STRANGE DAYS

Chapter 256

See first chapter for disclaimers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

Infinity Train & Harry Potter series (Draco Malfoy)

And now…

Worm And…?

Whose Power is it Anyway? (Take 24)

The paramedics that had gotten Taylor out of the locker, and the doctors who tried to treat her, were somewhat frustrated. The patient was unresponsive, comatose, but she had clearly triggered during the three hours she'd spent in there. It baffled paramedics as to how it could have gone unreported for so long, but that was a matter for the police. Their concern was her survival. The difficulty arose in that her body alternated from being nearly impossible to hold to being nearly impossible to let go of.

The PRT had been contacted, but they had been of little help. The PRT specialists that the emergency room doctor consulted with had no better idea how to proceed than they did. All they could do was move the newly triggered girl to the top of Panacea's waiting list. The world-famous healer would take time from a busy schedule to do a favor for the PRT, who hoped to recruit the newly triggered Taylor Hebert.

Panacea frowned over what she was seeing. She couldn't do anything about the coma, but she could tell the girl had a massive number of infections, some of which she had only read about.

Cursing under her breath, she began to list them off to a nurse with a pad and pen as she eliminated them and began repairing the damage the various infections had done.

After listing and eliminating seventeen different infections, she turned to Danny Hebert. Taylor's father had been at her side almost constantly since she'd been brought in. "It looks like she's comatose because her body needed to focus all its energy on dealing with the infections. I've seen this before, and the odds are excellent she'll wake up in the next day or two at the latest. I can't affect brains, but I can look at them, and there's no sign of damage."

"And her… abilities?"

"They complicated standard treatment, which is odd. I've never seen a parahuman use their abilities while unconscious, at least without being a case 53." She shrugged. "Powers are weird. There's nothing new in that. New surprises in the field of parahuman studies are popping up all the time." She shook her head. "I wish I could tell you more, but until she wakes up and gets a handle on her new powers, there isn't a lot anyone will be able to tell you."

Danny sighed, nodding. He'd suspected as much. The doctor had told him as much, but given her experience with parahumans… "Thank you for helping Taylor."

"My pleasure. Try not to worry. She'll recover soon." She held out a hand. "May I?" Curious, he held out a hand, which she took and looked thoughtful. "Go home. Have a good meal and get some sleep. You can't help her in your current state."

Danny nodded, grimacing. He knew she was right. "Okay. I'll check on her tomorrow." He turned to leave. "Thank you, again." He also had a meeting with the PRT tomorrow. He had something to show them.

OOOOOOOOOO

Director Emily Pigot frowned over the report from Winslow. It had been prepared with all of the speed and thoroughness that she had come to expect from Miss Militia, who had taken personal offense at what had been done to the Hebert girl. The prank that had led to Taylor Hebert's trigger event was horrific enough, but the fact that no one had seen or heard anything was worrying. The school's staff had stonewalled the police, and she suspected they would do the same for the PRT's investigation. The interview with Danny Hebert had brought some unexpected surprises, though, it was unclear how helpful the copy of the journal he provided would be. She hadn't informed anyone save Armsmaster and Miss Militia about that.

Shadow Stalker, infuriatingly, knew nothing about the girl, at least nothing she'd admit to. The director was certain that the most troublesome member of the Wards was holding something back. While it would be nice to present Hebert with a fait accompli when she awakened, it looked like that might not happen. The school was being as uncooperative as it was legally possible to be. The police, overworked as they were, had all but given up. No one was left to try to find the culprits except the PRT, and it was technically out of their jurisdiction. Pushing too hard on the matter might out Hebert, assuming that hadn't been done already.

Despite HIPAA laws, people talked, especially if palms were greased. They needed an angle, a reason to investigate. She called a meeting of the Protectorate members available and the Wards' current leader, Aegis.

The group gathered in the conference room less than a day after Taylor had been taken out of the locker. She laid out the facts for them in a clear and concise manner. Then she told them what she wanted.

"You want to bring this girl into the Wards, encouraging her to join by catching the person or people behind the attack on her, using the probability that she's been 'outed' as a stick if the carrot fails." Armsmaster summarized. "A good impression would smooth her transition into the group, and should make her a far more willing and useful member than Shadowstalker." As usual, his blunt assessment had some people wincing, though no one actually disagreed. Pigot nodded.

