I, Panacea Pt 7 (Patreon)

Taylor looked directly at Amy. "Listen ... before we go any farther, can you answer some questions for me?"

Uh ... what do I say?

Say yes. I suspect that these are questions you'd like answered, too.

Amy nodded. "Yes." She paused. "That is, Security will be telling me the answers, and I'll be passing them on to you."

Behind her glasses, Taylor frowned slightly. "Not to say that I don't trust you, but ... "

May I?

Amy sighed internally. Okay. Go ahead.

"But you're wondering if she'll give you the answers I give her, right?"

Taylor blinked slightly. "I'm talking to ... Security, now, right?"

Amy's mouth curled into a slight smile. "That's me. Mike Allen, at your service."

"Right." Taylor took a breath. “How can I know that I can trust what you have to tell me?”

Amy felt herself shrug. “You'll have to make up your own mind on that. But I'll tell you now; I know things about you that you don't think anyone else knows, I know things about you that not even Lisa knows … and I know things about that you don't know. And I'm willing to share.”

“I'm really not sure how to take that,” Taylor responded. “You could be running a huge bluff.”

“Not on Lisa. She'd know if I was lying. Or if Amy was. You noticed she could tell between when I was talking, when Amy was talking, and when Amy was telling her what I was saying?”

Reluctantly, Taylor nodded. “Yeah. So, uh, talking about Lisa, would you be able to tell me … “

Amy felt her eyebrow lift. “Does she know? Yeah. She knows.”

Taylor paled. “Shit.”

Amy's head shook slightly. “Don't worry about it. She knows that you'd decide, eventually, to join them for real. She's not going to out you to them.”

“Oh.” Taylor paused, her gaze becoming introspective.

Is this about her being a hero and infiltrating them?

Yeah. Lisa knew from the start. But she was kind of suicidal, so Lisa took her under her wing anyway.

Oh. Because of her brother?

Basically, yeah.

Amy paused to consider that. Lisa was being nice to Taylor because she wanted to help her …

You realise, this is really screwing with my perception of how villains are supposed to act.

I find it helps if you ignore the descriptor and focus on the actions and the motivations.

Oblivious to the silent conversation, Taylor spoke up again. “Armsmaster told me that there are two murderers in the Undersiders. Who are they? And who kills Alexandria?”

Amy felt her throat being cleared. Oh boy. This is going to be interesting.

Why? What's the matter?

You'll see.

“Before I answer that, Taylor,” Amy's voice replied, “I need you to remember to keep an open mind. All right?”

Taylor grimaced. “Oh shit. Lisa?”

A shake of the head. “Taylor. Open mind. Okay?”

“Okay.” Taylor bit her lip slightly. “So tell me.”

Amy took a deep breath. “Alec is one of them. I mentioned that he's Heartbreaker's son, yeah?”

“Uh, I've heard of Heartbreaker,” Taylor admitted. “But I don't know too much about him.”

“Canadian villain. Emotion controlling powers. He can rewrite your entire mindset regarding himself. Make you love him, utterly loyal, scared to death, whatever. And it doesn't wear off, if he doesn't want it to. He meets celebrities in the street, talks to them for thirty seconds, and they willingly come home with him.” Amy was surprised by the flat, hard tone of her own voice.

Wow, you don't like him very much.

Would you?

She considered for a moment. I don't suppose I would.

“Christ,” muttered Taylor. “Why haven't they - “

“Arrested him?” Amy's shoulders rose and fell in another shrug. “They tried. Everyone who comes near him falls under his spell. Anyone who tries to get close has to get through all the innocents; people who will literally lay down their lives for him. So they leave him be.”

“That's horrible.” Taylor looked sick. “And Alec is one of his kids?”

Amy's head nodded. “He wanted to get away from the old man. But before he managed it, he was ordered by Heartbreaker to kill one of his minions, a man who had let him down. So he did. Forced the man to kill himself.”

“A murderer.” Taylor's voice was hard.

“Under duress by Heartbreaker,” Amy's voice reminded her. “The reason he doesn't seem to be a very nice person? That's years of his father screwing with his head.”

“Oh. Okay.” She paused for a moment. “And the other murderer?”

“Rachel.”

Taylor's eyes opened wider for a moment, then she slowly nodded. For a moment, one hand rested on the other sleeve. “Yeah. I can believe that.”

