[The Kill List]—❈—12:: That "Fuck Me" Moment

A/N: sorry this took so long. I have no excuse.

—❈——❈——❈—

Tuesday, 12, April, 2011.

Morning.

The last few days had been weird for Taylor, and if someone had told her that her life would somehow get weirder from there, she… well, no, she wouldn’t have doubted them, because her life was shit and being her was suffering, but she certainly would have hoped with every fiber of her being that they were wrong.

Everyday of her life since Saturday had started off with some new weird thing, all of them (even if only by proxy) having to do with a certain infuriating, and infuriatingly nosy, cape.

Saturday had been him showing up at her house to tell her she was a bad hero anyway, so she shouldn’t even bother; Sunday had been him (God, how she hated to admit it) saving her life from Lung and then proceeding to expose her to her Dad; Monday, she hadn’t actually seen him at all, thank God, but there’d been the whole awkward thing where her father had made her breakfast and tried to make conversation in an attempt to reconnect.

To be honest, it hadn’t actually been that bad… okay, it had actually been pretty nice after the initial awkwardness and Taylor was glad for it, BUT, the understanding that this was only happening because of that meddling asshole was a permanent stain on the memory.

That was yesterday, and Taylor had hoped that there would be no more Black Leg induced surprises in her life, and soon he could become an unpleasant memory… then today happened.

She’d woken up this morning, low-key agonizing over the breakfast she’d shared with her Dad the day before.

She wanted to do it again. She’d forgotten, but there had been a time when The Hebert family made it a point to eat meals together.

It had stopped when her Mom had died, obviously, the sight of the one empty chair too big a reminder of their loss, but now, time had scabbed over the wound, and, after that one taste of what used to be yesterday, Taylor found herself hungry for more.

Naturally though, in typical Taylor fashion, she was hesitant to make the first move. Or, I guess, second move, in this case.

So, when she’d woken up this morning, she’d gone downstairs, pretending like she was going on her run in an attempt to scope things out, and when she’d found her Dad in the kitchen, she’d quickly offered to postpone her run for evening instead so she could help him out like the good, dutiful daughter she totally was.

Breakfast was a simple affair of eggs and bacon, as was the conversation. A simple affair, that is, not eggs and bacon.

Danny could tell that Taylor was still hesitant to talk about her life, so he talked about his instead. His job, his coworkers, funny experiences with clients, things like that.

It was like a first date in many ways; two people looking to make a meaningful connection with another human being putting their best foot forward, and trying to till the soil of their hearts for the seeds of a healthy relationship to grow…

Although, maybe likening the attempt of a father and daughter to connect to a first date isn’t the best idea.

Regardless, they were eating and they were connecting, and that was when the weirdest situation of Taylor’s life (so far) knocked on the door.

Taylor went to get it, and was met with the faces of two smartly dressed people whose expressions looked quite incompatible with one another.

They were a man and a woman, and while the man peered at her from behind his glasses like he was trying to look into her very soul, the woman smiled at Taylor with a set of perfect teeth like she was about to start informing the teen of God’s undying love for her.

Taylor distrusted them instantly.

In her mind this was because she was a canny individual with good instincts, but the truth was simply that Taylor was a distrustful antisocial with the people skills of a rabid honey badger.

“Taylor Hebert?” the woman asked, and Taylor suddenly flashed back to the last time someone had shown up at her house looking for her.

She took an involuntary step back.

The man and woman noticed.

“I’m Agent Hannah Washington of The PRT,” the woman said holding up a very official looking badge. The man copied her. “This is my partner Agent Collin Wallis. We would like to ask you some questions, Miss Hebert. Is your father home?”

Taylor swallowed. Her bugs buzzing with her anxiety.

“Um…” she swallowed again.

“Taylor, who’s at the door?” her father asked, walking up behind her.

Upon sight of her father, Agent Washington smiled at the man.

The badges came out again.

“Hello, Mr. Hebert. I’m Agent Hannah Washington; this is my partner, Agent Collin Wallis; we’re with The PRT. May we come in? We have some questions for your daughter.”

Everywhere in the world, every father to a teenager dreads the “fuck me” moment their teenage kid will cause them.

Danny was no different. And he was pretty sure this was his.

Without missing a beat though, Danny walked forward, and gently pulled his daughter behind him.

“The PRT, you said?” he asked.

“That’s right, Mr. Hebert,” Agent Washington replied.

“Didn’t know The PRT had agents,” Danny said, playing for time.

Time for what? He had no clue.

Agent Washington smiled. “Most don’t.”

Danny hummed thoughtfully. “Say, Agent Washington, is there a reason your partner keeps eyeballing my daughter?”

Called out, Agent Wallis starts, then reddened a tad at Danny’s unamused expression.

The male PRT agent cleared his throat; “Forgive me,” he said, “but Miss Hebert is a person of interest in an ongoing investigation, I was simply observing her behaviour for anything noteworthy.”

Oh, God, Taylor, just what exactly have you been up to? Danny beseeched the heavens.

Despite it coming to his attention days ago, he still hadn’t asked for details of her cape business. Not just because there was a tentative peace between them that he didn’t want to ruin, but because he genuinely didn’t care.

Yes, she’d lied to him. Yes, being a cape was dangerous, and stupid, and something that he (and Annette, after her experience with Lustrum) was against because of all the issues wrought in society by ‘cape culture’, but Danny didn’t really mind all that much.

Taylor was a teenager. Teenagers lied to their parents, it was a fact of life. They kept secrets. They did dumb, dangerous shit. Danny was just glad that Taylor’s dumb shit wasn’t drugs or a teen pregnancy, and that her actions clearly came from a place of wanting to help.

Plus, with how dangerous the city could be, knowing that his little girl had superpowers was a bit of a relief, to be honest.

So, no, Danny hadn’t really cared all that much about Taylor’s cape business… right up until two PRT agents showed up at his door.

“And what is this investigation?” Danny asked, fishing for information.

“We’re not at liberty to discuss that,” Agent Wallis said.

Of course, you aren’t, Danny thought.

For a moment, he toyed with the idea of threatening to involve a lawyer, but he quickly discarded it.

Not only could he not afford one, he didn’t even know why exactly the PRT were here.

For all he knew, this visit had nothing to do with Taylor’s cape business specifically. For all he knew, they were only here because she’d (maybe even unwittingly) come in contact with some other cape at some point…

Danny’s thoughts ground to a halt as a sneaking suspicion rose in his mind.

He thought back to everything Taylor had told him about that Vinsmoke character that had brought her home, sparse as it had been, then he stared at the two agents on his doorstep.

“Why are you really here?” he asked, using the tone of voice he’d mastered over the years when he needed to tell someone “I know there’s more to this” without actually having to say those words.

The agents stared at him, then at each other. Whatever silent conversation passed between them, their agreement was clear (Danny felt a slight pang of yearning for the days when he had someone he could communicate with in that way).

Agent Wallis pulled out one of those new, fancy phones that were all screen and showed him a picture; “Do either of you recognize this individual?”

Behind him, Taylor growled, and Danny, with the deepest feeling, muttered; “Fuck me.”