Chum

"Look at us," I say, trying to keep the mood light as I climb in after her. "Just a couple of badasses, right?"

Maggie laughs--or tries to. It comes out as more of a strangled cough. "Yeah… badasses who are probably gonna pass out in the next five minutes."

As the paramedics work on her, I watch the chaos around us. There's blood, debris, and more injuries than I can count, but no one's dead. Somehow, we made it through. The hostages are shaken, but alive. The zoo staff is already scrambling to contain the animals that got out--one of the crocodiles is loose somewhere, somehow, its enclosure damaged in the chaos, but at least the poison dart frogs are still here. Well, most of them.

I catch a glimpse of Crossroads being helped into an ambulance, clutching his side where a makeshift bandage is wrapped tight. He's banged up, pale and shaky, but not dead. Fury Forge isn't far behind, her arm in a sling, the broken bone already being set by the paramedics. She's giving the paramedics hell about something, arguing with them while they try to get her to stay still. They're both alive, too.

I lean back against the bench, closing my eyes for just a second. My body aches, my mind is buzzing, and there's a part of me that just wants to let it all go--to just stop for a minute. But I can't. Not yet. The fight's over, but it's not really over, is it? The Kingdom got away with part of their plan. They still took some of the poison dart frogs, and even though we stopped them from taking all of them, it's not a clean win.

Maggie's still clutching her side, her face pale and tight with pain, but she's up, a little bit, and that's a good sign. The paramedic hands her an oxygen mask, urging her to take a few slow, deep breaths.

"You're not bulletproof, you know," I say softly, eyeing the dark bruises spreading across her belly.

Maggie pulls the mask away for a second, giving me a half-hearted smirk. "Neither are you. Not without your vest."

I chuckle, though it hurts more than it should. "Touché."

The paramedics are still working on Maggie, and she's mostly quiet now, her face pale and lined with pain, but she's holding herself together. The adrenaline that kept her going through the fight has finally drained, and now it's just pain. Her eyes flutter shut for a moment as the paramedics finish binding her ribs, but she doesn't say much. I glance over at her, my body heavy with exhaustion, and I can't help but feel a mix of relief and frustration. She made it. We both did. But I'm still angry at her for getting involved.

Before I can say anything, though, Multiplex walks over, flanked by a limping Crossroads, who's nursing a stab wound. It looks nasty, but not fatal. Crossroads gives me a nod - no words, just acknowledgment, as usual. He's a man of few words, and after the chaos we just went through, I don't blame him.

Multiplex, though, looks more tired than I've ever seen him. His usual confident, almost commanding air is muted now, replaced with something more… human. He steps up beside me, his eyes scanning the scene, taking in the wreckage of the zoo, the injured civilians, the shattered tanks. His shoulders sag a little, like the weight of it all is pressing down on him. I start clenching my body up, preparing for the lecture. The life lesson. The moral hammer.

He doesn't say anything at first, just stands there, watching the paramedics move around us. Then he glances at me, and for the first time today, there's no frustration in his eyes. No lecture. Just eye shine and exhaustion.

"You did the right thing, Bloodhound," he says quietly, crossing his arms. "Without you, we would've missed the real heist. The frogs. They might've gotten away clean with all of them."

It's weird hearing him say it. I've spent so much time feeling like I'm always just one step behind, like no one ever takes me seriously. But now, in this quiet moment after the storm, he's actually thanking me.

He's validating me.

I nod, my throat tight. "Thanks, but…" I hesitate, glancing over at Maggie again. "It didn't feel like enough. We didn't stop them from getting some of the frogs. We didn't catch them all."

Multiplex exhales slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "No, we didn't. But we caught two key members of the Kingdom. That's not nothing. And you're right--we put a dent in their plans today. You made that happen."

"Just the two?" I ask. I want to feel proud of that, and part of me does. But there's still that gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one that tells me this isn't over. It never is.

"Mr. Tyrannosaur got six lackeys to trade themselves for him to cover his escape. All with the same batch of Jump. They knocked out Captain Plasma and he got the hell out of dodge with his prepared escape ride," Multiplex says, his face going a little tight. He notices my stare and puts a hand up. "Plasma is fine. It'll take more than that to put him down. We're going to be booking a lot of small fries today, too. Cleaning up the streets that much more."

Crossroads shifts beside him, his face a little paler than usual, but he meets my gaze with that same quiet intensity he always has. "You did good, Sam," he says, his voice low but firm. "I would say that you can't keep running off alone, but it worked out this time. And I know that no matter what I tell you, you'll do it anyway."

