Licit was all business as he explained. He’d always been better at the cape stuff, the mission. “These are the stoners. The only meth-head around here that has a fun name is scared shitless of Damsel. Kidney Stan and Fappy are the same idiot kids who thought they could hire themselves out to our local villain as henchmen. They realized they bit off more than they could chew when she tried to rob a bank—you were there for that.”

“I was,” Aaron said. “I was more focused on the bank and the coordination with Boston than I was on the inciting factors.”

“We told them to steer clear, because they’re enablers,” Edict added. “They might have told her.”

“It’s looking more and more like she found out somehow,” Aaron said. “Edict, figure out your babysitting. The office will cover the cost, so pick someone you’re comfortable with.”

“Thank you.”

“Licit, you’ll have a chaperone for the next bit.”

“Sure.”

“But get yourselves to Boston. Get in touch with the PRT team there, and keep an eye out for our local would-be warlord. Whatever she gets up to over there, it’s not going to help things.”

Eclipse x.2

Ashley stepped off the bus and the first thing she saw were the officers at the door. Every time she left home, they were on her. Usually they stopped her before she even got on the bus.

She’d planned ahead. When her supplies ran out, she usually hit a store after hours. She’d pulled a run through a pharmacy a month ago, and on impulse she’d grabbed some hair dye.

On her last failed excursion, she’d overheard the cop giving her appearance. This time around, with the stakes being what they were, she had kept that in mind and changed up her look.

Her hair was gross now, two days without washing, but it was a yellowy sort of blonde. Instead of her usual clothes, she wore a red sweatshirt and a pre-faded shirt with an American flag on it, faded jeans, and sneakers without socks. Sunglasses she’d grabbed from one of the racks in the drug store were on her nose, another thing to change up her look.

The creases of her pits and her eyes stung with fresh sweat, and the clothes had a chemical feel, like some brands got when fresh from the factory. The bus ride had been so uncomfortable she’d nearly lost her mind. She hadn’t been able to move her hands, she couldn’t sleep, and she’d been so restless she could have paced up and down the aisle a thousand times before she got here. She’d said something out loud, a few somethings, and she couldn’t even remember now, but the bus driver had told her to shut it. Now some passengers glared at her.

She smiled. If they only knew.

She loved this. The game of it. She took her time waiting for people to get their bags from the compartment at the side of the bus, one of her legs jiggling. The cops were there and they hadn’t reacted to her yet.