“So after you grabbed her,” the officer said, writing on a form in front of him. “You broke her wrist.”

  “An accident,” I said with a shrug. “I...flinched. Tattletale said something, like she usually does, and it got to me. I didn’t want to actually hurt her.” He frowned like he couldn’t believe it, but scratched it down anyway.

  “And you allowed Skitter’s associates to escape?”

  “Skitter threatened to start killing people,” I explained. “Considering how Coi-- how Calvert’s career ended, I took it seriously. Figured getting the leader was worth it as long as we didn’t let anyone die.”

  “I’d tend to agree,” Battery said with a nod. “Even though it isn’t ideal, I can’t fault your decision Amaranth.”

  “Thanks.” It felt weird to have a hero agree with one of my choices for once. “Anyway yeah, after that I returned the pistol I borrowed to Miss Militia, then after we finished sweeping the building I got dismissed and went down for a nap. Now I’m here.”

  “Okay, great,” the officer said. “That pistol you used, that was Officer Burroughs’?”

  “Uhh, sure?” I shrugged. “I didn’t see a name on him. And I told you I discharged it once, a warning shot.”

  “You did, yes.” He made a few more scratches then pushed the papers over to me. “Want to make sure your statement’s accurate?” I nodded and took it, read it quickly, then signed at the bottom. “Great, thank you. That’s all I needed. Battery?” She shook her head. “Alright, I’ll get out of your hair then.”

  “How are you feeling?” Battery asked me after he’d left.

  “Fine, I guess,” I replied. “How’s Skitter? Behaving?”

  “Sedated.” Something must have shown in the little bit of my face that was exposed. “Under medical supervision, don’t worry. We just couldn’t be sure she wasn’t using her powers otherwise.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” I pursed my lips. “Sorry, I just...nevermind.”

  “I understand that may make you uncomfortable,” Battery said gently. “If it weren’t necessary, I would have said something too.” I nodded.

  “How are you?” I asked, cocking my head. “I heard you got hurt by Jack?” She nodded and raised her arm.

  “Lost it just above the elbow,” she explained, picking at a seam in her costume. “Could have been a lot worse, if you and Amy hadn’t counteracted Bonesaw’s plague.”

  “I’m glad you lived,” I said. I couldn’t remember if she had or not in the story. “Are um...I heard Assault left.” I winced, not sure how much more delicate I could be.

  “He did,” Battery replied. “I haven’t heard anything from him since.”

  “Sorry.”

  “He made his choice, we all did.” I couldn’t help but hear the bitterness in her voice. “Right, if you don’t have anything else to add regarding Skitter’s arrest, you’re dismissed.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  I left the interview room and headed down the hall to the elevator, trying to not let the tension in my body get to me. I hadn’t really slept after the attack, too keyed up with adrenaline. Tattletale’s promise to make me pay still echoed in my head, and I was certain the vengeful bitch meant it. I’d have to be on guard...but it was more than worth it.

  Now my problem was, well, everything else. Without Taylor, the Undersiders shouldn’t be near as much of an issue. Sure Tattletale was a problem, but she always was. The rest? The heroes managed to handle them well enough for two years after Skitter was gone, so we probably could here too. As for the Teeth and the Fallen…

  Haven had arrived the other day, a hero team full of a bunch of Christian weirdoes from the South. At least they were on our side, and had a bone to pick with the freaky Endbringer cultists. Even without Skitter, I was fairly confident they could handle the Fallen. As for the Teeth, I knew how the Butcher had been dealt with in the story; and god knew Cherish could use the company.

  How would that happen? The Undersiders could almost certainly handle it, but it had probably been a Skitter idea. Most of those ones were. Again, Tattletale could probably puzzle out a way to beat them, but at what cost? I hated the bitch, I didn’t want to see a bunch of people dead just because it would hurt her.

  Maybe I could figure a way to get that strategy to them. That definitely wasn’t a bad thing, telling a lesser evil how to beat something far worse. Could always take the rest of them down another time. I sighed and shook my head, pressing the elevator button to head down. I’d think about this later, when I wasn’t still buzzing off the adrenaline from taking Skitter down in the middle of the night.

  “Oh, hey Lia,” Chris greeted me as I entered our quarters. “Congrats on taking down Skitter, that’s seriously awesome.”

  “Thanks,” I said, pulling my mask and hood off. “Gonna go lay down for a bit, try and actually sleep.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Oh, okay.” He sounded a little disappointed. “We’re having a movie day, finally. I was sort of hoping you’d join.”

  “Movie day?” I cocked my head.

  “Oh right, you haven’t been here that long.” Chris’ cheeks flushed and he looked aside. “Sorry, forgot since you’ve been uh, busy. We used to watch a couple movies on Saturday afternoons, anyone who wanted to come could. Been a while since, you know, stuff.”

  I studied him, considering it. I barely knew the Wards, even though I’d been here for two and a bit months. They had ideas about me obviously, given how I’d spent that time, but all I knew of them was...what? Chris was a Tinker, he had issues before but was getting better, working on new things. Vista was a powerhouse, the most experienced Ward in the program here, and also twelve. Dennis was my captain and kind of an asshole.

  “Yeah okay,” I replied. “A movie day sounds...nice. Who’s coming?”

  “Just us locals,” he answered with a shrug. “Dennis is making popcorn, Missy’s gonna be back in a minute with ice cream.” I listened and could hear the sound of kernels popping. “Come on, we’ve still got to choose what we’re watching.”