“Taylor.” Amy's voice was flat. “Listen to me. Rachel has had a really horrible deal. You already know that she spent ten years in the foster system, right?”

Taylor nodded again. “Yeah. Brian told me.” Her tone wasn't as flat, any more.

Amy's voice went on. “Abandoned by her mother when she was four, put into the foster system. Systematically targeted by all the other kids, until she learned to fight back, and hit hard and fast, before they could hit her.”

That shot went home, Amy saw. Taylor was jolted to her heels.

Why did that affect her so much? Then she realised. Oh – you said she was bullied.

Yeah. Up till now she's seen Rachel as a thug. Now, she might see why she's like that.

Taylor looked at Amy. “When did she … “

“Become like she is now? It took ten years. She was seen as a troublemaker, nothing she did was good enough, nothing she owned was sacred. Until she found a stray dog, coaxed it home, kept it in secret, went hungry to feed it her own lunches. But then her foster mother … well, let's just say, the dog was drowning, and Rachel triggered. Her power activated, the dog got big, it had never been trained, and it went after the foster family. People got hurt. Killed.”

“Oh god.” Taylor's hands were clenching tightly. “I've been seeing her all wrong. She … she's like me, in a way.”

Amy felt her head nod, her hand reach out to rest on Taylor's forearm. Taylor glanced up at her, wary.

“Your arm,” Amy's voice observed. “Where her dog bit it. Still sore?”

Taylor blinked. “How did -” She cut herself off. “You said you knew stuff I thought no-one knew.”

“I did,” Amy heard herself confirm. She didn't try to say anything for herself; her head was whirling over what she'd just heard herself say, about two of the villains she had just been talking to.

“Oh, uh, yeah, still a bit sore,” Taylor admitted. “But it's fine.” She took a deep breath. “How about the other bit? Who's due to kill Alexandria?”

Amy took a deep breath. “Okay, first off? Me telling you this makes it a whole lot less likely to happen. Which is probably a good thing. But second? What I said earlier, about an open mind? Goes twice as much for this one.”

“All right,” Taylor agreed, her voice steady. “I can do that. I'm listening. I won't judge.”

Amy nodded, but her passenger did not speak through her. She could feel his mind racing, even though she couldn't see the shape of the thoughts themselves.

Are you trying to figure out how to break it to her? Which of her friends is going to murder Alexandria?

Kind of. This is going to be a real tough one.

If you tell me who, I can maybe offer advice?

A mental shake of the head. Sorry. I'm going to have to … hmm.

“Taylor.” Her voice was quiet, almost contemplative. “Let me ask you a question. Hypothetically.”

Taylor nodded warily. “Okay.”

“Let's say, hypothetically speaking, you're in the place of the person who's going to kill Alexandria.”

Even more warily, Taylor nodded again. “All right.”

“Now, you don't want to do it. Who does? Seriously, Alexandria's a hero. Or at least, you're used to seeing her as a hero. But right now, she's threatening to capture your friends, one by one, unless you surrender to her. She's already grabbed a couple. And the last one she brought in, in a body bag. And you're fairly sure that it's Brian.”

Taylor's face had paled again, and her hands were clenched. “Oh god.”

Amy's head nodded. “Yeah. So, hypothetically speaking, if you wanted to prevent her from killing the rest of your friends, including Lisa, and killing her was the only way to do it, would you?”

Taylor's head was lowered, but her knuckles were white. “God help me.” Her voice was barely audible.

Amy's arm went out, and her hand rested on Taylor's shoulder for a moment. “If you really want to know who kills Alexandria, I can tell you. But you don't have to know, not really. The circumstances, yeah. The culprit, not so much, yeah?”

There was a long, long pause, then Taylor raised her head. “No,” she managed. “No. I don't.”

“And anyway,” Amy heard herself add briskly, “because I've told you this, I doubt very much that it'll ever happen. So cheer up. Bullet dodged.”

Taylor blinked. “ … right.”

So who does kill Alexandria?

Given that it's never likely to happen now, does it matter?

Amy paused; there was a tone in his mental voice … It's Taylor, isn't it?

One more time. Does it really matter?

She looked at Taylor. The girl did not look like a murderer to her. No. I guess not.

Taylor sniffled and pulled out a tissue, to wipe her nose. “So. What else do you have to tell me?”

Amy's head tilted slightly. “Did you have any more questions?”

