"So, what's the deal with Tattletale?" Crystal asked, as she stirred her coffee.

We sat together on the semi-crumbling roof of my apartment building, a couple days after Crystal had run into Lisa and I at the diner. The spring morning air felt cool and crisp.

"What do you mean?" I said, as I took a sip of my own coffee. "I mean, she's a pain in my ass, if that's what you're asking."

Crystal took a deep drink, and looked at me. For some reason, her gaze read as almost…skeptical?

"She's a villain, right?" Crystal said. "Which, I know, the amnesty, and points for showing up for Teacher, and for the Titans, and that other stuff…but she's a villain."

I nodded. "Well, yeah. The Undersiders all are, and they're not very shy about it." She knew that. Where was she going with this?

"And she has a pretty nasty power, right?" Crystal pressed on. "What she does to people, it's basically flaying people alive, psychologically. Finding people's weakest, most vulnerable points, shoving a live hand grenade into them, and enjoying it."

"Pretty much." I said. "As far as Thinker-style powers go, it's unconventional and pretty scary. From what I've learned about it, I'm guessing that her agent wants her actively out in the field, doing that to people."

Crystal nodded. She set her coffee down on the ground and crossed her legs under her, floating almost imperceptibly to make the position more comfortable.

"So don't take this the wrong way, Victoria," she said, "but why are you hanging out with her?" She grimaced. "Oh, sorry, that came out a little aggressive. This isn't an intervention or something. I trust you. Legitimately, I just wanna know."

"It's okay. I know you wouldn't mean it like that," I said. "I don't think I hang out with her that much, though? It's not like we're friends, or something."

Crystal regarded me with that inquisitive, skeptical look again.

"Did you know that she helped get Amy sent overseas?" she asked.

"She did?" I said, genuinely surprised. Getting the news of Amy's exile from Crystal at Missy's party had been such an immense relief, but I hadn't heard anything about Tattletale helping with that. Shouldn't I have?

Crystal nodded. "She did," she said. "She was a key part of the negotiations to get everyone on the same page. She claimed it was to salvage her rep with the Wardens after she didn't take the dreaming death, but honestly? I didn't buy it. If her top priority right now was helping the Wardens to tip the scales in her favor, there're a ton of major problems she could be helping with. But she went after this, specifically, and basically banged down the door to help. It kinda seemed like…she was doing it for you?"

I cupped my fingers around the warm cup of coffee and leaned back, processing what Crystal had said.

Tattletale had done that for me? Tattletale, of all people? We'd found a mutual respect, now, but could still barely get along without bickering. Why hadn't she told me about this? It was exactly the kind of thing she'd love to lord over me, that I'd owe her a major favor.

"So that left me wondering,' Crystal said. "Where's her head at? I always thought she was this vicious bitch of a villain, but she goes out of her way to help you, somebody who says you're not even friends. You've got basically the strongest sense of justice of anyone I know, and you don't mind spending time around her."

"In a professional capacity, basically," I said.

"Right," Crystal said. "But, still. You seem to see her as somebody you can work with, that it's OK for her to be out there on the streets."

"I guess that's fair," I conceded. "I don't really agree with the Undersiders on a lot of how they handle things, but after having spent so much time around them, I have to admit that they're a net positive to have out there."

"Cool. But then, she doesn't take the dreaming death, even with everything that's at stake. So that makes me think, okay, she is that villainous bitch. But that doesn't square with all that other stuff."

Crystal spread her arms in a helpless shrug.

"So, what's her deal?" she asked. "You seem like you have the best read on her of anybody I know."

I considered for a moment.

"She's complicated," I said. "She's kind of a vituperative bitch, it's true, but she's also willing to risk her life in ways that are sometimes pretty selfless. I've seen her throw herself in front of a knife to shield kids with her body. She stayed to fight Leviathan. She showed up for Behemoth, as a villain, when that was halfway across the world. She led the Undersiders to fight, like, every shitshow we've had since Gold Morning. She just couldn't do the dreaming death. I can't get into why without exposing stuff that's not mine to disclose. She actually asked me not to go through with it, once she figured out the plan. Not because she was worried about herself, but because she was worried about everyone else."

