Vigilante

12. Patty Parker

Twelve

They shot Logan in front of her. They did what they had to do to put the baby inside, and then they brought him out, still unconscious. He didn't even get a chance to scream. Hayden smiled as they did it and as their parting gesture they left her tied to the table for Logan to find.

She didn't know what she expected. That they'd become heroes overnight, and save their shit filled city from ruin. There were no heroes in real life. Only people who sometimes did the right thing, and sometimes the bad. Heroic was not a mental state, it was a way of life, and most of the time, heroes died.

She vaguely remembered being put on the private jet, and taken back to the manor. Before she knew it, she was sitting in the kitchen, at the small table that her Mom had put in there for the kids.

She sat there, watching Jenny bustle around as she tried to make something for her.

"I'm not hungry or thirsty. I don't want anything," she croaked, "I just saw one of my best friends get shot in front of me and they----"

Jenny placed a mug on the table. "This isn't for appetite. In fact, it's to make it so that you can have one again."

She stared at the dark liquid drink in front of her, steam rising up to hit her face. "You can do that with a tea?"

"I wasn't a nurse," said Jenny, "I was a scientist in real life. Before everything became twisted. I know a lot more than people think. I'm probably one of the smartest 'maids' in the whole damn universe. You don't have to if you don't want to, but---"

"No," Patty whispered, "I'll do it."

She downed the tea, not caring that it would burn her tongue. It would do far worse to her insides. Jenny squeezed her hand. "You might want to sleep that off. It could hurt. I'll make up your old room."

Patty jerked away from her. "I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, something bad happens. I need to stay awake."

"Sweetie----"

"No," she said, "I have to stay awake. I need to be alone. I....I think I'm going back to my apartment in the city for the night."

"Are you sure that's safe? What about Ryder? Don't you want to wait for him?"

She stood up from her chair. "No. I don't want to see him right now. Maybe not ever."

"Alright," said Jenny, "I'll take you back."

Someone cleared their throat. Someone who wasn't either of them. Both women froze, turning to look at the stranger standing in the door way. Patty squinted. He was older, a little more worn, but Patty would have known Parson Parker anywhere. Tall, with white hair, and always refined in a Carey Grant sort of way.

"You're alive!" Patty exclaimed. "Ryder told me, but I couldn't believe it until I really saw it. How could you keep this from us for so long?"

He reached out and held her chin in his hand. "Because, my dear. The world is a strange, dark place and I wasn't always a butler."

She glanced over at her mother, then back at him. "Have either of you ever told the truth about anything to me, my whole life, ever?"

"No," he said, "but I would like to start. I'm afraid this conversation has been long overdue. But considering your connection to Ryder, I couldn't very well involve you. I didn't know who our enemies were. Now, I do. But taking them down isn't going to be simply a matter of that boy of yours putting on a mask."