Brockton's Celestial Forge

by Lord Roustabout

The Celestial Forge is the greatest combination of crafting powers in Jumpchain, meaning it is the greatest combination of crafting abilities in all of fiction. In Brockton Bay a forgotten side character's trigger event ends with him linked to the Celestial Forge rather than his intended shard. His expanding collection of tinker abilities drag him into the city's cape conflicts.

134. 95-1 Interlude Crystal - Preamble Mike

95.1 Interlude Crystal - Preamble Mike

Preamble Mike

Mike watched as his sister shifted uncomfortably in her armchair. It was an interesting combination, bursts of nervous energy from someone who was still completely worn down. Seeing her in that state was bad enough, but that chair somehow made it worse. The chair was the same one that dated back to their days in the Brigade. She had always occupied it at family meetings like a benevolent regent overseeing court.

At least that was how Jess always joked about it. He remembered the way she used to slip into an impersonation of Sarah's 'team meeting' pose at random moments. Nothing more than a slight change of posture and a quirk of an eyebrow and he had to keep himself from breaking into hysterics. Of course, she always has a kind of sixth sense for when to drop the act, looking perfectly serene the instant anyone else glanced in her direction, leaving him the one to be chastised for acting inappropriate during serious strategy sessions.

It was unsettling to see his sister completely absent of the confidence that seemed to have been a hallmark of her from even before she had triggered. He hadn't seen a trace of it since he arrived in the city, and the reason was clear.

Sarah was broken. He hated to say it, but with the condition she was in, the condition that he had been doing his best to help her through, it was undeniable. The woman who had stood against every challenge that Brockton Bay could throw at her had finally reached her limit.

It honestly wasn't surprising to him that the thing that finally brought down the team had come from within their own ranks. It seemed like something out of a historic epic. The nation that could hold off any foe, only to be brought down from corruption from within.

Okay, that was probably a bit over dramatic for a marital spat involving sisters. Take the powers out of the equation and this was the kind of argument you'd see play out on any daytime talk show. But powers were in the equation, and they complicated it considerably.

Eric was sitting nearby, nervously glancing between him and Sarah. His nephew had been left with him on 'Sarah management' duty while Crystal went to pick up Neil. Things around the house had basically turned into a game of 'don't mention anything that might bring up Neil'. At least so far it seemed to be working, but that was getting progressively more difficult as the meeting approached. Honestly, Mike didn't know how she'd take it when Neil showed up.

It was a sad thing to admit, but as bad as Sarah looked, this was probably the best condition Mike had seen her in since he arrived in the city. Part of that was the fact that she was back in costume, though probably not out of professionalism. There was a decent chance that it was more because of the amount of laundry that had piled up, leaving it as one of her few clean outfits. Eric had followed suit, but Mike had seen his nephew in costume more often than not. He suspected the boy was taking comfort in his role as a hero to help him get through the situation. After all, it wasn't like there was much else to help him through.

Sarah had been the family's rock. Really, the whole team's, at least from what he remembered, but that was before he's seen how badly she'd taken Neil's confession. He'd been witness to everything from rants, fits of rage, ugly crying, and near catatonic shutdowns. It was one thing to have your husband cheat on you. It was another to have it be with your sister. Then it was an entirely different level when you added the entire dynamic of Vicky's suspected, though thankfully refuted, paternity coupled with a poorly timed insight into trigger theory and the nature of second-generation capes.

The timing of the affair being right in the heart of the team's glory days obviously didn't help matters. Neil's infidelity and Carol's betrayal wasn't just some new slight against Sarah, it was an attack on the foundations of her life's work.

He had always suspected those foundations were less stable than they seemed, but this wasn't the time for 'I told you so'. Funny, you could spend years waiting to be proven right, then suddenly see everything you suspected, everything you warned them about, come to pass and find absolutely no satisfaction in any of it.

Probably because he was here, in the middle of it, rather than watching things play out from a half dozen states away. And because he was apparently the only person uninvolved enough to be a neutral party. Him, the neutral party in a New Wave dispute. It sounded like a joke. If so, it was a particularly cruel one.

Sarah reached down and snatched up another page from the stack of papers from the coffee table. The freshly printed sheets were already starting to look dogeared from how much they were being handled, but he was grateful for anything that served to distract his sister.

"Carol has a lot to answer for." Sarah growled, shuffling the papers.

Okay, anything but his other sister. "How bad is it?" Mike asked. It wasn't the safest topic, but overreach and unapproved use of the team's authority were concerns that had less emotional weight than Sarah's more obvious source of grievances.

"I can't tell from just from this, but none of it looks good." Sarah said, her forehead creasing. "She's been liaising with the PRT as a representative of New Wave."

"Isn't she allowed to?" Eric asked. "I mean, we never had rules about who can talk to the PRT or Protectorate, right?"

That was the real problem. New Wave wasn't a 'formal' team, or at least wasn't formal enough to have protocols for this kind of thing. Anything major would be hashed out by the adults. More often it would be hashed out by Sarah, Carol, and Neil. Eventually mostly by Sarah and Carol.

A proper corporate team would have a chain of command, PR representative, official protocols, and a dozen other factors that would head off a single member deciding to take this kind of initiative. He had worked with enough of them since leaving the city, typically in his role as a police consultant. The successful ones always had a clear understanding of who was responsible for what.

They also had support staff. Even small-time teams would have at least one person working on an administrative level, even if it was just part time. Another thing that would have helped the current situation, if only to have a single point of contact for official correspondence, rather than a team email address and standing contract with a PR and merchandising firm. Most of that was farmed out to the Protectorate anyway, which probably complicated the whole 'official contact' issue.

"Not officially, but we don't keep official business from the rest of the team." Sarah said confidently. Mike kept a straight face, remembering the numerous times he and Jess had learned about minor or not so minor decisions as they went into effect. Or even after the fact. Nothing like learning about a new marketing push from seeing the posters in public. Or finding out the team's public stance on a major issue when watching news interviews.

"It's a technicality." Mike said. "But technicalities are the kind of thing that Carol's going to cling to."

He saw his sister tense at Carol's name. This wasn't going to be an easy meeting. Not for the first time, he found himself dearly wishing that he wasn't the one stuck in the middle of it. Carol's actions had rubbed him the wrong way, to put it mildly, but he needed to keep this from turning into a chance for everyone to gang up on her. At least if he wanted anything productive to be achieved.

"It's not about the contact, it's about the content of what she was discussing." Sarah said. "We haven't received an update on Amy's case. That should have come to the team, not just Carol and Mark."

And the fact that Mark hadn't received any updates went unsaid. There were extraordinary circumstances for both Vicky and Amy, but not enough to justify this kind of reaction. More was going on than any of them knew about, and there were only a few things that could be serious enough to justify that kind of coverup.

"Amy's case doesn't match containment protocols." Eric said confidently. "I looked them up and talked with some of the Wards about it."

"It's atypical containment, which is something we should have been contacted about. Amy's a member of New Wave. Unless Carol withdrew her from the team without telling anyone, we had a right to be kept apprised of her condition."

That had probably been an offhand comment on Sarah's part, something that was more thinking out loud than a serious possibility, but as it settled over the room as air of unease began to grow between them.

"Aunt Carol wouldn't actually do that, right?" Eric asked. "I mean, could she do that?"

"It doesn't seem likely." Mike said quickly. It was also something that should require Mark's input, but there was always the potential of a legal loophole that would have allowed Carol to make the decision on her own. "Your Aunt Carol couldn't do it as a member of the New Wave, but parents can withdraw their children from corporate hero teams."

The plural there was important. Another thing to speak to Mark about and to follow up on.

The number of things that needed to be followed up were mounting fast. The meeting was ostensibly about the future of the team, but the various issues that had been left to fester as New Wave fell apart were looking more and more pressing. It was like they couldn't even properly collapse without patching enough holes to be able to stand things down in any kind of ordered manner. The alternative was to effectively abandon any support for Amy and Vicky. Say what you will, but none of the chaos that had erupted had been their fault.

