Chapter Text
The drive to school was awkward.
Dad didn't say much, hadn't said much of anything since last night. He kept his eyes locked on the road with a dour expression etched into his face and both hands on the wheel. This wasn't Dad angry; I had seen him angry and that was explosive. No, this was something worse.
I had no idea how to even approach him like this, so I just sat silent in the passenger seat. Backpack by my feet, hands folded neatly in my lap, and trying my hardest not to look at my Dad and failing. Like I said, an awkward drive.
When we pulled up to Arcadia high, already swarming with teenagers and overworked staff trying to corral them, Dad let out a sigh. A long suffering thing he must have been holding in since last night. I winced and glanced at him. He had his glasses off and was rubbing the bridge of his nose.
After he replaced them, he looked at me and said, "Taylor, I'm disappointed. I'm very disappointed after last night."
That was obvious, but it didn't make hearing him say it hurt any less.
"But," he continued, "this entire situation with that girl, Sophia? This takes priority. Until her and Emma and the others are dealt with, I'm in your corner. Whatever you need, whatever I can do. You have it."
His hands fidgeted on the steering wheel for a moment and he sighed again, "I'm not Supergirl. I can't do what she can. But I need you to understand, you're not alone."
"I understand, Dad." I said. There was something resembling sincerity in my voice and I think I meant it on some level.
It was enough to satisfy him. "Good. Great. But to be clear, when this has all settled? We're going to have a very long talk, young lady. Understand?"
Shit, he was angrier about this than I thought. I swallowed the pit in my throat and nodded, "I understand."
Satisfied, Dad managed a tired smile and said, "Good. Go on then, and remember to talk to the principal first. You've got legal backing to make Emma and her cronies back off now; don't be afraid to abuse it."
I had serious doubts about that, but kept that to myself. Instead, I forced a smile of my own, adjusted my glasses, and said goodbye to my dad. Then, I stepped out of his truck onto Arcadia's campus.
It was a big building, compared to Winslow. Four stories high, two long bunkhouse style buildings connected in the middle by a smaller building. Gave the entire campus a large 'H' shape. Apparently students had taken to calling the campus 'The Hive' as a joke.
High Schoolers trying to be clever, ugh.
I avoided the worst of the crowds and headed for the principal's office. Like most of the school's administrative wing, it was located in the center of the 'H' and I had no problem finding the office. The clean walls and intact director helped immensely if I was honest.
Principal Wade was a short man with a pretty average build and a full head of graying brown hair. I thought he was short anyway, my sense of scale compared to others was still off after I had triggered. His office was nicer than Blackwells had been, decorated with photos of past students and colleagues, and a few awards from the school board. He wore an easy smile when the receptionist let me in.
"Miss Hebert, glad to see you. Come in, take a seat." He stood up and offered me his hand. I shook it with extra care, and then sat down across from the man.
He fell back into his chair with a satisfied grunt and folded his hands together on his desk, "S, I hope things have gone well for you so far?"
"Well I just got here, so…"
"Fair enough." he chuckled, before letting his face grow a touch more serious. "Well, I won't bother you with pleasantries then, you seem the type to get straight to the point. So I will."
He drummed his fingers on a folder on his desk, "Our… mutual friends made your condition clear, and assured me you were safe to attend my school. I just want to make clear that your secret is safe with me. NDA or not, I don't make it a habit of airing the dirty laundry of my students."
"Mhm." I grunted, glancing at the folder.
Principal Wade continued, "I've also been in talks with your father, and his lawyer. I'm aware of the… situation you were in at Winslow. You have my condolences, first and foremost."
Sure I did.
"I am sorry to say that, with Winslow a pile of rubble, we've been forced to max capacity. Which includes inheriting a lot of problem children, not just your bullies. But given the relative severity of your case, we have taken steps to keep you and the three tormentors you listed scheduled in different classes. You can at least take solace in that. Additionally, while we can't watch them at all times, I have sent out a general memo that if those three or anyone else is harassing you, to take you at your word if you come to them."
