15

Summary:

The precoggening! IT BEGINS!

Chapter Text

SUN FEB 20

I woke up early, 5am today, to get ready to head out. The text that'd given me the time also came with the explanation that some people were getting off night shifts, and others had day shifts to get to. The early morning or late evening was when the largest number of people I'd want to meet could be around. I'm pretty sure she just didn't want to potentially cut into my sleep on a school night.

I'd almost finished grabbing things for the trip over, when I spotted the pack of domino masks in my bag, and I realized I'd nearly missed something important. So I grabbed my phone and made a call.

"Taylor? Something wrong?" Sue asked after she picked up.

"I... should I wear a mask?" I asked hesitantly.

I could almost see her face scrunching up in confused consternation. "Why ask me? It's up to you. They know they're meeting a hero cape, but I haven't given any names yet." I let out a breath, and she continued when I didn't speak up. "People are going to figure it out either way, but they won't say anything." Ugh. What was even the point of a secret identity!?

"...Thanks, I guess." There must have been more despondency in my voice than I'd intended to let through, because she sighed.

"Not going to say some of our boys aren't idiots- you've met Jake- but they're not stupid. We don't let anyone in this close if we think they can't keep a secret."

"Hell of a job I've done keeping mine..." I muttered angrily, more at myself than anyone else.

Sue chuffed a stifled chuckle. "Taylor, secrets always end in one of two ways. Either everyone who knows it dies, or it will come out, eventually. Always, always, plan for both."

That made sense, but I still rubbed my face and sighed. How to plan for winding up outed? What would happen if I died and it didn't matter anymore? "Thanks, I guess."

"You do you, whichever you choose." Sue said, and I heard the creaking of an old chair through the phone. "Need to meet some people. Talk to you soon."

I managed a quick 'bye' before she hung up, then stared at my phone for a minute. I glanced at the closet, where I'd hidden my ceramic masks, and where I was planning to stash my costumes when I had them. After a bit more pondering, I shuffled over and grabbed one, along with a spare nondescript hoodie to change into. Even if I'd probably be outed eventually, I still wanted to keep my secrets as long as I could.

Those shoved into my bag, I headed out. About halfway to the stop, my phone started ringing. To my surprise, it was Dinah. "Hello?"

"Hey, Taylor." She said, somewhat groggily. It was just after six, so that was as expected in someone her age at this hour, but begged the question of why she was even up yet, on a weekend.

"Hey. You okay? Why are you calling so early?"

"10% chance we'll be overheard if I call now."

Oookay? "Isn't that bad?"

She made a light startled noise. "Oh, oh no! It's actually really good for this sort of thing." She stuttered out. "I just mean, it was 30% ten minutes ago, and it seemed... uhm..."

I took a deep breath, really not liking that 10% was good odds for not being overheard, but I couldn't sense anyone nearby... maybe phone taps or recordings? I shook my head, no sense worrying about it now. "It's okay. What did you want to talk about? And why are you even up so early?"

She gave a slightly frustrated groan, the most hostile sound I'd ever heard from her. "Have to go to church."

"Oh. I'm sorry?" I hadn't even known the Alcotts were religious. Then again, I had no idea what to look for when I wasn't being proselytized at.

Dinah sighed. "It's... it's okay." She took a breath and continued. "There's a 75% chance you'll be in a fight today. 90% chance it's this afternoon."

Wait, what? "Are you-" No, of course she was sure. "You ask those sorts of questions about me?"

"I- I'm sorry, should I not? I just... wanted to help?" Oh geez, kicked the puppy...

"No, you're fine, I'm just a little surprised. I didn't think to ask you to."

That seemed to calm her down a bit. "I... didn't think to until yesterday, either. I'm sorry."

I stifled a sigh. We really needed to work on her confidence... More problems for later. "You don't mind, though? It would be pretty useful knowing if trouble's on the way."

"Oh, no! I don't mind at all." Dinah said quickly. "I've only used about ten questions so far today, that's easy now."

I nodded to myself. Even on a school day, that'd probably be manageable. "Do you mind if I ask a few?"

