The next day started at the crack of dawn. The previous night’s sleep proved to be an elixir of health for Liam. With no dreams of sinking boats to disturb his rest he’d been able to get uninterrupted sleep from the moment his head hit the pillow till the alarm rang. What a blissful thing that was. It was amazing how a night’s rest could clear a head, Liam thought.

Sitting up, Liam stretched and looked around the room. Yep, still needs some decorating, but nothing pressing he decided. Swinging his legs off the bed, Liam started his morning routine. Moving from one task to another like a robot.

After the necessities were taken care of Liam was ready for exercise. Walking into the training room he wasn’t surprised to find it already full. It was clear Liam was the late sleeper of the group, if waking up at 4 am could ever be called sleeping in.

For today’s workout there would not be any inter team competition. At least that’s what Liam had decided before arriving. While the race yesterday had been fun, he didn’t want to overexert himself today. He couldn’t afford to crash on the couch again tonight. With that embarrassing moment in mind, Liam started on weights. As with yesterday, Gladius tried to egg him into a competition, but he was having none of it. Sticking to the script throughout the lifts.

After weights, Liam moved to target practice. Gladius offered to spar with him instead, but Liam had to decline. It took a lot to convince the older Hero that he didn’t want to fight. But finally, with H-Bar’s help, she relented. The prospect of fighting Liam while his staff was still a pile of parts wasn’t an appealing thought for Gladius. It wasn’t competitive if he wasn’t at his prime and that would ruin the spirit of a fight. With that she left and allowed Liam to get back to his workout.

Target practice was uneventful and after thirty minutes the room cleared out of everyone except for Liam and H-Bar. On his way out the door H-Bar called out.

“I hope you see I’m all for a good joke.”

Liam put a pause on what he was doing and turned. Eyeing his teammate and trying to figure out what he was after.

“That’s been made clear.”

“Good, I’d hate to surprise you with that revelation after you were on the team for a while.”

“Trust me you don’t have to worry about that.”

The two shared a chuckle over the poor joke. Liam was sure it wasn’t the reason H-Bar had stopped. So he waited for the man to get to whatever he was talking about.

“There are limits to what is funny. I know that might surprise you, but there are. If anyone asks you to join Ullr for his inter team debriefs say no.”

“I’m not sure I can do that.”

“Trust me don’t go in there. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. I’d rather detassel corn than do that.”

“Do what to corn?”

H-Bar’s face went deadpan. His eyes darting over Liam’s face, looking for the hint of a lie.

“You’ve never detasseled corn?”

“No.”

“Were you born under a rock?”

“I was born on the east coast.”

“That’s right, you’re a city kid,” H-Bar said as he grabbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll show you sometime. But for now just know it’s a pain.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Inter team meetings are way worse than that. Don’t let someone trick you into going. They did that to me and I still regret it.”

“I’ll do what I can to avoid it.”

H-Bar nodded then took his leave. When he was gone Liam tried to wrap his head around what he’d just been told. Was H-Bar warning him or playing a prank on him. After some time he decided H-Bar was being honest. When Liam first joined the team it was H-Bar who demonstrated Ullr’s toughness by punching the team leader instead of making Liam do it. Why would this be any different?

During the rest of the workout he was alone and time flew by. Liam soon found his morning routine complete. After that, he showered and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to his workshop. There were hundreds of things to work on in there and the life of a Hero could be hectic. So Liam had to make the most of the limited time he had available. Finishing a project today was only a dream for him. But if he didn’t start now, nothing was going to get done.

Nearing his workshop Liam spotted Skip leaning against the door. As Liam approached Skip stood up blocking his way forward.

“Got a moment?” Skip asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Liam asked.

“Listen about yesterday and the fight. I shouldn’t have left you, but I knew Phaser was their only chance at escape,” Skip said in a slow, deliberate manner.

She was the only escape plan Liam could see, but that didn’t mean Skip could just disregard Ullr’s orders and try to stop her. Leaving the rookie behind made that an even worse idea.

Liam stared into Skips eyes. Looking for any hint of actual regret or apology. Unsure what the other Hero was thinking.

“I screwed up and I’m trying to apologize.”

“I know, but that wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t here to apologize to.”

“I’ve said what I needed to. Are we good or not?” Skip asked. All pretense of the calm Hero were gone as a serious tone replaced his moderating one.

“How can I trust you to have my back going forward?” As soon as the words left Liam’s mouth he knew they were a mistake. He should’ve been taking Skip’s olive branch as a chance to start anew. Instead he was acting like a spoiled child, letting his big mouth get in the way.

“Because it’s my job.”

“Listen I know-” Liam started holding his hands up in a placating manner before Skip interrupted him.

“You know what, screw it. I tried to play nice. You had to be an ass about it,” Skip said. He was gone the moment the words left his mouth. Only a wet spot on the floor marking that he was ever there.

Great, Liam thought. He’d screwed that up. Who was he to act all high and mighty? He could only hope it wasn’t too late to mend the fence with Skip. Knowing full well a simple apology wouldn’t work now. Yet he would still try the next time he saw the man. Until then, there was nothing more he could do about it.

