Realignment [Worm]

[Hylas_Daemonem]

WTF Amy was not propping up the the Bays economy. Where did you get that idea?

Click to shrink...

Lol I'm neck deep in fanfics rn, probably picked that up somewhere.

But it is a rather reasonable extrapolation, that the Bay would have significant medical tourism (esp for incurable diseases) since Panacea is there. Especially with the number of people coming into the hospitals.

 

[Anor]

Thanks for the new chapter!

I wonder if Amy will reveal that some new parahuman helped her or if she will keep this information to herself..

 

[Zreader]

WTF Amy was not propping up the the Bays economy. Where did you get that idea?

Click to shrink...

You can't heal people all day for free and not have the effect of multiple Tier 1 trauma surgeon teams, oncology departments, etc.

If people weren't literally coming to Brockton for healing from her, she would run out of people to heal of serious things, let alone things only she can heal.

And that? That's medical tourism. And isn't Brockton known for mostly being propped up by tourism?

 

[Zreader]

Is it canon that attacking Panacea is likely to get a kill order put on you? I've seen that mentioned many, many times.

That further emphasizes why it's not so surprising that Tattletale is seemingly the first/only one to attempt any sort of coercion/manipulation and 'get away with it': not only because she is so arrogant, but because its 'only' blackmail.

 

[Zreader]

Thanks for the new chapter!

I wonder if Amy will reveal that some new parahuman helped her or if she will keep this information to herself..

Click to shrink...

Probably would to some extent considering the massive number of parahumans she deals with healing. Although she would have to give some explanation unless Vicky keeps what she said quiet and claims she was only winded. But then people would give her a Brute rating she does not warrant for surviving that blow while only being winded, putting her at greater risk when she is next potentially attacked.

 

[PostwarGryphon]

Is it canon that attacking Panacea is likely to get a kill order put on you? I've seen that mentioned many, many times.

Click to shrink...

Nah, that's fanon.

Now if you attacked her during the Endbringer Truce, that's a different matter entirely, because Endbringer Truce.

 

[Zreader]

Nah, that's fanon.

Now if you attacked her during the Endbringer Truce, that's a different matter entirely, because Endbringer Truce.

Click to shrink...

Probably not too far off from it practically speaking, anyway. People hear she gets attacked? Capes heroic and villainous the world over would wonder that there's somebody so psychotic to do it and that everyone in Brockton Bay was too fucking stupid to care of them before this happened. I wonder if the Brockton Bay fuedal experiment would survive that dog pile... maybe it's more Contessa BS preventing Panacea from being physically attacked normally. Maybe it takes a (combat) precog (that's somewhat crazy) to get around that protection?

 

[QroGrotor]

Probably not too far off from it practically speaking, anyway. People hear she gets attacked? Capes heroic and villainous the world over would wonder that there's somebody so psychotic to do it and that everyone in Brockton Bay was too fucking stupid to care of them before this happened. I wonder if the Brockton Bay fuedal experiment would survive that dog pile... maybe it's more Contessa BS preventing Panacea from being physically attacked normally. Maybe it takes a (combat) precog (that's somewhat crazy) to get around that protection?

Click to shrink...

Panacea is *one* healer out of hundreds. Lizard Tail is a powerhouse of a healer, same as Scapegoat. Unless she's attacked during the Endbringer Truce (and she never visits Endbringer fights so even that is questionable), nobody will care that much. Aside from Vicky and BB Protectorate that is.

 

[Zreader]

Panacea is *one* healer out of hundreds. Lizard Tail is a powerhouse of a healer, same as Scapegoat. Unless she's attacked during the Endbringer Truce (and she never visits Endbringer fights so even that is questionable), nobody will care that much. Aside from Vicky and BB Protectorate that is.

Click to shrink...

https://worm.fandom.com/wiki/Healer

There -can- be very few people with healing abilities. Bonesaw, Scapegoat, Panacea. Others with niches (neurology only, or cardiac systems only), others still with limited capacity (Othala with the ability to grant regeneration).
That's setting-relevant and a reality when healing is actually something monumentally complex.

Click to shrink...

-WoG

Honestly, I can't find any information on if she attended any Endbringer fights that didn't come to her. Which I had always assumed was part of her cape CV, so there's me being an ignorant fanfiction reader. Otherwise, she is an extremely prolific healer of capes and non-capes by some other WoG quotes. It's actually shocking that she hasn't dealt with a bunch of shit like Clockblocker's dad's cancer given how active a healer the story and WoG makes it seem.

