“Amaranth, back!”

  I didn’t hesitate, skipping backwards the second I registered Nadir’s warning. My assailant followed, though not quick enough. Without a word, the masked thug dropped to the ground with a grunt of pain, the rubber knife in her hand bouncing onto the grass. I caught my breath as she rose slowly, peeling off her balaclava.

  “Good stuff,” Lafayette huffed, rolling her shoulder and wincing. “Shit. You know I’ve been hit by that before, but it always catches me off guard.”

  “Sorry,” Nadir said.

  “No, it’s good,” she said quickly. “Just not so much for me or anyone else you fight. Mara, good reaction, but shoulder check before you retreat; don’t want to trip up and get caught by your teammate.”

  “Got it,” I huffed. “Hey thanks for playing guinea pig.”

  “No problem,” Lafayette said. “I’ve got a yard and some know-how, and you two need the practice. Happy I could help.”

  “It’s still cool,” Nadir said, breathing hard even though she hadn’t really been fighting. “Can we take a break? Getting a little tired.”

  “Sure, about time we were done. Let’s head in, I’ll whip something up for us,” she said with a nod.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I said as we headed into Lafayette’s home. “Really I should be getting back anyway, you know?”

  “Don’t be a stranger, Lia,” Lafayette chided me as I undid my scarf. “It’s no trouble, just cooking up a stir fry anyway; easy to add more for you.”

  “Okay,” I agreed sheepishly.

  Joy led me to the living room and we sat on the couch. While Lafayette started on dinner, she and I hashed out how training went today and worked on where we were patrolling next; no point wasting the time. Joy was starting to really catch onto hero work, getting better at communicating, getting braver it seemed. A damn good thing, because there was little room for cowardice in our business.

  She was teaching me a little bit about Mohawk stuff too, tired of me being ‘white like rice’; something Lafayette found endlessly amusing. I’d never paid much attention when they were talking about how America was founded in class so most of it was new to me, and pretty cool stuff. Not really relevant for cape work, but she wasn’t just a colleague, she was my friend.

  Damn, I was actually starting to enjoy this. I mean, I’d mostly enjoyed my time in the Ward… Okay that was maybe a tremendous exaggeration, but towards the end I’d at least been happy in the company of my fellow heroes. Without all the crap that came with it hanging over me, it just felt easier though. Now if only we could find some Nazis to beat up…

  “Chow time,” Lafayette called from the kitchen, interrupting yet another probe from Joy about Amy. “Get in here before it’s stone cold.” We headed into the kitchen and sat at a small table, already set with cutlery. Lafayette served out three heaping plates of stir fry before taking her own seat. “Dig in.”

  “Oh shit this is good,” Joy cursed on the first bite.

  “Right?” Lafayette replied with a grin. “Momma’s cook book never let me down.” I took a bite of my own, wincing at the overwhelming burst of conflicting flavours.

  “Not bad,” I offered.

  “‘Not bad’? That’s practically an insult,” Joy said, elbowing my ribs. “C’mon, this has got to be the best stir fry you’ve ever had.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” I really didn’t want to admit it was something I’d never had before…

  “There you go,” she said, grinning.

  I changed the topic from food, mostly so I could distract myself enough to not be bothered by how it tasted. Fortunately, there were bits of chicken in it absolutely burning with spice. I wasn’t the most tolerant of it, but it overwhelmed the other flavours.

  As dinner dragged on, I began to realize I really didn't belong here. Joy and Lafayette got along so easily, while I just awkwardly tried to fit in somewhere. I was glad they humoured me at least, but I was apparently destined to be the odd one out wherever I was. Oh well, I was used to it anyway. As long as they were happy to work with me, I could deal with being an awkward little shit.

  When I finally managed to choke down my last bite, I helped clear off the table. I did the dishes while Joy dried and put them away, since she knew where stuff was around here. Between us, it only took a few minutes to finish up, then we headed into the living room and joined Lafayette on the couch.

  I didn’t stick around long. It was getting late, so when the conversation turned to the subject of rap I made my excuses and headed out. Better I wasn’t constantly interrupting to ask stupid questions anyway. They wished me well, and soon enough I was on the bus and heading for home. I stared out at the passing houses as I rode along, mind wandering back to the talk we were having before where I actually knew what I was talking about.

  We were widening our patrol area. The old hotspot seemed to have cooled down, so we were moving further out towards the city limits. It was unlikely that Wotan’s Wolves would have moved into the Docks, fairly firmly under the control of the Undersiders. Even though Bitch had once terrorized the outskirts, she’d been pretty quiet as of late. That made her old territory seem a more likely bet.

  Problem was, that was a lot of ground for just two people to cover. We would block it off, check different areas each patrol, but it was going to be a slow process. Lafayette had mentioned something that in hindsight was stupidly obvious for intel gathers: newspapers. It would take some studying, but I could piece together a picture of gang activities from newspaper reports. Not a perfect one by any means, but it would give me something if I played my cards right.

