Many thanks to @Assembler, @fabledFreeboota, @Skyrunner, @BeaconHill, and ShadowStepper1300 for betareading.
Many thanks to @MugaSofer for fact checking.
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"So," Piggot said, her hands folded on her desk. Her eyes were hard. "Kaiser knows your identity."
"Yes," I said. "Probably through the new cape, Oracle."
Piggot nodded slowly. "You realize this is one of the worst things that could have happened, don't you?"
I grimaced. "It's definitely a mess, but I'm probably missing something. Walk me through it?"
She sighed through gritted teeth. "Okay. He didn't reveal your identity to the public—just to us. Standard procedure would be to relocate both you and your father through witness protection. Change your identities, down to physical appearance, and put you up in another state with a new cape identity."
My eyes narrowed. "I'm not leaving this city." The change of face and name, I could live with. I liked being Taylor, but it was just a name, in the end. Even Annatar was just a name. But Brockton Bay was my city, and I wasn't about to yield it to Kaiser.
"I'd rather you not," she agreed. "That's clearly what Kaiser wanted. You've got him nervous, Annatar—not the PRT, not the Protectorate,
you."
"And he was willing to break the rules just to get me out of the city?"
Piggot nodded. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me," she said. "He's got to know that escalating like this will bring heat down on him. He revealed your identity in a way that he
knew the rest of the PRT would know he'd done it. If he just wanted leverage on you, he'd have done it privately and ordered you to keep it from us. He didn't. He wants
us to force you to move, because that's protocol. And because he didn't reveal it to the public at large, he doesn't want to escalate into an open war. It's harder for us to escalate if he doesn't do it first."
I shook my head slowly. "I knew I'd made enemies after Leviathan, but this is insane. I'm just a Ward."
"He clearly doesn't see it that way," said Piggot in clipped tones.
"Yeah. So what do we do? I'm not letting Kaiser win this."
"No," she agreed. "But your father is still at risk. We'll talk to him tomorrow morning, start talking about getting him into witness protection without you. It means you'll either be emancipated, or become a functional ward of the state."
"Would I still be able to call? Visit?"
"Yes," she said, "but the more often you do, the bigger the security risk. You'll have to limit it. I don't know exactly how much. It depends on how secure his false identity is."
So, either my father risked death by staying, or I would have to distance myself from him to an uncertain degree. I swallowed. "I don't want to lose my dad, either." I'd only just gotten him back.
"I know," she said quietly. "It's really up to him. He definitely has the right to witness protection… but if he wants to stay, I'll do my best to accommodate that. We can assign him a protection detail, make sure he's guarded, at least in the short term. There's only so much we can do, though."
"I understand." I nodded. "Thank you, Director."
She shook her head. "Don't thank me yet. Wait until we get through this. It may turn out that sending you both away would have been the smarter call."
"Even if it is," I said, "I'd rather it be my call to make, Ma'am."
Her lips twitched. "I can understand that. Get going, get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."
-x-x-x-
Sophia was breathing heavily, her wooden sword gripped tightly in both hands. She was facing a training dummy made of wood and cloth, and it was already pretty torn up. Shallow, long cuts ran along the surface of the padding, and the exposed wood of the featureless face looked positively battle-scarred.
She was looking away from me as I entered the room. I shut the door quietly behind me. It might have just been a teacher's instinct, but I wanted to see this.
My patience was rewarded. In a burst of motion, Sophia lashed out with a crushing blow to the dummy's shoulder, then delivered a thrust into its gut with a wordless cry.
Her form was good, but I found myself rather more concerned with the ragged sound of her voice.
I came forward. She spun as she heard my shoes on the padded floor. "Taylor," she said, blinking, raising a hand to pull the hair out of her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," I said. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," she said, idly twirling her blade. "Just thinking about something I have to deal with. What did you want to talk about?"
I grimaced. "Oracle," I said.
It had been three days since the fight with Empire. Writing in my journal had helped, certainly, but it had also made my course clearer.
Sophia looked away. "What about her?" she asked.
"Something she said got me thinking," I said. "Sophia, I—I need to apologize."
She did a double-take, staring at me. "What, to me? What for?"
