A quick summary of past events:

Taylor and her friends were brought for their safety to the rehabilitated compound of Shadow Moses.

There, they attended a meeting held by Revolver Ocelot's subordinates with the purpose of investigating and fighting the successors of the Patriots.

Screaming Mantis used the event to try and complete Taylor's brainwashing, but it went wrong, and Taylor instead managed to read Mantis' mind by accident.

Her thumb had been caressing the play button for a long while already.

Finally, Taylor sighed and lowered the cassette player, her thumb moving away from the button.

She had been wandering aimlessly around the island for a while until she found herself in a cove beside a small cliff. Sitting under a solitary tree, hugging her legs pulled up to her chest, she looked at the sea horizon. The tree was in the middle of a grass field with the occasional bush, all of it still green despite the snow falling down without any real impetus.

It was cold, and while it was still a summer day, a summer day in the Aleutian archipelago was still far colder than anything she'd ever felt before. There was also the wind coming from the sea, fleeing from a storm that was currently busy traveling to Shadow Moses from a faraway island of the archipelago in the horizon.

Because of that, Taylor was thankful her borrowed clothes and coat were so good at keeping her warm. And for the peptide shots that all of them had received the previous day, acting as an antifreeze for their bodies. While apparently it wasn't needed during the warm season, it was a welcome precaution for newcomers to such a harsh environment.

But no matter how uncomfortable it was to be outside in a place like this, she needed it. She needed to think, to listen to herself. People, she had found, were counterproductive to this end.

Taylor was beginning to understand why Psycho Mantis needed a barrier from the rest of the world. Telepathy, in a way, was both a curse and a blessing. He had lucked out in finding a way to keep away the thoughts of others — of the entire planet, if he was telling the truth — in his gas mask somehow, but she couldn't be sure that would work for her.

She needed a moment to stay away from people. Their emotions were too distracting. It was the same for the minds of the wild wolves she had picked up during her walk. While for the most part they kept to themselves, it was prudent to keep away from the predatory animals, of course, but even the novelty of feeling their minds devolved fast into another distraction to avoid.

A stray thought gnawed at her. She doubted she could read, much less understand, the minds of animals, but she could feel them and an approximation of what she thought were their own emotions and instinct.

Had she not noticed it with Diamond? Had she ignored him?

Just like she and her dad had —

She looked down to the ground between her and the ice.

No, she couldn't keep that up. It happened and there was no going back.

But it hurt so fucking much.

A bark coming from the side caught her attention, and she saw Diamond run along the shore, more barks announcing his happiness as he caught up with her.

Diamond went directly for her face, wildly licking her cheeks and behind her ears until she was forced to chuckle. "Hey, stop already!"

Stepping back, the dog wolf shook himself off, giving out a big yawn. He then moved closer again, this time allowing Taylor to put an arm over his neck.

"Sorry I made you worry."

He answered with a whine, seating himself at her side close enough that they could share their body heat.

"Feeling cold, huh?" Taylor said as she brought him closer to her. "Bet you're glad now for that peptide shot they gave you."

Diamond gave out an indignant whine, and her lips quirked upwards slightly. It seemed like he'd never outgrow the fear of shots.

Recalling what she had just mulled over moments before, Taylor tried to feel Diamond's mind. She realized that while she couldn't make heads or tails of his emotions, as was the case of the birds and wolves she had felt along her path, she recognized his 'signature', of sorts, from way back since she started feeling the minds of everyone around her.

Feeling his mind in isolation also helped her understand a bit more how exactly she was feeling them. His emotions had been more or less consistent all the time, and with him keeping an eye constantly on her, his head resting on her nearest knee, she was taking the wild guess that she felt in a very small way the same thing the felt mind did. An empathy of sorts. She hadn't imagined it would be something like that because the multitude of minds around had confused her entirely.

In fact, now that she was thinking about it, she had the impression that Diamond's feelings were something alike the devotion she had felt for her parents when she was younger.

With a pang in her heart, she tightened her one armed hug on Diamond, and started scratching below his jaw with her fake hand.

"I'm not sure I deserve you," she whispered. "But I'm glad you're always here for me. Glad I found you."

He moved his head to smell her face, and gave her a few delicate licks below her jaw.