  But I had to balance that with school, especially the looming midterms. I didn’t want to, I could make this my full time job and I’d probably be happier. But then Amy would be upset, even if it was a little dumb. The world needed heroes more than high schoolers, Brockton Bay more than most places. Just like she needed to be healing, I needed to be out there…

  Maybe we could talk about it later. Not tonight, I’d spent enough time worrying about work as it was. Well, not really enough, it never was; but as much as I wanted to. I shut my eyes and leaned my head against the glass as the bus rumbled on.

  “Lia?” Amy called from the bedroom.

  “Yeah?” I said, scrolling through an article about a mugging in the north-east of the city.

  “Are you ready to go?” she asked, coming into the living room. I frowned.

  “Go where?”

  “Mom and Dad’s.” I blinked and she sighed. “Did you seriously forget?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Mmmaybe?” I said, wincing.

  “Yeah, okay,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Family dinner, happens every month. That ring a bell?” I swore under my breath.

  “Sorry,” I said, shutting my laptop and rising from the couch. “I uh, I should shower.”

  “You’ve got ten minutes.”

  Fortunately, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the shower anyway. A brief, uncomfortable two minutes later I was towelled off and changing into my nicer clothes. We were out the door long before my ten minutes was up, though Amy didn’t seem too happy about it. I took her hand as we walked to the bus stop, wishing I had her power so I could see how she felt at least. It wouldn’t be much use in a fight, but I didn’t want to fight her if I could help it.

  The bus was crowded enough that only Amy got a seat, I stood hanging onto a hand strap. Despite the chilly afternoon, I quickly found myself sweating between the bus’s heater and the press of bodies around me. The ride was mercifully short, and before long I was fighting the urge to shiver as we walked towards her parent’s place. I looked over at her and smiled.

  “You look great,” I said. “Those jeans um, they show off your legs nicely.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Amy said, blushing as a smile crept on her face.

  “You ever um, think about skirts?” I asked as innocently as I could.

  “Not in the middle of November,” she scoffed. “Besides, they aren’t that good. Like a pair of long sticks.”

  “Amy I see them on a regular basis, they’re anything but,” I countered dryly.

  “Shut up,” she hissed, elbowing me.

  “Sorry,” I couldn’t help chuckling. Imagining it though… “But seriously, you’d look...god, yeah, great, amazing.”

  “I...maybe I’ll try one on sometime,” Amy muttered, her hand tightening around mine.

  My smile grew as we walked on. I knew I wasn’t good for Amy, despite her claims to the contrary, but it was nice she was willing to hear me out still. And she would look amazing in a skirt, despite her claims to the contrary. I wasn’t sure why she got hung up on her looks, maybe because the rest of her family were practically models; but to me she looked better than any of them, bar none.

  Of course, Amy would never agree to that. I just wouldn’t bring it up, but I’d keep complimenting her anyway. She deserved to know she was beautiful, even if she felt like she was nothing by comparison to her family. I sighed as we walked up the path to the Dallon’s home, running a thumb over Amy’s knuckles. I drew up my shoulders and knocked on the door, putting a smile on my face.

  “Lia,” Victoria greeted me as she opened the door. She glanced at Amy and her gaze flickered for a moment before returning to neutral. “Come on, dinner will be ready soon.”

  We followed her in and took off our shoes before joining the rest of the family in the living room. Crystal waved and greeted us a little more happily than her cousin had. Sarah was a little more reserved, but seemed pleased enough that we were here. Carol was colder, but the way she looked at Amy and I had changed since the last time we spoke. It wasn’t the gaze of a hero wary of a dangerous girl and her potential victim, more a concerned mother keeping an eye on her kid.

  “How have you been keeping Lia?” Crystal asked brightly. “Take down any evildoers since the barbeque?”

  “I mean, yeah, you know about it already,” I replied with a shrug.

  “I...what?” She sounded genuinely confused. I glanced from Carol, to Sarah, then back to Crystal.

  “Did they not tell you?” I sighed as she shook her head. “A couple weeks back me and my partner took down Cricket and a bunch of Wotan’s Wolves.”

  “Whoa, what?” Victoria sat up, staring intently at me. “That was you?”

  “Me and Nadir,” I corrected, though it had been mostly me. “Haven’t heard anything since I made my statement, guess it’s working through the courts?”

  “It is,” Carol confirmed.

  “Why didn’t you announce it?” Victoria asked.

  “Why would I?” I countered. “My job is taking down villains, not talking to the press. Let the PRT talk it up, I’ll settle for destroying the Nazi gangs.” At least I would, if I could god damn find them.

  “Public relations is an important part of the job,” Sarah explained. “Making sure civilians know they’re safe with you, and villains know you’re coming for them. Transparency too, especially in light of how things have been going recently. There’s a lot more to hero work than fighting.”

  “I know,” I sighed. “But nothing as important. I can let the villains know I’m coming when I kick down their door and drag them to the Protectorate.”