Entering the workshop Liam tried to focus on something else. Anything so he didn’t have to think about his conversation with Skip. Liam started by switching on the radio. Hoping a little music would help clear his mind. He found a talk show instead, the sounds of two people in a heated argument spread over the room.

“Three deaths by Supers in the last few days. That’s unprecedented,” a voice said.

“Yes, but I fail to see how that’s The Hunts fault,” a second voice responded.

“They’re supposed to be protecting us from Supers. They failed miserably this week.”

“They can’t see into the future. How were they supposed to stop the murder?”

“Three people are dead. Stop defending that failure,” the first voice said.

Both people were talking around each other. Typical for any talk show, Liam thought. And it only gets worse as the audience grows.

“Were you at the bank yesterday?” the second voice asked with heat entering her voice, “Because I was. And I can tell you the explosion happened seconds after they arrived.”

“Why weren’t they there earlier?”

“It’s a team of four, well five people now. They can’t be everywhere.”

Liam switched off the radio. That conversation wasn’t doing anything for his mood. And neither person was making any headway. Which meant it’d be going on for some time to come.

Being reminded of the recent deaths in the city was a hard pill to swallow. And it only helped to drag Liam’s mood lower. While all of Des Moines wasn’t against them, there was a growing minority that was. Somehow the team would have to earn back the city’s trust. Not an easy task, Liam noted. Yet they’d still have to try, spending much of the next few weeks working the problem. How they’d do it Liam wasn’t sure, but he knew it’d mean less free time in their already crammed schedules.

Taking a seat at his desk Liam sighed. Shoulders sagging from the pressure today had already brought. It felt like he’d just rolled out of bed a moment before, eager to meet the day. Yet now his body ached like he’d been worked to the bone through a double shift. Sighing again, Liam tried not to think about how much more today could still throw at him.

As Liam sat there, head in his hands trying to arrange his thoughts he noticed a new tablet on his desk. The display reading ‘DCP Secret’ in blazing red text. Funny how files in a paperless base become computer tablets, Liam thought as he tried to make light of the situation. He barked a chuckle to himself. The joke wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t even a joke, but you couldn’t be picky when you were feeling down. You could only use what was offered.

Opening the file, with his fingerprint, a list of known Cowls, in the Des Moines area, blazed to life. Scanning through the list, Liam noted that Matt had been a busy man the night before. Either that or he had this list already compiled and ready to go.

He hadn’t even started tinkering, yet Liam already felt the mood to do so slipping away. This report was more important. It was his ticket to winning his next fight without resorting to running away.

Opening the report he found it extensive, there were hundreds of names, descriptions of powers, and other relevant information crammed into each file. Skimming through the report Liam found several Cowls he’d already encountered. Phaser, Cat’s Cradle, and Mr. Shock were all known members of the local Cowl gang, The Broken Crest. Along with fifteen other known members, and a few suspected ones.

The knife hand Cowl Ullr fought was among the list. She went by the name Little Knife and was a Cowl for hire. Working for whoever paid the most. She had the ability to turn her arms into several weapons. From axes and swords to even hammers. But, as her name suggested, she preferred to turn them into blades. The report also indicated she had a tendency towards violence, but had never killed, that they knew of. Liam wondered why a Cowl, like her, would join a group so willing to kill. The answer came soon enough, they paid enough. Even murder had a price to some criminals.

Looking deeper into the report Liam found a few other Cowls with interesting powers. The man Matt told him about, who could control paper, was one of them. But he hadn’t been seen in the last two years. He was dead or gone if Liam had to guess. Either way Liam didn’t think he was the most important target.

Another interesting one was the person who could turn into a giant spider. That was the thing of nightmares. Liam would be fine never facing off against him.

The report had dozens of other Cowls, with powers ranging from the mundane to the extreme. There was even someone who could cause part of their body to turn into copper. Any of which could be Liam’s next opponent. Sitting there, he started to devise counters for all of them. Deciding if his current equipment would be enough to beat them or if he had to think up new and better devices.

While he was at that task, Liam noted almost every Cowl in the report was a member of The Broken Crest or used to be. Liam thought it was almost like all Cowl crime in the city was driven by one organization. If that was the case it’d be different than every other city. In most cases, cities of this size had three or four Cowl gangs in them. Fighting against each other for territory as much as the local Heroes.

The jarring sound of his phone ringing broke Liam from his concentration. Looking at the caller ID he saw it was from his sister.

“Morning Mel,” Liam said as he answered the phone.

“BROTHER!” She yelled back. “I stayed up late last night waiting for you to call!”

Liam gulped. He’d forgotten to call her. She wasn’t going to be happy about that. And would not let him forget anytime soon.

“I’m sorry I was just so tired I passed out.”

“Fine, but don’t do it again or you have to change your name to Amazing Human Calculator.”

“Anything but that!” Liam jokingly cried out in alarm.

“I heard about the fight. Tell me about it,” Mel said. Voice turning subdued as she changed the topic.

“Of Course.”

The call lasted over an hour as Liam tried to convey everything that happened in the last two days. How yesterday went, his lab, and the team. Mel soaked it all in. Giving Liam ideas on how to decorate the lab and commiserating on how Skip was a pain. It was great to hear from her. Even if it’d only been a couple days since their last call it felt like a lifetime. And was just the kick in the rear Liam needed to get back up and keep going.