I ducked into the building through an open first-floor window. With the warm early summer weather, it seemed you could expect even derelict manufacturing sites to put a premium on a good breeze.

My scouts continued to fan out throughout the building as I located and crept into the nearest stairwell. Thankfully, they failed to turn up anyone besides Lisa and her two companions. With no idea what I was walking into, I wanted to deal with as few people as possible. I felt again for the sheet of paper I had tucked away into my costume. I was here to get answers from Lisa, and maybe to save her, not to stop a crime.

With that thought, a pang of guilt flashed through me, a sensation entirely separate from the pain which continued to sink its talons into pretty much everywhere below my neck. In my shock, I had almost entirely forgotten about our case, and the missing man we'd been hired to find, or possibly save. Regardless of whatever happened with Lisa, that man still needed our help - my help.

I arrived on the second-floor landing of the stairwell, and peered up at the railing around the third, behind which stood a rusted blue door. Lisa and the other two had moved around somewhat. However, as nobody had taken up ambush positions by the door, I clung to the hope that, so far, I remained undetected.

Based on what I could tell of their builds and hair, I judged Lisa's companions likely to be men. One almost certainly had to be Rebecca's missing client. Lisa going off the grid in the same place she had gone to look for him could be written off as a coincidence, if you had a credulous streak the size of Behemoth. But then, who was the third? The culprit? Another missing person? I couldn't be sure. My bugs could only tell me so much. Not for the first time, I wished for the ability to somehow see through their eyes, as if I were connected in real-time to a thousand miniscule drones.

I shook my head. Why not wish that I could fly and punch through walls like Glory Girl, while I was at it? There were much better times for indulging in pointless daydreams. My earthbound bugs flowed silently up the stairs and over the walls. The flying bugs, I held outside on the possibility that their buzzing and whining might alert whoever waited for me. If anyone hostile waited for me, anyways. With the day I'd been having so far, I found myself more inclined to err on the side of show of force first, apologies later.

With what felt like almost exaggerated, cartoon-style caution, I crept up the last flight of stairs standing between me and the third-floor stairwell exit. My bugs scrambled up the staircase around me, always weaving around or over my trepidatious footfalls. I paused by the door. Still no movement from inside which gave the slightest sign that I had been detected.

After taking a moment to size up which way the door opened to avoid a possibly fatal and definitely embarrassing mistake, I settled on inwards, and took a deep breath.

I yanked the door open, and my bugs swarmed into the room.

On the other side of the door lay a sparse room of gray concrete floors and whitewashed walls. A gaggle of chairs and couches clustered around a television opposite the entrance, where the orange rays of the evening sun slanted through a wide set of windows.

In the middle of the room, exactly where my bugs had put her, stood a blonde girl in a long brown trenchcoat and a crumpled black fedora. She appeared to be deep in conversation with a man seated on a chair next to her. The angle gave me a clear view of the man's face. There could be no mistake - this was the person Rebecca had hired us to find.

Both of them turned towards me, their faces widening in surprise, as my bugs raced over the ground towards them.

Shamus raised her hands in mock surrender. A smile split her face.

"Hey, Flutter. We give up! Call off the dogs!"

I took a step into the room, and halted my swarm three feet in front of me. Outside, I clustered my flying insects against the building's walls, ready to swarm inside at a moment's notice.

The third presence I had detected remained motionless in the room to my right. A wall and a closed door barred them from my view.

"Hi, Shamus," I said. I kept my voice carefully neutral. "Sorry if this is a bad time, but after two days, I was getting a little worried. Is everything all right?"

I saw no restraints, or torture implements, or anything else which might indicate that she was a prisoner.

But, nonetheless, there remained that last person, in the room just next door.

Shamus smacked her forehead. "Sorry, I must have scared the hell out of you! I went looking for our friend here"-she jabbed a thumb at the man next to her-"and, well, it turns out the situation was a little more complicated than we thought."

The man gave an awkward half-wave in my direction, but didn't speak, possibly out of shyness. Or, possibly because a girl in dark chitinous armor had just burst into the room amidst a whirling swarm of insects.

My fashion consultation with Glory Girl was long overdue indeed.

"That's a relief," I said. "I was getting seriously worried that something bad had happened to you when you went out looking for him."

