The march back to the FOB was silent and grim. No surprises there, with how many casualties this one attack had stacked up. They couldn’t even recover the bodies, so their friends were still out there, laying among a bunch of enemies, god only knew what happening to them. It made Joy sick to think about, almost as sick as what happened to Lia.

  She’d given herself up so they’d got out without a fight. It was genuinely heroic, but it was hitting everyone pretty hard. Nobody carried themselves entirely upright, it was all hunched shoulders and hanging heads. A couple kept their eyes out, but even there they were sluggish, more casting about for purpose than looking for threats.

  They all filed into the apartment complex without a word, and Joy followed the stretchers to the makeshift infirmary they’d set up. She helped heft the wounded onto cots that had been set up, then grabbed several Regener-orbs from the cabinet nearby. Joy thanked every god around that Lia had spared Whatchamacalit, because if she hadn’t there was no telling how many more people would have died.

  She passed out the Regener-orbs to the less trained people, then started working on the walking wounded. With her skills, she was able to handle pretty well any injury that her teammates suffered on the battlefield. Maybe Joy would never be a real nurse, but she was turning out to be a pretty good medic.

  She threw herself into her work, settling into a rhythm of diagnosis, triage, and swift treatment. Not everyone got a Regener-orb, not everyone was badly injured enough to need it. Good thing too, since they didn’t have enough to go around. Still, bandages and antiseptic had worked for the last century, they still would today.

  All told, it took an hour to finish dressing the many, many wounded. There weren’t many helping hands unfortunately. One thing the Terriers and their allies lacked were people trained in medical procedure, or even first aid. Of course Lia never prioritized it, preferring instead to use their free time for combat training. Joy couldn’t necessarily blame her, but she wouldn’t have made the same choice.

  Once finished, Joy left the infirmary and headed upstairs to the quarters. She greeted Rosa and headed into the shower, stripping and ducking under the water quickly. A sigh escaped her lips as hot water cascaded over her head and down her shoulders. She finally let herself relax, safe now in their base.

  God, how times had changed. If Joy could go back and talk to herself from a year ago, she wasn’t sure she’d believe it. Becoming a hero, then rapidly descending the slope to villainy and murder? She’d just been a nursing student, none of that had even been a possibility in her mind. Leviathan had changed everything, and no question for the worse.

  Joy quickly rinsed her hair, no time for a proper wash, and stepped out. Rache of the Three Arrows was sitting on the toilet and offered a sheepish smile before averting her eyes. Joy shrugged it off; there were only so many bathrooms here and over a hundred people after all. She quickly toweled off before returning to her quarters and getting dressed in a clean, black jumpsuit. After that, she retrieved her equipment and headed to the top floor and entered the command room.

  “Nadir,” Fidel greeted her with a nod. Lin, now Doppler, was staring down at the map with a hollow gaze. Fidel himself looked dispirited, older and more tired than he had just yesterday. Whatchamacalit was there too, fiddling with a tool and one of her devices. “How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” Nadir replied, pulling her wet hair back into a ponytail. “You?”

  “Just taking account of things,” he said with a sigh. “It doesn’t look good. Phones still aren’t working. The good news is Misha’s group is still alive, just hiding out at an alternate location; they sent a runner. Seems they got in a fight with the cops and had to go to ground. The old man’s Spetsnaz are still here though, resting up right now.”

  “Not a total disaster then,” she said, forcing her mind to switch gears. She wasn’t great at all this strategic crap, but she’d do her best. “We got three more enemy capes out of this, that brings them down to what, three?”

  “Four at least,” Doppler muttered. “Night, Fog, Krieg, and Crusader. And now we don’t have the only person who stood a chance of taking them down.”

