There wasn't a reason that Magpie should have been at all intimidating, but even as Adrian stood at the door, he felt some apprehension that he couldn't explain. She was sitting at the table before them as he and Max entered the room. She had plastic cuffs on, securing her to the table. It seemed wrong to have a child cuffed in their interrogation room, but Adrian knew she had helped Phobia terrorize Nova and hurt Oscar.

    "Maggie," He said as he sat down, "I can't put words to my disappointment." She seemed to connect eyes with him searching for something metal she could manipulate. She didn't find anything.

    "Well then, I guess Nova was right about me from the beginning. Isn't that funny?"

    "That doesn't change the fact that I always tried to believe in you, Magpie," he told her. Adrian knew this was a hopeless battle, but he wasn't trying to win.

    "Are you a villain, Magpie?" Max suddenly asked. Adrian had been working on about what they would be asking her, but this was definitely off script. Adrian hated when Max improvised. It reminded him too much of himself.

    "I- no," Maggie answered quickly. She seemed flustered by the question, but Adrian couldn't figure why she seemed embarrassed. Perhaps there was something else going on in her mind.

    "Then why attack the trials, Maggie? If you aren't a villain, why help Phobia?" Adrian asked. She fidgeted with her plastic cuffs but didn't answer.

    "Do we really need the cuffs, Adrian?" Max asked. This had been part of the plan at least.

    "No. I guess you can take them off." Max reached across the table and opened the cuffs with a key he produced from his pocket. It was plastic as well. Magpie rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had been chafing away at her skin for the past fifteen minutes.

    "Thanks," she mumbled.

    "No problem. I don't think they were ever necessary," Max told her with a smile. Great job, good cop, but now it was Adrian's turn.

    "Now, are you going to tell us why you helped Phobia?" he grumbled again, leaning forward in his chair. Magpie promptly clammed up again.

    "Well, how did you even find Phobia, if you won't tell us why you were with him?"

    "He is right about that one," Max chimed in, "Last we knew, Phobia was defeated in the Battle of Gatlon. Adrian sacrificed his power to get rid of him."

    "His power doesn't look very sacrificed to me," Maggie grumbled in response. She actually gave a valid point.

    "So you're saying he's back because I have my powers back?" Adrian asked. This only elicited a laugh from Maggie.

    "Sure, sure. That's exactly why he's back. You've had your powers for almost a year, Adrian," she said. Adrian wasn't sure why this ticked him off so much. It almost like she was mocking him. Adrian took a second to consider what might have been the real reason, and one of the likely explanations would have to do with what she had been doing the past few months. He hadn't seen her walking around HQ for a long time before she showed up at the trials.

    "Where were you, Maggie?" he finally asked, "Did you go to the cathedral?" It seemed like the logical reason for Phobia to have finally appeared. He needed someone else. Maggie didn't say anything, but her failure to make any eye contact with them told him he was right.

    "Maggie, it's okay." This time it was Max playing his good cop role once again. "You can tell us. It's going to be alright." Adrian knew that wasn't the approach for Magpie. Trying to sympathize with her was not going to go well for Max, but he let him try anyway.

    "Well..." Maggie conceded, "I- I was." Adrian was honestly shocked she was admitting to doing something wrong. Was she really that out of it?

    "Maggie, why were you there?" Max asked. His voice was so calming even Adrian wanted to admit to things he had done. It was so odd.

    "I... I wanted to find the helmet so I could be powerful."

    "Is power really all that matters, Maggie?" Max asked. She finally met his eyes, and Adrian could see something different in her face.

    "I just wanted them to see me." Was Magpie actually pouring out her feelings to Max? What was going on here?

    "Alright, it's okay. You were always welcome here with the Renegades." Max was playing his role perfectly.

    "That's... that's not what I meant." This really piqued Adrian's interest. What could she mean?

    "I guess... Maybe if my sister saw me-"

    "You have a sister?" Adrian interrupted before she could finish. He had not heard anything about this sibling.

    "I'm not going to talk to you anymore," she said, obviously defensive to Adrian once again.

    "Is there anything we can do for you while we wait then?" Max asked.

    "I'm not going to talk unless I get my bullet."

    "Your bullet?" Adrian asked. He glanced back to the one way window that he knew Ruby, Oscar, and Narcissa were standing behind. "What bullet?"

    "Can we get her that?" Max asked Adrian. It seemed like a strange request, but Adrian had an idea.

    "No. There's no way we can possibly get that." He stood and pushed in his chair, smacking it against the table. He pulled the door open and stepped out of the room. He watched Max go to follow him, but Max paused. From outside the room, Adrian heard Max tell her he would do what he could to help her out. Adrian actually knew what bullet she had been referring to as soon as he checked her arrest file's list of items that had been confiscated. She had a small used bullet on her person when they had taken her in, and it was with everything else they had taken off of her in the artifacts department.

