In Which Taylor Has Her Cookies and Eats Them Too!

Director Tagg had grown up a military child. His father was a corporal and his mother an auxiliary nurse. He had visions of the America that was and the America that could be fed to him every day of his young life. When he grew old enough he joined the armed forces, then the PRT when the organization appeared in the '80s.

He was a career man, he was always the advocate for hard choices leading to a better tomorrow. And right now he was standing across a table from a fifteen year old girl who was so far out of her depth she should have been drowning. Instead she was floundering about with her pet Endbringers and ruining what little safety was left to the proud people of Brockton Bay.

"I, I didn't do anything like that!" Taylor Hebert said, her voice shaking with suppressed fear. He wanted to smile but suppressed the urge. He had to keep reminding himself that the ditzy girl sitting across from him had two weapons of mass destruction at her beck and call.

If she was going to slip under their control he needed to make her want their help. The PRT could protect her, could shelter and guide her. As things stood now, she was a menace and had to realise it.

"Oh, then let's go through your record, shall we?" He motioned at one of the troopers that had followed him in. The man handed him a beige file-folder which he slapped onto the desk. "May 16th. Reportedly the day after your trigger. You initiate a conflict with the Empire Eighty Eight and murder Kaiser, their leader."

"What? But that was an accident--"

"May 17th. After spending the morning with two known supervillains of the Undersiders gang, you harass the local rogue Parian. At noon you visit the PRT headquarters and are intercepted by Lung. You then proceed to order your... pet, to assault him leading to the destruction of some PRT property and the eventual capture of said parahuman after he was brutalised."

"What? He asked for a fight--"

"The very next day you assaulted the Rig, destroyed a million-dollar Tinkertech shield generator, then left before we could question you. That same afternoon your pet hit the city with a tsunami."

"Hey, that was for cleaning!"

Tagg glowered at her and flipped over a page. He couldn't let her take control of the conversation. She'd done it to Legend and Dragon before and they were both lost to her already. "You went quiet for a week during which the PRT and Protectorate were preparing a response to your previous actions, but before we had time to do anything, you broke your curfew to... go on a picnic. You encountered Jack Slash and were potentially compromised before leaving the scene. Reports indicate that you then murdered the parahumans known as Squealer, Skidmark and Mush of the Archer's Bridge Merchants."

"Well, they shouldn't have attacked me!" the girl yelled. She leaned forwards in her chair, and what little he could see of her face lost whatever joviality it usually held. There, she was getting angry. Now he had to pull back. Like reeling a fish in.

"Then the Simurgh showed up." Tagg slammed the file closed with enough force that the girl jumped in her seat. "You, and everyone else in this city, are compromised." Tagg rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Look kid, it's not looking great. I get that you're doing your best out there but you're still just a teenager with two WMDs following you. You need help." Yes. Let her see that he was actually on her side. It was a bait and switch that had worked for him before with other unstable parahumans.

The woman that had come with Tagg, Janice or some such, placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned forwards. "Sweetheart, we just want the best for you. You're far too young to be making any big decisions. Let the nice people in the PRT take care of everything. We're adults, we know best," she said.

Tagg glared at the woman. She was patronizing the kid. He might agree with the Youth Guard in this instance but that was no reason to talk to the cape as though she were a rambunctious ten-year-old.

Taylor pointed at her. "Who are you?"

The woman giggled and it sounded incredibly fake to Tagg's ear. "I'm just a concerned citizen. I represent the Youth Guard, the group that makes sure that all little ones with powers are treated with the care and attention they deserve."

He saw it arrive slowly. First she sat straighter, then her eyes narrowed under the folds of her hood and her mouth turned into a narrow line. "Mister Tagg, what do you want?"

"I want you in the Wards yesterday," he said.

"Why?"

He allowed himself to grin. "We can protect you from your own actions so far, and you could use the legal advice, girl."

Taylor shook her head. "That's not true. We both know that Simmy and Levi can protect me better than you could. I think you have another reason to want me in the Wards."

She was going on the offensive. The opposite of what he wanted.

The simpering woman next to Tagg pressed a hand over her heart. "Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't have to rely on those... monsters for your protection. We can help you."

Taylor Hebert paused for a few long seconds, then she shifted, turning from a girl in over her head into the Queen Administrator. She leveled a glare at the woman that should have had her writhing on the floor. Then she tried on a smile that made Tagg's spine tingle.

She was more astute than her file gave her credit for. He could still shift this into a win, he just needed time. "I want you in the Wards because you're a menace to everything right and good in this country."

