20

Chapter Text

TUE FEB 22

"...Hey, Gram."

I bit back a flinch at how squeaky that sounded. I wasn't some terrified little girl about to get scolded, even though Gram had always invoked those feelings in the past, on some level. Whenever she'd visit, there'd be this underlying tension, like she wanted to dole out lashings for every little thing, but was deferring to mom. Always mom, never dad.

I had no idea how long they'd been here, together, alone, but neither seemed like they'd been screaming, which... high bar for positive interactions, there. Dad looked fine, Gram looked... less stern, now.

"Hello, Taylor."

Right. Talking. Deep breath. Stop panicking. Why was I panicking? I thought, while I took my time making my way to the table. It took a bit before it clicked. Mom. Gram was mom's mom. I was scared this wouldn't go well, and I'd lose another link to mom.

I took another calming breath as I sat down. "So, how was your trip?" I felt stupid the second the words left my lips, but at least I'd said something.

"Adequate." The old woman nodded. "I'm not that far away. It was about the same time by car as it would have been waiting in the airports."

I knew Gram wasn't 'owns her own private jet' rich, but I'd always thought of first class being quite a bit faster than otherwise. It was possible I was wrong, since I'd been too young to remember it, the last time I'd been on a plane. Ironically enough, I think it was Gram who picked up the tab for that vacation to celebrate mom graduating and getting her teaching license.

"And how long are you going to be staying for?" I asked next.

She shared a brief glance with Dad, and seemed amused. "That eager to be rid of me?" She asked, turning back to me. I sputtered out denials and she smirked. "Don't worry, dear. I think at least two weeks, no more than four." Her smile smoothed into her natural glower. "Don't want the board getting ideas." She mumbled to herself. When she caught me looking confused, she added, "The people are quick to say that politicians and lawyers are the worst of the worst, but at least they are predictable. A businessman will buy the power of the others, and you never know what they're going to do with it."

I steadfastly ignored that she was a businesswoman. "Right..." I muttered and forced a chuckle. "And you're... in town for business too?" I was hedging, but Gram always seemed like the sort to make every hour of her time count, and every trip add at least two or three irons to the fire.

She shared a glance with dad, who was sitting there quietly, sipping at his coffee. I wasn't sure what to make of the two apparently being in cahoots about something. It seemed so unlike them. "Yes. I've already done my preliminary rounds through businesses in the area I have investments in, now I'm going to focus on scouting new investment opportunities, and personal projects." I was about to ask what sort of 'personal projects' but she must have seen it coming. With a smirk, she cut me off. "I've discussed a rough plan of action with your father, and it includes a bit of targeted philanthropy. The plan does assume you're not interested in simply leaving Brockton Bay, but..." I could tell Dad's hands were tightening around his cup as she spoke. She seemed... smug and determined? She didn't show it, but that's how she felt. Dad was a tense, anxious, angry mess, but hiding it fairly well. "I have to ask. Would you be willing to move somewhere safer? Perhaps New York, or perhaps private schooling in an area with lower Parahuman activity?"

I gulped. This might be it. Her putting her foot down and making demands. "No." I said, trying to inject as much calm firmness into my voice as I could.

"Are you sure? There are any number of commuting and training options available, and-" I held my hand up to stop her. I could tell she was actually, honestly worried about me, but it was tempered to an edge by something uglier I couldn't place. I didn't like the calculating glint in her eye when she started trying to list benefits. A moment's thought and a large part of me balked at the idea of being bought away from my home.

"No." The word was firm and laced with anger as I repeated it. "This is my home."

I could feel the cogs turning in her mind, flashes of emotion behind her stony glower, betrayed by the intensity of her dissecting stare. She took a deeper breath, quiet and hidden but for my senses, and her eyes closed as she started to exhale, some of the tension leaving her without her posture shifting at all. I let my hand drop then, and she nodded. "I can understand the sentiment..." Dad visibly slumped a little as he came to realize there wouldn't be a fight over this. Gram's eyes opened and snapped to mine, a touch of silent pleading leaking into her gaze. "I know there's at least one private institution in the area, a more regimented learning environment could do a world of good for-" she trailed off about a second after I'd raised my index finger between us.

"I don't want to go to Catholic School." I was feeling more confident. She'd already shown she wasn't going to insist on everything, which left me feeling like I had the power here. I still tried to keep it out of my voice though, speaking calmly but firmly. I didn't want this to sound like an argument. I knew in her shoes, I'd try to win any arguments that came up. "I already talked to dad about it, and we decided on Arcadia. I'm not even religious, and I'm making friends again." I couldn't help the emotion there. It still felt... I'm not sure 'wonderful' or 'amazing' or 'surprising' fit, but... it felt good to feel wanted, at least a little, despite my every instinct still trying to disbelieve it. "I want to stay where they are."

