The party was worse than I could have imagined. People were everywhere. I expected that much, granted, but from the moment I walked in, people were basically rubbing up against me. Glancing at Rebecca told me I wasn’t alone there. They weren’t dancing in rhythm to whatever the hell was blasting through the poor speakers. The “music” was booming above the laughs and yells of excitement, more a physical feeling in my ribs than an actual sound I could process with my ears and brain. No one was even dancing in rhythm to the music. Apparently, what was playing wasn’t the most important aspect of a yacht party. They just needed something that everyone could shake their hips and raise their hands to.

“This is a lot! There’s, uh, a lot of noise here!” Rebecca had to cup her hands around her mouth and yell into my ear. I could still only barely hear her, even with her practically screaming into my skull. I felt her hand slip into mine, and with everyone nearly slamming into us, it was probably for the best for the two of us to stick together. Right, sticking together was totally the only reason why I wanted to hold her hand.

Through the mass of people and flashing lights, I spotted a room where others were entering and leaving. There were rows of windows running across the wall that I couldn’t see through. They were tinted to begin with, saying nothing about how nighttime would have made it hard to see through them. I could only see the light reflecting off them in headache-inducing bursts. Still, I guided Rebecca through the crowd of people. Somehow, they managed to mostly avoid slamming into us. Just a few bumps here and there that everyone was able to ignore better than I could manage.

Right when I got to the door, it swung open and hit me directly in the forehead. The people leaving apologized profusely, which was way more than I got from all the people who bumped into us on the way. Didn’t do much for the budding headache I was getting, but hey, it was at least nice. Rebecca squeezed my hand and patted my back. I was sure she was giving me a sympathetic look through the dim lighting. I just slipped inside the room with her behind me. I wasn’t exactly excited to face my girlfriend after having to spit out bits of the door.

“Hey, we had these back in my day.” She nudged me with her elbow and laughed.

Of course, the stupid room had to be a bar. Somehow, the bar was the quietest area on the yacht we’d found, and it still wasn’t a place I was excited to be. I almost turned around and left, with only Rebecca taking charge stopping me. She walked us over to an empty section with some tall stools. The seats were a dark purple with sparkles on it, clashing somewhat with the rave environment that still gently shook the laidback area I was trying to settle into.

A blonde in all black, maybe a little older than Shelly, came up to the two of us from an area behind the bar. She was wiping down a small glass with a white towel. The little name tag identified her as Katie, and Katie was someone who could give Lizzy a run for her money in the looks department. Every time I saw a bartender on TV, it was always an attractive guy or gal, and I could see why. I was sure Katie raked in plenty of strong tips.

“What can I get for the two of you?” She flashed a white smile that was nearly blinding in the dark room, and yeah, that lady definitely brought in tips. A single question told me enough.

“A shot of your best whiskey for me,” Rebecca answered confidently.

Katie looked at her like she was a little strange before giving an indifferent shrug of her shoulders. Her eyes flicked toward me for a second before she went to retrieve a glass. “How about for you, hon?”

“Do you have clear soda?” I didn’t think it was a strange request. Surely I couldn’t have been the only guy in the world who went to a bar and just asked for a soda.

“Are you sure you don’t want something a little, you know, stronger? If you’re in here, all food and drinks are on the house.” The way Katie looked at me, a mix of worry and pity, told me she didn’t get too many guys who asked for a soda at her bar.

“Sorry, but I’m not twenty-one yet.” I was about to pull out my ID to show Katie that I wasn’t allowed to drink when her laughing stopped me.

“He’s a real cute one you got there.” She smiled at Rebecca who just sighed.

“Eh, he'll do, I think. Maybe a little dense and goofy, but a real sweetheart.” She wrapped both her arms around mine and leaned against me. “I just don’t know what he’d do without me.”

Katie laughed and shook Rebecca’s hand in a pleasant greeting, like she had said the most agreeable thing and they now shared some bond I just didn’t understand. Katie poured some whiskey in a little shot glass for Rebecca. The smell was stronger than I thought it’d be and it nearly floored me right there. There hadn’t been much drinking in the Harper household on account of the money we needed to scrape by, so the supposedly high-quality whiskey was quite a surprise for me. Rebecca downed the shot before I could blink and set the glass down with a satisfied sigh.

“Sure you don’t want anything stronger than a soda? No one’s going to tell on you.” Katie wasn’t making fun of me. In fact, it seemed like she might’ve been trying to protect me as laws seemingly worked differently on the yacht compared to the rest of the world. When I shook my head, she handed me my soda, and it felt like I was handing over a little of my dignity in return. At least she didn’t press the issue.

