"Yep!" Glory Girl, seemingly immune to the imperious presence of her mother, walks right inside the house with a skip in her step. I notice now that Brandish is in full costume, a white skintight suit accented by orange, with a symbol of crossed blades emblazoned across her chest. Does she just wear her costume in the house all the time, or is she prepared to fight me if things go awry? On one hand, I admire the wariness of meeting an unknown parahuman, but on the other hand, I can't help but think this is another show of power. After a couple seconds of sizing each other up, it's clear she's not going to be the one to initiate this conversation, so I clear my throat.
"My name is Jack. Nice to meet you, Brandish." I reach my hand out for a handshake. At the sight of my hand reaching out, she slightly recoils, settling into a subtly combative stance. A second passes, then two, and I pull my hand back. I was expecting wariness, not full blown paranoia. This is going to suck.
"Yes, well. Come inside, we need to talk." She turns around without waiting for a response, and walks inside. Glory Girl, done taking her shoes off at the threshold, shoots me an apologetic glance before following. I haven't had 'we need to talk' dropped on me in years, it's a little crazy hearing it again from a superhero. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and step inside, storing my shoes in my inventory.
Inside the house is significantly less extravagant than the outside. Sure, it doesn't look like they're in poverty, but there's some wear and tear that's visible. I walk through the hallway connecting the door and the living room, trying to understand them a bit better before I sit down and chat with them. A few photos are hung up, ranging from them posing at a theme park to them eating lunch on a blanket in the park. There's something profoundly sad about them though, as only Glory Girl seems to be enjoying herself. The rest are smiling, but they're plastic smiles, fake. Like they were told to smile for the camera. Panacea looks sad in most of them, Brandish looks preoccupied, and Flashbang looks listless. I knew their family was a bit messy, but I had hoped that it wasn't actually that bad, that it was just the dramatic tinge of Worm coloring it. Doesn't seem like it.
I step into the living room, and I'm met with the sight of the full Dallon family sitting at a large wooden table. As expected, Brandish is at the 'head' seat at the far end, with Flashbang sitting next to her on the right, wearing his costume as well. On the left side of the table, Glory Girl has taken the seat next to her mother, with Panacea sitting next to her, both of them in plain clothes. The only seat left at the table is opposite of Brandish, so I guess that's mine. Which means I'll be in touching range of Panacea this whole time. Great.
"Please, take a seat." Brandish calls out, and beckons towards the only empty wooden chair. As I pull it out and sit down, I notice that one of the legs is wobbly. Is that coincidence, or to destabilize me if they have to attack?
"When Glory Girl invited me to talk with all of you, I wasn't expecting an interrogation." I keep my voice neutral. They all tense up at that, and Glory Girl goes a bit wide eyed as she realizes what's happening. Panacea doesn't look like she cares in the slightest though.
"I assure you, this isn't an interrogation. We just need to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into." Brandish replies. Seems she's going to be the one doing most of the talking. Figures.
"And what exactly am I getting myself into?" I raise an eyebrow at her for extra measure. Looks like that got under her skin, given the way her face scrunches.
"Unmasking. It's dangerous. Not just for you, but for your family. If you take down a villain, or strike at a gang, there's nothing stopping them from attacking those that aren't capes to get back at you." She unknowingly mimics her daughters words. I can almost believe that she really is just looking out for me, but her posture says otherwise. She thinks I'm dangerous, reckless, maybe even stupid. Is she going to try and pressgang me into her group?
"I'm well aware. I don't have any family for 'villains' to attack to get back at me." Her eyes widen at that revelation, while Flashbang's gaze drops to the table. Panacea has scrunched in on herself, though I can't imagine why... Glory Girl really didn't tell them?
"You seem rather casual about that. When did you trigger?" As her words settle in the air, Flashbang turns to her and furrows his brows, and Glory Girl looks at her mother in disbelief. Even Panacea is shocked, but she quickly hides it with disinterest. As Glory Girl opens her mouth to speak, I interrupt her.
"I don't think that's necessary for you to know." I let my tone go cold, and lean back a bit in my chair. Brandish looks even more irritated, but calms herself down.
"Maybe not. Victoria, what are his powers?" And now she's treating me like I'm not here. I've never seen a grown woman act more childish. I let my frown form on my face, and wait.
"His powers? Uh... he... oh, no..." Glory Girl trails off, finally remembering that I never told her. Brandish looks absolutely furious now.
"You invited him here without knowing what he could do? Is he even a cape?" Her voice is growing colder with every word. I'm not going to sit here and watch an argument start between these two. Fuck it, they're going to have to know my powers if we decide to work together anyways. I slap my hand on the table, storing it and stopping everybody in their tracks.
"Oh wow, look. I have powers!" I mockingly say. That didn't earn me any favor with Brandish, as she glares at me even harder now, but Glory Girl at least got a grin from it. Panacea as well? Interesting.
"You... what did you just do?" Brandish asks, bewilderment clear in her voice. The rest of them look interested too, so I bring the table back out. They all jump a bit when it appears again.
"I stored it. Look, I didn't come here to watch you bicker, I came here to make a connection with New Wave. I'm under no obligation to tell you my powers, but I'm going to do so on one condition. You don't tell the Protectorate or the PRT anything. Not my name, not my powers, nothing." I use their shock as an opportunity to lay out my terms. Brandish composes herself, recognizing that this is the part where we negotiate, while the rest of them quickly compose themselves as well.
"Fine. Why can't we inform the Protectorate? Are you a villain?" Brandish seems to really have it in her head that I'm a bad guy. This is becoming very tiring very quickly.
"Why the hell would I be here if I was a villain? No, I don't want you telling the Protectorate because I don't trust them." I leave out the fact that the Protectorate has Coil working for them. I don't know if this house is bugged or not, and I can't risk it.
"...Very well. This offer doesn't stand if you commit a crime or become a villain." She concedes. Thank god.
"Great. Would you rather me tell you about my powers, or show you?" I lean back in my chair, relaxing. They all do the same, the tension that was present throughout the room dissipating.
"Powers?" She asks. Oh, I didn't mention I'm a grab-bag.
