I slept in later than usual for a Sunday morning. Which, for me, sleeping in later isn’t really late: eight AM. It was my morning off from the gym, and I figured I’d benefit from a little extra rest.

  Yawning loudly, I pulled my phone out of my hair and shot a message to Taylor. I’d been a little miffed at her for hitting the fundraiser while I was there with my family, but we’d talk about that later today. I wouldn’t say I was truly mad, more just… bewildered. The whole thing felt like a prank.

  Granted, a prank with massive balls. If they were trying to build street cred, I honestly couldn’t think of anything bolder than crashing a party with nearly every cape in the area. Then, busting a move and getting away clean. Very pie in the face for the Protectorate.

  I would have been irate if anyone I knew had been hurt, but from our perspective? They showed up, blacked out the place, had a scuffle with the Protectorate, and then vanished into more darkness. The smoke creeped some people out, but for me? Barely registered on the creepometer. Pedestrian.

  I had been maybe a bit too protective of Amy. I was going to keep her safe, the same way Victoria kept Melody safe. I ended up just grabbing her and carrying her into the corner, not far from where she’d already been lingering.

  Five, maybe ten minutes later, it was all over. I helped her up. I’d sort of just squatted down with her and held her hands throughout. She’d been scared, trembling a little, but I was cool as a cucumber. I think it helped calm her down. Figures, she could probably see my stress response. Or lack of one.

  After the Undersiders left, the party got called early. There was containment foam everywhere, and a few members of the Protectorate were a little banged–and stung–up.

  Someone had apparently drop-kicked Velocity in the nuts at some point, which, oof, but also? Super funny. Medics carted the poor guy out on a stretcher with an ice pack on his junk.

  Why the hell didn’t he wear a cup? Physical combatant. Man bits. Spandex? It’s like the most common-sense thing in the world.

  My phone buzzed with confirmation, and I got up off my amazing beanbag bed.

  Which, to be clear, wasn’t stuffed with beans or packing peanuts or anything like that. It was filled with hand-sized, moderately squishy foam rubber blocks. It could take my weight, wouldn’t flatten out, and was comfy in both forms.

  Time for my morning slop bucket. Mm-mm. Breakfast meat smoothie.

  I had my drinking technique down now, no more unfortunate spills! Which was, like, mildly annoying when it’s tea. Significantly more annoying when it was this gross stuff. I’d say that I was sort of numb to it at this point, but truthfully? Whatever my body wanted, whatever it craved, I was getting in droves, eating this crap. The texture was a little off-putting, but it tasted good to me.

  I’d never taken to being one of those gym people who drank eggs because of the slimy texture, but if it had tasted great? Maybe, maybe.

  I texted Amy next to check in on her.

  I was super proud of her. She’d had a breakthrough moment at the party after we’d shared our heart-to-heart. Then the Undersiders attacked.

  Somehow, that locked it in for her. She took what I’d been trying to tell her seriously. We talked early Saturday morning, and she came over with Vicky, who was completely bewildered. Her sister, the notorious couch potato, had woken up, talked to me, and then asked Vicky to bring her over so the two of us could go to the gym.

  Victoria stuck around, probably to see if something else was going on. But nope, the three of us hit my gym, and I walked Amy through her very first strength training day. I started her off with the basics: just calisthenics and a little bar work, no weights at all.

  It was hard for her; she had zero baseline fitness. And she was extremely self-conscious about the way she looked, moved, and performed.

  The thing was, I’d seen this before with others, and myself to an extent. She was frustrated by how much she struggled with the baby steps. I reminded her that struggling today didn’t mean she would struggle forever. That fitness and training are a journey, not a sprint.

  Victoria was super supportive. I wasn’t sure if having her there was a good idea at first. Not that she’d say anything unkind, totally not her style. I worried Amy would feel even more self-conscious with her Brute sister there, the one who could bench press cars.

  We’d shared a few of our own embarrassing training flubs and failures when we’d been training. By the end, we ended on a high note. Amy was wiped out. Sore. Smiling.

