Homecoming 1-2

"I still say we should just string him up by his neck and be done with it," Grue — Brian — almost growled as he glared at the dealer.

Just for tonight, we had taken over an abandoned warehouse close to Empire territory and put our costumes on. The unconscious dealer was tied to a chair in the middle of the empty room with Brian looming over him.

Trying not to sigh, I focused on my work. In front of me, some glass beakers bubbled away on hotplates that were being powered by a rented generator. Part of me longed for a real lab, with centrifuges and climate control, or at the very least, accurate scales.

As it was, I was stuck doing the best I could with improvised tools and whatever chemicals I could distil from common products like cleaners, alcohols and whatever food had been in the plastic bag Grue had brought with him.

"If we kill him" —Tattletale's voice was thick with sarcasm as she adjusted her waistcoat— "we won't learn anything."

The waistcoat and corset Lisa had added to her costume were new, something to more closely match my plague doctor-like costume. I wasn't entirely sure it worked, but I was grateful for the attempt anyway.

A small egg timer dinged, and I lifted two of the beakers off a hotplate. I poured the contents of one into an old tin can filled with cold water, flinching as the two liquids steamed and spat.

Leaving that mess to cool further, I poured the other beaker into three cheap plastic mugs, topping one of them up with a clear liquid from a small vase I'd found.

"Tea's up!" I tried to sound as cheerful as possible as I picked up two of the cups and took them to the others. Tattletale took hers without complaint, but Grue hesitated to take the doctored cup.

"What's… in this?" he said.

"It's a stimulant." I rolled my eyes, confident he couldn't see them behind my mask. "Mostly caffeine, sugar and such. It's not as good as sleep, but it'll keep you on your feet for a couple more hours."

After which he'd crash hard and sleep for most of the day, but he didn't need to know that. Tattletale hid her smirk behind her cup.

Removing the painted bike helmet that made up his mask, Grue took a few tentative sips and I went back to my bench, where the stuff in the tin had finally cooled enough that I could draw it into a syringe.

"Where did you get those?" Grue asked, the bags under his eyes fading slightly as the stimulant went to work.

"From his pocket." I nodded at the dealer. "Just had to rinse the heroin out and sterilise the needle."

"So that stuff will make him tell the truth?"

"Not really, the brain just doesn't work that way. Best I can do is make him talkative and reduce his inhibitions. He'll basically say the first thing that comes to mind." Holding the syringe up to the light to make sure the chemicals weren't separating, I shrugged. "Though as a side effect, it'll probably mess with his short-term memory."

Finding a vein on the dealer's neck, I injected the cocktail and stepped back. Grue passed me his empty mug with a nod of thanks and pulled on his mask.

Lisa put her own cup down and smiled. "So he won't remember this? That's useful. Will it take long to wake him up?"

"No, some adrenaline or a shock to the system will be—" Before I could finish, Grue stepped forward and punched the dealer in the face so hard that his chair almost tipped over.

The dealer gasped, reeling from the impact and the after-effects of the sedative.

"Motherfucker!" the dealer groaned, shaking his head. Blinking in the lights, he stared up at Grue, who loomed over him in his dark bike leathers, wisps of black smoke leaking from his body.

"Oh fuck me, don't you capes have anything better to do?!"

Grue raised a fist, but Tattletale got there first.

"Yes, thank you Grue. He doesn't need a concussion. Go wait with Asclepia." She gave Grue a shove in my direction, but instead, he chose to simply stand to one side. Lisa gave me a look that spoke volumes about his behaviour but kept her mouth shut.

Instead, she smiled at the dealer.

"About a month ago you made a drop off at one of your regulars. She's dead from an overdose and we want to know why."

He stared up at her, his face twisted into a scowl. "How the fuck would I know. Fucking druggies OD all the time. It's got nothing to do with me!"

"The sad thing is, you actually believe that… okay, here, this is who we're talking about." She held out a photo Grue had given her of his mother; his and Aisha's faces had been covered up.

