Diplomatic Intervention

Summary: When he answered the call for Lung, Colin happened to be in the middle of a conversation with Dragon, and got coaching through his conversation with Skitter. Worlds change as a result.

I will provide assistance.

On the one hand, Colin mused, there was a certain part of him that felt incredibly insulted by those words. He was being treated like a moron, like he wasn't capable of doing things himself.

On the other hand, Colin mused, there was a certain part of him that felt incredibly glad that he heard those words. It's true, he had been interrupted mid-conversation with Dragon, with a call for, of all people, Lung, and he was the only one in range to intercept. True, Backup would be moving in position and would only be a call away, and he had prepared countermeasures for Lung.

But it was still fucking Lung, and his countermeasures were untested.

Still, as he climbed onto the roof, he saw what appeared to be a bug themed villain. He got ready to shift into battle position, but Dragon's voice came loud and clear.

"Stop."

He did exactly that. If only out of curiosity - why was she telling him to stop.

He motioned with his sight, a silent command that he knew she detected, she was hooked up to his Hud for vision purposes - helped when he had to alter something the fly. Fortunately, Dragon could communicate with him very quickly, so it was only a slight pause as she explained her reasoning.

"Body language," she said, her tone calm but firm. "She is shivering and shaking. She appears hurt. She's terrified. But when she saw you, she was relieved and relaxed slightly, not further terrified. She sees you as an ally."

The costume might have been very dark and edgy looking, Colin mused, but he agreed with Dragon's assesment. He had been about to threaten her with his halberd and ask if she was going to give him trouble, when what he was looking at was probably a terrified teenager. The long hair and slim feminine build pointed at a teenaged girl.

Christ, he was so tense and paranoid he almost threatened to fight a terrified little girl, likely on her first night out. For all that it had somewhat rankled at him at the start, he was incredibly glad that Dragon had chosen to stick around instead of waiting for him to be done.

"Are you alright?" he asked, instead of what had been his first instinct.

"I- I think," she said.

"Will you need medical assistance? I can transport you to the nearest hospital," he said. He didn't need to fake earnest concern. He was feeling pretty shitty over his own assumptions.

"Lung," she said, her voice wavering slightly, "I, uh, bit him with spiders, a lot of poisonous ones, and bees, and-"

Colin took a step towards her. He hoped Dragon picked up on his silent urgings to give him an analysis over the possible reactions his anesthetics could have to the poisons already coursing through his veins.

"I have contacted the PRT and they have dispatched appropriate medical personnel," Dragon said. "The possibility of adverse reactions is very high."

Swearing internally, Colin knelt by the side of the fallen girl. "Can you stand?" he asked.

"Y-Yes, he hit me, but couldn't get through my costume," she said, her voice as wobbly as she was on her feet. "I think..."

"The adrenaline is wearing off," he said. "You were very lucky, you don't appear to have serious injuries. It's normal to feel like you do right now, your body is relaxing and starting to acknowledge your exhaustion," he said. "This might offend you a bit, but evidence points you didn't do this on your own."

"Some other capes were here, too," the girl said. "Villains. It's funny. I got into a fight with Lung 'cause he said he would be murdering kids tonight. Turns out, 'kids' meant a bunch of teenage villains," she muttered. "I nearly died. Fuck me," she said, groaning.

Colin stopped for a moment. He waited for Dragon to give him her opinion. "Make the pitch," she said, "I know you want to. I suggest you offer her sympathy and assistance, in that order."

She was right, of course. He decided on an abnormal approach for him. Usually, he remarked on the support structure of the Wards, but omitted speaking about anything else. Today, though, he decided he would start off by trying to sympathize with her. The girl was miserable about her failure, he could share his own and get some common ground to stand on.

Nodding. "If I made you a list of every stupid thing I've done because I had incomplete information or wrong intel," he said, "we would be here until dawn and I wouldn't even be halfway through. But," he began, "I have a team to fall back on, people to help me when I get in trouble."

The girl looked at him, he could almost feel her eyes on his through both their masks. "The Wards," she said.

