======== SAMPLE 1 ======== way down a flight of stairs toward the hotel corridor or just where she sat, her head against his chest, she leaned into him. The tension rose to its peak, and the kiss was too intense for her to resist. They were lost in each other, and as much as I hated to admit it, I found myself wanting too. It was a little better on another level. "I’m sorry," Rachel said. "And I want you to know that I love you." I swallowed hard. "I love you too." "You- you want me to-" "Of course, of course." I couldn’t stop them now. I hadn’t expected them to wait a minute. I glanced at Brian. He didn’t look happy, but that was probably deserved, given what he’d just said. Was it a way to delay me? "You too," Rachel said, and it wasn’t the smile she’d intended. "We’re friends, aren’t we? I’m surprised you’re here." "I’m just going on the offensive. This feels like more of the same." "It’s the only plan I have." "I thought so. I’d argue there’s two separate identities involved. One is realistic, reasonable, attainable. The other is more appealing, appealing on a level I don’t agree with, but I think anyone would agree you have it down pat. Which is worse? Which is less appealing?" "I don’t think so," he answered, glancing down at his hands. "And I’d argue it’s up to you to decide that, to decide that’s pretty appealing and whether or not you’re happy with the choice." "Okay," he said. "I’m going to go, then," she said, leaning against the wall beside the door, one hand folded on the ground. "Can’t make it any clearer than that." I nodded, feeling oddly small for the absence of context. I didn’t feel like I was missing something. I felt more like I’d just left a conversation. "Maybe," I said. "I could brush it off and get back to the argument later." "Okay." "You and I have talked this stuff out. You know how our brain works, right?" "You have," I said. "Which is just a brain that makes bad choices. Choices that result in us wrecking ourselves, killing ourselves, suffering chronic pain, madness, loneliness and death." "Yeah," I said. "If that’s the case, you know how frustrating it is for people, who are struggling to make choices that aren’t heroic? The same people who are supposed to be fighting the genie when the genie is out of the bottle, only their power isn’t. They are helpless, and those they can turn to are maimed or killed. And we watch as thousands suffer for the choices we collectively as a species make." "Don’t say that!" I said. "Maybe." "I thought differently," I said. "But that kind of thinking doesn’t jibe." Brian glanced at me, then looked to the door, to the hotel hallway and back to Rachel and I. "You really think I don’t know?" "I think-" "But you don’t approve of it!" "It’s… different." "You’re going to say anything to me about this." "No." "Then what is it?" "The genie is out of the bottle," he said. "Maybe we’ll have to let ourselves believe that we’re past the point of no return." I glanced at Alec and Rachel. "I think you don’t have to say that, and maybe you won’t, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to push me closer to that point." "What if it’s not? You think you need to keep us in line so we can get the necessary tools to fight Scion?" "I have no such qualms. I could fight the genie if it came down to it." "You won’t be able to stop or reverse the inevitable," I said. "You’re underestimating my ability to get up and fight Scion," Brian said, with a note of solemnity. " ======== SAMPLE 2 ======== way it can do it. In addition to the problems the other powers would have with us being able to see things through their eyes, there could be an issue where it became hard to keep track of who was who. As a group, we could help clear the way for ambulances." He shook his head. "It’s not the same as being able to see, exactly. But I doubt everyone would be interested in risking their eyesight." "I was thinking of going blind," I said. "I’d love an excuse to not see." "I’d hate myself if I didn’t," Tattletale said. "Just the opposite, frankly." "You get the idea. Noelle and I have said as much," Grue replied. I glanced at Skitter, the Undersiders, and the Travelers that were all looking at him. Tattletale wasn’t so sure he was doing it seriously. "I’ll be all the more appreciative if you could at least look past the obvious issues for our lack-villain." "We don’t have much of a choice," Tattletale said, "When it comes to blind spots." "I’ve talked to them," I said, "They work without looking bad in front of the others." "A common problem for people with powers," Tattletale said. "We like to think we’re above guile and subterfuge because of our superhuman gifts. When it comes to the real world, though, we are pretty thin when it comes to that. You can’t fool us if we’re paying attention. I’m wondering if it’s something that has to come naturally to you guys." "I don’t have to lie to you," Imp said, "But I don’t want to trick you into something I won’t do." "Then that’s another reason I won’t do anything you suggest," Grue retorted. "If my plan is for nothing to happen tonight, then I’ll have to figure out another way," he turned his eyes to the door. "Rachel and I will go see if there’s anything we can use to frame you guys." "You wouldn’t be leaving us if you didn’t think we’d get what we wanted," Tattletale said. Grue wasn’t one for a rousing cheer. "And why wouldn’t we? If we can get you used to a plan, you don’t need to bother me with another problem. We’ll be more secure." "It’s still stupid," I murmured. "Your plan is already stupid," Tattletale said. "You want to see Skitter?" I looked over the room. Rachel was leaning against the side of the bed, her arm folded around Grue’s shoulders. I didn’t spot any drool or anything of the sort. "She’s sleeping," I said. "You guys don’t have to do this." "I see," Tattletale said. She turned her head, then glanced down at Defiant. "She’s doing well?" I asked. "Very well," Tattletale said. "What do you think?" "It’s stupid, but-" "It’s better than what we had," Tattletale said. "There’s no point if we get ourselves killed. I’d rather die trying than have another member of our group get killed." "That wasn’t what I expected," I said. "We’ll make it." "And then you and I are the ones in a bind," I said. "You don’t have a gun and you can’t talk to us like you did with the Travelers. Or Rachel and I can’t talk to you like we did with the Travelers. Maybe we’ll have to do this again, in a roundabout way. It’s stupid, stupid," and that was enough to put Tattletale off her feet. She stared at me, "I’m not saying I agree with everything you’ve done. Maybe I disagree, but I still want to help. Maybe I don’t agree, maybe I don’t agree with every part of it. But I’m all for helping people out, even if I personally have a problem with what you’ve done." I looked at Dragon, "You’ve given us the timeline. ======== SAMPLE 3 ======== way the two groups differed from one another. The Endbringer, he had two powers. One was like the wind that blew through the city, a strong gust that could knock an entire building over. The other was like the explosion in his original body. It was a powerful enough effect that someone had fallen onto solid ground and remained there, not dissolving into ash, and that someone had been me. One explosion, and I was still here. I wasn’t sure, but I’d felt more presence from them than I’d ever experienced with my bugs. For someone who hadn’t eaten or drank in two days, I felt a great deal more secure. I wasn’t so relaxed, however, when I looked at the crowd. People were bumping into one another, or getting shoved, because they weren’t sure what to do. Others were running, looking for somewhere to run, but I wasn’t sure which group they belonged to. "Where’s Grue?" I asked. "On the roof," Brian said. I was starting to wonder how long it would be before one of us got themselves knocked out and couldn’t reach a shelter. The wind was more of an issue than I’d thought. "Go on," he urged me. "What is going on?" Rachel asked. "We aren’t the only ones noticing this moment." "It’s the other way around," Lisa said. "Some of us aren’t seeing much. But there’s a lot of us, here, and we have eyes on the situation. What’s going on?" "You’ve got a problem that isn’t about you," I said. "We have a lot of problems, but we’re coming up with an answer." "What is an answer?" Tecton asked. "Right," I said. "We have a team. They know how to fight. It’s just how big and how bad the fight is going to be, and how fast they can react. The Undersiders fight the Travelers, and Alexandria is coming. We go up against the members of the Nine, and we go up against Cauldron, and everything goes to hell. "How long until the fight starts?" I asked. "It’s not a question of getting started, but when?" "Right away," I said. "We have to stop her." "We won’t be able to stop her the way we went up against Parian and Imp," Tecton said. "And even if we made the right choice…" "Probably not," I answered. "Right," he didn’t finish the thought. His tone was grave. "But she’s too dangerous. She’s one of the few threats that doesn’t die, and we can’t afford to have her win at any cost." "I’m not saying we can’t or shouldn’t try," I said. "But you should think about it before you decide, and you shouldn’t get distracted, because no matter how fast we may be able to stop her, that same danger will surface at some point in the future." "And what about… Alexandria?" Grace murmured. I shook my head. "What about her?" I asked. Tecton paused. "She just left Brockton Bay," I said. "We can’t assume she’s dead." "Could we?" "I suppose we could," I said. "But can we?" Tecton asked. "Have to ask Gully." "I think we can. She’s one of the smartest people we have to work with, and her power might just be able to turn the tables on the rest of our enemies," I said. "Can we?" Tecton asked. "If she’s sitting next to Noelle… if she’s hanging with the likes of Noelle or Newter, she could be working on honing her power and developing her ability on the same page. I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but she would get hurt if she did. It’s just an assumption." "Then leave her be," I suggested. "If it gets to the point where she’s causing serious damage and we can’t afford to lose her, we might as well step up to the plate," he said. "Tecton?" "I would like to keep her. She’s one of the ======== SAMPLE 4 ======== way, but the same principle would apply. We need the information while we can. The remaining capes shifted positions, the ones that could shoot forming some kind of defensive wall around themselves. Others hunkered down. Glaistig Uaine touched ground, and a forcefield surrounded them. We moved into formation. I wasn’t sure what I wasn’t sure about this group. They were in the clear. "Take us to them," I said. Glaistig Uaine shook her head. "They can’t hear," I said. "The Travelers have some special technology that affects the tinker technology that keeps them off the radar. Theirs works as well," she said. "The technology doesn’t matter right now, but maybe it’s something you’ll need to keep track of." "I’ll deal with it," I said. "I’ll use my flight to get away, and help out if anyone else needs it. I’ll hold position." "You can’t do that, Weaver. It would alert them, it would involve them using up a lot of available flight