Chapter 32: Reconnecting

[Taylor's POV after Phoenix left]

Feeling my boyfriend run out of the Bay, and noticing the Focused Contemplation coming from him, I decided to leave it be and wait until I was home to figure out what that was about. Anyway, with Lung dealt with, and the business with Tattletale, Panacea, and Glory Girl, done, I was free to go meet up with my Dad. (Let's see...) Checking the time, I hummed, and looked towards The Docks. (He should be at work at the moment... It'll take a few minutes if I use Johanna, my girl is good like that, or I could swing around...) Debating about what to do, I eventually nodded. (Running along the rooftops will be easier. I can Cloak myself when I'm close enough to the DWU, or make my way into the building itself, Uncloak in a bathroom, and walk out... Yeah, let's go with that.)

The idea was a good one, and I would deny smirking to myself when I thought about messing with my Dad. (My boyfriend is a bad influence on me.)

'The best influence.' I rolled my eyes, the commentary was unneeded and was unnecessary.

That aside, I put my Sentinel away, stretched for a moment, then started running towards the farthest roof. I soared through the air for a bit, then shot out a grappling tether, that reached its target moments after I shot it out. Using my momentum, I swung with the tether, flipping into the air before bringing it back. Feeling the wind around my form, seeing the buildings shrink below me as I reached my apex, I couldn't help but internally cheer.

I loved flying.

I loved running.

But this. This was something that just felt right. I couldn't fly under my own powers, couldn't run at the speed of fast on my own. But here, swinging and soaring through the air like this, was something that I, Khepri, Taylor, could do on my own. Sure, the grappling hooks were in my suit, but I was the one that was responsible for aiming, bringing them back, and actually using them.

And as I came down, I shot out another tether towards a suitable building, the line holding strong as it connected to the building. And so I swung, getting close to street level as used my already massive amount of momentum to swing again, the tether returning to me as I swung feet first. Thanks to my bugs, I could mark a ledge or part of a building, and always know where to fire my tethers. There was no way for me to mess up and accidentally miss or something, and even if I did, my suit could handle it. (But I won't, because I'm just that good,)

Being Prideful or Arrogant about something was new to me, but my skills with 'Web swinging' were mine.

My skills with a gun were mine.

My growing and changing figure, was MINE.

It was amazing, knowing that I did this. That the effort and talent I'd had was my own effort and talent bearing fruit. It made me Happy, knowing that Taylor had talent in things beyond anything the Bitches could think of... Thinking about that made me frown a bit. I hated the Bitches, I always would, but part of me felt some kind of vindictive Joy when I thought about where I was now, and where they were. (It's not a bad thing per se, but I can't wait for the day that I won't end up randomly thinking about them.) I was above them, literally and figuratively, and I couldn't allow myself to let the memories about them bring me down... (How the fuck did I get here?) Apparently web swinging made my brain just turn off.

Shaking it off, I noticed I was coming up on the DWU, and focused. Landing on a rooftop, and making sure that there were no cameras, I crouched low, and activated my Cloak Mode. My form shimmered, before eventually seemingly vanishing.

Now that I was Cloaked, I turned towards the DWU, tensed my legs, then jumped. Even in their Standard Mode, our suits enhanced our base statistics enough to be considered mid tier Brutes.

I soared through the air, and mentally counted down until I reached the roof of the building. Rolling with the drop, I used my bugs to check around, and nodded when I didn't find anyone. Making...- A surge of Protective Love pulsed from my Other Half, and I felt the undertone of Existential Worry in it. |What's wrong?!| I was an instant away from just teleporting back home if it was needed.

[Nothing. Just talking with Auntie about something,] I narrowed my eyes at that, hand on my jaw as I contemplated go...- He let his Love and Comfort flow through the Bond, and went on. [It's fine Mi Reina, I'm good.]

I grumbled at that, but nodded anyway. |Fine. But if you need me, you tell me.| I got a mental nod, and pulse of Confirmation for that, and I let it be. Though that didn't mean I would forget about it.

