Inez glared at Nick. “I don’t care how fun of an experiment it would be. Switching all our coffee for decaf would be the ultimate betrayal.”

“Just for one week?” Nick pleaded, still holding the bag of decaf coffee. “Caffeine is an extremely dense chemical, and without it-”

“And without it me and Shawn will become raging maniacs,” Inez finished. “Yes, we’re addicted. We don’t care.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, putting the bag back on its shelf.

Inez’s phone beeped. They froze, coffee forgotten as she fumbled in her purse. They’d been in Costco for an hour with no word from anyone about what was going on. All they knew was they were waiting for Emmy. She’d called Victor a few times, with no response. Nick had messaged Shawn, but hadn’t gotten a reply. Hopefully this was someone with an explanation of what was going on.

Inez pulled out her phone and found a message from Emmy.

In car

Hot. Need froyo

Nick looked over her shoulder, slumping a bit at the lack of information when he saw the screen. “Well, time to go.” He paused, eyes losing focus for a few seconds. “Actually, she probably does need froyo. Go to the food place and get her one of those berry sundae things, I’ll pay for this stuff.”

“Sure,” Inez said, turning away. She allowed herself a moment to be annoyed about not knowing what was going on.

“No, wait,” Nick called. “Tell her I’m going to test her tonight, but right now more than anything she probably needs straight calories. Get her anything she wants. It’s close enough to lunch anyway.”

“Ok.”

“Oh! Get me a berry sundae too!”

“Will do.”

Inez stepped away, paused, and stepped back. Shooting him a glare, she pulled the bag of decaf out of the cart and replaced it with real coffee. Finally she walked away, typing.

Nick says you need calories for lunch. What should I get other than froyo?

CHURROS

MULTIPLE CHURROS

And pizza. Like four slices

Make that two froyos

And maybe a hot dog

Nah just pizza

With ranch

Extra ranch

Lol extra pizza too?

Yes. Extra ranch extra pizza extra churros

Think they can put the froyo in one of those extra large soda cups

I’m not asking that. I’ll just get you two.

K. Thanks

Inez smiled, putting her phone away.

Ten minutes later she walked to the car with four churros, three berry sundaes, a whole pizza (with extra ranch dressing on the side), and one root beer. She was glad to find Emmy hiding on the floor in the back seat, invisible to anyone passing by. Partially because the green and yellow paint looked extremely odd, and partially because…

“So, did you…”

Emmy took the sundaes, not making eye contact. “Yeah. I mean, I think I did. I’m pretty sure.”

Inez pulled two churros out of the bag before handing it and the pizza box to Emmy. “How do you feel?”

“I don’t know yet,” Emmy said, her voice small. “I didn’t stay, I couldn’t stay, so I didn’t see… I mean, it’s… Schrodinger’s cat, y'know? Until Shawn or Victor call and say what happens, I- it’s not real yet. Kinda?” She stuffed a spoonful of frozen yogurt and berries into her mouth.

“I get it,” Inez said. She nibbled on a churro, sliding her root beer into the cup holder. “I haven’t heard from them yet, either. It feels weird. You had your job, Shawn and Victor are doing their job, and my very important part to play in all this? Babysit Nick at Costco.”

Emmy glanced at her. “Hey, making sure he doesn’t buy twenty pounds of black licorice again is very important.”

Inez didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure how to reply.

“Inez?”

“Yeah?”

Emmy fiddled with the pizza box. “Tell me how to feel?”

Inez turned to face her. “Emmy…”

“I think I did the right thing. But I’m scared that I didn’t.” She flipped open the box, staring at the pizza like her life depended on it.

Inez sighed, leaning back in her seat. Out the window she saw Nick heading their way. “Morally, no, you didn’t. Legally, no, you didn’t. But if you hadn’t killed them… I would have. They threatened the one thing more important to all of us than our lives. No one gets to break apart our family.”

