Menagerie of Steel 4

AN: I know it's short, but I wanted to get something out before Friday and it covered everything I wanted, so here's the chapter. 

Ethan sat quietly in the booth, silently fuming and nursing a mug of coffee. He didn’t want to be here, at Somer’s Rock, waiting on one of the most notorious capes in the city. But the message he’d gotten was clear: Somer’s Rock, alone, civ-attire, for a favor that would clear the debt between them. Years prior, when Ethan was first starting out as Madcap, he ended up owing the man that would later be known as Hookwolf. To be honest, Ethan hadn’t thought that Hookwolf had known that Assault and Madcap were the same person, until he’d gotten an email an hour before referencing something that only two people knew had happened.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the door opened, and a familiar blonde man walked in. Hookwolf wasn’t in his “costume”, which made Ethan curious, but it fit with his request for civ-attire. Civ-attire was something used mostly by Independents, a polite fiction that let members of rival groups meet to discuss matters unrelated to cape politics.

Hookwolf gave a nod as he sat down across from Ethan, “Assault.”

“Hookwolf,” Ethan returned. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Your Ward, Shadow Stalker, got into a scrap with a few of us,” Hookwolf began. “Me, Alabaster, Rune, and Cricket. By this time, Rune and Alabaster will have blabbed about it to Kaiser. I know it wasn’t sanctioned, and I know enough to know where she went after the scrap.”

Ethan narrowed his eyes, his mind racing. Much as he hated to admit it, he needed more pieces of the puzzle to figure out where this was going, “And that place is?”

“Michael’s Lighthouse Church in the docks. There’ll be a fresh trigger there as well, a white boy Ward age, metal minion Master, badly injured, months if not years of physical therapy without Panacea’s assistance,” Hookwolf answered as the waitress brought him a cup of coffee. “Take him in, get him healed up, keep him away from Kaiser’s reach, and we’re square.”

Now that was interesting. If Hookwolf was giving him this sort of information, deliberately pushing a new Trigger away from the Empire, it was a serious risk for him to take. That’s when the pieces fell into place. Sophia risking a fight with four capes wasn’t like her. She enjoyed fighting, but she wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t pick a fight with Hookwolf without backup unless it was for someone she cared deeply about. The same sort of reason Hookwolf would call in a ten year old favor for something that would get him on Kaiser’s shit list if it got out.

“Full civ-rules?” Ethan asked, utterly serious.

Hookwolf was quiet for a moment, before saying, “Agreed.”

Knowing the man’s warped sense of honor well enough to know he wouldn’t breathe a word of what was spoken next, Ethan asked, “The boy’s your son?”

“And Stalker’s his girlfriend, yes. I figured it out after he Triggered,” Hookwolf said. “I very much doubt the others pieced it together, but you might want to take precautions all the same.”

Ethan sighed as he leaned back in his seat. This had the potential to be one giant clusterfuck, but even ignoring the favor being called in, he couldn’t just ignore it. Downing the last of his cup of coffee, Ethan stood and left. He had calls to make, and a church to visit.

[hr][/hr]

Sophia sat, staring at Erik, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands that had long since gone cold. He was pale, scarily so. The doctor that the priest had called said he’d lost a lot of blood, but should recover in time. She’d lost track of how long she’d been there, but from the light coming through the curtains it was morning.

Her phone ringing made her start, and she nearly dropped the cup before setting it on the nightstand. Pulling out her phone, she looked at the caller ID. It wasn’t Emma, despite what Sophia half expected, but it was Assault? That made Sophia blink, it was a Saturday, and she wasn’t expected to do any Ward shit this weekend. If it was about fighting the Empire fucks last night, it’d be Armsmaster calling.

Hitting the answer button, Sophia held the phone up to her ear and said, “Yeah?”

“Hey Sophia,” Assault said, his voice a touch strained. “Could you do me a favor and come outside? The metal animals look a bit angry.”

Sophia pulled the phone away to look at it in confusion. How the fuck did he… question for later, he’d have a way to get Erik proper medical attention. Turning off the phone, Sophia got up and made her way outside, the shovel-horned rhino and ax-faced bird staring aggressively at what looked like half the Protectorate as well as Panacea.

