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“Noneed?” Nick blurted, standing on his tiptoes to look at Cap over Dad’s shoulder. “You can’t come here and say something like that and not expect a reaction. It’s like you don’t even know me!”
“But I do,” Cap said. “I know you both very well. And if we’re laying all our cards on the table, I’ll admit that for a time, I thought Nick was Pyro Storm.” He held up his hand as both Nick and Dad started to sputter. “It made sense, at least at first. Nick kept showing up wherever Pyro Storm had been. He knew more than he should have for someone claiming not to be involved. And don’t even get me started on the whole Shadow Star fiasco. I thought Nick’s—uh, obsession was an act to throw people off the trail.”
“Yeah,” Nick muttered. “That would have made me so much cooler, but alas, I sucked instead. Not one of my better moves. And I wasn’t obsessed. I was merely guided by hormones that ended up betraying me spectacularly.”
“You’re not the first person to have a crush on someone awful,” Cap said seriously. “There was this girl who I’d have done anything for when I was younger, even after I found out she was a part of a gang that robbed retirement communities and zoos.”
Nick and Dad gaped at him.
Cap shrugged. “We all do stupid things when we’re young. Hell, we do stupid things no matter how old we get.” He shot a pointed look at Dad. “It’s part of being human. Thankfully, likeNick, I realized that a life of crime wasn’t exactly something I was looking for. Then I met Mary, and she put me on the straight and narrow, and here we are.”
“You might have skipped over a detail or two,” Nick said faintly as Dad began to relax.
“Just a few,” Cap said. “But my point remains. I thought Nick was Pyro Storm. I didn’t think he was evil, no matter how the news and Shadow Star tried to spin it. Then the bridge happened, and Pyro Storm and Nick were standing side by side, and I knew I’d been wrong.” He grinned at Nick. “That kiss kind of put all of that to rest.”
“But that doesn’t explain how you got to Seth,” Dad pointed out, slumping back into his chair. Nick stood behind him, hands resting on Dad’s shoulders.
Cap rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t that hard. The fact that no one else has picked up on it is ridiculous. No offense, but it’s pretty obvious.”
“It is?” Nick asked.
“It is,” Cap agreed. “Nick, you’re not exactly … subtle. And I don’t mean that in a bad way; it’s part of your charm. While you were kissing Pyro Storm, you were apparentlyalsokissing Seth, and I sat down and had a hard think. The Nick I knew wouldn’t do something as mean as two-timing the boy he’s been in love with for years—”
“Years?” Nick gasped. “I haven’t even said … okay. We’ll come back to that part becausewhat? You’re telling me that you thought I’m such a good person that the only way for this to make any sense was for Pyro Storm and Seth to be the same person?”
Cap nodded.
“Well,” Nick said, “that settles it. I’m pretty much the greatest queer ever to exist. Thank you, Cap.”
“Uh, yeah,” Cap said, eyes darting from side to side. “That’s exactly what I meant.” He shook his head. “From there, I looked back on all that had happened. Wherever Pyro Storm went, Nick was sure to follow. He wasn’t always there, but more often than not, the road from Pyro Storm always led back to our Nick here. I told myself thatyou’d all tell me when you were ready, especially after I figured out that Aaron was in on it. Which was why I had no problem helping him create the Extraordinaries Division. If it meant keeping youandPyro Storm safe, then I didn’t see who it could harm. I may not understand what people like Seth can do, but I like to think I know Seth, at least a little bit. Nothing about him screams ‘criminal.’ I doubt that boy has ever done anything illegal in his life.”
“Well,” Nick said. “That’s probably not true.”
Cap stared at him as Dad groaned.
“Uh,” Nick said. “Ignore that part. Go back to talking about how amazing you think I am and stuff.”
“Right,” Cap said slowly. “Then Burke reared his head again with all this Save Our Children bullshit, and I remembered how Aaron had gotten an anonymous tip about what was going on in the basement of Burke Tower. We found nothing, of course, but that didn’t mean somethinghadn’tbeen there. Burke thinks he’s smart, and he is. But he also tends to underestimate those he sees as being beneath him. Do you think Owen told him about Seth? A last littlescrew youas he was sent off to whatever hospital he’s in?”
Nick said, “Owen hates his dad even more than we do. He turned Owen into a bulldog, just to protect himself and his work.”
“Be that as it may,” Cap said, “the thing about dogs is that they love with their whole hearts, even when they’re abused. Doesn’t mean they won’t bite back when pushed, but there is loyalty in fear. All it would take is Owen opening his mouth, and Burke would know who to target. And that’s what I think this is all about. What Burke’s doing. His plan.”
Nick blinked. “What are you talking about?”
Cap shrugged. “Revenge, pure and simple. You took from him, Nick. You and Pyro Storm. Whatever he was doing, you both got in his way. And what’s worse, you exposed his son for what he truly was. Burke may be powerful, and he may be out of his damn mind, but I think he loves his son, regardless of what he did to him. You took that away from him. Even before the bounty, he was trying to flush Pyro Storm out. I bet what may be my last paycheck that he hoped someone would call his hotline withinformation on Pyro Storm, or at least point him in the right direction. And if he could gather intel on other potential Extraordinaries in the meantime, then he’d be all the better for it. But I don’t think he got what he wanted from it, which is why he announced the bounty on Pyro Storm.”
“But—but that’s sostupid.”
“What?” Cap asked, startled. Even Dad tilted his head back to look at Nick, brow furrowed.
Nick began to pace. “It can’t be that simple. We exposed Owen, but Burke came out of that whole debacle relatively unscathed. Yeah, people wondered how he couldn’t have seen what Owen was, but Burke spun the story right. He painted himself as a victim of his troubled son’s out-of-control powers, and everyone believed him. If he was that pissed off, why run the risk of letting people see who he really is? Especially with Smoke and Ice standing at his side.”
“Money talks, kid,” Dad said. “It’s not fair, but there it is. So long as he can throw money at whatever problem he has, people tend to not ask questions.”
“Except for us,” Cap said. “Because I have many, many questions for Burke, but I don’t have enough information yet to ask the right ones.”
“You sure about this, Cap?” Dad asked. “You don’t want to be in Burke’s crosshairs. If he even gets a hint that you’re working against him …”