"Yes, plural. I've got a few of them." A white lie, but what they don't know won't harm them.
"How destructive are they?" She's leaning forwards now.
"As much as I want them to be." I respond.
"Then show us. Not here, but in the backyard." She stands, and starts walking to a glass sliding door that leads to a well kept yard. Everybody follows, but Glory Girl lags behind, waiting for me.
"I'm so sorry about that. I should've known this was gonna happen." She whispers to me as we walk, bitterness in her tone.
"It's fine, it's about what I expected. I can't blame her too much, I wouldn't be comfortable with an unknown parahuman in my house either." I whisper back. She looks surprised at that, before it fades into a pleasant smile.
"Thank you. I-" She gets cut off by us reaching her family, Brandish staring at us expectantly. She sends me a look, then walks over to her sister. They form a semicircle, surrounding a large patch of grass that is significantly worse off than the rest of the backyard. Do they have a dedicated spot for power use? That's funny.
"Okay. To start, I should clarify that I'm a Trump..." I trail off as I think. How much should I tell them? I mean, even if they know all my powers, nobody here except Glory Girl is a threat to me. And I know how to beat her, if push comes to shove. The worst thing that can happen is them telling people about me, but even that is more of an inconvenience than an issue. Coil won't try to kidnap me since I'm not a thinker, the Protectorate can't force me into service, and I should be strong enough to at least get away from the gangs if they try and nab me. Yeah, fuck it, I'll just leave out the whole magic bit, and how fast I get stronger.
"I slowly grow stronger, and occasionally get new abilities." I tell them. They don't seem as surprised as I thought they would be, but they definitely look pensive.
"What, like Dauntless?" Panacea chimes in, finally saying something. Her voice is low, quiet, like she's trying to whisper and failing.
"Not really. I grow stronger, not my equipment. And it's not time based, I have to work for it." I respond. She frowns at that, but I can't make out what she's thinking.
"What abilities do you have now?" Flashbang asks. His voice is a deep monotone. He would be great at ASMR, now that I think of it.
"My main power is my body. Watch." I summon the metal boulder, letting it fall down in front of everybody. Brandish jumps back, and I see motes of light flowing around her hand before she calms herself. It's a big difference from everyone else, as they all just stand there being a little surprised at it. I step forward and heave it above myself. This thing must weigh a couple hundred pounds at this point, but I make it look easy. I throw it up a bit and catch it, before putting it back in my inventory.
"I'm a low level Brute, but that's not all." Before they can react, I summon the pocket knife from my inventory and stab it into my arm. It bounces off the first time, which I didn't account for, but I stab myself harder and break through. That spooks them a bit. I raise my arm up to them, showing them the wound, before using [Heal]. They watch as my wound knits itself back together in a second, before fully sealing and looking like nothing ever happened.
"I can heal myself. I should also be able to heal others, but I haven't tried. Anyone want to take a stab?" I don't think the joke landed, as I get judgmental stares for the most part. Panacea, for the first time, genuinely looks interested.
"Outside of my Brute powers, I can also store things, like you've seen. And the last ability is gravity." The words hang there for a second. How should I show them [Gravity]? Use it on Glory Girl? Sure, why not. She should be fine.
"Glory Girl, you're pretty strong, right? Can you help me show how it works?" Her brows go up, and her smile becomes devious. She nods. I beckon her, and she floats over to me, about a foot off the ground. I drag a strand of mana through my foot, into the ground below her, and activate it. She sags a bit as she suddenly weighs about a hundred pounds more.
"That's the weakest I can make it. I haven't tested the upper bounds, but I know it can be much, much stronger." I prepare to dismiss it, but Glory Girl interrupts me.
"How much stronger?"
"Strong enough to turn a normal person into paste." I respond. Damn, I should've expected she'd take that as a challenge. I cut the [Gravity]. I don't know if she would die at my maximum output or not, but I don't want to test it. She goes to speak, but gets cut off.
"Is that all?" Brandish butts in. Really? I give her an incredulous stare. She continues unabashedly, "I don't think you're at the level we hold ourselves to. Maybe when you grow some more, we'll let you in as an honorary member."
Oh, this bitch is just picking a fight.
"I'm not here to join you. Lets make that very clear. I'm here solely because Glory Girl asked me to come, and I decided it would be good to make an impression on the other unmasked heroes I'll inevitably have to work with." My tone grows icy. I came here to get information on Bakuda, but I can get that elsewhere. I don't need to put up with her.
"Let's calm down." An unexpected voice rings out in the backyard. Flashbang has put his hand on Carols shoulder, and is now speaking to me. "Jack, sorry to make you come all this way, but maybe it would be better for you to come back another time. We've all been on edge recently."
Woah, I wasn't expecting that. A voice of reason? In the Dallons? I let myself relax, and nod at him. He gives a relieved nod back.
"Vicky, could you please help Jack get back home?" He asks Glory Girl, and she looks as shocked as I feel. I guess this really doesn't happen often. Did he remember to take his meds today or something?
"Sure... let's go, Jack." Before I can respond, she's already picked me up and is flying upwards. The last thing I see of the Dallon residence is Carol yelling at Flashbang. Damn, poor guy.
We land in front of my ship as the sky turns dark. The smell of the waterfront alleviates my nerves, and lets me fully relax. Back home. Thank god.
"That was rough, I didn't think she'd wig out on you like that. Think you pushed her buttons." Glory Girl lets go of me, and backs up a bit while speaking.
"Is she always like that?" I ask her. She hesitates a bit before answering.
"No, she's usually composed. She can be rough around the edges from stress, but that... that was new. Hostile." She stops speaking for a second before continuing, "I don't know why. Please don't think less of her for tonight. Everyone has off days, right?"
"Off days don't usually cause... that." She frowns. A deep sigh escapes her, and she starts to float.
"I need to go back now. Sorry again for the trouble." And with that, she's off. That was weirdly abrupt. Oh well, she knows how to find me if her mother calms down and wants to have an actual conversation.
