“Heyyy, you here for the ra— hrnk!”

  I grabbed the skinhead’s jaw and kicked his knee out, dropping him to the ground. I swept past him into the crack den, Nadir hot on my heels while Zeke descended on the guy behind us. The place reeked of chemicals and hazy blueish smoke clung to the ceiling. I popped my head through a doorway and saw a living room with a dozen or so people, some chatting, some smoking and lounging. One turned and his eyes widened in surprise as I called for Nadir.

  Seconds later, all of them were laying on their bellies or backs, groaning as Nadir held them in place with their own increased body weight. She let them go and we moved as quick as we could, binding their wrists and feet so we could safely keep moving. When Zeke came to help, I left them behind and continued clearing the rest of the house alone. Safer…

  I swiftly beat down a man and woman stumbling half-naked from a room, guns in hand. With only two zipties left, I bound their wrists together and kicked them both in the side, then took their weapons. I safetied and pocketed one, then raised the other and moved quickly to the stairs. I took them two at a time, conscious of my projection with every step.

  There were only two rooms, both with padlocks. I shot them off and kicked in the first, making sure it was clear of enemies, then did the same for the other room. Once I was sure I was alone, I lowered my gun and took account of what was actually in there. Drugs. Lots of drugs. Holy shit where did they get all this?! I shook my head and ran back down to the others, sticking my borrowed pistol in my waistband.

  “All good,” Nadir reported when I returned, raising her voice over the complaints of our captives. “Z’s keeping an eye out for reinforcements. What’d you find upstairs?”

  “Enough drugs to smoke out half the city,” I said, shaking my head. “Fucking crazy. Let’s get these guys outside and call the cops.”

  “Got it.”

  Between the two of us, we made relatively light work of getting the struggling captives outside. Most of them were pretty heavily inked, and all but one had some kind of Nazi emblem. Once again, Tattletale was on the money, much as I hated to admit it. Both places had paid off, making for a wildly productive weekend by our usual standards. Paid off in a more literal sense for my colleagues…

  They hadn’t talked about it, and I really didn’t want to ask. Partly because I agreed that they needed money a whole lot more than the police department, mostly because I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. After all, it probably didn’t happen. Nadir and Zeke had reported a hundred grand in the safe, no way they’d keep more than that in a place like that. Besides, I didn’t want to be thinking about that while dealing with cops.

  “Damn, it’s a whole party,” an officer commented as he walked from his car to the lawn, scratching his head. “They’re all Werwolf?”

  “Most inked with Nazi logos,” I said. “All hanging out in a house I found the crack motherlode in.”

  “No kidding,” he whistled. “Well, I’ll call up the wagon. You mind taking some cuffs and getting them properly secured?”

  “Sure,” I said, shrugging.

  I went back to his car with him and retrieved a whole bunch of cuffs, then returned to the lawn where we’d laid everyone out. The three of us started cutting the ties off people and cuffing them instead, while the officer walked behind us reading their rights and making it official. When we were done, I checked my watch and swore.

  “What’s up?” Nadir asked.

  “Already two and I have a breakfast thing in the morning,” I groaned. “Fuck me I’m going to be exhausted.”

  “Why not go home?” she said. “Me and Z can handle the rest of this, you know? It’s just statements and loading at this point.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, glancing between them. “I don’t want you two getting in trouble on your own.”

  “No sweat boss, we can handle ourselves,” Zeke said, throwing an arm around Nadir’s shoulders.

  “It’s really fine,” Nadir reassured me, shrugging him off. “Shoot you a message when we’re done, okay?” I bit my lip and stared at the ground.

  “Fine,” I sighed after a moment. “You call me if anything goes wrong, got it?” She gave me a mock salute and I sighed again, walking back to the cop. “Hey, my team’s going to be handling the rest of this, cool? They can give you statements and whatever.”

  “Well uh, we’d really rather have all of you around,” he replied, sounding a little nervous.

  “They know everything that went on, same as me,” I said, shaking my head. I drew the pistol I’d confiscated from my pocket, unloading it as the officer took a sharp breath. I held it out, grip first. “Here, took it off one of the bad guys.”

  “Appreciated,” he replied a little shakily. I turned and began walking away, but paused when he cleared his throat loudly. “Uh, what about that other one?”

  “Other...oh.” My cheeks burned behind my scarf as I drew the pistol from my waistband, behind my back. I looked down at it quietly for a moment, then glanced up at the cop. “It’s mine. That a problem?” His face seemed to pale a little and he shook his head, so I slipped the gun into my pocket. “Cool. Appreciate the help officer.”

  I turned away and began walking home, my mind racing ahead to tomorrow’s problems.

  “Are you alright?” Carol asked as I covered my mouth against a wide yawn. “Have you been sleeping properly?”

  “Late night,” I said with a shrug, taking a sip of coffee. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Don’t let work take away sleep,” Mark said, tossing a grin my way. “Lord knows I learned that the hard way.”

