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They’d almost made it out to the street when the Extraordinaries slammed through the roof, seven stories above them. They’d crashed through floor after floor, the building groaning dangerously.

The explosion, when it came, was fierce and bright. There was a flash of light, then fire bloomed from the inside, the remaining windows shattering in the shockwave. Shadow Star was knocked through the front of the building and out onto the street, landing on top of a cruiser.

As the building began to burn, Pyro Storm burst out of the flames, going after Shadow Star.

The building collapsed behind him.

Dad had managed to get the woman and her baby out the front, shoving them through the entrance. The woman had been knocked off her feet, curling her body around her child as she hit the ground.

Nick’s dad hadn’t been so lucky. A beam had collapsed on top of him.

Dad was brave. But so were his brothers and sisters on the force.

They’d rushed forward and managed to pull him out in time. He’d been unconscious, and his breath had rattled dangerously in his chest, but he was alive. And remarkably, the explosion must have burned the fire out. All that remained were hot, glowing embers in the charred wood and brickwork.

No one else was hurt. The woman had a few scrapes, and the baby had a scratch on their cheek, but that was all. It could have been much, much worse.

“And that’s what you need to focus on,” Cap told him. “That’s what you need to remember. He’s a hero, Nick. He was doing his job. He saved those people. And yes, he was hurt, but he’s alive. Tough guy with a hard head. They gotta keep an eye on it, make sure his brain just got a little rattled and nothing more, but it’s going to be okay.He’sgoing to be okay.”

“Did you get them?” Nick asked, hands shaking. “Did you get Pyro Storm?”

Cap shook his head. “They were gone.” He hesitated. “I don’twant you to leap to any conclusions. We don’t know what exactly happened. We don’t know if it was—”

“It was him,” Nick snapped. “It was Pyro Storm. He did this, okay? He’s the bad guy. Shadow Star was trying to stop him. He was trying to save Nova City. If he’d known my dad was still in there, he would have done everything he could to help.”

Cap smiled tightly. “Okay, Nick. Sure. I understand. But let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s get you up to see your dad. I know he’s going to want to hear the sound of your voice.”

It was too much for Nick to handle. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he collapsed against Cap, splintering off into pieces. Cap wrapped an arm around his shoulder, whispering that it would be all right.

They got off on the fifth floor, Nick wiping his eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see that he’d been crying. But what he saw threatened to set him off all over again.

Cops lined the hallway, men and women in rows standing against either wall. Some looked exhausted, faces streaked with dust and grime, their heads tilted back against the wall, eyes closed.

They were all in uniform, service caps clutched in their hands in front of them.

When they saw Nick, they all snapped to attention, squaring their shoulders.

Cap kept his arm around Nick’s shoulders, leading him down the hallway. Every officer nodded in turn at Nick as he passed them by. Nick acknowledged each of them. Some he recognized. Some he didn’t. Officer Rookie had somehow made it up before Nick and Cap did, and he offered a small smile to Nick before schooling his face again.

Toward the end of the row of officers were a group of men standing in plainclothes, badges hanging around their necks.

Detectives.

His father’s former coworkers.

These were the people who had fought for Aaron Bell when Before had become After, and his dad had lashed out against someone heshouldn’t have. They were the ones that had argued with Internal Affairs and the higher-ups, telling them in no uncertain terms that Detective Bell shouldn’t be dismissed, that he was an unmatched asset to the Nova City Police Department, and to lose him would mean losing someone who bled blue.

In the end, he’d been demoted, but Nick had never forgotten. Dad had tried to shield him from the majority of it, but Nick had known more than he probably should have.

They clapped him on the back as he walked by, telling him it was fine, it was going to be fine.You’ll see, Aaron’s gonna pull through, Nicky, he’s going to pull through and be back on the job before you know it.

They reached an open doorway.

Cap stopped him before he could see inside.

“Remember,” he told Nick. “It always looks worse than it actually is.”

It looked bad.