  “Hey, no defeatism,” Fidel said firmly. “They only barely outnumber us in terms of capes, and almost certainly not in terms of manpower anymore. We knew they had around three-hundred unpowered members, and we’ve certainly killed over a hundred. This is still viable.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Whatchamacalit said, setting her tool down and turning the octagonal device she’d been working on over in her hands. “You’re definitely capable, but without Amaranth it’s going to be a nasty fight. I can only make my stuff so quick you know? Can’t make everyone invincible.” Joy pursed her lips.

  “You have the stuff for doing brain scans?” Joy asked. Whatchamacalit blinked, then grinned.

  “I could whip something up in about an hour,” she replied, leaning forward. “Why do you ask?”

  “Scan my head,” Joy said, tapping her temple. “If we use my power and yours together…”

  “You get an offensive tool in your arsenal that nobody left on their side can counter,” Whatchamacalit finished, practically beaming. “And I get a look at that beautiful power of yours. Well you asked for it, I’ll get you when I’m ready. Rest up til then, I want to see you in top form!” The Tinker raced out of the room before anyone could get a word in edgewise, leaving the rest of them stunned for a moment.

  “Excitable, isn’t she?” Fidel said, chuckling. “You going to be okay?”

  “It’s just a brain scan,” Joy said with a shrug. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  “Fucking ow!” Joy swore, bucking against her restraints as Ruby turned on her machine.

  “Oh don’t cry you big baby, I know it doesn’t hurt that much,” Ruby said, patting Joy’s hand condescendingly.

  “And how do you—”

  “Whose brain do you think I scanned first, hm?” Her ever-present smile took on a pained tinge. “And that was with much worse equipment than this. That was just a pinch, like I promised.”

  “A pinch inside my head,” Joy muttered.

  “Exactly.” Ruby fiddled with her machinery, then offered a more apologetic look. “Don’t worry, the rest of this won’t hurt a bit. Need to keep you restrained though, sorry. If one of those needles were to come out while we were working here, it would hurt a hell of a lot more. Now.” She rotated Joy’s chair until she was staring out the window at the street below. It was quiet out, practically deserted. “You need to use your powers. I’d say three uses, in increasing strength. Can you handle that?”

  “How hard should I go?” she asked hesitantly. She’d rather not hurt anyone…

  “All out, full power.” Ruby’s grin was almost manic. “It’ll give me the best readings, and give you the best device I can build.”

  “Okay I’ll...I’ll try.”

  Joy took a deep breath and started small, at two meters. She targeted an empty part of the street and gave it a one second pulse. The circle glowed in her sight, then vanished once she cut off her power. She expanded to three and a half, usually fatal but would leave bodies intact. It was a little more difficult to find space, but she did and blasted empty pavement with gravity. It didn’t affect it, it never did for inanimate things. Joy would rather it had only worked on things that weren’t alive.

  She waited to use her power at full strength, five meters of instant death to anything that wasn’t literally invincible. Even then, Joy doubted even the strongest parahuman would be able to move under what must have been a Sun’s worth of gravity. Finally, there was an opening and a tremendous, glowing circle appeared in her vision. She cut it off after less than half a second as a passerby nearly walked straight into it. She panted hard, sweat beading on her brow. That had been way too close.

  “Nice, nice, that last one was a little short, you getting tired?” Ruby asked.

  “Almost hit someone,” Joy growled in response, getting a wince.

  “Shit, I’m sorry.” She reached out and patted Joy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it then, I can extrapolate this no problem. Important thing is no one got hurt, right?” She flicked a few switches on the machine, then stood and closed to an intimate distance. “I’m gonna get the needles out okay? Hold still and I promise you won’t feel a thing.” Joy just grunted and shut her eyes.

  Despite her trepidation, Ruby seemed to be telling the truth this time. Outside a slight tug on her hair here and there, Joy didn’t feel a thing. It took a few minutes to get them all out, but only half the time Ruby spent putting them in in the first place. Once that was done, she undid the restraints and stepped away, letting Joy stand and stretch out.

  “Oh god,” Joy groaned, rolling her neck until it popped. “If I’d known you were going to put me in bondage I might have said no.” Ruby snorted and shook her head.

