The van's engine rumbled as it tore down broken, choked, and flooded streets. Not for the first time, I cursed the clearance crews and their slow asses. I twisted in my seat to look out the slit of a window, like it would somehow help. All I saw were cookie cutter suburban homes, many with some damage, and piles of shit thrown up by Leviathan's waves.

I forced myself to sit and run through the sequence of events that I remembered. Bonesaw broke in, made Amy heal Mark, they fight, then Bonesaw books it. I knew Amy ran away too, so Mark must have been the one to make the call. That meant she was already out there, somewhere. Not that I actually knew where, but that was just a matter of running around until I found her.

I had to be quick, quicker than a certain blonde with the power of flight and a poor concept of personal space. Fuck, luck was going to be half the game here and that was something I clearly didn't have in abundance. I turned to Assault. I wanted to ask to be let out, to be given the head start I desperately needed here. I stopped myself and turned away. I'd be told no and get weird looks. Fine, well, back-up plan, in case I fucked up like usual.

Amy wound up at a shelter, didn't she? It was a pretty reasonable place to hide out, all things considered. That left a question of which, where once again I had no information. I knew she would be dug out by the Undersiders eventually, and that was certainly a shitshow to be avoided. Shit...I was hoping I could find her fast enough, or tonight was going to be a fucking long one as I ran between every shelter within a mile.

Beyond that, I was getting into speculation. Siberian was going to test her, and I didn't want to try my dogshit version against the real deal all that much. Saving her a couple fingers would be ideal, but as long as I got to her before Smug and Bug did with Vicky, it would probably be okay. Maybe. If I respecced and dumped every single point into charisma and stole Tattletale's power for good measure...

Ugh, fuck. I bonked the back of my head against the van's wall. I had to talk Amy Dallon through the worst week of her life. I wasn't a people person and I definitely wasn't a fucking therapist. A few half-recalled sessions of what felt like someone else's counseling wouldn't help me either.

I had to find her, I literally couldn't afford to fuck this up because this was the one thing I actually had a chance at doing. Talking someone through a crisis? I could barely talk myself through a basic panic attack. Sure finding and...recovering her was viable, maybe. I could try and convince her to shelter with the PRT, or call in backup and have her put in protective custody or something. I sure as shit didn't want to do that either.

Wait, maybe I didn't have to convince Amy to not mind fuck her sister...that was a hell of a sentiment. But if I could get Vicky onboard with, say, not touching her sister when she explicitly asked that, I may not even have to run myself ragged. I wasn't sure I could do that either, but if she was there it was worth a shot.

I began tapping my foot against the metal floor. We were still driving and I was ready to go. I actually had a plan, I was focused, it was...weird. Just adrenaline, probably, or the double coffee I had just before coming down. Oh god hopefully Amy was just being a bitch about my heart. Coffee wasn't that bad for it, surely. My other heart had been mostly fine, and it had endured a hell of a lot more than I was drinking. Two cups would be fine, it was for a good cause anyway and I was in fineish form.

The van mercifully ground to a halt with the faint squeal of brakes. I rose with the rest of the squad and was forced to file out behind them. I came around the side of the van and finally laid eyes on the fabled home of Amy Dallon...with a view big hole showing off their hallway. Assault had already begun talking with Brandish and Flashbang, or Mark since he hadn't changed yet. Victoria was behind them, floating, arms crossed. I knew how she felt. I walked over to her, stomach twisting as the scene that I wanted to stop played in my head.

“Hey,” I said, forcing myself to stop remembering that. Assault seemed to be hashing out the plan with others. “I'm so sorry. I heard Bonesaw attacked?” Her frowned deepened, and she nodded.

“Yeah, attacked my dad and Amy.” Victoria looked over her shoulder, towards the bay. “Now she's...gone.”

“We'll find her,” I promised. I knew we would, for better or worse.

“Yeah,” Victoria agreed, cocking her head. “How are you holding up?” I sighed and scratched the back of my head.

“Fine, I guess.” It was true enough. I hadn't been unlucky enough to get attention from the Nine. “Sick of sitting around. I want to get out there and start looking.”