As I walk inside my ship, I pull out the envelope Daniel gave me and finally count the money. One hundred and eighty whole dollars. Not bad. That's... eighty or so kebabs. Should last me until April 1st, thankfully. I shiver at the thought of having to work at Fugly Bob's again any time soon.
Time to work out until I forget the shitshow that just happened. I go into autopilot as I drop my metal blob, store my outfit, and get to it.
Run. Lift, [Gravity], drop. Eat. Lift, [Gravity], drop. Heal. Lift, [Gravity], drop.
My thoughts fade as I fall into a meditative state. This is my life now.
It's well past midnight when I stop. Not because I'm tired, but because I'm out of mana and it's not coming back fast enough to keep going. Shucks. Well, it's about time I go to sleep anyways. I clean myself off in the water, brush away the sand I pushed onto my designated sleeping spot, and drop the blankets. What an exhausting day.
Tomorrow will be better.
I wake up. Not peacefully, not calmly, but to a fucking metal plate slamming into my skull. I sit up, reflexively feeling the wound to see how bad it is, just to feel nothing. Now that I think about it, I don't feel any pain either. I pick up the metal plate to look at it, and the corner that struck me is dented. Damn. I look up at where it came from, and I can see the orange sky through one of the holes on the top of the ship. Duct tape must've come off the sheet, and it fell through the hole somehow. Now I'm going to have to fix it again. Whatever, I store the sheet and get up.
While I stretch, I go over what happened yesterday. Why was Carol so hostile to me? Was it really just because I wasn't letting her walk all over me, or was it because of something else? Why did Flashbang say they were all on edge? Did something happen? Can I trust Carol not to be petty and tell the Protectorate about me? Probably not. Shit.
Oh well. What's done is done. If somebody shows up to try and mess with me, I'll deal with it then. I've got no work today, no plans, and no interruptions to my training. Perfect. Time for my regular routine.
Lift, [Gravity], drop.
It's noon when I get interrupted. I'm just minding my business, working out, when I hear a strangled gasp ring out from the entrance to my ship. I quickly store my weights and turn around. Bad move, apparently, as the girl standing right outside of my ship rushes to look the other way. Am I that ugly? I look down, and no, it's just because I'm naked and covered in blood. Whoops.
"Sorry about that. Give me a minute and I'll come out." She takes that as an opportunity to walk away from the hull entirely. I quickly take a dip and clothe myself, and walk outside. I look around to find her leaning on a nearby ship, pointedly staring at her phone. She looks up at me, and I recognize her. A familiar rounded face, sprinkled with freckles here and there, and curly brown hair. Why is Panacea outside my home? At least she doesn't have her costume on, I don't need that kind of attention.
"Hello? Can I do something for you?" I ask.
"You can heal people, right?" Her words carry a deep emotion to them, but I can't put my finger on what it is.
"I should be able to. Why?" Her grip tightens on her phone, before relaxing a second later. Odd.
"Want to come to the hospital with me?" She blurts out. Is that it? I was expecting some crazy request. Should I? I could level [Heal] faster, but it levels up pretty quick as is. It's already at level eight. On the other hand... I could do it just to help her out. Doing any amount of work to defuse her before canon blows up would help in the long run. Spending a day or two at the hospital in exchange for a Panacea that might not turn into the Red Queen? Pretty good deal.
Besides, my plan of laying low until I make a debut is shot anyways. Carol will see to that.
"On one condition." Her face drops before I continue, "Don't touch me, and don't touch the people I heal until I'm done."
She gapes at me for a second, expectations thoroughly subverted.
"Huh? I was expecting you to ask me to... I don't know, make you stronger or something." The confusion in her voice is palpable. She must get a lot of those requests, huh.
"I'll get stronger anyways. I can't tell you why I don't want you to touch my patients, or me. But it's a damn good reason, trust me." I explain. I really can't tell her. It's because I have a theory about my magic. I think the reason why no thinkers have come to gobble me up is because magic is so wildly out of context here that they can't simulate it, and if that's the case, I should limit any shards exposure to it as much as possible. Using [Gravity] on Glory Girl was one thing, I don't think they could've gotten useful data from that. But letting a pretty important shard have direct observation of my magic working? Terrible idea.
"That's fine, I guess. I'll have to make sure they're okay once you're done, though. They won't let you heal otherwise." She responds. She looks at me expectantly, and I'm confused for a second before I speak.
"So... where's the hospital?" I ask her. She looks as confused as I am for a second, before taking her phone back out and pulling up a map.
"Right here." She points at a favorited location called "Brockton Bay Hospital". There's no way that's the only hospital in Brockton Bay, right? Nah, it's probably just the biggest, or the first. Regardless, it's somewhere in the downtown area, which is pretty far. How are we going to get there? I look at her, wondering how she plans on making it that far, and she looks at me expectantly.
"Okay... how do we get there?" Her eyes narrow and she frowns. Why? Was she expecting me to magically fly over there... oh she was, wasn't she. Fair enough, I'd also get used to flying everywhere if I had Glory Girl on speed dial.
"Shit. Vicky can't carry both of us... there's a bus heading there soon, we could take that. It's gross though." She mutters. A bus. Great. Don't have any other option though.
"Works for me." She nods at me absentmindedly and starts walking. I follow her, waiting for her to say something, but she doesn't. This is going to be awkward, isn't it.
As we sit on the bus, a full seat between us, it's awkward. Damn it. I stare at the crusty seats in front of me. How did I get here? What is my life becoming? I'm a superhero, and I'm taking the bus. With another superhero. Who's blatantly ignoring me while scrolling on her phone.
I let out a deep sigh that doesn't even pique her interest. She was the one that invited me out, why is she giving me the cold shoulder? Is she going to be like this the whole time? She must've felt that I was looking her way, because she finally looks up from her phone at me.
"What?" She has the gall to ask.
"What? You haven't said a word to me since we boarded this bus." I give her a glower for good measure.
"And?" She looks back at her phone as it vibrates. You're kidding.
"You have to have something you want to talk to me about. Why'd you invite me out here, anyways?" I ask her. She raises her eyebrow like the answer is obvious.
"To heal people?" She sincerely responds.
"Yes, but why? Why ask me to come with you?" I try to rein in my frustration at the circular conversation.
