"So, did the Patrol members appreciate my new pearls of wisdom?" Lisa said, as the two of us sat at the diner table for yet another one of our meetings, sipping our iced coffees. We'd been meeting regularly for long enough now, at least a couple of months, that spring had long since given way to summer. The diner, though increasingly well repaired, did lack air conditioning, and even though we met reasonably early in the morning, the heat had already started to become stifling.

"The higher-ups seem to think I'm doing a pretty good job," I said. "Apparently there's been a lot of positive feedback."

"That's a relief," she said. "If you'd said otherwise, I'd be forced to lower my already dismal opinion of their intellectual capacity even further."

I craned my neck for a quick look around the diner.

"Relax, hon, nobody from the Patrol is here. I'm not going to get you fired," Lisa said. "I don't walk into a room without getting a read on anyone I don't recognize. Give me some credit."

"I've had my differences with some of the leaders, but the local leadership is great," I said. "I think they appreciate what I'm doing."

"Those kids need all the help they can get," Lisa said. "Better that they're getting taught by you instead of some puffed-up, self-important jerkoff. Patrol has more than its fair share of those."

"No comment," I said.

"You're no fun," she said.

"I'm professional," I said. "You never know who's listening."

"Oh, the kids are with Rachel again this week, in case you didn't hear," Lisa said. "They seem to be having a good time. Kenzie is doing well, from what I've managed to drag out of Rachel."

Yes, I'd noticed that sometimes our phrasing did sound a little too much like we were divorced parents.

"It was good of Rachel to let her back, after the puppy incident. It'll mean a lot to her."

"Rachel's tough, and she has a, ah, different way of expressing herself, but she has a good heart," Lisa said. "She loves the kids too. She knew they'd be sad without Kenzie there. You've maybe experienced this, but it makes you feel like a complete piece of shit when you can tell you've let them down. She's not any more immune to it than the rest of us."

"It'll be good for Kenzie, especially after everything that's happened."

"She's a good kid, despite it all," Lisa said. "She deserves some good stuff in her life, even if she fucked up."

"You've gotten a lot softer on her," I said. "She used to scare the shit out of you."

Lisa shrugged. "She's trying, and she's just a kid," she said. "It's better for me to help, make sure she stays on the right path."

I smiled. "And to think I used to believe you were this ice-hearted, ruthless, self-interested schemer," I said. "You are such a pushover."

Lisa scowled. "Don't be an idiot," she said. "The other kids really like her. What choice do I have?"

"See? Softie." I laughed. "Seriously, though, thank you for looking out for her," I said. "It's good of you."

Lisa and I might have some disagreements over, well, "parenting style" didn't feel like exactly the right phrase, but I respected the hell out of how much she cared about the kids. I wouldn't ever forget how she'd held Kenzie after Ashley's death. Underneath all that posturing and calculating facade, she really, truly cared.

"Now kith," Imp said through a mouthful of pancake, suddenly blinking into existence at our table. My heart almost skipped a beat.

Why did the Undersiders all have to be like this? It was a miracle that Chicken Little had turned out as well-adjusted as he had.

"Holy shit, Aisha," Lisa said. "Why are you like this?"

"How long have you been there?" I said. "Have you been hiding the entire time?" Even understanding how Imp's power worked, and having experienced it in action, it still felt bizarre to forget a person existed from one moment to the next like that.

"I walked over right next to her," Imp said, pointing at Lisa. Imp wasn't in costume, of course, but instead sported a garish, yet somehow impressively fashionable top over an equally garish-yet-fashionable skirt. "I've been here all along."

"God damn it," Lisa said. She massaged her forehead. "I am seriously going to snap one of these days."

"I can tell Lisa likes hanging out with you," Imp said to me. "If she wasn't so relaxed, her power might actually have picked up that something was off."

Imp's power was actually incredible, as far as Stranger powers went. I could still vividly remember how disorienting it'd been to be on the receiving end of it. It was a shame that she apparently also used it just to be obnoxious.