That made me press my lips together. Principal Wade seemed to be taking my issues seriously, which was a big step up from Blackwell's nonexistence assurances. But talk was cheap. Whether or not anyone at Arcadia would give a damn if I came to them was another matter. Especially if they were as overloaded as the principal claimed.
We talked a bit more after that. Going over emergency contacts, if I needed any sort of assistance or compensation in light of the past few weeks. Most of it was dull and felt more than a bit performative. Besides, a lot of it felt unnecessary now that I knew the truth behind Sophia. A registered Ward vs an unregistered cape that had backed out at the last second? Yeah I wondered who would win that legal battle.
Though, I also had an ace up my sleeve that would turn that in my favor. A very super one. But I had to play my part until then. So I smiled and nodded and played the part of the good attentive young woman before Principal Wade finally let me go. It was amazing how long twenty minutes could feel when you didn't want anything to do with the conversation.
Halls were crowded, no surprise there. This made it easy to blend in of course, but would've made it impossible to keep an eye open for the Trio. That was before anyway, but now? I had a few tricks of my own that would make it easier to track them. As I walked, I cleared my mind and Listened.
It didn't take long before I heard Emma's voice, as if she were standing right next to me. I suppressed a shudder and focused on what she was saying. She said, '-dad made it pretty clear to knock it off right now. We could get in serious trouble. So we'll need to be subtle. If she thinks that ming to Arcadia will make things easier for her, well, we're just going to have to remind her of her place.'
I couldn't even summon the energy to be indignant. What had I done to Emma to make her hate me like this? Sophia might have made things worse, but I wanted to think it took more than one bad cape to turn my lifelong best friend into my worst tormentor.
Focus Taylor, feeling sorry for yourself won't help.
I shook off my melancholy and kept Listening. Emma continued, 'Sophia, when the time comes you'll'
"Yo, LG!" A voice hollered at me.
"Jesus Christ!" I yelped and whirled, smacking my hand on the corner of a wall hard enough to chip it. My shock turned into indignation as I got a look at my summoner.
It was Aisha, the girl I rescued during Leviathan's rampage, of all people. Still short, still dressed in eye searing neon, and still smirking like she knew a secret the rest of the world would never know.
"Wow, jumpy much?" she snickered.
I brushed the dust off my knuckles and said, "S-sorry, do I know you?"
When I had rescued her, I had been trying to keep my identity under wraps. I wasn't exactly keen to announce to the entire student body that I was a cape. There was enough on my plate as is.
Aisha rolled her eyes and said in an exaggerated stage whisper, "You're bad at this, you know that?"
She grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hall after her. Or rather, she tried to. There wasn't a lot that could make me move these days if I didn't want to move. And I really didn't want to move at the moment.
Aisha all but jerked her arm out of her socket when I didn't so much as budge from her enthusiastic pull. She blinked, looked at me, and then whistled, "Goddamn, you're like a rock."
I swept a nervous glance around the school halls. The crowds didn't seem to give a single fuck about either of us, despite Aisha being… well, Aisha. So I had that going for me at least.
Realizing she couldn't physically move me, Aisha let my wrist go and held her hands up in surrender, "Just wanna talk, LG. Figured you'd want some privacy instead of blabbering in front of everyone."
My first instinct was 'trap'.
No one at school ever wanted to just 'talk' to me. There was always an ulterior motive, and it usually had to do with Emma. I had to shake that instinct off though. Aisha knew who I was, knew what I was capable of. She may have been an impulsive blabber mouth, but she wasn't that stupid. I also didn't believe for a minute that she would ever do anything for the Trio.
That said, I only had ten minutes until class and I had promised I was going to make a genuine effort in keeping up with school. Being late on the first day back wouldn't set a great precedent. Though, I didn't want to just blow her off either.
"Aisha," I started and then froze.
At the far end of the hall, past all the crowds, I saw them. Emma, Sophia and Madison turned the corner, talking animatedly toward one another. Fuck I did not need or want to deal with them directly this early in the morning.
