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“It’s important to me,” Sadie said. She understood how Hot and Cold had to be funded, but Sadie’s Café needed to be legit from the get-go.

“We’re finding lots of ways to save money,” Joan said. Her grin widened. “We moved in together last month. What would’ve been her rent money goes straight into savings.”

“And we’re growing vegetables on the balcony since this jerk pigeon didn’t follow me from my old place.”

“We’ll be using them in our recipes,” Joan added.

Sadie struggled mightily not to kiss her. “We’re figuring everything out.”

Joan’s way of helping with the start-up of Sadie’s Café was to keep paying all the utilities for the apartment that was formerly just hers but was now filled with Sadie’s patterned throw pillows and clothes. Their shared office (sans a keypad on the door) was cheerful and comfy thanks to Sadie’s furniture. Its closet now housed Joan’s impressive sneaker collection. And besides, it just made sense, with Sadie basically living there since Trick and his associates had been locked up. They hated spending a single night not tangled together.

It was also good to be there when Joan had bad dreams so she could hold her, reassure her everything was okay. Joan claimed the dreams were just weird visions of people she knew staring at her, but there had to be something deeper at play. Communication was still a work in progress.

“If you need assistance with getting a loan or insurance…” Zee’s smirk reappeared. “I have some friends who might be able to put in a good word for you.”

“That would be amazing,” Sadie said. A recommendation from a Super would definitely help.

Zee nodded at Joan and Mark. “You’ve managed to keep these two in line. It’s the least we could do.”

“Hey, we’re trying,” Mark said.

“We’re doing a damn good job,” said Joan. Sadie gave her a side hug in support.

“You’ve been behaving,” Zee said. “From what I can tell. But I’ll still be watching.”

“Creepy,” Mark mumbled.

“Give me a reason not to.”

He cocked an eyebrow at Zee. “You couldn’t look away if you tried.”

The Superhero took it in stride. “I would love to occupy my time in better ways.”

Sadie subtly tapped Joan’s hip. Joan did the same. What was going on with those two?

“I imagine you have oodles of free time now that the city’s been rid of Supervillains,” Mark said.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t things that need to be addressed,” Zee said.

It seemed so quiet in Vector City these days. Almost too quiet. People were still wondering if and when Spark, Ice and Breeze were going to resurface.

Mark waved at the food truck. “Do you want a sandwich or not?”

“Excellent customer service,” Zee drawled.

The two of them started for Hot and Cold. Sadie gestured with her chin. “What do you think that’s about?”

Joan studied her brother making a pretend annoyed expression. “He does like to tease the Supers.”

“But he’s like,teasing. And look at Zee. I think they like it.”

Zee’s amusement was evident. They even tilted a little toward Mark as they verbally sparred.

“Huh.” Joan’s brows met in the middle. “They do flirt more than either of them will admit.” She laughed and added, “I don’t know if he could actually go for a Super, no matter how hot they are.”

“I went for a very hot Super,” Sadie said, patting Joan’s butt.

“Emphasis onhot.” A whisper of heat seeped off her into Sadie’s side.