You don’t really know the true value of a good night’s sleep until you spend the most eventful 48 hours awake and absolutely swimming in adrenaline. Granted, the last few months weren’t conducive to prolonged rest, either. What with being on the move after running away from home, then living off the streets, and ending with becoming Coil’s unwilling stooge.

  Even so, Lisa would never take her bed for granted ever again.

  It had been a full 14 hours since her head fell on her pillow, conking out without delay. And while far from fully rested, she no longer felt like a zombie.

  At the moment, she was sitting at the loft’s kitchen counter, nursing a mug of coffee in her hand: black as motor oil, no cream or sugar, and potent as battery acid. Stands of blonde hair stuck out at odd angles, bleary eyes glared balefully at the linoleum surface, and tense nerves still shivered from being overstimulated for too long.

  The late afternoon sun, casting orange beams across the walls and denoting the coming end of the day, only added to Lisa’s self-impression of a cranky bat.

  Sitting across from her was Brian, an impatient mien marring his sculpted features.

  Despite no longer fearing headaches, she doesn’t use her power. There wasn’t a need to. The source of his agitation was written over every twitching vein. After one last sip, she set the empty mug down and gifted him her full attention

  “All right, lay it on me.” The invitation wasn’t strictly necessary, but Lisa found that it was easier to start any conversation with the Undersiders’ nominal leader this way.

  Instead of responding right that moment, Brian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Not an encouraging sign. He’s likely been stewing on his aggravation since coming back from Coil’s base. When he finally opened them, Lisa didn’t have to be a Thinker to see the intensity behind those black orbs.

  “I need answers, Lisa,” he said, his deep voice going even deeper than normal. “Don’t give me the runaround. How fucked are we?”

  The blonde could only smile at his prescience, despite having been stonewalled by her. It couldn’t have been easy putting together an approximate picture of their crummy circumstances from so few clues.

  “The truth? Extremely.”

  Brian blew a sharp breath through his nose at Lisa’s confirmation of his worst fear.

  “We’re in much deeper and more tumultuous waters than we initially realized,” she elaborated, looking at the mug and twirling a finger around its rim. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much to tell you and the others. Right now, only I’m really involved in any meaningful way. You just happened to be around to get splash damage. But if you really want to know?” She looked Brian in the eyes to press her point. “There won’t be any backing out. Not for you. Not for anyone even remotely close to you.”

  Lisa had to make the reality of their situation crystal clear. Unlike her, Grue has yet to be entangled in a convoluted web of intrigue, secrets, conspiracies, and power struggles. There was still a chance for him to walk away. If he chose to stay, he had to be made aware of the potential consequences.

  Brian took his time to answer. The frown on his face indicated that he had some appreciation of just how serious things were.

  “You know why I’m in this, Tats.” Of course. The custody issue.

  “I’m sorry Bri, but you’re not really getting what I’m saying here.” The sigh that escaped Lisa was equal parts frustration and resignation. “What good will getting custody of Aisha be when you’re dead?”

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  His eyes sharpened at the insinuation. “Who exactly is coming after us, Lisa? Coil’s dead and Lung’s out of commission. Is it the Empire? Someone from out of town?”

  A suffering groan escaped the Thinker’s throat, rubbing her tired eyes with the heels of her palms. “Dammit, Brian, I already said I can’t tell you! Not, and still give you the chance to walk away. This is it! This is where you get off to live your hopefully long life. Where you wait a few more years and get a good job so you can finally take in your sister. Your share of the spoils from Coil’s slushfund would be more than enough for that.”

  This was the conclusion that Lisa came to on her way back to the loft after separating from Taylor. Having the Undersiders on her side would have been useful. There’s no doubt about that. But the world just got a whole lot bigger than one mid-sized city by the bay.

  Everything Alfred revealed about Cauldron could get them killed several times over, and the only reason she was still breathing was Alfred himself. From his own words, he could go toe-to-toe with all three members of the Triumverate, plus the scary lady with the fedora.

  And she saw no reason to doubt him. Why else would this secretive organization, that effectively controlled the world, take such pains to avoid direct contact? Even her power agreed that he likely could kick their collective asses, though, it couldn’t give specifics as to how.

