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Chapter Text

    Colm ended up being the one member of the Z-Team who didn’t need to go to the hospital after the battle was over. This wasn’t surprising to him, the sorceress who gave him his powers had also given him accelerated healing abilities, so after a good night’s sleep, he and Blonde Blazer - no longer blonde - were able to meet back up at the SDN building and help the reconstruction process. 

    Colm always considered himself a helpful guy. Despite his temper only being rivaled by Flambae’s, he genuinely didn’t mind helping the other supers clearing debris while he waited for the rest of his team to be discharged. Invisigal needed the bullet hole on her shoulder mended, Prism needed so many stitches, Sonar ended up with a tooth infection from biting so many necks, Flambae had several cracked ribs from the Shroud-Mech, Golem had so much toxic debris in his body that he was technically radioactive, Robert was for sure concussed, Waterboy somehow fractured his collarbone, Phenomaman probably just liked hanging out in the hospital with everyone, same as Malevola. Not-Blonde Blazer said that Chase was going to spend some time in the hospital as well to make sure the amulet was actually sustaining him and not putting any further strain on his body. Finally, Coupé was having her Red Ring implants removed after Robert and Blazer had basically destroyed most of them. 

    Thinking about Janelle put a sour taste in Colm’s mouth. He shook his head and went back to lifting a concrete beam that was haphazardly leaned against the tree in the courtyard. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy that she was back and part of the team, he was! He was probably the only person happy to have her back, but he still felt this weird bubbling in his gut every time her name sat on his tongue. It was a different feeling than a few years ago when they first met. This was a feeling that made him want to raid the rec room for more cheap beer. 

    At some point during the day, Blazer pulled him aside to a semi-private part of the parking lot. The two sat on a curb and Blazer gave him half of a BLT sub sandwich. 

    “So…” She started to say cautiously. “Is everything alright with you?”

    “What would be wrong?” Colm replied, a little too quickly. He shoved his half of the sandwich into his mouth. 

    “Well, it’s been less than 24 hours since we did battle against a supervillain and this is the longest I’ve heard you go without swearing.”

    Colm considered throwing the sandwich wrapper at her. “I can cuss all the fuck I want, if you fucking want me to.”

    “That’s not what I meant.” Blazer laughed. “What I mean is, and I’m asking this as your friend and not your boss: what’s going on? Most people would have taken the day off given what we went through.”

    Colm didn’t have a fast enough response. He thought about it, sitting back on his hands and watching the clouds float lazily overhead. It was a beautiful day in Torrance. He eventually rubbed his nose and gave Blazer a sideways glance. 

    “You and Rob-boy talk a lot about forgiveness, right? How do you- I mean, how did ya know Invisigal was worth it? Puttin’ everything on the line for someone like her?”

    Blazer looked at him like she was reading his soul through his eyes. He didn’t like it, and looked away. Blazer handed him the other half of her sandwich. 

    “Well, she didn’t make it easy for us, that’s for sure. You remember what she was like in the beginning; rude, abrasive-“

    “A bitch?”

    “Yes,” Blazer laughed again, “a bitch. Huge bitch! We gave her so many chances, and there were plenty of times I was sure that Chase was right about her, that she was beyond saving.” She looked up at the clouds and laid backwards, laying down fully on the warm concrete sidewalk. “But, I could see she was hurting deep down. She needed someone to stick up for her, someone to advocate for her when she screwed up. I failed her for sure, we all did, which is why Robert is better than all of us for standing with her. What I’m trying to say is-“ She looked over at Colm with an unreadable expression. “Everyone deserves another chance. They may not be owed one by us specifically, but we give them anyway. Not because we’re heroes, but because deep down, we care.”

    Colm stared at her before eating the other half of the sandwich. It was a good sandwich. When he was done, he laid himself down next to Blazer to stare at the endless blue sky. 

    “So why cut her in the first place?” Colm asked. 

    “It was a decision I now regret.” Blazer said. “But, we- I mean, I wanted to set an example. No more enabling bad behavior, that’s what I wanted to do.”

    “Yeah… I guess we were a little fucked up back then.” Colm whispered. 

    “Just a little?”

    Colm rolled his eyes. “Maybe a lot fucked up.”

    Blazer turned her head to look at him. “You were the one to advocate for Coop yesterday, so why all the questions? Having second thoughts? I thought you two were close.”

    Colm frowned at the sky. The day was too beautiful for how nauseous he was feeling. “No- yes? No? No. I’m not. Things are just going to be different now.”

    “Different how?”

    “I don’t know, just different.” Colm’s frown deepened. “Me and Waterboy finally got a groove going, I’ve been showing the lad the ropes a lot. I thought that, I don’t know, I had a good thing going.”

    “And Coop throws a wrench into that?”

    “I don’t know if you noticed last night, but she’s a bit evil.”

    Blazer’s frown matched his. “Punch Up, we just talked about forgiveness.”

    Colm threw his hands up. “Fuck forgiveness! She fucking joined the Red Ring! She let that madman drill bolts and shite into her perfect wings and she tried to kill you! Kill Robert! And now she just gets to come back? Like nothin’ happened?! Fuck that shit!”

    Blazer waited until he was done to speak up. “Punch Up, I get how you feel-“

    “Colm.” He huffed out, crossing his arms across his chest. “Already ate yer lunch, might as well know the name of the bastard who did it.”

    “Colm-“ Blazer sighed. “I get your feelings, more than I think you realize.” She sat up and stood, stretching her arms above her head. “I’m not going to talk you out of how you feel, that’d make me an asshole.” She looked back at him, and after a moment, extended a hand down to him. “But as your friend and your boss, I will ask that you give her the same chance that we gave you.”

    Colm stared at her hand before sitting up to take it. Blazer nearly fell over when he stood up, and he quickly apologized, but she recovered and brushed herself off.

    “Right, still no powers.” She laughed to herself, it sounded like a pity laugh. “God I hope Chase figures his shit out quickly, I don’t know how long I can be just Mandy.”

    Colm raised an eyebrow at her. “Your name is Mandy?”

    “Fuck off, Colm.” Blazer laughed again, this time a little brighter. “Back to work for you.”

    He gave her a mock salute and the two started to walk back towards the reconstruction area. “Aye ma’am.”

    Despite the talk with Mandy making him feel a little better, Colm still couldn’t shake the pit in his stomach after the reconstruction crew called it quits for the night. He had originally planned to swing by the hospital and check on the team (and make fun of everyone for their injuries), but thinking about going near Coop made his throat squeeze uncomfortably. 

    Instead, he checked out which of his usual haunts had survived the previous night. The flood downtown had wiped out a lot of the underground rings he frequented, he was sure he was probably banned from Crypto Night because of Flambae and Robert, and it just felt wrong drinking without his team. Colm didn’t have the benefit of a secret identity, much like everyone else in the Phoenix Program, so it wasn’t like he could just change clothes and go out. In fact, he was pretty sure that only Waterboy was the one member of the Z-Team who actually had some sort of private life, and he wasn’t even in the Phoenix Program so he didn’t count. The only actual member of the Program who could get away with a secret identity was Coupé, and now he was thinking about her again, which defeated the purpose of trying to find some sort of distraction.

    In the end, Colm just went home. He was surprised when Robert had his housewarming party that their apartments weren’t too far from each other, there were only a few miles between them, unlike the rest of the team who were all closer to downtown. Colm liked being closer to work, it meant that he could respond to being called in suddenly a lot faster than the others, evidenced by how quickly he was ready to rumble only just the other night. 

