The morning came far too quickly and with far too many aches.

My place in Sam’s apartment building wasn’t furnished yet so all I had to sleep on was the couch in the living room. It was comfortable enough but I much preferred a bed to stretch out and roll around on. Regardless, the couch served its purpose just fine. I would look into getting a proper bed in here later.

I threw off the blanket draped over me and got up. This place had no amenities yet so I’d have to use Sam’s bathroom if I wanted to freshen up. It was a good thing I was going to head over there anyway.

Before anything else, I reached for my phone and found Abby’s number. The last I had seen of her was the battle down in the bunker and I needed to know if she made it out. I considered what kind of message I should send her, just to make sure I didn’t give anything away. It needed to be normal, something that wouldn't raise any suspicions that I knew what she had been doing last night.

So I sent her a message asking if she wanted to meet up with the guys and Lucy this weekend to do something.

I waited, the minutes ticking on with anxiety gnawing at my chest before my phone dinged with a response.

“Nah, soz dude. Got some hero biz. Some shit’s going down. Will be busy.”

Relief flooded me.

She’s alive.

I slipped out of my abode and shuffled down the stairs to Sam’s floor. Her apartment was quiet when I opened the door, so I tried to be courteous and limited the amount of noise I made. Ahead of me lying on the couch was the girl we had saved last night. Mia had several layers of blankets draped over her and was comfortably snoozing away the morning. She had started shivering when we brought her in so Sam had been quick to warm her up.

Anomaly was lying in an awkward position on one of the armchairs. Sam had given him a pillow for the floor but it seems he had transitioned from one place to the other at some point during the night. He was awake but only barely and he obviously got very little sleep.

There was a light clattering of dishes coming from the kitchen and I walked in to find Sam trying to make breakfast with the eclectic mix of appliances she had managed to steal. Their quality ranged from cheap knockoff trash to borderline luxury.

“Hey.”

Sam looked over her shoulder. “Morning. Pancakes?”

“Is that what you’re trying to make?” I asked, walking over to help out. She had all the ingredients out along with the correct tools for the job. “Off to a good start. How’d you sleep?”

“I’ve had better,” she replied, making a so-so gesture. “Mia stirred at around seven this morning. She seems to be recovering okay. I’m hoping that the smell of breakfast will get her up.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the innumerable patches that covered Sam’s arms and face. She was wearing a bathrobe so I wasn’t privy to the extent of her injuries, but even what I could see wasn’t comforting. The patches that were revealed sported a discolored brown stain, the blood having dried overnight. It certainly didn’t help that she was looking paler than usual, I was honestly surprised she was able to stand and walk around.

“You look well.”

“Well I sure as shit don’t feel it,” Sam admitted. “I’m queasy and stiff. Bright side is it’s not as bad as getting shot. Those needles were designed to incapacitate so… small mercies I guess. More than anything I’m just drowsy,” she gestured to all the discolored bandages. “I should probably take these off. Mind taking over?”

“Sure.”

We swapped places and Sam retreated to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, she was back, minus all the bandages. There were a couple of notable wounds but now it just looked like she had been scratched by a cat.

“How about you? Comet wasn’t exactly gentle with us and you’re still pretty squishy in that suit.”

My back ached at her reminder. It was a dull throb but it was one ache among many. Almost every muscle in my body was sore and it just served to drive home that I needed to get into shape if I was going to continue this lifestyle. It wasn’t going to be easy on my body and while I could think of several shortcuts, none of them would be easy.

“It’s manageable,” I gave my shoulders a roll. “It doesn’t feel great, but it could have been much worse.”

Sam chuckled. “You have no idea how many times I’ve said that to myself. ‘Could have been worse’ is like my motto.”

“I have a feeling it’ll be mine as well soon,” I replied, amused. “Still, it went pretty badly last night. That’s easily the closest shave with death I’ve ever had. I don’t know about you, but I think I could do without any more of that for a while.”

“Definitely a close call,” Sam looked over her shoulder at Anomaly and grumbled under her breath. “All because someone panicked. I thought we were done for. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get you out.”

“You were planning on escaping by using Purple,” I said. Sam nodded, which led me to another conclusion. “And given how she is, you weren’t sure you’d be able to switch in time to get me out. You would have left me behind.”

