#1,897
Taylor fidgeted impatiently, smoothing the folds in her costume for the umpteenth time. She glanced towards the clock on the wall, double-checking the time. Five minutes to go. A quick and literal buzz of the bedroom showed Lisa still fast asleep, snoring quietly, a pair of large headphones covering her ears. She'd likely be asleep for several more hours, if not the rest of the day.
Taylor tasked another dozen roaches to clearing out the cluttered apartment, little backpacks of silk letting them haul the papers across the room on their backs or pulled along by thin ropes. With any luck the place would be clear by the time her guest arrived. Lisa had talked to Panacea the day before, working out the details of this little meeting.
Jaya was running around somewhere in the city, doing what she called 'final preparations' for the press conference they would hold tomorrow. Lisa had proclaimed, shortly before passing out, that Jaya needed to be anywhere other than her apartment when Amy Dallon came by. It was a reasonable request. Jaya came on too strong and too strange for most people, even the girl herself recognized that. So, she left, but not before giving Taylor a wish list of things to ask the healer; a list that common sense told Taylor to carefully edit. Somehow, Taylor didn't think Panacea would be immediately amenable to making all current and future members of Vanguard bulletproof or giving them super strength. The list only got stranger from there. Why did Jaya want a Volkswagen Beetle, and why did she think Panacea could make one out of bugs? Questions for the future, Taylor supposed.
Two minutes left. Flies buzzed around the entrances of the building, tagging people walking in and out. It was calming, a simple repetitive exercise to soothe her nerves, to reassure herself. She could do this. She wasn't recruiting, or interviewing, or hammering out any specific sort of deal. It would be a simple, casual conversation with the most famous healer on the planet, about maybe perhaps associating with Vanguard in the future pretty please.
Taylor tugged at her costume again. She was happy with it, the protection that it offered, but couldn't help but feel awkward wearing it inside her friend's apartment. Really, having the meeting here at all felt unnatural, but they didn't have all that many options. Lisa had said something about owning property elsewhere, but nothing was suitable for this sort of meeting. Not yet, at least. In the meantime, Taylor would do her best to make Panacea feel comfortable and welcome. With that in mind, the lower part of her mask was removed for this meeting - it left her mouth bare and allowed her expressions to show. It wasn't much of a concession, given the almost antihero-esque design of her costume, but it might soften the overall impact. Taylor had that idea all on her own.
A girl exited the elevator on Taylor's floor, and started walking towards Jaya's apartment. Her build fit Amy Dallon's, but she wasn't wearing the healer's trademark hooded robe. A few flies nestled themselves in frizzy brown hair as the girl stopped outside Jaya's apartment. Taylor walked quietly to the peephole, glancing through it as the girl pulled out a crumpled business card and frowned. An apartment probably wasn't what she was expecting, even one as upscale as this. Lisa did love her luxury. Between Coil's apparently insane fortune and Jaya's ability to literally make gold (something Taylor was still wrapping her head around), Vanguard would never lack resources.
The girl's face tilted up, and Taylor got her first look at Amy Dallon.
She looked like shit. Her eyes were bloodshot, visible even through the tiny peephole, and had dark circles beneath them. She looked remarkably like Lisa did just a few hours ago. Her clothes were more formal than Taylor expected. A fancy vest over a button down blouse tucked into black slacks. The outfit was clearly high quality, though the girl looked awkward in it. Taylor watched her frown towards the apartment number, looking down once again to double-check where Taylor assumed the girl had written Vanguard's address. She seemed to be almost psyching herself up, bobbing her head up and down and mumbling something the bugs in her hair couldn't make out. Taylor's confidence grew with every frantic motion the girl made.
This was no social butterfly like Lisa, there would be no subtle mind games to look out for or verbal traps to dodge. Nor was she a wrecking ball like Jaya, who would happily seize control of the conversation if given half a chance. No, this girl was downright uncomfortable with the idea of meeting a stranger. Taylor knew the feeling well, and it was her job to make the girl feel welcome. With that in mind, the bugs within the apartment went scurrying away, hiding inside vents and drawers and furniture.