power to avoid our attack. It’s not worth it, and I can’t make any demands to them in the here and now, when we have nothing to offer." "Wards," I said. "The Simurgh isn’t sitting this one well." "Doesn’t matter. We need to get us out of here. A way to get home." "If we get trapped here, this situation worsens even worse. We’re trapped. I don’t even think we can escape, but the Simurgh will be able to shape us into something that works." I nodded. I wasn’t sure what I was willing to do, and I doubted I could have thought straight if it came down to it. For now, this was the safest route before we got there. "What should we do?" I asked. "Run?" Revel suggested. "Go to the hospital?" "No," I said. "We need to get away from the Simurgh, or we’ll regret this." "I know," he said. "We can’t stay here." I shook my head a little. "If we get ourselves killed or get ourselves sick, we’ll regret it. We’ll regret not having done something sooner." "You have to do something," Tecton said. "I have a bit of a power, but nothing more." "Go ahead. I’ll use my flight pack." The forcefield flickered. No sooner had Tecton done so than a man entered the hallway. His voice was gruff. "I’m here because a member of my group is missing." "A member of the Undersiders?" I asked. "A civilian member of the Travelers," Tecton replied. "They’re staying in one of the nearby buildings." "I don’t want to talk to him. He’s a little crazy." "Look," Tattletale said, turning to me, "Tecton. Listen. If you need a hand, use it. But don’t strain yourself because of-" Tecton only raised one of his own fingers, and it was already moving as he opened his mouth to protest, "No." "I’ll try," I said. "Go." There was only chaos as we headed towards our destination. Cuff was a force of nature. My bugs were still settling into a solid shape, the ones that had drifted away as the Simurgh had been knocked back into the street. It took long seconds before I reached the group we’d come in. I landed between two pairs of younger heroes, and got a closer look at the other group. "Shit on me," Imp said, as the woman with glowing red skin flew up to sit on the edge of a rooftop. Her fingers were digging into scars here and there. "Why the bling?" Tecton asked. "You need bling, Taylor," Tattletale said, her voice gentle, as if she were soothing a patient. She’d put on a modest sheen, but it didn’t seem as noticeable as the others. "How stupid are you, to-" "That’s a good question," Tattletale said, "And a good place to start." "You know how much ======== SAMPLE 5 ======== way it didn’t seem to be hurting. I saw his eyes. He saw the world in some distorted way, and his eyes hadn’t gone away. The damage wasn’t as extensive as Alexandria had been. Still, the injury seemed to impact his sense of self worth, and by extension, his ability to act. He turned away from me, making his way down to the ground floor. He was a shadow for long enough that I didn’t really have time to gauge his movements. When I saw he wasn’t attacking, I sent bugs toward him to see what they could pick up. There was nothing. I withdrew them once more, but there wasn’t much else I could do. He tried to make a beeline for us, and my bugs told me that he wasn’t alone. More wounds, now, and more of the same. Not the easiest way to fight a living being. He turned to follow me as I approached the roof. When I looked back, to see if anyone had noticed the others, I saw that they weren’t looking. Not that it mattered. "What’s going on?" Noelle asked. "You know about the little game we did?" Grue and I both said, as I saw where the dogs were looking. "Who?" she asked. "Bitch. You know who it was?" I asked. I was pretty sure. She didn’t seem to want to move or talk fast enough to prevent me from checking. "What are your feelings about the whole relationship thing? I thought you were the best version of you ever." "I’m not a good version of you." "Then how does it relate?" I couldn’t quite put my finger on just how that was possible. I reached up, took Bitch’s hand and made her turn to me, offering one curt rejection. "I don’t think you have feelings," she said. "I think you’re angry, and it’s more than that. And it’s been bothering me for some time. I don’t know which it is, because it seems so obvious a connection." Fuck me. Was I supposed to be angry with her, or was I supposed to be angry with me? I could feel my blood running cold. "Fuck you," Tattletale added. "Just saying, was it emotional or physical to have her around while I was feeling-?" "Emotional." "So you could have told me, like, one time you were angry with your dad." "I couldn’t have been more straight with you," Rachel said. "I mean, I know you were, but I’m not sure I want to hear the truth. So maybe in a way I feel like you should tell me now. So I can trust you." "So I’m going to lie, and say it wasn’t that traumatic. You know, being around that dad still scars me. Don’t pretend like it’s something you’re not aware of." "I know," I said. I drew on my bugs as I whispered, "I’m sorry." I’m sorry? She shook her head. Her voice was barely audible, which I took to mean that she was about to say something more. She was going to apologize for something that hadn’t happened yet? She would only say sorry when she had something to hide? To say she was sorry? It sounded wrong in how I was feeling right now. "I don’t think it was just me," I conceded. "It was." I looked to the others, who seemed a little more aware of what was going on. Rachel paced a little, and I saw Ballistic raising his hand in a show of acknowledgement. "You didn’t say anything, did you?" Noelle asked. "Just- just to be totally honest." "Do you regret it?" "I didn’t, no. I didn’t need you to make up for what I didn’t do." "You were a shitty dad, and he missed out." "It’s okay." There was an onrushing cloud of dust in the air. She stopped and turned around. She was still there, her back to the wall. "Okay," she said. "You’re not his fucking dad. There’s no bastard wards on him, like there were at the hospital." "You were there." ======== SAMPLE 6 ======== way to the other side of the room. I looked and saw what she was pointing at. "Not quite the scope that you’re looking for." "I understand. If that’s an option, fine." "I’ll be needing a ride back. I’ll need a cab driver. You’ll know the directions back here from this location." A taxi arrived as she disappeared from my mind. I’d assumed she had a car. I made a mental note to check Carrot Top’s place before heading elsewhere. My destination was the cafeteria, a short distance down from our meeting place. The building had housed the Boardwalk, and had since been torn down and rebuilt. The plan was for the rebuilt parts to take up most of the building, with the cafeteria replacing the boarded up windows and doors. The entire structure, rather than be a shell of its former self after the earthquakes, was already in the process of being repurposed as offices, stores, restaurants, hotels and homes. That the building hadn’t collapsed into disrepair was a testament to the people who’d been willing to invest time and money. The building was currently being converted from an office building to a two- to three-story housing development. Building code required that certain elevators, vents, drains and doorways be cleared and that the structures weren’t prone to collapse. The project had gone ahead without incident, but some of the more vulnerable structures, like the second floor bathroom, were predestined to fail just as quickly as the other buildings would boast the kind of success. I had one of the dogs, Daisy, that I’d given to the Wards two weeks ago. I’d planned to keep it until I brought Rose back from the airport, since I didn’t want her to be without a companion at the end of her long and desirable leash. That left Roxy and Julius, who had stayed with me instead of going home with Daisy. Julius and Roxy had been the only dogs I’d been able to keep handy, even if I did include Canary and the stray dogs she’d received to keep around. Even with the dogs, I’d felt pretty inept when it came to keeping the Wards company. Even so, the amount of time I’d invested in them had been a pretty substantial investment. Being able to keep people company wasn’t the greatest asset in the world, but it meant I was more aware of their cues than I’d been for weeks. I was more likely to get the right response from them if I could talk to them. It was a small amount, considering people didn’t necessarily react the same way I did when I spoke to them. Still, being able to talk over them made the work of keeping track of them easier. I could keep an eye out for cues, and if anyone didn’t react the same way I did when I spoke, it was easier to recognize it before I lost track of them. There was one exception. I took a deep breath. "I’ve been meaning to say thank you." "You know," she said, turning to me, "I would never have opened my mouth to say it if I didn’t think you were going to." "I know," I said. I saw the look on her face. She was tense, and the expression that had been there before was gone. I couldn’t shake the notion that she’d had a reason for not coming. It just didn’t jibe with her earlier demeanor. "Thank you," I repeated myself. "Maybe," she said. "I want to go home," I said. "And so have the other dogs. I want to go home, and so have Glory Girl and Panacea and Defiant and everyone else that worked for them. I’d rather not go alone, especially not with one of the dogs." "You don’t have a place in this world?" "No. It doesn’t matter. There’s people, there’s family, there’s friends. But people look down on us when we talk to them, and there’s people who look down at us when we talk to them. We’re the butt of jokes, that much is obvious enough." "I don’t think that’s what you mean when you say that," Grue said. "It’s something I think about every day, not just when I’m on patrol," I said. "The funny thing is, I have almost no idea how to tell the difference between the two. It’ ======== SAMPLE 7 ======== way to the door. I could make out another set of footprints in the snow, a footprint. I couldn’t make another sound to announce myself to her. I reached the door, but it was too heavy for me to carry. I made a small sound with my toes as I made the door creak, like a creaked-voiced person. "I’m here." There was a pause. "We’re going to look for your sister." "Sophia Hessle." "She was here," I said. "I saw her there." "Her friend came by to visit last night. She told me she’d gotten letters, and she’d thought they were from her from a boyfriend, before. She said she wasn’t happy she didn’t get a phone call, because she’d be pissed. The fact that they came by and didn’t tell me about them, and I found her in the snow with her friend, I was the reason they didn’t give me the benefit of a doubt. It’s crazy." "You were in the hospital?" "Yeah." It was the closest I was going, and yet my patience had run out. I was going to push her back. I’d be making this way out of the car at the first opportunity. "Hey, Sophia. Let’s backtrack." "Okay." "Sophia used to be fun," I said. "She’s gotten worse in recent weeks, and she hasn’t been fun at all lately. Just… I dunno. She’s going through a phase." "The best term Ican think of for when someone’s around that their mom or their dad are a little crazy on the surface," she