The device in Liam’s hand twirled around as he checked it for any issues. The receiver looked good, same with the activator. Going through the list, Liam made sure everything was in order. And with this wire, the device is complete, Liam thought as he attached the final red-coated wire.

A device was such an innocent thing to call it. Sure that name wasn’t wrong, but it ignored the horror of what he’d just made. No, this wasn’t just a device, it was a detonator, Liam corrected himself. He wouldn’t sugarcoat what he was doing, even if it was just to himself. He’d become a part of this and by making this creation, was in it until the end.

In their last talk, Mr. Hat gave Liam an option. Join him and create these detonators or something else. What the other thing was Mr. Hat left unsaid, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. If Liam didn’t make the detonators what use did Mr. Hat have for him? What would be the reason for keeping him around?

Liam thought back to the conversation he had a couple days ago, wondering if this was what he wanted to be doing.

…

Liam reached out and grabbed the device from Mr. Hat. With cautious hands he examined it from every angle. He’d hoped his initial assumptions were wrong, that somehow this wasn’t what he thought it was. But after his thorough inspection, there was no mistaking it, this was a bomb. There was nothing else it could be.

During the inspection, Liam noted the bomb’s sophisticated design. At least in regard to something homemade. Mr. Hat was talented in several ways, but the craftsmanship of this device left Liam convinced it wasn’t his doing. Which meant the man had purchased it, or there was someone else helping him who Liam had never met. Liam didn’t know where to start at guessing the identity of the unknown individual and, to be honest didn’t want to.

Concentrating on the thing in his hands, Liam noted its small size. Something of this capacity wouldn’t be large enough to do much damage. More a large firecracker than a thing of mass destruction. At least Liam tried to tell himself that, anyone close enough to it when it went off would disagree.

“Why do you have this?” Liam asked. It was all he could think to say. He knew there were other, more important questions to ask, he just didn’t know what they were. The man who’d saved him, multiple times already, turned out to be a terrorist. Pardon him when that discovery threw everything for a loop.

Mr. Hat walked over to the bed. Casually laying down and resting his hands behind his head as if he’d shown Liam something inconsequential. Then, in a calm and deliberate manner he said, “Everything I do is to hurt The Hunt.”

“Something like this won’t be able to hurt many of them. But it’ll do a number on any civilians nearby.”

Liam had never been the best at reading people’s emotions, but he was sure Mr. Hat looked insulted by what he’d just said.

“I would never use this on civilians. Instead, it’ll be part of a distraction. Maybe start a car on fire or something like that. Unfortunately, one of them costs a small fortune. Something... something the economy of supply and demand,” Mr. Hat said with a wave of his hands. “You though, are the work around I need for that little issue.”

“There are better ways to create a distraction than with something like this,” Liam said as he tried to work through what he’d just heard. It sounded like Mr. Hat had one device and he wanted Liam to make more. At least that meant Mr. Hat didn’t have a third person on the team.

“You mean a bomb?” Mr. Hat asked. Don’t just say the word Liam thought. As if keeping things unsaid meant the device could be anything.

“Yes one of those.”

“Not saying its name doesn’t make it something else,” Mr. Hat teased. Liam’s forehead wrinkled. Was the man having fun with this? His attempt to corrupt Liam?

“Fine I’ll say it. There are better ways to make distractions than with a bomb,” Liam said. Any hope of this conversation leading somewhere else vanished with the words.

“That one’s debatable. Nothing grabs people’s attention like the mention of a bomb. Seeing one go off is a whole different story.”

Liam leaned back against the wall. Head resting on its sturdy surface. He needed to think this through. Was he willing to get more involved with this man? To do so would be his first true failing as a Hero. Landing him awfully close to the territory of a Cowl.

Liam shook his head, placing the device down next to him. No, doing this wouldn’t put him near that line, it’d put him a stride past. He was a cape wearing Hero. Could he do something so horrible?

Everything Liam experienced over the last few days came back to him. His team’s betrayal, their complete disregard for his life, or that of his family. Even H-Bar, his best friend on the team, turned on him. In minutes, going from a trusted mentor to someone who was hunting him down like an animal.

Memories of the news conferences, where no one on the panels stood up for him. Not even to suggest he get a fair trial before calling him a murderer. The most fundamental principle of the country’s legal system was being withheld from him.

All of those wounds dug at him. Pushing him closer to the edge, but never over. That was until he saw his sister. Her face on the TV and her words during their last call. They’d haunt him for the rest of his life. The very things he’d fought hardest for had betrayed him. That most of all, was like a cold knife stabbing him in the back.

Realization passed over Liam in a smothering wave. He wasn’t a Hero anymore. No matter how hard he tried, or argued to the contrary, it was clear. He could try to hang onto the title, fighting till the bitter end, but the world would never let him have it.

“How will building more of these bring down The Hunt?” Liam asked, pointing to the bomb sitting next to him. He had to know the reason Mr. Hat was doing this.

“We can discuss that tomorrow, but first, consider this build a test. You create a few of these and if none fail, then you can join me when I move onto an actual mission against The Hunt.”

This would be one of the weirdest tests he’d ever take and as strange as it was he already knew what he’d do with it. Liam cracked his neck as he prepared to change his life.

“Glad to know you don’t trust me.”

“I don’t trust anyone kid. It comes with the territory.”

What a great way to live, trusting no one around you, Liam thought. Before he followed the man down the same path.