No matter what Vicky thought about her encounter with Apeiron.

The thought of that man caused him to look between his sister and nephew. The tinker's presence and the impact he had on the city was worth a meeting of its own. A dozen meetings, to be honest. It was all well and good for the team to want to get their house in order before addressing the fact that a Triumvirate-tier tinker had set up in the city, apparently with the support of a team of similar strength. The only problem was trying to keep their own issues separate from that mounting situation.

It didn't help that everything had been set off by the man's encounter with Amy. Mike didn't buy into the expert manipulator theories that had been thrown around after that single incident seemed to set off every ensuing problem that hit the city. No, that cascade of chaos was down to the state of the team and the city, not some brilliant foresight by Apeiron. At least in his own opinion on the matter.

"But why would she do that?" Eric asked.

"You'll have a chance to ask her." Mike said. There were plenty of active points of concern. Psychological specialists being brought in for Amy's case. The expanded Youth Guard oversight. Vicky's trip to New York for a level of power testing that came across as excessive even with the potential concerns about a changed powerset.

Plus, there was the actual point of the meeting. The overarching question that needed to be answered. Did New Wave actually have a future? From what he had seen since he arrived in the city, he couldn't say it was likely. At the very least not a future that in any way resembled their past. New Wave as the family team of highly trained responder capes was effectively dead.

There was a chance they could strike some new balance, find a way to make things work with the new reality of their situation, but adaptability had never been his family's strong suit.

That happy line of thinking was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. No knock, which probably meant Crystal was back, with Neil. Or a very intrusive Carol had barged into the house. Either case was something that would need his help to moderate. Frankly, the novelty of suddenly being the family's go-to source of mediation and support was quickly wearing off in the face of how exhausting the role could be.

"Mom? I'm back." Crystal called. "And I brought…"

"Neil." Sarah said in a voice like an arctic storm.

"Sarah." Neil replied from the entrance to the living room. His voice was tinged with barely contained emotion and it looked like he was restraining himself from saying more. Sarah barely acknowledged him, turning away and leaving Crystal and Eric to awkwardly look between their two parents.

Mike had seen Neil several times over the last week, so he had an idea of what to expect. That man hadn't had the near breakdown that Sarah had gone through, but it was definitely the lowest Mike had ever seen him. He suspected that if Neil hadn't been able to throw himself into recovery work following the Ungodly Hour he would have kept spiraling down. As it stood, he at least looked functional, even if the cracks were definitely showing.

Both Neil and Crystal were in full costume. No dress code had been set for the meeting, but everyone seemed to be defaulting to the side of formality. It made Mike feel even more out of place in his civilian wear. The presence of his old Lightstar symbol on his shirt was his one concession, but didn't live up to the gleaming white aesthetic of the rest of the team. An intentional choice from when he was doing everything to distance himself from the team. Right now, he wasn't sure if that distance would be an asset or a liability.

"Uncle Mark should be here soon." Crystal said. She specifically avoided mentioning Carol's imminent arrival, but from Neil's reaction it was hardly a neutral statement. The meeting would have been uncomfortable enough even without Flashbang's new reputation for unrestrained destruction. "I'm going to make some coffee for everyone. Um, Dad, can you…"

She trailed off, effectively looking to her mother for permission. The best she got was a tired gesture, which she interpreted as consent.

"I'd be happy to." He said, following Crystal out of the room.

"I'll give them a hand as well." Mike said, climbing to his feet. It wasn't like three people would do anything but get in each other's way, but that wasn't the point. He needed every chance he could get to prepare for the mess that was coming.

"How is she doing?" Crystal asked while she went about filling the coffee maker. Neil took the opportunity to begin gathering cups and a tray from the cupboards.

"She's at least gotten her mind off of the affair." He said. Neil winced, but Mike didn't have the luxury of sparing his feelings by dancing around the topic.

He knew how angry Crystal was about it. Things had spun out of control, with Neil leaving, well, more being kicked out, before either of the kids had a chance to speak to him or call him to task. Crystal had managed something of a working relationship with her father, but from what Mike understood they avoided the topic like the plague. That was something he'd like to extend through this meeting, but he didn't have high hopes.

"She's still going over the stuff with Vicky and Amy?" Crystal asked.

Mike nodded. "It looks bad. There's really no good explanation for how Carol's been handling things." He shifted nervously. "Look, things are going to get heated tonight. I'm going to try to keep things grounded, and that will probably mean supporting your aunt more than I would like."

The amount he would like would be zero. His dream version of this evening would involve sitting Carol down and reading her the riot act that she never got from their parents. Calling her out on all of her bullshit, both during the crisis and extending back to even before her trigger. It was a childish fantasy of vindication, of being proved right in every complaint and having every wrong against you addressed and punished.

Childish fantasies. Fantasies of justice, but still, the world didn't work that way. You weren't going to get recompense for every slight and devoting yourself to seeking it out would only destroy yourself and the people around you. Carol had enough to answer for without bringing up every petty slight, and the only way they could hope to get answers for the major issues would be to leave the more minor ones unaddressed. Even if they didn't feel minor to the people who had been wronged.

"I understand." Crystal said. "And I think mom will as well."

"Thank you for doing this." Neil said, looking down at him. The giant of a man had never looked so small. "I don't know if this would have been possible without you playing peacemaker. Don't know how any of this would have gone."

Mike did his best to put on an irreverent smile. "Give your daughter some credit. She's been the one holding down the fort while I've been running back and forth like a headless chicken."

Crystal seemed to enjoy the compliment, but that didn't change the fact that she had taken on far too much for someone her age. At least as much of the work to pull together this meeting had been on her as either him or Neil. Most of that was managing Sarah, but that alone was more that should be asked of the girl. The oldest child and the first to trigger, she had a lot of pressure on her. It was a completely different experience from what he had gone through as effectively the tag-along to two overbearing sisters.

Neil gave Crystal an appreciative look. Mike could still see the frustration and anger in her response, but she was able to control it. He couldn't even imagine what that was like, having the image of the person who supported you your whole life suddenly come crashing down, and bringing the rest of the family with it. It was jarring enough for him, and he at least had the benefit of distance and perspective.

No doubt she would have a chance to hash things out with her father after the crisis was over. Too many people in the city were taking that mindset. Just powering through and trying to stay above water until things got back to normal. Of course, nobody knew what that hypothetical normal was going to look like. They needed more than just a pause in hostilities and a chance to breathe. They needed things to fully settle and stabilize, which seemed like something of a pipe dream at the moment.

The sound of a knock from the door drew their attention. Given the almost hesitant nature of it, Mike guessed that Mark had arrived. He doubted Carol would be quite so demure when she finally arrived.

"I should get that." Crystal said. "Can you take care of this?"

It wasn't clear who she was asking, but her father stepped forward. "I've got it." He said, and busied himself with the last of the preparations. It was just as well. Mike only vaguely remembered the kitchen's layout and still felt like a stranger in the house. Plus, anything that kept Mark and Neil apart for a few extra minutes would be a blessing.

He saw Crystal take a quick breath to herself before heading back to the front door.

"Hi Uncle Mark." She said in a supportive tone. The man standing in the light of the porch nodded at her.

Flashbang was also in costume, but that was less surprising. He had been practically living in it for the last week. Unlike the rest of the team, he didn't seem to be reassuring himself or playing politics. Mike had to wonder if it was even a conscious decision on the man's part, or if he had just shown up after a patrol with another one slated for as soon as the meeting finished.

The grenade pattern on Mark's costume also came across differently than it had before the previous week. Before it had seemed like he was overreaching, playing up a power that wasn't seen as anything remarkable. That was before the man had basically bounced Hookwolf around like a rag doll. He knew from personal experience how dangerous unrestrained explosions could be. There was a reason the PRT used to have a separate Nuker class for blasters on that level. The difference was he had never opened up like that with his own power, but then again, he didn't have Flashbang's personal immunity to his own power.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Neil tense for a moment before he hurried back to his task. Mike let the kitchen door swing closed as Mark moved into the house. He never would have imagined people being on edge around Mark, but it seemed there had been a range of new family experiences waiting for him in the city.