  I told her to take it easy the rest of the day, and warned her that the real challenge would be today.

  I went through my morning routine, keeping an eye on the clock. I was going to leave around 9:30, early enough to get in a little leisurely flying on my way over and still arrive early.

  I had a bag packed and ready. Fitness clothing, I wouldn’t be worried about getting scuffed up, grass-stained, and dirty. Lunch, drinks. A book I’d bought last time I was at the coffee shop, and had Taylor on my mind. A bit dense, a fundamentals book on strength and fitness training. Lots of references, images, and step-by-step guides for the self-starter.

  It was a chunky text, and a little pricey, but it was a good one.

  The time came to head out. I shifted, threw on a quick top, track pants, and a set of beater sneakers, then slipped out the back.

  I had a few spots I’d been using to change, and I varied it up each time. A five-minute jog, vaulting a few chain-link fences, and a rooftop climb later, and I was airborne, my bag slung around my neck.

  I flew high up over the city, relaxed, and just enjoyed myself for a good ten minutes or so.

  When I passed over the Undersider’s base, I spotted the all-clear signal and dive-bomb landed out front. Taylor was leaning against the front doors of the building next to Lisa. Taylor was dressed as I’d asked her, backpack stuffed and ready.

  Lisa was also dressed in a few layers. I sat down in front of them and glanced between the two. I waited for one of them to speak. Probably Lisa.

  Lisa clapped her hands together, wearing that shit-eating grin.

  “So! I know I wasn’t invited, but Taylor, here’s a little antsy about heading off on her own after all the exciting recent events. We’ve all been enjoying some time off. I figured maybe I could tag along. We could do a girls' day out.”

  Taylor glanced off to the side. I wasn’t sure if that was what was actually going on, or if Lisa had just inserted herself into things, or what.

  I gave Lisa a flat look, which, given the no-face thing, was just my normal Apex look. But I at least shifted my head to directly face her instead of doing the creepy statue thing.

  Lisa clasped her hands low in front of her and fluttered her eyelashes in the most disgustingly exaggerated but please face I’d ever seen.

  I asked, dryly, “Are you going to be annoying as shit the entire time?”

  She dropped the look and resumed her normal grin. “I’ll be good! Mostly! Relatively.”

  I waited.

  She raised a pinky. “Promise!”

  I sighed. “Okay, fine. But we’re flying, so I hope you’re not afraid of heights.”

  I asked, “You two have glasses, goggles, anything like that?”

  Taylor unzipped her bag, pulled out a black wad of cloth with yellow lenses, and stuffed it in her hoodie pocket. Lisa pulled out a pair of big mirrored aviators.

  I gave her a look. “Ugh. You would wear aviators.”

  “What!” she exclaimed.

  I lay down on the street. "Taylor rides up front. You get the back seat, flygirl.”

  “How’s, uh… how’s this work?” Taylor asked.

  “Sit on my shoulders like you would for a ride. Reach forward, lean forward a little, and I’ll hold you with my hair.”

  I looked over at Lisa. “Sit over my hips. Same deal. I’ll grab your hands and legs, it’ll be like riding a bike.”

  “Oh, baby,” Lisa said as I told her to sit on my hips.

  “I will hurl you out of the sky and play fetch with you while you’re falling if you don’t quit it.”

  Lisa just grinned and mimed zipping her lips shut.

  “Can you put your thing on one-handed?” I asked Taylor as I climbed to my feet.

  I’d already coiled tentacles around their legs and waists, holding them securely. It was more of a personal comfort thing.

  She glanced up and down the street, then pulled on her mask and adjusted it into place.

  “You’re used to riding those… ponies, so I imagine this’ll be way easier. You don’t even have to hold yourself in place. Hang on. Lisa, keep a good hold on your glasses until we’re up.”

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  “Got it,” Lisa said. And I thought she sounded just a touch nervous. Taylor leaned forward, and I took her hands and arms in my hair, supporting her weight entirely.

  “Off we go, then.”