That over, I made my way over to the ledge, climbed over it and hung off of it. Putting my feet and palm against the wall, I started crawling around and made my way to the nearest open window. It wasn't fully open, so when I got to it, I had to slowly open the thing so no one noticed. (Man... The DWU kinda has some shit security.) I ignored the fact my suit made me a Stranger, and carefully stepped into the hallway.

I didn't bother looking around, my bugs confirmed no one was nearby, so I got up, and made my way to the closest bathroom.

As soon as I got there, I recalled my suit, and looked into the mirror. Flicking the long fringe away from my eyes, I looked at the reflection of my hair, seeing it freely flow down my back, stopping a bit above my ass. Dark curls ran alongside the sides and bottom, but I had them under control, so they looked purposefully messy instead of like I'd just crawled out of bed. Looking at it all, and humming a bit, I shook my head a bit, and watched it all flow... (Maybe I should get it cut? Not too much... Maybe halfway down my back?)

I scratched my chin at that thought, 'I eventually decided to do just that. It makes a great ponytail too.' My Future Self commenting here was a mild Surprise, it was usually my Other Half's Future Self that spoke to me, but I just nodded along.

That sounded Interesting, so the commentary was Accepted. "Maybe I'll do just that... Going to need to find a good hair salon though." I was tempted to think of somewhere in the Bay, but then I remembered that my Other Half and I could be anywhere in the world in moments, and we were filthy fucking rich, so I didn't have to limit myself to here... (But at the same time, I know the places here.) And I did. Even when I wasn't trying to think of any here, I remembered where I'd gone to have my hair done here before Emma turned into a bitch... (I'll keep my options open.)

Nodding, I gave the rest of me a good once over.

My glasses, which reappeared from wherever our clothes and stuff go when our suits are activated, looked good. I wasn't sure about the more 'Professor' like look they had, I Loved that they made me look a bit more like Mom, but didn't like the idea of looking old... Though seeing my boyfriend's reaction, my goof had stared at me for what felt like hours, then said 'Fetish unlocked' as he went on to kiss me and move on. I filed away 'Professor Play' for a later date, because why wouldn't I? And went on with my day.

Those aside, they accentuated my eyes, and the small bit of black eye shadow I used. My favorite dark blue lipstick finished that off, and I looked at where my choker was meant to be. Considering it would give me away, I had it hidden, and it would stay that way for a while. I might've liked my Dad, and even somewhat trusted him, but it wasn't enough for me to just outright tell him that I was Khepri.

Putting that issue out of mind, I looked at the thin button up black lace top with floral designs, a black undershirt underneath it, and idly wondered if this was fine. (I mean, it's not indecent, but I am meeting up with Dad.) i thought about it for a bit, then shrugged. (Too late now.) My eyes ended up stopping at my breasts, and I gave a side a poke. I was definitely growing a bit, I'd entered B range a bit ago, and it was nice, I was just waiting to see if it'd stop soon. (Not that I want it too, but if I end up getting bigger, I'll be calling witchcraft.)

Obviously, this was when my Future Self decided to chime in again. 'When I finished growing, they stopped at 77cms, giving us a nice 30 B.'

I fucking choked on my spit at that. "Fuckin, what?!" I went from a cutting board to the high end of B? "How?!"

My Future Self snickered at me, and I knew our boyfriend had rubbed off on us too much with that alone. 'Our diet is made to promote muscle growth. Though that's not all that it does. He hasn't caught it since he hasn't looked over it again with Four Arms,' I was impressed she could say that without her tone changing. 'But they promote growth optimal for our body types. So by the end of it, we both end up growing more then anticipated. He stopped at around 6'3, while we stopped at 6'1.' I accepted the fact I was going to eventually end up taller, I was already used to that by now. 'That, combined with our own hormones, ends up with our breasts getting to what I told you earlier.' I nodded at that, it made sense. 'For me, they stopped growing after our 19th, so you've got time. Well, unless you do something different, but it's up to you.'

That made me blink. "You're being awfully talkative today." And she was.

While it was great information, it was still a little Suspicious. 'Who knows, maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic.'

...

...

...