 

[jumboseafood]

You can't heal people all day for free and not have the effect of multiple Tier 1 trauma surgeon teams, oncology departments, etc.

If people weren't literally coming to Brockton for healing from her, she would run out of people to heal of serious things, let alone things only she can heal.

And that? That's medical tourism. And isn't Brockton known for mostly being propped up by tourism?

Click to shrink...

Lol I'm neck deep in fanfics rn, probably picked that up somewhere.

But it is a rather reasonable extrapolation, that the Bay would have significant medical tourism (esp for incurable diseases) since Panacea is there. Especially with the number of people coming into the hospitals.

Click to shrink...

She didn't work all day she only worked a couple hours after school. And the things propping up the Bay was the Tech and Banking industry.

 

[jumboseafood]

I cannot wait for Danny to discover Lisa. I really enjoy reading awkward conversations like this.

 

[Shadelight]

Refraction 1.8
◭
Taylor​

"Keep an eye out, I'll be right back."

I watched Lisa wink and turn around, jogging towards a cracked planter next to some building's front porch. Just like yesterday, our path to the Boardwalk included a visit to an alley — a different one this time, but still. Simply standing here made me feel uneasy, but apparently we both needed whatever it was that Lisa ordered, so I pushed the uncomfortable feeling down. She couldn't just mail whatever she wanted home, after all — dad would surely get suspicious if he noticed, and that wasn't even mentioning the paper trails.

"All done," Lisa said to my right, startling me. She had a small package tucked under her arm, and was looking at me with amusement, her other hand on her hip. "Let's go, it should've started by now."

Due to the chaos that unfolded at the Lord Street Market, as well as the looming threats of Sophia and Coil, we decided to focus on getting ourselves some proper costumes. My original attempt at one was okay for the small budget I had at the time, but with Lisa's help I could make one that was much, much better in comparison. Also, Lisa herself was done with her Tattletale persona, which meant that she had to get a wardrobe change of her own too.

The evening I stumbled upon her drawing her new outfit, I quickly got roped into the endeavor. It was quite calming, especially when done with company, and it was something I haven't done in ages. Not since Emma's betrayal.

We've been drawing a bit before bed every day since, brainstorming and criticizing each other's works. It was only last night that both costume designs were finally finished, which was when Lisa suggested we commission Parian, a doll-themed rogue that did puppet shows on the weekends at the Boardwalk.

As it was Saturday, one such show was unfolding right now as me and Lisa approached the store it was advertising, joining a relatively large crowd. While I wasn't a fan of puppet shows myself, finding them rather unsettling, the way Parian controlled her dolls as if they were real, living beings was definitely impressive. I wondered how it felt, being able to do so with such finesse; maybe I could try it someday?

I heard the crowd clapping as the show came to a close, and felt Lisa tugging my arm to the side. I followed her to a discreet corner where she handed me a plain domino mask, the same brand as the one I bought for my first costume. She already had hers donned, so I just shrugged and put mine on, trusting that she had a plan in motion. Several seconds later, I saw Parian passing by us alongside her living toys.

"Excuse me, Parian." I watched Lisa say as we approached her. "You do commissions, right?"

The doll turned and looked at us with an odd air of apprehension before speaking. "...What kind of commissions are you asking me for, exactly?" Was she scared of us?

"The heroic kind," Lisa answered, smiling slightly. "Y'know, costumes?"

Parian seemed to relax at the mention that we were heroes, and nodded. "Yes, I can do that. It won't be cheap, though."

"We know, that's not an issue."

"Alright." Parian seemed to have glanced away for a moment, likely hesitating. Then again, her mask wasn't the best at displaying emotions. "In that case, please follow me."

We arrived at a door after a few minutes of silent walking; the puppet cape and her cloth-based entourage filing in before me and Lisa. The animated beings walked further down the hall while we stood near the entrance, watching Parian clean one of her tables. Most of the mannequins populating this place wore different kinds of dresses, all made impeccably well. Clearly, we were dealing with a professional here.

"So," she said, finally sitting down. "What do you have in mind?"

We sat as well and I took out two folders from my bag, sliding them over. Naturally, the folders contained all of our sketches, and Parian seemed pleasantly surprised upon finding that out. She took her time studying each and every one, humming to herself periodically, and nodded after a while, seemingly satisfied.