"The primary problem is that this is outside our jurisdiction." She grimaced. "The actions, vile as they were, were not, to our knowledge, perpetrated by a parahuman criminal."

"To our knowledge." Aegis repeated. "At a crowded high school, she spent three hours in a locker, presumably beating on the door and yelling for help?" He looked around. "Master/stranger effect is possible here."

"I agree." Miss Militia nodded. "It's hard to imagine people ignoring something like that without some outside influence affecting them."

"It gives us an excuse to get involved, even if there isn't." Assault offered. He sounded dubious, but more than willing to go along with it.

"You have doubts?" Director Pigot picked up on his tone.

"About the approach? No. But I'll be surprised if there actually is a master or stranger power involved. Highschool kids can be really cruel and self-centered. If it isn't happening to them, it tends to be unimportant."

"I said it was possible." Aegis shrugged. "Not that it was likely."

Pigot nodded. "That may indeed be the case, but still, it gives us reason to investigate." She looked around the table. "I've spoken to Shadowstalker, and she only knows the victim slightly. I've asked her to investigate, but her… talents clearly lie elsewhere."

Aegis snorted at this, but said nothing.

OOOOOOOOOO

Sophia smirked to herself. Director Piggy had actually tasked her with investigating what had happened to the wimp, Hebert. I have a feeling the case will go unsolved. She smirked, and then paused to think. She'd need to find something to satisfy Miss Piggy. Several of their efforts had been aimed at painting the wimp as an attention-seeking malcontent and friendless loser. While the last was certainly true, Hebert had never done anything to draw attention to herself. In fact, she'd actively shunned any attention. Especially, after she'd gotten the message that the spineless specimens that passed as teachers weren't going to do anything to help her.

That didn't mean they hadn't pushed that idea with everyone, and she saw no reason why she couldn't 'find' evidence of that with the right witnesses. I could probably convince the fat woman that Hebert did it to herself. With the bare bones of a plan in mind, she went to find Emma and Madison.

OOOOOOOOOO

"You entrusted the investigation to Shadowstalker?" Armsmaster sounded dubious.

"Of course not." Pigot said, sounding vaguely insulted by the notion. "I know when I'm being fed a line. She knows more than she's saying. I want to see what she comes back to us with while we conduct our own investigation without her knowledge." She nodded to the head of the local Protectorate. "You're to be her oversight during her investigation. Your latest report indicates that your lie detector has reached an acceptable level of accuracy. You'll get the chance to field test it."

"Understood, director."

"Now. As to the rest of you." She began outlining her plan for the real investigation.

OOOOOOOOOO

Sophia Hess walked beside Emma Barnes and Madison Clements as they left school for the day. She had told both of them an edited version of the truth and gained their cooperation. Emma was going to start working on some of their hangers-on, as well. By the time they were done, no one would believe a word Hebert said when she woke up.

Both seemed happy with the idea, and had eagerly gone along with it. They had already begun to push the idea a bit, but such things, Emma told her, had to be done carefully. That sort of thing, she was happy to leave to Emma. Sophia had never had the patience for delicate social manipulations, but she was good at straight up intimidation. Those who were reluctant to go along with Emma's gentle persuasions, Sophia would have a word with.

OOOOOOOOOO

"There has never been any proof." Principal Carrie Blackwell insisted. She might have felt and sounded more confident had this meeting taken place in her own office at Winslow, but it wasn't. She was currently at the PRT building downtown, sitting in an interrogation room. Armsmaster, whom she had always admired for his no-nonsense approach to his Protectorate duties and his strict reliance on facts and empirical evidence, was not nearly as receptive to her arguments as she would have hoped. "Casting aspersions on Miss Hess's character based on unfounded allegations would be unfair."

"Any such allegation against a Ward should have been reported immediately." Armsmaster informed her, his tone matter-of-fact. "It was for us to determine if there was merit to the accusation, not you."

"I did inform her handler, each time Miss Hebert came to me with one of these accusations, and we both agreed that they were without foundation and didn't warrant passing along." She paused and then, without a second thought, threw Hess's handler under the bus. "That was my take on it, anyway. The final decision as to whether or not to pass on the reports was hers."