"Go ahead." She actually sounded a little eager. Probably that desire to prove useful. I felt a little bad taking advantage of that, but she was offering...

"Am I going to be ambushed somehow? Do I have to worry about something happening on the way somewhere, or just when I'm training later today?" I'd already had my training plans set in my head since yesterday, so if something happened this afternoon, that'd be when.

It took her a few seconds. "76% chance of ambush, 10% chance of a fight while you're traveling to a destination, 80% chance while training."

That was good to know. But thinking about it, if I had Dinah on the line already... I paused my trek towards the bus. "I have a meeting with some people about team stuff this morning... do you mind me asking about that?"

"No, it's fine. They've all been easy questions so far." There was some hesitance creeping into her voice, so I'd have to keep this short. Try to limit it to two or three more, at most.

"Alright. What are the chances hostilities break out at my meeting this morning?" Sorry, Sue. Trust, but verify.

"12%"

Not as low as I'd hoped, but still pretty good. "I'm negotiating a deal. What are the chances things go well if I just offer everything I can think of, and ask for everything I've thought of, and whatever they offer?"

She let out a displeased hum. I wasn't sure if it was the complicated wording, or if her power was having more trouble with it than the others. "80% chance things turn out okay."

For a second, I considered asking more questions, but decided against it. "Thank you, Dinah. That's all for now."

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly. "I can handle more."

"I don't want to get into the habit of leaning on you too hard." I explained, starting my walk again. "You're probably going to add more questions to your regular routine as the team grows, right?"

"Well..." She trailed off into hesitant noises.

"See? I don't want you hurting yourself. Don't worry, I really do have everything I need to know right now."

"Are you really-?" There was a muffled voice cutting into Dinah's continued insistence on helping. I heard her sigh. "It's breakfast. I... have to go. Call me later? After... you know?"

After the fight, so she'd know I was alright. "Yeah, I can do that. No problem."

Two brief goodbyes later, and I sped my walking back to normal speed, to wind up at the bus stop less than a minute later. That bus took me to the hub near the boardwalk, where I caught the connection heading south. I got off a few blocks from Sue's, ducking into a sketchy alley my powers told me was empty, and changed hoodies. Then I strapped on the masks, drew the hood up to cover them from most angles, and packed up my bag. I hopped up onto a dumpster and jumped up, kicking off the walls of the alleyway until I was rolling to a stop on the roof of a currently-empty and probably unused building. I found a place to stash my bag up there, behind some air units that looked like they needed a tuneup before anyone should risk turning them on, and made my way down the fire escape on the other side of the building. From there, it was just a matter of keeping my head down on the walk to the tenement.

I pressed the door buzzer like last time, but this time the woman waited until she had checked the door before the intercom crackled. "Yes?"

Fighting down a fidget, I turned my masked face fully to the small camera. "I'm... Terraform." I hated the small stutter. I should practice introducing myself in front of a mirror or something. "I'm here to meet..." well, it wasn't like anyone listening wouldn't know who lived here... "To meet with Sue's... group?" What did they even call themselves? I should have asked!

I could feel her hand drift away from her gun as she sighed. It felt like she was muttering to herself, but with the com off, I couldn't hear it. The door clicked a few times as locks were unlatched, and the door opened.

"Get in." She grumbled. I hopped to it, waited for her to re-lock the door, and followed her up. The silent judgment was excruciatingly awkward, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the room was that Jake, Sue, and... I think door-woman's name is Minnie? Weren't the only people I recognized. One of the chairs- which had been pulled out from the table and spread around the room- was occupied by Gerard, messing with his phone.

There were three people I didn't know, though. The one that was actually seated looked a little older than me, maybe early twenties. His clothes were thick and stained, his hair matted up like it was halfway towards a terrible attempt at dreadlocks, his eyes unfocused until he noticed me. Then they sharpened in my direction as he gave a sleazy grin and a small wave. The closer of the two standing was a svelte blonde woman around my height, with hair just past her shoulders, and hard ice-blue eyes. The conversation she was having with Jake petered to a halt when we entered. The last was the second-oldest person in the room, after Sue. He was white, looked to be in his mid-to-late 40s, and had short salt-and-pepper hair that looked like it was probably light brown, a decade ago. Of all those here, he seemed the most hostile, not bothering to hide the soft glare aimed my way.