The dealer turned his head, staring fixedly at the far wall. "Fuck you, I don't—"

Grue stepped around Tattletale and grabbed the dealer's head. With a grunt, he forced the man to face the photo. Somehow, Tattletale managed to keep her expression calm, while I was just glad my mask hid my face.

"Alright, alright!" the dealer finally grunted, "I know who she is! Jesus Christ!"

He stretched his jaw as Grue moved back. "But I don't know why you care about some strung out bitch."

"We care, because she was connected to some very powerful people and they want answers."

"Fuck… fine. Look, I had nothing to do with it, okay? I only ever saw her once a week. Every Thursday at the same time. She insisted. She was fine the last time I saw her. Then, a week later, the police were outside, so I turned around and left. I figured she'd been raided and I'd wait for her call."

"You weren't her only dealer?"

"Of course not."

"What did you know about the other dealers?"

He shrugged, or at least tried to. "Not much. I think one of them was a Merchant, but I'm not gonna swear to it."

"Where was she getting the money?" Grue was trembling, his fists clenched tightly.

"It doesn't matter," Tattletale snapped, shooting me and worried glance. She tapped her forearm — a signal to be ready to sedate Grue if needed — and I shook my head. I couldn't; the stimulant I'd given him would neutralise it. She grimaced, her power filling in the details.

"When you last saw Mrs Laborn, was there a young girl with her?"

The dealer blinked. His pupils were dilating, his skin glistening with sweat as he broke into a wide smile. My insides twisted at the sight, and I really hoped he wasn't reacting to the mixture I'd given him.

"You mean the hottie? Yeah, I saw her all the time. Her mom offered to let me take a ride once, but I'm not a pedo. Course, that was before she got tits. Maybe in a year or two I'll—"

Brian dove forward, driving his fist into the dealer's face with a meaty thwack. Lisa shouted something, pulling at the back of his jacket, but I couldn't hear anything over the pounding in my ears as Brian punched him again and again.

Running forward, I tackled Brian, knocking all three of us to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Brian rolled under me, trying to get back onto his feet, but I was just as tall as him, and thanks to our enhancements, Lisa and I were able to hold him down long enough that I could get my forearm under his helmet and against his throat.

Brian froze, then, after what felt like an age, he very carefully raised his arms above his head.

Slowly, carefully, Tattletale and I let Grue go and climbed to our feet.

Looking over at the dealer, I felt my heart stop. He was on his side, still tied to the chair in a puddle of blood and vomit. Rushing forward, I pulled my glove off and started feeling around his neck. Thankfully, his pulse was strong, but the amount of blood was worrying.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Tattletale wiped at her bloody lip. "Is he okay?"

"I… I'm not sure…" Carefully, I opened the dealer's mouth so I could check his airways. From the feel of it, his jaw was broken, and I could see the bloody gaps where Grue had knocked teeth out.

Reaching into one of the pouches on my armour, I pulled out a small glass vial and one of my only good syringes. Ripping the packaging off the syringe, I filled it with liquid from the vial. There wasn't enough left in it, but even half a dose would help.

"You made more?" Lisa knelt by me, watching as I injected it into the dealer.

The mixture didn't have a name. I'd created it when Lisa had picked up an infection while we were on the run, and it had taken most of our money to make.

"No," I ground out. "That was all I had left, and it's not going to be enough. It looks like he took a bite outta his tongue, but as long as he doesn't choke on his own blood, it'll heal."

Standing up, I could feel the mounting pressure of a stress headache behind my eyes. Spinning on my heel, I pointed an angry finger at Grue.

"Not that it matters! We'll be lucky if he's not a vegetable!"

Brian turned his head away from me and crossed his arms. "Can't you—"

"No, I can't 'fix' this." I took a shaky breath. "I'm not Panacea, I'm not a healer. The stuff I injected him with will help him heal faster, but it can't do anything about brain damage! This guy needs to get to a hospital and fast!"

"Tch, fine. One of you get the van, I'll—"

"Do nothing," Tattletale snapped. "We'll clean this up. You go home, get some sleep and sort your head out. This was fucked up and you know it!"