  Would he extend this protection over Brian, Alec, and Rachel? Should he even have to? Any operations they undertake would be much easier with fewer people to keep track of.

  Taylor didn’t really count because, clearly, she was an Endbringer-class threat, herself.

  Lisa did consider the power enhancement angle, similar to how she and Taylor got a boost, but Alfred shut her down hard when she made the suggestion. He made it clear that they wouldn’t be messing around with powers until they better understood how it worked.

  Then, he flew off to fulfill the bug controller’s ridiculous demands. Just because she didn’t want to give him a straight answer, the indecisive bit–

  Nope! No, no, no. She was not going to think about that for a while.

  “What about you?” Brian asked, and Lisa was genuinely touched by the concern in his voice.

  Their team wasn’t exactly close, being brought together as Coil’s deniable assets. Still, they were the only people she could trust at her back for such a long time. Even if their relationship was mostly business, it still counted.

  “I’ll be fine, Bri,” she tried to reassure him. “Things are complicated, but I’m not entirely helpless.”

  Frowning thoughtfully, he then asked a question that she really didn’t want to answer.

  “Are you gonna keep working with Seraph?”

  “Yes,” Lisa admitted. “I kinda don’t really have much of a choice.”

  “Is he forcing you?” Brian’s scowl was surprisingly fierce, likely an instinctive response due to being an older brother.

  “No, he’s not,” she quickly denied. “It’s got to do with the things I can’t talk about. Seriously, Bri. He might just be my best shot at getting out of this alive.”

  “And you can’t just walk away?”

  Lisa warily shook her head. “Too late for that, I’m afraid.”

  To be fair, she couldn’t entirely lay everything at Alfred’s feet, much as he seemed willing to take all the blame.

  When it’s all said and done, his only real faults were a result of factors beyond his control. From what he shared about his powers – spherical crystals embedded in his chest that have minds of their own, could act beyond his control, and had a variety of abilities that boggled the mind – Alfred was basically no different from any other freshly-Triggered cape.

  Looking at events objectively, the swarm was due to Taylor freaking out, Shadow Stalker’s injuries were her own damn fault, the steamrolling of the heroes was caused by their own overreaction, and the kidnapping, as well as everything that came after, were a direct result of Cauldron’s machinations.

  It wasn’t as if Alfred set off those unfortunate incidents out of malice. Yet, the idiotic boy seemed hellbent on owning them. Making matters worse is Taylor fucking Hebert encouraging it! As if she were completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

  Oooh! Look at me! I’m just a delicate damsel, waiting for Prince Charming to come to my rescue. I didn’t, at all, unleash a flood of monsters straight out of Lovecraft’s demented brain! Lisa thought bitterly.

  If she weren’t so scared of setting off another city-wide disturbance, she would have blown up at the ungrateful little –

  Stop it, Lisa! Focus.

  “Can you just answer one question before I decide?” Brian requested out of nowhere.

  Bottle-green eyes regarded the young man with careful consideration. She’d really rather not, if her suspicions were spot on. Activating her power for the first time since waking up, she – yep, there it is.

  “No, the city won’t be safe for much longer,” she answered the unvoiced concern. “In fact, if you’re walking away, I would suggest moving out of the Bay once you get your money.”

  Lisa knew what telling the truth would lead to, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie. What would be the point? Besides, she really could use the help to keep two immensely powerful, but unbelievably self-sabotaging, capes from destroying the world.

  “Then, I’m not going anywhere.” Oh, Brian… you chivalrous fool.

  “Are you sure about this?” Lisa had to ask one more time, if only to ease her conscience.

  “My mind’s made up,” he declared sternly. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

  And so she did, only leaving out details about Alfred’s true name, his power, Taylor’s name, her power, and the stupendously brainless quest that–

  You know what? Why not?

  Lisa couldn’t be the only person to conclude that Miss I-bring-all-the-bugs is a complete moron. So, she told Brian about that, too.

  Honestly, what exactly does Alfred see in her?!