A few moments of letting everyone acclimate to my presence, Sue spoke up from her thick-padded chair in the little 'entertainment' nook, with the TV and couch. "Hello, there..." She paused. "Have you chosen a name yet, dear?"

I was sure she already knew my cape name, but was pulling me into the conversation, giving me the chance to introduce myself, instead of being introduced. "Uhm. Hi. I'm Terraform. It's nice to meet you." I said to the group.

The younger woman I didn't know perked up at that. She came a little closer, moving with a confident but elegant stride I wished I could match. She was wearing tight jeans and a nice blouse under one of those thin jackets with a high bottom hem, to show off the wearer's butt and a bit of waist from behind.

I was jealous, and had no idea what to do about it.

"Oh! Terraform!" She held out her hand when she got to me. "It's nice to meet you in person."

That implied we'd interacted in some way, and she did sound familiar, but... it took a second to click. "Dispatch lady?" I asked, incredulously.

There was silence for a beat before Jake burst into laughter, Gerard and the boy followed by snickering. The woman's smile had grown strained, but she chuckled anyway. "Yeah, that about sums up my life, right now."

"Aww, don't worry Barbie, they'll let you shoot gangers eventually." Jake called, once his laughter had died down.

"Shut up." She half-heartedly growled, before offering her hand to shake, again. "Sally Barr, BBPD."

I took the hand out of reflex, but cringed back a little anyway. "You're... a cop?" I asked hesitantly. It wasn't bad that she was a police officer, just... very confusing. She certainly didn't look like the stereotypical butch beat cop that popped to mind when I thought of female officers. "Why are you... here?"

Sue snorted. "What, you thought we were one of those criminal gangs?"

"Only a little..." Jake muttered from the other side of the room, setting off Gerard and the boy I didn't know, again.

The fact that no one seemed put off or pinging my lie detection about the implied criminal activity and ganghood was... mildly startling, but I could deal with it. You just didn't make it out of your teenaged years being a lily-white snowflake in the Bay. I've known that for years.

She dropped my hand with a chuckle. "They're kind of the reason I became a cop." I leaned back a little, tilting my head and raising an eyebrow, though they couldn't see that part. "Oh, not like that. Dad's been on the force since before I was born. They," She indicated the group around us. "got me out of a pretty bad situation, and pushed me to do more with myself. So I decided to try and clean up the city, like dad wanted to do." She gave a helpless shrug and a sigh. "But he's been throwing his weight around to keep me from really helping at all, 'for my safety'. Dispatch and investigations are important work, but I'd kill for an actual patrol once in a while."

"Now that you've met Barbie," Jake cut in, causing Sally to whine and motion something violent in his direction, to which he backed off and chuckled. "You already know me and Sue, and Gerard too, I guess." That got him a flipped bird from across the room. "Minnie you've met, but I don't think you've been introduced." I turned, to see what I expected from my senses- the door woman staring at me with narrowed eyes. "This is Su-Min. She doesn't like new people, but I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually."

She muttered something, Given that I didn't know of anywhere else in that part of Asia that did the hyphen-sounding names, it was probably Korean.

Everyone ignored that, though. "This is Arthur," Jake continued, and I turned back. He indicated the older man, who tilted his head a bit in acknowledgment. "and Vincent." He nodded to the grungy boy.

"Call me Vinnie." He said, with what he probably thought was a winning smile. He didn't look like a Vinnie. At all. His voice was a little deeper than I expected, but I was sure he was the youngest here, aside from myself. From the eyerolls around the room, I decided it was probably alright to just ignore what he'd said.

"Sooo...?" I muttered quietly, trying to move things along.

Sue shrugged. "All of us want the city to be better, but we're not agreed on which is the best way to do it, or even if it can be done. Enough of us wanted to help you that we're here now to see what that might look like." She leaned forward and indicated the room with a wave of her hand. "This is most of what we can bring to the table. Our best informants on the gangs in the city, our management, maintenance, and supplies, all here."

