When she did patrol, she went out with Lily on routes that she faintly suspected were the safest possible ones.
She did not do public talks, or meet and greets with the public.
No, Taylor... or as she should call herself, Gungnir's main duty was... well, Kill Orders.
She did not really know how to feel about it. The Director had not sugar coated the situation at all; the two of their powers combined to create a ridiculously potent weapon that could be used to in effect, create an unstoppable projectile with unlimited range and unerring accuracy that could take out nearly any target in the continental US and beyond.
There was... a lot of paperwork to it all.
Taylor had, in effect, killed five people now. Thinking it was different to doing it, after all, throwing a javelin with Lily was an operation in coordination, it was even fun when they practised together, but it was very hard to reconcile throwing one of the weapons in Brockton Bay and knowing that, a few hours later in the midwest, a famous villain with hundreds or thousands of murders to their name, would be killed by it.
She had to wonder about the moral implications of her actions, it was rather hard not to.
Taylor Hebert was, in effect, an executioner of Kill Orders.
Heartbreaker, Mannequin, Hatchetface, Bonesaw and, most recently, Shatterbird. Four members of the Slaughterhouse Nine and one of the most feared masters in North America, all dead at her hands. Hell... the department was in talks with government bodies across the world right now. The Three Blasphemies has been suggested; one always was recreated by another when they were destroyed but if she and Lily could launch three javelins within a minute of one another then the trio of European threats may well be put down for good.
It was a lot easier to use and justify her power, knowing that it would be against the sort of people who murdered for fun, who ruined lives so casually but it was the thin end of the wedge.
The money as well... even if the bounties for the dead Kill Orders was split between her, Lily and the department Taylor earned enough money per javelin to see herself through college, if she wanted. It was all being added to her trust fund, rather than paid immediately to her. She would not even know what to do with it even if she did have access to it... maybe spruce the house up? Make sure that her father did not need to work so hard?
Her life was improving, at the same time.
The transfer to Arcadia was helpful, even if she would be looking over her shoulder for a good while longer in paranoia, to know that she was away from the trio was a relief that she did not realise she needed, and Sophia had also suddenly moved out of the city for some reason. Everything had moved so fast in the last few days, and whilst a cynical part of her pointed out that if she did not have her power none of it would have happened... she was just glad for it.
Plus... she now had a friend. Well, a few friends, but the other Wards were more... work colleagues and acquaintances than anything else.
For now, at least.
In school she was just a normal girl, one who went to classes and did not have a responsibility to kill wanted murderers from half a continent away.
"Hey, Lily," Taylor said, smiling just a little. It felt weird to have a friend again, in many ways.
The other girl waved back as they began to eat their lunch together. Everyone else had yet to arrive, and Taylor was still opening up to them by increments. She knew Lily the best of them... it was rather hard not to get to know another person when you spent hours every week practically pressed up against one another, coordinating and perfecting your throws.
"Hey Taylor, how was history?"
"Eh... I hate Civil War stuff, it's the third time I've had to study it now and I kind of just want to move on, you know?" she grouched as she opened her lunch and took out a sandwich.
"I know the feeling."
They sat shoulder to shoulder, occasionally bumping against another as they moved and shifted position, especially when the others arrived and they had to move to accommodate more people. As the noise level rose with the addition of the more boisterous, talkative members of the strange clique of Capes that attended the school they remained sat together, talking up when necessary but mostly keeping their conversation between themselves.
Taylor was glad to have Lily.
The older girl was reasonable, she was pleasant and mature in ways that the others weren't at times.
They were both kind of strangers at the table, the new Ward who had transferred all the way from New York and the dorky girl who had only just joined and been moved to a new school. Two newbies who had each other as they slowly worked out their place in this strange world.
Canberra
The battle had started off badly.
The rapidity of the Simurgh's arrival, far swifter than the usual lazy descent from the stratosphere, had left the defenders on the backfoot from which they were still struggling to recover. The most insidious of Endbringers, that one who eroded the very minds of those exposed to it, who devastated the world with an ever-passive expression.
"All Capes south of the Simurgh go to ground or relocate!" came the command over the armbands, and the vast majority of them immediately did so. In this situation hero and villain alike did so, because whatever was about to happen had been an order and in a situation like this you did not fuck around and find out.
A golden dart shot through the air the and the Simurgh, with unusual alacrity at once made to dodge it, dozens of pieces of telekinetically controlled material at once were placed in the way only for the golden projectile to puncture straight through all of them and hit the Simurgh. Not critically, but the giant hole left behind was a lot. With the difficulties that had already been had with holding back the Endbringer there was a momentary pause in the fighting.
