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“I’m already in his crosshairs,” Cap said. “And it wouldn’t be the first time someone in power was coming after me. I became a cop because I thought I could make a difference in the way justice was served, help reform how police operate. And while I like to think I’ve helped make a difference, it’s spinning out of my control. There are too many cops who think they are the be-all and end-all when it comes to the law. Give a man a gun and a badge, and he believes he’s the most powerful person in the world. That’s not the way it should be, but unfortunately, that’s the way it is.” He looked at his hands.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Nick asked helplessly.
“What we can,” Cap said. “Burke may be powerful, and he may have more money than most folks will see in a hundred lifetimes, but that doesn’t mean he gets to do whatever he wants. We have to draw the line somewhere.”
Nick closed his eyes as he stopped behind Dad’s chair. “Except it’s not just about revenge. At least—not against Pyro Storm for what he did to stop Owen.”
“Nick?” Dad asked.
Nick opened his eyes and smiled weakly down at Dad. “We have to tell him. He has to know if he’s going up against Burke.”
Dad paled. “No. Nick,no.”
“It’s not only about Owen,” Nick whispered. “It’s about us. You. Me.” He looked away. “He … I think he loved her. More than you know. And I think he allowed his feelings to fester until they were rotten. He acted like it didn’t matter, acted like it didn’t hurt him, but what if it did? She was her own person and she made her own decisions, but what if he felt like you took her away from him?”
“Aaron?” Cap asked. “What’s he talking about?”
Dad ignored him, eyes on Nick. “If we do this, we can’t ever take it back.”
“I know,” Nick said. “But this is Cap. Him coming here and telling us what he did puts a target on his back, and he needs to know everything. We have to stand together because we’re struggling apart.”
Dad hung his head, hands curling into fists on the table. “I’m scared.”
“I am too,” Nick said gently.
“I just want you to be safe,” Dad said in a choked voice. “I want you to be happy and free and not worry about any of this.”
“I know. And you did what you thought was right,” Nick said. “Whether or not it was is something else entirely, but I don’t blame you for that. I’m mad because you tried to take away part of me that you had no right to. I’m mad because you lied to me. But I can never be mad that you tried to protect me. No one knows what it was like for us when Before became After. We’re a team, and no one can stop us.”
Dad wiped his eyes. “Team, huh?”
“Damn right we are. And if Burke thinks he can use that against us, then he’s making his biggest mistake yet.”
Dad stood, holding his arms open. “C’mere, kid.”
Nick went. Of course he did. Dad hugged him tightly, Nick’s face buried in his chest.
After a time, Dad pulled away, studying Nick’s face. “If you’re sure.”
Nick nodded. “If it helps Cap figure out what Burke is up to while there’s still time, then it helps us. And it’s better he hears it from us. You know I’m right. It was never just about Owen, or even Seth. It was about Mom and you and him.” He took a deep breath. “And me.”
Dad hesitated before nodding slowly. He turned back toward Cap, but he wasn’t going to do this alone. Nick was with him until the end. That’s what Bell men did.
Cap arched an eyebrow at the pair of them. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to say?”
Nick laughed hysterically. “Cap, you have no idea. So—you were right, I’m not Pyro Storm, but Iaman Extraordinary. Telekinetic, though my powers don’t always work when I want them to unless I’m jumping off the roof of a building.”
Dad stiffened and turned his head slowly to Nick. “You didwhat?”
Nick shrugged. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. But don’t worry. I floated. Hooray!”
Dad’s eyes bulged.
Cap sat forward, hands folded in front of him, his knuckles bloodless. “Perhaps you should start at the beginning.”
And so they did.
By the time they finished, the sky outside had begun to darken. Nick had let his dad do most of the talking, only jumping in to provide color commentary that he knew was appreciated, even if Cap and Dad didn’t say as much. In fact, Cap barely spoke at all,allowing the Bells to tell their story. When Nick got to the part about falling off the bridge, the metal struts floating above him, Cap made a wounded noise as if gut-punched, low and breathy. He closed his eyes as Nick filled him in on being pseudo-kidnapped by Burke. And though he was itching to tell them everything, Nick didn’t say a word about Miss Conduct or TK. If he could keep them away from this mess, all the better. They didn’t deserve to have this crap piled on top of them, especially since they wouldn’t have been involved, had it not been for Nick. If he could keep them safe, then it was a small price to pay.