"...I think that's a great idea, lead the way!"
She pumped her arm and muttered "Yesh!" under her breath, and then bounded off down the hall. I trailed after her, while shooting the occasional nervous glance over my shoulder. The Trio hadn't noticed me; I was in the clear. Thank god.
Aisha led me to an isolated bathroom on Arcadia's top first thought on stepping inside was how much nicer it was than Winslows. It wasn't fancy, but a bathroom not vandalised and painted in graffiti was a setup from that shithole. It would be interesting to see how long that lasted with half the Winslow student body at Arcadia now.
"Yo, I'm back, and I found her!" Aisha hollered.
A girl sighed and stepped out from the bathroom stall. "Aisha, I told you to be subtle."
"Is this not subtle?" Aisha asked, a note of genuine perplexion in her voice.
"You're impossible." the girl said. Then she turned her attention to me.
She wasn't pretty like Aisha was, but she was way prettier than me. Same ethnicity, but average height and build. Her hair was styled in dreadlocks that framed her face well. Something about her strong jaw and dark eyes was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Unlike Aisha, this girl dressed practically; short dark t-shirt, loose jeans, and ratty sneakers.
Almost unremarkable.
Except for the mass of hideous scars that painted the right side of her face. Someone had taken a knife to the girl at some point, and carved a pair of sloppy numbers into her face. Two poor attempts at an 88, the Empire's symbol.
I must've made a face when I saw them, because the girl stopped to run a finger over them. A distant look crowded her eyes, but only for a moment. She shook her head and smirked at me, "You should see the other guy. This is just what you get for mouthing off to a bunch of wannabe gangbangers at Winslow."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to…" I felt really dumb now.
"Don't worry about it." The girl said. "You're not the first person to stare and you won't be the last. You at least apologized."
Before I could apologize again, she held her hand out and said, "Anyway, sorry for the runaround with Aisha. I figured a familiar face would be more welcome than a total stranger. I'm Natasha. Natasha Irons. Or Nat if you're feeling friendly."
Everything clicked together. "Your John's niece! He mentioned you!" I shook her hand.
Natasha smiled and gave my hand a firm squeeze, "The one and only."
"Natty here wanted to find and thank you personally for saving her uncle." Aisha explained, "And somehow roped me into it."
"First of all, don't call me that." Natasha scolded, a hint of exhaustion in her tone. "Second, thanking her was your idea. I had something else in mind."
"Wait, hold on." I interrupted before Aisha started trading barbs.
"How do you two know each other? John mentioned something about you transferring here."
Natasha grinned, an almost feral expression thanks to her scars, "I may have caught this one trying, badly, to cover for you online. Everyone's been focused on Supergirl, but a few people were curious about you. This one," She jerked a thumb at Aisha, "was trying to throw people off the trail. Once I realized what she was doing, I enlisted her help."
I blinked and looked at Aisha, who had taken a sudden interest in her nails. "You were trying to protect my secret identity?" I asked.
Aisha glanced at the nearby wall, "Don't get the wrong idea. Last thing I wanted was for someone to figure out who you were, and then for you to blame me or something. Just covering my ass."
I tried not to smile at her deflection and instead said, "Thank you."
The girl froze at my words. After a moment she relaxed and muttered, "Yeah well… you're welcome I guess."
I snorted and turned back to Natasha, "What did you mean when you said you 'enlisted' her though?"
"Well," Natasha fidgeted from one foot to another. Her expression took on a more serious tone, "You see, while I was doing research on who you were, I kind of stumbled onto some things. I'll spare you the details but; if you know where to recognize the patterns, you can find some pretty disturbing stuff. And I'm really good at recognizing patterns. So the real reason for all this was so I could warn you."
"Warn me?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
Natasha nodded and let out a sigh, "I don't know how to say this but… the girls that bullied you? The ones that threw you in that locker? I have it on good authority that one of them might be a Ward."
