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Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category:
Gen
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - Wildbow亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon (Anime & Manga)
Characters:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverDanny HebertBrockton Bay WardsLisa Wilbourn | Tattletale
Additional Tags:
Canon-Typical ViolenceCanon-Typical Body Horrorshard-altered psychologytags to be added as we go
Language:
English
Collections:
Timballisto's Curated Works
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Published:2019-05-24Updated:2020-03-11Words:99,568Chapters:29/?Comments:226Kudos:730Bookmarks:266Hits:29,374
(Restricted) The Shadow Over Brockton Bay
Temeritous
Chapter 29: Interlude: C
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The thing She calls Coryn waits ever patiently. The young humans it was assigned to protect aren't in any danger yet. It is certain that they will be, though; it can feel violence in the air, a certain intent to do harm. When it feels this, it knows someone will be in danger.
The young humans move within the group of older ones, getting into vehicles and driving away. It flies lower, hovering just over the black metal roof and orange lights. If the van starts to turn over or crash, it will be ready to pull its charges to safety.
The vehicles stop outside one dwelling in a row of them, unremarkable except that there are now heroes leading a silent assault on it. It follows the young ones, shadowing so closely behind them that a sudden movement might reveal its presence. Neither of them does.
The weapon-wielding woman is leading its charges, her energy taking the shape of a shotgun. It doesn't feel things, but there is still some reflection of Her intent in it. Neither She nor it would mind if the woman was hurt a little.
They are joined by the Authority, another woman who is not to be trusted. She leads them to a basement while the others secure the area above, the Weapon flanking her while the two charges stay close behind. In the basement is the second objective, the target who needs to die. The Serpent is ready for them, holding a gun steadily pointed at the Weapon.
He says "No rash actions, now." It only just barely cares enough to understand the words. "I've taken certain precautions - "
The Weapon's power flickers into a new form, and the Serpent reacts by pulling the trigger, and the Authority blurs across the room. The situation settles down quickly, the Serpent's head rolling on the ground while his body topples belatedly. The Weapon gasps touching a spot over her chest.
"I'll get her to a hospital," the Authority says as she picks up the Weapon in her arms. They leave, stopping briefly to exchange a few words with one of the other heroes.
Its young humans leave the basement as well, milling through the dwelling uncertainly. It watches them, something like thoughts forming. The humans are safe and the target is dead; it should return to Her now. But She hasn't called it, and it doesn't know where She is.
It does, however, have instructions for what to do in this situation.
If we get separated and you can't find me, find Tattletale.
It knows where that one is likely to be, and the journey will be New.
---------------
It announces itself to Her companion with a tap on her shoulder, wings folded away carefully to fit into the small room. She startles, fingers mashing on the laptop keys, and twists around to see empty space behind her.
"Taylor?"
Not its name, but she can't see it. It will have to make its presence known some other way…
It spots a blanket on the unmade bed and remembers Her making it wear something like that. It pushes under and then stands back up, letting the blanket fall around its shoulders.
"No." it says.
"...Not Taylor?"
"Yes." it says.
"Coryn?"
"Yes." it says. That's the name She gave it.
"And you're alone. Where's Taylor?"
"Find her." That is the next instruction. Find Her companion, and follow the Companion to Her.
The Companion stands up suddenly. "Was she taken?"
"She left. Protect the Wards, make sure Coil dies. Find her after."
"Fuck." The Companion checks her phone, flicking through several applications in a row. "Fuck!" She darts for the door; it follows.
"Who the hell are you?" the Darkness asks an unfamiliar woman.
The woman turns away from him, toward the Companion. "Coil is dead, and you're a lot of loose ends."
The Companion's eyes widen fractionally.
"Tattletale, what's going on?" the Darkness asks. The Empty one is watching,
"Go. Run, hide, tell no one. The boss is dead. If you listen to me now, you'll all get to stay alive."
"Who is she? Do you know her?"
"She can kill all of us, or they wouldn't have sent her. Go."
The Empty one leaves first, shrugging and heading for the stairs. The Darkness hesitates.
