Jacob watched as Nightmare took off down the street. Adrian seemed to glare at him through his suit, which was pretty banged up from his fight with Gargoyle. "Why'd you let her get away?" he asked.

"Because she's a Watcher," Jacob said blankly. Adrian was silent for a moment, left speechless by the revelation. "Just like we don't let Nova know who you are, we won't tell you who Nightmare is. I recruited her personally. She fought against the Renegades because she believes not that they are evil, but because she believes they have too much power, and they misuse it. She fights for what is right. That is what the Watchers are. Trust me on this one Sentinel."

"Fine, but one slip up..." he said with a tone that showed that he was trying to remain calm. They tagged Pyromancer with their new emblem, the eye with the W behind it. Adrian was tasked with taking Pyromancer to the Renegade HQ, as he was likely the only one capable of carrying him. He leapt off in the direction from which Frostbite had come, reminding the rest of them they should probably take off before any of the Renegades woke up. They moved down the street towards the Watchtower, and Jacob found himself glancing over at Cat. Something was off about her, but he couldn't tell what it was at first. She didn't look at all different than before, but Jacob finally figured it out. The back of her leg had a small burn on the tissue, but she didn't seem to notice. It was the scar tissue from where she had once taken a hit from an orc knife. Jacob asked her to stop as they walked and pointed out the injury to her. She noticed the small burn, and gasped.

"I didn't even notice. I just thought my leg was sore from using my powers too much," she said, suddenly concerned about it. Calculations ran through Jacob's mind in a blink. He stood with a worried look on his face.

"We need to get you off this. Depending on when it started it will actually cause permanent damage if you keep using the leg. I don't think we can get all the way back," he said. He helped her stay off her burned leg, which seemed to be her unlucky leg, and they limped back to the Watchtower. They neared home, when they ran into Mal. She joined in the help Cat walk group, the two of them practically carrying her, though Jacob was sure he could if she asked him too. Mal seemed pretty bushed as well, but she didn't complain when it came to helping her friends or people she cared about, Jacob knew. Jacob watched as both of the girls became more and more tired. Finally, Mal asked them to halt. She and Cat leaned against the wall of the nearest building, and Jacob worked up himself to propose the idea to them. He held out a hand to Cat, pulling her up from where she was sitting. He inspected her leg once again, noting the burned tissue seemed to be spreading, which shouldn't have been possible. Then again, he was looking at a girl that could solidify music, which wasn't exactly possible either. He helped her to her feet, but when her leg failed her, she actually cried out in pain. She hadn't been hurt by the burn up until now. Jacob looked her in the eye and asked, "You remember last time? Would be okay if I helped again?" She looked up at him, shocked, and he felt a cold hand pull his hood down and touch the back of his neck. He fell forward fast asleep.

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Cat tried to slow Jacob as he fell and made sure he didn't fall on her. Up until now she hadn't noticed the burn on her leg, but when she had tried to stand it had felt as though her leg was actually on fire still, not just injured. She looked up and met Nova's face, which was uncovered, and pulled her own mask from her face. "What was that for?" Mal asked beside her. Nova reached down, and Mal tried to scoot away, but her energy was drained as it was. Nova easily put her to sleep, and Cat was left alone with her. Cat gritted her teeth waiting for an answer, but none came, because a second unexpected friend showed up. Adrian slammed into the ground behind her, his suit in better repair than it had been when he had left to deliver Pyromancer. Nova reached down brushed Cat's neck, which should have put her to sleep.

Cat hummed a quiet note as Nova touched her, creating the smallest of barriers between Nova's fingers and her own skin. She still felt tired when a little Nova's power slipped through, so she closed her eyes. She listened as the two friends talked with each other, not knowing the other's identity. "What is this?" She heard The Sentinel's metallic voice inquire.

"They were pushing themselves too hard... If they kept going they would have found themselves in real trouble," Nightmare responded, in a darker voice. Cat opened one of her eyes just a crack to watch as events unfolded. "But now that they're out, why don't you say what I know you're going to say."

"Turn yourself in for attempting to murder Hugh Everhart, attacking two Renegades, and being a known Anarchist," The Sentinel said, getting right to the point. Cat watched as Nova shook her head, still having not turned. She almost started laughing at the comic line.