    Colm locked his apartment door behind himself and grabbed a chilled mug out of his freezer. Even if he wasn’t going out, he could still have a good night. No thinking about work, or villains or Coop or- and goddamnit he was doing it again. He groaned out loud to no one and poured himself a beer. Finding an apartment with amenities he could reach without the need for any stools or ladders took a long time, but the SDN was nothing if not efficient. Having guests over was usually pretty awkward, he couldn’t count how many times Sonar had hit his head or Malevola had smacked her shins on a cabinet, but damnit if it wasn’t funny each and every time. 

    Colm pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants to lounge on his couch in just his socks, underwear, and undershirt. He sipped his beer and itched the side of his face, silently wondering if he needed to shave or if he wanted to turn on any lights. He could hear a siren of some sort in the distance, and the general ambiance of Los Angeles threatened to lull him to sleep right where he sat. Colm downed the rest of his glass and set it on the coffee table in front of his couch, deciding to scroll his phone until sleep took him.

    He wasn’t on any of the social medias that Prism or Flambae were on, he mostly just scrolled his various news apps to see what was happening outside of his tiny bubble. Local news outlets were still covering the battle now being referred to as the Red Night, national news outlets covered Vanderstenk’s wife leaving him, and international news outlets were trying to tell him which new diet he needed to try to slim down his baby weight. Colm wasn’t sure why that was on his feed. He looked down at his stomach and as if on cue, it rumbled. He grunted and rolled off his couch to find something to eat.

    Colm itched the back of his thigh as he dug around his pantry and fridge for something appetizing, but came up short. It was too late to run to a grocery store, was there a gas station he could hit? Was there a gas station he wasn’t banned from because of Malevola? Fuck, where did he put his pants? Colm began looking around for his clothes when his phone buzzed with a message from the half-devil herself:

Flaming Hot: food?

Chapter Text

    Colm stepped out of his complex to find Malevola leaning against a light pole across the street. He jogged over to her, still buttoning up his shirt, and gave her a fistbump.

    “Shouldn’t ya be in the hospital or something?” He asked her as they began walking.

    “Nah, got bored real quick. Did you know that Phenomaman’s real name is Dumpy?”

    Colm gave her a strange look. “I don’t think that’s right.”

    Malevola shrugged. “It’s really not, but it’s fucking funny.”

    “So… where are we eating?” Colm glanced at his phone one last time before shoving it into his back pocket. “Any gas station you feel like hitting?”

    “I was thinking Burger Queen, actually. My treat.”

    Colm lightly punched her arm. “It fucking better be!”

    After stepping through a portal that left Colm far more sweaty than he liked to be, the two emerged in front of the fast food restaurant. True to her word, Malevola paid for their food, and the two found a table outside to eat. They were quiet as they ate, and watched cars as they drove by. Colm didn’t get to hang out with Malevola as often as he’d like to, she was usually busy dragging Sonar to an AA meeting or dodging weird cultists. He liked Malevola, she was probably the only member of the Z-Team older than him, and the two often exchanged war stories together about their times before being arrested.

    But tonight, they were just quiet. Whether it was the weight of their battle against the Red Ring, or some other issue, Colm didn’t say anything and just threw their trash away when they finished. When he returned to the table, Malevola had propped her chin up on her fist and was staring at the tiny Hollywood sign in the distance, her tail scratching the back of her arm for her. When Colm sat down, that’s when she spoke.

    “Why her?”

    “Huh?”

    “Why her?” Malevola asked again. “Out of all the scary homicidal bitches in the world, why her?”

    Colm shrugged, and picked at an edge of peeling paint on the corner of the table. “Dunno. Just sort of happened.” So much for not thinking about her.

    “What, did she try to kill you or something?” Malevola was smiling, probably thinking her question was absurd.

    Colm shrugged again. “Something like that.”

    “You’re fucking joking.”

    “Not really. I was in a bad place, she showed up with a knife, and we had some fun.” Colm said nonchalantly. “I think she was lonely. Shite, I was too. Two lonely bastards with blood on their hands. We had a good time together, made a good team.”

    Malevola was raising an eyebrow at him. “Oh yikes, it’s worse than what Blazer said.”

    Colm snapped his head up to stare at her. “Fucking Mandy put you up to this?”

    “Her name is Mandy?”

    “Fuck off, are ya tryna therapize me or something?!” Colm stood, which didn’t change his height at all. “Why are ya asking so many questions?”

    Malevola put her hands up. “Easy, mate, I’m just looking out for my friend. We are friends, aren’t we?”

    Colm sighed, and relaxed, sitting back down sheepishly. “Shite, I guess we are. Sorry, lass.”

    “All is forgiven, Blazer and I are just worried about ya, you know? She said you were off today. Everyone else is taking time off until the building’s back, why don’t you do the same?”

    “And do what with my free time? Sit at home? Drink? I already do that.”

    Malevola frowned. “No, I’m not saying that, I’m just saying maybe throwing yourself into work isn’t the best idea? Everyone else may have gotten hurt physically, but they’re all in good spirits. You’re like the opposite. A sad little ball of meat. Sad little ball of meat that smells like deodorant and beer.”

    “Fuck off!” Colm raised a fist to hit her, but his heart wasn’t in it. He did sniff himself, though, and fucking hell - he did smell a lot like his Old Spice deodorant. He sighed and rubbed his face, scratching his chin as his fingers dragged across his stubble. “Everything’s a fucking mess. Can’t go to work, can’t stay home-”

    “-And you won’t go to the hospital to see the team.”

    “Should I go see everyone? Fuck, I should, shouldn’t I?” Colm pulled his phone out to check if he had any missed messages. There was a single missed call from Coupé. He stared at the notification for longer than he should have. His phone was small in his hands, and Janelle’s contact photo seemed so far away. All he needed to do was just tap the tiny notification, just one tap and she’d be right there with him. Did she need him? Did she call to ask why he hadn’t visited her? What the fuck was wrong with him, she got her fucking wings torn off by Mecha Man, he should have been there for her! He went to call her back, but Malevola snatched his phone out of his hand before he could. He nearly hit her this time, but she held up her other hand to stop him.

    “Hold on, babes,” Malevola said carefully, “you went somewhere else for a second. You good? What’s going on?”

    Colm snatched his phone back and shoved it back into his pocket. “I’m fucking peachy, actually, so you can fuck right off.” He slid back out of his chair and shoved his hands into his pockets as he started walking away. If he didn’t, he was sure he was going to flip her off. “G’night, I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

    “Yeah, cheers…” Malevola said with a frown.

    Colm stared at the missed call notification for another hour before falling asleep on his couch fully dressed.

    Colm was up before the sun, stomach rumbling with nothing else in it besides 10 pm burgers and cheap beer. Fuck, his phone was almost dead, too. He plugged it in and changed into clothes he could wear to the gym before remembering that the SDN building was still in shambles, including the rec room. This meant he would need to make a longer trip to the other gym he trained at, one that wasn’t superhero exclusive and often fined him for breaking equipment. It would have to do. He shoved some clean clothes into his bag along with a fresh roll of tape, his deodorant, and an empty bottle of water he would just fill up at the gym. 

    He grabbed a gas station burrito for breakfast on his way to the gym, and showed the other early bird gym-goers the same courtesy they showed him; ignoring him completely. His workout routine wasn’t very long, the sorceress who had given him his powers was very thorough in giving him exactly what he wanted in a body sans the height, but Colm still made sure to do a complete loop around the gym. His workout playlist was now mostly Prism’s music, whether he added it himself or she hacked his music app was up for debate, but all of her tracks helped him set a good rhythm as he worked. Even as he used a full sized punching bag as a speedbag, he happily reminisced on the fight at The Sardine only a couple weeks ago now. Now that was a team bonding experience.