  “Sweetheart, if I put you in bondage, you’d never forget it, and you’d thank me.” The way Ruby said it made Joy’s cheeks flush and her mouth dry. Ruby giggled and patted her shoulder. “Buy me a drink sometime and I’ll think about it.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “No, it’s fine,” Joy said quickly, shaking her head. “I mean, thanks, but um, no. You’re not my type, no offense.”

  “Prefer someone a little younger?” she asked, teasing. “I wouldn’t call Lia cute, but I wouldn’t judge you for liking her either; plenty of people like pit bulls.”

  “It’s not like that at all,” Joy sighed, rolling her eyes. “Lia...she’s kind of like a little sister, in a weird way. A really angry one, but she’s never that bad to me.”

  “Mm, I can’t say I see it,” Ruby said, shrugging. “Except that she’s left you to clean up her mess, now that’s just like a sister.” Joy nodded, grimacing.

  “Speaking of, how long do you think it’ll take to make these things?” Joy asked, not wanting to thing about what Lia was going through right now.

  “Give me a few hours to process the data and configure something,” Ruby replied, turning to the screen. “You want dial-a-yield on this?”

  “What?”

  “Flip a switch to select how strong the blast,” she explained. “Maybe just two settings between ‘stun’ and ‘kill’, for you conscience.” The keyboard clattered and the screen spat out a wall of impenetrable text, and Ruby whistled loudly. “Wow, okay, yeah I don’t think we need ten-thousand Gs. Let me crunch this, I’ll give you a call.”

  Joy thanked her and headed out, scratching at her scalp. Checking her nails, she found a few small scabs from where the needles had come out. Well, at least it didn’t hurt now. If this worked, it would be worth the brief, intense migraine that had made if feel like her head was splitting in two.

  She navigated to her cot and lay down, shutting her eyes. She had some time to rest right now, they weren’t doing a thing until they could reunite with Misha and the Red Banners. Cell service wasn’t back yet, but radios seemed to work within a block or so. Beyond that it was just static. Ruby had said it might be a Tinker’s work, but she hadn’t had time to check it out yet.

  How much did they have left in them? Joy was exhausted, and she had seen that others were reaching their limits. Richard was dead, the most experienced person they had by far. This was going to be a hell of a fight, and she wasn’t sure if she could survive without Lia watching her back. Joy’s phone buzzed in her pocket and made her sigh; of course they’d work when she had just laid down, couldn’t have a moment of rest. She dragged it out and flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.

  “Nadir,” she answered shortly.

  “This is Samuel Bedford,” a rough-voiced man replied. “I’m the lawyer for a mutual acquaintance of ours.” Joy sighed again.

  “Yeah, she told me about you,” Joy said. “Has she called you yet? Is she okay?”

  “I got off the phone with her a few minutes ago,” Samuel said. “I’ll be heading down to the headquarters shortly. I’ll give you an update once I’ve seen her.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She shut her eyes again. “Is there anything else you need? I’m trying to sleep.”

  “Sure, no sweat,” he said easily. “I’ve got your number if I do need anything. Good night, or day as it is.” The line clicked and Joy stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Lia was okay, or okay enough to call her lawyer; and there was nothing she could do to help.

  Joy rolled over, trying, and failing to get some sleep. At least it was better than being out there…

  “You sure you got this, Nadir?” Jeep asked as they drove up the street. “I mean no offense, but you ain’t exactly Amaranth.”

  “That’s what I have this for,” Nadir replied, lifting a hexagonal prism she’d been given by Whatchamacalit. “Thirteen seconds of knowing what it’s like. Hopefully I won’t have to use it though.”

  “We’re going after some big cats, you really think you won’t?” he said dryly.

  “I said hopefully,” she retorted. “Probably will. It’s fine, as long as I get to see them, they won’t stand a chance. And with this, they can’t stop me spotting them.”