said. I looked at the snow that spilled over the street’s surface. It was still snowing, but it was wetter. I could feel the cold below me. "She used to be fun," I said. "She was a joke, she was smart, funny, she’d pick a fight, and… the best things she ever did were get knocked out cold in class, and she’d tell me things that she wished she could say." "The best you ever did," she said, a note of sarcasm in her voice. "Her mom. Her best friend. My dad. So yeah, they’re bad people." "And it’s not surprising that someone would get really fucked up in their teens and find themselves acting tough in some shitty, scary, fucked up circumstance. You’reacting like you just acted like us." "What’s the alternative? Being cool with it? I thought acting cool was a virtue." A flute thumped against the ice below. I thought maybe it was my father, but there was no way I could be sure. "Do you want to go back?" she asked. I shook my head. I felt like I was missing something, missing the most basic part of myself. I approached her and gave her a tight smile, knowing I probably wouldn’t win the affection of my teammates the second time around, but I couldn’t feel that affectionate anymore, not like this. "See you this afternoon." "Okay." "Don’t bring that up again, okay?" It took me a second to realize what I was doing. I looked at the flute. It had the same shape as the keys to the gate. Nothing distinctive. Just another flute. I glanced at Sophia as well. I saw Brian put his hand over my mouth, "I’ve told you before, I won’t say a word." So I won’t. I pulled away enough to touch the flute. It was just below my fingers, and I could feel it tremble under my fingers. I touched it, and felt just the tang of something oil-like on my skin. "Look, I’ll be a good guy. A friend. Can’t tell anymore." "Are you sure?" "I’ve got a lot of bad memories from being around you, and a lot of good memories. I don’t want to use that, so take it without taking it back." He gave me a skeptical look. I sighed. Then he grinned. "I’ll help you with that." "Don’t be a jerk." He walked over to the flute. I took the wooden key ======== SAMPLE 8 ======== way on. I could probably push her over the edge, hard, but she’d recover the same way. If we were lucky, her power would let her push past her limits. "Tecton," Grue called out, "Hover there! We’re over!" The forcefield grasps the ledge as it slides down. When I saw who they’d selected, I’d shifted the wings forward to the point where it jutted out. They’d selected the smaller of the two objects. It wasn’t perfect, with the holes rifting to the edge in the worst cases, but it was a close call. "Tecton," I murmured, "Hover there!" Hover here. The forcefield dissipated. I didn’t get a chance to see if they’d managed to tear it down, or if the others would have had some unforeseen advantage. The forcefield dissipated, and the hole closed. We landed in the lobby of the mall. It wasn’t very spacious, but it was big. The floor was more like cement than brick, and the surface of the floor was hard, like some rough stone had been pounded into a white powder. Even the surrounding walls and ceiling were hard. I’d moved the bugs to the point where they sat atop a large metal bench, on top of the metal bench, and then moved them to the other place, where it was easier to work with. They hadn’t found a spot where they could sit that wouldn’t give away my location, and they didn’t have an easy route up when I stood on the top of the bench. The way the wall folded, if I was honest with myself. If I’d been able to move them while the insects were inside one of those tunnels, I’d have had to climb up there. Grue, Tattletale, I and Regent were able to climb down. I could sense one group approaching from the parking lot at the back of the mall, moving closer until they were just beyond my range. Another formed a group of people around them. Not too dissimilar to our team in terms of appearance. As one formed another formation, my bugs set down further down the line. I joined another in joining others in climbing down from a nearby surface. Others joined us, and the number was increasing rapidly. My bugs weren’t able to touch pavement or anything solid. In terms of being able to get inside someone, that was better, but it still wasn’t a concern. My bugs were confined to small, narrow tubes, which meant that they were hard to control. Too much force, and they could puncture my armor or scratch my skin. That did little to ease the fear that some people seemed to have around the idea of getting in touch with a loved one. I could sense my bugs moving in closer unison. I could feel their heads beginning to turn dark, and they were picking up the mass of bugs that was hovering over their bodies. It was almost as if the air around them was sucking up the bugs that crawled on their skin, as though there was some kind of sucking activity in their heads. That was the point I found myself really wanting to go up against them, to test their powers. I could handle a lot, but… I wasn’t sure I could. Queen 18.2 "Oh god!" Tattletale’s shout nearly sounded funny. "I’ve lost my ability to control the bugs and it’s gone again! I’m sorry!" We’d come so close, I thought. The fact that we’d been so successful, it had been a factor, a contributing factor to the events of the entire incident. I’d nearly succeeded, but not without the collateral damage of collateral damage. "I thought I might have broken bones," Regent said. "The only doctor I went to was the one that’s like, two inches taller than me, and he couldn’t say anything because he used the wrong tools to make that diagnosis." "This was a part of you," I said. "It’s very possible the rest of you are the same doctors we’ve been working to save." "But-" "But you were so focused on the big picture. On the bigger picture." I didn’t listen to him. My eyes weren’t even moving when I saw the ambulance. "We’re trapped," Grue said. I felt an ache in my periphery, knowing what he was saying was surer than most ======== SAMPLE 9 ======== way I got on the platform, I was more than three times what I should have been. I was going to be fine. They’d checked my injuries and I wouldn’t feel better for a while. I could control my legs well enough that I was able to hobble around the platform without anything too embarrassing. I made my way through the crowd. I didn’t pay attention to who was running, who was talking. I glanced at one man, twenty-something, covered in blood, who was talking to someone else while holding a bloody bandage. He looked so pale, so weak. The guy moved like he was taking six or seven minutes to wash his hands, and there was blood on his fingers and hands. In the dim light of the space, I couldn’t make out the words. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. I might have asked him if he knew how hard it was to make money as a laborer. Why had Sophia gone so well with him? "Weaver," Sophia said. It took her long enough stare that I thought she was about to collapse, but she didn’t hesitate. "Sophia," I said, trying to sound reassuring. If Sophia didn’t want to fight, if there wasn’t anything for her to say, it meant she’d at least listened, and she’d listened well. Maybe it was a sign of her power, too, as Sophia struggled to find a sound to say every time someone stumbled their way. She managed to say, "Well, it’s been nice for a while." "Did you finish taking care of your sister?" I asked. "She was good to see," she said. "She was fine when she left." "I know," Sophia admitted, smiling lightly. "She was just- she was scared, like she hadn’t been touched in ages, so she was a little shell-shocked when she came here. Loved the hug, really." The smile dropped from her face. "She’s scared, too," I said. "She had a bad experience with other labs, and it’s bothering her about coming here." "She can’t talk?" Sophia asked. "If I ask her to, will that make her shy away from me?" "She won’t know the answers until it happens," I said. "There’s no buttons to press, no hoops to jump through, so she won’t really learn." "I think I’ve got the answer figured out," the man who was talking to his friend said. "She’s very reserved, but she’ll say yes, when I say yes. If I were to ask her the same question again, and you wouldn’t know the answers, would you?" "No," the other man said. "No, she’d say no," I answered, "I can get away with asking too many questions." "Really?" Sophia asked. "She knows." "I think you’re underestimating just how awkward that would be," Grue interjected. "No," I said, feeling defensive. I’d planned on doing what I could to make my feelings clear, but being around her, it was hard to put all of my thoughts into words. "It’s okay," Sophia said, "She’s very reserved, but she wouldn’t say no to me when I asked. I think you’re underestimating just how awkward it would be." "Yeah," I said. "She’d say no. You really don’t have any ground to stand on, that she can’t put your info on the internet, or your scars on the computer." I shook my head a little, then I was getting nervous and found myself hesitating. "Hey, Canary, listen-" Another nervousness took hold of me. I felt a warmth at the back of my neck, behind and to my left of where I’d been bleeding a little. I realized I was clenching my fist as I put my hand on the outside of her. I didn’t want to release it or hold it at arm’s length. My arm hurt every time it bent or folded, and my knee had yet to start to fully heal. I couldn’t shake the feeling of something heavy against my arm. "I need to tell her, like, ten times over to make her go away or do something, so it’s better for all of us if she doesn’t know my secret." " ======== SAMPLE 10 ======== way that made it back in time." "How long have you known?" "Long enough," she said. "I was looking forward to the day. I wanted to know how you’d find and resolve things." "That?" "If I’m remembering right, you went back to your territory and found us. You’re in the middle of dealing with the villains that Skitter brought." "You brought everyone." "I brought only the few I wanted. Except for Weaver, I think. I wanted more people to participate in the fights, to provide more combatants, so Coil didn’t have to make concessions to the Chosen at our expense." "The Chosen." "But I was prepared to accept that our territory might not hold. I planned for it, and I hope my plan worked out, because we’ve got more work to do." "Skitter’s power," I said. "Yes." "There’s nothing to it," I said. Nothing to be done." "I think I understand," she said. "You can’t stop Scion forever, you know your limits, and you know there’s always going to be another cape in the field. It’ll happen sooner or later, but sooner, I think, is better." "You’re not a threat?" "No." I saw Taylor, and she didn’t look like Tattletale. Like Taylor, her dark hair still burned at the edges of her face, but her features were more like Rachel than I’d seen before. She had an expression in her eye that didn’t look sympathetic, but it was one of disappointment. I’d had a lot of hopes for her. So many different looks in my last few attempts at meeting her, and all the while, I’d known this wouldn’t work out. "I don’t think I need to hear that line more than most," Tattletale said. "It’s a good point to point out what our groups are really about," I said. "I’m interested to