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.

Even after he swung off his bike it felt like he was still riding. The wind off the ocean was up today and it was blustery enough to keep his hair pinned back as he walked towards the Windmill’s surf-side entranceway. Stone took a deep breath of the salty air before pushing open the door.

The staff working behind the counter looked up at the door chime and immediately went back to what they were doing. A tall guy, young, Stone thought his name might be Josh, asked him, “The usual?” to which Stone simply replied with a nod. He was a well-known quantity now, at least here. He’d brought just about everybody on the team here at one point or another and it was also his favorite place to go and think, but that’s not why he was there today.

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.

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. 

It is approaching the third year anniversary of the disappearance of Ophilia DiSantiago's absent fiance, Dean Masterson. She finally uses her ties with the Conquistadors to look into the mystery, with high hopes of solving it. Stone, in exchange for the date that Phi had won during the bachelor auction, agrees to look into it, promising to keep it as quiet as he can. When he runs into a roadblock, he recruits Edison Palmer and they both dive head first into a most startling discovery. So startling, that it's almost impossible to believe.

Staring: Ophilia DiSantiago, Stone, Edison Palmer, Sebastian DiSantiago and Mason Willoughby

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.

The Galaxy Diner was used to the occasional strange person walking through the doors under the big neon sign on the corner of Harnett Street and 4th Avenue. And while perhaps they weren't the strangest persons to do so, Stone and Mojito presented a most attractive couple of personalities as any.

Stone didn't head right out.  He swung by his suite first to change jackets, among other things.  If he was going to be flying around at night, he wanted his black leather jacket, not the denim.  He also grabbed his black leather riding gloves and slipped them on as he walked down the hall towards the stairwell which led to the roof.

His hands were flexing in them, settling them comfortably around his fingers, when the doorway opened and he stepped out onto the rooftop to greet the wild, unpredictable thing that was Hudson City at night.  It was dark, made all the darker by his ever-present sunglasses whose shiny lenses reflected the sparkling lights of the skyline right back. 

"Is that Stone in there?"

Soldier Boy looked up from his desk in the corner of the training room to find a man standing in his doorway looking across the hallway into the Cathedral's vast hangar. He was about thirty, if that old, and eager. He had expected someone older and worn down. That was Soldier Boy's preconception of reporters. One of the kids who helped Phi run the place had escorted the guy. Soldier Boy gave him an 'I'll take it from here' nod to send him on his way.

"If he's a scuzzy loner that you wouldn't want near your sister, then yeah that would be Stone."

"Think I could speak with him?"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Soldier Boy said.