"When I first made my offer to you," I said, and found the words didn't want to come. Every word was
true, and each needed to be said, but forcing them out and actually facing up to my problems was harder than I'd expected. "I didn't—"
How did I do this? I didn't want to apologize for giving her an opportunity. That wasn't what I was ashamed of.
I had done the right thing—for all the wrong reasons.
"I wasn't thinking about you," I said finally, looking away. "Oracle made me see that, and—and I knew I needed to apologize for it. I was—you were just a
tool to me, then. I know I could use you, as long as I could bring you around, and that was all that mattered to me. I don't feel that way anymore," I assured her quickly, glancing back at her face. "That's why I—that's why I needed to say this. I owe you an apology, for thinking of you like that. I'm sorry."
She was staring at me, mouth slightly open, and for a moment I found my hands shaking in something like fear. Would she be angry? Worse, would she be
fearful?
I shook it off. I knew Sophia better than that. I didn't know exactly what she'd say, but it would take more than this to break the bond between us.
"I…." She hesitated. Sighed. "Please," she said, and her voice was rough. "Please don't apologize."
"I—"
"That day," she said, interrupting my half-formed protest, "was the best thing that's ever happened to me, Taylor. I don't
care why you did it. I—" she swallowed. "I'm just grateful to have had the chance at all."
I smiled. "And I'm glad I could give it to you. I just…" I shook my head. "I'm not apologizing for what I did. I'm apologizing for
why I did it. It's like… you remember the last time I talked to Emma, in Winslow?"
Something flickered in Sophia's face. "Yeah."
"I hurt her, when I'd chosen to give you a chance," I said.
"Don't you
dare," Sophia growled, sudden and fierce, "act like you had a
responsibility to forgive
either of us. You had every right to get us both tossed in juvie for years. Giving Emma the chance to
keep walking around was already a mercy."
I looked down. "I want to be better than that."
Sophia barked a single peal of laughter, almost hysterical. "What the fuck kind of standards are you holding yourself to, Taylor? You're only human. You've done more for me—more for
everyone—than anyone else in the fucking city. Take pride in that! You damn well deserve it."
I smiled, shaking my head. "Thanks. I still—" I sighed. "Oracle. If I hadn't done what I had to Emma, she might not be with Empire now."
"You have
nothing to apologize to Emma for.
I was the one who broke her." Sophia looked pale. "This is
my fault, Taylor. And
I will set it right."
"Why must it be you?"
She hesitated. "It's—" She shook her head. "It's my responsibility. And I don't… I can handle this, Taylor. You don't have to. Please, let me."
"You don't need to protect me, Sophia."
"I'm not protecting you," she protested. "I just—this is something I want to do myself. If anything, it's selfish. Please—let me handle this. Oracle is
my problem."
I considered her for a moment. I wasn't sure she was ready, but I thought it a fitting quest for her regardless. "Okay," I said. "But—I'm here, if you need help. Be careful. She's
Empire, after all, even if she doesn't believe in their rhetoric."
"Are you sure she doesn't?" Sophia asked, and there was something raw in her voice. "She might have reason."
I frowned at her, but she turned away, carrying her sword to the rack. "You know who she is," I said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," she said, without looking at me. "I'm so sorry, Taylor."
"…And you're sure you don't want my help?"
She put her sword away and turned back to me. Her eyes were bright. "Positive," she said lowly. "Please, Taylor. If I can't do it, you'll be the first to know. But I—I have to try."
It was hard to curb my curiosity. It was harder to curb the sense that I
should be part of this—the need to be involved, the need to insert myself into the problem and its resolution. But I owed Sophia that much.
"Okay," I said. "Good luck."
She blinked, surprised, and then gave me a smile. "Thanks."
-x-x-x-
"So, I've got good news and bad news," said Carlos.
"Please tell me I can do things again," Brian begged.
We were seated around the coffee table in the Wards' break room. Carlos had called me in to discuss the patrol schedule for the next week, and Brian was here to hear news from our leader's recent briefing with Piggot.
"Nailed it." Carlos grinned. "PRT's holding a press conference this Monday. You and Amy are going to be announced then."
"And my identity?"
"Annnnd that's the bad news," Carlos said, his face falling. "You can't keep Grue."
"I knew
that," said Brian impatiently. "How bad is it?"
Carlos shrugged noncommittally. "It could be
worse. You're, uh, not going to be allowed to use your full-size darkness clouds."
