4.5
"Oi, Skipper!"
I turned at the vaguely familiar voice, memories of being called that by one particular person weeks ago surfacing alongside the greeting. However, the person I expected to find was a slender male, built like a runner, in his late twenties, with a shorter woman beside him, who looked somewhat uncomfortable. Though neither had a face that I recognized, I could tell who they were just from the familiarity of their minds.
"What. The. Hell." I said slowly. Seriously, did everyone know— No, that was a stupid question. More importantly, why the hell were they out of costume?
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," I said, forcing a smile out. "Are you sure you were talking to me?"
""Nope, we totally have never met!" the man said, grinning hugely. "I'm Ethan, though. Pleasure!"
I grimaced, a brief skim of his thoughts making it clear that he wasn't going to just go away and leave me to enjoy the rest of the sundae in front of me. Apparently, waiting to meet up with Vicky at Fugly's was too public. How they had found me made me curious, but I wasn't going to go digging in their thoughts for that.
"I'm Taylor," I said sourly. "Not Skipper."
"Nah, you're totally a Skipper. Missing Barbie though, why's she missing your date?" Ethan asked, looking around curiously.
"Probably arguing with Ken?" I asked, shrugging. I guess hanging around Fugly's wasn't really that discreet a place to hang out . Especially on the new patio area they had opened after the remodel. "Are you going to introduce your wife?"
The woman, who I was fairly certain was Battery, shifted uncomfortably at the question and appeared to be about to speak. Ethan merely chuckled, raising an eyebrow and spoke before she could. "Oh, we're married, are we? How do you know that?"
I matched his look and pointed. "Wedding bands." I didn't mention that I could feel the strong emotional ties between them as well, not wanting to volunteer anything that the Protectorate didn't already know about.
"What makes you think we're married to each other? Maybe it's other people," he asked, grinning, even as the woman released a wistful sigh as she glared half-heartedly at him.
"We stopped our day out to bother her for a reason, remember?" she asked, smacking a hand against his arm. "Could you try being serious?"
"I suppose I could try," he replied with a contemplative look before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, "but why should I invite failure?"
"Idiot," she said with an exasperated look before she turned her attention to me. "The truth is, we weren't expecting to see you out here today, but since we did, this dumbass decided to come over and say hi. For which I will be yelling at him quite severely. That aside, we wanted to let you know we had some things to return to you.."
"My...things?" I asked, processing the statement. They shouldn't have anything of mine, at least, not that I knew of.
"Just a few things recovered from your place," Ethan supplied helpfully. "Hope you don't mind, but Beardsy poked around after we found what you done with it and stumbled across a couple odds-and-ends. There's even a little something extra in there."
I blinked, realizing what they were saying. Some of my things had survived the explosions and fire? I know I hadn't found anything, but I hadn't looked all that hard the one time I was there. Still… "That was all?"
Ethan nodded and pulled out his wallet, drawing a card out that he sat on the edge of my table. "I'm guessing you lost the other, but give me a call when you want to meet for your stuff. It'll just be me and puppy here, promise. Or if you want to talk about anything."
I frowned for a moment, giving them both an uncertain glance. "And is there something to talk about?"
"That's entirely up to you, Skipper," Ethan said. "We're just wanting to meet to hand over your stuff when you get some free time. Anything more is on you."
"I see," I glanced at the card and carefully picked it up, brushing it lightly with my telekinesis, but it was just a simple card, with nothing that wasn't a paper product as part of it. "Well, I'll give you a call soon about whatever stuff you've got."
"Sounds good," he said, slinging an arm across his companion's shoulders. "We'll leave you to your date or whatever you and Barbie might have planned."
"Barbie and I aren't dating," I shook my head at him. "Was there anything else?"
He waved a hand absently. "Nah, just give us a call when you can, seriously. We'll see you around, Skipper. C'mon, puppy, let's go home and grab something to eat."
"It's way too early for dinner," the woman said in protest as they began walking away. "It's only three-"
"Did I say it was food we were going to be eating?" I heard as they moved away, the press of the crowd taking them out of earshot. I shook my head and took a sip of my tea, frowning as I realized it had gone cold. A quick check with my powers determined no one would notice anything and I heated it quickly, channeling the heat into the mug.
I sat there for a while, simply enjoying watching people pass by as I wondered what Assault and Battery wanted. Was this another round of being harassed by the Protectorate? Was I going to have to deal with that again on top of everything else lately? The Empire had been making noises of looking for me, but I hadn't bothered with going after them for the past few days. Cricket wasn't going to wake up and point them at me.