  I crouched and lightly jumped from the street onto the roof of the factory. I was confident it could take my weight, having seen how robustly the building was constructed inside.

  Judging by the sounds they made, it probably felt like getting slammed in the back with a box of bricks.

  I unfolded my wings fully, crouched on the corner of the building, gave a little hop, and we took to the sky. I climbed fast, keeping a pair of eyes on the two as I did. I couldn’t see Taylor’s face, and Lisa wasn’t grinning. Once we were high enough that I felt sufficiently confident that nobody would be able to see them or make them out, I angled towards our destination and took off.

  I kept the speed on the lower end. It was a nice day outside, but it was still early May, and flying outside the city’s heat bloom came with a good five to ten degree drop. I figured we were flying at about maybe thirty to fifty miles per hour. Convertible speeds. Fast enough to move, not so fast that it felt like a wind tunnel.

  Lisa loosened up a little after a minute or two and started looking around, careful to keep her glasses from catching the wind.

  Taylor? It was like night and day. She’d been as tense as a wound spring getting on, climbing, and taking off. Once we were flying? She relaxed completely.

  We were out of the city limits in no time.

  I turned my head over my shoulder. “All good?”

  “You didn’t need to take off that fast!” Lisa called up to me.

  I grinned. My version of a grin, anyway.

  “That wasn’t even fast. But I wanted to get up out of average eyesight range so you two didn’t have to sweat your identities.”

  “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, watching where you’re flying? ” Lisa shot back.

  I licked the crest of my face. “I am. Apex sees everything!”

  Lisa groaned. “Please, no third person. I might just jump.”

  “Okay, you know, fair. But in my defense, I do have more than one form, and they’re not the same. Third person is… pretty awful in most circumstances, though. Agreed.”

  She bobbed her head. “Fair point!”

  “Taylor?”

  “Hmm?”

  “...You good?”

  “Oh!” she said. “Yeah, sorry! This is… really amazing, actually. I feel like I’d do this all day if I could.”

  “I know, right? It’s so calm. Relaxing. Like nothing matters up here. You’re just off doing your own thing. It’s even better if you’re the one in the driver’s seat!

  Victoria told me about that before I could do all of this. It’s one of those things you have to experience firsthand to really get it.”

  I thought a moment, then asked: “Were you okay with taking off and flying a little faster earlier?”

  She bobbed her head. “Yeah, that doesn’t bother me at all. I actually kind of like thrill rides.”

  “Oh, really? You mean… like this? ”

  I flipped us briefly into a barrel roll.

  Taylor laughed out loud, totally relaxed, letting the motion toss her while I held her secure. Lisa, meanwhile, death-gripped the tentacles around her arms but didn’t say anything.

  I glanced back over my shoulder. “Sorry, Lisa. I’ll save the acrobatics for when it’s just me and Taylor.”

  Lisa nodded quickly.

  Taylor perked up. “Really?”

  “Sure, why not! That’s part of the reason we’re out here, right? Fuck off, blow off some steam!”

  I spotted the place that Victoria and I had torn around in a few weeks ago and started to glide down to it.

  I passed the big clearing, banked sharply around, and landed with a forward lope before coming to a halt and lying down for the two to hop off.

  They dusted themselves off and stretched a little. I did too.

  “What is this place, your playpen?” Lisa asked, glancing around at the toppled trees and cratered earth, the grass already starting to grow back.

  I chuckled, low and deep. “Sorta. When I first changed, Victoria had the idea to bring me out here so I could get used to being Apex. It was good, we had fun.”

  “Well, that explains why it’s half blasted to pieces. You had Super Bimbo out here flailing around.”

  I brought the tip of my tail snaking around and tapped Lisa lightly on the chest with the tip of a claw. She stared at me. “Hey. Victoria’s a long-time friend of mine. My sister and I are both tight with the Dallons. You don’t have to like her, but I won’t hear you disrespecting her, either. She’s one of the smartest people I know.”

