I offered to set up Chess team with either a room of their own somewhere in the building, or in the bunks area, but they wound up hauling a big tent to the roof and setting it up on the opposite side from the water tower, using existing hardware that was up there to keep it securely strapped down. I thought they were being extremely silly by insisting on sleeping in their tent, but they told me that they’d only be sleeping there and that I should save the room for refugees who didn’t have anything to call their own.

  Speaking of refugees, New Wave showed up not too long after that. Mark, Carol, Victoria, then Sarah and Neil Pelham, their daughter Crystal, who was my age. Their son and Crystal’s younger brother, Shielder, had died in the Leviathan fight. They were putting on a brave face, but I could tell they were hurting. I asked Neil and Mark to help move the bed out of one of the private rooms for a pair of bunk beds from the barracks, then I gave Crystal, Victoria, and Amy the largest remaining room I had. Carol and Mark got another, and Sarah and Neil a third.

  I had one left over, and I’d probably wind up sticking my crap in a closet and locking it up and giving someone else my room if and when it became needed. The reunion between Carol and Danny was a little odd, with them having to dance around the fact that Taylor still hadn’t told her father about her parahuman status, but they seemed genuinely happy to see one another. Once everyone was mostly straightened away, I pulled Vicky, Taylor, Carol, Mark, Sarah, and Neil, Crystal, and Danny into the briefing room downstairs to give them a quick information dump about what was going on, what I was trying to get accomplished, and what our immediate needs and concerns were.

  They raised some of their own, and we took one of the whiteboards to write things down.

  Neil and Victoria both had fairly high-level super strength. I told them that they’d be best put to use helping the dockworkers and dock projects. Righting toppled equipment, transporting things, and then the biggest project of all, breaking up the wrecks to clear the shipping lane, and getting the chunks out of the way. That was no small task. They made faces when I told them I’d contacted Faultline’s Crew to assist with it, but when I explained that I was on good terms with them, and that Faultline’s power would allow her to break the vessel remains up into precise and controllable pieces, they reluctantly agreed that it’d be very helpful.

  I told Carol I needed her to attend an important meeting with me, Danny, and possibly one or two others later–soon, with the evening approaching–and the PRT. She was on board with that plan.

  Crystal was in pretty rough shape, as was Victoria. I asked her if she was up for volunteering, and she agreed. I asked her to coordinate with Mark and Bishop to help make some freshwater collectors we could set up to replenish clean water stocks when it rained. Her body language told me she was happy to have something to work on, even if she didn’t say anything out loud.

  Finally, we discussed the presence of the security I hired, and how their job was to worry about keeping the people here safe when we were otherwise occupied. There was a little debate over whether or not they’d be needed with so many capes in the building.

  I told them, flat out, that I had already paid them for three months and I didn’t want them going anywhere. That way, if something did happen, we didn’t have to divide our people up between watching the people here and doing things in the city. Carol, of all people, was entirely in my camp. She thought it was vital we had extra hands around who were professional, who would keep an eye on the place and the things we had stored here.

  That brought up the remaining topics. I needed people who could fly to try and help with the transport runs. I wasn’t terribly worried about keeping myself or Vista–if she was cleared for it–safe, but if we did get attacked, I couldn’t defend ourselves while also carrying the cargo. Having an extra body or two could make a world of difference. Both Victoria and Crystal volunteered.

  Water rationing was another subject. We had a large supply of water, but we needed to take steps to make sure it lasted as long as possible. That meant limiting showers and relying on less luxurious things like sponge bathing, and reusing water when possible. The last thing was the issue with sewage and waste. Namely, that there was no city sewage, so we were going to have to get out-houses or porta-potties set up and emptied regularly. That and transporting trash were going to be a thankless duty, but we’d take turns handling it so someone wasn’t stuck with the ‘bad jobs’ all the time.

  All said and done, that took about an hour and a half to figure out everything, tell people about the plans for containers, the big projects, and divide up responsibilities. New Wave was going to help out by working to keep a grasp on things happening in the city and keeping our little headquarters on the top floor up to date.

  We broke, and I went upstairs with Carol and Taylor for a private conversation. We stepped into the clinic on the third floor and closed the door behind us.

  “Okay, so. Carol, about the help I need.”

  She looked at me.

  “I’m going to be meeting with Legend, probably Director Piggot, and talking to them about joining the Protectorate. I’d really like you there to go through any employment contracts they offer me to make sure they’re not pulling any shady business with me, and to try and negotiate for me if it comes to it.”