  “You were back kind of late,” Amy murmured, poking at the massive, syrupy waffle on her plate.

  “It’s really fine,” I said, shaking my head. “Conducted a raid, took a little longer to sort out than I thought but it was a success. Bunch of arrests, plus we found a literal ton of drugs.” Plus my pistol which...no, better to not bring that up in this sort of company. “Anyway, sorry.”

  “Where were you working?” Victoria asked around a mouthful of breakfast.

  “Victoria, don’t speak with your mouth full.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled to her mother, swallowing before she continued. “So what, South End?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “On the fringe of it, but still solidly Werwolf territory. A trap house.”

  “Mmm, hate those,” Victoria said with a grimace. “Always smell like shit.”

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  “Language,” Carol snapped.

  “Nah, she’s right, they do smell like shit,” I replied with a wry grin. It shrank when Amy gave me a look. “Anyway, sorry, thanks for breakfast. It’s pretty good.”

  “It’s been a while since I made something special,” Mark said, offering me a warm smile. “We appreciate you and Amy joining us, feels like a proper family breakfast.”

  I smiled shyly and went back to my meal. Despite my lack of sleep, it was honestly pretty nice being here. Amy’s family treated us, well, like family. Nervous as I had been when we started coming here regularly, it seemed that had been for nothing. I guess things were different than what I remembered, or what the other Amy remembered, because of me…

  What a weird thing, knowing just how bad everything could have gone if I wasn’t there. Maybe it was a little egotistical thinking I was the key part, but what else? Taylor sure as shit hadn’t acted any different, and neither had Amy. Even Dean wouldn’t have been there at all, if not for me so…

  Fuck, what did that mean for everything else, for...the end? Taylor was dead, so deep down I knew. There wasn’t going to be a battle for the survival of the world, not with her on ice. It was either we somehow kill Jack Slash and put a stop to everything before it kicked off or...die. And die, and die, and die, and die. God, it was horrifying to think about.

  “You okay?” Mark asked gently. “Look a little pale.”

  “Just tired,” I said tersely, putting my fork down. “Thanks for the meal.”

  “You’ve barely eaten,” he said, arching a brow at my mostly-intact waffle.

  “Sorry,” I said, shrugging.

  “You should eat,” Amy mumbled under her breath. “Barely do enough as is.”

  “I’m fine,” I shot back.

  After a moment of her staring at me, I sighed and relented, picking a little more at my breakfast. It was rich and sugary, sitting heavy in my stomach, but I had to at least try. God knew I wasn’t fucking trying to be a hero so I could at least try and be a good—

  “‘scuse me,” I mumbled, shoving my chair out with a clatter and all but sprinting to the bathroom.

  I barely got the toilet seat up before I retched and emptied my stomach into the bowl. I panted and heaved again, a groan escaping my lips; what a fucking mess. I coughed and spat, leaning away from the bowl until my back hit the bathtub. I brought my legs to my chest and hugged them tight, gritting my teeth as tears pricked at my eyes.

  “Amelia?” I flinched at the sound of Mo— Carol’s voice through the half-open door. “Are you alright?”

  “Fine,” I mumbled. I heard the hinges creak and tensed, then flinched as the latch clicked.

  “Dean spoke with me,” she said, voice low. I peeked and saw her leaning against the counter, staring at the wall. “Would you like to discuss it?”

  “Nothing to discuss,” I said. “Failure of a hero, failure of a...a daughter.”

  “Mm, while I cannot speak to the latter, I don’t believe failing your mother’s expectations is a mark against you,” Carol replied. “As for your heroics…I believe there is room for discussion.”

  “Yeah whatever,” I muttered. “Working with villains and killing people, doesn’t get worse than that.” She sighed and I recoiled as her hand touched my shoulder.

  “We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of, Amelia,” she said softly. “New Wave’s history isn’t as clean as I would like, but I believe you recognize something important about being a hero: transparency. You don’t shy away from your failings, and that is something you should be proud of.”

  “Oh goody, I can be a proud failure,” I spat, then flinched as she clicked her tongue.

  “We’ve been discussing something for a while now,” Carol said evenly. “Since speaking with Dean, I believe it’s the right time to bring it up. We would like to invite you and Nadir to join New Wave as probationary members.” A chill went up my spine and I peered out at her, eyes wide in disbelief.

  “What?” I asked shakily.

  “We know you’re capable of great things,” she said. “You simply need the guidance and opportunity to achieve them.”

  “But I’m...I’m no good.”

  “You’ve done things that are right and things that aren’t,” she replied. “But I’m not here to litigate that. None of us want to see you fail Lia. I know things have been tenuous, trying to run your own team, and you’ve had to do things you aren’t proud of. Let us show you another way.”

  “I don’t know,” I said quietly. “I don’t think you can trust me.”

  “I believe we can,” she said simply. “Speak with your teammate, see what she thinks.”

