As the first rays of sunlight begin to peek through the boarded-up windows of the Tacony Music Hall, I can feel the exhaustion settling deep into my bones. It's been a long night, a night filled with more danger and drama than any teenager should ever have to face. And yet, here we are. Two best friends, battered and bruised, trying to make sense of a world turned upside down.

I glance over at Kate, watching as she stirs restlessly on the mattress. Her face is pale, her brow furrowed even in sleep. I know she's in pain, know that the injuries she sustained last night will take time to heal. But I also know that the physical wounds are only part of the problem.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the conversation to come. "Kate," I say softly, reaching out to shake her shoulder. "Kate, wake up. We need to talk. And I have to go to school. So we have to talk now or talk in several hours. And I'd rather talk now."

Kate's eyes flutter open, and for a moment, she looks confused, disoriented. Then the memories come flooding back, and I can see the realization dawning on her face. "Sam," she croaks, her voice hoarse with sleep and pain. "What… what happened? Where are we?"

"We're at the Tacony Music Hall," I reply, my voice gentle but firm. "You were hurt pretty badly last night, Kate. Do you remember?"

Kate nods slowly, wincing as she tries to sit up. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember. The fight, the electricity… it's all a bit of a blur, but I remember."

I help her into a sitting position, my hands careful not to aggravate her injuries. "Kate," I begin, my voice trembling slightly. "What the fuck were you thinking? Going out there, trying to be a hero? Without any powers, without any training? You could have been killed!"

Kate looks away, her expression a mix of guilt and defiance. "I couldn't just sit by and do nothing, Sam. Not while you were in the hospital, not while our neighborhood was going to shit. Someone had to step up, someone had to help. And I have training! And gadgets!"

I feel a surge of anger rising in my chest, hot and bright. "And you thought that someone had to be you? Dammit, Kate, you're not invincible! You don't have powers, you don't have a healing factor like I do. One wrong move, one lucky shot, and you could be dead. Do you have any idea what that would do to me? To your dad?"

Kate flinches at the mention of her father, her eyes filling with tears. "I know, Sam. I know it was stupid, and reckless, and selfish. But I couldn't just sit back and watch, not when I knew I could make a difference."

I soften slightly, my anger giving way to empathy. "Kate, I get it. I really do. Wanting to help, wanting to make a difference… it's a powerful thing. But you have to think about the consequences, about the people who love you. Your dad, your friends, me… we need you, Kate. We need you alive and safe and whole."

Kate nods, her shoulders sagging under the weight of my words. "I know, Sam. And I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone, especially not you. I just… I felt so helpless, so useless. Sitting by your bedside, watching you fight for your life… it broke something inside me. I needed to do something, needed to feel like I was making a difference."

I reach out, taking her hand in mine. "I understand, Kate. More than you know. But being a hero, it's not just about throwing yourself into danger. It's about being smart, being strategic. It's about knowing your limits and working within them."

Kate gives me a wry smile, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "You punched a nuclear reactor. I don't think you can lecture me about knowing your limits."

I can't help but laugh, the tension between us easing slightly. "Okay, fair point. But I have powers, Kate. Powers that protect me, that give me an edge. You don't have that luxury."

"You didn't know they'd protect you then," she counters, quick as a whip.

"It was that versus annihilation," I respond. "Not versus drug dealers,"

But she shrugs, maybe a little too casually. Her smile fades, her expression turning serious. "But that's just it, Sam. You're out there every day, risking your life to keep our city safe. And I'm supposed to, what? Just sit back and watch? Just cross my fingers and hope that you come home in one piece? I barely see you as is. What if I go to call your parents to hang out one day and you're not there?"

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Kate, I'm not the only hero in Philadelphia. There are others, people with powers and training and experience. The Titans, the DVDs… they would have kept Mayfair and Tacony safe while I was out of commission. They did. "

Kate scoffs, her eyes flashing with anger. "Oh, please. The Titans are a bunch of kids, just like us. And the DVDs? They're so busy with their own turf wars and politics, they barely have time to patrol our streets. They just handle Center City, where the rich people can see the crime and get scared by it. Face it, Sam. Without you, our neighborhood was going to hell in a handbasket."

