“You know I know we took down a bunch of Nazis already,” Nadir grumbled as we entered the third, fruitless hour of a wasted patrol. “But there’s no way we got them all right?”

  “No,” I said shortly. “They’ve probably gone to ground. Losing two capes in two months is pretty dire, especially when I was involved in both.”

  “Right, with Hannibal or whatever,” she said, sipping her water. “Why’d he name himself after a cannibal?”

  “Because he’s a Nazi?” I replied with a shrug. “Don’t know honestly. I think they said something in a briefing about an ancient general in Rome or Greece or something.”

  “Huh, no kidding,” she mused. “Never thought a Nazi would be a history buff.”

  “Really?” I said dryly. “You think that Nazis aren’t into history?”

  “I mean, not like actually learning about it,” Nadir retorted. “Sure they LARP, but they don’t know shit besides aesthetics.” I blinked,

  “They what?”

  “LARP,” she repeated her nonsense word.

  “Is that Mohawk too?”

  “I swear to god you could make white bread look whole wheat,” she groaned. “They play pretend, that’s it. No serious understanding, definitely don’t care about who people were or what they did; unless it was genocide, of course.”

  “Right, anyway,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It makes sense tonight’s quiet. And sure it sucks, but honestly this is how patrols are supposed to go, I think.”

  “Really?” Nadir sounded surprised. “I thought the point was, you know, taking down bad guys.”

  “I mean, that too,” I said. “That’s just like, not what we’re doing most of the time. Only so many villains, even in a shithole like Brockton Bay.”

  “I guess,” she sighed, stuffing her water bottle back into my bag and jostling me slightly. “Just wish I could make sure everyone is safe, you know?”

  “We never can,” I said flatly. “Like sure, that’s nice to think about, but we can’t be everywhere at the same time. I guess that’s why we work in bigger teams, cover more ground that way.”

  “Can’t we go after them?” she asked as we left the alley and headed out onto the street. “You know, find where they’re hiding and flush them out?”

  “Not easy,” I said, keeping my eyes moving. “How do you find them? How do you know it’s them and not just some regular people with guns and doing drugs? Yeah yeah, I know that look but you really think there aren’t people like that around here?”

  “Good point,” Nadir muttered. “There’s got to be some way though.”

  “PRT has a whole team dedicated to intelligence gathering,” I said. “Informants, stakeouts, actual cop stuff. Obviously we don’t have anything like that, so we’re stuck on the street.”

  “Huh, makes sense.” We walked on silently for a few minutes before Nadir spoke again. “Think we could do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “The intelligence stuff,” she said, waving her hand noncommittally. “You think we could handle it?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It’s just the two of us though, and I’m still going to school and stuff. I know you might not have a job or whatever, but you can’t work twenty-four-seven either. Not sure who’d come to us as an informant either.”

  “We could try interrogating the next gangsters we take down?”

  “Can’t hurt to try,” I agreed. “Just don’t expect too much from their footsoldiers.”

  “Sure.”

  We spent the next hour wandering the streets of the East End, but still didn’t have any luck. I called it, we weren’t getting anywhere with this and both of us were frustrated to the point that making mistakes became a real concern. After we parted ways, I headed back to my shared apartment, trying to ignore the disappointment clutching at my heart.

  This was expected, just like I’d told her, but that didn’t make it any nicer to come away from a patrol empty handed. We hadn’t helped anyone, just wasted our time and potential sleep. Nadir had a point, about the intelligence side of things. It’d be more effective to go out and target the gangs directly, crush them before they even had a chance to take to the streets. Maybe Lafayette could give us some pointers, being on the inside and all.

  There was a lot that was damned hard to do, stuff I’d never considered before being out on my own. No wonder hero groups usually either fell in line with the PRT or found corporate support. Doing this alone was a hell of a lot to deal with. I could do it, I was sure; or we could together.

  I just had to figure out how.

  “So you just plug it in like that and…”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “That’s it,” Esther said brightly, drumming her hands on the table. “See? Pretty easy when you know where everything goes.”

  “Huh.” I stared down at the completed practice test in front of me. “Uh, thanks. I kind of feel like an idiot now.” She giggled.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Rathburn is a putz,” she said dryly. “You can really tell he’s gone to school for math and nothing else.” I snorted and shook my head.

  “Seriously, thank you,” I said, packing up my bag. “I was probably going to bomb the midterm, but now I might barely pass.”

  “Oh c’mon, give yourself a little credit,” Esther said, rising and slinging her backpack. “Anyway, wanna grab lunch now?”

  “I’m eating with Amy, sorry.” She made a whip-crack sound and I rolled my eyes. “Har har.”

  “No chance of me joining you guys? I mean, you gotta owe me something for helping you not flunk.” I frowned, then shrugged.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever.” Amy might not be too happy, but Esther was right about me owing her one. Amy would get it, it was how we’d met after all. “I’ll buy you pizza or something.”

  She crowed in triumph, drawing a stern, but mercifully brief lecture from the librarian as we left. I felt pretty good despite that, I was actually starting to figure out all this weird crap they expected me to learn in my last year. Math was my worst subject by far, but with Esther’s help it all felt manageable. Never would have thought beating up a little fascist prick would improve my grades, but here we were…

  The cafeteria was half empty by the time we arrived. I’d texted Amy that I’d be late, but I hadn’t expected it to take quite as long as it did. Fortunately the line was nonexistent, unfortunately they only had cheese pizza left, and worse it was only lukewarm. Esther seemed happy enough though, so with our disappointing fare in tow we headed to the usual corner table and joined Amy.