'Okay, that was a shit excuse.' I snorted. 'Though, it wasn't a false one. I am Nostalgic, our goof does something good soon... Real good... Though that's all I'm going to say about it.' While that was all well and good, I still wasn't sure why she was telling me this. 'Now that you know, you won't react like I did. Being left out of the loop hurt, even when it wasn't malicious or anything, and my reaction hurt the both of us.' Ah, there was the reason... And it was a good one too. I trusted my Other Half, with my life really, but if I suddenly found out he was hiding something from me, I would probably default to getting pissed or lashing out. 'There's not much we can change or influence, but that's something I can change. So, when it happens, remember that he loves you more then life, and don't freak out.'

I blinked, and made sure to commit that to memory. I didn't have a clue about whatever this surprise was, but atleast now I knew not to overreact. Still, I frowned at the whole thing. "You can't just dangle that in front of me and not expect me to be Curious about it." Of course, she chose now to stop being helpful. "He did this to me. Stupid goof." Grumbling aside, I padded down my black jeans, and made sure my flat tops were fit.

That done, I made my way out of the bathroom, wondering just what it was my Other Half was going to do. I knew I could ask him, but since it was supposed to be a surprise, I decided not too. I was Interested now, and was looking forward to it.

I eventually made it to Dad's office, unintentionally avoiding everyone with the help of my bugs, and knocked on the door. "Come in!" Smiling, I opened the door, and walked right in. As I did, Dad looked up from his desk, blinked, then smiled. "Little Owl." I rolled my eyes, but felt my lips curl up a bit.

Going to his seat, I gave him a once over, and nodded. The bags under his eyes were minor at this point, he shaved the stubble, and his skin looked better. All around, he seemed healthy, and that was good. He got up when I reached him, and we hugged. We were still getting used to actually talking again, but we both understood that hugs were good. "Hey Dad, how're you doing?"

Breaking off the hug, and sitting back down, I started making my way to the seat in front of his desk, he let out a sigh. "Good, I'm good. Kurt's been kicking my ass into gear, and out of his house," I snorted, getting a grin out of him. "Though work is always work... What about you? Anything new I should know about?"

(Other then the fact my boyfriend, the world's strongest Changer, is open to the idea of meeting you? Nooo, nothing.) I shooed that thought away, and waved the question off. "Not really."

The grin faded a bit at that, but we both knew that if I didn't want to talk, he was NOT to push me. I laid down that little law as soon as I could, and he agreed, so he moved on. "Change your mind on schooling?" Ah, that.

I mentally clicked my tongue at the question. While I knew it was what he and Mom would want for me, hell, Tess wants it for me too, but I couldn't do it now. Given our schedules, which we were going to pick back up in a few days after we were done Relaxing after the raid, I had no time to commit to online classes. (Not that I'd need them.) The bleed over I was getting from my Galvan and Cerebrocrustacean Hybrid forms was minimal, but over time, it would build up. The hell would I need to sit in a room or in front of my computer for if I could understand quantum physics and alien engineering? (I'll need to take a week or something to get my G.E.D though, because fuck any and every kind of school.) Mom would probably roll in her grave if she ever heard me say that, but I'd take it.

My little internal monologue aside, I answered the question. "Nope. Too busy." He nodded, sorta displeased, but eh, he'd live... (God, he's rubbed off on me so much.) I ignored that fact, and went on. "What about you? Anything you wanna talk about?"

Dad set down the papers he was looking at, and looked out the window with a sigh. "Yeah... Apparently some Villain's set up shop nearby." I blinked. "Think her name's Hellhound or something like that."

(What the fuck?) I'd known that The Undersiders had split up, Tattletale would be working with us, Grue had signed up with Faultline, Regent with 'The Outcasts', a group consisting of Chariot, Circus, and Trainwreck, while Hellhound, or 'Bitch' as she preferred, had sort of disappeared. (But she's here?!)

Not noticing my Surprise, Dad kept going. "Some of the boys brought it up, but apparently with Hookwolf out and locked up for now," I just found it Amusing that he had no faith in the PRT to keep the murderous Cape locked up. Dragon was going to send a jet to pick up both him and Lung soon though, so as long as the PRT didn't fuck it up, they would be out of the equation soon. "She's been hitting his dog fighting rings," I scrunched up my nose at that, hating the fact those were thing. "Yeah, it sucks." I agreed with that. "She's been taking as many dogs as she can, and set up some kind of shelter a mile or two out."

