Panacea was standing over me, looking exhausted.

"Did we win?" I asked. My voice felt raspy and raw, and I wondered why she hadn't healed this along with everything else. I still had aches and pains, which seemed like shoddy work compared to what I'd had from her in the past.

She scowled at me. "Not thanks to you."

I stared at her, and she relented.

"The Ash Beast disappeared about five minutes after you decided that jumping into a nuclear fireball was a wonderful idea. From what I've overheard, they think that the whole thing might have been an attempt to kill you specifically. They were talking about the Chinese, maybe? I was a little busy and wasn't really listening."

"So everyone is all right?" I said.

I'd heard that the Chinese had people with my power set and were trying to breed them. Were they threatened by the idea that the Americans had one of their own? Even if I agreed to some sort of gross breeding program, I was only fourteen, and I wouldn't be having children for a while.

"I don't know," she said. "There were a lot of injuries, from what I saw, people burned by molten metal, one kid whose face and hands had burns on them that looked pretty bad, but I was told to devote my time specifically to you, no matter how much of a dumb ass you are."

She seemed really hostile toward me for some reason, and I wasn't sure why.

"I've just spend the last three hours working on you; it was a miracle that you survived at all." Panacea said. "You were the closest to just being a skeleton that it's possible to be without actually dying."

"I'm sorry?" I said. I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. I couldn't change what I had done; I could only try to do better in the future.

"You should be," she said. "You didn't have any skin left and your helmet was melted to your head. You had multiple organ failures all at the same time, and I couldn't repair one because the others were failing. It was like juggling, and I'm exhausted."

Panacea looked angry.

"I can understand you getting hurt in a fight; that kind of thing happens, But throwing yourself in like that? That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen anyone do."

"I thought I was tough enough to make it," I admitted.

"And you wonder why they don't want you at Endbringer fights," she snorted. At my look, she said "My sister is dating one of the Wards and they talk."

I scowled. The fact that she was probably right didn't make it any easier to hear, especially from someone who wasn't out on the front lines fighting.

"I was tempted to leave you bald," she said. "Teach you a lesson, but apparently you've got a secret identity, and so I did you the courtesy. Do something like this again, and not only will I not regrow your hair, I'll leave you permanently bald all over."

I held up my hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I understand how dumb this was. It hurt like hell."

"You didn't even have any nerve endings toward the end," Panacea said. "I'm serious about you not doing something like this again."

"I've sworn off being stupid," I said.

"If you knew how many times I've heard that from my sister," Panacea said. "But you've got no idea how close you came to dying. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to save you, and I'm still not sure it wasn't a miracle that you survived."

I tried to sit up and I felt the bed groan beneath me. Instinctively I reinforced it with Ki, much like I'd been doing to tables and chairs I'd rested on. I was stronger again, and it felt like more than a simple doubling in strength.

There wasn't any way to know how strong I was without testing, but I had an uneasy feeling that I had other things to worry about.

"Is my Dad dead?" I asked quietly. There was a knotted feeling in my gut, and I wasn't sure I wanted the answer, especially from panacea, who looked like any sympathy she'd had for me had vanished the moment she'd looked at my skinless body.

She looked at me and then shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't save both of you, and so they took him away. I think they had a plan, but as for whether it worked or not, I don't know."

"Who can I talk to?" I asked.

"I'll make some calls," she said. "I was too busy trying to keep you alive to pay much attention to what they were doing."

I closed my eyes, and I reached out with my powers. I could recognize people by their Ki signatures, if I knew them well enough.

My Ki sense had expanded vastly; I could feel part of a city to the south that had to be Boston, something I hadn't been able to feel before at all. It took me a while to find the signatures I was looking for.

"Where are my clothes?" I asked as I rose to my feet. I was completely nude under my blanket.

Panacea stepped back. Apparently she'd heard about what I'd done to the hospital bed the last time.

"They were burned off of you," Panacea said cautiously. "We couldn't even cover you with a sheet or a gown for a while because you didn't have any skin... and if you think that wasn't a nightmare, fighting off all the infections..."

"I'm about to fly nude through the city," I said. "Either get me something to wear, or get out of my way."

She hesitated, then said, "There are paper gowns on the chair on the other side of the bed.

Once I would have been embarrassed to be nude even in front of another female, but she'd seen every inch of my body from the inside. I walked around the bed and grabbed a gown.

