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again, aren’t you?”
    She pulled her goggles into place. “I’ll call you later.” She turned and sprinted back through the car park.
    She should never have left the neighbourhood. She could’ve found someone to get Mrs McClellan away, or….
    She didn’t know. She wasn’t a hero anymore. She had Gabby to protect. Panting, she raced through the empty streets, trying to suppress a rising panic.
    The Met Div vehicles were gone by the time she reached her street. McClellan’s body had been carted away somewhere, but fragments of rubberised human flesh still littered the concrete.
    She kicked open the door to her apartment building and ran up the stairs. People sobbed in the apartments she passed. Her legs burned. Her mask was humid and her clothes stuck to her as sweat coated her back. She reached her floor and slipped silently down the hallway.
    The door to her apartment was splintered, the lock kicked in. Her vision blurred and her throat clammed up. She drew her revolver and entered. Her breathing echoed in her ears.
    She found Gabby sitting on the bedroom floor in her robe, leaning against the bed. She held a wine glass with a few dregs of red wine sitting in the bottom. Her hands shook as she gripped it. Blood dripped freely from a cut across her forehead, matting her frizzy blond hair. She flinched when Niobe came into view, then started crying.
    Niobe tore off her mask, dropped to her knees in front of Gabby, and wrapped her arms around her. Gabby shook against her shoulder. Niobe tried to swallow back the lump in her throat. Her fingers kept slipping into shadow as she tried to hold back the tide of emotion.
    After a few minutes, the crying stopped, and Gabby told her what happened. The coppers must’ve banged on the door, but Gabby was in bed. She’d lost her hearing years ago, when she was still the Silver Scarab. When she didn’t answer the door, the coppers kicked it in and hauled her out of bed. The first thing she felt when she woke was the corner of the bed slamming into her forehead. The coppers turned the place over and shouted at her, but she was too dazed to lip-read. They hit her a few times before they finally worked out she was deaf and left her alone.
    — How can they do this? Gabby signed, arms still trembling. Her arms moved in small, jerky motions. We’re not animals.
    Niobe blinked back tears and nodded.
    — I know. Come on, let’s get you up.
    Gabby didn’t move.
    — You went after that job.
    — Yeah, Niobe signed.
    Gabby’s face twitched. Niobe knew she was remembering their argument just as vividly as she was.
    — Are you going to take it?
    She thought about it, even though she’d made up her mind the instant she walked in the door and saw Gabby sitting there. They didn’t belong here. None of them did. The world didn’t want them, so they had to leave the world.
    One night a couple of months ago, when Niobe was huddled in bed with Gabby listening to another raid from the police Metahuman Division, Gabby told her she wanted the two of them to pack up and go to the Moon. Niobe couldn’t blame her. This was no way to live.
    Frank Julius’s money would be enough. Fifty thousand dollars. The two of them couldget a plane to Adelaide. And from there, one short rocket ride to the Moon. To freedom. The Alpha League were the first metas—the first humans of any kind—to establish a lunar colony. The place was supposed to be a metahuman utopia. Niobe wanted to keep Gabby safe. She wanted it more than anything.
    — Yeah, Niobe signed. But it’s an easy job. It’ll be over in a couple of days. Don’t worry.
    Gabby chewed her lip, her grey eyes clouded. Then she nodded.
    — I love you, she signed.
    A smile flickered in her eyes and she buried her face back in Niobe’s shoulder. Niobe kissed her forehead and cradled her until she fell asleep.

5: And Your Enemies Closer
    Green Tornado
Real name:
Miguel Valdés
Powers:
Superspeed, air manipulation.
Notes:
One of the few