When Anomaly put himself back together, I felt convinced we were finally getting somewhere.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The moment he had managed to get his bearings and identify The Old Man, animosity crept into the room. Where Liam was usually relaxed and casual, he was wound up and ready to snap. I didn’t need to be a Mentalist to recognize there was something to their relationship. I wasn’t sure what their history was, but the recognition in his eyes was unmistakable.

Liam had yet to do anything except stare in disbelief. Some soldiers came by to help clean up, but The Old Man shooed them away after taking the towels they brought with them.

“He just had to explode then, couldn’t have waited until we got clear, now my clothes are wet and will rub my skin raw…” Alice mumbled, drying her hair. She should’ve taken me up on my offer to make her armor, so sucks to be her. “So! What exactly do we have here, a toxic guardian? No… a surprise reveal, oh how titillating.”

Leave it to Alice to pour gasoline on a bonfire.

“Is now really the time for this?” I couldn’t help but ask. Bayside was tearing itself to shreds, and here we were about to sort through some family drama. We didn’t have time for this. “Anomaly, whatever issue you have with him, it can—”

“No the fuck it can’t!” He hissed with an uncharacteristic amount of venom. His gaze fixated on The Old Man. “Why are you here? Where is… here?” he asked, looking around. “Who ARE you?”

Damn it… I guess we’re doing this now.

The Old Man took a deep breath and calmly gestured to the nearest seat. “This’ll be easier to explain if you sit down.”

“No,” Liam shook his head. “Don’t pull that psychologist bullshit on me. You tell me RIGHT NOW!”

“Hey,” Alice cut in with a clipped tone. “You need to chill. I know what you’re thinking and that’ll put us all in a bad spot. So just sit down and listen.”

He looked between us and The Old Man before stepping back. He rolled his shoulders before looking toward the exit as if to weigh his options. His gaze turned back to us, and I slowly shook my head to warn him from doing anything stupid. The last thing we needed was him trying to make a half-baked escape attempt in a place that probably had as much security as the ECU’s Citadel. We couldn’t afford the chaos that would cause.

I can’t afford that.

Liam took a shaky breath before pointing to The Old Man.

“Before anything else I have to know, are you really my uncle?” he said.

I felt my world tip slightly on its axis.

Uncle? Are you serious?

The Old Man steadily took a breath and kept his composure.

I looked between the two, and I supposed I could see a little bit of resemblance if I was looking for it, though how much of that was me seeing things and how much was real was—

“No.”

Well, that was easy.

I heard Alice curse under her breath beside me, and I immediately knew why. These guys were a bigger deal than we thought. Liam briefly explained that his uncle had done all the paperwork to get him into my school on his first day. The puzzle pieces were beginning to fit together, and I didn’t like the picture.

There’s no way this is a coincidence.

Liam exhaled slowly. “Fuck.”

“I’m going to ask – again – that you sit down,” The Old Man repeated. “You have questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.”

Tensely, he pulled up the closest seat to him and sat down, never once taking his eyes off The Old Man. I hadn’t known Liam for very long, but I could tell that he was scared – properly scared – like his life had been suddenly tipped upside down.

“Let’s start by solving the easiest questions first. You’re still in Bayside. After you decided to employ your genius strategy to force your way down that Morpher’s throat, myself and my associates approached your teammates and struck up an alliance. Since then, we have managed to free you so you could put yourself back together. Are you with me so far?”

Liam grunted.

“Good. This alliance is still ongoing. Grim has not been dealt with and we were brainstorming a strategy to deal with him until just now. That is what you have missed so far. Any questions?”

I had to give it to The Old Man. His brief explanation got to the point, but I couldn’t help but cringe listening to him talk to Liam like that. It reminded me of how Mom spoke to me when I was younger and didn’t know any better.

“...Not really.”

“Good,” The Old Man said again. “Now, as for who I am…” he paused, turning to stare at me and Alice. His gaze fixated for a few moments as if to weigh up the pros and cons of us being in the room. I was about to speak up, but Alice beat me to the punch.

“If you think we’re giving you privacy, you’ve got another thing coming. He’s our teammate and you’ve been lying to him from the start. We’re not leaving him alone with you, regardless of how pure you think your intentions are.”

A heavy-handed way of saying it, but I couldn’t help but agree.

Unbothered by her declaration, The Old Man turned back to Liam. “This involves your sister. If you don’t want them here, then just say the word.”