"Hi Mark." He called out. "Glad you could make it."

"Not something I could miss." He said. "Not with everything happening." Mike could feel the exhaustion in the man's words. Despite his fame and meme status, the near constant late patrols hadn't been doing him any favors, and he doubted Mark was about to let up on them, even if they did manage to address everything they needed.

"Is… Neil here?" He asked, looking between Mike and Crystal.

"Just got here." Crystal said. "He's helping me in the kitchen. We're just waiting on Aunt Carol."

Mark responded with a slow nod and a sigh. "Crystal, with everything that's happened, I'm sorry you had to manage it all, and that I wasn't there to help."

"I understand. It wasn't your fault." She said.

"No." He agreed. "But I shouldn't have…" He let out another sigh. "This was overdue. We should have set something up a week ago."

Crystal just shook her head. "No." She glanced back to the living room. "Trust me, that would have been a bad idea."

Mike nodded. Funny thing about people who never bend under pressure. When they finally break, they don't know how to deal with it. Sarah didn't have a support structure or coping mechanisms. No, she was other people's support structure and coping mechanism. The standard method of dealing with New Wave problems was turning to Lady Photon, which didn't work when Lady Photon was in the midst of a breakdown.

And all it took was a deep personal betrayal that cut into the most treasured years of her life coupled with trigger theory revelations that suggested her husband was more invested in his potential bastard daughter than her own children. Given the circumstances, Mike couldn't characterize her response as an overreaction.

"Right." He said, looking towards the living room. The reluctance and unfamiliarity was something new and unsettling for a team meeting. Even at their worst, there had always been a sense of connection and socialization before they got down to business. Not this dancing around each other like each person was a live bomb.

Which was probably not the most appropriate analogy, given Flashbang's new reputation.

"Um, my mom got some reports from the PRT." Crystal explained. "Nothing specific, but maybe…"

"Yeah." Mark said. "Probably more than I've gotten. I'll take a look before things get started."

He trudged into the living room and Mark could hear the stilted greetings and small talk as the only two adult members of New Wave without an active grudge between them started working through the pile of indistinct reports of the last week.

As soon as Mark was out of sight it was like Crystal's strings had been cut. She slumped, exhaustion playing across her face as she raised a hand to her forehead.

"Hey, it'll be alright." Mike said.

"God, I hope so." Crystal muttered low enough to avoid being heard in the other room. "This whole thing feels like a disaster waiting to happen. I mean, a worse disaster than what we're already dealing with."

"I know it's rough, but you'll get through this." He said with a confidence he didn't really feel.

She shook her head. "All this work just to put the final nail in the coffin, right?"

"We don't know that." He replied. He wasn't prepared to lie to Crystal about the team's prospects. She was too old for that. Probably why so much had fallen to her during the aftermath.

"You know, I never even thought about the team just… stopping?" She said. "Like, it was always there. Even after what happened with Aunt Jess, when you left, it never even occurred to me that there could be a time after New Wave." She slumped even more. "It was always just there. Like, it was too big a part of our lives to ever go away."

That was their fault. All of them. Because of course, New Wave was supposed to be a movement, not a family team limited to a single city. It was a decision that had been made on the kids' behalf without any real consideration of what it would mean for them. The part of their lives they'd be giving up, and never getting back.

He remembered Crystal's trigger. Getting off the bus and being recognized as Lady Photon and Manpower's daughter. Chased down and triggering as a result. Nearly killing one of her assailants. That should have been a lesson. A clear indicator of what the cost of the 'accountability' that came with being unmasked really was.

Instead, they had welcomed her into the same team that had made her a target in the first place. And had the trigger talk with the rest of the kids. Echoing the Protectorate line about 'good triggers', the idea that if you worked hard and excelled you could get good powers from breaking through some limit, rather than bad powers from enduring a tragedy. It was a pleasant lie, something that drove kids to focus on academics or sports rather than seeking out the hellish situation that would result in them getting powers. Because there weren't any 'good triggers'. Just different shades of bad, and that was something that every member of the team had gone through for themselves.

"I'll be honest. Things aren't going to go back to the way they were before." Mike said. That was something that was true on a lot of levels. Frankly, even if the team was still stable, if none of their skeletons had been unearthed, the way the city had been upended would have completely changed how New Wave had to operate. "But that doesn't mean everything's over. Maybe you'll work more closely with the Protectorate. Maybe the team will split up and people go independent. This isn't the end, it's just a point where you need to figure out how to move forward."

He didn't know if it was the best advice for Crystal, but it was the kind of thing that he wished someone had told him, after Jess. It had taken him far too long to even find a reason to keep going. Before he met Beth and got his life back on track. Before he found his own way to deal with things, where he could be more than the kid brother of the team.

"I hope so, it's just…" Crystal's voice hitched. From the front window the lights of a car could be seen, turning into the driveway. Carol was here.

"Go get things settled." Mike said, reaching for the doorknob. "I'll meet your aunt. See if I can ease her into things."

Which meant that Crystal would be dislodging her father from his hiding place in the kitchen and diffusing tensions between him, Sarah, and Mark while he went to speak with Carol in an attempt to keep her from triggering a screaming match within thirty seconds of her arrival. Frankly, he didn't know which job was less appealing.

He stepped out of the house and the night bloomed in front of him. It was a little detail he always enjoyed, the way his poorly documented thinker power made darkness irrelevant to him. It was actually easier for him to see at night without the glare of the sun in his eyes. He liked the perspective it gave him.

Carol didn't have that. More than that, Carol was afraid of the dark. He remembered the aftermath of the kidnapping, when his sisters had finally come home and Carol couldn't stand being in a darkened room. Their home had been covered in nightlights or lamps on dimmer switches whenever it wasn't fully lit. It was something that Carol downplayed as she got older, but he didn't believe she'd gotten over it. Just gotten better at hiding her discomfort, or ignoring it.

At one point he had wondered if they'd had some kind of complimentary triggers. Carol had the ability to see through the glare of blinding light, supposedly as a way to deal with her energy weapons. They were the only two members of the family with vision-based powers, and their powers ran in complete opposite directions.

Truthfully, it didn't really matter. Those were musings from his teenage years back when he was trying to make sense of things. When everyone was trying to make sense of things. When powers were new and nobody had the slightest idea what they meant or how they worked. Crazy theories were being thrown around left and right with no way to verify them. Even after the more outlandish suggestions had been shot down, all you were left with were a few trends and some shaky principles for how they behaved. Decades of study and no real certainty.

Unless you were Apeiron, in which case you could make outlandish declarations with absolute confidence and have everyone take your words as gospel. Well, there was less certainty around the man's statements a week ago than there was now, in the wake of everything he had demonstrated. Everything suggested that when it came to powers, Apeiron probably knew what he was talking about. Which meant every brutal point he had laid out about the dynamics of New Wave's triggers was something that needed to be taken seriously, no matter how concerning it was.

He knew the logic behind Vicky's trigger linking to Neil. That had been a particularly difficult confession from his brother-in-law, and one he hadn't shared with Sarah. At this point he doubted it would help the situation. But it was Amy's trigger that was more concerning. Vicky apparently had contributions from her mother, uncle, and even boyfriend, while the only connection of note for Amy had been in the Birdcage for the past decade. If second generation triggers worked the way Apeiron suggested it spoke to at least one redeeming feature for the man. Apparently, he loved his daughter.

He never imagined the day that New Wave would be measured against Marquis and come up wanting in any area. Given how Carol felt about the villain, that was probably a particularly bitter pill to swallow.

He watched as Carol stepped out of her car in a crisply laundered costume. Given how hard she had been pushing herself and how much the costume contrasted with the rest of her appearance, Mike would bet it was the first time she had worn it since this mess started.

