“You’re trying to fix things?”

“Some of us.  Most of us.  Some of us want to help, like Skitter there, and others are doing it because we know that when things are up and running again, we’re going to be a part of the status quo.”  Lisa grinned.

At least she’s upfront about it.

I spoke up, “That’s the basic idea of what we’re doing.  You heard what I said to the people in my territory.  I’m trying to get people fed, I want them safe, and I wanted to help you and your brother.  If you’re working for me, that’s the sort of thing you’re going to be helping me with.”

Taylor is really tiptoeing the line between hero and villain, when you stop to think about what she’s actually doing and why.

Sierra shook her head, “I only said I’d join because I wanted to keep an eye on my brother.”

Yeah, that’s fair.

Lisa shrugged, “Then I’ll make you a deal.  You join Skitter’s group, and I’ll give you a contact number.  Whoever is babysitting Bryce will have the answering phone, to give you an update on your brother, anytime, anywhere.

Or put you on the phone with him, if that’s what you want.”

This sounds good to me!

“I’d love to take on another recruit,” Lisa smiled.  She turned to me, “But she saw you first.”

Hah! Whaddaya say, Taylor?

I guess Taylor is going to be okay with Sierra’s wishes, though.

Sierra looked between the two of us, then asked Lisa, “You don’t work for Skitter?”

Not quite.

“Partners, believe it or not,” Lisa replied.  “We’re controlling different territories.”

Even though she clearly meant it in a different sense, I’m sure the shippers like the word “partners” here. 😉

“Oh.  Two territories.”

“Nine,” Lisa corrected her.  “Nine villains, nine territories.

Nine, you say? Are you just inflating the number, or are you counting outside the Undersiders?

Hm. Are the Travelers going through the same thing as the Undersiders, with a Trickster territory, a Sundancer territory, a Genesis territory and a Ballistic territory?

Oh, yeah: “Our group had discussed this, after talking to Coil the other night, and we’d hammered out more details yesterday, passing on the details to the Travelers.  Our methods would vary wildly, but we were all making our bids for territory this morning.” (11.2)

The city isn’t getting better and the people in charge aren’t up to the task, so we’re taking over.”

A pretty neat way to put it that helps to make it sound like you’re the good guys. Though it’s true, at least in Skitter’s case.

I had my doubts, but I didn’t want to shoot Lisa’s idea down.  So I looked to Sierra and asked, “Thoughts?”

She frowned.  “Can it be temporary?  I don’t want him to be locked into anything even after schools get going again and we’re trying to get things normal again.”

Of course. I don’t think Lisa’s the type to go “no he’s mine now mwahaha”.

“It can be temporary,” Lisa assured her.

“He doesn’t get hurt.”

“He’ll have one of those guys with him ninety percent of the time,” Lisa said, pointing to Minor, Jaw and Fish.

Sounds good to me.

I saw Sierra look at me, noting my injuries, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.  Still, she kept her mouth shut on that particular topic.

Ah, yeah. Point taken. It’s dangerous work even with the bodyguards.

“Okay.  But I join too, so I can keep an eye on him.”

Fair enough.

I guess Sierra and Bryce are going to be staying at the shelter instead of the Hive… though there wasn’t much space left there, right?

Well, at least we’ve got Charlotte as a potential Hive-mate.

“In small part because of that, yes,” I admitted, leaving it vague.

Yes, this is a good way to answer that. I approve.

Her forehead creased in a frown.

“Look,” I admitted, “I need to get back to my territory.  If you need a place to stay, you’re welcome to come with, but we do need to decide what to do with Bryce.”

Yes, do come with, Sierra 😀

Bryce is indeed a bit of an issue. I wonder what he’ll have to say when he wakes up.

“Can you keep him prisoner?  Until he comes to his senses?’

An interesting request, but it makes sense.

“I would if I thought it would do any good.  He’s only going to get angry and resentful at being locked up, and he’ll be all the more eager to run.”

Hm, good point.

“But he’s going to run anyways.”

Yes, probably, but if/when he does, we don’t want him to be even more eager to escape.

“Probably.  He won’t believe me if I tell him about his buddies.”  It doesn’t help that Lisa lied to him about Sierra.

Hm, yeah, you aren’t exactly the most trustworthy people from Bryce’s perspective.

“So what do we do?”

I was at a loss for an answer.  I turned and called across the room, “Lisa!”

When all else fails… 🙂

“But that girl said my brother was with the people from the Church, he could find them, or they could find him.”

Yeeeah, don’t think you need to worry about them anymore.

“They’re not a consideration any more,” I told her.

Her eyes widened.  “Because of what I asked you to do?”

Poor Sierra has so little of the context here and that leaves her quite confused. Maybe you should tell her the full story later, Taylor. 😛

What was the proper response, here?  I felt like anything I told her might offend her.  If I said yes, would she be horrified?  If I said no, would she see it as a failure on my part?

The best part of this is both things are true. Yes, Sierra asking Skitter to make them hurt did have an impact on Skitter’s decision about Thomas, but no, that’s not the main reason they’re out of the picture. Skitter didn’t make them hurt, but she did let them hurt.

But yeah, should probably go for a middle option here.