"You expect me to just 'go home and sleep'?!"

"Yes. Taylor can make something to help if you need it. We need you thinking straight. Now, just go."

Grue looked between us, then turned with a growl. He was halfway to the door before Tattletale swore and shouted at him.

"Don't even think about running off on your own! You've got less than an hour before Taylor's stimulant wears off and you pass out."

Grue looked over his shoulder at us, and I could feel him glaring at me as I busied myself checking on the dealer. The bleeding seemed to be slowing down as the mixture accelerated the clotting.

When I glanced up again, Grue was gone.

"If we don't find Aisha soon… he's going to get us all killed," Tattletale muttered. "Come on, let's get to a hospital."

Between the two of us, it was easy enough to cut the dealer free and lift him off the ground.

We put him in the back of the van with as much care as we could. Just to be safe, I climbed in with him to keep him from moving around too much.

Tattletale jumped into the front seat, the engine sputtering into life, and the van lurched as we pulled away. We raced through the streets, careful to stay under the speed limit. I wasn't sure if she was trying to avoid suspicion, or just didn't want to jostle the dealer.

The blood looked like it was stopping, but he was still unresponsive, which was never a good sign.

"We can't stop," Lisa said as the hospital came into view. "I'll slow down as much as I can and you throw him out?"

"We should have let Grue deal with this," I muttered, putting one hand on the door.

"You're kidding, right? He'd have thrown the guy into the bay. Now!"

The van slowed, and I pulled the door open. Grabbing the dealer, I heaved, throwing him out the van feet first. Thankfully Tattletale had brought us to a near stop in the ambulance loading bay. People were already rushing forward as the dealer hit the floor.

Putting her foot down, she gunned the engine and we roared away with a squeal of tyres and I slammed the door closed. With any luck, no one got a clear look at me.

Sitting back, I looked up to the roof and sighed. This wasn't the first time we'd dumped someone at a hospital, but it never felt right. At least this time it wasn't a teammate.

"I don't think Grue likes me very much." I sighed as we drove away.

"It's not your fault. I think Coil warned him to keep an eye on you."

"… Just whose idea was it to recruit me?" We'd never really talked about this before. When I'd first joined the Undersiders, I'd been too busy tinkering to really ask about it, and afterwards… well, there had been more important things to focus on.

Lisa smiled in the rearview mirror. "Mine, of course. Grue isn't stupid; he knew we needed more members, and tinkers are always useful."

"He wanted lasers and power armour?" All tinkers had specialisations, areas that they focused and excelled with. Mine was chemicals, drugs mostly. I'm not going to lie — it had hurt when I realised mine wasn't as immediately useful, but I'd adapted.

"Yeah, something like that." Lisa laughed as we pulled into an empty lot. The sound of sirens was growing in the distance.

"Don't take it too personally. Grue has always had a bit of a problem where drugs are concerned, and with the boss putting him on guard… well, you never really had much chance."

Sighing, I climbed out of the van and pulled a pair of small metal tubes from my pocket. Popping the lids, I mixed the two together and dropped them onto the van floor. Almost immediately, they started to smoke.

By the time Tattletale and I had left the lot, the van was ablaze.

What a way to spend the night.

##

Covering my mouth with my hand, I tried to hide the yawn as I collected my tea from the cashier.

It had been past midnight by the time Lisa and I had gotten back to our motel, and while we'd both chosen to sleep in, I still felt drained as I walked through the streets.

It was nearly ten in the morning, and Lisa had gone to find Brian. He was probably still out cold — the aftereffect of that stimulant was brutal, after all, especially when combined with his already exhausted state.

Lisa knew that, but she wanted to be there when he woke up. She'd also insisted that I not be.

I couldn't really argue. I could have warned Brian about the effects before he drank it, but Lisa had thought it was better that I didn't.

Still, that did leave me at a bit of a loose end.

Not sure what else to do, I'd taken one of the pictures of Aisha Brian had left us and my pepper spray and set out into the city.

