the shoulder. “Don’t be a stranger, yeah, Charles? Drop a dude a phone call every now and again. Oh, and stop making faces at me, I’m totally kidding about blowing up your buddies. I need to teach you to have a sense of humor again.”
“Have you ever considered…” Checker cleared his throat.
“Words, Charles. Use your words.”
Checker kept starting to say something before trailing off, and I had the sudden awkward desire to fade into the background.
“If you—I could help you,” he finally managed to get out. “Will you consider it? You could—you could go straight.”
“Like you?” D.J. cawed a laugh. “So, I only blow shit up if it’s white hat? Ha!”
Checker blushed. “Mostly straight, then.”
“Just like your sex life.” D.J. tweaked his nose.
Checker batted him away. “I’m serious. We could—”
“We! You and your little team. Adorable.” He stretched. “Remember what all we used to talk about, Charles? Taking over the world?”
Checker licked his lips, suddenly tense. “Yeah?”
“I don’t care anymore. Too much work, you know? I just wanna blow shit up. Like, a lot of shit. All the shit.”
Checker might have let out a choke or a laugh. I wasn’t sure.
“I’m gonna find more people who’ll hire me to do that,” D.J. said.
“You know you almost killed me, right? That day.” It might have been the light, but Checker’s eyes were gleaming. “You almost killed both Arthur and me. And you almost killed Arthur again last year—the only reason you didn’t is because he remembered how we got out of it the first time.”
“No harm, no foul, right?” D.J. answered brightly.
“And you’ve almost killed Cas, and a ton of other people,” Checker continued inexorably. “And, uh—there’s also lots of people you have killed and—that doesn’t give you pause? At all?”
“You ol’ softie,” D.J. said, with that same stubborn cheer. “Besides, she kills lots of people too!” He gestured to me, still rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “You get on her about it?”
When Checker didn’t immediately have a comeback, D.J. pivoted and raised a hand to me. “High five. Killing people!”
I kind of suspected Checker would frown on it if I participated, so I shook my head.
“Aw, monkeyballs.” D.J. stretched his mouth into an exaggerated clown face of a frown. “I’m so underappreciated. Well, I’ve got a plane to catch. I’ll see you goofs later.”
He bounced to the door, then stopped, turned, and came back to Checker. “Hey. Charles.”
“Yeah?”
“I wouldn’t’ve blown the building. If I’d known what Baxter’d done to you.”
“I know.”
“Woulda capped him myself for it, if he hadn’t gone and got himself Witsecced.” D.J’s voice had gotten softer, more serious than I’d heard from him before. “Me and Ting came back for you, but by that time you’d gone fucking State.”
“I didn’t turn State,” Checker said. “I got probation. A friend, um, called in some favors. And a really good lawyer.”
D.J. stared for a second, then laughed. “You make friends fast, man.” He waggled his eyebrows.
The corner of Checker’s mouth turned up. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Sure, I’ll climb back into the sewer with you.” D.J. rocked back and forth on his feet for another beat, and his tone went almost hesitant. “Uh. So. You okay now and shit?”
“Yeah,” Checker said. “I’m okay. And shit.”
“Cool, cool,” D.J. said, his former bounce coming back. “That’s good, man. It was good seeing ya.” He gave Checker another friendly poke and turned to leave. “Oh, and, Charles—don’t try to save me, okay? It’s bad for your health.”
The door to the garage swung shut behind him.
Checker turned back to the screen he’d been working at, but then he waved his hands vaguely, said something about getting a snack, and headed out of the Hole and toward his house.
I stood in indecision for a moment and then followed.
I found Checker snack-less on his couch, flipping channels, and sat down next to him.
“Did you need something?” he said, eyes on the television.
“No,” I answered. “I’m trying. Um. To do that thing.”
He muted the TV and turned to regard me as though I might be hazardous waste. “What … thing?”
“Where I, uh. Show interest.” I cleared my throat. “Is this awkward? This feels very awkward.”
Checker burst out laughing. He laughed so hard and so long, I thought he would suffocate himself. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or embarrassed.
“Cas,” he said finally, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes. “Only you.”
Only me what? I thought.
But he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate. Instead, he leaned back and looked