14 MAR 34AE, 1015 PT

Downtown Los Angeles

Once the jewelry store's alleged robber was securely in the custody of the police, Camilla let the kids handle the remaining administrative work with the store employees. Officially, it was to get them to practice the basics of field work that they had missed before they were suddenly thrown into warzones. In reality, Camilla just wanted a chance to browse the store uninterrupted.

She didn't think Elsie was a huge fan of jewelry, but she was running out of time and options for what to get her as a birthday present. Camilla loved the key that Elsie had gotten her back in November, and as cheesy as it had been, she still carried it in her uniform's pocket whenever she was working. Not only was it meaningful but it was also convenient, especially on the rare occasions that Camilla's key card broke during a scuffle.

"Are you window shopping or are you a potential customer?" Mack asked as he walked up to stand beside her.

"Not sure yet," Camilla muttered, frowning. "I need a birthday present for Elsie."

"Oh, right!" Mack grimaced. "That's in... what, two weeks?"

Camilla cringed. "Don't remind me."

"So she likes jewelry?" Mack asked.

"I'm keeping my options open," Camilla replied, avoiding the question.

"That's a no then," Mack concluded. "Well, you know what that means then?"

Camilla turned to him, confused, but slightly optimistic that Mack had some brilliant idea.

"It means you have to give a gift from the heart," he said dramatically, gently tapping his chest above his own heart.

Camilla stared at him for a few seconds, impassive, before she spoke again.

"So you don't have anything a little more specific than that?" she asked, slightly irritated.

Mack shook his head sadly. "Absolutely no idea."

Camilla let out a long sigh and headed back out to the street. A few minutes later, Nakia and Finn finished up, and Mack led them outside to meet up with Camilla before they all piled into the LUV.

They were just passing Pershing Square when a strange energy caught Camilla's attention, and she ordered Mack to pull over. As soon as he stopped, she jumped out of the vehicle, following the energy like a trail of breadcrumbs. She knew her squad was confused as they followed her without question, but she also knew they trusted her judgement.

Sure enough, once she was in the middle of the square, she spotted two children standing in front of a meek looking playground, both of them crying. The younger one was bawling so hard that her scrunched up face had turned a bright red, and the older one looked like he wanted to do the same, but was trying to hold it in as much as possible. They were garnering the attention of all of the passersby, and a group of college students even stopped by to try and help. But judging by the way the kids only began to cry harder, that wasn't working out too well.

"You got this one, right Cap?" Mack asked tentatively when he caught up to her.

"Why, you don't?" she asked.

"Are you kidding?" Mack asked incredulously. "Kids hate me. They think I look scary." He pouted like he was thirty years younger than he actually was. "It's heartbreaking."

"Oh my god," Camilla muttered, and she began heading over to the kids. "Then keep our kids with you, okay?"

"With pleasure," Mack complied easily, even taking a few steps back.

As Camilla approached the kids, the older child kept his eyes on her warily, and Camilla knelt down on one knee as soon as she reached his side. The college students jumped slightly at her unexpected appearance, and one of them audibly whispered an awed "oh my god." Camilla glanced their way and nodded.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on them," she said, implying that they should leave.

Thankfully, the students seemed to get the hint, and they quickly backed off.

Once they were out of the way, Camilla turned back to the kids, and she sat on the ground to appear a little more natural.

"Hi, I'm Camilla," she introduced herself. "What're your names?"

While the younger one continued to ignore the world in favor of crying her eyes out, the older one stopped long enough to look up and down at Camilla's appearance, but he remained silent. Camilla supposed that her guardian uniform made her look imposing and threatening to some, even if most kids found it cool.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Camilla said. "I promise."

"But you fight bad guys," the boy whispered raggedly.

"We help people," Camilla corrected. "But yeah, sometimes we have to fight people if they try to hurt others, but that's it."

The boy merely stared at her, not looking entirely convinced.

Camilla glanced at the playground, then back at the boy. "You just wanted to play on the playground, right? There's nothing wrong with that."

"But Dad told us to stay with him," the boy said, tears welling up in his eyes again. "We didn't listen."

His words made the girl cry even louder—apparently she was listening after all.

"There were a lot of times I didn't listen either, when I was your age," Camilla said. She didn't mention that she would regret those decisions almost immediately after, and they were usually followed by a deriding "I told you so" from Blaire.

"Really?" the boy asked, now more impressed and incredulous than skeptical. "What happened?"

"I learned," Camilla said simply. "And everything worked out in the end."

The boy looked to his feet, thinking.

"We wanted to play at the playground," the boy admitted. "But we got lost."

Camilla nodded. "We can help with that. What's your name?"