Shamus cleared her throat. "Well, you could say that, I suppose. Once I found Jason, it turned out that he'd had a pretty nasty run-in with the Empire. Sounds familiar, right? They were out hunting for him in full force, and believe me, it could have gotten pretty ugly. You and I aren't exactly high on their list of favorite people right now, either, so I holed up here with Jason to ride out the storm. Turns out I forgot my phone, and this dump is sadly lacking in computer access, so I couldn't reach you. Sorry to have worried you, really, but it's good to see you."

It would've been nice if there was nothing more to it than that, wouldn't it? But, I had to be sure. I could be looking at a clone, or a doppelganger, or an alternate universe twin, for all I knew. Even if it was Shamus herself in the flesh, beyond the shadow of a doubt, she could be controlled, or simply under duress. In the world of parahumans, you could be sure of very little beyond the basic fact that situations would explode out of control in bizarre and unpredictable ways.

I decided to rule out the evil clone theory first, as this seemed the easiest. The obvious course of action came immediately to mind.

Shamus blinked at me through her mask. "Flutter, are you okay? What's with the silent treatment?" The man next to her-Jason-continued to look deeply unnerved.

I held my hands behind my back, and looked at Shamus.

"How many fingers am I holding up right now?" I asked.

"Huh?" Shamus said. "Flutter, did you hit your head or something?"

Through the wall, the third presence remained utterly still.

"Sorry, but I have to be sure," I said. "You've been totally off the grid for two days. How many fingers am I holding up?"

Shamus crossed her arms, peeved. "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but this isn't exactly the reception that I had in mind. Is this nonsense really necessary, or can we just chalk up another win for the team and move on?"

A weight sank in my stomach. I stood firm. This had to be done.

"It shouldn't be hard," I said. "I've seen you rattle off stuff like this off the cuff without even blinking. Humor me, okay? It's just a quick guess, nothing more."

Shamus sighed, and rolled her eyes. The person in the other room, whoever they were, still hadn't moved. They had to be able to hear us, so why hadn't they moved?

"Okay, whatever, fine," Shamus said.

My body tensed. This was it.

"Seven fingers," Shamus said. "Now, can we be done already?"

An electric charge shot through my nervous system.

I had been holding up three.

I still had no idea as to what, exactly, was going on, but I did know one thing with absolute certainty. Whoever was standing in front of me, they didn't have Shamus's power.

I took a step backwards, and my swarm bristled. "Don't move," I said.

Shamus sighed. "That was wrong, huh? Fuck me. Thinkers are such a pain."

What she-or her clone, if that was the working theory-meant by that, I had no idea. I addressed myself to the person in the other room, raising my voice so it would carry through the closed doorway.

"Whoever's next door, this would be a good time to come out," I said. "I don't want to have to send my bugs in there after you, but I will." To emphasize my point, I flew a sizable chunk of my airborne contingent into the room, buzzing as loudly as they could.

Jason raised his hands and spoke for the first time, in a surprisingly deep voice.

"Okay, okay, whatever," he said. "Hold on a second, alright? I don't want cockroaches shoved up my ass, or anything."

I looked at Jason, confused. What was going on?

"So you're the one responsible for whatever's happening here?" I said. "Does Rebecca know?"

The person behind the wall began to move.

"Look, just wait one second," Jason said. "This is a real pain, you know?"

I felt even more lost, if that were at all possible, and turned toward the door as the third person approached it from the other side. Shamus continued to watch me, but said nothing at all, which further reinforced my distinct belief that it couldn't possibly be her.

The door swung open to reveal a teenage boy. He had porcelain-pale skin, and a cascade of elegant dark curls. The practically sculpted quality of his features clashed with the rumpled, stained T-shirt and wrinkled jeans he wore, like a Greek marble sculpture draped in oversized hand-me-downs. His expression was placid, with the faintest hint of annoyance. He took in my bugs without so much as a step backwards.

"Wow, that's disgusting," he said. "As far as gross powers I've seen go, yours is definitely up there."

My fingers dug into my gloved palms. I had taken enough abuse, verbal and physical both, for one day.

"Who are you, and who are they?" I asked. I pointed at Shamus. "That's not my partner, so don't try to trick me into thinking it is. Are you the one responsible for whatever's going on here?"

The boy let out a frighteningly attractive sigh. "You just had to come butting in here, didn't you? Couldn't you have just left me alone? I didn't do anything to you, you know. This is all such a pain."

I drew the semicircle of my swarm tighter around him by half a foot, while keeping an eye on the other two, who looked on mutely. As far as standoffs went, it was an odd one.

"I'm not here to play word games," I said, my tone cold. "Tell me what I want to know. What have you done with Shamus? I want an answer, now."

