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Madison's friends showed her who they really were and in response she adopted a new face. Browbeat was supposed to be the hero that Madison could never be, but it turned out that he was just as bad at the job as she was. Weaver might be able to drag the both of them up from the gutter. If only Madison can figure out how to explain to the terrifying wonder woman that they were part of the reason she ever got powers to begin with.
Beat and Greet 01
Location
Florida
Pronouns
He/Him
I know it's been awhile since I posted on this site...I'm sorry. I've been more active on Ao3 and SB recently though I'm trying to start shifting away from the latter. So, here is my new story! I have four chapters already completed for this and they will likely all be released within the next few days. As per my standard, this will be cross-posted to Ao3. Enjoy!

\/\/\/\/

Walking the Beat

Beat and Greet 01


The streets were dark and cold. They were always dark and cold this time of year, but it seemed worse than normal. Maybe Mr. Gladly was right about global warming.

Ha. Yeah, that would be the day. Mr. Gladly. Right. About anything.

Browbeat shook himself and rubbed at his arms, trying to warm up. It had been a mistake establishing a costume consisting of a glorified T-shirt. Though… It wasn't like Madison could afford anything fancy. Their family was well-off, but there was a marked difference between 'well-off' and 'financing a vigilante costume.' Especially if she had wanted to avoid her parents finding out or questioning where her allowance money had gone.

No, Browbeat had far more important things to spend his limited funds on. Burner cellphones, zip ties, PRT handbooks… Everything added up so fast.

"I'm such an idiot," he mumbled. Shaking his head, he heaved a heavy sigh and adjusted his body's build, shifting some of the veins closer to the surface of his skin to warm himself up.

Forgetting about his powers, typical. Was there nothing that he could do right? Madison was useless enough. Did Browbeat have to be just as bad? Was every aspect of their existence doomed to be a pathetic, miserable, failure of a human being?

Fall back in line, Madison. The next time you try this shit…

Browbeat shuddered. He was strong like this. He was strong. He could help people. He could… He was strong. What happened before had no hold over him. Because he was strong.

"No! Get away from me!"

Browbeat's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed as he searched the night. The scream had resounded from an alley he'd just passed. Quickly pivoting and running back, he darted into the blackness.

There were three men wearing ABB colors standing around a young woman. Her purse was abandoned on the ground, but they didn't even spare a glance for it. They were only looking at the woman. Leering, really.

A shiver ran through Browbeat as he caught sight of their grins and grasping hands. Everyone knew not to walk alone through ABB territory late at night if you were young and female. Unless you wanted to become a sex slave, it was better to risk a quiet lynching with the Empire grunts.

What had happened to this city? How was a place this horrible allowed to exist? Maybe if the Protectorate or the PRT had ever seemed to care about the state of things he could have tried to join the Wards, but as it was now…

"Let me go!"

Browbeat shook himself and lunged forward. "Leave her alone!" His voice was still too high. He'd have to work on that.

He grabbed one of the thugs, picking the man up by the back of his neck and throwing him down into the depths of the alley with a cut off yell from the man.

Browbeat was thankful for his power in that instant. He might not be very smart, but he was bright enough to know that that move should probably have snapped the assaulter's neck. Touch telekinesis was limited in a lot of ways, but it was pretty darn strong once he got his hands on a person.

The first thug had barely disappeared before Browbeat had turned to the second man. He threw a jab, trying to work in what little he'd picked up from when Madison had watched Sophia train. The move was sloppy, and too telegraphed, but was apparently enough.

His fist just barely grazed the guy's chest. It was enough contact for his power to take effect and Browbeat shoved. The asshole flew backward, slamming into the brick behind him with a thud and falling to the ground.

Turning to the third man, Browbeat saw that he'd taken out a knife and was scowling. "You mess around in Lung's territory? You're signing your death warrant."

"Lung should stop kidnapping women if he doesn't want his business fucked with," Browbeat growled back.

Flies and cockroaches started to gather around them as the ABB grunt ran forward. Browbeat blocked the hit with a raised arm, the knife slicing a gash of hot fire down his bicep. Hissing in pain, Browbeat already started the process of mending his skin as he swung his other arm in a roundhouse towards the man's head.

The thug let out a squawk and dropped like a sack of potatoes.

Browbeat dusted his hands off and smiled down at the woman. He could do something right. "Are you oka-"

The gunshot ripped through the night and his chest exploded in pain. The woman screamed, grabbing her purse and tearing off past him. Browbeat's hand went to the muscle above his heart - his pecs? Fuck, he really needed to read a human anatomy book - and just felt sticky wetness on his shirt.

Another shot rang out from the darkness further into the alley and his arm went numb as more pain surged through his chest.

Why did this hurt so much? His biokinesis was already working to fix the damage, but it wasn't instant. Why did his power make things so hard?

Why couldn't he do anything right?

A third shot split the night, but this one was accompanied by frenzied shouts and yells along with… buzzing? And hissing?

What?

Was he losing consciousness?

Browbeat shook his head, trying to clear it, even as he heard another thud from within the alley depths. He took a stumbling step in that direction but collapsed against the bricks, breathing hard.

"So, fucking, pathetic," he muttered, tears at the corners of his eyes.

"I got the third guy, he's knocked out," a harsh, confident voice said from behind him. Browbeat tried to turn and face the girl behind him, but couldn't muster the strength. "You threw him, but didn't take him out. Sorry I wasn't faster, there weren't many bugs here. Are you okay? I can call an ambulance, but… I don't have a phone… Damn. I need to start carrying a phone… I'm going to check your pockets okay?"

"'s fine," Browbeat slurred. Why was her voice so familiar? "Healing. Just slow."

"Oh."

An awkward silence stretched between them. He used it to push himself off the wall, though he nearly collapsed again. The girl got herself under his arm before he fell and helped to support his weight.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She was pretty tall, and her costume looked professional but Browbeat hadn't heard of her being in the city. A bug controller in a Fuck-Off black and yellow costume that looked like silk and chitin? Madison at least would have been aware of a cape like that.

"I'm fine," he said, then started coughing, blood flecking into his hand as he moved it away from his mouth. Grimacing, he amended his statement to, "I will be fine. We need to leave. We're too close to regular ABB haunts. They'll be coming to investigate the gunshots." Fake it til you made it Browbeat.

"...That's a thing?"

"I, uh, think so?" Quite a pair they made, the blind leading the blind. "My phone is in my right pocket. If you can help me out of the alley, we can call these assholes in for pickup as we leave."

"I can do that."

Together, the duo walked back out the gang territory, calling the PRT as they limped along. Browbeat had finally started being able to breathe easier as they made it to an abandoned warehouse he'd scoped out on an earlier patrol and claimed as his base.

Hah. Base. Right.

"Thanks for saving me," he said, sinking down into the couch he salvaged after pulling off the ruined tank-top.

"You're welcome." The girl was just standing there, barely moving. It was so familiar…

"I'm Browbeat. I'm… new. Not like, new new. But, you know, new to going out. I've been trying to -" work up the nerve "- to figure out the best way to go out and be a hero for a few months now."

The cape was silent for long enough that Browbeat started to worry he'd overstepped. He tried to busy himself by poking at the holes on his chest. They were almost closed now. At least they weren't seeping blood anymore.

"I haven't thought of a name yet. I've been making my costume since January, just finished it," she finally said.

Browbeat looked up, blinking. "You made that? Holy shit. That's awesome!"

"Spider silk."

"Wow, seriously that's amazing. Most of us are stuck with pieced together crap if we don't go with the Wards."

"Yeah, I'm not interested in that."

"I understand, I'm… trying to avoid the Wards too. Personal problems." Madison already had to pretend to be Sophia's friend day in and day out. If Browbeat was forced to do the same with her Stalker persona… They both might as well just walk out and find Lung right now. "Uh, if you haven't decided on a name, what about Hive?"

"Taken."

"Swarm?"

"Sounds like a villain."

"Um, Skitter?"

The cape's head tilted down and Browbeat didn't have to see her face to know she was glaring at him. "Why would I call myself that?"

"Okay… Weaver? Cause you… made your… own costume?"

She kept staring at him, finally shaking her head and shrugging. "Well, it's better than anything I was coming up with. Why not?"

Browbeat nodded. "Okay, cool. Uh, do you want to exchange numbers or something so that we can meet up again when we're patrolling? Brockton Bay isn't exactly the safest place to go out alone… as evidenced by me getting shot today."

"Twice," Weaver commented dryly.

"Twice," he agreed.

"Still don't have a phone." She took out a small pad from a compartment on her belt. "But here's my PHO name. You can send me a message online when you're going to head out again and we can try to see if it works out. I won't promise anything though. I'm trying to avoid… I'm not really looking for drama right now."