  “What sorta villains we looking at fighting anyway?” J-Dog asked. “Heard they’re called Night and Fog, the hell kinda names are those?”

  “Man ain’t you been reading?” Jeep said. “One of them turns into a monster, the other one turns into...well, fog. Ain’t that complicated man.”

  “How we supposed to deal with fog?”

  “You don’t,” Nadir said simply. “I do. If he’s still considered alive, my power will work all the same. Doesn’t matter if he’s solid or gas.” It probably didn’t matter, at least she hoped. “Remember to keep an eye on Night at all times, I don’t think she can change without being out of sight.”

  “How are we supposed to know which is which?” J-Dog asked.

  “Shoot ‘em both, problem solved,” Jeep replied.

  He wasn’t entirely wrong either. It was a plan like Lia would have come up with. They were currently racing towards a highly fortified enemy neighbourhood, not unlike the one where Lia had been captured. Gregori’s Spetsnaz had identified it earlier, and with phones working again they were out for another attack.

  Night and Fog were their expected opponents, and Joy wasn’t looking forward to that fight. Mostly because she knew the only way to make sure everyone survived was going all out from the start. A lot of people could be hurt or killed, but it was a tragic necessity. As long as she was decisive, that number would be as low as it could be.

  Was this how Lia felt all the time? Worrying about how many people would die because she gave an order that was wrong, or used her power poorly? Joy didn’t envy her in the slightest if it was. She was looking forward to all of this being over. After that, she wasn’t sure she’d want to even look at a rifle again.

  For now though, she didn’t have a choice. Jeep told them as they turned down the last street towards their destination. Joy got on her phone and gave Gregori a quick call, making sure he was in position ahead. He confirmed they’d taken over an abandoned property a street over and were prepared for their part. The moment he said that, she gave him the go ahead and hung up.

  A distant ‘boom’ echoed up the street, followed by the chatter of machine guns. Jeep chuckled nervously, and a minute later they pulled the car over as the glow of fire lit the road ahead. Her team got out of the car and took positions at the roadside, kneeling and scanning the area. The vans carrying the rest of the squads stopped behind them, and soon enough they were all gathered for the assault.

  “Move in,” Nadir ordered sharply once everyone was prepared.

  They pressed forward in sections, half of them moving at a time while the others paused to provide cover. It wasn’t the quickest, but they knew they were heading into a battle, so they had to be ready to respond in a second. The fighting came into sight after three bounds, and it already looked hellish.

  One house on the block was a blazing inferno, the one nearest to them. Two cars that were parked to block the street were on fire as well, and Joy could see bodies laying beside them in the flickering firelight. More men were running towards the back of the houses, it seemed the distraction had worked.

  They managed to close to less than two-hundred meters before a shout echoed out, warning Werwolf of the flanking attack. But her team managed to open fire first. A fusillade of shots rang out, and Joy heard Fidel bellowing for everyone to press forward. They kept up the pattern of movement, managing to suppress the enemy with constant shots until they closed to the lawn just over from the blockade.

  An assault team of four RFB members ran forward to the cars, one being cut down before they could make it. The rest hurled grenades into the midst of the enemy before running back for cover. Joy took her cue, rising from the grass as the grenades detonated and charging forward. She slid into cover behind one of the burning cars, then poked her head around.

  Half a dozen Werwolf soldiers were heading their way, towards the bodies of their wounded and dead friends. They only made it halfway before they were in her maximum range. A glowing circle three meters across surrounded them, and all of them fell to the ground with shouts of pain and shock. Joy held them for three seconds before letting them go, and none moved afterwards.

  “Come on let’s move it!” Nadir shouted, barely recognizing her own voice.

  Still, people listened to her, moving forward to the porches of the houses either side of the road. There was gunfire coming from the windows upstairs, so they blasted their way in to clear it out. Joy stayed outside, firing intermittently into the windows and at enemies further up the street; all out of range of her power, unfortunately.