"Not the reaction I'd have imagined," Crystal said.

"Not what I would have imagined, either, if you'd asked me a year ago. Honestly, she really is a total bitch, but she's also fronting. It scares her to be honest about how much she cares, I think. Putting on the act of the heartless mastermind is a way to seem strong, to keep other people at arm's length. She's playing a part."

"She plays it a little too well, if you ask me," Crystal said. "All that enjoyment doesn't seem feigned to me."

"Nah, she does get off on it, that's true. One of her many irritating qualities."

"So you're really not worried at all to have her out there, running around free?"

"She may be a pain in my ass sometimes, but one thing I did learn from all that time with her driving me up the wall is that she truly wanted to help the city, maybe even as much as I did. She's been running herself absolutely ragged for years trying to keep things stable. I disagree pretty strongly with a lot of her methods, but, and I know how freaking weird this sounds, her heart is in the right place, I think. We're better off with her out there, even as a villain."

"You actually trust her, huh," Crystal said. There was no judgement in her voice, only surprise.

Did I really trust Tattletale? I'd answered that question in the negative many times before, before things had gone completely to shit. Everything had been such non-stop insanity since then that I'd been too busy putting out fires alongside her to ponder the question. I turned the thought over in my mind, examined it deeply, and realized I knew the answer.

"I guess I do trust her," I said. "I think I would trust her with my actual life, if I had to. I've done that already, sort of. Is that crazy? Past me would definitely think it was pretty fucking crazy."

Crystal smiled. "Our whole lives are pretty fucking crazy," she said, conjuring one of her brilliant red lasers for emphasis. "If you trust her, that's good enough for me. I guess I'll have to be a little nicer to her, next time I run into her."

"No need for that," I said with a laugh. "She's a big girl, she can take it if you dish it out. In fact, she'll respect you more if you hold your own."

Crystal laughed too. "That's a relief," she said. "I'm not sure I have it in me to treat her that cordially." She took another sip of her coffee.

"It's her own fault, really," I said. "I've told her this, but she's not helping her case by deliberately antagonizing so many heroes for no reason. Sure, some heroes will be dicks to her no matter what, but if she was more willing to observe the niceties, she could've more or less integrated the Undersiders as a sort of rogue-type group by now. It's really by her own choice that people still see her as this sinister schemer despite her working herself to exhaustion to keep things stable. In some ways, she's almost more hero than villain at this point."

Crystal tilted her head thoughtfully. "I have a very, very hard time seeing Tattletale as a hero," she said.

"Believe me, I get that," I said. "But I wish she was one. I think she could be amazing. That's part of why she's so frustrating. She's poured so much energy and effort into keeping things stable. She's not acting out of self-interest, she's not even just limiting herself to protecting her own allies. She was actually, genuinely trying to protect the city. Even so, she still insists on acting the part of the mastermind villainess."

Crystal shrugged. "I guess that must be how she likes it," she said.

"I'm not entirely sure," I said. "I think maybe she'd gotten herself trapped in a bad place and didn't know quite how to break out."

"Vic, if I didn't know any better, I would really think you guys are friends, or at least friends-adjacent," Crystal said. She prodded me in the shoulder. "You're sure you're not?"

I shook my head forcefully. "We're not."

"You're completely sure?" she said. "She didn't sound entirely convinced. "Really, if you trust her, she's fine in my books."

"Crystal, we're seriously not. This is still Tattletale we're talking about."

"Hey, I don't judge," she said, but she was laughing, now. I punched her lightly in the shoulder.

"Don't be a dick," I said. My mind returned to what Crystal had said earlier. "Tattletale was seriously that involved in getting Amy sent away?"

"One hundred percent," Crystal said. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you, actually. Not that I know her well, but my impression was that she'd make a point of how you owed her a major favor."

"That's a correct impression," I said. "I'd very much so like to know why she didn't mention it, too."

"Why don't you ask her?"

"You know, maybe I will," I said, looking up at the sky.