MIRA

I had to be careful on snowy, icy nights like this one. Of course, those were in generous supply now that November had turned to December. Super speed and frictionless streets are not a good combination.

So instead of running down the street, I walked with my hood up and my head down. Never mind that this costume, as Mercury the independent heroine, was now recognizable by most citizens in New Kingsbury after the battle against Tenebrous and Mayor McQueen.

All of us were, the New Crusaders. Most saw us as saviors—although there were plenty who feared us for what we could become, and what we represented. After all, we'd changed a status quo that had been in place nearly forty years.

Atomic Energy was now powerless and their due had come.

Of course, a lot had changed in the last week and a half of November. With the new emergency mayor, Trenton, having taken over, there was a raid on the Atomic Energy compound.

Some handlers and Sentinels had fled and were still being tracked down.

As for the rest of us—-the city and the country in general was still deciding what to do with the survivors and the witnesses of Atomic Energy's cruelty. I was one of the only ones with a place to go—the others' families were dead.

We didn't have social security numbers or many other bureaucratic problems. Red tape ensnared us at every point.

And then there was the problem of the emotional fallout. Where would we go? What would we do? How could you help so many emotionally-unstable teenagers work through being trained and used as weapons, and then learning the horror that would have befallen them for that fate?

There were no easy answers, and the funds for the consequences would have to wait until the trials against Atomic Energy and the key decision-makers were done.

For now, at least I was allowed to stay with my mother—it was what made the most sense, for the time being. Even if it was weird, getting used to my mom's roommate, my mom, and my dad all at the same time.

Maybe that was why I spent so much of my time outside of the house, running around in this costume.

I was still getting used to the weight of the aluminum baseball bat I'd been given right before the final battle. But I liked the way it rested on my shoulders, and it had been a useful tool. Especially tonight.

I turned the corner to the rendezvous.

Standing there, as expected, was my mother, in the costume as Heretic. It was more often that she was seen as Argent—but the anti heroine still had her own uses every now and then.

"I take it you found the site of the lab again okay?"

"Yeah." I twirled the baseball bat in my hands as I removed it from my shoulders. "I destroyed every bit of equipment I could find, all the databases, everything. I doubt Dr. Electra, if she escapes from prison, will be able to start her research again without a lot of help."

"Good." Lora paused. "Does Henry know about—"

I shook my head. "You and I both know he's above petty revenge like this."

For all that I'd grown lately, I found that I wasn't.

Lora smirked. "You are your mother's daughter."

I shrugged. "For better or for worse. I take it your hunt's been successful."

Lora scowled. "Not really. Titanio and his group are keeping a lot of their cards close to the chest. All I can really confirm is that Titanio was not apprehended and that his civilian identity is not in the database, not in a way that can be easily linked back to him, anyway."

But we knew that—that was the whole point to burning down City Hall all those years ago.

"So his plans, his assets, exactly who's working for or with him—"

"Nothing substantial." Lora shrugged. "But I also haven't been digging for very long. If I keep at it, the truth won't evade me. Besides, Anya's also helping, when she can."

I nodded. The relationship between Anya Weiss and my mother was complicated, that much I could tell from my two weeks of living at home.

But I had to admit, she was probably the greatest expert we had on the Mutated and all the heroes and villains that there ever was.

If anyone would be able to verify Titanio's claim as the heir to Dark Titan or his connections in New Kingsbury, it would be her.

"Good." I rested the tip of my baseball bat on the pavement of the alley. "The last thing we need is another Dark Titan-related problem running around. That kid's more dangerous than he knows."

"I doubt that." Lora glanced over her shoulder. "I've seen some of the footage uploaded online, of his fight against Psyche and Renegade a few weeks ago. Seems he's been testing himself against the active heroes, and some of the villains, too."

"So he knows exactly where he lies, and can accommodate for strengths and. weaknesses." That idea sent a chill through my spine.

If there was one supervillain who had to have evaded the consequences of allying with Tenebrous, I would have picked Black Phoenix.

Titanio threatened to be a big problem someday indeed.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"But we're still in the clear for a while, I think," Lora added. "They're still planning and keeping themselves in the shadows. We just have to find them and turn on the light."

"Hopefully with your work, we can."

Lora nodded, then she smiled. "I'll see you back at home, later. If you see Merlin before I do—"

"I'll let you know." I nodded. "I've got some of my own business to get up to, before I go home."

Her gaze was warning, maternal. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't."

Besides, I had a meeting with the New Crusaders without the masks and capes later tomorrow.

"I love you. Keep yourself out of trouble." An affectionate smile curled up her scarlet lips.

It was strange, to think that a month ago, I viewed her as an enemy, one of the people responsible for the death of my friend.

Things had changed—a lot.

"I love you too."

With that, I rested the baseball bat on my shoulders and headed off into the night. I had a boy I needed to meet on a rooftop, a homage to the afternoon that changed everything.

He was waiting behind the billboard of Atomic Energy on top of some big business building uptown. The billboard, once the shining representative of the city. Now it was defaced, destroyed and painted on.

"Mercury—you came!"

I looked him up and down. Memories of the blood on his face haunted me still, weeks later.

But he was okay now—and for the first time since the battle, he'd donned the costume. It had been patched up, and showed some wear—but he was still the paragon hero of our city.

"Glad you see you're taking up your post again, Warlock." I sauntered closer. "I don't know what this city would do without their golden boy."

"They've done well enough with the new heroes." He glanced out into the city streets, quiet as they were in the dead of night. "One might even wonder if it's time for me to hang up the mask."

I raised my eyebrows, then remembered that he couldn't see that with the mask on.