"It's not much," Jake said, breaking some of the growing tension. "but what we've got, we've got."

I wasn't sure I actually knew what I was doing, here. I knew they were a proper group, with time to establish themselves, manpower, an actual group structure, but seeing it staring -or glaring, in a couple cases- me down was something else entirely. I felt like a little kid asking the adults for something, and I hated it. I took a breath, pushing that anger and frustration away. "Well, my team is just myself and a thinker so far," I remembered Sue's advice about keeping the specifics of thinker powers obscure. "but we're pretty sure we'll have more members over the next few weeks. That's actually part of what I wanted to bring up with you." I took another fortifying breath, trying to make it less obvious than it felt. "I don't actually know where any of the independent capes around town are. I've heard they tend to be 'vaguely south' but nothing besides that, so far." I gulped a little bit, the room wasn't impressed, not uninterested, but I didn't feel much excitement or other strong emotional shifting. "We're not nothing yet, though. I'm pretty versatile, as far as capes go. I haven't had much in the way of fights to tell how strong I am, but I'm pretty sure I'm good there, too."

"What powers do you have?" The older man asked. I hadn't expected Arthur to speak up, especially not so diplomatically, considering what I could see and feel.

"Classical elements." I said, glad to be back on familiar ground. "Earth, Fire, Water, Air. The only one I can make is fire, but I can control the others really well." There was that bloom of awe around the room I was looking for. I could only see it on Sally, Vincent, and Gerard, but I could feel heartbeats picking up and breath halting around the room. "Like I said, very versatile. I'm hoping to do some construction when I'm not doing proper Hero things."

"Like what?" Gerard asked, leaning closer.

"Well, I've already fixed up the roads a bit at one of my fights..." Need to remember to go back to the others and fix them too, if the roads were still messed up. "but I'm pretty sure I can control wet concrete, collapse stone buildings safely, dig out foundations, dig spaces under foundations... the water table here doesn't allow for too much downward digging, but I only need a couple meters to dig out a bolthole or a secret base."

Glances were shared between the group, but I let them have their silent conversation. "That... sounds very useful." Arthur said after a moment.

I nodded. "There's also a bunch of old sewers and storm drains that aren't in use anymore. Collapsed, flooded, some of the new system is just built through the old one, walling it off..." I shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going to start healing at the hospital sometimes, too. When my costume's done."

"You're a healer?" Jake asked, and I could feel his hand gripping at his injured leg outside my normal range of vision.

"Oh, right. Yeah." I'd kind of forgotten he was hurt, honestly. "You want me to take care of that for you?"

His throat bobbed a bit as he nervously swallowed. "Yeah, that'd be pretty cool."

I motioned him to scoot away from the table a bit, and the chair he was in squealed on the floor as he put an extra foot between them and turned to open up more space. "Could someone get me some water? Tap's fine." Arthur, being the closest to the kitchenette, made his way in and came back a few moments later with a glass of water. I startled him a bit, pulling the water into the air and over towards myself before he could cross the room with it. "Pull up your pants?" I asked as I started kneading the blob of water between my hands, focusing energy into it and causing it to glow.

Jake did so, and I found exactly what I expected. A graze by his shin, making it hard for him to put weight on the leg. I just ignored the bandages, letting the water soak through them as I started working on it. "This is going to take a while. Part of why I wanted to do the hospital thing was to get more practice..." It was a little awkward bending over like this, so I hooked another chair with my leg and pulled it over, setting his foot on it and starting back on the injury. "I'm pretty sure I'll get better with time and practice. Right now I'm limited to bruises, scratches, maybe helping with broken bones a little... surface level stuff." Everyone was watching with varying levels of interest, awe, and trepidation. "Still, half an hour to heal a gunshot's way better than half a year." That was about the right timescale, right? I knew holes like proper gunshot wounds didn't go away in less than a month unless you were some sort of regenerator. I'd never looked into it, but the couple brief nods from around the room made me think my ballpark guess was close enough.

