“This is...it?” Joy asked hesitantly as she looked up at the gym’s faded sign.

  “Told you it wasn’t much,” I said with a chuckle, jerking my chin at the door. “Come on.”

  We hadn’t wasted any time getting started. Lafayette had her Friday totally free, so I’d skipped class and asked her and Joy to come down to the gym. I was feeling surprisingly good about this, given how anxious the past few days had been. Maybe it was because I was finally getting ready to fight off the city’s real problems, maybe I just wanted to hit something. I wasn’t complaining in either case.

  “Bill, we’re here for Lafayette,” I said as we walked up to the front desk. The old bastard eyed me, then Joy.

  “Course you are,” he said flatly as he rose with painful slowness. “Come on, I won’t ask if you don’t tell.”

  Joy flipped him off when he turned around, and I suppressed a snort of laughter. At least I didn’t have to feel bad about being shitty to this old man, he clearly wasn’t worried about it. Lafayette was waiting for us when we entered, standing by the ring nearest the entrance. She and Bill spoke briefly, too quiet to hear, then he left us alone and Lafayette smiled at us.

  “Lia, good to see you again,” she greeted me, opening her arms. I smiled back and gave her a quick hug.

  “Thanks for offering this,” I said, then glanced back at Joy. “Sorry, should have introduced you. This is—”

  “Joy Rivers,” she said quickly, taking a step forward and sticking out her hand. Lafayette let me go and gave it a quick shake.

  “Lafayette Hooks,” she replied. “Any friend of Lia’s is already in my good books.”

  “Thanks,” Joy said shortly, taking her hand back.

  “So, training,” Lafayette said, turning to me and putting her hands on her hips. “You think about this yet?”

  “I figured we’d do it a bit like I did,” I said, shrugging. “Focus on the fighting, leave conditioning for a bit later; priorities and all that.”

  “Kids these days,” she scoffed, offering a sarcastic grin. “Just want the meat, no potatoes. God damn Greek tragedy.”

  “I can figure out how to run on my own,” Joy muttered, getting a chuckle.

  “S’what they all say, til they’re puking their guts out in the ring after two rounds,” Lafayette drawled. “But I figure Lia will put you through the bitch work on her own, right?”

  “Damn straight,” I nodded. “But she’s right, we can run on our own time. Better that we use gym time to focus on what we need.”

  “Good point,” she nodded. “Right. Lia, glove up and go hit a speed bag for ten minutes. Joy, or do you prefer Rivers?”

  “Don’t care.”

  “Okay, Rivers come with me. Want to see if you know how to throw a punch.”

  She glanced at me and I gave her a nod. With a sigh, Joy followed Lafayette, her shoulders slumping a little. I shook my head and went to retrieve a pair of gloves. Joy would be fine. Sure she didn’t like cops or whatever, but Lafayette was cool. Besides, I had my own stuff to worry about, like trying to get back into the rhythm of boxing after weeks without practice.

  I was pleasantly surprised that it only took a few seconds to fall back into the steady one-two-three beat of the speed bag. It didn’t take long for a familiar burn to set in, and soon I could feel sweat starting to bead on my forehead. I couldn’t be that out of shape, it hadn’t even been a month since I’d left the Wards. Still, the ten minute warm up left me breathing far harder than it should have.

  I took off my gloves and hung them around my neck, then retrieved my water bottle from my bag and took a few deep swigs before looking around for Joy and Lafayette. They were over by one of the heavy bags, talking quietly. The bag was swaying slowly, so probably Joy was getting a few pointers about how to hit it. A grin touched my lips, remembering when I’d started a couple months ago.

  “Lia!” Hooks barked, startling me. “Three laps of the gym for sitting on your ass!”

  “Come on!” I groaned, putting my water bottle down.

  “No bitching!”

  I cursed under my breath and started running, irritation stinging as I heard their quiet laughter behind me. Whatever, if it helped Joy get over herself then fine, I could be a clown. Besides, it was still training even if it was bitch work. Fortunately my cardio hadn’t gotten that bad, and I finished the three laps without much struggle. I jogged back over once I was finished, only sweating a little harder than before.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Lafayette said with a sarcastic edge. “Gonna take Joy to do some pad work, hit the bag here, ten minutes.”

  “Ugh, just bitch work for me?” I complained.

  “Unless you forgot two months of my training,” she said with a nod. “Joy, on me.”

  She followed Lafayette without a word, but offered what might have been an apologetic smile as she passed. I sighed and rolled my shoulders, then turned to the bag and put on my gloves. Lafayette wasn’t wrong, I knew more than the basics so really just needed to sharpen up. Needed to stop whining too, it was setting a bad example. I was supposed to be the tough, experienced one, the one who could shrug off the Siberian like she was no big deal...never mind the nightmares.