But whatever these memories were, these dreams, I needed to deal with them before anything else. Who was the Professor? Who was Scott? Hell, who was I? I thought i was Taylor Hebert, but now, I wasn't so sure.
A finger poked my forehead and I almost fell out of my chair in surprise, squawking indignantly as I focused on the smirking blonde standing by my table. Vicky. I flushed and steadied my chair, ignoring the looks I was getting from other people from my outburst. "You could have said something to get my attention, you know."
"I did," Vicky retorted, dropping into the chair opposite me. "Several times. You were lost in your own little world. It was kind of cute."
I gave her what I hoped was an exasperated look. "So, what is it that we're doing here? Your family isn't giving you flack for spending so much time with me, are they?"
Vicky scowled. "No, and I'd rather not talk about them, thank you very much. I don't know how I can help with your problems, but I know how to take your mind off of them. So, we're going to party."
"What." I said flatly, a sinking feeling emerging from my stomach as Vicky directed a smirk my way.
~~~~~~~~
The party, as Vicky had put it, turned out to be just that, some friends she knew that were having a party while their parents were away on business. It wasn't a situation I was familiar with, though I was pretty sure I had seen or heard of movies based on this exact thing. That it apparently really happened made me wonder whether the movies were accurate or not.
I, as it turned out, was filling the role of the person who hung at the fringes of the party. The social outcast, as it were. Hopefully no one would decide I was due for a round of humiliation. Vicky had tried a few times to coerce me to mingle before being pulled away by the people she knew. I didn't mind, as despite Vicky's whirlwind of introductions, none of these were people I knew and it was a little overwhelming.
Brushing hair from my face, I moved along the wall and then slowly navigated through the press of people until I found the table that drinks were sitting on. There was a punch bowl and an assortment of soft drinks. No tea though, which was disappointing but unsurprising. A quick glance ahead showed that drinking the punch would lead to situations I did not want to deal with, given that someone had judiciously enhanced its flavor at some point in the past. Instead, I selected the least offensive of the soda options and popped the tab with a minute use of my telekinesis.
The carbonation made me wrinkle my nose as I took a drink, but it was thankfully devoid of alcoholic elements the way the punch was. I coughed for a second after taking that first sip, the precognition of possibilities that could've happened if I had chosen the punch played out in my mind in more detail, startling me.
The first few were amusing, just incidents of the police being called and the party turning into an embarrassing debacle, much like some of those stupid movies that this entire experience resembled. But others. I felt my face heat as I saw myself getting horribly intoxicated and Vicky did likewise and we-
I shut down the precognition line quickly, banishing images of the upstairs bedroom from my mind. How
that could have happened baffled me. I stood there and rewound through all the possibilities, trying to figure out where I had misjudged Vicky's interests so badly. Was it just the result of the alcohol? My scanning wasn't giving me any clear answers and I grew frustrated, reaching ahead further.
"Hey, could you move?" a voice intruded, sounding irritated. I flinched a little at the effort it took to draw my attention back to the present.. "You're blocking the punch."
I blinked several times, wincing once as a brief burst of pain rolled across my skull. "Yeah, sorry." I moved away, trying to ignore the muttered conversation between the jock and the girl that had been hanging off his arm.
"Who the hell is she anyway?" the girl whispered to her presumed boyfriend. "I don't recognize her. One of Jason's friends?"
"I dunno, bae," he replied. "I think Glory Hole brought her along. Maybe a charity case?"
The mocking insult of Vicky's cape name made me sigh, realizing that I was smack in the middle of teenage drama. I had avoided this sort of thing after the ringer Emma had put me through. A scowl formed as I thought about Emma, realizing I had not given her much thought since that morning in the hospital. Was she ok? Did I even care?
I grimaced and moved toward the rear of the house, suddenly keen on being away from this too-cramped room and the direction my thoughts were going. I moved through the partygoers, suddenly desperate for fresh air. Why I had allowed Vicky to drag me to this Jason's party, whoever he was, I still didn't know.
Jason…
The name echoed across my thoughts as I pushed the twin doors to the patio open, surprised to find no one was out there. I drew my arms tight around my torso, shivering at the sudden cold from a gust of air as I stepped outside. I wasn't going to ignore a chance for privacy from the crowded house. I stumbled as my feet settled on stone instead of wood floor, dizziness causing me to feel as if I was falling. Where was I? I...
Oh, of course, Victoria had succeeded in convincing me to attend this gathering, divesting me from what good sense I possessed to attend a party such as this. I was aware that Victoria was more worldly than I, but seeing so many behaving with such license had been shocking. Escaping from the eyes of the host had brought me out here. The man's eyes regarded me, taking liberties that I was uncomfortable with.