And then another came, and another.
A steady stream of golden projectiles that seemingly could not be dodged. No matter what was put in the way it went straight through them, when the Simurgh moved at the last moment it just led to some insignificant wing being obliterated instead.
At one point the Simurgh began rapidly advancing from the direction they came; the armband's next command came through.
"All Capes prevent the Simurgh from changing position, the Simurgh must not reach DAMOCLES!"
Even if next to none of the Capes knew what DAMOCLES was, it was enough to motivate, to rally. The golden projectiles continued, and the Simurgh was now actively moving combatants and objects into their path to try and stop them even as they punched right through and hit more and more reliably.
"The Simurgh is retreating repeat the Simurgh is retreating. All Capes prevent the Simurgh's escape, do not overexpose to the song!"
And then---
One of the darts finally found its mark, puncturing straight through part of the body at the base of a wing with a sound like shattering glass, and the Simurgh dropped like a stone.
"All Capes vacate the area around the Simurgh. Team DAMOCLES cease attack. The Simurgh is down. Repeat all Capes move away from the Simurgh, Team DAMOCLES cease attack, the Simurgh is down!"
'The Simurgh is down.'
Those four words that left Taylor and Lily paralysed in place, the next javelin had in their hands, their faces right next to one another as they prepared to throw, frozen in place like statues. The hot Australian wind blew in their faces, the world was utterly silent beyond the radio chatter. The whole team, the soldier from the Australian army who prepared their javelins, the officer who was coordinating their team and the five capes assigned to guard them were all still and silent.
And then... Taylor's legs wobbled. She had to sit down, and Lily joined her, the two Capes at once leaning against one another's shoulders, breath ragged.
Had she been holding her breath all that time since the news came in? Her vision swam, nothing quite felt real right now. A hand was around her waist as if to steady her, and she returned the gesture to her friend and teammate.
From an armband, there was a constant chatter of news incoming that washed over them without pause, and had been for the last few minutes. Right now, though, it was the name of their team that snapped Taylor from her reverie.
"Team DAMOCLES, there's a lot of people here who want to shake your hand right now," came a voice over the armband, momentarily cutting through the chatter like a ship in a storm. "Confirming that it was one of your javelins that did it, congratulations."
"This is team DAMOCLES reporting. DAMOCLES is currently recuperating from the news. Everyone might have to wait on that one, ma'am," their official communications officer said, voice level and professional even as his lips cracked into a smile. How could they not smile at this news, how could there not be celebration even though nothing felt like it was how it should be?
Sat on the concrete, Taylor forced her lips to move.
"... We killed the Simurgh, Lil---Flechette..."
It was almost unbelievable.
She drew her knees drawn up to her chest, staring into the distance. Much of Canberra was ruined, a lot of it would have to be rebuilt, the clean up operation would take years... and then there was the question about what to do with what was left of the Endbringer that had caused all this devastation as well. No doubt it was being poured over even now by Protectorate thinkers and scientists, trying to find further weakness and understandings about the being.
"Yeah... we did."
The other Ward sounded just as out of it; the realisation had come so suddenly that both had had to sit down where they were stood.
They had been nowhere near the fighting, stationed ten miles away from the city with a seemingly infinite number of Tinkertech javelins to throw, one of the Simurgh's feathers recovered from a precious battle was still in Taylor's hand. They had even been given a team name; DAMOCLES, as if they were some sort of special military asset.
It was bizarre...
But the two of them had killed an Endbringer, it had taken a dozen projectiles to finally hit whatever nerve centre or core made them work, they had kept up a steady stream between the two of them, hours of practice paying off to launch each projectile both at speed and with both their powers fully imbued. They had been throwing one every ten seconds, sprinting from one end of the short track to the other and throwing, then going back where the next javelin was held up ready for them to take.
A shadow fell over them, it was the soldier who had been lifting and preparing the javelins for them, a man who had barely said more than four words to them the preceding day.
And then, the man kneeled and hugged them both.
Taylor blinked dumbly.
It was brief, tight, sharp, and then he let go. She felt that there was a lot that was being said in it, but for the life of her she had no idea what, only that it meant a great deal to the man. He was crying, a tear moving down his face when just minutes before he had been as stoic as the concrete beneath their feet.
"Thank you, I... she killed my sister in Switzerland..." he said, tripping over himself.
"... You're welcome?" What was she supposed to say right now? With what they had done... were they supposed to give a speech right now or something, something grand about human hope and ingenuity triumphing against insurmountable odds?
To be honest... right now she just wanted a bottle of water to down... and perhaps splash on her face to prove that this was all real and not some sort of fever dream---
Bump
Lily's head rested against hers.
