Feb 17, 2018
#1,721
Lisa was tired. Scratch that, she was well beyond tired. She fell right off exhaustion mountain, crashed through the tree-line of weariness, and plowed face first into the bog of lethargy. Fuck she was so tired. After she was done dealing with PR bullshit she was going to sleep for a year.
Jaya's apartment had been commandeered as Vanguard's base of operations. Not professional, sure, but frankly Lisa couldn't give a damn at present. The fact that the horrible clutter might inconvenience Jaya was just a bonus.
And what a clutter it was. Letters, from fans and media outlets, job offers, random requests, if you could put it on paper Lisa probably had it in the room. And it was her job to sort through it.
Lovely.
She was roughly two pornographic photos away from dumping the whole pile into a wood chipper. She hadn't even started going through the voicemails.
A clunk from Jaya's front door signaled someone's arrival. Taylor stepped into the room, pocketing her spare key and looking remarkably annoyed. Her eyes met Lisa's and the irritation on her face vanished, instead flickering through half a dozen variations of amusement as she visibly held in laughter.
"Hey Lisa." Taylor said, the corner of her mouth twitching frantically. "You look... frazzled."
Frazzled was an accurate description. Lisa had barely slept more than a few hours since the Leviathan fight and it showed. Not because of nightmares, mind, (she'd been inoculated to horrible shit for a while now) but rather the sheer amount of work there was to do. Over the past two days she'd been knocking things off her to-do list with the kind of speed one might find in a hyper-caffeinated hummingbird.
Snatch up property damaged in Leviathan's attack, check.
Budget money towards 'hero stuff', check.
Create a Vanguard web page with contact information, check.
Register with the Protectorate, check.
Acquire 143 lbs of mail dropped off at local PRT for Vanguard FROM BROCKTON BAY ALONE, check.
Sort through huge pile of mail, IN PROGRESS.
Not to mention, Lisa still needed to work on making Jaya politically correct. Somehow. She couldn't snub reporters forever, and when someone finally managed to stick a camera in Jaya's face, Lisa needed to have a bulletproof script ready for the belligerent girl to recite.
All in all, Lisa was worn to the bone, and thrilled for any excuse to procrastinate.
"Taylor!" she exclaimed, forcing energy into her voice. "What a wonderful surprise! I thought you were hanging out with your dad?"
"I was." Taylor replied, her face darkening slightly. "We got into a bit of an argument though, so I came here."
"Oh, damn. Do you want to talk about it?" Save me from this tedium Taylor. Lisa glanced around, looking for empty space. A gentle nudge toppled a stack of papers off her couch.
Taylor glanced over the catastrophe that was Catalyst's room. The skepticism in her tone was not well hidden. "You look pretty busy. I don't want to intrude-"
"No!" Lisa frantically dragged Taylor towards the couch. "By all means, intrude!"
"Okay okay, just, calm down." Taylor plopped down, and was immediately swallowed by Lisa's couch. "Ohh." Comfy softness wrapped around her like a marshmallow blanket.
Lisa was very jealous.
Hungry too.
She focused on those feelings. They acted like ballasts, keeping her afloat in a metaphorical ocean of sleep deprivation. If she let her attention slip she'd sink to the bottom, fall into the murky depths of dreamless sleep. She needed focus, or something to-
Taylor was talking.
"-and he's been listening to these talk shows that are, just, really negative. It's not like him. I think the Merchant attack rattled him more than he wants to admit. He keeps, like, subtly mentioning that we can afford to move cities, as if that's something I would ever want!"
"He's just scared." Lisa said, after blearily consulting her power. "He realized that he can't protect you, so he's doing the next best thing."
"Yeah, because I'd somehow be safer away from Jaya." Taylor rolled her eyes.
"In some ways you might be." Lisa admonished. "Jaya, she's a target now. Just being her teammates will make us targets too. I've been making plans to protect us better, and I think Jaya has some ideas of her own, but the risk is always there."
Taylor nodded, grimacing. "He mentioned that too. He said-" she paused for a moment, hugging her arms around herself, "he said that you didn't need me for Vanguard, that it would be better if I left it to you two. He said that I could do just as much good in a less dangerous city."
"That's- what?" Lisa blinked several times at the sheer inaccuracy of that statement. "That's just not even close to true. We absolutely need you if this team is going to go anywhere."
Taylor shrugged, saying, "You don't need to lie to me, Lisa. I'm nowhere near as powerful as Jaya, and I'm not nearly as good at managing things as you. I know I'm not as useful, it's okay."
"It's not about that!" Lisa said, stomping her feet a bit in frustration. This point was essential for Taylor to understand. If she ran off, Lisa would be stuck dealing with all this work alone. "What exactly do you think me and Jaya would've done, with the powers she has, the fortune that I made, if you weren't around?"
