I decided to stick around. I may not always get along with authority figures, but this wasn't my world. Things could be different here.
... Maybe. It's possible.
I stuck around anyway. And eventually the boys in blue showed up, along with a woman with darker skin, black hair, and wearing fatigues with a flag patterned bandanna covering the lower half of her face and a knife sheathed on one leg. Upon spotting me the woman steped forward, holding out a hand.
"Hello, these are Officers Jackson and Peters. And I'm Miss Militia. I understand you're the one who brought in Miss Hebert?"
"Call me Spider-Man. And yes, though I was unsure of her name until you mentioned it. I was in the area and found that she was stuffed in a locker filled with... Waste. So I got her out and brought her here. I'm afraid I don't know much about the circumstances behind it."
Miss Militia nods her head slightly and lifts a hand, gesturing down the hall, motioning for me to accompany her.
"The police will be getting a statement from her when she's awake. Normally they'd be handling everything, but the involvement of a parahuman, even if just in bringing her here, means the PRT and Protectorate need to be involved as well. I've not heard of a Spider-Man before. Are you new, or...?"
As I followed along I moved my shoulders in a small shrug. "New to the area. Today was my first outing here in Brockton Bay. I was mostly just trying to get an idea of the lay of the land, learn my way around a bit. That sort of thing. But when I came across her in a locker... Well, what kind of hero would I be if I just left her there?"
A slight crinkling at the corners of the woman's eyes are enough to indicate she's smiling. "Not as good of one. Can you think of anything that may help us figure out what happened with the poor girl?"
By this point we were outside the room that the girl, Hebert, had been placed in. Though she was currently out of it, with an IV hooked up and with her wounds bandaged.
"I don't... Wait. The... The waste. The smell and appearance of it indicated it had been in there a while before she was forced in with it. So whoever did it had to either have her combination, or some other way of getting it in there."
Miss Militia sighed and shook her head slightly. "I wish I could say that imagining human beings doing that were impossible." She fell silent for a few minutes before turning her attention back to me. "Anyway. We, and I'm sure the young lady, are thankful for your actions. What are your plans now?"
After a few minutes I replied, "I think I'll be sticking around here until she wakes up. Speak with her a bit. After that..."
Here Miss Militia interrupted me, "After that, why don't you come by the Protectorate? I'm sure that there will be those who want to meet you. And we're always glad to help new heroes."
"... I'll think about it."
Miss Militia didn't look entirely happy with that response but she nodded her head, handing me a business card with her name and a phone number on it before she left.
The police asked me a few more questions before leaving to carry on investigations elsewhere, and I went into the room Taylor was in, and settled down in a chair to wait.
Some time had passed, though I wasn't entirely sure how much, when a tall, skinny man with dark hair entered the room. He starts to rush toward the bed that Taylor was on before catching sigh of me, stopping and staring a few minutes. Before the silence could get awkward I stood up and held out a hand.
"Hi there! I'm Spider-Man. And judging from your reaction I'm guessing you're miss Hebert's father?"
"Ah... Y-yes," the man replied, reaching out to take my hand. "Danny. I came as soon as..." His eyes flicked toward his daughter before he continued. "If I find out who did this, I..." He trails off, and his anger manifested as him squeezing my hand tighter and tighter until he realized what he was doing. "Oh! Sorry. I just... The thought of what she went through..."
I held up my hands and shook my head. "Hey! No harm no foul! And I can understand your anger. Most good people aren't able to handle this sort of situation calmly."
I was going to keep talking, but Taylor chose that moment to start stirring, causing both of us to look toward her, waiting for her to wake.
Though her screaming and shouts of 'Too much!' were rather unexpected.
I...
[ ] Did what I could to help her father get her calmed down. This could be a result of those powers she was supposed to gain.
[ ] Powers or not I wasn't entirely sure what I could do to help her calm down, so I left that to her father and medical professionals.
