“I’m figuring that out,” I said. “But I’m thinking I’ll name myself after a star.”

“Cool,” he said.

“And I should get this to my people,” I said, dropping out of my flight and rapping a finger on the lid of my cup. “You take care.”

“You too,” he said, a grin passing over his face. He nudged his friend. “See, told you it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Could’ve been,” she said. She shot me a smile. “Sorry about him. Bye.”

I winked at her before collecting my things and heading for the door.

It was stupid and people had probably been rolling their eyes at me in there, but I was left smiling. I liked being in costume again.

I kicked off of the ground and flew skyward.

The others would be arriving. Friendly faces. Some unfriendly ones. New Haven was our meeting place. There was a portal here, and it was one I was familiar with. If I didn’t want to go through the portal in New Brockton, but I wanted to go to Brockton Bay, this had been the most convenient option. It had been where the Patrol block passed through and focused most of its work.

Speaking of.

I found my place in the town and spotted the bus. New paint, some windows covered up rather than replaced, but it was the bus. I flew to it, timing my landing so I landed next to it while it was at a stop sign.

The door opened with an agonized sound that suggested some repairs still needed to be done. Jasper was in the front seat.

“Hi,” I said. A hand covered in coarse hair appeared from the side, giving a wave, and I poked my head in to see. Gilpatrick was sitting in the seat just in front of the stairs. Bald, bushy eyebrows, hairy arms, and Patrol outfit. I gave him a small wave back.

“Hi,” Jasper said. “You look way different.”

“Should we get out?” Gilpatrick asked.

“Not unless you have questions,” I said. “You got the documents?”

“Yes,” Gilpatrick said. “New Haven patrol is already at the location. Others are still to arrive. We’ll coordinate and figure out where we need to go once everyone’s here.”

“Don’t take the main road north or east. Take the dirt road to go east instead of the highway. The road you want to go down doesn’t have a name. Just turn northward at the giant cow.”

“Giant cow?” Jasper asked.

“Wood. Someone had to be the first to build a giant cow, I guess,” I said.

“In a time when resources are scarce and we need to do all the building we can, someone built a giant cow?” Jasper asked.

“Let it go,” Gilpatrick said.