  I followed him into the common area and sat down on the couch while he headed over to the cabinet. Dennis gave me a nod as he returned toting two huge bowls of popcorn, god they smelled great. Vista wasn’t far behind, with a six-pack of small ice cream containers. I rose and joined them at the cabinet to figure out what to watch.

  “So uh, what’re you guys feeling like?” Dennis said after a moment of awkward silence.

  “I don’t know, something chill?” Chris said, tumbling through a couple DVDs. “What about Blacks and Tans, aren’t they putting out the sequel next year?”

  “What’s that one?” I asked as he pulled out the case.

  “Oh it’s pretty cool,” he said, grinning. “It’s set during the Third Troubles, in the early two-thousands. Two capes on opposite sides become drinking buddies and it sort of follows them around.”

  “Little close to home,” Dennis muttered. “Veto’d.”

  “Come on Dennis it’s not—”

  “Lily left last week, remember?” Chris’ face fell. “Yeah, so let’s try something else.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I’d watch it another time,” I offered, shrugging. “Sounds like it could be interesting.”

  “Oh yeah, and it’s so funny.” He put the movie back and sighed. “Okay something else.”

  “What about Bonedancer?” Vista asked.

  “Horror,” both boys said together, making her grumble.

  “But it’s so cool!”

  “Not exactly chill out material, Missy,” Chris said with a wince.

  “Can we watch something without capes?” I asked, making all three turn their heads. “What? We’ve been living it for months. I don’t know, I don’t always want to think about work, you know?”

  “That makes sense,” Chris said, nodding. “You got anything?” I hummed thoughtfully.

  “Shards of Silver Fade,” I said after a moment. “It’s um, it’s a romance and—”

  “Ew,” Vista commented.

  “And let me finish,” I huffed. “It’s this old actress, she’s been down on her luck for a while but gets picked up by this new talent agent. She gets the actress more work and they start dating. Um, it’s really sweet and stuff.” My cheeks burned. “Don’t worry about it. I’m gonna go get changed, you guys pick something.”

  I’d forgotten my usual taste in movies was...weird. No one wanted to a romance between an actress and her agent set in the fifties, dumb to suggest. I’d just go with whatever Chris picked, his stuff sounded interesting at least. Definitely didn’t want to watch a horror movie after spending the morning covered in bugs. I returned to my room and opened my closet, sighing.

  I had nothing to wear. Not literally, I had a couple Ward tracksuits, my own sweats, and a single pair of jeans. It was just...lacking. Sweats were fine for today, and I quickly changed into them, but I’d have to go shopping soon. I needed a cell phone and stuff anyway, and it wasn’t like I’d actually gone out and done...anything since all this started. I sighed and shook my head, later. For now, I joined the Wards back at the TV.

  “You guys pick something?” All three shared a look.

  “You win,” Vista said, sounding a little glum. “These two idiots just wanna see girls kiss though.”

  “That’s not true!” Chris countered, cheeks red. “I thought it sounded...nice, especially like you said, after all the crap that’s going on.”

  “No one wants to watch a good comedy,” Dennis complained.

  “You don’t pick good comedies,” Vista retorted. “And you whine about horror stuff all the time, so you’re one to talk. Anyway, we ready?”

  “Actually,” I said. “Could we...maybe invite Amy?”

  “She’s not really a Ward,” Dennis said.

  “Well, sure, but she helps us all the time,” I argued. “And she helped capture Skitter, plus healing everyone after.”

  “I don’t mind,” Chris said with a shrug. “She’s our friend too. Haven’t talked to her in a while either really.”

  “I’m okay with it,” Vista added.

  “Okay, go get her?”

  I gave Dennis a nod and grabbed my mask from my room, then put it and my hood on and headed out. Despite the excitement of the early morning, the building was relatively quiet. Janitors were still working on clearing out the bugs, working quietly in the corners of the room. I made good time to Amy’s room and knocked on her door. A moment later, it swung open.

  “Oh, Amaranth, what’s up?” Amy cocked her head, looking down at me.

  “Hey, um, the Wards are having a movie day. I was wondering if you wanted to come too.”

  “Really?” She frowned. “I’m uh, I’m not a Ward.”

  “Well sure, but you’re our friend right?” I asked. “Everyone else is cool with it. I’d um, I’d like you to be there. If you don’t want to it’s cool, I know we were sort of up early.”

  “No it’s fine,” Amy said quickly. “What’s the movie?” I explained the premise to her and her eyes widened a fraction. “Huh, sounds...interesting. Yeah, okay just...let me put on something?”

  A few minutes later, Amy returned in jeans and a light blouse. It was a nice outfit, complimented her pretty well. I felt a little shabby in my sweats next to her. Definitely a mall visit in the future. Actually… No, it would be weird wouldn’t it? Well why would it be? Amy probably needed clothes too, plus other stuff. And if she didn’t want to, that was fine, I’d just go myself.

  “Hey,” I said when we got in the elevator. “After the movie, you want to go shopping? I...sort of don’t have clothes anymore, need a cell too. I figured maybe you want to get out of here too, maybe?” She studied me silently for a moment.

  “Maybe,” Amy replied hesitantly. “I...I guess I need a phone.”

  “Cool,” I said, letting out a breath as the door opened. “C’mon, let’s sit down.”

  We joined the other Wards in the common room. They greeted her easily enough, though Amy’s response was more of a grunt then a coherent sentence. Vista handed out ice cream and spoons, then we divided ourselves between the two couches with the popcorn bowls. Amy and Vista joined me on the larger one, while Chris and Dennis took the other. Amy’s shoulder settled against mine as the movie began to play.

  I leaned back as smile spread across my face. I felt like I could finally, finally let myself relax a little.