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A Ruinous Gift by Noodlehammer

Warhammer & Worm Xover Rated: M, English, Crime, Words: 298k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 4k+, Published: Sep 20, 2023 Updated: Jan 28

2,397Chapter 20: The Manifold Manipulation

Thanks go to Alvor for checking this over

XXXXX

April 19th, 2011.

Vicky was excited! Double date with Amy! She'd wanted to have one of those ever since first getting together with Dean, but her sister had always been so grumpy during them and had never enjoyed herself.

Now that she knew Amy was gay, the reason was so obvious in hindsight that she wanted to slap her forehead. Of course she hadn't enjoyed some guy trying to get her attention if she had a taste for the ladies.

But now that that was cleared up, they could finally do a proper double date!

"Vicky, aura. And you're floating." Amy said dully.

Vicky sheepishly lowered herself to the ground and reined in her aura. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

"It's just a double date. I don't even know why you're so convinced that adding more people to a romantic outing is such a good idea."

"The more the merrier?" Vicky offered.

Amy gave her a dead-eyed stare in response. "Let's just get this over with."

Who did she think she was fooling? Vicky could see that her sister was excited to see her girlfriend again.

Behind all the snark, sarcasm, and wet cat levels of prickliness, Amy was a cuddler. She'd always been as grabby as an octopus when they'd shared a bed in the past.

Still, she said nothing as they made it over to Dean's car, a very nice convertible.

"Ladies." Her boyfriend greeted smoothly, smiling.

"Hey!" Vicky greeted and skipped over to give him a kiss.

Amy snorted in disgust and went for the back seat, slamming the door and slumping into a glowering sulk. Was she just doing it out of habit, or was she trying extra hard to make up for her own PDA once they picked up Miki?

Vicky chose to believe it was the latter. Amy could be so ridiculous.

"So, Amy." Dean said after they started driving, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Gay, huh?"

"You got a problem with that?" Was the instant, bristling response.

"No, no, of course not!" Dean was quick to assure. "I just wanted to ask how your parents took you coming out."

"Mark probably already forgot and Carol is still as much of a cunt as always." Amy answered derisively.

Vicky grimaced to herself. Their home situation had been tense ever since the big blow out between Amy and their mom and she had no idea what to do about it. Mom had always been kinda strict, and in hindsight unfair to Amy. Now it seemed like her prickly sister was firing back with years worth of bottled up resentment.

It had been amazing to watch Amy stand up to their mom, but now their house was like a minefield. Amy took any excuse at all to be rebellious and disrespectful, and was apparently completely fearless. Or just so angry that it looked like fearlessness. Mom, on the other hand, always looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

"Oh. That's, um, I'm sorry?" Dean stumbled awkwardly.

"Let's not talk about that now. Today is supposed to be fun!" Vicky interjected with all the cheer she could force. She smiled brightly as she turned to look at the backseat and her grumpy sister. "Did you hear from Miki? Is she already waiting for us?"

"Yeah."

Well, that wasn't the conversation starter she'd been hoping for. Damn it, why did Amy have to be so difficult?

It was time to break out the big guns.

"Did you ask her yet if I can try out her magic fingers?" Vicky teased.

"What?!" Dean spluttered in shock and accidentally swerved the car a bit.

Amy snorted, but this time it was an amused snort instead of a disgusted or derisive one. Deciphering Amy's snorts was a whole science. "Miki is a masseuse, Dean. Get your head out of the gutter."

"I wasn't… you set me up." He abandoned the defense and accused instead.

"Just a little bit." Vicky gave him her brightest grin and patted him on the thigh. "Don't worry, maybe I'll give you a massage as an apology."

The two of them had gotten to the point of heavy petting, but Vicky had been interested in trying something more. Since hearing that Amy had apparently skipped all the lead up and jumped straight to sex, she'd been even more curious.

"A massage from a Brute, that'll end well." Amy commented snidely. "I'm not putting him back together if you accidentally rip out his spine."

"I can hold back!" Vicky retorted, a bit indignantly.

"Suuuure you can, Collateral Damage Barbie."

"How are you even meaner now than you were when you were single?! Isn't getting laid supposed to make you mellow?"

"This is me, being mellow. Turns out that regular orgasms let me get rid of all those unnecessary fucks I gave about everything."

"Ah, Vicky…" Dean coughed, clearly blushing. Awww, Amy's new forwardness made him embarrassed. That was cute. "I think she's messing with you."

"You must be so fun at parties, Dean." Amy scoffed.

Dean wisely didn't respond to this intensely hypocritical statement, but Vicky could see that he really wanted to. Fortunately, a distraction was near!

"Hey, isn't that Miki over there?" She asked, spotting the Asian girl waiting on the street corner.

She was wearing a semi-formal blouse and skirt combo that looked pretty professional and adult, but not stuffy. Vicky was hopeful that with their powers combined, they could get Amy to shop for something nice instead of her usual 'size too big' T-shirts and jeans.

Dean obediently pulled over to the street corner

"Miki, hey!" Vicky waved enthusiastically. "Hop right in."

Not seeming surprised by the convertible, the Asian girl gracefully opened the door and sat down next to Amy with a smile. "Hello."

Then she leaned in to give the suddenly embarrassed Amy a kiss as well, which almost made Vicky want to squeal with glee. They were so cute together!

"Hi again!" She chirped with a grin. "This is my boyfriend, Dean."

"Pleased to meet you." Miki said politely.

"Likewise." Dean said and put his eyes back on the road. "So, where are we going?"

"The mall!" Vicky decided before anyone could say anything.

Amy made a noise of disgust, but she'd change her mind. This was going to be awesome!

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

Taylor's 'civilian' body was cooking when the doorbell rang. She had been expecting it and knew exactly who it was.

