“Glad you could join us,” Bulldozer said in return.
Stardust strolled into the loft as Mike was greeting Bulldozer. Mike caught his eye for a moment before they both looked away from each other. His temporary partner was once more in relaxed clothes—a crop top hooded sweatshirt and snug-fitting joggers that rode low on his hips, revealing a stretch of abdomen that caught and held Mike’s gaze for several long seconds before he managed to look away. Tonight, Stardust’s hair was in a loose ponytail instead of his usual long braid. The man looked amazing no matter what he wore, but Mike thought he liked his casual look the best. Not that it mattered of course. He gave his attention back to Strong.
“And the woman next to him who has already dipped into the chips is Amina.”
The woman who’d first spoken when Mike arrived raised her shoulder in a shrug.
“What? I’m hungry.” She turned to smile at Mike, her dark eyes sparkling and friendly. “I don’t have any powers by the way. I’m just a well-trained badass.”
Mike smiled at her in greeting, thinking that he liked her and her energy.
“Across from you is Helios.”
Helios was also African American, and looked to be in his late thirties, with dark skin, a close shaven beard, and low-haircut. He was dressed a little more professionally than everyone else at the table, in a russet orange Polo and dark khakis. The lenses of a pair of tortoiseshell glasses glinted in the light as Helios stood and reached across the table to shake Mike’s hand.
“I hear we gained our powers in similar circumstances. Mine are thanks to a telescope and an unusually powerful solar flare.”
Mike tapped the corner of one eye. “The Northern Lights and an energy harvesting experiment gone wrong.”
Helios’s face lit up with excitement. “Ah! Interesting.”
Caleb cut into their conversation with an amused grin. “We don’t have time for you to nerd out over the science bits, Helios. We have several things to discuss tonight.” He clicked a button and a line-item list appeared on a blue holo-screen floating above the table.
Strong rapped his knuckles on the table. “Let’s bring this meeting to order. Before I turn it over to Caleb, I want to say a few things. First, I’m impressed with how quickly you all have adapted to working on a team. No one has given Caleb any guff about the missions he’s sent you on and I appreciate that. Second, I’ve been keeping track of statistics for the time it takes to carry out missions, the number of casualties, and property damage. All of those stats are either equal to or improving over pre-team data. I know that in a short time, your team efforts will surpass the already amazing work you all accomplished as individuals. And last, for the most part, superheroes in St. Louis have always had a good reputation in the city. Now, it’s even better. According to social media, the people like seeing you working together. That will be to your benefit as we move forward.”
“Thanks for the positive feedback,” Helios said.
“Can we get two snaps for the lieutenant for bringing us together?” Ignite propped his elbows up on the table, fingers poised to snap.
Strong threw another one of his stern glances at the pyro hero. “We’re not doing that.”
But the team ignored him and started snapping to show their appreciation. Almost immediately, Strong’s stern face eased into a smile, and he shook his head in amusement at their antics.
“That’s all I have for now. Caleb the floor is yours.”
“Okay, first item of discussion: uniforms. Should we have everyone on the team wearing the same thing or do you all want to continue wearing your own gear?”
“There are pros to everyone on the team having the same look,” Sonica said. “It will help identify us to the people of St. Louis when we show up to help.”
“What are the cons?” Amina asked before popping another chip in her mouth.
Caleb answered her. “Everyone is comfortable in different types of gear. We don’t want anyone to feel like they’re losing their individuality because we stuck you guys in identical suits. And I’d hate to get between a man and his yellow Spandex,” Caleb said with a sideways grin aimed at Helios.
Helios adjusted his glasses. “As you are aware, the material of many of our costumes isn’t Spandex, but a proprietary blend designed to offer maximum protection and withstand damage.” Then he grinned. “But yes, I do like yellow.”
“And I like my black latex,” Stardust added.
That kicked off a conversation with everyone discussing the merits and drawbacks of each option.
Ignite waved his hand to get the team’s attention. “How about everyone continues wearing their own gear but we add a patch or something to our suits for identification?”
“That’s a good idea,” Bulldozer rumbled in his deep voice.
Ignite leaned back in his chair and smirked at the big man. “Bet you wish you’d thought of it.”
Bulldozer returned Ignite’s smug look with a single eyebrow raise but didn’t otherwise respond.
“I’m okay with either choice,” Strong said from the head of the table. “This will be decided by a team vote since you’ll be the ones affected by the decision. Are there any other options anyone wants to suggest before you decide?”
