The table in front of Liam was coated in papers. From maps of the East coast, with dots strewn across them. To casualty reports of both the most recent attacks and those from before. Even Liam’s initial reading of the gas could be found there. Though better lab equipment had taken over that work as the gases mysteries were unraveled.

In front of Liam were two psych reports. A thick one on Skip, his time working with the Heroes, giving the psychologists plenty to work with. The other report was for Bank-Breaker. The second report was thinner, though still an ample read. His previous crimes and years as a Cowl providing the source material.

The sprawl of information was something he’d never dreamed of back when he was with The Hunt. They would’ve fought tooth and nail to prevent paper from gracing their base. Nudge though, didn’t have the same constraints. Partially because they didn’t have to worry about a paper reading Cowl and partly because he was old school. The man had muttered something about the physical touch of paper helping to give insights, but Liam knew the true reason. The man was old, screens were an inconvenience to the Hero. He failed to see the true benefits they could bring, Liam just lacked the drive to point out the mistakes in the logic. He and Wire knew better, at least he could live with that.

Liam flipped through another page of Skip’s psych report, this one going over his past. The man had an extensive career, if not illustrious. Helping bring down some of the biggest Cowls in the Midwest. Despite that, he’d never risen to a team more acclaimed than The Hunt. In Liam’s estimation, that wasn’t enough to drive someone to turn traitor, but it was the only thing he could point to as the cause of Skip’s betrayal. There had to be something else floating out there, waiting for him to find.

“Did you read the part about his math class?” a female voice asked from directly over Liam’s shoulder.

Liam almost jumped out of his chair at the sudden presence. Only years of training kept him from doing just that. Turning the motion into a flinch.

How did she get there Liam wondered before putting on a straight face and turning around? Liam hoped she hadn’t seen his reaction as he schooled his face to act as if nothing had happened.

Liam found Wire there, her hair pulled into a messy bun with large circles under her eyes. The only sign of the optimistic Hero he’d seen before the ship was a lopsided grin on her face. The tilt to her lips clueing him into the fact she’d tried to scare him and saw through his attempts at playing it off.

“Which part are you referring to?” Liam asked. With his attempt to hide his surprise seen through, he resorted to brushing it off. He was a professional, he could do that.

Nudge snorted from the far side of the table. When Liam turned to look, the man’s head was in a report.

“She got you good,” Nudge said without looking up.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Liam said. Straightening the pages in front of him.

“Play dumb if you want. But you don’t have to have my power to see through it. With it, I could’ve been across the base and I’d have known just how close you came to peeing your pants.”

“I… fine, you scared me. Now what was it you wanted to point out?” Liam asked. Admitting his defeat and trying to move the conversation along.

Turning back to the young Hero, Liam found the smile on her face spreading at the comment.

“When Skip was in high school, he failed the first math test in geometry and dropped the class. Only to come back the next year and ace everything. When he was applying for the Hero program, that incident was a selling point for his case. The dedication and work he put into the class the second time around was something to be proud of.

“But I think the selection committee focused on the wrong thing. They looked at the effort he put in to do better the second time through the class instead of his decision to dropout. He could’ve pushed through the obstacles he came up against, instead he ran when the road got bumpy. Only to return when he had time to look at the problem in advance and overcome it before his next attempt of the class.”

“In that light, it looks like a red flag. But I don’t see how that helps us,” Liam said. Not understanding what Wire was getting at.

“It shows his mindset was long term. He was susceptible to falling before he became a Hero. The event that caused it could’ve been from when he was a Hero, but the roots were already there, waiting for nutrience.”

“Interesting theory,” Nudge said. This time looking up from the page. “Anything else we can use from the psych report?”

“Not really. At least nothing screaming he would turn,” Wire said with a wave of her hand. “I noted all the places he visited as a child. I doubt Bank-Breaker would be hiding in one of them, or Skip for that matter, but we should still have a peek.”

Picking up the offered piece of paper, Nudge scanned through it before continuing on.

“Good, I’ll forward that to The Watch. They can send people to investigate.”

“But they aren’t going to send someone important, right?” Wire asked. “Should they be spending resources on something with such a limited prospect of success?”

“It’s better for them to do it than us. They have the resources to spare, we’re just a team of four. Let the larger group conduct that work. They could even use it as a photo op with the press if they need to.”

Wire, still being new to the work, didn’t seem to understand what Nudge was saying. Offering a helping hand, Liam filled in some voids.

“Public perception is huge in this line of work. If you get people in step with what you’re doing, doors open up,” Liam muttered.

“Unfortunately, that’s true,” Nudge agreed.

Wire nodded along, eyes wide. As if she’d just uncovered the ultimate truth of the universe.

“Any news from the recovery team?” Tank asked from her place at the far end of the table. Looking up for the first time since they sat down.

“The ship was a godsend compared to the others. They were spotless, finding this one partway through the clean left a lot of evidence to sort through.”