I took a deep breath after another half a minute of working on healing, splitting my attention a bit. "So, we have a thinker, and I can do construction and combat, and a bit of healing... depending on who else we can get to join up, we might have more that we can do. Was there anything else you had in mind for things you wanted us to do?"

There was another beat full of glances before Sue shrugged. "The groups we have the least amount of information on are the PRT and Protectorate. We can plan around the gangs most days, but sometimes a hero raid catches us out. We've lost good people over the years in the crossfire, there."

I took a bit to think on it. Really, without joining the Wards, I had no idea what sort of information I could even get from the PRT or Protectorate. But as long as it didn't get back to the gangs, I couldn't see a reason not to share whatever I did find out. "I'll see what I can do. Not sure it'll be much as an independent, though."

Sue chuckled. "I think you're underestimating the value of gossip, dear."

I shrugged. That sounded like one of those things a normal teenaged girl high school experience would teach, rather than what I got. I pushed the feelings down with a deep breath as I kept working. Getting moody over Winslow wouldn't help at all, here. "So, you have information on the gangs?"

My eyes were focused on my healing, but I could feel Sue nod. "We don't have many people infiltrated into the gangs, most of what we get is from eavesdropping, overhearing things, interactions with people who are in the gangs..." She shrugged.

"I get a lot of our Empire information." Gerard cut in. "It's pretty amazing what people say when the only folks around are blonde, blue-eyed, white men." He gave a rueful chuckle and a shake of his head. "I also try to keep an eye out for the DWA, make sure nothing they have going on is going to step on any toes. Everyone's pretty good at that already though, especially the people in charge." Aaand yup. He probably already suspected I was Danny's daughter. Fantastic.

Sally chimed in, over my shoulder. "I mostly just drop info where it needs to go, when we find something the police can actually act on." I could tell her eyes were on the glowing water under my hands. She was watching warily, shuddering a little with an involuntary shiver, rubbing her arms and biting at her lip while she thought I couldn't see it. "I also run relay with the PRT sometimes. They take things a little more seriously when PD dispatch hands info over, and don't tend to follow up on where we got it, if it's good." She shrugged, close enough I'd hear the rustle of her clothes even if I couldn't 'see' her. "Not that we have info on gang capes very often..."

A couple beats later, Vincent coughed. "So uhh, we goin' around, then?" Sue tilted her head in a half-shrug. She might have motioned to him and I just hadn't noticed. "Well, I'm pretty chummy with a bunch of the Merchant dealers. They know me, I know them, we talk, it's all good."

Wait... "You do drugs?" My hands paused and the glow dimmed.

He scoffed. "It's like buying a Nazi a drink. You shoot up with your dealer, they'll tell you anything. Don't knock it 'till you try it, babe." He gave me a saucy smile and a wink.

Was he... holy shit I think he was. "I am fifteen." I spat with perhaps more venom than needed. So much eww.

Watching him choke on his spit was pretty satisfying, though. "Never mind, then." I heard him mutter something about 'jailbait' under his breath, but chose to ignore it. Jake, Sally, and Gerard were chuckling a little at his fumbling, in different ways.

"I, uhh..." Jake rubbed his head as I got back to healing him. "I actually... kinda... run drugs for the ABB." He muttered that last part quietly, but I still heard it.

...and might have frozen the water to his leg. "What?" I hissed.

He sucked in a breath at the figurative and literal chill, "Hey, it's not as bad as you think."

I stood up, the chair I'd been sitting at skidding back a little. "Not that bad? You're a literal gangster!"

Jake took a deeper breath and took a glance around the room. My eyes followed as his went. Sue did her half-shrug head tilt, Arthur actually shrugged, Vincent didn't seem to care, but he wouldn't. Gerard was stoic, and Sally looked a little sad. "Look... kid." I could tell he wanted to use my name, but didn't. "It's just part of how the world works. If I didn't do it, they'd find someone who would. Always another cartel to buy from, and half a dozen guys to call to get whatever the gangs want. So long as there's a buyer, there will be people selling and transporting shit." He was getting a bit heated now, but I didn't back down. "At least this way I can use their drug money against them, get an in to get information from them. I know where they keep their drugs, I know where most of their brothels are, where some of their gun stashes are. We can use that." He leaned back in his chair. "It's just a fact. If the gangs want drugs, they'll get their drugs."