“Did I not just say we’re staying?” There was an indignant anger in her tone. It was easy to see that The Old Man’s words had singed her ego. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I said that. You might want to get your ears checked."

“If he doesn't want you here, you will leave,” The Old Man replied evenly. His expression never changed, and if I was being honest, that was the worst part. “I suspect you’re close to figuring out who I represent,” he paused, turning to stare Alice down. “They are not someone you want to cross, so I’d advise you not to make things difficult for yourself.”

Alice’s shoulders went rigid for a split second before she managed to reign herself in.

“For someone with no powers, you’re awfully brave,” she muttered sourly, her gaze flicking to Liam. “Well, are we in or out?”

“You probably already know anyway,” Liam grumbled.

He looked down at the floor, his expression pained. He had never talked about family, and I had never asked. I knew his sister had tutored Mia, but that was about it.

“M–” I stopped myself before I could say her name. It occurred to me that Mia didn’t actually have another name to go by yet. “Our other teammate told me that your sister tutored her.”

Liam looked up at me, and I saw a flash of anger in his eyes that quickly melted away to fearful concern.

“Where is she?” He looked around.

“By now? She’s probably found a way inside and is poking around,” Alice said, smugly staring at The Old Man. He was completely unbothered by her expression and simply rolled his eyes. “I can go get her if you want.”

Liam glared at The Old Man across from him. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to think. Are you about to tell me that Natasha didn’t run away with some fucking guy – that she didn’t just abandon me?”

His words hit a little too close to home. I often asked Mom and Alex where Dad was in my earlier years. All I got were vague answers; ‘He left because family life wasn’t for him’ about summed it up. Neither of them were emotional about it. Mom didn’t show grief or concern about the man, and Alex reassured me that the subject wasn’t worth wasting brain power over.

I didn’t know the slightest thing about him. After a while, I stopped asking and stopped caring.

Liam was clearly close with his sister, and her absence left a visible hole in his life.

“Are you sure you want them here?” The Old Man asked, gesturing to us. “I can—”

“Just fucking tell me!”

The Old Man calmly exhaled and shut his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them, he embodied stoicism, completely and utterly.

“Your sister was one of our best operatives and she went by Spectre. She was an Evohuman, just like you, just like your parents,” The Old Man said. Liam looked like a brick had slapped him across the face. “I was her handler and she made it very clear that I was never to involve you in our business. That is why you never met me prior to your adoption.”

Silence lingered as The Old Man gave us a moment to digest this information.

“Six years ago I was given details of an assignment – a particularly dangerous one suited for someone of her talents. I passed on the details and urged her to consider if the risk was worth taking. She disregarded my warnings and took the mission. As you know, she never came home.”

Liam’s voice cracked. “She’s… dead?”

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“Missing,” The Old Man said softly. “Presumed dead. We sent recovery teams to see if we could find out what happened, but no sign of her was found.”

I felt uncomfortable watching Liam’s expression shift from anger to devastation. I tried to think of something to say to soften the blow, but nothing came to mind. I couldn’t fathom what it felt like to hear the unbelievable truth after believing a lie for so long.

“All this time… she—” he didn’t have the heart to finish. Liam looked lost, almost empty.

“I’m sorry,” The Old Man said sincerely. “But I hope you can understand why I didn’t tell you. Your sister made powerful enemies. If you knew what she was doing, there was a very real risk that some Mentalist would find out and put you in danger.”

He specifically didn’t look at Alice.

“Smart move,” she said, taking the opportunity to jump into the conversation. “I never figured out what exactly happened. At best, I surmised—”

I quickly nudged her when I saw Liam bristle at her words. “You’re not helping.”

I was too late.

“Yeah, and I bet that’s all you really fucking cared about, isn’t it?” Liam sneered, looking at Alice. “Look at me, can’t catch me off-guard when I know everything there is to know about you. Did it ever occur to you that maybe people don’t like it when you go DIGGING THROUGH THEIR PERSONAL SHIT!?”

Despite his outburst, he didn’t transform. I was thankful for that, but the tension hadn’t disappeared. Liam and Alice were locked in a staring contest, and The Old Man saw fit to keep himself out of it. From our first meeting with Liam, he had been very up-front about his distrust for Mentalists. If I had to guess, it was because of moments like this.

Alice reluctantly broke eye contact and sighed.

