The Bargainer 22 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Kejmur

-VB-

The Bargainer
Chapter 22

-VB-

Jennifer glanced at the TV running the national headline. Ellisburg, some town in upstate New York, fell to a no name villain and her man had to go and put that villain down. The numbers looked pretty bad by themselves, but the fact that the Protectorate sent out the Beast to take care of a new guy was …

It meant that the new guy, this supposed no name, got classified by the Watchdog as someone troublesome, but that particular villain won’t be cheesing anyone anymore.

“He’s strong as ever, huh?”

She turned to look at her friend, who sat around the same coffee table as her. She grinned in reply. “Yup!” The two of them sat in a more isolated table away from the rest of the customers of this coffee shop they were in, so talking, if done quietly, could be more open between the two of them. “Are you sure you don’t want to try him out? He might not have time for you later down the line~!”

Hannah glared at her, but there was no hiding the faint cherry dusting on her mocha cheeks. “Shut it.”

“Aw, come on, Hannah. I know you like him. It’s written all over your face! Whenever you see him on TV, you get this ‘ooh~’-”

Hannah punched her, and Jennifer cackled in glee. “Admit it!”

“Can you just shut up?! I’m trying to hear the news!”

The two of them focused back on the news, which began talking about the casualty rates, the number of civilians killed, and the nature of the attack. Specifically, the words “bio-tinker” was starting to get thrown about a lot and with a death count of over three thousand - near total annihilation of the village - and over a hundred PRT casualties, heroes included.

“I need to talk to Legend about this,” she said as she rose up.

“Hmm? About what?” Jennifer asked her friend.

“About what’s going to happen,” she replied.

Jennifer followed her, and when they left the coffee shop, she asked. “What do you think is going to happen?”

“People are going to hate bio-tinkers. If someone like Legend doesn’t step up to counter the effect, then there will be repercussions for the PRT and the Protectorate.”

“Since when have you been so socially astute?”

“Since I’ve been a victim of one too many.”

Jennifer shut her mouth after that.

Hannah was correct about herself. Jennifer knew that Hannah was a refugee from the Middle East, where she and her family had been persecuted and used because of her ethnicity. Hannah was Kurdish and the people who triggered her had been Turkish, specifically Turkish military. Even now years after Hannah left that place behind, Jennifer heard rumors and news about “accidents” and “misunderstandings” the Kurdish suffered at the hands of the Turkish military.

Tanks don’t run over children “accidentally” during peace time.*

“And what could Legend do?” she asked.

“Talk. He’s great at it.”

“Yeah, but he’s only the Protectorate leade-”

“So are we supposed to let the people do whatever they want?”

Inside and outside work, Hannah could be strict when it came to certain things. Things such as the spirit and letter of the law. It’s why she loved the USA; many levels and branches of its federal and state governments wrote laws that were, at the very least in spirit, meant for inclusion and unity.

Jennifer knew that much because Hannah was very outspoken about that once she got off work.

“Why not ask the Beast? You know he’ll be glad to help you.”

“He’s not recognized enough, and you know it.”

Jennifer sighed. That was true.

The Beast, her man, stood as one of the most powerful. In fact, she could argue that he was the most powerful parahuman in North America. She saw that fighting video about the “spar” Eidolon and Beast had. It was the one that they showed the directors, and some of those directors showed it to their subordinates.

Like herself.

(Probably because the director didn’t want her to piss off someone on the Triumvirate’s level, but she went and slept with him anyways.)

“But he can do something,” Jennifer insisted as they walked towards the PRT NYC HQ. “You know that he doesn’t act like a hero-.”

“And what? We should ask him to go around threatening people who act like themselves?”

She stumbled a little at the testy reply. “Umm, no? I mean, I didn’t mean it like that-.”

Hannah stopped and took a deep breath in. “... Sorry.”

“No, I get it. What’s happening is … it’s sensitive topic for you.”

“You realize that one of our friends is a bio-tinker, right?”

She blinked. “Um, who?”

“Charlie, you idiot.”

Charlie? Charlie. Charlie…?

… Charlie!

“Oh, you mean Hohenheim?”

Hannah stared at her flatly. “How do you not remember Charlie but know his cape name so perfectly?”

“It’s a cheese name!”

“... Of course.”

-VB-

A/N: * something that happens IRL in a consistent manner every year in Turkey, and the number of victims is nothing to scoff at. One such event happened less than a month ago.