The girl stared at him and he stared right back. "No. I don't think I want to be a Ward." There was a note of finality in her voice that left no room for negotiations.

He nodded, if only to himself. That route was closed. Or at least wouldn't be viable for a while. But there were other options. The Protectorate wouldn't like it but she could join them, or one of the military cape groups. It would give her the protection she needed, the control the government wanted, and some of the freedom she desired.

The door creaked as it opened. "Queen Administrator?" a tinny voice said and Tagg broke eye contact to take in the woman standing behind him. Dragon, in one of her smaller suits. Her armoured form walked in, then slid off to the side as though unconcerned about the Troopers in the room. Then again, they only had foam weapons and she was the woman who produced the stuff. "Director Tagg," she said. "Miss..."

"Oh, my name's Janice. Just Janice, Miss Dragon," the Youth Guard rep said.

"Dragon, what are you doing here? This interview is a PRT matter," he said.

Dragon's head tilted from him to Taylor and back. "Is it an interview or an interrogation?"

"Either way, it would be outside your jurisdiction," he said.

"I see." Dragon turned towards Taylor. "As the Director has no doubt informed you, if this is a legal interrogation, then you have the right to an attorney. Now, I have never represented anyone but myself before, but I think you'll find that I'm rather familiar with things pertaining to the legal system. I also have all the necessary documentation to serve as an attorney in this state. Do you want me to represent you?"

The Director huffed and stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. "This isn't an interrogation, just a friendly chat," he said.

"And little Taylor hardly needs you to help her," Janice said, her face twisting into another semblance of a smile. "She has us."

The phone on one corner of the table buzzed, then Tagg's voice came out of it. "You are currently under arrest for acts of terrorism, grand theft and treason against the United States of America, Miss Hebert." In his mind he was swearing.

Dragon stared at Tagg and Taylor's face twisted into an uncertain smile. "Certainly with such grave accusations you have a warrant on hand? Dispensation from the district attorney? Maybe a letter from someone that actually had the clout to level that sort of accusation against Miss Hebert?"

The Director's knuckles went white on the table. "Dammit Dragon, she's a menace," he growled. "We need to have her on our side. She needs our guidance."

Dragon ignored him and turned back to Taylor. "Seeing as how the good director seems to have made a somewhat... fluid accusation with no real legal backing I think congratulations are in order. You're a free woman," she said, her voice wry.

Taylor snorted but jumped to her feet. "Thanks for the save," she said before grabbing her phone and checking on it. The time was nearly four thirty on the screen, he noted. "I was going to give him another couple of minutes before leaving, but it was getting boring."

"You would have broken out of our custody?" Tagg asked. Would she have, or was it a bluff? Could he play the bluffing game with her? It had backfired just now, but not as badly as it might have. Legend's report was right about one thing: she was reasonable, in her own way.

Taylor shrugged. "I need to be home before five," she said as if it was self-evident. "I mean, if you weren't such a grumpy pants I might have listened more, but you're being really mean."

Tagg's face shifted through a few expressions and settled on neutral. He felt, if anything, like a man that had just made a gamble and lost. "Very well. You are free to go, Miss Hebert," he said. "Remember: you can't get away with everything."

Taylor walked past him then paused by the doorway. "You didn't get a lot of hugs, did you?" she asked the director's back.

That shouldn't have stung as much as it did.

***

"So, what was that?" Taylor asked.

"You need to understand, Taylor, that you scare a lot of people," Dragon said. "Some people react to fear by fighting back. I think Tagg is one of those."

Taylor huffed. "Well, he was a bit of a jerk."

[Shame. Unit-03 is to Blame.]

Taylor almost missed a step. "What?" she asked.

Dragon turned her way but Taylor couldn't read her past the helmet. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just..." Taylor waved at the side of her head. "Talking to Simmy."

"Oh?" Dragon said, and it was pitched exactly the way her mother used to speak when trying to get Taylor to confess to something.

Taylor nodded. "Um, if I'm talking to the air, it's not because I'm crazy, okay?"

Dragon laughed and nodded. "No worries. I've seen stranger powers, especially Stranger powers."

"Right, cool," Taylor said. She coughed to clear her throat. "Simmy, care to explain that last one?"

[Embarrassed. Used Mind-Manipulation on Organic 'James Tagg' under Previous Primary Directive. Turned Organic into Precognitive Bomb.]

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

With one hand pressed against her forehead, Taylor sighed. "How many of those do you have?"

[Many.]

"Well, snickerdoodles."

"What is it?" Dragon asked. They were nearing the exit now, with only a few guards and a pair of double doors between them and freedom.