The boy shrugged. "Fine, suit yourself. I don't understand what you're working yourself into such a snit for. She's right there." He pointed across the room to Shamus. "And, as you can see, she's completely fine. There isn't even a scratch on her. So, relax, alright? Christ, you're tense."

Shamus - or the thing he claimed to be Shamus, anyways - smirked and gave me a smarmy wave.

I ground my teeth, and whirled back on the boy. I had to force down the temptation to sic my bugs on him. As gratifying as it might have been, I needed him able to talk.

"That's not my partner," I bit out. "I gave her a simple test, one that she'd pass in her sleep fifty times out of fifty, and she failed it." I pointed a finger at her. "I don't know how you're doing it, but that's not her, so tell me where she is. Now." My anger boiled over with that last word, and my swarm flared up to accentuate the words tumbling out of my mouth with vicious buzzing.

The boy chuckled, shook his head, and gave me a lazy smile.

"You really don't get it, huh? I guess she was the brains of the operation. Like I told you before, she's standing-"

"-right in front of you," Shamus finished. She had completed the sentence seamlessly.

The two of them and Jason all shrugged in unison.

"So-," Jason said.

"-do you-" Shamus continued.

"-get it now?" the boy finished?

This time, I thought I did. My gorge rose, and my swarm rose with it.

"You're controlling her? That's sick. Let them both go, now."

"Gee, you make a great argument for it," he said, his voice thick with sarcasm. "But, on the other hand, why should I bother?"

I stepped towards him. My bugs flowed forward the same distance. The boy shook his head, but his reply came from Shamus's mouth.

"I wouldn't be so aggressive, if I were you," she said. "I could have her run across the room and smash through that window action-movie style a lot faster than you could do anything to me with those bugs of yours. Sure, it's only three stories, but I can make sure she goes out head-first. Could be kind of ugly, you know. Even uglier than all those bugs."

To see Shamus so casually discussing the prospect of her own demise felt absolutely surreal. Even though I knew the boy was speaking through her, wrangling my mind into smoothly accepting the concept was another story entirely.

My mind roiled with a hundred half-formed thoughts and plans. What could I do? Even using my spiders to restrain her, there would be no way to stop her in time. I opted to play for time via talking.

"Why did you do this to them, only to keep them here?" I asked. "I don't get it. What's the point, what do you get out of it? You're squatting in what's very near filth in a building that would've already been disgusting before it was abandoned fifty years ago. This seems like a pretty miserable way for a cape to live."

"You certainly are judgmental," the boy said through Jason's mouth. "I didn't come barging into your to critique your taste in interior decorating. Anyways, if it'll shut you up for a second, I guess I'll tell you. I found this guy half-dead and grabbed him for some help around the place, running errands unobtrusively, all that stuff. Honestly, you should be thanking me. I cleaned him up in a major way." The boy curled Jason's lips into a smirk. "Maybe I even saved his life. Who knows? Anyways, I figured nobody would bat an eyelash if some homeless guy went missing."

"So," he continued through Shamus, "you can imagine my surprise when Miss Detective here jumped him in the street and started asking irritating questions. Honestly, she really didn't leave me any choice but to take control of her too. I've just gotten comfortable here, and I don't really feel like having to abandon my nice new apartment building after putting all of that guy's hard work into it, you know? Which brings me to the question of what to do with you."

While unpleasant, the raising of that topic didn't come as a complete surprise to me. As soon as he had revealed what had happened to Shamus, it seemed obvious that he'd attempt the same with me too.

My swarm buzzed and chittered ever more loudly as I drew them into an even denser formation around myself.

"I wouldn't try it," I said. "It clearly takes you some time, or you would've done it already, which means that I'll have all the time I need to sting you to death before you have the chance to make your power work on me."

The boy shrugged. "Oooh, how threatening. Maybe I'll just have these two beat out your brains instead, then. That probably won't take very long." Shamus's hand moved to her pocket and pulled out her stun gun, while Jason picked up a fairly heavy-looking wooden end table.

I swallowed the fear rising in my throat, and did my best to sound resolute.

"It still won't be fast enough to stop me from getting you, so don't try it. There's no reason we can't all leave here alive."

The boy studied my face closely for a moment. Once again, I blessed the air of inscrutability lent to me by my lensed mask. If push really came to shove, I wasn't at all sure that I had the will to back up my bravado, even as self-defense in the face of mortal peril. Hurting people had been surprisingly easy-maybe even a little uncomfortably easy, to be honest-but could I cross that line? At least Shamus didn't have her powers. If it was a bluff, I might still get away with it.

