“It’s fine,” I said, shaking my head. “You paid for half of it, even though I could afford to treat you. That’s pretty fair, considering it was basically half my fault, having it on my lap.”
“And being so cute,” she muttered, making me giggle.
“Glad one of us thinks I am,” I bantered. “But this was probably kind of a cold shower.”
“Little bit,” she grumbled.
“Don’t sweat it, seriously,” I said, taking her hand. “Just watch out for expensive shit next time you decide you wanna be on top.”
We shared a chuckle as we headed out of the mall. All things considered, I’d enjoyed our day. School had been a bit of a drag this week, but the weekend was stretching out before us. Not totally free, I still needed to figure out what I was going to do about the girl who triggered. Joyce, right? That sounded right. Her online handle, ‘@thebttm’, hadn’t given me any clues anyway.
Amy said I should meet her, and I sort of agreed. I hadn’t done it as a Ward, but outreach to new parahumans was supposed to be part of the job. Sensible, since you probably wanted to avoid them going villain as much as possible. With a power like hers, one that could kill me through my projection, I definitely didn’t want to be on her bad side.
Besides, she probably needed help. Sure it hadn’t been just days before an apocalypse, but I could hardly call her trigger ‘good’. At least I should meet up and reassure her I hadn’t just quit or something, that I was going back out there to take care of the rest of the Nazis. I could point her to the Wards, or maybe New Wave too. They had the resources to get her started, if she wanted to be a hero too.
“You’re quiet,” Amy commented as we waited at the bus stop.
“Thinking,” I said, shrugging. “Tell you when we get home.”
“Sure,” she agreed.
Still had to keep Amy informed on what I was doing, but neither of us were stupid enough to air it all in public. At least this was one, unexpected thing where I didn’t have wait for a knife in the back. No matter what side she ended up choosing, Joyce wasn’t going to begrudge me saving her from a bunch of Nazis and a pissed off villain. Probably…
No, definitely. I’d go with my usual array of weapons, but wasn’t going to go in hoping for a fight. For one I’d probably lose, but I also didn’t want to make a bad impression on her. She probably just wanted to thank me and ask a little advice. I could handle that no problem, even if she was better off asking someone else.
“Finally home,” Amy sighed as we headed into our apartment. “God the mall sucked today.”
“Yeah? It didn’t seem that bad,” I said. “Maybe more crowded than last time, but like, so is the whole city.”
“Yeah,” she said, grimacing as she hung up her jacket. “Guess I’ve noticed that. Hospitals are somehow busier than they were in June. Back to normal, I guess.”
“Hard to believe,” I said. “But I guess it’s better.”
“Hey what do you want to eat?”
“Uhh.” I blinked. “Whatever? Do we have anything?”
“Lemme check.”
She wandered into the kitchen while I took our bags to our room. I retrieved my laptop and brought it out to the living room, taking a seat on the couch. It took a few minutes to boot up, and I wasn’t quite finished by the time Amy joined me.
“Okay so we’ve got bread,” she said.
“And…?” I said expectantly.
“Butter,” she added. “Salt, a bunch of spices. Um, we may need to go grocery shopping.”
“Dammit,” I sighed. “Okay, let’s just order out. You want anything?”
It took ten minutes before we settled on some Korean place that promised to have the best fried chicken in the city. Maybe an exaggeration, but I was happy to put it to the test. Amy ordered something I couldn’t pronounce, but she swore would be amazing. Dinner sorted, she headed off to grab a showed and I turned to browsing on my new laptop.
Still needed to answer Joyce. I went to my messages on PHO and reread it again. Nothing suspicious, she just thanked me a ton for saving her and asked if we could meet and talk about some ‘issues’ that I might be able to help with. No points for guessing what she meant, even if she wasn’t going to bandy about the face she had superpowers on the internet. Fair enough really.
I scratched my head as I tried to come up with...something. There wasn’t really anything I could offer like this, besides telling her to go to the PRT for power testing and stuff. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to though, someone who she could trust wouldn’t freak out over her having powers. Sucked if I was the only one that fit the bill.
Taking a deep breath, I began typing. I was fine with meeting up, but made sure Joyce knew I wasn’t coming unmasked. And it would be in public, relatively speaking; no going to someone’s place when that was just asking for it. I read and reread my response. It didn’t seem too shitty, considering how I usually was. I sent it and let out a sigh. A moment later, I jumped as my laptop pinged with a swift response.
Reply from: @thebttm
Just say when and where.