Because despite the clean costume, Carol was clearly a mess. Once again, the benefit of his thinker-zero rating revealing details that she had probably trusted the darkness to conceal, at least for the moment. Her short hair was messier than she would ever have allowed it to get and he could see clear signs of exhaustion on her face. She had bags under her eyes, which were also looking slightly bloodshot.

And she looked thin. Definitely thinner than the first time he had seen her. He doubted she had been eating properly, but this seemed more concerning somehow. Possibly because of how she seemed to carry herself with a manic energy, even when so clearly worn down. A person could only live on coffee and frustration for so long. At least he hoped it was only coffee. He's heard rumors about lawyers going to harder stuff to deal with heavy caseloads. Hell, Beth had shared a few stories about other parents pilfering their kids ADD medication.

Which would be the absolute last thing they needed right now. Whether his concerns had any validity or not, it just made his appointed role as the person in the middle of this mess all the more important. And stressful.

"So, you are sticking around for this?" Carol asked, looking up at him. When he'd informed her of the meeting, she'd made it clear what she thought about him involving himself in a team matter.

"Both Mark and Neil asked me to come. I'm not here to weigh in on any of the issues, but they thought an outside perspective would be a good idea."

"This is a time to unify, not spread ourselves further." Carol snapped. Unity seemed like an unreasonably tall order, given the situation, but that wasn't a fight he was prepared to have. "When are they getting here?"

"They're both inside." Mike explained. "Mark walked and Neil came down with Crystal." The exact modes of conveyance were less important than letting Carol know she was the last to arrive. That actually seemed to give her pause. She started eyeing the front door like it was an armed bear trap.

"We haven't started yet. Mark just got here, and Neil's been in the kitchen. Nobody's been keen to do any socializing outside of the meeting." Mike quickly explained.

"Well then, we better get started." Carol began to move towards the door, but Mike shifted into her path.

"Carol, you do know what this is about, right?" He asked. "It's not just a team meeting."

"And you're an expert on team meetings?" She snapped back.

"On this one I am." He said, forcing himself to keep calm. This was going to be a long night and if he let Carol start getting on his nerves before she even entered the house, he would never make it through. "Everyone has a laundry list of issues that they want to air, but the only one that needs to be addressed is what's going to happen to the team."

"Nothing's going to happen to the team." She declared with a slightly unhinged certainty. "I know you've been waiting for us to fall apart, but that's not happening. Not now, not with everything that we need to deal with."

"Carol, it is." He said. "As far as the police force is concerned, New Wave hasn't existed for the last week. Four major disasters of mounting severity with no coordinated action. Half the city thinks you've broken up already. They're just waiting for an official announcement." Which might well come after they finished the meeting.

"I can't believe that." Carol said, as if that was all it took to make something true. "And the rest of the team won't either."

"Carol, the people in there are angry and hurting." Mike said as calmly as he could manage. "If you go off on them things are going to go down the drain, and whatever you're trying to accomplish will go with it."

His sister glared up at him. "Why do you care all of a sudden?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Because Crystal's working herself half to death. Because Eric doesn't know what's happening or if there's anything he can do to help. Because Amy is still in confinement a week after she should have been cleared. And because nobody knows what's happening with Vicky." There was a flash of guilt and concern on his sister's face at the mention of Vicky, something the other kids apparently hadn't warranted. "None of them asked for this life, or any of the baggage that we brought into it. And I'm including myself in that. We owe it to them to see this through, one way or another."

Carol wilted slightly, but he could still frustration bubbling under the surface. And that concerning tension that might not just be down to Carol's ongoing codependent relationship with caffeine.

"What do you want, Mike?" She asked.

It felt like a loaded question. If he were to actually give in and unleashed the years of grievances, he was harboring it would be a perfect opportunity, but he was past that. Maybe when he had first come to the city there had still been a streak of vindictiveness, some desire to be proven right even if he would just sit smugly on the sidelines rather than rubbing his former teammates noses in the unfolding mess.

But those feelings didn't last. They didn't hold out in the face of seeing the very real vulnerability of people who had always kept themselves closed off. Of seeing his oldest sister break in a way he never imagined she could. In having to be the one to give Amy the worst news of her life, in possibly the least optimal conditions for that kind of revelation. To see the desperate effort of people in his family to move past the mess they had been saddled with.

And all that was on top of his official work. Working with the Brockton Bay police force through the worst string of disasters to hit the city in living memory. Seeing that much pain and desperate effort, it wasn't a situation where he could stay smug or detached from things.

"I want to help." Carol looked at him like he had started speaking in tongues. "I'm serious. Things are going to get messy in there. A lot of people are angry with you." He could see the indignation building in his sister's expression and moved to get ahead of it. "But I'm going to try to keep things moving. Keep them on topic. For the most part, that means I'm going to be on your side, providing you'll let me."

It was just about the last thing he wanted. He worked to keep that fact off his face, but he could tell Carol suspected it. Of course, being forced to back one of his sisters against his better judgment or personal wishes was hardly a new experience for him. Odds were good that Carol would be willing to accept begrudging support. In fact, she probably trusted it more than if he purported to be acting completely in her favor.

"Fine." She said, as if she was the one doing him a favor. "Let's get this over with."

She breezed into the house without knocking, leaving Mike trailing behind her. Sarah greeted her with a look that could have curdled milk, but Carol pointedly ignored it as she moved to take her seat in the living room.

The room had been rearranged from its usual layout. That had been down to Eric, along with cleaning up the aftermath of a week-long breakdown from his mother. You knew things were serious if a fourteen-year-old boy enthusiastically embraced housework. Still, he was probably grateful for the distraction and it freed up Mike and Crystal to manage the other elements of the meeting.

One element that Mike had underappreciated was how precisely the living room had been rearranged. The chairs had been shuffled both to help facilitate the meeting and to provide enough space for the various warring parties to be insulated from each other. It allowed Mike, Crystal, and Eric to act as a buffer, separating the rest of the team as well as possible. Carol noted the rearrangement of the room as she sat down, but didn't seem to recognize the significance of it. Mike sent him a grateful look as he took a seat, separating her from Sarah.

The arrangement also made it possible for people to sit without having to look at the people they were most furious with. That did put an excessive amount of focus on Mike and the kids, but that was fine if it let them actually make some progress here. And speaking of which…

Mike cleared his throat and shifted slightly. This was definitely the first meeting that had him in any kind of a leadership position, and he didn't like it in the least. But that didn't matter. They just needed to get through the night without things completely going to hell. At the very least, they should be able to manage that.

"I'm glad everyone could get together." He started somewhat lamely. "I know this isn't the kind of reunion that anyone would hope for, but the past week has been hard for everyone." More for some than others. He did his best to avoid placing any emphasis through body language or direction of his gaze while he spoke. "There are points regarding the future of the team that need to be addressed, and that's what we're here for. I know that a lot of people have personal grievances, but I think we can agree to put those aside for the moment and focus on more critical matters."

Reactions around the room varied from belligerence to relief to begrudging acceptance. At least no one immediately launched into accusations, so that was a good start.

"Finally." Carol muttered. Sarah immediately snapped her head up to look at their sister.

"Do you have a problem with this?" Sarah asked in a harsh tone. The end of the sentence had a slightly clipped tone, suggesting his sister had bitten down on a final word that would have been directed at Carol.

"My problem is that it's taken this long for everyone to take this situation seriously." Carol said in a condescending tone.

"Believe me." Mark said in a quiet voice. It was barely more than a whisper, but even Carol paused as he spoke. "We all know how serious this is."

Mike glanced around the room. He could see Neil's barely contained nervousness. Mark's mannerisms hadn't changed, but it was hard to look at him the same way when you knew what he was capable of. How did the phrase go? Speak softly and carry enough explosives to level a city block?

"That's not…" Carol began, then shook her head in frustration. "With everything that's been happening, we shouldn't have let personal matters affect us like that."

That was clearly an 'us' that really meant 'you'. Veiled accusations were not the best way to start the meeting. He could see Sarah's temper begin to rise and moved in to hopefully at least direct it in a more productive direction.