I looked back at her, and she looked quickly away. It almost looked like she was blushing.

"You and your father are interesting," she said. "not like any other parahumans I've ever seen. I haven't been able to find your gemma or your corona, but there are structures inside all of your cells that aren't remotely human. I'd have thought you were Case 53's, except you look human... except for the tail, and you've got all your memories."

I stiffened, and carefully reached behind myself. "Do I have a tail again?"

She shook her head. "The first time I healed you I didn't figure you'd want it, so I kept it from growing. This time, well, I've heard what happens with it, and I made even more sure to not give it to you."

I nodded, relieved. The last thing I needed was to become an even stronger monkey by moonlight.

Before she could say anything I was already out the door. I kept one hand behind me, keeping the back of the gown closed, and it took me only a moment to find the exit door. I was getting depressingly familiar with this hospital.

Moments after that I was flying up the stairwell, onto the roof, and then I was in the sky.

I held the paper gown only by sheer force of will, and I flew so fast that I doubt anyone would have seen me. I landed heavily outside Leet's warehouse, the doors opening automatically as the system read my eye prints.

I slipped through into the back, where their living quarters were, and I found an old set of sweats that Garrett had recently laundered. Leet hadn't bothered to go high tech with his washer or dryer, possibly because Garrett was the one who tended to do the laundry.

I stepped into them, dropping the paper gown into the trash, and then I took a deep breath.

Leet had never let me into his lab, and he had to have a reason for it, yet the answers I was seeking were down there.

I went to the door, and I rapped on it three times.

Garrett was there almost immediately. They probably were alerted when anyone came to the door; at least that was how I would have designed the system.

"Come down," he said.

I stepped down a small stairway that went further down than I would have thought. Leet's lab was forty feet below the surface, and I gaped as I saw it for the first time. It dwarfed the building up above, probably covering the entire block. There was no way they owned all of this property, which meant that they'd simply built under other people's land without telling them.

Was this why Leet had never let me down here?

Garrett led me through crowded tables covered in equipment and half finished projects. Some I recognized from high school science classes and others looked like things I'd seen in science fiction movies.

In the corner I saw what looked like Robbie the robot, and I wasn't sure whether it was a prop from the movie or an actual reproduction that was functional. I also saw a partially completed Iron Man robot. I'd heard about this one, and it actually looked pretty cool.

There was Storm trooper armor, light saber prototypes, even a familiar looking broomstick. The place looked more like a special effects department than a working laboratory.

This wasn't even the only room. I could feel Leet on a level below us, moving around. How far down did this place go, and how did they keep the water table from flooding the place?

We wound our way through tightly packed tables and eventually we reached the back of the lab.

There was a tank that rose from the floor to the ceiling. It had a liquid inside it, an it was glowing. There was a figure inside who looked like something out of a horror movie. I could see the bones of his skull and organs were visible in places. The figure was unrecognizable.

The Ki was my Dad's.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"He went in after you," Garrett said. "Holding Armsmaster's halberd. Clockblocker was holding the other end, and he froze both of you while the others attacked the Ash Beast from the other side, drawing it away. Clockblocker froze parts of his armor to protect himself, but the radiant heat still burned him badly on his face and his arms."

He looked up at the ruined horror that was my father. "You looked worse than he does if you can believe it. I still can't believe that you survived as long as you did. You had to have been there for more than a minute while he was only in there for a few seconds."

I'd looked worse than that?

"Even your Dad was a lot tougher than I thought. The heat melted Armsmaster's halberd before Clockblocker could freeze it. He said he was going to use Ki to protect himself, and I guess it worked, kind of."

"How did he even survive to get here?" I asked, staring up at Dad. If he'd been a zombie I'd have wonderd how he was staying together.

"Panacea could only take one of you, so Leet used his transporter to get your Dad into the Bacta tank. We haven't had a chance to try it on injuries anywhere this bad, but Leet thought it might keep him alive long enough for Panacea to take a look at him."

His Ki was a flickering whisper, the barest glimmer of light, but I'd felt it from all the way across the city.

"Nobody got out of this unwounded," Garrett said. "That molten metal that flew everywhere almost put Vista's eye out. Even those with armor suffered burns due to conduction heat, and those with exposed body parts did even worse."

