A little while later, James walked slowly out into the ER waiting room, his whole body aching despite the painkillers in his system. Madelyn was sitting in a seat near the front entrance and as soon as she saw him, she stood up and hurried over as quickly as she could on her cane.

“I was so worried,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

He squeezed her carefully, then they both sat back down in the uncomfortable chairs. “Amelia’s here for a while longer,” Madelyn said. “I don’t know if she’s being admitted or not, so I’m going to stay. Bradley’s going to drive back with you.”

Most days, James would rather take his chances driving the van back. But all he wanted right now was to be in bed, whether at home or at Headquarters. So he nodded and sat with her for a moment. After a few minutes, the doors slid open to the entrance and Bradley walked in. He spotted them and walked over.

“My car is outside,” he said. “Are you ready?”

Maybe not for a walk to the car, but James could suck it up for a moment. Madelyn squeezed his hand, and he stood up. “Keep us updated,” he said.

She nodded. James followed after Bradley, who was walking too quickly toward his car. It ended up being parked right outside, hazard lights flashing. Relieved, James slid into the passenger seat. “Thanks,” he said.

Bradley shrugged and pulled out of the fire lane. James gingerly pulled on his seatbelt, trying fruitlessly to keep it from rubbing against the gauze over his previous seatbelt injuries. They drove in silence for a while, James gazing out into the darkness. He had no idea what time it was or what town they were in. Hell, he didn’t even recognize the name of the hospital as they drove away.

“Graham and Gabriella are still at Headquarters,” Bradley said, stopping at a red light just outside of the hospital parking lot. “I’m going to take over once we get there, since you and Amelia are both injured and Madelyn is staying here. Do you want me to drop you off at home?”

“No, I’ll go to Headquarters.”

Bradley raised an eyebrow, still looking at the road. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I can’t deal with our other roommate right now.”

“Fine. I need to stop by my house after, though.”

“You can go while I’m here. No point in going out again after we get back.”

Bradley didn’t say anything, but his mouth was a thin line. It was the first slight bit of normalcy tonight, and James would take it. So instead of continuing to argue, he turned back to the sky.

Amelia was going to be okay. He was okay. The van was wrecked, but they’d figure that part out. And the accident had happened out of nowhere after an encounter with someone who didn’t want to talk to them.

“If you wanted to use magic to kill someone, how would you do it?” James asked, trying vaguely to remember his celestial navigation training as he looked up at the stars.

“In a way that looks like a complete accident,” Bradley replied without hesitation.

James looked at him. “You’ve thought about that before, haven’t you?”

Bradley shrugged and kept driving. “The Delinsky deaths were so… grotesque,” James continued. “And Rita Delinsky survived, but hers would have been weird too if that guy hadn’t found her out on the ice.”

“Do you think the same person that tried to kill you killed them?”

“Yeah.”

Bradley nodded. “Well, they fucked it up.”

“Which maybe means they were sloppy,” James said, resting his head against the back of the seat. “Because they were in a hurry. I think it was that guy at the Delinsky’s shop. And he probably did the rest of it, too.”

“How?” Bradley asked. “That’s serious magic.”

“I don’t know.”

He expected a comment on his intellect, but there was nothing.

“By the way,” Bradley said after a few minutes of silence. “I heard about your plans to specialize the team. Hire an ambulance driver. I’m sick of bringing people to and from the hospital.”

James rolled his eyes, but he could tell there was no fire behind the complaint. “I’ll make you an official hospital liaison,” he said. “Get you a shiny quarter for a raise since the generosity of the Foundation knows no bounds.”

Maybe it was the dark or the drugs, but he could have sworn he saw Bradley laugh at that.

---

An hour later, they were passing through Leominster, skipping the exit James always took back to Headquarters. Once they were in Fitchburg a few minutes later, James was surprised when they pulled up outside of a small, old apartment building. Bradley turned off the car and got out. James followed, moving slowly.

“Oh,” Bradley said, as James closed his door. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

“Do you not want me to?”