hear it, because I think it’d help the conversation." "It’s fine," she said, sounding relieved. "I don’t think anything comes of that for me, but if you guys can relate to her perspective and I can help you guys on your situation, that’s a plus." "Except the thing you didn’t say." Bitch glanced my way. "You didn’t say anything?" I nodded. "And I’m getting an answer, and it’s not what I want." "It’s all worth it," she said. "You already know she’s right." I thought about asking for a break and exploring. I’m exhausted, I added, and my body doesn’t give me that energy. A break and then a visit. I could run. I could explore. I wasn’t sure how much of it was being used up and how much was needing a rest. But at least I could make some sense of what Tattletale had said. If nothing else, if this conversation couldn’t go any further, then there was a chance I could get some closure here. I sighed. "You already know?" she asked, as she stood from her chair. "I’ve been here for two days, now. Lots and lots of fighting, some back and forth, but not much. I wanted to see what Taylor looked like when she wore real clothes." Monarch 16.7 "I wouldn’t have thought Tattletale could look it." "She’s one of the people I’ve gone to in a matter of weeks, Victoria, and she tells me she’s excited." "I think she’s overjoyed," I said. "Oh, well," Tattletale leaned back the chair back in her lap and sighed happily. "She’s excited over nothing." "So you’re happy about nothing?" I asked, a little nervously. She turned her head just enough so she was looking at me. "She’s been looking forward to something for two days." "Oh." She pursed her lips. "What was she talking about, a year ago, when she made that deal with Echidna? The deal in the one-hundred-and-sixty-ish page contract?" "Talking ======== SAMPLE 11 ======== way," Imp said. "I can’t. My power’s fucked." "Don’t blame me." "It’s probably the same for most capes," Imp said, absently. "But don’t stress about it. We’re working towards a victory, and it has to be worth it." They settled in, and the darkness seemed to expand around them. ■ They walked, hands clasped behind their backs, through the streets of Brockton Bay, the hills around them. There were no buildings here, nor any cars. They were just stone walls that had been flattened out, and the remains of what had once been trees extended into the center of empty lots. A graveyard. They paused in front of a small memorial that was situated near a convenience store and a gas station, opposite a memorial and a gravestone. The words were carved out of the stone with a pick. August 20th, Brockton Bay, Brockton Bay, BC, 2012. It wasn’t a grave. It was a statue. Broken, but not irreparable. Even the angle indicated someone had been upset, sad, lonely, and this statue would help bring them some peace and quiet. They paused in front of the statue themselves, and walked down a street that had no doubt been flooded as the water level in the bay rose. They passed a garbage can that had once stood on the shore, and then a metal detectorist who had been out doing his duty when the metal detector failed. It was eerie, the quiet, the lack of chatter, the peacefulness around them, in the midst of a city that was rising with new buildings every two hours, rising mountains with ice and snow in the wake of the weather. Then the buildings started to get taller, and taller. Two stories, three stories, four stories. "It wasn’t supposed to be like this," she said. The words were a little dry, "I thought it was a good idea at the time, but things turned out too quickly. The heroes were called in, to check on this thing, and we got a terrible series of events." "The Slaughterhouse Nine," Grue said. "They attacked, and we escaped. The Slaughterhouse Nine are gone, but… we don’t know what happened." A shadow passed over her eye. "I’ll give you whatever you want, really. But if someone does ruin this thing, I won’t hold my breath." "Then let’s negotiate," she said. He stared at her, but didn’t respond. They reached a set of double-storeyed buildings, then stopped. "They’re here." "What?" He turned to look, but there was nobody standing in his way. "Come on," she breathed. He glanced back at her, but there was nobody in his line of sight who could see his expression. "What?" she said again. He glanced into the building directly opposite them, looked back at her, and she repeated herself. The building didn’t move. "This is it," she said. "They’re going to get a chance to make their move. We can’t afford another delay." "Then let’s go," he said. "We’ll get there on time." "They’ll wait," she said. "I’ll be here in a second." They hurried past security checkpoints and other checkpoints. "This is it," Grue said. "They’d better be fucking with us, or we’ll be a long time coming back." "They won’t," Imp said. "Then go," he said. "Go with the flow." The ground shook, another moment of tension. "They’re not giving us any fucking breaks," Imp said. "They’re coming after us like rabid dogs. We can’t back down, and they’re going to tear us apart like a goddamn rabid dog does something it likes. If it comes down to that." "Fine," he said, stepping away. "But you can’t leave." "I can walk away," she said. "Maybe, just maybe, I can see another path." "That path doesn’t involve surviving to see the bloody end." "I haven’t put any thought into it," she said. "But you’re right. I don’t see anything beyond that. As much as it pains ======== SAMPLE 12 ======== way to kill her, only she wasn’t willing. A third of our best heroes aren’t willing, frankly." "I’m willing," Tecton said. "No, a fourth isn’t. It doesn’t do any good. We’re stuck unless she comes through." "We could get her off the ground, if it meant stopping the monsters. My power would make that easier. I can throw myself between you and the monster, though. Your power would still have to work on a parallel level. Can you manage better than normal to ensure that she’s stopped at the midpoint of the alley, instead of heading for the top of the building?" "She’s faster than me. I was going for top of the building, but she’s better at making a right turn." "That’s fine. I’m going with Noelle." "No. Go." "What are your priorities?" he asked me. "I was thinking about your teammate," I said. "What are your concerns?" "One that I haven’t yet raised is safety first, with the danger of a stray bullet or even a stray bullet coming through your walls. You don’t leave any dead, do you?" "I wouldn’t," I answered her. She sighed, "Okay. It’s a lot to take in. I’ve been here a while, and everyone’s still a little different, even after I’ve left, but there’s this one place in every neighborhood that’s still the same. People have their concerns. I’d say you might be on the safe side of this. I always liked this idea, taking a safer route, being less dangerous than the others." "But it’s a dangerous way to go about it." "Don’t worry. It’ll be worth it in the end." "Okay. You don’t have to keep moving forward without me." "No need. I’ll be right back." He walked away, getting a blanket out of the inside of the car. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed an old friend. He hung up, sighed, and put it in his pocket once more. Leaving my cell phone in reach of the bugs that had already landed on me. It was five minutes before he picked it up again. "Need help." "I’ve got to visit a relative." "You’re going out?" "To Washington, so I’m staying with my uncle and aunt. I had something of a falling out with my family a few months back, so I’m staying with them in case they split up for whatever reason. But this is kinda the closest I’ve been to not being with my family in a long time. I’m kind of glad I could get help." "I’m sorry." The pain in his arm bothered me more than it should have. Six hours of sitting down, forty minutes of exercise and then that limp, limp injury, I was barely able to move. At least I could use my legs to help me stand. It left me wondering if I was actually on some dangerous medication. "I’m going shopping. I’m supposed to bring everything, I don’t know where." "I’ll bring some." I made a mental note to look after my dad. He hadn’t made it this far. "I’ll bring some. I might not need much, but you look after my mom." "Don’t worry. Your sister-in-law’s already here, she should be able to lend you a hand." I nodded and hurried back to my dad. I kept an eye out for trouble and the odd movement of debris as we made our way through the shopping mall. One group of teenagers had apparently decided to stage a sit-in at the entrance and now they were getting restless, so we stopped outside of a clothing store. "Do you want to go back to your apartment?" "I’ve never been back to my apartment. I’d prefer to stay here alone, and maybe spend a little while on the town if you want, but that’s about it." "Great. Don’t suppose you’ll give me a lift?" "No, but if it’s okay. Maybe if I can get my hands on some stuff, some fresh air… what are your plans? Need to buy something?" "I don’ ======== SAMPLE 13 ======== way to the table. I didn’t sense the person I was talking to or know how to use my power." "That doesn’t add up." "It accomplishes more than anything," he said. "Do you need me to repeat what he said?" That did it. I managed to get my eyes open again. "I’m… not… equipped… to… speak… with… others… " "No." "I can guess what that means, though. Have you told anyone? If so, how surprised were you?" "I… have told a few." "Are you sure?" "I can’t keep a secret forever. Maybe for as long as a year, maybe longer. But I can’t keep the people who were my teammates in the group behind me. I can’t be sure, can’t keep what they said a secret. But I know I was never one of a kind, and anything they said about me is always untrue." "I wasn’t, and you were always one of a kind. You’re the first person I’ve met with tattoos or clothing, when I arrived in Brockton Bay." "Thank you." "You were bullied, you weren’t even a leader in the school, you didn’t have any teammates who were as strong or as athletic as you…" "I was a group guy." "You were one of the group guys, remember? Except you weren’t one of the group guys. You were more of a walk-the-line guy, which I like. People are dumb, and I think that’s what got so many people angrier than the Endbringer attack." "That was a whole other ballgame," I said. "The sad thing is, I think I might have been more annoyed at the fact that a number of people thought I was a ‘jerk’ for leaving the group behind than the fact that I wasn’t one of the main guys. They only got carried away. And if I was one of the people that got carried away?" he paused, "My last name might have been the source of the drama." "No. That doesn’t make sense." He was quiet for a minute, glancing at me, as if thinking of something to say. "Yeah. Like Lung. Thought I’d stick with the team. I never did. Had a crush on one of the lanky, freckled cheerleaders, but I just didn’t… fit in." "Except at a certain point it kind of clicked. And that point wasn’t so nice." "It’s like the best things in the beginning, they wind up being the worst things after the fact," he said. "They form, you… what, a connection? A bond?" "Yeah." "You two hit it off. But then you break it off. Then again, that happens all the time. It’s just… that’s what happened. I don’t know. You guys kicked my ass, and