Chapter Fourteen: Cunning Raiders

"I have to say, sometimes it's nice to just hang out and enjoy the silence."

For a minute, the only sound was the creaking of huge wheels over grass. Then Shadow Stalker looked up at me.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Shame you fucked it up."

I shrugged, then leaned back against the bench and snugged my arm a bit tighter around her shoulder. She didn't protest, going with the motion, pressing a bit closer to me despite the spikes on my armor.

"Fine," she said, dropping her head to rest against my pauldron. "You're forgiven. You do know we're going to be in deep shit once we get back though, right?"

"Maybe," I said. "Should we ditch, you think? Flee the law? Cheese it? Go to ground? Go out in a blaze of glory, maybe?"

She made an amused sound. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? You and me against the world?"

"I can think of worse ways to go out, yeah."

"Call it a backup plan, then," she said.

Our conversation lapsed for a minute. It had been like that since we'd left her mom's house. Short bursts of casual chatting and joking, followed by quiet, just the two of us together. It was a new experience for me, and a nice one. Not something I would have expected.

Soon enough, though, it would be over. The cart we rode wasn't taking the same route as it had on any of the previous trips – out of necessity – but I was pretty sure we were nearing the Philadelphia station. After that it would just be a few minutes on the subway before we were back at Protectorate HQ.

"Something on your mind?" Shadow Stalker asked, and I realized I'd started tapping my heel on the wooden boards of the cart's floor. I stopped.

"Not really," I said. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Probably," she said. "Go ahead."

"Just something you said yesterday, it got me thinking. Have you fought an elder dragon before?"

I felt her shoulders tense for a second, then slowly relax.

"Was hoping you were gonna ask about my family," she said. "Or maybe Emma and Taylor. Most people have at least a few questions about a one-armed girl who's friends with a cape."

"I think I got a good read on them yesterday," I told her.

She sighed. "Yeah, you probably did, I guess," she said. "So, you know I said I'm not from Boston, originally?"

"Brockton Bay, right?" I asked. She lifted her head up to me, and I shrugged. "Came up when you first saw Rune, a few weeks ago."

"Oh right," she said. "Forgot about that. Yeah, I'm from Brockton Bay. I was there in oh-nine, and yeah, I fought the elder dragon."

"Anything you can talk about?"

She leaned into me slightly and punched me, right in the center of the chest. "A good boyfriend wouldn't push like that," she said.

"What can I say? I'd rather be an asshole than stay curious."

She punched me again. "Whatever. Guess I owe you something for last night, and it's not like I saw much anyway. I was on search and rescue then, too."

"How did that work? There's not a lot of coverage of the fight, but I saw some pictures. The city was flooded."

"Not flooded," she said. "It... I don't know how to say it. The monster... I don't even know. The city sank. Parts of it slid into the ocean, but most just went... down."

I hugged her tighter.

"It occurs to me that I'm being more of an asshole than I thought," I said.

She pushed me away, ducking out of my one-armed hug.

"If I say I'm alright to talk about something, I'm alright to talk about something," she snapped. "Ask your fucking questions."

I blinked. "Okaaay" I said, drawing out the word. "You didn't actually say that, but whatever. Did you actually see it? The Caedeus?"

She looked away. "Yeah," she said. "Just once, and just for a second. It was out in the bay the entire time. Never came to land. Couldn't, I don't think. No legs. Just fins, or flippers. At first, you know, nobody knew what was happening. Everything started shaking. My mom thought it was an earthquake. Stupid. We don't get earthquakes here. It was... I don't know, maybe twenty minutes before the alarms started sounding. I-"

She stopped, took a quick breath. One hand absently fiddled with her crossbows.

"I went to the rendezvous point, and they sent me to do search and rescue. Pretty much the same thing as the Lao-Shan, but with water instead of dust. Then, when everything started sinking, they pulled me out. I was at a camp for a few days before I found my mom, and then they set us up in Boston."