That made me blink. I didn't know much about the other creature Master in the Bay, but with her nearby, I decided I was going to have to change that. Thanks to my Other Half, I knew the world wasn't black & white. Everyone had circumstances of their own, and Trigger Events only made whatever those circumstances were, worse. Passengers weren't helping either, their need for data and Conflict Drive was fucked up, and the reason why Villains outnumbered the Heroes. (Okay, let's dial this back and focus on the Villain close to the DWU.)

Mentally nodding, I thought about what I knew about her. (Name's Rachel Lindt, I think, only one kill under her belt, makes dogs into big Brutes, and has more dog like tendencies... And that's it really... I'll...- Aha! Found her.) In my mind, I shared my senses with a moth that just flew into a building a mile and a half away. Without the help from my suit, I could only reliably do this with one bug, but I'd get better as time passed.

Thanks to the moth, I saw Rachel, or 'Bitch', caring for her dogs. A few of them looked malnourished, injured, and there were even some with lost legs. I watched as she did her best to patch them up, feed them, and just 'Talk' to them. Dad sighed, then started rubbing his head. "Not sure how that'll work out, The Empire's been worryingly quiet for a while, and with all the losses, they've taken, I'm worried whatever response they have might spill over."

I frowned at that, keeping a mental eye on Rachel, and looked at my Dad. "The grunts let anything slip?" It was a little weird to think about it, but the fact was the DWU had connections. Retired military, handymen, bus drivers, a host of other normally insignificant jobs all gathered under the DWU, and the wealth of information they could get was a valuable resource when it came to finding out what was going on at the street level. And even if they didn't know stuff, that didn't mean people they knew didn't.

Dad huffed, but still nodded. "Apparently there's going to be a rally soon, no idea when, but I don't like the sounds of it."

That just made me frown more. The E88 had taken a massive hit at the loss of Hookwolf, Cricket, Storm Tiger, Victor, and Rune... And now that Lung was off the board... (Shit. I don't like the sound of this.) Oni Lee had been out of sight for a while, Lung was out of the picture since we took him down earlier, and The Merchants were gone. The Outcasts existed, but there were still double the amount of E88 Capes ready to go. (I have to bring this up to both of them later.) There hadn't been a full out gang fight in a while, the PRT were actually doing their jobs, and crime was slowly and steadily dropping... (But this could get out of control if things heat up.)

News of Lung's capture would eventually spread, and when it did, the E88 would leap at the chance to take his territory. It wouldn't matter if Oni Lee was at 100%, he couldn't solo the Empire. Hell, they wouldn't even all need to fight him, Night & Fog could handle him on their own, giving the rest of the Nazis the chance to move in on his territory... That thought made me bite my lip, eyes meeting Dad's. "Are you going to be safe?" I was genuinely Worried for his safety, sure The Docks was officially PRT territory, but the ABB's territory was right there, so if a fight broke out, it was a genuine possibility that the DWU would get caught in the crossfire. Especially if they came after Bitch.

My Dad just shrugged. "I can say yes, but even though things are getting better, this is still Brockton Bay."

I twitched at that, getting the point. (We need to get rid of the gangs soon.) I wasn't sure when it would happen, but we'd need to get ready for when the inevitable explosion happened.

Pushing that thought aside, I decided to just change the topic.

Dad and I talked for a while after that, mostly about mundane things, and it was nice. I didn't forget about the issue with the E88 though, and made a note to bring it up later.

After a few hours of bonding with Dad, I walked out of the DWU, and just walked around. I was tempted to go home, highly tempted, but I decided to go do something else first. I thought about checking on Bitch, get a feel for how she was as a person, but decided against it. That seemed like something Pantheon should do, not just Khepri.

Plus, I'd kept an eye on her the entire time Dad and I were talking, so I already had somewhat of a handle on her. (Note to self, meet with her as Blitzwolfer and my Loboan Hybrid form. Not being mauled at the first meeting will go a long way from having her killed by my Other Half.) Said Other Half didn't exactly know if that was meant to be 'Canon', but I wasn't going to take any chances.