"Oh. Why not? You're the only healer I know that isn't a Nazi. Do you not want to heal people?" Her words gain a bit of bite at the end.
"I don't even know if I can, yet. And even if I can, I'm not going to go to the hospital every day." I try to keep my tone even, but her eyes still lock onto mine with a glare.
"Really? So you're just going to let people die?" Wow, no hesitation. Straight to the point. How do I navigate this conversation without making her hate me?
"No? If I see somebody dying in front of me, I'll save them. But I'm not the one attacking people and putting them in hospitals. I'm not exactly responsible for all the suffering in the world." Her brows furrow at that for a moment. But her glare quickly comes back, even more intense this time. Damn it.
"So? You're still letting people, that you can save, die." She says bitterly. Yikes. She's showing real character depth here.
"How many people die every day, in every country? How many people don't even make it to the hospital and bleed out on the street? I almost died to a mugging a couple days ago, if I wasn't able to heal myself I wouldn't even be here, on the way to heal people." I tell her. She's shocked at my casual reference to almost dying, I can tell. I wait for her to respond, but she doesn't. She just stares at me. I continue, "Here's a hypothetical. Let's say I spend sixteen hours a day, every day, healing people at the hospital. Let's say I heal 100 people that are about to die, a day. That's 700 a week, 2800 a month, 36,500 a year. Right? That's a lot of people. So, if I ignore all my limits, my exhaustion, my mental state, and my wellbeing, I can save 36,500 people a year by spending my entire waking year at the hospital."
I wait for her to digest all that. After a few seconds, she responds.
"So shouldn't you? That's... a lot of lives saved. One person saving over thirty thousand? Every year?" She replies with a confused but confident tone.
"That's a lot of lives, yeah. Do you know how many people die every day, globally?" She shakes her head, frowning. Figures. "I don't know the exact figure, but at least a hundred thousand. Probably significantly more. Thirty six thousand a year sounds like a lot, but it's only like... at maximum, a tenth of a percent of the total deaths per year."
"Still, shouldn't you? A single person for thirty six thousand is a good trade. And it's not like you're dying for it." She still sounds confident in that. I'm not getting through to her. Change of plans.
"Consider it this way. Hypothetically, if I spent those sixteen hours a day training, for a whole year, I'd get insanely strong. Strong enough to stop violent crimes from happening in the first place. Maybe even strong enough to repel an Endbringer faster than we can now. Just by doing that, I'd save incomparably more lives than I would if I spent all my time at a hospital." She looks surprised at that.
"That's... could you get that strong?" She asks.
"It's possible. Look, the reason I'm giving you these hypotheticals is because I can clearly see the whole healing business is stressing you out. Just consider this. There are more ways than you think there are to save people. Are there ways that you can improve the lives of more people, faster? Without sacrificing yourself for it?" I tell her. Her face scrunches in distaste as she's forced to think outside of the box she's stuck herself in. I lean back in my seat, and let her ruminate. There's no forcing her to realize things, she's way too stubborn for that. I'll just have to hope.
After a long, terrible wait full of Panacea thinking, staring at me, then going back to thinking, we arrive at the hospital. As we step out of the bus, she takes her costume out of the bag she's been carrying and starts to drape it on herself. Guess it's time to be professional.
I put some swagger in my step as we enter the pristine white lobby of the hospital. The incessant buzzing of lights and the bright clinical glow emanating from every corner, combined with the sterile scent of way too much hand sanitizer reminds me why I fucking hate hospitals. I was really hoping they'd have some tinkertech devices to get rid of the mundane annoying technology, but no. Ugh. Panacea approaches the clerk at the counter, exchanging words I don't bother to listen to as I look around. It's all white, with light blues. It's a hospital. The only interesting thing of note is the lack of people in the lobby. Nobody is waiting, all the chairs lining the walls are empty, and there's no line either. Weird.
"-Jack. I'll be making sure his healing is good, don't worry." I perk up when I hear my name and start listening. She's probably explaining what I'll be doing today. She beckons me over, so I walk up to the official looking woman behind the desk. She looks me up and down, and scowls a bit. Rude.
"Jack? I'll need you to sign here and here. These are waivers, to make sure you're held responsible if you mess up." She hands me a clipboard with a stack of papers on it. I have to do paperwork? And what's up with this rude ass lady? Whatever, I sign my name on all the documents without reading them. If they try to press me legally I'll just go rogue. Oh well. I hand her the clipboard and all of a sudden her scowl is gone and she's bright and cheery. Treacherous. Panacea starts walking off towards a hallway, so I follow, giving one last glance to the receptionist.
She leads me to an odd room with nothing in it except scrubs, gloves, masks, and lots of hand sanitizer. She guides me through the procedure of making sure no germs are left on my suit, and eventually I'm all set. When I'm done, I expect to have to wait for her to put on scrubs herself, but she just walks out. Right, Panacea. Guess she doesn't need all this.
Our next stop is a patients room. She says something to the doctor as we walk in, and he steps back to a corner and takes out a clipboard. Observation duties? Probably. Regardless, she turns to me and starts speaking.
"First, you're going to heal this guy. Then, I'll check him. If he's good to go, we can move on. Sound good?" She sounds... bored.
"Yeah." I walk over to the guy on the bed, with a long shallow cut on his arm. His expression of relief at seeing Panacea quickly fades into worry, then dismay as I'm the one to approach him.
"Wait... who is this?" The patient asks.
"Oh, my name is Jack. This is going to hurt, sorry 'bout that." I respond quickly, before he can complain. Still a few feet away from him, I send a strand of mana to his arm, poking and prodding, before slipping inside the wound. Oh, gross, I can feel it. Well, not really feel it, but I can sense the way the flesh is distorted. I attach the strand and use [Heal]. He groans in pain as the wound closes just a bit, then yelps and starts to let out a low wail when I send in multiple strands at the same time. His wound is closing quickly now, and by the time it's done he's panting and out of breath. What a dramatic dude. I hope not everybody is going to be like this. Taking a look at my reserves, healing that big of a wound only took five strands. Not bad at all. I cut the flow and wait a few seconds before nodding to Panacea. She's still looking at me in shock. What? Did I do something wrong?