    When his workout playlist ended, however, instead of looping back to the beginning, it started playing tracks from his other playlists. Colm was thrown off by soft oboe music floating through his earbuds. He caught the punching bag as it swung back at him, and closed his eyes to listen to soft Tchaikovsky. His phone was buzzing in the pocket of his sweats. Colm pulled it out, ready to hang up on whoever was calling, but paused and watched as Janelle’s name drifted across his screen. He waited for the call to go to voicemail, for the voicemail to record itself, and only then did he shove his phone back into his pocket. He threw one last punch at the bag, but there was no force behind it. 

    Colm gathered his things to slip into the gym’s shower and head to the SDN building. When he got out of the shower, he saw that Coupé had called him another time, and that Invisigal of all people had texted him.

Visi: you alive???

    Colm dried himself off with a towel and pulled on some pants before sitting down on a bench and typing a response.

You: Depends on who’s asking.

You: Didn’t you get shot?

Visi: I’m fine, the bullet went all the way through.

You: I know that.

Visi: So why the duck haven’t you come see me then??? 

Visi: fuck****

Visi: Bring me some snacks or smth. Hospital food is so ass.

    Colm could have asked why she didn’t get Malevola to bring her snacks, but guessed that her answer would just be some sort of complaining. He shot off a text to Mandy to ask if he was needed at the SDN building, and when she replied with “no” way too quickly, he sighed and accepted his fate.

    Colm dressed himself fully, and ventured back to the gas station to grab Sour Patch Kids, twinkies, and an assortment of other snacks for his team. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t totally heartless. He got an Uber to the hospital, checked in as a visitor, and was surprised to find Galen in the waiting room.

    “Figured you’d be at the building.” Colm walked over to him and shook his hand.

    Galen accepted the handshake. “I could say the same about you. Blazer said you were really helpful yesterday.”

    Colm flexed his arm a little. “Well, I got a fucking reputation to keep, don’t I?”

    “Maybe. Here to see the team?”

    He patted his bag filled with snacks. “Sugar delivery. Show me where the pussies are so I can give them their shit.”

    Galen frowned, but his lips were upturned into a half-smile. “I don’t think you can call your teammates that.”

    “I can call ‘em whatever the fuck I want!” Colm started to walk away. “Just point me in the right direction!”

    Galen told him to take a left at the elevators, and so he did. Beef was sitting on the floor outside of one door, so Colm figured that was Robert’s room. He started digging in his bag for some twinkies as he pushed the door open to let the dog inside.

    “Rise an’ shine, arseho- oh!” Colm froze in the doorway, eyes the size of dinner plates.

    Janelle stared back at him from where she was stretching on the floor in a hospital gown.

Chapter Text

    “Colm?” Janelle barely registered Beef bounding over to her and flopping himself down in her lap. Her mask and costume were neatly folded and set off to the side on a chair. From where he was standing, Colm could see that her wings were wrapped in bandages and sticking out of her gown.

    Colm turned on his heel to leave, but Janelle was on her feet and grabbing for his bag. She snagged him and pulled him back, it was surprisingly easy to do so. 

    “You haven’t returned my calls.” She said.

    Colm looked anywhere but at her, holding his bag to his chest. “Well, I’ve been busy, you know. Buildin’ and shite.”

    “Oh. I see.” She whispered. She let go of his bag and picked up Beef. She sat herself down on the side of her bed and scratched the dog’s head. “Are you well?”

    “Me? I’m fine, fucking peachy!” Colm said too quickly. “Actually I have’ta drop these snacks off with the others so I’ll be goin’ now!”

    He started to pull the door closed behind him. He caught a glimpse of Janelle’s face just as the door shut, she was just staring at him while clutching Beef to her chest. He wanted to throw up. Colm shook his head and made sure to knock on the next door he opened, which luckily was Sonar’s. He threw twinkies at the bat-man and looked at Sonar’s fucked up teeth until Invisigal called him to tell him to hurry up over to her room.

    Colm found her room next and the first thing she did after he shut the door behind him was pull off her hospital gown, effectively flashing him. He averted his eyes with a loud swear.

    “Fucking shite, lass, not this early in the mornin’!” Colm glared at the floor.

    “Calm down, Lucky Charms, just wanted to show you something. Notice anything weird?”

    Colm looked at her and blinked. Yep, two breasts staring back at him. Oh, she was probably referring to the still-healing scar directly underneath them. Right. Colm pointed a finger at the scar.

    “Was that always there?”

    Invisigal said “no” with a wide smile. “The doctors got rid of my Red Ring implants! No risk of them blowing up or something!”

    “Good to hear for sure, did I need to see your, uh, you know, for you to tell me this?” He asked her, averting his eyes once more.

    She scoffed and covered herself back up, mumbling under her breath (probably calling him a pussy). He made it up to her by walking over to her and handing her the bags of candy he’d gotten for her. She thanked him as she tore into one of the bags with her teeth.

    “Oh thank fucking god for you, man. I fucking needed this.” She nearly moaned as she popped some candy into her mouth. “Hospital food tastes like literal ass. And I’d know, ask Robert.”

    Colm scrunched up his face. “Did not need to know that, thank you. Other than the, uh, implants being gone, you feeling alright?”

    She hummed as she chewed, and swallowed before answering. “I think so, if we ignore the nightmares of violent deaths and explosions, but I’ve always had those.”

    Colm frowned sympathetically at her. “You’ve been havin’ nightmares?”

    “Eh, only on the nights I’m not dreaming of pegging Robert or sucking him off.”

    “And I’ll say good day to you, lass. Enjoy the candy, fucking nasty bitch.” Colm turned and left. Invisigal laughed as he shut the door behind himself, and he took a second to rub his temples before venturing to the next room. He made his rounds to the rest of the team, and returned to the waiting room to sit down next to Galen while he figured out where to go next. He thought that chatting with his team and friends would make the pit in his stomach go away, and laughing with everyone about Sonar’s teeth was pretty fun, but when he sat down, he just sagged down into the chair and rubbed his face.

    “Do I even want to ask?” Galen glanced over at him briefly before going back to scrolling his phone. He was reading an article about the ex-Mrs. Vanderstenk.

    “If you know what’s good for you, no.” Colm threatened with a grumble.

    “I heard Coop is coming back to the team. You should be excited, right?”

    “I am.”

    Galen sighed and set his phone down to focus on Colm. “Next to Sonar, you’re the worst at lying on your team.”

    Colm looked shocked. “No way, I’m a great liar!”

    Galen just stared at him. Colm sighed again and deflated.

    “Or maybe not.”

    “Maybe not,” Galen echoed, “so what’s going on? Talk to me, bro.”

    “Why, because you’re such a great listener?” Colm snickered.

    Galen nodded. “Yes, exactly why.”

    “Oh. Right.” Colm coughed awkwardly. “Well, there’s nothing really happening. Nope. Nothing at all. Blonde Blazer is a liar and Malevola is crazy.”

    “... Right. Okay cut the crap, you’re a grown man hiding from your ex girlfriend. It’s pathetic, really.” Galen said. “If you want her on the team, say so. If you don’t, say so.”

    “It ain’t that simple, lad.” Colm rubbed his face again. Did he shave? He couldn’t remember if he shaved or not. “Blazer went on this whole speech about givin’ chances, and yeah I’d be the better person if I just put all this shite behind us, but shite’s hard, you know?”

    Galen nodded and patted his shoulder. “Understandable.”

    “You’re a good listener but a shit advice giver, you know.”

    “Yeah I know.” Galen said. “Sorry.” He didn’t sound very sorry.

    “Yeah, well, fuck off. Just gotta sit here and wait for things to go back to normal.” Colm crossed his arms and sat back far enough in his chair that his legs were mostly on the cushion instead of hanging off. Galen gave him a strange look.

    “What do you mean normal?”

    “You know, normal! Before any of this crazy Red Ring bullshit!” Colm gestured with his hands, sort of waving them in front of himself. “When the team was a team!”

    “Before or after Coop got fired?” Galen asked.