Room clear, Taylor unlocked the door and swung it open.
"Hello!" she said with as much cheer as she could muster and a wide smile. Panacea froze like a deer in headlights, her eyes quickly scanning Taylor's costume and visibly coming to several false conclusions.
"I'm Weaver, a member of Vanguard." Taylor said quickly, fighting off the urge to slump. "Fidelis is resting right now, so I'll be handling your meeting."
Taylor stuck out a gloved hand, still maintaining her smile. "It's an honor to meet you."
The shock on Panacea's face slowly morphed to irritation, perhaps at herself or perhaps Taylor. "Weaver. Right, I've heard of you. I'm Amy Dallon, sometimes called Panacea. You can call me Amy." She took Taylor's hand robotically, like she'd practiced the act a thousand times and still wasn't particularly fond of it. After an awkward pause, she let go, and Taylor waved her inside.
Taylor took the recliner, gesturing for Amy to take the couch. Jaya literally had the best furniture in existence. Taylor secretly suspected there were some power shenanigans going on somewhere, because nothing should be this comfy. A softly muttered "Oh my god." from Amy as she sat down only reinforced that belief.
They both took a moment to enjoy the softness.
"Alright, to business!" Taylor proclaimed, clapping her hands together. "From what Fidelis told me, you were thinking about some sort of business partnership with us?"
"That's, uh, an accurate if misleading description." Amy replied hesitantly. "Look I- Recently I decided that I need a change of scenery, so I'm moving out of, uh, my parents' house. Aunt Sarah, Lady Photon, she said I could live with her if I wanted, but I'm thinking I want a place of my own, just, away from things."
"A change of scenery," Taylor repeated, nodding. "Yeah, I get that. Are you still with New Wave then?"
"Y-yeah, I'm still a member of New Wave. Aunt Sarah made that clear." Amy seemed almost uncomfortable with that admission.
"Okay then." Taylor paused. "So where does Vanguard come in?"
"Well," Amy said, drawing out the word, "when word gets out that I'm living by myself, away from the rest of my team, I'm a little exposed and- well to be frank, I'm concerned some idiot will try to kidnap me or kill me. My reputation after the clone thing isn't what it used to be and there are a lot of stupid people in the world." To Amy's credit, her voice barely wavered as she breezed over what was certainly a traumatic event for her. "I thought that maybe Vanguard could release a public statement saying I'm living near Catalyst or, I don't know, rooming with one of you or whatever, and in exchange I'd offer you... something. I don't actually know what I could do for your team. The news was saying Catalyst was a biokinetic like me, so I don't know if my healing will be that helpful, but it's on the table if you want it. I could advertise for you maybe? I really don't know."
She groaned, cutting off her increasingly meandering speech, one hand coming up to massage her brow. "I'm sorry. I'm awful at this whole negotiation thing. I've never had to do it before. I just- Look, Fidelis said that I had things I could offer Vanguard so if you could just tell them to me that would be great."
Taylor blinked, then glanced towards Jaya's list on the table, and back towards Amy. A mental command sent four roaches crawling atop the table. Amy twitched at their appearance, but seemed fascinated once they began to fasten themselves to the paper. Perfectly in sync, they took flight, fluttering the short distance to Taylor with her prize trailing behind them on silken lines. Taylor caught the list, dismissed the roaches with a thought, and glanced over the first few items.
"I control bugs, obviously." Taylor remarked, as she trolled the list for an acceptable request. "The main thing we were hoping from you were modified bugs. Catalyst is convinced you can do the job faster than her. She made a list," Taylor gave the paper a wiggle, "of things she is planning to create, that she thinks you would be able to make easier and better."