Browbeat shut his eyes and leaned his head back against the couch. "I fully agree. No drama sounds very nice indeed."

"You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"It's fine. Good luck getting home." She gave an awkward little half wave and then turned around and walked out of the warehouse.

Browbeat watched his new cape friend leave, smiling. He may not have been entirely successful, but at least he had gotten something right tonight.

\/\/\/\/

School was as awful as ever. Madison smiled and tittered, as was expected of her. She knew how to play the vapid fool, it was a role she'd grown accustomed to.

Three months and she'd never have to see these people again. Three months and she could transfer to Immaculata. Three months of being Madison and then she could… leave this pathetic wretch of an existence behind.

Three months of being a psychopath. Or was it a sociopath?

"Right, Madison?" Emma drawled. Her smile too wide, her teeth bared like an animal, her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared. "Wouldn't you agree that Taylor was out trying to make some money last night? And that's why she looks so tired today?"

Browbeat wouldn't have to deal with this. Browbeat would be able to stand up to Emma. Browbeat had taken two bullets and walked away.

Sophia waltzed past Madison, a 'friendly' elbow in her side as she draped herself against the lockers next to Emma. "Please, what would Taylor even do to make money? She has no skills at all."

If I ever catch you trying to send this shit to the PRT again Madison…

Madison knew her cue. Suppressing her shudder, she forced a smile onto her face. "She was probably walking the streets. I know the gangs will take anyone these days, right?"

Three months. Three months and she could let Madison die. Maybe Browbeat could take over permanently? Or maybe she could just be someone… new? Someone better than either? Browbeat had fucked up pretty bad too after all. He'd needed to be saved almost immediately. Hadn't even been able to help a single person by himself. Needed to be saved by someone who had just been… walking… the… streets…

Madison's eyes widened.

No.

"Ha, that would suit her perfectly! Hey, Taylor, does even the ABB turn you down these days?" Emma crowed.

Taylor had just walked out of the classroom, and she stood stock still, not a single muscle moving as Emma taunted her.

No.

"Aww, gonna cry? Don't worry, at least your mommy isn't around to see what a slut you've become."

If Madison listened closely she could hear the beating of tiny wings and the running of small legs within the walls and ceiling around them.

No.

"So sad, such a disappointment! Ah well, at least you're good for something, I guess."

No.

Madison tried to shout. She tried to deny it. She tried to make Emma take it back. She tried to say something, do something.

Emma walked away, laughing, Sophia right beside her.

If you know what's good for you, just keep doing what we tell you, Madison. You don't need to think for yourself. You're not smart enough for that anyway!

Taylor passed her, eyes locked forward, posture rigid. The buzzing diminished as the curly haired brunette left.

The entire hall emptied around her, leaving Madison alone in the hall, staring after the three people in her life that she just couldn't stand up to.

Madison sank to her knees, her face falling into her hands and tears streaming out of her eyes as she sobbed.

"Useless! Pathetic! Idiot! Moron!"

Madison stayed there until long after the final bell rang, Mr. Gladly walking right past her.

Typical.
 
Beat and Greet 02
Beat and Greet 02

Browbeat paced within his lair. Heroes had bases and he wasn't a hero. He hadn't saved anyone, Weaver had.

And until he told Weaver - until he told Taylor - who his alter ego was… he was more of a villain than even Sophia.

His lives were all built on lies. All of them. No matter how hard he tried to pull back from them, no matter who he became, no matter how much he changed his body or his features or his name, he couldn't escape from his lies.

Maybe this was karma.

Or maybe he was just a goddamn fool.

"Are you okay? I can come back if…"

Browbeat jumped nearly a foot into air as Weaver's voice cut into the silence right behind him. Clutching a hand over his heart and breathing hard, he turned. "Christ, how do you sneak up on people like that?!"

"Practice."

Her tone was deadpan and could easily be mistaken for joking. But knowing what he did, Browbeat saw the signs. The locked posture, the clenched fists, the buzzing flies above. Any doubts he'd had before were blown to dust.

"I got a phone by the way. Here's my number, it should be easier than trying to set up a meeting online; my computer sucks and is barely usable. Though don't text me just to chat for at least a few days. I couldn't afford to put much onto this thing yet."

Of course her computer was bad. Madison had been helping the others destroy all of her school things for months. Any spare money she had was probably going into basic replacements. Luxury items weren't something she'd be able to afford.

What are you even worried about? My dad is a lawyer and Taylor is poor. Stop making a fuss, she can't do anything to us, Madison.

Browbeat used his power to get rid of the blockage in his throat and forced a nod in response to Weaver's words. "My allowance got a little thin sometimes too when I was trying to get things together. We can aim to hit one of the Merchants' drug dens instead of the ABB spots if you want? They may not be a big gang, but the Merchants always have cash on hand and the PRT looks the other way if we take it - as long as we call in the raid."

Weaver shook her head. "The ABB doesn't have cash in their hideouts?"

"I think it's hit and miss. At least that's what New Wave said. I ran into Laserdream and Shielder a few nights ago."

"Oh. I guess they would know better," she shrugged, sighing. "I don't really have any better ideas. I wasn't even able to find anyone before I ran across you and that woman last night and that was after almost three hours of wandering around. Do you think we should get a police scanner or something too?"

That would be a great idea. God he was such an idiot! "Do you know how to get one?"

"Let's just go hit one of those Merchant spots," Weaver grunted. She turned and started to walk back towards the door.

Browbeat held up a hand, shouting, "Wait! Don't you want to, uh, exchange identities… first?"

Weaver turned back around, cocking her head to the side as she stared at him. Those giant yellow eyes in her mask seared his soul. It was all he could do to stay on his feet as the walls shook around him with a thousand, thousand legs. "How about after. Let's make sure we can actually work together first. Last night wasn't exactly something I would call a trial run."

"Sure. Okay. After works fine."

Weaver turned around and walked forward again. Browbeat closed his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. His execution was postponed.

He didn't deserve the extra time.

\/\/\/\/

"Found it. You were one building off, but you got pretty close. That was good intel, where did you get it?" Weaver said, pointing towards a building nearly a block away.

"I overhead some dealers at school," Browbeat replied. It was a wonder what you could hear when people thought you were too tiny to matter. Most people. Most people… weren't your targets.

Most people were able to overlook pathetic pipsqueaks.

Maybe that was why Browbeat was so big compared to Madison. Not that it had ended up mattering.

Weaver stared at him for a moment, silent and unmoving. "Winslow is a hellhole. At least something good came out of it."

"It was still wrong though." He was still messing things up. "If I had busted in that door I would have let them all know someone was there and they would have scattered before I even realized I had missed anyone."

The bugs around them grew louder. Weaver stayed perfectly silent. Browbeat was well aware that he was a dumb brute. He didn't need her judging stare to tell him that.

There was nothing else he could do right except hit things.

"You would have been close enough to see and hear them trying to run," she said slowly. "I think you would have gotten at least one or two. But it doesn't matter now; maybe we do make a good team after all."

"Yeah, looks like it; you can be the brains and I can be the muscle." It was worse that they complemented each other. They'd partner up for real after this and he'd have no excuse to fall back on - he'd have to come clean. Browbeat and Madison intersecting again. What even was the point in being able to change if you couldn't stay separate?

It was because he was a fool, and because he deserved this, and because karma was catching up to him.

It was only fair - as much as it sucked.

"I have some trip wires set for them to stumble over near the doors. Don't worry about falling over them yourself, I'll pull them taut as soon as we're inside. I'll also grab the money and make sure they can't get away with it if we miss some of the guys." Weaver cut through his introspection, causing him to shake his head to clear his thoughts.

"Yeah, got it. How many people are we looking at?"

"Two guards, four workers." She paused and her shoulders slumped. "I think. I don't really know how to tell what a drug pusher or a drug maker looks like."

"Are those… the right terms?" Browbeat asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

He winced. "We really need to learn the lingo."

"How about we call them all assholes and get them arrested instead." She could not have sounded more annoyed if she had tried.

"I like that plan." He stood from his crouch and started lumbering towards the door. Weaver had helpfully laid out a small buggy arrow on the street pointing right towards it for him.

With her following in his wake, he crashed through the door of the… auto repair shop? Really? Had they cannibalized one of Squealer's workshops to make it into a meth lab? Really? What fucking idiots! A tinker's things had to be worth so much more than just drugs.

Ugh, he may be stupid, but at least he could take comfort in knowing that he was smarter than the Merchants. Fucking idiots.

"Hands down and back away from the shady stuff and nobody gets hurt!" Browbeat shouted.

He could hear Weaver groan behind him. She tackled him a moment later, knocking him to the ground a second before bullets tore up the air where he'd been standing. He could only blink up in dumb shock at the new holes in the wall.