Her eyes took on that calculating mien again. I could feel the swell of emotions within her, frustration, indignation, disappointment, but it died down and left the woman sadly thinking. "A young woman's social ties are one of her most significant assets..." She closed her eyes and nodded. "We have days to catch up, you'll have to tell me about these friends of yours, at some point." The demand was soft and conversational, but I knew small talk was a weapon for social types, and Gram was rarely a woman of idle words. I nodded, and she very slightly responded with her own. Her eyes unfocused for a moment. "Where was I?" She clicked her tongue and took a deeper breath, giving another, deeper nod. "Targeted philanthropy. I'm going to be making donations to local services; the hospitals, police, fire department. I will not be making a donation to the Protectorate or PRT, to make a point."

She was angry, and I didn't understand it. "Why?"

Gram gave dad an incredulous look that mirrored her frustration well, but hiding the slight shock and surprise I could feel. Dad felt a bit contrite, but shrugged and held his ground in their silent argument. She sighed quietly and turned back to me. "Shortly after you were hospitalized, the PRT took control of the investigations into your case. I was not able to find out why, but they appear to have not made any significant effort to investigate the case, and no effort to find non-parahuman culprits."

"What?" I muttered, feeling shocked and numb, but I could feel a bubbling swell of rage and betrayal trying to claw its way out of the pit my emotions had fallen into. I turned pleading eyes on dad, who glanced away.

"The police... said they were taking the case back up. You've been a lot happier lately. I didn't want to bother you with it."

I took a deep breath. I was getting angry. I took another. I wanted to scream. I took another. They were starting to feel worried. I held the next one, clenching my hands until they hurt, and my eyes to stave off the rage-tears trying to escape. I let it out slowly, turning red eyes on dad. "You should have told me." It took effort to keep my voice calm, but less than I was expecting.

Dad looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just grabbed his coffee again and nodded.

"As I said, I have no intention of supporting them for the moment." Gram said, cutting through the mood. "I'm going to make a point of supporting the other heroic groups in the city, including yours once you've gained some publicity. For now this merely entails a donation to New Wave, and attempts to open dialogue any more neutral groups."

"Amy's family?" I asked, slightly confused as my mind latched onto that detail. Gram quirked an eyebrow at me, the gesture imperiously demanding elaboration. "Amy's been my best friend since I started at Arcadia. Vicky's my friend too, but..." I trailed off, shaking my head. The details didn't matter. "They're the Dallon sisters. Part of New Wave."

Gram hummed, her eyes focusing into the distance as they regained that calculating intensity. "Interesting." She softly stated a moment later. A few seconds after, she met my eyes again. "Amy is... Panacea, yes? The healer who can see biology?" I nodded, confused again. "Very interesting. I'll need to keep that in mind." I could tell she was tapping her fingers along the cane in her lap, an outward expression of her intrigue and thought. "Regardless, I'm also going to be looking for new investments, and overseeing the existing ones while I'm here. I'd like it if you'd accompany me for some of these events, Taylor."

I cocked my head quizzically. "What? Why?"

Her tiny smile grew into a wry smirk, and I could feel she felt slightly conflicted. "I will not be here forever, Taylor. One day you will inherit part or all of my estate. While you could always leave its management to your executor, it would be in your best interest to learn as much as you can for when the time comes."

"Executor?" I knew that basically amounted to 'the person you trust to do things you can't', since mom had an executor for her will after she died, I wasn't positive I understood it completely in this context.

Gram looked like she'd sucked a lemon, flares of indignation and dissapointment drowning out everything else. "You can think of them like an accountant, or an assistant. They are paid to manage an estate, including properties, finances, taxes, and in some cases investments. They are almost always lawyers or family members, and have only the authority you give them. "

Okay, about what I thought, then. I nodded. "Can I think about it? It's just going to some meetings, right?"

She stared for a moment, before nodding. "Meetings with the bank to facilitate payments, transfers, buyouts... meetings with small companies to negotiate... the most high profile meeting I have planned is with Medhall. I've received permission to sit in on next month's board meeting."

I choked a bit. "Medhall?" Wasn't that run by Nazis?

She nodded, seeming confused by my shock. "Yes, dear. We own three percent of Medhall Pharmaceuticals." I goggled at that, staring at her with my mouth just slightly agape. "It may not sound like much, but it's rather significant for a non-founder in this sort of market."

"That's crazy." I muttered. Gram couldn't possibly know the CEO was apparently Kaiser. How many of his company's top people were sympathizers? Or capes? If I went to the meeting, would I wind up meeting Kaiser? How many of his capes would be there? Would they recognize me?

