It looked like Weld, Sveta and Tristan might soon wrap up the Warden business of corralling people and handling questions. The crowd was dwindling, with people breaking away to talk to others.

Lookout took Dragon’s hand. The ship opened up to accept them into the bay area, where a team or cargo could presumably be stored. Monitors lit up around them.

“I’m glad you’re better, Victoria,” Defiant said.

“Thank you,” I said. The words were kind, but I wished I hadn’t heard them, because they were a reminder.

“I’ve scanned files about your team members,” he said. He leaned back against the side of the ship, setting the spear so it stood a few feet beside him, needing no hands on it to keep it upright. “You’ve taken on a pretty heavy job.”

I nodded.

“I wish things had gone differently.”

“I want things to be different this time around. Thinking about the future, not the past.”

“I agree.”

“And—completely contradicting myself… Armsmaster—Defiant. I don’t know exactly what happened, when Leviathan attacked.”

Even with the power armor he wore, not just regular armor but armor that required motors and machinery to move, I could see him draw in a deep breath. I couldn’t see his face to read his expression.

Same as Lookout. Same as Dragon.

Was it because I’d grown up with New Wave that I found it so frustrating, now? I’d always considered myself a cape at heart, and now I was feeling this annoyance at the omnipresence of something fundamental—masks. Secret identities.

Did I jar them just as much? Did they look beneath my hood and expect to see a mask there?

“What about that day concerns you?” he asked.

“You did something—you broke the truce. You were deemed guilty enough that they ‘retired’ you.”

“All correct.”

“Eric Pelham. Neil Pelham. Shielder and Manpower?”

“Yes.”

“You did something, and… did that something get my family members killed?”

“Shielder was before my mistake. Manpower—he was after.”

“You got him killed?”

“Not through malice. Not even carelessness, I feel. My mistake was that I decided I was fine with villains dying if it meant the monster could be slain. By me, ideally. Manpower was there, but I didn’t want him to die. I told myself that if Leviathan had to kill someone to end up in a certain time or place, it might as well be Kaiser. My computer helped work out the sequence of events.”

Shit on me.

Yeah. That was a violation of the truce. It fit neatly into things.

“If the villains had been spared—if you hadn’t started down that route? Would his chances have been better? Do you think Shielder could have died because you were subconsciously preparing to do this?”

There was a pause.