How to Save the World (23 page)

“They did this to me,” she said. The gun shook in her hands, but it wasn't pointed at him. “Both of them.”

“Brook, think of—­”

I never got a chance to finish that sentence because the door slammed open and guards in Detmer uniforms swarmed in to save the day. They pulled Vicki off of Elwin, shoved Brook and me against the walls, and mercifully relieved Brook of the gun before she could shoot anybody and revoke the deal she'd made for a shorter sentence.

Vicki whipped off the mask, her face and hair sweaty. “About time you boys got here,” she said, breathing hard. She looked at me and held the mask up. “Good thing this is bulletproof, huh?”

 

CHAPTER 23

I
t was almost anticlimactic, after that. Elwin was carted away. His plan, I found out later, had been to sneak in, kill Mobius, and sneak back out to continue making the Demobilizer for Tamara Diesel until she made him rich enough to retire to his own private island with lots of security. He might have gotten away with it if Vicki hadn't been there and if he hadn't been forced to use the gun.

“Guns,” Vicki said with a scowl. “Definitely cheating.”

Mercifully, it had been obvious that something was wrong with Brook and me. Perhaps out of some heretofore unknowing feeling of gratitude, Dr. Mobius had checked us both over and had declared that we would be fine. I'd protested that, but he pointed out that he'd used the same serum on me once before, the morning he had freed me from my captivity with him, and I'd been fine then. So we weren't in any danger. Probably.

Sitting still and letting the effects wear off, though, felt like torture, especially since I could barely move or speak. They carted Brook off and left me sitting in a room in Medical with Vicki. As best as we could tell, I'd lost less than an hour to the serum that Elwin had dosed me with, but the battle had apparently raged on for quite some time in my absence, and nobody had noticed I'd vanished. Tamara Diesel had slipped away, off to destroy the world another day, no doubt, but there were plenty of villains on their way to Detmer. And the powers had been restored to the major heroes that had lost them, thanks to Mobius's antidote.

If there was more Demobilizer in Elwin's underground lab, it was now property of Davenport Industries, for better or worse. I wasn't sure that was much better than Tamara Diesel having control of it, honestly. Either way, Elwin was going to prison for a long, long time.

“Man, am I lucky he hit the mask and not somewhere else,” Vicki said as I sat on the cot and stared at her. “Bullet holes don't exactly go over well in the fashion industry. Nice to know I can still kick ass without my powers, though.”

“But
you
were bulletproof before you lost them,” I said.

“So?”

“What use would you have for a bulletproof mask?”

“Gail, do you know how much this face is worth? The mask is more than just a beacon of hope to humanity everywhere—­it's extra insurance.”

I had to laugh at that. “I'm glad you didn't die,” I said.

“Me, too.” She checked her phone. “Looks like your boyfriend's on his way back. He wants to know what happened to your phone.”

As far as I could tell, Elwin had tossed my phone. Hopefully a search of the warehouse would turn it up. “At this point, your guess is as good as mine.”

The serum finally started to wear off, letting me have some movement back, when the door flew open. Guy burst through, half flying in his hurry to get to me. “You're okay!” he said, scooping me up and swinging me around.

“Relatively uninjured, too,” I said. “No head wounds or anything. Just drugs that I hope I never see again.”

“You and me both,” he said, and I tugged him down for a kiss that went on until Angélica stepped in and cleared her throat. I felt a spurt of amusement from behind her, which told me Kiki was there and that she'd gotten her powers back.

I glared at her.

“Hey, my plan worked,” Kiki said. She was a little pale, her shirt streaked with dirt. As somebody whose powers were entirely psychic, I imagined she didn't get out to fight much. “Besides, Jessie was there. My aunt wouldn't have let anything happen to me.”

I glared harder. Angélica crossed her arms over her chest and stood next to me. Faced with the two of us, Kiki visibly faltered and hung her head. “Okay,” she said. “I won't do that again. I'm glad you were able to get my message, though.”

“I've passed out twice today,” I said. “Just so you know. One of those? Your fault.”