I slid my head into my hands, leaning on the table. Gram and dad both asked if something was wrong, or if I was okay. I waved them off. "I'm fine, just... a little overwhelmed." At this point I just wanted to lay down, try to sleep, and just decompress after all that'd happened today. How to ask Gram to leave politely, though? I shook my head and pushed myself to my feet. "I'm going to start on dinner. Do you want to stay, or...?"

She seemed to politely consider it, but I already knew her answer. "I think I'll decline, tonight." She lifted the metal cane from her lap and set it on the floor to help push herself to her feet. Something still felt off about it, but I couldn't tell what. "I will be by again tomorrow afternoon, after you'll be free from school." She said to me, before turning to dad. I could tell she still didn't like him, but she didn't seem to hate him. She gave him a small nod. "Hebert."

I led the way to the door, letting her outside. I saw her driver hop to action, nearly scrambling out of the car to open the rear door for Gram. When she was seated, and the young woman powerwalking back to the driver's seat, I gave gram a small wave, and got an obvious inclination of her head in return.

After that, I made my way back into the kitchen, intentionally ignoring dad.

It took him nearly half a minute to try and say something. "Taylor..." He choked after that, the words failing him.

"I'm still mad at you." I said as I kept checking what we had available and grabbing pans, never turning to properly acknowledge him.

"I'm sorry." He said, a few moments later.

I paused very briefly, before I kept cooking. "I know."

He reached a hand out toward me, his mouth parting open slightly. He felt confused, sad, a little shame. The hand dropped. His mouth closed, and he grit his teeth. He really wasn't very good at being sad, but didn't want to be angry with me. He softly slid the chair away from the table and made his way upstairs to find some busy work, to feel useful.

I didn't think he remembered I could see every bit of that, even turned away from him.

Dinner didn't take long to make, and I took mine up to my room to eat at my desk. It was probably cold by the time dad went down to get his. I spent a couple hours studying ahead, but gave up after that to try and sleep off my bad mood.

---

WED FEB 23

I got up early, getting ready for school and avoiding dad. I'd cooled off a lot overnight, but I still felt like being a petty teenager. I still left dad some food when I made breakfast, though. I wasn't heartless.

Amy sent me a text while I was on my run, asking to meet up at school. She said she wanted to talk, and wouldn't try to kiss me this time. I ignored the flutter in my chest when I thought this didn't prevent me from kissing her, tamping the feelings down. Amy didn't like me that way, and could do way better than my emotional mess of a self, anyway.

I still wasn't thrilled by the thought of rushing to meet her, though. In my grasping for something to do before I headed in for my shower, I remembered the deal I'd made with Sue and her gang. Might as well get a head start on that.

"Hello, Taylor." Sue said after she picked up. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Sue." I said, stretching as I cooled down from my run with a walk around the school. That it'd keep the conversation more private was nice, too. "I was just thinking, I said I'd…" How to phrase this? Should I even bother trying to obfuscate being a cape over a cell phone? "…do a bit of work, and I was wondering about that. Maybe around the tenement, or some other building, sometime?"

Sue hummed. "Arthur was talking about sniffing up the blueprints for the building and poking around a bit… could step that up. Maybe next week?"

I hadn't made any plans for next week yet, so... "Yeah, that sounds good. Let me know when he's done, and we'll set a time." I was actually a little sad at how short the conversation was. I hadn't even made it behind the school yet, which meant I'd probably just head into the gym and take the tunnel to the locker rooms from there, instead of looping around to the main entrance of the school and taking the long way like I'd planned.

"While I have you," She said just before I could start the 'goodbye' dance. "We've found a place for that meeting you wanted to have." It took me a second to figure out she meant the independent capes I'd asked her to look for. When I gave an affirmative noise, she continued. "Does Sunday evening work for you?"

"Yeah, sure." I said immediately. "So, does that mean...?"

"We haven't found anyone yet, no." I hummed disappointedly. "A few have online accounts that are easy enough to contact, but Jake's the one trying to wrangle those, and I haven't talked to him today." I guess that made sense. Sue was pretty savvy for someone who looked at least sixty, but didn't seem like the internet type. It hadn't occurred to me to just... find them on PHO or email them. "We can talk about that more when we start on that work we talked about."

"Sounds good." We said our goodbyes, and I hung up, pulling the water from the morning's mist and light rain off my phone before I stashed it in my pocket.

I wound up heading through the gym after all, taking the quick trip to the locker rooms for my morning shower, then I headed up to the upstairs classroom where we'd been having our clandestine meetings.

She was there, deep in thought. The bags under her eyes weren't gone, but they were looking better. She probably slept for the first time in days last night. She perked up when I came in and shut the door. "Hey, Taylor." She muttered.

"Hey. You... wanted to talk again?" I asked, girding myself for whatever it might be this time.

"I just..." She stopped, hiding her anxiety behind a clearing throat. "I was just wondering if..."

