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She spent the short drive trying not to freak out while texting with Mark. It had to be another push for information, like Zee and Kade grilling them after the Smash incident. That had to be it.

She drove up to the imposing concrete structure behind Mark’s bright-blue sports car. Perry got out of the passenger seat before the car stopped moving.

A short young dude in glasses and a dark suit stepped out from under one of the soaring arches. The new-ish sidekick, right. He waved them around the side of the building. Perry made the angriest face he’d ever made and got back in Mark’s car.

A garage door opened. Joan hastened to park and meet up with her brother and Per. Mark took one look at her and said, “Whoa there, Anxious Annie. Relax. Don’t let them see you sweat.”

Perry looked like he was quite literally going to rip someone’s head off. Joan nodded at him. “Maybe you should tell that to Angry Andy.”

He responded with a string of furious curses in Portuguese.

New Sidekick entered the garage. “Thank you for coming.”

“Like we had a choice?” Joan said.

“Hey, New Sidekick,” Mark said.

“Ward,” the sidekick said.

“Ward. Right. You’re still here? Good for you.”

“Please follow me. The Supers are waiting for you.”

They didn’t go into the large lobby, but rather around to a back staircase. It felt kind of weird in here. Off, like there was something static in the air. Or maybe that was her heightened energy mixing with Perry’s.

Ward led them into a brightly lit conference room with a long, oval black table, two large TV screens…

And all four Superheroes sitting and staring at them.

“Hi, guys,” Kade said with a broad grin. “It’s good to see you.”

Darlene glared at Joan with her usual disdain. What was she wearing? Some kind of boxy striped turtleneck sweater with chunky square buttons.

They weren’t in their Hero outfits. That was a good thing.

“It must be early for you,” Ward said. “May I offer you some coffee or tea?”

“I’ll take coffee with milk and sugar,” Mark said conversationally. How the fuck was he so calm?

Ward looked to Joan and Perry. “And you?”

Joan stared at Otis. “What’s this about?”

“Sit down,” Otis said, specifically to Perry.

Per crossed his arms and planted his feet by the door. “I’ll stand,” he ground between his teeth.

An odd something passed between them. “Then have your minions sit,” Otis said.

Perry didn’t budge. “They’re free to make their own decisions.”

Ooh, there was some serious bad blood between those two. Joan tapped Mark’s arm. Better to play along and get this over with.

They sat tentatively across from the Supers. It was like being in front of a jury or a parole hearing. Which was not entirely inaccurate.

Darlene cleared her throat. “We have another common enemy.”

“Ene mies ,” said Kade.

“The arrival of Ether, Squawk and Prowl has been frustrating for the citizens of this fine city.”

“And you,” Mark added.

“And us.” Joan gestured between them. “We’re done with that life.”

Otis and Darlene shared a look.

Ward delivered Mark’s coffee in a commemorative Vector City Superheroes mug. “Thanks,” Mark said. “Are your bosses being nice to you? Giving you days off and paid holidays?”

Ward chuckled. “Crime doesn’t take a day off.”

“Do they at least give you some of the free shit they’re always getting?” Mark directed his focus across the table. “Or did they stop taking so much free shit because it’s not cool and causes more hardship to the citizens of this fine city?”

Zee opened their mouth, then glanced at their cohorts and closed it.

Mark sipped his coffee, gagging when he swallowed. “Dude. What is this?”

“It’s a Sumatran blend of organic fair-trade coffee,” Ward said.

“It’s dirt water. I think I’ve been spoiled by the things Sadie makes. It’s not your fault, Ward. You have to work with the garbage your employers have for you to serve.”

Perry continued to seethe by the doorway.

Joan set a fist on the tabletop. “So we have another common set of enemies.”

“Yes.” Otis stood, taking command of the room. “The last time we joined forces, the outcome was a success. We need to do it again.”

“How?” Joan asked.

“We need you to pretend to still be Villains.”

Mark tilted his head. “I’m sorry, what?”

Kade cupped his hands around his mouth. “ We need you to pretend ? — ”

“I’m operating under the assumption you know these Villains,” Otis said.

“Hardly,” Joan said.

“But you do know them,” Darlene sneered.

“We know of them, the way Supers all somewhat know each other.” Like hooking up with one in Destine.

“Then they know this was your city.” Otis crossed his arms. “We need you to find them and tell them you tricked us into trusting you. That you’re still operating on the down-low and have had no contact with us.”

A flurry of thoughts raced through Joan’s brain. “We don’t have our suits anymore, and it’s obvious we’re operating a food truck, and we turned our backs on our own, which violates every code and unspoken rule, and…”

“That’ll never work,” Mark said. “Nobody will have anything to do with us, so no one can corroborate such a story.”

