Broker

Sonya watched Firth’s back as they picked up their pace. The woman’s shoulders were tight, her fists clenched, and her head tilted forward. Sonya had to admit she was starting to understand this person that had positioned herself against her. Firth was an idealist in the most realistic sense. A person she could respect for her commitment to her principles. She had rules, and she never cut corners. That was the impression Sonya got.

It’s kind of sad. If Martin had held on to his principles in the same way, the two of them would have been a deadly force working together.

Someone shouted behind her, and she glanced back, Marta moving to cover her and Colin. A pair of men in the gray uniforms of the Pandora Committee ran towards them, but their eyes were focused elsewhere. She frowned when she saw the white band around their upper arms emblazoned with a red cross. Medics? Her heart sank, and she spun around. "Marta, clear the way!” she barked and picked up her pace, storming past a startled Firth.

“Chernovna?”

“Medics are running the same way we are,” Sonya said sharply.

“Oh god,” Firth gasped, and the sudden intensity of presence that only a Mythic-tier hero could bring to bear crashed into their surroundings. Marta was ahead of the two of them in a flash with a halo of that off-white light around her.

She raised her fist. "Move!” she barked. "I’m not asking!”

A few people shouted in confusion before darting out of the way. Sonya hurried after her and glanced at the medics who slowed when they saw her face. She jerked her chin towards Marta. "Go, hurry up!” she barked before starting to run as well.

Cass, what’s happening to you? She thought and turned to look at Colin, who gave her a meaningful look. What-

That’s when it hit her.

The deal. The agreement I make with all the members of my Inner Circle to keep my secrets. But she’d never… The anger came back. If they coerced her… 

There was a pair of guards standing in front of one of the meeting rooms up ahead. Both of them looked very small in front of a glowing Marta. They looked at one another as the Medics raced towards them, not waiting to be allowed inside. They pushed past and into the room, the open door allowing the shouting inside to be heard. 

“What the hell did you do?”

“I don’t know! Oh my god!”

Sonya walked past Marta and looked the guard in the eyes. "Are you going to stop us from going in?” she asked evenly.

“N-no, ma’am,” he said quickly, and Sonya glanced over at Colin, who nodded. Firth caught up just as Sonya shoved the doors open and strode inside. The narrow room had a long table in the center surrounded by chairs, many of which had been tossed aside in the utter pandemonium that the room had devolved into. Four men and a woman wearing suits stood at one side arguing with one another. A bit away from them, a young man and woman stood together in the grey uniforms of Committee Heroes. The young man was scowling at the suits, while the girl was crying. Past them, the two medics were crouched in the rear of the room, looking down at something.

The suits looked up, and she met their eyes. One of them cleared his throat and started to walk towards the door. “Take another step, and I won’t be friendly,” Sonya said with a deadly calm.

He bristled, but Marta moved to block his path.

Sonya looked up at the medics. "How is she?”

One of the men looked up at her and let out a relieved sigh. "Alive. Whatever fit she was having has passed, though she’s unconscious.”

Sonya closed her eyes and nearly stumbled, a hand catching her back. She looked to Firth, who gave her a reassuring nod and chuckled. Strange person, she thought, before turning to Colin. "Go, you know what to do.”

He nodded and strode around the table to stand with the medics. "Hey, boys,” Colin said politely. "I’m the Chernovna family’s legal representative. Allow me to accompany you while we get the young miss of the household somewhere she can rest properly,” he said, striking a small pose and smiling brightly as the two men looked at him in surprise. They looked at one another and nodded before working together to pick Cass up.

Sonya didn’t move from where she stood as they made their way back around the table. Her eyes were fixed on her daughter’s face. Tears stained her cheeks, her face reddened from being choked out by the deal, and her blonde hair was a mess. Sonya stepped aside to let them pass. She waited until the door shut, her eyes closed as she regained herself. It still felt strange to be so in control of her own emotions. Anger came when it needed to and calm as well. She exhaled through her nostrils.

“Sonya, I’ll handle this,” Firth said.

She didn’t face Firth. "Leiandra, you’ve demonstrated to me that you’re the kind of person who stands on principles. You’ve earned some respect today. Please don’t damage that by saying something stupid,” she said.

“You have no right to hold us here!” one of the men shouted.

“Representative Ma, shut up,” Sonya growled. "Representative Ileva, Polina, I thought we had a good rapport.”

The single woman of the group, a pretty face with dark curly hair and darker eyes, stepped forward. "Miss Chernovna, what we were doing was in the best interest of the Committee. You must understand that too much power in one person’s hands is…”

Sonya rolled her eyes. "All of you, sit.”