Diamond interrupted himself, suddenly standing still and turning around to where he came from, barking once before letting his tongue hang pleasantly.

Taylor turned around to look in the same direction Diamond did, and sat up to face Snake.

Dragon understood if Taylor needed time alone to sort things out. But there was only so much time she'd be willing to wait for Taylor to return, and that was precisely the moment when a storm was about to hit the subarctic Pacific island they were currently inhabiting.

They had sent men to comb the island. The guards and workers knew the location, while the newcomers didn't. Deciding it was better to just let them do their job, Dragon simply limited herself to patching her comms to the computer room, from where Frog and Imago could apprise her of any news.

That, and standing outside the tunnel exit that lead from the administrative building to the center of the island, close to where the rebuilt communication towers stood.

Her, restless and worried? Lies and slander. After all, every John and Jane knew AIs were unfeeling and devoid of a soul.

She wasn't alone, though. Narwhal was at her side, seemingly in a cranky mood. The McDonnell girl was also there, shivering below a couple of extra coats she had added to her attire. A few guards has been attached to them as well.

Of the two Catherines, the younger was clearly much less used to cold weather than the older one, who had arrived to Fox island with her street clothes and parka. Virginia didn't seem to breed Canadians, after all.

Missy had tried to follow as well, but there was only so much foolishness the gathered adults were willing to let pass. As the one having taken responsibility for the young Ward, the unenviable duty to tell her in no uncertain terms to say 'thanks for the effort, but sit down, shut up, and stop making things worse for yourself' fell on Dragon. Though the words of choice went along the lines of staying with Lisa in the infirmary.

"So," Cathy called out, gesturing towards Code Talker. "Should we be worried about him?"

The man was standing ramrod at a short distance, hands resting on his cane and gazing to an unseen horizon. Which wouldn't be very concerning, except for the sea of glowing blue and green particles flowing in the air to and from him in multiple directions. Particles that, if Dragon's scans were correct despite the damage and degradation of her sensors, showed signs of being alive.

All the while he kept murmuring in Navajo. Not because Dragon recognized it as such, as she never had any reason to include the language in her dictionary databases before, but given what she knew of the old man and the smooth flow of his murmuring, Dragon figured that it was his first language.

It was mesmerizing, in a way. In Dragon's opinion, only a handful of the many parahumans that believed themselves to be magicians, chosen of their gods, or something similar actually succeeded in selling that image to the public, even if their audience didn't believe their powers were any different from the rest of parahumans. Myrddin was one of the few that managed. One might think he was just acting, or delusional, but nobody questioned him on the origin of his powers.

After a few conversations with Code Talker, he had made clear he had a spiritual side to the way he saw the world. But that lens was accompanied by another, profoundly scientific viewpoint. Both informed the other.

The image of himself that he presented to the world wasn't mystical, but one would be excused for thinking so right now.

"I'll take a guess and say that's The One That Covers?"

"The parasite they mentioned before?" Cathy asked.

"Yeah, that's something he does when he wants to see something from a distance,'' Carrie said. "I never quite wrapped my head around his explanations. I guess it's one of those things you have to experience firsthand to understand."

Dragon also noted that the parasite progressively lost its glow when it moved away from Code Talker, apparently able to survive the cold when separated from its host.

Limited, but with quite the capacity for reconnaissance. And Taylor would probably be capable of the same, in time.

"Aadi, tábąąh-di." Code Talker twitched his head upwards at that moment. "Il tsé Diichiłí. Anáá yáʼátʼééh shánah. Tsʼin wo-tah-ta-eh-dahn-oh. Azid a-keh-des-dlin… huh."

"Huh?" Carrie inquired.

Startled, Code Talker turned around to face them. "I heard you," he said to Narwhal, offering a smile. "I apologize if I seemed absent-minded. I always fail to remember this unnerved others in the past. After such a long time together, me and my children are capable of more than sharing one body. I can let them move around on their own, and upon returning, they… shall we say, share messages with me. My own scouts, if you will."

"Share messages?" Narwhal asked, unconvinced.

Code Talker nodded. "I know where Taylor is, and Snake is with her. Notify the others, and follow me."

He started to move down a road as Carrie started followed him when Narwhal stopped Dragon with a hand on her shoulder.