I thought of what little my friend had shared with me about him. He was a man of some means from the colonies, rumoured to be seeking a bride. The thought filled me with disquiet for reasons I could not put a finger to as I recalled the way he had stared at me. Whoever he was, the sense that association with him would bring me into peril gnawed at my mind.
Best to avoid him and some other would draw his attention if it was made clear I had no interest. I moved further onto the veranda, staring out across the carefully tended yard and the distant trees, letting my thoughts wander as the cool air eased the overly warm feeling that had overtaken me at the illicit behavior of the attendees.
The breeze returned, no longer bearing a bitter chill and I closed my eyes, drawing what enjoyment from the solitude that I could. Moments passed and I felt my brow furrow as the shift of feet on stone alerted me to an intruder upon my privacy.
"I wish for naught but to be left alone," I said clearly, not turning around. Whatever servant had seen fit to accost me would soon regret it.
"Your pardon, milady, but the Master of the house would speak with you," a soft-voiced woman said. I sighed and turned slightly, regarding the woman askance as she backed away. "I am merely announcing his arrival. By your leave."
She forestalled any rejoinder by departing without waiting for my consent or refusal to see this man. Whatever ilk this colonial had hired to attend to his estate, they were clearly lacking in manners. As was their Master, as the man himself emerged onto the veranda to join me. I eyed him with distaste, unsure what prompted my dislike. He was attractive, I could not deny that, but even still, something unsettled me.
"You are a sight to behold, Miss," he said, his sculpted jaw moving slightly as he framed the words, clearly believing himself to be sophisticated and urbane.
"Your words ring false, sir," I answered, scorning the compliment. "And your interest is neither wanted nor appreciated."
"Spirited," he murmured, moving closer and I stepped back. "I appreciate that. The Lady Victoria is your friend, is she not?"
"My acquaintances are no concern of yours, sir," I told him. "Is it common, where you hail from, to intrude on another's privacy in this fashion?"
He shrugged, the red coat he wore shifting with the motion. "This was my first opportunity to speak with you without the rabble lingering about." My backing up came to an end as my thighs struck a table, before I could move to one side or the other, his hands had settled on the table's edge, pinning me in place.
"Please move, sir," I said, my pulse racing uncomfortably fast. He was handsome, I could not deny that, but I had no interest in his advances.
"You are for me, Lady Gr-" he said, the last word distorting for some reason as he leaned in. I turned my head to one side but he was undaunted, his hands moving from the table to rest on my person.
"Unhand me, sir!" I snapped, my voice raising in volume as he pawed at me, one hand coming up and forcing my face toward him. "Unhand me ri-" His mouth pressed on mine, forcing his tongue on me as he continued his groping, struggling with my attempts to resist.
"Don't fight," he said, the smell of alcohol on his breath making me want to retch. "You'll see, it will be what you've always wan-"
"No!" I jerked my head away as he tried to kiss me again, still fighting his grip. Fabric tore, the sound like thunder in my ears as our struggles unbalanced the table. We fell, with his weight pinning me down and I gave myself fully into panic, beating at him.
Then, a furious female shout rang out and his weight was gone from me, a familiar voice filling me with relief as I scrambled away, pulling at the torn sections of my bodice. Victoria appeared in my sight and I swallowed, trying to calm my racing heartbeat.
"Taylor...Taylor!" she repeated and I swallowed, scooting back to rest against a brick wall that served as a garden barrier. The stone floor melted away, replaced with familiar wood decking. Victoria was outside with me on the patio that I had gone out to for escape from the party. The doors were open and there were a lot of the partygoers standing there, staring at us.
Dizziness overwhelmed me and I fought a rush of nausea. The thoughts of everyone rushed in, an abrupt cacophony that made me flinch before I could reassert control, pushing aside the mixture of curiosity and dislike as my eyes drifted over to where a teenage boy lay sprawled by an overturned cooler, groaning audibly.
"Are you alright, Taylor?" Vicky asked and I glanced at her, trying to make sense of what had just happened. I had been… that man had been…
"I need… I need to get out of here," I told her, ignoring the other teenagers milling about and the fact that several of them had their phones out, pointed toward us as Vicky crouched near me. "I don't kno-" There were
too many people, spilling out from the inside of the house and circling around us. I needed away from here.
I tried to stand, nearly fell and Vicky caught me, helping me to get my footing. "Let me get our jackets and we'll get out of here."