Oh no, was this a confession? Did she actually like me or something? There was no way she didn't have a whole host of prettier, less damaged options if she wanted them. I was gearing up to tell her I wasn't good enough, when her words caught me short.

"I want to join your team."

Wait, what? "But... what about New Wave?"

She scoffed, her emotions turning dark. "What about New Wave?" She spat, and I started sputtering, trying to articulate anything through my startled confusion. She grew a bit pensive when she saw my reaction. "The only reason I've stayed with them as long as I have is because Vicky's there, and I had nowhere else to go. Your team's a good 'somewhere else' and Vicky..." Her heart picked up as she glanced to the side, feeling conflicted and agitated. "I'm not sure how I feel about Vicky right now."

"Amy," I said, reaching out, before I paused and let my hand drop. "It's a big decision. Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I don't think I would've stayed anyway, after I turned 18. Vicky's..." She shook her head. "Dean has been talking about moving, for college and... other reasons." She felt conflicted, but I couldn't begrudge her other people's secrets. "It's what a lot of their fights have been about, recently. I think... he's starting to win her over on moving in with him, when he leaves." She felt... outright distraught over that, barely holding herself together well enough to mostly hide it.

"You could always go with her." I tried, which drew a sad bark of laughter from her.

"No way Carol's going to let their precious PR pinata get away, she doesn't even trust me when I'm living under her thumb, out on my own? Never." She shook her head again. "And I'd just wind up moving in with Vicky, and..." She felt disgusted at the thought. She really didn't like thinking about Vicky and Dean...

I swiftly crossed the room when she started to sniffle. "Hey," I said, catching her in a half-hug. "It's okay. You can join my team. The more the merrier." It was a good start, me, her, and- "You can even meet..." My mouth got away from me before I realized it. Amy glanced at me suspiciously. I chuckled. "Well, I've already got a teammate lined up, remember?" I couldn't actually remember if I'd told Amy anything about Dinah, but she nodded after a second. I checked my phone. It was still before 8 so Dinah shouldn't be in class yet... "I'm meeting her on Saturday." I held it up. "Do you want me to call and see if she's okay with me bringing you, too?"

Amy looked confused for a second, then shrugged and nodded. I dialed the number and waited. Dinah picked up, yawning into the phone and muttering a confused, "Taylor?"

"Hi-" I choked on her name. Right, cape stuff. "Uhh... remember when you said we'd have three capes on the team this week?" Amy stiffened next to me, her eyes going slightly wide.

"Yeah?" Dinah mumbled, still confused.

"Do you think it'd be okay if I brought her by Saturday, so we could all meet?"

"73%" She replied instantly. "That's... actually better than I thought?" She gasped a bit, then stuttered out an apology. "I... erm, mom can be... sorry."

"It's okay, she probably wouldn't like me bringing friends over when I'm supposed to be tutoring you, huh?" Amy looked somewhat thoughtful, as I said that.

"Who... is it?" Dinah asked, her shyness creeping back into her tone.

I glanced over to Amy with my actual eyes this time. "Do you mind if I tell her who you are?" Amy looked confused, probably at being given the choice at all, before she shrugged. "It's Amy Dallon. Panacea." I replied into the phone.

Dinah gasped and fell quiet for a few seconds, before the microphone picked up muttered numbers I couldn't quite make out. "D-... you okay?"

"Y-yeah. Don't worry about me. Er... names. You can tell her, it's fine." She managed.

"Okay, Dinah." If she was okay with it... "Are you okay, though? Do you have a problem with both of us coming by this weekend?"

"82% chance my odds are generally better if I'm known to interact with Panacea." She replied more confidently. "I-it's... okay, if it's her."

I winced a little. "Do... you want me to call your mom and ask about it?"

She paused, then snapped out a quick "No!" Before she sputtered another apology. "I... it's better if I do it."

"Okay." I said, drawing the word out unsurely. "Do you need anything, or should I let you go?"

"I'm fine!" She chirped. "Do... do you?" She was probably wondering if I had any questions for her, but I couldn't think of any that couldn't wait for Saturday.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though. See you Saturday?" She mirrored the sentiment, and we hung up. I turned to Amy. "Soo..." I drawled, giving her an awkward smile.

Her eyebrow quirked up, unamused.

I slumped. "That was Dinah, she's... kind of the whole reason I'm forming a team." I leaned in a bit closer, so I could talk more quietly. "She's a thinker. Thinks she'll be kidnapped if she doesn't have help." I leaned in closer, so I could whisper in her ear. "Precog."

She stared blankly at me as I drew back. She was shocked, surprised... a little excited? "You have a pocket precog." She deadpanned.

"Maybe?" I winced, not really understanding the reference I felt she was making.

"I'm... not sure how to feel about that." She said, agitation rising within her. "On the one hand, that's... kind of amazing, and a little terrifying. On the other..." She started to feel... disturbed? "Are... is anything we did...?"