Instead of apologetic, Kiki looked fascinated. Mercifully, Angélica pulled her away before she could start asking questions. Damn scientists. Should I worry that I was now telepathically linked to one? Did that kind of intellectual curiosity rub off? I'd have to figure that out later. At the moment, I had more pressing things to worry about. I felt my sleeve and breathed out in relief when I felt the bulge in the pocket. Elwin had searched my other pockets, but he hadn't noticed that one.

“Where's Jessie?” I asked.

“Taking Captain Cracked and the others to Detmer,” Guy said. “Your buddy Scorch said to say hi, by the way. We ran into him at the fight. Why do you ask?”

I fumbled with my sleeve since the serum was wearing off. “The antidote—­Jessie didn't take it,” I said.

“Let me,” Angélica said, reappearing at my side. She pulled the vial out. “Yo, Vicki.”

Vicki caught it, fumbling a little. “Cheers,” she said, and I realized that she actually
hadn't
been that upset about Mobius picking Guy to get his powers back. Like she'd been expecting this the whole time. She downed the antidote and I turned to Guy and Angélica in confusion.

“One of the hallmarks of being Raptor?” Angélica said. “No powers.”

“What? But—­but—­
how
?” Jessie was a terrifying opponent in broad daylight, and I'd had the misfortune of going against her in an abandoned building by the docks in the middle of the night. And the entire time she hadn't had any powers?

Actually, it made a lot of sense, given how many gadgets she had. And Angélica had always cautioned me not to hit with my full strength whenever I was sparring with her.

“You knew the whole time,” I said to Guy and Angélica as Kiki crouched over the coughing Vicki. “You knew we had enough of the antidote. Why didn't you say something?”

“Mobius wanted to hurt us. We had to let him think he was getting away with it.” My incredulity must have shown on my face, for Angélica patted my arm. “Why don't you take a nap? You've had a hard day. Though you might need to wait. Kiki wants a sample of your blood.”

“Of course she does,” I said, already rolling up the sleeve to my uniform.

It would have to wait, though. Apparently, according to Vicki, the only way to celebrate the return of powers was to set something on fire and fly through a wall.

Fitting for Plain Jane, really, but the staff in Medical weren't exactly happy with us right then.

I
took the next day off of work. I had probably been fired, anyway, so it really didn't matter. Dealing with supervillains and hostage situations one day and returning to work on spreadsheets the next had been a reality for me for four years, but now that I was the one underneath the mask, it was time for a change. I didn't want to think about it, so I didn't. Instead, I focused on the fallout that the Demobilizer had caused. Or rather, I nagged Guy.

“I'm fine,” he said for the fourth time over breakfast the next morning.

I gave him a look.

“Really. I am. What can I do to convince you?”

“You were so happy not to have powers,” I said. “You were, like, making plans for culinary school. It's the most excited I've seen you since you found that new farmer's market.”

He took a long sip of coffee and flipped the third omelet onto my plate. Whatever Elwin had given me had made me hungrier than usual. I hoped that would go away soon, too.

“You haven't been happy,” I said. I dug in, but carefully didn't speak with my mouth full. “I know we haven't been together that long, but I could tell you were miserable, Guy.”

“It is what it is.” Guy sat down with his own omelet. “But maybe you have a point. I . . . wasn't happy. I don't like being War Hammer.”

I looked at him, expectantly.

“It's that damn chest plate,” he said. “It chafes. I don't know how Sam does it.”

“I knew it!” I said, pointing at him. “I knew you hated it!”

He laughed a little helplessly. “Well, the good news is that I don't have to be War Hammer anymore.”

“No? Does that mean Sam's done finding himself?”

“Yeah, it turns out getting his powers taken away put a few things in perspective for him, too. I talked to him last night.” Guy's fingers twitched on his fork. He'd finally gotten a haircut, so his hair didn't fall into his eyes for once. The morning light made his eyes spectacularly green as he looked at me. “He was in Mexico for a while. He said he liked the warm weather. I suggested maybe he should put in for a transfer.”

“Do you mean . . . ?”

­“People have been asking where Blaze is,” Guy said. “I think the answer to that is going to be Chicago from now on. Sam can take over my job at Dad's office in Miami. It's not like I do anything but fill a desk and look pretty, anyway.”

“But you do such an amazing job at looking pretty,” I said. “You are definitely the hot one in this relationship.”