"Usually, I'm the one who has to do all of this." She said, pointing at the drawings. "Nice designs, though there are some things I'd still change. First, though… What are these? They don't look like cloth, so I wouldn't be able to make them." She pointed at the brooch-like things Lisa suggested we incorporate into our costumes, hers circular while mine was triangular. Honestly, I didn't know what they were either, but they did look nice and fit our themes.

"Cosmetic tinkertech!" Lisa explained enthusiastically, lifting her package from her lap onto the table. "In fact, I got 'em right here." She tapped it.

Parian inclined her head to the side, staring at the package, then shrugged. "Need help opening it?"

"Actually, I think I got this." I raised my hand weakly. Lisa looked confused for a moment before her expression lit up with understanding and she slid the object over with a nod.

I held it down with my hands while a newly-summoned thorn swiftly cut through the seam in one clean movement. Thorn dismissed and the package opened, I handed the latter back to Lisa.

Me and the puppeteer both watched as she took out two identical boxes, each about the size of a fist.

Inside each was one of the mystery brooch-like accessories. They were both about two inches wide, with smoky black surfaces, a bit like my new phone when the screen was turned off, except it was obvious that they were three-dimensional. The backsides were flat, also black, and had countless tiny loops adorning the perimeters. Interesting.

Alongside the Tinker brooches, each box contained a strange USB cable that ended with a nail-sized flat metal circle, as well as what I assumed was a user manual. Lisa pocketed one cable and manual pair, then slid the other across towards Parian along with the brooches.

"These loops are for strings, that much is obvious. Shouldn't be hard to attach," she muttered while inspecting one of them. Afterwards, she put it down and switched her gaze towards her cable and manual. "Okay, what about these, why are you giving them to me?"

"Just in case you wanted to test them. They create visual effects, though we'll have to code our own." Lisa elaborated with a shrug, digging into her own user manual. "Pretty sure there are some preset ones… Ah, yup, there they are. Page 26. Oh, and if you're worried about power, these things charge using body heat. Or, well, any heat."

"What a strange project…" Parian let out a 'hmm' of contemplation. "Alright, I'm in."

"Nice," my companion said with a grin. "So, about those criticisms…"

◭​

After a while, we had our measurements taken and were summarily released. There was so much fashion talk it managed to make my head spin. We did get ice cream on our way back home though, which was nice. Even if it didn't help my fraying mood much.

We were sitting in my room atop my bed now, Lisa playing around with her new laptop while I watched her. Under any other circumstances, I would be pretty relaxed, especially considering our costume ministrations were being relegated to someone else, but right now I felt like a wound spring. My restlessness was, of course, perfectly natural — there were at least two lingering threats hanging over our heads, a fact that was rather stressful to acknowledge at the best of times.

How the hell did Lisa deal with this all the time?

"You get used to it," I heard her say. She was looking at me from the side, a rueful smile on her face. "Just gotta keep busy and try not to think of all the ways everything can go horribly, horribly wrong. Preparation helps too, I suppose."

"Am I really that obvious?" I asked with a weak smile of my own.

"Maybe," the blonde replied, then tapped her head twice. "Even without my power it's pretty easy to see that you're worried about something. You're still tense, and you've been doing that for the last, what, twenty minutes?"

I followed her gaze to the curling and uncurling toes on my right foot. Yeah, that was obvious. I stopped it.

"I gotta do something, Lisa." I whined and flopped down, stretching. "If one of us gets hurt because I was too lazy to prepare better…"

Lisa sighed and leaned back to look at me with a sad expression. "I get that, Taylor, but we've done all we can, short of stocking up on guns and tasers or whatever. You don't have to run yourself ragged for my sake."

"I want to, though." I met her eyes. "For the both of us."

She shook her head and closed the laptop, sliding it off her lap with one arm.

"Look around, Taylor." She laid down next to me and gestured at the walls of my room — all of the fairy lights we bought yesterday were already set up by us last night, glowing faintly. It was rather cozy, all things considered. "We pretty much got Stalker taken care of. Not the most impenetrable defense, sure, but at least your room's safe. Should probably get a taser, though… Ask your dad for one, maybe?"

I hummed in agreement, staring at the ceiling. Were there any other ways we could gain an advantage?

"As for Coil…" Lisa continued a bit quieter. "...There's nothing we can do about him at the moment. Just have to not get seen, because if we do, we're as good as dead."

I felt a chill lance through me.

"Nothing..?" I whispered, dread made audible. She was the smartest person I knew; surely she could think of something, right?