Nick opened the trunk, dumped a box in, closed it, and got into the driver’s seat.

“Right?” Inez asked him.

Nick beamed. “Absolutely! Whatever you just said, I am in complete agreement.”

Emmy gave a half-hearted laugh. “Thanks.”

Inez handed Nick his churro. “Have you heard from Shawn yet?”

“Churro, thanks! Nope, not yet,” he lied.

Inez frowned. Nick had a tell when he lied. He smiled in a particular way. She knew he was lying.

He turned to Emmy. “Can you eat that in a moving car?”

“Yeah, easy,” Emmy said, biting open a packet of ranch.

“Great. Home we go,” he said, turning on the car.

Inez reached back, snagging a piece of pizza.

Nick watched Emmy in the rearview mirror, making sure she ate everything. He didn’t know how to tell her she’d succeeded. He suspected her appetite would desert her when she found out, and if she hadn’t eaten enough before then it could be bad.

“Should we drive by there?” Emmy asked. “Maybe Shawn and Victor need a ride.”

“No, we need to get home so you can wash the paint off,” Inez said firmly.

“Yes,” Nick agreed, pulling onto the interstate. “Getting rid of the paint should be the first thing. And the knife. And- did you have some other disguise?”

Emmy paused in her eating. “Umm. Yeah. I borrowed some clothes.”

“From who?” Inez asked.

“They’ll have to be incinerated,” Nick said.

“I borrowed jeans from Shawn and nrmhoormi…”

“I can’t hear you through the pizza,” Inez told her.

Emmy swallowed. “Nick’s NASA hoodie.”

“You what?” Nick demanded, glaring at the road.

“I mean, it’s a generic black NASA hoodie! There are eighty bazillion of those things in the world!” Emmy protested. “Besides, you don’t ever wear it.”

“It’s my nice hoodie!”

“It’s a hoodie, it can’t be ‘nice’!”

“Yes it can, it’s the only one without stains or holes!”

“And it’s that way because you don’t ever wear it!”

Inez snapped her fingers. “Children, children, calm down. Emmy, you owe Nick a new hoodie. Nick, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Fine,” they both grumbled.

“Thank you.” Inez sighed. “I’m going to call Victor.”

Nick clutched the steering wheel. He glanced at Emmy, who was closing the empty pizza box. “Ok.”

Inez glanced at him before pulling out her phone, possibly wanting him to confess. He didn’t. She touched the screen a few times, then held it to her ear.

Nick maneuvered into their exit, slowing down for the red light ahead.

“Hey,” Inez said. “How’s everything going?”

Victor took his sweet time replying. Emmy leaned between the seats, trying to hear.

“Yeah,” Inez said, pushing Emmy back. “We’re on our way home. Will you be back for lunch?”

Nick turned a corner, reaching for the gate’s remote.

“Ok. See you this afternoon,” Inez finished, and dropped the phone to her lap.

“What did he say?” Emmy demanded. “What happened?”

Inez looked at Nick. “Catherine and Rhea… died quickly. They looked more surprised than in pain. Several people in the cafe got pictures of the speedster, and the police will launch a full investigation. We’re going to help.”

Emmy sat back. “I-“ She sniffed. “Should- What- How…”

Nick pulled into the driveway. “If we’re helping, that means Emmy isn’t under suspicion,” he said. “That’s good.”

“Yes, it’s very good,” Inez agreed.

Nick parked the car and got out, retrieving the box of groceries from the trunk before heading inside. Inez followed. Emmy didn’t.

He put everything away, hiding the decaf coffee behind a box of instant mashed potatoes. Once that was done he made a plan for dinner, checked he had all the ingredients, and went back to the car. Inez watched him from the doorway.

Nick opened the back door. Emmy didn’t protest as he pulled her out.

“Kid. If you really regret what you did, Shawn will undo it,” he told her. “This isn’t permanent yet. You did what you thought was right in the moment, and it looks like you’re in the clear. But you can still change your mind.”