He nodded. "We can offer you a support structure," he said. "I will not lie. I am being more accomodating than usual because, despite what was very much a reckless action, I can see that you did not jump into this business unprepared. Your armor - spider silk, isn't it?"

"Dragline silk," the bug cape said, "the strongest I had access to. I couldn't exactly find Darwin's Bark Spiders in Brockton."

"It's entirely possible that the Protectorate might be able to help you with that," he said. "I will say it simply. I see in you more potential than I see in others. In many others, I see arrogant and self assured children who got powers and thought they could take on the world - but you spent time learning, preparing and making what is perhaps the best costume I've seen from a new trigger. It took you months, right?"

"More than three months," she admitted, halfway between sheepish and proud. Apparently, she hadn't expected to get praise for that.

"Furthermore, you managed to weaken Lung to the point that he could not keep ramping up, with a power most would believe, and decry as, useless. That was truly impressive." He offered her his hand. "The Protectorate would welcome you."

She looked up at him. "Thank you," she said, sincerity clear in her voice, so much so that he didn't need his software telling him she was being truthful when she said "I would love to join," as she took his hand.

Colin smiled.

Fuck everyone who said he couldn't ever do diplomacy right. Sure, he might've needed help from dragon to not start off on the wrong foot, but hey.

At least he pulled it off and even convinced an incredibly promising young girl to join the Wards program.

"Very well done, Colin. I am impressed."

So it basically goes from there with Taylor joining the Wards.

And no, it doesn't result in her learning that Sophia is Shadow Stalker and throwing a bitch fit.

Rather, it results in her bringing her concerns to Armsmaster subtly. Remember, they actually have a very positive opinion of each other at this point.

Armsmaster thinks of her as an intelligent, morally upstanding and responsible young girl with a lot of potential who is very skilled at using a power that she found a lot of uses for, even though it appears lame at first glance. He is less enthused about her fashion sense (she still looks very villainous after all), but he still thinks very highly of her.

Meaning, if she approaches him and tells him "Armsmaster sir, this girl bullies me in our civilian identities", he would listen. And since Taylor is dealing with someone she sees as a reasonable authority figure she respects, she would actually exposit her case calmly and make it pretty convincing.

Plus Armsmaster has a Lie Detector and can outright go ask Sophia, which he would because, again, he has a good opinion of Taylor and a very poor opinion of Sophia - he would be naturally inclined to trust Taylor here, even if Sophia has been a ward for much longer. Naturally, since Taylor is telling the truth, her standing in his eyes elevates - she handled the problem in a mature way by coming to him instead of making a scene about it - and his standing in hers also elevates - he actually does something to help, even if he doesn't outright kick out Sophia, Taylor would be content with heavy disciplinary actions being taken.

Mostly because between Armsmaster and Miss Militia, they'd be able to convince her that for Sophia, being a Ward IS the punishment, not a reward, so she wouldn't ask for her to be kicked out, especially once she learns how much Sophia hates the rules and regulations she's forced to accept.

It spirals from there.

Basically, this one starts off with the question "What if Armsmaster hadn't been a moron when he first met Skitter?", and since Armsmaster's lack of tact is legendary, I decided he couldn't just randomly happen to be friendlier, instead, I had him be in the middle of a phone call with Dragon who had nothing better to do and decided to advise him, resulting in Colin not fucking up his meeting with Skitter, and presenting himself as enough of a reasonable guy that she'd actually accept joining the Wards in a heartbeat.

Also, part of this story would later involve pulling the Undersiders into the Wards and Protectorate, because Taylor would feel indebted towards them for saving her life from Lung, and since, again, Armsmaster has a very good opinion of her, he would actually listen to her.

I was thinking of developing their relationship as something akin to a father/daughter relationship, parallel to Taylor's relationship with her actual father straining, and his own attempts to bridge the gap only driving the wedge further. Maybe I'd even do the classic 'oh, look, they may reconcile after all' and then zap, Leviathan comes in and Danny dies before Taylor could make amends with her father, because despite everything else, being Taylor Hebert is suffering.

Honestly, the story is basically how Armsmaster's lack of tact and easy irritability are at the cause of a lot of the stuff that goes on in Worm.