  “I was unaware you had an intelligence division better than the PRT’s,” Carol said dryly, making my cheeks burn.

  “I’m working on it,” I retorted sharply.

  “Hey, um,” Amy interrupted, drawing everyone’s eyes. She glanced down at the floor, then cleared her throat and looked her mom dead in the eye. “Can we talk about something other than work?” There was a long, tense pause.

  “Of course Amy,” Sarah said amicably. “Sorry Lia, habits.”

  “It’s fine,” I replied, leaning back and trying to relax.

  “Amy, how are you?” she said, turning to her niece. “Is school going well?”

  “Oh, yeah, school’s fine,” Amy said. “I uh, I’ve been taking cooking classes too.”

  “Wait really?” I said, turning to her. “Since when?”

  “It was a surprise,” she murmured, cheeks turning red under her freckles. “Or it was going to be, I guess.”

  “I’m...a little surprised,” I admitted, kissing her cheek. “When have you been going?”

  “After work, weekends, nights you’re out,” Amy said with a shrug. “It’s...sort of fun.”

  “In that case, you can host the next dinner,” Mark said lightly as he came out of the kitchen with a smile. He was wearing an apron reading ‘Flash in the Bang’; terrible.

  “I um, I think our place is kind of small,” she said, shrinking back. I squeezed her hand tight.

  “Maybe she can help next time though?” I offered, gently elbowing her. “I mean, pretty cool that you’re doing that stuff, right?”

  “Maybe,” Amy said hesitantly.

  “I’d be happy to have you in the kitchen, sweetheart,” Mark replied with a smile. “But right now, I’d be happy for everyone to come to the dining room; dinner is served.” We followed after the rest of Amy’s family, smiles plastered on our faces. Family...yeah, that’s what it felt like.

  And I couldn’t be happier for her.

  “Hey, Dennis, you got a second?” I said, running up behind him in the hall.

  “Oh, hey Lia,” he said, glancing at me, then at the girl he was talking to. “I’m uh, sort of busy.”

  “It’s important,” I said, looking at the girl. She was okay, above average anyway. Something about her eyes reminded me of a certain warlord though. “Won’t be long, promise.”

  “This a friend of yours?” she asked, ignoring me.

  “Lia used to be in the coop program,” he explained, glaring at me. “But she quit.”

  “Wasn’t my thing, sue me,” I said coldly. “And it’s about work.” He sighed.

  “Just a sec Brianne,” Dennis said, turning to me.

  “Whatever,” she said, pulling out her phone and crossing her arms.

  “The hell is this about?” Dennis hissed after I led him away.

  “They still keeping you guys in the kiddy pool?” He stiffened and I knew the answer. “Look, I’m actually going out there. They tell you about Cricket?”

  “I heard it was you, wasn’t sure I believed it til now,” he said flatly.

  “You didn’t think a Nazi coming in severely injured was me?”

  “Touché.”

  “Anyway, not what I wanted to talk about,” I said, shaking my head and lowering my voice. “You hear anything about Wotan’s Wolves? East End’s been a dud since we took her out.”

  “Why are you asking me?” Dennis said, knitting his brows.

  “Because you would know,” I replied.

  “Lia…” He sighed and scratched the back of his head. “What’s really going on?” I frowned.

  “What’s going on is I was doing a good job and I’m trying to keep doing it.”

  “By asking me to give up intel.”

  “Come on dude,” I groaned, rubbing my temple.

  “Lia, you’re not a Ward,” Dennis hissed. “If I told you anything, they could charge me. Not just a fine, criminally, understand?”

  “Only if they find out,” I countered. “And I wouldn’t be keen to tell them.”

  “The answer’s no,” he said firmly, standing up straighter so he towered over me. “Sorry it’s not working out, but maybe you should have just stuck with us.”

  He turned on his heel and left me behind as I stared at the ground. This was so stupid. First Lafayette, which fair enough since she was a grunt, but now Dennis? Okay it had been a bit of a long shot, but I thought he’d understand since I’d actually been doing good. Apparently he was too focused on his dick to bother helping though.

  I left the school with a huff, storming to the bus stop. Amy was already gone, an emergency from the PRT calling her out of her last class. That was fine though, it was gym day anyway. Now I had some extra motivation to smash the heavy bag at least.

  Fucking stupid crap. I was, in the most literal sense, doing the Protectorate’s job for them. I hadn’t heard of any other big arrests lately, though there had apparently been some pretty pitched fighting between Werwolf and the Undersiders in the south. It made me sick, knowing villains were doing a better job policing the city than the heroes.

  That was why Nadir and I had to make a difference. We could show people there were still heroes around ready, willing, and able to get rid of the worst of the worst. But we couldn’t do it if we didn’t know where they were. I sighed as the bus rolled up to take me to the gym. Couldn’t focus on the failure or I’d be stuck all day. Maybe I could get Nadir doing research too, since she didn’t have a job or anything right now.

  Whatever the solution, we’d figure it out as a team.