A strong breeze helped to cool me down as we walked through the streets of Washington, D.C. It was hot and muggy, and I was thoroughly perplexed that we were even out and about! This is the most surveillance saturated site on Earth outside of the Kremlin, and we were walking around without disguises! And why?

Because not only is D.C. one of the highest guarded cities in the world, it is also a city absolutely bogged down in traffic, crime, and other, weightier matters than a man hunt for people who anyone else would think are nut jobs for believing in a parallel universe of imagination. And that does not make for a good kidnapping ground, especially if you have your head on a swivel. So, though I had no idea what I was doing, I was surrounded by those who did. It felt very surreal.

Agent Miles got us all some ice cream as we walked through the streets and the Sphinx explained our next move. “I’ve been in touch with Naomi’s mom, and she has helped to create a window for us to enter the Bureau and enter the story Ruben’s been writing.”

“If he finishes it at all,” Naomi snorted.

“Hey! I’m going to make sure the world knows just how big of a jerk you are!”

“Ruben,” Trick said, trying to be patient. “Why don’t you just speed everything up for the last few chapters so we can go in and upload everything and get out of there before we get caught? It would save us a lot of worry and hassle?”

Before I could give my answer, Trick mother asked coldly, “And what makes you think that you kids will be following us in?”

“Because Naomi and I can transform if needed. And we should all be working to protect Ruben,” her son offered.

“This is such a terrible idea,” Miles complained.

The Sphinx nodded. “I agree. This entire affair is very, very far from accommodating or acceptable.”

“Well, Lars told me that I had to upload it to the computers in the FBI offices,” I retorted.

“And why are we trusting a random podcaster who clearly cannot do the epic trailer guy’s voice,” Susan needled.

I gushed before I could stop myself. “You’ve been listening to their show!? Isn’t it great?”

“Fangirling aside, I think we can all agree that we need to stick together because it is the right thing,” Naomi said, giving me a sharp glance. “Look, ever since all of this stuff began with Trick and I sneaking onto your cases, we’ve broken all of the rules. It was not right to begin with. If we hadn’t, who knows, but maybe we wouldn’t be in this predicament. However, that is neither here nor there any longer.

“We’ve come this far by doing everything against convention and against the rules. We are dealing with people who can bend all of reality to their whim! And we have only survived by continuing to do what we do best, break all the rules.”

“A girl after my own heart,” Trick said with a dopey smile.

Naomi continued, “It is the unconventional thing to do, keeping all of us together as we infiltrate the Bureau, but it is still the right thing to do. We cannot split up, or that weakens us. If we stay together, we can pool everything together that has helped us survive this long, and we can come out on top. I don’t know how or why those podcasters helped us out, but if dealing with the supernatural has taught us anything, we are only small time players in a much larger game, and we have received help before. We need to take this chance.”

She then took a big lick of her ice cream.

“Naomi… That was very dignified,” I said. “I’ll make sure to incorporate that.”

“Please do,” she said, cooly.

The adults were silent for a while as we walked and ate, sometimes slurping. Finally, Susan spoke up.

“I can reach out to some people. Conturbatio, you still have some contacts within the city you haven’t burned through yet. If we make sure that we are properly escorted to where we need to go, we can bunker down in the offices and call aid to ourselves while Ruben posts the story he’s supposed to.”

She heaved a sigh and said, “Look, this is not ideal, but once we get in there we can force the Syndicate to reveal themselves. They have been using the Grey Bubbles to hunt us, but surrounded by trained and deadly agents, they will have a harder time about it. Plus, it might mean that enough people will get the message that something is up to alert the entire government.

“Again, this isn’t ideal, but it would mean that we are no longer alone, and the threat would be exposed. Once that happened, we could rally all of our allies, old and new. No more running to survive, but we could have a fighting chance.”

“That might not be the way everything turns out,” Conturbatio objected slowly. “We have no guarantee of such a favorable outcome. Everyone in Cincinnati forgot what occurred and that was something as big as Hiroshima!”

“No,” Miles countered. “Remember what that guy from Camille’s Harem said to Ruben: there are those in the government who will come to our aid. I think Susan is right, and so are the kids.”

“Kids,” I huffed.

“If we succeed in doing this, we will get help. It will either be that whoever they were referring to will come and help us, and this all still remains a secret. Or, the whole conspiracy is blown wide open. In either case, we get help. You cannot let your pride dictate what happens next! This is not some case that agents are fighting over to see who gets the glory!”

“I know that,” the Sphinx snapped, uncharacteristically short tempered. He took a calming breath and licked some ice cream from his fingers before continuing. “I just fear what this would mean if everything that we have learned suddenly spilled into the public’s knowledge. What kind of chaos could it cause?”

“That is something that we’ll have to risk,” Miles said. She shared a look with Susan. “Besides, the government lies about everything all the time. If this blows up on them, they will find a way around it.”

“With the current administration I fear more what they will do to exploit it,” Conturbatio growled. “But it looks like I will be overruled in this decision. Fine! Then let’s come up with a plan.”

“Don’t look at me! I have no idea what we are going to do!”

“No one was asking you anyway, Ruben,” Naomi said, finishing off her ice cream cone. “Let’s first confer with my mom. I think she will be able to help us out.”

“I’m just surprised that she hasn’t been caught yet,” Trick whistled.

“No one should ever underestimate my mom,” Naomi said fiercely.