“Didn’t expect you to bring a boy scout along,” Tattletale said as Dean and Amy entered the building. “Long time no see Gallant, or should I say Dean?”

  “Gallant,” he replied, putting iron in his voice.

  “Mm, all business then,” she said, sounding mildly disappointed. “So you figured something out, obviously. Makes sense you’d bring Gallant in on it, what with his power and all.”

  “I might have figured something out,” Amy replied. “But not something to stop him.”

  “Come on,” Tattletale groaned. “What then? Something to protect us?” Amy nodded slowly.

  “So,” Amy said, unease shooting through her aura. “Heartbreaker’s power works by manipulating emotions, but what if you can’t feel emotion?”

  “Go on,” she said, grinning.

  “I can’t do brains,” Amy said quickly. “But...I think I could make a gland in someone’s body to suppress emotion with some chemical secretion. Sort of like mood stabilizers, but way more effective. You should be able to resist him like that, but we can test it here.” Amy gestured to Dean.

  “Wait, what?” Dean started. “We didn’t talk about this.”

  “I thought you knew.” She frowned and shot him a look, confusion and irritation shooting through her aura. “We need to know if this works, and obviously we can’t test it with Heartbreaker.”

  “You’re...not wrong,” he said. “Still, my power works differently.”

  “It’s emotional manipulation,” she replied with a shrug. “It probably taps into the amygdala like yours, maybe more strongly. Anyway, that doesn’t matter, what matters is I have a potential solution and we need to test it.”

  “Well count me the hell out,” Tattletale said, her aura flickering with unease. “Grue?”

  “Fuck no,” the black guy who’d let them in said sharply. He stared at Amy, intensely fearful of her. “Sounds like a good way to get turned into a psycho.”

  “I’d remove it after Heartbreaker’s gone, obviously,” Amy said, rolling her eyes.

  “Obviously,” Grue echoed sarcastically.

  “Fuck it, I’ll do it.”

  Dean jumped as Amy shrieked, a cape appearing in front of them. A black girl with braided hair, similar to Grue’s, who looked no older than Vista. She wore a dark bodysuit with sparing plates of armour, a scarf, and a devil mask that was offset so it didn’t cover her face. Grue was the first to recover, making a sharp motion with his hand as his aura flared an angry red.

  “Abso-fucking-lutely not Imp,” Grue snapped. “No way I’m letting that crazy bio-Tinker mess with you.”

  “I’m not a bio-Tinker,” Amy barked, shaking her head and staring at the newcomer. “And who the hell are you?”

  “Imp, could you not cause problems for like, five minutes?” Tattletale sighed and massaged a temple. “And do you have a better idea Grue? Regent’s not going back in there, and Bitch is a world away.”

  “We could get the Red Hand to help,” he replied.

  “You’d rather risk your girlfriend than your sister?” she snipped. “I’ll watch the crazy the whole time, if she’s about to do something like make Imp blonde—”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Tattletale, enough,” Dean said firmly, putting a hand on Amy’s shoulder. Her aura was awash with shame, guilt, and deep-seated fear. He knew that she wouldn’t do that, but she wasn’t convinced. “If you want to keep working together, you’re going to need to rein in your mouth.”

  “Sure thing, captain,” Tattletale replied, rolling her eyes. “Any other rules you wanna lay down? Maybe we all hold hands and talk about our feelings.”

  “Cut the bullshit,” the girl, Imp, said. “You can make me immune to Heartbreaker? Good. I want him to see me when I walk up and stick a knife in his eye.”

  “Imp—”

  “No Grue,” she cut him off. “We need someone to do this. I’m going to gut him with a smile then bring Alec his head so he can spit on it. You can’t stop me.”

  “Want to bet?” Grue growled, inky black shadows leaking from his collar and slowly flowing to the floor.

  “Grue, stop the big man act,” Tattletale said acerbically. “Unfortunately she’s right, I have a feeling the good doctor would be willing to go behind our backs for this. Like I said, I’m going to keep an eye on her, and like she said it’s only temporary.” They stared at each other for a moment, then Grue huffed and crossed his arms.

  “You do anything to her, I’ll kill you,” he said gravely, staring down Amy. Dean could see it wasn’t a bluff.