"...mostly from the Merchants." Vincent sniped.

"Shut up." Jake hissed at him.

"What?" the boy smiled, hands raised in an overacted shrug. "Lung doesn't care where the drugs his people resell comes from."

"I just don't think the politics of it helps my point any." Jake groused, which caused Vincent to shrug and go back to his phone. He turned back to me. "I know you don't like it, but sometimes people do the wrong thing for the right reasons. The second you think you can take out Lung, I'll be there to point you right at him." He sighed, looked down, and made a vague waving gesture off to the side, further towards ABB territory. "But I can't do that without having an in to get that information. If I press, I can get just about anything I want to know, but I do that too often and they'll catch on."

I thought on it. I hated it, but it made some sense. "You'll stop when they're gone?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Never wanted to, just too good an in to pass up." He wasn't lying, as far as I could tell. Another few moments of stewing on it, I nodded and sat back down, unfreezing the ice and sparking up the glow again. "That... really stung a lot, you know." He muttered.

"Sorry." I sighed out. I gave it a few minutes, people either waiting in the semi-tense silence or taking the time to peck away at their phones while I kept stitching the wound back together. Eventually I got tired of it, and turned first to Su-Min, then to Arthur. "So, what do you do?"

They looked at each other, and Arthur shrugged, going first. "Arthur Kent: Graves shift Custodial lead; Medhall."

I didn't mean any offense, but... "Why does that matter?"

He shrugged. "CEO's Kaiser."

"...what?" I hissed. I surely hadn't heard that right.

Arthur nodded to himself, his hands twitching in a way that was familiar in smokers desperate to relieve stress by lighting up, supported by the pack I could tell was in his back pocket. He tapped his fingers on his thigh instead, shaking his head before he nodded more firmly. "CEO is Kaiser."

He certainly seemed to believe it. "Why would you say that? Why tell me that? Doesn't that break... all the rules?" I was actually starting to freak out a bit, now.

He shrugged again. "Rules are bullshit, and everyone knows it." His fingers tapped out another pattern. "The gangs have ways around them." He raised his hands to list off numbers. "No one can care if you're not caught, even if you do get caught you can just throw out a scapegoat, the rules are a bit fuzzier when it's normals like me breaking them anyway, and there are people that the rules don't apply to either way like the Nine, or people strong enough to openly skirt them and get away with it like Lung..." He threw his hands up and shook his head. "And if the PRT decides to cover it up, none of that shit matters anyway." He gave it a second, while he took a deeper breath. "The rules just don't matter as much as you think they do, kid."

I let that sink in a bit, as I focused back on healing. Again, he seemed to believe everything he was saying. He was angry, frustrated with the system, with the city, with the rules. I was pretty sure he was one of the people Sue'd said agreed with her, that the city couldn't be fixed. That it was best to do what they could to get as many people to leave as possible. He was probably throwing this in my face to show me how insurmountable it was. I knew the E88 were entrenched, but running one of the biggest job-makers in the city? The richest company based solely in the bay? It was pretty scary. "And what do you do with that job?" I asked, finally.

He nodded, like I'd passed some test. "I'm high enough in the system that I can keep track of when the boss blocks himself out as 'busy', or when his favorite flunkies are given 'days off' to take care of whatever they have planned. I've been around since before Allfather had his 'tragic accident'..." he actually finger-quoted it and simpered the words. "so no one suspects it, as far as I can tell. I could try to slip recording devices or something in to meetings, but that'd end bad real quick." He shook his head. "Nah, my thing's eyes-on. ...plus I like to keep some bunkers around town, just in case. Bit of a hobby, y'see." I guess I could, yeah. Could never be too prepared around Brockton. "Hope you don't mind too much me not telling you where they are, being anti-parahuman bunkers and all, and... well..." He gave a shrug, without seeming sorry at all about it.

"Ah." I succinctly summed my feelings with a click of my tongue. Still, I suppose I couldn't fault the guy for feeling outgunned against the Empire.