"And she is being questioned closely about that." The armor-clad hero informed her. "Depending on what we learn, we will be looking into formal charges. If there is anything you wish to tell us to aid your case, I advise you to talk to me now. I suspect that, one way or another, you will not be maintaining your post."

"I…"

"Miss Hebert kept a detailed journal of incidents since the start of the current school year. This included printouts of emails containing insults and threats. We've already obtained a warrant to go through the school's computer system. Even deleted files can be recovered."

"I see."

"The time you have to help yourself is running out, Ms. Blackwell."

OOOOOOOOOO

Julia had always admired strong women. It was one of the reasons she looked up to Emma and Sophia. She wanted to be as confident, as strong, as they were. At the moment, confronted with Miss Militia, questioning her about things the two girls had done, and about a recent conversation, however, she did not feel strong or confident.

Sitting across the table from the teenage girl, Miss Militia repressed a sigh. Julia was a hanger-on, one of the wanna-be 'cool kids.' The people she'd picked to emulate, not surprisingly, spent their time demeaning and humiliating others to make themselves look strong. It hadn't taken long to get through her protestations of ignorance and get at the truth. It seemed one of Shadow stalker's friends had been pushing certain ideas and encouraging her to spread lies about Miss Hebert.

Julia was certain that the idea for this approach originated with Sophia and was then refined by Barnes and Clements. This, combined with the diary that Taylor's father had found, made it clear how badly Hess had been abusing her position and what sort of person she was.

How did we miss all of this?

OOOOOOOOOO

Taylor came awake slowly. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was in a hospital room. That much was plain. It took her a moment to recall why she was there, though. Oh, right. The bitch trio shut me in my locker, and no one helped, as per usual. It was the worst thing the three bullies had done so far, but for some reason, she couldn't muster much anger about it. The fact that she was alone didn't help much. That her father was a no-show didn't terribly surprise her. He'd pretty much been a zombie since her mother had died. She hadn't been much better, admittedly, but she had been the one to pull herself together and start taking care of things around the house, including him. She wondered if he was home brooding. Again. And again, she had to look after herself.

She was tired of it all. She knew exactly how the school would respond to the incident. Since discovering what the bullies had done, they'd no doubt been covering their collective asses in every way imaginable, legal or not. Had there even been a police investigation? She wasn't sure what the protocols were, but was fairly certain someone with a badge would have had to at least dropped by the school and been told the staff and students knew nothing.

She still wanted justice for what she'd been put through, but she had no idea how to go about getting it. She had been carefully maintaining a journal, but it would still be dismissed as her word against theirs. She had text messages and emails, but those could be faked. At least, she was certain that would be the claim.

Admittedly, she didn't know much about the law, but she did know that she had never caught a break where those three were concerned. Perhaps, a little research was in order. She was still considering the options when the door to the room opened and a nurse walked in. The woman nodded at seeing her awake and came over. She took Taylor's vitals and made some notes on the chart, talking to her only enough to say the doctor would be by shortly. Irritated, Taylor waited for nearly an hour before a man walked in. He was as business-like as the nurse, but he did answer her questions.

She had been comatose for almost three days before Panacea had been able to come by and treat her. The number and severity of infections had been beyond the hospital's ability to deal with, although, the doctor did not phrase it that way. Her treatment had been rendered difficult by the fact that she had triggered. That brought up new questions that the doctor wasn't able to answer. He referred her to the PRT. There was a look of mild distaste on his face at the mention of the organization, and she got the feeling that he had been told to give her that advice by someone. Likely, someone he didn't think much of.

That left her with very few options. She knew she had powers, but the doctor wasn't saying anything about their nature. There were, as far as she could tell, no physical differences in her body. If the doctor knew anything, she thought it rather irresponsible of him to keep quiet. After all, she might hurt someone accidentally. 'I didn't know it was loaded' didn't begin to cover it.

She suspected bringing that up with him would be pointless, but it was something she needed to know. "Why exactly do you think I have powers? What happened?"

"You should speak to the PRT abou-."

"I'm speaking to you." Taylor sat up in bed, watching him closely, and the man started to look nervous. "If I have powers and no idea what they are, doesn't that mean I'm more likely to hurt someone accidentally? Keeping that information from me sounds like negligence."

"We simply know too little." The doctor argued, scowling over what she was implying. "I can't give you any answers because I don't have any myself. It would be irresponsible of me to speculate."

