Little Hunter (Worm / Predator)

[3ndless]

So busy today. Must get to cross-posting. But stuff >.>

Little Hunter

Dusk and Dawn's heads swiveled left and right as Nanku paced.

There were some articles on the Internet that mentioned the Pure attacking Protectorate events, but she'd glossed over them. There were lines about Iron Rain calling Weaver out and threatening her. No one mentioned that they were death threats. They all treated it as if it were a mundane thing.

Were death threats between heroes and villains a mundane thing?

"When I asked her what other childhoods she ruined, I was being bitter," Nanku lamented.

She hadn't meant it.

She didn't want her mother dead. Never that. Why did the Pure? Battles between heroes and villains were common. They happened all the time. Taylor knew that. Killing? It only struck Nanku far later how uncommon it was for capes to die. Ritual combats were the name of the game. Non-lethal.

What did her mother do?

Researching the internet wasn't revealing enough.

Facing the Bakeman's widescreen one last time—they'd return soon, and she needed to make herself scarce—Nanku tried to fit the pieces together from articles in the news and posts on PHO.

Searching PHO for things that were years old had proven difficult.

"What did you fucking do now?" Nanku asked aloud.

Dusk and Dawn answered with confused chitters. They didn't know. They were smart but not that smart.

The history of Nazis in Brockton Bay was old. Taylor knew about them. The Empire 88 had been the big Nazi gang back then, but they fell apart when Kaiser was killed by Leviathan and Purity by Phage, not even three weeks later. The group fled the city after Phage. None of that seemed attributable to Weaver, but there were things clearly not being reported in the news.

Phage was Amy Dallon. A New Wave member. No one said it in any of the articles Nanku could find, but it was obvious.

New Wave teetered after two members were killed fighting Leviathan. Manpower and Flashbang. The family patriarchs. Panacea, Amy Dallon's cape name, stopped being mentioned by anyone after Echidna happened. Some big battle with a monster cape that created something called the 'Io Portal.'

After Echidna, horrific stories followed. People becoming deathly ill. Plagues of man-eating bugs and plants. 'Super cancer.'

Some kind of crisis kicked off when Phage killed Shielder, her own cousin. A public brawl occurred between Carol Dallon and Sarah Pelham, sisters. Glory Girl, another member of New Wave and Amy's sister, ceased being talked about at all. She simply vanished. Laserdream was the sole member of New Wave who continued being a hero, and she joined the Protectorate.

Nanku could believe her mother capable of ruining a great many things, but that was a lot.

She couldn't see how the woman fit into any of it.

If Iron Rain wanted revenge, murderously so, on anyone, why not Phage or Echidna? What set the girl on her mother?

Nanku couldn't find it. Her mother presumably knew, but rushing to the woman now would be foolish. She needed a more calculated approach.

That took time, and Nanku didn't want to give it. Not for this. She wasn't going to let her mother die, and she held no qualms about hunting Nazis.

Only a few minutes on the Internet reminded her of World War II and the Holocaust. Fuck the Nazis. Even other bad bloods wanted them dead!

But there were an awful lot of them from what she'd seen. She had other things to do. She came with a purpose, and she couldn't let her mother just die, but she had her own goals.

As the smell in the room changed, she turned to the stove and threw one of the chunks of meat back. "Dawn."

The bug jumped, grabbing the meal from the air.

Another followed.

"Dusk."

The third piece was hers.

Food was also a problem. Dusk and Dawn needed to eat, and she'd run out of deer. Running off into the woods wasn't an option every time she needed meat. Nazis worked, but she didn't want to rely on hunting bad bloods to feed them. She needed a more reliable source of food. Fortunately, the Twins could eat just about anything. She'd manage that.

But her mother.

Her mother was already a damned complication.

"Even as an adult, you're throwing doors in my face," Nanku grumbled.

The woman had to know the Nazis were after her. Weaver's power was a thinker power. One that saw through Yautja cloaking technology. That was no meager thing.

So, there was no need to warn the woman.

No.

Nanku could skip straight to action. Curiosity about the reasons aside, she didn't care.

Taylor's father was murdered over a carton of fucking milk. No matter what lay between them, Nanku wouldn't allow her mother to die too. Least of all, at the hands of a petty band of small-minded racist bad bloods.

The question was, what to do about it?

Nanku chewed her food slowly.

...

She didn't want to spend time and energy on this.

"Fine." She swallowed and looked at the widescreen. "Head of the snake it is."

If Iron Rain wanted her mother dead, she'd just kill Iron Rain.

The dead held no grudges.

But the time and effort that would take. Her own goals were already on hold for lack of ideas on how to pursue them. Her search for the logo was inconclusive. She still needed to gain access to police files. The Protectorate? Bad bloods kept assuming Shadow Stalker was the one killing them, but Nanku presumed the Protectorate and PRT were more competent.

They wouldn't understand why she did what she did. The option of getting information from them was enough of a hassle.

"When Pe'dte said living was about challenging yourself, this isn't what I thought she meant."

Dawn crawled over and settled beside her.

Dealing with Iron Rain would mean fighting capes. She'd let Alabaster be for the night… But she should probably kill him.

The last thing she needed was for one hunt to be interrupted when her target called in help. Iron Rain would be able to do that.

She'd have to weaken the Pure before going for the throat. Alabaster was dangerous. Cricket had some kind of sound manipulation power. Nanku would play cautious with that. It could probably find her through her cloak.

So they had to die first, if only so they wouldn't get in the way later.

Othala too.

Nanku couldn't have Iron Rain limping away only to be healed—or granted temporary invincibility—by the Pure's healer.

All time-consuming. All distractions.

Which she kept rounding back to.

She stared at the widescreen. The Bakemans would return from vacation soon. The warehouse she'd found in the city was a decent den, but she'd miss the widescreen.

Nanku looked left.

Then right.

She was done here.

The location wasn't useful anymore.

She rose and found one of her stolen phones.

"When in doubt, instinct."

Nanku checked her gear, armed her weapons, and made a 'foolish mistake.'

Over-eager idiots always try to capitalize on a foolish mistake.

All one had to do was feed it to them.

~ ~ ~

It was a simple message. A transparent, but not too transparent, attempt to solicit information.

Nanku didn't really care if she got it.

She only needed someone to do something in response. A few questions to some of the phone's frequent numbers. Some obvious breaks from the code the Empire was using to speak. Easily cracked once she put her computer to the task, but she wanted them to react.

Nanku learned what she could from cracking their code, however temporarily, anyway.

If they tried to move their operations, they'd only expose more information.

066789: meet tomorrow
066789: sending the address
066789: see you then

Nanku tossed the phone aside.

It took a long time for '066789' to set a time or place. Too long. It was definitely going to be a trap.

But she expected that, and they didn't know what they were dealing with.

If she was lucky, they'd keep being brave, and there'd be no witnesses.

In the meantime, she needed to pack up and be ready to move. She didn't want anyone searching the Bakeman computer and finding her, so that had to be destroyed. Best there was no trace of the Twins either.

Thinking over it, setting the building on fire was probably the cleanest method.

She stabbed into the computer drives with her knife to shred them and bid farewell to the widescreen just in case. Shame. She'd have to find another one.

There were few explosives in her kit, but she could start a fire.

Next time, the Bakemans should invest in better den security.

Nanku was about to set the fire when something struck her as odd.

A line of five identical vehicles coming down the road. Dark. Packed with six or seven men each. All armed.

Alabaster was with them.

Nanku tilted her head and glanced at the phone.

…

This was a thing on TV. They could trace the signal on a phone and find it. How did she forget that?

"Oops."

Nanku donned her armor and sent the Twins out into the woods.

It didn't matter. If they wanted to come to her, that worked too.

She'd be more careful with phones—

"It has not been my week," she hissed.

The first night. Those three men. She'd used one of their phones and just tossed it! Had someone found it? Woul—No. Best to assume someone found it. What would it tell them? That someone had killed those men and used their phones to find information.

Specific information.

She'd deal with that later.

Nanku slipped her mask over her face and activated the cloak.

The vehicles stopped on the road off the property. They were being cautious. Perhaps they expected she'd set a trap. That would be useful. They'd proceed slowly, and she'd have time to ensure no evidence was left behind and gather a full swarm.

Nanku set about the work of a fire and made sure to leave the phones on a counter. They'd be found there, but not too obvious.

With that done, she settled into a corner by the door. Crouched on a table where she expected no one would bump into her. It was dark, too, and would hide the shimmer of any subtle movements.

She'd see how smart these men were first.

Fortunately, the Bakemans lived close to the woods. There were far more bugs to draw on than in the city of much more useful varieties.

The men proceeded very carefully. They weren't common thugs. A few flies and gnats confirmed they wore body armor. Rudimentary but more than the street men she'd stalked so far. Their weapons were larger, too. Rifles with large magazines. Nanku didn't know how her armor or skin would stack up against that.

She'd done research on guns, though.

And it was very dark.

They swept the woods and flanked the house from three sides—front, back, and south facing. A fool might try to take the escape through the north, but they'd set a team with a narrow window of fire. One of the men held a monocular device, and the other a long rifle with a scope.

Dusk and Dawn had already scurried into the woods out of sight. Nanku began moving the Twins, and her swarm around. A flanking maneuver could always be bested in kind.

Did villains always arrive like a para-military team?

Not the image fostered in the comic books and promotional material.

These men were nothing like those she'd stalked so far. No flashlights. There were goggles set over their eyes. Something to let them see in the dark, like a biomask. Body armor. Packets of magazines and cylinders Nanku presumed to be explosives.

They were clean. Precise. Hunters.

Nanku flexed her fingers in anticipation.

They used radios of a sort. Small headset pieces to speak to each other in hushed voices. Too low for her to make out the passing insects, but nothing in their movements or lines of sight—easily discerned by a fly on the barrels of their rifles—suggested any saw her.

Annoying that she had to check for that now, but oh well.

When they entered, they entered loud and fast.

The front door slammed open and broke free of its hinges. The first three swept the room in search. One swung his weapon past Nanku but kept going. He didn't stop for a moment.

If they'd used flashlights, they might have seen her.

Nanku let them enter. The first three men proceeded forward. The second pair went toward the garage. The third pair, the second floor.

She crept down from her hiding place silently. She'd walked back and forth over the Bakeman floor plenty. She knew where the squeaky boards were. Moving ahead of the next three men to enter the house, Nanku followed after the two going upstairs and stalked silently behind them.

They really were precise.

The men checked the banister above as they ascended. The closet at the switchback. The one at the top of the stairs. There wasn't a single corner they missed as they proceeded through the rooms.

A room full of every sheet and cushion in the house gave them pause.

"I'm not checking that," one of them whispered.

"Has to be checked."

"I'm not doing it."

"Has to be checked."

There was a sigh, and one of the men entered. "Fine."

The second moved on, proceeding toward the bathroom.

Nanku let him go and followed the first as he started moving into the bedroom.

Her knife slid out quietly. Slowly.

Taking position, she hovered her hand over the man's mouth.

In a single quick strike, she drove the blade into his spine, covered his mouth with her hand, and snapped his neck with a twist.

The body went limp, and she lowered him down before throwing some sheets and a few cushions over the body.

Kill covered, Nanku stepped back into the hall and leaned toward the banister. Below, the last of the assailants entered. Two men, one of them Alabaster in a white suit. The other wore body armor like the rest, but his equipment was different. More stylized.

Nanku counted.

Two marksmen at the cars. Three covering three sides of the house for nine. Ten armed men with guns, Alabaster, and a corpse.

She wasn't crazy enough to fight two dozen men directly. She'd see how many she could pick off first and watch how they reacted. The more of them that vanished to an invisible foe, the sloppier they'd get.

One of the home invaders was dead.

Nanku looked toward the front of the house and let Dusk and Dawn's chains slip.

The marksmen had a moment to react.

Just long enough to look up before Dawn thrust her claws through the roof of the truck and pierced one man's skull and chest. The other started to speak when Dusk lunched through the open window and drove him onto the seat. Mandibles closed over his throat and severed the vital artery.

Three down.

She wondered how long it would take them to notice someone was picking them off.

***

Beta'd by Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

Dusk and Dawn tore the men in the cars to shreds and destroyed their guns.

The noise was low. No one around or in the house noticed, but they would. Only a matter of time.

Nanku was curious how much. How capable were the Empire's hunters? Were they the same group Iron Rain tried to use to kill her mother?

Killing them now might not solve the problem, but it might help.

The second man returned from the bedrooms at the end of the hall.

"Nothing," he said. "What do you—Hey? Where—"

Nanku drove her knife into the back of his neck, severing the spine while she wrenched his hand away from his gun. She lowered him to the floor and buried him in the cushions and seats.

The den she'd raided before had only eight armed men and two more who tried to fight.

There were twice as many here, and she'd had no time or energy to sleep. The snipers were dead, as were two of the invaders. How many could she get, and how much safer would her mother…

Rose.

She hadn't even thought about Rose.

Nanku's hands tightened.

Kill them all it was.

She crept back down the steps silently, taking the opportunity of distance to expand her spear and release her wrist blades.

Dusk and Dawn clambered out of the bloody vehicles, joining a vast swarm of insects crawling and flying into the woods. Nanku picked her next targets out and set about positioning her weapons.

And she listened.

"There's no one here," one of the men finally said.

"Really?" Alabaster sighed. "All this for nothing?"

"Nice furniture set, though," the searcher said. "This living room is great."

"We don't pay you enough to afford it."

"Thank you for reminding me, sir."

Others relaxed, hands still on their weapons but barrels pointed at the floor.

"No." The man beside Alabaster looked through the living room. "Someone's here."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. I'm getting something."

A cape.

Nanku frowned.

How in the Black Warrior's name did that keep happening? What was even the point? She kept finding new reasons so many clans had ceased allowing their hunters on Earth.

And three parahumans who could see through her cloak was three too many.

"Where?" Alabaster asked.

"Doesn't work that way," the man replied. "Someone's here. Can fee—"

His eyes dropped, and his body shot to the side as her spear flew through his body and out the other side. The weapon peeled out of the cloak smeared with body and pieces of bone. It struck the wall, a charge sparking off the metal while the guns around the room rose.

Nanku stepped to the side and unleashed her swarm.

The men behind the house began shouting and screaming as the insects swarmed. Radios crackled in their ears, though Nanku couldn't hear what the men outside were screaming. A cloud of chitin, legs, stingers, and fangs. Nanku set them biting and stabbing, and the gunfire erupted wildly. One man caught sight of Dusk skittering through the swarm.

Dawn stabbed into his back before he could fire, her wings beating furiously. She took off and pulled him from the ground.

Dusk lunged as his feet cleared, biting into another man and clamping down hard. His scything talons cut, severing an arm as the finger stiffly pulled the trigger. Bullets sprayed through the woods. Her swarm was so thick several bugs were struck and died.

She had plenty more.

At the sound of the gunfire, the men in the house all turned.

"Idiots," the cape snapped, turning in Nanku's direction.

She stabbed her wrist blades through his mouth, grabbed the back of his skull, and pulled him in until the tips pierced through the top of his skull.

No more seeing through her cloak.

Anyone who could do that died.

And just to be sure, Nanku swiped a shuriken from her belt, released the blades, and cut the man's head off.

The body tumbled to the floor, and she threw the head across the room. The men with the guns followed the sound, their eyes confused and their fingers twitching. Most maintained control. Two opened fire and blew the discarded skull apart.

"Shit," Alabaster watched the body crumple to the floor. "Victor's dead… Othala's gonna—"

Nanku cut his head off and started counting.

"Holy shit!" someone snapped. "Right—"

Nanku flung her wrist, and the shuriken cut through the air. The blade sheared through the rifle he held, starting at the front of the barrel and going all the way through into his shoulder. The blades kept going as he screamed and collapsed toward the ground.

Nanku rolled.

Bullets chased her shimmer, splattering across the wooden floor and sending splinters into the air.

"I don't see him!"

"Right there! The shi—"

Nanku bolted upright, lunging forward and throwing her shoulder into his stomach. Her hand grabbed his gun as he fired, turning the weapon so the bullets sprayed the two on his flank. The man looked down and found his resolve quickly. His knee came up as his elbow dropped in an attempt to catch her.

She swung her foot up and around, kicking him in the jaw to stun him, and spun herself free. Wrist blades cut through his leg clean, and the man dropped to the ground, where she slammed her other foot down onto his throat and pushed. He gagged, and she leveraged her strength until the bones in his neck began to crack.

"Six," Nanku added.

Outside, Dusk and Dawn ripped and tore. They ran and flew through the swarm of smaller stinging and biting insects, taking men from behind or lunging from shadows.

One of the other groups outside moved toward them while Nanku crushed her target's throat.

To her side, Alabaster sat up. "Damn y—"

Nanku raised her hand. She captured her shuriken and swung the weapon through his neck. Alabaster's head rolled a second time.

Five seconds. Did it vary?

A quick look didn't find the first one. Switching vision modes on her mask didn't help. The head was simply gone.

Bullets fired, and Nanku sprinted through the room. The rounds came close, but only one struck her. The shell bounced off her armored chest and rattled her cloak. The shooter twitched as she turned and fired again.

Nanku bounced left and then right. She raised her knee, covering her stomach with the armor around her leg.

