Tina hesitated outside the training area where Danny was practicing his martial arts wondering if she should just turn back. She missed her classes with Danny and their Thursday night tour of the city's restaurants and was hoping she could mend any hard feelings he might have over her abrupt departure but was afraid she may have burned more than one bridge with the team. Finally deciding to take a chance Heatwave quietly slipped into the room so as not to disturb him and watched from the sidelines until there was a break in his routine.

Gerry stepped back and considered his stock from the customer side of the bar. The Merchant was a small bar by Hudson City standards; old school décor, lots of dark wood and brass, scents of mahogany and pipe smoke. It was nothing at all like J/T, where Gerry last worked. No, the Merchant wasn’t trendy in any sense of the word and that went doubly for its stock of liquor.

The bustling Friday night traffic in Hudson City did nothing to slow Nemesis and Soldier Boy as they raced towards Lafayette.  The updates were few and far between over the communicators, but it was clear that whatever was happening in Fayettenam, was more than Paladin, Avatar and Heatwave could handle on their own.  The hypercycles slid in and out of traffic, onto and off of the sidewalks and even skimmed over the Stewart River to land on the banks of Crown Point.

The street was the same old street but today Tina was happy to see the gang of boys who usually hung out on the corner near the bus stop were no where to be seen. None had ever tried to assault her but their suggestive comments and lewd gestures would usually have her face flaming red before she reached the door to her building. The apartment building was the same old low income, fairly well kept, at least fairly well kept for the neighborhood, building. As usual the elevator was broken, not that she could remember it ever not being broken, and the third step creaked in that familiar way as Tina made her way up to her apartment. As much as she hated it she was glad she had not moved into the Cathedral when she'd had the chance. If she had she would be out on the streets right now.

There was only one person in the cafeteria when Nemesis finally finished up with Phi. Heatwave was sitting at one of the tables reading a magazine. She looked up as Nemesis entered and hastily put the magazine down and covered it up but not before Nemesis saw it was a copy of Soap Opera Digest. It was the first time he had ever seen a hint of her life out of costume.

Clementina Garcia clings to a past of heartbreak and broken promises.  Once a happy wife and mother of four beautiful children, her past is now pain ridden and near impossible to bear.  The only thing that sustains her is the unfinished business of bringing justice to her children, who are now dead after the tragic betrayal of her husband. 

The garage lights were off.  A spark from Stone's lighter sent scattered shadows scampering along stretched diagonals towards the corners and behind rolling tool boxes.  The flame, reflected in his lenses, caused the shadows to twitch and undulate for the few seconds it took to light his smoke.

There was a hanging work light with a switch on its cord tied to Stone's workbench.  He found the switch and flicked it, creating a small circular pool of light above the object of his efforts these past few months.

"We have most of the team deployed around the city. For now, make sure you've checked the area thoroughly. We don't know what this thing is or how it's traveling, or how fast and far it can move, so any information you can get will help. And witnesses, if there are any. For now, you're on your own, but if you find it, holler and we'll come running. Don't engage unless civilian lives are at stake."

Heatwave acknowledged his orders and signed off.

Soldier Boy paced outside of Heatwave's apartment door. He nearly knocked a half dozen times, but he consistently lost his nerve. He wasn't skilled at this kind of thing. He reconsidered. Maybe he could just send her one of those email things. Maybe he didn't have to say anything at all. The second guessing became moot when Heatwave opened the door to find Soldier Boy lurking there.

Wherever her attention was it wasn't on where she was going and Heatwave nearly ran into the veteran hero before realizing he was there. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't see you."

"Shit!" Soldier Boy collected himself. "I was wondering if we could talk a minute. You know, just go over yesterday's Carnival World mess." He gestured to direct Heatwave back into her apartment.

JACE soared high into the night sky.  Heatwave was long gone from his sight, but if her inexperience got her into trouble, it would only take seconds to be at her side.  His suit's systems, were of course, far superior to anything else he would run into tonight.  Together the two of them could cover a lot of ground, like it or not they were a good team.  Ideally he would have three of himself, but that wasn't possible...yet.

The needle was below him, always a hot spot for crime and more times than not, patrol cars in that part of town were on the take.