"Sorry, forgot to muck with the guns." Weaver murmured, rolling off of him even as the gunfire sputtered to a stop, replaced by a stream of curses. "Safe now."

"Who are you?" Browbeat whispered. Where was this Taylor in school? Why did she hide this creature of backbone and wisdom and omniscience and nerves and steel?!

"Fight us like men cocksuckers!"

Browbeat pushed off of the floor with a grunt, resolving to deal with his companion's utter badassness later. "Considering you literally just shot at us with automatic weapons, I don't think you're following your own rules." He lunged forward and swung for the closest guard. The guy tried to swing his gun like a club, but that wasn't going to do much for him at all. Browbeat grabbed the gun in his free hand, clenching his fist and snapping the barrel in one smooth motion - so cool - while his other arm completed his hook, slamming into the guard's stomach.

The grunt sailed through the air, knocking over several beakers and burners and making a squelch as he hit the wall of the room behind the table.

"I would say sorry, but you did try to kill me and I did warn you." He needed to think of better one-liners. That didn't even count. That was just sad.

"You fuck mongering piece of -" The second guard never got to complete his insult. He was running towards Browbeat, rifle raised - also as a club, the fucking idiot - as Weaver stepped out of a cloud of bugs behind him and beaned him over the head with a baton. He went down like a sack of bricks.

Browbeat stared at the groaning guard for a second, looked up to meet Weaver's yellow-eyed gaze, before they both shrugged, and turned to look at four women standing against the farthest wall in bikinis with their hands in the air.

"Well, huh, that was… easier than I had expected," Browbeat said.

"Careful, you'll jinx it. I'm calling the BBPD to pick these guys up."

One of the girls jutted her chin forward. "Can we leave?"

"Seriously?" Browbeat asked. He rubbed his temples. "No. No you can't leave. You're getting arrested too."

"We just make the drugs, look at us, we can't steal shit, those assholes are there to watch us as much as to watch for trouble."

"Tell it to the police," Weaver said. "They'll be here in three minutes."

The girl snorted. "That's fast. Must be a busy night. You two are wasting your time here on small fry like us."

Browbeat took a step closer to the woman, ensuring that he loomed - just like all the people did in the best cape stories. The drug lady gulped as his shadow engulfed her and she fell silent. He nodded once. "Yeah. That's what I thought."

They all stood together in silence as they waited for the BBPD to arrive. They didn't have to wait long, but it was definitely more than the three minutes that Weaver had claimed. He had been about to go look for a deck of cards when the patrol cars finally pulled up outside.

A PRT van had come with the group as well apparently. As the group of officers filed out, one of them and the cape from the van - oh! That was Battery! - came to speak with Browbeat and Weaver. The rest moved to begin properly restraining the other people in the building.

"H-hi!" Browbeat said, starting to raise his hand in a wave but aborting it halfway through. He was able to keep his voice level at least, for which he was eternally grateful.

"Hello," Battery said, replying with her own –completed– wave. "Sorry about the delay, stretched a bit thin at the moment, the Docks are melting down now that Lung is apparently perfectly fine with actively murdering people. Do yourselves a favor, stay away from the Docks for a few days until things calm down."

"Wait, what?" Browbeat blurted.

"Later, first things first. Since there are capes involved, you guys should really call the PRT the next time you bust anyone. Even if you're not fighting any other capes, you are capes, so it really does count as our jurisdiction."

"We on the other hand," the cop said, "don't generally care if everything is already over. The problem is that it makes more work for our lieutenant if you don't go through the proper channels. So do it too often, and he'll get pissed and you suddenly lose a friend on the Force."

Weaver nodded. "Got it. Do we ever call you first?"

The officer shrugged. "Probably not. Just default to the PRT hotline and they'll connect you over to us if it's something we can handle. Anything we need to worry about here?"

"He has a folding machete in his pant leg, she's hiding a packet of meth inside her panties, that woman has one inside her bra, and I would not recommend going anywhere near that table as those drugs are not meth, but whatever they are they are killing any bug that goes near them."

"Fantastic, a new deadly mystery drug. Just what I wanted to have hitting the streets. Thanks for the heads-up."

One of the cops cuffing the moaning guard poked his head up, asking, "Hey, Miss Cape?"

"Weaver."

"Weaver, what is this stuff that's tying this guy down?"

"Just spider silk," she said. If Browbeat didn't know to look for it, he would never have heard Taylor under Weaver's voice. She was just so… cold and detached. "If you have a good knife it should come off pretty easy; I didn't have time to tie them up very well."

Battery nodded. "Alright, well if you gentlemen don't need these two for anything else?" The police shook their heads and she flashed them a thumbs up, then led the two new capes outside. As soon as they were across the street, Battery turned back to them, and Browbeat couldn't help but be struck by how short she was. She was barely taller than Madison.

"So, you both are new?"

"More or less," Browbeat confirmed. "This is Weaver, I'm Browbeat."

Battery nodded slowly, scratching her chin. "I remember reading a report about that name this morning… You called in a mugging last night? Around 2am?"

Browbeat couldn't hide his wince as he saw how tired the woman appeared. He'd recognize that ever-so-hunched gait, the slight slurring of words, the way that her head kept subtly turning to follow distractions before settling back to center in on the conversation.

Madison was an expert in those sorts of tells unfortunately.

"Yeah, that was us," Weaver said.

"Damn. You both got really lucky. You were right near where Lung went crazy. Have you heard of the Undersiders?"

Browbeat frowned. "The thief gang. There's not much known about them except that Hellhound is the biggest name in the group. Some people are saying that Regent is Hijack but I don't see the timeline matching up for that at all. Grue does some sort of dark cloud thing, but that just reinforces their hit and run theme. Best guess anyone has for Tattletale is that she's some kind of thinker, but good luck figuring out what kind."

Battery stared at him. Weaver stared at him. Browbeat blushed. He'd let Madison bleed through. Damn.

"That was a really good summary. But yeah, uh, so, as far as we've been able to tell, Lung killed them all last night, about a mile away from where you guys were. We've been able to recover a few bodies, but there's still some missing and he burned a few others badly enough we'll be lucky to identify them."

Browbeat's blood ran cold and he sucked in a breath. "But-but capes aren't supposed to kill each other like that!"

"Yeah. Exactly. Lung has gone off the rails and we don't know why he thinks he's strong enough to wave the red flag in everyone's faces like this. This is extreme even for him. He has another player for his team on the board that we haven't seen, mark my words. Those were kids. Stupid kids, but kids. He's already got a Birdcage order because of this, and he's likely to get a Kill Order if he goes any further. I've seen this before: he'll keep going now, he has to." Battery crossed her arms and shook her head, scowling.

Weaver stepped in front of Browbeat, the bugs in the air flying in erratic circles. "Why are you telling us this? This can't be standard practice."

Battery scoffed. "Protocol can kiss my ass. Lung recruited someone who makes him feel invincible and we should all be terrified. I should be spinning this into a Ward pitch. Here's my token effort: you would be legitimately safer with a team at your back; especially with whatever fresh hell is about to rain down on this city. There, pitch is done. If you both want to keep going as you are, feel free. No one is dead or seriously hurt, neither of you are banged up, and there's no screaming or shouting in the aftermath - you seem to be working perfectly fine together. Just keep playing it safe and stay away from the Docks. Here's my card. Here's Panacea's number; you didn't get this from me. Understand? I will lie and deny until I'm blue in the face."

Weaver and Browbeat both nodded as they took two cards each from the older hero. She stepped back, giving them a thin-lipped smile. "It's okay guys. Villains lose it sometimes. That's why we heroes are here: to protect people from the bad guys. Call for help if you need it, keep looking out for people, and if you decide you want the team at your back more permanently, give the Wards a try."

She had gone back to her van before Browbeat had a chance to think of any sort of acceptable response.

At least Weaver had her priorities straight. She barely stared after the Hero for more than a second before turning to Browbeat and meeting his gaze with her piercing yellow stare.

"Let's go back to the base. You and I need to talk."

Yeah. Yeah, Browbeat needed to let Madison talk to Taylor.

His shoulders slumped as he trudged along in Weaver's wake.

Madison needed to face what she had done.
 
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Beat and Greet 03
Beat and Greet 03

The door slammed on the warehouse and Browbeat winced, hunching over. He paced to the couch, his eyes gravitating towards the book-bag strap peeking out from underneath. That had been a stupid hiding place. He should have left it in the cabinet or higher up or something. If a tweaker had come in here and stolen Madison's bag while they'd been gone…

The bugs droned all around him. Browbeat slumped lower. Dammit.

Madison had to face this.

"I have soda in the minifridge if you want something to drink," he mumbled.

"You're stalling." There it was. That steel and fire and cold. Why hadn't Taylor been like that at school? She'd probably have been able to convince Sophia to back off if Taylor had been a nightmare inducing terror child like that where other people could see her.