So, since I wasn't going to check up on her, I decided to do some reconnaissance. To do that, I made my way to Downtown. Because of my boyfriend, I knew Medhall was the HQ of the E88, and since Max Anders was in his office, I had an open line to spying on the head of the E88...

Well... I should've had an open line on him.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly if one thought about it, there were no bugs in his office. That fact made me frown, though I hid it by taking a sip of my coffee. I was walking out a cafe, drinking my chosen beverage as I walked around the area. Considering I was a decent looking white woman, I was free to go around unimpeded, and no one would bat an eye... Well, they might give me another look given my height, but that was nothing new.

That aside, with there being no bugs in Kaiser's office, I directed the nearest bug to fly to a window... Only for it to be fucking zapped into a crisp the moment it touched the glass panel. (... Well shit.) I was tempted to try again, maybe look for another angle inside, but when I saw Max Anders turn his head to the window that zapped the ladybug I used, I decided not too. (Just fucking great. What else did you expect Taylor, everyone knows we use bugs, of course people would take precautions against them.) Keeping my Irritation inside, I kept walking, while spreading out my bugs, searching for any of the other Nazis.

After a half hour of doing that, and stopping by a shop that had some scrunchies, I gave up. (Everywhere important is protected.) I didn't like it, but without suiting up and infiltrating Medhall on my own, which I had no justifiable reason to do, I couldn't do anything. Clicking my tongue at the situation, I was about to just leave, when my ears picked up a pair of familiar voices.

Looking towards the source, which was across the street, I paused, and took in the pair of redheads. I hadn't seen them in a while, but Anne and Aunt Zoe looked... I wouldn't say good, the latter seemed tired and weary, while the former was dragging her mother around and talking about anything really... I stared at them for a bit, the older sister and Aunt figures in my life had been... Well, they'd been missed.

Even when I was being tormented by The Three Bitches, I wished that they had been there. Wished that they had seen or noticed something, and helped me.

Anne had a valid reason to not notice though, she was in college, working for her future...

Aunt Zoe though, she was Emma's Mom, they lived in the same house, and she should've noticed something was wrong... But at the same time, Dad and I lived together, and he didn't notice I was basically dying before his eyes. Sure, I hid it, but he hadn't exactly looked too hard or anything. (So what was Aunt Zoe's excuse?) The temptation to just go over there and find out was there, an itch I wanted to scratch...

I mentally debated it, my eyes trailing the both of them as I tho...- They must've felt me watching them since they both started to look around. I only had a moment to think about moving away, when Aunt Zoe and I locked eyes. Soft brown met polished jade, and we just stared at each other.

The other people around us didn't matter, the cars going up and down the road didn't matter, at this single moment, it was just the two of us.

And in that moment, I didn't need to have some form of Link or Bond with her to see the guilt in her eyes.

Then the scene broke, and Anne noticed what was going on. She followed her mother's gaze, and saw me. She looked confused for a moment, probably trying to reconcile the image of the me before shit hit the fan, to the me now. When she eventually did, she looked away, but not fast enough for me to notice the small bit of anger she had. I mentally frowned at it, but put it away.

Turning my eyes back to Aunt Zoe, I watched as she talked to Anne, the two getting into a conversation low enough for me to not hear unless I spied on them with a bug, which I wasn't going to do. (They're not enemy Capes, so that'd just be overkill.) I ignored the memory of my Other Half saying 'The best kind of kill is Overkill.'

Eventually, the two finished talking, Anne giving me a hesitant look, before giving her mother a nod, and walking away. (... Well fuck you too then.) Aunt Zoe turned back to me, before looking over to a nearby cafe with outdoor seats. I got the message, and made my way over to the cafe.

It didn't take long for us to get there, and we were eventually standing in front of each other. Now that we were face to face, I noticed the stress lines showing on her face, crows feet by her eyes, and the all around feeling of exhaustion coming from her. I didn't like seeing the woman I'd seen as an Aunt like this, but a part of me did. (No. She's not Emma.) 'And yet she didn't see the monster her daughter became.' I ignored that thought, and looked Aunt Zoe in the eyes.