Another round bounced off the metal, and Nanku threw her foot out in a kick.

The man's knee cracked, and he toppled. At his side, the next man swung his gun around. Nanku cut it in half, slammed her forehead into his unguarded chin, and stabbed her shuriken into his gut. She forced her hand upward, tearing through his armor and opening him like a gutted pig.

The last two bodies dropped, and Nanku tapped her leg against the floor.

The bullet hurt, but she'd bruise at worst.

Outside, Nanku's swarm swept back and swallowed the second pack of men outside. Dusk and Dawn followed, tearing their way through while Nanku ensured guns were always pointing the wrong way as they fired.

Only one jammed.

Her plan to pack the receivers and barrels full of spider silk hadn't worked out like she'd hoped. Shame. That would have been a useful trick.

With the fall of the second pack, only four gunmen remained. One of them was swelling up. Allergic to bee stings, apparently. Some 'superior' race.

"Really?" Alabaster sighed. "Just gonna kill everyone?"

Nanku turned and looked at him. His eyes swept over her, aware of the spot she was standing but clearly not knowing exactly where she was.

"That's a choice." He rubbed at his neck as he stood. "Even we don't do that."

Nanku would laugh, but that would give her away.

Alabaster grabbed a gun and stood up. "Shit. I'm gonna have to explain this, you know. Especially if you up and ran out—"

Nanku swung her shuriken through his back and severed his spine. The man fell to the ground, and she crouched. She'd been too busy before to really watch, but things were cleaning up now.

Dusk took one of the remaining three men from the side.

Dawn swooped down on another.

The last fired wildly, flailing and screaming as wasps, bees, and black widows swarmed his body.

No more bad bloods.

And she had a prisoner.

That was more than she expected in a much shorter amount of time.

Alabaster exhaled, his body flickering.

It was odd to watch. One moment, he was covered in his own blood with his spine opened wide. The next moment he was fine, pushing himself up and sighing.

"Guess you're having fun," he mumbled.

Nanku looked around. "A little."

The man did the same. "So you're invisible?"

Nanku didn't answer. She crept toward one of the corpses and looked at his belt. She had lines of her own. Hardy and impossible for someone like Alabaster to break. She wanted to minimize her trail, though.

She'd already failed once on that front tonight.

Earth was becoming a damn mess of mistakes and stupid errors. It was exhausting in its own way.

"You know I can't die, right?" Alabaster picked up a gun from the floor. "It's kind of my thing."

Nanku proceeded to cover her tracks.

The webbing from the guns was removed by spiders. Wasps, hornets, and other spiders collected the dead bodies and consumed them or ferried them away. Nanku wanted to keep her advantage for as long as possible. She'd have to gather all the corpses up and destroy them so no one noticed the bites.

It was a good thing she didn't care for trophies.

"I'm basically immortal," Alabaster declared in the same bored voice.

Nanku scoffed and drove her spear through his chest. She pinned the man to the ground with her foot and leaned over. The eyes on her mask flashed through her cloak, and she counted the corpses she'd produced in a short period of time.

"Everything dies."

A backhanded blow snapped Alabaster's neck, and Nanku pulled on the line she'd taken and began binding his arms and legs.

She had questions for Alabaster, and if there was any bonus to a not-quite immortal man, it was that no amount of torture would kill him.

She could work as long as she wanted.

~ ~ ~

Alabaster swung back and forth behind her, suspended from a rafter. The line was taught, leaving his hair sweeping the concrete. She'd bound it tight, ensnaring his arms behind his back and his legs at the ankles and thighs. Never tie only the ankles.

It provided too much leverage.

"Really?" he asked. "We're going Eddie Jemison and Thomas Jane on this one?"

Nanku didn't know who those people were.

And she didn't care.

Her armored toe-tip cracked into his skull.

It was annoying that he didn't just die, but on the other hand, even that had its uses.

Nanku swept the surrounding streets with her swarm, but there was no sign of any pursuit.

They hadn't sent anyone else to watch, which meant they had nothing. Any evidence burned with the Bakeman family home—and the widescreen—along with anything Nanku could think of. All the bodies, their phones, their guns, and most of the bug corpses.

The Earth's enforcers were thorough.

Nanku hoped she'd cleaned up enough.

Alabaster sighed.

"I know we're not ones to complain," he grumbled, "but damn whoever you are. Not even thirty-six hours, and you've made what? Three dozen corpses?"

"Dead Nazis," Nanku said.

"Yeah, yeah. The only good Nazi is a—"

Nanku kicked him again as she walked past.

The storehouse was dark. The surrounding streets and buildings were quiet. Mostly empty.

The clinic across the street was a bit busy, but it was far enough away. Nanku didn't have a good idea of where else to go. She hadn't had time to find a new den to replace the Bakeman house.

Now that it was burned down, all she had was an abandoned warehouse.

At least she had someone to take it out on.

"You're not familiar"—Alabaster cracked his neck—"with the unwritten rules, are you?"

Her mother mentioned those.

She's searched for them on the internet, but the results were… vague. "Explain them."

"Well, for one, you don't just go straight to kill everyone. That's Slaughterhouse Nine stuff. Fast way to get everyone trying to kill you."

"They'll try."

"You've got the terrorizing voice down. I—"

Nanku drove a spear through his throat and left it there.

"One. Two. Three."

She'd timed out his power. About four seconds. Five seconds, and he miraculously recovered from any wound.

"Four—"

Nanku ripped her spear from his throat, and Alabaster gargled.

"Seriously… You're gonna have everyone after your head."

Would she? "Oh well."

That was likely inevitable. She didn't see the point in worrying about it.

The arrogance to think he was 'immortal' was Alabaster's folly.

Nanku crouched. The lights were out, and she didn't think he could see her. She was certain he sensed her proximity.

All animals had a rudimentary capacity to sense danger when it was near.

"Unwritten rules don't allow killing?" Nanku asked.

Was that why it happened so rarely? Made sense. The Yautja relied on honor codes rather than systematic law. Why not parahumans? Still. Something about action and words didn't line up in her mind.

"Of course not. You just don't jump right to it. Seriously? You have n—"

Nanku supposed they rolled up with two dozen guns solely to give her a stern warning.

"Why are the Pure trying to kill Weaver?" she asked.

"What? Why do—"

Nanku drove her knife into his thigh.

He didn't make a sound of pain in response.

"Do you live under a rock?"

"Why?"

"Damn, black bitches are dumb."

Nanku tilted her head.

Then she slashed his face off and stabbed him through the heart out of principle.

Nazis were something she wished she couldn't remember. They were so profoundly unpleasant. And she'd dealt with a lot of unpleasantness whenever she crossed paths with a clan other than her own.

Nanku rolled her shoulders and waited for him to flicker back to life. She did another check of the area while she waited. Still nothing. Just a pair of women walking their dogs and a few passing cars.

Alabaster restored himself, and she readied another blow when the lights flashed on.

Nanku turned, snarling as one of the women on the street turned toward the building. There was a remote in her hand. A remote for a building. That was a thing now?

"Something unexpected?" Alabaster asked.

She was getting tired of the unexpected.

Nanku sent Dusk and Dawn into the rafters and pulled herself up after them. She caught hold of her own line and pulled Alabaster into the darkness.

"Is this any way to greet a—"

She muzzled him by stabbing a knife into his mouth and leaving it there. At least it kept him quiet, and his power cleaned up any mess. Nanku activated her cloak and sent Dusk and Dawn to the corners where the shadows were dark enough.

The door opened, and the women entered.

They were young. The blonde girl with dark skin was younger, a smile on her face and a golden retriever trotting in ahead of her.

"But maybe we should ask for help?" she said. "You haven't even—"

"Won't do anything." The second woman was tall and muscular, her hair wild and brownish-red. She had a serious, angry look on her face and two dogs on chains. "Not wasting time."

The dogs were a pair. One with a cape collar and another. Small and wiry with a missing eye. The third came in at the rear.

"Rachel," the other girl mumbled. "Um, I mean—"

"Shut up."

"Sorry. Sorry, I—"

"Shut up."

The dogs all snarled, growing as they sniffed the air.

Fuck.

Nanku drew her knife and eyed a side door. She could get out that way, but the sheer number of inconvenient crap—

The dogs looked up and began barking.

The red-haired girl lifted her head and snarled.

Nanku was still hidden in her cloak.

The stupid arrogant piece of Nazi shit wasn't.

***

Muahahahahahahahaha!

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

Great. She had to find yet another place to sleep.

Nanku dropped Alabaster and let his skull crack against the ground.

The blonde girl jumped with a yelp, and the dogs began barking and snarling louder.

"Is that Alabaster?!" the girl cried. "What is—Why is he tied up?!"

Alabaster shook his head. "Just my kink."

Nanku released her wrist blades and crept along the rafter. She drew her swarm closer. Into the nearby alleys and over the street lights.

The auburn-haired girl's eyes followed her as she moved. No. She followed the noses of the dogs as they barked and snapped.

She was tall. Fit and rough in appearance. One of the few capes in Brockton Bay with a face that was known, though Nanku could only find blurry pictures.

Hellhound.

Undersiders. Controlled monster dogs. Didn't have a secret identity. Known to be especially violent with everything that didn't walk on four legs and wag a tail.

How did this keep happening?

"Cassie," Hellhound snapped. "Leave. Now."

"But what about—"

"Now."

The girl didn't question. She retreated quickly and reached for her pocket.

Nanku flipped her knife and threw the weapon.

The weapon flashed and spun end over end. Cassie yelped. The blade stabbed her phone and yanked it from her hand. She scrambled back, shaking her unharmed hand and stammering.

"Guard!" Hellhound shouted.

The dogs jumped. The retriever and the cape-wearing canines raced to Cassie and shielded her. Their bodies rippled. Before Nanku's eyes, both animals grew. Their maws extended. Bony spines began protruding from their skin. Muscles thickened and flesh turned harder.

"Least I have front-row seats," Alabaster drawled.

Nanku flicked a spear out and threw it through his chest just to shut him up.

She drew a second and spun it.

Destroying the girl's phone bought time. Alabaster was easy enough to manage, but Hellhound? Giant monster dogs. It was one hell of a challenge. Dusk and Dawn hung in the dark corners to either side of the door, poised to strike or escape.

That was the choice.

Escape, or fight yet another cape. One who wasn't as easily managed as Alabaster or Victor.

Nanku wanted to escape. She'd had enough after everything. Two surprises were two too many for one night.

But her eyes glowered behind her mask.

Alabaster.

He'd seen too much. Mostly from nothing more than the fact that Nanku had to think of some way beyond the norm to end him. Her cloak. Her weapons. Dusk and Dawn. Maybe her swarm. It was more than she wanted anyone to know.

She needed to drag Alabaster with her or kill him.

Hellhound wasn't baking down, and her dogs were getting bigger.

Alabaster shook his head. "Don't suppose we could get some mud? Bikinis—"

Nanku leaped. Lunging from the rafter, she landed on both feet and drove another spear through him. She left the weapon embedded in his chest and pulled the first from the ground.

Hellhound's lips were already moving, and Nanku spun around.

She threw the spear in the same motion, her cloak flickering for just a moment as she released her weapon on a straight shot for Hellhound's skull.

The girl didn't even flinch.

Good reason.

The one-eyed dog moved with blinding speed. Its fangs snapped shut, closing around Nanku's spear and throwing it aside.

"Hurt."

They charged.

Nanku stepped back and swung Alabaster in front of her. One-Eye slammed into the man, teeth closing onto his side and splattering blood. The second—with a cape—slammed into the ground, and a bony shoulder impaled Alabaster's stomach.

The force of the tackle knocked him back and threw Nanku across the floor. Her back struck the concrete ground hard, and sparks flew as her armor slid.

Her spear ripped from Alabaster's chest, and she stabbed the weapon into the ground. Her body stopped with a jerk, and she flipped herself back onto her feet. Hellhound glared and tossed a phone from her coat to Cassie.

So much for easy.

The dogs shook their heads and disentangled themselves from Alabaster.

The third stood guard, looming behind Hellhound and in front of Cassie.

The girl caught the phone from the air and started dialing as she ran for the door.

Fine then.

Nanku spun her spear in hand and leveled it forward as she braced.

"Hurt!" Hellhound snapped again.

Nanku jumped and grabbed the rafter above as the animals ran. They jumped after her, maws opening wide as they easily shot into the air. Nanku swung herself forward, throwing herself over One Eye's head and rolling as she hit the ground. Metal bent and groaned behind her as the dogs bit into the steel rafters. The roof shuddered, and the tin groaned.

Nanku rolled and bolted to her feet.

The articles she researched said Hellhound controlled the dogs with a master power.

Idiots.

The dogs weren't being controlled with any power. They were simply well-trained. Not even simply. The dogs were extremely well-trained.

Nanku ran across the room, sprinting while the large dogs turned. They were big. It took them a moment. Just enough of a moment.

"Sunny," Hellhound said. The dog behind her perked up.

Nanku reached for her other spear and lifted it from the ground.

Hellhound's body language shifted slightly. The word formed on her lips, and 'Sunny' was already starting to move.

Extremely well trained.

So were Dusk and Dawn.

And unlike Hellhound, Nanku did control them!

The Twins lunged. Their wings shot out, and both insectoids shrilled as they launched from their hiding places. Cassie's head jerked up, and she screamed.

Sunny whirled, tail striking Dawn in her side and sending her off course. She struck the ground and skittered for balance. Nanku winced, heart jumping into her throat at the sound of chitin cracking.

She didn't stop.

Dusk opened his maw wide, and Cassie kept screaming even after Hellhound threw her arm out. Dusk bit down hard. The taste of blood filled his mouth, and Hellhound grunted. The girl didn't stop. She punched Dusk in the eye and stunned him. He released her, stumbling back and shaking his head.

Nanku thrust.

Cassie tackled Hellhound from behind, and they both hit the ground as her spear went through the tangled mass of their hair.

Nanku's brow rose.

She raised one foot and swung it down.

Sunny slammed into her back, and Nanku struck the wall before she knew it.

She hit the ground with a dull pain in her back and a dizziness in her head. Her fingers flexed. One of her spears was missing. The other remained in her hand. Her cloak was flickering from the impact. Still functional, but in need of a reset.

Damn.

Dusk and Dawn jumped, both scrambling to the ground before her. They spread their wings wide and fluttered them, snapping their mandibles and snarling while Hellhound's dogs closed in.

Nanku drew her swarm forth.

This was different from bad bloods, and it was nothing like Victor or Alabaster.

Hellhound stood protectively over Cassie, bloodied arm hanging at her side while the other curled chains around her fist. Her breathing was ragged, and the wound looked bad. Nanku could spot how superficial the flesh was.

Hellhound wasn't the real problem, regardless.

Her dogs were.

Nanku grinned and licked the blood from her lips.

This was a first on Earth.

Someone actually worth the damned trouble.

"Bitch?!" Cassie scrambled frantically. "You're—"

"Fine," Hellhound snarled, chin raised while she leered down her nose. "Get out. Warn Tattletale and Weaver."

Nanku stiffened.

Tattletale and Weaver?

"At least get naked or something," Alabaster said. "Come on. This could be hott—Aw come—"

He reacted as Nanku moved, her remaining spear flying across the room to impale his throat.

"How do you know Weaver?" Nanku asked.

Hellhound scoffed. "I'm not stupid."

Perhaps not, but Nanku could smell stubborn.

"You know Weaver," Nanku affirmed. Certain.

There were things online. The Undersiders ran Brockton Bay. All the other villains—save the Pure and a few outliers—answered to them. Lots of people said the Protectorate let them run the city's bad bloods.

That was outlandish.

No enforcer would ever do that…

But that was Yautja thinking. The way Hellhound acted, inquiring about Weaver, was her first thought.

Damn. An actual challenge for once, and she had to give it up.

Nanku could smell the opportunity. One she might not have easy access to again. Maybe she wasn't so unlucky tonight after all.

Cassie was still by the door, shielded by the other two dogs. She held Hellhound's phone in one hand—hurried whispers leaving her mouth—and Nanku's knife in the other.

"Drop it," Nanku demanded. "Now."

The girl jerked and dropped the phone.

"The knife."

She dropped the knife too.

Hellhound tilted her head.

Cassie's back straightened, and she looked around the open room nervously. "I don't like Strangers, Bitch."

"She's not. Strangers are smarter."

Nanku scoffed.

Warily, she pressed her computer and deactivated the cloak. The shroud peeled back, exposing her in the darkness for both girls to see clearly.

Cassie looked back and forth. "Nice hair?"

"You're Weaver's ally." Nanku reached up and hooked her thumb under her mask. "So am I."

"Is she supposed to do that?" Cassie asked.

Hellhound's expression was more passive. Unimpressed but, unsure. Her dogs formed a guarding wall around her. They stood guard, snarling and growling. Waiting for commands. Dusk and Dawn stood opposite them, bodies coiled and restrained by Nanku's power. Dusk stood uneasily, still jarred. Dawn's chitin was cracked on one shoulder.

"I can do this all night," Alabaster said suddenly. "Any word on the mud and bikinis? Preferably the half-breed on acc—"

"Kill."

One of the growing dogs lunged, ripping into the pale man tearing his throat out.