My eyes widened and I waved my hands negatively. "No! Nono, we're friends, you're my best friend, please..." I was tearing up, scared of losing her. She slumped and nodded, and I let myself heave a relieved breath. "Dinah only said there was a good chance we'd get another teammate this week... I had no idea it'd be you. I..." I bit my lip. "...honestly thought you'd never leave New Wave, so..."

She scoffed and shook her head, and I took the time to dry my eyes with a smile. Bit of an emotional rollercoaster this morning... We sat there comfortably for a couple minutes, before I felt the need to ask. "So, what are you going to do about leaving New Wave?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. I'm graduating soon, even if I'm not 18 yet there's not a judge in the state that wouldn't approve my emancipation if I pressed it, being Panacea." She grimaced. "...except maybe a cape bigot."

I hummed. "So you're just going to... hide it until graduation?" That sounded like it could blow up in our faces.

Amy shrugged. "Not much else I can do. I could just quit outright, but..." Her family would throw a fit, and she'd still be living with them. I didn't blame her for not liking that option.

"We'll figure something out." I said, gathering her up into another half-hug. She flushed, her heart picking up agitatedly, and I let her go. I kept forgetting she didn't like being touched, even if her powers would let her, now. I checked the time, we were a few minutes from the bells. "I'll see you at lunch?"

She nodded, and we parted ways.

---

Lunch was fairly normal. Vicky was happy to see me again, and Kara seemed relieved I wasn't avoiding her anymore. I brought up that my grandmother was in town checking on me after the Winslow thing, and invited Amy over to hang out and maybe meet her. That got a few questions from Vicky's curious friends, which I mostly deflected. Aside from that, I just wallflowered with Amy while I ate. Tracy was still doing her thing, which made me think I should drop by again soon, and Cassie was still coming to school again, though I didn't bother seeking her out to check on her once I'd recognized her with my senses.

Eating with Vicky reminded me that I wanted to tell her I was a cape... but after the bombshell Amy dropped on me this morning? I felt a little conflicted about telling her one secret, while hiding the other, like I was just distracting her while I stole her sister away. That thought left me feeling fairly crummy for the rest of school.

I waited for Amy in front of the school, and we made our way to the buses from there. Vicky was apparently busy, and given my feelings at lunch, I didn't bother to ask what she was busy with. Amy made a crass remark about her sister only letting her go because she trusted me to keep Amy away from the hospitals. Which was... nice, I supposed.

We got to my house, and spent the time practicing martial arts in the backyard until Dad got home. When he saw Amy was here too, he offered to order some pizzas. I reminded him that Gram was coming by soonish, and though he never said it, I gathered from his reactions that a large part of why he decided on pizza was to thumb his nose at her high society sensibilities a bit. I wasn't going to say no to pizza, though, and let it slide.

Gram showed up when we were finishing up our first go at the pizzas, and I hopped up to let her in. I had to admit, it was a little fun watching her struggle to keep the sneer at our dinner off her face for the sake of a good first impression. "Gram, this is Amy Dallon. Amy, this is my grandmother, Rosalind Lafayette."

"Rose is fine, dear." Gram said, proffering her hand.

I could see Amy hesitate, she still wasn't used to skin contact, but she did shake Gram's hand. She felt pretty awkward after that, though. "Amy's decided to join my team, when she graduates." I said, to break the ice.

Amy looked sharply to me, surprised, with a brief flash of betrayal. "Your grandmother knows you're a cape?" She asked, incredulously.

"It is difficult to render assistance with matters of which one is ignorant." Gram replied rather sternly. "That said, I have a vested interest in my granddaughter's health, safety, and continued well-being. Supporting you then, becomes supporting her. I look forward to working with you." The old woman tilted her head in a brief nod, or an absolutely minuscule bow.

For a moment I panicked, thinking the pair were going to butt heads and hate each other, before Amy nodded.

"Fair enough. I'm guessing you're where the team's funding is going to be coming from?" Amy didn't like Gram, I could tell, but she was straightforward and rational enough that Amy could respect her. ...at least as much as an irreverent and usually belligerent teenager could, anyway.

Gram grinned rather viciously. "Oh, don't mistake me for a petty sack of ducats, miss Dallon. Tell me, have you ever considered work in pharmaceuticals?"

The shift in topic threw Amy for a moment. "That's making drugs, right?" Gram nodded, and Amy shook her head. "I can't do that. I just fix what's wrong with people." I goggled at her. The part about not making drugs was true, but... why would the second part be a lie?

By the time I thought to say something, Gram was talking again. I'd have to bring it up with Amy some other time, in private.

"You are the healer that can see a person's biology, yes?" Amy nodded. "This includes their cells? Chemicals in their blood? Complex organs like the brain?" Amy kept nodding, hesitating before that last one, glancing at me. I nodded to her, and she nodded at Gram. "Then it stands to reason you can also see how those chemicals interact with those cells and organs?"

