“So what did you think?” I asked as we rode the bus down to one of Brockton Bay’s shockingly intact malls.

  “About what, the movie?” I nodded and Amy shrugged. “It was...pretty good I guess. Don’t really know what Kate saw in Dianne, but I’m glad she helped.”

  “What, besides her talent and work ethic?” I said sarcastically. “Kate likes her because even though she’s been basically out of the business for a decade, Dianne’s still a damn good actress and wants to get even better.”

  “Yeah but Kate’s thirty.”

  “So? Dianne’s only like, fifty-two.” I shrugged. “But it was pretty funny, when the waiter asked if she was Kate’s mom.”

  “Yeah,” Amy snickered. “You um, like romance movies then?”

  “Ehh, when they’re good they’re good,” I replied. “That one’s just...special, you know?”

  “Oh?” Amy cocked her head. “Care to share?”

  "It uh..." I scratched the back of my head. "It made things sort of click, you know?"

  "Ohh."

  With that awkward revelation, I may as well have taken the conversation out back and shot it. At least Amy was a good enough person to not give me shit for it. She just settled in, maybe a little bashful, and didn’t say a word for the rest of the trip.

  As we rode, I heard the dull rumble of what was probably a distant cape fight. Craning my neck, I saw a couple flyers diving down several blocks away. As the bus rounded a corner, I could see a faint trace of smoke marring the sky. I shivered, glad that I wasn’t in the thick of it for once. It was a reminder that, even though I’d done a lot for the peace of the city, this was far from a done deal.

  For now though, things were relatively quiet; not counting the ongoing battle. Tomorrow I’d be back on patrol, being a Ward for real again. I had no doubt we were going on the offensive soon. Tagg, though a fucking asshole, was no slouch when it came to this stuff. Soon enough I’d be eating laser blasts and bullets with the best and rest. I didn’t want to think about that right now, god knew I’d be doing nothing but too soon.

  Finally, the bus pulled to a stop at Captain’s Plaza. It was a smaller mall on the north side of the city, a little out of the way compared to the larger ones downtown but those had been...remodeled in the recent fighting. Here was intact and packed, not a surprise for a Saturday afternoon really. Amy stuck to my side as we wandered into the mall.

  The noise hit me first, the constant, loud murmur that seemed to be the universal sound of ‘mall’. It put me on edge, probably because the usual places things got this noisy anymore tended to be bad for my health. Still, I was with Amy, I was in civvies, and...I was safe. Relatively speaking of course, it was Brockton Bay.

  “Where first?” Amy asked, raising her voice to be heard over the hubbub.

  “Good question,” I replied, looking around. “Oh, here we go.”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a Boathouse storefront. Their stuff was going to be pretty basic, but basic was exactly what I needed right now. I wanted nicer stuff too, but getting started was more important. Amy made a face, but didn’t comment as I began browsing for some stuff to try on.

  I grabbed some jeans off the rack to start with. The one good thing about being my size was there was never a shortage of stuff for me. Well...sometimes in the adults section, but even then they usually had extra smalls on hand. I paused by the shorts, considering a couple. I didn’t exactly have the legs for the cute ones...but a pair of baggy cargo shorts stuck out to me.

  They actually looked sort of okay, a little darker than khaki, and I could probably wear them with a bunch of stuff. They weren’t what I’d call stylish, but neither was I. All my clothes were years behind the times, things I had left over from junior high, so what did it matter if I got more stuff that wasn’t in? Mom would have sneered at them if I asked for them…

  I snagged the shorts and headed for the change rooms, trailed by Amy. She’d been oddly silent while I was shopping, and it wasn’t like she’d been doing her own. She just shrugged when I asked if she needed a change room, so I went in and got started without her. I pulled off my sweats and hoodie, wincing at the sight of my arm. I pulled my hoodie back on, then slipped into the first pair of jeans. Once I’d tucked in my shirt and fastened them at my hips they looked...fine.

  Skinny jeans weren’t the best on me since I was, well, skinny. They hung weirdly off my calves and made them look like tubes. Worse still I didn’t have an ass they could flatter, so I just looked like a scrawny boy trying to be trendy. I huffed and pulled them off, tossing them aside and making a ‘reject’ pile with them.