A pained expression spread across her face. “Max…”

“No, it’s cool. I totally get it,” I said. I wasn’t angry. Far from it. I completely understood the gravity of that situation. If Sam had managed to get out with Purple and tried to rescue me, the soldiers could use lethal force. Red was strong but I doubted she could withstand some of the weapons those ECU guys carried around. “There’s no ideal solution in a situation like that. Even considering what happened…”

The memory left a bitter taste in my mouth. All those men died, hopefully quick and painlessly. I had been wishing for a way out and it looks like a monkey's paw heard my plea. Despite that, I couldn’t help but be glad about how it turned out. Another much larger part felt incredibly guilty for that.

“We’re both more effective when there’s time to plan and we couldn’t take a force like that head on. I’d have tried my best to get you out later, but in the moment… I’d have done the same thing,” I said.

“I’m glad you understand,” Sam said with a sigh of relief.

“Let’s just make sure we’re never put into that kind of situation again,” I replied. “I don’t want to ever have to make that decision.”

I met Sam’s gaze and saw genuine happiness. We shared in the moment for a while before a yawn coming from behind us ruined the moment. We turned to see Anomaly standing at the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. He was still dressed in the outfit he wore last night since he had no change of clothes, however, his facemask was absent.

“Smells good,” he said, peering past us at the pancakes. “Hell yeah, just what I need. How long?”

Sam crossed her arms. “Who said you’re getting any?”

His mouth opened but no words came out. His shoulders slumped as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh.”

Sam cracked a smile.

“Kidding. You think I’d exclude a guest? I know I can be a bitch but I’m not that bad.” Anomaly was quick to lighten up and even shared in her amusement. “So,” she continued. “Does our surprisingly short, freaky, cosmic horror from beyond all creation have a name? Or are you one of those edgy types that says their ‘old identity died the day they awakened to the truth’ or some other crap?”

Anomaly frowned. “Huh?”

“Your name, dude,” I supplied. “I’m Max, and she’s Sam.”

“Oh shit. Yeah, sorry. Uh, I’m Liam.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you properly,” Sam said, depositing two freshly cooked pancakes onto a plate and sliding it across the counter toward him. “Here’s your hard earned reward for answering question number one.”

Liam eagerly reached for the maple syrup but paused halfway. “Question one?”

Sam smiled.

“There’s some other stuff we need to talk about, but I think the obvious question we need to get out of the way first is: are you going to stick around with us?”

“Do you really have to ask? You guys really stuck your necks out to help me save Mia. You’re the closest thing I’ve had to friends in years,” he said. He opened his mouth to say something else but nothing came out. He cringed a little as he stared at us. “That… sounded way less pathetic in my head. I can do a do over?”

“You’re not alone. I don’t have any friends either,” Sam said casually. I turned and stared with clear surprise. “What? Do you really think someone like me is capable of making friends with normal people?”

I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. “I mean…”

If she has no friends, what does she do at school all day?

“I already told you, I go to school to gather information. The only ‘friends’ I make are to keep up appearances. I try to keep them at arm's length,” Sam explained. “I’m not used to growing attached. I’ve been jumping from place to place for a long time now. Friends were a burden I couldn’t afford,” she said with complete seriousness. At our stares, she groaned and doused one of her pancakes with butterscotch syrup. “Oh, you know what I mean! I don’t mean now. I meant before.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Sounds lonely,” Liam said, stuffing his mouth full of pancakes. “It sucks, but I get it.”

I couldn’t imagine being completely isolated. I had so many people around me that sometimes I felt like I was suffocating, especially around holidays. Lucy came over so often that the guest room was basically hers; something that Jackson and Chris even pointed out to me when they visited.

Sam had no one and from the sounds of it, Liam didn’t either. Well, aside from this Mia girl, but even then I couldn’t be sure about what their relationship was.

“That’s typically how it ends up for people like us, except for our social butterfly here,” Sam nudged and winked at me.

Liam gave me a strange look.

I just shook my head. “I have like four friends, six if I’m counting you and Sam. I’m hardly a social butterfly.”

Sam gasped dramatically. “I thought we were the best of friends! Yet you leave me as a mere afterthought?”

“I’d leave you as less than an afterthought if I could. But speaking of friends, have you figured out when our guest is going to wake up?” I asked, changing the subject. Sam looked like she wanted to punch me but I soldiered on. “If she doesn’t, we might need to start thinking about dehydration or starvation—”

“Oh, you worry too much. She’s fine,” Sam waved me off. “She just needs to rest. Her body and mind are still adjusting to normalcy. She went through some serious punishment, even if she probably won’t remember it.”