She threw both hands into the air like an enthusiastic referee. "Nothing! Nothing helpful or constructive at least! I'm not capable of pushing Jaya into doing good deeds by myself. I'm not that kind of person and we don't have that kind of relationship."
"This whole, y'know," Lisa flapped her hand at the room, at stacks of letters piled to the ceiling, "hero thing, we wouldn't have done it without you. We can't do it without you. Jaya, she doesn't really get altruism. She probably would've cleaned up parts of the city out of sheer annoyance but nothing in the spotlight. And I would've been, maybe not happy, but content to run what was left of Coil's organization. This is your show, Taylor. Jaya and I, we're your friends and we'll help you, but we need you to give us direction. What is it that you want to accomplish?"
Taylor made a face. "I know Jaya wasn't all that into it to start with, but she's been so gung ho lately about advertising. I just, well I thought she might've changed her mind at some point."
Lisa swept the rest of the clutter off her couch. Papers fluttered to the ground, settling in a scattered heap. She took a seat. Ohh it was so comfy.
"She's committed now. I'm committed. I mean, do you think I'd do this," a weak, sweeping gesture, nearly tipping over another pile of letters, "if I wasn't? But you should be the lead on this. You shouldn't be waiting for Jaya to take the lead because she can't, not in any constructive way at least, and you shouldn't be waiting for me to take the lead because I won't. I'm stressed enough just dealing with the press."
Lisa leaned in, wrapping Taylor in a loose half-hug. The blonde's face was squished against Taylor's shoulder, her words a sort of drowsy mumble.
"We won't get mad. We won't think you're, I dunno, usurping our authority or something. And it's not like you haven't bullied Jaya into doing something before. So. What do you want?"
"That was different." Taylor's voice was quiet, hesitant. It lacked the confidence Lisa knew it could possess. "I want... I've always wanted to be a hero, you know? I thought I'd be like Alexandria, flying around and punching out the bad guys. So, when I got powers- being a hero, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I never really thought about it past that. And it's been great. Really great. I thought we were making a difference. But I can't stop feeling like-"
A pause, a shaky breath. A slow start, but words spilled out with growing fervor.
"I want to help. I want this- this stupid world to make sense. There are things that are just, they're just wrong and it's so obvious and nobody is doing anything. And, okay, maybe the good guys just didn't have the- I dunno, the resources or, or the power or the fucking authorization to do anything, but it just feels like a numbers game where people, good people who are just trying to live get shat on and I want it to stop!"
She stood, prying herself free from Lisa's hug, and started pacing. Each angry word was punctuated by a frenzied hand gesture. She conducted her rant like an orchestra.
"Dad keeps watching all these news reports, these experts on television who keep talking about how bad things are going to get, how dangerous having Jaya in the city will be. Talking about how strong capes attract strong capes, and- and how new villains and new gangs will come here to fill the holes and then things will be back to how they were, like nothing that happened even mattered at all!"
Taylor ran her hands through her hair, gripping at the roots in frustration, dark locks cascading down her face.
"And the worst part, the worst part is I think they're right. These- these villains, it's like, like Skidmark and Squealer and Mush, they don't think, they don't care that they are destroying lives- or, or maybe they think they're invincible or untouchable or just above everyone else. I mean, Jaya killed a fucking Endbringer! And, and what? These people are just gonna show up and try to fight her? Start a new gang or, or kill some civilians to get her attention? Maybe challenge her to a duel or something equally insane?"
Taylor stopped pacing, unclenching her hands and expelling an angry breath. She looked to Lisa, her face pleading.
"How do- how do you even deal with that? How can you stop that? That's what I want. I want it to stop. We, we won." She gestured between herself and Lisa. "Us and New Wave and the PRT, we won, we beat the villains. They're all gone! Why won't they just stay gone!?"
She collapsed back onto the sofa, panting slightly with exertion and anger.
"That's what I want."
Lisa gently, so gently, leaned forward and put a hand on Taylor's back. She smiled at the younger girl, rubbing her hand in soothing circles.
"You know," Lisa began, speaking slowly and with great care, "we can't fix the whole world. Not even Jaya can do that."
"She wouldn't do it even if she could." Taylor grumbled, settling into a more relaxed state. "Too lazy."
"This is true."
"That's okay. I think I can live with that. It wouldn't be fair to make her do it anyway."
"Mmhmm."
"Just the city then." Taylor said with conviction. "We can fix the city, fix it perfectly, and keep it that way."
She turned to Lisa, a hopeful expression brightening her face.
"That's what Vanguard will do. We'll make Brockton Bay an example for everyone else to follow. We'll show everyone it can be done. Then, maybe, things will get better."
Nailed it. Job done, friend comforted, Lisa melted back into the couch. The sun was high in the sky and a ray of light was warming her legs to perfect nap temperatures.
"Yeah." Lisa muttered, closing her eyes and drifting away. "Maybe they will."