  Screams echoed from behind her, and she whirled just in time to see a dark mass race behind a house, leaving two people dead in its wake. Joy bit her lip til she tasted blood. Night, had to be. That was her job, and there was a dark part of her looking forward to it. Joy ran in the direction she’d seen the monster go, ordering her team to get back and readying the Hexaegis device she’d taken for this fight specifically.

  Finally, the time she'd been waiting for came. A silvery cylinder flew out from behind another house, and Joy recognized it in an instant as a flashbang. She barely got the chance to close one eye, a trick Lia taught her, before it exploded and blinded her. She squeezed the Hexaegis to activate it just in the nick of time, as something huge brushed against her. Joy simply reacted, blasting a five meter diameter around her with intense gravity.

  There wasn’t even a scream, just a sickening ‘crunch’. She shut off her power and opened her eyes, grimacing at the pool of blood around her feet. Just like her first night… Joy fought the urge to throw up as shots zipped past her head. She ran for cover, ducking behind a burnt out car and panting heavily. Fidel joined her a moment later, offering a nod as he reloaded.

  “Good work,” he grunted. “One down, one to go.”

  “Hopefully I can manage,” Nadir muttered.

  She readied herself to try.

  “Go, go, go!” Nadir yelled as the RPG her team fired blasted a Nazi truck to smoking pieces.

  She went first, hunching low until she got in range, then blasting the enemy positions with murderous gravity. It punched a wide hole for her squad to flow in through, and before Werwolf had realized it they were surrounded. That didn’t stop them from fighting to the last man, or from killing another two of her squadmates.

  Fortunately, her friends survived. Reese and Wick joined her a moment later, and she saw Jeep crouched behind another car further away. It was selfish, but Joy allowed herself a sigh of relief. She hadn’t lost anyone close to her today. That gave her the motivation to rally herself and the others, readying for another assault.

  This was it, what was hopefully the final fight. They'd found the main headquarters the Nazis had put together and they had brought everyone to bring this to an end. Every heavy weapon in their arsenal was in tow, and there was no thought given to conserving ammo.

  A dull thumping echoed behind them, and Joy knew their mortars had come into play. A couple of handheld things the Russians had brought with them, and they began wreaking havoc right away. Explosions burst among the Werwolf soldiers, killing and wounding the ones who didn’t scatter in time. The barrage kept up for three minutes before Joy yelled for everyone to charge.

  Mortar rounds still impacted until they were within fifty meters, only then cutting off so they didn’t hit friendlies. The rest of the distance was taken up in ten meter bounds, and they rapidly closed with the enemy. The Nazis fought viciously, but their lines were broken. Some turned tail to run, only to be cut down by sniper fire. Others stood and fought, but died as the Terriers and their allies reached them.

  Before long, the street was cleared. Sporadic fire still came from a few houses, but squads were already preparing to breach and clear. The largest group went to the house surrounded by wrecked vehicles, the target of this last, massive assault. The Red Banners fired two RPGs into the upper windows, then the team on the porch blasted the door open and forced their way in.

  Joy remained on the street. She knew she ought to be at the tip of the spear, like Lia would be, but that just wasn’t something she was cut out for. She’d tried, but had never been quite as effective. Instead she ordered people into defensive positions, and others to start gathering the wounded. This was where she could do her best…

  So Joy threw herself into triage, into treatment, trying to save the lives of those much braver than her; people without powers, without items that would make them invincible. She succeeded more than she failed, and that was the only thing she had going for her. Ten minutes into working, her radio crackled to life and she heard her codename.

  “Go ahead,” Nadir said, shoulders sagging.

  “We got him, we got him!” an excited Misha reported, speaking almost too quickly to understand. “Krieg’s dead!” Her eyes widened and she gasped.

  “Thank god,” she breathed, shutting her eyes.

  Tears of happiness began flowing freely, and she sobbed happily. This war was finally over…