Hellhound didn't take her eyes off Nanku.

Nanku stood straight and removed her mask in full.

Cassie leaned over. "Huh."

Hellhound frowned. "Strangers are still smarter."

Nanku fixed her mask to her belt and let the girls get a good look at her face. Approaching her mother directly was impossible, but maybe she could get the woman this way. Out the way. Quiet. Maybe alone where they could… Settle what remained between them.

Cassie's jaw dropped. "She looks a lot like—"

"Don't fall for it." Hellhound gave a subtle motion. "Angelica—"

"I will not hunt you," Nanku declared. She tilted her head. "I would hunt you. Not now. We will end the contest here."

Silence followed. The dogs were barely restrained, but Nanku saw the signs. Their ears twitched back and forth listening. Their eyes were fixed forward, but their body language waited.

Covert actions.

The Yautja did those. Distastefully, some enforcers even maintained relations with certain fringe clans. Not bad bloods. Never bad bloods. But not every clan was favored, and some were… eccentric. They might deal with bad bloods and through them, the enforcers of the Elder Councils maintained a higher order on the codes and the clans.

It was a necessary evil.

Perhaps, without thinking, she had walked into a similar arrangement. One she could use to reach her mother without drawing the attention of the PRT or the Protectorate directly.

There was still business to finish.

Nanku drew Dusk and Dawn back and hurried her swarm into position. Every door. Every window. Every crack in the wall. She could swarm the room in an instant and flee if need be. It would expose her power, but she could try again.

She'd achieved a detente. She needed to press.

"This place is yours?" Nanku asked diplomatically.

Hellhound sneered. "My name is on it."

Nanku needed a moment.

She'd never bothered looking at any of the signage. It was as poorly maintained as the rest of the building. There were a few signs. One was embossed and Nanku traced the letters with a cockroach.

Lindt Home for Dogs.

Lindt? Rachel Lindt. Right. Hellhound didn't have a secret identity.

"Thought it was abandoned," Nanku said.

"It's mine," Hellhound insisted.

Her eyes glanced toward Alabaster. Then back to Nanku. The gears turned behind her eyes.

Interesting.

People were idiots. They thought her dogs were things she controlled and that Hellhound was a brainless, violent brute. Maybe she was violent, and maybe she was a bit brutish, but she was not brainless.

"I did not mean to intrude," Nanku offered.

Hellhound looked toward the door and snarled. "You're the one leaving bodies."

"My—I detest the honorless. They reap what they sow."

Hellhound huffed and turned to face her again. "Whatever. You surrendering?"

"No."

Nanku stepped between Dusk and Dawn, hands falling on their heads to soothe them.

"I am Nank"—she stopped herself and smoothed her features—"I am Taylor Hebert."

"Who the fuck is that?" Hellhound asked in a tone that sounded to Nanku like a lie.

She knew who Taylor Hebert was.

"Weaver is my mother."

"Oh shit!" Alabaster called. "Plot twist!"

"Dusk."

The bug jumped across the room and mauled the man.

It was an odd form of diplomacy, but neither of them were aligned with the Nazis, and they both had a connection to her mother. That was a start.

"Ask her." Nanku sat. "I'll wait."

Her defenses were still ready and waiting. So she waited as she said. And watched.

"Um." Cassie looked to Hellhound. "What do we—"

"Get the phone," Hellhound said. "What's he doing here?"

"Oh, you know," Alabaster answered. "Hanging."

He stopped and rolled his eyes, and Dusk started cutting into him again.

"Nazis want to kill my mother," Nanku said. "I object."

Cassie picked up the phone from the ground. "Hello? Are you still—Oh. Yeah. Um. They're, ah…" She looked from Hellhound to Nanku and back again. "Staring at each other, I guess. And taking turns killing Alabaster. Oh, yeah. He's here, I guess. Something about Nazis wanting to kill Weaver… I can hold. I guess."

"Are you talking to her?" Nanku asked.

"Outside, Cassie."

Hellhound's tone was different toward the girl but no less commanding.

"No threeway? I've been a very good—"

"Kill."

Dusk jumped back as one of the dogs chewed into Alabaster to quiet him.

Nanku and Hellhound stared.

This was to be it then. A standoff.

That was fine. Nanku could wait patiently… Damn it.

"Your dogs are well trained."

"You say so."

"Training is hard. Takes work. Most don't bother to do it right."

"I'm not lazy."

"Clearly."

"You talk too much."

Nanku thought she liked Hellhound.

Shame she'd probably end up killing the girl.

***

So yeah. I had entirely too much fun just having Bitch and Nanku kill Alabaster over and over out of annoyance for his unwanted commentary.

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

Dusk and Angelica sat on either side of Alabaster.

They took turns batting him back and forth. Usually, with the sharp end of something. Nanku would have just killed him, but maybe she could use him in some other way. She could always hunt him again later.

In the meantime, letting the monster dog and alien insect shut him up kept the annoying little bigot busy. If not entirely quiet.

"Should we be doing that?" Cassie asked with a pointed finger.

"He's an asshole," Hellhound stated. Bluntly.

"And he thinks he's immortal," Nanku added.

Cassie looked over. "Um. He is immortal?"

"Nothing is immortal."

Nanku kept her eyes on Hellhound. She still had two dogs flanking her while Angelica and Dusk played 'maul the Nazi.' All three animals had stopped growing but remained tense and constrained only by whatever discipline their master instilled into them.

Across from her, Nanku sat with Dawn, hand gently feeling around the crack in her shell. The wound was not serious. The kind of injury her species endured and walked off regularly with basic roughhousing.

She would heal in flesh. Her instinctual pride might take longer to mend.

Even as Nanku soothed her, the insectoid snarled and clapped her mandibles together, leering at her canine counterparts.

Cassie pointed. "Maybe you should reel your giant bug monster in?"

Nanku didn't reply.

Dawn was reeled in. No one could truly master an animal. Any animal. Not even with Nanku's power. She could only suppress the will of primitive minds, why Dusk and Dawn retained their senses of self and instinct even while under her sway.

Nanku sensed Hellhound understood that from how she kept a constant watch on her own animals.

They were living things.

And all living things were free. It was why her Clan barely tolerated her use of hunting hounds. Even with the excuse of her power, to some, it went against the standard ethic of a hunter to respect life. Any sense of control was an illusion and transient. As life itself was transient.

Cassie was no threat. Just a glorified dog handler. Not a warrior or hunter. That was fine but consequently of no interest to Nanku.

Hellhound, however…

Victor's power was enough to tell him someone was near, and he figured out where she was, but far too late. Alabaster's power made him complacent. Killing him was more practical than anything. The Protectorate and the Wards lacked the will to carry through in a hunt even when they'd located prey.

Hellhound?

Hellhound was different.

Nanku could see it in her skin.

"My eyes are here," the girl growled.

"Oh." Cassie's face turned red. "Is that why she's staring at you?"

Nanku didn't know what they meant. What did eyes have to do with it?

"You're different."

Hellhound gave no response, but her eyes were puzzling. There was a mind behind her brutish facade. A real mind. One that knew the edge of living. Nanku could see it in the way the girl carried herself, especially with someone like Cassie—who sought coddling and protection from others by nature—in the room.

"You have scars," Nanku clarified, curious if Hellhound would pick up on the meaning. And she didn't mean the shoulder stained with blood.

Cassie had insisted on removing the girl's jacket and bandaging the injury. The tank top she wore underneath exposed muscled arms lined with scars. Most were from blades.

"So do you."

"Mine are bigger."

"What do you win?"

Nanku wasn't sure she picked up on the meaning, but maybe that was her fault. Though Hellhound's last response wasn't a bad one.

Her swarm kept watch, the majority still drawn in together. Pressed against the windows and walls of the building, ready to flood in and cover Nanku's attack or escape. For the moment, they watched for signs of treachery, but nothing had approached their little get-together since Cassie made a phone call and a little truce was established.

That was an hour ago.

"When will she be here?"

"Don't know."

"You're a poor liar."

"She gets here when she gets here."

Nanku kept her face even since they could see it.

"Are you really her kid?" Cassie asked.

She'd seen Weaver's face. That much was clear.

"People pay for that!" Alabaster said. "Come on, one cam—"

Dusk and Angelica started their game again, tearing into him and ripping the man apart.

"The first one is dead," Hellhound declared, anger entering her eyes. "Been dead a long time."

Nanku huffed. "Where's the body?"

Hellhound huffed back.

They definitely knew her mother. Nanku wondered what they knew about Taylor. The basics? Details? Enough to know why she might fear returning home?

…

Did her mother?

The thought soured Nanku's calm mood. Brought back doubts and bitter resentments. It was muter than before. Duller. She wasn't interested in branding blame or accusations at the woman, but she was curious.

She wanted to sit with the woman and talk.

Mother and daughter. Without a gun pointed at her head or having to prove she was who she claimed.

She swept the streets and alleys again. Still no sign of anyone. Her mother, or betrayal.

"Come on!" Alabaster shouted. "Get some bikinis and do some mommy dau—"

Nanku flicked a shuriken from her belt and flung it.

"Disgusting," she grumbled.

"Nazi," Hellhound replied.

She caught the weapon as it spun back and flicked the blades back into the disk.

Cassie grimaced. She didn't have much of a spine, but she was used to blood. Seeing it, at least.

"She your hench"—a car approached. Nanku kept her head straight, though her voice faltered for a moment—"man?"

"Henchwoman," Cassie corrected. "Girl power."

Nanku searched the car's interior.

Two figures. Both women. One tall and thin in the passenger's seat with long dark hair.

She's here.

"Henchman is sexist," Hellhound declared.

"Never heard of it," Nanku replied mutely.

She searched once more. Looked for anything. Guards. Armed men. Other vehicles. There was a busy road at the edge of her range, but nothing that caught her attention. Did that matter? With Vista's power, they could drop a lot of people on her all at once. Laserdream could be flying overhead.

Nanku called Dusk back to her. The bug skittered over, drawing Hellhound and Cassie's attention. The monster dogs, too. Angelica followed, moving behind her master and the other two dogs flanking her.

The parahuman tilted her head at the sound of an engine.

Cassie turned. "Let me look."

She wandered toward the door and peeked through the window.

"They're here," she announced.

Nanku stiffened.

"If you lied," Hellhound said coldly, "we start where we left off."

Dusk and Dawn shook their wings and snarled.

The dogs reciprocated, snapping their jaws and growling deep in their large chests.

"What did I miss?" Alabaster. "Nothing sexy I—"

Nanku's lips twisted, and she flung her shuriken again.

The door opened as the blades sheared through Alabaster's neck, and her mother stopped dead as the weapon spun back and slapped into Nanku's hand.

In retrospect, Nanku should have just killed him.

He'd regrown body parts magically. Endured any loss of blood. Nanku never saw him do it while impaled, and she'd left him impaled long enough to count the seconds down.

Nanku bet a spear through his heart would kill him if she left it there.

She flicked the blades of her shuriken back and inhaled.

Her mother stood stock still, staring at Alabaster's—briefly—beheaded corpse.

The woman dressed casually in plain clothes but wore Weaver's mask over her face. A blonde followed behind her, brow cocked and a domino mask over her eyes. Nanku found the use of those meager masks funny. They seemed insufficient to cover anything. Certainly not when her biomask could reconstruct the face properly.

And she wasn't wearing her biomask at the moment.

Luck is an asset, too.

Nanku dismissed her.

She focused on her mother.

The woman's mask hid her face, but Nanku had a feeling.

Something had changed. Her body language held none of the anger or the defensiveness. She was trepidatious. Uncertain. Afraid.

"You know," Nanku said.

The woman's answer came slowly. "I know."

With a huff, Nanku drew herself up. She stood fully and let Dusk press into her side while Dawn curved ahead of her feet. The two bugs snarled, wings fluttering and mandibles clapping.

Her mother reacted to them.

Tense and unsure.

"Those the things that killed everyone at the camp?" the blonde asked.

Is that what her mother thought?

"No," Weaver declared firmly, to Nanku's surprise. "They're not."

Hellhound also stood, visibly relaxing as Weaver stepped around her. Even the dogs relaxed. Angelica sat and panted, giant spiny tail wagging. They liked Weaver. Hellhound seemed to defer to her, a bit. Cassie smiled and waved, taking the chance to slip quietly outside.

Nanku tilted her head.

Her mother's fingers tensed at her sides.

"Boooo!"

Every head turned.

Alabaster swung in his bindings.

"Boooo! Make out!"

Nanku started to move, but the blonde rushed across the room.

"I'll take care of that," she said.

"Nah," Alabaster replied. "Look like you have a gag re—"

She pulled a gun from somewhere and shot the man twice.

"Tattletale," Weaver chided.

"What? He's immortal!" She looked at the lines and frowned. "Huh. How do I—"

Nanku tapped the computer on her arm, and the anchors holding the line unspooled. The corpse slapped to the ground, and Tattletale stumbled back.

"A little help Bitch?"

Nanku frowned. She'd done enough to help, and she wasn't—

Hellhound moved, waving her dog named Sunny along and directing it to drag Alabaster away like he was a ham. The man got one word off when his power activated. Tattletale shot him again and started talking with Hellhound.

The other two dogs remained, watching Weaver and Nanku.

Besides the beasts and the Twins, it was just them.

There was still no apparent trap outside. Nanku would think Vista would be using her power already. What else would they be waiting for?

"No gun?"

Her mother tensed. "I—I'm..."

Bitter. Again.

Nanku scratched Dawn's head behind the plate of her skull. The bug rattled and curled her scything talon limbs in. Her mother watched warily.

"Where did you make those?" she asked.

"Wherever."

Tinker. Right. It was the logical assumption for anyone seeing her equipment. They wouldn't think she got it from an alien race any more than they'd assume Dusk and Dawn were aliens, too. Tinkered creations were more logical.

Nanku tilted her head.

Nilbog. That's what Tattletale meant. She was asking if Dusk and Dawn were the Nilbog creations everyone on Earth assumed massacred the camp.

Well, she'd deal with that in a moment.

"Nothing to say?"

"Not sure what to say," her mother replied. "Taylor—"

"Nanku."

She set her lips in a line.

"My name is Nanku." She softened slightly. "It means 'little hunter.'"

Again, the woman was silent.

Nanku was sympathetic.

She'd seen the pain on Pe'dte's face for years, and the Yautja hid pain far better than humans.

The two dogs snarled as her mother moved. Dusk and Dawn reacted, but Nanku pulled them back and maneuvered the twins behind her. They didn't like it, but if the woman wanted to hurt her, there'd be a Protectorate army somewhere already.

Nanku held herself still and didn't budge as her mother embraced her.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "For—I… I'm sorry."

The woman leaned in, arms closing around Nanku's shoulders.

She tensed, wary of a trick. Dusk and Dawn watched her back, but her mother's hands only clasped together and pulled her closer. Nanku's face found her mother's collar. She still wore the same perfume. Nanku had forgotten it, but it came to mind immediately.

"You're sorry?"

"Yes."

…

That was a complicated feeling.

Her mother's grip tightened. "You're you."

"That's what I told you."

"I—Oh god, I pointed a gun at you."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not."

"I knew you weren't going to shoot."

"She's not replacing you. I—I didn't even plan to have Rose. She just happened."

By the Black Warrior, "Don't tell her that."

Her mother scoffed, shoulders relaxing. "Didn't exactly plan to have you either. My luck with birth control is an outlier."

There were things no child was meant to know.

Her mother took a deep breath and pulled back. She checked to the side, but Tattletale and Hellhound had dragged Alabaster away. With the onlooker gone, Annette He—Annette Whoever, removed her mask and cupped Nanku's jaw.

The woman's eyes traced the lines of her face. Searching.

"What?" Nanku asked.

"You look like him."

"Who?"

"Your father."

Nanku pursed her lips. She didn't particularly care to aspire to womanly qualities, but the idea of looking like a man was weird.

But that was a good enough opening.

"I came back for him."

"The first thing you did was go to the memorial."

How did she know that—Thinker. Right. "Do you know who did it?"

Her mother tensed.

Nanku glared. "Do you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Peace of mind."

Her mother's brow tensed.

"And Nazis are trying to kill you."

~ ~ ~

"How the hell did she even manage this?" Lisa patted Alabaster's cheek.

He talked into the socks in his mouth, and not a word of it was understandable.

Rachel preferred it when they were letting dogs and bug monsters tear into him. Alabaster had it coming.

Lisa stood up and looked at Rachel's shoulder. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine."

Lisa checked the bandages anyway. Because, of course, she did. Rachel simply let her. It was faster than arguing how stupid it was.

The wound barely hurt. It was deep enough it should hurt, but Rachel didn't know. Numbing chemicals in the bug spit or something. She was more worried about infection than the blood. She didn't know where those thing's mouths had been.

"She attacked you?" Lisa asked, her face serious.

"She tried."

"Cassie seemed okay."

"She's tough. She'll be fine."

"Not everyone is as tough as you, Ra—"

Rachel scowled.

She hated it when Lisa thought she needed to talk down to her.

Lisa at least cut herself off.

"Cassie is fine," Rachel insisted. "She's tough."

"You can be oddly maternal, you know that?"

"Whatever." Rachel looked back. "That really her?"