Now Darlene stood. “We are not asking you to become Villains again. Tell them you worked with us to rid the city of Trick, Hide and Volt to get them out of the way. That is what many people believe. Then you went back to a life of crime but have kept it quiet so we wouldn’t know about it.”

“You can say the food truck is a cover for what you’re really doing,” Otis said.

Mark shook his head. “It still won’t work.”

“Why don’t you get the Supers from Oceanview and Destine to deal with their Villains?” Joan said.

Zee leaned forward and said, “We tried. The Oceanview Supers said this was more of a…” They made air quotes. “‘Vector City problem.’”

Kade leaned forward, his chair creaking under his weight. “They’re still mad at us in Destine for not helping with the robotic sidekick disaster.”

“They brought that on themselves,” Otis muttered.

“So, wait,” Joan said. “Supers from other cities won’t help their fellow Supers? Even though it’s Villains they’re familiar with? What kind of crap is that?”

No one answered. Finally, Zee said, “Supers can be very territorial over their cities. It’s almost like a competition.”

“I think they’re jealous,” Kade said. “We got rid of all of our Villains. They’re happy to let us have theirs.”

Waving a hand, Mark said, “Why don’t you just fight them the way you did with us?”

“We don’t want to start new rivalries with endless battles,” Otis said. “We’d rather send them away. It’s easier to make them think Breeze, Ice and Spark are still in Vector City.”

“It’s the least disruptive option,” Darlene said.

“More like the easiest-for-you option,” Mark drawled.

Joan checked to make sure Perry hadn’t spontaneously combusted before saying, “Our deal was helping you one time and getting out. We did that. We have too much at stake now to put that in jeopardy.”

Her chest constricted from picturing Sadie anxiously pacing around their apartment.

Otis raised an eyebrow. “You don’t really have a say in the matter.”

“We can lock you up right now if you don’t comply,” Darlene stated, shifting her weight and raising her hands.

Zee started to say something, only Perry lunged forward. “I knew we never should have trusted you,” he seethed.

“We’re not going to lock you up,” Zee said.

“But we do have that leverage,” Otis said.

Darlene narrowed her gaze at Joan. “We always have that option.”

She and Mark jumped up. “You’re always gonna hold that over our heads,” Joan growled, clenching her fists.

“Yes.”

Mark swirled his hand to conjure a ball of ice. Nothing happened. He did it again. “The fuck?” he muttered.

Joan brought her hands together. A tiny spark flickered from one finger, but that was it. “What the hell?”

“A preventive measure,” Otis said.

Perry blew out a wisp of a breath. He tried again, but his breezy ability didn’t manifest.

Joan failed to get any of her fire going. It just wasn’t there. “What did you do?”

Walking around the table, Otis said, “It’s a low-grade frequency that operates on a molecular level. It disrupts our mutated cells and renders us powerless. We turned it on as a precaution.”

“So you don’t have your powers either?”

“We can disable it at any moment if need be.”

“I can still kick your ass,” Joan said to Darlene.

She snorted. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Come on, Darlene,” Kade said. “They’re our friends now.”

“They are not our friends. They will never be on our level.”

“Cut it out,” Zee said.

Well, wasn’t that a cheap shot? Never be on our level. Like people who’d made a few missteps were subhuman.

Otis had been moving slowly toward them. It wasn’t until he walked by that Joan saw the hard look he was exchanging with Perry.

“This is different,” Otis said.

“It’s always the same with you,” Perry spat.

“This is for the common good.”

“You want us to fight your battles for you. If we don’t give you what you want, you’ll betray us.”

“Then give us what we want.”

They stared at each other, a whirlwind of silent words floating between them.

“What’s going on?” Kade whispered loudly.

“I don’t know,” Zee said. Their face said they really didn’t.

“Perry’s right,” Joan said. “You want us to do your dirty work. Jesus, you’re no better than Melvin.”

“We want your help in exchange for our continued goodwill.”

Mark turned to Zee at that. “A fancy way of saying we’re on permanent probation?”

“You are,” Darlene said.

Joan’s internal fire should’ve been bouncing around her body. Not having it was like being slightly irritated instead of furious.

This fucking sucked. They didn’t have a choice if they wanted freedom and…

Sadie.

She’d sworn to do whatever it took to be the partner Sadie deserved. If playing ball with the Supers meant keeping her safe and Joan out of jail, it was worth it.

She was still the girl who had to do what she had to do to survive.