While Crow and I did spend some time sitting and resting, our break was mainly spent attempting to mentally unpack what had just happened. It was exhilarating to know that we had stood against the Slaughterhouse Nine and not only survived, but won. That did not make the horror of having them suddenly show up in our city any less traumatizing.
The calm also gave me a long moment to examine the three glowing charges I had gained for killing the Slaughterhouse Nine. I had been so intensely focused on surviving and so worried about my friends, civilians, and everything else, I hadn't even felt the quest settle in. In fact, half suspected that it had been on purpose, some sort of stealth drop to prevent me from getting distracted. Either way, I would have to spend some time figuring out what to do with them soon. I was only nine days into this cycle, so I had five full days before my regular refresh.
New Wave had returned home to recover in their own way, inviting Taylor and Danny to join them. At this point, I was beginning to think that I should have pushed Taylor to join New Wave more, as not only had I proven to be too busy to really mentor her, but given her age, and her growing friendship with both Glory Girl and Panacea, she would probably fit in better with them. I would have to bring that up to Lady Photon later, perhaps after our visit to the PRT headquarters for our debriefing.
While New Wave and company did their own thing, Crow and I returned to the forest, where we spent some time sitting together by the fire. I shared what my fight with Siberian was like, including almost being torn to pieces, and Crow shared what it was like to chase after Jack Slash.
"It was like… chasing after a venomous snake, or any other dangerous animal," She admitted, shaking her head. "It chose to run, and all I could think about was that I should just let them go. So what if that means they will escape? At least then I won't have to face them."
I reached out across the gap between us and rubbed her shoulder, the scarred woman putting her hand on mine.
"How did you just run in and challenge them?" She asked, shaking her head. "I know you're powerful… but the Siberian tore out Alexandria's eye! She killed Hero, and you just squared up like they were gangbangers with bats."
"Too stupid to run, I guess," I said, raising my hand in defense as she slapped my shoulder. "Sorry, sorry, the truth is I don't know. Maybe getting my power changed me, maybe I'm just crazy. But I couldn't just let them come in here and ruin everything we worked so hard to build. Besides, you helped a lot in the end. Without you pinning them in place, working my annihilation spell would have been impossible. It was too long, and I didn't have one stored in my crystals."
"Thanks, but you faced off with them first," She pointed out. "Three of the arguably scariest ones."
"I don't know, the picture Amy showed me of Crawler's head was pretty freaky," I commented, smiling when she laughed, waiting a moment to continue. "Listen, I'm gonna go back to the Docks community and help fix up the place, start letting people know it's safe to come home. You can stay here if you want, get some sleep."
"Fuck that, I'm not cutting out early," She assured me, stretching in her chair. "Hit me with that wake-up spell, and we can get going."
I nodded and stood, unwinding my staff and tapping against the ground when it was done. After a quick intonation, we were both feeling rejuvenated and ready, so I teleported us both to the Docks community. When we arrived, there was obviously still plenty of damage, but not a single soul in sight, making the already open area seem even larger. It was the first time I had ever seen the space completely empty, even in the middle of the night.
I used my metal control to repair as much of the damage caused by Bonesaw's abominations as I could, fusing the walls together and sealing them shut. I also used a minor stone control spell to repair some of the damaged concrete. There were a few things I didn't have the know-how or fine control to fix, mostly a door and a bunch of damage to the electrical systems. I would have to leave some money for Charles so he could afford to buy supplies and fix it themselves. I knew for a fact that at least two electricians lived among the community.
After finishing with the buildings, I used the stone spell a few more times to repair the various craters that the Siberian and I left behind during our fight. There were really only a handful in the community that needed my full attention. We had rather quickly spread out further than the community space, so the damage was mostly spread to other abandoned buildings that I wasn't quite concerned about.
Once I was done fixing the large-scale damage, I checked on the orchard, doing a few in-depth scans to ensure they hadn't been messed with, before tuning them up a bit. After confirming that their primary source of food was ready, I joined Crow in hunting down Charles and other community members, assuring them it was safe to return. It ended up taking quite a bit of convincing, at least for people other than Charles, but slowly word began to spread, and people began to trickle back in. I set up shop at the heart of the community area to heal any injuries, all the way until the sun came up.
"You should think about sending groups out to see if anyone needs help," I explained to Charles, working on some road rash someone got tripping and falling as they ran from our battle. "If you find someone who is too injured to be moved, you can call me. Crow, you mind hanging around here, helping people feel safe? I'm going to check on the hospitals to make sure nobody slipped by and do my normal run, even if it's a bit early."
"Don't forget your debriefing," Alya pointed out, whispering into my ear. "You agreed to it."
"Right, that happens after the hospital," I agreed.
"I can handle things here, I have you on speed dial anyway," She revealed, giving me a nudge. "Go see what's going on."
I nodded, taking one more quick look around before teleporting away to the hospital. There was a slight increase in patients, some of whom had been around one of the several fights that had happened across the Bay. I healed all of them before clearing out a lot of the other patients, wanting to make room, just in case.
I had a feeling the city was going to come alive once the news of what had happened really started to spread, and that would mean plenty of accidents. Clearing the hospital now, even if it meant working on dumb injuries and colds, meaning it would be more prepared for things that mattered later.
After everything was set and enough time had passed, I teleported to the Pelham's home, where Lady Photon was ready and waiting. Meanwhile, Piper was near the heart of the city, where she was helping city workers do their jobs by buffing things like stamina and speed. I watched as she played, and the city workers worked quickly, carrying glass and other things into various buildings and repairing them as quickly as possible.
Other than her, Smokey and most of the other guardians were continuing to patrol the streets, like they always did. Some were missing golems, so I made a mental note to build more golems to replace the ones we had lost.
