Second Sin: Little Red and The Wolf (Pt. 2)- Asking For Nightwatch's Aid

--- Mercer ---

(I’m starting to wonder if this was a good idea…) He sighed to himself as he kept walking.

While taking Scarlet and Bell with him had eased whatever issues Scarlet had with him leaving them behind, he’d forgotten to take one point into consideration with that decision. Namely that while Scarlet had a number of physical enhancements that allowed her to keep pace with him even with his grapplers letting him swing around, Bell had none of those same enhancements and they had to quickly double back before even leaving the block.

Meaning that if it had been just him and Scarlet they could’ve taken the rooftops and just rushed to their destinations getting to where he wanted quickly and hopefully get a fair bit done while DeWolf was passed out on his couch. Unfortunately, because he brought Bell along they were spending a lot longer than he wanted just getting to his contact unseen. Something that was a necessity given how far out of the Way they were at the moment.

(I should be glad that she’s at least able to run for this long without tiring herself out.) He told himself. (Still if we’re going to be moving like this we’re going to have to figure something out, because I’ve carried enough people to know that swinging with one arm long term is not a good idea even if I fully repair my grapplers.)

He’d pulled and dislocated his shoulders more than enough times to drive that point home.

Spotting a nearby car pulling over he stopped the girls, “Right, we’re here.”

“And where is here?” Scarlet asked, looking around.

“The home of the city’s best informant.” He answered, looking upwards before turning towards Bell and holding his arm out. “Come here for a second, we need to get to the rooftop.”

Bell glanced at Scarlet briefly before getting close enough for him to get a grip on her.

He turned to Scarlet and gestured towards the roof. “Think you can make your own way up?”

Scarlet looked up before nodding, “Easy.” At which point she leapt far further than he ever could and started scaling the building.

Turning back to the teen next to him and explaining, “Okay, I’m going to fire a line at the roof ledge there and pull us up, but what I’m going to need you to do is when we get close to the roof’s edge pull yourself up without me, because I’m going to need both arms to do myself.” (At least until I get those motors fixed.)

“A-alright.” Bell nodded nervously.

With that explained he fired a line and began pulling them towards the rooftop, a feat that took far longer than he preferred as his grappler’s single motor struggled to pull them both.

Once near the ledge, he helped Bell over it as best he could, largely just handing her to Scarlet who’d beaten them on the way up. Thus freeing himself to climb the rest of the way himself.

“Alright, now this person works with the Vigils so I’m going to need you to stay up here while I talk to them.” He warned the girls. “The last thing we want is it getting back to Vigilance that the two of you are running with me.”

“So what more waiting around?” Scarlet frowned.

“Yes.” He smiled back as he gestured to the space around them. “Only this time you’re doing it outside. Making it a completely different experience.”

The teenager was far less amused by that than him.

He rolled his eyes before sighing. “Look I can get in without setting off any alarms, but if a Malcontent tried to break into this place then their scanners would flag every Vigil and all of them would drop whatever they’re doing and rush over here, and unfortunately we can’t outrun them.”

He made sure Scarlet noticed him glancing towards Bell despite making sure the meeker teen didn’t see.

Scarlet growled before breaking eye contact with a huff.

(Yeah, going to need to find somewhere to channel that aggression before the night ‘s over.)

Shaking his head as he added another item to his growing list of things to do, he ducked around the girls and made his way to the building’s ‘Mask Entrance’ just a little bit away.

Normally this secret entrance was all but inaccessible to anyone who wasn’t a Vigil, and despite once upon a time being on decent terms with them, he most certainly didn’t have the access credentials that the Vigils used to get in and out of their various safehouses throughout the city.

Or rather he wasn’t supposed to have the access credentials given how they’d never actually scanned him into the system.

What none of the Vigils had realized was that there was a very slight security bug with said system. A bug that despite having some of the world’s greatest detectives and hackers the Vigils just could not find. No matter how many times they went over the system, updated it, or even completely reworked it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Largely because there wasn’t actually a bug in the system, but rather two overlapping functions of the system giving him both a backdoor and auto-deleting any records of its use.

Of course if they ever discovered just what the backdoor he was using was, he’d be completely fucked on every level. Honestly the only reason he’d started using it in the first place was because back before his fallout with Vigilance he’d been hoping someone would catch it so he could mess with them. But when that whole situation went bad, he decided that after using the backdoor for so many years it wasn’t really a risk anymore and started using it to steal anything Vigilance didn’t nail down.

Regardless, as the hidden entrance closed behind him he made sure his helmet was properly secure, while briefly regretting the fact that he hadn’t had time to install the LEDs to have his insignia appear with a flex of his face. (Eh, intimidation would probably be a bad idea here anyway.)