Walking over, she opened the door and leaned on the frame with half-lidded eyes. "Well, if it isn't the Barneses. Long time no see."

Alan, Zoe, and Anne flinched, but Emma just smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, Taylor." The youngest Barnes said. "Sorry, they figured out we were still in contact."

"How observant of them." She said drily, garnering another small flinch. They had clearly caught on to the fact that she was throwing jabs at them.

"Can we come in?" Zoe asked timidly, wringing her hands in clear distress. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

"Not nearly as much as you think." Taylor replied ominously. "But fine, come in and sit down. My casserole is done if you're hungry."

She didn't really need to eat anymore, but her dad found the normalcy comforting and the taste was still good.

"I would love some." Emma said before any of them could politely refuse, blushing a bit. The brief domestic fantasy about Naked Apron Taylor that passed through her mind was funny enough that she allowed her lips to quirk in amusement.

"I'll get you a plate, then." She said and turned around. "Come in and make yourselves comfortable. I'm sure you still remember where everything is."

Another ripple of guilt and shame in the Empyrean. Funny how people only accepted those feelings when they ran out of ways to escape them.

She went to the kitchen to take out the casserole and dole out a portion for Emma, paying attention to the fearful hope of the other three. She knew what they wanted, but they would not be getting it.

When Taylor came back, Alan, Zoe, and Anne had already awkwardly seated themselves on the couch, while Emma was still standing. She handed her former friend the plate and seated herself in Dad's armchair, crossing her legs.

Emma looked undecided about where to sit for a moment, then her expression firmed and she plopped herself on the ground next to the armchair. Without missing a beat, Taylor reached out to pet the girl's hair, watching the rest of the Barnes family the whole time.

They looked stricken by the display.

"Taylor…" Anne, Emma's older sister that was named for her mother, tried to say something.

"Yes?" Taylor prompted.

"What happened? What's going on?" She sounded so lost. Nothing at all like the 'too cool to play with the kids' big sister she had been.

What a dumb set of questions. More like the desperate begging of someone that didn't like the answers they got and asked again hoping for a different one.

"Emma already told you what happened." Taylor replied.

The redhead in question, who had been using the arm of the chair in lieu of a table for her plate, forked up a bit of casserole and held it up to her with doe eyes. She was clearly also deliberately making a show of things to her family.

Taylor played along and accepted the bite, rolling the scorching hot food around in her mouth to enjoy the burn. Then she swallowed, smiling as it hurt all the way down.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Alan demanded, face slowly going red in anger.

"The bigger question is what you failed to do for your daughter." Taylor countered, unimpressed. "Did you even care about what happened to Emma, or was it more important salve your wounded pride at being unable to protect her from a few thugs?"

"She was fine!" He yelled, jumping to his feet.

"Alan!" Zoe snapped sharply, glaring at him. He fell back down to the couch, visibly still angry.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Taylor continued. "As a lawyer, it's pretty much his job to make excuses and dodge responsibility. And divorce lawyers are the worst of the bunch."

"Taylor!" Zoe exclaimed in shock. Her mind was filled with shock that her goddaughter could be so vicious.

"I don't think you can use that tone with me anymore. It's not like we still consider each other family."

Zoe flinched back like she'd been slapped. "I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but…"

"Two years." Taylor provided. "But it's fine, it's not like you had any obligation to be concerned for me."

They kind of did, being godparents.

"It was my fault. I lied to her and said you didn't want to be friends anymore." Emma spoke up shamefully.

"I know, Ems." She gave the redhead a brief headscratch. "The one thing about this entire situation that puzzles me is why you just blindly accepted Sophia's presence. Did you not think it was at all strange that this random girl you'd never seen before was suddenly Emma's new best friend, and I supposedly ditch her right after?"

Zoe squirmed in her seat, looking at the floor and replying with a mumble. "She seemed nice?"

That was the worst lie Taylor had ever heard. Sophia couldn't have pulled off nice if her life depended on it. The best she could manage was to not actively be an asshole. Moreover, the Zoe's soul reeked of conflicted feelings. She was definitely lying and knew it, but didn't want to admit it for some reason.

"Seriously?" Taylor deadpanned, snatching a few bits of information out of Zoe's head and putting the rest of it together with her multitasking. "You didn't say or do anything because you didn't want to look racist?"

Zoe had always been one of those women that was excessively concerned with appearances and what people would think. Usually, it was just a slightly annoying but overall harmless personality quirk. Emma's skill at managing public perception didn't come out of nowhere.

There were always persistent rumors that the more well off families in Brockton Bay tacitly supported the Empire 88. A few people even insisted that New Wave was a false flag operation on the basis of how many blue-eyed blonds they had. Kaiser probably encouraged those rumors.

Turning a blind eye to a black girl's red flags because she didn't want to risk such rumors was unfortunately in character for Zoe.

"Mom?" Anne asked into the silence, staring at her increasingly flushed and shamefaced mother.

"That's not why we're here." Alan interjected firmly, using the courtroom voice. She could see the almost overwhelming compulsion to move the conversation away from his family's failures blanketing his thoughts. "How much will it take for you to release Emma?"

He was trying to bribe her. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Alan Barnes understood nothing.

"I don't abandon those who depend on me." Taylor said firmly, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "You abandoned Emma when you failed to get her the help she needed. You allowed a psychotic thug to poison her mind for two years. And now that she is finally free of the fears you allowed to fester in her soul, you want me to pull back my protection?"

Not that she could.

"Free?!" Anne burst out, gesturing wildly towards Emma. "She's acting like a pet!"

"I was always Taylor's!" Emma interjected angrily and then deflated just as quickly. "And if I hadn't been so stupid, she could have been mine. I don't care what you say or think, I'm never leaving her again!"