"Stop complimenting her," Lisa said.

"What?" I said. "I didn't say anything."

"Even mentally. I can tell. You really shouldn't be impressed."

"Sue me. It's a fascinating power, and I like studying powers."

Imp cackled gleefully.

"You two are so cute," she said. "And yes, I am fascinating, thank you. So glad that you understand."

"Seriously, Aisha, why the fuck are you here?" Lisa asked. "Did you come here just to make sure I finally lose my last remaining shred sanity?"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," she said. "I just had to see what was going on with you two."

"It's your teammate, so please explain what's happening here," I said to Lisa, thoroughly nonplussed.

"Aisha found out that the two of us have been meeting up," she said. "So, being Aisha, she's decided to be an absolutely massive pain in my ass about these completely normal, mundane, boring meetings."

"I just think it's way too funny that you two are friends now," Imp said. She patted Lisa on the shoulder. "For the record, I had a lot of concerns about trusting you with Lisa at first, but now I fully approve," she said to me. "Lisa has been more fun and less mopey since you two have been hanging out."

"Thanks, I guess?" I said.

"I am not mopey, Imp," Lisa said, with long-suffering frustration.

Having gotten to know Imp a bit better while working with the Undersiders, I could empathize.

"I understand why you were doing it, but sorry, you were getting pretty fuckin' mopey," Imp said.

Well, she wasn't entirely wrong.

Lisa's eyes abruptly jumped to me. She jabbed a finger at me.

"Take her side and it will be the last thing you ever do," she said. "I am not mopey."

"She knows you better than I do," I said, with a deliberately insouciant shrug. I still didn't entirely follow what Imp's angle was here, but if it was a chance to irritate Lisa, I wasn't going to pass that up.

Imp's cackles doubled her over as Lisa blew out a breath.

"You are pretty fun!" Imp said to me. Coming from Imp, I wasn't sure if that was a compliment to be proud of.

"You're lucky I don't have my gun," Lisa said. "I don't even know who I'd shoot first."

"Babe, you are the one who talks about telling people hard truths that they don't want to hear," Imp said. "Now I'm doing it to you and you don't even have the decency to give me credit? I'm actually kind of upset. I'm killing it right now, you gotta hand it to me."

"You do say that," I said, thinking back to our conversation in the Warden headquarters. "Not loving a taste of your own medicine?"

"I try to level with you and be genuine, and you repay me like this?" Lisa said, sounding wounded.

"Just keeping you honest."

"Lisa was getting a little too focused on work," Imp said. "Okay, like, way too focused. She needs to take a break every now and then, or she's no fun to be around. So, on behalf of all the Undersiders, je te remercie," she said, mock-bowing in her seat.

Lisa looked as though she couldn't decide between sinking through the floor, or leaping across the table to throttle Imp.

"That means thank you," Imp added helpfully. "In French."

"I pretty much inferred that from the context, thanks," I said.

"Don't you think it sounds classier in French?" Imp said.

"She's really proud that she can speak French," Lisa said. "She expects everybody else to be as impressed with her as she is by herself."

"Awwww, don't get catty just cause you're embarrassed," Imp said. "You are so not going to win if we go there."

I wasn't so sure about that. Even before you added her power into the mix, it was hard to outdo Lisa in ability to be catty.

"Victoria thinks I'd win," Lisa said. "Which I am choosing to take as a compliment, by the way," she said to me.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Imp said, looking at me. "Don't gang up on me!"

"You were literally just getting her to gang up on me with you," Lisa said. "Do you even hear yourself?"

Imp looked at her nearly-finished pancakes.

"You guys are gonna have to pay for these, by the way," she said. "I just grabbed them out of the kitchen. Or don't pay. The point is, I'm not paying."

"That's coming out of your pocket," I said to Lisa. "The deal is that I buy your breakfast, not hers."