  Fortunately, I distracted myself from my ever-miserable thoughts by slugging the heavy bag hard enough my teeth rattled. I moved my projection off my knuckles, letting the feeling of each hit have that much more impact. Better than the whirling thoughts in my head, worrying about things that had already happened and I couldn’t go back and stop.

  No I had plenty to worry about in the present, like figuring out what Joy and I were actually going to do. Nazi hunting, obviously, but where? Even with two of us, I wasn’t sure the South End was the right target, not yet at least. Joy wasn’t experienced enough to deal with the brunt of Werwolf, their capes had been around for years. Hell I didn’t feel experienced enough sometimes, when I thought of how long I’d had powers.

  But even if they’d survived the last few months like I had, they didn’t quite have the edge when it came to what really scared me. We could deal, when the time came. For now, Joy probably wanted to tackle Wotan’s Wolves anyway. God I hated these stupid assholes and their shitty naming schemes. The Wolves only had two capes that I knew of, Stormtiger and Cricket. There was a good chance they’d recruited someone else by now, but I hadn’t heard anything. I’d pick Lafayette’s brain later, see what was what. Had to do this right, not rush in and get us both hurt.

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  Two versus two was way more fair, if we even encountered their capes. Stormtiger was a problem for me to handle because of his mobility, but Joy could bring him down to earth in a flash. As for Cricket, she could deafen me and not much else. I could resist Triumph’s sonic attacks, hers were nothing special by comparison. Joy might have a tougher time, but that was why we were working together.

  That just left the grunts, barely an afterthought and not worth worrying about. Sure Joy and I could be shot or stabbed like any regular human, well she could at least, but that required them getting a shot off or reaching us. Not terribly likely, between Joy’s power and my own ability to simply shrug it all off.

  “Lia.” It was going to be tough, and I really did need to be careful about how we went about things. Which meant more planning, trying to think ahead, a skill I didn’t really have. “Lia.” God what did it even mean? Just trying to come up with ways things could go wrong and sort it out before it happened? Not really viable, since my precognition was basically spent and— “Lia!”

  “What?!” I shouted, whirling and glaring at Hooks. I blinked away the sweat that blurred my vision and winced. Ow.

  “I said ten minutes, not thirty,” Lafayette said, a look of concern on her face. “You hurt?”

  “Just sore,” I said, rolling my shoulders and undoing the velcro on my gloves. I pulled them off and blinked at the sight of bright red covering my hands.

  “Oh shit,” Joy swore, her eyes widening.

  “What the hell did you do?” Hooks demanded, grabbing one of my hands and examining it.

  “Hell if I know,” I said through gritted teeth, pain pulsing through my knuckles. “And fucking ow, let go.”

  “How did you manage that?” Joy asked as I took my hand back. “Aren’t you—”

  “I’m talented,” I cut her off. Just because the gym was nearly empty didn’t mean I wanted her flapping her gums. “First aid kit?”

  “I’ll grab it,” Lafayette said. “Wait here, and try not to beat yourself up anymore.”

  “You really okay?” Joy asked when she’d gone.

  “Fine,” I spat, staring at the ragged skin, sheeting blood down my hands. “Just stings a little.”

  “Okay but seriously, how’d you do it?” she asked, lowering her voice. “Like, why’d you get hurt when we weren’t even doing anything?”

  “Moved my projection,” I said quietly. “To feel the hits, it’s not the same through it. I just...got too into it.”

  “Uh huh,” she said, eyes fixed on my red hands. “You gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s no big deal,” I replied as Lafayette returned. “Just a little painful.”

  “You’re a big girl,” Lafayette said as she pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and some gauze, brandishing both. “So I’d better not hear any whining.”

  I rolled my eyes and pulled my projection back, hissing as she began cleaning the wounds. It was an ugly sight, I’d managed to abrade basically all the skin on the back of my knuckles. Joy watched mutely, staring at my hands the whole time. Guess she had a problem with blood or something. A few minutes later, I was bandaged up; fixed until I got home and bothered Amy.

  “Well Joy,” Lafayette said with a hint of irony. “You should thank Lia for giving you an object lesson in what not to do, and why hand wraps are important.”

  “Uh, thanks,” Joy said, shaken out of her little stupor. She glanced down at her own hands, still taped up. “Thought this was kind of a waste.”

  “Is for me,” I said, wincing at Lafayette’s sidelong glance. “You know, mostly. Uh, sorry about the trouble, Lafayette.”

  “Please, this was barely trouble for you,” she snorted, clapping a hand on my shoulder and smiling. “Next time, don’t move your bubble huh?”

  “Yeah yeah,” I sighed. “Well, guess we should get out of your hair. Thanks for the lesson.”

