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Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowFate/stay night & Related FandomsFate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (Anime 2014)
Characters:
Cú Chulainn | LancerTaylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver
Additional Tags:
Self-InsertCYOA
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2023-11-19Updated:2026-08-08Words:70,172Chapters:22/?Comments:390Kudos:1,408Bookmarks:566Hits:50,259
Hebert's Hound
TheCandyManCant
Chapter 21: 21
Chapter Text
It was Monday. Taylor was supposed to be in school right now. She lied to her dad. She said she'd been throwing up all night and didn't get any sleep. Dad called her in sick and she got the day off.
Taylor wasn't sick, but she wasn't okay either. She could still feel the crushing weight of Hookwolf pressing down against her. She could feel the hooks and blades piercing through her reinforcement to dig into her flesh. She still felt the helpless terror as she realized she was moments from dying.
Cu had healed the physical marks. Taylor didn't have a single scar left from last night. She didn't even feel light-headed. Given how much blood she lost, that should be impossible. Lancer's runes were probably the greatest power, magecraft or not, around barring Eidolon's.
Physically, she was fine. Her mental state was another story.
Lancer had talked with her this morning. He'd taken things slow, being considerate of the fragile state Taylor was still in as she slowly glued herself back together. They'd gone over the broad events that transpired last night and what could have been done differently. It all kept coming back to one major solution. If Taylor had summoned Lancer back with a command seal, almost all of the difficulties she experienced could have been mitigated. She certainly wouldn't have been so close to death as to have Hookwolf's teeth literally biting into her neck.
Taylor hated that feeling. She'd been trapped underneath the murderous nazi, unable to move. She fought back with her runes. She hit him with fire. Hookwolf hadn't seemed to care. She knew she burned him, hurt him, but he was so dedicated to killing her he was willing to let her burn him. She'd been so scared, so petrified by terror she couldn't think of anything other than her impending doom. She should have used a command seal to call Lancer to her the moment she was pinned, but she was too scared to think of any solution that didn't involve immediately pushing Hookwolf away, getting his weight off of her body so she could move again. If Cu hadn't managed to sprint back from New York in time, Taylor would have died, and he'd have faded away shortly after as she stopped supplying him with mana. Taylor hadn't just nearly gotten herself killed, she'd nearly dragged Cu to the grave with her.
Taylor was overconfident last night and it nearly got her killed. She didn't get enough details about the situation from Vicky. She didn't meet up with any other heroes before running in alone. She hadn't listened to Lancer. She could have just let the Protectorate handle it. The whole convoy fiasco was their mess, not hers. Taylor nearly got herself killed trying to fix it.
Hookwolf had tackled her off a bridge and who came to help her? It wasn't the Protectorate she'd gone out risking her life to help. Miss Militia didn't so much as look over the edge to see if Taylor was still alive. Miss Militia saw that Hookwolf, Night and Fog had removed themselves from the bridge and used the opening to layer containment foam over Fenja, Stormtiger and the unconscious forms of Cricket and Crusader.
No, the Protectorate didn't come for her.
Mouse Protector – an independent cape who didn't even operate in Brockton Bay – followed her down there. MP did what she could, but she was outnumbered and her power didn't translate well to fighting giant monsters that didn't care about getting stabbed. Still, she bought just enough time for Lancer to make it back and save Taylor. One second Taylor was trapped, helpless, terrified as Hookwolf's jaws slowly closed down around her throat. The next second Cu kicked the nazi's lifeless body away and stepped up to Night and Fog, daring them to try something lest he add their bodies to the pile.
It was one thing to intellectually know how dangerous it was to fight villains, to know that bad things might happen. It was an entirely separate matter to feel hundreds of sharpened hooks and blades digging into your body while a nazi famous for murdering innocent people slowly closed his jaws down around your throat, to feel powerless as nothing you did was sufficient to save your own life.
Taylor never wanted to feel that helpless again. She never wanted to be trapped like that again, unable to do anything but wait for the end. If she was ever in that position again, she wanted to be able to kill the bastard that put her in it.
Taylor was a little surprised at how okay she was with the idea of killing someone. Her whole life, she'd wanted to be a hero. Heroes didn't kill people unless there was no other choice. Heroes took villains and normal criminals alive at all costs. That's just the way it was. Taylor still planned to do that. She wanted to take down as many villains nonlethally as she possibly could. But if anyone put her in a position like Hookwolf had, she would kill them. She doubted she'd even lose sleep over it. That realization scared her until she realized that if Cu hadn't killed Hookwolf, she would be the slowly cooling corpse instead.