  “Hey,” Amy greeted me as I sat next to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She eyed Esther when she sat across from us. “And you are…?”

  “Esther Meyer,” she said, sticking out her hand. “I’m the one that got Amelia in trouble last week.”

  “Wasn’t your fault,” I countered. “Anyway, yeah, she was helping me with math like I said. Figured I’d get her lunch to pay her back, you know?”

  “I see,” Amy said flatly.

  “She’s a little dim, but she’s got the spirit,” Esther said lightly, taking back her unshaken hand. “Should have picked a different day for lunch though.”

  “No take backs,” I said quickly, getting a chuckle.

  “Yeah yeah,” she muttered, taking a bite of her pizza. I followed her lead before my food could get colder.

  “So how was class?” Amy asked after a minute.

  “Ehh.” I swallowed and waggled a hand. “It’s all going fine except Math, hence the tutor.”

  “Think you’re going to need more...tutoring?” she said, a little tense.

  “Oh my god,” Esther groaned through a mouthful of pizza. “Would you chill out? I don’t even bat for your team.”

  “You don’t…” Amy clamped her mouth shut, face turning beet-red. She looked at the ground and muttered, barely audible: “Sorry.”

  “It’s cool,” she replied. “I get it, Amelia’s cute, but she’s no Arnie.”

  “Oh right, you’re into bodybuilders,” I said, making a face. “I guess that’s...fine.”

  “I just want a guy that could bench press eighteen of me, is that so much to ask?” Esther said with a dramatic flair.

  “You mean physically speaking or?”

  We shared a chuckle and returned to our food. I slipped a hand under the table and took Amy’s, running a thumb over her knuckles and giving it a squeeze. She turned and gave me a small smile, practically hidden behind her cascading hair. I brushed it aside and kissed her cheek, making her blush all over again. Cute.

  The rest of lunch I enjoyed chatting with Amy and my new friend.

  “Intel huh?” Lafayette mused, sipping a steaming hot chocolate. We were a block away from the PRT building in a small park. “Can’t say it’s something I’ve ever been interested in. I know a little of the process, don’t know if it would help.”

  “I need anything,” I replied, shaking my head. “Because right now I have zilch. No informants, no leads, not even a suspect to drag in for an interview.”

  “Then what are you hoping to get from me?” she asked. “Because that’s about what I know, basic policing stuff.”

  “I don’t know...something.” I sighed and scratched my head. “Like, maybe I could hit a place you guys are already looking at?”

  “So you just want me to leak stuff,” Lafayette said with an edge.

  “It’s not a leak, you can trust me.” I frowned and furrowed my brow. “Come on, you know you can.”

  “Lia, you’re not a Ward,” she countered. “Hell you’re not even an affiliate, they have you and Nadir down as vigilantes on the books.”

  “We’re heroes,” I retorted.

  “You’re rogues.” Lafayette sighed and took a sip of her drink. “You don’t play by their rules, you’re unpredictable, violent. That’s not just me saying shit, that’s in the briefing.”

  “Got to be shitting me,” I groaned. “We’re all on the same side here.”

  “We are,” she agreed with that, at least. “But we’re not playing the same game, get it? The Protectorate is boxing, you and Joy are doing some down and dirty street fighting.”

  “So we’re just screwed then,” I muttered.

  “Could always apply for affiliate status, change things a little,” she offered. “Not the same as being in totally, you could still set your own patrols and stuff, but you’d have to tone things down a little.”

  “Tone it down from what?” I sighed and rested my chin on my hand. “Forget it, we’ll just try and interrogate the guys we take down, like Joy suggested.”

  “That’s another way,” Lafayette said. “You guys having any luck?”

  “Not last time,” I said. “Streets were quiet. We’re going out tonight though, should be busier since it’s Friday.”

  “I’ll be on shift, so don’t cause any trouble,” she warned.

  “Oh please, when do I ever cause trouble?”

  “Anytime you step outside.”

  “Touché.”

  I cursed under my breath as the apartment door shut behind me, none too gently. Another patrol, another waste of four hours wandering around with nothing to show for it. I dumped my bag and kicked off my boots before walking the rest of the way in. I paused when I saw the TV glowing, cocking my head at the seemingly empty couch.

  Padding closer, I heard a quiet snoring. I found Amy laying on her side, clutching a pillow as she slept. I chuckled quietly and crept to our bedroom, changing into shorts and a tshirt for bed. She was still asleep when I returned, making me shake my head. She’d never been much of a light sleeper, to be fair, but this seemed a little silly.

  Oh well, it was cute as hell. I shut off the TV and bent down, slipping my arms under her hips and shoulders. I grunted slightly as I picked her up. Amy stirred briefly, but simply dropped her pillow and clutched one of my arms with a contented sigh. My heart fluttered as I carefully carried her to bed, letting her down and pulling the covers up and over her. I climbed in behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, giving her a tight squeeze.

  “Mmm, thanks Vicky,” Amy murmured sleepily, making my chest tighten.

  “You’re welcome,” I whispered, letting her dream be. Neither of us got enough good ones these days… “Love you Amy.”

  “Mm, love you too…” she sighed.

  It wasn’t for me...but I slept a little better because of that.