Ethan wasn’t looking forward to sitting in on the Wards meeting. This would mark Triumph’s last before the torch was officially passed to Aegis, though in practice Aegis has been handling them for the last month in every capacity that mattered. Though he didn’t enjoy listening to teens trying to pretend to be adults, it was still better than one of Colin’s stilted briefings, never mind the Director…
Still, he was getting paid for it, and at least Clockblocker could prove to be entertaining at times, Ethan could tutor the boy, but he just never got enough time with the Wards. He blamed Colin for that, always keeping them at arm’s reach, treating them like just another tool to be exploited, and the Director went along with it every time.
He’d filed complaints, and all it ever got him was an option to transfer to St. Louis, without his wife. He just had to grit his teeth and soldier on, regardless of how much he might regret swapping to heroics, because winning Samantha’s heart made it all worth it. She was the sole bright spot in his life and if a shitty job was the price to pay for that, he would do so a thousand times over no matter how much he disagreed with certain national practices. Lustrum hadn’t deserved the Cage, after all…
He passed by Dauntless and Militia, giving both a nod as they left for a short patrol. It was pointless of course, simply to show the colors to those that tended to donate the most money, which meant passing through downtown then looping through the Boardwalk before coming back to base. He’d done that same patrol route dozens of times, it was always uneventful by design and the gangs never messed with it.
Well, Skidmark tried once, but that was more so because he thought Velocity was trying to take Squealer from him because he had a vibrate function, which Ethan had to swear to never mention to Clockblocker on pain of death. He was still holding onto that favor for a rainy day because you never knew when you might need a shift covered.
Or just the next time Shawn went on one of his rants about Colin always holding him back from the fights that mattered. Dauntless was the rising star of the ENE, and Colin made it quite clear that he didn’t care one bit about helping him shine brighter. It was no secret that Colin was a glory hound, his last two fights with Lung demonstrated that. Ever since Lung kicked the entire team’s ass some six years past, Colin had made it his mission to take the dragon down.
Speaking of Dragons, he needed new teasing material for Colin’s totally not a girlfriend. Dragon might be with the Guild, but she was practically an unofficial member of the ENE with how often she tagged along even as just a voice in the ear.
Arriving at the basement meeting room, Ethan shook off those thoughts and braced himself for dealing with hormonal teens that were upset over mundane things. He timed his arrival down to the minute, having spent years around Colin making that trivial enough even without a visor readout telling him each step to take.
To be honest, he only did it because he thought the reactions to his arrival were hilarious, because for that fraction of a second they expect blue rather than red to step through the door. Sometimes it was the little things in life that made it worth it, like the way Sam’s lip twitched when he told a particularly clever pun, right before she smacked him.
Shaking his head, he opened the door to the meeting room, though it was not the reaction he was expecting, instead, Clockblocker was standing between Triumph and Kid Win, seemingly keeping the two from coming to blows over something. His expressions slipped into professional stoicism as he strode forward, putting on the same persona he did when facing down the Empire.
“Stand down, all of you!” He ordered, voice booming. The Wards flinched, save for Shadow Stalker who huffed, only taking a single step back but losing none of her iron determination. She was standing right behind Kid Win, her side in the argument clear. Gallant, Aegis, Vista and Triumph opposite them, with Clock in the middle, it was not a division he really expected. “Now, tell me what I just walked in on.”
“Loudmouth here was suggesting we go after ‘Cyber’ again,” Shadow Stalker said with a huff. “We were telling him why it was a stupid ass idea and we’re going to ignore it.”
“She’s a rogue,” Triumph said, his voice echoing in his helmet. “She needs to join the Wards before a gang gets to her.”
“She made it abundantly clear she isn’t joining,” Kid Win added, taking a step forward which saw Clock put a hand on Kid’s armor, ready to stop him in an instant. “Just drop it before she decides to come after us like we’re the villains, because to her, we are.”
Triumph started to say something, but Ethan could tell there was more to things than Kid had let on. If someone considered the heroes to be villains, there would be a reason behind that. He held up a hand, a single finger raised, cutting Triumph off.
“Kid, explain what you meant by that,” he said in his no nonsense voice. He hated to break it out on the Wards, but this situation seemed to require it. “That isn’t a claim you throw out on a whim, so explain to us why Cyber sees us as villains.”
“Armsmaster caused her trigger,” Kid Win said.
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Vista gasped, but he didn’t miss the different reactions across the room. Gallant and Triumph both flinched a second too late compared to Clockblocker and Aegis. His time as a villain made him aware that powers could be bought, add in both Gallant and Triumph coming from money in their civilian guises and it added up to something damning. They would never admit it, just like his own wife never would, but he was far from the fool he pretended to be.