Taylor leaned into it.
She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but that could come later.
They had done it, when it was proposed she thought it was impossible but... they did it. She had never felt so useful, so... so...
She gave Lily's waist a squeeze, and after a moment, she received one back.
It felt right.
Taylor was set for life.
Objectively so.
She could retire tomorrow and never work again, the bounty on the Simurgh... Well, it wasn't even worth thinking about. She already had a solid amount of money in her fund with the Kill Orders from before but now... Taylor had no idea what was going on in her life any more, suddenly the word DAMOCLES was on everyone's lips, even if her and Lily's cape names were still unknown.
There was so much conversation going on at the moment about them, when she last checked PHO there were hundreds of pages of speculation and theory crafting, even attempts to use satellite imagery and video to work out the source of the javelins that had struck down the Simurgh.
Fortunately, the PRT was keeping their identities safe, at least until they graduated the Wards.
Brockton Bay PRT was suddenly getting a lot of requests, apparently, and their future schedule was going to be a lot fuller, and of course, when the next Endbringer attack happened they would be there for that as well, or at least, taking part from afar.
Despite everything though, one thing remained the same.
"... What about the mocha? I am not sure how well coffee mixes with chocolate..." Taylor mused, looking over the drinks list. Next to her, Lily sighed.
"Taylor, it's just a hot chocolate with a bit of coffee in, it's not like mixing them makes them into something completely new," she said, with a bit of humour in her voice. Despite everything... The two friends were out for a coffee. Just two perfectly normal people going about their lives, the sun shining and their weekend filled with nothing but one another's company.
When she joined the Wards, Taylor had never imagined that this would be the end result of it.
"People always act as if making coffee is some sort of art like alchemy though..."
"Taylor, its water poured through smushed up beans."
"... I feel like a lot of baristas would get very angry at you right now."
Fortunately, the low burr of the coffee machine ensured that neither of them could pose the question to the hipster working it. Perhaps for the best, but it did give Taylor a few seconds longer to build up the confidence to ask for the new drink.
They sat in their usual space by the window, at this point the small coffee shop overlooking the bay was a usual haunt, its air warm and homely, the staff knew them by name even though they only came in once a week. But often enough to build up the habit, to recognise the gawky teen with the sad face and her friend who always asked for the most outrageous toppings. Recently Lily had stopped sitting across from her, instead they sat side by side, squeezing together onto the bench together.
"You know, I am really not sure that that is safe for human consumption, Lily," Taylor poked a cinnamon and pumpkin spice covered marshmallow, making it briefly dip beneath the surface before it returned, semi-molten to the surface. Lily moved the drink away to stop her doing it again
"Thanks... you know, for being my teammate, I know we were kind of pushed together but... I'm glad that you're my partner..." at that lily looked away suddenly.
"... Yeah, thanks as well, for all that," things had gotten heavy suddenly, and neither of them was good with heavy things. For a moment they occupied themselves with their drinks. It turned out that mocha was indeed, just a hot chocolate with some coffee in. Taylor was a little disappointed after the amount of hype that Carlos and Dean had been describing the drink with, and from this particular cafe as well.
She would stay with her black coffee, even if it made Lily wince every time she saw Taylor take a sip.
Taylor... did not really know what to think about their relationship.
They were friends. Best friends. Work partners, and they spent a lot of time together outside of work as well, even if slowly both had made friends with the other Wards... but at times Taylor found herself thinking about her best friend in more than purely friendly ways.
She looked out the window, over the boardwalk.
The world had been... different recently. Perhaps it was just her own improving perception of it, as she slowly emerged from the cocoon of self-doubt and depression that had hung over her for the last year and more, but there were people out, having fun. The death of an Endbringer had lightened the moods of many, of the world. It was an open statement of defiance, that they could be killed... and it was her hand that had done it.
Well, her and Lily's hand.
The hand gently bumping hers every few seconds where it sat, on the bench. She bit her lower lip. Would Lily return her feelings, if she were to ask? Shyly, she glanced from the corner of her eye, making the motion as quickly as she could in the hope that it would not be noticed.
Lily was looking at her.
Busted.
"H-Hey, I was wondering, after here... want to go for a walk and maybe grab something to eat?"
It was the single lamest attempt to ask somebody out ever and a part of Taylor departed her body at the execution. Would Lily get it? Would she just see it as a meal or understand and then turn her down, oh god that was so bad so bad---
"Sure! I'd love to!" Lily said, smiling so very brilliantly, and under the table that hand found hers, and Taylor turned it over, tentatively interlacing their fingers.
Her heart skipped a beat even as she could not help the goofy smile on her lips.