Got the Grimoire, Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Taylor cradled her mug, peppermint tea if I smelled right, and shifted nervously in the pajamas that I was pretty sure belonged to Mimi. “I… I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“Tough,” I said. I started to make myself a cup of hot chocolate, then stopped and poured a couple fingers of bourbon instead. Self medicating wasn’t healthy, but it was healthier than screaming my frustrations into my pillow. “You’re asking us to provide you a safe space and I’m fine with that, but not without at least knowing why. Especially cause we’re both putting our necks on the line if your dad decides to get the cops involved.”

Taylor blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You’re still a minor, Taylor, so if the police get involved and we get caught housing you, we could get in serious legal trouble, even if you’re here on purpose, because we don’t have any sort of authority over you,” I explained. “Only your father can decide that, unless you get yourself legally emancipated.”

She frowned thoughtfully and clung to her mug tighter. “…My dad knows I’m Arachne,” she finally said. “He found my shield and costume.”

I sighed. “And how did he do that exactly?”

“My costume is pretty easy to find, but the shield is a big hunk of metal, even if it is infused with whatever weird powers you have. I only had so many places to hide it in the house and he finally did,” she said glumly.

“It never occurred to you to hide it outside the house?” I asked wryly.

“Well then what if some criminal stumbled across it by accident?”

“I’d just recall it to myself,” I mentally dismissed the shield and then resummoned it to my hands, “and then hand it back to you like this.”

She stared at the golden artifact and then groaned, slumping forward. “I feel like such an idiot.”

“Hindsight, yada yada. So your dad knows you’re Arachne. I’m guessing he didn’t react very well?”

“He was conflicted. Happy that I’m a hero, scared at the kinds of fights I’ve been getting into and everything he’s seen on the news, and upset that I didn’t tell him in the first place,” she explained. “We got into a fight and I said some things that I don’t think I can take back. So I left.”

“And he just let you?” I asked incredulously. What kind of parent just lets their kid run off in the middle of the night?

“I might have locked myself in my room and then snuck out the window,” she said with a shrug. “A little cliche, but I just needed out. I mean, what if he tries to force me into the Wards? I know it wouldn’t be terrible, but I still want something like that to be my choice.”

I forgot sometimes that for as mature as she acted, Taylor was still a fifteen year old teenager. They didn’t always act with the most forethought or awareness. I took out my phone and set it on the counter. “I’m going to call your home line. You’re going to have conversation with your father. Me and Mimi will also talk to him briefly to make him aware that you’re with friends. That’s my condition for letting you stay with us, okay?”

Taylor gritted her teeth stubbornly and made to stand. “I’ll go see if-“

“I’ll also tell Lisa not to let you stay with her either,” I said quickly. “And we both know that even if all the work we’ve put into the city, the streets aren’t a good place to stay on, especially for a girl your age.”

“…You can be such an asshole,” she spat venomously. Maybe fairly, I was probably pressing the trigger event buttons of betrayal and entrapment right then.

“I’m just trying to help you, Tay,” I said gently. I felt a lump in my throat. “Good parents care. And take it from me, you should appreciate it for as long as you can.”

That seemed to strike a chord in her. “Yours…?”

“Empire offshoot got my mom. Slaughterhouse Nine paid my dad’s town a visit not long after,” I confirmed. “Even if things can’t be the same since your mom died, Danny is still your father, he loves you and wants you to be safe.” I paused, mulling over my words. “Parents aren’t something that can be replaced. Unless they’re assholes. But your dad doesn’t strike me as an asshole, just battered and worn down by the city.”

I’d put her in what must have felt like an impossible situation. Emotional teens always thought everything was impossible, even when life just tended to move on regardless once it was all said and done. I’d done a lot of things, been through a lot of situations, that had felt ‘impossible’ at the time, only for them to fade away to merely an unpleasant memory in time.

“…Fine,” she finally said wearily. “You win.”

I kept a smile off my face. I didn’t want her miserable, I just wanted to help. I dialed the home number and Danny Hebert picked up after just a moment.

“Hello?” his stressed and worried voice answered.

“Mr. Hebert?”

“Speaking. Who is this? Why are you calling so late at night?”

I shot Taylor a look. She glared, but after a moment, spoke. “Hey, Dad. It’s me.”

“Taylor! Oh thank God, you’re alright. Where are you? Are you safe?” Relief had flooded Danny’s tone, though there was still a note of worry. He didn’t know how or where Taylor had gotten her hands on a phone after all.

“I’m fine. My friends convinced me to call you,” she said.

Hey, she still says we’re friends. That’s nice.