"Logan," he said, then held up his hand that was tightly clutching the girl's. "This is my sister, Taylor."

"It's nice to meet you, Logan and Taylor," Camilla said. "You can call me Camilla."

Taylor choked in a sob and blinked away the tears in her eyes. "Mia?" she repeated.

Camilla chuckled. "That's me. Do you know what your dad's name is?"

"Jay?" Logan guessed. "But there's usually a different name on the mail he gets."

That was going to make things difficult, but Camilla kept that information to herself. "Do you know what his last name is?"

"Turner," Logan said. "Jay Turner."

Camilla asked him a few more questions, being careful not to overwhelm him. Eventually, she managed to gather a few tidbits of information, and while the kids didn't know their dad's cell phone number and they didn't have another parental figure, they did know their home address, and Camilla could work with that. Once she finished her information gathering, she turned to Mack, who had heard everything through Camilla's open comms.

"Got it," Mack said once Camilla turned her microphone off. "I'll call it in, and see what we get."

Camilla nodded in response and turned back to the kids. "My friend Mack over there is going to see if he can get in touch with your dad. He's harmless, don't worry," she added when the kids' eyes grew wide at the sight of Mack's imposing build. "Do you remember where you last saw your dad?"

Logan shrugged with a tearful sniff. "It was a big building. It was old. And fancy looking."

"I can think of a few places," Mack said over the comms. "But I don't know if I'd consider them big. Or old."

"Well, they probably think you're big and old too," Nakia replied over the channel, even though they were standing right next to Mack. "I'd say their perspective is a little skewed."

The kids couldn't remember much else, unfortunately. And when Base reported that they were having trouble identifying Jay Turner and the address Logan provided seemed to be a little off, the squad agreed to try and retrace the kids' steps. After driving aimlessly in the LUV for a few minutes, Logan claimed to recognize a building, and they continued on foot; Mack volunteered to follow them in the LUV, ignoring Nakia and Finn's taunts that he was only doing so to wallow in self-pity over kids being afraid of him.

They had walked about three city blocks over the course of thirty minutes before Base finally contacted them. They identified the kids' dad—the address Logan had provided was a combination of their current address and the one from before they moved to LA, and Jay's real name was a complicated mix of syllables that started with the letter J—but he wasn't answering his phone. In fact, it looked like his phone was turned off, and his last known location was around City Hall from about two hours ago.

They drove the rest of the way to City Hall, and the kids were giddy at the sight of the familiar landmark, almost rushing out of the vehicle before it completely stopped. Thankfully, Nakia and Finn managed to hold them back, but once Mack gave the all clear, the backseat passengers scrambled out in no time at all.

A beat later, Camilla followed, her eyes glued to City Hall as she stopped in front of the kids rushing towards the steps. Even she didn't know why she did that at first, until she registered a strange energy coming from City Hall.

"Cap?" Finn asked, sounding both confused and worried.

Camilla took a few moments to watch the building before answering. The entire complex seemed eerily still for the city's central administrative hub, especially in the middle of a weekday. And when she extended her energy carefully towards the building, she could feel a sense of unease growing stronger and stronger. The sensation ended up being so unnerving that Camilla stopped her energy from even touching the building walls, not knowing what would happen if she continued.

"Get them back," Camilla ordered, and Finn immediately complied without question, urging the kids back towards the LUV. "Nakia, do you feel anything?

Nakia was at Camilla's side a second later, and Camilla could feel their energy reaching out towards the building.

"Nothing," Nakia said after a few seconds. "It's like it's completely sealed off."

"That's weird for City Hall," Mack added from back by the LUV. "Usually, people are constantly going in and out, at least."

Camilla narrowed her eyes at the building. She needed to get eyes inside, but if metas were responsible for this, and they sensed Camilla's energy getting too close, they could retaliate without warning.

"Mack, Finn," Camilla began. "Take the kids across the street to the park. Nakia, go with them and get me a visual from the air. Try and get high enough to see some of the back of the building as well. Be ready to put up defensive measures."

Her squad moved to comply with her orders immediately, only stopping to wait for the traffic light to change so they could cross the street. While Camilla would've liked to stop all vehicular traffic as well, there was only so much she could do under such short notice without potentially raising any alarms inside the building. So she waited until the others were safely across the street and Nakia was holding steady in the air before she turned back to City Hall and refocused on her energy that surrounded it.

After carefully easing her energy through the front doors, Camilla immediately sensed what was wrong. Just in the lobby alone, there were dozens of civilians huddled on the floor, scared for their lives, surrounded by about a dozen others. Judging from the residual energy that radiated from the bodies of the latter, Camilla knew they were metas; it was the shape of their burly combat vests filled with a variety of tactical gear that gave them away as Exodos.