"Yeah," I laugh.

Multiplex sighs, his eyes flicking back to the chaos around us, the wreckage of the day. "Listen," he starts, rubbing his temples. "Earlier… when I brushed you off, it wasn't because I didn't think you had a point. It's just… when you're in the middle of something like this, the first priority is protecting civilians. Keeping the body count at zero. Sometimes that means making decisions that feel wrong in the moment."

There's a pause, and for a second, I see something flicker in his expression. Doubt. It's subtle, but it's there, and it feels like a crack in the armor. "I can't say there's anything I would've done different. For me, civilian lives are always the first priority. I just don't want to be the sort of Footloose bureaucrat constantly getting in your way and giving you nothing for it."

I don't know how to respond, so I just sit there, letting his words sink in. The validation feels warm in my chest, but not quite as good as I'd like it to taste. Not sweet enough.

Crossroads speaks next. "On one hand, I think they counted on someone - if not you, someone - discovering their plans. If you or Playback hadn't, I'm sure they would've leaked it themselves. Once there was enough of a tizzy on the outrageous rhinocerous heist, nobody would notice the smaller heist happening at the same time until it was too late to have done anything about it. You - we - played right into their hands that way,"

I wince a little bit, but he's not wrong. It's not even much of a 'we' thing. I think he's just saying that to make me feel better. "Do you think they counted on me seeing their map?"

"No, I don't think so. That was long enough ago that I'm of the opinion they worked you into their nascent plans as they were gestating. You know, still figuring out what exactly their heist plan was. But maybe they did count on you. They do have an ESPer, after all," Crossroads says, sighing, running his hand through his hair with a shaky palm. "We'll just have to see what comes out of the interrogation room."

Multiplex shakes his head, his mouth set in a tight line. "We'll have to rethink some things. But for now… just take care of yourself. Both of you." He glances at Maggie, who's still slumped on the bench, her breathing shallow but steady. "I haven't met you yet, but I can tell from the ramshackle costume and the life-threatening injuries that you're a student of the Bloodhound school of superheroism."

It comes out almost brutally honest, and then he corrects himself when neither one of us laughs. "The Diane school," he says, and that gets a wry little smile out of me. "Keep up the good work. You can put me into contact with your parents if you need a good excuse as to why you were out here."

"That'd be good, thanks," Maggie croaks, her throat audibly dry.

As Multiplex and Crossroads head off, probably to coordinate the cleanup and deal with the police, I slump back against the inside of the ambulance, letting out a long, shaky breath. The adrenaline's gone, replaced by this deep, bone-weary exhaustion that seeps into every inch of my body. The paramedics are still around, working on the injured civilians, but the worst is over.

I glance over at Maggie again. She's quiet, her eyes half-closed, but she's not asleep. The paramedics are finishing up, gently strapping her into a portable stretcher, just to make sure they can move her without causing more damage to her ribs. I can see her wincing with every slight movement, but she's putting on a brave face. She always does.

"You're gonna be sore for days," I say, trying to keep my voice light, but it comes out more tired than I meant it to.

Maggie cracks a weak grin, though it looks more like a grimace. "You think? Feels like someone ran over me with a truck."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you get shot."

She lets out a wheezy laugh, but then immediately regrets it, clutching her side with a groan. "Ow. Okay, no more jokes. I'll… be quiet now."

I smirk, but it's half-hearted. The truth is, I'm still mad at her. I'm mad that she got involved, mad that she didn't listen when I told her to stay out of it. But at the same time… I can't really blame her. She did exactly what I would've done.

Is that what Diane would've done?

And I know I haven't even met him - but is that what Professor Franklin would've done?

What about his mentor?

The paramedics lift her all the way now into the ambulance, probably to head towards CHOP, and I push myself up to follow. My whole body aches, every step a reminder of the fight we just went through. But I'm still standing. Still walking. And that's more than I can say for some of the others.

As the sun sets over the zoo, casting long shadows across the wreckage, I can't help but feel the weight of the day settle over me. Two Kingdom members are captured, but two of the biggest threats got away. And they still managed to steal some of the poison dart frogs, even if we stopped them from taking all of them. And we still have no idea what they're even using them for.

We won, but it doesn't feel like much of a victory. Not yet.

Maggie glances over at me as they load her into the ambulance, her eyes tired but still sharp. "We did good, right?" she asks, her voice soft, like she's not sure of the answer.

I nod, though the uncertainty still lingers. "Yeah," I say quietly. "We did good."

End of Arc 8: Big