Shawn called Emmy again.

“She won’t answer,” Nick told him. “You have to text her.”

“It’s been ten minutes,” Inez said softly. “We have to do something.”

Shawn spun around, hurling his phone at the wall. Nick dove, catching it before it could smash against the tile.

He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know. Anything. He didn’t know anything. Emmy was probably on her way to murder two people with no proof of them being anything other than upstanding citizens. And he didn’t know how to stop her. He didn’t know. He didn’t know what to do.

Victor poked his head into the kitchen. “Everything ok in here?”

Shawn punched the wall as hard as he could, screaming in frustration.

“Emmy is gone,” Inez told him.

“Do you know any way of tracking her?” Nick asked Victor.

“Where’s she gone?” Victor asked, shaking his head.

Shawn growled. “To kill Catherine and Rhea.”

“Wh-” Victor stopped, took a breath, and sat down next to Inez. “Why?”

Silence. Shawn hadn’t expected her to react like that. She’d just said she wouldn’t be able to kill someone, how was he supposed to know she’d change her mind? Or was she somewhere else, not murdering two people? In hindsight, her reacting badly should have been expected. This team meant everything to her. But murder was a strong reaction. Shawn wouldn’t have thought it possible for her to run off and murder someone at the news.

Inez cleared her throat. “Shawn said he’s going to disband the team.”

Shawn punched the wall again.

Victor nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s… I can see that.”

Nick sat down at his laptop. “I think she’s heading to their building. On the basis that I don’t know where else she’d go. But are they there?”

“Good question,” Inez said, pulling out her phone.

Victor did the same, and they grew silent, trying to find Catherine and Rhea. Shawn slid to the floor, leaning his head on his knees. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t let Emmy kill them, but he didn’t know how to stop her. Hell, he didn’t even know if he should stop her. After all, he’d said he would kill them himself if given the chance. Hadn’t he? What had he said? Didn’t matter. The gist of the phrase had been approval of their deaths. And since he’d approved of it, Emmy had decided to do it. But could she? More importantly, could she do it without getting caught?

He didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly Victor jumped up. “Emmy’s in the subway!”

Inez looked at his phone. “That…”

“It has to be her,” Nick said, looking as well.

“It’s a blur,” Inez said. “A green, black and blonde blur.”

“It’s the blur of a speedster,” Victor said. “Until proved otherwise, I’m saying it’s Emmy.”

“Can you track the blur?” Nick asked.

“Maybe? I’ll get my laptop,” Victor said, heading out of the kitchen.

“Emmy has to be going at normal speeds down there, right?” Inez asked. “She can’t run all the way to Copper’s base.”

“Right,” Nick said, typing on his laptop. “That amount of energy usage would kill her.”

“Could we catch her at one of the stops?” she asked.

Shawn looked up.

Nick paused. “Heck, probably. She’s most likely just walking. We could catch her if we took the car.”

“No time to lose,” Inez shrugged, getting to her feet. “Let’s go.”

They looked at Shawn. Shawn looked blankly back.

“I’ll drive,” Nick said, heading out of the kitchen.

Inez followed.

Shawn climbed to his feet. He found his phone and opened the messenger.

Fun Fact: texts can be used in court.

He hit send and leaned against the counter, sighing. A few seconds later his phone started ringing. Smiling faintly, he answered.

“I’m gonna do it,” Emmy said immediately, her voice echoing slightly.

“How?” he asked.

“I… I brought a knife. And a disguise.”

“Do you know where they are?”

She hesitated. “At their building?”

“Maybe. We don’t know.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

There was a pause. Obviously she hadn’t considered they might be somewhere else.

This was it. Shawn had her attention. He could tell her to come home, and she might listen. Emmy trusted him, she obeyed him. All he had to do was express disapproval of this course of action and she’d back down. That’s all. He just had to say the words.

He… couldn’t. The past nine days came crashing in; all the pain and emotion. All the death, all the stress. He couldn’t go through that again.

Shawn punched the counter, tears forming in his eyes. He was terrified. He was petrified with panic and dread. Catherine had complete control over his life, and as long as she was alive he’d be in a constant state of fear. Even if he dissolved the team, would that stop her? Would she be satisfied with that, or would she randomly decide to torture him again?

He couldn’t risk it. He didn’t want Emmy to do something this bad, but at the moment it felt like the only escape.

He took a deep breath. “Want me to lure them somewhere?”

“Umm…”

Shawn rubbed his face, clearing his eyes. “Are you positive you can do this?”

“Yes,” Emmy answered firmly. “If it’s the only way to save the team, then yes.”

He sighed. “What were you planning on doing with the knife after?”

“Hide it in… the subway? Under a train. Maybe.”

Victor opened the kitchen door, looking in.

“In half an hour I’ll call Rhea and ask her and Catherine to meet me at the cafe by their building,” Shawn said. “The knife has Nick’s fingerprints on it, so just bring it back here. Go to… Nick has the car, I’ll tell him and Inez to go to Costco and leave the doors unlocked. Go there, hide in the car. Can you do that?”

“As long as they buy water and power bars, yeah,” Emmy said.

“Ok. Be careful. If you see Rhea and Catherine and decide you can’t go through with it, just turn around and head to Costco,” he ordered.

There was a pause. “Sure thing, Dad,” she said softly.