Perhaps she was speaking of Mimi and myself, Raziel snarked.

She doesn’t even know you exist.

“Who are you with? Do you have any idea how worried I was when you just ran off like that? I don’t care if-“ He cut himself off, clearly about to reveal something about her powers, but thinking better of it. Smart man. “Look, are you safe, wherever you are?”

“Mr. Hebert, perhaps if you’ve been following the news of Arachne, then you also know that she doesn’t work alone,” I cut in. “She is in perhaps the safest place in the city, barring the Rig.”

“… Who are you?”

“I go by the name ‘Kage.’” I glanced to Mimi and made a ‘your turn’ gesture.

“And I’m Firestorm,” she piped in. “Tay just showed up on our doorstep. Scared the crap out of me when she knocked.”

“Capes? My daughter is with a couple of capes?” Danny asked tiredly.

“Your daughter is a cape, Mr. Hebert, one who trusts us with her identity and in turn trust her with our own,” I said. “However I know that parents worry for their children, so I told her she could stay only if she contacted you to confirm that she’s safe.”

“And what if I said that wasn’t acceptable? That I’d call the police or the PRT if she wasn’t brought home?” he challenged.

Taylor’s face went red, whether from embarrassment or anger, I couldn’t tell. “Dad!”

“You might know them, Taylor, but I don’t know either of them! I can’t trust my little girl’s safety on a whim.” His voice turned steely. “Well, Kage?”

“I would bring up two points to consider, Mr. Hebert: One, good luck tracking down our place of residence. I am a Stranger of not inconsiderate power and only the strongest Thinkers could find us. The second point, is of course, your daughter’s own opinion. She is fifteen and while I respect your authority as a parent, as evidenced by this phone call, I must also point out that she will not remain a child forever. The minute she turns eighteen, perhaps even sixteen if she petitions to be emancipated, she might vanish from your life forever if you piss her off enough.” I allowed my tone to soften. “Mr. Hebert, I often had difficulties with my guardians growing up. Trust me when I say that a night or two to allow tempers to cool will help immensely.”

“…I saw the news. I read the articles. She’s fifteen for God’s sake, she shouldn’t be fighting the Empire and Lung,” he said miserably. “Is it so bad that I just want my daughter to be safe?”

“I am safe, dad,” Taylor cut in. “Kage and Firestorm have been amazing teammates. They’ve made sure that I’m as well protected as any cape my age can be, even more than the Wards. You can trust them. You can trust me.”

Silence hung in the air for a minute before Danny finally spoke again. “Alright, I’ll give you some space. Just promise you’ll call if you decide to stay over longer? We can talk about your new… hobby some more when you decide you’re ready to come home.”

“I will, Dad.” She hesitated a split second. “Love you.”

“I love you too, kiddo. Be safe. Kage, Firestorm?”

“Yes?” “Yea?”

“I’m putting my trust in you two because Taylor is too. Please don’t let her down.” The 'Or else', went unspoken.

“She’s in good hands,” Mimi said cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Taylor’s shoulders and pulling her into one armed embrace. “We’re gonna binge watch trashy t.v and drink hot chocolate all night.”

A note of humor worked it’s way into Danny’s voice. “As long as it’s not too late, she does still have school. Kage, could I speak to just you for a moment?”

I glanced toward the girls and scooped up the phone, turning off speaker mode. “It’s just us now.”

“…Thank you for looking out for her. I know being a cape is dangerous. But if she’s hurt on your watch then I will bring down every ounce of influence I have onto your head. She’s the last good thing left in my life.”

“It’ll be like Magus is guarding her personally, Mr. Hebert. I’ll try and convince her to make it home sooner rather than later, and make sure she calls if there’s any delays.”

“Once more, thank you. Have a good night, Kage.”

“You as well.” I hung up and walked back over to the counter, idly flicking a cleaning spell in the direction of the couch. I downed the rest of my bourbon in one shot, savoring the burn. “Well, your dad is one over protective mother hen.”

“…Yeah,” Taylor said.

I smiled. “Good. Only the best for the team’s costume ‘tailor’.”

Both girls stared at me with blank eyes for a minute before they turned into twin groans of disbelief.

“Did you seriously just ‘dad’ joke us?”

“That was a horrible pun, Mak.”

I shot them a wink, poured myself another glass of bourbon, and headed toward my room. “Try not to wake the neighbors with your little slumber party. Taylor, guest room is down the hall, the least decorate one. Extra blankets in the cupboard if you need them. Towels too if you want to shower tomorrow morning. Oh and don’t drink all the cocoa you two, I’ll want some tomorrow. Good night.”