  The other pair I grabbed were flared and slightly better, at least they were styled to hang loose below the knee. Maybe if I had blouses to go with them I’d like them a bit more, but I wasn’t exactly a fan of those either. I didn’t have enough of a chest to make the flowy styles work, it just emphasized how little was really there. I sighed and tossed them on the reject pile too.

  Dejected, I grabbed the shorts and pulled them up, fastening them at my waist. I fixed my tshirt then turned to the mirror and...huh. That actually wasn’t bad. I mean, I hadn’t shaved my legs since December so I didn’t look the best, but these sort of...worked. With the right belt, they’d make me look like I had some kind of figure where the lower-sitting jeans wouldn’t. And even though they were boyish they were...hm, had to get a second opinion. Lucky for me I had a doctor on site.

  “Amy,” I said as I stepped out of the change room, making her jump. “What do you think of these?” She blinked owlishly, then her eyes flicked down.

  “Oh those are…” She blinked again, gaze fixed on my shorts. “Okay no offense, but I don’t think those would look good on most people.” I frowned.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  “Oh, I thought they were okay.” I sighed. “Thanks though, definitely needed a second opinion. I’ll toss ‘em and—”

  “No, I mean, shit. I think they look fine on you.” Amy looked away. “Sorry, yeah, you look...fine.”

  “Oh, okay.” I sighed again, relieved. “Thanks Amy.”

  She muttered something like ‘you’re welcome’ as I went back in and got my sweats back on. A few minutes later I’d paid for the shorts and grabbed a brown leather belt to go with them, then we headed back into the mall. I knew I needed shirts, so angled for Vasilek just down the promenade.

  Amy was about as much help as before, offering terse approval or denial of what I tried on. No hint at whether I actually looked good in any of it; the highest praise she gave was that v-necks looked ‘nice’ on me. A couple of those and a couple regular crew-necks were all I got, though I made sure the colours varied a little. Unfortunately, despite it being summer, I knew that long-sleeves were the only option for me. Amy didn’t ask at least.

  When I asked if she wanted to get anything, Amy just shook her head. With a shrug, I headed into Lacey’s Lace because if I had to go one more day in PRT issued underwear then I’d be waking up god only knew when. It was pretty easy at least, since I didn’t need a real bra and boyshorts were on sale. Amy waited at the entrance, looking decidedly uncomfortable being there.

  “You okay?” I asked when I’d finished buying my intimates. “Sorry I wasn’t going to ask for your opinion on stuff in there or anything.”

  “It’s fine,” Amy said tersely. “Just getting bored I guess. You need anything else?” I glanced down at my bags.

  “Oh.” I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. “Cell phone.”

  With a sigh, Amy followed me back into the mall proper. We’d barely been an hour, but it sounded like she was done. That was fair, I’d make sure our last stop was a quick one. I was pretty tired too still, her probably moreso since she’d done a lot more than I had last night. Besides, I doubted she was sleeping much better than me these days.

  The Radio Shack in the mall was a small affair, but had plenty of phones to choose from. I didn’t want to spend much time though, and since money wasn’t a problem I grabbed a decent flagship phone from Nokia. Good screen, built well, and apparently had top-of-the-line encryption. Probably not necessary, but paranoia was possibly the only reason I was alive right now; I could feed it a bit, as a treat.

  “You getting one?” I asked Amy while the clerk rang me up. She shook her head.

  “No money,” she muttered. “Don’t have my wallet.” I arched a brow.

  “Did you leave it at...home?” I said.

  “No I...I lost it a while ago.” Amy said bashfully. “Sorry.”

  “It’s cool,” I replied. “Want to go pick a phone?”

  “Huh?”

  “You can pay me back later,” I said with a shrug. “Or like, you don’t really have to. Not exactly hurting, you know?” She pursed her lips and looked at the ground.

  “You don’t have to,” Amy mumbled. “You’ve already spent a ton today.”

  “Again, not hurting.” I offered her a smile. “Come on, I need someone’s number in my phone.”

  “Fine,” she said, practically running back to the phone aisle.

