Emmy sat on the ground, back against a building, knees pulled up to her chest as she huddled out of the rain. She stared across the street at the dark shape of Vines' building, debating going in.

She wasn’t sure how she’d convinced people to let her join a superhero team. There were hundreds of people more qualified than her. She was just a stupid kid with a weird brain that let her think fast. It didn’t make her smarter, or more observant. It wasn’t better. Just faster. At the end of the day, what did speed matter?

She… should leave. It would be best if she just left. She’d lied to get in, and it was a miracle they hadn’t kicked her out when the truth was discovered.

A sharp gust of wind hit her, driving freezing rain against her legs. For the first time since discovering her speed, Emmy wished she were wearing warmer clothes.

If she left the team, she’d have to figure out her health on her own. Nick always showed her the results of her blood work, and explained what in her diet needed adjusting, but she hadn’t paid attention in like a year. He gave her food, and she ate it. Figuring out food by herself would be hard.

She’d also need a job. As a part of the team, she was officially an employee of the city. She was also a member of the American Conglomeration of Superheroes, and there were a couple companies and brands that sponsored the team. Shawn dealt with all that. Emmy only paid attention to the money that appeared in her bank account every other week.

A friend like Inez wasn’t strictly needed, but if Emmy left the team she’d be leaving behind… her big sister, basically. Someone who was always on her side, no matter what. Even when what she’d done was absolutely horrible.

And she had done horrible things. She’d done stupid things. Emmy knew she deserved to be in jail for her actions. If she turned herself in… No. If she turned herself in now, the whole team would get in trouble. It would be best for her to slip away unnoticed into the night.

A car came to a screeching halt in front of her, sending water splashing onto her shoes. Inez jumped out, running up to her.

“Emmy!” She dropped to her knees, wrapping her in a hug. “Don’t do that to me! What were you thinking, vanishing like that? Don’t ever do that again.”

“Sorry,” Emmy muttered, not moving.

Nick sat down next to her, leaning against the building. He was just far enough away to not be touching her. “You ok?”

Emmy didn’t answer.

“You scared us,” Inez continued. “You can’t just vanish out of a fight, I thought someone kidnapped you or something.”

“I didn’t,” Nick added.

“Come on, let’s get in the car,” Inez said, tugging Emmy gently. “Out of the rain.”

Emmy withdrew. “No.”

Inez watched her carefully, dropping her arms.

“Are you ok?” Nick repeated.

They waited for Emmy to answer. She hid her face in her knees, wishing they’d stop looking at her.

Finally Inez sat down next to her, sliding her arm through Emmy’s. “That really scared you, didn’t it?”

“Scared isn’t the right word,” Nick said. “Don’t know what is, but…”

“I should leave the team,” Emmy muttered.

Nick nudged her elbow. “Why?”

“I don’t… I’m worthless. I do bad things. I’m too young. You should find a better speedster, one who knows what they’re doing.”

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“You’re not too young any more,” Nick said. “Sally is your age, and Paul had no problem hiring her.”

“We’re a team,” Inez told her. “Whatever you do, no matter what it is, we’ll back you up. If it’s bad or dumb, that doesn’t matter to us.”

Nick climbed to his feet. “Yeah. You’re an annoying little speedster, but you’re our annoying little speedster.”

Inez tugged Emmy’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go home. Get warm, get sleep, and we can talk about it tomorrow. Ok?”

Emmy nodded. She paused, getting up. “Where’s Victor?”

“We abandoned him on the side of the road,” Nick said, smiling.

Inez glared at him. “He stayed behind to wait for the van.”

“So… we won?”

“Well, we knocked them out,” Nick said. “Not sure that equates winning in this case.”

“Victor will be home soon,” Inez said. “Let’s go before he beats us back and gets worried.”

“Ok,” Emmy said, following them to the car.

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The sound of the garage door closing woke Shawn up. He grumbled, turning to look at the clock. It was about eight in the morning, an hour after they usually had breakfast.

He yawned, slowly getting to his feet. After some consideration, he decided he was feeling better. Still not good, but he wasn’t dying like he’d been the day before.

He pulled clothes on before heading downstairs. Even sick he was team manager, and had to at least try to look the part.

No one was in the dining room or living room, which was slightly odd. Nick wasn’t in the kitchen, which was very odd. There wasn’t even any leftover breakfast in the microwave. Shawn wandered around the building, wondering if the whole team had gone to the store. He heard noise from the tv room and looked in, wondering why anyone would be in there.

Emmy was in her chair, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. She was watching an old musical, one Shawn didn’t recognize.

“Hey,” he called, going in to take the chair next to her. “Did everyone else leave?”

Emmy shrank into her blanket, letting it cover her mouth and nose. “Yeah.”

He watched her for a few moments, wishing he weren’t sick. “Emmy, what’s wrong?”

She stared at the screen, not answering.

“I know something’s wrong. But I don’t know what. Tell me?”

Emmy disappeared under the blanket. “Inez and Nick said not to tell you, I wanted to tell you, but you were so sick yesterday and they were right that you shouldn’t be stressed out, that you needed rest!”

Shawn was becoming very alarmed. “Tell me what?”

“There’s a big group of supervillains, they’re organized and have been attacking random places at specific times. There were like eight attacks yesterday, and one of them seriously freaked me out last night, so when they all broke out of prison Chief Palo called our team and Inez was like ‘we can’t do that alone’ and had him call Paul’s team as well, and she said it was best if I stay home, even though she almost killed the empath so he’s in the hospital and won’t be there, since I didn’t sleep last night and with Paul’s team they should be strong enough to beat them without me. But there’s like a dozen of them, and like I said they’re super organized, so I don’t know, I’m just worthless.”

“You’re not worthless,” Shawn said automatically, trying to sort through everything else she’d told him. “So… yesterday you had four fights?”

“Yeah,” she muttered, still under the blanket.

“And the last one involved someone who could manipulate emotions?”

“Yeah.”

“Inez hospitalized him.”

“He tried to make us all feel insecure? She got pissed instead.”

Shawn thought that over. “That… doesn’t surprise me. All the people you fought yesterday broke out of prison together?”

“Yeah.”

“So Spade and… Vin… are currently fighting at least eight people, who have systematically worn down the teams and presumably have a plan for their battle today,” he summarized.

Emmy pulled the edge of the blanket down to look at him. “Closer to a dozen.”

“And, out of consideration for my cold, the team decided to mention none of this to me.”

“Inez and Nick,” she clarified. “Victor and I kinda wanted to tell you, but… And Paul said we should tell you.”

Shawn nodded. “Ok, now I know who to blame.” He got up, moving to the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked, sitting up.

“To yell at them. And try to help. You coming?”

“I…” She looked down, hesitating.

He smiled gently at her. “I’m still sick. I don’t know if I can do this alone.”

Emmy got to her feet, smiling in return. “I’ve got your back.”

“Thank you,” he said. “There’s one thing I have to do first…”