Nobody moved.

“Now.”

Everyone found a seat. Even Leiandra knew better than to ignore her at this juncture. She sat to the left of the head of the table.

“Marta, the door,” Sonya said and stalked over to the head of the table, pulling the chair out and sitting down. She took a soothing breath and relaxed, turning her attention to the two heroes. She saw their real names over their heads, but she didn’t recognize them. She looked at the girl, who was still in tears, her shoulders heaving. The dark-haired boy looked furious, his fists clenched so tight she imagined his skin tearing. “You two, why don’t you tell me what happened here?”

“Excuse me?” Representative Ma barked.

Sonya let out a sigh. "Ignore the idiot,” she said. "Some people don’t learn.”

Sonya slowly turned her head in his direction. A thin, balding man in his fifties, Representative Ma was the Pandora rep from China. To his left was the slender and dark-haired Polina Ileva from Russia. Then, there was Dubois of France, a thick-set man with lips that reminded Sonya of a frog. After that, Sowards of Australia, a tan-skinned man with sharp eyes and a permanent scowl, and Suo of Taiwan, a frail man with a bowl cut and thick glasses. She tilted her head to the right and fixed Ma with a stare. "Mister Ma, do you want my attention on you right now? I think you’re at least smart enough to realize that I’m not here to flash my pretty face and make funny jokes.”

Ma winced and went quiet as Sonya turned back to the young man. "Please, Anton, right?”

He blinked. "Y-You know my name? I mean-” He cleared his throat and shot the representatives a glare before standing and clapping his fist to his chest. "Hero Nietz, Pandora Security Division,” he said quickly. "My teammate here, Locke, and I were assisting with securing the building after the incident in lock-up.”

“Hero Nietz!” Dubois hissed.

“I already know,” Sonya growled. "Let the boy finish.”

Nietz looked down at the table. "We were informed by Representative Ma that they had secured a suspect and required our help to get answers since Hero Verity was occupied. I was to provide security in case there was trouble, and Locke…” He gestured to his blonde friend, who let out another sob and curled in on herself, tugging at her curly hair. “...Locke’s ability allows her to put people into a suggestion-locked state as long as she’s touching them.”

Sonya leaned back in her seat and stroked the arm of her chair. "Then what?”

“We were brought in, and I immediately recognized Hero Harbinger. I couldn’t believe it was her, but the representatives were insistent. They told us we’d be stripped of our licenses if we didn’t help them get justice.” He closed his eyes before whipping his head up and looking Sonya in the eyes. "I’m fine with that, but Locke is the first person in her family to make real money. She can’t lose her position. So I stayed.”

She raised her eyebrows. This one’s got spine and morals.

Nietz carried on. "We did as instructed, and Locke used her ability on Hero Harbinger.”

“How was she at the time?” Sonya asked.

Nietz tilted his chin up. "Compiled without question, but asked that the questions stick to the relevant topics.”

Sonya glanced at Firth, who’d remained silent this entire time observing the conversation closely. Sonya resisted the urge to smile. Even in a situation like this, huh? She met the young man’s eyes and nodded. "After that?”

“They asked if she killed Liberty; she answered no. That should have been where it ended, but they insisted on asking more questions. Personal questions about you, ma’am,” Nietz said. "She didn’t answer right away, and they started badgering her, asking lots of questions all at once, and then she… collapsed.”

“Slander!” Ma barked and got to his feet. "I don’t need to listen to any more of this nonsense.”

Sonya ignored him. "Thank you, Nietz,” she said and turned to Locke, who was trembling still, but the tears had stopped. She was looking at the table, unable to meet Sonya’s eyes. “Locke?”

“I’m sorry,” the girl whispered. "That’s… never happened before. I didn’t want to do that. But-”

Sonya sighed and looked to Firth. "Is there any way you can get Verity in here?” she asked.

“I just sent her a text,” Firth said darkly. "She’s been free all evening, by the way.”

Sonya raised her eyebrows. "Interesting! Did you hear that?” Sonya said brightly and turned to those present. "Verity was available! I wonder where the mix-up happened. Certainly it wasn’t a case of willful ignorance, was it?”

“Sonya,” Representative Ileva started in a soothing voice.

Sonya put her hands on the table. "You may call me Miss Chernovna or Ma’am, representative. Our relationship isn’t that good,” she said patiently. "You may also refrain from patronizing me with any nonsense out of your mouth until Verity arrives. Am I absolutely clear? With that said, what would you like to say, Representative?”