    Adrian sent a quick message to ask for approval to give her the bullet for information, and Hugh quickly granted it. It seemed they hadn't expected the Everhart brothers to get even this much information out of her. Adrian simply nodded to Max to tell him that he would be back soon. He turned for the elevators.

    "Adrian," Max stopped him, "I think she got really spooked by what Phobia did to Nova. I think there's more behind that. Mind if I see if I can get her to talk about it while you are getting the bullet?"

    "Alright, but be careful. You'll be the only one in there." Max simply gave him a wry smile.

    "Don't worry. I seem to remember you being the reckless one, Sentinel."

_____________________________

    Max shut the door behind him. Magpie seemed to be significantly more willing to talk to him than Adrian, and maybe it was just because Adrian was playing bad cop, but it seemed like it might be something a little more. There was something about this girl that just seemed... familiar. He had seen her from the quarantine a few times when she was on messenger duty for the council, but never really talked to her. Max decided it would be a good idea to give another go at talking with her.

    He sat at the table and explained that he had "convinced" Adrian that they should get her the bullet. It was difficult to tell just why she was so desperate to keep that bullet on her person, but that was a question for later.

    "Magpie, I was watching at the trials, and there's a question I have to ask."

    "Well, I'm probably not going to answer," she scoffed. Max knew this was the case, but maybe, just maybe, she would give him something.

    "When Phobia was changing form," Max asked, "why did it scare you?" Until he asked this, Magpie's eyes had been wandering the room, careless and without any real worry. Now, though, they were locked on his, suddenly cold and serious. There was a warning in those eyes. A warning that he was getting too close to the right question to truly learn something about the girl before him.

    Max had often found this was the right way to question someone. It wasn't really a matter of asking the question the right way, but you have to ask the right questions. If you ask the right questions, they will give you the answers you want. There was a moment of silence between them, and Max simply stared her down.

    "There is something there," Max said, leaning forward, "Why was it so frightening?"

    "That's none of your business, Everhart." She broke the eye contact, but not with careless intent, but rather attempting to try to escape this conversation.

    "You can tell me Magpie, come on."

    "Just because you're cute doesn't mean I'm going to tell you everything!" she suddenly blurted. Her hand immediately shot to her mouth, a clear indicator that she hadn't meant to say that. Max wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, but before he could figure out how he would answer, Adrian walked through the door.

    "I've got the bullet. Now, are you going to talk, Maggie?" Adrian crossed the room to the table and tossed a small plastic baggie onto the table. Inside it was a single spent round, but still Magpie quickly retrieved the baggie and fished the bullet from its bag. There was something about that bullet that was special to her, for certain.

    "Well, if you won't answer my previous question, then why's the bullet so important?" Max asked. He wondered if perhaps they were the same answer. It was all about asking the right question.

    "Fine. I'll answer all your questions at once."

    "I'd like to see you do that," Adrian said, "Please tell away." He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table, letting the chair sit on two feet.

    "This bullet... gave me my powers. At least, it sorta did. I gained my powers when I was shot as an infant. I was almost a year old."

    "Maggie, I'm so sorry," Max told her, offering her a smile, though the kind gesture also brought to mind what she had just said before Adrian walked in.

    "It was a long time ago, but... I was shot when someone broke into my family's house. They killed both my parents, and me. Then my sister was kidnapped. Captain Chromium declared me dead when he found me, but I was found alive hours later." Adrian seemed to be contemplating something, but Magpie continued.

    "This is the bullet that I pulled out of myself with my powers as an infant. You asked how I met Phobia? I was looking for Ace Anarchy's helmet in the ruins of the cathedral when he found me. He seemed really weak until we were on the field, not all that scary. But the, he turned into that... thing. I don't know why he showed me the same sort of thing that happened to my parents. I just wanted to be powerful enough to find my sister finally."

    "Adrian, that sounds like-" Max started. Unfortunately, Adrian had frozen, no doubt making the same connection. He slowly lost his balance on his tipping chair and fell backwards. He hit the ground and rolled out of his chair, still seemingly in his stupor.

    "I think you got her attention Magpie. I need to go check something." With that, Adrian quickly went for the door.

    "We'll be back soon. We just need to confirm something about what you just said," Max told her. He followed him out the door, and Adrian was going straight for the elevator.

    "Hey, did she just say what we think she said?" Oscar was asking as he came out of the observation room.

    "About her family?" Max asked to clarify.

    "No, you big doofus. She is totally into you man!" Oscar laughed. Max groaned as Adrian gave him a questioning glance.

    "I'll explain later."

    They found Nova at her desk. She was sitting at her desktop tapping away, no doubt filing away several confiscated items from recent criminals. Max hadn't been sure why Nova didn't want to be there for the interrogation, but maybe she suspected something along these lines. She didn't want to find that her past was incomplete.

