I was at the door when Tristan said, “Might not need the camera after all.”

I looked back.

They hadn’t gone indoors. They were in a parking lot. A group of people was standing around a van. They had masks on.

“I’m still going to go,” I said. “We don’t know where they’ll go or what they’ll do. Patch me in somehow?”

“I’ll video call you,” Kenzie said. “We’ll talk to you and you can look at your phone to see what’s happening.”

“Okay,” I said. “That works. That’s going to do a number on my monthly limit. I might have to get an unlimited plan.”

“They don’t have any of those anymore, not after the end of the world,” Kenzie said. “I checked. And they get peeved at me when I borrow anything, so I have to be really careful with my cameras and junk.”

I could have responded, but I didn’t want to get stuck in a conversation. I let myself outside, then flew from the top of the fire escape.

Might have to have a conversation with the big hero teams to see if they have any options, I thought. It would be nice to have the fancy earbuds that the Wards used to have, or just a special phone plan that let us handle higher-bandwidth operations.

My phone rang in my ear, startling me even though I’d expected it. I thumbed at my phone to answer it. Rather than any of the others, it was the audio from Kenzie’s camera, observing the interaction between Snag and the group in the parking lot.

“…Snag. This is Love Lost,” Snag said. Recognizable enough. His voice was a deep growl. That was his ordinary voice, it seemed.

“Love Lost? Shouldn’t it be No Love Lost?”

There was a brief pause.

“She doesn’t talk,” Snag said.

“That might make negotiations hard.”

“We’ll be fine,” Snag said. “I’ll cover things.”

“Your friend isn’t coming? Cradle?”

Cradle was the potential third, then.

“He isn’t. Just me, just her.”

“I’m Secondhand, this is Last Minute, Final Hour, and End of Days.”

Still flying, I pulled my phone from my pocket, being careful not to drop it. I hated using my phone while airborne. It was so easy to let my guard down.

“Your name doesn’t match,” Snag said.

“I don’t mind,” Secondhand said.

I could see the image on my phone. I made the reel gesture to zoom in on the one I wasn’t familiar with. Tall, with an elongated face and head, bald, with an elaborate waxed mustache, and round sunglasses. He wore suspenders over a shirt that was rolled up to the elbows. The arms crossed over his chest were muscled. A bit of a steampunk vibe, even though his clothes weren’t that old fashioned.

The time manipulators had another teammate, then.