Of all the outcomes anticipated from going to the heroes for help, this was not one of them.

  Vivainne found herself seated on a couch, a cup of coffee in hand, staring at a coffee table full of stray pastries while the experienced heroes around her sat and chatted about the latest episode of a reality TV show about the super dating scene.

  “It’s just not realistic,” Stardust, also known as Darcy, said. “I mean, that many hot, powerful supers in the same place?”

  “But consider, we are hot,” said The Path. Out of costume, he was a black guy of average height named Jordan, who wore his own merch as pajamas. Apparently.

  “Yeah, but we’re exceptions,” Darcy said. She’d tied her blonde hair up in a messy bun, and wore a set of silk pajamas that matched the ones she’d ended up lending to Vivainne. Ones Vivainne still wasn’t sure why she’d put on. “And you’d think if those supers were as powerful as the show says, we’d know who they are.”

  “You’re just upset you haven’t met any of them,” Jordan said.

  “I doubt they’re real,” Recompense said. Vivainne had a hard time thinking of the man by his civilian name, despite the fact that he’d said it was okay to use. In and out of uniform, he was Recompense, the world renown hero. “Purely because if they were that powerful, they’d have been recruited, or they wouldn’t be open about it. If you’re that powerful, and not working for Unity or another organization, you don’t want to be known. Going on TV goes against all of that.”

  “What about the evidence?” Jordan asked. “We see them using powers on the show.”

  For the first time that morning, Vivainne spoke up. “Minor illusionist power, or CGI. It’s not hard to fake things like that behind a camera.”

  Jordan spun to her, holding up a finger. “Okay, recruit, you don’t want to go picking sides right now. You’re new to this household and you don’t want to throw yourself in with the wrong people.”

  Viv raised her eyebrows, staring at the man before taking a cool sip of her coffee. Without saying a word, she turned her attention away and back to the food in front of them.

  It was odd how quickly she’d been accepted into this little group. She couldn’t decide how she felt about it, because she certainly hadn’t intended to get taken in as a stray, as they put it. It didn’t feel bad, though. Just strange.

  Her original deadline with her mother was long passed, faded away into the night as they’d discussed Vivainne’s situation and eventually made their way back to Recompense’s home, where the two younger heroes also lived.

  “We do need to decide what to do with the new stray,” Darcy said, turning and looking at Recompense.

  Charles. His name was Charles and she needed to be able to refer to him as such.

  “Is she staying, or what?”

  “That’s up to her,” Charles said around a bite of a muffin. “Vivainne, would you like to stay?”

  She hesitated, and took another sip of coffee to quell the fear building inside her. It wasn’t a useless feeling, but it was one that interfered with her plans. “You need someone to help you catch my mother.”

  Charles placed his mug on the table with a clink, his eyes steady on Vivainne, a weight settling onto her under his gaze. It was as if he could see through her every movement, every shift of her body or blink of an eye. He had a way to read her that she had not experienced before in a very long time.

  “You don’t have to go back,” he said. “We aren’t going to put you at risk in order to put your mother behind bars. And I can’t promise you we’ll be able to do even that. I don’t want to risk sending you back into a dangerous situation if we’re unable to put your mother behind bars.”

  Vivainne’s body tightened, every muscle in her body growing tense. “What do you mean? I thought you said you were going to help me.”

  “I am,” Recompense said. “But Vora is a massive player. Her tech has helped millions. And with an organization like that, it’s hard to always get the proof you need, because if they get that big, they’re good at hiding it.”

  That decided it. “I’m going back in,” Vivainne said, her resolve hardening. She’d lived with her mother for eighteen years. She could survive a few more if it meant stopping her. “I’ll get you the proof you need.”

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  “Looks like you don’t get to keep this stray,” Darcy said, looking up at Charles. “She’s got balls.”

  “We can get a spy,” Charles said. “There’s no need to go back.”

  A spy could be good. But it would take time. Her mother was not the trusting type; the only reason she trusted Vivainne was because she was family, and that trust was tenuous. How long would it take for a spy to work their way in? How many people would her mother hurt in the meantime?

  “I can go,” she said, clenching her fists. It wasn’t as if she should have expected to get out of jail free card, so to speak. If she wanted to get away, join the heroes, she needed to prove it. “Can… Can I come back if I need to?”

  “Of course,” Charles said immediately. “As I said, you don’t need to go. But if you do, we’ll make sure you’re as safe as you can be. And if you need a way out, I’ll come and help. We want to stop her, but not at the cost of your own safety.”