    "Nova!" Adrian called as they got nearer, "We might have figured something out. It's really important."

    "Great, what is it?"

    "You need to open the file on your parents. We just need to confirm my suspicion, okay?" Nova didn't actually say anything, but Max could see her jaw clenching.

    "I've already seen all of this," she grumbled after a few seconds.

    "Then open the attachment," Adrian said with a nod towards the screen. Nova gave him a scowl, obviously having tried this already.

    "It's password protected."

    "Open it anyway," Max said. He didn't want to tell Adrian, but he actually had the council's password. Hugh had given it to him back when he was still in the quarantine and there wasn't much chance of him misusing it. He reached over to the keyboard and quickly typed in the six letter password.

    A-D-R-I-A-N

    The attachment opened, and Nova was already skimming the page. Max and Adrian read it over each of her shoulders. Oscar and Ruby hadn't said anything, but they stayed a little ways back.

   I arrived on the scene to find David Artino and Tala Artino on the ground, dead from a single gunshot wound each. In the next room was a cradle, the child inside was covered in blood. What kind of monster shoots a child? I had my question answered as I searched the rest of the Artino home. The assailant's gun matched type that looked as though had been used on the child's parents. He had a wound from the same weapon, and the eldest Artino daughter was nowhere to be found. I suspect she ran away, or was kidnapped by whomever shot the assailant.

    If only Lady Indomitable had been there. Her death was a tragic turn of events, and I still miss her dearly, but the fallout breaks my heart anymore. It makes me wonder how much of this superhero work I will be able to do, even now, two years later, I still wonder if we could have saved the Artino's from their brother.

    Despite my initial report, I was later reported that the child was actually discovered to be alive, and she was taken to one of the local orphanages. I was later informed that she was given over to one of our Renegade families for care. I was informed that Evie Artino has no knowledge of her heritage, but was aware they were orphaned when their parents were murdered. She knows of her sister, but little Margaret White will have a much easier life if she isn't judged for her family. We will give her a new start. Maybe one day, their eldest daughter can be found, and Margaret will get to meet her sister, but until then, I hope the Whites raise her as best as they can.

    Max didn't say anything. Maggie was indeed just what he and Adrian had been suspecting.

    "Evie... Magpie's Evie?" Nova gasped as she finished the report. "I don't- I won't believe it."

    "Nova, your sister is alive." Adrian had a hand on her shoulder, but she pushed her chair away from her desk.

    "I need to talk with her. Now." They all moved out of the way as Nova marched towards the elevators. Max and the rest of their patrol was right behind them, save for Narcissa who was up keeping watch over Magpie. She was watching Evie Artino.

    When they reached the right floor and found their interrogation room, Nova flung the door open, Max right behind her. Max watched as Nova searched for words for her sister.

    "You... What were your parents' names?" she asked in something akin to a growl.

    "Man, and I thought Adrian was supposed to be bad cop. Now they're setting loose the Renegade that hates me most?" Magpie wasn't helping herself. She had stood up while they were double checking their suspicion of her identity, and she was casually leaning against one of the walls of the interrogation room.

    "Tell me their names," Nova repeated. Perhaps letting Nova in here was a poor choice.

    "Fine, jerk. I never knew their names, and nobody ever told me." Max watched as Nova let out a deep breath, practically seething with rage. She searched for another question. Something that might give her some indication that Maggie was indeed Evie Artino. Max wondered what she might do if she couldn't figure it out.

    "How'd you get your powers then?" Nova finally asked, seeming a little calmer.

    "I already told Adrian and Max. I got them when someone murdered my parents and shot me." Nova still searched her head, still trying to find the right question. It was always the right question that needed to be found.

    When Nova was within arm's reach of Magpie, she finally asked, "Magpie, when is your birthday?" Magpie told Nova her birthday, something she would know even if she hadn't been told too much about her family.

    "Why do you need to know that though?" Max watched as all the tension and anger in Nova's pose melted. Before Maggie knew what hit her, Nova had her arms wrapped around her. Max looked at Nova, and he saw something he'd never seen before. Nova Artino had, in all the time he had known her, never cried. He hadn't seen her cry, but now, as she held her long lost, very confused sister in her arms, he could see her tears falling. Max stepped back through the door, giving Maggie a smile. This wasn't Max's family, he would let them have their moment together. He turned from the door to find his family there. Adrian had his arms crossed, and he was giving Max the same questioning look he had before.

    "So, Maximillion Everhart, would you like to explain what Oscar meant when he said Maggie was 'totally into you'?" It looked like Nova wasn't going to be the only one with an explanation to give.

______________________________________

Happy Thanksgiving!

   Hope you all are enjoying this story! Be sure to let me know just how much you are loving it by tapping the vote button. I love hearing feedback from my readers!

This update was a little tight, so there might be a few errors. Next update is next week, can't wait!

-M.J.S.