Emmy leaned against him, crying into his shirt. “No,” she sobbed. “I don’t want to. I don’t want the team to break up. We have to stay together. This- this is the only way for sure, right?”

Nick patted her awkwardly on the back. “Well, it’s certainly the fastest way. We might have found another way, but then we might not have. There’s no way to know for certain.”

Inez walked in and hit his arm. “Just say yes, you moron.” She pulled Emmy away from him, into a hug. “Emmy. Nothing you do could make us think less of you.”

“What you did is something neither of us could have managed,” Nick added. “I’ve wanted to strangle Catherine for years, but never had the guts to so much as punch her in the face.”

Inez glared at him.

“…Sorry.”

Emmy sniffled, looking at him. “What should I do?”

“Do what you think is best,” Inez said in a very soothing voice. “You’re the one who’ll have to live with your actions, it’s your decision.”

Nick smiled. “Yeah, that. But first, go wash the paint out of your hair and give me those clothes for incineration. Then come down so I can test your blood and get you a smoothie. Shawn might be back by then; we can talk it over with him. Ok?”

Emmy nodded, stepping away from Inez. She wiped her face. “Ok. Thanks.”

Nick pulled the plastic bag off the back seat and glared at the clothes inside. “And then go online and order me a new hoodie.”

Inez rolled her eyes.

Emmy sat next to Inez, watching Victor being interviewed on the news.

“Yes, we have alerted the rest of Copper,” he was saying. “We don’t know what their response will be. At the moment, though, both the police and us are searching the register for speedsters who might be in this area.”

“What about the obvious speedster?” the reporter asked. “Emmy.”

Emmy felt the blood drain from her face.

Victor didn’t even blink. “The clearest picture we have of the speedster shows a blonde man in jeans and a black and green hoodie, possibly with some logo on the front. I can assure you Emmy doesn’t own any hoodies, and she’d rather jump off a cliff than wear jeans. Not to mention she isn’t blonde.”

Inez beamed at his picture.

“She could have gotten a wig,” the reporter, a blonde man, pointed out.

Victor smiled brightly at the reporter. “And you could be an unregistered speedster,” he said. “Both things are unlikely.”

Shawn walked in, pulling off his coat. “That Victor?”

“Shawn!” Emmy jumped up, running to him. “What happened? Is everything ok? Am I really not under suspicion? Are they really dead?”

Shawn smiled softly at her. “Yes, you accomplished your goal. The police are convinced a blonde man is the killer. Not everything is ok, we’re going to have to help with the investigation a bit. But mostly it’s ok. How are you?”

Emmy looked down. “I’m…”

Inez got up, taking her hand. “We decided we’ve had a girl’s trip planned for the past two weeks. Tomorrow, as totally booked and planned, we’re getting on a plane and flying to Barbados. We’ll be back in a week.”

Emmy nodded. “Unless you think that’s a bad idea. If it is, and you want to redo the day-”

“Absolutely not,” Shawn snapped. “I hope to never redo a day ever again. I will, if you need to. But I fully endorse this Barbados plan. You can use the team card to buy plane tickets and book a hotel.”

Emmy fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “You’re sure it’s ok?”

“No,” he told her. “It’s the lesser of two evils. One road leads to the team breaking up and Catherine driving me into a psychotic breakdown. The other road leads to you getting away with murder. Neither of those things are ok. But I infinitely prefer the road where I can sleep tonight, and you get a piña colada tomorrow.”

Emmy hugged him. “Ok. As long as you think it’s what’s best.”

Shawn hesitated before hugging her back. “You have far too much trust in me.”

“Nah,” Inez said. “I think it’s just enough. Although you did just approve of an eighteen-year-old getting alcoholic drinks, so I’m gonna go book a resort before you come to your senses.”

Emmy beamed at Shawn, following her up the stairs.