"Okay," I concede, my voice soft. "I get it. I do. But Kate, you have to understand the risks. The dangers. Every time you put on that mask, every time you go out there… you're putting a target on your back. And not just from the criminals and the supervillains. From the cops, from the DVDs… from anyone who sees an unlicensed vigilante as a threat."

Kate's eyes widen, a flicker of fear crossing her face. "The cops? The DVDs? What do you mean?"

I take a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "Kate, what you're doing… it's illegal. Plain and simple. Without a JLUMA, without any kind of official sanction… you're just as much a criminal in the eyes of the law as the people you're trying to stop. You can't just go beating people up."

Kate's jaw clenches, her expression stubborn. "So, what? I'm supposed to just give up? Just hang up the mask and pretend like everything's fine?"

I shake my head, my heart aching at the thought. "No, Kate. That's not what I'm saying. But we have to be smart about this. We have to find a way to work within the system, to get you the training and the support you need. Because right now? You're a liability. To yourself, to your family… and to me. There's ways you can support that don't involve you getting arrested for assault, because G-d forbid, if someone got a good look at your face, a good photo, you better believe you'd be in juvie by now. By months ago."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Kate's eyes flash with hurt, her voice trembling. "A liability? Is that all I am to you, Sam? Just another problem to be solved?"

I wince, realizing how harsh my words must have sounded. "No, Kate. God, no. You're my best friend, my sister in all but blood. But that's why I'm so scared, why I'm so angry. Because I can't lose you. I can't watch you throw your life away, not for this. There's a better way to help."

Kate's shoulders slump, the fight draining out of her. "I know, Sam. I know. But I can't just sit back and do nothing. I can't just watch you and the others put your lives on the line while I sit at home, safe and sound. It's not who I am. It's not who I want to be."

I nod, my heart swelling with a mix of pride and fear. "I know, Kate. And I'm not asking you to change who you are. But we have to find a better way. A way that keeps you safe, that keeps you alive. Because the world needs Kate Smith, not just Miss Mayfly."

Kate gives me a small smile, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "And what about you, Sam? What do you need?"

I swallow hard, my throat tight with emotion. "I need my best friend. I need the girl who's been by my side through thick and thin, through good times and bad. I need you, Kate. Not Miss Mayfly, not the vigilante. Just you."

Kate nods, her hand squeezing mine. "Okay, Sam. Okay. I'll try. I'll try to find a better way. But I can't promise that I'll stop. I can't promise that I won't keep fighting, keep trying to make a difference."

I sigh, knowing that it's the best I can hope for. "I know, Kate. And I won't ask you to. But promise me that you'll be careful. That you'll be smart. That you won't take any unnecessary risks."

Kate grins, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I'll do my best, Sam. But you know me. Trouble just seems to find me, no matter what I do."

I groan, shaking my head in exasperation. "You're impossible, you know that? Absolutely impossible."

Kate laughs, the sound like music to my ears. "Yeah, but you love me anyway."

I smile, my heart full to bursting. "Yeah, I do. God help me, but I do."

We sit in silence for a moment, the weight of the conversation hanging heavy in the air. There's still so much to be said, so much to be worked out. But for now, in this moment, we're okay. We're together, and we're alive, and that's enough.

"So," Kate says finally, her voice hesitant. "What happens now? With the DVDs, with the Titans… with us?"

I take a deep breath, my mind racing with possibilities. "We take it one day at a time. We work together, we train together… we find a way to make this work. Because you're right, Kate. The city needs heroes. Needs people who are willing to stand up and fight for what's right. Even if they don't have powers. Have you considered becoming a paramedic?"

It feels insincere coming from me. But I say it anyway.

Kate nods, her expression serious. "No. Not really. I'll think about it. And we'll do it together."

I smile, my heart swelling with love and pride and anger and fear. "Together. Always."

Kate grin, hand slipping out from under mine as she slips off the mattress. "The Danger Dykes, here to stay," she says, striking what I can only assume is an impression of a masculine, straight boy pose as she pantomimes swinging a sword.