It was almost another half-minute before Sue cut in. "Su-Min..." She said, indicating the woman, who nodded. "Takes care of the building, and keeps in contact with everyone while I'm busy or working." Made sense, to have someone like that around. I wasn't sure I liked that it was someone so hostile, but I could deal with a bit of bitchiness. I nodded to indicate I'd heard, and kept working. A bit more time passed, and she asked, "Was there anything else you wanted our help with?"

I stopped to think, mostly to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. "Yeah." I nodded. "Materials. Gear. Anything you can manage. It's usually a tinker thing, people getting outed by the trail getting their gear leaves, but that can happen for other types of capes, too. And if we ever did get a tinker, we'd need to get them stuff to work with, without throwing up signs screaming where to find them." A tinker would be fantastic, but I didn't have high hopes of it. They were just too high-demand for one to fall into my lap before someone else snatched them up.

Everyone seemed to think on it, even Vincent was staring slightly above his phone at the wall in thought. Gerard muttered "Wouldn't mind some Tinkertech..." loud enough for everyone to hear, and for him to get a few affirmative grunts in agreement.

Sue glanced around, taking in the mood of the group, and nodded. "We don't have much to spare, but we do have some experience with supply chains. It shouldn't be too hard to supply a small team. Especially if you can help fund it with gang money from raids." I nodded. That sounded fine. Better the money went somewhere else than the gangs. I think I might feel a little conflicted using it myself, but if Sue wanted it? I don't think I'd have a problem with that. "And that was everything?" She asked.

I nodded. "You help me find people for my team, help us kit ourselves up, and find us targets to hit once we've got enough people and training to start hitting the gangs." I said it with more firm confidence than I felt, trying to make it sound official. It helped a bit that I was still 'looking' down, with my eyes closed, focused on healing. "In exchange, we'll help add to your intel on the gangs, try to keep you up to date on the heroes too, I can come by and heal when you need it... though it might be better to go to a hospital if you're really hurt..." I muttered that last part. "And... I suppose we can get you some money and stuff from the gang places we hit. And uh... some Tinkertech..." I could hear hissed 'Yes!'es from Gerard and Vincent. "IF we ever get a tinker!" I half-snarled to get the point across. We couldn't give what we didn't have, after all. "But yeah, info, healing, supplies... I can build whatever you need built, if you want that done, too."

"Well?" Sue asked the group. She got affirmations from everyone, even small nods from Su-Min and Arthur, when she turned her attention to them. "That settles it. We'll be working together from now on. You know what to do, go fucking do it." She made shooing motions, which got snickers from everyone but Arthur. Vincent and Gerard left straight away with small waves, Arthur following with another terse nod. Su-Min leaned against the doorframe, probably intent on staying until I left, and Sally came up beside me from her place behind where I was sitting.

"Here." She said, writing down a number on some paper. "Give me a call whenever you're in trouble. I'll rally the cavalry for you." She hopped to attention and gave me a jaunty salute before she headed to the door. "Oh, and send me a text if you change cape phones, yeah?" Oh, right. She probably had my number from calling the police while she was running dispatch...

"Right, yeah!" I said, and she waved and left.

I turned back to Jake, who pulled his eyes up to mine from where he'd been watching Sally's butt as she left. He smiled and shrugged at my blank stare. "So, how much longer do you think it'll take?"

"Not too much, more than halfway done, I think."

A few minutes later, Sue spoke up from rocking in her chair. "You know, if you want us to gather capes for you, you should probably have a time and place to meet picked out." I flinched. I knew I'd been forgetting something! "Did you have anything in mind?"

I shook my head, not sure if she could see it with her head lolled back in her chair. "Not really... maybe a couple weeks out, to give time to find people... I'd probably just wind up picking a park or something public."

Sue nodded. "I'll figure something out?"

"If you wouldn't mind." I answered, and she nodded.

Jake got out his phone to wait out the last ten minutes or so of healing. It wouldn't have taken nearly as long, if I hadn't needed to undo a lot of the healing it'd already done, to fix it up without leaving scar tissue where the wound used to be.

When I was done and heading out, I told him, "Now stop getting yourself shot."