Given how the entire building was wired with enough surveillance equipment that beyond covering the entrance’s external camera with tape (the kind that left glue residue you’d have to scrape off after removing) there was no point in trying to hide his invasion as he calmly walked into the kitchen, stole a soda (admittedly a flavor he hated but he was committed to his bit), and made his way back into the living room where he sprawled out on the couch just in time to crack the soda can as the floor elevator opened.

The living room lights flashed on as a woman in a wheelchair pointed a gun at him.

“Really, is that any way to greet an old friend?” He asked, in a mocking tone just to get under her skin, because even if he was here to ask for her help he was going to do everything in his power to mess with her.

“Mercer.” Kinsley Kennedy said, not bothering to lower her gun.

“Kin-Ken.”

They both knew he was smiling under his helmet.

They also both knew she wouldn’t actually shoot.

“Why are you here?” Kinsley asked, not bothering to question how he’d once again managed to infiltrate one of the most secure locations in the city in under five minutes flat.

“Got a line on something, but some of the details are sketchy.” He admitted, before adjusting his helmet so that he could take a sip of her (disgusting) favorite drink.

Kinsley’s eyes narrowed and he rolled his.

“It’s something that’s been going on throughout the city but somehow has flown under your watchful Vigilance.” He elaborated, purposely wording it in a way that was a jab at her and the old man. “Normally I’d leave you to your incompetence, but it’s hit the Way and we both know I won’t stand for that.”

“Funny way of asking for help.” Kennedy told him.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out the files DeWolf had given him on his way out before dropping the stack on the living room table with an audible thud. “Apparently there were a good twenty-three kids who didn’t get it in time.”

The more law abiding hero frowned before finally lowering her gun and making her way over.

He let her shift through the papers at her own pace, knowing that despite how quickly she was going through them she was picking up far more than he would going over it in thrice the amount of time.

“They’re looking for a female Arcane around ten, likely blonde, caucasian.” Kinsley told him after but a moment. “This points to Covenant but they aren’t for kidnapping kids, and doing so would tick off a lot of both their clientele and their members. You’re right in something not adding up here.”

“And since whatever this is has been city wide, I figured who better to ask for help than the city’s Big Sister.” He explained with a gesture towards her.

Kinsley scoffed at that before making her way to a nearby snow globe and pressing down on it, causing it to glow with a number of lights that would cover up the fact that it was scanning her palm print should anyone else try the same.

A nearby wall shifted and parted similarly to how his own arsenal vaults would, only instead of revealing a number of weapons and armor it revealed a large monitor and a keyboard that sprung out from the wall.

“I’ll have to update the system after this, even if the cases were closing, so many happening so close together shouldn’t have slipped under our radar.” Kennedy admitted. “The fact that it did and they’re returning them this fast is a sign that someone figured something out in the alert algorithm.”

“If they’re smart enough to keep track of it.” He agreed with a bit of skepticism. “In all likelihood Covenant or whoever is doing this was just trying to come off small and harmless enough to slip under the radar. Avoiding the algorithm was likely more luck than anything else.”

“Maybe.” Kennedy told him with a level of disdain that showed her trademark Vigil paranoia wouldn’t let her agree. “I’m guessing you don’t want Vigilance to know about this until the case is closed.”

“You want to let him know you’re helping me with this?” He asked as an answer.

Kinsley grimaced, likely understanding how poorly that would go for everyone involved.

“Do you know where a Covenant base is?” His fellow vigilante asked, knowing that he probably did but offering to point him towards one if he didn’t.

“I know where the one in the Way is.” He nodded. “If it is Covenant and they’re operating in the Way, someone there will know.”

“Good then I’ll let you know if and when I find anything about why they're doing this.” Kinsley assured him as she offered him a comm. “Figure your old one was busted given the explosion in the way along with your new helmet and jacket.”

He paused, thrown for a moment. Not by the fact that she knew his helmet and jacket were new -(She’s a Vigil spotting that much is a given.)- but rather by the fact that she was offering him the comm at all.

His relationship with all of the Vigils was… fucked to put it politely. The only reason he was willing to ask Kennedy for help is because she was the most professional in a non-Vigilance-is-an-asshole kind of way and would prioritize the children over their differences. (Though he had no doubt she’d call Vigilance the moment he killed someone on this mission.)

The fact that she was offering him the comm was, not quite a sign of trust, but of a willingness to work together that he hadn’t been expecting from her. (From Safeguard maybe, but not her…)

Under normal circumstances he’d take the comm and test the waters to see if she was serious about this or just testing his sanity for Vigilance. If it was the former then he might be willing to work with her more in regards to keeping the Way safe, in the same way he let Safeguard and Swansong cross into the way whenever there was a ‘Hell Night’ (and only when there is a Hell Night). And if it was the latter, well he’d burned his bridges with the Vigils so kicking over a single plank wasn’t going to cost him a second thought.

The big problem though, was the fact that he had two Malcontent he was hiding from the Vigils with him, putting him fairly far from normal circumstances.