Hero Unit (7 page)

Ace nodded. It wasn’t the first time she and
Torment had had this conversation, nor would it be the last. It was
important for her to be reminded of the reasons she had joined the
E.E.D. Torment was good at that. And Ace respected her.

Of course she’s good at it. She’s had to
deal with you for almost a year now.

“Once your report’s done you can head home.
Angel and I will handle the interrogations. On your next scheduled
shift if you would bring Emily back so we can try and filter
through her memories that would be appreciated,” Torment said. With
Ace’s nod she stood and walked back to her desk.

Ace turned her full attention back to her
report. The sooner she got it done the better.

When Ace walked in her front door, well after
dawn, her stomach rumbled, loudly. The air was filled with the
smell of breakfast being cooked. She could smell sausage, eggs,
bacon and bread all at once. She dropped her work bag when she saw
Emily busy in the kitchen.

Wow, she’s good.

The other woman saw her and said, “Welcome
back. I figured you would be hungry when you got in.”

Ace nodded, still a little awestruck, and
said, “Is there anything I can do?”

“No. I’m pretty much done. I looked through
your home’s computer and tracked what you typically ate for
breakfast. I hope I didn’t make too much,” Emily replied. She
looked much better than she had the day before. A good night’s rest
had done wonders for her, along with having her powers under
control. She moved around the kitchen with relaxed ease.

“I’m going to go shower,” Ace said, unsure of
what to make of the whole situation.

Once she was cleaned up and had changed into
street clothes she came out to find a heavily laden table waiting
for her. She sat and took a little bit of everything. “I wasn’t
exactly sure how you preferred your eggs,” Emily admitted. She had
cooked them in three different styles.

“I prefer them scrambled,” Ace said. “But
don’t worry I’ll eat anything I didn’t have to cook. If you were a
man I’d ask you to marry me right now.”

Emily laughed. It was a good sound. “Sorry,
just a woman who has lived alone long enough to pick up a few
tricks.”

Ace quirked an eyebrow and said, “You can’t
be much older than me.”

Emily replied, “I’m not. We were born on the
same day, within an hour of each other, from what you’ve told me.
But instead of Registering and joining the military, like you, I
went to college and studied. It wasn’t really fair for me with my
power and all, but I thought it might be a good place for me to try
and get control over it.”

“That’s something I’ve been wondering for a
while now,” Ace said after swallowing another mouthful of bacon and
eggs. “How did you keep yourself sane? I don’t mean to be rude, but
I’ve met only a handful of Used that weren’t unhinged by the lack
of control on their powers. And they all had purely physical
powers.”

“I got lucky, I guess. I kept expecting my
power to drive me mad. That’s what I’d been told ever since I was
told what a Used was. Everyone just assumed that one day I would
break under the strain of an uncontrollable mental power. As you
can see it never happened. I have no good reason why,” Emily
replied.

She is very lucky. She could have ended up
like that poor slob in Toronto.

Ace made a noncommittal noise and continued
eating. “If you don’t eat I will eat it all,” she said when she saw
Emily’s plate still empty.

“I ate already,” Emily replied.

She is not a very good liar.

“Liar,” Ace said. It came out blunt and she
meant it to. “Emily, it is my job to keep you safe and alive. If
you don’t eat I can’t do that, besides the cook should always take
the chance to enjoy the fruits of their labors.”

“I just want to make sure there’s enough,”
Emily replied.

“There’s plenty. The thing about my powers is
I can eat as much or as little as I want. There was a time when I
was stationed in New Egypt when I went a week without even drinking
water. I eat because I enjoy eating, not because I have to. Now eat
up.”

The other woman finally started in and Ace
nodded in satisfaction. They passed the rest of the meal in
relatively trivial conversations. “How bad was your case this
morning?” Emily asked as they were cleaning up.

“It was more annoying than bad. Torment
wanted me to ask you if you would be willing to come in and help
with interrogations,” Ace replied.

The other woman hesitated. “I would have to
Register to do that, wouldn’t I?”