"I'm not asking you to speculate. I'm asking you to tell me what happened that led you to the conclusion that I have powers."

Reluctantly, the doctor told her what he knew without offering any opinions or speculations. It was, to Taylor's ears, a whole lot of hemming and hawing and reminders that nothing was certain and that neither he nor the hospital bore no responsibility for any wrong conclusions she might draw. Irritating as that was, she did draw a few conclusions. It gave her a place to start.

OOOOOOOOOO

Taylor scowled. This was not what she wanted. Director Pigot had laid out the situation in exacting detail. Despite wishing they could begin by focusing on the crime committed against Taylor, a situation had arisen that took precedent for the meeting.

The paramedics that had gotten her to the hospital had failed miserably to keep their mouths shut. Despite laws and regulations, people loved to talk about 'the weird ones.' Especially, when there were people willing to pay for that information. It wasn't all their fault, of course. There was a YouTube video, quickly taken down, of them struggling with her unconscious body, trying to get her onto a gurney and keep her there.

Regardless of who was responsible, she had been outed. The overweight woman before her was not wasting words. At the moment, her priority was getting Taylor into the Wards so she would have a measure of protection. To that end, she'd already had them sign non-disclosure agreements related to her future teammates' identities. She had other forms ready for her and her father to sign as well. Danny Hebert was still in shock over the idea that his daughter had gained powers because she had been put through something horrific. He was not, however, so befuddled that he was about to simply sign her over to the PRT.

"I'll want to review these myself."

"Understandable," Pigot nodded, "but bear in mind that her abilities being made public knowledge complicates things. Others will be approaching her, and some may not ask politely." She shifted topics. "We've been looking into the situation at Winslow. The circumstances indicate this might have been a master/stranger situation, given that no one saw anything."

Taylor's scowl deepened. "It isn't. It's just high school. No one wants to get involved in anyone else's problems. Those that are too apathetic to care, unless the bullying is happening to them, tend to outnumber those that are scared that, if they say anything, the bullies will start focusing on them. After something like this, a lot of people will stay quiet because they don't want to be blamed for not doing anything."

Pigot sighed. "I was afraid that might be the case. It did give us grounds to investigate, though."

"What have you learned?" Taylor asked, not expecting much. Pigot smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile.

"We've learned quite a lot, actually." Pigot had had her doubts about this approach, but at the urging of Miss Militia and surprisingly, Dragon, she had agreed to be completely up front with the girl and her father. "To tell you everything, I needed to get your signatures on those nondisclosure agreements. This involves the secret identity of a Ward, I'm ashamed to say. That one was always problematic, rough around the edges, which was why her handler was given very specific directions to watch her carefully and report any hint of misbehavior." Pigot frowned. "That one is looking for a new job."

"You said 'her?'" Taylor frowned, a nasty suspicion forming. There were only two female wards, and Vista, she was fairly sure, was a bit young to start at Winslow. That left the one who could reach through a locker door and steal things without leaving a trace of evidence.

Pigot nodded, a sour look on her face. "I began by speaking to Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker, about what had happened at Winslow. I asked her to tell me everything she knew about your situation. Even without knowing all of the details, I knew she was lying to me."

"She does that, but not nearly as well as she thinks." Taylor shook her head. She wasn't sure why she wasn't angrier. "I never understood why Blackwell was always so willing to believe her. I guess I know now."

"Apparently, Ms. Blackwell and Hess's former handler were of the opinion that having a Ward at Winslow outweighed other considerations."

"Other considerations!?" Danny Hebert demanded. "They-"

"I know." The director cut him off. "Their idiocy led to this mess, and both will suffer for it. If there is one up side to Taylor being outed, it is that the PRT will be able to act more openly in applying pressure. I doubt Ms. Blackwell will ever work for a school again, and may face criminal charges. That, however, is up to the school board."

"It's fine, dad. The director can't oversee everything herself. She has to trust people under her. Sometimes, that doesn't work out so well."

Pigot nodded. "Sadly true, but it remains my responsibility. Based on Armsmaster's findings, Shadow Stalker has abused her position in the Wards almost from the start. Aside from the trouble she's caused you, she has been going out on solo patrols with lethal ordinance. That is a violation of Ward rules and her probation. She's going straight to juvenile detention." She sighed. "I did consider sending her to a punishment detail or assigning her to another Wards' team, but frankly, no one wants her. As badly as we need capes, she's proven herself too much trouble."