"Nothing," she echoed, oddly hollow. "Imagine that, one day, you get a knock on the door. You open it, only to find yourself staring down the barrel of a tinkertech rifle. You try to fight back — you die. You try to run — you die. You don't open the door at all, and hide instead — you still fucking die once his mercs inevitably find you. So, you surrender yourself to his mercy in hope that he won't kill you, but at that point you've already lost." I could hear her breathe slowly, as if trying to calm herself. "Oh, and if you were hoping for a lucky break... With his power, luck is never on your side."

That…

That was horrifying.

I turned my head towards Lisa at a glacial pace, my neck almost creaking, only to see her eyes closed and tears rolling. Without hesitation, I immediately rolled over and snatched her into a hug.

"I shouldn't have come here…" I heard her whisper into my shoulder.

"It was my offer, not yours," I answered warmly.

"You didn't understand how scary he was at the time."

"You said plenty. I made my choice."

"I'm endangering both you and your father's lives, Taylor. Every day I spend in this house is a day you two are at risk! How can you not see that?"

I exhaled slowly, looking down at the top of her head.

This was a person who was at rock bottom, who so desperately needed a helping hand. This was a girl that had known pain as intimately as me, if not more. This was the first and only friend I had in years. Someone who seemed to genuinely care about me, and someone who I cared about as well.

I refused to let her hurt any longer.

"I know, Lisa. I know. You think I'm not afraid of one of us dying?" I pulled back a little to let her see my face. Hers was a bit flushed, still somewhat wet like the shoulder she cried on. "I'm terrified. Before this Monday, I never would have thought that cape stuff was so… dangerous. Sure, it may have crossed my mind a few times, but it's another thing entirely to experience it firsthand…"

"Then why? Why put up with me?" She had a watery, self-deprecating smile now, and was still clinging to my waist with a weak grip.

"Because you're not alone anymore," I answered while smiling as well, repeating her own statement from a few days ago. I'd never forget it, of that I was certain. "Remember?"

Lisa paused, then exhaled a short giggle-like noise before leaning back into our hug.

"Dork," she said with a small smirk.

"We'll get through this, Lise. Somehow."

◭​

"So," Lisa said after biting into a cracker with cheese. "I've been thinking."

I snorted. "You're always thinking. That's literally your thing."

"I'm glad you agree," she said smugly, finishing her treat.

"What have you been thinking about this time?" I asked, nibbling on a cracker too.

"Your power." She waved yet another one in my general direction. "It's weird."

"Most powers are," I retorted playfully.

"Yeah, but mine says yours still has secrets to tell." Lisa leaned in with a smirk. "And I love secrets, so spill."

"Well, I'm not sure what to tell you." I watched her narrow her eyes. "No, really!"

The Thinker framed her chin between her thumb and index finger, locking her mischievous eyes with mine. The smirk she had before quickly grew into a grin before she popped another cracker in her mouth.

"How about some testing?" she said, chewing away.

That did sound fun. I had some questions of my own, after all…

"Why the hell not," I agreed with a shrug. "Let's go upstairs."

I took the plate of cheese and crackers with me, and we quickly returned back to my room. I sat on my bed, while Lisa chose to remain at the desk.

"Alright." She grabbed an empty sheet of paper and wrote 'Basics' at the top with a pen, then leaned back with a playful flourish. "Tell me, Miss Hebert — what can you do?"

I rolled my eyes and outstretched my hand. "I summon thorns," I deadpanned, doing exactly that above my palm. I saw Lisa jot down 'Summon' on the left side of the sheet.

She nodded. "What else?"

"Uh, I can dismiss them too..?" I demonstrated. "Does that count?"

Another nod. "Yup, everything counts." 'Dismiss' joined the list, and Lisa's eyes were back on me. "More."

"Uhhh..." I faltered before remembering the day prior. "Right, numbers!"

"Numbers?" I watched an eyebrow rise to the heavens.

"Yeah, so… Remember the thing with the aura yesterday? The one Glory Girl had?"

She blinked, then tilted her head to the side. "You did that with numbers?"

"Well, yes," I confirmed, trying to put my thoughts into words. "Back when I last practiced a bit with my power, I found out I could do two more of these instinctual things, kinda like summoning and dismissing but not. One of them was that I could give a thorn a number. That's… about it. They don't even change visually."

"Huh, interesting. Hold on." Lisa wrote 'Numbers?' on her paper before continuing. "What numbers can you give?"

