Helena’s gaze slid over to Rachel, who sat prim and pretty between Olivia and Jane. She beamed like she’d won the lottery.

“We’ve gotten everything ready for you guys,” she said. “We’ll be talking about, like, specific roles you’ll all be playing, and maybe get some cool code names, and…”

“Code names?” Olivia echoed, scoffing. "Like we're kids playing spy games?"

“There’s pretty intense stuff on the way!” Rachel objected. “Y’know, stuff you don’t want your legal name attached to. Therefore, code names.”

A knot took form in Helena’s stomach, heavy and tight. “What… kind of intense stuff?”

“We’re not at liberty to say much,” Trintio began, “but--”

“No one’s going to get hurt,” Rachel said, “if all goes to plan. But still, we don’t want anyone arrested, y'know?”

There was a thud as Cassidy’s head hit the table. Helena whipped around, heart skipping a beat, but the girl was fine, just pulling at her hair and groaning.

“This is so stupid,” she mumbled into the wood. “We’re all monsters, and now we’re doing crimes. We’re criminal monsters.” Her shoulders shook. “I was valedictorian—” She cut herself off with a hiccupping sob. “and now I’m a criminal monster. I’m never gonna get my degree.”

“But we’re not monsters,” Rachel assured her. She clambered over the couch, just about tipping it over in the process—Olivia and Jane scrambled to keep it grounded—and planted a firm hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “That’s why the plan was to take a bunch of humans and show them our side of things. If you guys can empathize, so will everyone else!”

Cassidy shoved Rachel away without moving her head, blubbering incoherently.

“And you could still get your degree,” Jane added. “I mean, werewolves can go to college, can’t they?”

“Just gotta watch out for their time of month,” Olivia cut in wryly. “Actually, hey, does the werewolf cycle sync with your—”

“Shut up!” Cassidy howled, bringing a fist down on the table. This time, the wood didn’t splinter, but the sound was sharp as a gunshot. “I don’t know about the rest of you people, but I had plans. I was going to make something out of my life.” She eyed Cami in particular. The other girl’s face fell with a look that made Helena’s chest sting. “I knew what I wanted.”

“And we didn’t?” Cami forced out, voice an uncertain warble.

Cassidy opened her mouth, ready to give the poor girl a verbal lashing like no other, but Helena beat her to the punch.

“What were you going to do, huh, Cassidy?” she taunted. “Take your degree and work in some boring little office job in a bumfuck nowhere town after your stint as their first gay elected official, knowing no one would even dream of re-electing you?”

Cassidy leaned back in her seat, wide-eyed and with her arms up, as if shielding herself. “Well. For starters, uh, I’m not gay.”

Helena whistled, looking to Trintio. “You found a straight one, huh? Never thought I’d see the day.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened. “What, all of you are gay? Seriously?”

“I mean, I don’t like to label myself, but…” Olivia trailed off, shrugging. “Last I checked, yeah."

“I’m bi,” Jane added.

Rachel gasped. “What! So am I!”

“Come to think of it, Freakspotters is basically just GSA, huh?” Helena muttered. “I mean…” She pointed at Jane, “Bisexual theatre kid,” at Rachel, “Perky bi freshman,” at Olivia, “and her sulky girlfriend,” at Cami, “Flannel-wearing lesbian,” and at herself, “and her witchy trans girlfriend.”

“And the seven-foot weird blue man who gets us into hijinks,” Rachel chimed in. “Plus our token heterosexual.”

Cassidy shot her a look. “I’m no token.”

“And I’m not weird!” Trintio exclaimed. His hands flew to his chest, and he unfolded to his full height, his antennae grazing the ceiling. “I’m a powerful, ageless, reality-bending--”

“Stapler-fearing,” Rachel interrupted, “and vampire-kissing, and badly-dressed--”

“What is wrong with my clothes?”

Helena groaned. Just thinking about what life choices had gotten her to this point gave her a headache.

The least she could do was join in on bullying Trintio.

“Your go-to uniform is an iridescent white trenchcoat over a cropped turtleneck and tight pants of varying hues,” she deadpanned.

“If this is a GSA, Trintio could be our mascot,” Cami giggled. It was a high, clear sound, almost like a bell.

It was also horribly contagious, and soon everyone was laughing.

Except Trintio, who stood there with crossed arms and tired eyes.

Only once it’d died down did he say at last, “You know, isn’t it a horrible thing, having to hide a part of your identity you can’t control and only hope to embrace?”

“Subtle,” Helena muttered.

“Having to hide my vampirism feels like being in the closet again,” Olivia conceded, “except there’s a lot more blood-drinking.”

Trintio grinned, eager to be back on track. “So, let's do something about it! And we’ll start tomorrow at the Fernweh Estate.”

“This is gonna be Walder’s weirdest pride parade ever,” Helena said. That earned her another chorus of giggles, and even Trintio cracked a smile at that.

“Meeting adjourned,” he declared. “But stick around as long as you’re comfortable, okay? ‘Cause some of you seem…” His eyes drifted to Cassidy and her fortress of notebooks. “Comfortable. I’ll be talking with Cami about fey things.”