Shawn half-heartedly punched the counter, tears returning. “Half an hour. Set your timer. Stay out of sight of cameras until then.”

“Ok. Bye,” she said, and ended the call.

Shawn set his phone down, looking at Victor.

“You’re letting her?” Victor asked.

He picked his phone back up, setting the timer. The trembling in his hands made it difficult. “I don’t know what else to do.”

----------------------------------------

Victor stepped off the subway, following Shawn. Dozens of people moved around them, going about their daily lives. A few noticed them, but no one stopped.

Victor fought the urge to simply fly over everyone’s heads. He didn’t know if it was a result of his power or if he’d be like this no matter what, but being in a crowd panicked him. Looking at a crowd didn’t bother him, and knowing hundreds of people were watching his every move was fine. But being in a crowd, surrounded by bodies, was almost too much for him.

Shawn got to the single escalator and joined the mass of people waiting to funnel on. Victor chose to run up the stairs. As soon as he had clear sky over his head he felt more relaxed.

Not completely relaxed, because he was participating in murder, and there was no way of feeling relaxed about that. He understood why he had to be here. He understood why they… Well, not really. He had a very bad feeling about all of this, and wished he could have stayed home. But Shawn said it was important for them to both go. And Shawn usually knew… stuff.

Shawn got to the top of the stairs, and they started walking. The cafe was three blocks away. Victor started sweating, wishing he were literally anywhere else.

The timer on Shawn’s phone beeped. He pulled it out, ending the alarm before calling Rhea.

“Hello. I was wondering if you and Catherine would be willing to meet me and Victor at the cafe by your building in, oh, ten minutes?”

Victor glanced at him, hoping she said no.

“No, I’d prefer to talk somewhere with witnesses,” Shawn said dryly.

Rhea’s laughter boomed through the phone’s speaker. She said something.

“Thanks,” Shawn bit out. “See you in ten minutes.” He hung up.

Victor glanced at him as the cafe’s sign came into view. “They’re coming?”

“They are.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. If that’s worth anything.”

“It… It’s really not.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once inside the cafe, Shawn got coffee and Victor ordered orange juice. He didn’t like the taste of coffee. Drinks in hand, they went onto the little patio and sat down at a table. Victor tapped his foot nervously on the ground, sipping at his juice.

When he spotted Catherine and Rhea he nearly had a heart attack.

“Victor,” Shawn called softly. “You have to relax.”

“That’s not about to happen,” Victor told him. Where was Emmy? Had she decided to not follow through? Maybe she’d decided to not kill them. Hopefully she wouldn’t show.

The forty-seven seconds it took the ladies to get to the door were sheer torture for Victor. Catherine waved at Shawn, grinning. Rhea touched the handle of the door, starting to pull it open.

And then he saw the blur.

The blur was blue and black and green and blonde. It moved down the sidewalk, slowed into the shape of a human when it reached the ladies, and then continued on its way down the street. Pedestrians and people in the cafe watched the blur, asking who it was. Some people who’d already had their phones out took pictures or videos of the blur.

It took far longer than it should have for people to notice Catherine and Rhea were bleeding. Including Catherine and Rhea. The surprise, the speed, the shock; Victor didn’t know how they didn’t feel the cuts on their throats for a number of heartbeats, but by then it was too late.

They crumpled to the ground, making no sounds as their hands went around their necks. Victor yelled, hopping over the patio’s fence to see if he could help them. He knew he couldn’t, but he also knew he had to try. If he didn’t try, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

In the background, people started yelling. People started screaming. People started running around. Shawn called the police, his familiar voice cutting through all the chaos.

Rhea’s skin changed, her power activating and deactivating as she tried to close the gash in her neck. She stared dumbly ahead, mouth gaping as she lay convulsing on the ground. Victor tried to put pressure on the wound, tried to help, tried to do anything, but it was pointless.

Catherine, sitting with her back against the door, smiled. She gave a wheezing laugh, looking at Victor as her eyes glazed over. Her right hand was held uselessly against her throat. The fingers on her left hand curled into a loose fist. With her last ounce of strength, she grinned and held up her middle finger to Victor.

Victor stared at her in shock, temporarily forgetting about Rhea. He… experienced mixed feelings, all of them strong. His mind bluescreened as he tried to process and organize the feelings.

Shawn put a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to the present.

“An ambulance is on its way,” he said. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”

“Umm.” Victor pulled his hands away from Rhea, no longer feeling a pulse. “Yeah.”

Shawn looked at Catherine, face completely neutral. “You tried.”

Victor wasn’t sure if Shawn was talking to him, or to the still-smiling corpse.

“Should we… Move them out of the doorway?” Victor asked carefully.

Shawn twitched, like he was bringing himself back to reality. “Good idea. I’ll move them, you go inside and ask if anyone has a picture or video of the speedster. If you get more than five, everyone who doesn’t have a picture can leave.”

Victor nodded, climbing to his feet. He wiped his hands clean on a handful of napkins in the patio before going into the cafe.

He smiled reassuringly at the group of people huddled at the back of the building.

“Hey. This really sucks, but we have everything under control. Police and an ambulance are on their way. No one is in danger. I need to know if anyone got a picture or video of the speedster; that would be super helpful.”

A murmur went through the group as everyone checked their phones.