His ears went red. “Now that's a downright lie.”

“Aw, you think I'm pretty. So what are you going to do in Chicago?”

“
Pretty
is putting it mildly. And I was thinking culinary school,” Guy said.

I raised my eyebrows.

“It's better for me to have the powers,” he said. “Not being able to back you up? That sucked. But I don't need to sacrifice everything in my life. I can find a way to make something work, right?”

“Selfishly, I am going to support any and all endeavors you make that involve food.” But I smiled and grabbed his hand. “Since I'm pretty sure I lost the job I probably shouldn't have gone back to in the first place, though, I won't be able to support you in the manner to which you've become accustomed, just to warn you.”

“I think I can handle it,” Guy said, laughing. He kissed the back of my hand. “I suspect you'll be plenty busy with other things.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, squinting.

He refused to explain, though, only smiling when I badgered him and poked at the spot on his side where I knew he was ticklish. When I got up to do the dishes, he followed, leaning his hip against the counter as he sipped his second cup of coffee. “Sam wants to help Brook,” he said.

“He wants to start looking for Petra again? Didn't that destroy him the first time around?”

“It's a mystery that I think all of us want solved. Brook more than any of us. She deserves some closure in something after what Lodi did. It can't have been easy on her, being held by Elwin again.”

I shoved a dish into the water with a little too much force. “Douchebag didn't even care that he'd been complicit in torturing her. He only wanted money.”

“Davenport's lawyers will hang him out to dry.”

“I hope so.” But it wasn't enough. Remembering the devastation and fury on her face as she stood over Elwin at Wrigley Field, and knowing that she'd wound up under his power once again, made me realize that I'd never fully be satisfied. Prison wasn't enough for that monster. I finished up the dishes while Guy checked the news on his phone, but the antsy feeling in my chest hadn't abated. I needed to hit something.

“I'm going to go to the Power House. Want to come with?”

“I promised Sam I'd help him out with some stuff. Good luck with your security guard friend.”

From the way he ducked when I stepped into the lobby at the way station, I didn't think I'd have a problem with Marsh the security guard again. After he'd been responsible for a massive breach in Davenport, I had the power to get him fired, and he knew it. At least it would be easier to pop into New York and visit Jeremy now. I shot one final malevolent look at Marsh and headed downstairs to catch the train. I could phase my way across Chicago, but I wanted to save my energy for a punching bag or five.

Three had been piled in the corner, busted to pieces, so clearly Angélica had already been here to work through her own issues. I picked a relatively intact bag and worked methodically through combinations, finally letting loose a little of the frustration I'd been suffering ever since Elwin had dosed me.

An hour later, I'd worked up a sweat and the bag swung wildly as I pounded away. A single hand stopped it and I bounced back on my heels, breathing hard.

Jessie Davenport raised both eyebrows at me. “Brought you lunch,” she said, holding up a fast food bag. Grease had turned splotches of it transparent, and I felt my mouth watering when I caught the smell of delicious salty food.

“Thanks,” I said, and she tossed the bag to me. I set it aside so I could unwrap my hands. “You've been spending a lot of time in Chicago lately.”

“I have some interests in the area. Is there some place we can sit and talk?”

Angélica wouldn't mind if I used her office, so I led the way and cleared paperwork off of a ­couple chairs for us to sit. In addition to having the world's largest shoe collection, my roommate excelled at avoiding all semblances of neatness whatsoever. That had been eye-­opening when we'd moved in together.

“So no powers, huh?” I asked as we dug into our burgers.

“None. No chance of getting Mom's Villain Syndrome, either, so that's an upside.”

I eyed her. “Powers or not, you're insanely terrifying in a fight.”

“I worked hard at that,” she said, nodding seriously. “I spent years building up that skill. My father didn't have any powers, either, but he needed to keep up with the rest of the Feared Five. All of whom
did
have powers. He didn't want to just be the bankroll.”

“And you took over,” I said, as I knew that much from history. The Feared Five had been the first superhero team. There'd even been a Gail on that team, but I hadn't been named after her the way I'd thought for most of my life. That had just been a coincidence. ­“People think the Raptor is immortal.”

“They also think the Raptor is male,” Jessie said with a smile.