A moment of dead silence filled the bathroom. Save for the soft din of conversation from students outside, none of us said a word. Natasha bit her lip as she watched me, waiting for my reaction. Aisha was inching her way to the door in a way I'm sure she thought was subtle.
"Oh, I already knew that."
"It's a lot to take in, I - the fuck do you mean you already knew that?" Natasha's concerned tone ratcheted into an indignant demand when she registered my words.
I shrugged, "When I visited the Protectorate HQ, I recognized one of the Wards from school. I've known for the last day or so."
Natasha pinched her nose and growled, "For fucks sake, of course you knew. Week of research and combing PHO, down the drain. Great, wonderful, well at least now you know you're not the only one aware of it."
I almost let slip that Supergirl knew too, but figured that I could probably keep that bit of information to myself for now. Instead I just put on the best friendly smile I could muster and said, "But, I do appreciate the effort, Natasha. I… don't think anyone's ever really done something like that for me. Especially someone I've never met."
A smile replaced her exasperation, almost erasing the scars on her face, "You saved some of the only family I had left. I had to return the favor somehow."
"I mean, you didn't have to-" I started.
The look Natasha gave me wasn't so much the stuff of nightmares as it was the stuff nightmares feared. My voice trailed off and I muttered out, "Thank you."
She smiled again, "You're welcome. We don't have a lot of time to talk about what to do about this bitch, but I think I can still help you out. You got a cellphone?"
I fumbled in my backpack and pulled out one of those cheap prepaids with limited minutes. "Last minute addition, but yeah."
"Great, give me the number and I'll give you yours. If you need some help or if I hear anything weird, I'll give you a call."
"Oh can I get in on that?" Aisha peered around my arm, eyes wide with potential mischief.
Natasha scolded Aisha again, "You already have my number, you don't need to harass her."
"But what if I want to?" Aisha whined.
The five minute bell chimed, interrupting the banter. Natasha handed me a slip of paper with her number on it and said, "We should probably get going. Want us to walk with you to your class?"
"I… yeah, sure."
After we left the bathroom and made our way downstairs, Aisha chuckled and said, "Kinda funny. You escorted me, and now I'm escorting you. Life's funny, isn't it, LG?"
"Taylor. It's Taylor, Aisha." I sighed.
"Life's funny, ain't it Taytay?" Aisha asked.
Natasha and I both groaned.
Fortunately for me, we did not run into the Trio again on our way to class. After saying goodbye to Aisha and Natasha, I headed into my first period math pre-calculas class. I didn't recognize a single face in that crowd, and for the first time in two years, I felt relaxed as I slid into my seat, pulled out my notebook, and waited for class to start.
-S-
Classes were a breeze I had forgotten that I could actually enjoy school when I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder. Sure, the Trio had worked hard to make sure I was always behind everyone else. But without them constantly looking over my shoulder every other class, I felt like I could at least focus on the material. That realization alone was almost intoxicating.
But that wasn't to say things were going smoothly.
Classes might have gone smoothly, but every break was just an exercise in paranoia. To no surprise, even the threat of imminent legal action didn't seem to deter Emma or the others. After the first period, I had received a warning text from Natasha that she had spotted them heading down my hall. It was enough for me to make my escape.
Now, I could have used my power to Listen to them, and I did. But, my power just let me Listen to anyone who's voice I was familiar with. It did not let me know where they were in relation to me. This gave me the great privilege of hearing all the fun and pleasant things Emma was planning to do to me, with no bearing on where she actually was.
But again, that was where Natasha and Aisha came in.
Somehow, Aisha had gotten ahold of my number too. If Natasha didn't text me a warning between classes, Aisha did. Between the two of them, I somehow managed to avoid the Trio for most of the school day. You'd think that this would calm me down, but no. All it did was ratchet up my paranoia.
I knew they were looking for me.
I knew they wanted to hurt me like they had at Winslow.
And I knew that there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it besides avoid them.
God it was so frustrating having any kind of power and not being able to use it because it wouldn't be right. It would be so easy too. Just one quick punch, and it would be over one way or another. That thought made me queasy.
