TINA said the fusion cannon prototype would take two days. Emmett hoped it would be sooner. The rest of Tuesday—the first day of humanity’s war against the Deep Ones—passed uneventfully. But everyone knew it was only a matter of time. 

The tide wasn’t going out. Belport and the rest of the Atlantic coastlines were still under ten feet of water. Reports of intermittent attacks came through, but Belport was quiet.  

By the time dinner rolled around Tuesday night, Emmett and Clara had stopped working and stopped waiting for updates from the Summit. They needed a break. So they changed into sweats and settled in on the couch to binge episodes of Full Throttle Heart. 

Dr. Venture excused himself and left the two of them alone. As soon as he was gone, Clara curled up and leaned against Emmett’s shoulder. He put his arm around Clara and pulled her close. Emmett wasn’t sure about Clara, but he nodded off a few times—out of equal parts comfort and exhaustion.

The most exciting thing that happened that evening was Max calling to check in between episodes. With so much cellphone traffic, TINA had to boost his call and put it through on their private network. 

Max’s face appeared on the living room wall, along with the chatter from the crowded shelter. 

“Filtering noise,” TINA said.

“Hey, guys… You look comfortable.” Max peered into the phone so that his face looked enormous on the wall. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Emmett’s face felt hot, and Clara snorted a laugh. “No.”

“Good,” Max said, pulling the phone back from his face. “Otherwise, I’ll totally rat you out to your dad. Emmett will die, and I’ll inherit all his gadgets.”

“What about your arms and legs?” Emmett asked. 

Max shrugged. “I don’t need them.”

Max resumed pacing back and forth in the shelter. In the background, families were spread out across rows of cots. Supplies lined the edges of the room. 

Emmett chose his words carefully. “You’re staying with the civilians?”

“Just visiting. Right now, me and the others are off duty. We’re technically on-call, I guess, but we’re going to patrol in shifts. Well, we’re volunteering with the relief workers.” Max did air quotes to emphasize the excuse. “Not that Mom cares. She thinks the fish-dudes are nicer than serial killers. Jokes on her—”

Clara sat up. “You guys are patrolling?”

“Oh… yeah. I’m sure you’ll hear from Sere—er, someone soon. They want to patrol the city in small groups. She said they’d try to keep us with teammates we already knew.”

That was good. Mod, Arsenal, McGuire, Cherry, Larian, and Krystal already knew each other’s tactics. He wasn’t sure how long Krystal had been with the group, but Cherry and Larian had been running together for a few years. And both Larian and Krystal had ways of getting around the city. 

Not to mention, that lessened the chances that Emmett got put on a team with Hunter Nine or a friend of his. 

Clara sighed. “Guess we’re going back to work tomorrow.”

Max chuckled. “Yeah, you don’t get to stay the night in your fancy bunker. You’ll have to rough it with the rest of us.”

Emmett and Clara shared a look that said she wouldn’t be staying the night anywhere else but here—not because Clara didn’t want to, but because there was a nonzero chance of her exploding. 

That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“That was a joke,” Max added. “Clara, you can stay there. Emmett, maybe we can have a guys’ night. Have your people call my people. We’ll set it up.”

The three shared a laugh, one that felt honest and not weighed down by recent circumstances. It was fleeting, but nice while it lasted. 

Emmett thought back to that roomful of new recruits. They’d barely gotten an introduction before the first wave happened. 

“Did you hear anything about the new recruits?”

Max winced. “Nothing official, but there’s been rumors… It seems like some of them have potential, but not as many as they hoped.”

Clara asked, “How are you guys hearing rumors? Are other members staying there with you?”

Max nodded. “Yeah. Well, the rest of the gang are here mingling, but Larian’s keeping an ear over there.”

“You mean there’s a giant crow flying around and they're just okay with it?”

“No, no, no. Larian’s got a mouse. I know right! It’s just scurrying around over there, listening…”

Max trailed off ominously, but Emmett couldn’t help but be in awe. He wished he knew more about Larian’s powers. Larian once said each had names and that, technically, they weren’t his creatures. Emmett had no idea what Larian meant by that, but the shadow animals were surprisingly versatile and could hold their own against other supers. 

“...For all we know, he’s got mice everywhere. Just listening… He’s probably got like a cartel of them, or something.”

“Or something,” Clara added.

Their laughter trailed off and an awkward silence settled in between them. It had only been a month or so that Emmett had been living with Max, but it felt like it had been much longer. It could’ve been the fact that they were both supers on top of being roommates, but Emmett felt closer to Max than he did his own brothers. 

It sucked seeing him on the other side of the screen. Then there was their family repair shop, which was underwater…

Before their run-in with The Freakshow, Max had just confided in Emmett that their business was in trouble. Who knew how far this was going to set them back. 

Emmett turned his attention back to his friend. “Do you need anything?”

“Earplugs.”

Clara asked, “Are you just a light sleeper or is it in case someone snores?”

Max glanced over his shoulder and continued pacing. Then he whispered, “My mom.”

Emmett winced. “Sometimes I heard her snoring through the walls.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t so bad at home when I had headphones and a wall between us—”

Clara waved. “Hi, Marlene!”

Max paled and slowly turned around like he was about to come face to face with a supervillain, but his mom wasn’t there.

“Gotcha,” Clara said with smug satisfaction.

Max squinted his eyes. “You’re evil.”

Max proceeded to give them a quick update on the rest of the group: For the most part, everyone was exhausted and enjoying having the evening off to rest. Krystal had overexerted herself and was still over in the medical tents for monitoring. She’d probably be out for the next day too. Meanwhile, Cherry and Larian apparently knew each other in civilian life. 

Emmett asked, “Do you guys have a cover story for how you know each other or are you guys keeping your distance while you’re there?”

Max shrugged in confusion. “We just said we’re friends of another friend from high school or something. Larian’s parents didn’t seem too worried. You know, I don’t think most parents are checking their kids’ friends that closely.”

Emmett and Clara said goodbye to Max and then finished watching the episode of Full Throttle Heart before calling it a night. Dr. Venture hadn’t come back from wherever he’d gone to, but TINA had forwarded him the news about Summit patrols. 

Emmett walked Clara back to her room and the pair lingered in each other's arms. Clara pushed her hood back and smiled up at him—clearly waiting for something.

Emmett’s throat felt dry and it felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest—

But he didn’t wait. 

He couldn’t wait. 

Emmett leaned down and Clara practically jumped up to meet him. Her lips were warm and she threw her arms around his neck. 

It was quick and fierce. She pulled away and buried her head against his chest. Emmett held her tightly. She felt hot against him.

“You’re not going to catch fire, are you?”

Clara snorted a laugh. “God, I hope not!”

A moment later, she pulled away and retreated to the edge of her room. She stared at the floor, glancing up sheepishly at him. 

“Look… I, uh… Goodnight.”

Then she slipped inside and the door hissed shut behind her.

Emmett breathed deep and went to his own room with a smile. He flopped into bed and laid there, staring at the ceiling. 

For a little while, he laid there thinking about the craziness of the last few days. Moments of horror and tragedy against The Freakshow and the Deep Ones. Feeling strong with his new upgrades and feeling like he needed more. Laughing with his friends and getting close to Clara… 

It was too much, and Emmett pushed most of it aside. He focused on the things he could control. Tomorrow, they’d go on patrol and hopefully Emmett would see his family. 

Eventually, Emmett pushed all that aside too. He focused on Clara. Only on her. 

Then exhaustion finally took him. 

~ ~ ~