“Well there we go,” Esther said as she returned from the stage, smiling at Amy, swaddled in her graduation gown. “Now we don’t have to go to school anymore.” Amy returned the smile and wrapped her girlfriend in a quick hug.

  “Not planning on going to university?” Amy asked sarcastically. She certainly wasn’t.

  “Nah, not yet at least,” she replied, shaking her head. “Haven’t decided what I’m gonna do yet, but I want to do something...constructive, you know? Something to make this city better.”

  “Good luck,” Amy said, lowering her voice. “I can’t even do that.”

  “Bull,” Esther said, elbowing her. “You’ve saved more people than I’ll probably ever meet. Hell, you’re part of why I want to do this.”

  “Oh.” Amy blushed, her smile growing. “Um, thanks.”

  “Amy.” She flinched and twisted her neck at her name, wincing when she saw her Mom and Dad fast approaching. She pulled away from Esther, her smile faltering. “Congratulations, we’re very proud.”

  “Seriously, good work hon,” Dad added. “It’s great that you managed to graduate, especially with how hard this last year’s been.” He stepped forward and wrapped Amy in a bear hug. In a flash she saw his brain, the neural pathways she’d fixed so he could live a normal life.

  “Thanks Dad,” Amy said hoarsely, her eyes pricking with tears. Should have been something she’d done years ago...but at least she had at all. All it cost her was…

  Nothing. Yes she’d fucked up her relationship with Victoria, irreparably so. But at the same time, her sister was alive, well, and in her right mind again. Dad wasn’t depressed to the point of vegetation anymore, and Amy… Amy was doing good, quite frankly. It was hard to deny how much better she felt, compared to the same time last year. Admittedly her life had been falling apart, but now it had been sewn back together.

  “Is something wrong Ames?” Esther asked as she pulled away from her dad, wiping her eyes.

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” Amy replied, sniffling and smiling. “Just...happy to be here.” Happy she’d made it.

  “Would you like to go out to celebrate?” Mom asked. “It’s a little short notice, but I’m sure I could make us a reservation at The Alton.”

  “Whoa, The Alton?” Esther said, eyes widening as she stared at Amy.

  “It’s fine Mom,” Amy said quickly, drying her eyes. “I um, actually...could me and Esther make dinner? Maybe you could come over to my place, just...yeah.”

  She felt weird, inviting her parents to her home, but if she was honest with herself...she’d actually begun to enjoy spending time with her family. With her blackest secrets exposed to the light of day, it seemed their power had begun to wither. She was a freak, but she was still family. Sucked that all this had to happen to make it so, but she could finally see the brighter side of things.

  “That’d be wonderful,” Dad said with a wide grin. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to try your cooking. Have you been keeping up with those classes?”

  “Um, not besides Home Ec, sorry,” Amy said with a wince. “But I should still be able to make something edible with Esther’s help.”

  “Oh stop,” Esther said, batting her arm. “Need I remind you I’ve only cooked for us once?”

  “And it was the best meal I’ve ever had,” Amy said, stretching up and giving her girlfriend a peck on the cheek. “So yeah, maybe tomorrow night? Prom is on Friday, so we’ll be busy then.”

  “Tomorrow would be perfect,” Mom said with a nod. “Will six be alright?”

  “Yeah, that should work,” she said, already thinking of what she’d make. “Okay, we’re going to change.”

  “Do you need a ride home?” Dad asked.

  “Sure Mr. Dallon,” Esther said, taking Amy’s hand. “See you out front.”

  She dragged Amy along to the change room, and Amy couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off her face.

  “How do I look?” Esther asked for the hundredth time that evening. She worried at her skirt as Amy pulled the roast from the over, setting it beside the stove where two pots were simmering.

  “Beautiful, amazing, hot,” Amy said, pulling her oven mitts off and stirring the gravy. “Table?”

  “Set,” Esther replied, coming up and putting her hand against the small of Amy’s back. “You’re nervous.”

