Mod, Arsenal, and McGuire finished their patrol that first afternoon, then returned to the Summit staging area to get relieved. 

Arsenal stopped a block away from the gate. 

Mod was going to stay at the shelter tonight, that way he could see his family. Mod, McGuire, and the others had settled on the excuse that they were helping the Summit with relief efforts. That gave them the excuse to go on patrols. There was a lot of work to be done, and not much else for civilians to do besides help out. 

At first, Mod had been worried about being so close to his family while still working as a cape. One day in the future, he might come out to his family about his work, but that was a distant possibility. A problem for future-him. 

TINA reassured him that the Summit had protocols for times like these when capes and their families were in close proximity. They had protocols to help keep superheroes’ identities secret—separate work groups for civilians and capes, even standardized lingo and excuses. 

Mod hadn’t really thought about it until now, but staying in the shelter meant that he might meet the rest of his friend’s families. But Arsenal was leaving, which meant she wouldn’t meet his family. 

“You sure you don’t want to stay?” Mod asked. 

Arsenal shook her head. “It’ll be easier this way. I’ll see you tomorrow for patrols.”

McGuire socked Mod’s arm. “Yeah, we can have a guys' night tonight.”

Even with her helmet on, Arsenal rolled her eyes. “Just don’t get into anything too crazy without me.”

“Never,” Mod replied. 

The bottom half of Arsenal’s helmet flipped up, and Mod took the invitation to kiss her. He had to lean slightly up to meet her lips and his nose brushed the cold metal of her helmet. Mod wished he could’ve held her close. 

McGuire waited silently, his arms crossed and face unreadable behind his baggy mask. 

“Not a word,” Arsenal said. Then she cloaked and shot off into the sky. 

~

Mod and McGuire walked the rest of the block to the Summit staging area in silence. They went to the men’s room, changed into sweat clothes, and stuffed their suits into backpacks. Emmett and Max kept the backpacks with them so that they could report directly from the shelter in case of an attack. 

If anybody asked about their backpack, they had a spare set of uniforms for their volunteering. The Summit even gave them a yellow T-shirt to complete the illusion.

Emmett zipped up his pack and turned to check on his friend. Max was rolling up his explorer’s jacket and mask.

Even though it had only been a few days, it felt like it had been much longer since Emmett had seen his roommate without his uniform on. Max’s hair was a mess and he looked even skinnier, despite the oversized hoodie he wore. His eyes were narrowed and focused in a way Emmett had only even seen when he was sparring… or playing video games. 

Max pulled a smaller purple backpack out of his superhero pack. He grabbed his enormous explorer’s backpack like he was going to roll it up.

“You’re not really—”

Max leaned on top of his pack, using his bodyweight to compress it down and roll it up. Somehow, even stuffed with gadgets as it was, Max compressed it down to half the size. Then he grabbed the small purple bag and stuffed his explorer’s pack inside the purple one. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”  

Max glanced up as he worked. “Yeah, it’s not as small as I hoped, but it’s less conspicuous.” Max cinched the purple drawstring tight and found Emmett still staring. 

“What?” Max asked. 

Emmett just shook his head. He couldn’t decide if his friend’s gadgeteer powers were more impressive or ridiculous. 

“...You ready?”

“Yeah,” Max replied as he ran a hand over his buzzed red hair.

Then the pair walked casually out of the Summit compound with their backpacks slung over their shoulders. 

Walking back to the shelter with Max felt both weird and natural. The two friends weren’t in a habit of walking anywhere, at least not without their masks on and not on the sidewalks. 

On the way, they passed two other groups that Max whispered were undercover supers. The second group startled Emmett, if only because he didn’t recognize them. Two women and a man, all three around Emmett’s age and wearing nondescript sweat clothes like Emmett and Max were.

Emmett had been about to walk by until one of the girls flashed a smile. 

“Hard day, McGuire?” she asked. Emmett recognized Krystal’s voice. 

“Of course it was,” Max replied. He pointed a thumb in Emmett’s direction. “The big guy forgot how to patrol. See’s fish-dudes everywhere.”

Emmett chuckled in surprise, more at seeing his friends than at the joke. “How are you guys holding up?”

Larian shrugged. He scanned the streets with practiced vigilance. 

Cherry noticed and elbowed him playfully. “Don’t get shy on them just cause you don’t have your mask.”

Larian rolled his eyes and elbowed her back.

Emmett smirked. “It’s good to see you guys.”

A mixture of laughs and scoffs went around the group, and, for a moment, Krystal's cheeks flushed. Their eyes met and then both of them quickly looked away. 

Emmett cleared his throat. “How’s it been going back and forth? Are you guys worried about… you know?”

Krystal chuckled. “I’d be worried if video surveillance was prevalent, but it’s not. So it’s all good.”

Cherry added, “As long as artificers aren’t running the world.”

“Hold still,” Krystal said and stuffed a tuft of pink hair back inside Cherry’s hood. 

“How embarrassing,” Cherry joked. 

“Come on, tiger,” Max said to Emmett. “Don’t want to keep anyone from their shift. We can catch up tonight.”