After another moment where only the noise of my bugs filled the air, the boy spoke again.

"Well, we're both kinda screwed then, right? You want them back, but if I give them back to you and you all walk out of here, I get the Protectorate coming down on me like the Gestapo as soon as you get the chance to make a phone call. That doesn't sound great for me, don't you think? Which puts us at a bit of an impasse."

"I'm not with the Protectorate," I said.

The boy quirked an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me, with how insistent you two are on helping people. I guess that does make sense, though, what with the majorly creepy vibe you're giving off." He made a disgusted face. "Really, that power's totally disgusting. I don't know how you stand it. I'd probably off myself if it was a choice between that or having bugs crawl all over me."

"Thanks," I muttered with a very thick heaping of sarcasm. "Bugs crawling all over you will go from a hypothetical to a very serious reality if you don't let them go, so you're welcome to follow up on that line of thought now, if you like."

This time, he spoke through Shamus once more.

"Wow, so you do have a sense of humor," he said. "That's a surprise, honestly." He poked Shamus in the cheek with her left arm. "With how much your friend here blabbed, I figured you were the inveterately humorless counterpart. You know, like one of those dime-a-dozen detective TV shows, but with capes. Very original."

Seemingly sensing my discomfort at the broaching of just how long he'd had Shamus before he did whatever he'd done to her, he chuckled through Shamus and went on. "Don't worry, I didn't waterboard her or any shit like that. Although, I think she did almost give herself an aneurysm after trying to use her power on me for that long." He shrugged Shamus's shoulders. "I feel like that's on her, honestly, so don't expect me to apologize. Like I said, I haven't even so much as scratched her."

An unpleasant thought occurred to me, and I kicked myself for not having thought of it earlier.

"Is she conscious right now?" I asked. "Can she see and hear this?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," he said through Shamus. His own body watched me, blinking cooly, but not so much as opening its mouth. The effect was deeply unsettling, no doubt by design. "She was thrilled when you barged in and ruined my act, actually. I don't think she likes being stuck in here very much. Your friend seems like a pretty huge control freak, if you ask me." He waved Shamus's left hand at me. "Hey, partner," he said through her.

I clenched my fists. I had had all that I was willing to take of this macabre puppet show.

"You need to let her go, now," I said. "I'm not going to ask again."

"You did hear what I said about the window, right?" he said. "You're in no position to make threats. You ought to be less cocky about it."

"And you might want to take another look at the window," I said. "Go ahead. I don't mind waiting."

"Ooooh, spooky," the boy said, though the mild interest in his tone belied his words. He turned Shamus's head, instead of his own, to the window behind her, undoubtedly to make a point.

As soon as he did, he saw the thick cords of spider silk which I'd wrapped across the window in horizontal bars while we'd been talking. I'd done the same to the windows further down the wall as well.

The boy turned back to me, and affected a nonchalant air. "Do you really think I can't get her through those? That won't stop your friend from taking a tumble, believe me."

"You probably could, but not before I get to her, and my bugs get to you," I said. "And I won't have any incentive to hold back. Bugs can get in all sorts of interesting places, you know."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now you're just being disgusting," he said. "How did you manage to get all this gunk on this window so quickly? Bug powers are such weird shit, honestly. I probably wouldn't even use them, if it were me."

I didn't rise to the bait. I had him, and he knew it. This was just him drawing out the process of acknowledging the inevitable.

The boy groaned, then waved a hand. "Fine, fine, you can have her back. It's more trouble than she's worth, and she's a pretty lame ride-along partner, anyways. It's more for my own peace of mind than anything else."

"And the man, too," I said.

"Christ, you need to relax. Fine, him too." The boy changed to speaking through Jason's mouth. "But I'm not letting him go right away, so forget about it. Sorry, but I don't feel like giving up all my leverage so you can sting me to death, or whatever. I'll let your friend go, you leave with her. Then, once you're out, I'm leaving this garbage dump of a town. As far as I'm concerned, it's worn out its welcome. Once I'm gone, I'll cut this hobo loose, if he's so important to you. Don't try to push your luck, either, because I'm not stupid enough to give up all of my leverage."

I nodded. "Fine," I said. I felt I could trust him to keep his word, at least on this issue. He might be a pretty awful person by any objective measurement, but if Shamus and Jason were nothing more than menial help to him, he had no special reason to hold on to either of them.