“I’m good, thanks.” I smiled as nicely as I could.

“No problem, hon.” Katie went back to wiping down some glasses she had lined up while my girlfriend downed her drink. With a grin, our friendly bartender topped her off again.

“Bottoms up!” Before I could try and stop her, she downed the second shot and smiled wide. “Wasn’t this good back in the Civil War.”

While Rebecca didn’t seem bothered by what she said, I nearly spat out my soda and Katie raised a curious eyebrow. As a bartender, she’d definitely heard and seen stranger things from people who were so drunk they couldn’t remember their own names. I still felt like I had an obligation to do some damage control, so I tried to recover for her. “She likes her inside jokes a lot.”

“Whatever you say.” Katie poured Rebecca a third shot and went back to cleaning a few glasses. There was a loud call for her attention and she dutifully made her way to the other patrons.

“I wouldn’t drink that,” I said, coming up from a sip of my soda, not realizing that Rebecca had already downed the third shot. “Becky, what are you doing?”

“Hey...you’ve never called me that before!” Her speech already teetering on slurring, her loudness brought some attention from other people trying to escape the noise of the party. A single look into her green eyes told me she wasn’t all there either. It wasn’t even ten minutes since we sat down in the place. How could she already be feeling the effects of the alcohol? Was it some kind of Anomaly-powered alcohol Katie was serving?

“I’ve never had to get your attention while you’ve been drunk before either.”

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“Psh, I’m not drunk, but I can show you drunk. Miss Katie!” She stood and waved the bartender down, nearly knocking both our glasses onto the ground. Katie only looked slightly annoyed, like she’d seen this kind of behavior—or a lot worse—quite frequently. “I’ll take another, thank you.”

“Actually, I think she’s done for the night. Thank you so much, you’ve been wonderful.” I slid her two twenties, because even though the drinks were free, I was hoping I could just buy her off so she wouldn’t offer Rebecca more booze. In return, Katie just offered me a sympathetic and knowing smile before returning to her other customers.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rebecca glared up at me, the same green eyes that had been a little glassy from her drinking were now filled with fire. “You do not get to tell me what I can and cannot drink, or when I can and cannot drink it. Are we clear?”

“I don’t care that you want to have a drink and have some fun, but we do have a job to do here.” I tried to smile and keep calm, hoping it would rub off on her. I just about burst out in laughter from the juxtaposition of her upset attitude and silly costume.

“I’m older than you and I’m above the drinking age.” She put her hands on her hips and frowned at the empty glass right next to her. “You can’t tell me what to do. Do you know that?”

I gently put both my hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, their lids threatening to droop under my touch. I could see how much she wanted to enjoy the contact. Dang hardheaded woman remained stubborn and tensed her body under my grip. “Lori said we can have fun, but we have to see if there’s anything we can figure out. Hey, we’re a team, right?”

A little to my surprise, she pulled out of my grip and crossed her arms. I didn’t think that she’d just completely forget it and be happy, but a guy could dream. “We are a team. I don’t think a teammate or a boyfriend would do what you did.”

Not sure how much of it was the alcohol or her real feelings on the matter, I decided I wasn’t going to have that be the hill I died on. I put my hands up in surrender and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I should have talked to you about it first. I’d like to start over. I’m asking you now, please, could you stop drinking for the night?”

She was so close to agreeing. So damn close. I didn’t want to fight, and I could see that she wasn't in the mood to fight either. I hadn’t seen her act so stubbornly when she didn’t want to go against something. If she thought I was really being a jerk or trying to push her buttons, she’d let me know. I decided that it had to be the alcohol that was making her act so different from her usual self.

Rebecca turned around to do something. Maybe as a sign to disagree, walk away, or just collect herself for a moment. I didn’t know, and neither did the tall gentleman she hit with her turn. The only thing he knew was that his drink spilled all over his neon pink pants and shoes. Whatever his costume was supposed to be was way beyond me, but he was clearly proud of his choice because he was immediately pissed. I was surprised that I didn’t even notice the guy with how loud that outfit was.

“Do you know how much that drink cost me?” His nose was huge. His disgusting, flaring nostrils made it look like it was the size of my fist. I could barely see the anger in his green eyes that were hidden behind a mess of black hair about as long as my own. “I asked you a question!”

Exactly zero cents. That was the answer to his question. Well, it was if the bartender we were standing next to was to be believed. I should have told him that since he seemed like such a reasonable and levelheaded guy. It would have worked wonders for us.