"I believe the way New Wave matters have been addressed over the past week is one of the topics that people were hoping to raise." Mike said quickly. Sarah at least refocused her attention from Carol to the reposts in front of her. She gave Mike a slight nod before she began.

"You've been corresponding with the PRT without informing the rest of the team." Sarah said. "Acting independently. I couldn't even get a full accounting of what's been discussed."

Carol narrowed her eyes. "In case you've forgotten, my daughter is being held in Master Stranger containment."

"Our daughter." Mark said. "And you were the one who gave approval for the evaluation that put her in there."

"You're going to lecture me about parental engagement?" Carol asked.

"No." he said simply. "I wasn't there as much as I should have been, but that doesn't give you the right to cut me out of our children's lives because it's convenient for you."

Mark was looking more focused than Mike remembered seeing him. He knew that his brother-in-law had been more careful about taking his medication recently. The change in his demeanor from the near ghost that inhabited Mike's memories was jarring. From the look of things, Carol didn't particularly enjoy it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't spare your feelings when I was the only one left to manage everything on my own." Carol shot back.

"What exactly was it that you were managing?" Sarah asked, shuffling through the documents she'd been able to receive from the PRT. "Because everything suggests this was serious. You say you were acting on behalf of the team? Then tell us, what were you doing?"

"Why is Amy still in containment?" Eric asked. It was unusual for him to speak up, but that seemed to be an asset in this situation. A question that would have gotten an emotionally charged snap response if it came from any of the adults instead saw Carol faced with earnest and sincere concern for the boy's cousin.

"It's… The situation is complicated." Carol said dismissively.

"Is it because of her father?" Eric asked. There was a collective wince around the room as Carol's eyes widened.

"You told them about that?" His sister hissed at no one person in particular.

"It was never supposed to be a secret." Neil said quickly. "And none of us knew the way it was affecting Amy."

"It wasn't your place to tell them!" She said, rounding on Neil.

"He didn't." Mark said calmly. "I'm the one who told them." Carol gave him a betrayed look. Somewhat ironic, all things considered. "When the meeting was being arranged. I didn't want us to have to talk around the issue and they deserved to know what Amy was dealing with."

"Yeah." Eric said. "And it makes sense, with how Amy's powers are different from everyone else's."

The magnitude of the reaction to the boy's words clearly put him off balance. Eric clearly wasn't privy to the full breadth of Apeiron's revelations about trigger theory and the implications they held regarding Amy's place in the family. A damning inditement of New Wave, delivered with clinical indifference and innocently echoed by his nephew. Mike watched as Mark's face grew even grimmer at the reminder.

"If the information had leaked, I could understand some level of protective custody from the Protectorate." Sarah said. "But we discussed that possibility. We were prepared for it." Mike wasn't sure those preparations were valid anymore. At the very least, they probably assumed that New Wave would be a functional team who could be in the same room without ending up at each other's throats.

"We would have heard if there had been a leak." Mark said. "Should have heard." He looked over to Carol, but she refused to meet his eyes.

The situation was deteriorating quickly. Even without bringing up personal matters, there were enough breaches of conduct from the past week to give everyone who had a bone to pick with Carol the chance to grill her to their heart's content. Which would make his sister defensive, which would cause things to deteriorate even more. It would only be a matter of time before someone brought out the affair and then there would be no turning back.

As much as he didn't like it, he had to try to smooth things over. Giving Carol a chance to speak could help, but in the end, he might just be giving her rope to hang herself. In that case, at least they had made the effort.

"Carol, you're right." Mike said. The words felt bitter in his mouth. His statement shocked the entire group, but to Carol it was like a balm on a sore wound. "The team wasn't in the position to manage things in the wake of Amy's encounter with Apeiron. No one can fault you for taking the initiative."

They could absolutely fault her for how she used that initiative and for intentionally keeping everyone else out of the loop, but those were points that could be addressed after they knew what was happening. They couldn't leave Amy and Vicky unaccounted for just to score cheap points against Carol.

She gave Sarah a hard look, then nodded, signaling to Mike. He gave his other sister an apologetic look before turning back to Carol.

"You want everyone to start taking things seriously? Then they need to know what's happening." He explained. "That's the point of getting everyone together, so they can decide what the next step will be."

In all likelihood, that next step would be a message to the Protectorate announcing the dissolution of New Wave, then the legal and financial actions needed to stand down the organization and distribute its assets between the members. There was a long shot that things would merely involve a restructuring, resignations from the team and a change in certain policies and practices. But Carol didn't seem to be concerned about either case. She didn't even seem to be entertaining them as possibilities.

"This is your chance to tell everyone what's going on." Carol had always been a lawyer at heart. Baiting her with a chance to speak was the best way to keep things moving. He would be hard pressed to make sure she could finish without setting off another member of the team, but it wasn't like they had another choice. "We're here to listen."

From the smug expression on his sister's face, he couldn't help but feel like he had just handed her a shovel when she was already six feet under. Well, if this was going to end in disaster it might as well be one fully of Carol's own making.

"Good." Carol said, shifting forward in her chair. "Because we need to talk about Apeiron."

Interlude Crystal

Crystal sat with the rest of her family as they listened to her Aunt Carol's… explanation of recent events. That was probably the polite way to refer to it. There were plenty of other terms that could be used to describe the way her aunt broke down her precise interpretation of recent events, with the majority of them being far less charitable.

It had been difficult even accepting the necessity of this. She knew it had to happen, but recently her entire life seemed to be devoted to things that needed to be done. Desperate tasks and responsibilities thrust upon her in the wake of revelations that she didn't have time to process.

She glanced over at her father. There was so much anger there, more than she ever imagined she could feel for the man. She knew her parents' marriage was going through a rough patch. Had been going through a rough patch. Frankly, it had been mostly rough patches for as long as she could remember, but they'd always stayed professional. Functional.

Sure, she wished she could have had the fairytale happy family life of domestic bliss. The kind of things that they played up for the cameras and alluded to in interviews. That actually made it harder. It was like her parents knew what a happy family was supposed to look like, knew it was important to appear to be one, but just couldn't actually make that happen.

At least for her she had memories of a time before things started to seriously fall apart. For Eric, it had all been rough patches. He'd never gotten to experience a time when their parents had genuine affection for each other. At least not at any time he was old enough to remember.

After that, it had felt more like a project than a family. Her mom and dad had known things weren't working. They didn't fight or rage about it. Instead, they found workarounds. Took advice from therapists, changed their schedules, moved to separate bedrooms. They accepted what they had, as imperfect as it was. Part of her wished they had fought, had tried harder to make things work. That would have made it seem more real that the slowly growing sense of distance and increasingly artificial nature of their public appearances.

Finding out about Aunt Carol, that had hurt. More than that, it was like suddenly there was an outlet. An avenue to channel every ounce of rage and frustration at the slow collapse of her family. It wasn't something that just happened, there was a cause. A stupid betrayal that stood at the foundation of everything. Her father, the man who loved and supported her, who was always there for her and her brother, no matter how bad things were between him and Mom, had done this. Set everything in motion.

It was a betrayal on such a fundamental level she could barely process it. She wasn't even sure what she would have said if she had the chance to tear into him. But she didn't need to wonder. Her mother had covered everything. She and Eric had been home for that fight. Shouting that could be heard through the house as the two of them hid in their rooms, pretending they couldn't hear.

That had been bad. Then her father had left. Packed a bag while her mother continued to yell at him and vanished into the night. She thought that was about as bad as things could get, but then Aunt Carol had come over to try to explain herself.

That argument was bad. Bad enough that she had wondered if powers were going to become involved. If she and Eric would have to step in to stop something terrible from happening. It didn't reach that point, mercifully, but a few times during the fight things seemed to get much closer than she was comfortable with.

