It started with little things.
Battery offered congratulations. Assault made inane jokes. Dauntless told Colin to ask him if he needed advice, which Colin didn't appreciate. Velocity nodded at him in a manner that his algorithm pinged as his colleague trying to convey some meaning beyond 'affirmative'.
Then Miss Militia started to bother him about being more involved with the Wards. As if Colin didn't transfer control of the Wards to Director specifically because he wanted to be less involved with the Wards, which were eating into his time.
He could only blame his submersion into tinkering with new resources afforded by the new budget for it taking him so long to put two and two together. Frankly, he barely listened to anyone these days. He just finished his patrols as quickly as he could and hurried back to the lab.
It was only after he was finally satisfied with the progress of the brute tranquilizer that Colin decided to take a break and check his popularity polls.
Only to find out that Armsmaster was trending. For all the wrong reasons.
He immediately called Piggot to demand answers, only for the woman to smugly tell him that while keeping his relation to the kids was never a stipulation in their deal, the decision to publicly reveal it was made by the head of Image.
An attempt to bolster his popularity by appealing to family demographics, creating a narrative of generational heroism and the passing of the torch, softening his image and covering the bases in case their involvement in the mall massacre was ever revealed.
Colin had no words.
On one hand, yes, his popularity skyrocketed. The PRT hadn't done anything like that in the past; the identities of related capes were being held separate due to security concerns. But in this case, it was deemed both necessary and beneficial at the same time and ultimately outweighed other considerations.
So naturally, the public flocked to that, discussing it and making memes. For the first time in years, Armsmaster was trending higher than Dauntless.
In theory, it was beneficial for Colin. This rise in popularity would only bolster his career advancement. But this kind of popularity came with expectations. Namely, the expectations of interacting with the children in question.
Beyond that, Armsmaster's image was now tied to the children, meaning that if they did something reckless or foolish, it would reflect badly on him. Sins of the fathers did not always fall on the shoulders of children, but sins of the children definitely tarnished the public perception of the fathers!
Meaning that despite Piggot's promises, Colin was now responsible for them if he didn't want two children to ruin his career! He didn't need that!
Colin didn't know what to do, so he decided to clear his head and work on his gear instead, until he found the solution to this problem.
His prototype lie detector was turning out quite well. It needed more live data and calibration, but the core design had proved to be a success. The lie detector itself was something of a derivative of his combat prediction software, but undoubtedly useful for investigative work.
And that's what he was doing today. After days of working on what would soon become the constant part of his loadout, the efficiency of the code increased by 12,376%. Such numbers only appear when working on a completely new piece of tinkertech, and they brought Colin immense satisfaction. He fully intended to enjoy it while it lasted.
Suddenly, he received a notification that Dragon was asking for permission to connect to his lab systems.
A small but genuine smile appeared on Colin's face. He hadn't been able to talk to her these past weeks. Her schedule had been fully occupied by the Adepts investigation, which had escalated into open conflict. The New York office needed to make an example of the Adepts after their massive blunder, so the gang was pressed hard and lost members to PRT custody. These efforts to regain public trust then escalated into an attempt to push the weakened Teeth out of New York, for which the PRT requested Dragon's assistance. It was going well at first, but it turned out to be something of an overreach, since the Adepts used the chaos to bust their capes out of custody. Successfully, at that. Then Lost Garden got involved, because Barrow convinced himself that the PRT was trying to clean up the city entirely from villains, meaning he was next on the chopping block. Which, Colin had to admit, wasn't an unreasonable assumption. Depending on what course of action Uppercrust chose if Director Wilkins decided to push Lost Garden, it could have come to exactly that.
These weeks had been quite busy for Dragon, with the New York debacle on top of her usual duties. And now that mess stabilized into a new status quo: the Teeth had been pushed out of New York, but the Adepts got away with their cape roster intact. Many of their operations, including the financial scam they had been running, were completely dismantled.
Colin granted the access, and Dragon's digital avatar appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Colin," she smiled at him apologetically, "Sorry I haven't been able to talk to you."
"No need to apologize, Dragon. I understand," he nodded at his friend. "I've been quite busy myself."
"I can only imagine," Dragon's smile widened. "You look good, Colin. Almost happy," she teased.
He supposed he was in a good mood. Lately, he had been struggling with the diminishing returns of working on his tech. He had never actually run into a problem of being unable to increase efficiency or miniaturize the components of his equipment, but there was a clear threshold where that increase barely exceeded 1%. On a good day. It was never small enough for him to give up the improvement entirely, but it was frustrating.
New materials and new projects, however, afforded him a renewed sense of accomplishment.
"I've had something new to work on lately," Colin said, his second smile of the day breaking through.
"Tell me about it."
"The suppression serum I commissioned from Cask unfortunately didn't show as much promise as we initially anticipated. However, the new samples that arrived recently have allowed me to single out a selection of agents that could…" Colin continued, describing his work on improving the compound that would eventually allow him to take down Lung—and hopefully many more villains—feeling a sense of enthusiasm he rarely experienced in conversation. He really missed his talks with Dragon over the past few weeks. No one else really engaged with him the way she did when it came to tinkering.