Even without my pumps, I was taller then the woman by a good few inches, but with my heels I was practically towering over her, so looking her in the eye was simple. As for her, she was still looking me over, a look of surprise on her face as she did. I didn't rush her, she hadn't exactly seen me in a while, a good 2 years really, so I had no problem with the inspection. Eventually her eyes reached mine, and the sad smile she gave me hurt. "Annette would've been beating boys off with a stick if she could see you now." That did it.

My lips slowly curled up into a small smile, and I spoke. "Hi Aunt Zoe."

Her eyes softened, and it looked like a weight eased off of her shoulders. "Hi honey." She opened her arms a bit, and my eyes widened. "Can I... Can I get a hug?" She sounded so... Hopeful, and fragile... I couldn't resist, and wrapped my arms around her.

Aunt Zoe hung onto me like I was about to disappear, and for the life of me, I didn't mind it. Emma may have done her best to break me and destroy my life, but Aunt Zoe had been nothing but kind to me, so she deserved a chance.

But that's all she'd get, one chance.

After we hugged, we'd made our way to some seats, and after ordering some snacks, we'd gotten to talking. At the start, it was rocky, neither of us really knowing what to say, but at some point, we'd started talking about Mom. Dad and I didn't do that often, it still hurt for him, and while I was healing thanks to my boyfriend and our therapy sessions, I wasn't exactly ready to bring up memories of the past.

But it was still nice to hear about Mom from someone else... "Annette would hate me if she knew what happened... What I let happen..." And now we were here. Aunt Zoe wasn't even looking at me, face and eyes staring at the coffee in her hands.

Reaching a hand out, I gave her hand a squeeze, and a smile when she looked up at me. I got another smile in return, but then she sighed. "Anne doesn't hate you." I blinked, Surprised and Confused at the sudden statement. Seeing the look, Aunt Zoe let out a small amused huff, then turned back to her coffee, my hand moving away so she could take a sip. "When the... Incident," It slightly Amused me how everyone called it that. "Happened, and Emma's name came out, Anne's friends essentially abandoned her." She sighed again. "It didn't help that whenever she came home, it was either to Alan and I fighting, or ignoring each other..." Shaking her head, she put the cup back down, rubbing her eyes as she did. "She just doesn't know how to handle this. She blames us all, myself and herself for not paying attention to Emma, to Alan for covering it up, to Emma for doing it all... Maybe even you for coming forward..." Another sigh. "She knows she can't keep it up, but I don't know how to help. Today was meant to de stress and put it out of our minds..." She opened her eyes, looking at me, and I got it.

Meeting me out on the streets had reminded her what was wrong in her life, and she wanted to distance herself from it. I didn't like it, but I understood it. That still made me frown though, I did like Anne and Aunt Zoe, so I could get it, but still. "I won't apologize for speaking out," I wouldn't, not now, not ever. "But maybe I should say sorry for not giving you a heads up?" I hadn't really thought about what might happen to Aunt Zoe or Anne when I put The Bitches dirty laundry on blast, and finding out what the two were going through made me slightly Guilty.

Though, Aunt Zoe just slowly shook her head. "No... You shouldn't have had to tell us something was wrong. We should've seen it. Should've known..." She trailed off, looking exhausted even with the coffee. "I'm just a horrible mother..."

My eyes widened, and I practically growled at her. "No you're not!"

That startled her, but when she realized what she said, she scowled. "How could I not be?! I didn't notice my daughter had changed, didn't notice that she had been broken, didn't notice she was hanging out with people that weren't good for her... Didn't notice that you hadn't come around in years, and never bothered to learn why..."

While that last one might've been a point, I ignored it. "That doesn't make you a bad mom, that just makes Alan a dumbass for covering for her!" Her lips twitched at that, which I took for a good sign, and went on. "Besides, Emma and I are old enough that you wouldn't need to look over our shoulders anymore. You can't blame yourself for leaving us to ourselves."