  “Sure,” Amy replied, a little shakily. “Besides the emotional suppressant, right?”

  “How’s this thing going to work?” Imp asked, taking a step forward and sticking out her hand.

  “You want me to explain or her?” Tattletale said.

  “I’m going to make a little gland near the base of your neck,” Amy said, ignoring Tattletale. She didn’t take Imp’s hand, eyeing Grue cautiously. “It’s going to secrete a chemical called… Okay, not important, what is important is it should blunt your emotional response pretty significantly. Non-addictive, limited side effects, and it should be out of your system a few days after I take it out.” She wrung her hands, staring at the floor. “I’d rather not do this at all...but it’s the only thing I can think of without working on your brain, and I can’t.”

  “Okay,” Imp said with a shrug. She glanced at Tattletale.

  “All true,” Tattletale confirmed. “Nausea, sexual dysfunction, and suppressed appetite is what you’ll be looking at while it’s in there. I’m assuming she’ll check for allergies.”

  “Obviously,” Amy muttered. “So...that’s it.”

  “I should warn you for testing,” Dean interjected. “My power feels like a punch when it hits. I’ll do something relatively harmless, like sadness, just in case it doesn’t work.”

  “Well...shit.” Imp drew up her shoulders. “Let’s do it.”

  “Okay,” Amy said apprehensively.

  She was afraid, not of Tattletale, or Grue who looked like he wanted to kill her. Dean could see all too clearly how much she was afraid of herself, of what her power could really do when she let it off the leash. Dean was scared too, to be fair. After all, he didn’t know what it would be like if she really let herself go.

  But she took Imp’s hand and got to her invisible work. As she did, the apprehension in her aura dimmed. It never quite vanished, but clearly Amy was more confident now that she was actually doing what she’d offered. Imp was scared, for her part, but her murderous determination eclipsed that easily.

  That made Dean more than a little uneasy. He wasn’t comfortable with killing, even when it was against monsters like the Nine. Was this Imp really the right person to give muted emotions to? Any sort of apprehension for spilling blood would be depressed alongside the intense feelings that came afterwards. Even if Amy took it out, would it make a difference?

  He realized in a flash, that didn’t matter anymore. Imp’s emotional spectra dimmed, not quite vanishing but to his eye it was practically unreadable. Her expression hadn’t changed, but the fire in her eyes had dulled to a barely flickering coal. Amy didn’t look at that, her gaze was fixed on the girl’s hand. Abruptly, she took a deep breath and pulled her hand away.

  “Okay,” Amy said, licking her lips. “Okay that...that should do it.”

  “Imp, how do you feel?” Tattletale asked.

  “Fine,” Imp replied flatly. “Don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling.”

  “Well theoretically, you aren’t,” Amy said, wincing as Grue shot her a look. “Dean, do you…”

  “I can tell you something’s working,” Dean said, looking between the four of them. “You know I can see emotions in an aura? Well Imp’s is practically unreadable now, it’s too dull.” A timid smile grew on Amy’s face. “Imp, do you want me to use my power?”

  “Sure,” she said with a shrug.

  “Go easy,” Grue growled.

  “Of course,” Dean said with a nod, charging up a little ball of deep blue sadness in his hand.

  Usually, if he was hitting someone in combat, he’d put enough juice into it to reduce them to a weeping ball on the sidewalk. Not here though. Instead, if it affected her at all, Imp would be reduced to tears but still be functional enough to calm down before his power wore off. Moreover, it wouldn’t hit her too hard when it impacted. He let the ball fly, aiming and striking her thigh. Imp grunted and stumbled back, but quickly recovered.

  “Could have warned me,” Imp muttered. Her aura flickered briefly with notes of sadness, but they were quickly dulled to imperceptibility.

  “It works,” Dean sighed, relaxing fractionally. “At least against me.” Amy’s aura brightened.

  “Well shit,” Tattletale said. “You’re not wrong. Theoretically, it should work on Heartbreaker, even if Imp’s power doesn’t.”

  “Imp,” Grue said cautiously, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine big bro,” Imp said, shrugging him off. “So I can go kill him now?”

  “We have to find him first,” Tattletale said. “Leave that to us. Gallant, Pandora, appreciate the assist. Hopefully we don’t have to call you again.”