"Anything the matter?" Dragon asked her.

"Look, I get it, you worry about the kid," Narwhal whispered. "That's fine. But… are you ok?"

Dragon hesitated. "Frankly? No. Right now I feel the most vulnerable I've ever felt in my life, and I can't even stop the PRT from eventually realizing I was more than I've told them. But it's not all bad, you know?"

"Not all?"

Dragon shrugged. "Feels like starting again. Just a different path. I couldn't do that before, not on my own."

Narwhal seemed to ponder it for a moment. "We could come back together. Explain the situation; only about you."

Dragon chuckled sadly. "Even assuming the PRT agree to not order me around, do you think they can stand to not be truly sure that I'm safe? That I won't grow paranoid waiting for the other shoe to drop? It would take just one mistake to start something everyone will regret."

"Too much of their infrastructure depends on you."

"You would be surprised." Dragon shook her head. "I've already thought of that. Everything I got on their systems: security, files, passwords, I'll give it back to them. Hopefully in exchange for returning all my installations, or at least some of them. They might need more personnel to pick up the slack, but less than if they wanted to take over my assets."

"There's a lot of slack to pick up at the Guild…" Narwhal replied half-joking.

"You could have offered something more than a maybe at the meeting," Dragon said before she patted her gently in one arm. "But I'll try to see if I can get someone to help over there with me from time to time."

"That would be good," Narwhal admitted. "I guess… I mean, I know you aren't really going anywhere, or going villain, but I just can't shake the feeling that it's not right."

Dragon squeezed her grip on Narwhal's arm softly. "I didn't want anything like this to happen either, Cathy. But whether we want it or not, I think that ship sailed already."

Narwhal stood still for a moment as she saw Dragon let go of her arm and walk after Code Talker.

"Did it, really?" she whispered to herself before starting to jog behind them.

Stopping at one side of the tree, Snake lit up a cigarette. "Isn't the ground a bit cold to sit around here?"

Taylor snorted as she left the cassette player on the ground besides the tree roots. "What, worried I'll freeze my bony ass?"

He exhaled, and shrugged. "Not something I'd recommend, but that's your choice."

Taylor didn't answer for a while. Instead, she sat up, leaning back against the tree.

Snake sighed. "Hell of a day," he finally said.

"Hell of a weekend," she amended, picking up a handful of snow. It wasn't deep there, and it uncovered some gravel and dead blades of grass. "Hell of a week. Of a year…" She threw the snow to the shore and frowned. "Hell of a future."

"It isn't that bad, Taylor. It can't be that bad, not all the time."

Hugging her legs to her chest, Taylor left her head resting on her knees. "If it was because of something I've done, I'd get it. But turns out that because of what I am, who I am… You probably know that better than most, right? Being on the run." She looked down to the ground. "But everything feels so… big. So sudden, so much. I'm not sure I can't believe it'll get better. Not now."

Snake leaned his shoulder against the tree. "Sounds like your problem is an uncertain future, but you're thinking of it as a guaranteed doom."

Taylor gave out a sad chuckle. "I guess. Little silly Taylor, huh?"

"Not that, either," he warned with a shake of his head. "You probably should feel like that right now. But this isn't the end of you. It can't be, not so soon."

Taylor took a pebble from the cleaned spot, and threw it at the shore. It reached the shallow water, making a small plop as it sunk.

Snake looked down at her. "You know, I've read your file. It made me realize what Mantis was trying to do. Well, Imago realized it faster than I did. Not like it helped much in the end."

"It's fine," Taylor shrugged.

Both of them looked up. The branches of the tree were dry, with only a few leaves sprinkled around.

Taylor looked up at Snake, curious. "Why are you here?"

"Your dog was cooped up in a room for hours. Someone had to let him out."

She frowned, and scratched Diamond behind the ears. "Yeah, sure."

"Maybe you have a better idea."

She looked away.

"Were you worried… that I'd try that again?"

Snake grunted as he crouched down. "The others were worried, but I can't say I know what was going through their minds." He reached down to the spot of ground in front of Taylor, and took a pebble himself. "You seeing a therapist will give them some peace of mind, I'm sure. But I'm not one. Sorry."

