“Are you sure?” Summer asked, “Out of all of us, Ned is the most interested in you.”

  While he hadn’t expected her to simply agree, Ashton was a bit surprised that her first reaction was concern for his safety. After everything that happened it was clear that he wouldn’t be the one who was in danger.

  “That interest harms those around me more than it harms me personally,” Ashton pointed out, “I won’t change my mind.”

  Summer gave in at those words and pulled out her phone. Once she did she paused. “No reception,” she realized.

  “That is part of why I chose this place,” Ashton explained, “I know you said not to worry about him listening in, but I wanted to see if it could prevent him. So far he has only been able to spy on us using tools and technology that were already being used for similar functions.”

  “What now?” Summer asked. She had been so confident before, if a bit ashamed. Now she seemed confused.

  What now? Of course he was expected to have the answers. As soon as he took down Maskz he was going to resign as team leader, take the serum, and wash his hands of the world of superhumans.

  “Now we think about how we should use this meeting to our advantage,” Ashton replied, “This is an excellent opportunity to explore the enemy’s home base. I won’t avoid bringing the power suppression serum just because he might expect me to have it.”

  After he spoke he could feel Summer’s gaze lock onto him and sharpen. It was as if she could see right through him. As if she could see his insecurities and desperation to just be done with it all.

  “Taking action is a good thing, and bringing the serum as a backup isn’t bad either,” Summer began, “but I don’t think that should be our main goal. We don’t know how he will retaliate if we take his power and we would be surrounded by his people. We could try to focus on information. Maybe trick him into revealing something?”

  Not a bad plan. Actually, Summer had handled the majority of everything that had happened well despite the fact that she may have caused the mess in the first place. Perhaps she was more cut out to be a leader than he was.

  Information, huh? What kind of information could they get out of him? The tracking team had already looked into any possible connections with the Golden Club, but everything had come up clean. The man who owned it was far too old to be Ned, and his only son was paralysed due to some kind of genetic disease.

  “He might be willing to spill hints to me, but I doubt he will talk with the bodyguards present,” Ashton considered, “They have to be there for your plan to work.”

  There was a pause of silence as they both thought about what to do. Arranging yet another meeting with Maskz without the guards was out of the question. This strange play of camaraderie had already gone more than far enough. Whatever they did it would have to be at this meeting.

  “What if we use his own tricks against him?” Summer suggested, “We could bug his private room in the Golden Club, or maybe even stick one onto his belongings.”

  “We would need more time for me to get a hold of something like that,” Ashton considered.

  Their discussion flowed smoothly from there. It was so much easier to plan with someone else bouncing ideas back rather than unilaterally relying on him to guide. He still couldn’t bring himself to explain how he would be getting those bugs since it directly related to their new team member Summer didn’t know about yet.

  If everything went according to plan, Maskz would be the one stalling for them. This would give Ashton plenty of time to convince RepliKtion to assist them and even acquire an original of each kind of bug if he needed to. Ashton couldn’t see Derrick turning down the chance to get back at MysteriousMaskz, even if all it did was test the waters of how far they could go.

  Summer’s role in this might be the hardest, since she had to keep everything they had discussed a secret from everyone including Kayla. She was full of determination, though, and Ashton intended to match that determination with results. He needed to be sure to have a backup supplier in place in case the discussion with Derrick fell through.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Before they departed, Summer took out the lunches she had prepared and they spent some time discussing far more comforting topics while they ate. Ashton had needed this, and by the looks of things Summer had too. Ashton had never been overly picky with his food but he was confident that today’s lunch was especially delicious.

  Then it was over. The food was consumed and the containers packed away back into the cooler Summer had brought. It was time to take Summer home and get to work. The relaxed chatter continued on the drive back, completely different from the drive there. Seeing Summer smile so freely eased Ashton’s guilt. Maybe he had gone about things the wrong way, but Summer had needed this vacation. It was also a relief to know that he hadn’t been the one to put her in danger by sending her away.

  Back at the apartment complex in Gale Research Ashton saw an unfamiliar vehicle in the parking lot. One glance at the swinging door of the apartment Derrick had chosen confirmed his suspicions. Derrick had arrived. Ashton approached the open doorway to see Derrick coming back out after dropping off his latest load of boxes. No matter how in shape he was, all of those trips up and down stairs were clearly wearing him out.

  “Need some help?” Ashton offered.

  “I won’t say no,” Derrick accepted, “Even if you can just help me get everything upstairs, that would be great.”

  The two steadily began to chip away at the nest of boxes Derrick had managed to pack into the back of his pickup truck. From what Ashton had seen, it looked like he had already brought over the furniture in a previous trip. As if noticing Ashton’s gaze, Derrick talked about how his morning had gone.

  He woke up early and took apart his bed and the remainder of his closet, making sure to take those first in case he couldn’t finish everything in a day. The twins had come out to help him when they heard him struggling to drag his bedframe up the stairs, and had even helped him bring over the rest of his furniture.

  “So, how was your date?” Derrick asked as he added the large box he had been carrying to the pile in his kitchen.

  “It went well,” Ashton replied, feeling a relaxed smile form on his lips. It had gone very well. Not only had they relaxed they had made progress and a plan.

  “That’s good,” Derrick said, “You have no idea how surprised I was when I heard you were dating. I saw her briefly when I went to Heroix to officially quit. They wouldn’t let me go further than the lobby so I ended up making a bit of a scene. I guess that is how she ended up watching me.”

  “You met Summer?” Ashton asked in surprise. Summer hadn’t mentioned anything about that in her story.

  “No, I just saw her,” Derrick corrected, “I was in full costume at the time, and I wasn’t even sure it was her until she answered the phone. You should have seen the smile on her face when she said your name.”

  Summer had still been at Heroix when he called her the first time? No wonder she had been unable to say much of anything. “Is it that surprising that I am dating?” Ashton questioned.

  “No, mostly that you really are dating Golden Reign,” Derrick clarified, “You didn’t actually sell your love story to that drama did you?”

  “I haven’t even watched it,” Ashton admitted, “but I doubt our story is anything like a drama. We’re both a bit awkward and think about work too much. Even this date began with a more serious topic.”

  “That’s what happens when you date coworkers,” Derrick pointed out, “Anything I can do to help out with whatever plot you two cooked up?”

  Ashton hadn’t expected Derrick to bring it up first, but since he had that made things easier. “Yes, actually. Do you happen to have bugging equipment ready to copy?” he asked.

  That question took Derrick off guard a bit. “I do,” he admitted, “Why? Just so you know, I won’t hand it over unless you let me be directly involved.”

  “That’s fine,” Ashton assured, “It might not even work, but I intend to plant them somewhere. We are currently dealing with a situation where our enemy has all of our information yet we have none on him.”

  Derrick blinked and then smiled. “MysteriousMaskz, huh?” he realized, “I’m all for bugging him. How many do you need? I can only make the listening kind, though. No cameras.”

  “As many as you can connect that I can discretely carry on my person,” Ashton answered.

  “Connecting is going to be harder than carrying,” Derrick mused, “How much time do I have? I may need to do some testing.”

  “I’m not sure of the exact date, but we should have a few days at least,” Ashton explained.

  Derrick nodded. “Before I go through with this, I should warn you that what I am copying isn’t strictly legal. I never purchased the original copy and it probably isn’t even for sale.”

  Ashton frowned slightly. “If it isn’t strictly legal then it isn’t strictly illegal either,” he decided after a few moments, “If this works, the powers that be should let any questionable methods like this slide.”