Lisa's expression darkened. "Yeah. That's her. Weaver confirmed it herself."

"How?"

"We can go back out and see if she'll tell us."

Rachel would laugh if it was funny. "This is a distraction."

Lisa kept her face even, and her expression muted. She was good at that but not as good as she thought she was.

"It's her daughter, Bitch. The one she thought dead. You remember what she was like when we first met her."

Rachel didn't dignify that with a response. She wasn't dumb. Of course, she remembered.

"You're both distracted."

Got a hold of herself at that. It was a start. "We need more information. You know Rain is too immature to really be—"

"Who cares?" She'd heard the excuse. It changed nothing. "They take streets. Hit our people. Sell drugs to kids."

"Running in blind will ruin everything."

"Doing nothing is ruining everything."

"We have to buy time."

"I'll buy it."

Rachel let the challenge hang. It was obvious. She didn't know why Lisa didn't see it. Rachel had talked to Alec, Aisha, and Foil. They all saw it. Even the Wards should be able to see it.

Sitting back and doing nothing was setting them up to fail. Now 'Taylor' was here, and Weaver was distracted. Everything in Brockton Bay that worked worked because of Lisa and Annette. They kept the peace. They maintained the strained bounds of unity, holding the city's capes—hero and villain—together and keeping the peace.

They were the city's rulers.

Every other cape followed their lead, especially with Accord and his troublemaking in the grave with him.

They couldn't keep sitting back and watching the Pure do whatever it wanted. Kids. Drugs. Dogs—

"Rachel," Lisa snapped. "I know you want to save those dogs, but it's a trap. They are baiting you, Bitch."

Rachel glared into Lisa's eyes, and Lisa tried to act demure. Alabaster began squirming and talking into his gag.

"I know," Rachel stated bluntly.

"Then you know you can't just blunder into them. You—Wait, did you come back here to go behind our backs? You did!"

"And?"

Rachel wasn't dumb.

She didn't like being treated like she was.

"You know better," Lisa whispered. "Don't give them what they want."

"You've forgotten how to be a villain."

Lisa's reaction was pale-faced and open mouth.

Rachel felt bad for the comment, but it was unavoidable.

"Reacting doesn't win streets."

Rachel motioned for Angelica to follow her, and she left Lisa to puzzle it out. She was good with words. And she had her power.

If Brian were still alive, he could have insisted on the lesson. But Brian was gone. Aisha and Alec were content to let others lead. Foil and Parian kept themselves distant, and the other groups allied with the Undersiders preferred not to fight for streets. Lisa and Weaver—everyone—fought hard to make Brockton Bay something more than a bloodbath.

They won it, and they didn't want to give it up.

They didn't want to accept the Pure had already stolen it.

Rachel scowled.

They didn't want to accept Rachel could change too.

***

Writing Nanku and Rachel is fun.

Writing Rachel and Lisa is also fun.

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

They went to the side of the building where several rooms connected together. The structure was a kennel. A place for keeping dogs. One Hellhound seemed to stop using at some point, given what Nanku overheard.

Nanku wondered why she was coming back.

A folding table was set on the floor with chairs. There was little food, but Cassie left to get 'pizza.'

Nanku sat on one side of the table with the Twins. Weaver on the other with Tattletale. Hellhound and her dogs—slowly shrinking—stood behind them.

The room wasn't silent, but crossing the divide was… The Yautja had a very narrow concept of social graces.

"It's fine," Hellhound complained.

"Just let me see." Annette Hebert checked at the bandaging and eyed Dusk and Dawn warily.

Nanku thought to comment but wasn't sure what to say.

She'd never been in this situation before.

It was awkward, and while not silent, it was eerily quiet.

In it, she noticed her odd instinct rearing up. All three women triggered it. Tattletale. Weaver. Hellhound. They all sent her hackles rising, and Nanku was starting to suspect why.

She'd been away for so long—where there were no capes—she'd simply never noticed.

Tattletale blinked.

Nanku's eyes fixed on her. "What?"

"Nothing," the girl said.

"Tattletale," Weaver warned. "What?"

The girl scowled, her smile vanishing to show a face Nanku found more believable. Disgruntled and annoyed. With more than a little vulnerability. A completely different disposition from Hellhound.

"Not something that needs discussion right now." Tattletale refocused on Nanku and asked, "So why'd you murder our guy?"

"I haven't murdered anyone."

"Come on, it's just us gir—" She stopped and tilted her head. "Huh."

"Tattletale," her mother repeated, face paler.

"She hasn't murdered anyone," the blonde said curiously. "Well, that's horseshit. She definitely killed J and at least two other guys, but she literally doesn't conceive of it as murder. And I don't mean she doesn't recognize murder as murder. She knows what murder is and thinks it's repugnant, but she very literally does not see killing J or his—definitely two—buddies as a murder."

Nanku stiffened and frowned.

"J was undercover with the Pure, wasn't he?" Weaver looked in the direction the girls had taken Alabaster. Through two walls where the man was calling out in his bindings while she pestered him with mosquitoes. "You're targeting the Pure? To protect me?"

"Bad bloods are bad bloods," Nanku said.

She didn't know who J was, but Nanku guessed. One of the three men she hunted on her arrival. The one with two phones, perhaps. An undercover agent operating as a bad blood, or a bad blood who'd chosen to try and redeem himself?

Both thoughts left Nanku unsettled.

The man gave up, and that was pitiful, but if he wasn't a bad blood she'd slain him on false pretenses.

"Seriously?" Tattletale shook her head. "Now you feel bad?"

Nanku chose to relent. She could clean up any mess later if needed. Information was more important while she could get it. "I didn't know."

"Most people don't kill the first—what was it, bad bloods?—they see. Never mind the irony of killing a Nazi on the grounds that his blood was bad."

What was her power? She was—Psychic.

Nanku turned her wrist quickly, the implication immediately coming to her mind.

Pe'dte and the clan. She could keep their secret through silence and small omissions of truth. But someone able to read her min—

"Whoa!" Tattletale jumped from her seat and raised both hands. "I'm not psychic!"

Nanku cocked her head to the side.

If she wanted to announce herself as a liar, then everything she said was probably untrue, and it would be—

"Seriously?"

"What?" Weaver asked as she moved between them.

"She wants to kill me"—Hellhound immediately inserted herself between Nanku and Weaver—"to protect some secret that's really important to her, and she thinks I'll read her mind."

The dogs moved, reacting to their master. Nanku directed Dusk and Dawn to do the same.

"Stop!" Weaver snapped. She pushed Tattletale back and Hellhound to the side. "Tay—Nanku. Tattletale can't read minds."

"What she gets for lying," Hellhound commented. Not that she moved out of the way.

"Nanku." Her mother turned to her. "Stop."

"You do not command me anymore."

"You're twenty years old. You're not a child. I understand. Stop. Now!"

Nanku still felt like that was an attempt to command her.

"I'm not psychic!" Tattletale insisted. "Okay? I have super intuition. Like Sherlock Holmes—How do you not know who Sherlock Holmes is?"

Nanku stared.

Super intuition? Heightened instincts?

"Yeah. That."

Nanku started to advance. "Liar."

"Slow down! It's all body language. Context clues. Putting pieces together. Especially stuff most people don't even think about!" Her eyes narrowed. "You're a bit weird, though. Foggy or something?"

"Touch her," Hellhound dared.

Nanku snarled, unsure.

"Look, here is all I know." Tattletale looked to Weaver. "She didn't survive on her own. Someone helped. I don't know who. I don't why. She's been living with them the past ten years and came back for who knows what reason."

Tattletale crossed her arms over her chest.

"And I'm not digging any deeper than that. Scout's honor."

Liar.

The door opened abruptly.

"Wow." Cassie kicked the door closed behind her. "Making progress, I see."

She carried long, flat boxes in her arms and a pair of plastic bags with bottles inside. The girl set them on the table, and the smell of something filled the air. Salt and grease.

Dusk and Dawn clapped their jaws.

The dogs wagged their tails.

Cassie pursed her lips. "Least someone appreciates me. We've got veggie. Pepperoni and mushroom. Ham and pineapples and meat lovers. And soda."

"Tea?" Tattletale asked.

"Yup." Cassie pulled a small can out from among the bottles. "Paper plates."

Nanku grabbed one of the boxes at random. "Which one?"

"Um. Meat lovers?"

Good enough.

Pulling her knife from her belt, Nanku sliced the box down the middle.

"Dusk. Dawn."

As she spoke the names, she pushed each half to opposite sides of the table and released the creatures to chase their meals. Not as good as other things, but they'd be fine. Nanku could always let them eat Alabaster for a bit. Might be worth keeping the worthless sack of blood alive if he was a useful food source.

Given how his power seemed to clean up after itself, Nanku doubted that would work, but she didn't mind trying.

The twins scrambled and snatched the boxes, which they promptly tore into.

"Nice pets," Tattletale said, taking the same chance Nanku saw to move on from business they'd settle later.

"I don't keep pets," Nanku replied.

Hellhound gave her a slight huff of approval.

"Not to be insensitive"—Cassie shirked as the twins ate—"but those aren't the bugs that killed all those kids, right?"

Nanku's eyes darted to her, and she shirked again.

"I said not to be insensitive!"

"No," her mother said firmly. "They aren't."

It was a start. Nanku would take it. "You've seen them?"

Her mother had removed her mask, and without it her face was plain. Tired and excited all at once.

"Yes," she answered. "But only in glimpses. It's the way my power works."

Nanku decided against pressing certain questions she wanted to ask. No reason to give her mother any reason to dig deeper.

"Oh?" Tattletale grabbed a slice of 'veggie' and narrowed her eyes. Unlike her mother, Tattletale had retained her meager, useless, mask. "You were so curious a moment ago."

"Those creatures were different," her mother insisted. "Though those two"—she watched Dusk and Dawn warily—"are something."

"They're mine," Nanku warned.

"Thought you didn't keep pets."

"I know what I said."

"They don't look like something Nilbog created," her mother said, with a nervous eye on Nanku.

And Nanku found herself at a sudden crossroad she'd not considered.

Her mother thought she'd avenged a dead daughter and all the others who died at the camp. She'd investigated. Found her fiend. Hunted them down. Killed them by whatever means she could. Surely, she found peace in that.

…

Her peace was a lie.

"Nilbog did not create the R'ka."

Her mother flinched, and Tattletale's brow rose.

"R'ka?"

"It means 'fire.' Their blood is acid."

Nanku always assumed that's why her family used the word, though she'd never asked. Kiande amedha. That was another word. 'Hard meat.' Though, the Yautja used that word for things that weren't the R'ka as well.

"How did you survive?" Cassie asked.

Nanku spun her knife and held her arm out. Without hesitation, she ran the blade along her skin, ignoring Cassie's shout and her mother's soft protest. She took no injury from it.

Once she'd demonstrated that, she turned the blade toward the table and dropped it.

The edge was so sharp it drove right through the table to the hilt.

Her mother blinked. "Your skin. When you cut your hand before…"

"My skin is armor," Nanku declared. She retrieved her weapon. "And I had a knife."

Her mother's expression was a maze.

Nanku's expression dropped.

She took no pleasure in shattering the woman's illusions, though she wondered if it even mattered. Weaver went after the culprit of the massacre to avenge her daughter. Taylor did die in a sense, but Nanku lived. She bore no grievance anymore.

The only grudge left to settle over the camp was her own.

And her mother was a thinker.

Nanku reached for her belt and produced the scrap of paper. "This is all I know."

She laid it out, showing the 'QC' logo.

"No." Her mother shook her head. "It was Nilbog. Who else would—"

"Bad bloods," Nanku said bluntly. "They unleashed the R'ka, but I don't know who they are except for this."

"And how did you come by this piece of evidence?" Tattletale asked.

"It was given to me."

"I'd ask more, but I'd hate to be summarily not-murdered."

"You obsessed over the camp," Nanku said. "I saw in the news on the Internet. Does this mean anything?"

Her mother looked at it, but her expression was more confused and worried than when the subject of Danny Hebert came up. Less guarded.

Nanku needed no answer. Her mother didn't know.

"You're saying,"—the woman drew a ragged breath—"the cape, or capes, who killed the kids at the camp are still out there?"

"I want them."

She took the note and pulled it back into her fist.

"Your enforcers had their chance. I will take mine, and I will solve it my way."

Her mother flinched, and Nanku realized the insult.

"Is that all?"

Hellhound scoffed and reached for one of the pizza boxes. She said nothing else. She grabbed a plate and proceeded to feed herself while the dogs watched on enviously. She wore her disinterest plainly, ignoring the looks from Tattletale, Cassie, and Weaver.

"Not that I'm above murderous revenge"—Tattletale turned back to face her—"but we can't have you running around town killing everything that catches your fancy."

"If I wanted to kill everything, you'd be dead," Nanku warned.

"How the hell is that not murder in your eyes?" The girl flinched. "Huh. You're looking at—How did you even notice?"

"I'm not stupid."

Tattletale reached into her shoe and produced a small handgun. A tiny thing. Easily the least threatening gun Nanku had ever seen.

"So what? Anyone with a weapon is fair game in your eyes? Bit of that 'he who lives by the sword dies by the sword' logic?"

"Huh." Cassie looked back. "She did demand I drop a knife earlier."

Nanku had no interest in justifying herself. She didn't expect them to understand. Humans had a self-centered perspective on the universe. They thought they were special by right. It wouldn't make any sense to them.

Nanku needed years to understand.

"Damn, you're foggy." Tattletale set the gun down casually. "Like some of your body language just doesn't translate to anything my power is looking for."

That felt like less of a lie, but Nanku didn't intend to be so easily swayed. Or distracted. "I will deal with whoever unleashed the R'ka. They're my prey, and so is who killed my father."

Her mother's brow twitched, and she repeated her previous question.

"What will you do if you find him?"

"Not murder."

"By our definition or yours?" Tattletale asked.

"You know something," Nanku accused. It was plain on the woman's face. "Tell me. I deserve to know."

Her mother's expression hardened.

"I cannot allow you to kill people because you're angry." And softened again just as fast. "I've been down that road, T—Nanku. I know where it leads."

"Is that why Iron Rain hates you?" Nanku asked. She could change the subject too. "Because you were angry?"

She flinched at the name. "That's why you grabbed Alabaster. To interrogate him."

"Sure."

Tattletale winced. "Shit."

Nanku was getting tired of seeing her react.

"Weaver. Call in. Now."

"What? Wh—"

Tattletale jumped to her feet. "Now. We need to figure out what she did."

Nanku snarled. They could simply ask, but both Thinkers took their phones and rose from the table. Her mother looked conflicted and torn. She hesitated for a moment, and Nanku wondered if she would ask.

"I should call in any way," she said. "If we go too long without calling in, the PRT starts searching the phones. They'll ask why I was here."

Nanku leaned back into her seat and waved her off.

She supposed the woman couldn't change that much, but Nanku wanted to. She restrained herself despite her anger and said nothing. She still had a few tricks, and if her mother wouldn't be honest, then Nanku would get creative.

Hellhound ate quietly, one eye watching Nanku.

The dogs watched their master enviously.

Dusk and Dawn finished their own food off and shook the grease from their jaws.

"You're not going to feed them?" Nanku asked.

"They're just begging." She paused, mid-bite. "And don't be stupid. Dogs don't eat pizza."

Dusk and Dawn ate just about anything, but their species were omnivores even on their home world. Nanku had yet to find anything they couldn't scarf down, preferences for raw meat aside.

There was a time Taylor wanted a dog. She never got her wish.

Nanku was content with her Twins.

Dusk and Dawn returned to her on their own, Dusk settling into her side while Dawn tended to her cracked shell. Nanku took the chance to inspect the wound.

Hellhound frowned. "She hurt?"

"No," Nanku answered. "How'd you know Dawn is female?"

"Looks like a bitch."

If she said so.

Nanku listened in to Tattletale and her mother's conversations. Tattletale's was hard. She was quiet. Near whispering. Her mother spoke more loudly, but most of her words were 'yes' and 'no' while someone on the other side of the phone spoke. Whoever they were, their words made her mother stiff. Tattletale took a few glances over her shoulder with a wary gaze.

Nanku scowled at her.

"So." Cassie stood stiffly. "Here we are. Again."

"I've noticed," Nanku grumbled.

The girl looked back and forth, clearly uncomfortable with the silence.

"So. If Nilbog didn't do it, who did? The camp, I mean?"

"If I knew that, I'd be where they are."

"Well, why would anyone do it? Nilbog was crazy, but if it wasn't Nilbog—"

"If I knew that, I'd know who did it!"

"Yell at her again," Hellhound warned between bites. Her one-eyed hound snarled.

Nanku met her gaze, and Dawn unfurled her wings. "Will you hit me with your good arm?"

She gave no immediate response, which Nanku found more impressive.

"But you're here for revenge?" Cassie asked with a placating wave of her hands. "Not to see your mom?"

"I don't need a mother anymore."

"You're going to need this one," Tattletale snapped.

She spun, red-faced and with her phone in one hand. "Thirty-seven. You've left thirty-seven corpses in less than forty-eight hours?!"

Her mother stiffened at the words, still listening on the phone.

Great.