"Yeah? What are you getting at?" Amy huffed.

Gram clicked her tongue. "Pharmaceutical companies, like your local Medhall, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a month per drug they are researching, for years- even more than a decade- to try and prove they are relatively safe, do exactly what they think they do, and minimize chances that the drugs do something they are not aware of." Gram leaned forward, pinning a slightly wide-eyed but still confused Amy with a pointed stare. "You, miss Dallon, can simply walk into a series of drug studies, perhaps once a week for a month, and save whichever company is holding them literally millions of dollars by simply telling them what the chemicals are doing."

Amy had reared back a bit in the face of Gram's intensity, and I could feel her mind roaring with a dozen trains of thought. Her eyes twitched a little as she thought, staring more through Gram into the distance than at her, for the moment.

Gram chuckled, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a small metal case. Depressing two little triggers simultaneously caused the thing to click open on a spring, and Gram took one of the small stack of business cards from it, before closing it again. She held it out, the motion close enough to Amy's line of sight to startle her back to awareness. "Call me once you've reached your majority, and I can ensure you make at least seven figures a year helping to improve the health and quality of life for people around the globe."

Amy took the card, holding it like a venomous snake. She felt conflicted, full of giddy excitement, worry, fear, and shame. Eventually she slipped the thing into a pocket. "Thank you." She muttered, still confused and processing how she felt about the offer.

I could tell Gram was rather offended by the reaction, but didn't show it too obviously. Amy certainly didn't notice, still lost in her own little world. "Hey," I said, to draw attention away, Dad and Gram focusing on me while Amy looked my way, but mostly kept having her personal crisis. "So, tell me about those businesses you mentioned around town?"

Gram's eyes flicked briefly to Amy, but she nodded and started into an explanation of what all she'd been doing. It sounded like a lot more negotiating for potential investments than actually having bought in yet, though there were a few around that she already had stakes in. About twenty minutes in, Amy's phone started to ring, and she excused herself to the living room with a huff about it being 'from Carol.'

I honestly paid more attention to Amy talking than Gram, at that point. "Yes? ...I'm at a friend's house. ...Yeah? ... Why does that matter? ... Why? ... ...fine." She huffed and hung up, making her way back into the kitchen. Gram finished what she was saying, and subtly yielded the floor to her. "I have to go home." Amy spat in frustration, then took a breath and calmed down a little. "Sorry, I'll talk to you later."

"Do you need a ride?" Dad asked, moving to get up, when Gram stopped him.

"If miss Dallon requires a ride home, I have a perfectly fine driver on call." She took out her phone and called the woman, whose name was amusingly also Carol, and told her that 'her granddaughter's friend' needed a ride home. She ended the call with a nod. "You'll find her in the driveway. Have a safe trip home."

Amy looked fairly confused, and looked to me. I shrugged, and she shook her head, slightly exasperated. I hopped up to see her out, and watched the car pull away with her in it before heading back to the kitchen. Gram went back to her previous topic for another twenty minutes or so, before I found a good place to cut in without interrupting her.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'd... sort of like to do something more immediately productive with my time, since Amy's not here anymore."

Dad cut in before Gram could. "What did you have in mind?" I think he was seeing a way to get rid of Gram's reason for being here, namely myself, and thus neatly shoo the old woman away. I didn't understand why he felt he had to stay down here with us in the first place, if he wanted to get back to his home desk for more of his own work.

"I was thinking training, but if I'm not going back to the Trainyard, I'm not entirely sure what my options are, today."

Dad rubbed his chin, while Gram sat back slightly, letting us discuss it. "Well," Dad started, slightly unsure. "If you just want something to do with your powers, you could always clean up part of the beach. It's been a while since that's been done."

I hummed, thinking back to when I'd been there recently, and having to dodge needles and glass sometimes, in addition to the regular trash. "Yeah, that probably needs doing." I turned to Gram, who'd been watching us imperiously. "Do you mind if I go do that?"

She pursed her lips, frustrated with my antics. She didn't seem angry, though. "No, this is fine." She took a breath and simmered down a bit. "Do consider attending some of these meetings, I know most of them will happen while you are at school, but this will not be all of them."

I smiled and gave a shy chuckle. If I kept ducking out on her like this, I probably should do something to make it up to her, huh? "Sure thing, Gram."

I made my way up to my room, grabbed my cape kit and swapped it into my bag in place of my books, and came back downstairs to say goodbyes for today.

---

It didn't take long to make my way to the beach, a couple quick walks and a bus ride, after telling Gram I didn't need a ride. I didn't want her driver to connect any dots about driving me down, and then Terraform doing something on the beach, especially since I got the feeling Gram was going to try find a place on the Boardwalk to catch sight of my powers in action.

