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Sadie tried not to spin in a circle to take in the large lobby at Superhero headquarters. She’d always wondered what it looked like behind the concrete arches. She never thought she’d be allowed inside with her ex-Villain girlfriend, but here they were, waiting for the arrival of Amazing Woman.

The design was Art Deco meets fortress: bold rectangular shapes, a large crystal chandelier, pale blue walls, high windows to let in light but not prying eyes. Even the broad marble staircase said both opulence and fortification. It smelled cold, like when Mark used his icy abilities.

Joan reached for her hand so they could follow Ward upstairs. Sadie had never actually met him before he’d let them into the garage. He was polite but clearly frazzled and distracted.

“Are your powers being suppressed?” she murmured to Joan.

“Yup.” She was also distracted by all the things.

For the past twenty-four hours, Joan had stuck to her like glue.

Industrial strength, could adhere a bumper to a car glue.

Last night, Sadie had not-so-jokingly asked permission to use the bathroom alone in their own home.

It didn’t help that Joan had a terrible nightmare about Sadie being in danger and not being able to get to her.

She adjusted the handles of the rainbow-striped tote hanging on her shoulder.

Joan had said she wanted Sadie there to provide better coffee, but everyone knew it was to keep her safe.

Which was thoughtful, and she wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to observe a Superhero meeting otherwise—another dream come true.

Still, it’d be nice to have a say in it rather than someone else deciding what was best for her.

At the top of the staircase, Ward held out a hand at a huge painting of Flight with his fists on his waist, red cape flapping. “This is our Gallery of Heroes.”

Opulent portraits ran the full length of the second floor.

The current Supers were in the middle. As they headed to the left, they passed a painting of Atomic Man looking off in the distance in his blue-and-red ensemble.

Stretch Boy’s noodle-y arms were extended like he was protecting Vector City.

The were all classic oil on canvas, like something in an old manor home.

“I think we finally found art Perry won’t want to steal,” Sadie said.

Joan cracked a small smile. Her fingers tightened around Sadie’s as Ward led them into a pretty nondescript conference room.

Mark and Perry were already there, standing by a credenza with a coffeemaker, a selection of bottled drinks, and trays of Mexican food.

Kade was busy taking a huge bite out of a burrito.

Darlene and Otis toyed with a touchscreen TV.

Wow. This was surreal. She’d seen all of them at the food truck, but this was different. This was Lunk, Catch and Flight. Even in their civilian clothes, they were Superheroes.

Otis tapped the red-and-yellow SuperWatch icon to no avail. Shortly after the cell tower went down yesterday, Squawk took a chunk out of the building that housed SuperWatch’s servers at their corporate campus. The app was down not just in Vector City, but all across the country.

“Now we’re being blamed for this,” Otis grumbled, waving at the screen.

Kade noticed the newcomers and grinned. “Hi, Sadie.”

“Hi, Kade. Er, Lunk? I’m not sure what I’m supposed to call you here.”

“Whatever you want. Just don’t call me late for dinner.”

She laughed at how goofy he was. The huge Hero with the friendly baritone was a golden retriever in human form.

Darlene narrowed her eyes at Sadie and Joan. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Darlene smile. Catch did when justice prevailed or she was dealing with children, but Darlene…did not.

On the flip side, Mark was jazzed about this meeting. “It’s a big day,” he said, doing a little butt-wiggling dance.

Sadie untangled her hand from Joan’s and went to Perry. He looked his usual calm, cool and collected, but she asked anyway, “Are you nervous or excited for this?”

“This isn’t going to give anyone what they want,” Perry said.

She didn’t know what he’d said to make Amazing Gus agree to come (she was thinking of her as Amazing Gus). He kept insisting it wasn’t a magic solution.

Ward shoved his tablet under his arm and struggled to organize the plates and silverware. “Mr. Flight, are you sure you don’t want me to wait downstairs to escort Ms. Amazing Woman?”

“She still has access,” Otis said. “Get your laptop and take good notes. Every suggestion.”

The sidekick glanced between his handful of spoons and the open laptop on the table.

“Can I lend you a hand?” Sadie said. “I brought freshly ground coffee. Food and beverage is what I do best.”

“Oh thank god,” Ward breathed with heavy relief. “I mean, thank you. That would be a big help.” He leaned in and added, “There are so many people in these meetings now.”

“I’m a temporary sidekick,” she joked. Her heart fluttered. Sidekick Sadie.

She set her tote bag on the floor and pulled out the Brazilian blend Perry had turned her onto. Grinding the coffee beans that morning had been a calming ritual during all this upheaval.

The door opened fully, and everyone turned. It was Zee in their cream-colored Race bodysuit minus the facemask.

