Jules was on guard duty, and she wasn't doing a very good job.

It was a little past three in the afternoon. The other kids were allowed the next few hours in their rooms, taking a break from lessons while Vortex had "quality time" with Nova. After last night, Jules didn't envy the lecture Talia would be getting. And she definitely didn't want to be around when Ethan came home.

She paused the video game for a moment, purple laser fire freezing on the far wall of the common room. Maybe she was just paranoid—every time she was getting into the fight, she was dead sure she could hear someone knocking around in the lab a floor below. Jules' super-enhanced hearing made it impossible to concentrate only on the sounds of her game.

Silence, and more silence.

Jules flicked the controller upwards, and the sound effects started up again full-force. Immediately forgetting where she'd paused it, her avatar stopped running and got half her health knocked out by a wall cannon.

"Ah!" she growled, freezing the action once more to double-check her arsenal. With this much health left, she wouldn't make it through the tunnel system. Again. She'd been stuck on this mission all afternoon, at least when she wasn't pretending to pay attention to the real-life security system.

Jules wasn't too worried about guard duty at the moment. Vortex had said to keep an eye out for Lucid's return, but the moody older girl always let herself in. She was out at all hours, probably posturing dramatically in some alleyway or using the wi-fi in a crappy diner to troll the superheroes' social media.

Okay, Jules had no idea what Lucid did when she wasn't around.

Whatever it was, Vortex had dropped almost everything to wait up for her. Their lessons felt rushed, training was haphazardly rescheduled to whenever Lucid wasn't having arguments with her mother, and Jules hadn't had time to play Cross-Purposes IV: Condemned for days. She was totally losing her rhythm.

Jules was a split second from restarting the game when she heard it again. No, this was a different sound. Like an old phone ringing, or...

Wait. Someone was using the doorbell?

The girl ripped off her headpiece and sprinted for the stairs. Two flights above, she leaned against the stairwell door to catch her breath before walking into the lobby. After all, it would seem a little weird to be running in a bookstore.

The tiny second-hand book shop that made up their ground floor showed no sign of concealing the sprawling multi-level basement taken up by Vortex's family. Jules veered around a bookshelf, squinting in annoyance at the visitors on the other side of the frosted-glass window.

The view was distorted, but she could tell instantly it was Scope—and he had someone with him. Jules' fingers went instinctively to her comm bracelet.

The doorbell went off again, a peaceful chime that was just loud enough to fill the bookstore, but Jules flinched. Suddenly annoyed, she flipped the lock and swung the door open with a jerk, meeting Scope's startled eyes. He wasn't wearing a suit or mask, standing outside the secret entrance barefaced like a complete idiot.

"What took you so long?" Jules snapped. "You disappeared with Veritas like hours ago. Did you tell them all our secrets?"

She didn't miss the way his eyes darted to the figure beside him. The door was still half-open, blocking out most of the woman's frame, but a gold-toed boot caught Jules' eye.

Scope was just opening his mouth when Jules yanked the door closed. Or nearly—Scope saw the panic in her eyes and grabbed the edge before it could slam shut.

"Wait—" he started, but Jules was stronger than him, and he had to let go just before his fingers got crushed.

The girl stumbled backwards, putting a hand on the nearest shelf to ground herself. Scope had brought—no, he wouldn't, he wasn't that stupid. But Jules knew exactly whose boots those were. Shiny gold. Never a speck of dirt on them. They were for show, just like the face-changing superhero.

Okay, she had to find out what was happening. Fiddling with the comm bracelet again, she considered just using it. Vortex would know what to do, right?

But she couldn't. Scope, weirdly enough, was the student Jules trusted the most. There had to be a rational explanation.

The doorbell rang again.

Jules opened the door, slowly this time. "Fine," she muttered. "I'm not letting you downstairs, though."

Scope tried for a smile. Jules stopped abruptly, letting him bump into her in the doorframe.

"What took you so long?" she demanded a second time.

His grin spread sheepishly. "I knew you'd be on duty."

Jules considered slamming the door again, but he was already past her. She glanced up, finally meeting the eyes of the red-haired superhero still standing just outside.

"Hi," said Aether casually.

Silently, Jules let her pass. The moment the door was closed and locked behind them, she spun to face Scope, pulling up her sleeve to display the comm bracelet. "You have ten seconds to come up with an explanation that won't make me use this."

The boy's hands pushed through his curly hair, mouth opening in surprise. "Uh—" he started intelligently.

"It's fine, Ethan," cut in the superhero. She smiled patronizingly at Jules. "We're actually here to talk to Vortex, so go right ahead."