"I should have just dealt with you at the parade," she said without turning and reached for her throwing stars, saying, "I guess I'll just do it now." She turned swiftly, her hood still covering her face a little and threw the stars. Adrian leapt out of the way, and his laser cannon rose from his arm. He fired at her, but missed by inches. As he landed from his massive leap, Nova charged, duckig her head, but keeping sight of him until he was right in front of her, she tried to find some chink in his armor, but this time she had nothing. Unfortunately, in her search for a weakness, she raised her face only a little but it was enough for Adrian to see in the moment that she wasn't wearing her mask. He fought harder, taking the offensive. He fired blast after blast, and each time she expertly dodged them.

Finally, she dodged a little too close to him. He grasped arm as she rolled and pulled her up. She planted a punch in his gut, but only succeeded in injuring her hand on the metal plating. He raised his other hand and his cannon was pointed right at her. "The day of the parade, you said something to me. One cannot be brave who has no fear. Where did you hear it?" he asked through his mask, nearly shouting. Nova just laughed beneath her hood.

"You'll never know, hero," She spat the last word like it was a bitter piece of candy, "but that is't what I'm laughing about. It's too bad that you were this close to finding out just who I was, when now it doesn't matter. If I kill you, you can't do anything with this knowledge." As she finished her statement she swung her body in his grip and kicked him in the chest with both her feet, throwing him backwards as she rolled away. As she rolled her hood flipped down, revealing Nova's identity to Adrian. She looked up at him as he recovered, and met his eyes. He froze in place, stunned. "Now you see don't you."

"No... that's not..." he said quietly.

"Oh, but it is." she said, a devious smile on her face.

"Nova McLain? This isn't possible. This isn't right," He responded.

"Your right, it is impossible. Good thing I'm Nova Artino," She taunted, staring him down. She reached for her stun pistol, knowing it would work through the suit, and fired as he held up his hands to defend himself. He had started saying something when the electricity surged through him, causing him to black out. Nova pulled one of her throwing stars from her belt and was ready to kill. This was when Cat revealed herself, and at the same moment, Mal stood with her.

__________________

Mal hadn't seen how it had gone down, but when she woke she found herself watching as Nova, without a hood, was standing over a downed Sentinel, her deadly stars in hand. She stood to warn Nova away from killing him when she noticed that Cat stood with her. Nova turned to see the two of them standing, and scowled.

"I know I gave you both a strong push from my powers. How are you already up?" she asked, confused by their consciousness. Mal tried to speak, but it only came out as a mumble because she still wasn't fully awake. She turned to Cat who seemed to be significantly more awake than she was, despite the wound in her leg. Cat held up her hand, not saying anything, then fell over once again. She wouldn't be much help. Nova simply stared at the two of them confused by now. Mal said nothing more as she tried to shake the sleep from her mind, but motioned removing something from her head. Nova smirked, finally understanding. She leaned over and placed a hand on either side of his helmet and tugged. At first the helmet didn't budge, but then it slid off. Mal finally was awake enough to clearly make out Nova standing, shaking her head.

Mal noted that Cat's wound was still spreading slowly. She looked to Nova and then Cat, and back. Cat needed the physical help, but Nova was suffering and needed direction before she went to Ace Anarchy for help. Mal called to her for help, and she turned and saw for the first time the true extent of the burn on Cat's leg. She gasped, covering her mouth in shock and rushed to help. As much as she was an Anarchist, she still cared about her friends, whether they were Renegades, Watchers, Anarchists, or civilians. She helped Mal pick her up and kicked Jacob a few times until he woke. He struggled up and trailed groggily after them. Finally they reached the Watchtower, and they pushed inside.

"Where are those medical supplies Adrian drew up for us?" Mal asked as they entered. Jacob ran to retrieve them, managing to smack his head on a wall in the process.

"Ow!" they all heard from the next room, "Whoa, that really wakes you up!" He returned a moment later and handed her a first aid kit, but doubted that would be all they needed. Mal had no clue as to what to do with any of the items in the kit, but Nova took over quickly. What Mal wondered was why a burn would continue to grow long after the fire had gone out. It took Nova only a few minutes to help Cat, but she still needed a more skilled medical expert to help her. Nova, however was able to answer Mal's question.