I started to respond and glanced down, noting a rip in my shirt. It didn't show anything, but it was a reminder of… whatever that had been. I swallowed, shook my head and tried to bury the urge to puke as the feeling of that man's hands on me returned, making me shudder.
Vicky said something else, but I didn't catch it, pushing off the ground and into the air as noises erupted below me before the wind drowned it out as I accelerated away into the evening sky. A few minutes passed and Vicky drew even with me, waving her hands to get my attention.
I slowed down and the sound of the wind faded as she threw my jacket at me. "What?"
"Taylor! What the hell? You just flew off back there without waiting for me! It was all I could do to catch up, you were going so fast!"
"I knew you would," I shrugged, pulling the jacket on, feeling its familiar weight settle around my upper body. "So I flew, big deal. I had to-"
"Taylor," Vicky interrupted. "You flew off in front of all of them! They had phones out! What is wrong? It wasn't just him being too handsy, was it?"
I shook my head, trying to ignore the feelings of revulsion that had torn through me with whatever had happened back there, wherever… whenever I had been. "There's.. It was like before, when I went to New York, only I wasn't just absently trying to go somewhere that doesn't exist. I was somewhere… someone else!" My voice caught peaked at the last word and I took a deep breath, looking around for someplace to sit down that didn't feel closed in and had some sort of cover, as it was starting to rain.
Vicky started to say something but cut off as I dove, dropping onto a seat on a rooftop not far from the crater that marked Coil's former base. I had an excellent view of it from here and the sight of it filled me with a feeling akin to glee, pushing against the confusion and panic of that almost-rape hallucination, or whatever it had been, back at the party.
I glanced at my torn shirt again as Vicky settled down beside me. Maybe it wasn't a hallucination? A thought raised a telekinetic barrier above us that funneled rain away. "So… what happened back there? You pulled that guy off of me?"
"Jason had been into the spiked punch too much," Vicky said. "And I think he thought you were cute, but I didn't think he would have tried something like that. I should have thrown him harder but I was more worried about you. Why didn't you just shove him off?"
I bit my lip, the momentary spike of pain letting me focus. "I went outside to get some fresh air and…"
"And?" Vicky prompted after a few minutes.
I shook my head. "I was somewhere else, someone else. It was like, another time. The seventeen hundreds or something. There was a ball… and a man approached me. He wouldn't take no for an answer and was trying… was trying to—"
"Hey, it's alright," Vicky said, scooting over and sliding an arm around me. "You're fine, you're here. Whatever this is, it can't hurt you. I'll beat it up if it tries."
I didn't say anything for a while, drawing in gulping breaths and burying my face against her shoulder as I released my grip on the fear and wrongness that had been threatening to overwhelm me.
"Can you show me?" Vicky asked after I had calmed down, straightening slightly in her embrace.
"What?"
"Can you show me what you saw?" she asked. "We can talk with our minds, so do you think you can show me?"
I thought about it, frowning. "I… maybe? I've never done that but something… some instinct says I can. Just... " I swallowed and gave it more thought. "I think I can. But I won't."
Vicky's eyes narrowed but concern was still clear. "You can't just bury things, Taylor."
"I'm not," I insisted. "But that isn't something I'm going to do. Even if I can, it's way too close to screwing with your mind. I've… done things like that before."
"With my mind?"
"No," I shook my head quickly. "Other people. Some stupid thugs who worked for the ABB. The worst was a guy with the Empire. He… had a lot of issues and I used them against him. And then there was Stormtiger. I took what I wanted to know about Cricket from him, and I wasn't gentle."
Vicky frowned, then winced briefly, looking around as the rain grew heavier. Lightning cracked in the distance, followed by a rumble of thunder. I frowned myself, wondering what had brought the sudden storm on.
"I want to see," Vicky said. "You won't hurt me and this really freaked you out. Hell, it freaked me out. When you first looked at me, it was like you weren't even seeing me. You were seeing someone else."
"Lady Victoria," I told her. "Whatever it was corresponded roughly to what was going on today. I was a noblewoman and you were too, and you had dragged me along to some decadent ball or something. It was… a lot more intense than the party we were actually at."
"Intense?" Vicky eyed me with a look I couldn't decipher. "Intense how?"
I flushed. "Please don't ask."
"Now you have me curious," she said with a grin, reaching over with her other arm to poke me in the side. I tried to squirm away, but her grip held me in place. "Spill!"