He weighed the pebble in his hand. Then the pebble flew, reaching the water, and a small wave swallowed it.

"I just came because I knew Diamond would search for you, and someone needed to make sure he didn't get into trouble."

Taylor shook her head with a smile. "Jerk."

Snake smirked. "Seriously though, after an hour alone, sitting at the end of the world, I thought you'd do with a reminder that others care about you."

Taylor took another stone herself. "Yeah." She then looked at it, as she moved it between her fingers. "Yeah."

She threw her stone towards the water, and met no greater success than with her previous try.

Snake's hand gripped another stone. "Feeling better?"

His next throw bounced as well, but didn't go as far as the other.

"Still feeling like crap."

After a short travel, Taylor's second throw managed a wobbly bounce before sinking.

"But a bit better now, I guess. Thanks, cousin."

Snake raised a brow, and snorted. "Too old for that," he muttered.

"Is the alliance still going to be a thing?"

"Still too soon to tell. Everyone's still open to the idea, or at the very least to keep silent about it for now and see how it works, like Narwhal. It's obvious Mantis is keeping some things for herself, but she explained everything, and she's been forced to offer some new concessions, as a guarantee." Snake shrugged. "Nothing so big as to compromise her position in the PRT, but I think it'll keep the others pacified. I think they'll say yes."

Taylor turned to him. "And you? I mean, Philanthropy, I guess."

"We need to talk with Mei-Ling first. And maybe Sunny's mother too; I think we can trust her to know. But the Colonel suggested we accept. And Otacon… he's been raising some good points."

"But you're not convinced."

"No. I understand their motivations, believe me. The target and methods might have been different, but me and Otacon have been doing the same thing they intend to for years." Snake sighed. "But for all I know, this is just repeating the same mistakes Big Boss, the Patriots, and Master Miller made before. In fact, it might just end up causing even more warmongering." He took another stone, a flat one, and started rolling it between his fingers. "I can take being persecuted as a terrorist for a few photos. I've done worse for the CIA anyway. But what Mantis proposes is actual capture and elimination. Gangs and warlords will retaliate explosively, the authorities will denounce us for kicking the hornet's nest, and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

He passed the stone to Taylor.

"Will there be repercussions, whatever we do? Of course. But if I commit to this, I'll need some serious reassurances that this operation will be done right. That the people will benefit of it. Anything else is becoming part of the problem. The world doesn't need any more of that."

Taylor simply nodded. "Sounds about right."

"That's not even getting into the matter of the Patriots' successors."

"You don't like the odds?"

"I don't like not knowing. You don't go after what you don't know anything about. Could end up breaking something."

Taylor threw the stone, and this time, it bounced once well enough that it leaped a fair distance before sinking.

A lightning bolt flashed on the horizon, and a few seconds later the thunderclap roared far away.

"I think that's it for us," Taylor said.

"We've still got time, but yeah. I've already been here during a storm, and I don't care much for repeating the experience," Snake said as he rose up, extinguishing the cigarette and returning it to his metal cylinder he used for it. "Been thinking about what you are going to do?"

"As in, long term? I don't know yet." Taylor took the cassette player and sat up, but stood there watching the storm. It was close now. "I still want to help. But I feel like I should return to Brockton Bay sooner or later."

Snake frowned. "Why is that?"

She thought for a moment. "Dad," she whispered. "I… I guess have to bury him, don't I?"

He nodded.

"Do you believe in an afterlife, Snake?"

"I don't believe in God. The people living here and now are what's important. Whatever's after death, doesn't matter."

"When mom died, he closed up for the longest time. Like I didn't even exist.".Taylor smiled ruefully. "Like... I was a ghost. Some days he'd just give me these short, one-word answers." She felt teartracks working down her face as she sniffled. "And yet, I… you know, this is probably silly, I've never considered myself particularly religious, but I just hope they're happy now, together."

"No, that's not silly. You just want them to be happy together — happier than they were in life." Snake hardened his eyes. "But that's not your only reason to return, is it?"

Taylor breathed out. "It just doesn't feel right, leaving Brockton Bay like that…"

"Revenge."

Taylor turned at him.

"That gang of neonazis, the Empire. They almost killed you." Snake crossed his arms. "Is that it?"

She didn't answer.

