All the Time to Lose (Wormverse)

Ch 12: Job Offers

I lift my pointer and middle finger together, and focus on his chest wound. His heart has a large slash in it. I slowly draw circles in the air, counterclockwise, as I force his body to rewind to just before he was hurt. It's a painful process, and the man screams as I forcefully undo the damage.

Thankfully, it must have happened just before they brought him in, because it only takes a few seconds for his body to seal up. I force my power to...its almost like saving something on a computer, but I'm forcing it to save over a previously saved file.

Once I'm done, my hand falls to the...thing I'm laying on. He's unconscious but alive. I smile just as I faint. Even in sleep, I am constantly plagued by images of the future. Except these, show me what is happening, not what might happen. This way, I never miss anything.

I watch as Miss Militia, Legend, and Armsmaster will gather around my unconscious body. Legend asks "And who's this?" Miss Militia answers "She's a rogue. Aeon. According to parahumans online, she's been seen all over the world, alerting people to Endbringer attacks since Behemoth in 2003."

I see a young woman walking to me. I wake up just as her hand touches my arm. I groan but it's nice that she's blocking the light with her body. Mostly. She glances at me but says nothing. I'm kinda surprised I still have my mask on. Oh well.

I look at her and groan "Who are you?" She glances at me past her hood, staying silent for what feels like an hour before answering "Panacea." I look down at her hand on my arm "What're you doing?"

"Checking you for injuries. You don't have very serious physical injuries but you've got a serious migraine so you'll be miserable for a couple of days." "Wha-what's a migraine?" She pauses, looking at me for a long moment before answering.

"A severe headache. You should avoid bright lights, loud noises, hits to the heads, etc. Not uncommon for Thinker powers-." "Wait. What's a Thinker power?" My voice is sluggish and a bit slurred. If she didn't know any better, I'd bet she'd think I was drunk.

Still, the startled look on her face tells me just how little I know. She opens her mouth and begins to explain to me the power classification system. I don't know when I stopped listening, my power showing me the entire explanation in a matter of seconds.

I wave my hand sluggishly "-t's ok. I got it now." She nods hesitantly. She removes her hand and leaves without so much as a goodbye or anything. A bit rude but who could blame her. I probably scared her. I'm left alone in silence and I close my eyes against the offending light.

The quiet is nice. Then my peace is interrupted. "You're a precog, aren't you?" I don't have to see them to know that was Miss Militia. My eyes are shut, and I do not open them. Instead, I let my powers show me the possibilities.

In one, I answer honestly, and I'm invited to join the Brockton Bay Wards. In the reality where I agree, I'm given pills and my head stops throbbing. But, I get in a fight with Shadow Stalker. It doesn't end well.

In the reality where I turn down their offer without giving a reason for it, I accidentally use Miss Militia's real name. In the reality where I don't tell them anything about my powers, they still invite me to the Wards, but I end up fighting with Glory Girl on my way outside.

In another, I am invited to join Faultline's Crew because I have the same tattoo that Newter, Gregor, Weld, and all the Case 53's have. In another, I leave, and I'm invited to join the Undersiders a few days from now.

Tattletale likely already has an idea of my powers. I'm snapped out of my daze by someone calling out to me. "Aeon." My head snaps up to look at Legend. I don't know what he said. I'm normally at least somewhat aware of my surroundings when I have my visions, but my head still hurts and viewing all of those scenarios has only made the pain worse.

Miss Militia speaks slowly "You're a precog. Right?" I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. Miss Militia is giving me a pitch about joining the Wards here. I want to. I really want to. But then I remember the confrontation I am to have with Shadow Stalker.

I don't hate villains. Probably because my power tends to show me their struggles. So, she and I will get into a fight over that if I join the Wards. But, she will be gone in a few months. These are times when I really appreciate my powers.

"Not right now." I say, interrupting Miss Militia. She looks startled and Armsmaster sounds a bit defensive as he asks "Why not?" I turn my gaze on him and smile to myself "I'll get back to you in a few months. Shadow Stalker should be gone by then."

They stare at me but Legend quickly shakes it off. He's probably attributing my statement to my precognition. I'm released the next day with my migraine, as I now know it to be called, still in full swing.

I manage to get outside the building before I fall to the ground as a new vision flashes before my eyes. It must be a new scenario, generated by my own actions. It's terrifying. Coil snatches me from one of the shelters where I'll stay the night.

I would offer to take Dinah's place, but Coil would just keep us both. After all, between the two of us, Dinah could tell him the probability of success of a plan, and I could tell him exactly what must occur in order to achieve that success.

But, while Dinah can still make her predictions even on drugs, I cannot. My power takes focus to narrow it to view individual timelines. But, God forbid he find out what else I can do with my powers. He'd be unstoppable. I can't let that happen.

I know from my visions that, no matter which shelter I go to, Coil will get to me. I need to go somewhere else. Faultine's Crew? No, I care too much about people to only help when getting paid. Who else? The Undersiders? HELL NO! That won't help. Wait! That location, with the dogs, I'd be safe there!

I'd had a flash towards the beginning of the Leviathan fight showing a cape evacuating Bitch's dogs to a safe place. Animals love me and I might be able to tell Bitch where that other cape moved her dogs.

I struggle to get to my feet, only to hear Miss Militia call out to me. I shunt myself forward several paces to stay out of anyone's reach. Coil knows about me now. I'm almost sure of it. I look around at all of the onlookers and I panic.

I run, shunting myself forward so I'm moving about as fast as Leviathan was but without all the force behind it. I don't stop until I reach the shelter with the dogs. There I collapse, exhausted and in far too much pain to do much else.

Two days later, my head still hurts, but it's better. I'm looking at the addresses and names of buildings until I finally find the one I'm looking for. I walk through the opening that once held a door and look around.

I see a sea of people of various ages, genders, and ethnicities. It takes me a good 20 minutes to finally find the one person I was looking for. I spot a head of long, brown, curly hair and go over to it.

Thankfully, this is exactly who I've been looking for. I move to tap the person on the shoulder but they turn around before I can. I give the lanky girl a small smile, grab her hand, open it, and shove the scrap of paper I was carrying into her hand.

I then close her hand around it "Rachel really needs you as her friend Taylor. This should help." I move to leave but she grabs my arm. I glance at her. I can't tell if she's mad, hurt, or scared. "How do you know who I am?"

There's an edge to her voice. I think she's trying to threaten me. But seeing as I am not intimidated by her...I don't think it worked. Still, I can see that she is trying to get answers and I suppose I should tell her something.

I smile "The same way I knew that Leviathan was coming, and the same way I know that you can patch things up with your friends." She kinda just...stares at me. I gently slide my arm out of her hand and smile, pointing at the paper in her hand "It's where her dogs are."

With that, I turn and leave the shelter. The longer I stay in one place, the worse it will get for me. Should I have asked her not to tell Coil about me? Maybe. The fact is...he already knows about me.

If anything, Skitter will do her very best to protect me for handing her this chance to patch things up with the Undersiders. After all, Skitter already doesn't like or trust Coil. If my memory serves, she tries to rescue Dinah in a few realities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~