Just as he started to, almost but not quite, brag about his lie detector and demonstrating its functions, Dragon interrupted him.
"That's fascinating, Colin. And what about the kids?"
"The kids?" he asked, momentarily confused, lost in his explanation before catching up with what she was referring to.
"Yes, Colin. The kids." Dragon looked at him expectantly.
"They're doing fine," he tried to brush the topic off.
"You've... talked to them, right?" she asked, her tone hopeful. Her avatar was exceptionally expressive, and Colin could see something close to desperation in her eyes. He wondered how much time it would take him to create something similar. Personally, he believed he could do it, but...
Dragon cleared her throat.
"Yes."
FALSE, the lie detector, which he had been demonstrating earlier, helpfully supplied—right in Dragon's full view.
Was that really the first lie Colin had told since activating the prototype? He had said the children were doing fine because he had no reason to believe otherwise. However, with this device, Colin was aiming for a more comprehensive approach to discerning the truth.
"Colin," Dragon's voice took on a peculiar tone that made him feel... something. He didn't much care for it and wasn't sure if he had ever experienced anything similar, though there was a lingering sense of familiarity.
"I was busy."
"It's been more than two weeks, Colin."
Again, that feeling.
"They're undergoing their training. There isn't much to discuss yet."
Dragon's avatar flickered for a moment.
"Colin, they just lived through a full-scale assault by the Teeth! They came out of it with a body count and were held by the New York office for four and a half days! They have a body count at the age of 13 and 9!" Dragon, uncharacteristically, screamed at him. Colin had never heard her scream before. She'd lost her composure in the past, yes, but this was something new. "What do you mean there isn't much to discuss?!"
"What am I supposed to tell them?"
"Something! Anything!" Dragon went silent for a moment, her tone shifting. "You should at least meet with them, Colin."
He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on him. "Dragon..." he started, trying to make her understand. "I'm not cut out to be a parent."
"That's not true."
"Dragon," Colin tried again, his voice lower now, more resigned. "Take everything you know about me into account. Do you really think I'd make a good father to any child, much less two?"
"Yes," she answered without hesitation.
The lie detector didn't react.
It was... heartwarming to know she thought so highly of him. But in this particular situation, her faith in him was severely misplaced.
Colin knew, deep down, that the children couldn't be his focus—not through any fault of their own. They simply weren't part of the equation. His only goal, the only thing that mattered, was his legacy. A legacy that would place him shoulder to shoulder with the Founders, and perhaps even higher. To be the one who killed an Endbringer—something the Triumvirate had never managed to do. To immortalize himself as the hero who achieved what no one else could, not just because he had powers, but through relentless self-improvement, constant hard work, and the ingenuity of his craft.
It consumed him, every aspect of his life. Colin had willingly surrendered everything else in pursuit of that singular goal. And even when it felt like he was slipping, when everything he worked for seemed to crumble or fade into nothingness, he refused to give up. Instead, he doubled down, diving even deeper into the pursuit of his life's goal. The only thing that mattered now was reaching that peak, and nothing—nothing at all—could distract him from that climb.
That was the reason his friendship with Dragon meant so much to him. She understood him, could keep up with him, and, as he admitted in rare moments when his tight schedule allowed Colin some self-reflection, put up with him.
"Colin, I'm sure that all you really need is to allow yourself some time to get to know them. Tanya is a brilliant girl, and Shirou is a very responsible young man."
Time was exactly the thing Colin did not have in abundance. There was always something to do—always more training, always more tinkering. He just didn't see where to fit in activities appropriate for the children. Whatever those were, he wasn't even sure. Theme parks? Brockton Bay didn't have those.
And it wouldn't be just a one-time thing. He would have to do it again and again, spending time he didn't have.
The crux of the issue was the simple fact that Colin was certain that having a parent who didn't have time for you was less damaging than not having a parent at all. There was less confusion, less uncertainty, and less... everything. Colin might not be willing to change his ways, but he also knew exactly how it was to grow up with parents whose aspirations did not include you.
So in that regard, his actions were kindness.
But... could he say that to Dragon? After she showed so much faith in him? When she was clearly, if inexplicably, invested in those children?
Colin couldn't help but feel she would be disappointed in that. And he didn't want that.
"I'll... see what I can do, Dragon."
An incoming call from Miss Militia interrupted their discussion.
"Armsmaster listening."
"Armsmaster, we need you at PRT HQ."
"What's the situation?"
"There has been an altercation between Argent and Glory Girl during patrol. No one got hurt, but Brandish is here, demanding to speak with you."
"Why? Argent is a Ward under the Director's jurisdiction. It's up to her to get to the bottom of things, and if any disciplinary actions are required on behalf of the PRT, then it's up to her to decide."
"Yes. However, Brandish isn't satisfied with that and specifically demands your presence as Argent's parent."
"…Why?"
"Colin," Dragon chimed in, her tone stern, "Go."
As Armsmaster rode his motorcycle through the city, it occurred to him that his lie detector did not ping after his non-committal answer to Dragon regarding spending time with the children.
Did he actually mean that, or did he need to do more calibrations?
A/N
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