The school was eerie at night. Each click of Kathy's smart black boots against the linoleum echoed strangely in the long, empty halls. She kicked an abandoned pen with her next step and it skittered across the floor.

Judith gave her a dirty look, and she made an apologetic gesture, "The guard does a round every twenty minutes. If you make a misstep when he's in earshot, you'll be in heaps of trouble with your folks," Judith told her in a sharp whisper.

"What about you?" said Kathy in the same low voice.

"I'll be expelled and they'll press charges," Judith said humorlessly.

"So let's be careful, shall we?"

Kathy folded her arms. "I'll tell them it was my idea and you came along to make sure I didn't get myself hurt. I've never had so much as an honor code violation. They'll believe me. I'm an excellent liar."

"You?"

"I'm homoromantic demisexual, and my family has no idea."

Judith opened her mouth to reply, but they were interrupted by the door which separated their hallway from the next opened with an alarming creak. Kathy startled, but Judith just clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her into the sheltered recess of a classroom door.

The guard walked slow, way too slow, humming nonchalantly.

Kathy's entire body was shaking with fear, jarring her against Judith's tense form. His shoes scuffed the floor as he positively strolled past where they were huddled. Kathryn sighed in relief, and Judith's hand tightened over her mouth, but the guard didn't so much as pause in his walking or his humming.

A moment later, the next hall door creaked open and slowly slammed shut.

Judith's arm dropped, and Kathy slumped against her. "Oh, gods," she murmured. "I thought for sure we were caught."

"The brain fills in what it expects to see unless you're actively seeking out the truth. If he'd heard voices or that bloody pen, we would have been."

"We should get this done fast and get out of here," Kathy said.

Judith made a noise of assent. Then, "Sevenson?"

"What?"

"You're still using me as a vertical pillow."

Kathy let out an oh of surprise and sprang away. "Sorry," she said.

Judith hummed in acknowledgement and started off into the bathroom. The slim rectangle of slightly less ink-and-grit covered door was a visible reminder of the plaque that had once declared it a Gifted bathroom, when the school had been "desegregated" in a very nominal way.

Kathy lifted the purse full of tools and set it on the bathroom sink. "Which spanner do we need?"

"The large one first." Judith said, and Kathy handed it over.

"How do you know this much about plumbing? I thought your mum was a seamstress."

"Fisk and I took on odd jobs to pay for her medical bills," Judith said, even as she crouched beside one of the toilets, "and then more for her cremation. We've been mechanics, chimney sweeps, fry cooks, servers at banquets, repairmen, crossing guards, everything you can imagine. Anna babysat for a bunch of rich families after mum was gone. The judge who emancipated her had kids, and he sort of took pity on her. I think Lizzie tried to have a Cool-Aid stand, but it was winter... All right, pass me the little wrench."

"How old were you?" asked Kathy, softly, even as she complied.

Judith frowned at the pipe for a moment. "When my mother died? Fourteen. But the work started when I was twelve. Anna was fourteen, but she's not good with her hands. She waited a few tables for bars that were too dive-y to be upset that she was underage for work, booze, and the propositions their patrons offered."

A large, silvery nut came loose, and Judith caught in a gloved hand. "Well, that should do it for this one. Put it in the bag, will you?" She held it out, and Kathy pulled the plastic shopping bag out of the purse.

Judith didn't bother getting up, just rolled under the gap between the stall's bottom, into the next one. The spanners didn't so much as clink the tiles.

Kathy put the nut in the bag and glanced up at Judith. "I'll dump it in my neighborhood. They'll probably not look for it there, so if we screwed up on the fingerprint thing, we'll be safe."

"You're a natural, kid," Judith said appreciatively.

"I'm only three years younger than you," Kathy said. "I'm hardly a child."

"Yeah, you're actually a devious sonuvabitch, apparently. How's a Gifted golden girl get so ballsy, anyway?"

"Well, I guess I started getting annoyed with how girls in books act like Rosamund, so I asked a librarian were I could find books where the girls do the rescuing."

"And you went from reading books with realistic women to... Openly defying your parents' wishes, identifying as queer, and committing vandalism with a radical activist you barely know?"

"My brother has never had a friend before. Ever. He's attached to Fisk. So you're family."

"I don't think families have worked out well for either of us, Sevenson."

"That's why I choose my own," said Kathryn, seriously. "So, want to teach me how to do this so I can speed things up?"

Judith lifted her head. "All right," she said, "first you need a large spanner..."