"If it settles the matter in your minds, I'm willing to compensate you for her." Taylor said, maybe just a smidge spitefully.

Just like her father, the Barnes family was also a disappointment. Where her dad had abandoned her so he could wallow in his grief, Alan had abandoned Emma in his misplaced pride. Zoe had willfully not seen the problems out of concern for appearances. Anne was really the only one who was relatively blameless, because she was no longer living in the same house.

"MY LITTLE GIRL ISN'T FOR SALE!" Alan roared, outraged.

"Funny, I could swear you were trying to buy her from me less than a minute ago."

That didn't calm him down at all, and he reached into his jacket, pulling out a gun and pointing it at her. Judging by the gasps and shrieks of Zoe and Anne, they hadn't known about it. Emma tried to lunge in front of Taylor, but was stopped by some telekinetic pressure on her shoulders.

For a moment, all was silent except Alan's harsh breathing as he aimed the gun with a trembling hand.

"That won't do you any good." Taylor helpfully informed him. "There are plenty of parahumans that still have to fear guns, but I'm not one of them. All you'll do is ruin Dad's favorite chair. Is that what you want, Alan? To ruin Dad's chair after you threatened to sue him into bankruptcy?"

He wouldn't even do that much, because he'd forgotten to flick the safety off. Amateur.

"I just want my daughter back." He said with a trembling tone.

"You're acting as if I'm going to drag her over to my evil lair and keep her chained to my bed." Taylor noted drily.

"I wouldn't mind." Emma muttered, flushing brightly. The quiet words seemed to age her family by a decade.

"Alan, put the gun down." Zoe said tensely, then looked back at Taylor. "What else are we supposed to think? This… obsession she has with you isn't normal or healthy."

This conversation was starting to get boring.

"Emma hasn't been 'normal' or 'healthy' in a long time, you just can't close your eyes to it anymore." Taylor deliberately started petting Emma's hair again. "I don't actually have too much of a grudge against you, aside from losing all respect for Alan as a person, so I won't stop you from seeing her whenever you want. However, since we aren't playing pretend anymore, she will come live with me from now on."

Emma was clearly very happy about this, as she started almost bouncing in place. The rest of the Barnes family, on the other hand, looked horrified. Their plan had 'backfired', or so it seemed to them who still didn't want to see the truth.

Taylor knew that they would try to do something stupid, Alan in particular. He was not a smart man, despite what he thought. She looked forward to seeing his efforts.

XXXXX

The double date had been… okay. Without some guy she wanted nothing to do with awkwardly trying to make conversation with her, it was already a lot more tolerable. Having 'Miki' there to focus on instead of her sister getting lovey dovey with Dean made it significantly more tolerable.

Honestly, the fact that Vicky had been able to do this over and over without being discouraged by the repeat disasters might be the real superpower. Amy had never really considered how much worry she must have been causing her sister.

Damn extroverts, always socializing with no regard for the feelings of introverts.

At the mall, they'd all gotten dragged around by Vicky to shop for clothes and accessories. Amy had only sighed about thirty times and 'Miki' had been able to make it kind of fun, despite knowing that Taylor wasn't much for fashion either. Lucky bitch was probably doing at least thirty different things all over the city, so of course using one body for shopping was nothing.

At least they'd been able to make Dean carry all the bags, despite having a flying Brute in the party. Served that shithead right.

Just because she was no longer so desperately thirsty for her sister didn't mean that she approved of Dean. He still wasn't good enough for her. If they ever got married, Amy expected that they'd probably get divorced inside of two years. And he'd probably use his family's wealth to take any kids they had, too, the asshole.

Some people would say that Amy was being unfair. Those people could go eat a dick.

Unlike her, who was currently being fed tempura shrimp by her girlfriend after failing to use the chopsticks. It was embarrassing as fuck.

"Say 'aaaaah'." 'Miki' instructed, expertly holding up the shrimp with her chopsticks after dipping it in the sauce.

Amy, blushing furiously, glared at her girlfriend as she bit down on the fried sea food.

"You two are just soooo cute!" Vicky wiggled in place, grinning like a loon. She turned to her date, closed her eyes and opened her mouth. "Dean, feed me with chopsticks!"

Amy tried really hard to not think anything lewd because of her sister's pose. She failed.

"Vicky, I don't know how to use chopsticks." Dean protested.

"Scrub." Amy scoffed after swallowing the rather delicious shrimp, despite being in the same boat.

"Amelia, it isn't nice to tease Dean for his lack of finger dexterity." 'Miki' gently scolded, but Amy could see the tiny little smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth. Taylor was making a subtle dig of her own and disguising it as politeness. Not because she had anything against Dean herself, but because she was indulging Amy's own – perfectly rational – grudge. "I'm sure if he practices diligently, he can learn proper fingering techniques."

Dean almost choked on his water. Vicky did spray some rice and looked rather like a chipmunk as she tried to laugh with a closed mouth.

"Did I say something wrong?" 'Miki' asked innocently. "Was that not the correct way to speak of a skill that uses the fingers?"

That did nothing to settle Vicky's laughter and her face started going red from lack of air.

"You did fine." Amy said, lips trembling with suppressed amusement. Man, if she got to bully Dean like this, then double dates might actually be as good as Vicky seemed to think they were.

He looked mortified, and Vicky wasn't making it better by wiggling her fingers at him. Seeming desperate for a distraction, he looked around the restaurant and suddenly froze, staring.

They all noticed his preoccupation and followed his line of sight to… an incredibly buxom blonde in her twenties that was sitting a couple of tables away. The way she was slurping up her noodles and the exaggerated working of her throat was positively obscene and had to be intentional.