Taylor waved her hand in a noncommittal gesture. "Tagg is a Simurgh bomb. Or whatever they're called. That, and some other bad news but I'm not sure what to think about that yet."

Dragon, showing a surprising amount of restraint, didn't say anything until they were outside again. "I'll see what I can do about Tagg. I didn't appreciate what he was trying to do in there, but I can see why they would want you on their side. Now more than ever."

"Yeah, I get it, I'm a teensy bit scary."

Dragon laughed. "A bit, yes." She placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Be careful, okay? And if anyone bothers you again, feel free to call me."

Taylor looked at the hand on her shoulder, then up at Dragon. She felt her eyes watering a little but blinked it away. "Alright," she said in what was almost a whisper.

"Oh, and Taylor," Dragon said. She reached down to her side and an opening popped up on her suit. "Your cookies. I think you deserve them."

Taylor grinned as she took the warm paper bag from Dragon's clawed hand. "Thanks!"

Maybe, she thought, the day had been pretty good after all. She watched Dragon back away then take to the sky.

"Oh, crud, I forgot Cass!"

***

"How did it go?" Piggot asked. She was leaning back into an aluminium chair in what passed for her office now that the local PRT HQ was in ruins.

Tagg hesitated. "It... could have gone worse."

One of Piggot's eyebrows rose. "Oh, do tell how attacking the walking disaster didn't work out for you?" The sarcasm was thicker than syrup.

He glared. "You know as well as I that it was a calculated risk."

"You must be very bad at math," she said. "You never trapped her, Tagg. She will only ever be trapped if she wants to be. She was humouring you."

"Tsk, with all due respect, Piggot, that's bullshit," he said. "We need her to see things our way and that won't happen if she spends her days gallivanting around and having picnics with her pet Endbringers."

Piggot leaned onto her elbows and crossed her fingers one over the other. It was the woman's equivalent of slamming her fist on the table. "Tagg, you might want her under your thumb. You might want her acting like a proper dog of the government, and trust me, I can understand the desire. But I would rather have her organize tea parties every day for the next century than to have her turn around one day and bite the hand holding her collar. She's a force of nature. You don't chain those, you learn to lean against the wind and live on."

He got up and started pacing. "I don't like it."

Piggot growled then pulled out a stack of paperwork, dismissing him as she did so. "Fucking live with it, Tagg."

***

Taylor made it to the hill in record time thanks to the Simurgh carrying her over while Leviathan took to the streets. She had been a little reluctant about the whole flying thing at first, but now she thought she might be a little bit addicted to it.

They landed to find that Cass was already there, packing up the blanket which she'd folded into the basket that the Dallon sisters had brought along. Around that was a dozen plastic bags, most still filled with uneaten food. "'Bout time you showed up," Cass said.

"Heh, sorry about that. The PRT were being big meanies," Taylor said. She moved to help Cass, then ran into a bit of a problem when she realised she was still holding the bag with Dragon's cookies. She opened it up with a crackle of unfolding paper. "So, you still looking for a place to stay?"

"Depends, what did you have in mind if I said yeah?"

Taylor shrugged, then pulled out what looked like a picture-perfect chocolate chip cookie from the bag. "We don't really have a guest room at my place, but there's a couch, and we have one of those air mattresses. It'd be like a sleepover! And, not to brag or anything, but my house is pretty darn safe."

Cass looked at her two Endbringer buddies and snorted. "Yeah, alright. Just for a couple of nights, until I can find something on my own."

"That's fine," Taylor said. She smiled at Cass, then sank her teeth into the cookie.

Her world froze.

The cookie was still warm to the touch and soft, so soft. Her teeth sank through with only the barest of crunches, just enough that the flavour of it exploded into her mouth. Then her tongue touched one of the chips which promptly melted into a tiny ball of happiness. She swallowed, then almost compulsively took another bite.

The second bite was better than the first. She felt tears in the edges of her eyes and when she sniffed to clear them her sense of smell was taken over by the irresistible aroma of eau-de-cookie.

"You alright?" Cass asked.

Taylor tilted the bag towards her friend, wanting to share. But a small voice in the back of her mind started screaming. If Cass took a cookie, it said, then that was one less cookie for her. She pushed past it, waiting for her friend to grab one of the cookies, sniff it, then bite.

Cass paused. "Oh."

"I have milk at home," Taylor said.

They broke the sound barrier.

***

Danny Hebert arrived at home just a little bit tired. It had been a long day where he juggled not only his usual workload, but that of a few others. There was plenty of work to go around, which was about the only good thing he could say about the last week.