“I’m sorry. Gold figures stuff out and feeds it to me whether I want her to or not, okay? I would never hold it over your head and I wouldn’t have revealed it to anyone, but that’s just how it is. I know bits and pieces about everyone in this room, some more than others of course. The Old Guy included,” she thumbed in his direction. “You're mad and believe me when I say I get that family can be a touchy topic, so I’m not going to take what you just said personally.”

Liam scoffed, sinking into his chair and kicking aimlessly at the floor.

“Whatever.”

Another uncomfortable silence descended, and I couldn’t stand it. I had to fix this.

“You said… missing, right?” I looked in The Old Man’s direction. He fixed me with a glare. Giving false hope wasn’t good for anyone, but I couldn’t just stand here and assume that presumed dead meant actually dead. “I’m not going to bother asking what she was doing since I doubt you’d tell me anyway, but without a body, you can’t be certain. There’s every chance she could still be alive somewhere.”

We couldn’t have Liam sinking into despair. From where we were heading earlier, it seemed like the entirety of our – yet to be discussed – plan hinged entirely on him. He had shown he was capable of surviving Grim’s shadow before. He could do it again.

“Missing is worse than dead,” Alice murmured. I could almost hear her pitying my ignorance. “When supers go missing, it’s often a fate worse than death. You saw what Splicer was doing – what he would still be doing if he wasn’t caught. There are more people out there like him. Some worse, much worse.”

The Old Man cleared his throat. “You two are not helping.”

“Missing is still missing. It’s not a certainty. She went by Spectre, right?” I asked, directing my full attention at The Old Man. Ideas were already springing to my mind. I could research with Alex’s help and feed that information to Gold. Even if she turned out to be dead, it would at least give Liam some closure. So far, all he had learned was that his sister didn’t abandon him as he believed, and while that was something, it would never be enough. He’d always be left wondering, and it didn’t sit right with me. “We can help figure out what happened.”

I saw The Old Man’s lip twitch.

“You?” He said, disbelief coloring his tone. “We put our best agents on the case and they barely got anywhere.”

“Then your best guys suck,” I said bluntly. Now, The Old Man didn’t look amused. “You didn’t have us. What was it you said? A concentrated powerhouse?” My gaze flicked briefly to Alice to see her head inclined slightly, struggling to suppress a grin. “We’re a rarity. Let us do our thing and we’ll do what you couldn’t.”

The Old Man didn’t look impressed. His gaze was flat, his stoicism returning tenfold.

“I’ve seen too many kids like you die because of their egos.”

I saw Liam flinch out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t let it distract me. We had managed to make it this far. I knew we were capable. I had seen what Alice was capable of, and with enough time, I would be better as well. Still, I couldn’t ignore the sadness in his tone.

“That’s not going to be us,” I replied. “We know better.”

The Old Man just sighed. “Time will tell.”

I turned to Liam, and there was a distant look in his eyes. He was off in his own little world, trying to process what he had just heard. Chances are he was still listening, wondering where the conversation was going, but I couldn’t write off the possibility that he had tuned out entirely.

“How about it?” I offered.

When he looked at me, I knew he had been listening.

Liam stood up, the chair scraping across the floor. He sniffed, the heaviness of the bombshell showing he had been reigning in his emotions this whole time. His nose wrinkled as he fixed The Old Man with a nasty glare.

“You’ve lied to me before, so I’ve been thinking – wondering if this is all bullshit,” he jabbed a finger in his direction. “How do I know that you guys didn’t kill her, huh? Fuck whatever warning you gave her, you still sent her on that fucking mission in the first place. You’re the real reason she’s gone – the reason she left me.”

“He’s being sincere, Anomaly,” Alice said quickly. “They may have given her the mission but they had nothing to do with her disappearance. He’s not lying.”

“How do I know you’re not feeding me a bunch of bullshit as well?” He directed his animosity toward her. “You’re a Mentalist. How am I ever supposed to trust someone like that – someone who knows exactly what fucking buttons to push to get what they want. How do I know any of this is genuine?” He stalked away from us and began pacing the room. “Don’t pretend. Just stop fucking pretending.”

I felt the urge to bring up Mia and how we helped him save her, but I was worried it would help prove his point. I had been willing to help, even if he didn’t join us, but Alice was of the other opinion. She had been open about securing his loyalty, even if it meant utilizing underhanded tactics.

“I’ve lied to you, yes,” The Old Man started suddenly, taking a few steps toward him. “Your sister knew the risks, so she made me promise that I would be there for you should anything happen, and I have,” his tone grew rough as his expression took on a more authoritative look. “I took you into my home. I kept a roof over your head, fed you, and made sure you were well looked after. I did my best, I even cleaned up after you and kept you from catching the eye of anyone too dangerous. You, however, have been making things exceedingly difficult.”