    Colm opened and shut his mouth several times before he got mad and stormed off. As he stomped out of the hospital, he missed Coupé stepping out of her room to let out Beef, and how she stared at him as the elevator doors closed on him.

    Out of all the people to find in his living room, Colm did not expect to see Phenomaman. In fact, Phenomaman was probably on the lower end of the list of people that Colm expected to break into his apartment. Fucking hell, the big oaf broke off his doorknob, he’ll need to replace that.

    “Can I, uh, help you?” Colm asked tentatively as he stood in his doorway, staring at the massive man who was just sitting on his couch.

    “The Blonde Blazer told me that we could use your help at the SDN building, but that you weren’t feeling well.” Phenomaman said. “I wanted to check on you.”

    Colm shifted his weight awkwardly between his feet. “Well, I’m fucking fine, so… Shouldn’t you be in the hospital with a broken cloaca or something?”

    Phenomaman looked down at himself. “My cloaca is perfectly intact. But thank you for asking, not many people know about it.”

    “Right…” Colm rubbed his hands together and tapped his fist in his palm. How was he going to get Gigantor out of his apartment? “Well, Dumpy, I appreciate you coming over, so let me put my things down and we can head to the job site-“

    “-Katon-ur is my real name. Dumpy was the name given to me by my first colleagues here on Earth.”

    “I knew it wasn’t yer real name.” Colm found himself smiling a little. “Well then, I’m Colm. And I’m waiting for you to get off my couch so I can put my bag on it.”

    “Oh, right!” Katon-ur floated up to let Colm do as he said. “Your apartment is appropriately proportional to your height.”

    “Yes, because I live here.” Colm said. “So are ya going to give me a ride to work or are ya gonna fuck off?”

    “You have a very vulgar vocabulary.” Katon-ur noted out loud. “We can fly together to the SDN building if it pleases you.”

    Colm agreed and tried not to feel indignant as he was carried bridal style across Torrance. The flight was short, thank fuck, and he was deposited safely in the SDN parking lot only a few minutes later. Mandy met the two of them and while she gave Colm a strange look, she quickly assigned them tasks to complete. 

    Colm liked completing tasks. He was good at completing tasks. He could demolish or move or lift or hold anything in place, just say the word. Mandy kept him busy for the rest of the day, and gave him another free sandwich, which was very nice of her. Then she kicked him off the site as the sun started to go down, which wasn’t very nice of her. Colm gave her some choice words as he obediently stalked away from the parking lot. He bought himself a new doorknob on the way home and took his time installing it, silently hoping that his landlord didn’t notice it was missing for several hours.

    He ended the night with a much needed shower. Malevola was right, he smelled too much like deodorant, did he need to switch brands? No, that was stupid. Old Spice was his old friend. Colm flopped himself down on his couch and for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, rubbed his face and groaned. His phone had a few missed messages from the team, a voicemail from Chase - how Chase got his number, he had no idea - and one more missed call from Janelle. As he picked up his phone to respond to his messages, Janelle texted him a picture of Beef sleeping on Robert’s chest while the rest of the Z-Team posed around their dispatcher, flipping off the camera in their matching hospital gowns. Galen was also in the picture, did he spend the whole day at the hospital? Colm hearted the picture, but then threw his phone across his living room when Janelle immediately called him again. God, he was pathetic. He needed to figure this bullshit out sooner rather than later.

    When he grabbed his phone, he finally read the transcription of the voicemail Chase left him. He was asking if Colm would be willing to watch Beef for a few days while Robert finished his concussion protocol and the rest of the team started getting discharged. Chase would watch Beef himself, but he was picking up shifts at the DTLA branch, or helping with the reconstruction or some other excuse. Colm looked around his dark apartment and thought, fuck it, before texting Chase his response.

You: I’ll swing by in the morning to grab him.

Chapter Text

    Colm met Chase outside the hospital the next morning after Colm finished up at the gym. Chase, who was still blonde, had Beef tucked under one arm and a bag full of supplies in the other. Beef barked happily when he saw Colm, and was rewarded by a nice scratch on his head.

    Chase handed the bag to Colm and set Beef on the ground to connect a leash to his collar. “He needs to be fed and walked every day, and feed him actual fucking dog food, not cereal.”

    “Robert’s been feeding him cereal?” Colm peeked inside the bag to see what was all in it. A bag of dog food, dog bowls, a pillow and some blankets, all things Colm already knew where to put in his apartment.

    Chase shook his head with a sigh. “Fucker would rather spend money on the dog than himself. Doesn’t make any fucking sense to me. So, uh, thanks for this.”

    Colm nodded and took the leash. Chase told him that Robert would probably be discharged sometime the following week, most likely at the same time that other members of the Z-Team would be let out. Colm was happy to hear that, the sooner the team could get back to their usual routine the better. 

    “Before or after Coop got fired?” Galen’s voice echoed in his ear. Colm told the memory to fuck off and took Beef back to his apartment. Beef wasted no time making himself home on Colm’s couch, so Colm flopped down next to him and turned on the tv. He told Mandy he was taking the day to hang out with the Beef, and she sent him several positive emojis. Didn’t she say she was trying to be less of a dork? Oh well. They watched some show reruns, a game show that only aired in the middle of the day, and Colm enjoyed the peace and quiet for a few hours as the sun finished rising outside his windows. Once the two of them made good imprints of their butts on the couch, Colm dragged himself into his kitchen to find food for the two of them. He got Beef’s food and water bowls set up first, and then turned back to his fridge to find a snack for himself, only to remember that he still hadn’t gone grocery shopping.

    “Fucking…” He mumbled under his breath as he stuck his head into the fridge. “Dog, you’re coming shopping with me.”

    A short while later, Colm and Beef wandered the aisles of the local Ralph’s. Colm was a frozen microwave meal type of guy usually, mostly because he liked to pick up extra shifts at the SDN during the night, but he figured that with all the free time he had landed in, he could afford to spend a little more effort on himself. And besides, it wouldn’t be fair if Beef got all the specialty treatment. The little guy was spoiled enough as it was. Colm still ended up grabbing more microwave meals and cases of beer, but also grabbed some vegetables and a nice beef chuck to throw into his crock pot back home. Golem had gifted him a spice rack for his birthday last year that he’d barely scratched; he figured he could finally put his gift to use. 

    Colm set up Beef’s dog bed before setting up for dinner. It wasn’t even noon yet, but he wanted to get ahead on cooking. Colm wasn’t the best cook on the team, he actually didn’t know who was the best, but he wasn’t the worst by far. He’d seen Waterboy’s attempts at meal prepping in the break room fridge, and shuddered at the memory of soggy frito pie. 

    With the crock pot full and plugged in, Colm went back to his couch and went back to surfing the channels his cable gave him. He turned on one true crime documentary or another that he wasn’t really going to watch, and did his best to not look at his phone. He passed the time by tossing a ball for Beef and laughing to himself as Beef only half-heartedly chased it around the living room before delivering the ball back to Colm. Still, he couldn’t ignore the outside world forever. Maybe he bit the bullet with Uber prices and picked up shifts downtown? Maybe he brought Beef with him to the SDN building and handed him off to Mandy while he worked? Colm juggled productive ideas in his head until an alarm on his phone went off to tell him dinner was ready.

    As he dished himself some food (and maybe a little bit for Beef), and sat back down on his couch, Colm finally looked at his phone. To his horror, he had too many missed calls from Prism. Did he accidentally put his phone on silent? Fuck, was there some sort of emergency? Colm jabbed Prism’s contact information with his finger right as someone started banging on his door.

    “The fuck do ya want?!” Colm shouted at the door.

    “Well, I would’ve gotten the door open already,” a woman called from the other side, “but somebody changed the locks!”