Brian blinked at him. "You're fucking joking."
"Nope."
Brian turned to me, a pleading look in his eyes. "That's literally my
entire power. I thought you wanted someone
useful, not a meat shield!"
"This is ridiculous," I agreed, looking at Carlos. "What do they want him to do instead?"
"They, uh, want to kit you up with tinkertech and call you a brute/shaker."
Brian groaned. "Am I supposed to even
have powers?"
"They want you to keep your clouds close to you," Carlos said. "Shadow Stalker can synchronize with those, and use you as a delivery mechanism. It's not ideal, but—"
"It's dangerously negligent," I growled.
They both blinked at me.
"I wouldn't go
that far," Brian began, but Carlos' eyes were widening.
"Circus," he said.
I nodded. "Pretending to be a brute almost got me killed," I said. "No. We're not putting Brian at risk like that."
Carlos nodded, looking pale. "Yeah. No, that's stupid. I'll talk to Piggot."
"Does this mean I have to sit with my thumb up my ass for another week?" Brian grumbled. "I'm
bored. I thought heroes were always understaffed."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," I growled. "Carlos, I'll come with you to talk to Piggot. This isn't acceptable."
Carlos nodded. "All right. We'll talk to her later."
The elevator door opened. We turned.
"Annatar, here you are," said Amy, stepping out of the lift. "Good. Miss Militia told me to find you."
I stood up. Amy's brow was furrowed. "What's up?"
"Police just did a bust, found a few Merchants." Amy walked over to the coffee machine, took a mug. "Apparently, they're having a meeting tonight," she said over her shoulder, as the coffee poured. "Miss Militia wanted me to ask you to find it."
"She wants us to shut it down?" Carlos asked. "Bit of a risk, isn't it? We're spread pretty thin right now, and Empire's more of a problem.
"It's an opportunity," I countered. "With all of their capes in one place? We can shut the Merchants down for good."
Amy shrugged, turning to face us and leaning against the coffee machine, her mug steaming in her hand. Nenya glittered upon her finger, and I found my eyes drawn to it. There was an ache, deep inside me, where the Ring's absence was still felt. I was trying to accept it, trying to move on. Amy was a better bearer for it than I could ever be, and she'd
needed it more than I ever had. That didn't make it any easier to acknowledge that the Ring of Water was gone forever—or any easier to see it every day, on a finger that wasn't mine.
"Annatar?"
I blinked. "Sorry. What?"
Amy studied me, an odd look on her face. Carlos spoke when she didn't. "Amy was asking if you could find the Merchants' meeting."
"Yes," I said. "I can. But so can she."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"You've got enhanced senses through Nenya, right?"
Amy nodded slowly. "Yeah. Can't figure out where they're
going to be, though. I thought you still had Vilya?"
"You could find where they're setting up the meeting," I said. "Surely they'll have started—it's almost seven."
Amy stared at me. "I can just sense something happening all the way across the city?"
"I should think so," I said. "Give it a try. Reach out.
Reveal it."
She closed her eyes. I saw Nenya flare, a star in the dim room.
A few moments passed. Amy's eyes opened.
"Holy shit," she muttered. "How are you not in charge of the city already, with powers like these?"
I smiled ruefully. "It works better for you than it did for me."
She winced. "I'm—sorry."
"Don't be. Where are they?"
"Carpenters Shopping Center. Near the docks." She grimaced. "They're doing that thing where they light trash cans on fire. It smells
awful."
"No wonder they thought they were safe," Carlos said. "That's
way outside of our patrol range, with things as messy as they are. Are you sure this is a good idea, Annatar?"
I nodded. "We need to take a stand," I said. "We can't let them have free reign in our city. The Merchants are degenerative—they bring out the worst in people and in places. We won't get another opportunity like this anytime soon."
Carlos nodded. "All right. We'll give it a try. I'll call the other Wards in; can you go talk to Miss Militia and Piggot?"
"Sure," I nodded. "Will we get Protectorate support on this one?"
"If anything, they might not let
us come," said Carlos dryly. "We've been doing their jobs too much lately. I doubt they'll stay behind."
"Good," I said. "I'll go talk to Piggot. I'll bring up your identity, too, Brian."
"Thanks," he said. "I never thought being a hero would be so
boring."
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