Dean thrashed violently for a moment as he was forced awake by his nightmare. His breathing was strangled as he fought briefly to free his arms from his covers and sit up. His pulse felt painful in his muscles as he tried to calm down, his heart beating hard in his chest. He took deep breaths, counting them down to help calm himself before getting up. He needed a glass of water.

"Hey Dean," Carlos said as he entered the common room. They'd been stuck in the Protectorate HQ for the last few days while Piggot and Armsmaster dealt with everything that had happened during the Endbringer attack. Not that there was much to deal with besides public relations since The Espada handled a fair amount of the clean up.

Dean waved, not bothering to try to speak. He knew he wouldn't be able to get his voice above a choked whisper until he had some water. His mouth felt dry, his throat hoarse, the fear from his nightmare had a stranglehold on his vocal chords the same as it had every other time he was snapped awake from those nightmares.

"Had that nightmare again, huh?" Carlos asked. He had been going through something similar. He'd been killed too during the fight.

Dean nodded as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He downed the whole thing quickly, gasping when he was done.

"Fourth time this week," He said, his voice still hoarse and scratchy but at least not a whisper. It had been five days since Leviathan attacked. Since he'd died. Twice. Two times he had been sent into the hereafter and twice he'd been revived. The thought still made him shiver. He had died. He remembered them all so vividly and not even his dreams let him escape that fact. He'd only gotten through that first night without a nightmare because he was too exhausted to dream.

"Which one was it this time?" Carlos asked.

"It was a new one," He sighed, sinking into one of the chairs. "I don't remember it very well but… There was a lot of red. A lot of pain. It felt like something was being ripped out of me."

Carlos watched him for a moment, his face confused but concerned.

"I had that same one," He said.

Dean's head snapped up. He could see the feelings play around Carlos. He was unsure what that could mean, that they had the same dream about dying. He'd only died once while Dean himself had died twice yet neither in such a way that involved so much pain bursting forth from everywhere at once.

"Maybe it's a fluke," Dean offered, though he didn't actually believe that for a moment.

"Yeah… Maybe," Carlos said weakly.

The two sat awkwardly, not sure what to say. It had been like that a lot recently, both after Vista had left and especially after Leviathan. It was a different kind of awkward though. When Vista had left it was more like mourning. Not being sure how to approach the subject or if they should just ignore it until someone else brought it up. Now, it was… Well, two teenage boys sitting up at five in the morning too shaken to go back to sleep and not really wanting to talk about their emotions.

"You brought it up to the therapist yet?" Carlos asked quietly.

"No. You?"

Carlos shook his head.

"I wish…" Dean stopped, not really sure if he should say what he wanted.

"I'm not gonna judge you for opening up to me," Carlos said.

"I know, I just… It sucks, being stuck here. I… I want to see Vicky. I know just seeing her would take some of this away but she's stuck dealing with her own family drama."

"What happened?"

"You know Amy has been staying with Lady Photon right?"

"No?" he asked, "When did that happen?"

"Around the time of the Bakuda incident. Anyway, Amy apparently let some things slip she didn't want to and hasn't been around Vicky since. Refuses to see her or Brandish."

"But she'll see Flashbang?"

Dean shook his head, "Mark is… lethargic at the best of times. He'd never be able to get the energy to go try to see Amy just for the sake of it."

"Ah…" Carlos nodded in understanding, a pastel bluish-green accompanying it.

"So after the fight Amy was on duty at the hospital and was Vicky found her outside the room her family was in. She did as Vicky does and hugged her, excited to see her sister again after weeks. But Amy was… Less than enthusiastic. She ran away from her. So not only is New Wave dealing with the same trauma we are, Vicky in particular has been a wreck over Amy running away from her."

"That's… harsh."

"Yeah. So… As much as I want to see Vicky, I understand it's probably better this way. I'm not… I'm not very well equipped to deal with what she's going through and I don't want to add onto that with my own baggage."

"Jesus, yeah, I understand where you're coming from. Especially because GG can get kinda… unmanageable when she's emotional."

Dean grunted, not really sure what to add to that. She definitely could fly off the handle when her emotions ran high, whether that meant getting too violent during a fight or her good intentions paving a road to hell, as she'd apparently done with Amy.

The awkward silence was back.

It was odd how quickly things had gotten uncomfortable for them. Three weeks ago they were all friends, mostly. Aside from Shadow Stalker it seemed like everyone got along alright. Then Missy left and that left a gap in the team that they didn't realize she filled. Then Leviathan hit and now it felt like they'd never get back to normal. The reality of things was hitting them harder than it had before.