  Lisa took off her aviators and rolled her eyes. “You must not know many people then.”

  I wasn’t going to lie there and take it. I wasn’t sure if this was playful banter for her or not, but even as an inside joke, it felt kinda mean-spirited.

  “I get you’re some kind of Thinker among the rest of us mere Cro-magnon capes, but have you ever considered that you’re just wrong?”

  She planted a hand on her hip while Taylor pulled off her mask and rummaged through her backpack. “Fine, I get it. She’s your friend, you’re being nice, and you’re circling the Wards’ wagons.”

  I shook my head. “No. You’re wrong.”

  “Oh, really? About what?”

  “I’m not saying that because she’s my friend, Lisa. If someone was calling you a moron behind your back, I’d tell them the same thing. And I doubt you’d call us mutuals.”

  I exhaled slowly. “I know cracking jokes and needling people is your whole thing. But direct it somewhere, you know?”

  She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “You mean to direct it, like, towards my enemies?”

  I wanted to say that Vicky wasn’t their enemy. But… in a mostly literal sense, she kind of was.

  I sat there in silence, thinking it over.

  Taylor pulled a water bottle from her bag and took a sip.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Lisa asked. That grin was back.

  I sighed. “I realize this isn’t the strongest argument, but I’d almost say the younger members of New Wave–and the Wards, too–are more like rivals to your team than true enemies. But maybe that’s splitting hairs.”

  Lisa crossed her arms. “They’d both throw us in jail, so yes, I’d call them enemies by my definition.”

  I thought about how I felt when Armsmaster tried to arrest me. When he came to my parents’ house.

  “That’s a fair point,” I said, “and I do know what that feels like. I just… I think this game we all play, cops and robbers? It lacks a lot of nuance where we need it most.”

  I paused to think. “The bigger point I was trying to make was, you do share alignment in some areas. Like when we were all fighting the ABB.”

  “I would say you have far more in common with New Wave than, say, Empire Eighty-Eight. And I don’t mean that just because they’re Nazis. I mean… You all seem like you have your heads on straight. Those guys have actual serial killers in their ranks.”

  I glanced between them. “Doesn’t it make more sense not to piss off people you might actually align with in some areas?”

  Lisa grinned wider. “Sure, but where’s the fun in that?”

  Taylor cut in. “What do you mean, you know what it feels like to get thrown in jail?”

  I groaned. “Ugh. We’re hitting all the fun and relaxing topics today on our nature outing.” I slapped the tip of my tail on the grass a few times in annoyance. “The night of the Somer’s Rock meeting? The Protectorate tried to arrest me.”

  Lisa blinked rapidly, and Taylor tilted her head.

  “What–really? For what?” Lisa asked.

  “I went swimming in the bay that night.

  Apparently, they thought I’d just left some grand council meeting to plan the downfall of the Protectorate ENE by blowing up the rig from underwater.”

  Lisa stared at me for a second, then burst out laughing.

  “Who tried to arrest you?” Taylor asked.

  I turned my head to look at her. “Take a wild guess who.”

  She frowned. “Armsmaster?”

  “Yep. Him, Miss Militia, and Shadow Stalker. Surprise pool party, just for me.”

  “What did you do ?” Taylor asked.

  “Well,” I said, propping myself up on my elbows so we were closer to eye level. “I’m much faster than people realize when I want to be. Armsmaster told me in no uncertain terms I was going to super jail on the Rig.”

  I flicked my tail back and forth.

  “Tried to jab me with a Taser on his trick stick. That didn’t work, so I snatched it out of his hands and took to the air before they could do anything else. Told them to very kindly fuck off, threw it about two feet deep into the pavement, and left.”

  I huffed out a little sigh. “Apparently, they didn’t know it was me until afterward, and they’ve since apologized.”

  Lisa’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “There’s a lot there you’re not telling.”

  Taylor looked over at Lisa.

  I turned to her as well. “Are you going to tell me why you crashed a fundraiser gala, kicked someone in the balls, and then dipped out like it was all for shits and giggles?”