  I filled her in on what they’d been offering me so far, what the current situation with the Protectorate ENE team was, and what I was trying to get out of it. Her brows raised at the mention of leadership track positions, but after some discussion, she didn’t think it was a bad idea, either.

  I rested on the floor and turned my attention to Taylor. She chewed her lip some, then turned to Carol and told her what the story was with the Undersiders, the lawsuit, the idea I had with dumping Sophia and taking her place. Carol did her due diligence and made sure Taylor truly wanted to become a member of the Wards program, and that she wasn't purely motivated to make career choices on a revenge plot. She was very interested in what had happened with Armsmaster, both in the events of recent weeks and this morning.

  Taylor told the story from her perspective, and Carol sagged with her back to the wall when the truth came out, shaking her head.

  “So, there are two different things I’m interested in here that we can use to your advantage, Taylor,” she said. “First up, the fact that it sounds like Armsmaster was stringing you along without ever seemingly being serious about bringing you on board, or making sure you were protected, which is the most basic element of any type of undercover work. This is either gross negligence or potentially, him using you to pad his own resume and acting in bad faith. That is... extremely serious.”

  Taylor nodded slowly.

  “We’re going to demand that they turn over any documentation relating to you working as a confidential informant or undercover operative. Even though you told him not to inform people, if he was even halfway serious about things, he would have kept copies of records and transcripts offline in his office for that. If those don’t exist? That’s a serious problem for them. If they do exist? That’s still reckless endangerment of a parahuman minor and gross negligence in his duties as a member of the Protectorate.”

  I sighed. This whole thing was such a fucking mess. I had no doubts in my mind that Colin was in some deep shit at the moment, but this was another reminder to me of the kinds of things that needed to get addressed and fixed within the organization.

  “The other thing is the hospital thing this morning. You said he admitted to it?” Carol asked Taylor.

  Taylor confirmed it. I also spoke up. “When I was in PRT HQ after they came over from what I assume was the hospital, they had him strapped with trackers we use for house arrests and parolees. Faultline said she saw them taking him out in restraints, probably because he tried to attack Tattletale, and Legend, of all people, had to step in and stop him.”

  Carol rubbed her face. “Wow. Okay. What I’m seeing here is that they’d probably be just about overjoyed to have you willing to sign up as a Ward, with the level of shit you’ve been put through by one of their own, and the kinds of lawsuits you could bring against them? It would be massively beneficial to them to bring you on and try to keep you happy to avoid that mess. If this is what we want to do, I am sure we can get you an extremely favorable arrangement.”

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  She stood up straighter. “Right. It sounds like we’re going to be talking about this soon. You–I know I talked to you about this earlier, but you really need to talk to your Dad about this. Because ultimately, he’s got to sign off on it as your legal guardian. If he isn’t willing to do that, you’d have to try and go through an emancipation process, which isn’t going to be easy to make a case for, and that would also add weeks, or probably months of extra time onto being able to do these things.”

  Taylor was squirming and fidgeting in place, but she finally nodded.

  I spoke up. “Taylor, come here, sit on my arm. I’ll have your back, literally and figuratively. Carol, toss the chair over there for Danny, ask him to come up here with us, and we’ll get into it.”

  Taylor reluctantly took a seat on my forearm, and I supported her back in a slightly reclined position with a couple of tentacles. I placed my lower hands on her shoulders and gave her a light massage as I expected, stiff as a brick, coiled and knotted with layers upon layers of stress.

  Carol left. I asked Taylor quietly, “Do you want Carol here? It might… help both of you, honestly. Someone Danny knows who knows what cape life is, and who he can relate to. Not to mention, she’s literally your attorney.”

  Taylor thought for a moment, then said: “I think you’re right. Let’s have her here, too.”

  “Do you want anyone else?” I asked her.

  “Do you think Victoria and Laserdream could come too?”

  I was a bit surprised by the request, but I nodded over her head and pulled out my phone. I texted Vicky and told her to grab her cousin and come to the clinic.

  Carol walked back up with Danny and asked Danny to take a seat. He seemed a little bewildered by this, but then again, he sort of seemed a little bewildered by anything when it came to Taylor. Poor girl. Granted, she was as culpable for keeping him in the dark, but still. I wouldn’t say that Danny was a bad father. He loved her, and he tried his best to make sure that she was taken care of, but he also seemed totally in over his head with having a daughter in her mid-teens, too.