I opened my mouth to say something sympathetic, then closed it again. It obviously wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Do you know where it came from?" I asked. "Where the portal led?"

"Sort of," she said. "The portal was kind of the problem, I guess. That's what they said, anyway." She turned to look at me. "Did you see the one the Lao-Shan Lung came through? Big rip in the air, all white?"

I nodded.

"That's the difference between elder dragons and other monsters," she said. "They don't need the portal to be big enough to fit through. They can break it themselves, smash through. That's why there's stations on both sides, not just ours. To protect the portals, prevent elder dragons from tearing them wide open."

"I never heard that," I said. I didn't even try to hide my enthusiasm.

"Yeah, not really common knowledge. I guess the Protectorate thinks it'll scare people. I said I joined the Junior Protectorate for a bit in Boston, yeah?"

"You did," I confirmed.

"Well, I heard it there. They think the portal the Caedeus came through was a mature one, which I guess doesn't happen much. It opened way underwater, where nobody noticed, and the monsters that came out were mostly aquatic ones that stayed away from shore. So it had time to grow, and when the Caedeus came through there wasn't any warning. No huge white rip in the air, or the water I guess. Just the biggest elder dragon ever encountered, tearing apart the city's foundations."

"Fighting underwater..." I mused. "That can't have been easy."

"I wouldn't know," she said. "They didn't kill it, though, I know that much. It's still there, on the other side of the portal. Unless it left or something."

"Wait," I said. "Wait. It's still alive? It kills an entire city, and they just leave it?"

"Sure," she said. "Not like it can go inland or anything."

"That's-"

"Smart," she snapped. "It's smart, Hunter. If it's not gonna do anything, it's way smarter to leave it alone."

"Right," I said, though I didn't remotely believe it. "Sure."

Conversation lapsed again, less comfortably this time, and eventually we pulled into the Philadelphia station. It was almost a shame. It was the second time I'd made the trip with just Shadow Stalker, and I would have enjoyed more time together. Maybe another distraction like we'd had last time. A monster to hunt.

There wasn't anyone waiting for us inside the station, which was a relief, since I'd half expected an angry welcoming committee. The trip on the subway was equally quick and without issue.

We emerged into the lobby of the Protectorate HQ much as we had weeks ago, though it was earlier in the day. There weren't any hunting teams waiting around, sitting on the couches or at the tables, though there were a handful of businesspeople. Nobody paid us special attention. The receptionists didn't call us over or even look up as we walked past the front desk.

I knew we'd be in trouble on some level, of course. I knew that it worried Shadow Stalker, at least a little bit, though she'd obviously deny it if I brought it up in that light. I glanced at her, striding along beside me. Her steps were long, landing toe-first, with little pressure ever placed on her heels. Silent. It looked elegant, controlled, almost as if she was wearing high-heels instead of flat-soled boots that laced halfway up her calves.

Yeah, I thought. She'd call it being careful.

It was probably smart. But it wasn't what I felt. The closer we got to the possible conflict, the faster my heart beat, and the more I wanted to smile.

So when the elevator door opened on the barracks level to reveal Rifle standing with his arms crossed, face set in a frown, I couldn't hold back my grin.

"Hey, it's been ages!" I said, holding my arms wide. "You don't call, you don't write. I almost thought you'd forgotten us."

"I dealt with the Protectorate," he said, turning away and beckoning to us. "Come on."

"What, no hug?" I asked, falling in behind him. "I thought we were friends."

"Doofus," Shadow Stalker said. "At least try to take this seriously."

"I can try to pretend to take it seriously," I said. "Can't promise anything beyond that."

She punched my shoulder, but it didn't have the normal sharpness or impact. An absent gesture, without her attention behind it.

The smile fell off my face. Why that took the fun out of things for me, I didn't know. But it did.

Rifle led us down the hall, in a different direction from my room or Shadow Stalker's. The door we ended up at was the same kind, though, just with his name on it.