When she didn't want the Enforcers to move fast, they noticed her trail—

"Oh, you're lucky as all hell"—Tattletale pointed—"they don't know it's you! Far as anyone who knows you're running around knows, you're some weirdo tinker with a stealth specialization. Not a walking arsenal of high-tech gadgets with a pair of super hornets."

…

Well, Nanku wasn't going to correct them.

"Best not." The blonde inhaled sharply. "They find out it's you, and Weaver will be powerless to run any sort of interference."

"Why would she?" Cassie asked.

Nanku's mother turned slowly.

"Of course she is," Tattletale grumbled, leering at Nanku. "The woman's not going to just hand her daughter over to a Birdcaging, no matter how many Nazis she kills."

"They're Nazis," Hellhound said bluntly.

"And maybe if she fucking stops right now we can salvage this situation for everyone before it blows up in all our faces!"

***

Think I fell behind on the crossposting. Gotta fix that >.>

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

"They think it's the Ambassadors," her mother declared. "Revenge for Accord."

"Gee," Tattletale mused. "Sure is a good thing we know they didn't do it."

They both looked at her.

The names Accord and the Ambassadors were familiar to Nanku. The Pure mentioned the former. The latter was one of the gangs in the city.

"I can call Citrine," Tattletale said. "Get the Ambassadors to lay low for a bit. It's easier than ever now that we don't have to tiptoe around Accord's many explosive trigger warnings."

"I need to go to the scene." Her mother inhaled. "I need to think of something that will convince everyone without implicating"—she stiffened—"anyone by mistake. What we need to do is make sure this doesn't explode."

Tattletale shook her head. "What we need to do is put your daughter on a leash."

"Try," Nanku warned. Dusk snarled at her side.

"We can't let her run around dropping corpses by the dozen." Tattletale ignored her completely, and Nanku didn't think she liked it. "Jesus fuck. Two days and she managed to kill Victor and three dozen Nazis, and she caught Alabaster!"

"Why can't we turn her in?" Cassie asked.

She flinched as Dawn's head turned toward her. Hellhound waved her dogs forward, and the standoff picked up across the table. Nanku still had her knife in hand.

"Because I won't allow it," her mother said firmly. Her voice shook as she spoke. Strained. "It won't happen."

"And I'm not going to go behind her back," Tattletale assured. "So here we are with a fucking mess and a need to clean it up."

She turned to Nanku.

"Stay here. Please, just stay here while I try and keep this from—" She shook her head. "Stay here."

"Going to lock the door?" Nanku asked with derision.

"It wouldn't hold you." Her mother tensed, torn and pale. Horrified and determined. "Please, Nanku. Trust me. I need to go and deal with this before it explodes into the streets."

"You don't want that," Tattletale mused.

Nanku snarled but the blonde shrugged.

"Or fine. Go out. Drop another three dozen corpses. That's what you're here for after all."

Her mother raised her head. "You want to find who murdered Danny, and you want to know the truth about the camp? So do I. But we have to deal with this first or people will die."

"A bunch of innocents being killed on account of something you did?" Tattletale gave a pointed look. "That's not very honorable."

"You talk too much," Nanku replied.

Hellhound scoffed. "Truth is truth."

"Nanku." Her mother leaned over the table. "Just stay here for tonight. Please. I need to know the damage before I can—"

Her facade broke, twisting with grief.

Nanku blinked at the expression.

She had changed. If Pe'dte learned she'd made so many kills—even meager ones—she'd be nothing but proud. Executing a raid into a den. Precision gathering of information. Her blunder with the phone produced an ambush, but she'd survived it.

Those were commendable things. Nanku was proud of them.

Annette Hebert was horrified and confused.

"Fine." Nanku laid back in her seat and busied her hands scratching Dusk. "I need sleep."

"You need a bath," Hellhound said.

"Thank you," her mother said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll go deal with Citrine." Tattletale inhaled. "That'll be fun."

Her mother turned to leave but began fiddling with her phone by the door. "I'll contact you as soon as I can."

"QC, was it?" Tattletale looked Nanku's way. "Odd set of letters. I doubt it refers to Quinn Calle."

"Who?"

"Lawyer. Couldn't possibly be related to any logo you'd want to find, but there can only be so many QC's."

Hellhound raised her head curiously and Cassie tilted hers in confusion.

"I'll make you a deal." Tattletale smiled. "Just to be nice and encourage you to be nice. Your mother's my friend, and this is one hell of a night that's going to keep going south before we right it. It really will help if you just keep quiet and wait for a bit."

She shrugged.

"You don't want to be found out anyway. Leave a trail that can be tracked to… whatever it is I'm not prying into since you're murderously intent on protecting it and I like living."

She pointed as she turned to the door.

"Play nice, and I'll see what I can find about that logo."

Nanku's brow rose. She still wasn't a fool. The girl was trying to play her, but she had tantalizing bait.

"Why?"

"Because someone massacred a camp of kids. Nazis? I ain't shedding shit for Nazis. I'm annoyed I have to deal with the mess. I'm not mourning them. But a bunch of summer camp kids? If whoever did that is still out there, fuck them too. Bitch. Keep an eye on our little hunter."

Hellhound huffed. "Not a babysitter."

"Then keep her company. It's one day. I can probably search out that logo in two or three. If that's not good enough, I'm sure 'Nanku' can find her own way out if she really wants to."

"What about Alabaster?"

Nanku started to move.

"No," Tattletale said. "Jesus. Just keep him tied up and do not let him escape. Weaver and I can get more out of him than you two. First chance we get. Not like the Pure will expect us to have him so whatever. Take the silver lining on this one."

"And it would be a lot easier if someone would restrain themselves from whatever wacky idea they have about killing Nazis."

"No."

Tattletale flinched. So did Cassie. Even Hellhound seemed surprised.

"They're trying to kill you," Nanku reminded, looking at the back of her mother's head. "They might hurt Rose. Or that man and his son. I hold no ill toward them. I don't want you dead."

The woman turned slowly.

"Tell me how to find Iron Rain."

The reactions were stark.

Tattletale and Hellhound both piqued with immediate interest.

Her mother paled.

"No," she said. "I won't tell you."

"She wants you dead, not the Pure."

"She's not wrong," Hellhound said bluntly.

Nanku narrowed her eyes. "Or I can find her myself."

"No."

Her mother blew past Tattletale and came at her with enough speed Nanku thought she might try going through the table. She didn't. She stopped at the edge and leaned forward onto her knuckles. She met Nanku's eyes fiercely and repeated the word.

"No. Rain is my problem and I'll deal with her. You don't know what's going on and you are going to stay right here while I sort this out so it doesn't blow back on you."

"Why do you care?" Nanku asked.

Tattletale jumped in while Weaver stared silently.

"Because your mom saved my damned life and I owe her," she said while waving her mother off. "And she'll probably let you kill half the city before she gives you up since she isn't thinking with her head right now."

Her mother left in a hurr, and Nanku was sad to see her go. That was another surprise. She also didn't get the answers to any of her questions.

One day, she told herself. Just one day.

She'd strike back out on her own if need be. A solid idea for getting into the police building had come to her and she could search their records for the information she needed.

Yet, something in her mother's tone left her curious.

She knew something.

About her father, at least.

Tattletale let her annoyance and anger slip onto her face.

"So shut up. Sit down. And wait right here where Bitch can keep an eye on you until we clean up your mess."

~ ~ ~

Nanku stood under the water and thought.

She was certain she hated Tattletale.

Something about her was smug and condescending, and she thought she was clever. When she thought she couldn't be clever she tried to be 'truthful' but something about it left a sour taste in Nanku's mouth.

She offered much but didn't seem the type to keep to her word. Helping tracking down the logo would be useful. It was why she came, and Nanku had hit dead ends in trying.

And her mother.

Her mother, who was no longer pointing guns at her head or denying who she was. Nanku wanted to talk to her. They weren't done yet. There was still her father, and Rose too.

She couldn't do any of that if some Nazi got a good ambush or line on her and fired.

Nanku inhaled and turned the water off.

Hellhound's 'home' lacked the charm of the Bakeman's den. The water was lukewarm rather than hot. The shower was a concrete alcove in a cold undecorated concrete room rather than a comfortable tiled space. It smelled of bleach and dust. The sink was a trough and the mirror was tarnished at the edges.

It worked well enough. Nanku wondered if she'd spoiled herself a bit too much.

Dusk and Dawn followed her from the bath, both shaking their bodies from head to toe and rapidly beating their wings.

Nanku waited until they finished to grab a towel. She dried herself first and then directed the Twins to hold their wings out. Water didn't hurt their shells, but their wings could gunk up if not dried after getting wet.

She took her time, sliding the towel along each sheet of veiny flesh.

They liked the exercise, treating it as a particularly pleasant sort of soft scratching.

Nanku gave their wings a twice-over just because.

She checked Dawn's side. The chitin bulged but the crack was sealed and already healing. Their species was tough and spongy inside. She'd seen them take and endure worse wounds.

There was yet an ache in her mind that echoed into Nanku's. "You'll be fine in a day or two."

Dawn chittered and Nanku let her scurry around to her back.

Hellhound stood in the doorway. She'd removed her jacket, fully exposing the injury on her shoulder and the pink bandages covering it. At her side, the one-eyed dog—Angelica—snarled. Dawn snarled back, posturing herself with her talons out, and her wings spread wide and fluttering.

Dusk moved behind her, barring the way toward Nanku as she wrung her hair out.

"Well trained," Hellhound said.

"Smart bugs," Nanku replied.

She'd maintained a constant sweep of her swarm over the surrounding block. Eyes, small legs, and shaking wings in every shadow, crevice, and corner. Watching. Waiting.

If her mother or Tattletale planned to betray her, they'd not set it in motion yet.

Nanku sat and pulled her armor back on. She wrapped her chest first and then her waist. She slipped her breastplate on. Guards. Boots. Gauntlets. Her weapons went into their places one by one.

Hellhound watched the entire time but spoke only as Nanku grabbed a large piece near the end of her exercise.

"What's that?"

Instinct, Nanku thought. Hellhound's were good.

"Nothing."

A small arm rose up on her backpiece, and Nanku fit the device to the arm. It spun around, folded down, and locked into place. It wasn't her favorite weapon, but she'd earned it.

Hellhound pursed her lips. "What's your power?"

"Guess."

Nanku took her mask and fit it to her belt.

If her previous experience were a guide, her mother and Tattletale would be absent for hours. There was still Alabaster to deal with. Sitting idle wasn't her preference. Neither was having 'allies.' Not those outside the clan.

Even in the clan, her closest association besides Pe'dte were the other young bloods her age. The ones she'd trained and come up with. Their attitudes varied, but she thought of most as being friends at the least. Sometimes tense friends with reservations, but they all knew one another and there was respect between them.

They were family.

So was her mother, but the Undersiders…

Nanku shook her head.

She'd go back to the Bakeman's and observe. Alabaster showed up at the den she raided. Another Nazi might go looking for their missing men and 'Victor.' That was one of the Pure's capes, and Alabaster mentioned 'Othala.' They might go looking again and if they did and noticed her mother—

Hellhound's arm barred her way. "No."

Nanku met her eyes.

She didn't budge, blink, or flinch.

Maybe she'd get to kill her after all.

"Move."

Hellhound offered no answer.

Fine.

Nanku jerked her shoulder and Hellhound—rather than respond—clapped her in the nose.

The blow hurt only slightly, and Nanku shook off the daze quickly.

She was surprised.

Hellhound grabbed her arm and threw her back into the room. Nanku threw a foot back and braced herself, slipping her arm around Hellhound's. She pulled, twisting until the auburn-haired girl's back struck the wall.

Angelica barked loudly and the Twin scurried to intercept her.

"Stop!"

Cassie stomped her foot and threw a handful of something.

The bits clattered against Nanku and one struck in the eye before scattering to the floor. Angelica jerked and quickly snatched one of the pieces up. Dusk and Dawn tasted at them, and then joined the dog in sucking the kibble up one at a time.

Cassie glared, her different-colored eyes sharp and focused.

She pulled a large bag from her feet and reached a hand inside. "I've got more where that came from!"

Angelica, Dusk, and Dawn jerked their heads up.

"I—I would I mean." Cassie moved the bag awkwardly behind her back. "If I had any."

The trio returned to slurping the kibbles from the floor.

"And you two!" Cassie's eyes turned back on them. "Stop fighting! I'm not explaining it to TT or Weaver!"

"You let her talk to you that way?" Nanku asked dryly.

"She can say what she wants," Hellhound replied.

"I will!" Cassie replied. She pointed at Hellhound. "Because you need someone to hit you in the back of the head sometimes"—her finger drifted to Nanku—"and you keep killing people! Stop killing people!"

"Why?"

Cassie blinked and Hellhound tilted her head.

Nanku backed away. The silence didn't surprise her, and she didn't care.

"Why?" Cassie asked back. "Because—What?"

"You're not going," Hellhound said as Nanku tried to get around Angelica. "If they see you, it'll be trouble for Weaver."

Nanku stopped.

She wanted to say they wouldn't see her… but that would be a lie. The sheer number of capes who'd somehow found her location or been aware of her presence was infuriating. But it was true.

Why Youngbloods weren't allowed to hunt on Earth anymore.

The cloak was not perfect. It was just a tool, and many young hunters relied on it far too much. Nanku liked to think she wasn't one of them, but that obviously wasn't true. If she'd made better use of cover and distance, she could have obscured herself better.

Something to keep in mind.

"I'll be—"

"No!" Cassie threw another handful of kibble at her. "Stay!"

Dusk, Dawn, and Angelica followed the food and Nanku snarled.

Cassie reached into the bag for another handful. "Stay."

Maybe she wasn't so weak after all.

"Why not?" Hellhound asked.

Nanku didn't look away from Cassie. "Why not what?"

"Why not not kill people."

Nanku scoffed.

"Life is life. Death is death. None are any more special than the rest. Those that survive survive."

***

Quick breather chapter and on to the next arc. Where Nanku has to deal with the most dangerous prey of all.

Family. And Nazis. Probably both.

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

The house was a burned wreck.

Blackened timbers, shattered glass, and everything was wet. The fire department was still packing up as she pulled onto the curbside. The neighborhood was wooded with long stretches between houses. Lots of cover from the road.

That was a start.

Annette didn't want anyone to ask why she'd been with Lisa most of the night. Everyone knew about Weaver and Tattletale working together, though most didn't know Tattletale had co-opted the name 'Coil' to operate with. Best they weren't seen together regardless. For propriety.

They'd gotten adept at swapping cars, phones, and even pants the one bizarre time that became relevant.

It had been a weird weekend.

The street was flush with sirens and vehicles. Police, PRT, and crime scene teams. More than one. That was never a good sign. The troopers stopped her as she drove up but once she rolled the window down they waved her through.

A small crowd had gathered at the edges of the police line. Neighbors and passersby. Some in bathrobes or nightgowns. The neighborhood was upscale and they still looked overdressed. Most gathered at the driveway of a large house, opposite a smoking wreck.

Pulling her car into the driveway, Annette stopped the vehicle and looked around.

The house was probably nice and large. The remains certainly were. Only a single wall yet stood. The roof had collapsed inward and took the other three walls with it. Shards of glass and splinters of wood were all blackened and a mist of ash hung in the air.

Whatever inferno engulfed the place was fast and wild.

Annette had seen her share of fires over the years.

Firemen and CSI swept over the ruin with troopers patrolling the woods. They were heavily armed. Someone authorized the opening of the armory.

Curtz.

Damn gun nut. The last thing Brockton Bay needed.

Annette pushed her door open and Weaver stepped out.

The overseers of the investigation both turned.

"What are you doing here?" Sam blinked behind Battery's mask in surprise. "I thought we were—"

"Not every night has this many bodies," Annette said plainly. "Commander."

"Ma'am." Commander Prince nodded to her but offered no further courtesy. Not his style.

He went right into explanations.

"Lots of bodies. At least twenty. Maybe more." He nodded toward the firemen. "They're still digging through. Whoever set the fire gathered all the corpses together before lighting it."

She kept herself as passive and calm as normal, thankful for the mask on her face. "Purposefully set?"

"Looks like. The gas was left on. Some kind of accelerant. My hunch. Still waiting on the fire marshal."

"I'll figure it out," Annette said. "Get me to one of the bodies?"

"Slow down." Battery took her arm and pulled Annette aside. "You shouldn't be here. You know the Pure will send someone to look about. If they see you—"

"Can't ignore this," Annette said firmly. "There haven't been this many killings in one night in years."

"That's not—You can't be here. If Rain shows up it'll be chaos."

"I'll be quick. Call Dauntless and Laserdream if you want to be sure. We have to get ahead of this before it explodes. Rain might want me but the Pure want the city and they'll respond to this."

Battery grimaced, uncertain but swaying.

"It's what? Three dozen bodies in forty-eight hours? Someone's going on a rampage and we have to know who and why."

Sam shook her head. "Fine. Fine, you've convinced me. Let's just be quick."

Annette nodded and bit the inside of her cheek.

Truthfully she didn't know what she was doing.

But she wasn't going to let the Protectorate come down like a hammer on Taylor. Not yet. Not until—Not until she knew what to do. How to feel.

It wasn't ending like this. Not again.

Annette took a deep breath and turned back to Prince to repeat her request. "One of the bodies?"