I never had any expectations beyond the fact that you’d back me up in case of an emergency. Except you didn’t." "No," I said. I wasn’t sure I was comfortable saying it. I felt tears in the corners of my eyes. It’s… it’s like breaking up with a girlfriend, except worse, but we’re still together. "I was glad when I broke it off. I was glad it was a girl, because I think that’s much sexier than someone else telling me that they can’t wait to break up with me just a year from now." "But it broke you." "It broke me because I was terrified my teammates would find out about our secret or that I’d find an attractive guy and then kick me out of the group if I wasn’t good enough. I was afraid I’d be seen as unlikable, because someone would come along where I wouldn’t have the most social circle, and they’d wonder if I was still with them." I frowned. "If the other shoe dropped, would you still be with this guy?" "Probably not, no. It’s a lot easier if you can keep doing what you’re doing. But it’s a way my teammates and I have to put up with each other if we’re going to be together." "If you were to wind up going back, would it ======== SAMPLE 14 ======== way, I would have thought it was something worth fighting over. The bugs flowed onto Scion. He reacted as if they were hot knives being held down, but they weren’t. If I was going to be as effective as the clones, I’d prefer to keep my knives out of his reach. His flesh opened over my dead body, and I managed to get the blade free while keeping the flesh as close to his ribcage as I could manage. Even then, it was only enough to cut the flesh a portion of the distance deep, though it cut well beyond that. I tried to do what I could to cut the flesh a less substantial distance, then returned to the same situation as before. I didn’t have the ability to bend the flesh, and as the clone with the bone fragments got a bead on me, the flesh pulled back around the knife. I couldn’t tell with the angles to the shots. It dawned on me why this was so frustrating. Was this due to some innate resistance on Scion’s part, or was he somehow employing some kind of spacial distortion? Could the knife cut through each and every square millimeter of flesh in the target area as it cut? I would have called it luck, but I wasn’t about to rate the odds like a kid in a candy shop. I had a gun, now. The clone took a deep breath. Then he opened fire. The nearest heroes were pulled back and their effects disrupted as Eidolon landed blows on the clone nearby. Even some of the capes on the ground were pulled back or threatened by the blow, a few even struck by the force of the impact. Then, inexplicably, the clone started to turn. The blow that didn’t go down took on a different form. Something different, to match the new reality, at a superficial level. It was a swift and clumsy movement, much as the original clone had moved too easily. At the same moment, in a different area, Rachel and Canary came pouring through the doorway. She had a swarm of bugs gathered around her, and the space around her morphed from the familiar landscape of brick and concrete to an extremely dark place. Eidolon’s body was reacting to her movement, shifting to match her movement, and I watched as it took flight again. She stopped halfway through moving, and he caught the end of the weapon out of the air. She began moving back to the ground, and his attention was averted. I felt a flare of hope. It’s not a weapon I can use on him. It’s a tube, the same way my bugs are housed. I’ll need a way to control it, something I can use that doesn’t involve the real me hurting someone or hurting someone else. "I can already feel the effects of your power, Eidolon. It’s working on the periphery of my body." "Right," Legend said. "Then let’s focus on another target. Scion." "Can’t see it, can’t move my clones to attack if it happens, but it’s affecting his physiology." "I’ll need him to land a blow. If he has a weakness, let us exploit it. Scion has a weakness, but it’s one we can exploit." I nodded slowly. "You’re a master manipulator, Tinker. It’s a wonder he didn’t find you sooner." "A shame it took me this long to figure that out," I replied. "We’re going to have to trust you to keep us safe, aren’t we?" "I trust you to maintain your end of the deal. The price for failure is too high." "Doesn’t matter anyways," I said. "If it comes down to it, will you maintain your end of the deal?" I nodded. "There’s one other thing I need you to solve." "I can do that," I said. "In the time it’s taken me to think of an idea, you’re already here, and you’ve set your plans into motion." "Yes," I said. "I already have." "Okay. Then that’s settled. The next destination, I should think this is a good time to find out what it’s like." I looked at Tecton. He didn’t look very happy as he made his way to the next set of doors. "Tecton?" "It’s… annoying, isn’t it?" ======== SAMPLE 15 ======== way for the ground floor, through a door to the upper end of the building. With the way he’d positioned the bugs, I couldn’t bring myself to care at all as he made his way upstairs, past the same door I’d just closed. "The ground?" "I have enough room. If he steps into the second story, I’m not going to step in the slightest." "You could," he said. "You would have noticed if it was you." "Maybe," I said. I glanced down to see his expression twisting with what I was seeing, his body language shifting just a bit as he looked up at me. "So would your teammates. They would have caught on to what you really did think, what you were doing." "It’s just… how do I put it? There’s something I need to focus on, before I get up to work on it. I don’t want to do it in the cafeteria, with all the people around him. There’s nothing I can do to convince them it was an accident, and he wouldn’t believe me." I could guess what he was going to say next. "I’d go to the hospital, see about changing their routines or something. Or if you wanted more evidence, you could go down to the park, and tell them." "I could. But you didn’t. I was worried it would be the same thing with you. You’d go to the hospital, maybe give your side of the story, and then you’d be lying to your team, which wouldn’t be a great way to go out." "Honestly? No." "Really? Maybe? Maybe?" "Let me finish my thought," I told him. "It’s a black mark in my record." "Black mark? Really?" "Years ago, a friend of mine had her locker rifled through." "And you didn’t know?!" "I had my rations there. She’d gone through the contents, and left no stone unturned in finding items to aid her art. She found books about making puppets, didodads, and then ended up keeping all of the materials for her workshop in the house as well. I’d seen the state of things, figured it was time to take over." "And take charge. You did." "Yeah." "Which sucked!" He turned to leave. I looked back to where he was standing, and I saw tears in his eyes. "I thought you were a jerk," I said. "She was. And I’m a very, very small person when it comes to the job. But it felt like you were supposed to be the one in charge." "I was," he said, almost rousing to anger again. "That was it. She never apologized, so I can’t blame her for being stubborn." "She is stubborn," I said. "But if it’s one thing you’re good at, it’s being stubborn. Except you’re too focused on what’s right, and what’s important, and instead of taking it into account, you take things too far. It could mean taking a joke, making things too seriously, being too trusting." "And my dad-" "My dad is a rock. He makes it all work. It’s unfortunate that he’s going through stuff his sister went through, but he’s a rock, and it’s a tough road. I’d like nothing better than to work with a rock, so I’ll take this in stride." "Just… don’t make me do this." "Not a threat, just… don’t do it." "It’s your call. You already know that, right? But you still need to convince my dad, and it’s going to take some courage." "Maybe," I said. "But trust me, if I’m going to do this, I’ll do it alone. I’ll get over this and be in a better place." I frowned. "Okay. But if it’s not one of those things, like I was saying, I’ll do it as part of the team." "Okay. And if he’s still going to be angry, or be upset, or whatever-" "He won’t be upset, but he’ll be pissed." "-Then we ======== SAMPLE 16 ======== way she did, he’d been waiting for me to bring up things she wouldn’t want us to. Maybe because I was a parent now, maybe because I’d needed to spend some time around her, but maybe it was both. Maybe I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I couldn’t be sure that the silence always ended the same way. So as an afterthought, I brought up the conversation. "She likes you, too." "She didn’t say anything, so I think she likes me," Coil replied. "Don’t go down that road," I told him. "You don’t understand. I’ve known people who are this unattractive and unlikable. You’re her best bet." So I’d changed my strategy. I was looking for people who weren’t unattractive, not unattractive who were unattractive. "Hey," she said, reaching into her belt pockets and pulling out a change purse, "Hey, Skitter." I hesitated for a long second, then offered, "Can I grab a-" "No," he cut me off. "Okay," I conceded. I picked a new change of clothes and put the change pad in the pocket of my old one, tucked the change into the belt, and then buttoned my belt. I walked over to the television, and found Legend on the homepage for a news story about a superhero called ‘Shatterbird’. After a long pause, he began asking questions, obviously taking notice of what I was doing. I turned on the TV to look at the schedule, and was struck by how little I really knew about them. There were only six scheduled appearances by the Wards in one year, but I was missing a dozen other less promising developments, like the events that had ended Alexandria’s rampage or the death at the hands of Glory Girl. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a huge cape reader or thinker, or maybe it was a general lack of interest… whatever the reason, I was missing some key details. With those missing details, I was left guessing and worrying until I found out that the other kid who was planning on joining the Wards was a girl, or until I found out that Tattletale was one of the people who had been trying to bring me on board, or whichever name the other girl chose. I put the problem off for another minute. I glanced at Rachel and Bitch. Rachel was sitting on a rock just up ahead, with Bastard pacing in the background, but other dogs were around her. Her dogs were bigger and leaner, and they were healthier. "Skitter’s here," I reported, without turning my back on the two dogs. I could already feel the crowd getting restless with the presence of more than six people. "We’d have to ask Grue," Tattletale said. "Then we’ll have to wait," I said. "Doormaker’s in the building just upstairs. Can’t ask him much, but he’s got some intel to pass on to me." "He said he’s got what he wants," Tattletale said. "Tailored formula, better at digesting bad foods, stronger at clearing other people’s teeth, keeping teeth clean, sharper at making things in tools and tools. Can’t go for the meaty stuff, though, because it could cause cravings. Just a little something extra and you don’t overdo it." I nodded. Just a little something extra? I hadn’t even considered it. "I didn’t do the eating part," Tattletale said. "I did ask for a favor, I did ask for help with the running portion, but I asked that you guys stay out of the fighting for the time being." The hostility just around us had fluctuated drastically in the past minute. From screaming and fighting in the kitchen to people standing up for one another, it was all the more pronounced. Even with all of that, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that this was a setup, a scripted scenario. The Wards had been divided, their schedules adjusted so they were better prepared, more in sync, but this ‘game’? If it was scripted, then it meant that maybe Clockblocker was the operative hero. Maybe Shadow Stalker was waiting to ambush him. A flash of light in the distance… Leviathan. Huge, armored heads emerged from the water like mushrooms from a tombstone. He lunged forward, and the waves slapped against his hull like a car crash. He was too ======== SAMPLE 17 ======== way to your apartment, or maybe your friend’s, which is what the door does, at least." "And then I’m fucked," the girl answered, before any real emotion could welled up. "We can help you. We’ll find a doctor’s assistant who’ll listen to your concerns." "Sorry," the girl said. "Then we’ll make you a deal. You and I will go out on a date with this doctor’s assistant, and if you don’t like her, you can leave within the three day period, and if she is okay with it, we’ll keep ourselves together. It’s just our usual way." "Okay." "If it doesn’t go well, we’ll take it back and we don’t expect to be together anymore." "Okay," the girl made a noncommital sound. "I’m going to move forward before noon. Need to make sure our customers are getting what they need." The bell rang, and a crowd of people stepped out of the food court, some with their cell phones out. "Ready to move in?" a man asked. "Ready," someone else said. "Let’s start with the bathroom. I thought this place was spooky when you were out, so we were curious if this place was haunted as much as you’d let on." "It’s fine," she said. She looked down at the ground floor of the building. "That’s where we keep our equipment." "Okay." There were other areas of the building that were spooky, but people didn’t stay in the common area for more than five minutes before they headed to the bathroom or headed to the shower. A bathroom had long been the only facility available that was truly communal, with sinks, showers and running water that was good enough that everyone had to use it. The problem with showers and showers being the only facilities available, however, was that people would be sitting around without a place to sit. This was particularly true with people who were claustrophobic, which made the idea of sitting with nothing to do to make a point more troubling. The only facilities here were the ones that had already been put in place. There had been complaints, but nobody’d been willing to go to the trouble of setting up a proper bathroom until things had been installed. The solution was simple. The ground floor. The room with the concrete floor, with the pipes already installed, had the vents, the windows to the right of the room, and a simple shower and basin. People would head to the far end of the building, the one with the walk-up stalls, and use the showers on the second floor to get clean. It wasn’t perfect, there were still dents where water would run through the pipes and there were occasional peeling paint, but the place was in a pristine state. As a group of Merchants left the bathroom, I gave the order, "Out of the building! Run to the others!" The group of Merchants that were exiting the building started making their way to the far end. From the way the people in the area were clustering now, it seemed like the Merchants had decided it was safer to stay here than to go back to the building. The ones back home were mostly intact, the clothing and bedding in pristine condition, the food and drinks good. I turned the group of Merchants around so we were facing the right direction and then asked, "Hey, you okay with staying here? This place’s safer than wherever they are now?" "Yes," a guy said. The other two voices he gave were quiet. "You can’t see much, but if the building were to collapse and you were left here, would you still be able to use the bathroom?" "Yeah," he answered. "Bagel, you ready to head up there and clean up?" I suggested. "Um. I’m going to need a hand with just about anything." "Got it," he said. With a heavy sigh, he strode across the room to where the garbage men were working. The man was wearing a heavy leather jacket over a dirty and greasy costume, a metal-on-metal helmet and ear muffs that were flapping around too much. His hands, however, were on the disposal bin. The debris and shit on the man’s job were being thrown directly into the trash can, under the heel of his hand. I headed up to the mess room. There were twenty or so people gathered there, more in the way of litter. I ======== SAMPLE 18 ======== way out of earshot. A brief scuffle ensued between the members of the group, which left Tattletale more bruised than all of us put together. The fight ended abruptly as one guy got knocked to the ground and nearly lost his ankle, the injury sustaining little outward damage. That didn’t stop me from doing what I could. I headed toward my group and made one quick run into the cafeteria to call one of the other groups to me. I found Tatteltale in the crowd of other members of the Travelers. She was crouched in the far end of the cafeteria, one hand poised to make a fist, but was nonetheless looking remarkably elegant and confident in her armor. "Where’s Grue?" I asked her. "In the crowd, I presume. Not sure where he is." I could have asked where Imp was, but I knew that would only escalate the fight and put me at risk of getting knocked into a corner with an injured ankle. I kept quiet, hoping she’d noticed the bug and moved fast enough that she wouldn’t notice I was in trouble. Or maybe because, what else, I was scared. The fight had stopped, and maybe for the most part, it was getting better. People were working harder to get to the front rows so I could see them and make sure they weren’t causing trouble. There was a handful of hooligans who had gone full-on brawls, tearing at the other students or smashing windows, but they were outnumbered and outnumbered far too often. I tried calling Hookwolf’s cell number and was directed to a speakerphone. Trying that yielded the same result as trying tbe name of any major player in the room number with the exception of cell towers. There was a pause. "They’re trying to get organized," Tattletale said. "They’re still trying," I said. "Maybe because it’s getting late." "Maybe," Tattletale admitted. She had her hands pressed to her mouth. "Come on. We’re going last." I was surprised at how fast she ordered the van to move to her location. I’d expected her to give me a no. Grue and Tattletale climbed in. Grue set the dogs down so my nose was just a few paces away from finding my brother. I could see the light of the lights on the walls and ceilings above. I could see the girl with the horn on her shoulder, sitting down beside one of the chairs. I noticed we had a second before she started talking again, "We’re trying to get organized and talk to each other." "Why?" "Getting comfortable. We’re getting ourselves a little better at being friends here, I think. If you’re okay with joining then that’s fine." "I don’t think it’s fine," I told her. I wanted to move to a place where I didn’t know our captor any better, so I was sure to have my bugs on her so I could follow her every move, just to make sure she was still who she claimed to be. I didn’t want my bugs to find any signs of the chemicals or weapons she was keeping in her immediate vicinity. "I’m not sure we’re comfortable with how things are right now," she said. "You’ve got him on the brink of killing us, he’s hurt, he’s scared. It’s hard for me to be here whenever you need him. So far, his new team has been supportive. They’ve stepped up to watch him, but they’ve got a job to do." I stared at Tattletale. I didn’t want to make her feel worse, so I didn’t want to reply either. I only wanted to shut her up for good this week. "I guess we’ll have to get by that." "Whatever," she said, smiling. "You’re the one in charge of us now?" "Me." "Great. Then we’ll do that." There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the group. "I would like to see a real villain," Grue offered. "Very nice," Regent echoed him. "If anyone can do it, it’s she," Tattletale said. "The way she’s running things." "No," Tattletale said. She looked genuinely angry, "I’m having a hard time believing you. I can’t help but notice some of the stuff that’s going ======== SAMPLE 19 ======== way for people with more direct route. Maybe people would notice if this place wasn’t so far away, if Dragon was closer; maybe it wouldn’t bother me as much, but the fact that Tecton was visiting this location, that we couldn’t go here, it would give people reason to check out how bad Tecton was at dealing with Endbringer, or the possibility that he was doing something to provoke a reaction from Dragon. I’d done more than enough research to know that Tecton didn’t deal well with authority figures when it came to power, but this… it made me hope the other threats were dealing with something far less intimidating and direct. I could see the looks at Legend and Eidolon as the pair approached, a few steps behind me. "Do I need a wheelchair?" I asked, after the first couple of feet of the ascent. "There’s no place to park my bugs here." "Go ahead," one of the members of the group spoke. I opened my mouth to say something else, but my train of thought had caught up with me. "I was thinking about going down that road myself," Legend said, his voice quiet. "If this city had roads like this, it might be able to support a team." "It wouldn’t," Golem responded. "When Tecton went up against the Nine, he started with the shelters. Got more populated ones, then started tearing them down. There aren’t that many shelters left. Once they can’t be taken down, they don’t just get taken out of operation, they get upgraded and upgraded until nobody has any places to go." "They can’t afford the upgrades," Clockblocker said. "And the ones we have are pretty dire." "I’ll go," I said, feeling a touch helpless. "You do too. Dragon will make the arrangements." One by one, the other group members approached the stage. Defiant, Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon had only Watney there. This was Eidolon, I thought. The other member of the Nine, the one who had taken on Golem in an intense duel. "He’s here," I heard Clockblocker saying, his voice hard. "Just to verify." Eidolon had just arrived in the lobby before everyone else. He had one of the tallest heads I’d ever seen. He was built like a basketball player, long body and broad shoulders, dark hair tied back in a bun. His costume was a dark steel color, and the only cloth I saw was his belt where it was kept. I suspected it would be to protect his costume, if he was in costume. He was the last one to exit the elevator, which was parked a few feet from the stage. "Tecton’s coming with us," Alexandria