"Don't worry about me. Look after your sister."
He leaves.
"You let me say that." The Companion folds her arms. "You showed me what to do, you know they'll listen to me. They're safe now because you know they're not a threat, but I still am. And you know I'm not going to come quietly."
"You can fight," the woman says with a slight nod. "But it won't matter. You're going to die here, and nothing you do will stop it."
"I can do more than you think. Coryn, kill her!"
It strikes out with one wing at head-height, the edge of it turned razor-sharp. The woman ducks even though she can't see it, and moves backwards. "Door," she says, and steps through a portal.
"Coryn, over here. Stay close to me."
It returns to her side. There is no confusion, no disappointment, no unfulfilled bloodlust. Only the present moment exists.
"Defend, but stay close to me," the Companion orders. "Don't get farther than an arm's length away. I can…." she trails off.
A portal opens; it stands in front of the Companion and lets a bullet sink into its mass instead of into her.
"Fuck!" the Companion says again, and takes a step forward, grabbing a handgun off a table.
More portals open, one in every direction. Then one opens below them, and it prevents her from falling by picking her up. There's nowhere to go, all the portals are showing an open green field, and one of them shows the woman. She's still holding the gun.
"You die here. Nothing can change that outcome."
The Companion swears again and raises her gun, pointing through its body. Helpfully, it creates a hole for her to shoot through, but the woman ducks through another portal again before the Companion can even fire.
She looks down at the gun, then to where it is floating, holding them both up. The portals close and the woman returns, and they are standing again in the empty loft like nobody ever moved and nothing happened. She's silent this time.
The Companion takes a deep and shuddering breath. In a whisper, she says, "You tried your best, Cor. One more order. Bring me to Taylor. No matter what, you take whatever's left and bring me to Taylor. And you!" She shouts, her head whipping to the woman, glaring hateful. "Fuck you, I win!"
She raises the gun and points the muzzle up under her own chin. It watches, impassive, as she pulls the trigger. It watches the body crumple, like Hers does when it isn't there to catch Her.
The woman approaches with measured steps. She reaches out to grab the body, and it stops her. She might want to take it, which is conflicting with the orders. The woman freezes, stumbles back, mutters, "Door." She flees.
It settles down next to the body to wait. It still doesn't know where She is, and it won't until She calls.
--------------
Changeling only watched, silent, when Lazarus' minion brought a body back with it.
She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about any of this; she didn't have context or any history to draw on. She was on the roof with the girl she felt drawn to, with a dead person who the girl seemed to know, and they were otherwise alone. So what she actually felt was confusion and a sympathetic sorrow. Lazarus didn't look like she wanted to cry; she looked like she didn't know how to.
I wish I knew how to make this better.
Her first impulse was to see if her Pact helped, because it helped most things, but Lazarus didn't like it for some reason. So instead she put her hand on Lazarus' left shoulder, a connection while Lazarus bent her head solemnly over the body in mourning. She resolved to stay right here beside Lazarus until she was told to go away. Lazarus seemed to have no trouble expressing her desires.
And then the body came gasping back to life.
Changeling stared, shocked. The strange girl sat up and wiped blood away from her chin, smearing it across flawlessly healed skin. She twisted around, saw Lazarus, and grinned.
"Knew you'd pull through," she said.
"That was a hell of a risk," Lazarus said, her voice shaking.
"Not so much of one. I trust you, Taylor."
Taylor. Changeling mouthed the name to herself. It felt right; the shape of it was familiar to her tongue like she'd said it a thousand times before.
Taylor lurched forward and hugged her, desperately. The other girl hugged back, grinning, and caught Changeling's eye. Her expression became guarded. "Who's your friend, Taylor?"
As Taylor turned around to see Changeling again, she was careful to school her expression into something more appropriate. She'd made a mistake by letting the ex-dead girl see her jealousy.
"Case Fifty-Three going by the name of Changeling. Support powers, Brute and Mover ratings. I used to know her before she became a parahuman."
Changeling smiled slightly. Taylor hadn't denied that they were friends.