Vicky's face grew thunderous and she gave her boyfriend a gentle slap. A gentle slap for a Brute that was.

"Ow!" Dean yelped quietly. "What was that for?"

"For staring at that big-tittied bimbo." Vicky hissed back at him, huffing.

"I wasn't…!" Dean aborted his not very believable denial. "I think that's Squealer, or Gearshift, or Hot Rod or whatever she calls herself these days."

Amy blinked and took another look at the chesty blonde and her pornographic eating. Now that she was looking for it, that did look like the vehicle Tinker. Her body type was pretty unmistakable. Her clothes weren't as trashy as they had been during her Merchant days, and were definitely much cleaner, but the leather booty shorts and very low cut tank top were still in the same category of overly sexualized.

"I think he might be on to something." Amy conceded. "But it's not like we can do anything even if it is her. She's here in her civilian ID and not committing any crimes."

"But she's right there!" Vicky grumbled, glaring. More like a pout really.

"The owners will not appreciate you starting a fight." 'Miki' warned, making Amy look at her with a raised eyebrow.

Because this was definitely a Taylor plot of some kind. Was she supposed to believed that the Black Hand Tinker just happened to come eat at the same restaurant as the one she had suggested they try?

The sneaky little wink she got back just confirmed it.

"I know!" Vicky pouted harder. "It just sucks that a villain is right there and I can't do anything about it. Stupid Unwritten Rules."

"They're not that stupid if it keeps you from getting slammed with a hundred thousand dollar destruction of property lawsuit." Amy snarked sarcastically.

Carol had managed to get her daughter off the hook for such lawsuits in the past, successfully passing the blame on to the villains she was fighting, but there was a limit to how many times that was going to work.

The Tinker caught on to the attention she was getting and looked at them. After a moment, a sly smirk grew on her face. She dropped a wad of cash on the table, stood up and sauntered over to them, bold as brass.

"Sup, bitches!" She greeted with a grin. "Budge over, homeboy." Then she proceeded to squeeze herself into the booth, forcing Dean to shuffle in deeper or else be pressed right up to the villain.

Of course, that just let her push in deeper, until all of them were pressed tight together. Amy herself was squeezed in between 'Miki' and Vicky, which was… not bad.

"What the hell are you doing here, you skank?!" Vicky demanded hotly, her aura starting to act up.

"Can't a girl sit with work friends when she sees them?" The villain asked innocently. "Name's Sherrel, by the way."

"We are not friends!" Vicky steamed, apparently ignoring the casual identity reveal.

"Aura!" Amy warned sharply.

"But, Ames!" The blonde hothead whined in protest, gesturing towards the villain as if she couldn't see the monstrously endowed woman right in front of her.

"No buts!" She cut off. "We are not turning this restaurant into a warzone. I like this restaurant."

Amy strongly suspected that it was owned or at least sponsored by the Black Hand, given how it had only opened recently and was suspiciously fancy, but goddamnit they made good food.

"Boss Lady wouldn't be happy with us starting something here, either." Sherrel said, all but confirming that suspicion. She leaned back in the booth, throwing her arms over the backrest.

This not only pushed out her chest, but also effectively put her arm around Dean's shoulder and partway over Vicky's as well. The way it made her sister's boyfriend squirm and try to shrink in his seat was comedy gold in Amy's opinion.

"Why, because it's a front for your gang? Are there drug dealers working out the back?" Vicky accused.

"Nah." Sherrel shrugged, her current position making her great tracts of land shake as if they'd been hit by an earthquake. "Boss Lady likes to keep the legit and shady parts separate as much as possible. This place is totally legit."

Amy couldn't help but glance towards 'Miki' at that. The tiny nod she received confirmed the words.

"That doesn't matter." Vicky insisted mulishly. "I'm telling my mom about this place and she'll have it shut down."

God, but her sister was being annoying right now. Amy wondered if she'd ever been that starchy and inflexible. She had a feeling that she wouldn't like the answer.

Sherrel only snickered at the threat. "Good luck. Brandish can spin her wheels all she likes, but she won't find shit. Boss Lady owns half the city already and nobody knows it. She'll probably get sued for harassment afterwards, too."

Heh, wouldn't that be something.

"That can't be true." Dean spoke up, brows furrowed in consternation. "Psyker has only been active for a few months."

"It's all about quality, homeboy!" Sherrel grinned, dropping her arm fully over his shoulder and pulling him into a headlock. Right against her boob. "I thought a 'hero' would know that?"

The last sentence had been spoken in a low tone and immediately arrested Vicky's jealous lunge to pry the older woman off her boyfriend.

"What?" Dean said with a nervous laugh.

"Don't bother, homeboy." Sherrel snorted. "You being Gallant was the worst kept secret in the Bay. Boss Lady had it figured out in two minutes flat."

"Is that a threat?" Vicky growled.

"Nah, we're cool." The villain laughed it off. "Work friends, remember? We put on a show out there and then sit down for drinks together after it's over."

Amy was starting to get an idea of what Taylor's plan was here. This encounter was definitely not random.

"I'll never be friends with a villain." Vicky declared self-righteously and grabbed Sherrel's arm. "And get your hands off my boyfriend!"

"Okay, jeez!" Sherrel grumbled, wincing slightly at the Brute's strength. "I was just teasing. Not like I was gonna poach your boytoy."

"Dean isn't my boytoy!"

"Then you're obviously not using him right. A fine piece of young man meat like this should be squeezed dry regularly."

Amy couldn't help it. The mortified look on Dean's face made her break out into giggles.

"Ames?" Vicky's confusion just made it worse, and she tilted over into 'Miki's' arms, still shaking with laughter.