The truth was, I would just have to wait and put my faith in Kara. She hadn't let me down yet, and I knew she wouldn't let me down now. Once Sophia was dealt with, Emma would be a problem of the past. A painful memory, but just a memory. Until then however…
Some old habits die hard.
Trying to eat at the lunch hall had become social suicide at Winslow. Even though Arcadia was different, I wasn't willing to bet it was that different. The Trio would be looking for me there, and once they knew I wasn't there, they'd start scouring the school for me.
At Winslow, I had resorted to eating in the bathroom stalls at the edge of the campus. I didn't know Arcadia as well, but I managed to find a bathroom on the second floor that didn't get much foot traffic, and hid away in one of the smaller stalls. While I nibbled on my sandwich, my phone buzzed and I checked it.
A message from Aisha that read 'Natty & I eatin togeth. Seat 4 u?'
'Thanks. I'm okay.' I was touched by the gesture, but I didn't want to drag them into my mess. Well, more than they already were.
Better I just sit in the empty bathroom on my toilet seat and chew on an okay ham sandwich, than risk turning Emma's wrath on those two. They had done enough for me, they didn't deserve to suffer.
As I sat and ate, I heard the bathroom door swing open, followed by a chorus of voices. Nothing new there. I pulled my legs up and kept quiet as they chatted, and Listened. Only for my concentration to be broken when someone shook the stall door.
"Occupied." I said in a quiet voice.
The chattering went quiet.
Then Emma said, "Oh my god, is that Taylor?!"
No!
A pair of dark hands grabbed the top of the stall door and Sophia's face appeared looking down at me. A very wide almost predatory grin split her face, "Hah! It is! We found her!"
I got to my feet and went for the door. When I tried to push it open, I felt half a dozen hands pushing back on it while the girls laughed. I pushed again, getting an inch open on the door, only for them to slam it shut and start to cackle.
If I wanted to, I could have bowled them all over. It would've been easy. Trivial, even. Half-a-dozen teenagers didn't hold a candle to the kind of strength I had now. That spring of energy roiling inside me practically boiled with anticipation. It wanted to be used, wanted me to dive into it and embrace it.
And then what?
Out myself to the three people I hate most?
Sink any hope I had of bringing Sophia to justice, just so I could feel better about myself? A part of me was really tempted to indulge in that impulse. It would feel so good after the two years of torment they had put me through. But, dad wouldn't approve. Mom wouldn't have approved either. And Kara?
Just the thought of disappointing her made my stomach churn.
So I held back. I pushed against the door, screamed and begged for them to let me out and leave me alone. My pleas only made them laugh harder, of course. And soon enough, I saw Sophia appear over the stall again with an open bottle of juice in her hand. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.
A moment later I was cold, wet, and sticky. The only saving grace was that I had been smart enough to kick my bag behind the toilet beforehand. Sophia let out a mocking laugh,"There you go Hebert. Finally gave you a bath."
Then she dropped the bottle on my head and disappeared. The others laughed and jeered as they left the bathroom. I heard Emma's voice over the others, "Welcome back, Taylor!"
And then they left.
The stall door swung open, and I walked to the sinks. My hands were shaking as I pressed the water on. It was one of those timer faucets, the ones where you pushed down and got three or four seconds of water. I didn't press hard enough, apparently, the water immediately shut off.
I pressed again, and got a spurt of water.
Again.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
My hand balled into a fist, and I slammed it onto the faucet. The metal crumpled and the entire sink cracked.
I screamed, "Fuck! What the fuck am I supposed to do!?"
Then I slumped to the floor and buried my heads in my hands. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair. All this power, and I couldn't even use it. I didn't cry, but I felt close. I felt really, really close.
The bathroom door opened again.
"Go away." I choked out.
"Taylor?"
I recognized that voice. Glory Girl, Victoria.
I hugged my legs and said, "I don't want to do this right now, Victoria. Just let me wallow."
The blonde squatted in front of me, her stupid perfect face etched with concern, "Unfortunately for you, Taylor, superheroes don't let others wallow. What happened?"