I was feeling worse and worse all the time. Dad had jumped into hell to save me from my own stupidity, and the things I had done had maimed my own teammates.

Garrett looked me in the eye. "You understand that you almost died, right?"

I nodded miserably.

"That happens sometimes when you are a hero; it can't be avoided. But dying stupid is the worst way to go. If you have to die, don't you want it to mean something?"

I stared at the ground.

"Your father isn't able to say any of this right now, and hopefully he'll be able to soon, but if you don't stop and think, you are going to get someone killed... someone you actually care about. I know that's a small group, but it's going to happen."

I looked up, shocked. "I care about people!"

"Who? Your Dad...me maybe?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but I froze. Was he right? Did I not really care about hardly anyone? Was that why I had been acting the way I had been?

"It's not healthy to not have connections to people," he said. "Especially if you are someone with a lot of power. What happens if your Dad dies, if I die? Will you give a damn what happens to anyone else if that happens?"

"I'll protect people," I said sullenly.

"For how long?" he asked. "How long before it'll feel better to throw your weight around and make people do what you want?"

I wasn't sure what he wanted me to say.

"How long before you start thinking that you are the only one who matters? It's pretty easy to lose empathy for other people, and if you lose that, the next thing you know, you're the next Crawler."

I stared at him, hurt. Did he really think I had it in me to become one of the Nine? Or was he saying that anyone had it in them, if they were left along long enough.

"You know I've been doing some consulting work for the PRT," he said. "Helping get their training into shape. It's a nice side gig that helps make a little more money."

I nodded.

Leet was supposed to lease time on his holodeck to the PRT for training, although he refused to join because of all the restrictions placed on Tinkers. Both of them had their minor crimes expunged as a result, and they were supposed to try to stay clean and legal.

Leet was excited about adapting his iron giant rig into other applications; he was building an Iron Man suit that he could remotely pilot; it was a way for him to get all of the fun of being a hero without any of the danger. There was some concern about him violating copyright laws... or was it Trademarks? I always got the two confused.

"I've suggested that they get you counseling," Garrett said.

"What?" My head snapped up. "No... I'm fine."

"You haven't really dealt with the death of your mother," Garrett said. "You were on the phone with her when she died. You were beaten by ABB thugs who planned to kill you and film it. You were tortured for two hours... and you've killed people."

"I don't need to see a shrink," I protested.

"Not a psychiatrist," he said. "I'm not sure how psychiatric medications would affect your body, although their may be Tinkers or thinkers who can figure it out. I'm just talking about having someone to talk to who won't judge you."

"They'll have to report to the PRT," I said. "How can I talk to someone I can't trust not to Narc on me if I tell them I feel like killing Piggot sometimes."

"Well," he said. "Any of them would have to tell if you seriously planned on killing someone. I can recommend someone for you who doesn't work for the PRT and who is trustworthy."

"How do you know?" I asked suspiciously.

"She was my therapist when I was younger,' he said.

I stared at him. "What?"

He smiled self deprecatingly. "I wasn't always the amazing person I am today. I was bullied a lot when I was a kid, because I liked a lot of things the other kids didn't, and my family life wasn't always the best. Miss Monica Rainier really helped me put things in perspective."

Frowning, I stared at him. "And she wouldn't tell the PRT what I told her?"

"Not without a court order," he said. "And if they didn't know who you were seeing they couldn't subpoena her records. It'd mean that you'd have to pay in cash, but the good thing is that she's in Providence, Rhode Island, which is far enough not to be obvious, but is an easy flight down for you."

I shook my head. "I'm still not sure I should do that..."

"You can either do it willingly, on your own terms, or they'll make you. However strong you are now, Alexandria is stronger, and they can force you to go. But if you just sit in the chair and refuse to talk for forty five minutes or an hours you aren't going to get much out of it."

I was silent for a long moment.

Finally I spoke. "All right, I'll do it."

"That's good," he said. He looked up at the Bacta tank. "Panacea will eventually be dropping by to deal with your Dad, but we've got to get him healthy enough to come out of the tank. The way he is now, there's a good chance he'd die before she could get her hands on him. Getting him healthy enough is going to take a while."

I looked around for a chair. Finding one, I pulled it over to sit in front of the tank.

"I'll wait," I said.

He looked at me for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll make the arrangements."

"I've got some thinking to do anyway," I said.