"What? I healed him." I ask her.
"You... don't need to touch him?" Oh, that's what she's confused about? My hands are still in my pockets, so I guess that's what surprised her.
"Oh, nope. Just gotta see 'em." I pop the p for extra flair. After a second she just sighs and goes up to the patient, touching him on his arm. After half a minute passes, she stops touching him and talks to the doctor.
"Everything seems fine. Better than fine, actually. The skin and muscle that was healed is actually stronger than the surrounding areas. I don't see anything that could cause complications down the line, either." She lists in a monotone voice. She might not have been energetic on the bus, but she at least had emotion. This place must really be killing her inside.
The doctor nods, writes some things down, and leaves the room. Panacea follows him, and I give the patient a wave as I leave as well. Panacea nods at me as I catch up to her, and we move on to the next room.
I can already tell this is going to be a slog.
I've lost track of the amount of time I've been here. The same white hallways leading to the same white rooms, with the only change being what type of wound I have to heal. A bruise, a scratch, a cut, a hole, a fracture. At least I don't have to deal with illnesses, turns out [Heal] can't do anything about something that isn't physical damage. It also can't regrow missing limbs. Panacea was surprised at that one, but she looked weirdly relieved.
My eyes lose focus as my brain wanders, starved of visual stimulation. Everything is so boring around here, I can see why coming here so often made Panacea a little crazy. My thoughts slow to a crawl as my feet stumble forwards, one after another. There's nothing to focus on but my own breathing. Might as well try to talk to Ms. Grouch, even though she's gotten even colder than she was earlier.
"Hey, d-" I'm swiftly interrupted by the sound of wheels being rushed down the hallways behind us, along with the trampling of feet.
"Panacea! Thank god! You need to heal this man, quick!" A middle-aged doctor calls out, pushing a cart that I now see carries a weakly groaning man. He's fucked up, good lord. Looks like his stomach fought a blender and lost. Guts everywhere, chunks of flesh floating languidly in the fluid that might be his stomach, and blood overflowing from him, seeping through the blanket under him and dripping down onto the floor. The red adds a nice contrast to the pure white of everything else, actually. Maybe the interior decorator should take some notes? Some ruby accents here and there would spice the place up quite well.
I have to step to the right as Panacea barrels through where I was just standing. Rude. I catch a glimpse of her face when her hood flaps open, but I don't see worry, or fear. Just well hidden annoyance. She lays her hands on the patients arm, focusing, and the wound starts to grow smaller. The man groans again, weaker this time. I don't think she has enough time. Looks like she came to the same conclusion, if the panicked look she's sending me is any indication. Let's see, my mana is at... a fifth. Shit. Healing this guy might take up all my mana. Should I just... let him die? But if I do that, Panacea will definitely be pissed at me, and that's not a bridge I want to burn right now. Fuck it.
"Shoo." I flap my hands at the doctors as well as Panacea. Her eyes widen before reluctantly letting go of him. I grab a strand, then another, then another, until almost all my mana is an intertwined mass twisting around. I poke it right into the dudes stomach and [Heal]. His guts wriggle back to where they should be before becoming whole again. The chunks of flesh fade into pockets of blood as the gaping hole starts twisting in a spiral, growing smaller and smaller until all that's left is a hole the size of a quarter in the middle. I step back, which Panacea takes as a signal to rush in and continue healing. I ignore the doctors confused looks as I check my reserves. Yikes, I've only got four mana left.
I sit back and watch the healer do her work. Brows furrowed in concentration, she stands there for a minute as the man starts looking less and less pale. Guess she's making more blood out of his fat, because I can see his thighs, stomach, and chest all slim down. It's like watching a real time weight loss journey. Eventually, when the man is hale and hearty, she steps back. The patients eyes slowly struggle open, before lazily panning over to the doctors, then me, then Panacea. His brain catches up to him, and he starts talking, but I don't bother listening. I've heard too many grateful remarks today as is. I zone out as I watch my mana tick back up. Approximately twenty seconds between points, three points a minute, a hundred minutes until I'm full again. Guess it's time to take a break.
A painful minute goes by, then another, until finally the doctors have left and the patient is gone. Panacea trudges on, intent on finding another critical patient or something, but I stop her.
"I need to take a break, I'm outta gas. We allowed on the roof?" I ask her.
"We?" She looks at me.
"Yes, we. You're coming with me." Her frown deepens.
"I have more patients to heal." She defends.
"They can wait half an hour." I wave her worries aside.
"What if they can't?" She has genuine worry in her tone. Interesting.
"I am more than willing to drag you up to the roof. You need a break as much as I do." I say sternly.
"And how will you do that? I'll give you Herpes if you grab me." I fully believe her. Too bad I've got powers.
"I've got gravity. I'll just fling you onto the roof and heal you if you get hurt." I bluff. She frowns at that, but I frown harder. With a great sigh, she realizes she's not getting out of this and pulls out a key.
"Follow me." She starts walking to the end of the hallway, somehow managing to make regular steps look angry even while texting someone on her phone. She reminds me of my childhood cat Harry, a mean little black cat that was always disgruntled. I let a soft smile flit across my face at the memory.
We step onto the roof. I take a second to just bask in the fresh, warm sunlight. It's so nice to be free of those fake, annoying, piece of shit lights they use in there. No, I can't let them make me unhappy even when I'm outside. I won't let the hospitals dreary ambience and horrible fixtures ruin my day. I must've lost control of my expression, Panacea is looking at me like I'm a weirdo. She might be jaded to the lights, but I will never allow myself to fall that far.
She sits on one of the raised edges of the roof, so I stop basking and walk over. As I sit down a respectable distance away from her, she reaches into her pocket... Oh my god, is she going to start smoking? Am I going to get to see cynical healer trope in action?
Nope. It was just her phone. Damn, she's addicted to that thing. If I want to talk to her at all, I need to interrupt her before she starts scrolling.
"So how are you feeling?" I fumble. What am I, a therapist?