When he first started training her, Cu made it clear that he would never hold anything back if he thought it was necessary to protect her. He told her he didn't have the same reservations about killing as modern 'heroes'. Last night, he killed Hookwolf without a moment's hesitation, and in so doing saved her life.
Taylor believed she understood his perspective better now. If it came down to a choice between her life, between Cu's life and an unrepentant murderer, she would kill them. She didn't want to kill anyone, but she wouldn't hold back anymore. Last night taught her what might happen to her while going out as a hero. As much as she wanted to help people and do the right thing, she wanted to come home more.
Taylor watched the news on the TV after her dad left for work to try to take her mind off things. That had backfired spectacularly. The Protectorate was already filling the media with news of their 'unprecedented victory'. Not only did all of the Empire capes that were being transported fail to escape, but the Protectorate managed to capture several others. In addition to Stormtiger and Crusader – brought down by Taylor – and Cricket – knocked unconscious by Mouse Protector before she teleported down to help Taylor – the Protectorate also managed to capture Alabaster and Krieg. The Empire, once the greatest parahuman presence in the city, now only had four free capes – Purity, Night, Fog, and Kaiser himself. The gang was all but defeated. Taylor wasn't sure how they could come back from this.
Taylor should have felt proud. She played a large part in the victory last night. Taylor could only muster up the energy to feel bitter. She'd almost died for the Protectorate's victory and no one, not even Glory Girl, had so much as called her to see if she was okay. In the news segments run on the fight, Cletiné wasn't mentioned once. Miss Militia was named as the hero who brought down Stormtiger and Crusader. The loss of fame and admiration at defeating two villains didn't bother Taylor so much as the blatant game the Protectorate was playing with Taylor's life being little more than collateral damage.
'Look at our great heroes saving your lives and ridding this city of villains! Don't look at those yucky independents. They were never here! Trust in the Protectorate! We're the only ones you can trust!'
Director Piggot of the PRT was scheduled to give a press conference later in the afternoon. Taylor assumed it would be more of the same drivel. Armsmaster was supposed to talk after her. He might have something valuable to say about the whole fiasco. Strange as he was, he actually seemed to care about people.
Taylor shook her head, sighing. Focusing on it was only making her feel more miserable. She felt miserable enough without the Protectorate's BS. She needed to clear her head.
Taylor left the house and went for a walk. She wandered aimlessly. Somehow, her feet brought her somewhere familiar without her input. Coming here must be second nature now.
Taylor stepped into the warehouse she and Cu had spent many weeks outfitting to be as comfortable and practical as possible. Dad thought she was at home resting, but he wouldn't check on her. She could probably spend a week in Boston without him realizing she was gone. It would be a problem if Taylor didn't constantly use the freedom his lack of awareness granted her.
Cu was already waiting for her in the warehouse, he wasn't alone.
Taylor wasn't wearing her mask. A day ago, she would have freaked out, screaming at Lancer as she desperately tried to cover her face to shield her identity.
She didn't. Not today. Not from her.
Taylor walked right up to Mouse Protector and hugged her tight. The woman only hesitated a moment before returning the hug.
"Thank you," Taylor said. "I might be dead if you hadn't helped."
"I'm glad I could help. It's…really good to see you on your feet, kiddo," Mouse Protector said, sounding the most sincere Taylor had ever heard her. Taylor appreciated that she was talking normally instead of making some dumb wisecrack about the situation. The Mouse had some tact after all.
Mouse Protector coughed awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to catch you without the mask on."
Taylor stepped back, chuckling darkly. "You stopped Hookwolf from eating me. I don't really care about the mask right now."
"Still, it feels wrong for this to be one sided." Mouse Protector reached up, pulling her helmet off and tucking it under her shield arm. Light brown hair shook free. Dark brown eyes twinkled as Mouse Protector stuck her hand out. "Karen."
Taylor smiled, shaking Karen's hand. "Taylor."
"Good to meet you, Taylor."
"You too, Karen."
Taylor stepped back, turning to Lancer. "You brought her here?"
Lancer shrugged. "Yes and no. She teleported to me while I was outside the bounded field a couple minutes before you got here. At that point she'd already seen the building so I invited her in."
"Bounded field?" Karen asked, head tilted curiously.
