When Crow and I returned to the medical tent area, we were greeted by a pair of PRT agents. They greeted us with the same polite deference as all the other agents had since I woke up, and led us to a nearby tent. What had once been temporary storage for supplies was now a much more active space, with patients being brought in and people moving around, preparing to work with me. As we entered, most of the tent's occupants focused on us, and one of the doctors quickly explained the process to me. This was clearly not their first rodeo.
Crow quickly found a spot in the corner, keeping an eye on everything and staying out of the way, as I immediately dug in and began casting, scanning each patient and fixing their most dire injuries.
Thankfully, as the soldiers cleared out the various piles of rubble that Leviathan made, as well as searching the city for the injured, they would stabilize them using their healing pistols. The magical equipment was not powerful enough to fully heal a person, and repeated use would tax their energy generation, so they were only doing the bare minimum to prepare a person for transport. This meant that a good amount of the people reaching us were just intact enough to survive the trip, but were still on a razor's edge. It was up to me to fully stabilize the victims, healing anything life-threatening before moving on to the next patient, the doctors and nurses around me moving people through as fast as I could heal them.
According to the doctors working with me, I could also use my judgment when treating things that would be debilitating for life, at least now that the battle was over and things had at least slightly slowed down. I took a fairly liberal approach to what I fixed, since my magic came back pretty quickly and I was pretty decent with healing spells.
As dark as it was, the victims of Endbringers were often left to their own devices after being partially healed, since cities and infrastructure were usually so damaged. The PRT and other offices did what they could, but there was a limit to what could be done, especially for something that occurred on such a pattern.
It didn't help that people usually did their best to forget Endbringers existed shortly after the attacks. They were like natural, unavoidable disasters. There was no way to stop them, so don't bother thinking about it.
Until now, at least.
I worked for the next six hours, healing hundreds of people as they were pulled from rubble and found all over the city. It was a steady, seemingly unending tide. Quite a few people also visited looking for me to cast the wake-up spell on them. At first, it seemed to be random people, chasing rumors of a full night's sleep in seconds. Then the fact that I was the guy who had struck the final blow to the Leviathan must have spread, because random people stopped popping in to "waste" my time. People still came looking for it, but now it was only individuals who were too important to slow down and rest, like other healers and people critical to search and rescue.
Eventually, the stream of patients started to slow down, and as night settled over the city, we were finally done. All the affected areas of the city had been swept for survivors or the injured, and in record time, too, at least according to our doctor. When we were finally cleared, Crow and I emerged from our tent, blinking through the harsh lights that lit up the healing camp. It was dark past the outskirts, but inside, dozens of floodlights kept the area bright, almost too much so.
Within a few seconds of stepping out, a trio of PRT officers arrived, stopping in front of us and saluting.
"Sir, Ma'am, Project Lead Kinsey and Director Piggot have asked if you would consider meeting with them," one of them said, acknowledging Crow and me both. "They understand that it has been a long day, but there are a few things they would like to speak with you about before you head home."
"Well… at least they are asking," I said, shaking my head. "Lead the way."
"We have a vehicle to take you to the temporary base camp on the outskirts of the city," he said. "But you are free to fly or teleport if you wish."
"Are they at the same command center Kinsey was setting up?"
"Yes, sir. They merged their camps together so they could better share information."
"Alright, I'll make my way over there. Thank you," I said with a nod, the men saluting again and heading off, leaving me to look at Crow. "You coming with?"
"Of course," She responded, reaching out and putting her hand on my shoulder.
Just a few seconds later, we were standing on the outskirts of the command center. I could see Kinsey and Piggot, both of them overlooking maps laid out on large tables. The maps were covered with writing and small unit markers indicating the locations of various groups of soldiers. Behind them were several officers talking into radios. They would receive messages from the soldiers in the field, updates on the situation in real time, and would then shift the unit markers and adjust the dry-erase writing to reflect live developments.
After observing for a moment, we walked into the ordered chaos, making a beeline for both Piggot and Kinsey. The former spotted me as I approached, giving me a nod.
"Arcanum, Crow, it's good to see you both," she said, standing up straight with a wince. "I think you know as well as I do that I'm not one for flowery speech. People who speak better will have better opportunities to say this, but… Well done."
"I will double that," Kinsey said with a nod, sticking his hand out for me to shake only to wince and switch to Crow. "You did something many considered impossible. It is… well, in truth, I don't think many of us here have slowed down enough to really consider it."
"I'm glad we managed to kill the bastard," I said simply, with a smile and nod.
"...How do you think the soldiers did?" Kinsey asked after a long moment.
"I think we really couldn't have asked for a better result," I responded. "According to Alexandria, Leviathan was acting strange, but we still managed to do more damage to him than ever before."
"Acting strange is an understatement," Piggot responded with a snort. "He was chasing you for nearly the entire fight."
"Probably didn't like getting held up for target practice," Crow said, getting a chuckle from Kinsey.
"They do tend to target larger threats," Piggot agreed.
"But it would have normally run after taking a quarter of the damage we did to it," Kinsey pointed out. "We don't even always do that much. This is the most damage we have ever done to an Enderbinger."
"And we have another three months to prepare for the next," I pointed out, a confident smirk on my lips.
Kinsey chuckled at the admittedly arrogant statement, and Piggot rolled her eyes, though I was pretty sure I could see the corner of her mouth twitch. Seemed like all it took for Piggot to warm up to me was to kill an unkillable kaiju.
"You're going to be a popular man when the country stops partying," Kinsey pointed out. "I hate to say it, but you need to be careful. Not all of that attention is going to be friendly."