Who was he kidding? Madison wouldn't have been able to convince Sophia of anything.

Browbeat shrank a foot. He knew well enough why Taylor wasn't Weaver at school. It was because you didn't become that type of person willingly. You pushed that person away, you drove them to the corner of your mind, you hid from them as much as you could. You only let them out when the world pushed in too far. When there was nowhere left to hide.

When you were ugly and gross and stupid and horrible and psychopathic, you didn't let yourself be consciously aware of that.

Weaver's hand clamped on his shoulder and Browbeat squeezed his eyes shut. He turned around, his feet moving of his own accord. Breathing out in a gasp, his eyelids surged open.

Taylor stood before him. Her beautiful hair streaming behind her, glasses back on her face, wonderfully full lips set into a thin line. The suit really, really complimented her figure. With just her head uncovered and the rest of her still encased in the mottled black and gray and brown… A hundred openings for dirty stories passed through his mind in the blink of an eye. None of them were remotely appropriate considering the situation and he silently cursed Madison for being so… awful…

"I'm Taylor. But you already knew that," she stated.

"Yeah, yes, I-I did." Browbeat swallowed the lump in his throat. Stood straight, shut his eyes and… let go.

Madison had to face this.

Their body finished shrinking down in a few seconds. The excess muscle mass repositioned throughout their bones, fibers, and tendons strengthening everything without showing any overt changes to the petite form. Their hair grew out from his buzz cut into her wavy lob. Their eye color changed from nondescript brown-with-gold-flakes to bright blue. Their chest expanded. Their lower equipment shifted. Their hands were last to change. Always last to change.

Madison flexed her fingers, enjoying the familiar feeling as the crinkle of her joints popped back into place.

She kept her head down as she grabbed her hair clips from the table, snapping the sky-blue accessories into place.

The buzzing continued to increase. She wouldn't look up. She couldn't look up.

"Fucking really? You have to go for your hair clips right away?"

"Th-they match my e-eyes," Madison whispered, blinking as rapidly as she could. It didn't help. She still couldn't see straight. "My s-sister got them for me. I don't leave the house w-without them."

She had to face this. Taylor deserved that much from her. She rolled her shoulders back and lifted her head, meeting the other girl's gaze. "I'm Madison. Don't be mad at Browbeat? I try to keep us… separate. It doesn't always work. It doesn't even usually work that well if I'm being honest. But I… I try. I thought… I thought it might help."

"Help you to do what, Madison? Lie even better?" Taylor's voice had lost all intonation. Madison could see the bugs covering the walls as they crawled over and over each other. She kept staring into Taylor's eyes. This was what she deserved.

"I'm not a hero. I'm a coward who can't even stand up to the people I thought were my friends. I'm someone who reads about heroes, writes stories about heroes doing hero things or fucking people they shouldn't. But when push came to shove," her voice broke and she had to bite her lip to stop the sob from escaping. "When I had the chance to be a hero, I was on the other side. Madison isn't a hero. I thought that maybe Browbeat could be what I wasn't. It's kinda funny, huh?" She sniffled, wiping her nose on the back of her hand and dropping her gaze to the ground. "He's just as much of a fuckup as I am."

She felt Taylor's stare boring into her. The silence stretched out, broken only by Madison's continued sniffles.

"Dammit," Taylor finally sighed. "I was really hoping I was wrong." She strode to the armchair across from the couch that Madison was hovering in front of and dropped down. "Sit down, Madison, if I wanted to hit you I would have done it in school."

Her legs gave out and Madison all but collapsed into the cushions. The frame groaned below her.

Taylor's bugs quieted and she leaned forward. "Your mass doesn't change?"

Madison shook her head, still not able to look above Taylor's clasped hands. Why did the other girls keep trying to say she was out of shape? Those legs went on for miles and with those thighs she could crush - Madison bit her lip lip hard enough to draw blood. Why couldn't she keep on track for five fucking minutes?!

"I can make it go away and come back. A little bit, not much. Just enough for like a foot or two. But I usually don't get rid of it all. I just redistribute it so that I'm overall more durable and sturdy. It's harder to be… picked up this way."

You follow our lead. You don't tell us what to do. You got that, Madison?

Taylor was quiet long enough that Madison started listening for cues from the bugs again, but there had been no change in their pitch or volume.

"Why go on a second patrol with me? You figured out who I was at school, right?"

Madison nodded. "Yeah. When you walked away, you walked like Weaver and the bug reactions followed."

Taylor huffed. "That explains why you broke down. I'll have to watch out for that. So, why?"

Madison's eyes widened and her head jerked up. Taylor was staring right at her, eyes wide as saucers. Madison flinched back into the cushions, but continued talking. "Wait! You saw me?"

The bugs all around them chirped as one. Madison dropped her head again, chuckling darkly. "Idiot. Duh. Of course you could see me. Fucking idiot. Just like normal."

"This is not what I expected at all," Taylor muttered.

"What?"

"You're supposed to be the villain, Madison," Taylor spat. "You're supposed to be haughty, or superior, or at least confident. Who even are you? Do you just take all of your cues from Emma and Sophia?"

"I didn't use to," Madison whispered.

"Then what the fuck happened? What did I do to you, Madison?!"

"You didn't do anything, okay!?!" she screamed. Taylor blinked at her outburst. Madison pulled her legs up onto the couch and hugged them as close to her chest as she could. "I met Emma and Sophia during the summer. They were cool and fun and we hung out. When we got to school they said that we needed to make an example of someone. They had some reasoning that talked so many circles around itself that I just smiled and nodded, because it sounded like they were just talking shit. Nobody talked like that for real! They didn't mean it! It was too idiotic to be serious!"

"But they did mean it, and you still backed them," Taylor said. Her voice was again toneless and the bugs were louder.

Madison nodded. "The first few days were just joking around. Pranks. It didn't mean anything. Emma knew you. I didn't -" she buried her head in her arms, one of her hair clips pressing painfully into her scalp. "I didn't realize they were serious and you weren't playing along for months."

"Playing."

"Some people like that sort of roleplay," Madison whispered.

Taylor was entirely still but the bugs told the story for her instead.

Madison kept talking. She deserved this. "I'm not smart, Taylor. I was never going to get into a good school. My best hope was to marry someone while I was young and pretty and hope to hell and back that they were successful. I can barely pass math and I can't concentrate enough in History to remember half of what they teach. I fantasize all day about cape fics. That's all I do, that's all I care about, that's all I'm good for. Half of what I said when I was with Emma and Sophia I wasn't even paying attention to because I was off in my own head about another fic."

She had to stop, her nose was running too much for her to continue. She should have been able to force her biology to make it stop, but that felt like cheating. Instead she reached down and pulled her backpack next to her, grabbing at the tissues and blowing her nose.

"Go on," Taylor said. At least there was a trace of… something in her voice.

"When I finally realized that nobody was playing, that it wasn't some sort of elaborate game or fantasy, I… tried to get t-them to-to…" She had to take several deep breaths but even then she couldn't continue. It was like a vice had constricted around her heart.

"You let them shove me in that locker, Madison," Taylor said. Her voice was soft enough that Madison almost couldn't hear.

But hear she did.

"Sophia broke my phone," Madison murmured, her voice muffled by her jeans. "She broke my phone, she destroyed my computer, she deleted all of our texts. Any record I had was gone between one night and the next. Emma said I needed to trust them, that I had my place and I should just stay in it. They came to my home. I thought they were going to kill me. They were my friends." She sobbed, her arms clenching tighter. "They were my friends and they threatened t-t-to burn my house down!"

The bugs were almost entirely quiet for several long moments. So Madison kept talking. "I told you Taylor. Madison isn't a hero. I'm an idiot and coward. I followed their lead, I stayed the vapid fool that they wanted at their side, I learned my cues. If I could change my name at school I would. I used to like my name. Now when I get to Immaculata I'm going to have to choose a new one and a new face. Masks, masks, everything is a mask. I don't even know which of me is real anymore. Everything bleeds together now and I haven't been able to write anything in months and all I'm good at is being Sophia now!

"All I can really do is punch things really hard. I can't even punch well because I don't know how to fight."

The entire room was silent except for her sniffles.

She should tell Taylor about how she was certain that Sophia would've followed through on her threats, about Shadow Stalker, but that… it was too much… It was all just too much. She lost track of the time. She didn't have her watch. It didn't matter. Was Taylor even still there? She would have to lift her head to check. That seemed like too much effort.

"I have to think about this." Madison jerked at Taylor's voice. She didn't raise her head yet though. "Don't do anything stu-anything rash. I'll text you tomorrow after school one way or the other.

"Can you get home on your own, Madison?"