Aunt Carol hadn't been back since. She didn't see her dad for nearly a week. Without the aftermath of the Ungodly Hour putting all hands-on deck she didn't know when she would have found a reason to speak with him. What he did was unforgivable, but it was hard to hate him for it. Not that hard, but harder than she expected. He didn't try to justify himself or pretend what he did was anything less than a horrendous violation of trust. And he didn't deny any of it.

That was the thing. All of this was because her father decided to finally tell the truth about his past. He could have denied it and that would have been that. It was possible that some analysis would have come back from some thinker that could expose the truth, but it wasn't likely. All he had to do was lie and all of this could have been avoided. Instead, it was like he had been looking for an opportunity to confess. From what she'd picked up from her time with him since the incident, he probably was.

Her father was ashamed. It wasn't something she was used to seeing from him, but even now the giant of a man would shrink from her mother's gaze. He was committed to living with the consequences of his actions, which was at least more than she could say for her Aunt Carol.

Her father had at least apologized. It wasn't enough, not by a long shot, but it was something. Aunt Carol had tried to downplay the entire thing. To dismiss it, including the possibility that her cousin might have been her half-sister. Or would that be three-quarters sister? Thankfully, she was saved from that horrible scenario thanks to Amy's assurance of who Vicky's parents really were.

But that didn't change the fact of what had happened. She didn't even like the thought of her parents together. No kid did. Now, not only did she have to deal with that image, but with the very unpleasant reality of what her father and aunt had done. And she just had to sit and pretend that it didn't bother her.

She had the feeling everyone was pretending that the situation bothered them less than it did. The meeting had to happen, there was no question, but nobody imagined that it would be easy. Even if Aunt Carol had showed up, apologized to both her mother and Uncle Mark, and directly explained what had been happening with Vicky and Amy things would still have been difficult. Having to sit through her ranting about Apeiron was something Crystal hadn't even imagined needing to prepare herself for.

Everyone in the family was angry with Aunt Carol, and everyone was doing their best to keep themselves under control. At first, that kind of restrained frustration seemed to embolden her aunt. It was like she was relishing the opportunity to finally explain things without being questioned or shot down. Every time someone bit back a reaction or exchanged frustrated glances with Uncle Mike it was like Aunt Carol picked up steam. But that didn't last.

Crystal had been afraid of what would happen if they let her aunt talk. Tensions were high and everyone was on edge. It wouldn't take much for things to boil over. But things didn't boil over. They didn't even simmer. Maybe Aunt Carol was hoping they would have a stronger reaction. She was probably prepared for it. Her mom and aunt didn't become lawyers because they were inclined to shy away from arguments. But no, instead the frustration turned into confusion, and then to concern, and then, of all things, to sympathy.

The lack of an expected response only seemed to drive her aunt to more desperate lengths to make her case. A case that was shaky to begin with, and didn't get more convincing as the woman ranted at a room full of blank or worried faces.

Her aunt explained the threat of Apeiron, or at least how she viewed it. The early incidents were practically glossed over, as if they were obvious to everyone despite the highly questionable assumptions she was making.

How Apeiron had or coordinated the Undersiders' actions at the bank, arming them with exactly the weapons they'd need to throw the city into chaos. How he had intended for Amy to become injured, obviously through Lady Khepri acting on his orders. Then his meeting with Amy, with the implication that the healing was merely a cover. Her aunt focused on how the exact details that had been revealed to her were done so in order to cause as much chaos as possible.

It was a theory that she had heard before. One that was generally seen as one of the biggest missteps in the city's history. Assumptions about thinker coordination and master powers that proved to be completely baseless or pointed in the wrong direction. Aunt Carol clearly knew they'd be skeptical of the idea and approached it with a kind of smugness which only doubled as she moved on to details the rest of the city hadn't been made aware of.

Apeiron recovering Weld from the bay on Sunday night. The near impossible feat of partially healing his Case 53 condition brushed over in favor of the accusations the man had made against Vicky. On Amy's behalf, but once again, that wasn't what her aunt was focused on. Instead, she launched into everything she had to do to counter the investigation. To stop Apeiron's scheme. Covering the meetings with the Protectorate that nobody else had been made aware of. Spinning her own personal take on the situation with Dragon. Then she got to the Ungodly Hour.

Her aunt didn't focus on the devastation that had been wrought during the event or the mad fighting happening in every corner of the city or the madness of the recovery efforts. No, instead she expounded on Apeiron's behavior during his interaction with Bakuda and March. The stranger effect that had been released through the video footage. The damage from the wave following his strike against Lung and the implications of splitting the city in half with the blackout zone. Even the precise spread of the elemental lines and their specific impact on the city.

And then she explained what had happened to Vicky. Her cousin had flown into the battlefield of the container yard to rescue Triumph. She had rescued Triumph, but in the process they had both been exposed to an effect caused by some catastrophic failure of Apeiron's technology. A dimensional breach, potentially to the very source of parahuman powers itself. And their powers, both of their powers, had been changed because of it. A major event, along with an incredibly unfortunate case designation.

"Case 69?" Eric asked. The glimmer of amusement at the designation was limited to him, and probably the only bright spot in the entirety of their aunt's rambling interpretation of events.

"There's a decent chance that he planned that too." Aunt Carol said, looking across the impassive faces. "He would have known the order of cases. Likely planned for it when he exposed Vicky to his technology."

Uncle Mike had been making a stalwart effort to give her aunt space to talk, but even he seemed to be reaching his limit. That or her wasn't convinced that it was a good idea to let this continue.

"Carol…" He began.

"I'm not done." She said quickly, her glances between the group becoming more frantic. "There's more he's involved with. More he's planning." She saw their collective expressions. "And you don't believe me. Of course. I don't know why I thought this would be anything but a waste of time."

"Carol, stop." Uncle Mike said as her aunt started rising to leave. "This isn't…" He looked around, but there were no better options. She knew that he was doing his best, but he had never been a cornerstone member of the group. She was willing to bet it was an unfamiliar role for him. "You can't just drop all this on us like this. Give us a chance to talk through things."

"What's there to talk about?" Carol asked. "A parahuman warlord has set up in the city. He's done something to Vicky's head, made her think she's talking to her passenger, and that's one of the least of our concerns."

"Do we know she isn't?" Her dad asked. The group rounded on him, causing him to ineffectively shrink. It was kind of pointless, given his height. Still, he continued. "With everything that Apeiron's done, how do you know this isn't possible? That Vicky isn't in contact with her 'passenger'? If there wasn't anything to this, would the Protectorate have sent her to New York?"

"I know because I know my daughter. I know when something's wrong." Aunt Carol said confidently.

"Amy's still in containment." Uncle Mark said. It was the first time he had even attempted to speak since Crystal's aunt began her explanation.

"Mark, we have bigger concerns. Amy is fine." Carol said.

"Amy's alone." He said. "She's been alone since she found out the truth about her father. About Marquis. And we weren't there for her."

Crystal watched as her aunt's forehead creased in frustration. "Because you're so good at being there for the girls?" She spat.

"No, I'm not." Her uncle answered in a low voice. The lack of argument seemed to throw Aunt Carol off balance. "But I should have been. We should have been. Especially in this case."

Aunt Carol narrowed her eyes. "I'm not the one who decided to fly halfway across the country to break the news behind everyone's backs."

"This isn't on Mike, it's on us. We should have told her already. It was eating away at her." Uncle Mark continued.

"It doesn't matter. There's nothing we can do about that now." Aunt Carol said with an air of finality as she turned away from Uncle Mark.

"No." He continued. "You've been obstructing her release from containment."

"That was for Vicky." Aunt Carol protested, looking to the rest of the room for support. "After what Apeiron accused her of, the only alternative was throwing Vicky to the wolves. Do you know what could have happened to her?"

"Probably what was already happening to Amy." Uncle Mark said in a voice full of regret.

"See?" Aunt Carol seemed to be vindicated by his response. "What was I supposed to do, pick between my daughters?"

"I think it's clear who you've picked between your daughters." Crystal's mom said in a cold voice. Aunt Carol rounded on her.