“You said that you know stuff about me that I don't know about myself. What is it?”

Amy felt herself smile. “Good question. Several things, in fact. One of which is that you're becoming less and less likely to change sides back to being a hero, at this stage. Lisa is a good friend, you're developing feelings for Brian, which he's too focused to return, and Armsmaster is still a dick.”

Startled, Taylor let out a giggle. “Yes, he is, isn't he? But Brian … “ Her expression became lost. “I … he … “

“He's fixated on making a proper home for his little sister,” Amy heard herself explain. “Besides, you're two years younger than him; he's growing to see you more as a sister than as a potential love interest.” A shrug. “Sorry.”

“Okay, fine,” she replied, her voice perhaps harsher than Amy thought she intended it to be. “That'll just make it easier to break free. I know who their boss is now. I can turn them in.”

Amy's head shook. “Probably not a good idea,” her voice cautioned Taylor. “If you try to inform the PRT about Coil, they will stuff it up. Taking him out requires immediate action, and the PRT is a bureaucracy. They never do anything fast. And that's if they take you seriously. Worst case, Lisa is killed or enslaved, and the Undersiders with her.”

Taylor's head hit the backrest with a soft thump. “Fuck.”

“On the other hand, I can offer you something we can act on,” Amy heard herself continue brightly. “Something that will improve your life measurably.”

Taylor glanced at her sharply. “What?”

Amy felt herself smile. “What if I said I could stop the bullying? Flat, dead, over and done?”

Silence fell between them; Taylor's eyes bored into Amy's. She had never been on the receiving end of such an intense stare before.

“You can do that.” It was not a question.

Wait, you can do that?

His tone was amused. We can do that. If you're willing.

“Well,” her voice responded to Taylor, “given that I know who and why, and Panacea is a well-known hero, I'm thinking if I walked into Winslow tomorrow morning, and had a word with Principal Blackwell about Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, and … “ A pause, inviting.

“Sophia Hess,” Taylor completed the statement, biting the words off.

Wait, what? Sophia Hess? I know that name. That's …

Oh yeah. That's Shadow Stalker. There was grim satisfaction in his voice.

Wait, Taylor's being bullied by a Ward?

Since before she was a Ward, but yeah. That's the gist.

Oh shit, that's so wrong.

“Exactly and precisely,” Amy heard herself say; she wasn't sure if he was responding to Taylor or herself, or both. “If I told Blackwell that those three were bullying you, and that I wanted something done about it now … “

“But would they do anything?” protested Taylor. “Would they even listen to you?”

“I'll let Amy answer that one.” Amy felt the control over her body relax and withdraw. Over to you.

What? What do I say?

What would you say in a situation like this?

She took a deep breath. “Yeah, they would. Especially if I brought along Glory Girl. You know, my sister?” She grinned at Taylor. “I tell her about this, and I guarantee she will go to town on this Blackwell person. She's got a thing about people hurting those weaker than them. Also, she loves a good media spectacle.”

Taylor grimaced. “But … how are you going to explain why superheroes are getting involved anyway? It's likely to make people look closely at me. I don't want to be outed for this.”

Amy shook her head. “No, you won't. Because there's another cape involved. And this will mean that Blackwell will want to keep it as quiet as possible.”

“What, Blackwell's a cape?” Taylor shook her head violently. “I can't see that.”

Amy chuckled. “No. She's not.” Is she?

Nope. Carry on, you're doing fine.

Thanks. “But if I tell her that one of her students, who she knows is a cape, is bullying someone, she's not going to want that to get out.”

Taylor stared at Amy. “ … what?”

Should I tell her again?

A grin. No. Let her sort it out in her own mind.

Amy felt a sudden doubt. Should we really out Shadow Stalker to her, in this way? Taylor might decide to take drastic action.

She won't.

How do you know?

Because she didn't, the last two times that she did find out.

That's very confusing, when you talk like that, you know.

A grin. I know. The grin faded. And besides, Shadow Stalker needs to be shut down, hard.

Okay, I can get that. Bullying is -

Taylor spoke, interrupting her train of thought. “So what you're saying is, either Emma, Madison or Sophia is a cape.”

Amy nodded. “Yes. Exactly.”

“Are you going to make me guess?”

“No.” Amy took a deep breath. “It's Sophia.”

“Sophia?” repeated Taylor. “Sophia Hess?She's the cape?”