"Power stuff," Lancer said simply. "You said you were here for a reason, right?"
"I wanted to check on Cle… Taylor." Karen turned to look at her. "You look much better than you did last night. I can't even tell you were hurt. Did you make it to Panacea after all?"
Taylor shook her head, nudging Cu with her shoulder. "He patched me up. He's more useful than he makes himself out to be."
Cu dipped into an exaggerated bow. "I live to serve, milady."
"Don't even start," Taylor hissed. The last thing she needed right now was for Cu and Karen to get into another 'my-english-is-more-timey-than-yours' off.
Karen looked between them. "You can heal people, Cu?"
He grinned at her. "I am a man of many talents. One of these days I'll tell you each of my most carefully guarded secrets. You'll probably run away screaming when that happens. I won't hold it against you."
Karen snorted. "Well now I'm practically dying of curiosity. It takes a lot to scare me off."
"I thought the cat was the curious one," Cu said.
"Nope. The cat is always killed by curiosity. Us mice are very curious."
"Are you admitting to cat murder?"
Karen shook her head sadly. "It's a rodent eat feline world out there. We each have to look out for ourselves."
Taylor stared at Karen strangely. "I feel like that should be the other way around."
A shrill ring interrupted the conversation. Karen scowled, reaching into her pocket to retrieve a phone. She glared at the screen and forcefully smacked a button. The ringing stopped.
"Heartbroken ex?" Cu asked.
Karen sighed. "MM is trying to use me as a carrier pigeon to get in contact with you. I'm mad at her so I'm ignoring her."
"What does Miss Militia want with me?" Cu asked.
Karen winced. "The PRT wants to talk to you about what happened with Hookwolf."
Lancer frowned, eyes hard. "Are they going to try to arrest me for killing him?"
Karen, grunted unhappily. "The local PRT director is pushing to bring you in for questioning. I already gave them my run-down of events and I made it very clear there was no other option available to you. I outlined what Hookwolf said and what his intentions were, but I think she sees this as an opportunity to get you under her boot as opposed to an opportunity to work amicably with an independent. I'm not impressed with what I've seen of the Protectorate ENE. I've worked with some subpar offices in the past, but this one takes the cake."
She sighed. "That said, I can see where they're coming from. It's just… The Protectorate and the PRT don't like it when bodies turn up after fights, theirs or the bad guys. There were dead bodies on both sides this time and they want a clear picture of what happened. But as far as legal trouble is concerned, I can't see how you wouldn't be in the clear. If the director tries to strong arm you, just lawyer up and tell her to shove it. It worked for me."
Lancer frowned. "You went through something similar?"
"I decapitated a villain threatening a school once. A lot of kids were traumatized. I'd rather not get into it right now."
Taylor felt a spark of anger ignite in her chest. "Lancer saved my life. Hookwolf was going to murder me. Hookwolf wouldn't have been a problem if the Protectorate had kept him locked up the first three times they captured him."
Karen held her hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm on your side here. I say don't give them an inch. I can give you my lawyer's number if you want. He charges more than a week-long hospital visit that began with an ambulance ride, but he's good at what he does. If money's an issue, I know–"
"That's not necessary," Lancer said. Despite the seriousness of what Karen was saying, he had an amused smile on his face.
Taylor narrowed her eyes at the Servant. "Lancer, I know that look. What are you scheming?"
"Nothing," he said innocently. "If the Protectorate tries to arrest me, I just won't let them."
"Lancer, fighting the good guys is not the solution we're choosing." Taylor said sternly.
"Not what I had in mind. If they try to trap me, I'll just leave. There is literally nothing they can do to stop me. The only person alive who can do anything to me while I'm astralized is you, Taylor."
"Astralized?" Karen said, having watched the exchange with open fascination.
Lancer turned to Karen with a cocky grin. "You know that Stranger power I mentioned?"
Karen smiled excitedly. "Yes…" she said expectantly.
Lancer's body shimmered as he faded from view.
Karen whistled, looking around the warehouse, searching for Lancer. "That's a neat trick there, Setanta."
Taylor froze, eyes snapping to look at Karen. She'd called him Setanta. Lancer told her his real name. Well, his other real name.
Why was Karen not freaking out about a demigod walking around? Did she just not know the legend of Cu Chulainn? It was possible. Taylor would hazard a guess that most people in the United States wouldn't know of Ireland's Child of Light. The only reason Taylor had heard of him was because her mother thought it was important for Taylor to hear stories from all over the world to expand her horizons, to better understand other cultures. It was possible Karen simply had no idea who Setanta or Cu Chulainn were.