"No. You didn't take that personally. You don't look the type for holding personal grudges," he mused. "Your file doesn't mention you striking back and those girls, ever. Dragon is angrier than you at Ocelot. And after all is said and done, you walk away from Mantis."

Taylor remained silent.

"Your father."

Taylor looked away, her grip on the cassette player in her hand strong enough to produce a creak of stress.

"Yeah, that's it," Snake said nodding to himself. "You think you can take everything others throw at you, and you don't complain even when it's too late. Maybe you'll fight back until the threat is gone. But when someone close to you is hurt…"

"They went too far!" Taylor yelled, whirling around to face him, arms spread to her sides.

"So what, are you going to go back and start to crack down on them? A one girl war against a group that has been there longer than you've lived? Suppose you even find the mooks that set a match to your house. What would you do with them? Force your own justice upon them?"

"I don't know… But I just can't let those sons of bitches just prance around!"

"What if they had orders from above? Will you climb your way up to the leadership?"

"I don't know!"

"What would you do," he interrupted her again, "if you knew their leader's identity?"

Taylor blinked. "I, what?"

"Kaiser, right? The one who creates metal blades? I found out before arriving to the PRT building. I was climbing up through the Medhall building when I saw a bunch of costumed people in a meeting with the CEO. Maximilian Anders, I think. I saw him form a metal armor around himself out of nothing."

Taylor turned her eyes downcast.

So the person ultimately responsible for her dad's death not only was one of the strongest capes in the Bay, and the leader of the biggest parahuman group. He was also the owner of the biggest, and probably now only, business and employer of note in town.

It wasn't just her dad anymore now. It was Kurt and Lacy as well. All the dockworkers. She had failed them all.

"I just… I have to do something."

"No, you don't." Snake let his arms fall to his sides. "Stay aside and rebuild your life."

Taylor glared at him.

"I can't."

"No, you don't want to," he said turning around to leave. "Doesn't matter anyway. You're not ready."

Snake didn't take one step when the cassette player was dropped to the snow.

"Then help me. Teach me."

He turned back around.

"Please," she insisted.

He sighed. "The only thing I know how to teach is war," he said wearily. "And that's something I never want to teach anyone, much less children."

They remained quiet for a moment, the thunder's roaring still far, but closer now.

All the time Taylor's breathing grew heavy, hands opening and closing. Restless like a critter in a box too small to move.

"I'm not a child anymore," she spat.

Snake shook his head. "You can't prove it."

Taylor then took a combat ready pose.

Snake didn't react to it, his stance loose and assured in front of the powered person in front of him.

Taylor rushed forward —

— and found herself lying down face first into the snow.

She rose to her feet, turning back to see Snake wind up from the shove he gave her. Merely observing what she would do.

And he wasn't impressed.

Taylor went through the motions of taking a combat stance, but more carefully this time. No rushing, dig the feet on the ground below the snow, and keep the fists up.

Snake tilted his head.

Taylor advanced again, this time with a light jab.

Snake intercepted her again, parrying the attack with one hand and pushing behind her with the other, adding more force to her travel as he turned around.

Taylor was prepared this time. She dug her heel, and sent a back fist to regain control.

Snake blocked that attack as well with a backhand of his own.

"Stop. Pick a stance and stick with it."

Taylor complied, shifting her legs, but imitating Snake in holding their hands up.

The back of each one crossing each other, he did the same with their forward feet, and started to modify her stance. First he started with the legs, making ever smaller changes to her position, either pushing away with small kicks, or hooking with his heel to drag her foot forwards. All the while giving instructions for what she needed to do with her other leg and her hips. Snake did the same then with her arms, moving her forward hand and instructing her how to move the other.

"Hold still."

This went on for almost half a minute, with Taylor obeying silently his instructions during the process. The final result wasn't that much different on the surface from what she had learned after the hypnotherapy. But she was seeing now how much more potential — and danger — it possessed in comparison. It made sense. She had been working with the best approximation to CQC the hypnotherapy had been able to give her in a month. It was good enough to fool civilian trainers. But Snake had learned CQC straight from the horse's mouth.

"Now," Snake said once he found Taylor's stance and guard more to his satisfaction, now the both of them crossing both forward fists and feet in an identical stance. "Show me."