I didn’t know how to diffuse the situation, but I knew I had to try. Rebecca staggered back a little, luckily landing safely in my arms. I wanted to gently move her to the side so she wasn’t right in the guy’s face, but once again, he was just so rational that I didn’t even get to do that. He was pulling back his right fist, and after making a snap judgment on its angle, I decided it was for her and not for me.

I nearly threw her into the bar to get her out of the way of the blow. I didn’t have time to feel bad for it or even wonder if it was worse than letting her get clocked by the guy. In less than a second, I had to recall that frustrating puck training that Alex put me through. There were a few differences between that and the situation with Pink Shoes. His fist was slower than a hockey puck being shot at me, it was way darker in the bar, so tracking it wasn’t an easy task for me, and I didn’t already have a shield up to protect me.

Still, track it I did. I managed to catch his fist in the palm of my right hand and I grabbed onto his wrist with my left, mostly to make sure he wouldn’t try to drive it farther into me when I wasn’t expecting it.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to punch my girlfriend, thanks.” I didn’t have anything cool or manly to say. My voice wasn’t raised in anger or lowered in a deep, macho growl. I probably didn’t deserve a memorable, macho line on account of nearly tossing my girlfriend over the bar by mistake, though. Not exactly peak masculinity or boyfriend behavior there.

I expected some kind of insult or taunt from him. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he just pulled a gun on me like that guy did to Lori in Columbus. Instead, he just closed his eyes and controlled his breathing through his massive nose. A weird smell filled the room, not necessarily unpleasant, but one that I couldn’t place and one that probably shouldn’t have been on a boat. Before I could get any farther with the strange smell, I noticed that all my arm hairs started to stand on end, before slightly leaning toward the guy. It wasn’t until I heard a humming noise that I remembered we were on a boat with a bunch of people with superpowers and that I had put myself in the worst position possible.

Then another hand appeared on his forearm, and everything stopped. The smell dissipated, the hairs on my arm returned to their normal positions, and the humming went away. I let go of the guy at the same time as the other hand did and I took a few steps back. Rebecca was right there, looking at me with a mix of fury and worry, but I couldn’t keep all my focus on her. I had no idea what Pink Shoes was about to try next.

“What did you do!?” He started yelling, shaking his hand. He pointed at me and I instinctively put a barrier up in front of me, but it wasn’t needed. Nothing came from Pink Shoes beyond his little tantrum. “Where. Is. My. Lightning!”

It was hard to see in the darkness, but there was a black mark on his hand that resembled a target and it finally hit me what happened. That was the same mark that I saw appear on Rebecca’s hand when we first found her. It was the first time I’d seen her use her Anomaly that let her rob others of their own powers without being in a fight of my own. It was a little unsettling. The guy had no idea what happened to him and probably didn’t feel any pain. It was so easy for her to take the power away with just a touch. She could have done that to me at any time, and if I never saw the brand it left on my skin, I’d have no idea until I had to block a bullet with a shield or conjure up a weapon.

I wasn’t about to wait any longer in that bar. I took Rebecca by the hand, pushed past the still-screaming Pink Shoes, and left as quickly as possible. The noise outside of the room was almost refreshing. It reminded me that it was still a party and most everyone was out there having a good time. Some people were having too much of a good time, but it beat having lightning blasted at me. Pink Shoes should have been wearing a dark, hooded cloak for his costume. Real missed opportunity there.

I turned to ask Rebecca if she thought he would have made for a good wizard, not realizing that she probably didn’t know what a wizard even waswas, when I saw that she was shaking. It looked like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears. Her breathing was raspy and uneven. No one even spared us a glance, but I still didn’t want her standing in a crowd of loud people. Putting my arm around her shoulders, I walked her over to a small couch that sat against the bathroom wall so we could collect ourselves a little.

Instantly, I felt horrible. It felt like a billion things were running through my head, and none of them had to do with the guy who had been about to fry me with electricity. Had I hurt her when I pushed her out of the way? Did Pink Shoes somehow manage to hurt her himself? Did she hurt herself using her own Anomaly against him? It didn’t look like she’d been hurt when she used it against the guy with superspeed. Then again, I didn’t know much about that aspect of her power at all.

For both our sakes, I forced myself to remain calm and steady. She didn’t need her boyfriend to lose his mind because he was worried she was hurt. She needed her boyfriend to be a stable rock so she wouldn’t flip out herself. That’s what a good boyfriend would have done for his girl, right?

I really had no idea, so I started to wing it again. When we got settled on the couch, I held her close to me, keeping my arms wrapped around her, letting her use my larger body as a blanket. For all the lean muscle she had, I was stunned that she felt small, and yet oddly perfect in my embrace. It was like she fit perfectly against me, even if she was trembling like a leaf.