    Colm ran to the door and opened it, finding Prism and Flambae in civilian clothes standing in his doorway. 

    “Shite, sorry you two!” Colm let them in and shut the door behind them. “Phemonaman took off my doorknob yesterday, was a whole hassle.”

    Prism--Alice sniffed the air and almost floated to the kitchen she was way too tall for. “Cooking something?”

    “Yeah, I made dinner for me-” Colm started to say, but gave up when Alice handed Chad a bowl she’d grabbed from his cabinet and the two helped themselves to his pot roast. “Yeah, no sure, break in and help your fucking selves.”

    “Thanks, man! Smells fucking great!” Chad gave him a bright smile before depositing himself on Colm’s couch. Alice sat down next to him, and Beef - the little traitor he was - took up the rest of the space on the couch, leaving Colm standing at the edge of the living room and staring at his coworkers.

    “Aren’t you supposed to be in the hospital?”

    Chad waved him off while Alice grabbed the remote for the tv. “Malevola took my fucking broken bones from me, it was fucking magical.”

    “And my cuts weren’t too bad.” Alice mumbled. “Bitch, why don’t you have any streaming services? What century are you living in?”

    Colm stepped in front of the couch and snatched the remote from her. “Why the fuck are you two here? And don’t give me any gobshite about wanting a free meal.”

    Chad gave Alice a side-eye as he chewed on a carrot. Alice huffed and set her bowl in her lap. “What the fuck is happening between you and Coop? Why does she look like a sad, wet rat all the time? Shouldn’t she be happy she’s back on the team?”

    Colm took a deep breath to keep from getting unreasonably angry in front of Beef. But instead of feeling angry, he felt this weird pinch in his chest. And his mouth tasted horribly. “It’s not any of my business how she feels. She’s back, she should focus on staying back.”

    Chad coughed into his fist. “Bullshit-”

    “Yeah?” Colm raised his fists at him. “You want to go a few rounds, Sparky? Since you’re clearly feeling so much better?”

    “Hey, fuck you, you’re the one being a fucking dick to your fucking girlfriend!” Chad shouted back. Colm’s hand moved faster than his brain, and he smacked Chad across the cheek. He wasn’t sure why he did that, he just stared at his shaking hand, and then back up at Chad’s red cheek.

    “I- sorry, lad.” Colm mumbled sheepishly. “I don’t- I don’t know why I did that.”

    Chad rubbed his face and massaged his jaw. “It’s fine. Forgot she dumped your ass.” Alice punched him in the arm. Chad swore and swatted her hand away. “What? What did I say?”

    Colm walked back to his kitchen to start cleaning up. The nauseous feeling he’d been trying to ignore for days now was back in full throttle, and now his head hurt. Fuck, he needed a drink. He was glad he grabbed some from the store. Did he have a chilled glass? Colm opened his freezer to pull out a glass, but Alice was standing over him and pushing the freezer shut before he could wrap his fingers around one.

    “What the fuck is your problem, tiny man? First Blazer said you were tweaking, then Malevola said you’re all sad and mopey, then Galen said-”

    Colm flipped her off and pulled the freezer back open to grab his glass. Alice didn’t stop him as he grabbed one of his new beers and popped it open. She did, however, accept the bottle when he handed it to her and ignored Chad’s cry of protest when Colm didn’t grab one for him. She sat herself on Colm’s shorter countertop and the two clinked their drinks together while Chad complained about not being able to move Beef out of his lap. Once both of their drinks were half finished and the proper code of Z-Team conduct was reestablished, then Alice resumed her questioning.

    “Alright, you need to spill what’s happening with Coop, like for real.”

    Colm swirled his remaining beer in his glass and took a quick swig. “She makes me sick.”

    “Bro what the fuck.”

    Colm’s eyes widened and he backtracked. “Not like that! Well, not really, but I’ve been feeling like shit warmed over for a few days now. It gets worse when I think about her, and everyone and their fucking mothers have been asking me about her, so you can imagine how I feel right now.”

    “Well maybe if you weren’t a fucking coward,” Chad called from the living room, “and, I don’t know, fucking talked to her, you’d feel better? Or you could punch her once a month. I find that works fine.”

    Alice nodded in agreement. Colm looked between the two incredulously, and chugged the rest of his beer. 

    “Fucking psychopaths stealing my fucking dinner.”

    Colm wasn’t sure why he was back at the hospital. He’d kicked Alice and Chad out of his apartment before helping himself to a few more beers, and he was feeling it a little. Still, not to be the irresponsible one, he’d brought Beef with him. He could use the dog as an excuse if someone questioned him. Not that that happened as he made his way to the hallway his team was located in.

    Colm quietly put Beef in Robert’s room without waking his dispatcher before marching over to Janelle’s room. And then he marched right past it. And then turned on his heels and marched back down the hallway, past her door again. Colm paced outside of her room a few more times before he finally stopped in front of the door. He took a deep breath, and quickly turned the doorknob up to open the door slightly. If Janelle was asleep, he could just leave and that would be it. If she wasn’t, well…

    Lucky, or maybe unlocky for Colm, Janelle wasn’t asleep. In fact, her window was open with soft moonlight illuminating her naked silhouette. Her hospital gown was tossed on the same chair her costume was still folded on, and Colm watched her move as if he was in a trance. Janelle was graceful and deliberate with her movements, on her bare toes and dancing around her room like she was on stage. She spun and traced her fingers through the air. When her back was to Colm, he got a view of her mangled skin. A thick lump in his throat threatened to choke him at the number of scars he didn’t recognize. How many of those were from Shroud? How many from the hospital staff? Her wings, they weren’t wrapped anymore, but he’d never seen them that small before. The knives were too small to do any real damage, could she even fly on those tiny wings? How many knives did she lose when the implants were removed? Would they ever grow back again?

    Janelle’s silent dancing was speeding up now, her yellow eyes closed as she lost herself in whatever music was playing in her head. Her arms were raised above her head, her slender legs were straight and pointed, and then she jumped into the air, kicking out one of her feet with the other. A Coupé. A knife that cut. A knife that got cut and a knife that allowed herself to get cut. Her feet were placed incorrectly, he’d seen her do this jump a million times. Colm tried to pry his eyes away, but he couldn’t.

    Janelle fell, and hit the tile floor hard. She swore and slid on her knees over to her bed. Colm watched her clutch the blankets with one hand and reach around herself to touch her back with the other. Her body was shaking, her tiny wings tried to flap, and Colm knew she was biting her lip hard to keep from crying. This was too vulnerable of a scene, he shouldn’t be watching this, but Colm didn’t move one way or another. He swallowed down the lump in his throat just as quickly as a new one formed when he heard Janelle weep quietly.

    Janelle then looked over her shoulder at him. He froze as she cried at him, her lip and jaw trembling as she tried to hold it in, but the tears still poured down her stained cheeks. Colm lifted a hand, like he was going to somehow wipe her tears away from where he was standing, but then the pity turned into an ugly spike stabbing into his side, and he clenched his hand into a fist.

    “Why’d you do it?” He asked her, his voice came out as a quiet snarl. “Why the fuck did you do it?”

    “Colm, I-” She started to say, but he cut her off.

    “Didn’t we have a good thing goin’? Even though you got fired, we could have figured it out! So why? Why did you do this to yerself?” Colm wasn’t sure if he was crying or not. His breathing was shaking, and his hand trembled horribly. He wanted to run, to hug her, to throw her off the roof, to watch her soar through the sky. Janelle made no move to cover herself, she just stared at him with watery yellow eyes. Colm grit his teeth at her. “Do ya even know how long I looked for ya?! Every moment of free time I had, I was out there on the streets, looking for ya! When we got those calls that those assassins were looking for you, I was out there beating their arses! I would have killed them for you, Coop! I would have protected you!”

