Darkness.
Blurry. Like looking through a kaleidoscope. An endless crash of noise. Hard to think. Can't move! Tried to blink.
Couldn't.
Darkness.
···---···
Drifting.
Pictures, sounds, rushing by.
Focus.
"... not acceptable." A voice. Female. "She's not one of ours yet, and we're not starting a war over this."
An office. Windows? Too bright.
"Director." Male? Angry.
"Think of the city as a whole. If I pull assets to hit ABB, Empire Eighty Eight will have a free hand. I'm not telling you not to make Bakuda a priority target, I'm telling you this office can't make her the sole target."
"Dragon volunteered. Give me one week..."
"There will be another Endbringer attack in about a month, and we will need every suit she can stockpile before then. You know this, and she should..."
Fuzz.
···---···
Voices, talking past each other, talking over each other.
"... scary, you know? Could have been any of us. I wouldn't blame you if..."
"... not her body. And I can't fix brains. If you'll..."
"... not break up with you over something we both knew..."
"...for the consultation. We'll revise our diagnoses and..."
"... certainly cleaned my clock. Who even robs banks..."
Cacophony.
Blurring.
···---···
Awakening? Focusing?
"... Didn't want you here, Thomas."
"Your city is about to boil over."
"The gang problem is..."
The sound dissolved into chaos and edges sharpened, spun and snapped into clarity. A tall thin man, standing next to a short stocky woman, both silhouetted against a massive window with a view of the Brockton Bay skyline.
Picture splintered.
Pain.
Darkness.
Dreams.
···---···
A voice. In the dream? Outside?
"... victim first time I met you. Trigger doesn't change that. Should've known your place. Might not have killed both your parents if you had."
Anger! Tried to sit up. Couldn't. Footsteps.
Blinked. My eyes, open!
...Sophia? Walking away. Hospital room?
"Just how the world works."
Through the door.
Too heavy to keep eyes open.
Sleep.
···---···
I dreamed of my parents.
With dawn, I woke.