  “So are you,” she retorted, a little more sharply than she meant.

  “Wow, rude,” Esther said sarcastically, pinching Amy’s butt and making her jump slightly. “Yeah, of course I’m nervous, we’re having dinner with your parents. I wanna make a good impression, you know?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Amy said, shaking her head and turning on Esther. “Seriously, they already like you. Just be your usual self and things will go great.”

  “My usual self is a little…”

  “Hey.” Amy pecked Esther lips. “Your usual self is sweet, witty, and funny. It’s going to be fine.” She was telling herself that as much as her girlfriend.

  “Alright,” Esther said, smiling. “But if it goes bad, I’m blaming you.” It was a joke, but Amy felt her stomach roil.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, hiding her trepidation. “Can you deal with the gravy and mashed potatoes? I need to use the bathroom.”

  “Sure hon,” Esther replied, pecking her cheek before clearing the way.

  She just needed a minute, a minute to settle down. Esther hadn’t meant anything by it, it had just been a joke. Still, the comment had got to her and she didn’t know why. Amy sat on the toilet, taking slow, deep breaths. Tonight was going to be fine. It was just the first time she’d had her parents over to her place, now graduated from school and properly an adult by society’s standards. She needed to prove she could handle things.

  But what if she couldn’t? What if she, like Lia, started going dangerously wrong without direction? Just because it hadn’t happened yet didn’t mean it couldn’t. As it was, Amy had been more exploratory with her power use. Not dangerously so, not yet, but she found modifying someone’s biology to fix their problem for them was easier than just fixing it outright.

  Where would that lead? What dire road could she walk alone? Amy wasn’t eager to find out, but without someone keeping her—

  “Ames?” Esther’s voice echoed through the door, making her flinch. “Your parents are downstairs, I buzzed them in.”

  “Shit,” Amy swore under her breath, grabbing a few squares of toilet paper and dabbing at her eyes. Damp, but her eyeliner hadn’t run at least. “Be right there,” she called, standing and lifting the seat before sitting back down. She actually did have to go, after all.

  “You okay?” Esther asked when she finally left the bathroom. “Sorry if I upset you, you know I don’t think things are going to go wrong, right?” Thoughtful as always...

  “It’s fine,” Amy replied. It was now anyway, she had herself under control.

  And it was going to stay that way.

  “I’ll admit it,” Dad said as he pushed away his empty plate, patting his belly. “You’ve outdone me. Congratulations Amy, I pass the title of ‘Dallon Head Chef’ to you.” He picked up a small, paper hat folded from his napkin and put it on Amy’s head.

  “Thanks,” Amy said, snorting and rolling her eyes. “Guess that means I have to do dinner from now on?”

  “Well your old man’s back is starting to hurt…”

  “Give me your hand and I’ll fix you right up,” she said with a sarcastic grin.

  “Well what do you know, I feel great,” he said suddenly, sitting up straight. “I’ll get started on dishes, alright hon?”

  “Uh, sure,” Amy said with a nod, her stomach twisting as he rose and collected the plates. What had she said?

  “It really was excellent,” Mom said, offering a smile that seemed a little apologetic. “I won’t deny I’m still not entirely comfortable with you living on your own but, well, I have to admit you can take care of yourself.”

  “And Pandora’s been working overtime too,” Esther added, wrapping an arm around Amy’s shoulders. “She’s really something else. Your daughter’s a hell of a person, Mrs. Dallon, and a hell of a hero.”

  “Indeed she is,” Mom said with a note of pride. “Have you decided what you’ll be doing now, Amy?”

  “Just...going to keep working at the hospital, and with the PRT,” Amy replied with a shrug. “Full time now, since I’ve graduated. I don’t really need to go to university, and don’t really want to so there’s no point wasting money. For now...I’ll just keep being a hero.”

  “I can’t fault you for that,” she said. “But you should consider higher education in the future. Not now, but sometime. It can be a valuable resource to expand your horizons, and that may be more important than you realize.”