  “I’ll text you my schedule for the next couple weeks,” Lafayette said, pulling out her phone. “You let me know what time works for you guys, okay? Should be doing this a couple times weekly at least, more if you can spare the time.”

  “I can,” Joy volunteered. “I’m uhh, sort of between places right now.” Lafayette’s eyebrows went up.

  “You mean you don’t have a job, or don’t have a place to stay?” Joy looked at the ground and Lafayette sighed. “Yeah okay. Look I got spare room, not much but probably better than whatever shelter you’re in right now.”

  “Wait, seriously?” Joy looked at Lafayette, at me, then back. “Like...just like that?”

  “You need a place, I got one,” she said simply. “Of course if you do any damage, Lia will foot the bill, right kid?”

  “Awful generous with my money,” I muttered, getting a bark of laughter.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Joy mumbled.

  “Figured not, if Lia’s alright with you,” Lafayette said lightly. “It’s fine, I hosted half a squad for a while after the attack, since my place got off unscathed. Some company would be nice.”

  “You’re...if you’re sure,” she replied, nodding.

  “Sure I’m sure,” Lafayette said easily. “If Lia hadn’t already shacked up with someone, you’d probably be roommates. It’s alright, really.”

  “I could have found a place,” I said.

  “You could have,” she agreed. “But night one?”

  “Okay maybe I could have used a place if…” I sighed, shaking my head. “Anyway, Joy, I’ll text you later about meeting up to chat more.”

  “About...right, got it.” Joy nodded slowly. Maybe she actually was. “Thanks for this, both of you.”

  “I didn’t really do anything,” I shrugged.

  “You’re welcome is what she means,” Lafayette said, elbowing me. “Figure you’ll earn more than the couch if you’re sticking around Lia. Shame you’re not in with us, but she’s a good kid.”

  “Well this ‘kid’ is heading home,” I said, picking at my bandages. “Amy’s going to be pissed, so I want to go get my lecture over with and start making it up to her.” Joy and Lafayette shared a chuckle.

  After letting them say their goodbyes, I retrieved my bag and started for home. Hopefully Amy would forgive me for this one…

  “You are the most talented dumbass I’ve ever met,” Amy said as she examined my damaged hands, tossing the bloody bandages in the trash. “You managed to do this hitting a bag?”

  “For a half-hour,” I replied, wincing as she poked at it. “And ow could you at least not try to cause me more pain?”

  “Sorry,” she said. The pain vanished instantly, and I let out a sigh of relief. “So, explain it for real.”

  “I moved my projection so I could feel the strikes,” I said flatly. “Then I...sort of got distracted.”

  “For thirty minutes,” she said dryly. I swallowed and nodded, earning a huff. “What the hell was so important you ignored losing half the skin on your knuckles and three hairline fractures in your phalanges?”

  “Jesus, I didn’t think it was that bad.”

  “Lia.”

  “Just...it was everything,” I murmured, shoulders slumping. “Joy, trying to manage us as a team, where we’re going, who we’re fighting, when we’re going...it’s a lot.”

  “It is,” Amy agreed, her grip on my hand tightening slightly.

  “And like, I’m responsible too,” I continued, shutting my eyes. “For everything, if something goes wrong, or she gets hurt, or hurts someone; all of it’ll be on my hands. I know what I’m doing, but I haven’t even been a cape for a year yet. I don’t know if the Protectorate will take us seriously, or we’ll just—” I was cut off as Amy’s lips pressed against mine. I stiffened for a moment, but soon returned the kiss. I opened my eyes as she pulled away, smiling.

  “You’re going to do fine,” Amy assured me. “As long as you stick to the rules, do things right, it’ll be okay. Make sure Joy does too, you’re her main example. Just...be a good role model, I guess.” I figured the ship had sailed on that, but didn’t want to say anything. “Now enough moping, you’re fixed enough to help with dinner.”

  “Hm?” I glanced down at my hands and found them skinny, pale, and totally intact. “Oh, you...you didn’t say you were.”

  “Did it when I kissed you,” she said, pecking my cheek and rising from the couch. “I don’t know, I thought it was cute… Sorry, I’ll make sure to ask next time.”

  “No it’s fine,” I said quickly, taking her hand and offering a smile. “Really, just a surprise; a nice one, okay?”

  “Okay.” She squeezed my hand. “Okay, anyway, I need you and your invincible hands to grate some veggies. Unless you feel like moving your projection to feel what the grater’s teeth are like.” I grimaced.

  “I’ll be safe,” I promised, rising and following her to the kitchen. “What’re we making anyway?”

  “Spaghetti,” Amy said. “I...found a recipe I wanted to try, homemade sauce too.”

  “Sweet,” I said, stretching up and giving her another quick kiss. “So, orders chef?”

  She smiled back and we got to work.