Why were the bugs still silent? Why hadn't Taylor hit her? Or tried to strangle her? Or even just yelled?

"Madison!"

"What? What!" She jerked her head up, wiping at her eyes.

"Can. You. Get. Home?"

Madison nodded hurriedly, her hair bobbing against her chin. "I can grab a tax… I shouldn't take a taxi from the lair… There's a bus that stops a street over. I can shift back to a less buff version of Browbeat, I'll be fine."

Taylor stared at her. "Don't… villains have lairs?"

"… Yes?"

"Right. Okay, tomorrow." Taylor shook her head and stood. "Does your alternate, non-cape persona have a name?"

"I've been calling him Kevin, but… not really. He's just Browbeat but not capey. He needs a real name…"

Taylor massaged her temples muttering to herself. "Okay, you know what, if I'm still around tomorrow afternoon, we'll figure out if you actually like Kevin or want something else. I'm going home, it's late and I need some sleep. You should leave too."

She twisted towards the door and Madison nearly tripped off the couch as she scrambled to stand, holding her sequined backpack out in front of her, shouting, "Wait!"

Taylor froze, still half facing Madison. "What?"

"I-I have, I kept, I didn't - this is yours!" She finally got the backpack opened, her books spilling out onto the floor along with her notebooks and pens. They didn't matter. She had gotten her hand on the flute and ripped it out of the pack as everything else scattered.

Madison heard bugs in the rafters again, but she ignored them as she brandished the flute.

"When Emma said it was your mom's I couldn't - that was when I -" a shudder ran through her, but her grip never loosened. "I swapped them! I was going to drop it off at your home when I transferred to Immaculata when the year ended. I just didn't want them to have the chance to take it again. But now - if you never see me again, that's fine - I totally understand - I would hate me too - but I - wanted to make sure you have it back."

Between one second and the next, the flute had vanished from her hand. It took Madison far too long to realize that Taylor had it wrapped in her own hands, the instrument clutched to her chest. The taller girl looked up, meeting Madison's eyes.

"You're not forgiven. But… Thank you."

A cloud of bugs swirled and Taylor all but vanished in between eye blinks.

Madison wiped her nose on the back of her hand, nodding to herself.

She was a coward, she was not a hero. But she had at least gotten one good thing done.

It was little comfort, but it was better than nothing.

She'd take it.
 
Beat and Greet 04
AN: This is the last of my pre-written chapters so updates might slow down for a bit while I get more written. But this mostly completes the introductory arc minus a potential interlude for Taylor.

\/\/\/\/

Beat and Greet 04

"Heya, I'm home!" Madison yelled, the front door slamming behind her. She kicked off her shoes, ensured her smile was firmly in place and trod into the living room. "Hey, Steph, whatcha playing?"

Her kid sister was lounging all over the couch, a gameboy held over her head and an intense look on her face. The droning news announcer on their giant TV was utterly ignored.

"Mario. This computer is a cheating bastard."

Madison knelt and twisted her spine so that she could snag a glance at the screen. "Oooh, yeah, agreed. Those racing games are totally rigged. Just keep an item held when you get into first and you should be able to avoid some of the worst annoyances." She ruffled her sister's hair and stood. "And don't say 'bastard' where Mom can hear you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. They said dinner was in the fridge. Both are going to be working late for a few days." Her sister cursed and dropped the system onto her chest, shifting her gaze to meet Madison's eyes. "Why are you home so late?"

"I was just out with friends."

Stephanie snorted. "What friends?"

"You're a brat, you know that right?"

Stephanie frowned, sitting up. "Seriously, Mads, what's going on? I have eyes and I pay more attention than Mom and Dad. You aren't friends with Emma, why did you go to hang out with her." Her eyes widened and her lip curled up. "Ohhh, I see."

Madison raised an eyebrow. "And what do you see, Steph?"

"Did you finally get into her pants?"

"Oh my god!" Madison gasped, giggling for good measure as she slapped her sister's shoulder. Internally she screamed. Once upon a time that would have been a fantasy come true. Now, she'd probably throw up.

Huh, well, at least everything didn't leave her horny. That was a strangely comforting thought. Except on its heels was that she found Taylor -

Nope, nope, nope nope nope. She would not go there. Taylor despised her, Taylor had every reason to despise her. This was just her cape fetish acting up again because she still couldn't write thanks to… everything…

And just like that, her smile was a mask again.

Better.

"How do you even know about that sort of thing! You -"

"Have the internet, duh." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "So did you?"

Madison dropped onto the couch, pushing her sister's legs out of the way. "I'm not looking to sleep with Emma, Steph. I was actually out with, uh, someone else. I'm not sure if we're going to hang out anymore or not. This was… a trial run."

"Oh a date! That's fun."

"Such a brat. Go back to your game."

"Not even any gossip, some big sister you are."

Madison just reached over and ruffled Stephanie's hair again as the younger girl grumbled.

The scene on the TV changed and it took all the control she had not to react. There was a picture of Lung on the screen accompanied by a flashing warning.

"Hey! I can't hear my game!"

"Just pay attention for 30 seconds, Steph, god." Madison tried to pass it off as a joke, but even she knew that it fell flat. "This looks important."

"It has been confirmed by the PRT that the supervillain known as Lung has received a Birdcage sentence as of earlier today. His trial was in absentia as he did not appear in court. The PRT has not made a statement yet on what has triggered this shift in stance towards the local gang leader. As you'll recall, it was not all that long ago that Lung took on the entire Protectorate team and…"

Stephanie scoffed. "About time. Not that anything will change. Nothing ever changes in this shithole."

"You really need to watch your language, Steph," Madison sighed.

"Where do you think I learn it from?" She cursed, glaring at her game. Then she held it out to Madison. "Can you beat this level for me? I can't do it."

"Sure, squirt. Watch your sister kick the computer's ass."

"You're the best sister."

No she wasn't.

\/\/\/\/

Maybe she could fake an illness? Did asthma get you out of school? She could fake asthma easily. Probably. How hard could it really be to change a few things with her lungs? Muscles were simple enough, lungs couldn't be all that hard.

"And that was when Julia and I got into how that robin's egg skirt would just look perfect on you; don't you think Madison?" Emma chirped.

Madison was thrown into a coughing fit as she tried to say her lines. Her airways were way too constricted. Too much, too far - too tight! She gasped, holding a hand over her chest as she stopped and leaned against a locker, sucking down great lungfuls of air as she quickly reversed… whatever she had done.

"Well if you don't like the design just say so, god, you'd think I killed your cat. Get your ass up, Madison, we're going to be late for class." Emma flipped her hair over her shoulder and stalked off, Sophia right next to her. Madison, still struggling to fix her breathing problems, stayed plastered to the wall of lockers.

She had a clear view of the track star body-checking Taylor out of their path. Taylor barely seemed to spare Sophia a glance as she was knocked to the side. Now that Madison was looking directly at her, she saw how the taller girl rolled with the shove, anticipating it, barely letting Sophia touch her at all, moving as if it was just some theater performance.

Taylor was also staring straight at Madison with a small frown on her face.

Madison dropped her gaze to the floor, finished fixing her lungs and took off after Emma and Sophia, murmuring her apologies as soon as she was behind them again.

It didn't matter that Taylor was watching her in school. Of course the girl would watch her after last night.

It didn't change anything.

She had a performance of her own. After all, Madison was not a hero. She was… just a coward.

\/\/\/\/

"Oh for fucks sake, that's the best that you can do?" Sophia scoffed. She flicked Greg on the head and sneered. "Aren't you supposed to be a cape geek, nerd? Madison, tell this idiot where he got everything wrong!"

Greg was a creepy stalker asshole who only stared at her ass or her tits, but… he was also earnest about his passions. She may dislike the boy, but she liked his hobbies. And he looked like Sophia had kicked his puppy. Sophia wasn't even normally in this class! They should've been safe here!

"Actually," Madison said. Her voice didn't crack. She was proud of that much at least. "The Boston Games did have an agreement like what he was describing and New Wave did participate, they were just called… something else… at that…point…" She trailed off and her shoulders dropped as she looked back at Sophia.

Her warden was scowling, eyes narrowed to slits, nostrils flared, one fist clenched. "And just what, pray tell, Madi, does any of that have to do with the assignment?"

"I - um - The Brigade -"

"Nothing. That's what I thought. Am I the only one actually trying to get this shit done today?" Sophia snapped. "And they were New Wave during the Games, Madison. Just sit there and smile at Gladly; it's all you're good for."

Madison's head dropped and she nodded, murmuring something in quiet assent.

A fly buzzed in front of her eyes. She sniffled, blinking away the sheen in her eyes as she looked up and scanned the other groups. Taylor was partnered with Sparky. She wasn't looking at Madison… but the flies and spiders in the corners of the room were all rather focused.

That was fine.