  “Alright,” Amy said tentatively. “But neither of us are planning to go.”

  “Oh?”

  “Um, yeah, I’m taking a gap year,” Esther said, shooting Amy a look. Well she’d been in the crosshairs long enough… “Not sure what I’m doing yet, might volunteer at a soup kitchen.” A pit of worry grew in Amy’s stomach.

  “Like the ones that have been getting bombed?” Mom asked the question Amy was too afraid to.

  “It’s been months since anything like that happened,” Esther said with a frown. “Look I don’t know yet, and I’m going to be careful. But I want to help people, like Amy does, like you do.” She and Mom locked eyes for a moment, then Mom gave a curt nod.

  “That’s very admirable,” she said, taking a small business card from her pocket and passing it to Esther. “If you’re ever in trouble, you can call us. We always have team members on standby.”

  “Um, thanks Mrs. Dallon,” Esther said, pocketing the card with a shy grin. “Really hope I don’t need it.”

  “As do I,” Mom said.

  “So are you guys getting a new member?” Amy asked, wanting to talk about anything but her nebulous future.

  “Indeed we are,” she said, leaning back in her seat and sighing. “The paperwork is nearly done. It’s been a fight with the PRT to get the rights to his name back. Still, nearly there, since we won’t be using the same image at all.”

  “A new member?” Esther asked, cocking her head. “Who’s it going to be?”

  “Do you remember Gallant, formerly of the Brockton Bay Wards?”

  “Oh, yeah the knight guy.”

  “He’ll be joining as a probationary member soon enough.” Mom checked her watch. “In fact, we’ll be making the announcement tomorrow afternoon that we’ll have a new member joining in the near future. I’m quite looking forward to it.”

  “Think any more people will join?” Esther asked innocently.

  “Unlikely,” Mom scoffed. “Most parahumans don’t appreciate our policy on secret identities.” She looked at Amy when she said it.

  “Oh right, you don’t have them,” she said, nodding slowly and grimacing. “Yeah, I can understand why. I for one like being able to go on dates without people recognizing me.”

  “That isn’t an issue you encounter?” Mom asked, obviously not to Esther.

  “Perks of my old costume,” Amy said with a shrug. “Robes, hood, scarf, people didn’t really know what I looked like. Sure some people knew Amy Dallon, but not well enough to pick me out unless they’re seriously looking for me; and it’s pretty easy to deny.” The look on Carol’s face said everything. “Look, I know how you feel about this stuff Mom but…” She sighed and slumped in her seat.

  “I never wanted to be a hero, never wanted powers,” Amy said hesitantly. “I definitely didn’t want my face spread all over a bunch of posters or my identity made public. But I didn’t get a choice. Now I have one and...and I’m making it for me. Well, not just for me, but for my sanity. Maybe it’s selfish, but is it really selfish if it means I can keep healing for as long as I need to?”

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  It was the one thing Lia had told her that really made sense: pacing herself. Without a life away from the pressure, the powers, the mask, she’d burn out and leave everyone missing her abilities. This way, while she still didn’t like having the responsibility to be the living cure-all her powers made her, she at least didn’t have to be all the time.

  “I believe you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for,” Mom replied after a moment. “But...I understand having responsibility you’re not ready for thrust on you. I suppose you have to find your own way to manage, I just hope it’s right.”

  “So do I,” Amy said quietly.

  “I think you’re doing alright,” Esther said gently, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “Still my favourite hero.”

  “That’s sweet,” Dad said as he came back into the room, giving Mom a quick kiss on her head. “I heard about half that from the other room Amy, and it sounds like you’ve put some thought into this. I may be with your mom on how heroes should operate, but I’m just proud you’re still going out and helping people. That’s the most important thing to me.”

  “Thanks,” Amy said, throat tightening. “Umm, sorry we didn’t make anything for dessert. Can we make some coffee or tea?”

