“I was chasing the Sentinel, and after Hawthorn threw him in the water, I was waiting to see if he would surface.” He shrugged, relieved that, in fact, it did sound more believable this time.
“You’ll all be filled in after the healers have released you from the med wing,” said the Dread Warden. He snapped his fingers and Danna and Ruby were loaded up into the ambulance, grumbling to themselves.
“Nova?” said the Dread Warden. “I’d like to have a private word with Adrian. You’re welcome to assist Oscar and Tsunami with the briefing.”
Nova glanced at the group and noticed Magpie among them. Her own lips wrinkled in distaste. “Actually, I think I’d better head home before the news stories get too convoluted. I like to give my uncle the story from my point of view before he hears it all thirdhand.” Her gaze swooped over Adrian’s wet clothes one more time and he found himself standing straighter. “I’m … glad you’re okay,” she said, sounding almost uncomfortable to be admitting it. “You did scare us for a minute.”
“We’re superheroes,” he said. “We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t scare people from time to time.”
Nova didn’t respond, but her expression softened before she turned away and started heading back toward the river. It was a long walk to her home, Adrian knew, and he was about to call after her and suggest she wait. Maybe they could take one of the transport vans together. But the words didn’t come and he knew that the invitation would be declined.
Most of his invitations were declined where Nova was concerned. So what was the point?
His shoulders sank, ever so slightly.
“About that,” said his dad.
Adrian turned to him. The Dread Warden peeled the black domino mask from his face and it was as if his dad had transformed. It wasn’t just the costume. The shift was in the relaxing of his posture. The ironic tilt of his mouth. Where the Dread Warden, famous superhero and founding member of the Renegades had stood, now it was just Simon Westwood, concerned parent.
“About what?” said Adrian.
“It is not our job, as superheroes, to scare people from time to time.”
Adrian chuckled. “It may not be written into our job description, but come on. What we do is dangerous.”
Simon’s tone hardened. “You’re right. And because it is so dangerous, it is of utmost importance that our behavior never veers into recklessness.”
“Reckless?”
“Yes, reckless. You can’t just leave your team behind like that, Adrian. Why do you think we organize recruits into teams in the first place? It’s your responsibility to look after one another, and your teammates can’t do that if they have no idea where you are.”
“We were all following the same objective.” Adrian gestured in the direction Nova had gone. “Nova ran off after Hawthorn too.”
“Yes, Nova McLain’s penchant for making rash decisions has been well documented, and to be perfectly honest, I hoped that spending time with you and your team would help her grow out of it.” Simon pushed his cape back from his shoulders. “Besides, in this particular case, it’s not a fair comparison. Nova still had Danna to watch her back. Whereas no one had any idea where you’d gone off to. It’s not like you, Adrian, and it’s got to stop.”
“I was trying to catch up to Nova and Hawthorn. I wasn’t sure what direction they’d gone, so it took me a while to find them, and then there was the whole Sentinel thing that threw a wrench in my plans, but…” He rubbed the back of his head. “It’s not like I ran off to Casino Jack for an afternoon without telling anyone. I was doing my job!”
“I’m not trying to start a fight about this,” said Simon. “You’re a great team leader, and we’re really proud of you. I just want to remind you that there are no lone wolves in the Renegades. There is no I in hero.”
Adrian rocked back on his heels. “You’ve been holding on to that one for a while, haven’t you?”
“So long!” said Simon, a smile brightening his face. “Actually, I’m pretty sure it was one of those sayings your mom used to say.”
Adrian chuckled. “She did like her two-cent parables.”
Though Adrian’s mother, the brave and wondrous Lady Indomitable, had been killed when he was a kid, her cheesy sayings still came back to him sometimes. Unbidden, but when he needed to hear them most.
Superheroes are only as good as their conviction.
Sometimes, a smile is the most powerful weapon we have.
When in doubt … fly.
Easy for her to say, of course, given that she could actually fly.
Adrian turned toward the cleanup crew. There were a dozen or so Renegades gathered around Oscar as he gave an animated reenactment of the fight with Hawthorn and the rest of the criminals. He was currently using his cane to swipe at an invisible enemy, which Adrian thought might have been his explanation of how he’d knocked out the guy who had taken the café server hostage.
They had worked as a team then, hadn’t they? And they had successfully rescued the girl.
He appreciated his team. Respected them. Even loved them.
But he wasn’t convinced that a superhero didn’t sometimes have to go off on their own. Maybe there weren’t any lone wolves in the Renegades, but … the Sentinel wasn’t a Renegade, was he?
“So,” said Adrian, turning back to Simon, “if you and Tsunami were looking for the Sentinel, who went after Hawthorn?”
“Hugh and Tamaya,” said Simon.
Hugh Everhart—Adrian’s other dad, the invincible Captain Chromium. And Tamaya Rae, Thunderbird. The only founding member other than Adrian’s mom who had the power of flight.
“Have we heard anything?” he said.
Simon checked his wristband and shook his head. “I’m worried the trail had gone cold by the time we got here. But her accomplices are in custody and we’ll begin interrogations immediately. One of them will talk.”
“What do you think they wanted all that medication for?”
Simon heaved a sigh. “The drugs they took are used to develop a powerful opioid. It’s a pretty lucrative business for those who are willing to produce and deal it. And of course, for every street dealer doling out these drugs, there are plenty of sick patients at the hospitals not receiving the help they need. The bag Hawthorn had was mostly painkillers, and it’s going to be difficult for the pharmaceutical industry to replenish the supply on short notice. It’s been hard enough to bring back legitimate drug production as it is.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Luckily, your team managed to keep a lot of those drugs off the street. It could have been much worse.”
Adrian wanted to accept the compliment, but he couldn’t help but focus on their failure more than their successes. They should have been able to stop Hawthorn. “Will you let me know once they have Hawthorn’s location? If you’re going to send a team after her, I’d like to—”
“No,” said Simon. “If Hugh and Tamaya don’t bring her in today, we’ll be assigning another unit to the case. Your team has sustained too many injuries. You’re taking a few days off.”