I stashed my stuff on another abandoned-looking building, after checking the roof door and finding the lock still worked. I headed down to the thin strip of sand between the buildings and the water, mostly dry from this morning's light rain by now. My senses weren't phenominal in sand, but it was still fairly packed, so they weren't abysmal. I used them to pull harder, heavier trash out of the depths, sweeping up the surface to gather up the loose crap that hadn't blown or washed away already, and made a pile by the street nearby. I was a little surprised by how much of the sand, mostly dry or not, got kicked into the air by what I was doing. This might be a little flashier than I'd intended. With that in mind, I grabbed my cape phone and dialed the PRT.

"PRT Non-Emergency, how may I help you?" The woman who answered asked.

"Hi, this is Terraform. I was going to clean up the beach a bit, but... I think it's going to kick up more sand than I thought. I wanted to let you know, in case you started getting calls about it."

"Oh! Uh, give me a second." I heard typing and the occasional click in the background, the woman getting back to me a couple minutes later. "Okay, that should do it. Was there anything else?"

"No, thank you. I just didn't want to waste anyone's time being sent out to check on me." Goodbyes said, I stopped to think of my options.

I was closer to the north end and the Boat Graveyard than I was to the south, so I might as well head up that way and then loop back. So I headed that way in a zig-zag pattern, to make sure I caught everything with my senses as I went. Moving and unpacking the sand shortened my sensing range quite a bit, especially in the places where the beach widened out. Still, it wasn't long before I was speeding up, not caring how much dust I kicked up since I could just pull it along with me, and force it to the ground when I was done. When I felt confident I could keep up with it, I kicked up an unnatural dune, surfing along its crest while I gathered trash and pulled it along behind me.

It wasn't long before I started running into the beached wrecks that made up the Boat Graveyard, and figured that was a good enough place to stop. I didn't know how far Brockton extended past the Graveyard to the north, and didn't feel like cleaning up other cities' coast today. I piled the trash up by one of the wrecks, and pulled the sand out of the air, before pondering what to do with the garbage. It wasn't a small pile after all, and I didn't feel like dragging it across the beach to where I'd started again, nor leaving it out for Mush to use, since this was Merchant territory again...

In the end, I called the PRT again, and asked them if they could call the relevant services. The guy on the line was confused by the request at first, but seemed happy to do so once I told him how big it was, and where they could find it.

That done, I had a mile or two of beach to cover to get back to where I'd started. So I compacted the sand under my feet into a sandstone, locked my feet down onto it with more compacted sand, and did the 'moving dune' trick again. The distance was eaten up quickly, to the point where I started decelerating before I'd even hit anything I might consider my top speed. With a much longer stretch of beach ahead of me, it took a lot longer this time before I stopped. Not least of which because the trashberg I was pulling along behind me was starting to get unmanageable by the time I passed the slums. I decided to leave it where it was, after I started to get into the nicer Portsmouth area just south and east of the slum, figuring they'd be less likely to just leave it there like they might if I'd left it in the worse part of town's section of the beach. Then I sped ahead a bit, rounding the horn to the south of the bay, and pulling the comparatively negligible amount of trash from the nicer area to the pile I'd already dumped.

All told, it'd taken me less than three hours to do. I hadn't even noticed how dark it'd gotten, as focused as I was on my earth senses. Another call to the PRT, and I found myself standing around, wondering what to do now. I needed to get back to my bag up northward, so I could use air to sprint, do more earthbending to cut the distance, or... I eyed the bay itself. Why couldn't I just use the same trick on the water?

I sidled up to the waves, pulling a chunk of the water out and freezing it into a meter long several-inch-thick slab of ice on the sand. I got up on it unsteadily, then pulled the waves further in to float it. I nearly toppled over when the thing started to move, it was a lot less stable than my sandstone slab, and I had to freeze my feet to the ice to help my balance. It was unnerving to go without my earth senses at first, but I could see relatively well by the light of the shoreline and the Protectorate rig. A couple minutes of getting my bearings floating out past where the waves started curling and crashing, and I felt fairly confident in my balance.

So I pulled up a swell of water under myself, and pushed it to crash northward. it was a little tricky at first keeping myself at the right part of the wave for optimal travel, but it started getting fun after that. I sped about on the waves for a while, deciding to cut playtime short when I started getting too close to the Rig. I skirted around it and made my way to shore about where I thought I'd started on the beach, pulling the water and sand out of my hoodie, pants, and fake shoes. I could get the rest when I got home.

I was in a pretty good mood when I got home and sat down to study with some leftover pizza.

---

I snapped to awareness, startled by the suddenness of it. I took a moment to stare up at what I realized after a moment was a cloudless blue sky. I could feel around myself a little, like earth, but much worse. I shifted, and realized I was laying in sand. I wasn't sure what was going on, since I could normally sense much better through sand than this. All I could tell was that the couple feet under and all around me were also sand.