I tugged up my bright red scarf around my neck to ward against the chill. Amy had recommended going unmasked, since it would put me and Joyce on a level playing field. I didn’t like it, but she had a point. A shiver ran up my back and I rubbed my hands together as the wind rattled the branches. It was a miserable day. Cold, humid, and overcast with the promise of a storm soon.
Luckily, that meant the park was basically empty. I’d picked a spot by the Leviathan memorial, a park bench that was fairly sheltered but gave me a view of the main entrance. It wasn’t nearly as busy these days, so long after the attack, and less so with the oncoming weather. Perfect, since I sure didn’t want a crowd to talk about this sort of stuff.
I eyed a woman headed my way. She might have been in her twenties, and wore her sleek black hair in a long braid that draped over her shoulder. A heavy, black leather jacket bulked her out, made her look more imposing. Her dark eyes bored into me and made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
As subtly as I could, I slipped my hand into my pocket and gripped my pepper spray. I’d come unmasked, not unarmed. Her approach was straight and silent, and she sat on the other end of the bench as soon as she got there. I eyed her out of the corner of my eye, flicking the lock on the spray nozzle back and forth. Her chest swelled as she took a deep breath, and I readied myself.
“Hell of a party the other night,” she spoke, her voice rough. She had an odd accent I couldn’t quite place, weirdly reminding me of Regent. Still, I knew it was her.
“Yeah,” I agreed, glancing over. “How was the uh, the hangover?”
“You believe it’s still there?” she said dryly.
“I would,” I said with a grimace.
“Joy Rivers,” she said, sticking a hand across the bench. “Should introduce myself properly.”
“Lia,” I said, giving her hand a brief shake. Thank god I hadn’t tried the name I thought was hers. “Forgive me if I don’t go full mask off.” She shrugged.
“Was kinda shocked you said you’d come like this to begin with,” Joy replied. “Respect. I won’t say nothing.”
“Cool,” I said. “I can guess why you wanted to meet, but I’m used to being wrong. So, what’s up?”
“I’m...you already know about my...thing,” she said hesitantly. “Nobody else, except a couple heroes. Can’t really talk to other people, you know?”
“And how did you find me?” I said.
“Made a post on PHO,” she replied with a shrug. “Said I wanted to reach out and thank Amaranth and if anyone knew her account so I could message her. Someone did, and here we are.” I frowned.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“You remember their name?” I asked, already with an inkling.
“I think it was something stupid, ‘Eye Spy’ maybe?” Joy shrugged again. “Why?”
“No reason,” I sighed, shaking my head. “So what then, do you want advice?”
“Sort of,” she hedged. “I mean, look, okay, no offense but you’re a lot younger than I expected and I just—” I couldn’t help a snort of laughter that made her snap her mouth shut.
“Sorry,” I said with a mirthless grin. “Go on, just what?”
“Just…” Joy looked at the ground. “I feel bad dumping this on a kid.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m a cape,” I retorted. “I’m a kid like a doberman’s a lapdog. Whatever shit situation you were in, and believe me I’m under no impression it was a picnic, I’ve seen worse; hell I’ve probably lived worse at this point.” Died worse too, and she couldn’t top that. She looked at me, eyes wide. After a few seconds, her cheeks paled slightly.
“Sorry,” Joy said hoarsely.
“It’s fine,” I said, scooting a little closer and lowering my voice. “But take this seriously. Skitter didn’t have a driver’s license and took over half the city. Regent’s a bodysnatching freak and I’m pretty sure he’s younger than she was. I can’t get a credit card, but I killed Shatterbird. This is a very dangerous fucking club.”
“I know,” she snapped. “But still, it’s…” I sighed.
“Sorry to get up your ass,” I said tersely. She was new, had to give her a break. “That sort of stuff is why I left the Wards. Just get that impression out of your head.”
“Right.” Joy nodded stiffly.
“Anyway, you came to me instead of the heroes, why?”
I…” She sighed. “I don’t know, I heard some shit. Don’t like it. Not an American anyway, so can’t exactly join the locals.” I frowned.
“No offense, but why are you here?” I nodded to the nearby overlook that we could view just how shit things were from. “If it’s not home, I can’t really see a good reason to stick around.”
“Yeah, well, it’s complicated,” she hedged. “I was doing the nursing program at BBU, full scholarship and all; from MedHall, would you believe it?” We shared a grimace. “When everything...happened, I sort of got stuck. No documents, basically wasn’t a human being for a couple months. They probably would have kicked me out if I wasn’t the best medical staff they could get.”
