full height before flipping the table, knocking the camera to the floor. The feed goes dead.
Claire sobs, short, rapid-fire breaths bouncing in her chest. Her head rattles from side to side, unable to sit with the information we’ve discovered. “No,” she moans, voice trembling. “No.”
This is what Matt wanted me to find, the secret Warrior Nation doesn’t want exposed. That one of its own was forced out and in turn sought revenge against the system that wronged him. From the very beginning, Millie knew what was happening, and still she did nothing to stop it, choosing to hide her mistakes rather than solve them.
“Claire,” I start, voice soft like I’m talking to an injured animal. “Claire, I think—”
“No!” she shrieks, lips quivering. “Please, please don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it.” I bite my lip, watching her implode right before my eyes. Years and years of love and admiration oozing from her heart, charring into an unrecognizable sludge. It’s too much, too much, and my soul hurts just looking at her. She knows the man who’s been terrorizing her girlfriend, who kidnapped both of us and had us tied to a chair. It’s the same man whose face has been hanging in her bedroom, the man who launched her devotion to Warrior Nation in the first place.
I don’t want it to be true, but there’s no denying it.
“Blue Streak is Siege.”
Case study: The Challenges Heroes Face Upon Reentry to Civilian Life
This study will look to examine the success and challenges Warrior Nation members experience after leaving their chapter and assuming a civilian lifestyle. We will look to understand:
- how heroes acclimate to their former lives after years of being a public figure in a high-stress work environment
- what, if anything, continues to trigger their sense of duty
- how organizational liabilities can be minimized
- whether or not Warrior Nation is at risk for releasing these individuals back into society
We have chosen three possible heroes for evaluation, who will be watched without their explicit consent.
MY STOMACH HEAVES, AND I TURN AWAY from my friend, throwing up next to the table. The vomit looks exactly like I feel: diluted, weak, thin. I wipe my lip, curling into the tightest of balls as the world crumbles beneath my body.
Blue Streak is Siege.
Blue Streak…is a villain? It feels wrong to even think the words. The man I have worshipped, followed with blind devotion…How could he do this? How? How could the same man save my life and then turn around to put it in danger? I went to his house, I shook his hand: His home was a shrine to all that is good and true. Even if Warrior Nation wronged him, even if his anger is just, how could this be his response?
It cannot be real. And yet, I can’t ignore what I just saw. Blue Streak, ranting and raving about the same exact points Siege has stressed from the beginning. Superpowers being treated unfairly, Warriors failing those they promise to protect.
I remember Siege standing over me, frame covered in darkness. I was so scared, I could barely look at him, but his powerful form demanded attention, commanding the room. Just like Blue Streak.
My fallen hero.
“Claire, we gotta go.” Bridgette ejects the tape, tucking it under her arm. She nudges me, gently pushing my hair back off my face. Her eyes are so sad, so apologetic, it makes me want to cry even more. “Come on.” Standing feels like a Herculean effort, but she one-handedly pulls me to my feet, dragging my wobbling legs down the hall.
The first time I walked through HQ, it felt like magic. A place manifested from my daydreams. Everything was shining with hope, every corner glistening with the promise of a better world. Now, as Bridgette guides me on a zigzagging path through the underground labyrinth, it feels like a cave, a twisted place that spawns secrets and lies, darkness and shadows.
A place that breeds villains.
I’ve lost track of where Bridgette is taking us, her determination my only compass right now. We weave past my shared desk with Teddy, who springs to his feet after seeing us rush by.
“Where are you going?” he asks, taking in my breakdown with a curious glance.
“To talk to Roy,” Bridgette says matter-of-factly.
“What?! No!” He recoils. “You can’t just barge into the chapter president’s office and accuse him of being Siege! We need a plan, we need evidence—”
“We have evidence, and he’s not Siege. Blue Streak is.” Teddy stops in his tracks,