"Yeah, I know," I admitted, moving to rub my face, only to stop mid move as I remembered I was still handless. "I think I'm going to make a proposal soon that we hit the Fallen before they can come up with some grand plan of vengeance, but that's for tomorrow."
"You'll have time to make your pitch soon," Piggott pointed out. "There are a lot of people who need to meet you, shake your hand, and thank you. The President is already asking to meet you when he learned Leviathan was dead."
"The President?" I asked. "Damn, do you think I should tell him I voted for the other guy?"
Again, Piggot rolled her eyes, but this time I could actually see her smile, with Kinsey laughing at my joke as well. In truth, I wasn't even in this reality when the last election ran, so I hadn't voted for anyone.
I should probably do a little research on what the current President's name was...
"I assume Panacea is going to fix your hands?" Kinsey asked, gesturing to my rather obvious injury, one stump capped with my temporary focus wand. "You have worked alongside New Wave for a while now, after all."
"Yeah, she was just busy, and I don't need my hands to do my healing," I explained with a shrug. "I want to do a bit of research first, see about using the opportunity."
"Are you considering cybernetics?" Piggot asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or the equivalent for your specialty, I suppose. I should warn you, most visual modifications bring up a lot of negative connotations, from biotinkers and from things like the Machine Army."
"I don't plan on making full replacements," I admitted. "And either way, it wouldn't likely be visible externally. It's not a concrete plan, but you don't have to worry about me augmenting myself too heavily. At least not in a way that is visibly noticeable."
Piggot nodded, at least temporarily satisfied, before turning to discuss something with an agent who approached her. After a moment, she stepped away from the table, talking in hushed tones. Meanwhile, Kinsey focused on me.
"Thank you for coming out to talk to us. We just wanted to make sure you understood that things might get complicated for a while as the entire world's eyes focus in on Brockton Bay, and specifically you," he warned. "The government will likely be spending considerable funds to fix and stabilize the city. People will want to come to visit and see the sight of Leviathan's death. I know you prefer staying out of the public light… but this isn't something you can just slip away from."
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that feeling," I admitted with a frown. "I don't mind stepping away from my work occasionally."
"People are also going to start asking if you can outfit their cities with your buildings," He pointed out. "The weather shield you created, however that worked, might not be in high command, but what you used to hold Levaithan? The water barrier? Those are going to catch a lot of attention."
"Well... only I can activate and use some of them," I admitted. "But I'm not surprised."
"Either way, the PRT is asking that you don't rush off and take random commissions," He continued, holding up his hands before I could respond. "I told them you wouldn't, you are far too concerned about the consequences of what you do to start handing out your creations in ways you can't control, but I was told to bring it up anyway."
"You're right, I have no intention of just spreading that sort of power around to anyone who asks," I agreed. "But that doesn't mean I won't make anything for anyone. After all, today's success is at least partially possible because I did just that."
"And that is understandable," He agreed, nodding his head. "We just ask you to hold off for now. There will be a lot of chaos around this, and a lot of scrambling. This is something that will be brought up again by people better at negotiating than I am, but the suggestion is that you let those sort of things pass through the PRT first, so that we can investigate and do proper background checks for the locations and what they are asking for."
"I…" before I could respond, I shook my head slightly, letting out a long breath.
I almost dismissed her suggestion out of hand, wanting to keep the PRT to their own business, but I managed to stop myself. I had been working and healing for quite some time, and only recently woke up from losing my hands. My brain was understandably a little off kilter, so making comments like that off the cuff was probably a poor idea.
"We can talk about the concept more later," I said, shaking my head. "In the meantime, I won't be building anything for other cities, at least out of emergency situations. Hell, there is a chance I don't come out for a few days. I think I've earned a break."
"I would agree, and thank you for understanding," He said, once again reaching out his hand, only to curse under his breath at the mistake before shifting to shake Crow's hand. "Get some rest, I'll let the others know. Well done, Arcanum."
I nodded, raising my stump to wave to Piggot, who simply looked away from her screen for a moment to give me a nod before focusing back on her work. Crow and I carefully made our way through the command center and teleported away, returning to the compound.
As we landed, Crow walked forward, looking around before calling out for Danny. According to Weaver, he had returned home hours ago, but she still checked thoroughly. When she was done confirming we were alone, her cloak folded and disappeared around her. She then fixed me with a look.
I suddenly remembered what had happened before the fight, and that she had promised to slap me good for ending her away during the fight, even if she recognized it was likely for the best.
"Listen-" I started, only to stop when she cut me off.
"No, it's okay," She said, stopping just in front of me. "I was upset you sent me away, but I wasn't ready for that. I want to be, but… I'm not angry about it. I get it.
As she talked, she looked a bit nervous before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. She leaned on me slightly, with her head resting against me. Her movements were hesitant, as if waiting for me to push her away. When I didn't, when I wrapped my arms around her waist, she let out a long-held breath.
"I-I don't want to demand anything," She said, still resting her head against me. "But once you can use your hands again… can you help me? So that I can help you more directly?"
"Absolutely," I agreed. "We can start by updating your gear and then strengthening your body. A flight harness like mine, boots…"
I trailed off when I realized I was getting distracted by plans. I closed my eyes for a moment and let out my own long breath, clearing all of that from my mind.
"It's the first thing I will work on when I get my hands back," I confirmed with a nod, pulling her in closer. "The only reason I've been holding back from offering was that you said you weren't interested."
"I am now," She said, pulling back slightly. "I need to be able to keep up with you."
I nodded, and she leaned back in, this time kissing me softly before leaning against me again. For a long moment, we stood there, holding each other as all of the tension that had been building up in each of us slowly dissipated. After a few minutes, Olivia pulled back again, this time grabbing my jacket and leading me off the teleport platform, deeper into our forest home.