Taking a seat on one of many empty cushions on the couch, she pulled her veiled helmet off and set it down in front of her. The glass surface of the table didn't crack from the contact; there were no small mishaps with her power, no slip-ups where she would accidentally crack a wall when she tapped it with a key.

This hadn't always been the case. In the days after she'd first manifested her power, Matilda had struggled to control her strength even with Allen there to help her.

Allen…

She swallowed the lump in her throat, taking a deep steadying breath. There was no way she could allow herself to break down here. Despite it being around a year and a half later, there were still bad days. And this might be one of them once she got to her room.

But only then. No earlier. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, fragile and unreliable. Those times were supposed to be behind her. There'd been one person in front of whom she allowed herself to let go, but now he was gone.

More than anything, she didn't want to replace him. The very thought made her stomach churn. Sure, Josiah had suggested another person to act as her guardian, and they were nice, but she just couldn't. That was why she'd emancipated herself after picking herself back up enough to survive.

Under federal and Apexian law, children gained most of their rights and privileges upon reaching the age of sixteen. For legal adulthood, however, they had to wait until they were eighteen. Legal emancipation was possible with proof of sustainable income and residence.

Admittedly, the process would have been significantly more challenging to close out if she hadn't accepted the position here in A10A. She was quite certain that the higher-ups had been eyeing her for a spot in the main district when she aged out of the junior hero program to begin with, so it wasn't surprising that they had met her demands with little pushback.

It helped that she wanted to be here herself, as well. It was a breath of fresh air, away from all the misery she'd experienced back then. Well, she hadn't been looking for anything remotely close to that, at first. Not until she realized how afraid she was of stagnating. That fear had clashed with the terror of going out into the world alone, and the latter had lost.

Matilda was not ready for striking out on her own, much less going up against the monsters that had put down roots here. This last patrol had proven as much, she felt. While she hadn't been the top dog before, after coming here she saw herself as nothing but a clueless puppy.

Fortunately, it wasn't all bad. She at least had stronger superiors to hide behind when things became too dangerous for her, like it had earlier tonight. Shameful as it was to be babied the way she had been, she much preferred that over the alternative of having a superheated chainsaw in her skull.

She just hoped this wouldn't continue forever. She had gotten a bit stronger and somewhat more experienced since her arrival in this place. But the truth was, she had started hitting a plateau. Her warrior body was in peak condition, the only improvement she would be seeing from now on was going to come in the form of skill training.

Faced with unbindings on a near weekly basis it felt unfair that she had no tools to close the gap, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. If she stopped, she would be disgracing everything Allen had done for her. If she stopped, she would be allowing the damage Viperia had done to make her give up. And she wasn't going to let that vile whore control her life.

The door opened, rousing her from her thoughts. She turned to the door opening and saw Cerese coming into the common area she was lounging in. They weren't on the same team, but patrols were often accompanied by one or more members of senior teams if it wasn't simply a PR run.

Hanging off the back of her coat was the helmet-mask she wore in costume. She puckered her lips with a wink at Matilda, doing a peace sign. Sabrina was her real name, and she looked to be in her mid-thirties, which made the greeting awkward and unbecoming.

Out of costume, the woman was always juvenile in attitude. Very much unlike her workaholic team leader. It was ironic, therefore, that she looked fifteen years older by virtue of having achieved unbinding later in life. Matilda was never unprofessional enough to ask for clarification on the matter, but she estimated the Unbound to be rather sensitive about her apparent age. Sabrina acted like it, anyway. Matilda could never quite tell what the ratio was between insecurity and eccentricity there.

Behind the barrier heroine followed Mountpin, wearing a silver and wheat gold costume covered in dust. Or rather, since she was also choosing to go unmasked, Aria Chramosta. Her long black ponytail swayed from side to side as she took confident steps toward the water cooler and downed a disposable cup in one go.

Of the adult hero team in A23G, Aria was the one of the two people to transfer to Central. Radi, a coveted healer, was the second.

Gossamer had stayed there and taken the position of captain, replacing Allen—kind as the string manipulator was, that still stung—whereas Zeta had headed off to another district further east.

Among the Junior Aces, the transfers had been herself and Warp, who came here after much negotiation and coaxing on the DHD's part. She didn't know the details. What she did know was that he was mentoring under the Voyager a lot as of late. It made sense, she supposed, for the portal maker to hang out with the mass teleporter.

Their other teammates had transferred too, but both to different districts. Scalestrike was now active near the southern end working on the local junior team in that area. Whereas Aquiveil had transferred to a coastal district where he could put his power to optimal use. Last time they were in contact, the boy had been celebrating his birthday and commensurate promotion to the adult division.

Last but absolutely not least, there was her former captain, who'd made a name for himself during the past year. The notion of the jester standing shoulder to shoulder with the big names only sounded ridiculous if you didn't know what he was capable of. He'd initially started in another squad dedicated to backing up other heroes, and received a swift promotion upon overperforming in his role to a degree his assigned companions couldn't keep up with.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Currently, he was a member of Noor's personal team that previously comprised exclusively Unbound superhumans. They'd made an exception for him, and she could with confidence state that he was far from the weakest. In fact, she would go so far as to say he could defeat the barrier user next to her four out of five times.

Although that was no doubt considered an inflammatory claim by many fans around the country, Matilda didn't think Cerese would mind hearing that from her. She glanced to the right, watching Sabrina sit down with a bag of chips.

An off-white glove held it out near her face. She could smell the sour cream. "Want some?"