  “Hope so,” Amy muttered, taking a step back so she was behind Dean. “Just tell me when she needs it out okay? I didn’t put an expiry on it. Oh, Imp, you’re going to want to eat before you do anything; making something new isn’t free.”

  “Sure,” Imp said.

  “Come on,” Dean said, putting a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  He led them out of the building and down the street, heading towards the bus stop. Amy was silent, but her aura was flickering with emotion. She was satisfied with her work, but felt guilty for doing it. Because she’d emotionally numbed a kid, because she’d used her powers to help villains? Dean couldn’t say, and he doubted she would tell him.

  Whatever she was feeling, he just hoped it wouldn’t drag her back to where she’d been last summer.

  “Gallant, you’re late,” Brandish said as he entered the front door.

  “Sorry ma’am,” Dean replied, shutting the door behind him and following her into the living room where the rest of the team was gathered. “What’s going on? You said an emergency?”

  “We’ve just been informed by the Protectorate that Heartbreaker has entered Brockton Bay,” she replied gravely. “Have you encountered anything?”

  “Not yet,” he said. Probably wasn’t a good idea to mention his encounter with the Undersiders yesterday… “What’s the plan?”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “That’s what we’re working out now,” Lady Photon said. “A general truce with the Undersiders and Terriers has been called. Of course we won’t be actively cooperating with either group, but we won’t be interdicting them either. Right now, we need to establish safety protocols to ensure none of us become casualties in this fight.”

  “Okay, sounds good.”

  He took a seat on the loveseat next to Flashbang, who offered a nod. Glory Girl, Laserdream, and Lady Photon were seated on the larger couch, while Brandish sat in her armchair. Amy was there too, Dean realized in a flash, standing behind the couch, almost hidden by her aunt and cousin. Her eyes flicked towards him and her aura flickered with guilt and unease. He offered her a smile and she stiffened and looked away. Well he’d tried…

  As the briefing began, Dean found himself distracted. His gaze kept finding its way to Amy. She clearly didn’t want to be here, but for whatever reason had still come along. Was it because she felt obligated because she’d made herself involved, or did she just want to be close to Vicky whenever she could?

  That was a shitty thought, but she was standing near her sister. At the same time, Dean didn’t see the attraction in her aura. Amy was focused on what was going on here, not her crush. That was certainly a change, no doubt a positive one. Was it just because she had a girlfriend, could it really be that simple? Had she just wanted someone and Vicky happened to be available? But then, how had he misread her for so long? Maybe he was just—

  “Gallant, did you hear me?” Brandish asked sharply, interrupting his train of thought.

  “Sorry ma’am, could you repeat that?” Dean said with a wince, getting a click of Brandish’s tongue.

  “She wants you and me to work with the Protectorate to scout for Heartbreaker,” Glory Girl said, sounding unhappy with the idea. “Seeing as we should be resistant to his power.”

  “I see,” he said, frowning.

  “It only makes sense,” Lady Photon said. “You two have experience working with the Wards and each other.”

  “I think it’s a bad idea,” Amy said, instantly drawing every eye in the room and cringing back at the attention. “Um, I just mean, look the Undersiders are already out there hunting them down. We shouldn’t throw ourselves in the line of fire if they’re willing to do it for us.”

  “You want us to rely on the Undersiders?” Glory Girl said incredulously. “Why the hell would we do that?”

  “I don’t want us to rely on them,” she countered. “I just mean, look I...I don’t want you to get hurt. Any of you. We should just hold back until Heartbreaker gets flushed out, that’s all, not that we shouldn’t fight.”

  “I’m surprised to hear this coming from you,” Brandish said, aura flickering with disapproval. Amy’s shoulder’s sagged as guilt and regret weighed on her. “But no, that isn’t something we can do. Our duty is to protect the people of this city from villains, and we certainly won’t depend on villains to do our job for us.”

  “Well said,” Lady Photon said with a nod. She offered Amy a small smile. “I understand where you’re coming from Amy, but risk is part of a hero’s life. Don’t worry, we know we can rely on you if we do get hurt.” If anything, that only made Amy’s regret at bringing it up stronger.

  “So we’ll be working with the Protectorate,” Dean said, trying to draw some attention away from Amy. She really didn’t need that right now. “When do we start?”

