“It’s fine. Really. I’m not—”

Pause.

“Okay,” she said. She pulled the phone away from her ear. “Houndstooth wants to talk to the person in charge of the group.”

I saw Ashley and Tristan exchange looks.

“I hate phones,” Ashley said.

Tristan reached for the phone.

“Houndstooth. I’m Capricorn. Yeah. Team Reach. Group of six with a coach that’s a partial member, kind of.”

He glanced at me as he said it, and I shrugged.

“Everyone’s here. We’ve got a thing going on, we were thinking of cooperating with other groups. Can I put you on speaker?”

There was a pause.

Kenzie turned around, and hit a key on her keyboard.

An image appeared in the center of our group, and most of us backed away.

A still image of a person. He had a sleek, Anubis-like helmet or mask that encapsulated his head. His actual outfit was sleek as well, but Western. Nothing of an actual houndstooth pattern, ironically.

“You’re on speaker, I think,” Tristan said.

“Hi guys,” Houndstooth said. He sounded more adult than ‘kid’. “I’ve got to admit, I’m wary.”

“Understandable. I get that this comes out of nowhere,” Tristan said. “Listen, this is a take-it-or-leave-it thing, we’re fine if you decide it’s too much of a question mark and pass. Offer is a favor for a favor. There’s an area we’re interested in, and we’re hoping to get some other people showing up there, patrols. Maximizing pressure and seeing what we can shake up.”

“What area?”

“Can’t say until you agree, but it’s not too dangerous.”

“I can think of a few places it could be, especially if you’re a new team operating in open jurisdictions. New Brockton, or one of the Fallen camps, big or small.”

Kenzie wrote something down. She held up the paper.

he’s smart

“Less dangerous than that, even,” Tristan said.

“We show up, we… patrol, make our presences known. What’s the fallout?”

“Twenty percent chance they pick a fight?” Tristan asked. He looked around at the group.

“Ten at most, and only if you stick around. I visited and they took half an hour before showing their faces,” Ashley said. “They won’t go for the jugular, either. Worst case is they bruise your pride.”

“I’m feeling more like this is one of those places the B-listers are moving to, now.”

“No comment,” Tristan said.

“Yeah,” Houndstooth said. “And we can call in a favor in exchange? What sort? You patrol somewhere or help us pull off a complicated arrest?”

Kenzie pointed to herself.

“We’ve got Optics, who’s not calling herself Optics anymore, for one thing,” Sveta spoke up.

“You’re lucky,” Houndstooth said. Kenzie sat up straighter.

“…but I’m thinking in other directions.” Houndstooth finished. Kenzie slouched in her seat.

“What kind of directions?” Tristan asked.