Yes, but eating at work was a big no for her. "No thank you, Cerese."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Buh, fiiiine. What about you, Aria? There's enough for two."

The room's third occupant merely sat down on the couch opposite them and leveled a deadpan stare at their patrol partner.

In response, Sabrina pouted, eating her chips in sullen grumbling. For a few seconds. Then she was speaking again. "So, Matilda. What's gotten you into this intense brooding mood?"

Matilda's expression twitched, and she gave the lounging woman an affronted look. "I was reflecting."

That earned her a nod you would give a child when pretending to agree with some nonsensical story they were telling. "Hmm, right. Was it the fight?"

She shook her head. "Homeland's main establishment is a lot more numerous than I am used to, but that's not what occupies my mind. It's more…" Should she lie? Be honest? She bit the bullet. "My place here, in a broader sense. It sometimes feels unearned."

"Your place?" Sabrina looked incredulous. "Baby, you are exactly where you need to be. You've been killing it these past couple of months. You're, what, seventeen?" She jerked her head in Aria's direction. "Your girl here is going to be one of your team members when you move up into the world of grown-ups. Trust me, I have a say in these things if I'm pushy."

The young knightess found herself unconsciously nodding along. "I see. That's reassuring to hear, I appreciate your proposed effort on my behalf."

Giggles erupted from the older lady, pigtails shaking in tune with her shoulders. "So polite."

Aria scoffed, arms crossed. "Don't you think it's presumptuous to think Damsel is going to be on my team, Cerese?"

"Why? Afraid of a little competition between future colleagues?"

Aria's gaze remained level, unimpressed. She exhaled quietly through her nose before responding, her tone composed and pointed.

"Competition?" she repeated, tilting her head slightly. "That would require us to be on equal footing. And unless Damsel makes some… drastic improvements, I doubt she'll be in a position to be on a team with me anytime soon. If anything, I would be concerned about your own position, Cerese. Or else someone could take it from you."

Bold. Aria hadn't been personable throughout the entire time Matilda had known her, but this was unexpectedly forward. Not to mention unnecessary? She could've just run with the joke.

Cerese paused mid-chew, blinking once before slowly lowering the bag of chips to her lap. A flicker of something—surprise, amusement, maybe even irritation—flashed in her expression before she let out a low whistle.

"Damn." She snorted, shaking her head. "You don't sugar coat things, do you?"

"I see no reason to," Aria shot back, a thin, almost imperceptible smile on her lips.

Observing from the side, Matilda found herself caught between secondhand embarrassment and curiosity. She knew Aria had a sharp tongue, but this? This was a new level of directness, even from her.

"I get it, I get it," said Cerese, not seeming offended in the least. "Miss Needle is gunning for a higher spot, and thinks I should be watching my back." She pointed at the other woman with a potato chip. "Thing is, sweetheart, there's a world of difference separating you from me."

Instead of flinching at the remark, Aria rested her hands in her lap, fingers laced together with a deliberate ease. "A difference that's shrinking by the day," she replied smoothly. "But if you find comfort in clinging to the past, I won't take that from you."

Cerese let out a short laugh, leaning back against the couch. "Oh, sweetheart. You think time alone is gonna bridge that gap?" She gestured vaguely in the air, voice light but edged. "That's not how this works. If it were, we'd have a whole army of Unbound running around. What do you think, Damsel?"

They were roping her into this? She would like to stay out of this, though if they were going to tell her to butt in, she may as well speak her mind. "She's no Nar."

Sharp hazel eyes snapped towards her, narrowing. Matilda could say with confidence that Mountpin wouldn't have left it at that if Cerese weren't in the room.

"Hear that? You're middle of the pack at best." Shrugging, the Unbound got up to fetch herself a drink. "I'm not new to this song and dance, you know. I've seen it all before. Hero with a decent power gets transferred in from some backwater, the department showers them with new benefits they've never experienced, and they let it get to their head.

"I never got that attitude; the other approach is so much better. You can be nice about it. I'd be happy to help you polish your skills whatever way you want. Stepping on people's heads isn't a requirement for glory seeking," she lectured, cracking open a can of cherry soda from the fridge. "Let me guess, you're compensating for something. Demanding parents, no hubby at home? Both? Got it. So you ran out of batteries and decided to take it out on me."

Aria's expression grew furious for a second before she schooled her features. She retorted with something that Matilda had no idea how to parse. "At least I'm not getting stabbed in the shoulder by teenagers, Miss Barrier. When was the last time I let someone demolish a building on me? Oh that's right, never."

Silence fell.

"What does she mean by that?" Matilda inquired. "You were stabbed?"

Sipping from her drink, Sabrina took some time to answer in a neutral, clinical tone. "Minor shoulder wound, nothing serious. It was two months ago when I was working the graveyard shift. The Black Dirge stole some intel, tried to kill a famous researcher, and they escaped because their boss brought down the building to force my attention away. Some got out, a lot didn't."

What? "Can you explain why this is my first time hearing about it?"

Another shrug, this one sadder. "Security breach. Need-to-know basis."

Matilda couldn't believe her ears. She'd heard about that gang and the one leading them. They had been elusive, orchestrating well-planned strikes every once in a while at seemingly random locations. She still remembered confronting Jack about it, how somber he had sounded admitting the truth about his old teammate to her.

From a certain perspective, Matilda could potentially understand defying the law in the aftermath of a tragedy. But to slaughter so many people…

Calliope, what were you doing?

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