"Why do you care?" I asked her. We had worked together briefly during the Leviathan Crisis, but we hadn't exactly been on the best of terms beforehand. She hadn't looked exactly pleased when I had accused Amy of being a liar; even if I had been right. I wouldn't have blamed her for wanting nothing to do with me.
"Um, Superhero?" Victoria repeated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She offered me her hand. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You got a change of clothes?"
The door swung open again and Natasha and Aisha came sliding in. Aisha blurted, "Taylor, those bitches are - oh. Great, it's her."
Victoria arched a brow and looked between the girls and me. "Friends of yours?"
Despite myself, a small chuckle slipped past my lips, "Of a sort."
"Well, no time for introductions. Taylor, you never answered my question."
"I've got my old gym clothes in the locker room." I mumbled.
Victoria smiled, "Great. Let's get you there and clean you up. Want me to talk to the staff about what happened?"
"Don't bother." I muttered. But, I took her still outstretched hand and she hauled me to my feet.
Victoria clapped my shoulders and said, "Alright. You two wanna play look outs while I help Taylor?"
Aisha groaned, "Really? We've been on lookout duty all-"
Natasha stepped on her foot, making her yelp, and said, "We'd be happy to help."
Getting an honest to god escort to the locker room was a surreal experience. Most of the students were in or near the cafeteria, leaving most of the school abandoned. Victoria had to shoo out a couple hiding in the locker room but we otherwise had it to ourselves. After retrieving my old gym uniform, she ushered me to the showers and promised to keep watch.
It was nice, at least, to clean the juice out of my hair before it dried. But it was going to take all day for it to dry. Go figure that even when something good was happening to me, there was an annoying caveat.
After cleaning up, I pulled on my now ill-fitting gym clothes and let out an annoyed sigh. The uniform had been ill-fitting back before my Trigger. Now, my new body just made me look even more awkward and dingy.
But, when I stepped out of the shower, I was greeted by a Victoria that had traded her fashionable coat, blouse, and skirt for her own gym uniform. She winked at me and said, "Figured a little solidarity would help you feel a little more comfortable. Even if you are stuck with that ratty old Winslow uniform."
"She makes it work though, damn." Aisha appeared behind Victoria, making the cape yelp in surprise.
Aisha and by extension Natasha, were also wearing their gym uniforms. Aisha's was covered in neon graffiti, with the mid riff cut off, while Natasha's was several sizes too big. Only Victoria wore hers properly, and she made it look good. Because of course she did.
"You guys didn't have to do this, you know." I said.
"Lucky for you, we decide what we think is worth doing." Victoria retorted, wearing a cocky smile.
"I just wanted to piss off the narcs in the cafeteria." Aisha admitted.
It was a stupid joke. Not even funny.
But for some reason, I laughed. I laughed and I laughed and I laughed until there wear tears in my eyes and I choked for breath. I laughed until Victoria had to hold me up and hug me, I was laughing so hard. At some point, my laughter must have turned into tears; but I still kept laughing.
Victoria held me in an awkward hug until I finally calmed down and came to my senses. She looked at me with a wary expression. "You alright? No more laughing fits?"
Another giggle, then I said, "Y-yeah. It's just… this is ridiculous. Who does this? Who does this for me?"
"Gee, you're welcome." Aisha muttered.
Victoria patted my back and said, "Well, to be fair, I've been trying to find you all day since I got here. Kara mentioned you might be worried about your first day back. So I was following your bullies so I could intervene if I had to. But it was like you had some kind of sixth sense and kept giving everyone the slip."
Natasha and Aisha exchanged silent stares, but remained quiet. I, however, regarded Victoria with open curiosity. "Did Kara ask you to watch out for me?"
"Nah," Victoria shook her head, "She just mentioned it while we were working."
I felt a smile work its way onto my face. "Thank you, Vicky. Really."
She beamed, "Don't mention it. Now come on, I've got some leftover lunch in the cafeteria for you."