    “I-”

    “Shut the fuck up!” He snapped at her. She didn’t flinch, but her eyes did widen. “Just shut the fuck up! I had to start all over, you know. Got a new partner who was so shite at his job that I was basically holding his hand, and I never stopped thinking about you! And then you show up, right when the world is endin’, and you got metal bits and bobs drilled into yer perfect fucking wings and you signed away yer soul!” Colm was for sure crying now. Maybe he should have cried before? He just tried not to hiccup too badly. “Why fucking Shroud of all people? Why not just go back to jail and wait for us to come get you? Why not come to me?

    “Why did you leave me?” Colm choked out. “Tell me, Janelle, why didn’t you pick me?”

    “Because I was angry!” Janelle hissed. “I wanted Robert and that Blonde Bitch to hurt and Shroud promised me that he could make it happen. I didn’t even think about you.”

    Colm stared at her as everything fell into place behind his eyes. He then shook his head, and shut her door behind him, retrieving Beef before beginning the walk home.

Chapter Text

    When Colm awoke, it was because Beef was sniffing him and licking his face. Colm sat up too fast for the intense throbbing in his forehead to follow, and he nearly gagged from how intense his hangover hit him. What time was it? He groaned and gave the Beef a good scratch before a noise in his kitchen made him shoot up to his feet. No comment on how he wobbled and winced from his headache.

    “What the fuck?”

    Waterboy yelped and tried to cower behind the too-low kitchen cabinet, but quickly stood back up straight and held up the garbage bag he was shoving things into. “Good, ah, morning! Good morning! Hello! Did you sleep good- well?”

    Colm looked around his apartment. There were a few beer bottles scattered around, and his couch looked wet, did he pass out on the floor? The sunlight coming through the window told him it was almost noon. Shit, half a day lost. He rubbed his face again and pinched his temple. He stank. How did he even get home last night?

    “Oh, we bumped into you- into each other at the hospital.” Herm - that was his name, right? - answered, did Colm say that outloud? “You were crying, it was weird, so we- I followed you home, but not in a bad- weird way! I carried Beef! And you started- immediately started drinking. So I just spent the night here in your- on the couch. I hope you do not- don’t mind?”

    Colm looked around the apartment again, almost as if he was trying to confirm Herm’s story. There wasn’t any evidence to the contrary, and his new doorknob was still intact, so Colm nodded and shuffled to his bathroom to take a long, warm shower. He stood in the shower for a long while, and kept his eyes closed as he let the showerhead beat against the back of his head and neck. 

    Water ran hot down his face, from his forehead and over his eyelids to run down his cheek. More water streamed through the dips in his shoulders and muscles, and trailed down his stomach and legs like tiny warm strands of love trying to touch him all over. Colm thought of how Katon-ur looked after Mandy had dumped him, and he wondered if he resembled the sad alien in any way. Now that would have been fucking pathetic. 

    Once his water started to turn cold, Colm got out of the shower and dried himself off slowly. He felt sluggish, and not just because of his fading hangover. Thank you weird healing powers from the sorceress. Colm got dressed slowly, too. He found a comfortable hoodie to tug on and stared at his pants for a while before pulling those on as well. He combed his hair, and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror before deciding that he didn’t want to copy Katon-ur, and shaved. 

    When he returned to the living room, Herm had cleaned up all of the beer bottles and found a towel to lay down on the couch. Herm and Beef weren’t anywhere Colm could immediately see, but his front door was unlocked and Beef’s leash wasn’t on his coffee table, so he assumed Herm was taking the dog out for a walk. He shuffled into the kitchen to scrounge for leftovers, and crossed his fingers that Herm hadn’t thrown away any of his food. 

    His leftovers were, thankfully, still in the fridge. There was also a Tupperware container of peeled oranges? Colm pulled out the container and no, it was a container of honeydew and other melons. Colm popped a melon slice into his mouth and tried to remember the last time he’d had fresh fruit. He took the fruit with him back to the couch, and as he sat down, the door opened and Herm returned with the Beef. 

    “Good! You’re still awake- here!” Herm smiled as he took off Beef’s leash. “My grandma made- cut the fruit. I told her I was spending the- helping out a friend, and she thought that you could use- would need a snack.”

    Colm made a mental note to thank Herm’s grandmother for the free fruit. He quietly thanked his teammate and watched Beef sniff around before hopping onto the couch next to him. Could dogs eat melons? Colm didn’t want to follow in Robert’s footsteps of feeding the dog anything he could find, and moved the melons away. 

    After chewing another melon slice, he looked over to see Herm still standing awkwardly in the kitchen. “You, uh, want to come sit down or something, lad?”

    “Oh! Yes, right!” Herm grabbed one of Colm’s dish towels and moved to sit down on the living room floor, tucking the tiny towel underneath himself to try to mop up some of the water pooling off of him. “So how are you- are you feeling good? Better?”

    Colm found himself smiling a little bit. He wondered if Herm would ever get over his speech impediment. Didn’t Robert call it a confidence issue? “I am.”

    “Good- great! I was scared- worried about you. I’d never seen you cry before.” Herm said. “Is it- do you want to talk about her- it?”

    “Not particularly. But…” Colm shrugged and gave Beef a good scratch. The twisting feeling in his stomach was fading, probably because of the melons. “Yer right. I don’t cry often. Was hurting a lot.”

    “Are you hurt- injured?”

    “No, I’m not. Is it weird that I wish I was?” Colm chuckled to himself. “Then I’d have an excuse to feel like microwaved shit.”

   “Well,” Herm looked out the window and then down at his hands, “I always feel like sh- like that. And I heal fast. Doesn’t always feel fair that I- that my powers can hurt people unintent- accidentally even when I try my best. Accidents just happen.”

    “Accidents just happen.” Colm echoed. “Yeah, I guess they do. You don’t intend to hurt someone, you just do yer own thing and hope for the best.”

    “But- but you need to be careful- aware of your surroundings. And apologize. Apologize a lot, or Flambae will scream- yell at you.”

    This actually got Colm to laugh. So many shifts were highlighted by Flambae screaming into the comms about mundane tasks, and while it was sometimes annoying, Colm usually got a kick out of the on the clock bantering. Colm was glad Herm was part of the team, he was truly the nicest person in the world and was a hard worker. Once Colm finished laughing, he sighed and relaxed into his couch. He felt much better. That is, until Herm asked him a question that made his head throb again. 

    “So with Coop- Miss Coupé coming back to the Z-Team, what does- do you know what that means for us- me?”

    Colm stared at him and wondered if he had any more beers. He really wanted one. Instead, Colm ate another piece of fruit. “Don’t know. Robert likes you enough, Blazer does, too. Don’t see why your spot would change any. Pretty sure Invisigal is still suspended, so we don’t have to worry about big changes for a while.”

    Herm nodded and wrung his hands together. It was a little pathetic to see him sitting on the floor, but Colm really didn’t want his couch to be ruined. “Right, right.” Herm said. He then looked over at Colm with a sad expression. “I have something to admit- tell to you.”

    Colm raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

    Herm nodded again, and squeezed his eyes shut, as if bracing for something. “The downtown branch gave me- offered me a spot on a new- another team!”

    Colm clapped and smiled. “Congratulations, bud! That’s big news!”

    “It is?” Herm looked shell shocked. “I mean, it is! Yeah! But I won’t be- I can’t be part of the Z-Team anymore. The SDN said- offered to get my grandma a caretaker, but I didn’t say yes or turn them- say no. I didn’t give an answer.”

    Colm stood and walked over to Herm to clap him on the shoulder. “The higher ups like ya, we should celebrate!”

    “You think- really think so?”

    “Definitely! Herm my boy, why do you look scared?”

    Herm made a sad face. “Because you were crying in your sleep about being alone?”