"Can you," I stutter. "Are you allowed to say--"

"You don't want the answer to that question, Sam," she says, and I shut myself up.

I cough a couple of times, adjusting myself, grabbing my Backup Backpack. "Alright, He-Man. I've gotta get cleaned up for school. You can stay here or I'll clean you up and I guess you suffer through Geometry but get to show off your sick new lightning burns. Also, your Dad is probably shitting himself, just FYI."

Kate groans, her head thumping back against the wall. "Ugh, don't remind me. I'm going to be in so much trouble. Generally been pretty easy to play off the injuries until now."

I shrug, my lips twitching with amusement. "Hey, you're the one who decided to play superhero on a school night. Now you get to deal with the consequences."

"Speaking of," Kate continues, cocking her head to the side. "What are you going to do about all of this, anyway?"

I furrow my brow, frowning slightly as I begin to dress Kate's bandages - a task I anticipate doing a lot over the next couple of days and weeks. "I don't quite follow."

"Don't play coy, Sam. You're fighting to prevent other people from getting powers. And then your best friend is an unpowered vigilante trying to help. Is this, like, going to change your view on anything? Shouldn't you be helping other people be able to help like I'm doing?" she asks. "Doesn't this whole Jump thing make you like… think at all? Huh, super-cop?"

I freeze, stunned into silence. It's a question I hadn't even considered, a perspective I hadn't even thought to take. I mull it over for a moment, chewing my lip as I try to find the right words. "I… I don't know, Kate. It's not that simple."

Kate scoffs, wincing as she shifts on the mattress. "Seems pretty simple to me. You're telling me to stop because I don't have powers. But you're also fighting to stop people from getting powers. So, which is it? Are powers necessary to be a hero, or not? Or do I just have to luck into having 'the potential'," she spits, fingering the word with air quotes "and then luck into almost, but not quite, dying? And then hoping whatever power I get isn't 'explode', like at Tesla? Sounds like a shitty fucking path to me."

I sigh, running a hand through my hair, trying to come up with an adequate response. "Kate, it's not just about having powers," I say, not feeling confident in that at all. "It's about having training, having support. It's about being part of a system that holds you accountable, that makes sure you're doing the right thing for the right reasons."

Kate raises an eyebrow, her expression skeptical. "And who gets to decide what the right thing is, Sam? The DVDs? The government? God? You?"

I open my mouth to respond, but no words come out. I close my mouth, try to think of a response, and open it again. I lean back onto the bed, try to come up with an answer, and open my mouth a third time to speak. But then the words don't actually happen.

Kate looks extra smug.

"I don't know, Kate," I admit finally, my voice soft. "I don't have all the answers. But I do know that I can't just sit back and watch people get hurt. Can't just let anyone with a power do whatever they want, without any kind of oversight or accountability. And definitely can't let the bad guys get the ability to turn every mook and soldier into the Hulk. I don't think we want that kind of society."

Kate nods, her expression thoughtful. "I'm sure that makes sense for you."

I look away from her, hauling my backpack over my shoulder. All things considered, I'm in pretty good shape. Whatever damage I sustained last night is basically gone, outside of a lingering itchiness on my face. "It's going to take a lot of work, a lot of compromise. And it's going to take people like you, Kate. People who are willing to fight for what's right, even when the odds are stacked against them. But for now, you've gotta promise me you're gonna put an end to the superheroics - for now. Alright?"

She's silent. I turn around to stare her down, but she's known me for too long for me to be even slightly intimidating to her. "Alright?" I ask, again.

"I think I'm going to stay home from school today. Can you cook together a good excuse that makes me look like enough of a badass?" Kate asks, flopping back onto the floor mattress.

"Kate!" I bark. She sits up to attention, and then explodes into wincing and twitching. "Sorry. But. You've gotta promise me you're not going to do anything stupid, and that you're gonna give up the Miss Mayfly stuff. For now, at least. Okay? Okay?"

Kate looks at me. "I promise," she says.

I pretend not to notice her moving a hand behind her back.

For now, I'm just going to imagine she's being honest. I have school to get to. Can't fail at the last minute.

"Good. I'll hold you to that," I say, and I'm out the door.