He nodded and marched off. Vehicles had already arrived to carry the bodies away for examination. One of them might be a cape. Was a cape, Annette realized. Victor. If they sent Alabaster here they sent him with someone and that someone had to be Victor.

Annette waited, hands on her hips while others moved around her.

The scent of smoke lingered in the air.

She killed them, and then she set a fire to cover her tracks. She was obscuring herself. Trying to hide what she could do and how she did it. That was the act of someone with experience killing.

Annette wanted to cry at the thought.

When did Taylor become a killer?

"Here." Prince returned with two men and a gurney. "Pretty sure it was Victor."

Damn.

"If Victor was here, so was Alabaster or Othala," Battery said. "Alabaster might still be trapped in the debris. Or he stalked off."

"We're ready." Prince nodded. "Sentries watching the roads in and out. We'll get advance warning if anyone rolls up."

Annette moved to the gurney and faced the black body bag.

It was hung partially open, exposing a charred skeletal corpse with an obvious and brutal wound.

"What did that?" she asked.

"Some kind of blade," one of the men with the gurney said. "Can't say for sure yet. Looks like it entered here"—he pointed under the jaw—"and came out the back of the skull."

"Puncture wound in the side too," the other man noted. "We'll know more after an autopsy."

Annette nodded and breathed deeply. "I won't be long."

She focused her power and let the wind blow around her. The colors took shape, twisting into images before her.

Annette didn't look away.

The scenes were quick and brutal. Flashes of motion. The men were killed one by one. Quickly.

She—Taylor—tore through them like butter. Victor died first, killed as he spoke. The men around him followed one after the other. Dispatched by a shrouded figure they couldn't see but held no hesitation as it ripped and tore them apart.

That was some of the bodies.

The others were less clear.

Dragged, Annette realized. Killed outside and dragged here.

She followed the wind, letting the images play out as her feet carried her. In the woods. Assailed from all directions. They fired wildly at first. What faces Annette saw were confused. Uncertain. Afraid. Then long scything claws cut into them. Sheared flesh from bone while teeth gnashed and snapped.

Dusk and Dawn.

Annette didn't see them clearly, but—

Just like the summer camp. It's just like the camp. Evidence erased enough my power can't find anything.

She started from one side of the house in the woods and killed her way across to the other side. The car along the street was all blood and bits inside. Pieces of guns that had been broken in two by strong jaws.

Annette came to a stop at the window, watching as the images of Dusk and Dawn climbed inside and attacked.

Where did they come from? Where did Taylor find them?! She couldn't be a bio-tinker, could she? The rest of her equipment was material. Simple. Knives and spears. Blades. Annette got more than a look at how easily they cut. Those weapons were tinker-tech. No commercial metals cut like that while appearing to be nothing more than metal.

If she made Dusk and Dawn, then where did she get her weapons? Toybox?

"Anything?" Battery asked.

"It was fast," Annette said. Too fast. "It didn't last long."

How on Earth did Taylor manage to kill all those men one after the other without any of them responding to the gunshots of the others? Annette thought back, tracing the steps of the fight.

It started in the house. If it started in the house why did the others wait outside? There was no sign of Taylor in the woods. Only Dusk and Dawn. Had she killed all those men with just those two creatures while she disabled the men inside?

Were those creatures so lethal?

"We think this is related to the attack last night?" Annette asked.

"Maybe." Battery looked about. "Be weird for two different capes to enact brutal attacks on the Pure two nights in a row for completely unrelated reasons, right?"

Right.

Taylor did it for her. To protect her.

But dear god, Aster didn't deserve to die. She wasn't a villain. She was a child in a woman's body, twisted and turned into someone else's tool. She needed saving, not slaying.

But what to do? What did Annette do?

"What did you see?" Battery asked.

Prince came up behind her with a pair of troopers. Both were armed and he waved them to flank Annette. Protective old fool.

It was time to lie.

And it needed to be a good one.

"Two assailants," Annette said. Dusk and Dawn inflicted the same injuries. "One in the woods and one in the house. They must have lured the Pure here somehow. Set an ambush for them."

"Took out the snipers first?" Price asked.

"Yes. Then moved into the house and swept through the woods."

"Powers?"

Annette bit the inside of her cheek. "Blades of some kind for one. Strike power maybe. Stabbing wounds and cutting."

That wouldn't hold.

She knew it wouldn't. Not in the way she needed it too. Dusk and Dawn bit into some of the men. Even burned, an ME would notice the wounds.

Fortunately, Annette didn't think anyone had seen those creatures yet. There was no reason to associate them with Taylor. That's what she needed to keep from happening.

At least until she figured out what to do.

Shit.

What were they going to do with Alabaster? He'd definitely seen Taylor.

"Had to be retaliation for the attack last night," Battery added.

"Not necessarily." Price crossed his arms over his chest. "The house could have been a target and attacked just the same."

"Awfully far away."

Annette nodded. "Who lives here?"

"Bakeman George and Bakeman John," Price recited. "They're on vacation with their children. One adopted. One by a previous marriage by George to his former wife. Should be back soon according to the neighbors."

"House burned down by some cape to kill a bunch of Nazis." Battery sighed. "That'll suck."

"Worse ways to lose a home," one of the troopers mumbled.

"Only good Nazi," the other agreed.

"Enough of that," Price said cooly.

"Sir."

"Sir."

"We'll need to have someone ready to let the Bakemans know their house is gone." Annette raised her head toward the remains of the home. "Any connection between the Bakemans and the Pure? Other neo-Nazi groups?"

"None so far," Price said. "Basement mostly survived the fire. No secret Hitler museum or anything like that."

"They are gay," Battery pointed out.

"So was Ernst Rohm," Annette recalled. "The world is full of contradictions. Just check and be sure. Probably more likely the Pure were planning to ambush the Bakemans on their return. Maybe our vigilante intervened on their behalf."

Better a violent, murderous, hero, than a wild animal. Wild animals were put down when possible. Especially when they were parahumans.

"Protective detail?" Battery asked.

"Let the police handle it. That's their job."

"Any chance this is someone local?" Price asked. "Ambassadors?"

Battery nodded. "The Pure did kill Accord."

"Didn't look like Ambassadors to me, but maybe some of our contacts can confirm."

Those around her turned quiet.

They all knew what 'contacts' meant in context.

The Undersiders, Tattletale in particular.

"Burning the building down isn't really any of their styles," Annette added. "That's a touch. Someone who wanted to cover their tracks and cover them well."

At least there was that.

Annette's DNA was on file with the PRT. If they tested any evidence from Taylor, it would all ping her as Weaver's daughter. The fire would have destroyed hair or blood. There was some tinker-tech that could work with that but no one would use it for this.

"I'll do another check." Annette turned back to the house, intent on being sure she'd covered everything. "I'll be quick and gone before any more Nazis show up."

Battery nodded eagerly. "Before they blame you for this too."

~ ~ ~

"Uh-huh." Aisha turned the knife in her hand. "Uh-huh."

"Aisha."

"I'm listening, TT. Calm your tits."

"Just keep an eye on them, and if they do anything stupid, tell me."

"Right. Right."

"I mean it. The last thing we need is either of them—heaven forbid both of them—to go running off Nazi hunting."

Aisha wasn't sure she could rightly disapprove of Nazi hunting. The racist pricks certainly deserved it more than whatever innocent deer or rabbit hunters normally ran down. Stupid jerks killing cute woodland animals.

"What do you want me to do exactly?" Aisha asked. "Bitch is Bitch, and whoever is Weaver's kid. Don't exactly want to pay the chick back by stabbing her daughter."

"You wouldn't be able to anyway. She's a grab bag or something. Minor brute power. The tech is something she knows how to work. There's something weird about those bugs of hers too."

Aisha looked over to where both the giant hornet-looking monsters were happily chowing down on milk and dog kibble. Right next to Bitch's dogs.

"Yeah," Aisha agreed. "That's a mystery."

Lisa sighed. "What are they doing now?"

"Let me check." Aisha leaned over and poked her head through the door. "Hey, what you guys up to in there?"

Inside, one of the side offices attached to the kennel, Cassie fiddled with a remote. Two of Bitch's guys had shown up with a truck full of boxes and supplies. The most important of which—in Aisha's opinion—they were positioned against the wall while Bitch sat to the side and watched.

Weaver's daughter sat around the corner just beyond the door. Out of sight of the men moving the TV into place. It was a big TV. Probably expensive because Bitch would steal for her dogs but she always paid for herself for some reason. Though Aisha supposed stealing a TV that big would be something of a challenge.

The girl with the dreads paid the process of mounting it no mind.

And yet, something seemed off.

Aisha crouched down and watched the girl's face curiously.

She rested a cheek against one hand. The other twirled a knife between her fingers. With practice.

"A knife girl, huh?" Aisha nodded. "I can respect that."

Not that the girl could hear her.

As far as superpowers went, Aisha would have preferred something cooler, but the power she had was good. Useful in all the right ways. Not to mention safe. So long as she didn't get herself knocked unconscious in the middle of a road. Or a nuclear test site.

"Welp. Welcome to Brockton Bay I guess. Home of the Badgers, which is the lamest team name ever but—"

The knife swiped and Aisha jumped back with a yelp.

The girl's eyes looked about, searching even as the blade missed. They kept looking, uncertain and wary. That was a look Aisha knew well. She was something of a people watcher after all.

"Aisha?" Lisa called. "Aisha, what—"

"Yeah." Aisha raised the phone and took a few steps back. "She's definitely a grab bag. Sigh."

"You could just sigh instead of saying it."

"Less amusing. How long am I staying here watching the white girl with dreads?"

Lisa's answer didn't come fast. Aisha knew that habit. It was never a good sign for her.

"Until we figure out what the hell we're going to do with her."

***

I like writing Aisha. Never got to use her in Trailblazer as much as I wanted to. probably suffer the same fate too but I'll take my joys where I can. Annette is off running interference. Tattletale is probably nursing a headache.

Nanku is secretly happy Rachel has a big TV

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

So Trailblazer has something like 170k words in random side stories, snips and goof scenes I wrote for fun but those never made it off Spacebattles because there's so many of them (and they don't fit clearly chronologically so...). I wanted to avoid that with this fic and fortunately the one off scenes I wrote for Little Hunter actually come together chronologically in a way that makes sense.

Doing Nothing at All

Ten Years Ago

"There's been an incident," Doctor Mother announced. "The pyramid activated."

Around the room, her cohorts tensed, frowned, and looked on warily.

"What did they want?" Rebecca asked.

"Us to stay out of their business. As usual."

David scoffed and shook his head. "Who are we letting them murder this time?"

A stupid, rhetorical, question. The hunters never called to say why they were stopping by. If those who did even know that Cauldron had a line of communication to the Council of Elders. Contessa had determined enough about the Yautja to know they bore no government. Not as a species. Their family groups and clans went about their own affairs with only a feeble council operating as anything akin to a leading body.

"I don't think it's about that." She brought up the notebook she'd hastily scrawled some text on. "I've tried to grab what I can but the Chief Director of the PRT might need to get involved to be sure."

Rebecca twitched, her normally stoic demeanor broken by a flash of recognition. "This is about the incident earlier tonight, isn't it?"

"What incident?" Keith asked.

"A UFO. I've been keeping track ever since you-know-what."

He nodded grimly. The incident with Hero still loomed large on all their thoughts, as did the poor soul they'd sacrificed to the Nine to hide the truth.

"UFO where?" David asked.

"Over Africa. The detection was brief. Chalked up to a system error because it vanished in a blink."

Keith frowned. "What does that mean?"

"According to the Elders, one of their ships has crashed."

All three of the Triumvirate started. "There's Yautja technology just laying around for any warlord to grab?"

"Not for long." Reading on, Doctor Mother explained, "The Council is sending their own 'Enforcers' to clean up the mess. They say the hunters aboard the ship are criminals who have 'dangerous prey' in their possession."

David shook his head. "Figures."

"No." Fortuna looked over, her face uncharacteristically pale. "The paths are shifting. Significantly."

Doctor Mother nodded. "This isn't a warning to stay away."

"It's not?" Keith asked in surprised.

"No. They're telling us to be ready for a potential outbreak."

David rose to his feet. "Outbreak of what?"

"Something called 'R'ka.' They didn't explain."

"We should-"

"No." Fortuna's voice was firm and calmer than she looked. "Let the hunters handle this. Any interference on our part only makes things worse."

"So there's a ship that crashed into Africa carrying something that is extremely dangerous," Keith grumbled, "something the Yautja keep around on purpose, and that is so bad they actually bothered to send us a warning about it?"

When he put it like that, Doctor Mother shared a glance with Fortuna and paled herself.

That sounded like exactly the sort of mess that forged the treaty with the Elders in the first place. A world ending sort of event.

"Contessa?" Rebecca asked.

"We need to do nothing. The world doesn't end, but anything we might do complicates the paths."

"You're sure?" David asked.

"Yes. Whoever these 'enforcers' are, they are going to succeed in their mission."

"A team to scuttle the ship," Rebecca guessed. "Clean up the mess and..."

"And any witnesses," David concluded.

Rebecca nodded grimly.

And getting any of their own people involved, or anyone else, only created a crumb trail of more witnesses that the 'enforcers' might decide to clean up.

"The situation will be contained?" Doctor Mother asked.

Fortuna nodded grimly. "Yes. No significant consequences from this event if we let it play out as is."

"Great." David shook his head. "Doing nothing again."

Doctor Mother left him to stew.

Sometimes, doing the right thing meant doing absolutely nothing at all.


Stargazer

Taylor waved her hand over the door and wanted to scream.

It wouldn't open.

She was so much smaller than everyone else the door literally couldn't recognize anyone was standing in front of it and it wouldn't open. Because it wouldn't open, the hall remained dark and quiet. Barely lit by some light strips set into the ribbing that lined the corridor like the inside of a weird skeleton. It was hot, and wet, and weird sounds and rumbles shook through the deck.

Taylor felt like she'd lose her mind.

If she could just get the door to—

The sound of clicking and guttural growls echoed from behind her.

Taylor froze, her entire body going rigid. She didn't hear anyone. The deck was quiet. But it was always quiet. Despite the giant monster's sheer size, they were so incredibly quiet. Except when they wanted someone to know something was there.

She felt the shadow fall over her more than anything.

Taylor turned, eyes looking up at the massive figure of the giant. She thought it was a woman but she honestly couldn't tell.

The face was scary, an animalistic visage with mandibles around a toothy mouth absent lips. She was missing two of the mandibles on one side of her face, and it made her look even scarier. Her eyes were soft though. Oddly gentle, compared to the rest of her.

"Pe'dte," Taylor whimpered.

It was the only word she'd learned thus far, and only because she'd realized it was the giant's name. She couldn't say it quite like all the other giants, but Pe'dte seemed to recognize her name regardless.

She looked at the door and then back down at Taylor.

With a single step, she moved closer and the passage opened. Taylor turned, eyes going wide as starlight flooded the chamber. She'd only seen it once before. They'd made her stand on a big stool for some reason while Pe'dte and others said a bunch of words. There had been shouting and pointing, and at least one of the other giants had tried to lunge at her.

Pe'dte intervened and struck that one so hard his bone popped out of his skin.

Taylor hadn't really known what the argument was about. She was scared, but the windows in the room...

She went close enough to touch one but didn't put her hands on the glass. A thousand lights danced in an endless night, flowing on ribbons of bright color. Part of her knew she was looking at space and that she was on a ship, but it hadn't fully registered yet.

Taylor just knew this wasn't her house. Mom hadn't locked all the doors. She hadn't refused to let her go outside. Didn't remind her for the millionth time the world was a dangerous place and they had to be careful.

As if she hadn't figured that out on her own.

The door closed and Pe'dte moved to sit on one of the benches and watch her.

She didn't know when she fell asleep.

She woke up briefly, laid across Pe'dte's lap. Her head hung, eyes closed as slow breaths passed her mouth. The giantess had moved from the bench to sit by the window, tucking Taylor into her lap as she did and covering her with a warm hide with stripes on the outside.

Cautiously, Taylor closed her tiny hand around one of Pe'dte's large, clawed fingers. She looked out the window again at the stars. And she closed her eyes to sleep.


Size Matters Not

"She's small," Rhark growled.

"And?" Pe'dte asked back.

The older hunter made a noise deep in his throat. "I wouldn't want her to get hurt."

Nanku was still learning the words, but she was eleven. Not stupid. Even aliens had sarcasm. Apparently.

Pe'dte stepped forward and snarled behind her mask. Nanku's eyes widened. She'd only recognized Pe'dte was big compared to her. A giant in every sense of the word. Standing by Rhark, another giant, she loomed even larger.

Rhark held his ground. For about five seconds.

Then he made another gruff noise and turned away.

Pe'dte huffed and crouched. Nanku stood stiffly as the woman checked her armor. It was all newly forged, a replacement for her first set she'd already grown out of in the past year.

"If he gives you trouble, say nothing." Pe'dte tugged on a strap and then tightened it. "He misses his nephews."

Nanku frowned. She didn't really know Pe'dte sons. She'd met them for all of a few minutes as—As the night came to an end. None of them survived.

"Size doesn't matter, Nanku. Hunting is a test of skill. Muscles are the male's obsession."