"I didn't know you were staying here too," I told him. "Figured that with all your ill-gotten loot you could afford somewhere better."

"I could," he said. "I can. I've got my reasons for staying here. Inside."

I shrugged, walking past him and looking around.

It was like my room, and Shadow Stalker's. Nothing different, except for maybe the neatness. Not that it was pristine. There was an open pizza box on the counter in the kitchen, and a few dirty plates piled on the coffee table in front of the TV. But that was all. There wasn't any cape stuff around, either. No racks of guns, or cases of ammo, or arcane thieving gadgets, or whatever.

"Hey," Rune said, and I blinked. I'd almost missed her. Her robe was the same color as the couch.

"Hey," I said, raising a hand in greeting. "Didn't see you."

She stared at me. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that," she said. "It's the first time we've seen each other since an elder dragon attack. Couldn't you at least ask how I'm doing?"

"I knew you were fine," I said. "I asked at the hospital."

"You didn't tell me that," Shadow Stalker said, entering the suite behind me.

"Didn't think you'd care," I told her.

She just grunted, then walked past me and collapsed onto a couch, away from Rune.

"Take a seat, Hunter," Rifle said, coming in behind us and closing the door.

I shrugged, walking over to sit beside Shadow Stalker. For the moment, I didn't feel like arguing.

Rifle stood in the middle of the floor, looking around, meeting all of our eyes for a moment. "I dealt with the Protectorate," he said again. "Rune already knows about this, but they weren't happy when you left the hospital without checking out. They weren't that happy that we didn't kill the daimyo hermitaur, either."

"Expected that," I said. "No surprise."

He nodded. "I won't try to pressure you with their displeasure," he said. "I'm very well aware that it won't work. I won't pretend it doesn't piss me off, but getting mad isn't going to help anything. What we need-" He paused, narrowed his eyes at me. "No, 'we' doesn't work on you either, does it? Counterproductive, if anything."

"Pretty much, yeah," I said. "I'm not into that group-think stuff. I'm more interested in what you want. You, singular."

"That's horseshit," Rune said, sitting forward and glaring at me. "Everyone knows that a group is stronger than any one person. Stand united, or fall divided. It's been true for thousands of years, before powers were ever a thing. I mean, fuck, you saw, right? Even the Triumvirate fights in a group!"

"It's not about strength," Shadow Stalker said. "It's about desire."

"Oh yeah, and you two would know all about that, wouldn't you," Rune spat. "Did you ditch search and rescue to go fuck in a corner, too? At least I fought!"

"Oh, you Nazi bitch!" Shadow Stalker spat back, tensing up, leaning forward and planting her feet. Rune just sneered at her. They held the tableau for a few seconds, eyes locked on each other. "No, fuck you. You're not worth it," Shadow Stalker said eventually, leaning back, but not relaxing.

"Shadow Stalker's right," Rifle said, and Rune looked to him, mouth falling open in surprise. "About desire. Not the way I would have phrased it, but she's right."

"You serious?" Rune asked. "Like, really?"

"I am," Rifle said, looking around at us again. I could almost admire the way he did it. He was the only one still standing, in his own suite – his own place – and he'd broken in with an unexpected remark just as the fight was getting started. Making himself the center of attention, getting people to pay attention to him, be open to what he said. I'd seen it done better, though. In his case I would have bet that it was a faithful imitation of someone else's style, rather than his own thing.

"Well, I'm not gonna complain about someone agreeing with me," Shadow Stalker said. "Kinda surprised you see it that way, though."

"Why?" Rifle said. "It makes sense. Everyone wants things, and everyone acts to get them. People don't fight just to be strong. They fight to get those things they want, or to avoid the things they don't want. Back in the middle ages, you didn't raise an army by just giving people a chance to fight. You either paid them, threatened them, or promised them something they couldn't get without joining up. It's the same now. It's the same for us."