I summoned a thorn and tried giving it the number -7, but nothing happened, just as predicted. I then tried 2011, which worked just fine.

"Okay, so apparently I can do any number that's not negative or zero," I said.

The frowning blonde hummed in thought. "How about fractions?" She asked.

Good question, though I doubted it would work. I dismissed the thorn and summoned a new one, attempting to give it ⅔ which failed spectacularly. Oh well.

"Nope."

Lisa shrugged. "Fair. Now, then, what did you do with the aura, exactly?"

"Well…" I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to recall my actions. "I summoned a thorn with the number 1, which turned to 0 pretty much instantly. It didn't fill up with Glory Girl's power like the rest, though."

"Did you try numbering one of the Dallon-flavored thorns instead?" She queried with a smirk.

"No, but I had a hunch that it would do nothing." I levitated the thorn in my hand over to Lisa. "Try it?"

She touched the floating object, quickly turning it space-themed. I then tried to give it the number 4, but the number was simply rejected.

"Didn't work," I shrugged.

"I may have a theory… Summon a new one, give it a number that isn't 1, and let me touch it."

I obliged, going with the number 4. She then booped it. "Alright, it went down from 4 to 3, but that's it."

My smug assistant tapped it a few times more before leaning back. "Still 3?"

"Uh-huh."

With a grin, she crossed out 'Numbers?' and wrote 'Ignore' beside it. "Cracked it," She said. When she saw my confused look, she decided to elaborate. "Apparently, it's a sort of ignorance system. Basically, you give a thorn a number, and it will ignore that many unique powers it interacts with first, adding them to an internal blacklist of sorts. Obviously, any further interactions with blacklisted powers won't do shit. Pretty useful."

Yeah, okay, that made sense. "So, like on PHO? Except instead of users, it's powers?" I asked.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, then grabbed another cheese cracker.

"Neat. Okay, what next?" This was fun!

"That other 'thing' you mentioned," Lisa said, obviously excited, leaning towards me. "Might be the secret my power is so enthusiastic about."

That was certainly intriguing, if mildly foreboding.

"Well, it wants me to select several thorns, and when I do they turn into a spike." I had discovered this ability a few weeks ago, but, so far, there weren't any reasons for me to use it. Sure, having a large spike made out of several thorns is cool and all, but most of the time it's too bulky to bother with.

I looked away from my thorn, only to see that Lisa's eyes were beginning to resemble dinner plates.

"Show me. Now." She intoned with an odd urgency in her voice.

A bit unsettled by the way she said that, I summoned three more thorns and selected all four. All but one quickly floated to the stationary one; the one I selected first. They aligned themselves around it, then connected, all at once. When that happened, the resulting spike's components no longer remained in my mind's vision — the spike was a singular, whole thing; just like a normal thorn, and thus felt rather similar.

"H-holy shit." I heard Lisa say, almost… scared? No, that couldn't be right. "Holy fucking shit." In awe, maybe?

"Lisa? W-what's wrong?" I asked, trying not to panic. "Lise?"

She looked me in my eyes, an absolutely feral grin splitting her face.

"It seems, dear Taylor, that copying powers isn't the only thing you can do."

She started giggling, slightly wincing at the migraine she was probably having right now. I watched her unexpected hysterics, racking my brain on the reason she was so hyper all of a sudden.

However, right before my mind could catch up, before it could reach the revelation on its own, Lisa finally stopped and leaned further forward, her face inches away from mine.

"You can combine them too."

 

[Thorfaxdragonkin]

And thus she starts to escalate

 

[Lotor]

The question is... will they end up as fluffy and in love as the Wake-Up Call Smugbug Lisa/Taylor?

And will it involve a tons of loving sex?

Time will tell.

 

[Daemonflayer]

Time will tell.

Click to shrink...

Not in the NSFW boards here, and also published on SB, so I doubt anything beyond chaste implications.

 

[Lotor]

Not in the NSFW boards here, and also published on SB, so I doubt anything beyond chaste implications.

Click to shrink...

*scrolls up*

...Damn it. My bad. Thought this was the NSFW boards. Whoops!

 

[Highlord]

*scrolls up*

...Damn it. My bad. Thought this was the NSFW boards. Whoops!

Click to shrink...

Just be glad you're reading it here. Going over the story on SB reminds me why I hate wormites so much.

Seriously. If the writer wants the input of the peanut gallery on how to write their story, they'll fucking well ask.