Amy glanced around. No-one was paying attention to them. “Keep it down,” she suggested anyway. “But yes, that's what Security tells me.”

Taylor ran her hands through her hair, disarranging it thoroughly. She didn't seem to notice, or care. “Shit. Shit. Who is she? Which cape?” Without waiting for an answer, she moved on. “Is she a Ward?”

“Uh, yes,” Amy answered.

Taylor's eyes snapped into focus. “Shadow Stalker,” she whispered. “She's Shadow Stalker.”

Amy nodded. “Yes,” she agreed. “But you've got to listen.”

The sharp tone in her voice seemed to get Taylor's attention. “What?”

“We don't just go in looking for trouble,” Amy urged her. “You shelve it, for the evening. Tomorrow, we go to the school. I'll back you up. I'll get Vicky to come along too. She'll enjoy the chance to yell at someone. We confront Blackwell.”

Tell her to bring the pages.

Pages?

She'll know what I mean. The ones she's been working on.

Taylor was looking at her; she realised that she had stopped talking. “Uh, he says to bring the pages. The ones you've been working on.”

There was a light in Taylor's eyes now, one that had been absent before. “Oh, you can bet I'll bring the pages.” She paused. “Did you know that she's carrying lethal arrows?”

Amy blinked. “I … no, I didn't know that. Isn't that kind of against the rules?”

“Oh yeah,” Taylor replied. “Totally against her probation.”

Amy held up her hand. “Wait a second.” Probation? We didn't cover this.

Because we didn't get to it. Shadow Stalker used to be a vigilante, right? Joined the Wards?

Uh, yes?

Yeah. What they don't tell you is that she nearly killed someone. Nailed him to a wall. So it was a choice between juvey and the Wards. And guess who took her side in that case.

I have no idea.

Ask Taylor what Emma's dad does for a living.

Taylor grinned as Amy focused on her. “So, he fill you in, did he?”

“Uh, some of it, I guess,” Amy admitted. “He wanted me to ask you what Emma's dad does for a living.”

“Mr Barnes?” Taylor asked. “He's a divorce lawyer. Why?”

“Ah,” Amy replied. “He's the one who represented Sophia in her hearing, to see if she'd go to juvey or not.”

Taylor's jaw dropped open. “Wait, so he knew? He knows?”

“About her being a cape, probably?” hedged Amy. A little help?

Yeah, he knows. About the bullying, probably not. But he's also likely to threaten legal action if you try to nail anything on Emma.

Oh. Oh, I see. Aloud, she continued. “Yeah, he knows about her being a cape, but not about the rest of it. But Security says that he's likely to pull out all the stops to protect his daughter if we make accusations against her.”

“Oh god.” Taylor leaned back against the seat. “Him and Dad have been friends like forever.” She looked hopefully at Amy. “Would that … ?”

Not in this case.

“I just got told, not in this case.” She shrugged. “Well, it probably won't matter anyway. Because you know who my mom is.”

Oh shit. After the scene we had earlier …

So tell Vicky, and she can get your mom in on it.

You're altogether too good at knowing which buttons to press, did you know that?

Sorry, did you want me to be polite and ineffective, or actually get this shit sorted?

Amy sighed internally. Point taken.

Taylor was looking curiously at Amy. “Would your mom get involved?”

“Not sure.” Amy shrugged.

You do know that Emma's dad works at the same firm as Carol does.

Oh wait, does she?

Sure. Alan Barnes.

… yeah, I remember the name now. Huh.

She blinked. “Actually, I've just been reminded of something else. Emma's dad works at the same firm that Carol – Mom – does.”

“Oh, okay,” Taylor replied cautiously. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

Amy grinned. “Well, if I can get Vicky to talk to her, and convince her in the matter, she might just step in and tell him to back off on any legal action.”

Taylor took a deep breath. “That … would be good, I think.” She glanced at Amy. “Do you think you'll be able to talk to your sister about all this, without outing me, that is?”

“Trust me,” Amy told her with a roll of the eyes, “Vicky doesn't see anything that Vicky's not interested in seeing. She's very self-centred that way.”

Taylor nodded. “Huh. Okay, cool. Should I bring Dad to school as well?”

Should she?

Hm. To be honest, I'm not sure. On the one hand, it might do well to turn up in force; on the other, that will slow things down, as they get their parents in as well.

I could ask Carol her legal opinion on it.

