Super Spy (Book 2)

15. Faded

Jace tried to be optimistic, but she couldn't shake the creeping sense of dread that sank in deeper with every minute that passed that her powers didn't regenerate. Without her superpowers, she'd be nobody. Even with them, she was barely somebody. Not good enough to be a superhero, only a sidekick in the eyes of the Council, and not a skilled enough agent to be trusted by Grayson.

A more practical problem was that not having her superpowers at their full strength made sneaking around more difficult. Ordinarily, she could dissolve or degrade locks in a matter of seconds. Now, it took her a full twenty minutes to do so, and it was a struggle. She kept looking around furtively, trying to make sure she was alone in the room.

She was breaking into a supplies chamber. Part of her deal with Tali meant that she had to acquire medical supplies and food, to help nurse Xavier back to life.

It took her the better part of an hour to scrounge enough stuff from the storage room, trying to take only a little from each section so the theft wouldn't be noticed. Technically, she was allowed to take whatever she wanted from storage, or so she kept telling herself. Even if she wasn't allowed to distribute supplies to supervillains. If someone had told her, just a few months ago, that she'd be breaking the Council's rules so flagrantly, she wouldn't have believed them. But she wasn't so sure what she thought of the superheroes or their rules anymore.

She had stuffed her bags full of bandages, antiseptic, nutrition bars, toothpaste, and other odds and ends, when she heard a scuffling noise behind her. She jumped, startled as she whirled around to see who had come in.

"Nia!" she said, heart thudding. She shifted the bag of supplies on her hip so it would rest on her back, out of Nia's sight. 

"Hi, Jace." Nia waved, giving no indication that she thought Jace was breaking the rules. She leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting supplies," Jace said. What does she know? "I . . . ran out of first-aid stuff for missions. What are you doing here?"

"I ran out too," Nia said with a wan smile. She walked closer, and Jace noticed she was walking with a slight limp, favoring her left side. 

"What happened?"

Nia rolled her eyes. "Minor injury. Mission gone slightly bad, and Grayson chews me out over it for an hour."

Jace gave a wince of sympathy. Grayson never raised her voice— she never had to. She had a way of completely eviscerating her trainees with just her stern gaze and clipped words. She was pulled back to the time that she had gone on the secret mission that had landed Luke in a cryo-tank— Jace didn't think she'd ever forget the look on Grayson's face after she'd been caught, cold anger and disappointment all at once, and then dismissal like Jace no longer mattered.

Something about the sour expression in Nia's face told Jace she'd been through something similar.

"Grayson's the meanest to the agents she really cares about," Jace offered. "You shouldn't worry too much about it."

"Thanks, I guess," Nia said, blinking, like she was confused why Jace would care.

"What was the mission, anyway?"

"Oh, I can't tell you," Nia said cheerfully as she started rummaging through the supply boxes. "You're probably a double agent or something."

"I . . . can't tell if you're joking if you say stuff like that."

"I'm never joking. I don't trust you, Jace, it's that simple."

Jace shifted the bag of stolen supplies on her hip, its weight making the strap bite into her shoulder. She could feel her face getting red. But she's right, she thought. They shouldn't trust me. I'm proving that right now.