“Probably. You wouldn’t have to join the
E.E.D; we hire consultants all the time. Regs that work as PIs,
scientists, doctors that kind of thing,” Ace replied.

“I don’t know if I can bring myself to
Register,” Emily said quietly.

Now for the big secret.

“Why not?” Ace asked. That was a question
she’d wanted the chance to ask an Unreg for a long time. Why not
Register? There were enough members of the E.E.D that it was rare
for a Reg to be called into action.

“I didn’t think I should. I had no control
over my power. I was afraid of doing more harm than good as a Reg,”
Emily replied.

That made sense. A Used as powerful as Emily
could potentially pose a threat to any investigation. “But now you
have your power under control,” Ace pointed out.

Emily nodded. “I know, I’m just scared. I
don’t know what the future will hold for me. Am I going to have to
rely on you for the rest of my life?”

“I’ve got no problem with that. You’re a good
person Emily. I like helping out good people, Exceptional or
normal. Just think about it,” Ace said.

Give her time. She’ll come around.

They were silent through the rest of the
cleanup. Ace wanted to give Emily her space and time to think over
her options.

Once they were finished Ace retired to her
living room, with Emily close behind. The next shift Ace was
scheduled to work wasn’t until the next day, or she would have gone
back to sleep. Instead she turned on her TV and kicked on her
PlayStation 5. She played video games to help pass the time. Sony
Computer Entertainment was more than happy to keep her supplied
with nearly unbreakable game controllers. They owed her their
entire corporation for what she’d done for them a few years
back.

Nothing like a massive security breach to
bring a company to its knees.

“I’m going to Register,” Emily finally said.
Her sudden statement almost made Ace jump.

Like I said.

“You can do it online. Go ahead and use my
computer,” Ace said. “Do you know the site?”

“I remember,” Emily said as she went to the
computer desk in the corner of the living room. Ace had a nice
computer, a three monitor setup and all the bells and whistles for
the ultimate gaming experience. Unlike other people she gamed
across computers and consoles.

You just like having plenty to do.

She watched Emily out of the corner of her
eye and smiled a little. She was one of the good ones.

Chapter 8

Emily and Ace entered the E.E.D floor of the precinct
together. Emily was in a black suit and she’d done herself up just
enough to look professional. Ace was in her uniform, no makeup. She
hated makeup. It would be sometime before she was a plain clothes
Hero. And she was glad for it. That would involve way too much
responsibility for her liking.

Coward

Torment met them just outside the elevator
doors. “Ms. Carpenter, it is good to see you again. I trust Ace is
keeping you safe.”

Emily smiled. She flashed her newly printed
Registered Exceptional License. “Ace is doing her job well. She
tells me that you are looking for consultants on the Technosis HSO
case.”

“We are. Come with me. I’ll take you to
Captain Angel. He and I are working together on this one,” Torment
replied and motioned Emily forward. Ace went to her desk to look
over her inbox. She was interrupted by Left Hook.

“Damn you brought in a nice one today Ace.”
He was watching as Emily and Torment entered the Captain’s
office.

“You do understand that she, Torment and the
Captain can hear everything you’re thinking right?” Ace asked. She
gave Left Hook a flat look before returning to her work.

“Good, let her get a good idea of what I can
do for her,” Left Hook continued. He stood watching Emily with a
leer that would have gotten him slapped if she saw it.

There was a crack as the handle of Ace’s
chair broke off. She absolutely hated when men treated women like
that. Left Hook looked down at the broken chair handle in Ace’s
hand, then up to her face. She didn’t know what he saw there, but
it was enough to shut him up. He left with his head bowed, not
daring to make eye contact.

He’s lucky that wasn’t him.

“He’s an ass,” Maniac said as she stepped up
to watch Left Hook walk away.

“I’ve found that most men like him are,” Ace
replied. She stood and flipped her chair over.

“You going to report him?” Maniac asked. She
watched as Ace took the broken arm and reattached it. “How did you
do that?”