  It turned out, they started that evening.

  “Good to have you watching my back again, Gallant,” Clockblocker said as they headed down the street on patrol.

  “Especially with a crazy Master and his kids on the loose?” Dean said with a hint of sarcasm, keeping his eyes scanning for anyone with an aura he couldn’t read.

  “No, I mean it,” he said, shaking his head. “Things have been crazy lately. Trying to keep a handle on the team while they’re throwing new people in and the South End is exploding...it’s hell.”

  “Better than last summer?”

  “Not by much,” Clockblocker grumbled. “I just want to go a month without some disaster or another threatening the city.”

  “Well hopefully we’ll get this taken care of quickly,” Dean said. “We’ve got most of the gangs on board with helping, and I’m pretty sure the Undersiders are going to beat us to the punch.”

  “I hope not,” he said. “We could use a win.”

  “We’ll get one,” Dean reassured his old friend, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Even if the Undersiders take him down, I think that’s a win for us.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Clockblocker sighed. “Anyway, how’re things going with the new team? Must be weird being unmasked.”

  “It was at first,” Dean said, happy for the change of topic. He didn’t want to risk letting slip what he knew. “But not anymore. Honestly, not a lot of people pick me out of a crowd most days. Maybe it’s just because I’m the newest face, or maybe respect for my reputation. Whatever the case...it’s not that bad.”

  “And are you and Glory Girl…?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “No, that’s not why I joined Clockblocker. We broke up, that’s that, we’re teammates and nothing more.”

  “Shame,” Clockblocker said with a shrug. “Maybe I’ve got a chance then.”

  “Maybe,” Dean scoffed, then narrowed his eyes as a strange aura flickered in his gaze. “Hey, don’t look, but I might have something,” he said, lowering his voice.

  “Oh?” Clockblocker said quietly. “What is it?”

  “Erratic aura,” he said, watching the person from the corner of his eye. One of several sharing the sidewalk with them. “Like static on a TV. Medium height, black hair, can’t tell their gender from here.”

  “Should we move in?” Clockblocker asked nervously.

  “No,” he said. “Too public. We should call it in though. You stay here for a minute to report, I’ll follow them and make sure we don’t lose them.”

  “Alone?”

  “I won’t go far,” Dean promised. “If they go more than a few blocks, I’ll back off and—”

  “Hey, you’re Gallant right?” someone said, making him turn. A young, red-head with her hair in dreadlocks approached them. Her face was set in a stony glower and her aura was flickering with irritation. Irritation? “Big fan. You got a minute?”

  “Hey we’re not—”

  “Always have time for a fan,” Dean said, curiosity getting the better of him. He could still see the static aura of his suspect just up the street.

  “Great great,” she said, lowering her voice. “Then take off. We have this in hand.”

  “Who exactly do you think you are?” Clockblocker demanded as it clicked.

  “You’re with the Undersiders,” Dean said, voice low. “You know who we spotted then?”

  “I don’t,” she said with a shrug. “But I know if you bumble around here you’re going to screw this up and piss off Tattletale.”

  “Tattletale’s here?” Clockblocker said, stiffening as his aura flickered with unease. He only got a shrug in response.

  “And if we don’t back off?” Dean asked.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said flatly. “But hey, if you want to make our job harder by getting heroes mind-controlled, be my guest.” He grit his teeth.

  “We’ll find another spot,” he growled. ‘Thanks for the tip.”

  “We’re seriously not going after the possible Heartbreaker out there?” Clockblocker demanded as the girl left and they turned around. “Seriously Gallant?”

  “I’m trusting that there’s a reason we’re being told to back off,” Dean countered. “The Undersiders have no reason to screw with us here. They might be tracking them back to their base, or trying to free a captive. If we get in the way, it might screw things up.”

  “You’ve changed,” he said, shaking his head.

  “If I have, I’ve become more pragmatic,” Dean said flatly. “If the Undersiders have a plan, let them do it if it means we don’t become casualties. I’m more concerned about Heartbreaker going down than who does it.”

  “We should still be the ones doing it,” Clockblocker said bitterly.

  “No argument there,” he agreed easily. “But for now, we should leave well enough alone.” Dennis was pissed, but accepted the logic without further complaint.