"Nobody knows who Case Fifty-Threes used to be," the girl muttered. "You…." she trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.
"Lisa," Taylor said, shaking her arm a little. "What happened? Why did you… do that?"
Lisa's eyes widened, and she stood abruptly pulling Taylor with her by the arm. "Are we on the Rig? We have to leave. Now."
"Hold on," Taylor said. Changeling stood up and took a step closer, ready to defend Taylor if needed. "My dad is down there, I can't just leave. What's going on?"
"They sent someone to kill me, so I had to make them think they succeeded. By actually dying, which was less than ideal, but it worked. It'll stop working if we stay here."
Taylor stared at her for a moment, then grabbed back at Lisa's arm. "It was them? They sent someone after you?"
Lisa's jaw clenched, and she glared at Changeling over Taylor's shoulder. "Yeah. Think about it. Think about what would have happened if I really had died. From your perspective, it just looks like I ditched you. Meanwhile you have your dad back thanks to the Protectorate, and you have a new-old friend. Changeling is the one who killed you, right? She's the reason you became a parahuman?"
Taylor nodded. "Yes. She is."
A tiny noise from behind made her turn around. She saw Changeling, her whole face crumpled and her hands over her mouth. "I did what?"
Taylor's lips pressed together briefly, and then she bent her head. "Not you. Emma. You didn't do any of that."
"How can you even look at me, though?" Changeling asked, half-choking on it.
"It would be harder if you looked how I remember you," Taylor admitted, "But you don't."
Lisa tugged on Taylor's arm again. "This is a nice reunion and all, but we really have to go. She's with them. Her, Alexandria, the people who make Case Fifty-Threes, the woman who came after me, they're all together. None of this works unless there's a bigger hand working it from behind the scenes. They made her to use against you."
"I'm not, I swear!" Changeling grabbed desperately at Taylor's other hand, catching it and holding on tight. "I'm not working against you, I wouldn't, never. Please, Lazarus - Taylor. Please, believe me."
Taylor stared at her, expression blank as ever. She wouldn't look out of place standing in a supermarket deciding between brands of cereal, except for the costume. "Is she lying, Lisa?"
Changeling turned pleading eyes on the other girl. "She doesn't think she is," Lisa said.
"That's not the same thing as no," Taylor observed. "Fine. Let's go. You can come with us."
"Your dad?" Lisa asked.
Taylor looked down as if she could see through the building to where her father was. "I lost him once, I survived it. I know I can do it again. And he's safe here, they won't hurt him. They wouldn't dare."
"Where are we going to go?" Changeling asked, nervous about leaving the only place she knew.
"We're going to get Lisa somewhere she can set up a failsafe, so that next time they'll think twice about killing her to keep her quiet," Taylor said as she began to rise in the air on her power. Changeling was startled to find herself rising too, without her usual floating. "And then we're going to sit Alexandria down for a little chat."
---------
Doctor Mother didn't say a word while she watched the footage. Her hands were in her lap, loosely clasped together. Contessa stood behind one shoulder.
"You left the body." Alexandria said. The tone wasn't accusing, but the words were.
Contessa's gaze flicked to her, acknowledging that she was heard. She didn't respond otherwise.
"Would you like to fight a black ghost?" Doctor Mother asked. "That ghost, specifically. The one that has shown a range of adaptability and abilities that we've never seen before. None of them are mindless, but that one is smart."
And without the benefit of her power being able to predict it, Contessa was half-crippled. That was why the 'fight' lasted even as long as it did.
"Whatever else came of this operation, she can resurrect now." Alexandria said instead of answering. "And I didn't get any inclination toward social responsibility from her. If someone important dies…."
"We can find something to bribe her with," Doctor Mother said, decisive. "Power, money, reputation, information. Turning her to heroics was the best option, not the only one. We have eyes on her at least."
"What a fucking waste," Alexandria murmured watching the recording on the screen. The viewpoint was over Lazarus' left shoulder; just barely in frame was one marble-white hand branded with an omega symbol.
Notes:
Per the note at the beginning of 3.9, this story should now be considered dead.
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