 

[Anor]

"Nothing," she echoed, oddly hollow. "Imagine that, one day, you get a knock on the door. You open it, only to find yourself staring down the barrel of a tinkertech rifle. You try to fight back - you die. You try to run - you die. You don't open the door at all, and hide instead - you still fucking die once his mercs inevitably find you. So, you surrender yourself to his mercy in hope that he won't kill you, but at that point you've already lost." I could hear her breathe slowly, as if trying to calm herself. "Oh, and if you were hoping for a lucky break... With his power, luck is never on your side."

Click to shrink...

Hugs! Immediately!

I turned my head towards Lisa at a glacial pace, my neck almost creaking, only to see her eyes closed and tears rolling. Without hesitation, I immediately rolled over and snatched her into a hug.

Click to shrink...

Attagirl!

"Because you're not alone anymore," I answered while smiling as well, repeating her own statement from a few days ago. I'd never forget it, of that I was certain. "Remember?"

Lisa paused, then exhaled a short giggle-like noise before leaning back into our hug.

"Dork," she said with a small smirk.

"We'll get through this, Lise. Somehow."

Click to shrink...

This scene was unbelievably touching. Thank you.

"You can combine them too."

Click to shrink...

Oh boy! *Evil Laugh*

 

[QroGrotor]

Thank you for posting this chapter, it was a pleasure to read!

The setup is certainly there for Taylor to become "Slenderman 2.0" from Seraviel's "Manager".
Looking forward to where you'll take it next!

 

[TheLastTalcBender]

...I mean, yes, it's bullshit, but she has to manually guide the things to sample the powers every time. That rather sharply cuts down on what she can do with them, or am I missing something?

If she has a team or it's an Endbringer fight, she can absolutely wreck stuff, but if there's no one nearby or whoever she sourced powers from is removed or dies, she's rather limited again.

 

[Shadelight]

...I mean, yes, it's bullshit, but she has to manually guide the things to sample the powers every time. That rather sharply cuts down on what she can do with them, or am I missing something?

If she has a team or it's an Endbringer fight, she can absolutely wreck stuff, but if there's no one nearby or whoever she sourced powers from is removed or dies, she's rather limited again.

Click to shrink...

Yup! Perfectly balanced, as all things should be!

 

[Shadelight]

Interlude 1.D
◭
Danny​

A morning alarm blared, quieter than it normally did, before being dutifully turned off by the occupant of the bed beside it. Said occupant, Danny Hebert, soon slid out from under the covers and put on a robe, feeling unusually awake thanks to his racing mind. It would've been a normal morning like any other, except on normal mornings Danny didn't spend time agonizing over his daughter meeting secret guests behind his back, especially at late hours. He thought of last night once more, trying and failing to stay calm…

There he was, shambling through the corridor towards his and his wife's room, tired and ready for sleep, when he heard those damn voices. Stilling, he soon identified the direction they were coming from — Taylor's room, which he approached slowly while avoiding the creaky floorboards. Were there thieves in the house? How did he not hear them enter? What were they doing in his daughter's room? Was she awake? Hurt?

Fear for his daughter's life as well as the rising anger aimed at the late night intruders almost led Danny to open the door right then and there, ready to run in and tackle the first person he deemed a threat, but his hand was halted by the sudden realization that one of the two voices was Taylor's; calm and collected.

"I think a gradient would work well here," he heard her say quietly. "You can do the sparkly thing with it too, right?" Was she discussing fashion with someone?

"Ooh, good idea," said the other voice, young and feminine, more outgoing than his daughter's. "More stars at the ends, then. Can maybe even have them leave a short trail or something."

Very faint tapping and sliding sounds could occasionally be heard from the location of Taylor's desk, right near the same place their voices came from. Danny, of course, was puzzled, not knowing how to act in such a scenario.

He felt relief over his daughter apparently not being in danger, but that still didn't answer the two questions that worried him quite a bit: who was Taylor talking to, and why was she in Taylor's room at ten in the evening?

Listening in for another half a minute, Danny judged that barging in would only make things worse, especially if he failed to restrain his explosive temper. At that moment, his daughter was safe, possibly even having fun, so it was probably smarter to wait until the morning and ask then. Doing anything else would likely result in Taylor withdrawing into herself again, anyways.

He let out a breath he didn't notice he was holding and retreated to the bedroom.

◭​

Now, it was indeed morning, and the newly-awakened father decided that it was time to make his move.