Dean saw how the battle affected his friends, how it affected him and he just… wasn't sure how to deal with it. They hadn't been quite that close to the action when they had joined the Behemoth fight in November but now… He couldn't help but feel suffocated. He'd end up doing this at least once a year, possibly more once he was in the Protectorate? Having to deal with the emotional hell that came with Endbringer attacks? Literally watching his friends suffer from their trauma? Suffering his own?

It was… It was heavy. It almost made him want to quit being a hero. Quit Cape life all together. It was all too much. But then, he was thinking too big. Armsmaster and Miss Militia had been doing this since they were teens and they'd done well for themselves. Or at least they'd gotten used to it.

Which wasn't exactly a comforting thought.

"—kay, Dean?"

"Huh?" He snapped from his thoughts, and turned to an obviously concerned Carlos.

"I asked if you were okay. You zoned out really hard for a minute."

"Yeah, just… Thinking," He answered. "You know who's on patrol today?" He switched the subject as quickly as he could, not wanting Carlos to ask what he was thinking about.

Carlos grunted. "I've got patrol with Kid Win in…" He looked over to the clock, "Three hours on the South side. After that I think it's Clock and Browbeat in Downtown, meaning you and Stalker get the PR patrol on the Boardwalk in the afternoon."

"Perfect," Dean scoffed. Of course he'd get stuck with Stalker. She'd been restless being stuck inside and hadn't been dealing with the trauma from the fight very well. She was angrier than usual, lashing out more. It was probably why he'd been assigned to patrol with her. She'd caused some problems her last two patrols so they were probably hoping his powers could keep her calm. Like that'd work out. He'd be having trouble keeping from dropping her outright if she pushed enough of his buttons.

"Yeah, don't let her hear you say that," Carlos laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my suffering," Dean said as he stood up. "I'm gonna go grab breakfast."

"Already been. They don't have much out right now. You're better off just hitting one of the vending machines."

Dean groaned but heeded the advice.

Patrolling with Stalker was always more of a chore than it really needed to be but recently it was unbearable. There was only one color around her, that being a deep scarlet that was bordering into black. How she managed to do anything with constant apoplectic rage boiling over inside her was beyond him. But what really concerned him was that she'd be looking for a fight.

She always looked for a fight, but recently it was much worse than usual. Adding on to that the fact crime in Brockton Bay had decreased significantly and was basically zero on the Cape side due to The Espada and it was just a recipe for her to go overboard on anything they came across.

Which was why he probably shouldn't have let her patrol from the rooftops while he took the ground. She'd be able to see anything before he did and he didn't trust her to call it in. But it wasn't like he could really stop her from going up there. She wouldn't get in trouble for patrolling from the rooftops even if he ordered her not to. Instead he focused on the crowds around him, watching for anyone who might be in trouble. He'd always had an advantage in that regard, being able to spot fear from so far away. Even just a glance down an alleyway was enough to tell if the people inside it were up to no good or not.

With the ABB splintered and without central Cape leadership, it was basically just a few guys trying to deal drugs here and there. With the Empire collapsed and every high ranking member both Cape and not arrested or dead, the racists hadn't been making any public appearances, the few who still bought into the mindset either keeping to themselves or meeting up in secret with the few people who were willing to go out and have meetings. With Squealer apparently clean, Skidmark, Trainwreck, and Mush out of the picture in one way or the other, that left nothing for them to do besides stop the occasional purse snatcher.

"I know I should be happy it's so quiet but…"

"It just feels like the calm before the storm," Stalker said, dropping next to him. He had to lock his body to keep from jumping right out of his suit. He was actually going to say it was boring, but that also fit.

"We just had a storm hit, Stalker," He said.

"This is Brockton Bay, you really expect any calm to not lead to a storm?"

"I guess," He sighed. "You see anything?"

"Yes, actually. I caught that little Espada dealing with a robbery."

"Then let's go!" He said, following after her.

By the time they got to the market that was being robbed the situation was already under control. Vist— Gorgon had subdued the thieves and looked ready to go before the cops showed up.

"Gorgon!" He called out, getting her attention.

Whenever Vista looked at him or heard him speak before her aura lit up bright pink. Whenever she was around him it took all he had to ignore that she felt so strongly for him. He was ready to slip into that distant-but-friendly mode like he always did but when she saw them her colors shifted from a satisfied orange to a flat gray. It was startling how she'd gone from such infatuation to… general indifference towards him. He didn't know he should feel about that. On one hand it was good she didn't feel that way about him anymore, on the other her feelings shouldn't have changed that drastically in just a few weeks.