"What? Are you my therapist now?" She quirks an eyebrow at me, her signature frown present.
"No, I lost my license two decades ago." I act forlorn.
"Says the fourteen year old." She deadpans at me.
"How dare you. I look at least sixteen." I mockingly clutch my pearls.
"No."
"Yes."
"Sure, kid." I sense condescension in her voice.
"Do you know how old I am?" I put on my best smarmy voice.
"Fourteen. Kid." She spits the last word out like an insult.
"I can legally drink, 'kid'. I just look like this." I don't think that convinced her, both her eyebrows just shot up.
"Bullshit." Her voice is so dry I can feel it.
"You ever seen a fourteen year old act like me?" I ask.
"I've never seen anybody act like you, freak." She bites out. Her frown is gone, though, replaced by an imperceptible grin.
"Ouch, my heart. I think I've been acting perfectly normal." I grab my chest, acting like I have heart burn.
"If that's normal, please never go crazy." She mutters.
"But it would be funny."
"To you." She shoots back.
"Rude."
"I'm very polite. Come here, I'll even heal your heart pain for you." She reaches her hand out for me and I scoot back a foot. Her grin turns to a smirk.
"Woah, no you won't. I'll tell everyone you touched a fourteen year old." I point at her.
"Oh, so now you admit it?"
"Yes, it benefits me." I deadpan.
"Fuck you." Her words lack heat to them.
"Not helping the allegations, Panny." That gets her to glare at me.
"Don't call me that." She grimaces.
"What should I call you then?" I ask sincerely.
"Uh... Amy?" She seems thrown off at my sudden switch up.
"Amy. Amy? Amy!" I try out different ways of saying it, to her chagrin.
"Don't be weird about it." She sounds defeated
"According to you, I can't not be weird." I cross my arms defiantly.
"You can be less weird."
"But is that funny?"
"Fuck you."
"Harsh words don't suit you, o' healer." She gives me the middle finger at that.
We fall into a comfortable silence. It's nice verbally sparring with somebody, it's been too long. Judging by the smirk she's still trying to conceal, she enjoyed it too. After a few minutes pass, she actually initiates a conversation. I really have made progress.
"So... thanks for helping today. Especially with that last guy." A surprising amount of sincerity, coming from her. And an equal amount of awkwardness.
"It's a worthwhile investment, my healing is already about... 30% better than it was when we started. And I did say that I wouldn't just let someone die in front of me." I reply with similar sincerity. No reason to let her know that I was debating on letting him pass.
"30%? It's been like two hours!" She looks flabbergasted at that. Ah fuck, I forgot I was hiding how fast I was growing. Oh well, I think I can convince her to keep it a secret.
"It's only been two hours? Damn. Also, please keep how fast my powers grow a secret. I don't want people trying to pressgang me when they find out." I plead with her. Thankfully, she must've realized that this is actually serious, as she solemnly nods.
"Okay. But, I need to know. How long have you been a cape?" She asks.
"It's the... 26th right now? So four days." Her jaw actually drops a bit as she realizes what that means.
"Holy shit. It's only been four days? But..." She trails off, no doubt going through all the implications. I watch as her expression keeps rapidly changing while she thinks.
"Yeah. If people found out I went from being pretty weak and unhealthy, to this? In four days? They would all be clamoring to get me to join whatever gang or group they're apart of. Which would lead to me fighting back, which would just put me further on the map. And I don't need that kind of heat at all right now." I explain. She's about to respond, when she abruptly stops and considers something.
"Oh fuck. Carol's going to be pissed when she finds out." She hides her head in her hands but I don't think she realizes I can still see a grin forming.
"Probably. If it's any consolation, I'm still willing to have a good relationship with most of New Wave." She looks up at me, not bothering to hide her smile anymore.
"That's good. Honestly, if you went to Aunt Sarah, she would let you in in a heartbeat. Sure you don't want to join? They could protect you from a lot of the danger while you, uh, get stronger." Of course, a mandatory pitch to join. To her credit though, she seems genuinely sincere, and more worried about my health than New Wave's reputation.
"I'll pass. I function best on my own. I wouldn't be opposed to working with you guys here and there though." Her smile falters at the end of my sentence. Does she not consider herself to be part of New Wave? Or is it something else?
"Is it okay if I bring you up to the... other side of New Wave? Carol will get pissed, but for some reason I think you're fine with that." Let's see, what do I know about the Pelhams? Photon Mom, Manpower, Laserdream and... Shielder? I don't think I've heard anything bad about them, but can I trust them? Well, I trust them more than I do the Dallons, and I was willing to team with them. So might as well.
"Sure. Just downplay how fast I grow until I get a chance to explain it personally." Better safe then sorry. I get a thumbs up in response, and then she takes out her phone and starts typing. Probably texting somebody from the Pelhams? Laserdream, maybe? It doesn't really matter.
I relax as the conversation lulls again. I pull out a kebab from my inventory, and start eating. I offer one to Amy when she looks up, but she shakes her head. More for me. When I'm finished, I throw the skewer in my inventory. I'm bored. I really need to get a phone at some point, for the times that I can't work out to cure my boredom. Whatever, might as well check my reserves. It reads one hundred and seven, so we've been up here for a little over half an hour. Which means it's time to go back to healing people. Ugh. I suddenly stand up, causing Amy to startle a bit.
"It's been half an hour, and I've recharged enough. Ready to get back to work?" I ask her. She looks down at her phone, then back up at me before nodding. My shoulders slump as I walk back towards the hellish liminal space awaiting me.
We've developed a routine as we go through our patients. We walk in, Amy numbs them, I heal, she double checks, we walk out. If it's an illness or something I can't heal, I just stand there as moral support. I can tell my healing has helped take some of the stress off her, her shoulders are higher and she's dragging her steps less.
We walk into a room identical to all the others we've visited. What immediately stands out is the man laying in the cot holding his thigh. That wouldn't be unusual, but the crossbow bolt sticking out of him definitely is. Who the hell uses crossbows in 2011, in Brockton Bay? The only person I know of is Shadow Stalker, but what are the chances that one of her victims got away and I found him in a hospital?