"Hah, she knows what I'm talking about!" Sherrel leered. "I'm more of a beef and hot dogs kind of girl, but Miki's magic fingers had me contemplating tacos."

The innuendo was just terrible, but it was the choice of wording that caught Amy's ear. Magic fingers was a bit too reminiscent of the joke Vicky made back when they first met up.

"You give massages to villains?" Vicky seemed to be stuck on that point.

"I did not know she was a villain, but a customer is a customer?" 'Miki's' confusion was full of such simple innocence that Amy instantly distrusted it.

"She's done wonders for my back." Sherrel nodded to herself sagely, then proceeded to grope her own boobs. "There puppies are heavy, you know?"

The worst part is that it might actually be true. Taylor could have been giving her massages for just that reason. Amy wasn't sure if she should be jealous or not.

"Do you work on any other criminals?" Vicky pressed.

"Maybe?" 'Miki' paused and shrugged. "Probably. The ABB owned all of the businesses in that part of town, so now the Black Hand owns them. We did start seeing a lot of non-Asians after the takeover."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"I don't have the luxury of being picky about who I work for." 'Miki' said somberly. "I came to America with no legal documentation, so your government doesn't want to deal with me. The Empire 88 would see me killed or driven out. Psyker may be a criminal, but she gives us a chance to live, and I don't have to fear being made a whore because Lung or one of his lieutenants took a liking to me."

That killed the mood pretty conclusively. Even someone as hardheaded as Vicky couldn't keep arguing that people should stick to the moral high ground even when their backs were against the wall. She had her flaws, but she was a good person and smarter than her blonde hair would have people think. This particular story might be fake, but Amy had no doubt it was based on plenty of true ones.

She would have to ask Taylor to explain later, but this was probably a step on her plan to get Vicky to see some of the grey shades that Carol was so doggedly determined to pretend didn't exist.

"Yeeeaaaah, you would not believe how much trouble Boss Lady is having with all the whores she ended up being responsible for." Sherrel laughed, ignoring the heavy atmosphere. "I told her that offering full medical and dental and a generous retirement plan would just lead to there being even more whores to take care of, but she can be a bit of a bleeding heart like that. If she wasn't such a wizard with money, we'd be flat broke."

Amy glanced at her date questioningly, and received another covert wink in return.

"If she's such a good person, then why didn't she become a hero?" Vicky asked, a bit mulishly.

"You're kidding, right?" Sherrel laughed at her. "As if the PRT would let a fifteen-year-old girl boss them around. They'd have her prancing around in a stupid ass costume and smiling for the cameras while the world went to hell around them. Boss Lady knows how the game is played."

"Should you be telling us Psyker's age?" Dean asked. "We could use that to figure out her identity."

"Too slow, homeboy." The villain teased. "They already know, and she knows all of theirs. We're all work friends these days."

"You still hurt people." Vicky rejected. "I'm not going to be all buddy-buddy with you just because you're trying to force some kind of mutually assured destruction situation."

"Whatever you say, girlfriend." Sherrel chuckled and stood up, obviously not taking the words seriously. Then she suddenly paused and reached into her cleavage, pulling out a piece of paper. "Right, almost forgot. Homeboy, give that to Armamaster, will you?"

"What is it?" Dean very gingerly took the crumpled and slightly sweaty piece of paper, holding it between two fingers as far to the edge as possible.

"My number in case he wants to collaborate." She grinned and leaned down, probably deliberately letting everyone get a view down her shirt. "We made this bitchin' hoverbike the other day, so his little toy might get left in the dust if he doesn't step up his game."

"Oooooh, can you believe her?!" Vicky steamed as Sherrel walked away. "Dean, what are you doing with that?! Throw it away!"

"I can't!" He protested. "It's protocol to turn over anything a villain gives us to the Protectorate for analysis."

"You shouldn't let her get under your skin like that." Amy advised, having a feeling that this was going to be a thing from now on.

She'd really have to ask Taylor what the point of it all was.

"I know, but she was just so annoying!" Vicky whined. "The nerve to just walk up to us like we couldn't do anything to her."

"Do your Unwritten Rules not prevent you from fighting out of costume?" 'Miki' asked innocently. Cheeky bitch.

"It doesn't count if she walks up to us and unmasks." Vicky said petulantly.

"Pretty sure it does." Amy countered, then looked around at the half-full restaurant. "Especially in the middle of a crowd of civilians."

"And now I have to report to Armsmaster and Director Piggot." Dean sighed.

"Dean, come on." Vicky complained.

"Sorry, Vicky, but you know how it is." He apologized. "All villain encounters have to be reported immediately."

"She did this on purpose to ruin our double date."

That might actually be true. Amy side-eyed 'Miki' and received only a guileless smile in return.

"You can still have fun without me."

Amy's treacherous, perverted soul immediately approved of this statement.

"Since it will be just us girls, I could give you that massage you wanted."

Taylor, what are you doing?

"If Amelia isn't too jealous?" 'Miki' teased.

Taylor?!

"I'm cool with it." Amy found herself saying. "Besides, Vicky is already giving us the puppy dog eyes."

"Can you blame me? I've never had a professional massage before!" The blonde doofus said excitedly.

"Alright, then I'll leave her in your capable hands." Dean said and stood up from the table, leaving behind enough money to cover the bill. He gave Vicky a kiss goodbye and left.

Are you some kind of idiot? You're leaving your girlfriend with a pair of lesbians and letting her get felt up.

Amy wasn't sure if this was specifically a Dean thing or a general guy thing, but she was going to take it as proof that he wasn't right for Vicky.

XXXXX

"So, how do we do this?" Victoria asked excitedly, fingering the waistband of her pants. "Do I need to do anything to prepare or do I just get naked?"

As expected of someone who unironically named herself Glory Girl, she had no shame to speak of.