"Gallant, Shadow Stalker," Her words were calm and measured but not unkind, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Cut the shit. You know you could get brought in for stuff like this right?" Stalker asked, adjusting her crossbow.

"Stalker!" He hissed. They'd been given direct orders not to engage in combat with any of the Espada. If they could talk Missy back, they could, but any physical confrontation was out of the question.

"You think you could?" She asked, her aura changing to an amused sunset orange.

"You think I can't?" Stalker growled.

"Enough!" Dean said. "Gorgon, if you'd take a minute to talk, I'd really like to," He said, trying to sound happy to see her instead of tense that Stalker could fuck this all up. He didn't think Missy would kill him, but he wasn't willing to test that hypothesis.

"I've got some time. Follow me."

They ignored the forming crowd and beat cops that were showing up and followed Missy to an alley. She jumped to the roof while he and Stalker took the nearby fire escape. Whether she picked this alley because he knew that was there or not he would never know for sure.

"It's good to see you again, Vista," He said as they made it to the top.

"It's Gorgon," She said calmly. "I'm not Vista anymore. I threw that away."

"Rather spectacularly at that," Stalker said. "So, how's the crime business? I know you work with some pretty nasty villains."

"Ex-villains. You know, like you," V-Missy said. Stalker growled, her finger going to the trigger of her crossbow, though she didn't aim. "And even then, I've got more freedom now than ever. No more administrative red tape keeping me from doing my job. I'm a little surprised you even showed up to that robbery. Usually it would get left for the cops. Those guys were armed, after all." Her tone and aura were mocking and Dean just couldn't see what had changed her this much so quickly.

"You know we'd really like to have you back. We miss you," Dean said.

"That's too bad," She dismissed. "I prefer my new life. For the most part. There are some things I'd change if I could but," She shrugged, "That's how things are sometimes, I guess."

"Weren't you happy in the Wards? Didn't you like being a hero?"

"You really don't get it, do you, Gallant?" She asked harshly, glaring at them. "Of course I enjoy being a hero. I love helping people. The problem is all the red tape in the PRT. How many people do you think we've seen die or injured because we weren't allowed to do anything? How often do you think I asked for basic things that could have helped me in the field and was denied? Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to be stuck being treated like I'm some fresh Trigger when I was one of the longest standing members of that team? Of course you don't. My issues are all with terrible management and having to maintain a status quo that was killing our city."

"What are you talking about?!" Dean asked, getting frustrated. "You were never treated like you had just joined the team! We fight to help people, not keep things as they are!"

"Then why is it that the city only started changing when Sacrosanct showed up? We could've at least taken out the Merchant's but we let them run around doing as they pleased. It's all about optics, Gallant! It's all about how the public sees us. We do good, yes, but you should know by now it doesn't help in the long run. I want long term change and that's what we're doing. You see it already, don't you?"

He could, unfortunately. Five days was a long time in Brockton Bay without any major Cape related crimes. With all the big name gangs gone, there likely wouldn't be for the foreseeable future.

"That's not the point," He started.

"Then what is the point?" She asked.

"The point is you just started working with villains like it was nothing!" Stalker shouted. "How do you not understand that the Undersiders and Purity were part of that same disease that was killing the city?! You just turn villain because they offer you something better? You get new powers and all of a sudden your morals are gone too?"

"At least I'm actually making a difference instead of sitting on my hands when I can help," Gorgon said.

Shadow Stalker went to raise her crossbow, but Dean stopped her, quickly hitting her with a calming blast.

"I guess we won't see eye to eye on this," Dean sighed. "Can you at least try to help me understand why you've changed so much?"

She eyed him for a moment, as if trying to discern if he honestly wanted to know.

"I already told you, I got frustrated with management. Armsmaster acts like he doesn't care and Piggot dislikes us on principle. I couldn't stand to work for people who not only refuse to see past my age but would make us stand by while people are hurt when we could have helped." She sighed, looking out over the ocean for a moment. "See you later, Gallant. Stay safe."

She was gone faster than he could blink, leaving him with a slowly angering Shadow Stalker.

"What the fuck was that you bas—,"

"We're going back," He interrupted.

"What?!" She growled.

"Patrol's over, we're heading back to base," He repeated. "I don't know why you've been so angry recently and I don't really care. You need to get your shit together quick or I'm going to have Aegis recommend you for leave until you can keep your temper in check. You almost shot at her. If you did, she may not have killed you but she would have definitely hurt you and your ego. We don't need that. Get it together Stalker."

She growled but didn't say anything as she followed him off the roof. He may have just been taking his frustration out on her, but at the moment he didn't really care.