"Well, I mean, yeah," Rune said, floundering slightly. She gestured around the room. "But people don't just do things because they want rewards, or because they're scared or whatever. There's bigger concepts. Things to unite people. Honor, family, all that stuff."

"Did Kaiser feed you that line?" Shadow Stalker sneered.

"So what if he did?" Rune countered, raising her chin and staring Shadow Stalker down. "It's how the Empire stayed so strong. How we fought off everyone else. Because we honored our brothers and sisters. We fought for them, and they fought for us."

"And yet, here you are," she said, crossing her arms and lounging back into the cushions, one leg raising to fold over the other, insolent. "With us, not them."

"You know-" Rune hissed, but Rifle cleared his throat, and she stopped, looking up at him.

"You've both got strong points," he said. "But I'll point out, Rune, that Shadow Stalker saved your life, fighting the daimyo hermitaur. Twice. Hunter saved it once as well, fighting the yian garuga. Another time if you count the potion he made."

"I'd call that one a wash," she said, looking at the carpet, her cheeks coloring. "Besides," she added, looking back up at him. "I saved you all too, at least a few times. That's my point. We're stronger together."

"And it's a good point," he said. "You're not wrong. But do you think Shadow Stalker saved you out of any kind of honor, or sisterly affection?"

Shadow Stalker scoffed, tossing her head. "Fuck no," she said.

"Yeah, no chance," Rune sneered back.

"And that's my point," he said, his voice more intent. He paced a few steps to the wall, then back. "We can fight together. We know that. We even make a good team, and I think we'll get even better as time goes on. But we want very, very different things. I thought that didn't matter, that we could all do our own things, but that we were all on the same page about working with the Protectorate. But I was wrong. That's on me. If I'm the leader here, then there's nobody else to blame. The buck stops with me. So I'm not going to chew anybody out, or try to guilt anyone into anything. I know that won't work, and I'm not stupid enough to smash my head against that particular wall."

"So why are we here?" I asked.

"We've never talked as a team," he said, more or less ignoring me. "We never got to know each other. We don't know what any of the rest of us want out of this whole thing. That means that we don't know where the pitfalls are, or where we're going to rub up against each others' rough spots. That could have cost us a lot. We're lucky it didn't. So I'm marking this thing with the elder dragon as a wake-up call. A sign that we need to change the way we've been doing things. Does anyone disagree?"

Rune shook her head. Shadow Stalker just lounged there, legs crossed, one foot bouncing up and down in midair.

Rifle looked at me. "Hunter? You're the individualist here. Do you want to argue with anything I've said?"

"Nah," I said. "Not unless you want to turn this into something where we beat on drums and share out feelings."

"Do you really think that's what I'm suggesting?" he asked.

"Nah," I said.

"Don't say it, then."

I gave him a mock salute.

"Alright," he said. "I'm not suggesting we unmask. I'm not suggesting we share stories of our past. Hunter's right in that much at least. It's not necessary. It wouldn't hurt, but it's also too high a mark to shoot for right now. What I am suggesting is that we open up about what we actually want. Why we're here, rather than where we were before. More, why we're staying here. Any of us could go join a villain team, or even go solo. The Protectorate wouldn't like it, but as long as we played by the rules they'd at least accept it." He paused to look around at us again, meeting our eyes more intently this time. "So that's it. That's what I want us to do. Any objections?"

Nobody spoke.

"Good," he said, nodding sharply. "I'll go first. Put my money where my mouth is. You all know I was a thief. You know I got caught, and this is my plea deal. My way to stay out of prison. But if that was all I wanted, I could have broken out, or had someone spring me. I've got the money for it. Enough money to live comfortably for a long time. The rest of my life, even. I'm not bragging about that, by the way. Just laying out the facts. The reason I'm here on this team, rather than doing that? It's pretty simple. I want to be able to walk the streets and be free. I want to be able to buy a house in a dozen different cities, fly a private jet between them, and have a supermodel waiting at every door."

"My respect for you just shot up," I said. "A lot."