  Dean glanced over his shoulder as they left, wondering if that was the right choice after all.

  “Thanks again for coming,” Amy said as they stepped off the bus and headed down towards the Docks. “I really didn’t want to meet them alone.”

  “No problem,” Dean reassured her. “Frankly, I feel the same way.”

  Amy snorted, but her guilt eased a little bit as they headed towards the building Tattletale had indicated. A squat, ugly house made of weathered bricks with an overgrown lawn. It didn’t look like much, but that was probably the point.

  According to Amy, a call had come in just an hour ago from Tattletale. She only said that she needed Amy’s power, with no indication of whether they’d gotten their target or if someone had just been seriously hurt. Either way, Amy had called him right away and he’d joined her shortly after.

  He was still uneasy about this clandestine alliance, but so far no heroes had been hurt by Heartbreaker, or even encountered him. Dean had been doing daily patrols, as had Victoria and another cape brought in from out of town who was also resistant. So far, he’d only run into the Undersiders once, in the encounter with the red-head. That was probably a good thing though, he certainly didn’t need his newly established reputation tarnished by associating with villains.

  They approached the door and Amy raised her hand, a brief flicker of trepidation making her hesitate before she finally knocked. She shifted in place uncomfortably, looking up and down the street, She didn’t want to be here. Neither did Dean, but he was willing to back her up when she needed it. There wasn’t another person to do that in Amy’s life, and even if he still held a bit of ill feelings for what she’d done, he was willing to be that person.

  “Took your time,” Tattletale said as she answered the door, ushering them inside. She was wearing her mask and costume, but her eyes were bloodshot and Dean could read the irritation and frustration in her aura born of a sleepless night. “Did Squealer come back from the dead and hijack the bus or something?”

  “I can’t just drop everything for a bunch of gangsters,” Amy retorted, shooting Tattletale a glare. “So what do you need me for?”

  “In here,” she said, leading them down the hall and into a bedroom. Imp was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and Grue was watching over her. He turned his helmeted head and glowered at them, then went straight back to watching his sister.

  “Is she okay?” Dean asked, still unable to read her aura.

  “She’s fine,” Tattletale replied, pointing at Imp. “Job’s done, so get that thing out of her head.”

  “Job’s done...she got him?” Amy asked hesitantly.

  “She killed him,” Grue said, his voice hard. “But she hasn’t eaten in two days, barely talks, isn’t herself. You fix her right now.”

  “Hey I warned you about side effects,” she said, aura lighting up with irritation, but no small amount of guilt. She headed over towards the bed. “I’ll take it out, someone go get her some food and— What?” She stopped as Tattletale intercepted her.

  “Did you plan this?” Tattletale demanded. “Did you know she wouldn’t want to eat, wouldn’t want to do anything but go after Heartbreaker?”

  “That’s not what I made her do,” Amy said, almost whined. “All it did was suppress her emotions, that’s it. She should have been able to make herself eat, even if she didn’t want to.” Tattletale glared down at her, aura flickering like a storm with disbelief, anger, and reluctant acceptance.

  “Fix her,” she said tersely, stepping aside. “Grue, go get something for Imp to eat.”

  “But what about—”

  “I’ll watch her,” Tattletale cut him off, patting the pistol on her hip. “Don’t worry, I won’t let Pandora hurt her.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” Amy muttered, finally approaching Imp and taking her hand. She drew a sharp breath. “Fuck, she really needs to eat. She didn’t have much mass to begin with… Okay, starting.”

  Tattletale watched Amy, and Dean watched Tattletale in turn, his eyes glued to her gun. If she went for it, Dean would stop her. Whatever she thought, he was sure Amy wasn’t going to do anything to Imp. She had no reason to, even if the girl was a villain she’d helped them. Besides, there’d been no indication of any ulterior motive.

  Surely Tattletale was just being paranoid, but the longer Dean watched the more he really wondered. Tattletale claimed to be psychic, and while that obviously wasn’t her power she had great insight into people. Had she seen some clue Dean had missed? It was possible, he certainly wasn’t infallible. Sweat pricked at his back as the minutes dragged by, and finally Amy sighed and let go of Imp’s hand.