\/\/\/\/

Madison pulled out her lunch, a warmth spreading through her at the sight of the pita wrap. Her mom made the best wraps, and she had to leave so early, yet she always took the time to make something for Madison to take to school.

"Heh, look who has the balls to eat in the cafeteria today." Sophia elbowed her just as she was reaching for a bite. Part of her pita spilled back onto the tinfoil as she squeezed too hard. Madison's shoulders slumped.

She didn't have to turn to look at who Sophia was talking about.

"Can we just… all finish our food? Don't you have a meet coming up that you have to be ready for?"

"Even more reason to run the bitch down and get some exercise in before practice."

"Oooh, I bet she runs back into the bathrooms!" Emma crowed. "That's probably why she smells, right Madison?"

She knew her cue. She… she knew her cue.

Madison stared at her pita.

Browbeat wouldn't take this shit. But she wasn't Browbeat right now. She wasn't even Kevin. She was just… Madison. Weak, pathetic, coward, stupid, Madison. Madison who couldn't even manage to fake asthma with her own powers because she wasn't smart enough.

"What the fuck is up with you today?" Emma asked, her voice carrying her sneer perfectly well without Madison having to look up and see it. "You're being a constant wet blanket. Did someone run over your dog or something?"

"I have a cat," Madison whispered.

"Christ, Madison. Eat your fucking lunch so we can go and fuck with Taylor. I don't even know why you keep eating those pitas. You're going to get fat and then you're not going to have anything going for you. You need to watch yourself."

"I-I…" She would not cry. Not here. Not in front of them. She wouldn't let them see that from her. She might not be Browbeat, but Madison had masks of her own.

Why couldn't she find the right mask to wear?

"Hey, stand up. You're coming with me." A gruff, cold voice stated, from right behind her. That… that wasn't right… It had to be her imagination.

"What the fu-"

"Shut up, Sophia. I'm not talking to you bitches. Stand up, Madison." Her legs moved without any conscious input and Madison found herself standing, her pita wrapped back up and put into her lunchbox before she'd even finished straightening and turning around.

Taylor was standing right behind her, perfectly still. As she always was. Did Taylor ever react to anything? Her hands were outside her hoodie, clenched at her side and her eyes were narrowed and locked onto Madison.

"Coming over to get put in your place early today, huh, Taylor?" Emma said. "Just couldn't stand the thought that we might not be talking about you for once so you had to come over and see for yourself? Are you that masochistic?"

"Do you even know what that word means, Emma?" Taylor asked, her head not shifting to give the redhead a single glance. "Do you have your things?"

"Backpack," Madison murmured, her throat constricted enough the word came out as more of a croak.

"I got it. Come on. I'm sitting with Sparky. He may be high, but he's not an insulting asshole."

Sophia stood, scowling. "Hebert, you've got a lot of nerve -"

"What part of 'I'm not talking to you bitches' didn't make it through your thick skull, Sophia?"

"You think I'm just going to -"

Taylor stepped forward, her finger in Sophia's chest and pushing Madison's personal nightmare back down into her seat with wide eyes. "I think that you have been treating Madison little better than a dog all day. All year, now that I'm actually thinking about it with a clear head. She nearly collapsed this morning and none of you even asked if she was okay! Fuck you all. You don't care, fine. I'll take her off your hands. Madison?" Taylor's head snapped to lock onto her, and Madison squeaked. "Do you want to stay here with these bitches, or do you want to come with me?"

This was just like in her story. The Villainess and Her Conquest. Madison swallowed hard and forced away the swooning response that would have fit right into the context of her fic. This was not the place and Taylor was not the kind of person who would appreciate… that.

Why was she like this?!

"I-I'll," Madison dropped her head, unable to meet Taylor's smoldering gaze and feeling her cheeks heating up. "I would like to go sit with you i-if you'll have me."

Taylor grabbed her bag and guided Madison ahead of her, hand on Madison's shoulder. She couldn't remember the last time that someone had been so gentle. It was usually 'joking' shoves or 'playful' smacks. Taylor's hand was so warm.

"If any of you try to touch her, then so help me, by god, I don't care that your father is a lawyer Emma. I don't care that I've been trying to keep my dad out of all of this. I will bury you. All of you."

"You'll. Get. Expelled," Emma whispered, her voice barely audible and her breathing coming in small gasps.

"Then I'll get a GED," Taylor snarled. "Read my lips, Emma. Leave. Madison. Alone."

Taylor started to walk, leading Madison away.

She was almost too far away to hear Sophia saying, "I gotta say, if someone told me yesterday that Hebert would grow a spine because we went after one of our own? I would have called bullshit on that."

Madison sniffled, Taylor's hand increased its pressure. With every step they took away from the Popular Table, the weight on her shoulders seemed to lift with each step.

Maybe… maybe she wouldn't have to pretend to be a psychopath anymore.
 
Interlude - Alternate Perspective
AN: This is a chapter from Taylor's perspective covering recent events. This doesn't really advance the plot all that much, but I felt it was important to get an outside look at things before the actual story chapter. That one I'll upload either later tonight or tomorrow.

//\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\

Interlude - Alternate Perspective

I finished skimming the third story by 'SP' and pushed back from my computer, scowling. I still hadn't figured out what her pen name meant. Not that it was important since I was going to be walking away tomorrow.

"'I write about heroes having sex with villains.' Jesus, Madison, that was not a sufficient description for this. Not at all." I glared at the screen. I wasn't sure what annoyed me more, that it was all extremely well written, that the smut was quite fun, or that Madison had somehow managed to make me get invested in the love lives of Assault and Hookwolf and how their torrid romance tore apart the Empire from within only to end in tragedy for everyone.

"When did you even write this?" I clicked back up to the top and found the publication date. It was her latest work, and it had come out right around when the Trio had taken mom's flute. Just before that if I remembered my dates correctly. There wasn't a single story posted after that. Just a brief note about being sorry for having writer's block.

That didn't mean anything.

My other hand clenched on the flute resting on the desk beside me. My thumb running over the little familiar scratches, the etching of Annette along the side.

It didn't mean anything.

"This is stupid. She's one of the Trio!" I pushed back from the desk, shutting the computer off. Turning on my heel, I stalked over to my closet pulling out my notebooks detailing the abuse that those bitches had put me through.

I flipped from entry to entry, the spiders in my basement growing more and more frantic as I read. If they were going to be manic, I would at least make them useful, instead of letting them race in circles, I set them to working on the second costume. At their current pace, the shirt and pants should be done in just a few days, even accounting for the larger size. It made it easier that I didn't need to make everything a single bodysuit like with my own.

"Pencil shavings. Comments after Sophia. Comments after Emma."

The more I read the harder it was to ignore her story. Not a single incident had happened without Emma or Sophia instigating something first. My own notes were damning me. Why did I have to be so detailed?!

"She stole my homework!"

A traitorous part of my mind whispered about how none of the teachers read or even bothered to grade our homeworks. It reminded me how I could have just worked to study for the tests and been fine.

Scowling, I snapped the notebook shut and thrust it back into the closet.

"If she was really remorseful she could have stood up to them at any point," I snarled. Pacing in my room, I swapped out exhausted spiders in the basement and moved new ones into place. The shirt would probably be done tomorrow. Browbeat wouldn't have to worry about knife blades as much once it was done.

Madison had tried to stand up to them though if I took her story at face value. And was I really all that better? I hadn't been able to bring myself to fight back. Emma was my friend. She'd betrayed me, but… she was my friend.

"She could've gone for help!" I snapped.

With what evidence? If Sophia had really destroyed her phone then what would she have had? Her word against a track star and darling lawyer's baby? With threats having already been issued?

"She's one of them!"

But was she? Had she ever been? My memories said one thing, but my notes painted an entirely different picture.

This was so counterproductive. I was going around in circles and I clearly wasn't going to decide anything tonight.

Maybe… Maybe I could just work with Browbeat and ignore Madison entirely? That would be a good middle ground.

"Except they aren't as separate as she wants them to be." I dropped onto my bed, my head lolling to the side and staring at the flute on the desk. "Browbeat is just as beaten down as Madison, Madison did the right thing when it counted, and neither can believe they can do anything right."

I should be looking into Lung, or the Undersiders, or even the Wards if things were half as bad as what Battery had implied. Instead I was arguing with myself about Madison of all people!

When did my life become so complicated?

//\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\

I hated Winslow. This place was hell on earth.

A hell that I apparently wasn't alone in suffering through. Emma made some inane comment and Madison nearly keeled over in the hallway as she avoided answering the question. For a second, I thought that was it. She had her power, her biokinesis should be able to make it easy to fix a simple little cough.

And then she slumped against the lockers, her eyes bulging as she clutched at her throat, gasping. Emma, Sophia, Julia, all of them just… kept walking. Not a one of them even turned back to look at their supposed friend as she struggled to breathe behind them.