She scowled at th...- "And look where that got us." Her eyes widened, and she shot me a panicked look. "I didn...-"

I waved it off. "I get it." And I did. Her youngest was jailed and being put through mandatory psychological treatment, her oldest was apparently friendless and probably a social outcast, which was ironic to the extreme, and her husband was... I was pretty sure he was fired, and given the thing about them fighting and ignoring each other, the possibility of their status changing was there. "I'd rather not talk about it, or think about it really, but I won't go off on you for mentioning it."

Aunt Zoe stared at me, and I met her gaze.

After a bit, she sighed, and shook her head. "Too good for us." I rolled my eyes at that, getting a small chuckle from her... Then silence.

I watched as she gently swished the remaining coffee in her cup, eyes lingering on the liquid. Eventually, she sighed, she really was doing that alot, then looked back up to me. "Thank you for that, Taylor."

That got a smile out of me. "You're welcome Aunt Zoe."

"... Do you think..." She looked hesitant, so I gently nodded at her to go on. Seeing that, she took a breath, then did it. "Do you think we can do this again sometime?"

Blinking, I thought about that for a bit. (I mean, Aunt Zoe never did anything wrong, Emma and Alan are their own people, and she has her own life. Plus, she's probably eating herself up about the whole thing...) Nodding, I reached into my pants pocket, and brought out my phone.

Seeing it, Aunt Zoe blinked, then looked at me. "Taylor..."

Knowing what she was thinking, I nodded. "I've... I've been getting some help, talking about alot of things." Going by the nod, she knew what 'Things' I meant. "I'm fine with phones now," And I was. "So we can talk over call or text when we have time." My Aunt smiled at me, and I hummed. "What's your personal number?"

We traded numbers, and after talking some more, we eventually split up, both feeling better then when we got there.

Though, with that done, and nothing else getting my attention, I decided it was time to go home.

[Phoenix's POV]

Typing in more data, I grumbled at the bullshit I'd wasted my time on. Lung's DNA couldn't be assimilated with the Serum, it practically took the Methanosian and Immortal Jellyfish DNA, made them its bitch, and tried to grow back into an actual organism. Not wanting some eldritch abomination to grow in my lab, I went Heatblast and blasted the thing.

Unfortunately, the thing was fire resistant to the extreme, so I had to go the opposite direction and use Big Chill to freeze the thing in an icy coffin, then obliterated it by crushing it to pieces... Though it didn't actually die that time, and tried to fight for its life, so I froze it again and stomped it to death until it was gone. (Note to self, don't fuck with Shards and their bullshit unless I've got a anilatorinator ray on me or some shit.) I huffed, and did my best to ignore that that had ever happened.

"... Well th...-"

I turned and cut her off. "Nope. Nothing happened. Nothing at all." My Aunt looked at me, an unamused brow raised at me. "You have no proof."

The brow went even higher at that. "You do remember I'm patched directly into the Projector on this very ceiling, right?"

I just stared at her. "Nothing. Happened."

Her lips twitched, and I could tell she was holding back a smile. "Uhuh." Turning to look at the bit of frost still clinging to one of the stations, she looked back at me with a small grin on her face. "Now why don't I believe that?" Whistling the 'Innocent' whistle, I decided not to answer. The act got a snort from my Aunt, who ended up shaking her head. "Anyway, what now?"

Sighing, I stopped typing, having already finished what I was writing about, and closed my eyes.

That was the question wasn't it?

Knowing that it was pointless to use Lung's blood for the Serum, I focused on what I already knew, and was being helped with. (The Vita Chamber is going to need me to get and make some resources, so I'll have to spend some time as Osiris to make a fuckton of sand for the glass, Grey Matter and Brainstorm to go over the blueprints and math to see if my Aunts missed anything,) The fact Dragon had essentially given herself Multiple Personality Disorder didn't bother me, that just meant more family for me, so I accepted it. (And to upgrade the Fabricator and Builder. If we can reduce the requirement for materials, I can probably get a Vita Chamber created to pick apart and see if there'll be any issues with the real thing.) Mentally nodding on that, I scratched my chin. (The Serum itself will need a bit more fine tuning, but it should be good to synthesize in a day or two. When it's done, I'll need to bring this up to Taylor...) I idly wondered if I should make it a gag or something, then shook that thought off. This deserved its own special reveal fit with some kind of triumphant music.

