Shades of Gray - By Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge Page 0,42
in Taser’s arms, sagging like a sack of cement, and hissed in a breath.
Iridium stood to the side and let the heroes fuss. Sooner or later, they’d get over this ridiculous reaction to seeing Iridium up close.
“What happened?” Frostbite had slipped off his earpiece and was helping Taser with Jet.
“Hypnotic got the drop on us,” Steele said, sinking down into a booth. Firebug sat opposite her, rubbing her arms, her eyes wide and shocked. Whatever Hypnotic had made her see, she was having a hard time of it. Iridium vaguely recalled Firebug being a whiner at the Academy, crying whenever she’d get a skinned knee. Terrific—a thin-skinned superhero. Iridium checked herself from rolling her eyes.
Meteorite, by Frostbite’s side, said, “Get Jet into the med room.” As Frostbite carried the small woman around a corner and out of sight, Meteorite turned to Steele. “You okay?”
“Just need a moment,” Steele muttered.
“More like you need a week’s vacation,” Iridium said. “Christo, when’s the last time any of you got any sleep?”
Meteorite gave her a look that was pure venom. “Firebug, you can show our … guests … out.”
“I ain’t going anywhere until Jet’s all right.” Taser settled himself under a playoff pennant and crossed his arms.
“I stay if she stays,” Boxer said, jerking his thumb at Iridium.
“Look,” Meteorite said. “It’s cute you have a little thug entourage, Iridium, but this is a place for the Squadron. You’re not needed.”
“Christo, Sheila,” Derek said, coming back into the room. “Just let her stay until Jet wakes up.”
“I can’t believe you trust her,” Meteorite snapped at him. “She attacked me! She and him took down Ops,” she shouted, pointing at Taser. “They caused all the chaos that’s happening now!”
“Not on purpose,” Iridium said quietly. “This isn’t what I wanted.”
“She’s my friend,” Frostbite said. “She can stay.”
Meteorite stared at him, emotions playing on her face. “Maybe Therapy really did make holes in your brain.”
Frostbite’s gaze went sharp as a razor blade. “Think very, very hard about what you say next, Sheila,” he said quietly. “None of us want a mess to clean up in here.” Frostbite never raised his voice, but Iridium shivered at the words all the same.
Meteorite’s face went red. “Fine. Just make sure they don’t steal anything.” She spun on her heel and marched around the corner. Taser followed her.
Iridium glanced at Boxer. “Stay here and make nice,” she said, then went after Meteorite and Taser. Waking up and seeing Taser would probably be worse for Jet than getting her clock punched by Hypnotic in the first place.
If she woke up.
Stop that. Angry as she was at him, Lester’s voice was the one she heard when she needed to keep her shit together. She’ll be fine. You’ve been through worse and you’re fine.
But Jet’s not me.
The so-called med room had exactly one surgical table and a cabinet of meds that Meteorite was rifling through. Iridium noted the inventory: all drugstore stuff that she could buy on the street.
“This is your medic bay?” she said. “I’d hate to see what happened if one of you got a paper cut.”
“Did I say you could come in here?” Meteorite grabbed a hypo of adrenaline and a swab. “Both of you, out.”
Iridium turned on Taser. “You heard the lady.”
He winked at her. “Only because you asked so nice, darlin’.”
“Charming,” Meteorite said. “You and your boyfriend make a lovely couple.”
“If Taser were my boyfriend, Satan would be wearing a parka. How can I help?”
Meteorite muttered, “I’ve got it.”
“You’re a button-pusher, not a doctor. Your first-aid class was what, seven years ago?”
The temperature in the room dropped precipitously, and Iridium swore she heard thunder rumble in the distance. She’d thought that Meteorite was a former Weather power; maybe she needed to rethink the “former” part. “I may be a washed-up hero,” Meteorite said, glaring at her, “but at least I didn’t turn on my own.”
“That makes two of us.”
“You have some fucking nerve.”
“Look, I didn’t know what would happen when we took down Ops,” Iridium said. “I didn’t know about Corp’s brainwashing everyone into being good guys. You can believe that or not. It doesn’t make a bit of difference to me.”
As Meteorite worked, stripping off Jet’s skinsuit, checking her injuries, taking her vitals, Iridium walked over to the medical cabinet. “Jet mentioned she hadn’t slept in something like a week.”
“Who has?” Meteorite let out a bitter laugh. “We’re all running on empty.”
Next to the boxes of bandages and aspirin hypos were the heavy-duty painkillers, in labeled syringes. Knowing Derek,