"It was like an orgy, okay?" I muttered, finally using my telekinesis to block her poking my ribs. "It was really weird and this guy… he was staring at me and it was like… like I was just a plaything for him. Something to twist around and reshape into what he wanted me to be…" I trailed off, prodding at the feeling of wrongness at those thoughts. There were memories there that I could almost tou—
"Taylor!" Vicky's voice shouted in my head. I jumped and nearly lost my balance on the roof's edge.
"What the hell, Vicky?" I asked as she caught my arm and helped me right myself.
"You spaced out and weren't answering me! What else was I supposed to do?"
I gave her a disgruntled look and sighed. If I had spaced out, she did have a point. Vicky scowled and looked around again before reaching up to rub her forehead. I frowned, remembering that she had done that a few minutes ago as well. "Are you alright?"
"Just… just some sort of ringing," she said, looking around. "You don't hear it?"
I shook my head, looking around the rooftop to see if there was anything that might be causing whatever it was she was hearing. Unfortunately, with the rain, which was now coming down in torrents, there wasn't a lot of visibility as it was past sunset and all I could see was a repetitively flashing red light high up on the spire in the center of the roof.
"Nope," I finally said. "Doesn't seem to be anything up here that could be causing it. Maybe if…" Something tickled at the back of my mind and my precognition opened up, the next twenty minutes unfolding before me in a rapid fire series of images that I noted and absorbed the import of in seconds.
"Vicky," I said, taking a deep breath to fight against the chill I suddenly felt. "Go find your family. Get out of the city."
"Taylor…?" she asked, glancing my way. "What is it?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but the sound cut across the downpouring rain, answering for me. The howling screel of an air raid siren providing almost all the knowledge Vicky needed. Her face went white.
"Which one?" Her voice trembled as she asked, glancing at the rain around us. "Leviathan?"
I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. You need to go. Get your family, you don't want to be here for this."
"Which one?" she almost shouted this time. "Behemoth? Damnit, I can't just run!"
"Vicky!" I shouted. "It doesn't matter which one it is. You need to go! You can't help against this. I don't think any of us can. What you can do is get your family and get out of town! You don't have much time before!" I cut off, looking away as the future I had seen abruptly shifted. It was true. If what I was seeing was true, I didn't think anyone could help. That didn't mean I wasn't going to try. Especially if...
"Before what?" Vicky asked and then her frown reappeared. "The ringing. It… it stopped."
"You're not wrong there," I agreed morosely, turning my head to the left to look across town as the change I had just seen played out and the clouds in the distance parted. Shafts of light erupted down across the city, from what I didn't know as the sun had already set, but if nothing else, she knew how to make an entrance. Her feet appeared first and I felt as much as heard Vicky's recognition.
The Simurgh had come to Brockton Bay. Wings shifted, and her figure was visible even through the deluge as she drifted down, settling into a stationary position over a building across town, one building in particular that I knew all too well.
Winslow. I swallowed, knowing exactly what this was, before standing up and turning to Vicky. "Listen. Go, find Amy, find your family. Get out of town. You'll be fine if you do."
"How do you-" Vicky asked before her eyes widened as she looked at me, climbing to her feet and grabbing my shoulders. "No, no, no! Taylor, you can't do this!"
"She isn't here for you, Vicky," I said after a moment, playing out several possibilities with my precognition and watching as they shifted almost immediately in response. The bitch was fast, that was for sure. I gently lifted her hands off my shoulders and tried not to laugh at the perplexed expression as she tried to resist with her strength. "Whatever happens from here on out, Vicky, it.. It was nice to have a friend. Remember that, alright?"
"What do you-" she cut off as I leaned forward and pressed my lips against her forehead.
"Find Cath and Mina too, if you can? Go to 54 Bleecker, if there's anyone there, ask for Noelle and help them get out of town too." I asked, feeling the panic Noelle was fighting against, the bond between us affording a clarity it hadn't had since that first week after Coil's Basement. I sent a reassuring thought her way and pushed off the roof.
"Taylor!"
"Take care of your family, Vicky!" I shouted and took off. I played out several more scenarios, grateful that she didn't follow. She wanted to, desperately, but none of those instances where she did ended well for her and her family.
With a thought, my clothing shimmered, shifting according to my will and I was wearing Sirin's costume again. Fresh and intact as it had been before most of my belongings were torched. It didn't feel quite right, but it was something I had made. It was mine. Just like the Bay was home. I had friends here. Family, even if estranged.
The winged bitch was here for me. Well, that was fine. Maybe I couldn't deal with whatever the hell these visions or memories were… but I could deal with this. I reached out with my power, and fire erupted around me in a corona as I launched toward Winslow and the waiting Simurgh.
If this bitch wanted a fight, then I was going to give her one she would never forget.