…

Liam came back from his memories with another device in his hands. It was already assembled. These devices were more like flashbangs, Liam decided. Even if that was stretching the truth quite severely, were very simple for him to make. Liam didn’t even have to pay attention when he was building them. Whoever Mr. Hat was buying them from was robbing him blind. Not that Liam would say anything. If Mr. Hat thought this was a fair trade for Liam’s help, who was he to point out the flaws in the man’s understanding?

With Mr. Hat still out of the apartment Liam took a break from the bombs and moved on to his suit. Since he agreed to help, Mr. Hat had bought a soldering iron, at least Liam hoped he bought it. The thought of some poor tinker somewhere with a missing tool was a little depressing. Well their loss was his gain. He might as well take advantage of it now.

Moving to an outlet, Liam plugged in his new toy. Ready to finish the repairs still waiting for his attention. It felt like working on the suit was all he’d done since his run in with The Hunt. Thinking about the last few days his back started to hurt from the slog. It wasn’t just his imagination, but the truth. He needed to finish the repairs and move onto other things.

While Liam waited for the soldering iron to heat up he looked over at the TV. Tempted by its call. The possibility of good news was slim, but there was a chance. Liam’s finger itched to move forward and find out. No he chided himself, the only thing it brought was anguish. He wouldn’t fall into its trap again.

With his new position in life, it’d be best if he didn’t fantasize about what could’ve been. A clean break would make everything that much easier going forward.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Liam picked up the soldering iron. Only to realize the thing was still cold. Weird, he’d waited long enough for it to warm up. Looking at the power light Liam realized it was still off. Please don’t be broken, Liam thought. Following the cord he confirmed it was plugged in. Great the apartment had faulty outlets, or he had a dead soldering iron. This just keeps getting better.

An irrational part of Liam’s mind yelled for him to apologize to the room. As if it would take offense at his thoughts and betray him to The Hunt. Maybe the walls would fall over like in cartoons, leaving him standing there in plain view.

Liam chuckled at the thought before saying, “sorry,” in a quiet voice. Well it was official he’d gone crazy. The pressure was too much, and it broke him. Odd, he didn’t feel more than a slight astonishment at his self diagnosis.

Shaking his head, Liam unplugged the soldering iron and tried the second plug in the outlet. The power light remained off. Perfect another thing that needs fixing Liam thought. Looking around the room Liam spotted another outlet on the far side of the space. Darn it, he’d have to move everything over there before he could get back to work.

Grabbing a few of his parts Liam started his walk to the other outlet when he stopped. Wouldn’t it be smart to check to see if it worked before he moved everything over there? Putting everything back down, Liam made the trek to the far outlet with the soldering iron. When he plugged it in, the tool’s power light burst to life. Well at least he knew it wasn’t the tool that was broken.

Waiting for the iron to heat up for the second time, Liam looked for something to do. The outlet called him back, he’d see what was wrong with it. If it was a quick fix, he could do that and wouldn’t have to move the supplies, if it wasn’t, then it was time to start moving his supplies.

Stopping himself from saying bad things about the apartment’s outlets the techie in Liam took over. Grabbing his kids tool set, he got to work.

Removing the screws and pulling off the outlet cover Liam stopped. The wiring he expected to find inside was missing. Instead there was a roll of something. Pulling it out, Liam found hundreds of bills in a tight roll. There had to be tens of thousands of dollars hidden in there.

What in the world was this doing here? This had to be Mr. Hat’s money, there was no way the previous tenant forgot it. How did Mr. Hat have so much money stowed away? Didn’t he say he was poor? That he had Liam making the bombs because he couldn’t afford to pay someone else?

The clicking of keys in a lock pulled back Liam’s attention. Mr. Hat was back. Throwing the cash back into the wall Liam was quick to screw on the outlet cover. Trying to hide the secret he’d just discovered. Who knew how Mr. Hat would react to the cash being found. Liam knew it’d be best to leave that a mystery.

With the last screw in place, Liam jumped back to the iron. Making it look like he was only now getting the soldering kit out and about to try it in the broken outlet.

Mr. Hat made his way into the room a moment later, locking the door behind him. His eyes found the soldering equipment in front of Liam and then flicked to the fake outlet before darting back. If Liam hadn’t known what to be watching for he’d have missed the quick glance.

“Done with what I requested?” Mr. Hat asked.

“Half way, I was about to take a small break and test out the soldering equipment,” Liam lied. His mind screaming at him to keep a straight face.

“You can do that after everything I need is finished. As a bonus, for when that happens, I brought a table and some of the other equipment you asked for.”

“That’ll be great, no more working on the bed.”

Mr. Hat set some of the equipment he’d bought on the ground. The quick look Liam got brought a smile to his face. Oh they would be very helpful.

Moving over to the far wall, the one with the socket that worked, Mr. Hat set up the table. There was just as much space next to Liam and it was closer to his equipment, but Mr. Hat moved to another area. Well that settled it, the money belonged to Mr. Hat, and he didn’t want Liam finding out about it. The questions that raised, where was it from and what’s he going to use it for.

“The outlet next to you is broken, use this one instead,” Mr. Hat said.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Liam said in a voice trying to emulate calm.

“Before I lose you to your work, I decided to give you a taste of our plans. I think you’re going to like this,” Mr. Hat said with a sly smile on his lips.