A dying man is given a second chance. This story is a fan fiction that takes place in the Whateley Universe.

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I awoke in a hospital bed and my first response was to feel a surge of momentary fear that everything had just been a dream. When I grabbed at my body and found it small, slender, and female, I actually felt a powerful sense of relief. It struck me as ironic that I’d be relieved to wake up as a girl, but it meant that everything that had happened hadn’t just been in my mind. I wasn’t still dying of cancer and merely spending my remaining days lost in hallucinations.

After my initial fear and relief, I realized that I was back in the Clinic again. This wasn’t the same room I was in before, but it was similar enough in layout and décor that there was no mistaking where I was. And since I was in the clinic, that obviously meant that Rachael hadn’t destroyed it.

“That girl,” I said with a snarl as I sat up and took a survey of my body to make sure I was all right. “I don’t care how old she is. The next time I see her, I’m throwing her over my knee and giving her a good spanking.”

I climbed out of bed and went to take a piss, and once I’d done that, I checked myself out in the mirror. Other than looking a little tired, I didn’t look any worse for wear. In fact, there were no indications at all that I’d suffered so much as a bruise or scraped knee from that fight, though I wasn’t sure how much of that was because of my increased resistance to injury and how much was the simple fact that I could heal from just about everything.

By the time I got out of the bathroom, I found Dr. Franklin had come in to check on me. She let out a faint sigh of relief when she saw me, then put on her professional face again. “You’re lucky to be alive,” she stated simply.

“How lucky?” I asked grimly, still having a hard time believing that Rachael had actually shot me. Sure, she’d been in the middle of a severe episode and obviously didn’t recognize me, but she still shot me.

“When Pinnacle brought you in a few hours ago,” she told me in a calm and professional tone, “the front half of your body had been severely burned. If it hadn’t been for your exemplar durability, you would have been killed instantly. As it was, you survived long enough for your regeneration to kick in and repair the damage.”

When she said ‘severely burned’, I suddenly remembered the way Rachael’s weapon had burned a hole right through the building wall. I gulped at that, realizing that I really had come close to dying…again. Cancer was one thing, but dying at the hands of my own daughter would have been even worse…and not just for me. I had no doubt that once Rachael had calmed down and found out, she never would have forgiven herself.

“I was concerned that taxing your regeneration like that might trigger another burnout,” Dr. Franklin said as she checked my temperature. “I’m pleased to see that isn’t the case, though I suspect that you’re rather hungry right now.”

I nodded at that, feeling more than a little hungry. In fact, I felt like I was starved, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, my body mused have used up all of my reserves in order to heal myself that much so quickly.

“I’ll see if I can find you something to wear so you can go to the cafeteria,” Dr. Franklin told me.

“Don’t bother,” I said with a faint smile.

With that, I formed a pair of silk panties right on my body, then removed the hospital gown that had been leaving my back side to hang out. To Dr. Franklin’s obvious surprise, a new dress appeared on my body. This one was a nice dark purple, with a black silk ribbon around my throat. Unfortunately, the skull pin and hair clip must have been destroyed when Rachael shot me.

“That should do it,” I said, though I was still missing shoes. And of course, I’d need to take a shower as well, but for the moment, food came first.

Dr. Franklin gave me a vaguely surprised look, then nodded faintly and said, “Shortcut keeps asking about you and is waiting for you in the lobby.”

Rich had told me that he’d occasionally worked for the Clinic, performing emergency transport for some patients. Because of that, Dr. Franklin clearly knew him, but from her expression and tone, I was pretty sure that she didn’t know we were related.

A few minutes later, I went to the lobby where Rich immediately rushed over and gave me a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” he told me with an almost haunted look on his face. “When I saw what Rachael did to you…”

“I’m better now,” I told him, trying not to think about it. I shuddered at the memory, feeling a flash of pain and fear. I joked, “Thank God for regeneration.”

Rich nodded at that, then admitted, “I’ve never seen Rachael like that. She was…scary.”

“Yeah,” I responded with a tired sigh. “The first time I saw her fly off the handle like that, I nearly shit my pants.”

Rich’s eyes went wide at that. “I always thought people were exaggerating…”

“Afraid not,” I told him with a shake of my head. “She is scary…and dangerous. It isn’t her fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that she kills people when she’s like that.”

While we talked, I started walking to the cafeteria and Rich followed along, perhaps realizing how hungry I’d be. My mental clock was still running and told me that it was about time for dinner, so even if I hadn’t used up all my resources healing, I would have been feeling hungry anyway.