"Oh—I..." Now Jules was the one gaping like a fish. "I'm... I'm not letting you in, remember?"

Aether raised one eyebrow, amused. "Okay."

Jules clenched her fist, shooting a glare at Scope. No, Ethan—apparently even the superhero knew his name now? Vortex was not going to be happy.

She stabbed at the comm button on her bracelet, jutting out her chin like she'd meant to all along. "Neither of you move. I'm going to be in so much trouble for this."

***

Ethan concentrated on his breathing, trying to slow his racing thoughts. She was right there, she was too close, she was acting like nothing was wrong. Vortex leaned against the dusty checkout counter, wiping her hands on a towel from the gym and staring like she was measuring the distance between Ethan and Jules with her eyes.

She smiled, and something inside Ethan relaxed. Aether had been lying about his father, she had to be. It was her job.

And Aether had gotten exactly what she wanted from him.

He couldn't work up the focus to be angry at the superhero. Vortex was still too close, and even if she didn't know what Ethan had told the police, she knew why he'd been caught. Either way he was dead.

"Welcome back," Vortex said smoothly. "Ethan, I mean. I can't wait to hear how you managed to get her as an escort home."

"I'm here to talk," Aether put in. "You can't have the kid just yet—I want a guarantee that I'll be able to leave when we're done here."

"The door's wide open," Vortex pointed out. Jules slouched behind Ethan, neither of them inclined to say a word.

Finally, Aether nodded.

Ethan shouldn't have felt betrayed.

Vortex's eyes were on him again, and she smiled reassuringly. "Nova's here too. You can go down to the lab and wait for me.

"And take this," she said, tossing a tiny white button into the air.

Surprised, Ethan caught it. "What—"

"What?" Aether echoed him, one hand flying to her ear. "That's my communication device. How did you get that?"

Vortex laughed softly, like she was truly delighted by the superhero's question. "Really, even after you punch Luis in the face, you don't stop to think about where he got the tech? I don't want to call you stupid, so let's go with optimistic. Lab, please, Ethan."

Ethan didn't dare make eye contact with Aether again, not under his mother's penetrating gaze. He clenched the button in his fist and started toward the stairwell door.

"You can go too, Jules," he heard Vortex saying. "Finish that level of your game already, the sound effects are driving me insane."

Jules shifted awkwardly. "But shouldn't— I'm on guard duty, I mean..."

"What's the worst that could happen, hmm?" The woman's voice was like honey. "The government's most loyal pet super could get in? Oh, wait."

***

Ethan slumped against the metal countertop, poking at some of the leftover electronics. The audio recording kept playing in the background. Vortex would be back later to analyze it—mostly fuzz inside Luis's pocket, but once in a while his or Aether's voice could be heard clearly. Ethan was not interested in hearing their date conversation.

Why had he ever believed he could just strut into the place and be able to leave again? He was crazy. Aether was crazy. Weren't superheroes supposed to be better at their jobs? And here he was, sitting tamely in the lab waiting for someone to come back and get him.

Loud scuffling noises from the recording spiked through Ethan's thoughts. Curious again, he glanced over.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," came Aether's voice after a particularly loud crack. Had she... were they fighting? "Look what you made me do."

Luis muttered a response, but it was immediately followed by another round of scuffling. A few screams cut through the white noise, and then Aether started talking to her agent again. The fight was over.

Ethan lost interest and moved across the room to another work table. His suit had been confiscated, still back at the police station. He should have asked Aether to get it back for him—but would she? She didn't seem to be on anyone's side but her own.

He had to stop overthinking. Either doubt Vortex or doubt Aether—they weren't working together so he had to trust one of them, right?

"I'm not coming."

Ethan froze, startled out of his thoughts by the sound of his own voice on the recording.

"Look, you could at least tell me why you think you can disobey direct orders."

That was Lucid. He remembered the conversation. How was it playing from the wrong recording device?

Ethan crossed the room again, his shoulders drooping in a strange relief when he saw the comm button lying on the counter. Clearly it was a different recording entirely. He poked the button aside and glanced over at the playback device.

An identical white button sat in the tray, still playing Ethan and Lucid's conversation.

"I know how it feels."

"Did Vortex give you powers too?"

It didn't make any sense. How could the audio device have been switched? And yet there was no way Aether was in the room for that conversation.

Ethan stared at the tiny white button like it held the secrets of the universe. The sound of footsteps had been going on for several seconds and it only just registered with him that they were coming from outside the door, not the recording.

"I'm gonna need your help again."

Ethan snatched the button from the tray and shoved it deep into a pocket before the door to the lab opened.