“She won’t remember? Did they fuck with her head or something?” Liam asked, concerned.

Sam shook her head.

“No, no, nothing like that. For the most part they weren’t conscious during the tests, so there’s a good chance she’ll just be confused when she wakes up. What she went through might feel like some sort of nightmare to her – something she can barely recall. It’ll be in her subconscious though. She’ll be aware that something has happened. Honestly what I’m most concerned about is the dysmorphia, her body changed a lot in a very short time.”

I recalled what Gold had said last night, pertaining to an Artificial Awakening.

“You said that those people were undergoing an Artificial Awakening. Will Mia have powers?” I asked, looking over toward the couch. “Maybe we should move her somewhere where collateral damage isn’t an issue?”

Sam pursed her lips before shaking her head again.

“I considered that. It’s better for her to wake up here. Gold says it’ll help put her at ease when she comes to; even better if Liam sticks around. If we move her somewhere else then the chances for a bad reaction increase dramatically.”

That was a little risky —assuming Mia did get powers— but if she was willing to risk her apartment, then that was her prerogative. I suppose we could always make repairs, assuming there was a building left.

“It’s your apartment,” I shrugged. It wasn’t like it was my place in danger of going up in flames if things went wrong. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. She will be fine.”

“Yeah,” Liam chimed in. “I’ll be here and she’s not the type to panic… I think.”

I looked at Sam. “So, when will she wake up?”

“Today, hopefully. Most likely tomorrow. Absolute worst case? I’m wrong, you have to whip up some medical equipment and we have Orange take care of her,” Sam shrugged. “I’m almost certain that won’t happen though. Gold says there’s no indication we’ll get to that point.”

“Okay,” I said, finishing off my breakfast. I turned my attention to Liam. “What about you? You okay sticking with us?”

“I… already said yes?” He hesitated for a moment, looking over his shoulder toward Mia before running his hand through his messy bed hair. “I want to make sure she’s okay. Look, I don’t really have much going for me,” he edged a cautious look toward Sam. “I don’t know how much your… powers were able to figure out, but I’m not in the best place right now. I could use somewhere away from home in case things don’t work out between me and my uncle.”

Sam gave him a sympathetic look. “I’ve been there.”

“Yeah, and I’m not so confident after last night,” he shook his head. “I almost fucked everything up. Those ECU guys almost got me– no, they did get me,” he said, looking like he couldn’t believe his own words. “If that happens again without someone to save my ass, I’m screwed.”

“Have you encountered them before?” Sam asked.

Liam squinted in thought before nodding. “A couple times. It was a while ago. Really brief too. I ran into Lich first, we didn’t even get into a fight. Then a few weeks later, Sparrow tried to bring me in. Didn’t work out so well for her.”

“They’ve developed countermeasures for you,” Sam summarized. “Gold’s been able to figure out some things about your powers but you’re giving her a hard time.”

Liam shrugged helplessly. “Sorry. I’d tell you if I knew. My powers just… work. I don’t really think about the details.”

“It’s okay. I’m just trying to say that the ECU undoubtedly has one of their Mentalists studying you and working with their containment specialists. The stuff they hit you with last night? Experimental tech,” Sam lightly bit her lip in thought. “Maybe not for you specifically but it’s fairly new capture tech that they’ve been using for some time now.”

“Last few months,” I said. “I’ve talked about it with my friends at school. Abby– er, Comet told us about it. How long have you had your powers?”

“‘Bout a year and a half.”

Sam nodded. “And your encounters with Lich and Sparrow?”

Liam shook his head and huffed. “Man, I don’t know. Must have been like… sixish months ago? Feels like ages.”

I shared a glance with Sam. “That sounds like it lines up. New tech developed by the ECU after encountering you.”

“That sounds like them,” Sam agreed. “If you stick with us, we’ll watch out for each other. Supers last much longer working with a team after all. Independents are lucky to last a year. Sooner or later, everyone gets dragged into something. Whether it’s the ECU, a team like us, or some gang. No one is strong enough to make it solo.”

Liam scoffed.

“Not even Grim?”

“He formed the Cains, didn’t he? Everyone’s got someone. Even the almighty Ajax,” Sam pointed to the ceiling to emphasize her point. “Big ol’ space station and the ECU still managed to rope the guy into an alliance. I haven’t the slightest clue how, but they did.”