The boy looked at me. "You should know, once I've gotten somebody once, I can instantly take control again any time, as long as I'm in the same city. I don't need to see them, or anything pointless like that. So, if you or your friend try to fuck with me getting out of Brockton in any way-like, say, calling the Protectorate-it's going to be a really awful end for her, I promise you."

I pushed back down any guilt I felt at the possibility of him escaping to do the same thing in another city. There was no helping that now.

"I don't care what you do next," I said. "I'm here for them, not you. I couldn't care less where you go, as long as it's not here."

The boy shrugged. "Wow, that's ruthlessly pragmatic of you. Maybe I should be impressed? Whatever. Anyways, where were we?"

"Let her go," I said.

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure. But remember, if I see even one of those disgusting centipedes moving my way, I'll take back control right away." He smirked again. "I might even be forced to do something drastic. So, basically, don't try it."

I nodded, and withdrew my swarm a few paces as a further gesture of good faith. With the windows now obstructed, I was willing to trust him a little further. Very little further, of course, but still far enough to make the gesture.

"Well, here we go," he said with Shamus's voice. He made Shamus doff her fedora and sweep into a deep bow.

When she straightened back up, fire blazed in her eyes.

"Fuck!" she said. She took a gasping breath with the desperation of a swimmer held underwater just until the point of drowning. She jammed her hat back onto her head with enough force to crumple the top, and whirled on the boy, who continued to appear entirely unruffled. At the sight of him, she snarled.

"I'm gonna tear your throat out, you prick-"

Abruptly, her face lost all emotion and she straightened back up, like an actor interrupted halfway through a scene. She wagged a finger and tsked.

"I know you heard me talking to your friend. I wasn't kidding about being able to take you back any time, so don't fuck with me." The boy laughed with Shamus's voice. "Wow, she's really pissed now. Look, either you control her or I'll do it, all right? It's just self-defense at this point, so don't give me any crap over it."

I didn't feel entirely inclined to agree with his assessment, but now wasn't the time to belabor the point. I stepped over next to Shamus, and interposed myself between her and the boy. A few discreet gnats placed on the undersides of his sleeve and the backs of his shoes ensured he couldn't move without my knowledge, even with my back turned.

"Let her go again, now," I said. "I'll keep her from beating your brains out, as much as I'd like to see it."

"Wow, partner, you and I have serious poles up our asses, don't we?" he said with Shamus's voice. I clenched my fists. "Okay, here we go again," he said.

Shamus's shoulders stiffened, and her nostrils flared.

"Don't listen to that prick, Flutter," she growled. "Just kill him right now. He can't stop you. I don't care if he takes me again. It won't last."

I gripped her shoulder firmly. "That's not happening," I said. "We're getting out of here, now. Don't make me force you."

Shamus stared at me, a fierce look in her eyes. For a moment, I honestly believed she was sizing me up to make an attempt at jumping me. The moment passed, and the light faded from her eyes. She slumped against me and nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Get me out of here, Flutter."

I looked to Jason, and did my best to project confidence worthy of a cape into my voice. "Don't worry, Jason. If he doesn't keep his word, I'll be back to make him do it. You'll be free soon. I'm sorry, please bear it for a little longer."

The boy made Jason do a mock swoon, then giggled nastily. I ignored him. There was no reason to give him the satisfaction of rising to the bait.

"You certainly are uptight," he said as Shamus and I turned to go. "Well, I had a great time meeting you. Don't be afraid to write!"

His mocking laughter rang in my ears as Shamus and I entered the stairwell. My bugs flowed along behind us. I was tempted to hold the formation around the boy as long as possible, but it seemed more prudent to be visibly holding up my end of the bargain.

Of course, before we went any further, I had to be sure Shamus really was the one in control next to me. I wouldn't at all put it past that boy to pretend to let her go. In fact, I had the distinct impression that he'd find the whole thing outright hilarious.

I turned to Shamus, who had recovered her footing and stood, albeit somewhat uneasily, next to me. "Sorry," I said, "but I have to be sure. How many fingers?"

Shamus sagged, but nodded. "Attagirl," she said. "Sorry, I'm still a little shaky. It feels like he's still lurking in here and could spring back out at any moment, even though I'm back in control." She rubbed her forehead. "Seven fingers," she said. "After that, you were going to do four, then two, then ten."

I let out the breath I'd unconsciously been holding. She had gotten it exactly.

With the knowledge that her safety was assured, the piece of paper folded against my collar grew red-hot in my awareness. I had to know.