My feet had just started to walk towards her myself when she finally stopped clutching at her chest, bent over and sucked in several lungfuls of air. Lifting her head, Madison met my eyes for a brief moment before her gaze slid away, her eyes watery and her and her cheeks pale. She dropped her gaze and started to rush forward even as Sophia wandered beside me.

The bugs I had put on Sophia's arm alerted me long before my eyes that she was going to elbow me. I let her do it, but I moved enough that she barely touched me.

"Out of the way, Hebert. You're so fat you block the whole damn corridor."

"Am I too fat or am I too thin? Can't keep your stories straight," I muttered, my eyes never leaving Madison. She had finally caught back up with her group, her entire posture just…

I saw that slump in the mirror every morning.

It was just the forced smile which I wasn't used to on my own face. I had tried to smile like that a few months ago. I hadn't been able to keep it up; it was too much effort.

She was one of them!

Fuck!

//\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\

It was hard to make out words through my bugs. It hurt my head if I didn't get the mindspace just right. Using their sight was a bit easier as long as there was a proper mix of the exact right combination of bugs. Their vision was very strange, but I could mostly parse it when I had the right insects at the right places in the swarm. Hearing should have been simple, I shouldn't have to - decouple? - from my own senses to make it work.

It was still worth it. It wasn't like classes were helpful right now anyway.

One thing I had learned from experimenting with my bug senses: Madison did not pay any attention in class. None. Not at all. I thought I was useless in school nowadays. Madison didn't hold a candle to me. I had no idea how she was passing anything and if I didn't know better now I would've said that she was sleeping with half the faculty to make sure she made it through the grade.

The only class that she seemed to actually perk up and participate in the discussions was Gladly's class whenever the topic rolled around to capes.

"The Triumvirate are the premier hero group, sure," Madison trumpeted, her arms waving wildly. "But the Elite's history is just so much more interesting! They sprung from the ashes of their predecessors! They're labeled villains but are they really villains? They were just a group of thinkers originally who wanted protections for their work and they were forced into their current position by the government!"

"Oooh, it's like New Wave! Hey we could do our presentation about that." For once I wasn't partnered with Greg. It was a welcome change of pace. Gladly seemed to think that Sophia would be able to keep him focused since she was auditing this class thanks to… a track meet? I didn't really care. She wasn't harassing me here - for once - so it didn't matter why she had switched periods for the day.

That it also made it so much easier to watch my targets was icing on the cake.

"I can't believe how stupid you both are," Sophia hissed. "None of this has anything to do with the assignment. Gladly is an idiot, but he's not blind. We have to at least get close to what he was asking for him to just ignore the rest of the presentation and give us the A. Madison, step up and pull your weight. Stop encouraging this bullshit! If you can't shake your ass at Gladly, then shake your tits at this idiot so I can do this shit myself."

Had Madison ever actually been friendly with Emma's group? I could have sworn that they had treated her better than this…

I buzzed a fly past her face and she perked back up - somewhat at least. Good. I set more bugs to watching her and Sophia as I returned my attention to my own project.

"Hey, Sparky," I said. The stoner looked up, his grin wide and his expression open. He was so high. This was a horrible time to get real answers out of the kid. "Do you remember if Emma or her friends were ever actually, you know, friends with Madison?"

Sparky blinked slowly, his head tilting to the side.

"Don't look!" I snapped.

His attention snapped back to me. "I'm pretty sure that Madison has always been their pet. It's kinda cute, in that abused puppy sort of way. I don't really go for that sort of thing though so I mean, she's pretty, but I prefer to have my woman step on me."

I leaned back groaning and rubbing my temples. "Thank you for that mental image, Sparky."

"No problem!"

He hadn't even answered my question.

//\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\

What monster possessed me to eat in the lunchroom today I had no idea. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. That I was now forced to eat with Sparky was showing it was instead probably going to be a poor life decision.

"Did you know that Bitch's monster's are dogs? Dogs man! Dogs. How wild is that?"

"Sparky, I'm pretty sure her name is Hellhound."

"No, no, it's Bitch. Definitely Bitch. Like a female dog! It makes sense!"

A poor life decision indeed. At least he wasn't an asshole. So, that was, you know, something.

Madison on the other hand was looking like someone had kicked her puppy. Ugh. I needed to have a conversation with someone besides Sparky. He was obviously infecting me with too much cape talk. Cape talk was fine, but not here, not now.

"I have a cat."

My lips curled and my muscles clenched. It took conscious effort to avoid letting the bugs in the rafters swarm over each other. I wasn't going to let myself be outed so easily.

But she was supposed to be one of them! They didn't even care enough to know what sort of pet she had!

"You're going to get fat, and then you're not going to have anything going for you." Emma's words were loud enough that I didn't even need my bugs to hear them. My fists clenched.

"Man, I hope I never get into an abusive relationship." Sparky shook his head, sighing. He smiled down at his backpack. "You'll never betray me right buddy? Always a good trip with you!"

Sparky was right. Screw this, no matter how I looked at this I was just staying angry at Madison because I refused to let myself recontextualize anything. Even my own notes told it like it was.

Madison had hurt me. But that didn't mean she was one of the Bitches. All I had to do was look and it was clear as day.

Madison was as much a victim as me. More so in some ways. I could get away from them. She had to pretend to be friendly day in and day out and all she got in return was more and more abuse. She'd invented an entirely separate persona to try and escape from her shitty life. If I kept trying to lie to myself, I'd be just as bad as Emma.

There was no Trio. There never had been.

There was just Emma, Sophia, and another target.

I wouldn't let this keep going. I wouldn't just stand aside. Everyone always just watched. No one ever acted.

No more.

No. More.
 
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Interlude - Dragonhunt
Interlude - Dragonhunt

Judas' loping gait was starting to get to Tattletale. His spines were digging into the meat of her legs leaving her numb and she was losing feeling in her fingers. She couldn't afford to stay on this wild ride for much longer or she'd be as good as dead when she lost her grip. At the same time, the team couldn't afford to stop either or they'd all be as good as dead that way too. Everything she tried to think of her power was returning the same inevitable result: Dead, dead, dead. All roads led to dead.

None of my attempts were successful.

Coil's text echoed in her head. Short, sweet, to the point. Damning.

What use was having a thinker backer/warden if he couldn't thinken up a way out? Fucking Coil. She should never have expected anything from him. Garbage in, garbage out. If the available paths all had the same bad end, he would be useless. That was her own escape plan after all. Coil was great on offense, shit on defense.

They were so fucked.

Okay, when all roads led to Rome, you had to jump in the river.

Tattletale whistled, the sharp note cutting through the cold air. She really hoped that it was only her imagination that Lung's roaring got louder.

"What?!" Grue shouted, directing Brutus up alongside her as she drew even with Bitch and Angelica.

"He's going to catch us! This isn't working!" Tattletale yelled back. The wind whipped her in the face, almost tearing her mask off. They weren't going fast enough. Lung was gaining.

"No shit, but fighting him worked so well!" Grue snapped.

"We need a distraction!" They needed to flip the board. They needed to do something that they would never ever do. Something that Coil would never have tested. If they were going to have any chance, they had to…

"How about a PRT baton pass?" Regent asked from behind her.

"They're too far," she said. Her voice failed her, would this really help? A jet of fire shot over the closest building and a scaley wing tip poked over the roof's edge. Swallowing her self-disgust, she continued, "We need to leave the dogs behind!"

Bitch's head twisted and locked Tattletale with her gaze. "What!?"

"We're dead if we keep running and we're dead if we turn around and fight. We can't beat him and we can't outrun him anymore. He's not calming down because he's enjoying the hunt. We need to put distance between us so that he'll power down. That's not happening unless we leave him something to spar with while we run and hide." It was horrible math, but it should be correct math all the same. The dogs might be able to get away even. They were smart, Bitch had trained them well. They might be able to get away. Lung wouldn't particularly care for them anyway. He wouldn't go so hard against dogs.

Right?

Her power was silent. That was probably a good thing.

Lung roared and dropped down to the street, the impact sending shards of asphalt flying into the air.

"Fuck you!" Bitch screamed. "You think I'm going to leave them behind to save your skins!"

"Hey, Bitch!" Regent shouted over Tattletale's shoulder. "You want to die with these three or live and check on the others in your shelters? Those doggos probably need you, eh?"

"Stop helping," Tattletale hissed. Bitch was hard enough to handle as it was. She didn't need Regent and his flippant attitude to mess up their only potential shot.

"SEE 'UUU!!"

"Out of time!" Grue shouted. His darkness left a river behind them obscuring part of the road. It wouldn't help. It hadn't helped for a while. Lung just burned everything flammable and tore through the rest.