said. "He can change Eidolon into a human-shaped shell if the situation calls for it, but it’s not worth losing the ability to fight back." "That might be different if Hero were with us," Defiant said. "He has the benefit of time pass, but… there’s no way he’ll make it." Eidolon hadn’t budged when he heard Hero speak. He sat down straight in a moment later, rubbing his temples. "He can’t make it, though," Alexandria said. "He’s out of the same level of mental and emotional stability he was just before he disappeared. There’s nothing holding him back when he’s in his human state, but-" "Yeah," I said. "He’s not the sort of person who makes it out okay in a fight." "People do," Miss Militia stepped in. "He’s a team player, he’s selflessly serving his teammate, and-" "And if he gets violent, he makes it harder for us to handle," Grue said. He sounded almost disappointed. "People make mistakes because they don’t realize they’re making a mistake," Alexandria responded. "Except when you're a hero," I said. "I know I’d make mistakes, and that makes it hard, doesn’t it?" "I agree," Tattletale said. "But the way our research has indicated, people tend to come out okay, or at least, they come out better if they make it out okay." "…Except when you’re a villain," I repeated myself. "People make mistakes," Tattletale said. "But it’s the opposite when you’re a hero ======== SAMPLE 20 ======== way to me. I glanced at the others. Coil’s team was taking a seat while Defiant and Dragon worked. I glanced up at Defiant. "Yeah?" I asked. "I’ve already had two thoughts on the subject," Defiant said. "I guess I’d rather have Tattletale." To my left, Tecton moved through the room. I walked up next to him, then sat down at one table with several of his soldiers. "The other possibility is Coil," Tattletale said. "If he doesn’t manage to get a foothold in the city and we get pushed back, he might look for a way to extend his control before the Undersiders have a chance to seize a city." "Which isn’t a possibility if he doesn’t want us here," I said. I turned my attention back to the room. "But Defiant? If you’d offered, say, an excuse, for not being there to protect us, would you still back out?" "I wouldn’t, but-" "Would you blame us if we went through with this? You’d be giving up your territory to a group that you don’t want to keep." "I-" "And if you did side with us, you’d be giving up control of the portal to us. We know you’re not wanting us here, we know there’s shit at the edges of the city, but we needed this anyways." "Okay." I made a face. "So this goes no further." "Next question…" The room was quiet. "Where’s Dragon?" I asked. "Or did she go to check on Dinah?" "She’s with Coil," I said. "We had to tell him what we knew." "Me? No. That sounded like an excuse, and-" "Me too. I was already afraid." "That wasn’t it?" Defiant asked. "I didn’t have to hear it before I made up my mind." "It’s not that complicated," I said. "Tell me what you know, explain why you wouldn’t give up control of the portal for an excuse to control someone else." "It’s more dangerous than you might think. We used the Simurgh as an example, but there’s no escape routes like this." "But," I said, "I don’t even want to think about what happened with the portal." Defiant nodded. "Okay." "You’re going to have to explain that last part, okay?" "I… don’t really know what happened," I said. "But things have changed, and I’m guessing you don’t either. Maybe you see us as human shields, but you don’t see us as monsters. Don’t think we’re going to kill people and get off with no punishment, but there’s circumstances. If things turn sour, you can get hurt or killed. Maybe you even want to do something to help, maybe you want to hurt people, but not to the point that they hurt you." "I hear that," Defiant reported. "Maybe you think I’m a monster, but-" "I hope not." I sighed. "-And… I hear you’re not interested in working with me." "I don’t know if I said that because I was against you in the beginning, or because I’m with you now." "Okay." "Defiant, you need to do me one favor," I said. "Tell me where you want me on the list, so I can tell you where to find me." "I want you to join the Undersiders," he said. "You’ll do well if you do." "Then I’m already halfway done, no?" "No. As well as you can be." "Okay." "Listen," he said, quiet. "I’ve already told Dragon to take care of the Travelers. If you want me to handle this for you, then I’ll do it for you." "I know," I said. "I think we should stop by Weaver’s place before you leave for Coil’s." "Okay." "You should know that the Travelers aren’t coming back. A part of me, inside, is telling myself it isn’t because Weaver isn ======== SAMPLE 21 ======== way if you’re thinking of doing anything productive with the information you have on him, and you really shouldn’t." "Stop it." "He killed someone." "Please." "He’s sorry." "We’re talking about his career, about his legacy. People are going to remember the first time he pulled something off. If you’re feeling cynical, if everything points to you thinking ‘Damn, he probably did it with a sick mind, then you’re right on a lot of counts. It makes for a pretty ugly legacy." "I remember, a lot of people did." "I wouldn’t have thought so." Weld nodded. "But yeah, maybe I’m being too hard on you." "I’m feeling a little cheeky." Weld smiled. "We’re looking for resources, for people who have worked with him. You’re the only one who works with him that I know of." "I was with him for most of last year. It was only after Tattletale brought this to my attention that I started doing research. I found this, and I realized it wasn’t me." He nodded sagely. It had been a nice day at the office, apart from the incident in the news, but it had been a nice day for nothing. "So you’re talking about Rachel." "I’d like to think she’s one of the few people he really respected. You know that, right?" He nodded. "We had a good run, too. You probably saw her in the cafeteria. When I joined the team, I got right to work. I spent weeks training her in everything I could to make sure she could handle whatever came up. I didn’t get along with her, but I respected her nonetheless." "Sure," Weld said. "I’d like you to meet-" Weld stopped, then glanced at us. "You didn’t give me your name, Weaver," Weld started. "You’re thinking of Rachel." "I’ve been thinking of her for some time," the girl said. Weld didn’t respond. She continued, "I don’t think it would be a good idea if we were working with a mad scientist. I wasn’t lying when I told you I knew what you were doing was wrong. But Rachel’s also a good person. Whatever happened, she stepped in when things got tough, and she stepped it up a notch. She even put herself at risk a couple of times. It would be a disaster waiting to happen if we allowed her to become a full member of the team." "Fair. And that’s only if you’re not just doing what we already have in mind. If you do what we are suggesting and take that path, you’ll go that way." "Whatever." "The team looks a hell of a lot better than the Brockton Bay Wards." "I didn’t want to hurt people, and I didn’t want to do anything stupid, but I was still hurt." Weld closed his eyes, and let the air flow over him. "It’s not that simple. There were times when she was right, but times when she was wrong, and she stepped in too soon after a big event to get her head around your plan or whatever. And you, Miss Militia, I take it are willing to do what it takes to save her, as you put it? It seems like something I would want to see." "Yes." "I can help. We can get her medical attention, maybe get her stabilized, and I can do all these other heavy lifting when things are up and running again." "We can work that out. We’ll need a healer, a long-term care assistant, a sniper…" "Scout." He sighed. "I’d like to see her happier days than they are." "A lot of things, and maybe the biggest thing in that order is helping others." He could feel the smile slip from his face. "Then I’ll go home. I’ll go have a happy life. You’ll be left to deal with the rest of the paperwork the Protectorate needs to take down. I’ll manage the way I am now, and I’ll feel better in the process." "If you do that, I’ll go too. I would rather you succeed than fail ======== SAMPLE 22 ======== way out of sight. She wasn’t. She was watching one of us with a hawk’s eye. I felt a kind of irritation. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the way she was operating, but this was too many different tones of voice, and the way her subconscious was shaping the sounds. It wasn’t helping that the rest of the creatures were making noises like the noises they were making when they were angry, which only increased the unease. Grue’s voice. "She’s using her power on you. She isn’t, but she will soon." He didn’t reply. "And you’re not going to attack?" Tattletale asked. "You got me. Don’t worry about me." "But you’re still here, don’t lie. If you want to go on this road, you’ll have to convince me you’ll help, and that means convincing Tattletale, and convincing Grue." "I don’t want to do anything like that," I said. Tattletale shook her head a little. "It’s fine. Can’t change your mind? Fine. Just… don’t go back. See if you can’t convince me I should keep going." "I’d have to get out of this area, stop any monsters that might try to come after me, and maybe kill one or two people if I couldn’t persuade Coil in person. It’s not bad doing it in person, so maybe I could keep you?" "Okay." "Coil won’t press her to kill and I doubt he could pressure her to either." "Then I’ll leave! I’ll go back to the PRT headquarters where I belong, and I’ll kill myself." "I understand. Just don’t do it right now, before we need to convince Coil of your intentions. It wouldn’t do for us to have to face the truth later." "Okay." "And don’t get yourself killed today, either. That way we never have to face that stuff. We can get you some much-needed healing, and maybe even clean yourself up for the PRT’s records. It’s not that big a deal, and there aren’t those big numbers to compare me to." "Okay." We had long minutes of silence, as we spoke. I hadn’t finished, when an older couple entered the room. "Victoria and Jonathan," Tattletale spoke, "I was just telling your friend that you should look after him." "Oh?" "He’s in the PRT hospital wing L. Vista’s there too. She could come by, just to make sure he’s alright." "Okay." "See if she’s able to get a room there. There’s beds there, and I think it would be better if this group was in there." "Okay." "Have a seat. We’ve got an injury here or an illness there." Another uncomfortable silence hung in the air, heavy with the effects of the last few hours spent on my rounds. "We’re all right? You’d be surprised at how much I want to go back to Brockton Bay, to visit my dad and my brother." "You’d be surprised at who I am, you know." I shook my head a little to clear my emotions of the mix-up. "I guess the reason I’m here is to make sure we’re okay." "You’re more worried about what might happen if I go?" "The Protectorate. They’re looking into our background, I’m not stupid, and they think maybe you met Kaiser or something close to the idea that he’s the murderer of our city." I nodded. "And if it was some random-" "They’re already looking into it. They’re even looking into what you did as