Seated, with the notebook before her, Sky quietly explained her findings. She seemed to draw a bit of courage from his presence and soon the room was in motion to relay the information to the team on the ground. He watched as she handed the notebook to the woman in charge, who took it with a firm, thankful nod before passing it along for scanning.

The man with the laptop beside her was talking into his headset, liaising with the people at the scene to find the food truck. Someone else could be heard making contact with the Hero Program, and yet another was currently explaining the situation to the police, who were currently on stand-by.

Once Sky was back in the seat she had chosen for herself, she stiffened suddenly and Nate watched her hand reach out and grab a nearby pen and begin scrawling on the table. The pen’s owner started to protest before realising what she was doing and frowned, settling back into their seat to observe what she was up to.

“They’ve located the truck,” he was informed. “Location soon to be secured – we’ve got a Hero on the case now too.”

“She’s writing more,” Nate pointed out.

“I want photos of that when she’s done. Then get her out of here, she needs rest, and tell her everything’s going to be okay. We have it under control now.”

At this point, the pen dropped to the table and Sky drowsily relaxed back into her chair. This final look into the vision had clearly been an over-exertion, though he wasn’t sure whether she had even intended to do it or not. She looked exhausted.

“Sky,” Nate said softly. “The people, they’re going to be okay, we think. You’ve just been writing some more and I think it’s time we head back before you pass out. Can you stand?”

There was movement as Sky dried her tears, looking like she was doing some heavy thinking. Her confidence had obviously taken a hit but she didn’t look entirely defeated. He watched her as the cogs turned, daring to hope that yes, there was a spark of determination fighting to be seen in her eyes. Nate smiled encouragingly as she looked to him and expressed her desire to go back into the room.

“Okay, we’ll go in together,” he said decisively, standing to his feet. Before he could really think, he’d offered his hand to help her up. He snatched it back swiftly before she had the chance to grab it even if she’d tried, shoving it into his pocket.

“Sorry,” he apologised quickly, “I know you’re not a fan of physical contact. Force of habit. It won’t happen again.”

He hoped she wouldn’t be too spooked by the mistake. He’d done his best to make it clear he wouldn’t make the same error in the future. Eventually they’d have to address her touch aversion, of course, but now was very much not the time.

He counted them down softly before pushing the door open. This time the heads didn’t turn – all except the main woman at the computer. Clearly she was currently in charge of the operation.

“Hi everyone, this is Sky,” he said breezily, re-introducing her as though nothing bad had happened at all. “She’s been working really hard on looking into the vision and we have some more findings.” He passed her the notebook, in case she wanted to refer it.

“Take it away, Sky,” Nate finished with a grin. She could do it, he was sure.

Nate chuckled darkly. “You sure you want to put the poor guy through that? You’ve seen how she was with Paladin, and that was in a whole room full of people she wanted to make a connection with. Imagine her one-on-one, he’ll be eaten alive unless he’s used to that sort of thing.”

Which, considering his choice of industry and relative success within it, could very well be true of Stephen. Alice was probably right – most people would jump at the chance to get on Carol Havelock’s good side – and Nate perhaps needed to admit that his view in such situations was more than a little biased. Even his own childhood friends didn’t seem to think she was that bad but, then again, they’d grown up with her attitudes and ambitions as the norm. Carol was good at what she did, but she was by no means the only socialite in San Francisco.

Nate’s eyes had widened at his mother’s question, his food stopping short of his mouth as he watched Alice narrowly avoid choking on her wine before offering her best attempt at fending his mother off. It was a brave strategy but ultimately futile.

“She really does make great food,” Nate insisted, as Carol fell uncomfortably silent. “The industry’s a tough one to crack, right? Especially since you’re still young.”

“Of course,” his mother smiled in agreement. It didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m sure some formal training, experience in a more reputable establishment and a touch of ambition will soon set you apart. There are lots of culinary programs in the area, I think.”

Nate raised his eyebrows. “I think she’ll be okay, thanks mom.”