“So what now?” I asked, looking toward our de facto leader. “The Cains must be hurting more than ever. Now the ECU has to go after him in earnest and that’s a fight no one wins. Soon, Grim’ll start losing ground and any support along with it; and if Mirage really is playing his own game, he’ll take advantage of the chaos.”

“What now indeed…” Sam mused. “For now, I think it’s best if we wait for the sleeping beauty to wake up,” she turned to me, “and the two of us can brainstorm some gear for you to make. Maybe do a bit of shopping. We can’t go wrong with more toys,” she said with a smile. “I’ll try and get in touch with Springsong and see how the Queen’s Court feels about all of this. I still need to tell her about what we found down there, if they don’t know already.”

“How would they know?” Liam asked.

“ECU spies,” Sam answered easily. “Sympathizers and those loyal to Gaea. It’ll get back to them in some way but if it comes from us, it might get us some brownie points.”

I couldn’t suppress the urge to chuckle. “Since when did you want to impress QC?”

“Hey, just because we’re technically competing doesn’t mean we can’t have good relations,” she replied. “And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be on the good side of the one with S-Class backing.”

Liam gave a mock salute. “I’m with you there. No way I’m testing my powers against her. I’ve stayed far away from QC’s territory and plan to keep it that way.”

“Smart,” Sam said. “For now though, I think it’s best we wait and see how everything plays out. If Gold’s right, shit is about to hit the fan and the whole city is going to be reeling,” she took a breath and exhaled slowly. “The ECU can’t keep this quiet, Grim was too noticeable, caused too much destruction and too many people died. The whole city is going to be on a witch hunt for the Cains.”

“That’s… good, right?” Liam asked, his gaze flicking between me and Sam. “That means he can’t hide.”

“Good and bad,” Sam chewed her lip a little. “Push Grim too far and he’ll go scorched earth. I can’t overstate how bad that could be. I’m talking about a potential city wide evacuation or quarantine.”

“Oh,” Liam frowned. “Yeah that’d be bad.”

“The upside is that all the attention will be on him. Now’s going to be a good chance to find his weakness —if it even exists— and take him down. After he’s gone, the Cains will crumble,” Sam said, her smile growing. “Which gives us the unique opportunity to slip in and strip his little empire for all it’s worth. Territory and all.”

“Territory?” Liam said, sounding concerned.

Sam shrugged. “Someone’s gotta fill the void. If we don’t, Pandora will. Or the ECU. Do you want that?”

“No, but how are we supposed to hold part of the city? I don’t even know where to start,” Liam looked at me. I just shook my head and shrugged. “You don’t either?”

“I’m still on the fence about the whole territory idea,” I admitted. “It brings a bunch of heat and puts us in clear opposition to the ECU.”

“We’re already opposed,” Sam argued. “You both need to understand that. If you’re not with them, you’re against them. That’s how they operate.”

“Yeah. Yeah I know how they operate,” Liam nodded in agreement. “It’s just… man, holding territory? Not sure if I’m up for that,” he awkwardly rolled his shoulders. “I can’t even stay in school or get decent grades. How the hell am I supposed to hold a piece of the city?”

Sam snorted and rolled her eyes. “You let me worry about that. It’s not nearly as difficult as you think it is.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “Our Mayor has a good fifty years on us, twenty-five to thirty of that being political experience and he’s barely keeping the city together with government backing. How are we supposed to be any better?”

Sam groaned.

“You’re missing the point. We have powers, Max. All we have to do is treat the community better than the Cains. Think of it like… hm,” she paused for a moment. “Think of it as being a local hero. You set the standards, enforce them, and people will follow suit. That’s all it really is.”

I shared a look with Liam and I could tell we were both on a similar wavelength.

“You want all that responsibility?” He asked. “Why? Why can’t we just… you know, fly under the radar, do our own thing?”

I could see Sam resist the urge to scream. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took another deep breath to steady herself.

“I have spent so much of my life with no place for myself, nowhere I belong,” her tone was sharp and steady, like it could explode any moment. “I’ve tried to fit in. I’ve tried to find somewhere where I could be—” She stopped herself and laid her hands flat on the table. “The details don’t matter, but I eventually decided if I couldn’t find that place, I’d just make it myself. That’s why… That’s why I need this.”

I found myself at a loss. I looked over to Liam and saw that he was slowly nodding.

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I reached for it and unlocked it to see some messages from Mom.

“I want to talk to you. I don’t care where you are or what you’re doing, but I need you to come home right now.”

My stomach churned and the pancakes threatened to come back up.