  “We should probably be going,” Mom replied, checking her watch. “Thank you both for the delicious dinner. Esther, it was lovely to get to know you better. Amy...I appreciate the conversation.”

  “It was good getting to know you too,” Esther said when words failed Amy. “Have a safe trip home.”

  Mom and Dad said their goodbyes, and Amy managed to choke out one of her own before they left. Once they were gone, she went into the kitchen to do dishes, then stopped when she remembered her Dad already had. Esther came in and wrapped her arms around from behind her, giving Amy a squeeze.

  “Well that was something,” she said, sounding a little tired. “Your mom’s kinda intense.”

  “Yeah,” Amy sighed, leaning back against her girlfriend. “Well...it wasn’t a complete disaster.”

  “Pfft,” Esther scoffed, planting a kiss on Amy’s head. “If you want a disaster dinner, we’ll go over to my mom’s. That’ll be...something.”

  “It’s a date,” Amy replied with a dry chuckle.

  Hopefully one that would go better than this.

  “So where exactly are we heading again?” Pandora asked as she adjusted her mask, glancing around the bus. A few people were glancing her way, but there weren’t many passengers at all.

  “C.J. Henry Community Center,” Esther replied, not looking up from her phone. Glancing over her shoulder, Pandora could see she was reading some kind of poster. “There’s a community clinic running today for anyone that can’t afford or can’t get medical care elsewhere. I figured...well these aren’t the kinds of people you’d normally see right? But they still need help.”

  “Yeah.” She resisted the urge to point out that everyone needed her help. It wasn’t useful. “Well I guess it’s good people are doing stuff like this. Does it say what services they’re offering?”

  “General diagnosis, wound treatment, and medicine,” Esther said. “They aren’t specific, but I doubt they’re well equipped or anything.”

  “Good thing you heard about this then,” Pandora said. “Doesn’t sound like they’re offering much.”

  “You’re really okay with this?” she asked cautiously. “I didn’t bring it up to pressure you or anything, I was just looking for places I could volunteer.”

  “It’s fine,” Pandora said, shrugging. “It’s probably a good thing, appearing outside hospitals I mean. Show that the heroes aren’t just sticking with the institutions, they’re with the people.”

  “Huh, never thought of it like that,” Esther said, looking up from her phone.

  “It’s...something my Aunt Jess used to say.” God she missed her...now more than ever. Aunt Jess would probably have some kind of advice she could use right now. “Anyway, did it say who’s hosting this?”

  “Just that it’s a community run program free for anyone at all,” Esther replied. “Specifically notes it’s friendly to minorities and gay people too, for what it’s worth.”

  “So not a gang front then.” That was at least one bright spot. She felt her shoulders relax fractionally, then tense as the bus pulled to a stop and Esther rose.

  “We’re here,” Esther said. She took Pandora’s hand and dragged her to the door, then off the bus and into the warm summer day. “God it’s nice out. We should go for a walk after this. If you’re up for it of course, I know you might be tired after I dragged you out here.”

  “Maybe,” Pandora offered, giving Esther’s hand a squeeze as they headed towards the community center.

  It was beautiful out, quite frankly. The sun was beaming down, a steady breeze keep it from being oppressively hot, and the usual humidity wasn’t even that bad. Her light nurse scrubs were basically perfect for the weather, but a glance down at her arms told her she ought to put on some sunscreen at least; she was mostly freckles as it was, any more and he skin wouldn’t even be visible. Maybe they could pick some up before they went for a walk…

  But that was for later, for now Pandora had work to do. A guy at the front desk directed them to the gym, not that they really needed much direction. There was a line halfway down the hall, and they got more than one dirty look as they cut towards the front. No one stopped them though, probably realizing Pandora was a cape and not wanting whatever trouble that might bring. Of course none of them knew yet that she was here to help, but soon…

  “Hey,” a skinny black guy with braided hair said, stopping them at the door and brandishing a clipboard. Pandora noticed, apprehensively, he was armed with a pistol on his hip. “Cape or not, you gotta wait in line like everyone else. Go on, move back.”