  Taylor blushed bright red.

  I turned my head to her, and she looked away and mumbled something under her breath.

  I gasped. “Taylor! It was you!?”

  She stared down at the ground and said softly, “I didn’t mean to. I thought he’d have protection when I had my baton out.”

  I grabbed her by her shoulders with my lower arms and gave her a shake. She flinched, and then I started cackling like an idiot. “Are you kidding me!?” That’s fucking hilarious! Fucked up, but funny as hell! The medics took him out on a stretcher with his balls on ice, haha!”

  Taylor stammered, and I slapped her on the shoulder and let her go. Lisa was grinning like hell.

  “Anyway, the question still stands. What’s up with that?” I looked between the two.

  “You first,” Lisa said.

  “Only if you’re actually going to answer,” I shot back.

  Lisa shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

  “They offered me an invitation to join the Protectorate here.” There. I said it. No emotional avalanche. Just… a simple fact.

  Taylor’s head darted up to meet my gaze. Lisa’s ever-present grin was still plastered across her face.

  “Aaand…?” Lisa dragged out the question.

  “I told them no.”

  Lisa was practically leering at this point. “Look at you! You do have a spine after all!”

  I stared at her. My voice was deadpan. “Yes. And it’s about thirty feet long.”

  Lisa snerked. Taylor just blinked.

  I held out a palm, lower hand. Waiting for her answer as part of our bargain.

  “Oh, that’s easy,” she said breezily and smirking. “It was a job.”

  “Let me get this straight,” I replied, voice level. “You took a job to throw pie in the face of the entire Protectorate and Wards teams. In front of the city’s elites. For money.”

  “Got it in one, champ,” Lisa quipped.

  “I don’t buy it,” I told her. “There’s no way. You’d have to be idiots to do that for pocket change. And the Undersiders are not idiots.”

  Lisa and Taylor shared a look. Lisa rocked her head back and forth a little. Taylor stared. Finally, Lisa just shrugged.

  “It wasn’t just pocket change,” Taylor said, shuffling her feet a bit in the grass before looking me in the eye. “It was seven figures.”

  Okay, well. That tracks.

  But… Wait.

  There are a lot of people it could have been.

  But what about the simplest answer?

  Coil was throwing that kind of money at me.

  Do they work for him, too?

  “Hmm.” I slapped my tail against the grass.

  “Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.” I tapped a claw into the dirt with each beat.

  Lisa was watching me, and I was watching her, even with my head pointed at Taylor.

  “Don’t suppose you’re working for Coil?”

  There.

  Teeny-tiny tell–Lisa’s brows twitched for just a second.

  Now it was my turn to play mind-fuck games.

  I turned to Lisa.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, Ms. Tattletale.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” she said, trying to play it off.

  I pressed the advantage. “Yes, you did. I heard your heart rate spike.”

  She crossed her arms and frowned.

  “What,” I teased, “Doctor doesn’t like the taste of their own medicine?”

  “You do too,” Taylor interjected.

  Knew you were smart as hell, Taylor. Half the reason I wanted to talk to you out here today.

  I held a lower palm out and rocked it side-to-side. “Yes and no. I’ve been acting as a freelancer. He’s hired me quite a bit and has disgusting amounts of disposable income. That’s what let me make the connection.”

  Lisa just grunted and looked away.

  I watched her look away and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Just let the sound of the woods stretch and fill the silence.

  “You don’t have to tell me everything,” I said. “But you think I haven’t done the same thing? Checked out, cracked a joke, pretended I didn’t care when something got too real?”

  I flicked my tail lazily. Just punctuation.

  “I’m not your enemy, Lisa. But I am a fighter. I won’t take verbal body shots without returning a few of my own.”

  I ran the tip of my tongue over the edge of my beak. “I’d like to think you can respect that.”

  Lisa ran her fingers through her hair, then turned around, a grin on her face. “So, what are we doing out here anyway? The woods are dreadfully boring.”

  “You didn’t have to come if you’d be bored,” Taylor said quietly.