They echoed me and I heard the t.v turn on as I shut myself in my room and sat down in front of my computer to catch up on some PRT work. I’m glad Mimi was there for Taylor. Lord knows that I was too old, not to mention too male to be of much help.

***

The next morning I went to add some hot cocoa powder to my coffee as improvised creamer. The tin was empty.

“Goddammit…”

***

Thursday, March 31, 2011

“What’s got you looking so pissy this morning?” Assault asked me in the halls of the Rig.

“Had to drink my coffee black,” I groused. “Not typically how I like it.”

“I know MM keeps a stash of creamer in the fridge if you want something other than powder and sugar,” he offered.

“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind. What’s on your patrol route today?” I asked.

“Showing the flag at the Boardwalk and Downtown. There are still some dregs of the Empire that think they can keep the group together without their capes.” He flashed me a vicious grin. “I’d love for them to just try and take a swing at me. Remind them that their group is dead and gone.”

“Can we trade?” I asked hopefully. “They’ve got me slated for standby on the Rig. Ready for rapid deployment and all that jazz, but c’mon, we both know it will be a cake walk of an assignment.”

“You mean boring,” Assault corrected. “No thanks. I’ll take the job that comes with a chance to actually crack some Nazi skulls.”

“I hope they’ve all given up their horrible views and you have to spend the whole thing signing autographs and kissing babies,” I said.

“Damn man, why not just wish that I step on a landmine while you’re at it?”

“I hope you step on Legos instead.”

“Ouch. You are pissy today.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve learned not to trust girls with the cocoa powder.”

“The joys of cohabitation with a woman,” he said sagely. “Except you don’t get the fun parts that go along with it.”

“…Fuck off.”

He roared with laughter all the way to the lounge.

***

I was three hours into my shift when Eidolon decided to pop by for a visit. He appeared not through a Door like I would have expected, but with a pop of displaced air.

“Sir. Teleportation power?”

“One that I haven’t had access to for years,” he said. “Just restored it this morning. Handy, when I don’t want to use Doormaker.” He waved a hand and I felt it as a field of privacy settled around us. “We’re secure.”

“Figured. What can I do for the world’s strongest?”

I heard the smile in his voice, even if I couldn’t see his face. “Well, word on the street is that you can even further enhance someone’s powers these days.”

“And where did you hear that from?” I asked.

“Oh please, you think Piggot was going to keep that secret? She’s been trying to whore you out to get Brockton Bay more support.”

I frowned. “I figured having a cape like me around was already support enough.”

“Oh you’re a huge force multiplier,” he agreed. “But you’re still just one man. Budgets have to be met, material and personnel are required to keep the city properly policed, typical government stuff.”

“And let me guess, the Director has been offering to have me boost capes in return for other concessions?”

“You got it.”

“…She could have at least told me.”

He patted me on the shoulder sympathetically. “We just take our marching orders, my friend. The politicians and Directors decide where those go to.”

“You mean Doctor Mother and Contessa?” I asked wryly.

“As influential as Cauldron is, we’re not omnipotent or all powerful. This is actually a favor that my Director worked out with yours,” he explained. “No Cauldron influence whatsoever.”

“Alright. What have you got to sacrifice then?”

Eidolon held up a vivid looking diamond. “Created it myself, just this morning. Got it appraised and let me just say that I could retire very comfortably if I was so inclined.”

“Aren’t you supposed to get down on one knee?” I asked jokingly. I felt his impassive stare, so I just sighed and plucked the precious gemstone from his grasp. It dissolved into pure energy that went into fueling my power and it did not disappoint. The rush of energy was intense, far more than what I’d started with to boost Crystal. “Okay, are you wanting me to boost you personally or just your powers?”

“Powers,” he said eagerly.

I nodded and then shaped the power before laying a hand on his shoulder and releasing the stored energy into him. He let out a gasp and his eyes flared brightly behind his mask. He doubled over for a moment and I briefly worried that I’d hurt the Triumvirate’s strongest hero before he stood back to his full height.

“I feel… good. No, better than good, I feel great.”

“Well you don’t look like a tiger, but you’re starting to sound like one…”

“Don’t ruin this for me, Mak,” he snapped. “I seriously haven’t felt like this since I first got my powers. Even better probably. I think you just made me even more powerful.”

“Oh good I made the Trump 12+ even more 12+,” I said sarcastically. “Any chance this will let you control the big guys now?”

He took in a deep breath, eyes glowing beneath his mask and I somehow knew that it was no longer the built in lights of his costume doing that. No, that was all him now.

“Let’s find out.”