“When I finally managed to get in touch with the outside world, my mom and dad told me to stay.” Joy paused to swallow before continuing. “Wish I hadn’t listened. And now it’s like...I don’t know what to do. Didn’t exactly get healing hands, you know?”
“Sorry your parents told you to stay in Brockton fucking Bay?” She nodded and my eye twitched. “Jesus, sorry about that.”
“Need a nurse back home more than a daughter,” Joy said flatly. “But MedHall went under, scholarship is gone. The university said they’d still honour the funding, but like, now? How can I be a nurse when I’ve got...you know?”
“Shitshow and a half,” I muttered, getting a nod. “Honestly, if you’ve got the choice, you should be a nurse. World has enough capes. But if not…”
“If not?”
“The heroes are your best bet,” I sighed, resting my chin in my hand and staring at the dirt. “I’ve got my problems with them, but yeah. If not the Protectorate, I don’t know, the Guild maybe? Not sure where you’re from anyway.”
“Kahnawake, up in Canada,” Joy replied. “Guild’s basically the same as the Protectorate, rotten.”
“Okay, so try a smaller team, or maybe go corporate,” I said, giving her a look. “But if you want to be a cape, and I assume you want to be a hero, you’re going to want people watching your back.” Joy stared at me silently for a moment. “What?”
“What about you?” she said after a moment.
“What about me?” I asked.
“Well like, you’re a hero aren’t you? And you don’t have a team?”
“Yes, and?”
“So why don’t we just work together?”
“That’s—”
I pursed my lips as I considered it for more than half a second. Sure, I’d said I wasn’t looking to join another team, and that was true. Considering the ones in this city, I’d just be dragged down further than if I’d stayed with the Wards. This wasn’t exactly that though. I didn’t know Joy all that well, but I could guarantee she wasn’t friendly with the Empire or Undersiders and that was a hell of a gift horse.
“I know this is sort of out of nowhere, but I don’t know who else I can trust,” Joy said, breaking the silence. “I know I already owe you, wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t saved me or...or wouldn’t want to be. But I want to take whatever’s left of those Nazi’s apart, and I can’t do it alone.” I studied her face. She sounded earnest, but I couldn’t jump into something like this.
“Let me think about it,” I said at last. “Haven’t exactly figured out what I’m doing yet anyway.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “Dealt with worse things than a tough choice before. Are uh, you okay waiting?”
“Sure, shelter’s still there,” Joy said flatly. “Just...don’t be too long? Don’t want to...”
“A day or two, max,” I said. “You should sleep on it too. Take a look at my record, or whatever’s public, before you decide you want to work with me. You called the Protectorate rotten, but my hands aren’t exactly clean.”
“Neither are mine,” she said, barely audible.
“Sorry,” I offered. “Anything else you wanted to ask?”
“Do you…” She paused, then took a deep breath. “Do you sleep okay?” I stiffened.
“No,” I said tensely. “See you.”
I rose from the bench and speed-walked away from Joy, ignoring her apology. She was probably just checking if I was a psycho, but fuck her for that one. I focused on my breathing as I left the park, gradually calming down. It was a poor start to a working relationship, if that’s what this became, but...maybe it was a start.
A sigh escaped my lips as I boarded the bus and took a seat. Even if we started working together, I didn’t know the first thing about running a team. I could schedule times to patrol or train, easy crap, but not much else. Really I needed a captain around, but I didn’t want to bother Dean and the Protectorate was obviously out. The Protectorate…
I dug out my wallet and poked through until I found the card Hooks gave me on my last day. Palooka’s Gym, and she’d written her number on the back. I needed someone I could really trust, and she was my best bet. Besides, it had been a while and I really wanted to see her frankly. I punched her number into my phone as I got off the bus, eager to make a date.
The gym wasn’t much to look at. I’d double checked the address, and it sure was a shitty, broken-down hole that I’d never think of visiting if I hadn’t talked to Hooks about it. The sign hanging over the door was plain and faded; probably the same one from before Leviathan. I fiddled with my pepper spray in my pocket and chewed my lip. No need to be nervous, just had to talk to the person I’d probably let down more than anyone. Well, besides Miss Militia who…
I sighed and shook my head, striding up to the door and pushing my way inside. Couldn’t dwell on everyone I’d failed or I’d be frozen all day. I curled my nose at the rank, overlapping smells of fresh and stale sweat. An old man with bushy, white eyebrows sat behind a small desk. Behind him was a metal door, and beyond it I could hear the muffled sounds gloves crashing against bags and pads. The old man frowned at me as I walked up, deepening the already considerable lines that crisscrossed his face like trenches.