  “Um, what about…” I bit my lip and swallowed. “What about my other partner, Z?”

  “The one without powers, yes.” I winced at her tone. “I don’t believe he would be a good fit.” Yeah, figured.

  “I’ll...talk to them,” I said at last.

  “You wouldn’t be required to unmask,” Carol added. “At least while you were trying out. I understand why you feel uncomfortable with that.”

  “Okay,” I said, nodding slowly. I rose from where I’d curled up against the bathtub, wincing and closing the lid on the toilet before flushing. “Sorry.”

  “Apology accepted,” she said with a nod. “Come and join us at the table, won’t you?”

  I nodded meekly and followed her out. It just wasn’t worth it to argue…

  “You ask me, it’s an easy choice,” Lafayette said as Joy and I cleared the table. “Can have everything you want and more.”

  “I don’t know if it’s that simple,” I said, scraping the remains of a pork chop dinner into the trash before putting the plate in the sink. “Nothing really is.”

  “They’re the unmasked team, right?” Joy asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “But they did say we wouldn’t have to, not at first anyway.”

  “It’s that ‘at first’ part I’m worried about,” she said with a grimace.

  “Frankly I’m more worried about what we’ll actually do,” I said. “And they won’t take Z, which sucks.”

  “It’s bullshit,” Joy grumbled.

  “Makes sense,” Lafayette said, shrugging. “Come on you two, you’re both smart enough to understand why they won’t have him.”

  “No, it makes sense, but it still sucks,” I replied. “But again, operations. Outside of one co-op, I haven’t heard of them doing major stuff. They work with the PRT sometimes right? You have a better idea?”

  “They mostly keep their own area safe, regular patrols and stuff,” she replied. “We’ve run a couple operations together, but not recently.”

  “Mmm, doesn’t fill me with confidence,” I said dryly. “Maybe we can talk them into joining us for some actual work.”

  “Or maybe you could slow down and learn from some veterans,” Lafayette said sharply. “The kinds of people who’ve been doing this since you were in diapers. The kinds of people you should listen to Lia.” The fork I was washing bent and twisted around my clenched fist.

  “Back off,” I snapped. “God damn everyone breathing down my fucking neck lately.”

  “Hey, Lia, calm—”

  “Maybe they’re breathing down your neck ‘cause you’re crossing every god damn line in the book,” Lafayette barked. “You think I like going into work, hearing my friend slotted two people and is in a cell downstairs? God dammit I seen kids go down like you.”

  “Um, Laffy—”

  “You think I liked being locked up Hooks?” I demanded, whirling on her, cheeks aflame. “You think I enjoyed sitting there for hours not knowing if my teammate was alive or dead, with blood on my hands? I’m not the enemy so stop treating me like it!” My throat ached as I panted, glaring up at her.

  “You—”

  “Hey!” Joy shouted, clapping her hands sharply. “Fucking stop it, both of you!” I looked over and saw the tears in her eyes. My shoulders slumped.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’ll just...go.”

  “Lia hang on,” Lafayette called after me as I strode to the door. She followed me as I yanked on my shoes and jacket and flung open the door, storming out into the evening. “Hey, wait a minute would you? I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah well, me too,” I said, not stopping. I stared at the sidewalk as she walked alongside me. “But like everything else in my fucking life this isn’t working. I won’t bother you anymore, won’t reflect badly on you or whatever.”

  “Lia, don’t,” she said, grabbing my shoulder. I twisted out of her grip and spun around, fists raised. She had her hands up, looked pale. “Listen, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up like that.” I dropped my hands and bit my lip, staring at the ground.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re right, I’m crossing lines, I’m not much of a hero any more.” I scoffed, running my fingers through my growing hair. “Never was. I get it, you’re in the PRT, you can’t have this sort of stuff in your life. I’m...I’m sorry for dragging you into all this.”

  “Listen to me god dammit,” Lafayette said shakily. “You have a way out right now, a silver platter. You complain the heroes don’t want to work with you, but here they are.” I tensed, sweat pricking my back.

  “It’s...it’s not that simple,” I argued. “I’ve been getting shit done Hooks, going out there and tearing the heart right out of the Empire.”

  “Kid I hate to break it to you but…” She sighed and scratched her head. “You’ve only got a twenty percent conviction rate.” I blinked.

  “What?”

  “All the perps you bring in? Eight in ten get released without charges,” she said, looking aside. “And most the guys you been grabbing have been misdemeanours, a few months of jail time tops.” The world seemed to twist into knots like my stomach was trying to.

  “Are you fucking kidding?” I asked shakily.

  “The system isn’t made for vigilantes, Lia,” Lafayette said quietly. “If you were on an actual hero team they—”

  “An actual hero team?” I said sharply.

  “That’s not what I—”

  “It’s fine,” I cut her off, shaking my head. “Food for fucking thought. Goodbye Hooks.”

  “See you at the gym Friday?”

  I didn’t answer, just pulled up my hood and walked off into the night.