    Colm pulled his hand, now wet, away and wiped it on his shirt. “Oh. Right.” Somehow, he didn’t notice that his headache had vanished. He still felt light, and he clung to that feeling as tightly as he could. “Well, it’s not like yer leavin’ the fucking country! Just going downtown! I think you should go for it, work with a team that won’t call you a piece of shite for every mistake.”

    “Really? But I thought we were a- we were partners?”

    Colm gave him a soft smile. “Herman, I could team up with fucking Phenomaman if needed. He used me as a bowling ball against the Red Ring, that was fun. But my point is: don’t let a good thing go to waste because yer stuck in the past.” Colm paused and thought about what he just said. And then he laughed at himself. “I’m a right fucking moron, aren’t I?”

    “No!”

    “No, I am, but thank you.” Colm said. “Just need to do some thinking.”

    Herm pulled him into a hug, a tight one that instantly soaked Colm’s clothes. Colm didn't care, and hugged him back. With Herm sitting on the floor, they were about the same height. 

    “Thank you,” Herm whispered into Colm’s shoulder, “for being my friend.”

    “Aye, same to you, Waterboy.”

    Setting up Herm’s transfer party took no time at all, barely an inconvenience. Mandy was happy to set up a few tables in the SDN parking lot that was now entirely debris free, and the date was coordinated to coincide with the discharge dates of the rest of the team from the hospital. 

    Colm was happy to see Royd and Robert sharing a fistbump, and laughed himself blue when Courtney scared them by climbing onto Royd while invisible. The rest of the SDN Torrance crew slowly filled the parking lot, everyone was bringing food or drinks, and poor Herman looked ready to run away crying at the amount of people asking if he was really leaving. 

    Colm stayed by his side for the most part, only stepping away to help pull a comically large portable speaker out of Flambae’s car. When Chad had his car fixed, Colm had no idea, but there were no Katon-ur shaped dents in the hood. Alice wasted no time blasting music and really getting the party started. People were dancing, and somehow Herm got pulled into the center of the dance circle by Malevola. She truly was a cruel demoness. Colm sipped a beer and laughed at Herm’s awkward dance moves, but found the effort endearing. 

    “So I heard you and Coop had a fight?” Robert migrated over to the car Colm was sitting on and leaned against it. Did he only own the same SDN shirt?

    “Maybe, probably.” Colm didn’t take his eyes off the dancing. The sun had set a while ago, so Alice’s sparkles really lit up everyone’s faces more than the spotlights Mandy had set up. 

    “I’m gonna assume the rest of the team has interrogated you enough while I was on bed rest.” Robert said. “Will the two of you be a problem when we get back to work?”

    Colm shrugged and took a big swig of his beer before asking Robert a question. “How did you and Courtney, uh, make up? After the Red Ring bullshit?”

    It was Robert’s turn to shrug. He watched Courtney and the SDN cat mascot dance a duet to some pop song from ten years ago. “We’re still shaky, it’s not perfect. I’ve told her exactly how I feel, and that I still need time to process everything she’s done, but I see her effort, and the time she’s put into being better. She may not deserve another chance, but I’ll give her one anyway.”

    Colm laughed. Robert frowned at him. 

    “What’s so funny?”

    “Fucking Mandy told me the same shite the other day.” Colm told him. 

    “Who’s Mandy?”

    Colm pointed at not-Blonde Blazer who was being flown around the parking lot by Chase. “I’m surprised you don’t know her real name, aren’t you the reason she dumped Dumpy?”

    “Who?” Robert sounded exasperated. 

    “Oh for fuck’s sake, do you know anyone?!” Colm snapped at him. Then, he laughed, and finished his beer. “But yer right. She was hurtin’, and needed someone to be there for her. Accidents can happen, but you gotta be aware of yer surroundings, too. Not my fault that I got hurt, and not her fault that I got hurt. We just gotta keep going.”

    “I feel like we’re not talking about Invisigal anymore.”

    Colm winked at him and slid off of the car to go join the dancing. He hadn’t spotted Janelle yet, and part of him was surprised that he wasn’t anxious either way. If she showed, that would be fine. If she didn’t, that would be fine. Colm liked being fine. And he liked not thinking about what others were doing. Sonar pushed another beer into his hand and Colm let himself get swept up in the party. Chad and Chase flew over everyone’s heads, picking people up and giving them short little rides before dropping them. Even Colm let himself get scooped up and dropped into Golem, which wasn’t as unpleasant of an experience as he thought it would be. Bruno was made of mud, yes, but Colm was so dense that he just slipped right through his friend. It felt nice thinking of his team as his friends.

    As he rolled out of Bruno, he righted himself with a laugh and looked around the parking lot party. His eyes landed on a silver domino mask stalking around the edge of the spotlights. Colm took a deep breath, let out an even deeper sigh, and grabbed two more beers before walking over.

Chapter Text

    Janelle looked like she wanted to run as Colm approached her, but remained rooted and wide-eyed to where she stood. He was silent as he handed her a beer bottle, and stood next to her to watch their partying coworkers.

    “Colm, I-” Janelle started to say. From where he was standing, Colm couldn’t see her wings. He was glad they weren’t glowing red. “Colm, I owe you an apology.”

    “Mhm.”

    “I let my mind be clouded by anger, and in my retaliation, I did not take into account who else I was hurting.”

    “But I didn’t really get hurt, not really.” Colm said, folding his arms across his chest and squeezing his beer bottle just enough to not shatter it. “I was sad, yeah, and for sure fucking angry, but I’m not the one who actually got hurt. Robert and Blonde Blazer forgive ya, so I forgive ya.”

    “But… the other night, everything you said…” Janelle stared down at him, utter confusion on her face. “Did I not betray our partnership?”

    “Oh for sure you did, and that still stings, but it’s like you said; you weren’t thinkin’ about me. You didn’t mean t’ hurt me, you were focusing on yerself.”

    “And that’s supposed to be a good thing?”

    Colm lightly nudged her with his elbow. “Take what you can get, the truth of the matter is that while you may not fucking deserve it, we want you here. I want you here,” he said, just as easily as breathing, “because like it or not, we don’t really have anyone else, do we?”

    They stared at the party, at the friends and families dancing around. Robert with his brother, Sonar with his sponsor, and all the little fucked up people squeezing in between.

    “It could just be you and me, love.” Colm continued. “And it was just you and me for a long fucking time, wasn’t it? Knives and Knuckles, we made a great fucking team. We still can, but you know it can’t be the same, right?”

    “I know.” She said. 

    “It’s not just about us anymore. The team needs us, our friends need us. We have to be ready to do anythin’ for them. If they call, we need to answer. We need to earn it.”

    “You’re saying a lot of ‘we’.” Janelle noted.

    Colm looked up at her with a toothy smile. “Well I can’t let ya just flounder by yerself, now can I?”

    “You’d do that for me? You’d pick me up if I fell down again?”

    Colm extended a hand out to her. “Love, I don’t think I’d ever stop catching you when you fall. Just- give me a warnin’ next time you run off to join a cult?”

    Janelle took his hand with a soft smile. She then chugged the rest of her beer, threw the bottle somewhere into the dark, and the two returned to the party. 

    They kept their hands together, and danced slowly at first. They were relearning their steps, Janelle with her shorter wings was less graceful than before, but Colm stepped in whenever she faltered. It was a process, but he didn’t let go of her hands. If she spun, he dug his heels to ground her. If she jumped, he stood on his toes to give her the extra reach. And when the music sped up, they did too. It wasn’t like coming home, it wasn't very pretty to watch either. Colm knew both of them could dance much better than this if they just let go, but tonight he was fine with making a fool of himself for her. He liked being fine. He helped her find her groove, and started to find his own in the process. 