Krystal added, “Yeah, you can meet our folks.”

Larian groaned. “No more parents. One set of parents is bad enough.”

Emmett swallowed nervously. “Uh, sure. Right after I catch up with the family. Still haven’t seen them yet.”

Cherry patted him on the shoulder, and the group said their goodbyes. Then they went their separate ways. 

~

Max led Emmett into the shelter and then toward the back where he and his mom, Marlene, had set up. 

As they walked, Emmett took in the sights of a city displaced. Families mingled between rows of cots. The few things people had escaped with were stuffed beneath cots. Kids ran and played along the edges of the room. Workers and volunteers threaded between them. 

At first, Emmett’s heart sank at the sight of it all. It was one thing to see the waves lapping at the sides of buildings or see bricks crumbling and falling into the surf. Flooded Belport was sterile and devoid of life—eerily like the Gray Room.

And running around on patrol made it even easier to forget that people had lost their homes and their livelihoods. Seeing everyone now brought it all into stark contrast. 

But it wasn’t all bad. 

The kids running and playing were clearly having a good time, and there were smiles and laughs mixed in throughout the rest of the room. 

Emmett managed a small smile at their resilience. 

For the next few hours that evening, Emmett went through similar ups and downs. 

Marlene hugged him close. She laughed and cried as she told him how she’d been airlifted out by a drone. Emmett was grateful that she seemed fine and in good spirits, but he couldn’t bear to look at the few things under her cot. Neither she nor Max mentioned the repair shop, which was underwater in more ways than one.

Emmett found his family. They were a few rows down from Max and Marlene. Emmett introduced both groups to one another, then spent the next two hours catching up with his family. 

Every one of them had made it out safely—Mom, Dad, Antony, and Darryl’s family. The nephews couldn’t stop talking about how awesome the drones had been. Mom, Dad, and Antony had nearly made it out of the city before getting stuck on the highway and airlifted out. 

They went on like that for a while, exchanging details about the last few days. Thankfully, no one pried when Emmett and Max gave a quick story about being airlifted off the roof of the repair shop. 

Antony didn’t arrive until later. He’d volunteered with the relief effort, spending the day helping to bring in supplies and shuttle them between shelters. Emmett hugged his younger, slightly bigger, brother. 

Eventually, Emmett and Max mentioned that they’d been helping out with the Summit. Emmett made sure to describe it much like Antony had—just moving supplies. Nothing dangerous. Max added that they’d help rewire one of the meeting rooms. 

It was a good cover story. Or at least, that’s what Emmett thought. 

Mom wasn’t so sure.

“They better not tell you to go anywhere near the flooding.”

“It’s okay, Mom. Besides, do Max and I look like heroes?”

Mom cracked a smile. “You don’t need to have powers to be a hero. I’m proud of you boys just for volunteering.”

Darryl patted Antony on the shoulder. “Good on you, youngin’s.”

Max asked, “Are you volunteering?”

Just then, the nephews sprinted by, cackling at whatever imaginary game they were playing.

Darryl nodded toward the quickly receding boys. “My volunteering days were over when they started walking.”

~

That night, the shelter served chicken alfredo, spaghetti, cooked carrots and peas. Max and Marlene mingled with Emmett’s family for dinner.

The food was good—especially considering that the city was still underwater. Antony had learned a little about disaster relief as he volunteered and explained that, in times like these, food was sourced locally as much as possible. Most of it came from grocery stores and distribution warehouses on the outskirts of the city. Since the wave had come on so quickly, most of the food from stores inside the city was probably ruined. 

Mom asked how many days’ worth of food the shelter had, but Antony claimed he didn’t know. 

After dinner was a blur. Cherry, Larian, and Krystal came back, and then it was a whirlwind of introductions to family members. 

Larian’s family reminded Emmett of Darryl’s… At least at first. Larian was one of several brothers, but that was where the similarities ended. The brothers were all older, and everyone in his family was soft-spoken and reserved. It felt like the norm for them, rather than because of the current circumstance. 

That was fine by Emmett. The less questions someone asked him, the less he had to keep track of. 

After the quick introduction, Cherry and Krystal pulled him aside. They explained that they’d met a few weeks ago. Cherry and Krystal’s dads had started dating, and soon after, Cherry and Krystal realized that each other were both masks. 

Emmett glanced around the shelter. “So, where are your dads now?”

Cherry replied, “Volunteering.”

Krystal scoffed. “Probably holding hands beneath the moonlight.”

Cherry snorted a laugh. “No, seriously. They’re smitten. It’s cute.”

The group went on like that as the evening winded down. They exchanged stories and made sure to talk in code about their superhero antics so they didn’t draw attention. Doing so had become second nature. 

All around them, dozens of other families and groups of friends carried on like the world wasn’t in turmoil. 

For a while, Emmett had slipped into the same false sense of security. He only noticed when it began to get dark outside and the rest of the volunteers came back. The growing static of conversations grew overwhelming and oppressing. 

Eventually, he walked outside to get some air. 

~ ~ ~