I sat up, and looked around. I was on a beach, with trees and shrubs to one side, and open water on the other. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep, so either I was dreaming, or I'd been kidnapped. Oddly, the thought of having been kidnapped didn't fill me with the anxious dread I was expecting. I was mildly alarmed, but my emotions felt dull. Muted. From my scant memories of lucid dreaming in the past, that wasn't too uncommon. Glancing around I spotted more incongruities in the world. The water had no waves despite being large enough I couldn't see another shore, which led me to notice there was no wind. I hadn't heard a single animal since waking up, and there was no movement in the plants. The sand was a perfect angled sheet without dunes or footsteps, the indentation where I'd been laying the only perturbation. There was no sun or moon in the sky, despite being bright daytime, and closer inspection of the foliage gave way to a repeating pattern to the trees and bushes.

Well, if this was a dream, I might as well enjoy it. I got to my feet and hopped into the air, surprised when I landed normally instead of floating into the air. "What the hell?" I muttered, bringing my hands to my lips and ear as I noticed the odd tinny quality of my voice. I made some random vocalizations to familiarize myself with the difference to it, chaining through a long continuous noise flowing between vowel sounds. "Okay. That's weird, but okay."

I could still sense, if poorly, so I checked my other powers. I spewed out some fire, then turned a stream onto the sand beside me, fusing it into glass. A gust of wind scattered more of the stuff, and a gesture froze a large swath of the water. Bending still worked, so what the hell was going on? I took a moment to rub at my eyes in frustration, and when I looked again everything I'd done was gone. No ice, no glass, no windswept divot in the sand. "Okay, that's actually really creepy." I said, looking around, slowly spinning to try and keep abreast of my surroundings. "Would be reeeaally nice to get some hint about what's going on."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something, speeding my spin to bring it into view. Four pillars stood in the previously empty sand. "Okay. Not getting it, if that's a hint." They weren't made of the same material, the left two looked like different kinds of stone, while the right were metals. As I got a little closer I could see the far right one looked to be steel, and the one next to it looked like poorly cast iron, full of pocks and bubbles. Spots of the other two were shiny like they also had metals in them, the second moreso than the first in the row. The far left looked almost like random rock, which would make the next one... unprocessed ore or something? I palmed my face, rubbing it a bit before I slumped a little, glaring up at the sky. "I don't understand!"

When I lowered my gaze, I jumped backward in alarm. Three of the pillars had vanished, leaving only the rocklike leftmost one. "Okay." I forced myself to calm down. "If I'm dreaming, this is probably more dream training..." So what did it want?

It wanted me to do something with the pillar, but it couldn't be as obvious as earthbending it... I slowly stepped up and laid my hand on the stone. Yep. Just rock. Not as cold as I was expecting, but with everything muted as it was, my sense of temperature being off didn't seem so strange. I closed my eyes and felt the stone. It was a square pillar a couple feet wide, three meters tall and just as deep in the ground. All I felt around it was more sand, and the structure of the rock itself was fairly normal, an igneous composite with crystalline structures in it that were a little harder to sense, probably metal veins.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't surprised to see the other pillars had reappeared. Standing in their row, about two meters apart. "I guess I go down the line, then." I grumbled, trudging over to the second one. Like I'd thought, it was made almost entirely of the crystalline metallic structures.

The wrought iron pillar was the surprising one, after a few seconds of inspecting it with my senses, I thought I could feel bits of crystal in it. I tapped it with my other hand to propagate more vibrations through it, and sure enough tiny flecks of earth appeared in my senses throughout it. I grunted in surprise, and made my way to the last one. Even tapping, slapping, and hitting the thing- thanks to dream logic, even punching it wasn't painful- I couldn't sense anything in it.

"Okay, now what." I said, and waited. I deliberately closed my eyes for a second and reopened them, but nothing had changed. I stomped away until the pillars were outside my limited sensing range, and repeated myself. "I said, now what?" Eyes closed, eyes open. No change.

"I don't understand. You're my powers, right?" No answer. "I don't get it. I'm sorry, but I don't. You're going to have to explain it to me." I waited, my hackles raising as I kept closing my eyes and watching nothing happen. "I don't get it!" I yelled, pulling the stony pillars from the ground and smashing them against the metallic ones. A blink later they were back to their undamaged states, smugly waiting for me to get whatever I was supposed to understand. I growled and fisted my hands in my hair.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" I roared at the sky.

And the sky roared back.

---

THU FEB 24

I snapped awake, nearly leaping from my bed as I heaved in great gulps of air. I could still hear the roar, and my rapidly waking brain finally recognized them as air sirens.

Endbringer sirens.