The Russian shut her mouth.

I thought so.

Sonya’s phone rang, and she picked it up, flicking it once and answering. "How is she?”

<”She’s awake,”> Colin said. <”Doesn’t remember much. Apparently one of the two heroes in there has a suggestion ability they were using in place of Verity’s truth detection.”>

Sonya sighed with relief and sank in her chair, resting her head against the back and staring up at the ceiling. “Can you put her on for me?”

<”Yeah,”> Colin said.

A moment later, a tired voice came through. <”Mom?”>

Sonya let a genuine smile show as her heart melted into butter. "Hey, how are you feeling?”

<”Tired. My neck hurts. I think- Oh- Sorry,”> Cass said wearily. 

Colin must have warned her not to say too much. Sonya ran her fingers over the table. "Do you need some time off? I’ll call Bluestar,” Sonya offered. "What you went through…”

Cass coughed, <”Mom! No, I’m fine! I’ll be okay. I have a job to do, and I can’t just ditch my team…”> She trailed off. <”...Wait, where’s Lily?”>

Good question. "I’ll find out, dear, and send her your way. You rest for now and I’ll come check on you once I’m done, alright? I love you.”

<”Okay, love you too, Mom.”>

Sonya hung up and turned to the suits as a knock came to the door. Sonya glanced back at Marta and nodded. Her friend pulled the door open and revealed a breathless Verity, panting and leaning on her knees as she looked around the room, wide-eyed. “Uh… Miss Firth called?”

Sonya turned the chair around and brightened. "Hi Verity! Just need your help with something. If you wouldn’t mind?” she said and gestured to Nietz. "I just need you to check if that young man there is being honest about his story.”

Verity looked to Leiandra, who nodded, and she started moving. Sonya turned to the suits. "While she’s listening to Nietz retell his story, why don’t you tell me where Hero Crusader is?”

–

Sonya and Marta arrived at the holding pen. It was one of the rooms the Committee used when processing a freshly arrested villain. The room was made of the same materials as the training facilities that heroes used, which made it very difficult to break out of. Its location was nondescript besides being in the same wing as lock-up. A large metal door embedded in the wall with only a security panel to the right as a way of controlling it. Sonya turned to the security guard, who had accompanied them, and he nodded before holding his badge up to the large metal door.

“I’m surprised they’re even using it right now, given the circumstances,” Sonya muttered.

The door hissed open, and Sonya stepped inside the off-white room. She found Lillian lying on the ground, sound asleep with cuffs on her wrists and ankles. 

Sonya shook her head. "Get those off of her,” she said.

“I’ll have to get the keys, ma’am,” the guard said.

“Marta?” Sonya said.

Marta walked over, crouched, and tore the cuffs off with her bare hands, tossing the torn metal aside with a look of disgust on her face. The jolt was enough to rouse the girl, who looked up in confusion, blinking bleariness out of her eyes. “What… What happened? Sonya?” she mumbled in a daze.

Sonya walked over and reached down to help the girl to her feet. "Why don’t you tell me what you last remember, Lily?”

Lillian furrowed her brows. "Representative Ma said I should grab refreshments for myself and Cass,” she said groggily. "I didn’t want to leave her, but Cass said it was fine and the vending machine was right around the corner, so I went. After that, it gets kinda fuzzy. I felt warm all of a sudden, and then nothing.” She blinked a few more times and then looked up sharply as the realization dawned on her. "Oh my god, is Cass okay?”

Sonya sighed and pulled the girl into a hug. "Cass is fine. Thank you for coming with her.”

“I left her,” Lillian mumbled.

“You didn’t know,” Sonya said and squeezed her once before pulling back and touching her cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. "It’s okay. She’s fine. You’re fine. You two are safe, and that’s all that matters to me right now.”

Lillian looked down at the ground. “But-”

“Lillian, just learn from this. Okay? Remember what I taught you? Sometimes people will use means beyond fighting to get what they want. You need to be vigilant,” she said.

Lillian met her gaze and nodded, her orange eyes glistening a little. Sonya let out a tired breath and looked back at Marta, who was frowning. “Worried about leaving it to Firth?”

Marta pursed her lips and gave her a wry smile. "I hate it when you do that, Miss.”

Sonya snorted before walking past her and patting her arm. "It’ll be fine. She may not like me very much, but she’s a woman of principle. You can trust her to do her job.”

As Sonya walked out the door and crossed her arms behind her back, her lips thinned. Besides, she thought. It’s not like I can’t change up some of our world tour destinations and settle the score myself.

There would be hell to pay for this.

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