“Coach and the nurse are gone?” Jim asked. His shoulder and lower ribs ached from their last practice on the forge, and he could tell that Claire and Toby weren’t much better. They’d gotten a little too into that drill and Draal hadn’t held back, playing the role of ‘enemy.’

“Yeah, Coach went on vacation, and so did the nurse,” Toby said. “She said something about too much stress.”

“Jim,” Claire said, looking around the PE field to make certain nobody was too close to them. Darcie was coaxing Mary out of the locker room, the Asian still nervous after her waking nightmare. “Do you think it could be changelings?”

“Stricklander’s already here,” Toby said, munching on a Nougat Nummy. “Why would he need more?”

“To keep watch on us?” Jim asked. “I don’t know, Tobes.”

“Well, here comes the first one—” Claire blinked. “That is not coach.”

The guy coming out looked like he knew what he was doing, and suddenly Jim was reminded of how some of the trolls, the ones who didn’t just play at fighting, walked on the Heroes Forge.

“Right everyone, gather round,” he waited until the entire class was there, including Mary and Darcy. Jim saw Mary mouth “hot teacher” to Darcy. “Okay, I’m Mr. Barandis, and I’ll be here for maybe a few weeks. Before we start, I want to see where you are. So we’ll do a run, try the obstacle course, and then end with a quick game. Everyone got that?”

A chorus of agreement answered him, and moments later, Jim was off with the others. Even given his sore ribs, he, Claire, and Toby had no problem keeping up. Months of drills, fights to the death, and running for their lives had kept them fit. Very fit.

Fit enough that they had to focus on not standing out because someone might wonder about it.

But Jim was still focusing on how he could deal with Stricklander. Stricklander who had a troll assassin at his beck and call and who was dating his mother. He and Mom hardly talked anymore.

And that really hurt. But he couldn’t tell her the real reason, and so she thought he was jealous of Strickler, that he never wanted her to have a boyfriend.

And that—Eli, climbing up on the ropes next to him, lost his grip. It wasn’t far, and unlike coach, Mr. Barandis had insisted that they put out the mats, but even so, Eli couldn’t fall right to save his life. Jim slapped his hand out, grabbing Eli and swinging him down… And then pain flared out on his shoulder, even as Mr. Barandis moved faster than he’d ever seen a sub move and grabbed Eli on the way down. Then Jim let himself fall, wincing as he hit the ground, the jolt running up to his shoulder.

“You okay, Jim?”

“Yes, sir,” Jim said, then blinked. The sub’s gaze was focused on where his sleeve had pulled back, showing the bruising from their drilling. “It’s… I hit the door on the way out today,” he said.

“Uh-huh.” He gestured for the door. “You still need to have it checked out by the nurse. School rules.”

“I—okay.” Great. Still, Jim could just tell the nurse that he had fallen. And he had. Not a problem.

Natasha was used to fitting into a lot of places, and school nurse wasn’t even on the top ten of the weirdest places she’d had to fit in. And part of that was dressing for the part. She was dressed, not to disguise the fact that she was attractive since that helped in talking to people, but to dial back any overt sex appeal. She needed to talk to the students, not intimidate them.

The day had started normally, with kids coming in, some of them sick, some of them simply trying to get out of classes.

But midway through the day, James Lake Jr. came walking in the door, slightly favoring his right side.

“Mr. Lake,” Natasha said. “What’s the problem?”

“I just hit a door on the way to school today, but Mr. Barandis wanted me to have it checked out.”

“Very well, let me see the bruising.”

Like most teenaged boys, Lake wasn’t a fan of showing off for older women, but his reluctance seemed to go beyond that. He pulled his shirt up, showing the arm and a bit of his rib—Hit a door hell. Those are bruises from hard impacts. You don’t get that from a door. “I see,” she said. “What has your mother said?”

“Not much. You know, she’s a doctor, so if there was any problem…”

“I think I’d like to get a note from her that she or another medical professional has examined you,” Natasha said. “Let me write the note.” She did it while rapidly focusing on the information she had read regarding James Lake when she’d been preparing for the role.

Possible mental issues, recently arrested due to a prank in a museum, hospitalized due to animal attack. Single mother who is also a doctor.

She snorted at that. No animal left injuries like those. No doctor would make a mistake like that. So why had his mother covered for him?

Covered for him, or covered for herself? Natasha really hoped that her investigation hadn’t just stumbled into a case of child abuse.

She reached over and handed James a business card. “Put that in your wallet, please,” she said. “If your bruises should lead to any questions or further issues, I’d like you to call me so I can set up an appointment, James.”

“Jim—I go by Jim,” he said.

“I see, Jim.” She smiled. “Now hurry, and you won’t be late for your other classes.”

Jim nodded and practically ran out of her office, carrying the card with him.

The card that also incorporated a SHIELD issue locater bug.