The next look she gave him was positively icy, but she said nothing further on the topic, instead moving gracefully onto a fresh focus of conversation. Nate zoned in and out as she talked about the various big names she knew and what movements they were making in their various areas of influence. The wine was definitely not helping him concentrate – before he knew it, he had drained that glass as well. Dessert was surely on the horizon now… then freedom!

Nate was amused at her comment on his father trying to get a word in edgeways. The truth was that his parents seemed to walk two separate planes of existence as much as they could possibly help it. Lewis was hardly interested in participating in the same conversation as Carol unless absolutely necessary – and vice versa. He probably seemed quiet tonight because, despite the front that it was a ‘meet the parents’ occasion, this was very much his wife’s dinner event. Lewis was just keeping the chair warm and continuing the façade that they had a perfectly intact and somewhat functional marriage.

“Oh, he has his moments. You just gotta get him on a topic that interests him and, unfortunately,” Nate leaned in, “Most of those are really boring for the rest of us. Work is my dad’s life.”

He shrugged – Nate had long ago accepted that Lewis was never going to be a family man. The indifference was easier to handle than his mother’s overbearing social-climbing mindset, at least.

Following Alice’s gaze out of the window, Nate found himself really hoping for an emergency Hero call. If Alice had to suddenly leave, Nate could probably wrangle an excuse to leave too. The city seemed peaceful unfortunately, swamped now in the shroud of early evening, and so Nate chose to simply drain the contents of his glass instead.

“I think she was looking for some kind of re-introduction, maybe,” Nate confessed, pulling a face. “But I wouldn’t worry about it, she’s always trying to find influential names to add to her list of acquaintances. If she really cares I’m sure she’ll find some way to bring it up again.”

At that point his mother returned, followed shortly by Lewis with yet more wine. Carol flashed Alice a smile that bordered on gratitude but was tainted by expectation. “Yes please,” she said curtly, transferring the plates in her hands to the table with well-practiced grace.

Once they were seated Carol started once again with the compliment-fishing, demanding to know what Alice would think of the meal. After a while, she began prying into Alice’s chef credentials.

“So where is it that you work? Maybe I’ve heard of it.”

Alice was such a nerd. As she rushed out of the kitchen with the starters, Nate could see that her eyes were widened in awe at the sight of his parents’ kitchen. The kitchen that Alice and Ashley shared was definitely pretty well equipped but there was no way it could compete with Carol’s desire to ensure her family’s wealth dripped through every part of her home. The room implied she was a far more enthusiastic chef than in truth, but that was the way she liked it. It caused her socialite friends to gush and coo over its sleek style and abundance of “useful” appliances.

Neither Alice nor Carol were fans of Nate’s kitchen. It was basic, according to his culinary skill level, and full of (deliberately) mismatched utensils, pots and pans. At least his cupboards were full of high quality items despite his attempts to make it seem otherwise. Alice had pointed out once that he had a very fancy pepper grinder which he was then quite embarrassed about for a while until they stuck some stickers on it.

It was not surprising, therefore, that Alice was in love with the kitchen.

Carol beamed at the praise. “Thank you, you’re too kind, Alice. The countertops are new this year and I’m very happy with them.”

Nate glanced at his father, who shrugged. “I didn’t notice,” Lewis confessed quietly.

He had to give his mother credit – the terrine was very nice. Certainly better than anything he cooked up for himself, and he wasn’t exactly inadequate. The conversation wasn’t exactly buzzing at the table but it also wasn’t as frosty as it could have been, which was a relief. At this rate, Nate was going to have to slow down on the Chablis lest he peak too soon.

Alice complimented it enthusiastically, prompting Carol to talk at length about the sources of the ingredients, the recipe she had used and the famous chef friends of hers that she had consulted when planning it. The name drops meant little to Nate beyond vaguely recalling meeting one of them at some point, but if they were local names then Alice was probably considerably more impressed than he was.

The course finished, Carol collected the plates and went to check on the main. Lewis took the opportunity to leave the table, seemingly taking a long route via his office to collect the next bottle of wine. Alice leaned across the table at him, her voice low.

“Hate you? No way. You listen to her going on and on about her friends in high places and that’s all she cares about, really.” Nate winked at her. “You’re doing great, you look fantastic, and the city doesn’t seem to be burning down in your absence.”