“Well you're in luck,” Assault interrupted gruffly, the other adults of New Wave turning to us. “We'll be taking chunks to cover. Amaranth, you'll be covering a slice from Northwest to West, Glory Girl from West to Southwest.” I felt my issued phone buzz and slipped it from the near-skintight pocket it sat in. A portion of the city was highlighted. I glanced over at Victoria.

“Stay in contact with each other,” he continued. “Report any suspicious activity. I don't think I need to tell any of you how important it is we find Panacea, or how dangerous the people after her are.” I nodded, a grim expression on my face. “If you find one of the Nine, fall back. Coordinating a response is our only way to succeed, engaging alone will get you killed.”

“What if Amy--”

“Fall back,” Brandish interrupted her daughter sharply. “Don't risk your life needlessly, Glory Girl.” Victoria glowered at her mother, but nodded silently. I wasn't stupid enough to think she meant it.

“What if she doesn't want to come back?” That earned me some weird, even hostile looks, but I pressed on. “She ran away right, Bonesaw didn't kidnap her? If she says no...”

“Call me,” Assault replied. “Or Brandish, Flashbang, or Lady Photon. We'll take care of it.” The answer didn't give me any confidence, but I nodded like Glory Girl had. Lip service... “Good. Let's move.” The other heroes took off, but I reached out to Victoria, making her pause.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Hey,” I said, shuffling in place. My heart was beating harder, my stomach doing backflips. “Listen, if you find her--”

“When I find her.”

“When you find her,” I echoed her correction, looking at the ground. “Just...listen to her, okay?”

“Of course I'll listen to her,” Victoria snapped, hands on her hips. “I'm her sister.”

“I'm serious, Glory Girl,” I stressed, swallowing bile that burned at the back of my throat. “Just...humour me, would you?” Her scowl deepened.

“Look, no offense Amaranth.” I knew she didn't mean that when she said: “Fuck off. You shouldn't even be here, this is about family.”

“Hey, she's my--” I bit my tongue, forcing myself to take a deep breath. “Amy is my...friend.” Or something. “And considering the rest of your family, maybe a friend would be better.” My eyes widened as Victoria's narrowed. Shit.

“Go fuck yourself Amaranth,” she spat, then rocketed into the sky.

I muttered curses under my breath as I began jogging. I shifted my projection and slipped my phone back into my pocket, then settled it in place again. I huffed as I ran along, pausing to check up every side-street and alley I passed. God dammit, god dammit. I should have handled that better, more delicately, but Victoria was such a self-righteous bitch. 'This is about family', yeah whatever.

I was hopeful that I'd manage to come across Amy first. I wasn't sure why, I just...had a feeling. After all, I hadn't been here last time, maybe I'd disrupted something...somehow, got the slice that Vicky had last time, something. That was the only thing that kept me running as my legs got tired and my lungs began to burn.

The streets of Brockton Bay were dark as hell after curfew. Half the city didn't have power, and the half that did was on rationing with six hour blackouts overnight. At least the sun hadn't quite set yet, but god was it going down fast. I saw one man scramble down an alley as I ran along, not that I cared to actually enforce the curfew. That was the army's job, I had something more important to worry about.

Fuck why couldn't Worm have just had some line like 'Amy looked up and saw the street signs, Fifth and Victor, too close to home'. That would make things so much easier and, knowing my autistic little head, I'd probably somehow remember it. But no, nothing of the sort, just a confrontation on a ruined street. Every street was ruined.

I paused and listened out for a minute, breathing heavily. Nothing, beyond the sounds of sirens and gunfire far off. Well, it wasn't like I'd really hear them talking. Quiet as the streets were, that was all relative. I began jogging and searching once more, anxiety worming its way deep within my chest.

How long had Amy managed to be on the run, before Victoria found her? Surely not that long, she couldn't fly and probably wasn't the most fit one on the team. I quashed the worm of fear that threatened spiraling panic. Even if I fucked up, like always, I had backups. But I wouldn't fuck up because I couldn't afford to.

I picked up the pace, throwing occasional, nervous glances skyward. I passed by two startled, smoking teenagers who I could hear fleeing behind me. Irrelevant. I paused at the mouth of an alleyway, then trotted up it. There was a figure there, maybe Amy's height, with a full head of hair. In the gloom I couldn't make out what she was wearing, but Amy was probably just in civvies anyway.