Amy had gone very very still. Her mouth was a thin line drifting towards a scowl. "I don't think that's a good idea." she said after several seconds. "People are paranoid enough just being around me, now. If it got out that I was making things-"
"Catalyst will happily take credit." Taylor interrupted. "I know that's not normally a good thing, but Catalyst doesn't care about public opinion, like, at all, and it'll spare you the public backlash. Besides, you won't be making any huge changes. She wants to do things like modify mosquitoes so that they can inject tranquilizers and the like, or make a type of bug that broadcasts the signal I use for my power, to artificially boost my range. Nothing particularly dangerous or crazy." After careful edits, at least.
Amy's brow furrowed, but she seemed to be giving the offer due consideration. "So I modify certain bugs, and I get to choose the types that I make, and in return you make it known that you're sheltering me?"
"Er, no." Taylor said awkwardly, squinting at the scribbles in her hands. "In return, we pay you $10,000 per batch of bugs. Most of the kinds we are using don't live very long so it should be pretty steady income for you. We could also release some kind of statement saying you're working alongside us now, but outright saying you're living with one of us is troublesome since you have no secret identity."
Taylor finished speaking, glancing up from her list to see Amy's eyes wide as saucers.
"Ten grand a batch?" She mumbled shakily. "That's, I don't know if I can accept that kind of- Holy shit."
"You're supposed to argue up Amy." Taylor felt obliged to say.
The girl was clutching her head with both hands, still wide eyed and muttering. Her eyes met Taylor's and she managed to gasp out, "That can't possibly be legal. How are you planning to pay me?"
"Oh it's totally legal." Taylor reassured, flipping through the list to the end, where Lisa had jot down some notes. "There's uh, some really complicated legal fuckery going on, but you'd basically be an independent contractor or paid intern or something, employed by a company that Fidelis owns. Wow, cape law in this country is really fucking complicated." Taylor scrutinized Lisa's notes, then looked to Amy. "You are sixteen right? You can legally get a job?"
"Yeah." Amy nodded weakly.
"Well there you go!" Taylor said happily, this was going so well! "Everything works out great. Does that mean we have a deal?"
"That's, uh, yeah that sounds- wait no! What about protection?" Amy babbled, seeming almost concussed by the offer.
Taylor frowned, restraining a desire to gnaw at her lip. "We could maybe say something like: Vanguard is working closely with Panacea? I might be able to convince Catalyst to go to hospitals with you once a week— month, once a month, as a show of support. That would show we're looking out for you I think? But really, I don't think you're in as much danger as you think."
Amy's face slowly returned to blankness, and her voice was flat. "Weaver, I watch the news. Something like a quarter of the city thinks that disaster with the Travelers' monster was my fault." She seemed to realize something. "What the hell happened to the Case-53 anyway?"
"Jail after Catalyst fixed her." Taylor said dismissively. "Look, the city is about to become a lot safer. Vanguard has big plans."
"What kind of plans?" Amy asked, unimpressed.
"Big ones." Taylor repeated, grinning at the other girl. "We'll be announcing them tomorrow but—" Taylor glanced at the clock, then at Amy. At her baggy eyes and expensive clothes and lonely posture. She looked so very out of her comfort zone.
"But," Taylor repeated slowly, an idea growing in her mind, "it's getting close to lunch and I'm hungry. Want to run out and grab some food? I think there are some clothes around here that should fit you if you want to change, and being out in public with me should help associate you with Vanguard."
Amy frowned.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Taylor whined.
Amy's frown became a scowl.
Taylor squeezed out of her comfy chair, coming to her feet and stretching. She extended a hand to Amy, giving a genuine smile.
"I'll pay." she announced.
Amy looked to Taylor's face, then her hand. With an obvious eye roll, she took the offered limb and was hauled to her feet. Taylor dragged the girl towards the dresser, doing her finest imitation of her best friends, chattering lackadaisically about clothes and food and happy things. Amy seemed more bewildered than annoyed, and Taylor counted it as progress.
Once upon a time, Jaya met a lonely girl and decided to befriend her. Even now it seemed like a whim, a random good deed.
It was Taylor's turn to pay it forward.