“You—” Liam tried to speak, but The Old Man silenced him.

“Who do you think has been covering for all your mistakes? You think that boy you beat to a pulp kept quiet about your powers out of the good of his heart? Who do you think cleaned that mess up? How about that group of thugs you brutalized when you broke into their safehouse and took everything they had?” I could hear the frustration boiling over in The Old Man’s tone. “There’s a lot I can do but you. Just. Keep. Pushing it! I told you that you needed to get your head on straight before you ended up dead. Now look where you are! I don’t want this for you, and neither did your sister.”

He stepped away and scoffed, giving me and Alice a hard glare.

“Now you’re stuck with these two,” his hard glare melted away, making him appear more tired than anything. “Which I suppose is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for.”

“How kind,” Alice drawled.

“I never said it was a good one.”

“Oh, I know.”

I checked the time on my visor and noted that it was getting close to three in the morning. Time was getting away from us, and the longer we waited, the more damage Grim would do. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see a way to force the issue without pissing Liam off, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Without him, whatever plan Alice was making would fall apart.

“I’m not a fan of repeat conversations and we’ve been through this song and dance before, Anomaly,” Alice started. “Trust me or not, I’m looking out for our best interests. All I can say is that he isn’t lying. Whether or not you believe me is up to you, but we need to put a pin in this conversation. I’d still like for there to be a city when the sun rises.”

Liam let out a long, tired huff.

“Fucking damnit,” he muttered under his breath. “I really want to trash this place, but… shit I know that isn’t going to solve anything. Really fuckin’ wanna do it though.”

“I’m sure it’d make you feel better,” The Old Man agreed calmly. “But as you said, that won’t solve anything. You’re old enough to know what lashing out gets you and you’ve done it enough to know what the consequences will be.”

Liam suddenly turned to me, giving me a hard stare.

“You’ll really help find my sister? You’d do that?”

I shrugged.

“Missing doesn’t mean dead but like Alice mentioned, it could mean something worse. Whatever the case may be, you deserve closure rather than being stuck wondering for the rest of your life.”

Liam considered my words quietly before slowly nodding. “Yeah… yeah, I wanna know. Thanks, Upgrade.”

“Just temper your expectations,” Alice said. “This may sound a bit harsh but it’ll save you a world of hurt. Expect the worst, but hope for the best.”

He grunted, not meeting her eyes. “Alright.”

“Surprisingly considerate. You’re not as selfish as you seem,” The Old Man said, drawing our attention to him. “Unfortunately, there will be a time and a place for that discussion, and that isn’t now. I will be more than happy to provide the necessary information if you intend to pursue this. I doubt you’ll get anywhere but I’ve been pleasantly surprised before. However, we have bigger fish to fry.”

Finally, we were back to business.

“Yeah, I figured that would be the case,” Anomaly grumbled. “I guess Grim isn’t dead yet?”

“Not when they aren’t using his weakness against him,” I answered.

“That sucks, wish we knew what it is,” Anomaly exhaled. He then realized we were all staring at him. “What? Wait, you figured it out?”

“We were talking about it before you put yourself back together. We were even about to discuss a plan,” Alice said. “The problem is that this plan is going to involve you as the centerpiece. The question is if you’re willing to go along with what I’ve come up with.”

“Me?” His eyes widened considerably. “Are you fucking kidding me? Hell no, I’m not going near that psycho.”

“You already survived his power before,” I pointed out. “As far as we know, you’re the only person who can.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, and I couldn’t blame him. If it were me, I wouldn’t take that gamble again.

“This fucking blows.”

I sighed in agreement. “Yeah, I doubt it’s going to be easy but if it helps, we’re all going to be out there with you.”

“It really doesn't,” Anomaly said, giving me a flat look. “But I guess if I die, you're all coming with me as well.”

Jesus… that’s one way to look at things.

The Old Man exhaled sadly.

“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be going anywhere near Grim. That, unfortunately, isn’t up to me. My superiors want this city in one piece and you’re our only known advantage,” his gaze then focused on Alice. “So if you have a plan, now would be a good time to share. It better be a damn good one.”

Alice smirked as she switched to Gold.

“Alright then, better listen up because I don’t like repeating myself. Here’s how we’re going to beat the Grim Reaper…”