"Already one of my life goals, don't you worry." He answered.

I said my goodbyes and headed out, nodding to Su-Min and getting a slight head-tilt in return, after which she followed me out to re-lock the doors behind me. I made my way to the building where I'd left my bag, recovering my things and heading out for training, when I remembered Dinah's warning from this morning. I didn't want to just walk right into a trap, but I also didn't want to back down from a fight unless I had to. So I plugged the new number into my phone and dialed it.

"Terra? Are you okay?" Sally asked, when she answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I actually kinda' liked my name, shortened like that.

She heaved out an audible sigh. "Had me worried, calling so soon. What's up?"

"I…" How to phrase this… "If I… had it on good authority that I was going to… maaaybe… get ambushed, later today… should I call someone to maybe help, before that happens?"

I could imagine her non-plussed stare into the distance, wherever she was. "Terra…" She muttered darkly. When I didn't respond, she sighed. "No walking into traps. You're not allowed. If you're dead set on doing whatever, anyway, call the PRT. If they won't send you backup, either don't fucking go, or call me, and I'll go with you. Do you understand?" With that commanding tone, I could kind of see her as a cop, now…

"Yes, ma'am." Was really the only valid reply.

"Good. Text me if they send someone." She said, with a certain note of finality to it. "And Terra?"

"Y-yeah?" I flinched, as I was making my way down to the street.

"You're a good kid." Sally's tone softened considerably. "Take care of yourself."

Then she hung up, and I was left staring at my phone, standing on the last landing of a fire escape. I felt conflicted. On one hand, the way she immediately took charge and dictated the situation to me grated a bit, but on the other? It was nice to feel cared about.

I sniffled, just barely stopping myself from trying to wipe at my eyes with my masks in the way. I squeezed my eyes instead, took a few fortifying breaths, and hopped the last couple meters down to the alleyway below.

The phone picked up on the second ring. "PRT non-emergency helpline, how may I be of assistance?"

"Hello. This is Terraform." I started, as I walked. "I, uhh..."

"Do you need to be transferred to the emergency line?" Generally when a cape called them, that was the one they needed.

"No, I... don't think so? I was going to do some training, and I'm pretty sure a fight's going to break out. I was wondering if I could have some backup on hand, instead of needing to call them in later."

"Okay." They sounded a little confused, but pressed on. "And where were you thinking of doing this at?"

"The Trainyard." I answered, almost immediately. The line went quiet, and I thought I heard a low breath.

"Let me transfer you over." The line clicked and buzzed. I guess it was an emergency call situation after all?

The line picked up again. "Armsmaster." The man himself said, causing me to freeze.

They transferred me to Armsmaster? "Uhh, hi. It's Terraform. I... have a potential ambush situation I think you might want to take advantage of, sir?"

I got the sense he was pausing, stilling some work he'd been in the middle of. "I'm listening."

"I was going to go train today, and I'm pretty sure the Merchants are going to pop up. They did last time, and once before that. I'd say it's good odds something's going to happen."

He hummed, and I thought I could hear soft clicking in the background. "You're training in the Trainyard?" He must have been looking up reports or something.

"Trying to clean it up a bit, two birds and all." Ugh, I can't believe I said that. Stop trying to be hip at the Protectorate hero!

An agitated grunt later, "You're set on doing this there, today? There's been increased gang activity from the Merchants and ABB. I must advise against it."

Had there been? I hadn't really noticed. "Isn't that all the more reason to pull them to somewhere you know they'll be?"

He paused, probably thinking it over, and sighed. "What do you think you'll need?"

I couldn't help the grin. "Just someone to watch my back, just some troops and something to haul people away in should be enough."

There was some more of the soft clicking, followed by a low grumble. "Aegis and Dauntless are in the area. They'll rendezvous with you at the southeast entrance, on 16th street."

Wait, I was getting capes? "Are you sure?" I couldn't help asking.

A soft chuff, probably a scoff. "They'll be there in ten, unless you need more time?"

Ten minutes to get across the whole city? I could probably manage in three, if I cut loose. "That's fine."

A couple more clicks. "Armsmaster, out." The line cut dead.