“Don’t got a kids program,” he said, voice painfully hoarse.
“Here to meet someone,” I said tersely. “And I’m not a kid.” He scoffed.
“Sure, okay,” he croaked. “Who’re you looking for?”
“Lafayette Hooks,” I said, suppressing a grin as his eyes widened slightly.
“You Lia?” he asked sharply.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug.
“C’mon.” He rose slowly and crept to the door. I followed behind him, rolling my eyes. Was I just going to catch bullshit from everyone? He led me through the door into a wide gym with three rings and half a dozen heavy bags scattered around. “Taffy you sullen bitch, get your black ass over here!” he bellowed, loud enough to make me flinch. I heard a crash of chains, and a moment later saw Hooks storming over.
“Bill you say another thing about my black ass and I’m going to make your lily-white one look like it,” she growled, a furious glower on her face. “Fucking rotten old bitch.”
“Spare me,” the old bastard, Bill, coughed. “God damn seventy-nine, too old for this crap.”
“Piss off.” He did, fortunately, and Hooks sighed as she turned to me. “Sorry kid, Bill likes to rile me up since he doesn’t get in the ring anymore. You doing okay?”
“Fine,” I said with a shrug. “Wanted to talk, like I said.”
“This one for here or more...private?”
“Private,” I sighed, relaxing a bit. At least she picked up on things.
“Follow me,” she said. We trailed through the gym, way to the back. Hooks opened a door and gestured for me to go in, then followed me through. It was an equipment store, with dozens of gloves, pads, and boots stinking it up. I resolved to breathe through my mouth and faced Hooks. “So, what kind of trouble are you in?”
“What?” I scoffed. “Come on, I’m not in trouble.” She stared at me silently for a moment and I rolled my eyes. “I’m not, seriously. I need some advice.”
“Ah,” she said, nodding. “Lady trouble.”
“Oh my god,” I groaned. “No, christ, this is serious.” She frowned.
“Okay,” Hooks said with a nod. “Lay it on me.”
I explained the situation to her. It wasn’t too complicated, and I tried to keep too many details out. Didn’t want to identify Joy, but also I wasn’t sure how much I should be talking about this anyway. She scratched her chin when I mentioned the potential team up, an intense look on her face.
“You trust this girl?” Hooks asked when I’d finished.
“I can trust she isn’t a Nazi,” I said with a shrug. “Which honestly, considering this city is kind of a plus when it comes to capes.”
“And of course she’s got a grudge against the Protectorate,” Hooks sighed. “Well what do you think?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t know the first thing about running a team, managing people and stuff. And how am I supposed to like, be a mentor or whatever when I’m the kid?”
“Well you’re a hell of a lot more experienced than her, for one,” she said. “Mentorship’s tough, best advice I can give you is listen more than you yap.”
“And what about teaming up generally?”
“PRT squaddies don’t even shit alone,” she said. “In this business, teamwork keeps you alive. Rather you both were with us, but you’d be safer at least if you work together. As for management, fuck that, you’re no captain. It’s two people, just hash it out.”
“Is it really that simple?” I asked, frowning.
“Hell no,” Hooks scoffed. “But it’s probably easier than you think. You’re a smart kid, no matter what people say or what you say. You already pulled off stuff on your own, but it’s worth it to put the effort into a team.”
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath and wincing at the pungent smell of the store room. "Thanks Hooks.”
“Lafayette, told you already,” she said, reaching out and patting my shoulder. “And you’re welcome, glad you’re reaching out instead of jumping in feet first. See? Smart.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “Guess I’ve been burned enough times to know better.”
“It’s what it takes sometimes,” Hooks, or Lafayette said. “Now, you down for a couple rounds? You look out of shape.” I snorted.
“Nah, got to chew on this for a while,” I said. I turned to go, then paused and turned back. “Hey, Lafayette? Can I…” Her arms wrapped around me a moment later, and I hugged her back. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said quietly. She pulled away and gave me a lopsided grin. “Seriously, don’t, the guys’ll get up my ass.” We shared a chuckle and left the storeroom.
“I’ll come back for a real session soon,” I said as she walked me out of the gym.
“Bring your friend, if you guys get along,” Lafayette said. “Never a bad time to learn how to fight.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I will, promise. See you Lafayette.”
“Stay safe Lia,” she said, waving.
I walked away with a smile on my face and a lot on my mind. Maybe this time though, I could at least make a good choice. Or at least, avoid the worst better than usual. Just had to be a little lucky. The world owed me a bit of that.
Hopefully I wasn’t owed more bad luck.