  “I’m Pandora,” she explained, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m a healer. I figured you guys aren’t well equipped for a lot of stuff, so you can let me handle some things.”

  “Yeah?” He looked between them, narrowing his eyes. “Come with me, we’ll talk to the boss.”

  Pandora suppressed a sigh as he led them into the gym. So it wasn’t just some charity, not if these guys were armed. What gang would be running something like this then? If it was the Undersiders, they’d have spread the word that it was their pet project; Tattletale liked ingratiating herself with civilians so the PRT would have a harder time dealing with her. Obviously it wasn’t Werwolf, since they wouldn’t work with a black guy, to say nothing of treating minorities.

  Terriers? That made a little bit of sense. Armed, focused on the people Werwolf would have gone after the hardest, and operating in former Nazi territory. Well if they were funding this they weren’t saying anything, which didn’t make much sense if it was supposed to be making up for what they’d done here.

  “Hold up,” their escort said, bringing them to a halt a few feet from a tent. There were chairs set up all around, a waiting area for the actual clinic inside the tent then. “I’ll go make sure she ain’t busy. Wait here, don’t cause trouble.”

  “She’s a hero,” Esther said as he turned his back and headed into the tent. She looked over at Pandora and grimaced. “Hardasses huh?”

  “Yeah,” Pandora agreed as the black guy returned. A moment later he was followed by a Native Indian girl with long, black hair tied back in a tight braid. She wore a medical mask over her face, and had a stormy look in her eyes as she approached. She too, Pandora noticed, was armed. “You’re in charge?”

  “Who’s asking?” she said coldly, crossing her arms.

  “You don’t recognize her?” Esther asked, frowning.

  “It’s fine Esther,” Pandora said flatly. “I’m Pandora, a hero. I can heal people actually, so I thought I’d stop by when I heard about this.”

  “Good thing you guys advertised,” Esther added with a nod. “Good that you’re doing this too. Lotta people need help around here.”

  “Here and everywhere,” the woman replied. “So you want to help? Sounds good to me. We only have stuff here for a little more than first aid. If you could treat anyone with something more serious, or if they’re sick, that’d be great.”

  “Sure,” Pandora said, gesturing to the guy who’d escorted them in. “This guy can help with that?”

  “Wick?”

  “Yeah come on,” the guy, Wick, sighed and lead her away while Esther stayed behind.

  “So you’re doing triage?” Pandora asked as he stopped at the front of the room, examining his clipboard.

  “Exactly,” he replied. “Not as good with all the medical shit, but I got an eye for what’s hurting people. You really a hero? I ain’t heard of you before.”

  “Been to a hospital lately?”

  “No,” he admitted, a little bashfully. “That’s what you do though? Healing people?”

  “When I’m allowed,” Pandora said coldly.

  “Look I’m just checking who needs help most.” He frowned and studied his clipboard. “This way.” He led her over to a guy huddled by the wall, away from the seating area. “Yo man, you good?”

  “Fuck off,” he groaned. “Already said you can’t do nothin’ except gimme painkillers.”

  “Withdrawal,” Wick said quietly, then raised his voice. “Well we got a hero that showed up now. Gonna let her introduce herself.”

  “I’m Pandora,” she said, brushing past Wick and kneeling in front of the man. “Can I take your hand? I should be able to fix whatever’s wrong.”

  “Man whatever,” he groaned, holding out his hand, limp with a few spotty sores.

  She grimaced, glad her power would protect her against...whatever. Not that she was planning to start shooting up and catch something, but it was nice to know. Pandora grabbed his fingers and focused on fixing the problems instead of worrying about catching them.

  It was ugly. Whatever substance he’d been using, something atypical going by the products left in his bloodstream, it had ravaged his body. He’d lost a lot of weight, judging by how his ribs stuck out. His liver was in awful shape, as were his kidneys. One had failed recently, the other was getting close. And that wasn’t getting started on the crap in his blood and the withdrawal symptoms.