"Aisha, can you just do that thing where we forget the whole conversation, and then leave and pretend like this never happened?" Lisa said, waving a hand in the air around her head. "Because that's feeling like a great option right now."

"No way. We nailed a great heart-to-heart on the first take. I'm not running my lines again. It's easy for you to say when you won't remember having to repeat it."

"You should have just left me in that prison world," Lisa said to me. "At least it would've spared me this."

"I'm starting to see the prison world appeal myself," I said. "Lots of peace and quiet to think."

"Or, better, we could put Imp in a prison world instead for a while, for some much-needed self-reflection," Lisa said, warming to the idea. "I could make a very compelling case for it."

"Hah!" Imp crowed. "Just look at you two crazy kids getting along. No wonder she likes hanging out with you so much."

I looked at Lisa, and raised an eyebrow.

"Just ignore her," Lisa said, studiously avoiding eye contact. "She'll say whatever she thinks will get a reaction."

"Lisa's totally in denial about it, obviously," Imp said. "But that's what friends are for!" She laughed again, and gave Lisa another affectionate pat on the shoulder, which she swatted away. "Well, I think I've done what I came here to do," she said. She swallowed the final bites of her pancakes, and stood up. "You kids have fun, okay? Bonne journée."

"Thank you so much," Lisa said, with sarcasm so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Imp strode off, shuddering with laughter. Lisa looked daggers at her back as she went.

"And you complained about my old team?" I said to Lisa.

"I am actually going to kill her," Lisa said. Her nose wrinkled with irritation, and she looked at me again. "I am not mopey," she said.

"I never said you were," I said, with a tinge of humor.

"I mean it," Lisa said. "I do not mope. And these are professional meetings. Don't pay any attention to her. She bullshits all the time just to get under your skin."

"Sounds like somebody else I know."

"Oh, come on, Vicky."

"So, you enjoy hanging out with me?" I said, unable to resist taking the bait.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, like she just said. It sounded like you guys had talked about it. Care to comment?"

Lisa gave me an exasperated look.

"You really looked at that clown show of a conversation, and thought 'yes, that's what I want to follow up on'?" she said. "I know you're smarter than that, Vicky."

"You're evading," I said. "I've noticed that you like to do that. That tends to make it seem like you've got something to hide."

Lisa's nose wrinkled again. "Today is just wonderful, isn't it. I'm perfectly comfortable admitting that I don't hate our little chats here, because I'm an adult. If you're expecting me to be embarrassed about that, you're going to be disappointed."

"'Don't hate' isn't exactly the word that Imp used, though."

"Don't push your luck."

After finishing our food and yet another review of my latest lecture notes, we stepped outside. Asphalt and concrete sizzled under the hot summer sun, and I shielded my eyes against the glare.

"Well, see you next week," Lisa said, turning to go.

"I actually have enjoyed our talks, you know," I said. "It's fun to dig into concepts with someone else who really gets it."

Yes, it felt a bit odd to genuinely enjoy spending time just talking with Tattletale, but, somehow, that was what my life had become, and I didn't see any reason to lie about it.

Lisa blinked, once again seeming a little unsure of how to respond.

"This is the part where you admit that you enjoy it too," I prompted.

"Fine, I do," she said. "It's a decent break from the endless rain of shit to handle."

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Lisa didn't look amused. "You are not as funny as you think you are," she said.

"Drop me off on your way home again?" I asked, gesturing in the direction of Lisa's car, which she'd parked on the street in front of one of the abandoned apartments. "I figured we could talk shop a bit more on the way back."

"Sure, I can do that," Lisa said. "But on't expect me to come up and visit your apartment. We're not there yet, Vicky."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't mistake that for an invitation to come up and visit my apartment," I retorted.

"Oooh, now you've got me interested," she said. "Come on, let's get going. Getting a sunburn would be terrible for my image."

We chatted amicably the whole way back.