"So," Taylor began. She'd been following behind Ollie for a few minutes, and she'd noticed he was getting increasingly tense the closer they got to the Loft. The silence was putting Taylor on edge, so she figured it couldn't hurt to try and break the silence. "How long have you been doing this?"

"What?" Ollie asked without slowing down or turning to address Taylor. He was almost jogging, and it was difficult for Taylor to keep pace with Ollie's cumbersome clothes.

"This." Taylor gave the street a quick once over to see if anyone was nearby to hear her—the street was largely empty, save for the occasional car passing by. Even so, she lowered her voice to whisper before speaking again. "The assassin thing."

"Two years."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

Taylor nodded; they were the same age. She hadn't even considered that Ollie was any younger than thirty—he looked far older than he was. Maybe that just came with the territory; she'd never seen a youthful mercenary. Though she'd never seen any mercenaries in person until she'd met Ollie. But two years? That meant he started doing this at eighteen, right? Taylor had to wonder what would push someone to become a hired killer at that age. Maybe it was connected to him getting his powers? As much as she'd like to ask, she'd learned her lesson about that particular question with the Undersiders.

"Why do you do it?"

Ollie didn't answer immediately. He slowed down—Taylor was grateful for that—and a deep sigh fell from his lips as his shoulders relaxed.

"I'm good at it, and there are plenty of people willing to pay good money to see someone else dead." He admitted.

"So it's just business to you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like it?"

"What?"

"Killing."

"It's a job. Sometimes it's more a chore than anything else, and it's rarely personal. All I'm after is a paycheck."

Taylor wasn't sure if that was better than the other option she'd considered: that Ollie enjoyed killing and pursued a career where he was paid to do so. Ollie had made it clear in no uncertain terms that he was after money, and that was where his interests ended. It wasn't that Taylor thought that meant he didn't enjoy his job; rather, she got the impression that he didn't care whether someone lived or died so long as he got paid.

"What about you? What possessed you to put on a costume and play supervillain?" Ollie asked.

"I guess I wanted an escape—to get away from it all." A bit vague, but it wasn't a lie; Taylor had taken up a costumed identity to escape the ever-present concern that the trio—her high school bullies that attended the same college as her—would get up to their old tricks, and then some.

"And how's that working out for you?"

Taylor considered Ollie's question. Sure, she'd been terrified at the bank when Glory Girl showed—and when she fought Lung—but she'd also experienced excitement that she never thought possible. The lingering effects of adrenaline still gripped her but had subsided into a pleasant buzz. It was a conflicting feeling.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"Hmph." Ollie replied with an affirmative grin.

The remainder of their walk was silent. When Taylor saw the Loft come into view, she heard a resigned sigh hiss through Ollie's teeth, and he jogged the short distance. Taylor did her best to keep up, but, again, Ollie's clothes were hindering her from keeping pace. She did make it to the door of the Loft before it could shut behind Ollie, and, inside, she caught Alec, Brian, and Lisa sitting around the kitchen island enjoying a celebratory round of drinks while music hummed quietly in the background. Ollie marched to the island, throwing his backpack onto it as he closed the distance.

"Wilbourn." He addressed Lisa, his voice hard.

"Ollie!" She responded cheerfully. "Do you drink? Brian's been saving a good whiskey for—"

"Shut up."

Everyone froze at that; Lisa, in particular, looked more offended than shocked.

"Why didn't you tell us that Panacea was in that bank?" Ollie asked. Taylor stood behind him, almost hiding from the shocked, confused expressions the rest of the Undersiders wore. Despite the fact that she had no reason to, she didn't enjoy the potential for scrutiny.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Lisa replied with one of her own.

"Well, you've been pretty damn insistent that you know everything; so, you're either a liar or you withheld information that almost got me killed!" Ollie's voice rose steadily as he spoke until he was shouting at Lisa.

"I never claimed to know everything! That's not how my power works."

"Then stop acting like it!"

"Lynch, calm down." Brian put a hand on Ollie's shoulder; his voice was firm.

"Did you even case the bank?" Ollie ignored Brian. Brian opened his mouth, likely to defend Lisa, but she spoke before he had a chance to.

"Well, I didn't really have time to—"

"What?" Brian cut Lisa off in turn. Now, Alec, Brian, Ollie, and Taylor's eyes were all trained on Lisa.

"The boss wanted the bank job done today, and it was such short notice. I didn't have time to scope out the place, so I used the map of its layout and my power filled in the blanks."

Taylor stepped out from behind Ollie, feeling far more confident now that everyone's attention was on Lisa. She got a better look at everyone's reactions to Lisa's confessions. Ollie was angry—she expected as much. His expression was twisted into a hard grimace that made his features look sharper than they were. Brian's expression struck Taylor as a mixture of hurt and anger. It made sense; he'd been confident in the plan because of his trust in Lisa's ability. Alec's expression was difficult to read, but Taylor decided it was amused indifference.

"You almost got me killed!" Ollie shouted. Taylor whinced at the accusation; she didn't agree that it was entirely Lisa's fault for what Ollie had been put through, but she empathized. Taylor had been absolutely terrified, and Glory Girl hadn't even looked at her; she could only imagine how Ollie had felt with Glory Girl's hand around his throat.

"No, I—." Lisa began.

"I'm with Lynch on this one, Leese." Brian interrupted. "You convinced us to take the job in the first place, so I expected you to do your due diligence."

Lisa fell silent, her eyes glued to the kitchen island. Alec had already taken his drink and left, likely to escape the increasingly awkward atmosphere that hung in the room like an ominous fog.

"We'll talk about this later." Brian said, leaving the kitchen and marching up the stairs to the second floor of the Loft. Ollie followed suit, stopping briefly to give Taylor's shoulder a squeeze and a few parting words.

"You did well; hold onto the gun I gave you."

Taylor nodded and walked around the kitchen island to meet Lisa. She didn't know what to say to comfort Lisa, so she let the solemn silence be and cautiously gave Lisa a side hug. Lisa quietly huffed.

"Thanks."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Lisa shot Taylor a wide, strained grin. "Are those Ollie's clothes?"

Taylor's face burned a bright red, and she pulled away from Lisa. Taylor was suddenly very aware of how it might've looked to Lisa, seeing Taylor in Ollie's clothes.

"Yeah." Taylor admitted. "I didn't plan a change of clothes for after the bank job."

"Oof, and they were scolding me?"

"It was an honest mistake." Taylor protested, folding her arms.

"Yeah, well," Lisa said, raising her glass, "to honest mistakes."