“I can vibrate the molecules fast enough on
the two ends that they reattach. Learned it in basic from a Speed
Class named Sky,” Ace said as she righted her chair and went back
to work.

“You didn’t answer my first question,” Maniac
said. There was only a little electricity in her eyes.

Ace shrugged. “He was leering at a friend of
mine and a potential consultant for the Technosis HSO case. She was
with Torment. They both probably know and the Captain will be there
to chew his ass.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Ace. Left
Hook did that to
you
. He’s pushing your buttons again,”
Maniac said. She sat on Ace’s desk, preventing her from working.
Ace looked up. The lightning in her partner’s eyes had intensified.
“What do you want me to do? The guy is so scared of me that he
tries to cover it by picking on me. I’ve put up with it my whole
life. Bullies are everywhere. The more they use their mouths the
less they use their fists.”

“Not denying that, but the rest of bullies in
the world aren’t stirring up someone like you. I lose my temper and
some gadgets get fried. Torment loses hers and people have
nightmares while wide awake. I’ve seen what happens when you lose
your temper Ace. I’d rather you didn’t have to deal with the
aftermath of another Detroit,” Maniac said.

Ace closed her mouth around her reply. Maniac
was right. No one needed another incident like that.

“I’ll talk to Torment about it. See what she
thinks,” Ace agreed.

Good idea.

Maniac stood with a nod. “Good. You’re a good
cop, Ace, and I’d hate you lose you as my partner.”

“Thanks Maniac,” Ace said. And she meant it.
With her feeling like she’d never fit in it was nice to hear that
more than just Torment wanted her in their unit.

It was over half an hour before Torment and
Emily left the Captain’s office. Captain Angel did not look pleased
as he started down the aisle towards Left Hook’s desk. Ace already
had an incident report written up and was waiting to talk to
Torment before sending it. “Send it,” Torment said once she was
sitting next to Ace’s desk.

She hit the send button and then breathed a
sigh of relief. “Left Hook crossed a line with those comments. As
of today he’s on administrative leave,” Torment explained.

They heard Left Hook starting to shout. The
first words out of his mouth were not the smartest things he could
have said, given the situation. “I’ll kill that bitch!”

Ace knew he didn’t really mean it, but even
idle threats against officers were taken seriously. There were more
shouts, some incoherent. It was a mess and she almost regretted her
part in it. “You did the right thing,” Torment said.

Left Hook was escorted out by two Fortress
Class and Captain Angel. Ace didn’t bother watching. She already
knew Left Hook was going to blame it all on her. That was the way
bullies were. They blamed the victims when they got caught. He
would retaliate the only way he knew how, once he had the
chance.

“If he does then we will fire him. That just
makes him a Reg and not a very marketable one. No one wants to take
someone who was fired from the E.E.D,” Torment stated.

“No one but the HSO,” Ace corrected her. They
all had to remember that now. The HSO was a threat. It was time for
the E.E.D to face the fact that there was a rival organization that
wanted the exact opposite of everything the E.E.D stood for.

“There is that. We will have Left Hook under
surveillance. Now would be the best time to try and recruit him,”
Torment agreed.

“I don’t think you need to worry about him.
Left Hook is very much a bully, but his loyalty to the E.E.D is
stronger than you think. He sees this as a just punishment for what
he’s done,” Emily said. They had both forgot she was sitting at
Ace’s desk. She blushed at their looks of surprise and said, “I
couldn’t help it. It was like he was shouting his thoughts into my
head. Being around Ace gives me a lot of control, but when someone
is in that strong of a mental state there’s nothing I can do.”

“Well hopefully that will help with the
questioning of the suspects. We should probably be getting to that.
Do you need Ace there?” Torment asked.

Emily shook her head. “My control is getting
better. The longer I’m around Ace the better it gets and the
farther away I can be and still maintain that control. I’ll let you
know if I need her there at any time.”

“Very good. Ace, keep your line open,”
Torment said. She and Emily both stood and left. Captain Angel came
over not long after their departure. “I take it this isn’t the
first time Left Hook has done something like this,” he said.

He’s really not happy.