part of that thing with Kaiser." "I didn’t do anything. Nothing I could think of that they wouldn’t already be suspicious of." "Okay. So what did you say?" "I’m not sure. Don’t stress about it." There was another pause. I felt hands touch my belt as Tattletale got in his chair. I wasn� ======== SAMPLE 23 ======== way, with their own power. You’re not aware that anyone in your territory has claimed this site as their own in nearly a year." "Yes," Tattletale said. "Very well. I’ll see you there." The Doctor called out, "We should get in touch before this meeting gets any worse." "I don’t know, what’s he saying?" "This meeting isn’t going to get better. It’s going to get worse if we ignore the Doctor." "He’s saying that." "I’ve heard it. But this would be a hell of a lot better if we didn’t have to do this." "He’s right," the Doctor said. "There’s a reason we’re here. I think we all have a reason, outside of the obvious." He raised his glass again, and she took it. "Cocktail hour?" she asked him. "Of course," the Doctor’s voice sounded distant. She turned around, walked to a chair, and sat. Before the Doctor could speak, she reached into her belt and withdrew a lighter. She turned it on high for just long enough that the Doctor could take it from his hands, then lit it for him. The Doctor smiled gratefully. "I’d hate to disappoint," the Doctor murmured, "But we should keep our end of the deal simple. We each pay a set sum upfront, then each of us takes a quarter of that sum for ourselves. Let’s keep it simple. Half of our payment, let us use it to pay our visits to the Doctor and the other members of the Nine. Nothing fancy." "I’m sure we could arrange that," Tattletale said. "Please do," the Doctor replied. They stepped out of the room together. The Doctor’s voice was high as they entered the room. "It’s ironic, but the thing I was going to bring up last night was… not fun to leave behind. I feel like I’m leaving pretty much every opportunity I had behind, because I’m a big part of what’s happening here and things have changed since then." "You’re not complaining." "I’m glad we’re coming to this meeting," he said. "What else do you want to do first?" "We should get started, or we could cut the meeting short." "I’m not sure which it is," the Doctor said. "I’d like to see this place restored to what it once was, and possibly restored to what it was before, before too many years of changes and disarray. If nothing else, we should draw up plans to start on the reconstruction." "That sounds like a hell of a lot of work," Tattletale said, grimly. "I’m just saying that as long as things go this way, I’m worried things won’t improve much over the duration of our trip." "In the grand scheme of things, that’s a pretty small price to pay for a chance to save the world." "I’m inclined to agree," Tattletale said. "Thank you, Doctor. We did manage to avoid killing one or even serious injury, at least." "You’re doing good work," the Doctor said. "And I haven’t forgotten what you’ve already done. I won’t dispute that." There was a pause. "You want to set yourself on the line to kill me?" "Yes," the Doctor said. "I’d like to see this done." That set Tattletale off again. She took a deep breath, then shook her head. "I’ll manage." "Very well. I will manage. If it’s up to your standards, I’d like to see your head hang in shame." "It’s very alright," Tattletale said. "I’d like nothing better than to go back to being a lowly bystander. Help out the others, find some common ground, maybe even get away from the PRT altogether." "Then go to him, Tattletale," the Doctor said. "If he would only consider coming with us, he might reconsider. He made a fair offer, and I’m sure you already have some things in mind that you’d like to accomplish." "I can’t. I don’t like this job job, and I ======== SAMPLE 24 ======== way? Was she really that insistent on it? She needed more time to find herself, she needed to deal with the pressure. The only thing that would make it easier for her to deal with the pressure would be if it was implied. If it wasn’t implied, if she was told that no pressure was acceptable, that maybe she could deal without being pushed to deal rashly? She could deal with that. She’d done her homework, knew her way around the computer. Still, she felt too uneasy. Was the money? Or was she having trouble remembering some of the passwords? It was weird to think about the money without realizing it was a consideration. She tried logging in with her real name, and came up short. A verification email had been sent to her. Her real name was taken, but the password was the same. Different email address and password. Another effort. She tried changing the password again, and again, she got the same result. This wasn’t a system reset, but a forced log in. Still, it was odd, to look at the screen and think it’d probably have happened to her, in the past few days or weeks. There was a bang, and a series of crashing, noises like plastic sheets ripping and the noise of something moving on glass. The TV screen went dark. "You’re awake," a female voice sounded. She realized it was Nix. "You’re here." "I’m here," Nix repeated herself, as if that was confirmation. The TV screen was alive with static, still displaying the same static. The static that had been wrapping around the television just minutes ago was stretching free, now, unbidden. The image on the screen was of Nix, standing on the edge of a cloud, leaning against it. The screen behind her was shifting to fill the space between her fingers, a mirror image of what was around her. There was a crash like an artillery shell striking the ground, followed by a sound like an explosion outside a window. Nix took a step, and the cloud behind her bulged abruptly, forming into a shape no bigger than her head. She used her hands to pull herself out. She began to speak, but her voice sounded distorted. "I’ll go." The static was gone before she could. "Go," a female voice sounded. "Go now." Nix tried to make her way across the clearing, but her attempts were met with more static. "Stay," the female said. "If we fight, we’ll lose." Nix began to speak the second she was free of the cloud. "I want to talk to you." "There’s no need for that. Go wait." Nix stood from her perch and retreated across the clearing. The male approached her. "Are you a lieutenant?" "No. I’m a scout. A lookout." "A good answer. You look different. You smell different." She tried on her costume. The cloth she’d created was more effective than most. It was designed to be comfortable for night wear, though she had to wear it underneath the costume to work. It was a simple design, a stylized skull for a costume, meant to stand out in a sea of blacks and whites. When the fighting started, it wouldn’t stand out, but it would hide the trappings. Sensing if blood flowed, she washed it again, to remove the blood, and again, it stood out. The bleeding had stopped, but that wasn’t saying much. "You’re black," a male voice said. "I’m here because I came on a patrol when I was just starting out. The curfew wasn’t in effect or nearly so thick, so a lot of people were walking around casually." "Orca’s down, but she’s down, along with three other people. We’ll need you to keep an eye out." "Why do you care?" "I’m aware of what you’re doing, and I’m wondering if you have the authority to have someone patrol the area." She handed him a tape, marked for a specific city. "D.C." "You should have left when the curfew ended. It would be stupid to come back now to protect people from you." "It’s only precaution. You’re on your own. It’s dangerous out there. There’s nowhere to go, and the ones who stayed are scared." She heard a crash ======== SAMPLE 25 ======== way that wasn’t my own, or I’d be a freak. But that wasn’t even all I could think about. Queen 18.2 "You sure?" I asked, as the dogs entered the room. My voice was quiet enough to be barely audible. There was a sound I was paying attention to, but I couldn’t place it. It might have been the vibration of boots against the floor. Brian turned his head my way, and I gave him a curious look. "Sure." The sound again, a slight vibration in the air. "Let’s go," I said. I made my way down the stairs. The dogs were just as curious as I was. We were making a good time. My team and I emerged from the elevator at the same time, and I hurried to the front door. Brian’s teammates were already there. "Holy shit," Alec muttered, as I walked into the elevator again. "What the fuck just happened?" "Just think, team. You’re on the cover of a major news station, and there’s a terrorist threat at the hand of some guy with a taste for young girls." My thinking was a little confused, so I could barely get a grasp on what was going on. "What’s a guy even doing on a news report about girls?" Lisa asked me. "I’m thinking we need to get a reporter who isn’t already on the news," I responded. "Not that one," Alec said, peering down the hallway as the door opened, "She’s on duty, covering the Simurgh outbreak. The Simurgh might be the worst thing in the world right now, and she’s got the world on her mind. We need someone who isn’t being forced to work in a crisis." "Don’t be ridiculous," Brian cautioned me. There was some slight movement in the air as Simurgh was brought down. I could sense the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. "She’s on the prowl, and we have to stop her before she gets a taste of any stronger, like the guy with the virus." A taste? "I’d bet he has some kind of power that turns an object or a person into something out of this world or whatever," Brian went on, "Maybe he’s a gladiator in some capacity. Or a monster hunter with supernatural powers. He’s been going after people with more mundane afflictions, trying to find them weak, or people that aren’t normal in some fashion, and he’s never found anyone." "What will you do, Taylor?" I asked. "You and Alec are going door to door, picking people up." "For charity, anyways. Getting people’s attention, getting the word out about Scion." "You just dropped by?" "Did a few things for the day. Saw my teammates for a bit. Saw the Undersiders. I took this bus before school, I’d go from the Docks to the north end, go to the museum, I don’t know, go walking to the beach afterwards. Got down to the train yard, and dropped them off there wasn’t looking. Might have taken a bus back if it was a bright day. Haven’t called yet to double check on them." "They’re staying at the museum anyways," Lisa said. "Bitch was going to stay with me," I added. "How much money is she?" "No money." "I could send some to her then, just to double check what she bought. But then she’d have to run to check on her dog, and there’s nobody to watch her." "And people are just going to assume it’s because she has a dog," Alec said. "Yeah," Brian said. "But someone’s going to keep asking and checking and getting suspicious for a few days. She won’t get a straight answer out of her commander on this, but someone’s going to think she has a dog, and a little bad karma-" "Enough bad karma," I cut in. "She’s a villain." "I don’t know, but I’ll take what I can get." "No," Alec said, and the sound was a growl. "The fact that we’ve had to deal with some pretty high profile villains at the highest levels in addition to our usual suspects is a little