Rich and I ate in near silence, with him still being a bit shaken after seeing Rachael in one of her episodes. He’d always looked up to her and denied that she was anywhere near as bad as people claimed, but now he’d seen it for himself…and he’d seen what she did to me. I just focused on my food, though my own mood was pretty dark as well.

We were about finished eating when Pinnacle came in and said, “Doctor Franklin told me you’d be here…” He paused and looked to Rich, then said, “I see you’ve met Shortcut.”

“You could say that,” I responded, glancing to Rich who looked self-conscious. “So, you’re with the Freelancers…”

“Oh no,” Rich quickly assured me with a wince. “I’ve just given a couple of them emergency transportation.”

Pinnacle nodded at that, then told me, “When you’re done eating, a couple of us would like to have a talk with you in the headquarters.” I scowled at that, giving him a wary look. However, he quickly assured me, “We just wanted to share information on Lady Havoc’s attack.”

I hesitated a moment, then responded with a shrug. “Why not?” After all, I had some questions of my own that needed to be answered.

“You know,” Pinnacle commented, giving me an amused look. “Lately, several men have been found, tied up with ribbons and bows.”

Rich gave me a quick look, then asked, “Several?”

“And the funny thing is,” Pinnacle continued with a chuckle. “Each of them claims they were jumped by a group of large men.”

“Funny how that is,” I agreed with a smirk.

Pinnacle nodded, then continued, “And it turns out, one of them had an outstanding warrant for assault and another was in violate of his probation.”

I gave Pinnacle a curious look, noting how he seemed to be pretty up to speed on that situation. I wondered if he was a cop in his real identity, or just had some good connections. However, I was too distracted by my food to bother asking him more.

To Rich’s amusement and Pinnacle’s obvious annoyance, I ordered a dessert to go along with the very large meal I’d already eaten. The chocolate cake looked pretty damn good, and after what I’d just gone through, a few extra calories wouldn’t hurt anything. Then again, Dr. Franklin had told me that as an exemplar, I’d never have to worry about getting fat, no matter how much I ate.

After I’d finished up and we began to leave, Pinnacle gave me a curious look and asked, “Where in the world did you get a new dress so fast?” I just chuckled at that but didn’t answer him.

The three of us walked to the elevator and then went to one of the floors that was set up as a headquarters for the Freelancers. I was led to a large room, which immediately reminded me of the fact that Pinnacle had once said that a lot of local heroes just used this place like a social club. Even if he hadn’t told me that, this room would have immediately given me that impression.

The room looked less like a super hero meeting room, or at least like what I thought one should look like, and more like a gentleman’s club. There were wooden panels around the walls, rugs scattered over wood floors, a bar in the back, and then a bunch of comfortable looking chairs that were vaguely arranged in a circle. And of course, there were other pieces of furniture scattered about as well.

Asset sat in one of the chairs with a pair of crutches lying on the ground beside him. He looked pretty banged up from the earlier fight with Rachael, though he seemed to be doing all right as he was nursing a beer in his hand.

The Occultist looked comfortable as he sat in a chair with a glass of booze in one hand and a lit cigar in the other. There was obviously magic at play because the cigar smoke never left his personal space, merely floated up above him where it was drawn into a floating gray ball. I couldn’t help but feeling impressed at the sight. Meg had forbidden me from smoking cigars in the house, saying that the smell got everywhere. However, it looked like the Occultist had found a solution to that problem.

There were a few other heroes present as well, though I didn’t know who any of them were. One was a slender black woman in her early twenties, who was sipping from a bottle of water. Sitting beside her was a blonde woman who appeared to be about ten years older, and she held a class if red wine in her hand. The last person present was an Asian guy, who just stood back with his arms crossed, not looking happy at all.

“Why did you bring in a kid?” the black woman asked curiously.

“This is Ribbon,” Pinnacle said, gesturing to me. “She helped in the earlier fight against Lady Havoc.” He hesitated a moment, then added, “And in spite of her young appearance, she probably knows more about Lady Havoc than anyone here.”

“I find that rather unlikely,” the blonde with the wine glass commented, seeming more amused than anything.

Pinnacle told me, “Have a seat. We were about to share notes on various problems we’ve run into lately.” Then he looked to Rich, still looking curious about why Rich was tagging along. “You’re welcome to stay too, Shortcut.”