    Janelle let go first, closing her eyes and letting the music take over. Colm paused to watch her, guessing that the alcohol was finally hitting her all at once, and whistled at her as she started dancing properly with the rest of the group. She grabbed Katon-ur to lift herself into the air, she took Royd’s hand as she floated back down to the ground to spin, and she accepted Malevola’s tail around her waist making her spin faster. Her synergy with the rest of the team was uncoordinated, but slowly she was finding her footing. And Colm couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. 

    “I’m glad you two are working things out.” Mandy met him by one of the tables with food. “Seriously. Everyone said watching you go through the five stages of grief over someone still alive was weird.”

    Colm flipped her off as he shoved a miniature sandwich into his mouth. BLT, nice. As soon as he swallowed, he jabbed a finger at her and said: “Fuck off, god fucking forbid a guy has an off day.”

    “It was more like an off week, but I get your point.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad things are going back to normal. The building should be finished sometime this week.”

    Colm made a face. “Well, it’s not going back to normal. It can’t.”

    “You’re right, it can’t.”

    “Gotta make room for Dumpy over there somewhere. And Chase?”

    Mandy shook her head with a sigh. “We’re still looking for methods to reverse the aging process, but unlucky for us, the only supers with relevant time powers are villains doing time in the Wall Unit in Texas. Organizing a transfer or even extending a Phoenix Program offer is such a hassle, especially without an office to operate out of.”

    Colm frowned at her. “What’s stopping Chase from just flying over, getting zapped back to being younger while still wearing the necklace, and then coming back?”

    Mandy thought about it before answering. “While that’s not a bad idea, I don’t think getting Chase to break into a women’s prison every time his powers make him old is a good, permanent solution. The best bet is to get the Time Twins over here full time, and hopefully help them out in the process.”

    Colm ate another sandwich. “Well if our fucked up team is any evidence, the Program works. Just don’t go cutting them prematurely.”

    She laughed and flipped him off. “Fuck you, I said I was sorry!”

    He laughed with her, then turned his attention back to the party. At some point, Alice had gotten on top of Chad’s car and was using it as a stage as she performed. 

    “Fuck, I’m gonna miss that wet little fuck.” Colm sighed. 

    “I told Waterboy if he ever wanted to come back, the Z-Team would take him.” Mandy said. 

    “Good, good…” Colm mumbled, and then raised his voice. “But he really should be with a proper team. One that actually helps him with his powers and shite.”

    “Oh for sure, absolutely no question about it. This is not a good environment for him at all.”

    They shared another lighthearted laugh, toasted to Herman’s future successes in Hollywood, and rejoined the party-turned-impromptu concert.

    Colm paid the gym manager for yet another broken sandbag, and quickly made his exit. He was running late as it was, and breaking equipment at his favorite gym only set him back further. He didn’t even have time to shower!

    Sweaty with his gym clothes clinging to his body, Colm sprinted as fast as he could to the SDN Torrance branch building. He always had the mindset of first person in, last person out when it came to any of his jobs, it was something instilled in him back during his circus days, and he hated when he broke his personal rule. It didn’t help that his bag was weighing him down. Colm swore loudly and with intense Irish vulgarity. 

    “Need a ride?” Someone called from above him. 

    Colm looked up as Janelle flew upside down above his head. He grinned and extended a hand up to her. “My savior, my angel! A little help, love?”

    She rolled her yellow eyes and took his hand. The fans on her wings glowed blue and whirred as she lifted him off the ground, but she maintained both speed and altitude as she carried him to work. 

    “You fucking stink,” she told him as she set him down in front of the SDN building, “go take a shower.”

    Colm watched her reach behind herself and pull the blue Proto-Pulse out of her back. Her wings folded up into the metal pack on her costume, and she tucked the Pulse into a pocket on the side of the pack. He gave her a thumbs up and ran inside to jump down the stairs to the locker room. 

    The locker room was empty this early in the morning. The sun was still coming up outside, so Colm enjoyed whistling a Prism song while he lathered soap over his arms and chest. He rinsed, dried himself off, and said good morning to the other SDN workers as they trickled in. He was still tugging on his suspenders as he reemerged into the building lobby to find the rest of the Z-Team with their bags. Coupé and Sonar were chatting by the door, so Colm didn’t interrupt them. Instead, he walked over to Robert and gave him a fist bump. 

    “We ready to go, boss?”

    Robert looked around the lobby and nodded. “Looks like we have everyone.” He then whistled to get the team’s attention. “Look, everyone, look at me. Hey. It’s going to be a lot of driving, boring driving. It’s a paid trip, but we will be working, understood? We have one job, and upper management is trusting us with this. Don’t fuck up.”

    Prism waved him off with a smile. “Bitch, you had me at ‘paid trip’.”

    “Yes, we will all be making time and a half while traveling-“

    The Z-Team clapped and cheered. Robert continued to speak over the interruption. 

    “-That being said; it’s about a three day drive to Huntsville. Four days if we run into bad weather. And then it’s the same distance back. That means we’ll be stuck in cramped cars with each other for at least a week. If you feel like your urge to murder each other would be exponentially triggered, it’s okay to stay back and sit this one out. Track Star, Phenomaman, and Golem I’m sure wouldn’t mind the extra hands this week.”

    “I’m good by myself.” Golem said from the back of the lobby. 

    Flambae raised his hand like he was in school. “Okay so, like, if the trip is optional, why is your bitch ass coming? Why don’t you leave the job to the real heroes?”

    Robert ignored him while Prism landed a good punch on his arm. “If that’ll be all, let’s get going.”

    The Z-Team, the 8 of them that were going on this roadtrip, piled into two different cars. One was a beige sedan with the SDN logo on the doors, the other was Flambae’s car. Colm stuffed his bag into the trunk of the sedan and climbed into the backseat, pleasantly surprised to find Beef already laying on an invisible lap. 

    “Did I scare you?” Visi turned visible again and grinned at him. 

    “Lass, as long as you keep your tits in your shirt, I don’t think you can scare me much.” Colm said, honestly. 

    Malevola climbed into the passenger seat in the front and sent the two in the back a strange look. “You’ve seen her tits?”

    Colm shrugged and relaxed into his seat. “Luck of the Irish, I guess.”

    Robert got into the driver’s seat and put on his seatbelt. “Alright, Flambae’s got the directions on his map. It’s six hours to Phoenix, I hope you all are comfortable.”

    Visi put on her own seatbelt and gave Beef a good scratch before speaking to Colm again. 

    “So why aren’t you riding with Coop? I thought you two made up.”

    Colm did not put on his seatbelt. “Eh, just didn’t want to share a car with Sonar.”

    Malevola groaned in the front seat. “Oh my fucking god, me too. Love the guy, but he will not shut the fuck up about this new crypto coin he’s ‘discovered’.”

    Robert checked his mirrors before turning the car on and pulling out of the parking lot. “A moment of silence for Coop and Prism.”

    “Not for Flambae?” Colm asked. 

    Robert shot him a look in the rear view mirror. Colm sucked in a breath through his teeth and leaned over to Invisigal to whisper to her. 

    “Now that’s a lover’s quarrel.”

    Visi nodded and crossed herself. They both dissolved into giggles when Malevola said that Invisigal’s actions made her skin itch. Colm gave her a peace offering of a Tupperware container filled with diced melons he fished out of his bag. He really needed to thank Herm’s grandmother when he saw her next. That woman was a fucking Saint. 

    As Robert navigated them out of the greater Torrance/Los Angeles area, Flambae’s car honked loudly and sped around them. Colm silently wondered if getting pulled over would put a stain on his record, and decided that it would be far more entertaining to find out instead of giving him some sort of warning. For now, he was more than happy to relax and stare at the clouds outside his window. 

    It was a beautiful day in Torrance.