"Prodigy powers. That's how it kept spreading. He doesn't just use plain fire. He uses these," she said holding up a small crystal in her gloved hand. He quickly dropped it into a cup full of water and it instantly began to boil. "They seem to imbued with heat. It is like he can focus the heat of this sort of crystal. I found one of them in Cat's leg, which would be why the burn was still growing slowly." Mal pulled her aside after the business was done. Jacob sat with Cat to make sure she get worse, and the girls slipped into Mal's room.

"Hey," Mal started, "How are you holding up with... well... the whole Adrian situation." Nova shuddered. At first she didn't say anything, but slowly she started to share. She knew she shouldn't have fallen for Adrian, but there was no point in denying it. She did like him. She had hated The Sentinel up until now. Now going back over every time he had helped her, she realized that Adrian was simply trying to be a real hero. He had been taking the flaws out of the Renegades system. He saved people because it was the right thing to do, just as the Anarchists believed what they were doing was right, and just as the Renegades thought they were doing the right thing.

"I don't know what to do," Nova found herself saying to one of the few people that truly seemed to understand her. "I don't want to betray my uncle or Adrian. Where am I supposed to go from here?"

"Maybe you are thinking about this wrong," Mal noted, "what if what you are really trying to decide is what you believe, not who you trust. If you truly believed the same thing as Ace, you wouldn't believe any Renegade could possibly be good. You wouldn't see the good in Adrian. But if you wholeheartedly believed the Renegade point of view, you would have betrayed your uncle's trust long ago. Nova, what do you believe in?"

"I believe in what's right," Nova said confidently. She seemed encouraged by Mal's analysis. "I believe that people shouldn't depend on Renegades to save them, and should be more self-confident. I believe the Renegades try their best, but they have too many codes that get in the way when it comes to doing what is right. Prodigies should have the free will to help others, like a non-prodigy can help another every day, but it shouldn't be depended upon. I believe Adrian has the right idea. That you have the right idea. I'm Nova Artino, and I'm a Watcher."

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Rose shook her head as she woke up, and suddenly remembered what had happened. She had been put to sleep. She examined her surroundings, expecting to be back in the Anarchist headquarters once again. She found that she was simply asleep in an alley behind a dumpster. She stood, achy from hitting the ground evidently. She walked out of the alley and glanced down the street. She saw no sign of Nightmare, or Nova, whatever name they others called her more. She made her way towards the Watchtower when she noticed Adrian laying on the sidewalk, clearly knocked out. He was in his Sentinel suit, but his helmet had been removed. She slipped his helmet back on after helping stir him awake. He woke rubbing his shoulder, where he explained Nova had shot him with a stun round, yet again.

"Wait," Rose noted, "If she hit you with a stun round, and I found you with your helmet removed..." Rose trailed off as she realized that Nova knew Adrian's secret. They had spent so long trying to avoid interfering with the storyline, but they had probably messed up from the moment they walked through the door and stalled Hugh Everhart on his way to stop The Grenadier, as they had later learned he had been called.

Adrian retracted his suit into the small pocket on his shoulder, and Rose pulled the hair tie off her wrist and put her hair up with it, collapsing her costume. He finally stood and the two of them made their way towards the Watchtower. Upon arriving they were met by the sight of Jacob sitting next to the makeshift bed on which Cat was resting her leg. Rose rushed to see what had happened to her.

Jacob explained how she had been clipped by one of Pyromancer's thermal crystals, and how they had managed to extract it, stopping the burn from spreading. She and Adrian sat with the two of them for a few minutes before the door to Mal's apartment opened. Mal was the first through, then Nova froze in the door when she met Adrian's eyes. Adrian broke the stare and turned away from her. Rose looked between the two, realizing that not only did Nova know Adrian's secret, but he knew her identity as well. Nova opened her mouth to explain, but no words came out. Rose watched as she repeated this motion, but again was silent. She closed her mouth, turned to the door and rushed out.

"Adrian," Rose said, getting his attention, "She's clearly hurting. She needs you. She doesn't need The Sentinel, or some big superhero, but you. Don't go as Sketch either, because she needs you. She doesn't need you to be a hero, or even the hero. She wants you to be her hero, Adrian Everhart." Adrian kept a hard and serious look until the very last sentence. She watched as his walls fell, and his instincts failed. Finally, she saw emotion fill his eyes, and he ran to the door. He threw the door open and ran after her.