  “And I can get you the evidence you need,” Vivainne said, more certain now that she’d made the decision. She knew where her mother hid things, where she did her research. She could lead the heroes directly to them, and her mother wouldn’t be any the wiser. “I’ll go back. You’re going to need to make it look like you arrested me, however.”

  “Done,” Recompense said. “And I can get you fitted with surveillance tech. You’re going to get all the evidence we need as quickly as possible, and get you out of there.”

  “What exactly is she doing anyway?” Jordan demanded, throwing himself back against the couch. “Like, most huge rich organizations are doing bad shit. What’s new?”

  A pain in Vivainne’s chest twinged. She reached up, touching a hand to her sternum, eyes locked far past the table in front of her, somewhere in the past. “My mother… She has learned how to shatter cores.”

  Silence hung over the room. Three sets of eyes stared at her. Three heroes didn’t believe her.

  They wouldn’t believe her. She’d have to go back to her mother and they wouldn’t believe her.

  “That… shouldn’t be possible,” Recompense said, speaking slowly. He turned that soul searching gaze onto Vivainne once more. “How are you certain?”

  “Because she did it to me,” she said, meeting his eyes so there was no question about the truth of her words.

  “She shattered your core?” Darcy leaned forward, as if she could see Vivainne’s core through her chest. “I thought you said you wanted to be a hero? I thought you’d used your powers to get into the house.” Darcy turned to Charles for confirmation.

  Charles nodded, eyes never leaving Vivainne. “She did.”

  “She didn’t shatter mine,” Vivainne said. “She fractured it. And I know you’re not supposed to use your power if you have a fractured core, but I’ve done a lot of research on it. I’ve been careful, and have mostly managed to put mine back together. I can use it. I just have to be careful.”

  “And you’re certain she did it, and you didn’t accidentally break your own core?” Jordan asked.

  A bitter laugh burst from her mouth. “Yes, I’m certain,” she said. “And it’s taken every bit of the past ten years to fix it to the point it's useable.”

  “I’m sorry,” Charles said, and it was the most genuine apology she’d heard in years. “It is entirely possible for us to stop her without you needing to go back into that environment.”

  “No,” Vivainne shook her head again, refusing to let her resolve waver. She wanted her mother locked away before she ever became a hero. “It would take too long.”

  “Do you really intend to be a hero?” Darcy asked. She watched Vivainne like a particularly interesting piece of television. “With your fractured core, it’s more risky that not.”

  “It’s my impression that that’s the reality of every hero.” She began picking at a croissant, pulling pieces of and littering her plate with them. She ought to eat, but she couldn’t convince her brain she’d be able to stomach anything. “And I’m willing to risk it.”

  Charles flashed Vivainne a smile. “That’s quite brave of you.”

  “Seems practical, more than anything else,” Vivainne said with a shrug. Having a fractured core was a bit like living with an aneurism. Any breath you breathed had the potential to be your last, or at least your last with a living, functioning power. Or a normal life, not that she had any concept of what that would mean. One day her power could fracture and she’d be back to infant level control. She could sit on her ass and wait for that day. Or, she could do what she could with her powers until her core broke, and do some good before losing the only thing that had ever made her special.

  It would also set her apart from her mother, prove she was more than a villain’s daughter.

  Perhaps it wasn’t entirely practical. But there was no reason to admit to anything else.

  Charles finished the dregs of his coffee and placed the mug down. “Well, let’s head over to the tower and get you fitted with some tech,” he said, motioning for Vivainne to rise. She placed her plate down, along with the torn apart, uneaten croissant, and stood. “We can even stop for coffee along the way.”

  Vivainne’s nose wrinkled. “You just had coffee.” Not to mention, it made light of the situation, and put her at risk of being discovered.

  “Seriously, Charles,” Darcy said. “You know the doctor said you need to watch your caffeine intake. Your blood pressure…”

  “Has more to do with my choice of career than the substances I consume,” Charles said dismissively. “Besides, maybe we’ll find something this one will actually eat.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she said reflexively.

  “And you weren’t hungry last night either,” he said. “At some point, you do need to eat. So let’s get going.”

  “Stop at Ms. Anne’s!” Jordan piped up. “She makes the best breakfast wraps.”

  Charles snapped his fingers. “Yes, great plan. We’ll head over there before going to the tower.”

  “I… It’s probably not a good idea for me to go out anywhere,” Vivainne said. “I’m supposedly in jail right now, remember.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Charles said, and the voice melded back into that of Recompense. “I already have tech on it.”