"Base, Wyatt Squad," Camilla said on her comms over the base channel. "Hostage situation at City Hall, presumed to be Exodos. Request orders."

"Wait, what?" Mack exclaimed over the squad channel, but Camilla ignored him.

"Wyatt, Base, acknowledged," base dispatch responded. "Standby."

Just as Camilla was about to ask Nakia about the situation from above, the building's doors burst open. At first, Camilla braced herself for a sudden attack, but she quickly dropped her defenses at the sight of civilians rushing out in a mixture of panic and relief.

Camilla gritted her teeth in frustration. What was going on?

"Nakia, Finn, stop traffic before these people get hit running across the street," Camilla ordered. "Mack, stay with the kids. All, keep an eye out for hostiles blending in with the crowd."

She switched to the base channel. "Base, Wyatt Squad. Update on City Hall: civilians are leaving the building. Repeat, civilians are leaving the building. Request new orders."

"Wyatt, Base, acknowledged. Standby."

"Daddy!" a couple of high pitched voices rang out throughout the commotion.

Camilla spun around to see Logan and Taylor rush towards the street, with Mack close behind, and leap into the embrace of a man who had knelt down to greet them. Jay wrapped an arm around each of them and hugged them tightly, looking as if he was never going to let go again. The rest of the civilians were rushing through the park, and Camilla knew the Org would want statements from all of them.

"Nakia, Finn, relocate to the park," Camilla ordered once she saw that the vehicular traffic had obediently stopped, raising her voice to be heard over the growing commotion around them. "We're going to need statements from the civilians." She switched channels again. "Base, Wyatt, request a complete traffic stop around City Hall."

"Wyatt, Base, acknowledged. Stopping all traffic around City Hall." Shortly after Camilla watched the nearby traffic lights all turn red, her comms buzzed again. "Wyatt Squad, Base, incoming orders. Infiltrate City Hall and intercept hostiles. Kill on sight is authorized. Repeat, kill on sight is authorized. Request confirmation."

Even though it was the orders Camilla expected, it was the ones she didn't want to hear. They weren't equipped or prepared for such a mission at the last minute, especially since they had no idea what they were dealing with. For all they knew, Exodos was still keeping hostages for insurance, and who knew what other tricks they had up their sleeves? Her squad would be walking in blind.

"Base, Wyatt," she responded. "Infiltrate, intercept, and... kill on sight, confirmed." She switched to the squad channel. "Nakia, Finn, report status."

"Civilians are complying," Nakia replied. "We're ready to move in."

"Good on my end too," Finn agreed. "What's next?"

"Waiting on you, Cap!" Mack added enthusiastically.

Their quick replies made Camilla pause. She hadn't wanted to ask the impossible from them, yet she didn't even have to when they eagerly volunteered themselves. Camilla didn't think she'd ever get used to the faith they had in her.

"Regroup at—"

But before Camilla could even finish her order, she felt a massive spike in energy coming from City Hall, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Immediately, her mind jumped back to the first surprise attack on the Yellowstone Camp back in December, and all of the pain and destruction that followed.

At the time, she had managed to set up a meager wall of water just in time, but they had been surrounded by snow there. If this energy spike was also a fire-based attack, pressurized air would only make it stronger, and a barrier of rock could create even more danger with flying debris. So Camilla pulled as much water from the air that she could in such a short time, ready to absorb as much of the attack as possible.

The explosion that followed was even stronger than the one at Yellowstone, and there was only so much of the heat and force that Camilla could absorb before it swept her off her feet like a tidal wave.

She felt herself hit the ground hard, and for a few seconds, she was completely disoriented, not knowing what just happened or where she was, or even which direction was up and down. The sounds around her were distant echoes in her ears, nearly drowned out by the thumping beat that seemed to reverberate within her skull. She almost forgot how to breathe, and when she coughed a few times to get the air back in her lungs, her entire body twinged in pain.

When Camilla finally managed to open her eyes, she was looking up at the once blue sky that was now shrouded by a thick cloud of smoke and dust. Groaning, she rolled onto her side, then onto her front, ignoring the sharp bits of debris and gravel that dug into her skin as she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Something warm began dripping down her forehead, and she lifted a hand to brush it away before it could get into her eyes. The shift in her weight almost caused her to collapse again, but she hurriedly caught her balance before that could happen.

As she slowly began to register the chaotic sounds around her, she found herself back at Yellowstone, then in Phoenix, then Portland, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego, and everywhere else that had turned into a warzone. But when she looked around, it wasn't guardians that lay crumpled on the ground, covered in dust and blood, nor was it Exodos. They were all civilians.

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