He crept out into the hall and reached his daughter's door once more, then stopped. Hushed voices, quieter than yesterday, could be heard if he stood still enough, though the individual words were too muffled to understand. The surrounding quiet was so deafening that the only other things Danny could hear were his own heartbeat and a quiet rain beating against the windows.

Did they stay up all night, or did they wake up early? It was clear that whoever that other girl was, she stayed over without even telling him of her existence, which should probably be addressed sooner rather than later.

When Danny finally opened the door, the first thing he noticed was the light; or, more specifically, lights — the walls were covered with fairy lights, all of them turned on ever so slightly. He couldn't help but think of the next electricity bill before turning his head towards his daughter's desk.

Taylor was sitting behind it, huddled alongside her blonde companion, both of them surprised at the sudden entrance. They were still wearing pajamas, though Danny could recognize the ones on the mystery girl as Taylor's, too. And since when did she have a laptop? The more he took everything in, the more questions were raised in his head. He reflexively crossed his arms, looking unamused.

"D-dad, I-" His daughter began, stuttering horribly. "I c-can explain?"

The blonde girl yawned and touched Taylor's arm, meeting Danny's eyes. "Hi, Mister Hebert. I expected this to happen eventually, so…" She shrugged and lazily stood up, proffering an arm with a tired smile on her face. "I'm Lisa."

Taylor watched with wide eyes as Danny hesitated before shaking Lisa's hand with a puzzled expression, the latter sitting back down next to her afterwards.

"Please, call me Danny. Everyone else does," he said before looking around again, his eyes finally settling on his daughter. "Is Christmas coming early this year, or..?" He trailed off.

A corner of Taylor's mouth quirked up as she and Lisa exchanged glances before bursting into a fit of giggles, the nervous tension dropping a bit. "N-no, hah, we just set up some defenses. Doing it anywhere else would've probably tipped you off." She looked at him with a bit of guilt in her eyes.

For such a suddenly jovial mood, this sounded rather serious. Danny decided to err on the side of caution and ask. "Defenses?"

His daughter's mood dipped noticeably, and the only thing she did was nod.

"Against Shadow Stalker," said Lisa, deciding to take over. "Knowing her, she's probably gonna attack us sooner or later, so we did all this…" she waved one of her hands at the walls, "...to capitalize on her weakness to electricity." After a second or two, she perked up. "Oh, I can ask you directly now — get a taser or two, just in case. Better safe than sorry."

Danny nodded numbly while processing what was just said. Shadow Stalker? Sophia? That bitch from school was still targeting Taylor? It did make sense, considering she slipped her leash. From what the Protectorate heroes said, she was on parole for excessive violence… What was she planning to do?

He breathed slowly, trying to lower his rising anger. His shoulders were tense, and he had to hide his hands in his robe's pockets so he could make fists without them being seen. "Okay. I'll try to think of something for the rest of the house too, get the boys in on this." He sat at the edge of his daughter's bed and exhaled once again. "Now, can we please address the elephant in the room? Wh-"

"She didn't have anywhere to go!" Taylor blurted out, her face shifting from panicked to serious in an instant. Danny could recognize that stubbornness anywhere, and he knew that it wasn't going to disappear anytime soon.

"I'm not that fat…" Lisa murmured with a playful pout.

"How long have you been here already, Lisa?" He asked with a sigh.

"Since Monday, so… about a week," the blonde shrugged.

So Taylor's sudden appetite was a ruse then, Danny thought to himself. Clever.

"I'm surprised I didn't notice sooner," he said, smiling awkwardly. "And you've hid in this room the whole time, I'm guessing?"

"Yep," Lisa confirmed with a pop before pointing at the closet. "A few times there too, but yeah."

"I see." He looked at her for a moment. "To be clear: you are homeless, right? No family members or anyone else you can go to?"

Danny noticed Taylor's sudden discomfort, though Lisa confirmed his guesses with an annoyed — or, possibly, angry — nod. It looked like there was some history he should probably avoid prodding any further.

"In that case, you're welcome to stay," he declared, instantly noticing the relief both girls were certainly feeling right now. "Though I expect you to help out with the chores," he added lightly.

"I'll help with the bills, too," Lisa said, grinning. "I may be homeless but I do have money."

"That would explain the laptop, then…" Danny spoke with a raised eyebrow, looking at the lavender object in question.

While Lisa nodded, Taylor stood up and stretched, yawning before speaking. "Thanks, dad," she said with a relaxed smile. She hugged him and moved to the door, turning around instead of opening it. "I'll start making breakfast, then?"