"You can go undress in the bathroom while I get the mat and oils." Taylor, as Miki, instructed.

"You got it!" The blonde practically bounced over to the bathroom.

Taylor crooked a finger to the conflicted Amelia, leading her into the bedroom.

"Wow, did you just… take over an apartment or something to keep this ruse going?" She asked, looking around oddly.

"No, Uchida Miki is now a full-fledged member of society." Taylor answered, quickly changing into a sports bra and tight compression shorts, all the better to not get her normal clothes oily. "She has a job, pays rent and taxes, and all the usual people things."

The biokinetic looked a bit poleaxed at that. "You're really pulling out all the stops to keep this lie going."

"It's no bother. The massage parlor is actually a really good source of street-level information and it's hardly the only identity I'm running."

In point of fact, a significant percentage of the Black Hand's administration at all levels was being run by iterations of herself. That made it very hard for anyone to slip anything past her.

"Your power is such absolute bullshit." The other girl muttered.

Taylor grinned and stepped closer, placing her hands on Amelia's hips. "How far should I take this?"

The biokinetic looked at her with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister might be straight, but I have a feeling she'd be willing to experiment with a little incentive. I'm asking if I should try to seduce her or keep things innocent."

People were just… so easy to manipulate these days. The more she learned and the more her power grew, the more predictable they were. Victoria was straight, yes, but women didn't repulse her sexually and she was curious. Leveraging that wouldn't be hard. Manipulating her into a sexual relationship with her adopted sister would be harder, but not by much.

"Didn't this whole thing start because I didn't want to perv on her?" Amelia hissed, avoiding the question.

"It did, but that lust is now mine. I want her by my side and in my bed. I believe that it would be for her own good in the long term and maybe give her some perspective, but I'll abide by your wishes."

"Her own good?"

"Right now, Victoria is naively heading for a collision with reality. A little experience on the darker side of life would season her and help her grow as a person."

It wasn't even a lie. Glory Girl was self-righteous and impulsive. Sooner or later, she was going to crash head-first into a situation she was utterly unprepared for. Maybe she would kill someone in a fit of temper, or maybe her 'heroic' morals would stop her from preventing a disaster that a little cold-blooded ruthlessness could have. Maybe she would thoughtlessly yell and break ties with her sister after finding out that she was associating with villains, instead of carefully thinking things over and trying to understand.

"Was that why Sherrel was in that restaurant?" Amelia asked.

"Partly." She always preferred killing multiple birds with one stone. "I was also poking at the Protectorate to see what they'll do."

And several other things, but there was no use in mentioning those now. Like most people, Amelia couldn't see far enough ahead to really appreciate those plans.

"I… don't think Dean is good for her." The biokinetic blurted out.

"Probably not." Taylor agreed. Their constant break ups and make ups spoke of an unstable relationship. If they ever got married and had children, the most likely outcome was an acrimonious divorce and an ugly fight over who got custody. She had memories of it happening with better relationships. "Seducing her might tarnish her innocence a bit, but it would be better in the long run."

"Okay, just… don't go too far, alright?"

In the end, people were just so easy to manipulate.

"Hello?" Victoria's voice came from outside. "I'm standing here in nothing but a towel, feeling kinda awkward?"

"Of course." Taylor agreed and called out in Miki's voice. "Sorry, be right out!"

"Were you making out in there?" Victoria called back teasingly.

Taylor stepped out of the bedroom with a massage mat, some oils, a flustered biokinetic, and a cheeky smile. "Maybe?"

"Go Ames!" Victoria giggled.

Taylor politely ignored the banter and set up the massage mat on the living room floor. The apartment had no television, so there was plenty of space for it despite the relatively small size. Then she set up a few towels to catch any oil spillage.

"Alright, lie down and we can begin." She said.

"Alrighty!" Victoria made a token effort at staying modest by maneuvering the towel to obscure her until she was lying down, at which point she left it covering her rear. "Ack, cold!"

"Sorry, heated mats are a bit too expensive for me." Taylor apologized, amused.

"It's okay, I'm already getting used to it." The blonde wiggled her butt eagerly. "Show me those magic fingers Amy keeps bragging about."

"I mentioned them once, because you asked." The biokinetic grumbled, dumping herself into an armchair.

"But you were really complimentaryyyy!" Victoria squealed as the massage oil was poured over her back.

"Settle down." Taylor said, straddling the blonde's hips.

"That was mean." The Alexandria package pouted.

"And now I will be nice." Taylor riposted, using her hands to spread the oil around.

XXXXX

Meanwhile...

"Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

A small lie. She was actually in the process of sinning. This little ritual was still a bit strange to her, but she was willing to humor the priest. Not like it cost her anything.

"I am always happy to listen." Father Douglas invited.

"I wanted to talk about free will today, if that's alright?"

"Of course. You know that you can talk to me about anything, Taylor."

"I've been thinking about the concept lately." Taylor began. "There are lines I've avoided crossing, and I've done my best to not use threats to get my way when I could, but as time goes on I feel more and more like a puppet master pulling on everyone's strings."

"Hah, you certainly don't give me easy moral conundrums." The priest chuckled. "I suppose this has to do with your powers again?"

"Partially." She nodded. "I've considered and contemplated every angle of the free will debate, but I can't come to any firm conclusions. The idea of letting people make their own mistakes is understandable, but what if I can see a way to manipulate them into making less damaging mistakes that will teach them the same thing?"

Father Douglas took a deep breath and thought about it for a long while before answering. "I find it hard to believe that you can perfectly predict all possible outcomes, Taylor. Life is more chaotic than that. And even if you can, do you truly want to be responsible for the pain of everyone whose lives you've meddled with? Wanting to help and make things better is admirable, but so is knowing when to keep your nose out of it."