“It’s true,” Shadow Stalker added. “Apparently Armsy is using the investigation into how I bullied the girl against her. He wants a hero for a hero, so as long as she doesn’t join, he won’t let them press charges against me for attempted murder.”
Ethan blinked. Just what the hell was going on with the Wards if not one person even flinched at that admission? Hell, Vista seemed to just accept it at face value. Strong arm recruitment tactics were nothing new for the Protectorate. Hell, he used them to get him a place with the heroes rather than a Birdcage sentence of his own.
“And your side?” he asked Triumph.
“She’s a Tinker that is no doubt going to be pressed by the gangs into joining.”
“So we should press her first?” Kid yelled.
Ethan held up a hand to Kid. “Not your turn. Triumph, explain how that makes us better than the villains if we resort to arguably worse tactics than them? The gangs could simply offer to have Stalker killed in civvies if they wanted her. Withholding justice is a shit tactic if you ask me.”
“Well, tell that to Armsmaster,” Shadow Stalker said. “Thanks for filling me in, Win. I’m gonna go take a week or three off. Give me a heads-up if they do manage to recruit her.”
Ethan watched Stalker walk away, wondering if they had lost a hero anyway. Despite whatever he felt about the subject, he doubted Shadow Stalker was ever supposed to hear about that deal, which made him wonder how she found out, or more accurately, how Kid Win found out.
Ethan turned back to Kid Win. “I take it you’ve talked to Cyber?”
“She attends Arcadia,” Kid Win admitted. “It’s not much of a secret, but she sits at the same table as Clock and I, along with Panacea. She told me she was a cape today, which I already knew, but she also admitted she knew who each Ward was. I think she has some sort of software that can link a cape to their civilian identity.”
That was… Shit, they had a dumpster fire on their hands at this point. Ethan wasn’t sure what was needed, but he knew what they couldn’t let happen.
“Alright, this meeting is done. No attempting to recruit the cape that rightfully has a grudge with the heroes. I’m going to find out what the hell is going on here, because this is just asking for trouble.”
Ethan didn’t care that the argument resumed behind him, he had questions to ask. Colin seemed to be at the heart of it, which meant he needed to gain support before attempting to get those answers. It would be all too easy to silence him if he were alone, but if he worked with others. First he needed to talk to Sam, get her on board, then maybe get Dauntless in their corner, leverage the feud between him and Colin to his advantage.
A short walk later, he stepped into an office. “Puppy, we got a problem.”
Samantha looked up from her paperwork, they were on a floor that required Parahuman identity clearance to even access, so she wasn’t masked. She was gearing up to yell at him, but his no doubt grim expression seemed to stop her in her tracks.
“Why do I have a feeling I’ll need a drink after this?” she asked, already reaching down into a drawer for her whiskey stash.
“Dunno,” he said with a shrug as he flopped into the spare chair. “Is ‘Armsy caused a teen girl to trigger by holding justice hostage’ a drink worthy offense?”
Samantha stared at him for a moment, slack jawed before she pulled the bottle from the drawer, took a long pull and passed it to him. He didn’t hit the bottle nearly as hard as she had, but he still drank.
“How the hell did that happen?” she asked after a moment.
Ethan shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, but Kid Win is apparently friends with her at Arcadia. She’s not shy about telling people about it either.”
“Who else knows?” she asked.
“Aside from Colin and the Wards? Not sure. I can’t imagine that the Director isn’t clued in either. I hate to consider that so many are complicit in this, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m going to talk to Shawn once he’s back from patrol and maybe Hannah as well. Could you pass word to Robin, frame it as idle gossip you overheard the Wards talking about?”
Sam took another pull from the bottle. “I hate office politics. This new director, I thought we couldn’t do worse than Piggot, but they’ve thoroughly proven there is no bottom to this barrel.”
“Never thought I would miss Piggy, but here we are,” Ethan agreed, taking the bottle. “May she rest in peace, but dammit would I kill for a necromancer cape right about now. She would have never let things get this bad.”
“Too true,” Sam said, groaning as she stood.
Ethan pulled some gum from his pocket, offering her a few pieces. “Keep your head down, Puppy, I don’t like the way this feels.”
“Hey, I trust you,” Sam said. “I’ll be careful.”
He pulled his wife into a hug, enjoying the way she practically melted in his embrace. “Be safe, Puppy and remember, patrol in an hour through downtown.”
“I will, and I know,” she whispered. “Well, time to see what we can figure out.”
The pair split up, each with their own task. They knew better than to check any official sources, not with Dragon being Colin’s all but wife these days. No, anything they learned would have to be done the hard way, ears to the ground and good old office gossip.
He just hoped they wouldn’t be too late in getting ahead of the looming disaster, because he really didn’t want to go back to his Madcap days.