“I don’t mind if I do,” Rich responded, sitting down and watching me with a curious look, probably wondering how I was going to react.

Without waiting for an invitation, I went over to the occultist and asked, “Do you mind?” Before he’d even answered, I picked up the bottle of booze from the table beside him and poured myself a glass. His drink of choice was scotch, which I’d never been a big fan of. The only people I’d ever known who drank that stuff were rich men and pretentious pricks. However, beggars can’t be choosers.

Then I took a cigar from the humidor and prepped it, being fully aware that absolutely everyone in the room was staring at me in disbelief. After I lit the cigar, I sat down in a chair, taking a nice drag and then blowing the smoke out overhead. As with the Occultist, my smoke floated right up to the gray ball. I was definitely going to have to get one of those.

“You can’t smoke,” the young black woman exclaimed, looking offended. “You’re just a little girl…”

I took a drink of my scotch, then stated, “I’m older than I look.” I didn’t bother adding anything to that, though Pinnacle looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

“Some things never change,” Rich muttered as he did a face palm.

“Not bad,” I told the Occultist, making a point of ignoring the fact that he along with everyone else was still staring at me. I took another drag from the cigar, savoring it as I did so. I hadn’t had a cigar in months, not since I’d gotten sick.

“Havoc was looking for someone,” Asset pointed out. “She wasn’t clear who…”

Pinnacle hesitated a moment, then looked at me. I frowned thoughtfully for a moment, wondering how much to tell them. It seemed to me that Pinnacle had been keeping my read identity to himself, for which I was grateful.

“The person she was looking for had already checked out of the Clinic,” I commented, earning several looks of surprise. “She was having a severe Diedricks episode so obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.” Then I looked to Pinnacle and asked, “What happened after she shot me?”

“We managed to destroy all her robots,” Pinnacle told me, “but she used a force field to protect herself and escape.”

“I haven’t had the pleasure of encountering Lady Havoc yet,” the blonde woman commented, putting plenty of sarcasm into the word ‘pleasure’. “But I hear she’s pretty slippery that way.”

I nodded at that, remembering how she’d sneak out of the house after she’d been grounded. She was really good at getting away with it too, even once creating a hologram of herself in bed for when we checked in on her.

“From past experience,” Pinnacle said, “it’s likely that she’s going to lay low for awhile, then start making small raids for parts and supplies. If we don’t stop her at that point, she’ll eventually show up with a full arsenal again.”

“She’s a pain in the asset,” Asset joked.

“How likely are we to find the person she was looking for?” the black woman asked, giving me a curious look.

“Very,” Shortcut said with a shake of his head.

“Not very,” I added, knowing full well that Rachael wouldn’t recognize me. I’d been standing right in front of her and there hadn’t been even a glimmer of recognition in her eyes.

“I’ll follow up with Lady Havoc,” Pinnacle told the room, then adding, “And I hope Ribbon will help me.”

I frowned slightly at that, wanting to see Rachael off the streets where she couldn’t hurt anyone else, but I didn’t like the idea of setting myself up as some kind of super hero to go after her. In fact, even after what had happened a few hours ago, I couldn’t imagine myself going after her directly. Even with everything she’d done, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to hurt her.

After that, the other heroes began telling about some of the issues they’d run into lately. The black woman, who I learned was named Aerial, said, “I ran into a group of Humanity First who were harassing a mutant vagrant. Other than that, I haven’t been very busy this week.”

The blonde woman, who was called Miss Fortune, said, “I dealt with Snoozefest and a baseline bank robber, both of whom were taken into custody.”

The Occultist was about to say something when the Asian guy, whose name I still didn’t know, demanded, “I want to know about Mystery Woman.”

“What about Mystery Woman?” Aerial asked, looking confused.

“The Marquis got her,” the Occultist stated grimly. Aerial let out a gasp at that.

Asset nodded and explained, “He snatched her the other day. It was all over the news.”

“Damn,” Aerial commented with a shake of her head. “That poor woman.” She looked at the Asian guy and said, “I’m sorry to hear about your sister, Ceasefire.”

That immediately caught my interest and I could see why the Asian guy…why Ceasefire was in such a grim mood. I’d seen the news footage and had worried for the woman, so I could only imagine how much worse it would have been if it had been someone from my own family.

“I’m afraid I don’t know who this Marquis is,” Rich commented, looking self-conscious. Then again, neither of us were members of the Freelancers, so we were both outsiders.