He grinned, but it was lopsided. "I'm not sure I'm happy to hear that," he said. "My point is, I want to be able to do what I want, without being tied down or forced to run every time the police get close. I don't want to flee to South America or Africa. I don't want to look over my shoulder every time I go out to buy smokes. I want to be able to flip off any cop that passes me by."

"That... I wouldn't have guessed that," Rune said. Her disappointment was obvious. "I always thought you were... I don't know. Different. I guess I was wrong."

"I'm still me," he said. "I still want to do the jobs clean. I want to prepare, and do the research, and be professional, and work together. Hell, I'd even want to go out and get a beer afterward, with you at least." He glanced toward the couch where Shadow Stalker and I were sitting. "Maybe not those two."

"Oh," Rune said, quietly. "Alright."

"If possible, I'd rather this team be a family," he said. "But if I can't have that, I'll have the other. That's all." He looked around. "Who's next?"

"Not me," Rune said. "Sorry."

"Not me, either," Shadow Stalker replied. She poked the side of my head. "Guess that means you're up, oh beau of mine."

"Damn," I said. "I don't suppose you'd all believe I just want a good fight and a good... meal?"

"Nope," Shadow Stalker said.

"Not really," Rifle added.

I huffed out a quick breath. "You said we wouldn't be getting into our pasts," I said, looking to Rifle. "I figure I can guess some of yours, now. You'll probably be able to do the same for me after this."

"If I do, I won't bring it up," Rifle said. "I'll promise you that much if you'll grant me the same courtesy."

"Mutually assured destruction," I said. "I can dig it."

"I'd prefer to look at it as building trust," he said. "But whatever works for you, works for me."

"'Kay," I said. "Gimme a minute to slot this together in my head."

He nodded. I frowned down at the carpet, holding my chin between my thumb and forefinger. What I wanted to say – or what I was willing to say, at least – wasn't very complicated. In a lot of ways it was even more simple that what Rifle claimed as his motivation. Probably about as true, too. Which was to say, not a lie, but lacking a lot of critical details. Making sure those details didn't slip out, that was what required the careful phrasing. For Rifle, I was pretty sure that was where the mansions and supermodels had come in. For me... It was a bit more complicated.

A few minutes passed, and nobody spoke up or interrupted me.

"Okay," I said eventually, looking back up. "You all know I'm not a very deep person, right?"

Shadow Stalker snickered, and Rifle smiled for a moment. "You could say that," he said.

"Yeah, so." I paused, crossing my arms and looking at the ceiling. "At the end of the day, I really do want good fights and good-" I glanced at Shadow Stalker "-meals. Believe it or don't, I don't particularly care. Where it gets a bit wrinkly is the how, and the why. I'll leave the why aside, but the how... Well, I'll just say it. I want to be at the top. I want to be the guy they call to take down the big bads. I don't want to have to care about the little things like rules or paperwork. I don't want to have to back down, or come home in defeat. I don't want to lose. Ever."

I glanced around like Rifle had, meeting everyone's eyes for a second. Rifle's eyes narrowed, Rune's widened, and Shadow Stalker's mask remained blank.

"I want to win," I said. "I want to conquer. I want to lay fucking low any wyvern or dragon that stands in front of me, and I want everyone that sees my mask to either tremble in fear or get turned the fuck on. That's the truth."

"Hear hear," Shadow Stalker said, clapping her hands together lazily.

"I hate to say it, but it might not be that easy," Rifle said. There was something in his voice, though I couldn't quite pin down what.

I shrugged. "I'm not about easy. You might have noticed."

"Except in some ways," Shadow Stalker said, elbowing me.

"Oh hey! You can do it too!" I said, grinning at her. "I'm proud of you, Stalky."

"I will kill you if you call me that again," she said. "Not even joking. I will murder you."

"My point!" Rifle said, getting our attention again. "Is that I don't think the Protectorate intends to let us get that far."

"Explain," I said.