Up ahead, I could see one of the city's homeless shelters. Brian said he'd checked them already, but I suspected I'd have more luck.

Brian was tall and muscular. Even when he was clean-shaven and well-dressed, he didn't look like someone you'd want to mess with.

Chances are, if he walked into a shelter, most would be too scared to talk to him. On the other hand, while I was tall for a woman, I had glasses on, and my baggy and worn clothes hid any definition I had. Very few people were intimidated by a teenage girl.

The largest shelter in the city was also inside Empire territory, and while they mostly left it and the people inside alone, Brian showing up here would have been noticed.

Or it had been. As I approached the door, I could see that unfamiliar gang tag on the frame. In the daylight, it was easier to recognise it as a yellow jewel.

I would have to ask Lisa about it later. If a new gang had moved into the city, we needed to be careful. Especially if they had managed to take territory from the Empire.

Inside, the shelter was no different to any of the ones Lisa and I had stayed at. It was a large open hall with tables taking up the majority of the space. Side doors led into bathrooms, or back offices, with staff coming in and out in a constant rush.

At one end of the hall there was a counter where staff were handing out meals. The line stretched most of the way around the hall. There wouldn't be enough food. There never was.

I could feel people watching me as I moved through the halls and tried not to shiver. Shelters were safer than sleeping on the streets, but that did not make them safe. It didn't help that the majority of people you saw in shelters were men.

The worst I'd ever experienced was a guy trying to grab my ass. But you heard rumours of worse all the time.

Ignoring the looks, I approached an elderly woman near the back of the hall who was wearing a lanyard and reading something on a clipboard.

Noticing my approach, she gave me a kind smile. "Oh, hello dear, if you're looking for something to eat, you'll need to join the line, but we still have plenty left."

"Oh, no I'm okay, thanks. Actually, I'm just looking for someone." Fishing the picture out of my pocket, I held it out for her to inspect. "Have you seen this girl? Her name is Aisha, her brother's worried sick."

"I, hmm. I'm sorry dear. She looks familiar, but it's so hard to keep track." As she turned her head in thought, movement drew my attention, and I saw a man in a well-tailored suit talking to a couple of men at one of the tables. The light was glinting off a small gold brooch on his jacket. It was a yellow jewel on a gold background and looked almost identical to the gang tag outside.

"Is something wrong?" the woman said, realising I wasn't paying attention. "Oh, them! Don't mind them, they work for a recruitment company that started donating to the shelter a few months ago. They send people by every now and then, offering jobs to anyone who wants one. Honestly, they have been a godsend, especially with the mayor cutting our funding again."

Shaking her head, she pulled a pencil from her pocket. "You said the girl's name was Aisha? I'll make a note for the others, and if you leave me your cell phone number, I'll call you if she turns up."

Trying not to sigh, I gave her the number of my burner phone. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.

"I'm sorry I can't do more. Have you spoken to the police? They could contact the women's shelter for you."

"That's my next stop." It wasn't, of course. I wasn't planning to go near the police. A haircut and some dye might work on the average person, but walking straight into a police station was tantamount to suicide.

On my way out, I looked around, seeing more than a few people wearing the same gold and yellow brooch.

Outside, I crossed the road and leaned up against the wall of a building while I dug my phone out of my pocket and dialled Lisa's number.

"Hey, sweety! Where are you, I missed you!" Lisa's voice went from chirpy to sultry purr in a heartbeat, and I felt my face grow hot.

"l—Lisa, what the hell?!" I managed to splutter as she broke down giggling.

"Sorry, I'm with Brian and couldn't resist. You should have seen his face! So, what's up?"

"I was just at the shelter uptown—" Putting my embarrassment aside, I told her everything I'd seen at the shelter.

"That's… okay… You need to be careful. It might be best if you just came here. I'll text you Brian's address."

Brian said something in the background, but I couldn't make out what, and Lisa must have covered the phone with her hand when she shouted back at him.

"Lisa, what's going on? Do you know who these people were?"