Amy walks up to him, saying her usual spiel in a monotone voice before numbing him and yanking the bolt out. He goes to scream, but stops when he realizes he's not actually in pain. That's my favorite part of this whole ordeal, honestly. It's so funny seeing people get their expectations subverted. I send a strand over to his thigh, [Heal] it, and quickly cut the connection. I give Amy a thumbs up, she double checks, says something to the doctor, and gives me a thumbs up in return. Before I leave the room though, I need some answers.
"Hey. So, how'd you get a bolt stuck in you?" The patient looks shocked, like he wasn't expecting me to actually ask. Is Brockton Bay so shitty that people don't even ask how wounds happen anymore?
"No fucking idea. Was just hanging with my buddies when this thing comes flying from a rooftop, went right through my beer and into my leg." He's definitely lying, but I don't call him on it. If it came from a rooftop, the chances are good that it actually was Shadow Stalker.
"Interesting. Mind if I keep the bolt? I wanna see if I can find the person who shot it." I ask him. He nods vigorously, so I take the bolt and use my hoodie pocket to disguise me storing it in my inventory. Amy's giving me an impatient look from the door, so I quickly follow her out of the room.
"What was that about?" She asks as soon as the door closes.
"I think I know who fired this. Also, that dude was probably a criminal." I respond absentmindedly. If this really was Shadow Stalkers, I now have proof of her vigilantism. But how can I use that against her? I'm not about to walk up to Piggot and slam it on her desk, that's way too much work. I'll just save it for a rainy day, if she confronts me or something.
Amy looks at me weird, but shrugs and keeps walking.
We hear the next patient before we see him. Not wailing from pain, not groaning or some other verbal indication of being hurt. No, he's yelling obscenities at the doctor. Great. I open the door with significantly less grace than I usually do, and the resulting slam gets him to quiet down for a second. I walk in with Amy right on my heels, and of course the greasy bastard on the bed pipes up as soon as he sees her. He's of a slim build, with a pinstriped suit on. I can't even see any blood on him, why is he yelling so much?
"Oh, Panacea! Now that you're here, this fucking quack can leave!" What an asshole. The doctor looks resigned, like he's put up with this guy for way too long. Poor dude. Amy walks up to the patient and starts reciting her speech, but doesn't get far before the man interrupts her.
"Yeah, yeah. Look, can you just fix me already? I've got a meeting soon." The fuck? Amy looks as mad as I feel right now. Does he really think pissing her off is the fastest way to get better?
"What's wrong with you?" She asks, and I'm not sure she's talking about the reason he's in the hospital.
"Isn't that your job to figure out?" Yikes. Her frown disappears, replaced with an objectively scarier smile. She grabs his hand, and concentrates for a second. She must've done something, because the man grimaces for a second and then smiles.
"Great. Can I leave now? I'm barely going to make it as is." He doesn't bother waiting for an answer, standing up and making his way to the door. Unfortunately, he bumps into me because I haven't moved yet. Fortunately, I'm stronger than I look, so he's the one that gets knocked off balance. Idiot. He shoots me a scathing glare before regaining his balance and speed walking out of the room. Amy and I share an annoyed glance before leaving the room ourselves.
"The hell was his problem?" I ask.
"Mentally? No fucking clue. Physically? He just had a hangover. Asshole." She replies, an undercurrent of anger in her tone. Must've really got under her skin.
"Should've just told him to screw off. I would've." I mutter.
"Nah. I just gave him diarrhea that should kick in in about an hour. Hopefully right in the middle of his precious meeting." A smirk grows on her while she talks. Now, I could be responsible, and tell her that giving patients delayed illnesses is morally and ethically wrong. Or...
"Hell yeah." I give her a fist bump. She lifts her arm to respond, before thinking for a second and wrapping her fist in her costume before returning the gesture. Damn, I didn't even realize she would've touched me. I look up to see her expression, and she's giving me a sincere smile. What the fuck. A thoughtful Amy? In my Worm? More likely than I had thought...
We do our normal shtick as we walk into the next room. Amy opens the door this time, and I almost follow her in on autopilot, but I'm forced to stop. She's not moving. Is something wrong? What's going on in there? Curse my shortness, I can't see over her to take a peek in the room. Before I can worry any further, she keeps moving into the room. Weird. I stay close behind her, and I finally get a glimpse of the patient. Oh. Oh my god.
I break into raucous laughter as I take in the scene before me. The doctor is on the chair in the corner of the room, quivering in disbelief. The cot that the patients usually lay on is completely flipped over. And the patient... the patient is somehow completely flat against the ceiling, holding onto the metal bar that holds the privacy divider while his feet are hooked onto the curtain rod over the window. He's fully splayed out and looks drugged out of his mind. He's super thin, probably the only thing keeping the bars from falling down, and he keeps whipping his head around, eyes wide, and muttering things to himself. How in the world did he manage to get up there? Amy just sighs and starts talking to the doctor. I should probably get him down from there so she can fix him up.
I stifle my laughter and walk over. The instant I get within five feet of him his eyes lock onto me and he barks. Like a dog. I'm forced to hold my knees as I double over laughing again. What did this dude take?! I don't get a chance to drag him down from the ceiling before he finally loses his balance and slips, falling gracefully through the air like a cat trying to catch its balance. He somehow manages to land on his feet in front of me, but the force of landing knocks him down to his knees so we're at the same level. I look at him, and he looks at me, and he barks. Again. And then tries to bite me. His jaw closes around my left forearm, but his rotted teeth can't quite get through my [Resistance]. I hear a crunch as one of his teeth breaks, so I grab his shoulder with my other hand and pull him off me. I grab his head with my left hand as soon as it's free, and I gesture Amy over. She looks disgusted, but she grazes his leg with her fingertips and he falls limp in my arms. I lay him on the ground and let Amy fix him up, but as soon as she touches him for real, her eyes shoot wide open.
"What the fuck... he's on six different types of drugs, has a 1.2% BAC, and is horribly malnourished. How is he not dead? How did he even get here?" She mutters. Damn, that's a lot. I'm about to add my own two cents, but the doctor beat me to it.