Bitch didn't stop staring at Tattletale, her eyes boring holes through the blonde despite her flimsy dollar-store mask.

She raised her arm and pointed it back towards Lung. "Brutus, Kill!"

No. Now they wouldn't stop. Now there was no saving them. Now…

"Wait, I'm still -" Grue's shout was cut off as Brutus skidded, his paws finding purchase and launching the duo back into Grue's own darkness even as Lung roared again, about to plunge into the cloud from the other side.

Tattletale's eyes widened as Bitch's arm stayed up and pointed. She wrenched herself off to the side, pulling herself free of Regent's arm around her waist in the process.

"Judas, Kill!"

Tattletale hit the roof of a car with her shoulder, shooting pain arching up her left side, flames of agony radiating outward. Mewling, she rolled off of the car and stumbled to the brick wall nearby; Judas surged back past her in moments, his talons clicking against the asphalt as he loped into the darkness containing Lung and Grue.

"Oh that fucking bitch," Regent moaned, pulling himself up from the ground a few yards away. Tattletale groaned, and shuffled towards him. "I can't believe she didn't give us five seconds to jump off."

"We're all disposable distractions now for having the audacity to suggest leaving her dogs," Tattletale muttered. "Get off the street. We might still make it if -"

A warcry from Lung that rattled her bones and shook the windows left Tattletale's mouth dry. Too late.

The darkness was already dissipating. A body lay against one of the cars. Vehicle and person both appeared to have been hit from Lung's fire blast. The motorcycle helmet was partially melted, but still recognizable. Dammit. She hadn't particularly liked Brian, but he deserved better than… that!

Brutus and Judas were both slamming into Lung from either end. He must have gotten a hand on Brutus before killing Grue, because one whole wall of the building to his side was knocked down and there was rubble strewn all through the rottweiler's spines.

And there were more charred bodies on the street near the debris. Lung wasn't even pretending to care about collateral damage anymore. No wonder they always died.

Not wasting anymore words on Regent, Tattletale changed direction, jumping into the alleyway beside her, her sight flashing momentarily white as her arm hit the wall.

A jet of fire lit up the air and she pushed the spots in her vision down, gasping and ignoring the pain to focus it on making her legs move again.

"Hey, where does this alley go?" Regent gasped from behind.

She didn't say anything. Her power was screaming at her about Lung's scent range. They wouldn't be able to run. They couldn't get enough distance from the gang leader on foot, not like this. With Grue gone any chance they'd had… it had went with him. They needed to be smart about this. It was the only way.

"Are we looping back towards the rage dragon? No, fuck that, I'm out! Bye, good luck!"

She was back on the street just in time to see Lung punch Judas across the street and through another building. With a horrible keening crash and screams that echoed in her head, Tattletale watched as the walls collapsed.

Judas didn't get back up. Neither did any of the people inside the building. It hadn't been abandoned. Would everyone just walk away after this and pretend it hadn't happened? Just like they always did? She bit her cheek. Killing in battle was one thing, she was fine with that. Killing for self-protection was also perfectly fine. But this? This was just pointless slaughter for slaughter's sake.

Lung roared again, latching onto a charging Brutus with his front legs -arms?- and leaping into the air.

Tattletale didn't stay to watch. She tore enough of her costume off along the seams so that it looked like a party dress at a glance, ditched her mask, and looped her good hand through her hair, tying it off and messing up the color with dust from the debris at the same time.

Then she kicked one of the bodies to the side and rolled under it, pulling the corpse back over her.

Lung crashed back to the street seconds after she had finished, Brutus letting out a weak whimper from beneath the dragon's talons. Lung didn't pause for long. His whole body cloaked itself in flames.

Tattletale shut her eyes, curling into as much of a ball as she could, silently praying to a god that she didn't believe in. Too close. She was too close.

Lung's fire surged out in a sphere around him. And her world vanished in pain.



Lisa had to stop again, her breathing ragged.

"Almost. There. Don't stop. Now. Hundred feet. Then you can. Rest."

Pep talks didn't help, they just made her more exhausted. Maybe she really did love to hear herself talk. What was she even doing? There was no way that Alec had made it out. Alec was a hedonist, not a survivalist. And the odds of Rachel patching her up were minimal. Maybe if she laid down and exposed her belly?

Fuck that. She'd sooner grovel to Panacea than play nice to the bitch that had left them all for dead - for the crime of suggesting a strategy that had ultimately worked!

For a given definition of 'worked' at least.

"Finally."

Lisa pushed through the door to the loft, and managed to shuffle her way up the stairs. She nearly collapsed on her bed, but she couldn't afford to stop yet. Not yet.

"Oh, hey, you made it. Woohoo, go team. Small team now."

Lisa looked over her shoulder. It took too long for her eyes to fully focus on the door to her room and longer for her to process what they were telling her. She tried to shake her head to clear it, but that just pulled at the muscles in her back and drew a whimper from her.

"Damn. That looks like it hurts. Want help getting the spandex off?"

"Fuck you. You'll just cop a feel," Lisa mumbled.

"I mean if you want that to get infected, be my guest. I can control myself, you know? I'm not that awful."

Alec didn't move out of the doorway.

Lisa twisted, another lance of pain shooting through her shoulder. She gasped, biting her tongue to keep from crying out. "Help."

Alec nodded and went to her side. He had to cut the back of her costume off, but even still it didn't take long. Fashioning the sling for her arm took longer.

"How'd - you get - away?" Lisa asked between pants.

"Some of the Protectorate showed up after he torched Judas. They were still dealing with him last I saw."

Lisa nodded. That made sense. There had been signs of another fight when she had woken up, but she hadn't reached for her power to explain. She didn't want to know how many were dead - just because they had tried to run from a rage dragon. More bodies because of her, because she hadn't realized how bad it could all go. She owed it to them to know the numbers but… Everything else already hurt, she couldn't deal with a migraine on top of… all that. Not until she knew that she was safe at least.

And the loft was not safe. But she needed her laptop. And clothes that didn't look like cape clothes.

"I'm getting a first aid kit. Don't go anywhere!"

Lisa glared at him. Alec just smirked back, saluted and moved to the door, shutting it as he went.

What?

Another door slammed in the loft. The bathroom door wasn't heavy enough to slam like that.

She leaned on her power. Not much, just a smidge. Just enough.

Front door.

Ah. Well then. That only really allowed for two possibilities. But really, just the one, because when you thought about it, Alec had seen them coming. That meant that he knew their nervous system, but probably not well enough to control them.

Rachel was home.

Lisa slowly got off the bed, grabbing her laptop and stuffing it into her bag. She threw several clothes into it as well as the excess money she kept stashed around the room.

"Hey, Rach! You are looking fantastic. I'm fine by the way. Love the ruthless streak, you really live up to the villain label. I have to say, I wasn't sure you had it in you before tonight."

"Brutus? Judas?" Rachel's voice was so low that Lisa could barely hear her through the walls. It was enough. Lisa didn't need her power to pick up on the simmering rage in that tone. A shudder ran through her at that sound resonating with something in her very core.

"Lung got them both. Word to the wise, Rach, dogs can't beat rage dragon. Don't know why you told them to kill him, that was never going to happen."

Alec stop. Stop Alec. Stop…

"Grue's dead too. Barbecue."

"Tattletale?" How could one person put so much hate into a single word?

"Last I saw she was running straight towards Lung, well more limping. Considering he exploded after that, I'd bet good money that she's gone too."

She couldn't waste this. She… It was math. One for one.

One for one.

"So just you then. Brutus dead. Judas dead."

"Lung's the one who killed your precious puppies. This is a dangerous business, Rachel. People die, things we love die. You're not special. You don't get a monopoly on that."

Lisa slid the window in her room up. It didn't make a sound. There was a reason she kept it well oiled.

"I didn't want to rob the casino, but I was outvoted. I didn't want to leave them, but all of you said we needed the distraction."

"And it worked, you entitled cunt. I'm alive, you're alive, Lung isn't knocking down our door. We won!"

"They're DEAD!" Rachel's shout tore through Lisa's eardrums and sent more shudders through her.

The pained scream hadn't even died out before a crash sounded, her wall shaking as something slammed into it. She heard gurgling and gasping alongside grunts of exertion.

Lisa slipped out the window trying to ignore every shouting voice that said she should do something. What could she do? She couldn't fight Rachel on a good day, let alone with a broken arm and at least second-degree burns on her back. It was all she could do to stay conscious. And even if the two of them did manage to fight Rachel, she still had Angelica who could be powered up in a moment's notice. Alec had known all that, or he wouldn't have bothered lying to Rachel and giving her a chance to slip away.

One for one.

Lisa wiped at her eyes as she dropped to the alleyway, and turned to head towards the street.

It was just math.
 
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