I let Piper finish her song, before teleporting my passengers and myself to PRT headquarters. We landed in my usual landing spot outside on the grass, where several PRT officers were waiting. We were then quickly escorted inside, past various workers repairing or patching windows. Inside, the destruction was even worse, with work crews hauling out items like clocks, computer screens, and more, all with even a small amount of glass.
"You would think some of that stuff could just be donated to their tinkers," I commented, watching two large crates of personal radios being carried out. "Isn't that the kind of thing normal tinkers love to mess around with?"
Despite my suggestion, the escort was silent, guiding us through the busy halls until we were standing just outside the same meeting room I had visited nearly a dozen times already. Inside was Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Director Piggot. The two Protectorate Parahumans looked perfectly healthy, awake, and ready for the meeting.
"Director Piggot… are you well enough for this meeting?" I asked, genuinely concerned. "We would be fine meeting with your second in command, or...."
The large woman had several small bandages on her face, with wraps going around and down her arm. Her clothes had clearly been cut for easier access to the wounds, and I suspected that by the way she was standing perfectly still, her posture rigid, that her injuries were not just to her arm or face.
"The injuries are mostly shallow and look worse than they are," She explained, looking at me as if I had no right to question her health. "I am perfectly capable of holding this meeting."
Part of me wanted to challenge her words, but after a moment, I simply shook my head and sat down beside Lady Photon, with Piper sitting beside me. I could see Miss Militia cast a quick look at the Director, concern visible on what little I could see of her face.
"Very well," I said, settling into my seat. "Well, in that case, I suppose we have presented ourselves. Where would you like to start?"
Director Piggot stiffly reached forward to slide a piece of paper to the side, wincing slightly before looking back up at me.
"Are you aware of who the first to encounter the Slaughterhouse Nine was?" The large woman asked, eyes switching between each of us.
"That would be me, ma'am," Piper said, raising her hand slightly. "I was on patrol when we received reports of someone flying around this part of the city, so we decided to investigate."
"And how exactly did you defeat Shatterbird?" This was from Armsmaster. "The internal sensors of this facility picked up some strange readings."
"My ability to play sounds is pretty flexible," Piper explained, her flute appearing in her hand. "I countered her scream, and after she partially exhausted herself, I countered the frequencies she was using to control her costume, which apparently is how she flew. Once I beat her at that… she fell from the sky very quickly."
Piggot glanced at her protectorate tinker, who nodded in agreement.
"That does match our known understanding of her powers, though we have yet to test her limits," He admitted. "No one has ever had a power or speaker system capable of perfectly matching her and overpowering her."
"Guardian abilities are known to be more flexible than Parahuman abilities," Miss Militia pointed out. "We have the test records to prove it."
Piggot nodded, only to lock up for a full thirty seconds. I could see that Miss Militia wanted to comment, but managed to keep her words to herself. I, on the other hand, had no such tact.
"Director Piggot, is there a reason you haven't allowed yourself to be treated properly?" I asked with a frown. "Or at the very least, aren't resting in your medical facilities?"
She locked me with a stare that, had she been a parahuman, would have certainly killed me in some sort of horrific and painful way. Instead, it did nothing but make me wonder if she was going to pass out.
"I don't believe that is any of your business," She said, eyes boring into mine.
"Director, how many doctors did you have to threaten or override to keep out of a hospital bed?" I asked before she could continue. "It might not be my business, but I can't be expected to stay silent when someone is dying in front of me."
I reached inside my jacket, did a quick count, and grabbed a crystal from my belt. As I pulled it out, Director Piggot's eyes went wide.
"I do not consent to being healed!" She shouted, loud enough that both of her allies almost stood, looking ready to stop me.
Slowly, I continued my motion, placing a golden glowing crystal on the table. I pushed it forward slightly, leaving it there.
"That crystal contains a significant amount of my healing energy. Holding that in your hand, call out heal, and it will fix up the holder from basically anything short of near death," I explained. "It's one use, and it's yours."
"The PRT appreciates-"
"No, I mean it's yours, Emily Piggot," I explained. "Not the PRTs"
"I do not want it," she responded immediately, no hesitation in her voice.
She glared at me so harshly that I honestly couldn't understand what was going on. I had obviously stumbled into something, perhaps even something I should have seen coming, considering the status of her existing injury and her access to Panacea, but I had stumbled into it anyway. Part of me really considered pushing, questioning her sanity, or more. I even considered asking how she could refuse parahuman healing that she happily prescribed to her underlings. But turning this into a shouting match would be counterproductive to both the current situation and my status in Brockton Bay in general. After a moment, I reached out and took the crystal, putting it back into my belt.
"I apologize, I seemed to have stumbled into a subject that carries more weight than I realized," I said, doing my best to sound apologetic. "I did not mean to push or force you into anything you're not comfortable with, Director Piggot."
For a moment, I thought she would throw my apology back at me. However, after staring at me for a moment, she seemed to relax slightly, a coil of tension unwinding from around her spine.
"Apology accepted," she said with a nod.
"In that case... shall we continue the debriefing?" Lady Photon asked, helping push the conversation along.
"Very well. I have a few more questions for Piper," Piggot agreed, looking down at her paper, just as eager to force the moment past what has just happened. "Then we can move on to the next encounter."
The PRT director asked Piper several more questions about the situation, including why she was in the area, whether she had been aware of who she was fighting, and whether she was familiar with the bounty on Shatterbird. I did my best to pay attention, despite me still reeling from Piggot's reaction.
After that, our attention switched to Lady Photon, who began to describe the conflict that New Wave was involved in. I was just as interested in what happened as the PRT, so I was happy to sit and listen.