He took off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch, then shucked off his muddy boots. Immediately, he felt himself grow lighter now that the coat was off and his feet ached with pleasure at being freed.

"Taylor?" he called.

"Mmm," came the rather indistinct reply.

Curious, he followed the sound towards the kitchen and paused by the entrance.

Taylor was there, sitting at the table across from a girl wearing a Panacea T-shirt and what looked like nurse pants. On the table, a jug of milk had been pushed aside to make room for a brown paper bag that had been placed on its side. Two half-empty mugs of milk sat before each girl.

His daughter was wearing her costume, he noticed, the strange robe made of a hundred tassels of multicoloured cloth. The hood was off, so he could see her dazed expression and the way she was squirming, thighs rubbing together under the table.

"Taylor?"

"Mmm? Daddy?"

"Yes Taylor, it's me," he said. He started picking up the cups, then the paper bag which he sniffed experimentally. It smelled like cookies, and not the special kind. He was a little worried that his sweetheart would fall into bad habits.

"Oh, dad, that's Cass. Can she stay over?" Taylor said.

He took in the girl in her rather poor state of dress and the way she was snoring softly, her face pressed against the kitchen table. "Sure thing, Taylor. How was your day?"

Taylor perked up at that, then started recounting what was probably an edited version of her adventures. He smiled as he listened to her prattle on.

***

It was a subdued pair of girls that made their way upstairs. Both of them were smacking their lips, chasing after the memory of a taste. Finally, they made it to Taylor's room and the girl in question led the way in.

"So, uh, I've got extra blankets and I think we have a pillow somewhere," Taylor said. She started rummaging in her closet until she found the blankets and tossed them on her bed. Meanwhile, Cass was still taking in Taylor's room.

Taylor wasn't super proud of her room. It was mostly a place to store her clothes and books and a place to take a nap. When she was younger and Emma was still Emma, this was a wonderful place where she could laugh and have fun. Now it was just another room.

"What's this?" Cass asked. She lifted a notebook from Taylor's nightstand. It had a doodle on the front of a chibi Leviathan with his mouth wide open with the word 'rawr' written next to him, and on his shoulder was a cartoony Taylor in her Queen Administrator costume.

"Oh, that's nothing," Taylor said. She slid towards Cass and took the book before rubbing the cover with a thumb. She opened her nightstand drawer and pushed it in. "Anyway, I found a pillow. I hope you don't mind the floor?"

Cass shrugged. "I've had worse, trust me. It's warm and soft enough, I'll live."

The girls spent a few minutes arranging things, then Cass stepped out to let Taylor change into her PJs before Taylor let her borrow a T-shirt and some jogging shorts to sleep in. Soon enough both of them were laying down and staring at the ceiling.

"Man, I could really use another cookie," Cass said.

They both started giggling into the darkness. "Do you think they're Tinkertech?"

"Had to be," Cass said. "Maybe that's Dragon's specialty. Tinkertech cooking. Her other stuff is from all the Tinkers she kidnaps and locks in her Canadian dungeon where she promises to feed them cake to keep them happy."

Taylor nodded. "That makes perfect sense." They both giggled a bit more, and Taylor shifted so that she could see over the edge of her bed. "Thanks," she said.

"For what?"

Taylor had to think on it for a few seconds, but in the end honesty was easier. "For being a friend. You and Simmy and Levi."

{Unit-02 Accepting Designation 'Friend' from Host-Queen_Administrator. Adding Exception to Genocide Protocols.}

[Joy! Preparing Creation of Friendship-Affirming Jewelry 'Bracelet.']

Cass snorted. "You're such a dork, Tay."

Taylor grinned as she shifted to stare up again.

"So," Cass asked. "What're we up to tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm supposed to go to school, but..."

"But it sounds lame as fuck after today?"

Taylor nodded. "Don't swear. But yeah, pretty much. And school's... not a nice place for me."

"Oh."

Taylor swallowed past the lump forming in her throat. "Yeah. I had a friend once, Emma. And she was great. But she, she turned on me. I don't know what happened, but now she hates me, I think. And she goes to Winslow too, you know? She's kinda the queen bitch."

Cass made a grunting noise, then spoke up. "You should go."

"What?"

"You should go," she repeated. "Are you the same as you were two weeks ago?"

"No, not really."

Taylor could almost hear the vicious grin in Cass's voice. "Then go, and show them who they're dealing with from now on. There can only be one Queen, Taylor, and I'm pretty sure that's you."

That night, Taylor fell asleep, her mind percolating on some very interesting ideas.

***