I slowed my pace as I approached, moving quietly. I didn't want to startle her, and if it wasn't her then I didn't want whoever it was getting the drop on me. It didn't help that the blackout had begun, and the sun was below the horizon. Suddenly she turned, and in the faint moonlight there was I saw her teeth as she gave me a smile.

“Hello there, little hero.” My stomach twisted with fear as a streak of red was illuminated by a sliver of a moonbeam shining between the buildings. “You're out awfully late, that's no good.” Cherish. I stopped in my tracks as my heart hammered with the first hints of panic and--

My feet kept moving, and I smiled at her.

“Sorry,” I said, feeling genuine remorse. Adrenaline drew the world in sharp relief, the points of light off Cherish's teeth glittering like stars. “It was...important.” I couldn't tell her though, I really should be running away. She was part of the Slaughterhouse Nine after all, she was a Master. Oh well.

“Do tell.” Cherish sat on a pair of stacked milk crates, tapping the ground in front of her twice with her foot. I sat, it seemed like the right idea.

“I...I shouldn't.” I bit my lip.

It seemed like a really awful terrible no good idea to tell the emotion manipulating master something she could use to get an in on someone I cared about. But...she wouldn't tell. I knew things about her too, things she kept secret on pain of death. Worse than death, as it turned out when Jack got wind of things and Bonesaw got to have her fun. I could actually tell her, tell someone about...all this.

“It's alright, my lips are sealed.” Cherish mimed zipping her lips shut.

“Okay.” I sighed, sweat beading on my forehead. God this was a fucking bad idea... “Um, I'm trying to find Am-- Panacea. She ran away from home after Bonesaw nominated her.” I grimaced as a little worm of guilt gnawed at my chest. My projection shivered sympathetically. “That's uh, not the whole truth. I'm trying to find her before Glory Girl does, because if Glory Girl finds her first then Panacea is going to make her love her.” Cherish's eyes seemed to glitter darkly.

“Is that so,” she said, her voice dripping with saccharine interest that made my heart feel like it was being squeezed in a vise. “And how do you know all that?” I couldn't fucking tell her that.

“It's...” I swallowed heavily, sweat stinging my eyes and swamping my back. I licked my lips with a parched tongue and shook my head. “Nnn—... you wouldn't believe me.” She tutted her tongue and it felt like a whip crack.

“Of course I'll believe you,” Cherish said, her voice thick with false warmth. I trusted she would though.

“I...sort of know the future.” It felt like a weight had lifted from my chest and had graduated to my throat. “I knew y-you were coming. I read it in--”

“You're a precog?” She sounded surprised. I cocked my head and thought about it.

“Postcog, technically.” I shrugged and flickered my projection, clearing the sweat from my brow. “But a precog now, I guess.” I wasn't too bothered by the distinction, not like it had been fucking useful so far. “Anyway I--”

“You know what little hero?” Cherish asked, her voice brittle. “I think you should shut your mouth and we should take a walk.” I shut up and nodded, that did seem like a good idea. I never wanted to tell her in the first place.

I followed her as she walked away. We were heading towards the downtown, for some reason. I looked up at the moon as we traveled, smiling at the cheshire grin on high. As I scanned the sky, I saw a familiar cape in gold and white rocket off and away. My heart skipped a beat. I knew I needed to go there, to find Amy because that's where she was...but I didn't care right now. It was fine, I had backup plans anyway, and there were only so many shelters to check. It would be fine, and right now I needed to follow Cherish.

We passed a construction site that seemed...familiar somehow. I'd been here before, had it been in one of my previous lives? I struggled to remember, narrowing my eyes and looking around the buildings. The street up ahead seemed to just end, with no buildings for almost a hundred meters after it. In fact, as we drew nearer, it looked like there was an entire clearing in the middle of all these buildings. And just like that, we were standing on the edge of the crater lake. Terrified panic clawed at my mind for a second, but was silenced by Cherish's gentle voice.

“It's a nice night for a swim, right?”

I couldn't help but agree.