Nanku was glad she had a basic training mask over her face.

Hearing the largest hunter in the whole clan say size didn't matter seemed silly. She definitely had more muscle than some of the males too.

"Don't believe me?"

Nanku didn't say no.

Pe'dte clicked her mandibles a few times against the back-face of her mask.

"It is not about size," she said. "It is about intent. Plant your feet. Do not speak, but do not bow. Make it clear that you will not be perturbed. You earned your place here. You have nothing to prove, daughter."

At the last word, Nanku shifted uneasily.

The feelings around 'daughter' were... complicated.

Fixing the tracker to her arm like the other children, Pe'dte stood and pushed Nanku forward. "Go. There is no hiding from the world."

She walked away to join the other watching elders and Nanku turned to the other children her age.

Which seemed like a joke when Khrass and Griv were both twice her size.

They looked at her, heads tilted.

Nanku wanted to step back. Retreat. Gain some distance.

But Pe'dte's words rattled about her head.

She planted her feet, held her head high, and stared forward.

Khrass laughed.

Nanku's shoulders remained stiff.

Then they turned and started walking.

"You are small though," Khrass said.

"Really, really, small," Griv agreed.

"Maybe she can be bait. Stick her out in the open and let the Jask go after her."

Nanku scowled behind her mask. "Maybe I'll get the kill while you hide in the bushes."

They looked at each other and Nanku grimaced. She wasn't supposed to say anything! Five seconds and she'd already messed it up! Such a simple instruct—

Khrass laughed again. "Tiny with heart?"

Griv shrugged and turned to follow Rhark into the woods. "Tiny with a big mouth."

Nanku pouted.

"Fine." Khrass pushed a fist against her shoulder and nearly knocked Nanku off her feet. He froze a moment, seemingly surprised as she caught herself and barely avoided falling. "Guess the Jask wouldn't see it coming. Surprise is a good weapon."

Griv shook his head and turned away.

Khrass made some noises Nanku couldn't follow. Sometimes there were sounds that were words, but she didn't know they were words.

"Come then." The boy turned and started after Griv. "Before Rhark scolds us for dawdling."

Nanku stared, unsure if that was good or bad.

Neither?

Resisting the urge to look back and find Pe'dte in the crowd, she took the first step.

"Under the jaw," Khrass said.

Nanku raised her head.

He looked down at her awkwardly, like he didn't know how to talk to someone so small. He pointed at his throat.

"Stab under the jaw. Their hides are softer there."

"Huh?"

"The Jask. When you try to stab it."

Oh. "Okay."

"Don't get eaten... Though, if you do, it won't be hard to carry the pieces back. You are tiny."

Nanku was growing tired of hearing that word. "I wouldn't trouble you."

Khrass cocked his head.

"There wouldn't be anything to carry," she said. "Because I'm small."

He chuckled. "Tiny with big mouth and heart."

Nanku would be fifteen before she realized that was a compliment.


The Duel

"No."

The moment the word left her mouth, Rhark's hand slammed into the side of her head and sent Nanku spinning into the wall.

The blow rattled. Her bones arched and her skin throbbed.

"Elder!" Khrass spun, looking toward Pe'dte at the back of the chamber.

Nanku knew better.

She picked the fight. She forced Rhark to either strike her or lose all face. Pe'dte would not step in short of her adoptive uncle trying to kill her.

That was fine.

Nanku didn't expect her to.

She shook her head and pushed herself off the wall. Her vision still spun as she started back toward the giant older hunter. The one as responsible for her training as Pe'dte.

Nanku didn't want to fight him.

But as he reached for the kennel, Nanku swallowed and charged, running at him. Rhark shot his elbow back, aiming directly at her forehead. Nanku ducked.

Rhark trained her.

But they'd fought plenty.

Releasing the blades on her wrist, Nanku stabbed the elder in the back of his leg. He roared, spinning around and swiping his own blades toward her shoulder. Nanku didn't dodge. She stepped forward, turning her torso at an awkward angle.

The blades struck her skin and slid. The force of the thrust drew blood and pain spiked through her mind. Her toughened flesh cut shallow. Shallower than Rhark expected.

He snarled the moment Nanku rammed her fist into his throat and she followed the blow by stabbing her wrist blades into his armpit. The arm fell limp and she readied another strike when Rhark's foot crushed into ehr chest and threw her into the air. She hit the deck with her back, all air knocking from her lungs. She slid until her head cracked against the wall and Nanku was still shaking the bleariness away when she rolled.

Rhark roared, stomping after her as she strained to get enough distance to escape.

Nanku got onto her hands and knees and scramble. Rhark hook her stomach with his foot and started to kick her again.

The swarm flew into his face and started biting.

The ship was clean. Comparatively. There were few bugs. Little she could rely on. But what was there was tough enough to survive extermination, and their teeth were sharp.

Rhark shook his head and swiped at the air, and Nanku spun on her knee.

There was no such thing as 'underhanded' in a test of life and death. A duel wasn't that, but it was treated as one.

She felt no shame shoving her elbow into Rhark's crotch and following the blow with her knee.

Rhark gave a wailing squawking sound and Nanku relented as he fell. She drew the bugs back, sending them scurrying into the deck and hiding them nearby. She stepped over the giant. Twice her size. Three times her weight.

She placed her foot on his throat and snarled.

Normally, Rhark would give a sign of yielding, but she thought him dazed enough it was unnecessary.

She stumbled back, looking around the room as two dozen others watched on. Some murmured but none moved to continue the challenge.

Nanku won.

She stopped.

She won.

The shock left her stunned but she stumbled toward the kennel regardless.

She was accustomed to being watched, but always under a silent and judgmental gaze. She knew the truth. The clan tolerated her, as much as anything. because they respected and honored Pe'dte.

It felt different with Rhark on his back behind her. He was bigger than her. Older than her. Stronger than her. He shouldn't have lost. He wasn't that old. Nanku thought one of the watching hunters might object to her use of her power but if they did they didn't speak it. She wondered if they'd come around to her argument that it was no different than any other 'smart' weapon a hunter might use. The smart disks or the biomask. The plasma caster. She controlled the bugs directly by her own will.

She didn't 'train' them to do the work for her.

Maybe they'd simply grown tired of arguing with her about it when none felt strongly enough to do anything about it. Until now. Perhaps they considered the duel, however informal, final. Rhark challenged. Nanku responded. Nanku won.

The matter was settled.

Still, best to move to her own room where things would-

"Nanku!" Khrass' warning stunned her again.

Nanku turned slowly, freezing in place as Rhark aimed a knife for her heart.

Pe'dte's hand caught his wrist and in a single wrenching twist, she snapped his arm in half. Rhark roared and Pe'dte roared back. When he tried to punch her, she took it and kicked his knee so hard the leg snapped too.

Rhark dropped and Pe'dte snarled as she moved between him and Nanku.

Rhark started shouting. Nanku ignored his words, hurrying to the kennel and collecting her prizes. Rhark was still shouting as two others came forward, head bowed toward Pe'dte, and collected the wounded hunter. They lifted him with little care or concern and dragged his broken limbs out of the room to one of the medical chambers on the ship.

Nanku would avoid him for the next few days.

The crowd dispersed. Some descended the ramp down to the planet and turned for the landing field where small ships waited to ferry them elsewhere. Others returned inside. Some went back to training.

Khrass and the other youngbloods her age lingered, most watching from a distance. Jaska and Houri, the only females her age who bothered to give Nanku any 'kind' words, went around Pe'dte.

Jaska looked at Nanku's shoulder and scoffed. "Shallow."

"Reckless," Pe'dte warned. "He did not yield."

"He lost," Nanku insisted.

Attacking her from behind and aiming for a death blow was cowardly. It wasn't a fight to the death. Those had to be declared. Not sprung on someone from a prone position on the ground.

Nanku pondered the oddity of that.

The rules of dules were not the same as the rules of hunting. She'd have to ask Pe'dte why. She'd never given it much thought before.

"Never assume," Pe'dte warned. "No foe is vanquished until you vanquish them, or they surrender."

Nanku nodded and collected her prizes from the kennel.

Jaska and Houri leaned closer, looking curiously at what the fuss had been about.

Nanku held them to her chest, unconcerned by their sharp limbs or tiny teeth. They were little larger than her hand, with undersized wings and long taloned limbs. Their eyes were sharp, and they looked back and forth while their stomachs roiled.


Still Doing Nothing

Ten Years Later

"Another Yautja ship is entering orbit," Rebecca reported. "They passed Jupiter a few days ago."

"Where are they going?" David asked.

"The ship is vectoring to avoid the Simurgh, as they always do. That makes it a bit hard to know exactly where any shuttles or pods will touch down."

"Contessa?" Doctor Mother asked.

Fortuna shrugged. "No-"

"What?" Kieth asked.

"Nothing. Same as usual. The ship will touch down in the Americas and only briefly."

"That's a violation of the treaty," David said.

"Not technically," Rebecca reminded. "We told them we'd intervene in any hunt in the Americas, and they told us we were welcome to try."

"We won't intervene," Contessa said. "Things go smoothest without our direct involvement."

"The usual then," Keith concluded.

David grumbled. "I know, I know. We do nothing at all."

***

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

It was a simple game.

Nanku loosened her hold and Dusk and Dawn tried to catch her.

Emphasis on tried.

Nanku bounded over the rooftop, ducking under hanging lines and slipping between air conditioners. She jumped to an alley below. Her legs curled on landing, the shock jolting her bones and muscles. She endured. Her body could handle the strain.

She collapsed forward, rolled to her feet, and lunged aside.

Dusk flew over her head, claws swinging down in an attempt to tap her.

Nanku shot back to her feet but Dusk's chortle was a tip off even if she weren't watching with her power. Jumping, she stepped off a dumpster and threw herself over Dawn. The larger of the Twins tried to whip around and catch her, but Nanku grabbed the lip of a window and held herself up long enough that Dawn had to crash or fly on.

She chose to fly on, zipping up with Dusk and looping around to ready another swing down from the sky.

Nanku raced down the alleyway as they positioned and jumped onto the wall. She scaled it quickly. The brick was easier to work with than the concrete and glass of newer buildings.

Scrambling up the side and over the lip, Nanku threw herself up and low. Dawn whipped through her hair and Nanku rolled to the side before Dusk could catch her.

They swung back hard, wings beating as they twisted their bodies about. It was a hard maneuver. One that strained their wings compounded with their weight. Nanku felt it from them, but didn't stop the maneuver.

The Twins had their own will.

They wanted to win.

Ducking low, Nanku grabbed the corner of the roof then flipped herself over the edge. Dusk's dive missed. Dawn dove down, aiming for where she thought Nanku would be after dodging her brother. She was close.

Kicking her foot into the brick, Nanku let her body twist down and slide toward the ground. Dawn slid over the wall, claws raking at the bricks. She tried to turn but her body wasn't really built to hover.

She was forced to drop and fly before hitting the ground.

Nanku pushed against the wall and threw herself away from the wall. With a hand she caught the lip and hauled herself up.

"What are you doing?"

Nanku scowled and looked over her shoulder.

The girl with the skull mask crouched by a door and watched.

She appeared and disappeared. Not with a cloak. Her power was more annoying. Whenever she was around and using it, Nanku didn't think about her. Couldn't.

It was like she forgot Imp was there unless Imp wanted to be remembered.

Nanku took some satisfaction in the irony that her instinct seemed to trump the girl's power.

Her presence rattled about like a nagging feeling of being watched. It wasn't something she'd had the chance to notice among the Yautja. No parahumans. On Earth, she was finding the ability useful.

It let her know Tattletale was prying, for one.

"Bug-monster got your tongue?" Imp asked.

"Playing," Nanku answered.

"Aren't you a little old for that?"

Nanku scoffed.

She turned her eyes toward the sky. The visor swept, altering vision modes as Dusk and Dawn flew above their positions. The mask calibrated as she watched, adjusting itself after all the shaking and rattling she'd done to it.

Dusk and Dawn were always good aids in calibrating her biomask.

They were still determined to catch her.

The Twins swept out, flying to either side to narrow her routes of escape and pincer. Dawn flew in first, angling as Nanku leaned one way. At the last moment, Nanku faked the other way and drew Dawn and Dusk that way. With a kick off the stone, she threw herself back and the Twins barely avoided a collision.

Dawn flipped over in the air and landed hard on the ground.

Dusk slid, claws scrapping a scar into the gravel to stop himself.

Nanku would wonder why a roof had gravel on it, but there wasn't time.

She raised both hands. With her thumbs, she drew her fingers back and flicked them both in the jaw.

"I win," she declared. "But close."

Dawn chortled and Dusk clapped his mandibles in annoyance. Nanku reached out with her power and enforced that the game was over. They'd all get hurt if it carried on too long or too hard.

That wouldn't do.

She might have to make her own way at any moment if the Undersiders and her mother kept trying to string her along.

Nanku soothed her frustration by scratching the Twins. She had time, but only so much. A little rest was good for her anyway.

But too much rest dulled the senses. She couldn't have that.

"Going back now?" Imp asked.

Nanku gave no answer.

She sent Dusk and Dawn into the air and stepped off the roof. Rolling as soon as she hit the ground, Nanku tapped her computer and let the cloak envelop her.

The device made an odd whining sound to her ear, and the shroud jolted. It held, but looking at her arm revealed the obvious imperfections. Patches of exposed skin or armor. Better but still in need of tweaking.

Annoying.

That dog hit her hard.

"You have any idea how many stairs I have to run down to get here?" Imp kicked the door shut and followed Nanku. "A lot. It's a lot of stairs."

"Then jump."

"Not all of us are brutes."

That word again. Nanku had heard it several times like it meant something specific. She didn't care to ask.

Nanku didn't bother checking as she crossed the street. There was no one around to see. The whole block of office spaces save two were abandoned and those were on the opposite side of the block. A few vagrants lingered in the other buildings but they were sleeping or on drugs.

No one to concern herself with.

Most of Captain's hill was abandoned like that. The one part of Brockton Bay that was still as run down as her memories of the city said it should be. A few bad bloods ran around, but not the Nazis. Petty crooks and thieves.

Nanku wouldn't bother with them even if she hadn't promised her mother she'd stay quiet for a few days.

She approached the kennel from behind. Dusk and Dawn dropped onto the roof and scuttled through an open window. Since Hell—Bitch, reoccupied the property the lights had come back on. Nanku's cloak was damaged but it worked well enough from a distance. It didn't work at all for the Twins.

"Bitch?" Cassie leaned around a corner and frowned. "Oh. It's you."

Nanku ignored her.

Imp followed behind with a wave.

Cassie gawked. "You're supposed to be—"

"And it's boring. This is way more interesting."

"Do you ever grow up?"

"God, I hope not. Reggie here?"

"Eating all our food? Yes."

Nanku found the boy on a couch watching the big screen. The damned fool had monopolized it for most of the past day. Mostly watching vapid 'reality tv' shows. It was all garbage. The kind of trash that was so trashy, Nanku found it hard to believe there was anything 'reality' about it.

Honey Boo Boo was almost worth breaking all codes of honor over. It was awful.

"Bitch back?" Imp asked.

"She's getting the last of the dogs."

"Uh-huh. Because she's still pretending this wasn't part of some plan to go off on her own."

"Of course not."

"Right."

"And you're not here spying on Rachel as much as you are on Nanku?"

"Pft. Please. I'm the last person Tats would ask to stop Rachel from doing anything. I'd fucking help her. Fuck the Nazis."

This clan was fucking weird.

Probably not right thinking of them that way, though Nanku found other words hard. They weren't just bad bloods—though they were which made it weirder.

They acted like family.

A weird family that argued. A lot.

In the kennel, a dozen dogs raised their heads. The animals gave her distance and none seemed shocked when Dusk and Dawn dropped from the ceiling. They gave the canines a cursory look of hunger but Nanku reigned them in.

That wouldn't be very polite.

She grabbed one of the bags of dog food stacked in a side room and carried it with her.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Aisha called.

"Do what?" Cassie called back.

"Feed her giant bug monsters with dog food."

"I think it's weirder they eat it."

Nanku was surprised too but for the moment it solved the food problem. It was a shame Alabaster's power cleaned up after itself. She could have just used the Nazi as a source of infinite food. Made him useful for something.

The bag was dropped onto the floor of a side room Nanku claimed for herself.

It was an office space at some point. The desk was still inside, tucked into a corner. There was a bathroom without a shower but that worked for her regular needs. Two bowls—Cassie had scrawled 'Dusk' and 'Dawn' onto them—sat by the wall.

The Twins clambered into the room in anticipation. They preferred to hunt—any sane creature would—but they were also hungry and practical about it. Nanku opened the bag on one end and poured the kibble out into the bowls.

Dusk and Dawn ate, and Nanku threw the door shut while she was certain Imp was outside. Then she kicked the desk in the way to keep her out. The girl was sneaky but she wasn't that strong.

Secure, Nanku sat and removed a small cylinder from her pack.

The cloak needed a few more adjustments after the hit it took. The things were always a bit temperamental. Struck or shaken just right and they fell out of alignment. Stopped working.

It was an easy fix, but it took time.