  Victoria came in with her cousin a moment later, and Carol shut the door.

  “Crystal, mind sticking up a shield on the inside of the door just in case we get anyone being nosy?”

  A red energy shield snapped into place, covering the inside of the door.

  Victoria and Crystal seemed a bit confused, so I gestured at them to take seats. Crystal sat on the exam table, and Vicky took a rolling stool.

  “You want me to start us off?” I whispered into Taylor’s ear. She flexed her fists in her lap but shook her head.

  Everyone was a little restless and quiet, nobody really knowing what exactly was going on.

  Taylor coughed and cleared her throat. Victoria asked her if she wanted a cup of water from the sink. She shook her head, then thought twice and asked for one. Vicky grabbed one of those paper disposable cups that come from dispenser sleeves and filled it at the sink, and handed it to Taylor.

  She was floating, and I snickered. Carol was glaring at her. If she noticed, she didn’t react. I hoped she was ignoring her mom; it was a silly rule not to use your power indoors. Danny was trying not to stare at the fact that there was a girl just floating around in the room.

  Taylor gulped her water and took a deep breath. I rubbed her shoulders, and Victoria had a downright envious look on her face.

  “Dad, I have to tell you something,” Taylor said, drawing Danny’s attention like a moth to flame.

  She was working her mouth in silence before she finally said it. “I have powers. I… got them in January, after the whole thing with school and the hospital.”

  Victoria and Crystal both got an “oh” look on their faces simultaneously and glanced at each other. The realization that this was one of those conversations.

  Danny was just stunned by the news, his face cycling between surprise, shock, and concern.

  I rubbed Taylor’s shoulders, and she remained silent, staring down into her partially full cup of water. Neither she nor Danny spoke.

  I decided to break the silence. “Danny, this is just my perspective on matters.” He looked up at me, looming over Taylor, dwarfing her tall, lanky figure under my head. “I’ve worked with, alongside, and against many people- heroes, villains, and everything in between. I think Taylor’s the most talented and creative parahuman I have ever met in my life.”

  That drew sharp looks from Crystal and Carol. Danny had a sort of deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. I waited a moment to see if Taylor would pick it up; she didn’t, so I continued.

  “You know who Lung was, obviously. He was the biggest and scariest villain in the city for years, a guy who could fight Endbringers one-on-one. Insanely powerful.”

  Danny nodded.

  I cleared my throat. “Your daughter beat him. Twice. Completely on her own. One time when he wasn’t fully juiced up, and the second time when he was fully transformed.”

  Danny was stammering something. Carol looked like she might have been trying to stare lasers into Taylor, and Crystal exclaimed: “What?”

  I looked over at Crystal. “That capture Armsmaster did on him earlier this year? In April? He didn’t do that. He just took the credit for it. Taylor did that all on her own. During the coordinated villain raids on the ABB, Taylor fought him again, and I was there. She beat him by herself after he casually destroyed the best fighters in the Empire Eighty-Eight.”

  “You’re serious,” Crystal said, eyes flicking between Taylor, who seemed to be trying to shrink into her own shadow, and me.

  “One hundred percent serious.”

  Taylor seemed to find a reserve of strength somewhere inside herself, and she lifted her head to look at Danny.

  Danny sat there, silent, still as a statue, as she explained how she went out on her first night, intent on being a hero as a way to try and get away from how bad things were in her day life. The mixup with the Undersiders, the plan with Armsmaster. How he’d hung her out to dry, and how she had fucked up in more ways than one, becoming close friends with them. How she’d robbed a bank, raided a fundraiser, fought terrorists, dragon-men, and as of today, an Endbringer–all as the super villain, Skitter.

  When she mentioned fighting Leviathan, Crystal chirped up and talked about how she had carried Taylor around and Taylor had been tracking Leviathan’s position while he was attacking shelters, and how the two of them had stopped Leviathan in the middle of killing an entire shelter full of people, which had saved the lives of hundreds of people. How Taylor had her spine broken and had been paralyzed just hours ago.

  I could smell Taylor’s tears as much as I could see them with the eyes on the bottom of my head. I squeezed her shoulders. She winced a little, and I let up some. I’d forgotten she was probably still sore as hell.

  “Is that… why you’re covered in bruises?” Danny asked at long last, and Taylor nodded rapidly. He got up from his chair, walked over to her, and hugged her.