Ugh, how was she supposed to explain the situation to him? Even if he knew exactly how her powers worked, it would still be impossible for him to understand her perspective. She saw so much, could do so much, that just letting things happen was incredibly aggravating.

"There's just so much to do, how am I supposed to keep my nose out of it?" She asked, frustrated. "So many bits and pieces, all connected to the larger whole. How am I supposed to make the big picture better without adjusting the pieces comprising it?"

"Not thinking of people as pieces to be adjusted is probably a good start." He pointed out.

She huffed as his vaguely amused tone. "It was a metaphor. And some people do need adjusting. Whoever came up with the idea of just 'accepting yourself as you are' was an idiot."

"A great man is hard on himself, a small man is hard on others." He quoted, then chuckled. "Or woman in this case."

Taylor searched through her memory for the origin of the vaguely familiar quote, then decided to take a shot in the dark. "Confucius?"

"Oh, you've read his writings already?" Father Douglas seemed delighted by that.

"Not… exactly." A couple of the men whose souls she'd consumed had remembered bits and pieces of the ancient philosophers words. "Is this your roundabout way of telling me that I'm being a control freak?"

"Nothing so crass. I know that you're working hard, harder than such a young girl should have to, and I've seen the city getting better for it even if I can't fully condone your methods." The priest said.

He had definitely figured out she was Psyker. She had never explicitly told him, but there were only so many context clues you could drop before it became obvious.

"But…?"

"But I think you should consider looking inwards for a while. It becomes easy to lose perspective when all you do is focus on solving problems. I remember a woman, a long time ago now, who was organizing a charity event for the church. She was trying to do too much by herself and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of problems that kept popping up. By the time the event had come up, she was treating everyone as an obstacle to her perfect event and barely remembered that it was supposed to be for charity. Take a deep breath, go for a long walk, just take in the sounds of nature for a while."

That was probably excellent advice for normal people, but Taylor couldn't do that. Never mind what would happen if she took her hands off the wheel, but she literally could not take her attention away from her work and just chill in the forest for an afternoon. Her powers did not allow it.

"Thank you, Father Douglas. I'll keep your advice in mind."

"You sound disappointed."

"You once called parahuman powers a Devil's bargain. I suppose I'm seeing some of the cost now."

XXXXX

Why was Vicky like this?

That was the all-important question going through Amy's mind as her adopted sister squirmed and groaned and moaned under Taylor's ministrations. She wasn't even trying to hide how much she was enjoying it, and it was leaving her incredibly flustered.

Amy had been trying to sink into the armchair the whole time, not wanting to make a sound that would remind Vicky of her presence.

And trying to ignore the burning between her legs, because she knew exactly how good Taylor's massages felt and adding Vicky to the equation was not doing anything to reduce her horny.

Seriously, could Vicky not just lay there quietly and enjoy it? She had to be doing it on purpose!

"Ah!" Vicky gasped right at that moment, tensing up for a moment and then shuddering in place. "Hnnngh! Aaaaah…."

She was definitely doing it on purpose!

And so was Taylor. The disguised villain took her fingers away from where she'd been digging them into Vicky's lower back and moving back up to her shoulders. There had to be some power use involved in there, because there was no way that she was managing to manipulate her nervous system that well with just a mundane massage.

This was the third orgasm in a massage that had lasted nearly an hour already, and Amy was about ready to demand some attention of her own.

"Are you two done?" She asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her tone.

"I don't know." 'Miki' said innocently and leaned down to speak to Vicky. "Have you had enough, Victoria?"

"Bwah?" Vicky asked blearily, blinking. "Oh, yeah… I guess…"

"Alright, then." 'Miki' stood up and toweled off the worst of the soil on her body. "You can use my shower to wash up if you want."

"Thanks." Vicky shook off the daze she was in and stood up, casually covering her boobs with her hand. She was slick with oil, giving her a beautiful glow. "That was incredible! I totally get why Ames has been neglecting me now."

"I was not neglecting you!" Amy protested indignantly. Sure, she might have been spending less time at home and at the hospital, which directly translated to less time around Vicky, but that was not neglect!

Vicky just laughed as she floated into the bathroom.

"At least she's in a good mood." Amy groused.

"Well, it's your turn now, so don't grumble." 'Miki' said casually, peeling off her sports bra and compression shorts.

Amy suddenly had a deer in the headlights look. "What do you mean 'my turn'?!"

"You didn't think I'd leave you high and dry, did you?" Came the answer as psychokinetic power began tugging her clothes off. "Come on, your turn."

"But Vicky is still here!" She hissed.

"I know."

There was a wealth of meaning in those two words. The sounds of the shower started up in the bathroom as Amy found herself pulled over to the massage mat and covered in oil.

Unlike the massage Vicky got, this one was far more blatantly sensual right off the bat. Taylor combined her skilled fingers with full body rubbing and teasing tendrils of power playing merry hell with her nerves and already very stimulated erogenous zones.

Amy didn't really put up too much of a fight, even as the dread of Vicky walking in on them rose. Dread that was accompanied by excitement.

Naturally, it happened at the worst possible time.

Taylor had flipped her on to her back and was rubbing their oiled bodies against each other, while keeping one hand between her legs to stimulate her directly. It was, in all honesty, rather tame compared to some of the weird stuff they'd each used their powers for in the past, but there was one key difference.

That key difference announced itself with an embarrassed squeak as the bathroom door opened.

"Sorry!" Vicky eeped, face burning bright red. "Don'tmindmeIwasjustleaving!"

The near incomprehensible word vomit was accompanied by a quick escape the likes of which only an Alexandria package could muster. That being a flying egress through the window. Unfortunately for Glory Girl, her accuracy was a bit bad because of her rush and she ended up breaking the window.

