Jessica nodded. She glanced out the window. “It doesn’t help.”

“Brockton Bay was always nice, weather-wise. It didn’t have a lot going for it, but it did have mild weather. Once upon a time.”

Jessica smiled. “It’s good to remember the good things. At the risk of slipping into habit, I’ll ask: how are you doing? You’re okay, after the broken trigger incident?”

“I’m okay. My cousin wasn’t, but she’s bounced back. I think it was a wake-up call.”

“How so?”

“She might be reconsidering if she wants to be with the PRTCJ. She might aim for something lower-key. Her mom did, after things went bad in Brockton Bay.”

“I hope she’s happy and comfortable, wherever she ends up. I did like her, when she and I crossed paths.”

At the hospital. That fragment went unspoken.

“How’s the girl I found?” I asked.

“She’s managing. We’re getting her stabilized and figuring out her power. She wants to meet you at some point, to thank you.”

“She’s good, though?”

“Far better than she was.”

I nodded.

“The broken trigger aside, how have you managed since we last talked? You talked about joining a team.”

I gave her a one-shoulder shrug. “Pitched myself to a few. It didn’t take. I lost my job, the volunteer stuff feels empty. I’ll survive in the meantime.”

“I find it very interesting that you asked about Hunter, and you wanted to clarify that she wasn’t just managing, she was good. Then I ask you, and your response is that you’re surviving. You’re managing.”

“You’re going therapist mode on me,” I remarked, smiling.

She smiled back.

“How are you?” I asked, before she could ask me the same.

“I’m settling into my new role, trying to wrap things up and make sure there are no loose ends as I transition. Are you—”

“You said—” I said, inadvertently interrupting her.

“Go ahead.”

“You said you were busy. Is busy a good thing, in Jessica-Yamada-land?”

It took her a second to answer. Not our usual one-sided dialogue, this, her talking, me waiting for a chance to communicate, already plotting how I could say what I wanted to say as efficiently as possible. I smiled at the observation, and I was left pretty sure she caught it, because she smiled again.

She replied, “I’m looking forward to when I have more time. Right now, it’s balancing out. Any exhaustion on my part is easier to deal with because the things I’m doing are new, exciting, a little terrifying, but positive overall.”

“Terrifying? Because of the people you’re dealing with, or…?”