Cami perked up. “You will?”

“Yeah.” He took her by the arm. “C’mon, we’ve got a lot of rooms in this bunker for a reason.”

Helena relaxed. Truth be told, she wasn’t in any rush to get back home. Even if Cami was a room away, they were closer than they’d been for a while. Her gaze wandered, looking for a way to kill time, and it settled on Jane. Maybe it was the neurotic energy, maybe it was the unresolved tension--Cami’s best friend, Cami’s new girlfriend. They’d never addressed that, had they?

Jane, meanwhile, was gazing intently at her phone, face a crinkled mask of focus.

Well, not for much longer, Helena thought.

She ambled towards the girl, swinging her legs over the nearest couch arm. “Hey! Whatcha doin’?”

“Shit!” Jane yelped. Her phone slipped from her hands. Helena caught it.

“Kids these days and their phones,” she teased as Jane snatched the phone back. “Seriously though, what’s up?”

Jane sighed. “Just texting my mom that Cami’s staying the night… again. The lie going on is that she and her mom had a big falling out, and… it's what we're doing until she's got everything set up in the bunker.” She shook her head. “This all feels so wrong. And it’s so weird, because I’m the only human person, now that you’ve…”

“Yeah, I did do something,” Helena admitted. She raised her hands, palms alight. Jane avoided looking at them.

“And you’re worried about Cami too, right?” Jane asked. “I mean, I’m technically living with her right now, but we barely even talk. She’s always doing fairy stuff, and I’m always doing… the same stuff as before, I guess. It’s like sharing a house with a ghost. We’re on different planes of reality.”

Helena considered this. Hadn’t she felt the same, mere weeks ago?

“I could help with that,” she said. “If you want to fit in, I could make you like me.”

Jane’s eyes widened, and she shook her head like Helena had offered to kill someone in her name. “Oh, no, no thank you. I...” She studied the floor. “I want to be normal when this is all over. No offence to the rest of you, but… well.” She laughed nervously. “Cami told me about how you accidentally trapped yourself in a ring of light.”

Helena blushed. “Right. I did do that.” She’d almost forgotten. “Well, I’ve still got your back, okay? Cami likes both of us, so we ought to get along.” She offered her hand.

“Fair point.” Jane shook it, smiling.

And for a moment they just sat there, content with one another’s presence.

Then Trintio chimed in with, “Helena, can you join Cami and I over here for just a moment?” He stood in the nearby doorframe, Cami at his heels. Helena couldn’t read the look on her face--was that just her usual sheepishness, or a warning?

Either way, there was no getting out of this. “Oh boy.” Helena groaned, hopping off the couch. This was going to suck, wasn’t it? “Listen, if this is about my new powers, I just--”

“We know about Rainbow,” Trintio interrupted. “Cami and I discussed it. What I wasn’t told was that they… changed you. Like that.”

“Like this?” Helena held up her hands, lights dancing at her fingertips.

“Like that,” Trintio confirmed. “Listen, I just wanted to, like, touch base. About. That.”

On instinct, Helena shrank back. “You aren’t going to take away my powers, are you?”

“What? No!” Trintio exclaimed, eyes wide. “Of course not. Unless you start using them in a way we don’t like, but that probably won’t happen! You know,” he went on, before Helena could even process his words and panic properly, “I don’t even hate Rainbow. I get where they’re coming from, and I can see why they’re leery of us, but I’m pretty sure we factions know what we’re doing and don’t want anyone hurt.”

Helena nodded. She didn’t trust herself to say anything that wouldn’t make the situation worse.

And fortunately, Trintio wasn’t done talking. “In the meantime, though, keep your powers a secret, as well as the fact you know who Rainbow is. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Helena squeaked out. “Are you going to tell me what happened, or…?”

“Someday, maybe,” Trintio said with a shrug. “I mean, a lot of it comes from our being blindsided by the Children of the Lone Angel. Rainbow had tried to warn us, we hadn’t believed them due to past interactions, and… haven’t let us live it down.”

Helena’s eyes went wide. “You knew about the cult?”

“We were warned by Rainbow,” Trintio corrected, “who thinks we’re trying to enslave humanity or something because we like living here. I’m told everyone thought it was just them trying to screw us over.”

“Rainbow wouldn’t do that,” Helena said, and she was fairly sure of it. “You guys might not agree on everything, but they wouldn’t play with peoples’ lives.”

“Neither would--” Trintio stopped himself, the rest of the lie unspoken. A hand slid up to touch at his throat, like he was checking it hadn’t combusted. “Do you think I’d associate with people that do?”

“Yes,” Cami and Helena replied in unison.

Trintio snorted. “Wow. Thanks, you two. Tomorrow’s going to be really interesting.” Without another word, he spun on his heel and disappeared down the hall.

“What a weirdo,” Helena muttered. She looked to Cami. “So, anything on the agenda?”

Cami looked at her with tired, tired eyes. “Can we take a nap together at your house?”

Helena beamed. “I thought you’d never ask.”