  The realization that he’d nearly lost his daughter seemed to have sucked the life straight out of him.

  He asked her just above a whisper: “Why, why would you go fight that thing?”

  She buried her face against his lower chest and didn’t say anything. He looked up at me. He figured something out, with the look of realization coming over his face.

  “You told me, at the house, that day. I didn’t get it then, but I do now.”

  I took a hand off Taylor’s shoulder and rested it on Danny’s instead.

  “We all have our own reasons for fighting, little battles or big ones, Danny. But I think for the people who have family and friends, it’s to protect the people they care about. Many people lost loved ones today, but I’m probably as happy as you are right now when I came back here after the fight and saw that Taylor made it through.”

  I gestured over to Carol and Victoria. “Amy Dallon gave Taylor treatment that saved her from paralysis. She’s still out there right now, twelve hours later, working in the hospitals, saving other lives.”

  Danny looked over to Carol. “I don’t… I don’t know how I can possibly repay you.”

  Carol’s eyes were a bit misty, but she smiled widely. “You already are, Danny. You’ve been hard at work organizing the people who are going to keep my family safe and healthy.”

  He nodded slowly, then looked back at me. “Thank you again, Morgan. For helping Taylor.” He looked over to Crystal and thanked her as well.

  Taylor coughed, rubbed her nose, and wiped at her eyes. “I um. I need your help with something, Dad. That was only half the story.”

  He slumped back down into the chair and took his glasses off. “I don’t know if my heart can take the other half. Wait– does this mean you’re going to go to jail?”

  Victoria grunted, and Crystal elbowed her.

  “No, she most certainly is not going to jail,” Carol said.

  “Dad… Morgan asked me to join the Wards program, and Legend said he wanted to talk to me about it, too, at the hospital earlier today. We’re going over to the PRT tonight, soon, I think. Will you come with us and sign the paperwork for me?”

  Danny scrubbed his face with his palms and let out a ragged sigh. “Taylor, I don’t know. This is a lot to take in right now. Can I think about it first?”

  Carol spoke up next. “Danny, can I have your attention for just a moment?” He looked up blearily at Carol without his glasses on.

  “Taylor has committed some serious crimes. Numerous felonies. But she did those things under the guidance of someone who wasn’t taking her situation, her safety, or her needs into account, who was having her work as an undercover agent for the PRT without doing even the most cursory and basic requirements for something of that nature.”

  Carol crossed her arms over her chest, and Danny put his glasses back on and frowned.

  She continued. “Let’s be clear here. Taylor has made serious mistakes, but one of the biggest mistakes she made was being strung along by the leader of the Protectorate here, who, through his own actions, put her life in danger. As far as I’m concerned, as her attorney, there’s no real discussion to be had here. If she joins the PRT as a Ward, she should be exonerated for her crimes, get a job, training, guidance, pay, and a scholarship to BBU as part of the program. With all she was put through with her involvement with their former leadership, she should be able to do very well for herself outside of having to take these things to a courthouse.”

  He glanced between Carol and Taylor. “I hadn’t considered that. So she’d be clearing her name and putting that behind her?” Carol nodded.

  “There’s something else that’s quite important as well, related to the paperwork that you filled out. We can discuss that after my daughter and niece leave.”

  “We’ll see ourselves out, Mom.” Victoria stood up, gave Taylor a side-hug, and whispered, “You got this,” to her. Crystal left with them, taking down her barrier and closing the door quietly behind herself.

  Carol explained the situation with Shadow Stalker. Danny took it in stride pretty well, but his cheeks did get pretty rosy red when he found out the truth about the hero. Then, further, when he put together the events at the school board meeting. He got heated with Carol, who remained cool and level-headed throughout, about the kinds of disgusting scheming that had been going on without anyone’s awareness. She just nodded along and told him that’s part of the reason why Taylor joining was the right move, here and now.

  While the two of them were chatting, I pulled out my PRT phone and sent a message to Director Piggot that I’d be heading over shortly with several other local capes to discuss joining, as well as sharing updates with the results of our work today. She told me both she and Legend would be waiting almost immediately after I sent the message to her. That she had someone she wished for me to meet shortly as well.

  “Alright, are we all set to pack up and head over?” I asked as things were winding down. Taylor got up and hugged her dad. They’d both agreed that an extended sit-down talk was in their near future.

  “How are we going to get over to downtown?” Danny asked.

  I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Tell me, Danny, do you like rollercoasters?”

  He audibly gulped.