Or maybe she thought Cu was just named after himself. It would be far more likely that someone alive in the modern day was named after a hero from a story, much like so many people are named after the prominent figures from the bible, than to assume that an actual demigod was alive. Capes did it all the time. The truth sounded insane next to the perfectly logical explanation that Cu was just pretending to be…Cu.
"What can I say?" Lancer said, reappearing atop a stack of crates a short distance away. He fell to sit on the edge of the box, legs swinging down over the sides. "I'm a man of many talents."
Karen chuckled. "And here I thought I was starting to figure out how your power worked after seeing you scribble so many of those symbols on my armor. The invisibility just threw a wrench in my idea. Unless…" She gasped. "Do you have a magic hidey cloak like in those Aleph Harry Potter books? Can you make another one? Can I have a hidey cloak? Please give me a hidey cloak. Think of all the mischief you'd be facilitating!"
Lancer shook his head. "It's not…" he trailed off. "Actually, I probably could make a hidey cloak. What exactly were you hoping for?"
Taylor wasn't impressed by Lancer's antics, and this conversation was veering too far from the topic at hand for her liking. "Hey! We still have a problem. So what? Your plan is to just run away whenever the Protectorate tries to talk to you?"
"Exactly! You're a smart girl picking that up so fast." Lancer beamed at her proudly.
Taylor's eye twitched. "That's not sustainable long-term, Lancer."
Lancer waved her concern away. "We'll worry about that if and when it becomes a problem. I don't value their opinion too highly after what happened last night. They'll be mad I'm not cooperating and probably yell, but it won't escalate beyond that."
"Hey," Karen cut in. "I get that hashing this out is important, but don't think I'm forgetting about that hidey cloak. You can't promise a girl a hidey cloak and fail to deliver. You'll break her fragile rodent heart."
Lancer laughed, hopping off the crates he sat on to gracefully land on the ground. He fell into a deep bow. "Far be it from me to disappoint you, milady. I shall begin forthwith! Pray tell, what dost thou require?"
Taylor rolled her eyes as Karen clapped excitedly and began rambling about pockets and invisibility and mischief. Taylor could only handle so much time around the combined antics of these two. She felt a headache coming on. Where was Armsmaster with his suspiciously convenient pain-killers when she needed him?
A bright rune began to glow on the wall of the warehouse, interrupting Karen describing how 'majestically beautiful and epicly powerful' her hidey cloak would need to look – never mind the point of a 'hidey cloak' would be to remain unseen. Taylor frowned.
"Lancer?" Taylor called.
"Hang on a second, Taylor."
"Lancer!" Taylor yelled.
Lancer's head snapped up at her tone. His eyes narrowed as he saw the desperately gleaming rune.
Karen looked between the two of them in confusion. "What? What's wrong?"
"Danger warning," Lancer said simply. "We need to–"
A thunderous boom clapped through the air. The ground shook beneath their feet. Taylor had a hard time staying upright.
Whatever had just hit them was strong and close. Without the bounded field, the warehouse might be a smoking crater right now.
"What the hell was that?" Karen asked, appearing on the other side of the warehouse where she'd left her sword. Her blade was now in her hand. Taylor had trouble hearing her clearly over the ringing in her ears.
"I don't–" Cu was cut off as another explosion echoed, this one much further away, but still loud like a thunderclap.
Cu's lips pulled into a scowl. "I take it back. I know what's happening." There was a faint white glow around his eye, a result of a rune he was using.
"What's–" Karen ducked behind a crate as two more explosions sounded in quick succession.
"The ABB has a bomb Tinker. The Empire is all locked up or dead." Lancer said quickly.
Karen groaned irritably. "I hate territory grabs!" She vanished, reappearing where she'd left her helmet. She picked it up, pointing seriously at Lancer. "We're not done talking about my hidey cloak!"
Karen donned her helmet as another explosion shook the air. "Alright! Onward, ye chosen heroes! The city's dire hour is upon us! Together, we shall achieve a brie-lliant triumph!"
An explosion sounded just as Mouse Protector raised her sword to the sky, almost as if to punctuate her words.
Cletiné zipped through the air into Taylor's hand. MP's antics aside, the city needed her. She could sort out the BS she was feeling from last night later.
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