Might help. Oh, just one thing. The 'social worker' who's going to be turning up to represent Sophia? That's her PRT handler. Just so you know.

Amy blinked. Wow. Okay. Good to know. Aloud, she went on. “Tell you what; I'll talk to Mom about it. See what she says.”

“Yeah,” agreed Taylor. “Might be a good idea.” She smiled at Amy. “You know, when we first met, I wasn't at all sure that we were going to be getting along.”

Amy snorted. “You put three poisonous spiders on me, and I hit you on the head with a fire extinguisher. The basis of a lifetime friendship.”

“Which reminds me,” Taylor observed. “What did you do to the spiders, anyway?”

“Oh, to screw up your control over them?” Amy shrugged. “I could see the parts of their brains that were sending back feedback, so I turned it from a tight, clean signal to one with as much garbage as possible.”

“Well, it worked,” Taylor admitted ruefully. “I could barely concentrate. You really did a number on me.” She paused. “But what happened to the rest of them? Once I lost fine control, hell, I had no idea where they even were. They could've been biting everyone in the room, and I wouldn't have known.”

Amy grinned. “Oh, uh, I found them on the people, paralysed them and left them sending back the same signal that they'd been sending when I touched them. Then I sent everyone upstairs while I tried to deal with you.”

“Huh.” Taylor blinked. “Wow, that nearly worked, too. It did work, right up until you clocked me with the extinguisher.”

“Yeah, about that,” Amy commented. “How's your head? I hit you pretty hard.”

“Still sore,” Taylor admitted. “How's yours?”

“Probably more sore,” Amy confessed. “But I can do something about yours, if you want.”

“I – uh - “ Taylor hesitated.

Amy sighed. “If you're worrying about the threats I made back in the bank, don't be. I've learned a lot over the last few hours. Security's told me so much … I'm still getting my head around it all.”

Taylor looked at her for a long moment. Then she nodded. “Okay.”

Amy reached out and took her hand; Taylor did not stop her.

Should I heal her?

Up to you. But it's a good thing. You and Taylor could be good friends.

Not -

He chuckled. No, not that kind of 'good friends'. She's straight, and you're … what you are. Just … friends. There's a synergy you two could reach with your powers; she controls bugs, and you can make new bugs.

Amy began the process of fixing the damage. Taylor had sustained a very mild concussion, but nothing that would affect her. The bruising and swelling was also relatively mild, but she brought that down to nothing. She also noted the bite-marks on Taylor's arm, probably from Rachel's dogs. It was the work of a moment to fix that as well.

I'm not sure if I want to enable her as a villain.

With you helping her, she could be a seriously effective hero. And what did I say about paying too much attention to descriptors? She wants to do the right thing. And, you know, save Dinah Alcott.

If I hadn't told her about it … what would have happened?

His voice was serious. She would have found out, eventually. And she would have quit the Undersiders in protest, when they didn't back her up in wanting Dinah freed. Because Coil had too tight a grasp on them, by then. And even Lisa didn't get the full implications.

What happened in the end?

Oh, she rejoined them, and they did end up freeing Dinah, and killing Coil. But that caused a whole other set of problems. Which is why I want to bring him down early.

Oh. Okay.

She let go Taylor's hand. “That should do it.”

Taylor reached up and gingerly felt her head. “Huh. Doesn't hurt any more.” More confidently, she touched her forearm. “And you fixed that too?”

Amy nodded. “One's as easy as the other.”

“Well, thanks.” Taylor smiled. “I appreciate it.” She looked out the window of the bus. “Oh, this is my stop. So, this evening?”

“I'll be ready.” Unbidden, Amy's hand came up, formed a fist.

Taylor blinked at it, then shrugged and bumped it with her own fist. “See you then.”

“See you, Taylor.” She watched Taylor get up and shoulder her bag, then make her way off the bus. As the bus pulled away from the curb again, she could see the tall, lanky figure making her way down the street.

What was that about?

Oh, it's a thing I did with her, last time. Seemed appropriate.

Huh. Okay. So, you're serious about making new types of bugs for her, huh?

Absolutely. It'll make life so much easier for both of you.

Okay, I'll think about it. Got any ideas?

He chuckled. Many.

Okay, let's hear them.

As he began to speak, Amy leaned back to enjoy the bus ride.

Today had been a very interesting day, and it wasn't over yet.

Part 8