Unsure of what to say next, I paused.

Daniel's dad said, "Start where you think the beginning is."

"Well, the real beginning's back in December when we found Ray at Haley's family Christmas party, but that would take too long, and you could say the next beginning is when Ray killed Sean's dad at graduation, but I think the beginning that matters was when Sean told Rachel and I that he was going to kick Ray's ass, and beat us to the cottage..."

I gave him a step by step account of what happened, telling him about how Lee (as Gunther) distracted Ray, allowing me to escape, and forcing Ray to follow. Describing Ray's borrowed powers, and how I'd finally thrown him into the power lines I said, "he managed to make things worse by grabbing a power line so hard his hand touched metal. By the time he hit the ground, he'd snapped the line in two, and practically electrocuted himself. The thing is, he was still alive. I could see him healing, but then he stopped, and he also shrunk back to his normal size.

"I don't think he had any powers then because the last person he'd touched was me--and even if he could absorb through the stealth suit, I don't have anything to take. Nothing that would help him heal anyway. That's when Sean skewered him with the sign, when he was lying on the ground doing nothing."

"And what did you do then?"

"I told him that I couldn't believe he'd killed Ray, and he said a few things, and I got angry. Then Gina attacked us, and Jaclyn took her out. Right after that, everyone in the League showed up, along with most of what was Justice Fist, and the police. If I'd made a big deal about it, I don't know what would have happened. Maybe I should have, but I was really tired.

"And that's it. There's nothing more to tell."

He nodded. "So what do you want to happen now? Do you want Sean to go to jail?"

"I don't know. I want something to happen, but I don't think I want him to go to jail. Ray was a monster. With all the people he killed, and all the people he threatened to kill if I didn't work for Syndicate L... He deserved to die. If I'd killed him in the fight, I wouldn't have been happy about it, but I think I could have lived with it. Still, I wouldn't have killed him while he was lying helpless on the ground."

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Completely calmly, as if he hadn't just heard me describe a man's death or say I would have been okay with killing Ray myself, he said, "Let's talk about your options. If you did want to accuse him of murder, it wouldn't be hard to establish a motive. Everybody knows who killed his father. Establishing that he was no longer a threat? That could be a challenge. Besides you and Sean, Rachel was the only person who saw the fight, right? Even though people don't know she's your sister, they know she's your teammate. His lawyers would have some obvious routes to discredit her testimony and yours. You fought him as the Rocket once, right?"

"Yes. In the metal yard near downtown."

"Right. So there's bad blood between you and him."

"Yes, but--"

"And if it became known that you and Rachel are brother and sister, it would be even better for them."

"Is that likely?"

"I've seen bigger surprises come out during a trial."

I thought about that for a second. "Couldn't you prove he was lying on the ground, and that he couldn't do anything with forensics? Uh... somehow?"

"Real life isn't a CSI show. Besides, I've heard of supers getting off even if it's obvious they did it when someone like Ray was the victim. Sometimes juries just won't convict."

"Are you telling me the law's useless?"

"No. It's not useless. I'm trying to show you it's not simple, and that you might not get what you want."

"So what am I supposed to do? Beat him up?"

Mr. Cohen almost smiled. One corner of his mouth rose a little. "That didn't end with the old League. We're responsible to police our own. A lot of people wouldn't be in here right now. They'd be hunting him down, and making sure that he knew that if he ever did anything like that again, they're capable of doing the same to him. Captain Commando acted as the League's unofficial policeman for heroes. Larry's done it too."

"Larry?"

Mr. Cohen's eyes drifted toward the ceiling, and though he didn't show it, his tone of voice made me think he was highly amused. "Years ago. Maybe he'll tell you about it."

"OK, but I don't think it would work with Sean. I fought him before he got powers, and he pulled his dad in after the fight. After he got powers I tried to talk to him as the Rocket, and he attacked me. Daniel stopped him, but he didn't seem intimidated after that."

"It's not the way I handle it myself, but from what I understand you've got to be deliberately frightening. You can't just win. You need to leave him terrified of what you'll do if he ever crosses you again."

"I don't want to beat him up. What else could I do?"

"I've got an idea, but you aren't going to like it."