They limped into the room with a grimace. “Tell me you’re turning power blocking on next time. I got halfway inside and my speed cut out. I almost fell on my head.”

Mark snorted, though his eyes darkened to a warm aquamarine. Like his sister, his eyes always gave him away. He was into Zee.

Otis moved over to the table. “Did you find any evidence of where they could be hiding out?”

“No.” Zee rubbed their shin.

“Wow,” Mark said to the other Supers. “You have one whole Superhero out there while the rest of you are huddled inside.”

Oh yeah, he was definitely into Zee.

Crossing her arms, Darlene said, “We are formulating a proper plan.”

Mark dipped a tortilla chip in salsa. “Jesus, I thought Perry liked meetings. You lot take the cake.”

“We need to be prepared. Each one of us has our role to execute.”

“Use your superpowers,” Joan said. “Stop the bad guys. It’s not that hard.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” came from the doorway.

There stood Amazing Woman— the Amazing Woman! Well, an older white woman with ash-blonde hair falling past her shoulders. Her loose jeans and fisherman’s sweater said comfort .

“Hello, Gus,” Otis said. “Been a long time.”

Amazing Gus’s gaze swept over the room, pausing for a second on Perry.

Darlene squared her shoulders and marched over with a nervous smile (so she did actually smile). “Thank you for coming. I’m Catch. You may recall we met once many years ago.”

“I remember you.” Gus stared down at the hand Darlene had thrust out but didn’t take it.

Kade leaned forward, mouth slightly agape. “You look exactly the same. That’s…”

“Amazing?” Gus raised one sandy eyebrow. “Not having to use my energy to block bullets and laser eyes has resulted in me aging rather slowly these days.”

Her weary voice somewhat gave away her age, but wow. She really did look a solid thirty years younger.

Zee and Kade introduced themselves. Amazing Gus was similarly disinterested.

Mark grinned and pointed at himself and Joanie. “We’re Mark and Joan. It’s so weird to meet you. Perry never mentioned your long friendship .”

The way he drew out those last words made Perry scowl at him.

Gus arched her eyebrows, and her lips quirked. “So you’re the twins.”

“Hi,” Joan said. “It’s nice to finally?—”

“I thought you’d be taller.”

“Uh, no, we’re pretty average.”

Her gaze brushed past Ward, then Sadie. Then she turned to Otis and said, “Is this it?”

“Aura is also assisting us from Destine,” Otis said.

“Destine? The city that broke itself with robots?”

“The other cities are, uh, dealing with their own issues.”

Gus pursed her lips. “Nice to see things haven’t changed. If you want the glory, you let someone else take the brunt of the assault.”

Ward inched his way toward her. “Ms. Amazing Woman, I’m such a big fan. I’m Ward. May I offer you?—”

“Are you the sidekick?”

“I am, ma’am.”

“Then I’m sorry for you. I’m sure your life is taxing, always being at their beck and call. We went through dozens of you in my time.”

Ward’s eyes widened behind his glasses. “Dozens?”

Gus focused her attention on Sadie. “Who are you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Gus was fairly petite, but her commanding presence was a little intimidating. “I’m Sadie.”

“What do you do?”

She held up the Brazilian blend. “I brought the coffee.”

“Sadie’s here with me,” Joan said.

Gus snorted. “You’re the girlfriend.” To Otis, she said, “You’ll let anyone in here these days.”

Uhh… Sadie just stood there. She lowered the coffee, looking to Perry. This was the woman he was protecting? She didn’t need protection from anyone or anything.

Joan stepped closer. “Sadie’s been involved since some Villains kidnapped her.”

“Oh, yes. I heard about that.” Gus walked to the conference table. “Sidekick?”

“Ward,” Ward prompted.

“I need a Diet Zap Cola and a large pad of paper.”

Ward exchanged a horrified glance with Otis. “I told you to get Diet Zap,” Otis gritted through his teeth.

“They don’t make it anymore,” Ward said. “I’m so sorry, ma’am. They stopped manufacturing all Zap Cola some time ago.”

Sitting in one of the rolling chairs, Gus said, “Is that so? Well then, iced tea will do.”

Perry sent the twins an I told you so look and deliberately took a seat several away from Gus. She was, uh, definitely opinionated. Like Sadie’s grandma, finding fault in nitpicky ways.

“When did they stop making Diet Zap?” Gus asked no one in particular.

“About ten years ago, ma’am,” Ward said, snagging a bottle of black tea. “It caused several young people to have seizures.”

“Ah. Caffeine has no effect on me. Nor alcohol. Nor anything.”

Sadie smiled and offered, “I’m about to make a fresh pot of coffee. It’s a Brazilian blend.”