"Since the other two aren't parahumans, I suppose nothing will happen to them."

"We can't do anything about them, but the police can. Armsmaster' s findings, appropriately edited, will be handed over to the district attorney. Those two will not escape punishment."

OOOOOOOOOO

Taylor was actually feeling pretty good about her situation. Her father was paying more attention to the world around him than he had since her mother died, and the trio were going to face justice for what they'd done. She felt an actual smile coming on as they left the PRT building. They'd parked some distance from the building, and made their way to the meeting, per the director's instructions, by a more discreet route than the main entrance. It was a bit of a walk back, but it was only early evening, and there were plenty of people out and about, so the risk wasn't that great.

They'd had to park on one of the upper levels of the parking structure, and had just emerged from the stairwell on the level where they had left the truck, when the cellphone the director had given her rang. Her father had frowned a bit over that. He didn't like cellphones, but he acknowledged the need for one once Taylor joined the Wards.

Frowning slightly, she took out the phone as they started toward the truck, and answered. "Hello?"

"Miss Hebert." Director Pigot began without preamble. "I was just informed that Hess slipped custody. You and your father should come back to the PRT building. Hess may well target you."

"Okay, we'll head back. We're still close." She turned to her father, opening her mouth to tell him what was happening. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move in a way that usually only meant one thing. She'd spent enough time dodging ambushes at Winslow, that scanning her surroundings had become habit. Someone was trying to be sneaky.

Given what she had just been told about Sophia…

Reaching a decision, she put a hand on her dad's shoulder to stop him. "Hold on a second." She knelt down, touched the concrete and concentrated. She wasn't exactly sure how to make this work, as she'd only tried minor experiments since waking up in the hospital, but she thought she could manage it. Her previous experiments had resulted in a couple of embarrassing moments for nearby people. No one was hurt by their minor slips or stumbles, though, and hadn't thought anything of it.

That practice had given her a feel for her new power and how to control it. She focused on where she had seen the shadow move, and pushed her power that way, spreading out as much as she could. Once ready, she rose from pretending to tie her shoes and called out.

"I know you're there, Sophia. Come out."

The shadows moved again and Shadow Stalker, in full costume, stepped into view, her crossbows raised. Her feet promptly went out from under her, and she hit the ground hard. She rolled and tried to get to her feet, but there was no traction. Her crossbows hit the ground, fortunately out of reach, and sent their bolts through the tire and fender of someone's car. She tried to get to her feet again, but found that she was suddenly stuck to the ground that, a moment ago, had been as slippery as ice.

Sophia struggled to rise for a few seconds, but quickly realized that her costume was essentially glued to the floor of the parking garage. She switched to her breaker form and attempted to rise again, but still found her costume held fast. She switched back to her normal state even as Taylor raised the phone to call the director back. Even as she started to dial, though, Sophia switched to her breaker state again and rose to her feet, leaving her costume behind.

Taylor gaped as the other girl glared at her and flashed them.

"You're gonna pay for this!" Careful to stand on her costume, she reached down and drew a knife from a hidden sheath. She leapt to the hood of a nearby car and started to quickly approach them by jumping from one car to the next.

Taylor frowned and focused. The next hood Sophia landed on might as well have been greased. Her feet went out from under her and she bellyflopped on the hood of the car before sliding off and hitting the ground. Taylor ensured that she stayed there.

She then finished dialing. "Hello? Director?"

"Miss Hebert. Is something wrong?"

"Think you could send some people to pick up Sophia? She's having a bad night and might need medical help."

"I'll send help immediately. Where are you?" A short conversation and a short wait later, Velocity arrived, assuring them that a squad of PRT troopers was right behind him. Taylor had carefully shrunk the area her power was affecting to just around the cursing teenager. Her father had found an old jacket in his truck and used it to cover her, something that earned him a glare and a string of insults.

When the speedster saw the situation, he stared for a moment, just taking it in. "New cape?" he asked. Taylor nodded.

"I hope we can convince you to join the Wards."

"I think I will." Taylor nodded. "I seem to have a knack for restraining criminals."