"He was fine until a few minutes ago. He walked in here himself, signed in, said he felt wrong. Then... I was taking his blood pressure, and he just went crazy. Thank you for stopping him. I was getting worried he was going to jump out the window or something..." He trails off at the end. He sounds traumatized, and I can't blame him. After a few more moments, Amy stands up.
"I flushed the drugs out of his system, but you're gonna need to get him a lot of soft food. And water. And-" I stop listening to the rest of her sentence. She dropped into that monotone she uses when she's telling the doctor what to do when she's done, so I just zone out. I take a look at the clock, and it's already 11:30 AM. Which means I'm finally almost out of this hellhole. Hooray!
Amy and I walk down to the lobby, thoroughly exhausted. I want to feel good about the amount of people I healed today, but honestly I lost count a long time ago, and I'm just too tired to care. The one good thing that came out of this is the fact that Amy has a bit of pep in her step as we say goodbye to the receptionist and walk out. We barely make it a foot before a white blur falls from the sky and hovers before us. It's the flying express, yay! At least for Amy, I'm taking the bus. I groan at that realization as they start to talk.
"Hey Ames! How was healing?" Glory Girl is as chipper as always.
"Bearable." Despite the one word answer, Glory Girl looks surprised.
"Woah, really? That's good! What changed?" She seems to have not noticed me at all. Damn.
"Really, Vicky?" Amy deadpans at her sister, and points at me. Glory Girl turns and looks surprised to see me as I wave at her.
"Oh. Hey, Jack. Were you..." She trails off. Why does she sound wary of me? The hell did I do?
"Was I...?" I respond, mimicking her.
"Helping? A bodyguard? Healing? I don't know." She shrugs her shoulders at me.
"All three. Plus, moral support." I respond, a bit smugly.
"Moral support my ass." Amy chimes in.
"No, not that type of support." Her face screws up at my response. Gotcha.
"Oh my god. Ames, you finally made a friend!" Glory Girl is looking at me in a new light, with none of her previous wariness. That was a quick turnabout.
"What?" Is Amy's intelligent response.
"We're friends? I didn't know you thought so highly of me!" I add.
"We're not friends. Coworkers at best." She spits back.
"Aw, man..." I sulk. Amy tries to hide her smirk, but Glory Girl sees it anyways and gets an even bigger grin.
"This is great! I need to hear all about what happened today." Glory Girl quickly wraps Amy in a hug, and before I can even say anything they're off, flying in the air. She does not do anything in half measures, it seems.
Well. Time to go take that crusty ass bus again.
I exit the bus at the Market, stepping out to the hustle and bustle that I'm growing used to. I make my way through the crowd, which is significantly thicker than any of the other days I've been here. Business must be booming on the weekends. I pass the spot that Asads Kebabs was yesterday, but he's not there. That's unfortunate, I'm almost out of kebabs. I continue walking, ignoring the loud sounds of people hawking their wares and haggling, until I get interrupted by someone calling my name. I'm almost at the edge of the Market, I don't think I've ever shopped here before, so who's calling me?
"Jack!" There it is again. I duck out of the crowd and make my way to the right, trying to find whoever is saying my name. Maybe they're calling for a different Jack?
"Jack!" I hear it clearly this time, and I go straight towards it. As I get close, I notice something I hadn't before. The smell of lamb. Did Asad get pushed out of the main part of the Market by the crowd? A couple more feet and I see him, standing there in all his meaty glory. Asad.
"Asad!" I call out, exuberant at the fact that I will be getting my kebabs today. He lights up, and it's so infectious I can't help but smile as well.
"There you are! My favorite customer! I have expanded my selection, and you must try!" He exclaims, waving at the racks behind him. The amount has doubled since the last time I was here, and it looks like the types of kebabs he's selling has also doubled.
"Perfect! I was going to make a bulk order today. So... how much for everything?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow dramatically.
"Oh? I wouldn't sell all of them... but for you, I will make an exception. One hundred dollars, and they will all be yours." He leans in and whispers. I do a quick count, and by my math, it would cost at least $150 for everything here. The bastards trying to give me a discount again. My eye twitches.
"Works for me, Asad. Here ya go." I make a show of pulling the only one hundred dollar bill I have out of my pocket, and I put it on the counter. He inspects it, making sure there's no money under it or anywhere else on the counter, before taking it. He's learning my tricks. I'll have to step it up, then. While he turns around to start gathering kebabs in paper cones, I take three twenties out of my inventory in my hoodie pocket, and twist them up as tightly as possible. I store them again, keeping their shape. Then, I send a tendril over the counter and after a couple seconds of fiddling, I manage to make it go inside Asads apron pocket. I try to summon my roll of twenties, but no success, so I move the tendril and try again. Over and over I try, until finally, I hit the sweet spot and I feel it drop out right into his pocket. There's no way he'll see that coming.
He turns back, and hands me seven cones of ten kebabs each, of varying flavors and meats. All of them smell delicious. I don't bother hiding my inventory this time, I just touch each of the meat bouquets and store them. To his credit, he doesn't even blink, just stares at me with a gleeful expression. He did something, didn't he. I open my inventory to check, and yep, there's a $20 in there that was not there before. What kind of salesman tries to pay his customer? I make yet another tendril, and slip this one into his back pocket, before repeating my trick from before. Success. He's still looking at me like he won, the fool. Little does he know.
"Thanks, Asad. I'll be sure to enjoy these. Have a good day!" I tell him, and walk off. Right before I turn around though, I wink at him. I leave the stall to him going into a frenzy, knowing I did something but not knowing what. I push my way past the crowds, trying to get out of the Market, when I hear it.
"JACK! YOU-" A scream that couldn't have come from anyone except Asad. A chuckle escapes my lips as I walk faster. Can't let him catch me, after all.
Finally, home sweet home. I walk up to my ship, expecting the same as usual. Except, there's a quiet noise coming from inside the hull. Breathing. It's faint, but there's something in there. A raccoon? A dog? I turn the corner and look through the entrance, and there's a fucking bum sleeping in the same exact spot that I do. My eye twitches, violently.
I can't catch a break.