  Pandora got started getting his organs in good working order. She didn’t need much in the way of biomass for this guy to fix his issues, fortunately for him. Once she’d fixed the damage to his innards, she moved onto the mixture of toxins and infections swimming in his blood. His immune system wasn’t doing much of anything, so she boosted it into overdrive and programmed cells to make specific antibodies right away. He’d feel like absolute dogshit for ten minutes, then he’d be fine, if a little tired. She finished by mending the sores, at least on the surface, that spotted his skin.

  “Okay,” Pandora said, taking her hand back and nodding. “Stay here for at least thirty minutes, someone will get you water. You’ll need to eat too, once you’re better, and you are better; but don’t go back to whatever you were taking, because there’s no guarantee I can fix you again.” He mumbled something unintelligible as she rose and turned to Wick. “Can you get him water, maybe something to eat while I’m healing the next person?”

  “Sure, sure,” Wick replied, gesturing for her to follow. “We got meal bars and gatorade and shit.”

  “That’s good,” she said with a nod, following him back to the seating area. She frowned and paused when she saw Esther and the boss of the place talking, a look of fear on her girlfriend’s face. She strode quickly over and put and arm around Esther’s back, glaring at the woman. “Something wrong?”

  “Just talking about you,” the woman said evenly. “It’s my clinic, I need to make sure everyone working here is above board.” And for that she had to harass Pandora’s girlfriend? Wait, what?

  “I’m a PRT certified healer,” Pandora said incredulously. “I have working relationships with every hospital in the city. Who the fuck are you?”

  “A nurse,” she replied simply. “One who appreciates having a healer on deck to help.” She grit her teeth as it clicked into place.

  “You’re one of Amaranth’s people,” Pandora muttered. “Leave us alone, will you?”

  “You came here,” the nurse said dryly. “Look we appreciate the help, but any trouble gets put on my head, so I’m careful about who we have around.” Oh sure.

  “Interesting perspective from a criminal,” she said quietly.

  “Heal people or don’t,” the gangster-nurse snapped, turning on her heel. “I have work to do.”

  “Are you really okay?” Pandora asked Esther when they were left alone. “We can go if she was messing with you.”

  “It’s okay,” Esther reassured her, taking a deep breath and offering a shaky smile. “She just...I think she might know who you are.” Pandora frowned and looked towards the tent.

  “Whatever,” she said, dismissing it. “Unless she makes it a problem, or comes after us, it’s fine...I guess. They are doing something good here.”

  “Yeah,” Esther said, nodding and giving Pandora a side hug. “How’s healing going?”

  “I have to get back to it,” Pandora sighed.

  “Go on then,” she said, kissing Pandora’s cheek. “Show these guys what a real hero can do.”

  With her heart fluttering and a small smile worming onto her face, Pandora got to work.

  Fortunately, there weren’t anymore run-ins with gangsters as Amy continued her work throughout the summer. Indeed, things seemed to actually get better for the first time in recent memory. Werwolf’s campaign of terrorism had been short-lived, ending in more that twenty convictions after only a few weeks; half of them brought in by the Terriers. It was strange to think about, but with Lia gone they seemed to have really changed…

  Not that they weren’t still criminals, but Amy could at least understand now why the PRT had been leaving them be. Still, that at least reduced the number of horrific casualties she had to deal with on a regular basis. In fact, the hospitals seemed to be emptier than they ever had been; at least for as long as she could remember working there.

  They were still busy, with few to no beds free at any given time, and ER wait times measured in hours. But at least they weren’t dealing with injuries that could have come off the battlefields in Southeast Asia. That didn’t make Esther any more eager to come down and join her unfortunately, but nowadays she was usually over at Amy’s place making dinner for when her shift was over.