"Don't give me that. You know how dangerous master accusations are. After what nearly happened to Canary, you'd risk something like that happening to Vicky?"

"It's going to happen to Vicky." Her mom continued. "And we're all going to be involved." Crystal felt a shiver go up her spine at her mother's words. There was an air of finality to them.

"That's why I was trying to stop it." Aunt Carol protested.

Her mom shook her head. "No, you were trying to delay it. But this isn't something you can kick down the road and hope it's ignored. Those experts they brought in would probably have already issued a report if the ABB's attack hadn't thrown things into chaos. And if Vicky hadn't needed to be moved for testing."

There was a bit of irony that the only reason Vicky hadn't been hit by the full force of Apeiron's accusations was because of the actions of Apeiron.

"Um, do we know if it's true?" Crystal asked.

"Of course it's not true." Her aunt said. "The Protectorate did power testing when Vicky triggered. This was just Apeiron taking advantage of Weld's situation to spread more lies."

It occurred to Crystal that there hadn't really proven to be any untruths in Apeiron's statements. Plenty of outrageous claims and damaging secrets, but she couldn't recall any that were proven to be outright lies.

"Vicky's testing was focused on short term exposure." Her mom replied. After seeing her mother so broken for so long it was a relief to see shades of the leader of New Wave coming to the surface again. Crystal just wished it was under better circumstances. "They didn't test long term exposure because they couldn't. And they don't run a thinker assessment on every triggered teen with an emotion-based power."

"But they said it was safe." Eric protested. "That Vicky's aura was harmless."

"They did." Sarah said. "And that's why this is going to be serious."

"What? Why?" Her brother asked.

"Lawsuits." Aunt Carol explained. "It's what Apeiron wanted. Why he said what he did. Because it doesn't matter that it's false. It will be up to us to prove it, and anyone who's been exposed will be able to take legal action."

"What, everyone?" Crystal asked. Vicky was a front-line fighter. The number of people she'd brought in over the years…

Her mother shook her head. "Anyone can try, but even for something like this, frivolous cases will be thrown out. But people with long term exposure, like students from Arcadia, they could probably bring a case to court."

"They'd be suing the PRT." Uncle Mike said. "They provided the assurance, so they have the liability. But New Wave would be included in the lawsuits. They'd have to be."

"This is why they wanted to know about my medical history." Uncle Mark said. "Changes in my condition over the last three years. For those meetings you didn't tell anyone about."

"Mark, you have to know how serious this is." Aunt Carol chided.

"I do." He said sternly. "Because it sounds like the experts aren't dismissing these concerns. It sounds like they're expanding their investigation. It sounds like they think they've found something."

"You can't seriously think this is Vicky's fault?" Aunt Carol asked in disbelief.

"Where does fault come into this?" He asked. "Vicky might have a dangerous power, but that's not her fault. Lots of people do. What it means is we need to help her deal with it and make sure it doesn't hurt anyone."

"And what, keep her away from everyone for the rest of her life? Have her live in a bubble or with a stigma that will never go away?" Aunt Carol said. "You'd ask that of your daughter?"

"We could deal with it. Help her through it." Mark said. "Sarah's right. You've just been buying time. And the price has been too high."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Her aunt demanded. Uncle Mark just gave her a flat look.

"Amy. You've been keeping Amy in containment. Drawing out a process that should have been over by now."

"Amy can last a few days-"

"People have died, Carol." Uncle Mark only raised his voice slightly, but for the impact it had he might as well have been screaming. He dropped his voice again as he continued. "The ABB bombings. The fire. The fights between the gangs. And the Ungodly Hour. People died. People Amy could have saved. People Amy would have wanted to save. But she couldn't, because she was locked away and you were keeping the rest of us in the dark."

Aunt Carol clenched the arms of her chair. "If the rest of you weren't acting like children over slights from decades ago then maybe I would have been able to tell you."

Crystal saw her mother's reaction. All the adult's reactions. She was afraid of what was going to happen next. Things were already going downhill fast. She looked to Uncle Mike, but even he seemed at a loss for how to diffuse the building tension.

Then her mother took a breath. Her face relaxed and her eyes drooped. Crystal could see the exhaustion of the past week, of every slight and injustice that had been heaped on top of them. Every support that had failed when they needed it the most.

"Do you really think we wouldn't help?" Her mother asked. "For Amy and Vicky, did you think we wouldn't care, that we'd let them hurt, because of you?"

Her aunt faltered. "You weren't there. I had to do what I could."

Her mother just let out a breath and shook her head. "We need to speak with the PRT. Get Amy out of containment and get ahead of this as well as we can."

"Does that mean the team isn't breaking up?" Eric asked.

Their mother paused, looking over to Aunt Carol, and then their dad. Then back again. That frustration was building again.

"We can talk about that after we deal with what's happening with your cousins." Her father said. Her mom gave him a hard look, then nodded once and turned away.

Aunt Carol seemed to be rallying fast. The woman sat up and looked across the group. "And what about Apeiron?"

It was poised like the most obvious question in the world, but was met with nothing but confusion.

"What about Apeiron?" Her dad asked.

"He's behind this." Her aunt said. "Behind all of this. We can't just ignore that."

Crystal considered the idea that anyone would be ignoring Apeiron. That anyone could ignore Apeiron. The way the phrase 'The Enigmatic Artificer' echoed through her head whenever the man's name was brought up was proof enough of that.

This time the response seemed to fall to her Uncle Mike. "Carol, I understand where you're coming from. Lots of people had similar theories when he first appeared. It was even baked into the PRT engagement policies, but those have been largely dismissed, and for good reason."

"But they don't know everything he's done. They don't have the full picture." Her aunt looked around the room for support, but found none. Whatever case she had thought she'd been making hadn't landed.

"It's not just Vicky." She continued. "Uppercrust is in the city. You know why he's here. Everyone knows he's been working less. Dealing with health issues. He wants Apeiron to heal him. That's why he made sure Amy was in containment, so he could make deals with his own technology and build ties with the Elite."

Crystal had been tangentially aware of the rumors about Uppercrust. Technically they were unconfirmed, but she had seen some news footage of the man from that afternoon. He was known for holding himself with a kind of quiet dignity, but that definitely wasn't the case anymore. The man had been wearing an expression she'd only seen from people on the wrong end of a Fugly Bob's challenger. Whatever 'rumored' medical condition the man had, it was clearly reaching a critical point.

To her surprise, it was Eric who spoke up. "If Apeiron can heal Uppercrust, isn't that a good thing?"

Aunt Carol gave her brother a stunned look. "What, and let him get his hooks into the Elite? Do you know how bad that could be?"

"No." Eric said nervously. "But I know how bad things would be without Uppercrust." He looked around at the group. "I wrote a report on his force field systems for school last year."

Crystal blinked in surprise. She'd remembered Eric digging into every record he could find about force field using capes. It was a blitz of research that had kicked off once he'd gotten a feel for his powers. More specifically, the limitations of his powers. When it was clear he was the slowest flyer with the weakest lasers he had started looking into any way to push his force fields further. She wasn't surprised that it had extended into a school report on civic shield systems.

"The shielding systems affect insurance rates, investment, and new construction. Cities that don't have them have barely grown since Leviathan appeared. Not unless they're completely funded by the government or run by a warlord or something." He continued. "There are projections on what would happen if Uppercrust can't keep working. Most people think it would trigger a recession. Make people overcrowd in cities that have working systems, or can afford other kinds of protection."

Aunt Carol just shook her head. "That's… we can't let Apeiron take over the Elite!"

"Take over?" Her father gasped. "What, you think Uppercrust's just going to sign over everything the moment he meets the man?"

"It doesn't matter. You've seen what he can do. The way his plans work." Carol continued. "That's why he healed Weld." She said confidently. "Word got out and now Case 53s from all over the country are coming to the city. All so Apeiron can build an army of monsters."

Crystal blinked and rocked back in her chair. Outrage bubbled within her, but she couldn't find the words. Fortunately, her father was ahead of her in that department.