"Sorry! I'll pay for that!" The words got quieter by the moment as Victoria Dallon made a strategic withdrawal.

"Hmm, I thought she'd peek for at least a little bit." Taylor grinned.

"You did that on purpose?" Amy knew it was a dumb question even as she asked it.

"I do everything on purpose."

"I won't be able to look her in the face for a month."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be that bad." Taylor rolled over full on top of her. "Now how about we finish what we started here, hmm? We do still have a meeting to get to."

Right, the meeting. The meeting with the other Black Hand capes that she had requested, because she was a dumbass. Why had she ever thought that was a good idea? Was it too late to back out?

XXXXX

"This is pretty much identical to a briefing at the PRT." The words were spoken in a tired, disappointed deadpan.

"What were you expecting?" Alec, on the other hand, was very amused. "Hooded black cloaks, candles, and chanting around a round table with a pentagram carved into it?"

"Order in the secret villain conference room." Taylor commanded loudly, banging a gavel that had actually been a gag gift from Alec. "As you can all see, we have a guest and probationary member with us today. Everyone, this is Amelia Claire Lavere, also known as Amy Dallon and Panacea."

There was a smattering of hellos of varying enthusiasm given to the awkward-looking biokinetic.

"Amelia, you've already met the Travelers." Taylor continued. "Next to me is my right-hand woman and inferior Thinker, Tattletale, also known as Lisa."

"Fuck off, Boss, I'm a definitely a better Thinker than you." Lisa retorted, then turned to Amelia. "Hey, nice to meet you."

"The bored-looking manchild is Regent, or Alec as he prefers."

"Suuup."

"Over there are our Tinkers, Sherrel and Chariot."

"Hey, why don't I get introduced by my cape name." Sherrel complained.

"Because you keep changing your mind about what it is."

"Okay, yeah, I guess that's fair."

"On the other side of the table are our heavy hitters, Lodestone and Trainwreck. Trainwreck is technically also a Tinker."

"Eyyy." Larry did finger guns in Amelia's, direction, making the biokinetic shiver in teenage disgust at his lack of cool.

"Bitch has elected not to come because she has dogs to take care of." Taylor finished the introductions.

"We could elect not to come?" Alec stopped slouching. "Why did nobody tell me that? I could be playing video games right now!"

"Bitch could elect not to come, you don't have that luxury." She shut him down. "For those of you wondering why Amelia is here, it's because I'm trying to show her that we are doing a lot more good than the heroes. If she agrees to join us, she will rank higher than most of you, so be aware of that."

Said biokinetic looked like she wanted to sink into the ground. Someone was not good with social situations. Taylor could remember what that was like… kinda.

"First order of business; Sherrel, progress report on our fast response squad?"

"Got the gravbikes pretty much done. They're a bit fragile and they'll need maintenance maybe once a week, but they're ready." The Tinker reported. "Armsmaster will pop an envy boner when he sees them in action."

"I did not need that mental image in my brain." Amelia despaired.

"Good. Lisa, do you have any new targets for us?" Taylor continued.

"Empire is turtling down hard, but I've got a couple. Hookwolf is probably gonna go on another raid against us soon."

"The Travelers will be on stand-by to send him packing." Taylor acknowledged, getting nods out of the capes in question.

The meeting continued in this vein for several minutes, with concerns being raised and tasks being assigned. Then they came to the meat of it.

"Finally, the main point of today's meeting." Taylor said. "This weekend, we will be conducting two important operations. First, Canary's trial is drawing to its conclusion and the sentencing is obviously going to be as rigged as the rest of it was. Lisa, Amelia, and I will be busting her out of holding and bringing her here. She will be offered a place in the Black Hand if she wants one, or allowed to go wherever she wants."

"Wait, you'd just let her go after putting in that much effort to bust her out?" Amelia asked, confused.

"Oh, I'm not putting in that much effort to bust her out, I'm putting in that much effort to infiltrate the Birdcage with one of my bodies." Taylor revealed. "I want to see what's going on in there, and there's a parahuman whose powers I want to take advantage of. Plus, I want to give you a chance to speak to your father. It's really multiple objectives in one."

"You… want to give me a line of communication to my biological father?" She repeated, clearly not knowing what to make of that.

"I think it would be good for you, help clear out some of the confusion in your head." Taylor offered.

"Oh." Amelia slumped a bit in shock. "Thanks, I guess."

"I take care of my people." Taylor said simply. "While that is happening, we will also be having a guest coming down from Canada. Thanks to some internet trash talking by Alec, we have confirmed that Heartbreaker has been successfully baited into coming to Brockton Bay."

That spawned some reactions. The capes who weren't aware of this were shocked. Alec just looked smug and raised his hands as if he'd won a WWE championship belt.

"Heartbreaker?!" Amelia squawked, by far the most extreme reaction. "Why would you want that piece of shit here?!"

"So that I can make an example of him." Taylor answered. "Since becoming a villain, I've been pretty restrained. There have been no public demonstrations of brutality from the Black Hand. That's because it would have been detrimental to our image or just excessively cruel, but it has created the problem of giving us a bit of a soft reputation. Nobody is going to say we went too far if we brutalize Heartbreaker on a livestream. He might not have a kill order, but everyone knows he's scum."

"But what about his powers?" The biokinetic asked in concern. "There's a reason he's still alive after all this time."

"I'll be keeping 24/7 watch on all the roads into Brockton Bay and I'm immune to most Master powers." Taylor reassured. "He'll be the one dancing to my tune."

"Okay…" Amelia said dubiously. "Just make sure he doesn't get his hands on Vicky, alright?"

"It'll all be over by the time she even hears that he's in town."

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