  “Are you kidding? This has been way more fun than rereading the same tired news articles.”

  Taylor nodded slowly. I ran my claws through the grass, waiting for them to finish.

  “Well,” I said, “I wanted to ask Taylor for her help. And thought maybe I’d offer a few things in return.”

  Taylor frowned. “My help? With what?” She glanced over at Lisa, who shrugged.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  How do I say this without sounding like a weirdo? Maybe the blunt approach with her.

  “Okay. I’m going to try and say this in a way that hopefully doesn’t sound weird,” I said.

  “Oh boy…” Lisa murmured.

  “I think you’re… awesome. You inspire me. And I was hoping you could maybe give me some tips or things to think about.”

  She blinked and frowned. Maybe she thought I was messing with her?

  Lisa beat me to it.

  “She’s actually serious right now.”

  I nodded.

  Taylor looked… confused. And maybe a little angry. Definitely tense.

  Lisa strolled over to her and threw an arm over her shoulder.

  “Taylor…” Taylor glanced at her.

  “You do sort of go hard,” Lisa said. “I think our friend the Blue Bomber over here is asking for fighting tips. That’s kind of her thing.”

  “Not…precisely,” I clarified. “It applies to fighting, sure, but the thing that really strikes me about you, Taylor, is your sheer level of creativity. I wish I could understand your thought process. You’re able to topple giants with… well, literally a cockroach in Lung’s case.”

  I paused for a beat.

  “That’s what I’m getting at. How do you even think of that in the first place? My mind’s somewhere else entirely in a fight. And I’d like to try and learn from you.”

  “I don’t think I could fight like you, but I’d like to try and think like you.”

  Taylor looked at me like I’d just started speaking Greek.

  “I… I don’t think it’s anything special,” she said finally, her voice small. “It’s just–panic, most of the time. Figuring out how to cheat.”

  She rubbed her arms, looking down at the ground.

  “I don’t think of it as creativity. It’s just… trying to make do with what I have. Trying not to die. That’s all.”

  She paused.

  “But if it helps, I can try. I mean… if you really want me to.”

  She sighed and looked back up at me. “Aren’t you going to change back?”

  Oof.

  I cleared my throat. “I could, if you’d like, but it’s not ‘changing back.’ It’s the other way around.”

  She looked momentarily confused.

  “The blonde girl with killer abs. That’s not me. This is me. The other version is just… me pretending things haven’t changed. And I can’t do it all the time. There are… costs, I guess you’d say, to keeping it up.”

  Taylor frowned. “I thought you were speaking in metaphors in that conversation we had, back at the lair.”

  “I mean, I was.” I said, “but also being pretty literal at the same time. I know, a contradiction. Sort of my life.”

  Lisa smirked and peeled off Taylor, and clapped her hands together. “Creativity, trying to find inspiration, your murky understanding of your own power. Why Apex, if you wanted help, you could have just asked me.”

  “I somehow doubt you offer complimentary team-up power analysis packages.”

  The smirk grew wider. “No, of course not! But we here at Tattle, Tale, and Associates offer consulting services for the very modest rate of five figures per hour!”

  I snorted. “I didn’t realize Thinker headaches were such a profitable business model. I’m taking my power back to PowerMart for a refund.”

  Lisa went still for just a second.

  Stillness from Lisa was rare, from what I’d seen to date.

  I hit a nerve, completely by accident.

  But why?

  “I didn’t mean to step on something there.”

  I said it lightly. No pressure. Just tossing a line out with open hands.

  “You okay?” I asked her.

  Lisa rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t read too much into it, scales.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and huffed. “We are going to do things out here at some point, right?”

  I nodded my head.

  “Yeah, shall we get into it then?”

  Taylor took a drink from her water bottle and then nodded.

  Lisa smirked and unzipped her jacket.

  She was back in control again. Or pretending to be. I couldn’t quite tell which, and maybe that was the point.

  I braced my stance and let the quiet fall over us again.

  Time to see what we can do together.