She pushed the outer casing up to expose the circuits underneath. With her knife, Nanku pushed two of the circuits slightly and then locked them back into position. Yautja technology had a certain simplicity to it. Most parts were mere plugs. Slotted in, secured, and they worked. And the parts were individually nigh indestructible.

Even Nanku could repair most damage by shaking things about a bit.

Until she made her way to an engineer for serious repairs, at least. She'd have to be more careful about damage. An engineer was still nearly a year away.

Any serious damage was beyond her ability to mend.

She tested the device after her adjustments and found the results more than adequate. The cloak might be better than before. The jiggling put everything back into the right place and better.

With that done, she quickly did similar basic repairs to other parts of her gear.

Mask. Shuriken. Sticks. Wristblades. The only thing she couldn't really fiddle with was the onboard computer, but that was an exceptionally reliable device. It would be outright destroyed before it stopped working.

Nanku raised her head as Bitch returned. The girl had a full pack of dogs with her, which she managed with the same skill she managed all her animals with. Most were on leashes but that was just prudent.

Also, there were apparently laws about it.

A bad blood obeying laws.

Earth was strange.

Nanku rose and left the room as the woman entered.

"You're still here?" Bitch asked.

"Is anyone going to answer my questions?" Nanku asked back.

"Don't care."

The exchange was almost tradition.

Nanku was growing tired of waiting. If they wouldn't make her mission easy, she'd just go back to doing things the hard way. More glory.

Her plan to sneak into the police station was solid. She'd had more time to think it through and any batch of Nazi corpses would do.

Nanku followed after Bitch and her dogs regardless, just to force her own acknowledgment.

Bitch did a marvelous job of ignoring her. She settled her dogs, called them by name and arranged for their feeding. Cassie came out and helped but mostly by gathering bags of food and setting bowls out.

The dogs gathered but they sat without being told. Each waited until all the bowls were arranged and filled. Only after Bitch finished and a small signal was given did they rush for the bowls begin. When two started snarling at one another over a third dog's bowl Bitch broke it up. Cassie took the chance to check all the dogs in the ears as they ate.

Dusk and Dawn finished their food in the other room and scurried out after Nanku.

She waited.

Mostly to be polite to another animal wrangler. Bitch knew dogs.

"How much longer?" she asked as the girl finished.

"Don't know."

"Find out."

"Not your mother."

Nanku scowled.

"Dear god, there's two of them," Imp declared from the doorway.

"Right?" Cassie looked back and forth. "What are the odds they'd both be raised by wolves?"

"Space wolves?"

"Still wolves."

The analogy was not wrong but Nanku didn't care. Fortunately for them they clearly thought the words something of a joke. Very fortunate for them.

She glared at Bitch—clearly the one the others deferred to—and waited for an acceptable answer.

Bitch ignored her, tending to her dogs and glancing warily at Imp whenever Imp was watching Nanku.

Bad bloods.

They didn't even trust each other.

A familiar car pulled onto the street outside.

Nanku turned and called the Twins to her. Dusk and Dawn fluttered their wings as one of the dogs—Sunny—raised its head.

"Careful," Imp teased. "Fuck up one of Rachel's dogs and she'll fuck you up."

"She'll try."

Bitch glanced over her shoulder. Nanku met the gaze and didn't flinch.

The car parked and the door opened.

Her mother entered quickly, freezing only for the breath needed to take in the scene in the kennel.

"Hey Weaver," Imp called.

"Imp."

"Your girl plays tag with bug monsters."

Her mother didn't reply to that. Nanku watched the woman and made sure her annoyance was on full display. Her mother wore plain clothes and was without her mask. She carried a bag in one hand, large enough for a great many things but lightly laden and half empty.

"Nanku," she greeted.

"I'm tired of waiting," Nanku warned.

Her mother might not lock the doors or windows, but keeping her waiting without any of the information she wanted was just another form of control.

Annette held her ground, her resolve set and unwavering despite Nanku's tone.

She held the bag out. "Here."

"What is it?"

"Some spare clothes. Mine, but my wardrobe will fit you fine."

"Why?"

"You wanted to know about your father." She continued holding the bag out, arm steady and showing that her mother was far more fit than she used to be. "You can't go in costume. We're going somewhere with people."

"Where?"

"The police station. Detective Murray is the man assigned to Da"—her expression twitched with emotion—"Danny's case. Has been for years. You want to know what there is to know? You have to talk to him."

Nanku turned her chin up, thinking.

She wouldn't leave her equipment lying around. It could be a ploy. Or a trap.

Nanku took the bag without a word.

Turning, Nanku returned to the room she'd been using and retrieved the backpack she'd used before. She undressed, setting each piece in the pack and putting her ill-fitting clothes on top. The bag went onto Dawn's arms and rested against her belly where it wouldn't be misplaced.

The clothes her mother provided were plain. Plain white underwear, socks, jeans, and top, and a sweater. Nanku didn't like the sweater. Too heavy and a bit restrictive around the waist.

No matter.

Her knife, a combi-stick, and a shuriken she kept on her person.

Annette spoke with Bitch and Imp outside. Soft tones. Clearly intended not to be overheard.

Most of the conversation was mundane. Nothing Nanku cared about. She didn't know what 'green apples' had to do with anything

Her mother turned, looking her over as Nanku approached. Dusk and Dawn followed, the backpack on Dawn drawing attention. Was it a trick?

Only one way to know.

"Let's go."

***

New arc time!

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.

 

[3ndless]

Little Hunter

The simplicity was infuriating.

Nanku devised a number of plans to gain access to the police station without making a scene. Not for a lack of confidence. She could fight her way in or out if needed, but she didn't want that sort of attention. Too much trouble when she had other concerns.

Better to quietly kill some Nazis. Wait for the body collectors to arrive. Their vehicles went to an adjacent building connected to the police station. Nanku could simply travel along. Or she could slip under just any vehicle and let it drive her into the garage. Security was lessened inside but she'd have to travel the entire building unsure which room was the room she wanted.

Another option was to disable the rooftop cameras and slip in when someone came to check. Crude. Lots of room for error.

Cut the power and use darkness to brute force her way in while leaving a minimal trail. That plan she discarded because it was too simple. Generators existed and surely the police station had one. She'd only put everyone on alert before making her way back out. If she got in at all.

But no.

All of her plans. All her thinking.

Completely and utterly pointless.

They let her right in.

A few looked twice they didn't care that much.

"You know the way." The man bore yellow V's on his shoulder. "Second floor. Major crimes."

"I know," her mother replied. "Thank you."

The man nodded and gave Nanku a cursory look.

She ignored him and followed her mother.

Behind the front desk, the building was open with a ceiling held up by columns. Flimsy walls separated spaces into distinct areas with arrangements of desks and tables. The air smelled of coffee and chemical body sprays. The enforcers looked tired. Worn down and exhausted. More than a few recognized her mother. Nanku received her own curious glances but they were brief and fleeting. Sliding over her form without really looking.

She was invisible without a cloak.

Absolutely infuriating.

The Twins were outside, two buildings over and hiding in the shadows. Fortunately, none of the flying Protectorate members seemed out. The Twins could fly freely and unnoticed given how rarely humans looked up.

Their proximity made Nanku more secure.

She didn't like feeling insecure.

"You've been here before," Nanku observed as she followed her mother

"Yes."

"A lot."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I was on my own for a long time. I spent much of it digging through records here."

At the back of the room—halfway through the building's length—they turned a corner and started up a wide staircase. At the top the building became more enclosed. Hallways and tighter rooms. Less open space, but more windows and plenty of places to avoid line of sight if needed.

Nanku's skin crawled regardless.

She was not a stranger to entering a den, least of all one that remained occupied. It was how she got Dusk and Dawn in the first place. One of many times she'd gone after her quarry where it lived.

Doing it naked—without her arms and armor, save those in her pockets—was not her habit.

Her mother stopped at the end of the hall. She knocked on an open door and waited. Pointless. The door was open.

Nanku stepped around the corner and looked into the small office. She knew the man was there, and her eyes met his before he registered her.

He was older. Fifty about, Nanku thought. Full head of hair still but graying. Skin sagged slightly on his frame which looked strange while he was still fairly fit.

"Anne?" he asked in confusion. "They doing wonders with the plastic now?"

"No." Her mother leaned in. "Murray. I've mentioned Taylor before."

Nanku grimaced at the name, but it was the appropriate one to use. In context.

Detective Murray's confusion deepened. He looked from Annette to Nanku, examining their faces and builds.

"You're screwing with me," he said after a moment.

"No." Her mother looked at her. "DNA and blood tests. Whole nine yards. She's Taylor."

He pointed. "She's Taylor? And she's—"

"Alive. Yes." Annette slid past Nanku into the room. "And I really don't want to linger on that topic."

Murray stepped to the side and let her pass. "Reporters catch wind of this yet?"

"No."

Murray looked at Nanku and inhaled. "Well. They won't hear it from me. You're the last woman I want to be on the bad side of."

Nanku's brow rose and she entered the office. It was a bland space. Most of the decorations were files and loose papers. And empty coffee mugs that stank the place in various flavors.

Murray went around his desk and sat in the chair behind it. On the other side, Annette took one of two seats. Nanku approached the second but decided to stand.

If there was some kind of trap, she wouldn't be caught sitting down.

The adults watched her for a moment, but she just waited until they moved on.

"I pulled the file you wanted." Murray opened a drawer and drew out one folder like all the others. "I feel obligated to remind you that you're not supposed to look at this. And I'm not supposed to show it to you. And it's not supposed to leave the building."

Her mother reached out. "I've seen it before."

"Has she?" he asked.

"I've seen worse," Nanku replied.

"The camp, Murray." Her mother looked the man right in the eye. "She saw it all."

"And"—he put his free hand to his chest, the other still holding the folder—"this is just the detective in me. Natural inquisitive, right? Where exactly has she been for the past ten years?"

"It's a family matter."

"And why did she come back? Don't get me wrong, Anne." Murray leaned in. "I know you've got friends in nicer uniforms than me now. I'm sure you've had this looked over and over by people way better with their thinking than me."

"It's an ongoing process," her mother replied.

"Right. And I do kind of give a shit about you, woman. So?"

"I can't tell you. Don't worry. I know more about what I'm doing now than I did eight years ago."

"You said the same thing five years ago."

"I know more about what I'm doing now than I did five years ago too."

"That—"

"Jake."

The man raised his free hand. "Fine. Fine."

He held the record out.

Nanku snatched the folder and turned away.

It was thick with papers. Bound in a thick cover that seemed too flimsy for what they contained.

The title was in big bold letters on a tab at the top. Plainly labelled.


Danny Hebert, 2003, Murder

Nanku inhaled and tore into the file.

It was what she wanted. What she'd planned for. This wasn't how she planned to get it, but Nanku didn't care.

The first picture was her father's bloodied body on the ground. Swimming in his blood. A small plastic bag and a carton of milk. Utterly pristine. Right next to the body.

Taylor grimaced.

"That's not your fault," her mother said. "It was just milk."

"Someone was waiting for him," Murray explained. "Never figured out who or why. Tried my damnedest but… This city. It ain't perfect now." He glanced at Annette. "It was worse then."

"It's not because of the milk," her mother repeated. "It was never your fault."

Followed? Someone hunted him?

Nanku looked at the pictures slowly. One after the other. Carefully. Analyzing every detail. The splatter of the blood. The position of the body. Photographs were taken of pieces of debris and items scattered about the scene. Even those that were plainly inconsequential.

The Earth enforcers were painfully slow, but they were thorough.

The blood Nanku paid special attention to.

There were marks in it. Signs of a struggle. Danny Hebert fought for his life even while he bled to death. There were pictures of his body too. In a clean room. Documentations of all the injuries. Blood. Cuts. Stabs. Notes written on the pictures in read said 'cleaned up.'

"What does cleaned up mean?" Nanku asked.

"Perp wiped the scene," Murray answered. "Fight like that? Blood. Skin. Hair. Gets everywhere. Under the nails especially. Our doer was smart enough to wash Danny's hands after he finished. I hate the smart ones."

Nanku glanced over her shoulder.

Her mother met her eyes solemnly. "It was too late for me to do much. I didn't get my powers"—Murray flinched but looked away without comment—"until you were taken from me. All the evidence was cleaned. Body buried. It was too late."

Nanku's eyes narrowed and she returned to the file.

The 'autopsy' pictures were even more thorough than the crime scene photos. Nanku didn't know about pieces of glass, shreds of fabric, or 'unusable blood splatter.'

She did know knife wounds.

Long thin blade. A kitchen knife? No. The report said kitchen knife, but kitchen knives weren't the right shape. The blade that stabbed her father was thinner at the tip. More curved.

The man who did the investigating of the wounds did it wrong.

He couldn't even measure right unless she was mistaken.

"Ruler," she said.

"What?"

"Tape measure. Ruler. Whatever."

The man fished through some drawers and found one. Nanku looked at it briefly. It was hard without the actual body in front of her. Maybe that was for the best.

She was right.

The measurements of the wounds were off by a quarter inch. The blade was too thin to be a kitchen knife. Purposeful, or an accident?

"Noticing the knife report?" her mother asked.

"Yes."

"So did I. It was a fishing knife. Curved. The kind used for cleaning and cutting fillets."

"Old Doc Brendan was a lazy shit," Murray added. "Never got anything right the first time."

"Murray and I both looked into it. There are thousands of those knives. Anyone could have had one. Or found one. It might have mattered once, but after all these years…"

All the more reason for Nanku to do things her way.

The rest of the file was… Different.

After the pictures were papers upon papers of text. Long descriptions. Recorded statements. Testimony. Time tables. A few maps that were crudely drawn and poorly marked. Not things Nanku knew how to use.

She knew places and signs. Sights. Words were a maze, even if they were neatly written and spaced.

Nanku tried anyway. Some of the names she recognized. Kurt and Lacy were interviewed. Lacy worked the day her father died. Kurt was one of the men they called to ask about the Dockworkers. There were criminals too. Files on members of the ABB, Empire, and other smaller gangs. Anyone who might have had a motive to kill her father.

"Not the best place for extended reading," her mother said.

"I have to remind you that police records cannot leave the building." Murray looked at his bare wrist. "And it's time for my late-night coffee, so I'll trust you ladies to be good citizens and not remove anything. Not that it would be the end of the world. Got copies of everything these days."

"Of course," Annette replied.

With that, the detective stood and slid past Nanku. He left the room without a word or a look back.

Nanku followed her mother out—file stuffed into her purse—not even a minute later.

They left the building unmolested and Nanku called the Twins to the air and returned to her mother's vehicle. It was too dark inside to read the file, though, Nanku tried still. Sentences by street light. Scattered words or phrases. It was a waste but she tried anyway. Nothing better to do with the time but sweep the streets with her swarm for any signs of pursuit or ambush.

There were none.

Nanku focused on the file and the method behind it.

The enforcers were thorough. They started by pinning down the timetables. Who was where and when. They investigated potential motives and recorded each. Most were run down, save a few tied to witnesses they never located.

Perhaps one of them, if she could find any. Drug dealers. Low level thugs. A few names were crossed off. Nanku wasn't sure what they meant.

When the car stopped, Nanku opened the door without thinking. The twins had followed from above but at a distance with a swarm of bugs just in case. Nanku kept up sweeps for any trouble but she'd not paid too much attention to what part of the city they were in until she stepped out.

She'd been to the area before.

On the night she'd gone to see Emma and tracked Dean.

Nanku looked up at the familiar building and snapped the folder closed. "Why are we here?"

"Because I need to know where that file is and you shouldn't read it in the car."

"Why here?" Nanku insisted.

Her mother shrugged. "Best to keep Dusk and Dawn out of sight."

Nanku scowled. She hardly needed to be told that, but the woman proceeded forward like Nanku's opinion didn't matter.

That was a too familiar feeling, and Nanku contemplated leaving. She had the file. What did she—

Nanku raised her head, looking into the building where a man and a teen boy left a familiar apartment and its lone occupant. Her mother slipped a phone into her pocket and kept going.

She hesitated, then tucked the file under her arm and followed her mother inside.

There were men watching. A group of them in the basement of the building with hastily assembled equipment. They carried no weapons, however. Looking around, Nanku couldn't find anything like the team that attacked the Bakeman house. Those present were out of sight, assuming they were out of mind, and simply watched.

Her mother's new husband and son joined those in the basement and sat down.

Curious, but…

"Why?" Nanku asked again.

"Why not?" her mother asked back. "If you're alive, then you should know each other. We should."

"Our family broke."

"A broken family is still a family."

They worked through the building and at the door, her mother looked back with a softer, pained, expression.

"I love you," she said. "It's what a mother does. She can't help it."

The door opened and they entered the apartment.

Small feet started padding around, leaving the television in the living room and looking around the kitchen counter toward the door.

Nanku met the girl's eyes passively.

Rose approached without fear or caution. Which seemed foolish to Nanku, but warm.

She had a sister. She'd never had a sister before. There was Emma, and the other females of the clan but none of that was the same.

Rose stopped and stared up at Nanku with wide curious eyes.

She smiled and pointed at Nanku's face.

"You look like my mom."

***

So yeah. Congrats to people who thought Annette was gonna pull something. You called it!

Somehow I forgot to crosspost this one. Not sure how I managed that.

Beta'd by @Grim Tide.