"I'm not sure, but my power says they work for Accord."

Frowning, I looked back at the shelter. "Isn't he in Boston?"

"Yeah, looks like he's expanding to Brockton. I doubt he's here in person. More likely one of his men is in charge—"

Two of the people in suits left the shelter and started walking down the road. As I watched them go, an idea came to mind.

"...Taylor? Taylor, whatever you're planning, don't!"

"You said you need more information."

"Yes, but not like this! These aren't some random bangers, Accord's men are trained. We don't want to pick a fight with them!"

The two men turned a corner and went out of sight. If I didn't move now, I'd lose them completely.

"I'll speak to you later!" Hanging up, I crossed the road and followed them.

Lisa was going to give me hell for this, but we couldn't keep stumbling around in the dark.

##

Following the two men turned out to be easier than I'd expected. They mostly stuck to main streets, with lots of people around, making it easy for me to blend in with the crowds. Up ahead, I could see them talk to each other, but I was too far away to hear what was being said.

In my pocket, my phone buzzed again. Lisa had messaged me three times in the last five minutes, and I was pretty sure she'd called at least twice.

I knew she was just worried about me, and was it wrong that I liked knowing she cared? But I wasn't planning on doing anything stupid.

She'd said Accord's men were trained, so I wasn't even going to try mugging them. I just wanted to see where they would lead me, for now.

So far, they had continued to skirt the border of Empire and Coil's territory. Occasionally, they would stop and point at something on one building or another, and, at least once, I saw them taking pictures.

Pausing briefly, though taking care to keep them in sight, I took a look at what had interested them so much. It turned out to be an Empire tag on the side of a building.

This was starting to feel less like a sedate walk through the city and more like a patrol.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I tried to discreetly grab some pictures of street signs. The camera on it wasn't great — the resolution was pretty low and it blurred easily — but it was only a burner phone at the end of the day.

A few more turns later, and I was more certain that Accord, or whoever these people were, had taken Coil's territory, as the two men walked calmly into an office building that Lisa had told me once was one of Coil's fronts.

She'd told me about a number of them and explained that if I need a place to hide, I was to ditch my costume, go inside and tell the receptionist that I had a meeting with Mr Szyslak.

Now, however, the sign out front said 'Jewel Recruitment'.

Biting my lip, I hesitated. This had to be enough, right? We knew about one of their hideouts and had a rough idea of territory. I could let Lisa know and then get back to looking for Aisha. It wasn't like Accord would care about us or what we were doing, was it?

And yet, I couldn't walk away. That burning need to know more was still there.

Getting an idea, I doubled back on myself until I found a small thrift store. Digging through the racks, I eventually found a red shirt, an old jacket and a black marker that only cost a few dollars combined.

Heading back to the recruitment office, I ducked into an alley that was a few buildings away and looked around to make sure I wasn't followed. Tearing the shirt up, I used the marker to draw the number eighty-three on one of pieces and tied it around the lower half of my face. The jacket I turned inside out so the black lining was visible and slipped it on.

Living in Brockton, you learned quickly how to look after yourself and what to watch out for. Six months on the run with Lisa had only added to that.

There were, or had been, two major gangs in the city: Empire Eighty-Eight and the Azn Bad Boyz. Coil had been considered a minor group at best, and no one took the Merchants seriously.

The Empire were Nazis, white supremacists. While everyone associated Swastikas with Nazis, only the most hardcore members would actually walk about in public with them on display.

The Empire, however, liked the number eight and and they loved codes built around it. Eight referred to the 8th letter of the alphabet, H; eighty-eight stood for H.H. or 'Heil Hitler', while eighteen pointed to Adolf Hitler in the same way.

I supposed they thought it was clever, and while it did mean you could show it in public without getting arrested, people soon learned to watch out for it, or the letter 'E' repeated three times.

With any luck, anyone looking at me would just assume I was a low-ranking member.