“I don’t care.”

There were probably four or five units in this building, but only two other cars in the small lot directly outside of it. James followed Bradley into the depressing front hall, then stepped back as Bradley unlocked the door. “I’m on the first floor,” he said.

The halls were harshly lit with the same fluorescent lights James had seen in the space behind Delinsky’s earlier that day. The part they were in was short, with only two units at the end. It looked a lot like the places where James had lived before his current apartment, which wasn’t any fancier. But Bradley looked apprehensive, like he was waiting for a comment.

He unlocked the door to the first unit and stepped in. “Look out for the cat,” he said.

“You have a cat?”

“No, my roommates do.”

If it weren’t for the dull throbbing in his head, James would think this was a dream. There was no way he was actually standing in his prickly teammate’s home right now. But he was, and it was a dingy-looking place. The living room they were in was clean, but the walls were gloomy despite the concert posters and framed paintings on the walls. Beyond it was a small kitchenette and a long, dark hallway that must have led toward the bedrooms.

“Right back,” Bradley said, disappearing down the hall.

James stood awkwardly in the living room, looking around. A couch and a large TV took up most of the back half of the room, then there was a small card table. From here, he could see into the kitchenette, which was crammed with cooking equipment and a sink overflowing with dishes.

“How many roommates do you have?” he asked as Bradley came back down the hall with a bag in his hand.

“Two, why?”

“Geez, just asking.”

Bradley still looked a little defensive, but just shrugged. “They’re a couple,” he said. “They’re young and they like to have parties here. Somehow. They’re fine.”

James couldn’t even begin to imagine how a party would work in this apartment, but it didn’t matter because they were leaving and he’d probably never be back here again. He followed Bradley out into the bright hallway again, then waited as Bradley locked the door. “Are you sure you want to go to headquarters?” Bradley asked again.

“Yeah,” James said. “I’m on tonight, anyway.”

Bradley raised an eyebrow and James didn’t need him to say a word to get his frustration across. “Fine, I won’t work,” he said. “But I still would rather go there than home. Otherwise, I’ll just be mad at our housemate and worried about Amelia.”

“Your choice,” Bradley said, hurrying toward the front door.

About fifteen minutes later, they were pulling into the driveway at Headquarters. As Bradley killed the car engine, James cleared his throat.

“Um, thanks for picking me up,” he said.

“It’s not like the van was getting you home,” Bradley said, turning to grab his bag out of the backseat.

“I know,” James said, wondering why he had expected anything more than that. “But still.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Bradley got out of the car and James followed, his whole body aching. As he walked inside, he heard Gabriella hurrying over to them. She moved to give him a hug, then paused.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He nodded, then reached over to hug her instead. She, too, squeezed him gently, then moved aside as he slowly walked up the stairs.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I just need some sleep.”

“Madelyn just called a minute ago,” Gabriella said. “They’re admitting Amelia for the night for observation. She’s going to drive back here, then go get Amelia tomorrow.”

“Is she feeling up to it?” James asked.

“Seems to be,” Gabriella replied. “She said worst case, her stepmother’s house is along the way and she can spend the night there.”

“Good.”

Graham walked over from the comms and gave James a gentle clap on the shoulder. “Glad you’re okay, man,” he said. “We were really scared.”

James laughed wearily. “Me too.”

He was close to falling down now that the adrenaline was long gone. “I’ll be in the gray bedroom,” he said. “Wake me up if you need me.”

They all nodded, though he knew no one would. But instead of trying to insist, he turned and trudged down the hall to the bedroom. His overnight bag was still sitting on the bed where he’d dropped it this morning. He shoved it aside, then climbed under the covers, falling asleep in seconds.

He woke up from dreams of approaching Robin’s smoking car about an hour later, heart racing. But it hadn’t been fully Robin’s car. It had been the van, too. And yet again, someone had been trying to kill him in it. Just like in real life.

He kind of wanted to consider that a little deeper, but he fell back to sleep before he could.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 12