“Hi there, think you could ask the metal fellas to calm down?” Assault asked.

“I don’t control them,” Sophia snarked, still trying to figure out just how they found out and got here so fast. “Fuck’s sake, I don’t even how how they knew to come here!”

“Well, if they’re anything like the other metal animal-looking cape in the city, I don’t really want to get too close to…” Assault was cut off as the priest walked out, took one look around, and stalked past Sophia and Erik’s animals to approach Panacea.

“Ya mind comin’ in an havin’ a look at Young Erik, Lass?” he asked politely.

“Um…” Panacea gave the two animals a pointed look.

“Jus’ follow me, they ain’t don’ not’in’ ‘cept look scary. Figure it’ll stay tha’ way s’long as ya don’ do not’in’ stupid,” he told the young healer before turning around and heading back inside.

Panacea hesitantly followed him, and true to his prediction the animals let her pass. Sophia followed them without hesitation, and as they entered the room that Erik was in, Sophia swallowed nervously. Sure, Panacea was the best healer in the world, but Erik had been hurt so badly…

Placing a hand on Erik, Panacea raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did he get in a fight with a lawnmower or something?”

“Cricket, Alabaster, Rune, and Hookwolf,” Sophia answered.

“That explains a lot,” Panacea muttered under her breath before pulling her hand away. “I healed the damage, but he has a concussion and very low blood pressure. I can’t do anything for the concussion, and while I converted what fat I could, he needs a blood transfusion. His blood type’s O-.”

“Thanks, Lass,” the priest said. “Lemme get ya somethin’.”

“No nee…” Panacea began, only for the priest to interrupt.

“Tha’ wasn’ a request,” he said sternly. “Ah’ll be righ’ back.”

Panacea just stared in surprise as he turned around and left the room, and Sophia shrugged when she turned to look at her, “I only met him a few days ago.”

He returned a minute later, holding a steaming mug that had a picture of an orange cartoon cat hanging on a clothesline. As he handed the mug of hot chocolate to Panacea, Sophia saw the words ‘HANG IN THERE’ on the other side of it. Giving the priest a look as Panacea took a sip, Sophia asked, “Really?”

He shrugged with a bit of a chuckle, “M’wife loved ‘em. ‘Sides, a bit o’ humor ever’ now an’ again’s needed f’r th’ soul.”

“This is really good,” Panacea muttered before she took a long drink.

“Wife’s recipe,” he offered by way of explanation. “If’n ya ever need a place t’get away, th’ door’s’re open t’ya.” Panacea hesitated, her eyes showing she was trying to think of something, but he continued, seemingly reading her mind. “More’n half th’ people who come here don’ believe. No’ really. Tha’ doesn’ mean they’re unwelcome. Ever’one needs a place t’relax, t’get away fr’m life. If Ah can provide tha’, then far as Ah’m concerned, Ah’m doin’ God’s work.”

“I…” Panacea swallowed, “I’ll keep it in mind. Now, we should really get him to the PRT.”

[hr][/hr]

Emma did her best to smother a smirk. Ever since Meadows had fucked off, things had gone back to the way they were supposed to be. It had been amusing at first, seeing Sophia stumble as she was fumbling through an aspect of high school life she hadn’t been expecting made up for the initial insult Meadows had made. But the novelty had worn off quickly, and Meadows had gone from being an amusing diversion to distracting Sophia.

There was a certain way things worked at Winslow: Emma was the queen, Sophia was her right hand, Madison was the tagalong, Taylor was the sign of Emma’s past to be broken and forced into the dirt where she belonged. Meadows had upset that hierarchy, pulling Sophia away from where she belonged.

But, two months ago, Meadows had been dragged out of school by his old man, and hadn’t been seen since. Sophia was still bummed about it, but she’d stopped talking about him, and Emma had easily talked her into this new prank idea she’d had. It was going to be hilarious, and it was easily the funniest thing she’d come up with ever since Madison had spotted her bringing her mother’s flute to school.