"That is the stupidest thing you've ever said," I informed him. "This city still needs you."

I stepped closer, let my voice drop to a whisper. "Titanio is still gathering forces, could still be a major threat. You think that we won't need your help?"

"You're right, as always." He met my eyes.

I frowned. "I'm more wrong than anything else. Turns out I've been wrong about everybody for all my life."

"You were right about Verity."

I tilted my head, uncomprehending.

"That's the only thing that matters."

There was so much packed into those words.

Then again, I'd learned the power of words all too well over the past month.

I knew what he meant, too.

I turned my gaze out to the city lights. "I visited her grave marker, yesterday. For the first time since the funeral."

Henry said nothing, but I could feel him watching me, reaching out with his seemingly-infinite empathy.

"It was quiet," I finished, after a moment. "She was quiet."

I wasn't exactly raised to believe in ghosts, or spirits, although I was familiar with the concept.

But I could feel her with me when I was there. It was different than the way she was with me during my mission, a figment of my rage and grief. The fuel of my conviction.

This time she carried with her a sense of peace.

"You don't have to fight for her anymore." Henry joined me, walking closer to the edge of the rooftop. "I don't think she would want you to."

"I'm not ready to let go, not yet." A great sigh sent relief through my shoulders as I took Henry's hand. "But I'm closer than I was. And someday, I'll be able to rest."

Henry's grip tightened around my hand, and our eyes met.

He parted his lips to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

We both turned our heads and he conjured a light to his hand that looked like one of Black Phoenix's fireballs.

Standing on the rooftop were three figures. I recognized the Sentinel costumes and the faces behind them in a single sinking heartbeat. Some of the Sentinels had evaded capture—and the Miracle Defenders had been some of them.

"Ryder, Aleister, Saige."

Aleister froze—I wondered if he was thinking of when he let me go on the Kingsbury College campus.

Ryder strode forward—for the first time I could recall, there was anger in his eyes.

I let go of Henry's hand and dropped into a defensive stance, raising my fists and bracing myself for impact.

"What do you want, Ryder?" I asked.

"It's not what I want." He sounded resigned. "We've come to bring you home."

I blinked. "Home? What home?"

"Back with us, with Atomic Energy." He paused—and Saige bounced forward.

"Some of us survived and escaped, and we're rebuilding someplace outside the city." Saige glanced at Henry and frowned. "They're mad at you, for turning against them, like Verity did. But they also wanted to give you a chance, since she didn't get one."

"They don't care about me and they never cared about Verity." I couldn't bring myself to snarl or snark or spit curses. I just sounded incredibly weary, like Heretic did on the rooftop of Dr. Electra's lair.

This was my family once. A small part of me didn't want to fight them.

Even if they were intent on fighting me.

"We have orders to try and bring you back by force—or it will end the same way it did with Verity," Ryder said. "The choice is yours."

I shook my head. "It isn't really a choice. I can't go back."

"Don't say that." Saige sounded on the verge of tears. "You can always come back from what you've done—"

"This isn't a matter of what I've done." I stood up straighter, leaving the defensive stance behind. "It's what I know. Do you know the truth yet? That they want us all dead? That they're playing games, using us to take each other out?"

"It's a ridiculous conspiracy theory." Ryder shook his head. "Surely you don't believe a villain like Tenbrous—"

"I don't." I looked to Henry. "I believe my own eyes and ears."

"There is proof, that what we're saying is true." Henry's voice was so soft, so gentle. "We want to help you. But we can't save you unless you take the step forward."

Aleister perked up his head, alert it seemed for the first time in the conversation, and he met my eyes.

Then he tilted his head, a question. Did I trust Henry, should he come with us?

I nodded.

Then he walked past Saige and Ryder to us.

"I want to know what Verity died for." His voice was low and solemn.

"And you will."

"Aleister, no!" Saige tried to run toward us, but Ryder caught her.

"It's too late for him now, too," Ryder said. He met my eyes, the anger had returned. "You were always going to go this way, you never had it in you to be a hero. You were part of the reason we were doomed to be failures!"

His words stung—but I had to stay strong.

"Are you still going to fight us, Ryder?"

"Let go of me," Saige mumbled.

Ryder did so reluctantly, and Saige looked to us.

"Do you think she's really telling the truth?"

"I know it," Aleister said. "And Verity was too, all along, when she said it—"

"They're lying to you," I finished.

"Saige—" Ryder's voice cracked.

"I—I—" Saige stood, paralyzed, between Ryder and the rest of us. "I'm sorry, Ryder."

That was when she crossed the line.

Ryder spluttered incoherently at us. For just a moment, he looked completely and utterly heartbroken.

"You can't do this!" He cried. "We were supposed to be heroes!"

"We were supposed to be weapons." I threw my arms wide. "Look at this, look at what they've done to us! We're a bunch of kids, we were never supposed to fight a war. Surely you see that?"

"We were never ordinary kids." Ryder surveyed us, finally registering defeat. "I might not be able to fight you. But know that I'm not the last hero they'll send to stop you. You've got one more chance—all of you."

I shared a look with Aleister and Saige.

For Verity. The sister that binds us all, even in death.

I shook my head, the others stood firm.

"Just know that it didn't have to end this way." With that, Ryder took to the air. Henry moved to follow, but I stopped him, placing my hand on his arm.

"Let him go, we can fight him another day."

I looked back to the family I'd grown up with. The truth and full impact of what they'd done was starting to hit them. Aleister dropped to the ground and Saige was shaking.

"Where do we go now?" Saige asked.

I smiled. "Wherever we want."