It was a genuine concern that Paladin might be called for if something unexpectedly big came up, but Nate was hoping the villains of San Francisco could maybe take the night off. Or just do some light mugging sprees at most.

“She was impressed by your connection to Stephen, right? You got this.” He chuckled at himself, amused by the motivational talk.

There was almost a touch of humour to the doctor’s words as he commented on the possibility of another patient spending the majority of their life sedated. Not quite a proper smile, but a definite twist that could be mistaken for an attempt at one. Nate sighed in agreement, “No. Let’s hope not.”

He could definitely agree with Dr. Newton’s assessment of Claire’s need for socialisation. He did his best to fill what he could of that gap, making their sessions as much of a casual hang-out as possible, but it wasn’t the same and he knew she didn’t think it was either. She had benefitted from meeting Anna, he thought, but that wasn’t something he could report considering Anna had never meant to be in the facility in the first place.

“No, there’s not a thriving community vibe around the place, is there?” Nate followed the other man down the brightly-carpeted corridor. “There’s also the matter of her impenetrable skin – I think I had an idea about that. We could discuss it later if you like,” he added, aware that this was the time for a different client. “But it involves taking advantage of her dream-walking state.”

Dr. Newton was probably capable of reaching the conclusion Nate had based on that hint alone, so Nate quickly moved back onto the focus of Mark and his upcoming assessment once they reached his door.

Mark was looking as delighted as ever to be in the company of his medical team. At least he had rolled his blind up. For someone who seemed to think that living creatures were precious and refused to engage with animal products, he had a remarkable intolerance for human beings. Maybe his opinion was tainted slightly by his bloodthirst.

The room had been adjusted slightly to allow for the fact that Keegan the Vegan’s – sorry, Mark’s – power made him so volatile. A mask and tube fed through from their side into his room through which a general anaesthetic could be administered. It had been considered safer and easier than trying to have permanent intravenous access. A wheelchair was situated beside it for quick transfer. Today they would be taking him to the MRI scanner to obtain brain scans while he was sleeping and exposed to the scent of human flesh, then taking another when he was awake.

He was to be pretty heavily restrained considering the strength that came with his ability and hooked up to an IV that could sedate him once the test was complete. Hopefully that would be enough.

Nate moved over to the mechanism for administering the anaesthetic. An anaesthetist had already been consulted on the dosage, so there wasn’t much for him to do besides press a button. “Okay, Mr. Keegan, when you’re ready.”

Sky looked up at him between bites of the enormous breakfast spread before her (presumably one of everything that was on offer besides breakfast cereal to make up for her late start). He noted a notebook beside her with more drawing in it, extracted from the larger scene above her bed. It must have been something that particularly caught her attention while he’d been out. Maybe she was planning to revisit it in her vision.

It amused him that her primary concern has in fact a hairdryer but, then again, it must be quite inconvenient to have that mass of wet hair weighing you down. He thought of Alice’s morning routine – wet hair was much less of a concern for her short locks; instead the issue was rather with how faded her blue hair dye was getting or how much her roots had grown out. Nate left Ashley to deal with any hairstyle assistance, knowing where his strengths lay.

“A nurse or assistant may be able to hunt one down for you,” he said genially. “And Sky – you are in a psychiatric ward, so certain precautions are taken while you’re here. The plastic cutlery, for example, though I know it’s frustrating to use. But I will be completely honest and transparent with you and say that, no, you’re not currently on a suicide watch. You’ve been making great progress in your short stay with us,” Nate added, looking almost proud.

Once she’d finished with her meal, Nate watched her take the now rather familiar cross-legged position and, without need for prompts, went back into the vision once more. Nate could only wait as she explored it within her mind.

Sudden movement, then, as Sky reached for the notebook and began to write. She told him about the food truck and Nate sat up a little straighter. “You’re sure!? We need to alert them, asap. Does the truck belong to that guy, do you think?”

Nate leapt to his feet, ready to relay his findings to the team. They still had a little time before noon, but not too long now.