“Did they find anything more about the gas?” Liam asked. With his own efforts yielding so little, he could only hope others would have more luck.

“It’d already dissipated by the time they arrived. Which reminds me, did you find anything useful with your sample?” Nudge asked.

“I’m still working on it,” Liam said. There were still a few things he could try, but he wasn’t holding his breath on any results.

“What are the prospects?”

“This isn’t my area of expertise, so I can’t promise anything.”

“Mind sending some over to The Watch? Maybe they will have more luck.”

“I’ll send them some tonight.”

With their help, he was no longer on the ropes to figure the mystery gas by himself. That was a needed breather for him.

“Good.”

“We know the gas was for tormenting the people on the ship,” Tank said. “What more is there to know?”

“I think that was a side effect, and not it’s true purpose. Bank-Breaker was never afraid to kill people. Far from it, actually. But he’d never do it needlessly. Whatever the gas was for, it wasn’t to torment.”

“That’s a great idea, but what proof do you have?” Tank asked.

Her hand, with a report gripped in it, was waving around. Emphasizing her point.

“The person they stole,” Liam said. “If this was just about the pain, they’d have killed him in some other way.”

“Or they realized the guy was immune to the drugs and wanted to figure out why?”

“That’s possible, but I still think I’m right.”

The phone on the wall rang. Nudge looked to the ceiling and sighed, before a vine grew from his pocket. The green growth pushed to the phone, then pulled it from the hook. Before racing back to him with the phone in tow.

“Nudge here,” the older Hero said as the phone reached his ear.

Liam couldn’t catch the other side of the conversation. Without the enhanced hearing of his suit, he could only catch mumbling coming over the line.

“We’re working on it,” Nudge said as he sat up in his chair.

“Yes, well if you’d have believed me from-” Nudge started only to stop mid sentence.

“No, I’m not blaming you. I’m just-”

There was another brief pause as the mumbling on the other side of the call grew heated.

Liam put down the report he’d been going through as he looked at the older Hero, wondering what was being said. The other two, not on the line, joined him and eyed the old man.

“Listen, we’re wasting time talking, we have a Cowl to hunt down.”

With that, Nudge slammed his thumb into the off button. Cutting the call as the vine rushed away with the phone. For a second, Liam thought the phone was going to be thrown against the wall, but the older man held up at the last second and the vine returned the phone to its original post.

“That sounded good,” Tank said with a dry smirk.

“That was The Watch. They want all of our leads. Every bit of information we have. They want to take over the investigation,” Nudge explained, as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“I thought we were working in parallel with them?” Tank asked.

“We are, but they didn’t like the fact we reached the ship first. On a good note, they agree Bank-Breaker is back.”

“That sounds good.”

“Tough luck on the reports, though,” Tank said. The woman pulled up a file and flipped it open.

“What does this mean for our group?” Liam asked. “Are we being sidelined?”

“Far from it, if I have anything to say. Though you might not like what that entails.”

“As long as we don’t become the fall guys when something goes wrong,” Tank said. “I hate working with big teams because they always use the little guys for that.”

“I don’t think they would try that with Source on the team. The public outcry would be something fierce,” Nuge explained.

“They would do that?” Wire asked as her eyes went wide. Her eyes shifted from one team member to the next.

“Big team politics,” Tank mumbled as she got up. “I need a break from all of this, I’ll be in the gym.”

Without another word, she was gone. Walking away from the group on a new mission.

When Tank was gone, Nudge turned back to the group, “They told me one other interesting tidbit. It sounds like the victims’ families of the cruise ship attacks are planning a march on DCP headquarters.”

“And I didn’t think things could get any worse,” Liam muttered. “Let me guess, the DCP is going to push us out in front of that.”

“I’m sure they’ll try. The Watch might as well, or use it as a reason for them to take over the investigation. Saying we are too involved with the victims’ families.”

“Perfect,” Liam mumbled.

“We’ll come up with a plan tonight. For now, I have to reach out to a few contacts. Try to get ahead of all of this.”

Nudge left a minute later. His face set with more determination than Liam could hope to muster.

With the two older Heroes gone, the room fell into quiet. Liam returned to the reports, not satisfied with what he’d gleaned so far. Wire, on the other hand, started pacing. Her boots clicking against the floor as she circled the table. Liam tried to ignore his worried teammate, yet knew it was a fruitless goal.

“Do you think we have a chance?” Wire asked as she came to a stop on her fourth lap, standing across from where Liam sat.

“Of what,” Liam asked, setting down his page.

“Stopping the next attack.”

“I wish I could say we’ll win. That no one else will get hurt, only I can’t. The best I can do right now is say we’re working to stop it. If we can put this puzzle together in time, then we have a chance.”

“What if-” Wire started for Liam to cut her off.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, all we can do is stay focused on what’s at hand and grind away. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of what our job entails.”

Wire stood there for a moment, then nodded. Moving back to her chair and grabbing another report. There were a mountain of the things and they couldn’t afford to keep them waiting.