Finding a fire escape, I scrambled to the rooftops. Keeping low as I moved forward, I eventually ended up lying on my stomach next to an air conditioning unit. On the other side of the alley, I could see the windows at the back of the recruitment office.

Pointing my phone at the office, I started taking pictures. A few of the windows had their blinds down, but there was nothing I could do about that. The people inside looked normal enough, men and women sitting at desks in tasteful suits while they worked. I was too far away to make out details on their screens, but I suspected it would be nothing but spreadsheets and other normal things.

This whole idea was starting to look like a bust, and I was considering giving up when movement below caught my eye. A car was driving into the alley. I didn't know the make or model, but it looked expensive. The black paintwork was polished to a near-mirror shine, and its windows were tinted to hide anyone inside.

I held my breath as the car stopped and a woman in a goldenrod yellow evening gown climbed out. Her face was covered by a masquerade ball mask, the gems on it shining in the daylight.

Even as I took a picture, I cursed my luck. She had to be a cape. This was far beyond what I'd been expecting to see.

Keeping my head down, I watched her enter the office through a back door. I caught the occasional glimpse of her moving through the building and eventually entering a room on the top floor.

The blinds were drawn, but I could almost see the yellow of her costume through the thin materials and the silhouette of someone standing to greet her.

My heart was pounding in my ears. I had to get out of here. I'd seen enough and had to move before—

The blinds rose and I found myself staring at the cape, her mouth forming a perfect 'O' of surprise. For just a moment, our eyes met and I saw anger flash across her face.

Rolling sideways, I tried to duck behind the AC unit.

There was a snap-pop that was almost lost to the noise of the city, and something tore through the metal barely a foot away from my head.

'Oh fuck!'

Another pop and another bullet followed, closer than the first, punching through the AC and bouncing off the roof in a spray of gravel.

Lisa is going to killme!

Throwing myself forward, I ran. I jerked sideways, and another bullet bounced off the roof. My heart was in my mouth as I did it again and another shot missed.

Get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof! I screamed at myself as I ran, desperately hoping to reach the fire escape on the farside of the building.

Pain filled my shoulder as something hit me with a jolt and I bit back a scream. I forced myself to keep moving, but I could hear sounds up ahead. People were coming up the escape.

Turning, I sprinted in a different direction. The building I was on had a flag pole planted in the ground in front of it, and I could see it in the distance.

I threw myself off the roof as another shot grazed my leg. Wrapping my good arm around the pole, I tried to slide down to safety, but the flimsy metal couldn't hold my weight. With a groan, it gave way, the thin support wires that attached it to the building snapping as it folded over.

I was too breathless to scream as the ground rushed towards me.

The pole jerked violently as a final support line held, the shock sending waves of pain through my shoulder and knocking me loose. The drop wasn't far, maybe twice my height, and I managed to land on my feet, but the impact sent another wave of pain through me.

I was on the streets now, and people were stopping to stare, but I was fairly confident the people I could hear shouting in the distance wouldn't shoot at me now.

Gritting my teeth, I ran forwards, crossing the street blindly and running deeper into Empire territory. The voices behind me were fading quickly, but I refused to slow down.

Ducking from one back alley to another, I scrambled up and over a wooden fence and nearly landed on my face on the other side. I could barely see through the tears in my eyes and my shoulder was a flaming ball of agony, but I forced my arm to move as I pulled the jacket off and threw it aside.

Pulling the mask off, I stumbled in the other direction.

Finally, when the pain and dizziness was too much to bear, I stopped and looked around.

I was surrounded by warehouses, and the tang of salt in the air was stronger than ever. Without even meaning to, I'd gone most of the way towards the docks.

Cursing myself, I put the mask against my shoulder and leaned against the wall to hold it in place while my good hand fumbled with my phone. It was slick with blood, but I managed to dial out.

"Hey sweety!" I wasn't sure why I found it so funny to copy Lisa, but I couldn't stop myself from giggling as she answered the phone. "I… might have fucked up…"

Lisa was deathly silent. She was so going to kill me for this.

##
AN: Chapter commissioned by Laioken

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