  I offered the cashier a nervous grin, but he just shrugged and called me ‘thoughtful’. At least he wasn’t bothered that I was taking up his time. Amy returned a couple minutes later with a crappy flip-phone in hand. When I asked if she wanted like, a real phone, she just shook her head. Well whatever, if she didn’t want something better then there was no accounting for taste. I paid for the phones, then two prepaid SIMs, and we were off.

  After checking with Amy, I led us down to the food court. Both of us were hungry and we could definitely agree on the lack of good food at the PRT base. She didn’t even complain that I’d have to pay for everything, which was progress if nothing else. At some point I’d have to figure out how much money was actually in my account. For now, having a bank card and knowing ‘plenty’ was enough.

  We decided on pizza, apparently there was a place here called Dimitri’s that was supposed to be great. One pepperoni and one margherita in hand, and twenty minutes later, we found a quiet corner in the court to sit. The pizza was damn good and kept us too occupied for conversation. That was alright, I’d had a pretty good day anyway.

  “Thanks,” Amy said once she’d finished her meal. “For...everything. It was nice of you.”

  “It really wasn’t all that,” I said, swallowing the last of my food. “I had to come anyway, but the company made it better. So...thanks for joining me. Hope the pizza made it worth it.” She chuckled quietly.

  “Yeah, no it was good,” Amy replied, smiling briefly before hiding it behind a neutral mask. “Anyway, I’ll pay you back for the phone as soon as I can.”

  “No rush.” I smiled. “Payback for all the trouble I cause you by getting hurt, despite being invincible.”

  “It’s not trouble,” she countered. “I don’t mind fixing you after you go and do like...your job, you know? It’s not like you come over asking for—”

  “Hey, are you Panacea?” My head snapped left and I saw some random teen, eyes wide. “You are right? Hey can you fix my sister’s knee? She got hurt pretty bad last week and she hasn’t been able to go back to work.”

  “You’ve got the wrong person,” Amy muttered, looking away.

  “Nah, no way,” the kid said, planting his hands on the table. “Come on, you heal people right? Well she needs healing!”

  “Hey, buddy, she said you’ve got the wrong person,” I snapped, getting a glare. I stared him down; he wasn’t Jack fucking Slash. “How about you leave her alone.”

  “Who’re you, her girlfriend? Screw off.” He turned back to Amy. “Come on, she’s hurt real bad.”

  “My name’s Amelia Lavere,” Amy said shakily. “You have the wrong person.”

  “Nah I’m not wrong I—”

  “Dude,” I cut him off, standing and gripping his shoulder. “You’ve got the wrong girl, back off.” He scowled at me, then winced as I tightened my grip slightly and pulled away.

  “Some kind of fuckin’ hero,” he spat, then turned on his heel and left.

  Well, that was enough excitement for me. I took Amy’s hand in mine, then our bags in the other, and headed straight for the bus stop. Fortunately the next one wasn’t long coming, and I took her to the back. It was mercifully empty, so we had it practically to ourselves. When the bus started moving, I nudged her arm, making her look up from the floor she’d been staring at since we left.

  “Hey, you okay?” I asked. She looked away from me.

  “I…” Amy paused and bit her lip. “I should have gone and healed that guy’s sister.” I frowned.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I’m supposed to be a hero,” she hissed, baring her teeth. “I...I’m supposed to help people.”

  “Well sure, me too,” I replied, keeping my voice low. “But if he came up to me and started calling me Amaranth? I’d have probably broken his nose.” Or worse, but she didn’t need to know that. “See what I mean though, about not having a mask making you a target?” She pursed her lips.

  “Fuck,” Amy swore. “Didn’t have this trouble before.”

  “People in the mall usually weren’t living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland,” I said. We fell silent for a few minutes as the bus rumbled on.

  “Was he right?”

  “Hm?” I turned and looked at Amy, frowning at the haunted look on her face.

  “I, I’m not a hero,” Amy whispered. “The worst villain from a decade ago was my dad, I...you know what I did.”

  “Made a mistake and fixed it.” I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “And since then you’ve been a huge help. It won’t change the past, but you can at least make the future better.” She gripped my hand tightly.

  “You really think I can?”

  “Absolutely,” I replied without hesitation. “As long as you’re in it.” A faltering grin touched her lips.

  “You’re a dork,” Amy huffed, shuffling a little closer in her seat. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, Amy,” I said with a smile. “Anytime.”