  Her life had settled into a routine once again, now almost dominated by healing without the need to go to school. But allowing herself to take off the mask gave her an out. Esther never brought up work unless Amy did first, she never asked for favours even if she cut herself by accident. Amy healed her when it happened, of course, but the fact that she reached for a bandaid instead of her superpowered girlfriend made Amy’s heart flutter.

  Summer passed too quick, like a blissful memory, and soon the chill of fall was setting in. For once, Amy found herself heading home to an empty apartment. Esther was off on a trip to Europe with her parents, and had even offered to bring Amy along. She’d declined of course, she couldn’t leave her work behind for that long, not that she had a passport anyway… But it wouldn’t be long before Esther was back. Until then, Amy could deal with a relatively boring nightly routine.

  She got off the bus at her usual stop and started heading towards her apartment, looking forward to getting off her sore feet and vegetating to some dumb drama on TV. At least, that was the plan…

  “Keep walking,” a low, feminine voice spoke quietly and firmly from behind her. “Don’t react, don’t reach for a weapon, don’t go into your apartment. I’m not going to hurt you if you obey, I just want to talk.”

  The orders dumped ice water down her spine, and Amy grit her teeth hard enough they creaked. Her heart began pounding as she walked past her building, further down the street. It was quiet today, few people around, so she wasn’t going to get a random good Samaritan saving her bacon. But if she just followed this person to wherever, she was almost definitely screwed. She focused her attention on her hands, stuffing them in her pockets. There was some bacteria there, maybe she could—

  “Don’t use your powers either,” the voice said, prodding her back with something that felt like a gun. “Next alley we’re going to turn down, then you’re going to knock on the third door. Three knocks, pause, then three more, got it?” Amy’s mouth dried and she nodded slowly. What the fuck was this?

  She got her answer shortly after they reached the alley. It was deserted, so once more no hope of rescue. When the reached the door, Amy knocked as she’d been told to, then waited and tried to force down her panic. These people knew her, knew about her powers, so who—

  “Get inside,” a tall, black man in biker leathers said as he pulled the door open. A prod at Amy’s back made her head in, then the door was slammed shut behind her. “You know Lise, I’m a little surprised you pulled this off.”

  “Oh please, like it was that hard,” the blonde girl who’d been ordering her around said, stepping past Amy and twirling a round stick in her hands. There was a familiar, smug smile on her face, twisted by scars at the corners of her mouth. “Hey Panacea, long time no see.”

  “Tattletale.” A chill went down Amy’s spine. “I don’t go by that name anymore.”

  “Maybe not,” Tattletale said with a shrug. “But if the shoe fits… Anyway, we don’t have time for chit-chat today, maybe some other time. We have a problem, and we could use someone that understands powers.”

  “I’m not working with villains,” she said icily. “Go buy a mercenary team, leave me out—”

  “Heartbreaker’s in town,” Tattletale cut her off, making her squeak with fright. Heartbreaker? What was he doing in Brockton Bay?! “He’s decided to bring his prodigal son home, something we’re obviously not ready to let him do. Regent got hurt fighting them last night, we need you to fix him. But not just that, we need you to help beat him.”

  “I’m not—”

  “You’re not a fighter, I know,” she said, holding up a hand. “I’m not asking you to fight, I’m asking you to help us figure out a way to beat Heartbreaker without any of us dying or becoming his love-slaves; I’m sure that’s something you don’t want happening either.”

  No it certainly wasn’t. Amy chewed her lip thoughtfully. She didn’t like any of the Undersiders, in fact she hated more than half of them. But Heartbreaker...he was a monster akin to the Nine, something so evil that even Tattletale didn’t seem quite so bad by comparison. Worse, she was right, Amy absolutely didn’t want anyone being Mastered.

  She knew all to well what the consequences of that were.

  “Fine,” Amy spat. “Truce, for now.”

  Maybe it wouldn’t be the right choice, but if she had the chance to stop someone like Heartbreaker, she couldn’t afford to choose otherwise.