“The Marquis is a power thief,” Pinnacle explained grimly. “He likes to capture other mutants, keeping them locked up and close at hand so he can keep taking their powers. At one point, Champion took him down…barely. It looked like he’s escaped and is trying to build up his collection again.”

“He sounds like a problem,” I responded carefully, knowing that if someone as powerful as Champion just barely defeated him, than that was an understatement. “But if he needs to keep them alive for their powers, then that’s a good thing for Mystery Woman.”

Aerial shook her head, having a haunted look on her face. “I’ve heard some bad things about the Marquis,” she said, glancing to Ceasefire. “They say he likes to…hurt his prisoners.”

“We have to save her,” Ceasefire insisted.

All of the other heroes suddenly looked very uncomfortable and I could see a couple of them squirming in their seats. It was pretty obvious that they were afraid of the Marquis. Then again, as a power thief, not only could he steal their powers away from them if they got too close, he’d be able to use other people’s powers against them as well.

“I’m afraid he’s a bit out of my league,” Miss Fortune commented with a scowl. Then she added, “But I’ll try.”

“I’d be happy to help,” Asset told Ceasefire. Then he gestured down at his crutches and added, “But I’m out of action for awhile. I can provide weapons though.”

“I’ll help,” Pinnacle stated, as though there was no other option.

Aerial gave a guilty look and said, “I’ll keep an eye out for him.” It wasn’t a definitive commitment, but Pinnacle nodded slightly.

“I’ll do some scrying,” the Occultist volunteered. “I’ll see if I can find where the Marquis is hiding out.”

They continued talking about what they could do to locate the Marquis and rescue Mystery Woman, but it was pretty obvious that most of them had serious doubts about being able to beat the Marquis on their own. Listening to their conversation made it pretty clear that, though they shared information, they didn’t really work together. I shook my head, having a bad feeling about Mystery Woman’s chances.

Eventually, the meeting ended and everyone began to leave. Asset muttered, “I wish the Dark Rider would come to these meetings so we could ask him. I’m pretty sure he’s fought the Marquis before…”

As Aerial was leaving, she gave me a glare and told Miss Fortune, “What a weird little girl…”

Once just about everyone else was gone, I turned to Pinnacle and asked, “Why isn’t Ceasefire going after the Marquis himself?”

“He doesn’t have the powers for it,” Pinnacle answered with a shake of his head. “Ceasefire can create a wide field that shuts down certain chemical reactions such as gunpowder, internal combustion engines, and fire…”

“He shuts down guns and cars,” Asset added, as he was the only other hero who remained. “It makes him great against baseline criminals and fires, but not so great against most people with powers. That’s why he usually helps the fire department or works alongside Mystery Woman.”

Pinnacle nodded, then told me, “If you hear anything about Lady Havoc, please let me know. She’ll probably lay low for a few months, but you never know.”

Rich frowned at that, then asked Pinnacle, “Why are you so focused in getting Lady Havoc? I mean, it seems rather personal.”

Pinnacle’s expression suddenly darkened. “I suppose it is,” he said carefully, “When I first began my career, I ran into Lady Havoc while she was in the middle of robbing an electronics store. At the time, she was a complete unknown, and admittedly, I was cocky and mocked her.” He paused again, shaking his head sadly as he continued, “She lost her temper and then…went insane. She went on a rampage…what appears to have been her first, killing nine people.”

“You were there,” I said grimly, remembering reports that some super hero had tried stopping Rachael during the first episode where she’d killed people. I felt a cold knot forming in my stomach. “You triggered that episode…”

“She’s insane,” Pinnacle stated sadly. “If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. Over the years, I’ve seen her go on rampages with far less excuse than that. But…I still feel guilty for my part, and I’ve been trying to stop her since.”

“Are you the one who knocked out her teeth?” Rich demanded angrily, obviously surprising Pinnacle who hadn’t expected such a personal reaction from him.

“Rich,” I said, and he stopped, glaring at Pinnacle. “It’s not his fault. You know Rachael has issues and she can’t be talked down when she’s like that.” I shuddered and reminded him, “Look what she did to me when I tried talking to her today.”

“I know,” Rich admitted grimly. “But I don’t like it.”

Pinnacle stared at Rich and then me before carefully asking, “Is there something I should know?”

“Every family has a black sheep,” I told Pinnacle while Rich created a swirl in the air in front of us so we could leave. “But that doesn’t mean we love ours any less.” And with that, Rich and I left to go home.