  “All done,” Amy said, wiping her brow. “I broke it down into nutrients her body can use. Not enough to make up for two days of not eating, but it’s something. I patched up the injuries as best I could, but there’s not much I can do with how malnourished she is. If you want I could speed up her metabolism so she processes whatever food you give her faster.” She looked between them, brow creasing with worry. “What?”

  “That’s it?” Tattletale asked. “You didn’t fix her.”

  “What?” She furrowed her brow. “I told you, there’s not enough for me to fix everything, but the gland is gone. She’ll be back to normal in a couple days.”

  “And her power?”

  “What about it?”

  “You haven’t noticed we can see her?” Tattletale said pointedly. “She’s barely used it the past couple days, that’s not normal. You shorted it out, so fix it.”

  “I didn’t do anything to her power,” Amy said firmly, and Dean could see she at least believed that was true. “Look anyway, you took care of Heartbreaker, I took care of making sure it could happen. And I...wait, why are you pissed?” Confusion coloured both their auras then a loud groan echoed behind them and made them whirl. Dean did as well to find—

  “Oh my god I’m so fucking hungry,” Imp groaned, leaning against the wall. “What the fuck did you do to me?” He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Right, Imp.

  “Imp, are you okay?” Tattletale asked quickly, glaring at Amy as she stepped over to the girl. “How do you feel?”

  “Like I could eat a horse and a half,” she said grouchily. Her aura was still dim, but Dean could see flickers of colour returning.

  “Grue’s getting you food,” Amy said. “And you’re better, by the way.”

  “I don’t feel better,” Imp groused, clutching her stomach as her brother returned. “Bro please tell me—”

  “Are you okay?” Grue demanded, aura full of suspicion. “What’d she do to you?”

  “She’s fixed,” Tattletale said, shooting Amy a look. She was suspicious too, but there was nothing concrete. Amy, for her part, just look irritated everyone was doubting her work.

  “I told you that already,” Amy snapped, quickly returning to Dean’s side. Imp snatched a food bar from Grue and scarfed it down, then grabbed another. “Imp, keep eating. You’ll feel better in a couple of days at most. Until then you should rest.”

  “Okay,” Imp mumbled through a mouthful of meal bar. “Thanks for—”

  “Imp, swallow.” She glared at her brother, chewing with her mouth open before swallowing exaggeratedly.

  “Thanks for making me immune to that fucker,” Imp continued. “Should have seen the look on his face. Priceless.”

  “Sure,” Amy said, deeply uncomfortable. “Anyway, we’re done here right?”

  “We are,” Tattletale said, nodding slowly. “I’ll get in touch if we need anything else.”

  “If you want anything else, you’re going to have to pay,” she said acerbically.

  “Noted.” Tattletale made a shooing motion with her hand and, sharing a look, Amy and Dean headed out onto the streets again.

  “Well that was...something,” Dean said after a few minutes of silent walking. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Amy said, though her aura told another story.

  “You sure?” he prodded gently. “Tattletale was kind of a bitch back there.”

  “She’s always a bitch,” she snorted, then sighed. “I just...I’m running over what I remember of Imp’s body and brain. Tattletale may be a bitch but...she’s not usually wrong about things. If she suspected something…” She trailed off, intense fear and guilt colouring her aura.

  “It means she suspected something, not that she was right,” Dean said. “Powers aren’t infallible Amy, not mine, not hers.”

  “Not mine either,” Amy mumbled. “What if I screwed something up?”

  “If something’s really wrong, Tattletale can call you,” he said. “But I watched you the whole time Amy, you didn’t get distracted, you didn’t waver once you started. You’ve changed.”

  “Yeah?” She stared at the pavement, frowning.

  “In a good way, Amy,” Dean continued. “I won’t deny, I had my doubts too, but so far you’ve proven all of them wrong and...and frankly, I’m happy for you. You’re not the same girl I knew a year ago, you’ve outgrown her.” Her frown faded, then grew into a smile. Her cheeks coloured, as did her aura, with embarrassment.

  “You’re just saying that,” Amy said.

  “I mean every word,” he said. “Promise.”

  “Yeah?” Her smile grew. “Thanks Dean. I...I think you’ve gotten better too. Thanks for having my back.”

  “Glad I could.”

  Dean found, to his pleasant surprise, he really meant that.