"We were hoping to work out an arrangement where we might occasionally call upon your skills, in a consulting role. We'd benefit from your experience on the street and your impressive metahuman abilities, and in return, you'd get to call upon our resources -- intel, financial, manpower, equipment. The ability to run interference with the law. Plus, of course, we'll pay you. An annual retainer, paid immediately, plus a fee for each job, half in advance."

This is much too sweet a deal. I shook my head slowly, sliding the badge back to her. "I'm sorry. It sounds very interesting, but I've got other things on my mind at the moment. Perhaps in a couple of weeks, we could talk again." I got the feeling Merrick was sincere, but I didn't trust the motives of the people behind her. I stood up, ending the discussion.

"Wait. Before you decide, you should hear what the first two jobs are."

The first one reached out to grab me. I wanted to kill them -- kill somebody -- so badly I could taste it, but I couldn’t afford the luxury. Not yet. I broke his arm and smashed his knee, putting him down with a gratifying scream. The second guy I just tossed over the bar into the wall, hard. He slid down and didn’t move. I slapped Ramon’s knife out of his hand and bent him backwards over the bar, fist bunched in his shirt, my now-broken beer bottle pressed into his cheek. “The bartender touches that gun, you lose the fuckin’ eye, kay? You choose.”

"Hey! Wait! You said you wanted to talk!"

I sighed and settled back to the roof. "We have been talking. We’ve been talking about what a bunch of fuckups you are. How you’ve been infiltrated, and you knew it, and you dragged me into this anyway." My voice was rising. "I am not interested in your games. I’m just trying to cope with the shit that’s been dumped on me, live my life, and help out where I can. As far as I can tell, the only thing that keeps me out of your hands is that you don’t know who I am."

I folded my arms across my chest. "I don’t know why you asked Jade to set up this meeting. I don’t know anything about your group. I don’t know what your intentions are, or if I should trust you even if you told me. I’m not feeling a lot of government love out there for metas. Some of you guys have already tried to cart me off and dissect me, alive or not. I was lucky -- lucky! -- Jade was there for me. Nobody else was. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t you. Or maybe you’re just plan B."