"I told you I dealt with them," he said. "Cleared up your leaving the hospital, and our failed mission. The problem is, it was easy."

"Ah," I said.

"'Ah' indeed," he replied. "I thought it might be true before, but I'm certain now. Whether it's the whole organization or just some part of it, they don't intend to promote us out of the junior league. They want us as disposable assets."

"It's a hurdle, for sure," I said. "But we've still got opportunities. I mean, if they really wanted us gone, they'd have let me go fight the Lao-Shan."

"Good that you realize it would have killed you," he said. "But I'm not sure it's that easy. For a while I thought that Chevalier was in on it, pushing the nasty missions on us, but now I think it's the other way around. I think he was the one, or one of the ones, pushing for us to advance. To let us prove ourselves in an incontrovertible manner. But we blew that with the daimyo hermitaur, and you two made it worse with your stunt. It's why they let us off so easy. I'm nearly sure of it."

"Huh," I said. "Shit."

"Shit indeed," he said. "Maybe we'll get other chances. But maybe they'll use those excuses to feed us a steady diet of one or two star missions, then throw us against the next troublesome wyvern to pop up, to weaken it for the real heroes."

"Um," Rune said. "Isn't that a bit paranoid? I mean, yeah, I can sort of see it. But you sound pretty fucking sure about this, Rifle."

"I could be wrong," he said with a shrug. "It would be nice if I am. But there's too many things coming together for me to believe it. And I'll freely admit that I could be thinking too negatively about how they intend to use us. They might be happy to have us fighting yian kut-kus and congalalas for the rest of our lives, collecting samples and making them money. That's possible. But I'd rather plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised."

"Doesn't really matter," I said. "Whether that's their plan or not, I'll figure something out. If nothing else, we can track down our own elder dragon and haul its head back to HQ. They couldn't say shit then."

"We can call that plan 'B'," Rifle said. "Or preferably 'C', or even 'H'."

"I could stand for it to be plan 'A'," Shadow Stalker said, sitting up. "My turn to share, I guess. You all know where I'm from, yeah? You know what that means? I wouldn't even ask, but a certain doofus had to have it spelled out earlier."

"It's me," I said. "I'm the doofus."

"I get your point," Rifle told Shadow Stalker.

"Well, my goal, it works with both of yours. If I'm free, working for the good guys, I get more latitude, and more support. If we're top of the heap, we can set our own goals, and people will just have to deal. With both, we get more money. I'll need all of that, I think."

"Because?" Rifle asked.

Rune leaned forward. "You want it dead," she said, her voice nearly accusing.

Shadow Stalker nodded.

"Bitch," Rune said, her voice more bitter than angry. "You're stealing my bit."

"You too, huh?" Shadow Stalker said. "I wouldn't have thought."

"Yeah, why not?" Rune countered. "It was my home too."

"Alright, I think we all get the point," Rifle said. "But say it out loud. For Hunter's benefit, if nothing else."

"Douche," I said. I reached out to take Shadow Stalker's hand, and she let me. I gave it a squeeze, and she squeezed back. "I think I kind of got it before, when we were talking on the cart. But yeah, say it. Get it out there."

She took a breath, then let it out. Not a deep one. I doubt anyone but me noticed.

"The Caedeus killed my city," she said. "My home. I want it dead. I want it to die, and I want to be the one to do it."

"Hear hear," I said, grinning at her. "Now that, no joke, is something I can get behind."

"You know it's probably not possible," Rifle said.

"I know," Rune answered, instead of Shadow Stalker. "She does too. She was there, like me. But... I don't think it matters. Impossible or not, it's what we want. For that, I'll even work with a psycho murderer."

"And I'll work with a Nazi bitch," Shadow Stalker said.

"Great," I said, my smile returning with vigor for the first time since I'd entered the room. "One big, happy, elder-dragon-murdering family."

"God help us," Rifle said. "But you know what? Fine. I can work with that."