With her father's nod and Lisa's thumbs up, Taylor exited the room with quiet motions and closed the door behind her. A silence stretched out as the two remained looking at each other, waiting for the other to start talking first.

"So…" Danny began. "What is your relationship with Taylor, exactly?"

Lisa snorted before answering. "Friend? Confidante? The monster in her closet?" She said with a grin, eliciting a sigh from the robed man.

"You two haven't done anything else, I hope?" He asked, much to Lisa's amusement.

"Hah, no." She shook her head. "Definitely not. Though she'd probably be annoyed at any changes to our sleeping arrangements."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Taylor's… not in a very good place right now." When she said that, he noticed that her grin waned to a sad half-smile, and a heavy feeling settled in his stomach. "Physical comfort helps."

"Oh." Was that his fault?

He could feel his hands ball up into fists again.

"Speaking of, what is your relationship with Taylor, Danny? Hm?"

"I'm her father, obviously."

The blonde took a deep breath before boring her eyes into him. "That's actually less obvious than you might think," she said, her voice deceptively soft.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, sensing his anger slowly returning.

"She barely talks about you," Lisa pointed out with disappointment. "And from what I've seen, she barely interacts with you, too. Do you honestly think those are signs of a healthy relationship?"

She was right, he thought. Beyond the occasional smalltalk during breakfast, dinner and, sometimes, lunch, they didn't really talk at all. They never went anywhere either. Not like they used to when… when Annette was there. His mouth went dry as he thought back on all their interactions over the past month. There must have been something. Some moment he had talked to her; checked that she was doing better. Made her favorite meal even. Something to refute this stranger's caustic words. Was he really that lost without his wife?

Yes, of course he was. God, did he miss her...

"I understand that you were stricken by grief, Danny, but by acting as you did you essentially orphaned her. Sure, she did mention that things are slightly better nowadays, but 'slightly' isn't enough. In fact, far from it." Lisa was openly glaring at him now, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "This isn't the first intervention you've had to sit through, is it?"

No, it wasn't. His posture sagged as images of a similar conversation with Alan flashed through his mind, each a painful reminder he couldn't forget. He shook his head, looking at the ground. What would Anne have said if she saw him now? He was a failure, plain and simple. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been a real father to Taylor. Danny sank back against the pillows on the bed.

"You're right… I've been too damn lost in myself." He exhaled slowly, shuddering. "Have I really missed so much?" He whispered the words out, talking more to himself than the girl before him.

"What does it say about you when your daughter trusts a stranger more than her own family?" Her every sentence stung; every word, every syllable. And yet, all of them were true. "When will she have a dad again, Danny? When? Tell me."

"Now," Danny growled, slowly turning his anger against himself. He could even feel his clenched fists begin drawing blood as his nails sunk deeper into his palms. "Now."

"Good," the smiling blonde said, standing up from her chair. "Because she still needs you, now more than ever."

 

[Highlord]

Lisa actually would be a great therapist if she wasn't a bitchy teenager.

 

[Lotor]

'Oh, and you have my approval. Just... don't get loud.'

'...w-we won't.'

 

[MrTwistr]

Yet more proof that therapists are all actually evil. Good chapter.

 

[Anor]

Listening in for another half a minute, Danny judged that barging in would only make things worse, especially if he failed to restrain his explosive temper. At that moment, his daughter was safe, possibly even having fun, so it was probably smarter to wait until the morning and ask then. Doing anything else would likely result in Taylor withdrawing into herself again, anyways.

Click to shrink...

"Now," Danny growled, slowly turning his anger against himself.

Click to shrink...

Adequate and reasonable Danny?!

Should we use the M/S protocols?
Edit:
Lisa did more for this family in a few minutes than Danny did in a few years. God bless your villainous heart, Lisa!

 

[Thorfaxdragonkin]

And Danny just got a fire lit under his ass. Well done lisa

 

[Shadelight]

Lisa did more for this family in a few minutes than Danny did in a few years. God bless your villainous heart, Lisa!

Click to shrink...

She may be a villain, but villains have standards!

 

[jumboseafood]

Why is Danny so okay with a weird homeless girl living in his house?

 

[Highlord]

Why is Danny so okay with a weird homeless girl living in his house?

Click to shrink...

Because Taylor seems to be happy again, and for all that he's a depressed wreck he will still do literally anything for his daughter.

Also, Taylor mentioned being in danger of attack. I imagine Danny will have some...input on that.