"Excuse me?" He said in the sternest voice she'd heard from him since the whole mess started.

"I know you've been working with one of them, but-" Carol began, but Neil cut her off.

"Her name is Gully." Her father said. "She's a San Diego Ward, and one of the best on her team. She's been making a world of difference in the recovery effort and she came here on her own initiative."

"Because Weld told her to come. Because Apeiron wanted her to." Carol shot back.

"So?" Her dad asked.

"What?" Carol stumbled over her reply.

"I didn't know that Weld had called her. I didn't even know that he had been healed, or partially healed. And yes, she is here because she's hoping Apeiron can help her. And it makes sense that others are coming as well." He leaned forward in his chair. Even sitting down, her father could tower over people. "I'm asking why it matters?"

"You're asking why it matters that hundreds of capes are ready to swear loyalty to Apeiron? What the problem is with him having a parahuman army?" Carol asked.

"Does it matter?" Uncle Mark asked in a tired voice.

"Of course it matters!" Aunt Carol shot back. "Am I the only one concerned about the amount of power that Apeiron is trying to amass?"

"Yes." Mark said flatly. "Because it doesn't matter. Because every Case 53 in the world could sign on with him and it would still be less significant than what he did to Lung five days ago. Without his team."

"I haven't even gotten into the Celestial Forge." Aunt Carol began, but Uncle Mark interrupted her.

"You shouldn't." He said.

"And why not?" Carol asked.

"Because they're not a problem we can deal with." Her mother said.

Uncle Mike nodded. "Matters concerning the Celestial Forge are being handled at the highest levels of the PRT. The local police are getting their engagement policies from Washington, not the local office.

"I bet Piggot loves that." Her father muttered. His words brought the slightest flicker of amusement from her mother, but it quickly faded.

"That just proves my point. Look at what he's done to the local command structure. You can see it in how he interacted with Bakuda and March. The way he picks at things and sets them in motion. Breaks people without touching them." There was a concerning amount of emotion leaking into her aunt's words.

"Why would he?" Crystal asked.

"Because he…" Her aunt sputtered out.

Crystal shook her head. "Apeiron is too powerful to bother with any of this. Why would he care about any of this? About causing trouble for Vicky or having Amy locked away?"

"Because that's what people like him do." Carol said. "It's what they live for."

"Apeiron is not Marquis." Her mother said.

"What?" Carol sputtered.

"That's what this is about, isn't it?" For the first time she could remember, there seemed to be an edge of cruelty to her mother's words. "I knew you had a serious problem with him. I just didn't know why. Until now. After all these years, you still can't get away from him."

"No." Her aunt looked more frightened than Crystal ever remembered seeing her. "No, you don't…"

"I remember Marquis." Uncle Mike broke in. "I remember the killings. The demonstrations. People buried alive. The aftermath of his fight with Jack Slash." She watched as her uncle actually shuddered. "Marquis didn't fight with nonlethal weapons. He didn't free hostages from implanted explosives or rescue lost Wards. He didn't hold off a city-wide attack with non-lethal weapons. I understand how serious the possibility of another Marquis is, but that's not what's happening here."

"This started with a boy being dismembered in the middle of the street!" Carol exclaimed. "You're saying that's nothing?" She looked around the room. "We can't let this continue. Everyone else is ready to roll over, but we have to. We have to."

"Carol?" Her aunt whipped her head towards Mark. "You need to stop this. You aren't well."

She let out a laugh. "You're the one telling me that?"

"Yes." He said. "Because I would know." There was a sadness to his words. "Whatever you're chasing here, it's not what you think. You need to slow down and let us help you."

It was about the last thing Crystal would have expected out of this meeting. And about the best she could have hoped for, even if it had circled around from an unexpected direction. Looking around, everyone seemed to be on the same page. Things weren't resolved, but they at least had an objective, even if it ended up being the final chapter of the team.

"No." Aunt Carol continued. "It's Apeiron. You know that. There's no other explanation."

"There is." Uncle Mark said. "If it's our fault. Our oversights and failings."

"I didn't… we didn't fail." She protested.

"We did." Mark admitted sadly. "Even if you're right, Apeiron wouldn't have had anything to take advantage of if we had been doing our job. Maybe he can manipulate and pick at people's weaknesses." He didn't sound convinced, but it was clear that Aunt Carol needed to hear that. "But it's our fault that they were there in the first place."

Her aunt seemed to fold into herself. "So that's it? You're not going to do anything?"

There was a pause as the adults shared meaningful glances, pointedly leaving Crystal and Eric out of things. Which was probably for the best.

"We'll start. Tomorrow." Her mother said. "We'll talk with Vicky, then speak with the PRT. See what we can do about her and Amy's case." She paused and looked at Aunt Carol. "And you should stay here tonight."

She snapped her head up, looking between her sister and husband. "I'm fine."

"Carol, you're not. We can all see that. At least let us make sure you get some sleep." Her mother said. Crystal nodded. Breakfast would probably be a good idea as well. It didn't look like her aunt was eating… she was going to say 'eating properly', but no, it just looked like she had gone off food entirely.

"So that's it? Everything's magically fixed?" Carol asked.

"Of course not." Her mother said in a harsh voice. "I'm still furious. But you were right. We need to stop acting like children and take this seriously. We can deal with personal matters once we know Amy and Vicky are alright."

And with that the meeting came to an informal close. As the closest thing to a neutral party, Crystal had the role of helping her aunt to the guest room while Eric was sent for clean sheets and towels. Previously she'd have been terrified to have her mother and aunt under the same roof, but whatever revelation had struck her mother when the topic of Marquis came up seemed to have shifted the balance of things between her and Aunt Carol. Whatever it was, it had shaken Carol badly. Badly enough that Crystal didn't want to ask about what it meant.

Her aunt insisted that she wasn't tired, then collapsed into a heap the second she hit the bed. Crystal left her there and returned to the living room, where the standoff had deescalated to at least an acceptable level of tension. Her parents weren't socializing, and Uncle Mark was only still avoiding her father, but there was definitely less of a sense of dread than there had been before.

She found her Uncle Mike, who seemed nearly as exhausted as her aunt.

"So, that went well." She said dryly.

"About as well as we could have hoped. And with any luck, you'll be able to manage the next one without my help." He said.

She nodded. "Playing referee isn't fun."

He nodded. "It's like parenthood, only without any of the authority or affection. The best you can hope for is begrudging acceptance." He dropped his head. "I'm sorry so much of this ended up falling on you."

"It's fine. Price of being the oldest. Plus, not like I have classes this week." She said.

"Still, shouldn't have happened. I think they realize that now." He sighed. "It's way too easy for people to get caught up in themselves, especially in this business. Makes it hard to look out for people who need it."

Crystal nodded. "Actually, on that note, I realized there's one last thing I need to do."

He looked down at her. "Something occurred to you?"

She nodded. "Something that's past due. Provided you know where they're keeping Amy."

He raised an eyebrow. "What, are you going to break out your cousin?"

"Maybe." She said coyly. "But she deserves to know what's going on. And it's not like they have any good reason for isolating her. After I fill her in, we'll play it by ear."

He smiled at her. "Well, that sounds like an incredibly risky idea and one that you definitely shouldn't follow through with. There's absolutely no reason to visit the PRT offsite holding residence on the corner of Bay and Tanner Street. That gray building would hold no interest to you, particularly the second-floor windows that should be outside of the field of view of the security cameras."

She returned the smile. "Thanks Uncle Mike. Um, you aren't going to get in trouble for this, are you?"

He shrugged. "Wonderful thing about being a Police Contractor. I'm not actually in the PRT's chain of command. If I happen to have heard something of note from agents who were discussing the case, then I can hardly be blamed, right?"

"Right." She said, then looked around. "Is everything going to be okay here?"

Mike sighed. "For the moment. And that's really all we can hope for."

Crystal nodded. Frankly, given recent events, being alright for the moment seemed to be all anyone in the city could hope for. Though maybe that was starting to change.