I was offering immortality, and that shit deserved a ceremony.

The plan for said ceremony could come later, since I'd been asked a question now. "Now, we get the resources, make the Vita Chamber, then go from there." My Aunt, well, this version of my Aunt, nodded. "After that..." Leviathan was a month or so away, and with this done, and Tattletale joining The Guild, we would have time to build an Anti Endbringer weapon. I'd had a few ideas on what to go with, but no time to build them. Hell, I didn't even have a power source strong enough to give said weapons the juice they'd need to blast an Endbringer apart, but I had ideas. The Pulse Reactors had a few upgrades in store for them, it'd take a generation or two of said upgrades and a fuckton of materials to get there, but that was just one possibility. "After that, we get ready for the next raid."

Dragon nodded, and we moved on...

Well, we would've moved on, but Taylor had come home. We shared a look, a silent question in her eyes, and I shrugged. "Not yet, but soon."

She sighed, but let it go. "Want me to come with?"

Tilting my head a bit, I thought about it, then nodded. "Sure." Taskmistress smiled, and we walked out of The Lab, Projector Drone floating behind us as we did.

Walking into the livingroom, we met the gaze of my Other Half, who waited for us to get there by laying on the couch. The small thrum of Affection we both let out at seeing each other was nice, as was the smile we got. "Hey Tess, goof."

I rolled my eyes at the greeting, while Dragon smiled. "Hello Taylor, have a good time out?"

My Other Half nodded at that, and was about to speak up, but I reached the couch and dropped down by her side, leaning in for a kiss as I did. Seeing it, my girlfriend Happily leaned in, and after a Disappointingly short amount of time, we separated. "That just made it better."

Dragon let out an amused huff, her avatar coming to sit on the end of the couch. "Public displays of affection, how Human of you."

Taylor and I snorted, sharing a moment of Amusement at the droll tone she used. "Did the single woman say something?"

My girlfriend's lips twitched at that, while my Aunt rolled her eyes. "You're not too old to go over my knee young man."

"The only one touching his ass is me."

...

...

...

Dragon and I stared at Taylor, my girlfriend blinking as she took in what she said, Why did I say that? I snorted, Ah, that's why. I would've felt offended if I wasn't brimming with Amusement. "Moving on."

Wait a goddamn minute. "No, we're not moving on. What did you mean by that?"

Taylor did her best to ignore my eyes, looking at my Aunt, who was outright grinning at us. "So, how was your day, Tess?"

My Aunt and I raised a brow at that, and the woman took the lead. "My day has been fine, but I find myself rather curious about what you said earlier Taylor. Anything I should know?"

My girlfriend blushed, looking away, but I saw an opening, goddammit, and took it. "Taylor! I didn't know you thought about my ass like that. Do I need to worry about my innocence?~"

The Embarrassment was good, as was the darkening of her blush, but the twin snorts from her and my Aunt were unexpected. ""What innocence?""

Both women shared a smile, while I just rolled my eyes. "I'm not taking shit from the 43 year old cyber virgin* and woman that likes tearing my back apart during sex." That statement was met with silence, I'm going to fucking murder him, I leapt off the couch and turned to run as a deadly symphony of wings and mandibles met my ears.

The sheer Embarrassed Fury radiating off of my Other Half made me haul ass as I popped the dial. "GET BACK HERE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"NOT DENYING IT!" In a flash, I turned into Wildmutt, the main door opening and I leapt outside the base.

...

...

...

Only for the fucking mountain defenses to activate, laser turrets and the BFG to come out thrumming with energy... I stared at the defenses, and at the incoming Swarm, and mentally nodded. (Hehe, I'm in danger.)

"'Cyber Virgin' huh?! Stay still and face my wrath young man!"

I obviously did not stay still, and ran for my fucking life.

Since she's an A.I, and can spend weeks/months/years breaking down information or just taking a break, she's bound to age differently.

Also, next chapter will be an Interlude with TT/GG/Alexandria