"Okay," he said, again focusing on her. "Someone—you, I suppose—has obviously put some time and effort into at least getting me this far in. So I'm fourth on the list—wait." He glanced at the folder. "Fourth? Really?" He sighed and shook his head. So if I don't take the job you just offer it to the next person on your list who isn't, uh—" he again referred to the folder. "An 'attention whore' or a 'jerk'." He suddenly chuckled. "I can't wait to meet that guy."

He shrugged, dismissing the thought. "There are twenty to thirty names on this list, you know. Just how big a team do you plan on putting together?"

"Honestly? I hadn't considered that you would turn the opportunity down. I wanted you in that position and was willing to do what it took to make it happen." For the first time she spoke in the past tense, perhaps she was having second thoughts. "As far as the team size, I was thinking eight to ten heroes, I'd like to have two response teams, available to respond in times of crisis and to actively pursue leads as well."

Nemesis considered her answers. "Okay, then. How about this angle—what makes you think I have any leadership qualities whatsoever, even if I wanted the job? And what makes you think any of the people on this list would listen to me even if they joined a team? We masks are an antisocial lot by nature, you know. And some of these people are downright psychotic." He glanced down at the folder. "I mean, really…Shadowfall? That guy's halfway to nuts on the best of days. Ironhand? He's on my list of people who's butts need serious kicking."

"I have a lot of resources at my disposal. Between their nature to want to do good and the incentives I can offer them, I don't anticipate a problem. They would take the position with the understanding that there would be a leader that they would have to answer to." She shrugged her dainty shoulders, realizing that maybe she hadn't thought everything through yet. "...and I don't want any crazies, like Raven or the ones you mentioned." She didn't mention that she would already have her hands full of those too.

"As far as whether or not you have leadership qualities..." She tilted her head a bit and took another good look at him, her voice softening as she did so. "I'm generally a good judge of character. I got the vibe from you that there wasn't much you couldn't handle or control. Am I wrong?"

"Probably," Nemesis replied with a grin. "I mean, some people have issues. We vigilantes tend to have subscriptions, if you know what I mean." He ran a hand over his stubbled chin and dropped the folder to the couch. "You've got a long way to go before you put any sort of team together, honey."

Honey. She winced a bit at the casual pet name. "Yes. I really do. Will you help me?" Her eyes sought his out, as was her way, but his goggles prevented her from being able to read him like she wanted to. "It would be mutually beneficial, we could provide you with a substantial salary, and really what you would be doing wouldn't be that different than what you're doing now. You'd just have a team of people helping you and watching your back."

"And to whom would we be reporting?" Nemesis asked drily. "Who's going to be the team leader's boss?"

"In the field, nobody." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Your paychecks will be written by DiSantiago Pharmaceuticals. I will be the Publicity Director for the team, so technically it'll be part of the gig to do appearances and such. You would be working with me when it came to organizing our public appearances. It's important to us that we maintain a healthy image. ...and, I get my orders from the Board of Directors, in the end, I'm a very small part of the big picture."

The vigilante nodded as if he’d expected the answers given. “So your family gets a brighter, cleaner image while we bust ass to fight crime. Does that report say whether or not Hudson City is ready for a hero team of its own?”

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean." Her brown eyes were serious. "I think Hudson City needs a hero team of its own, and it doesn't take a report to make me think that. I read the paper every... single... day... and am horrified by what gets published, and to imagine what goes on that doesn't make print." She shook her head but didn't go on. "We could make a real difference. ...but you're right. I haven't thought of everything, I'm new to this business. I'll know how to make our team look good, but I won't know the first thing about making them a team. That's why I need you."

Nemesis stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest. “And the best for last—who picks the cases we work?”

Ophilia chuckled a little at that. "I hope we get to pick some cases. I kind of have this horrid vision of just trying to keep up with crisis and catastrophes. You already know that I've been working on the Cabal, that particular group will stay on our radar screen, they're an overall contributor to our problem. They're turning bad guys that the HCPD could take care of into super powered villains. I don't know what will happen to the city if they aren't stopped."

"Other than that, I don't see that there would be many restrictions on what cases we worked. Our labs, facilities and transports will be made available to the heroes. I think that it'll be important that you're kept apprised of everyone's individual cases though, just in case they trip into one of them." Whether it was intentional or not, he couldn't help but notice that she was talking to him like he'd already accepted the position.

"I do suspect, though, that if the interests of one of my family’s businesses are threatened, particularly the Pharmaceutical side, we'll be asked to step in and neutralize the situation. I don't know much about that side of the business, but I can assure you there are some things that could be of interest to the wrong kind of people." She quirked one of her thin eyebrows at him. "Is that your concern? How my family plans to utilize the team?"

Nemesis chuckled and nodded. “Oh, most definitely it’s a concern of mine. I’m not sure how you planned to stop me earlier if I’d decided to just leave with the folder, but the fact that you thought you could means either you possess some ability or talent I’m unaware of, or you’re so used to getting your way that it never occurred to you that I would do something you didn’t want me to. The former is a curiosity, but one I’m sure I’ll find out about if it’s true. The latter option, though, speaks of being spoiled, privileged, a bully or some combination of all three. I’m guessing that’s the reason since your family has a history of that very thing.”

Ophilia resented that comment so much that she wanted to admit that it was the former, but instead she bit down hard, almost gritting her teeth and remained silent. If the vigilante was aware he’d scored with his comments he didn’t show it as he pressed on.

“And there’s another thing you apparently haven’t thought of,” Nemesis continued. He spoke as if explaining something to a child. “Hudson City has never really had a team of heroes before. It’s bad enough we have some of the worst crime-per-capita ratings in the country, but no hero worth his name has stayed around long enough to help. They leave it to us, those of us willing to get our hands dirty, and hope for the best. The best we can hope for is to break even, and not always then. Hudson City is dirty, and it’s going to take a lot more than good intentions to clean it up.”

“But now you want to inject a team into the mix. Not only that, you’re going to do it openly and publically. That’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable, from the top down, on both sides of the law. But we have masks. You and your family don’t. You’re going to take a lot of heat for this, both in and out of the media. How you plan on dealing with that will make a difference in how this team of yours does their job.”

“So yeah,” he finished, “I’d say how your family plans to utilize the team is definitely a concern of mine.”

"That's a fair observation, and you're right I hadn't thought much about the negative impact from the city." It didn't seem to bother her that he pointed out a flaw in her plan. "It doesn't dissuade me though. I'm more afraid of the current state of Hudson City than I am of whatever corruption wants to take on my family. I can only assume they're prepared to deal with it, they have some connections here and there that can help out if necessary.”

“To be honest, it's a little out of my hands, this thing is going to happen whether I'm a part of it or not. This team is going to happen with or without either one of us...but I feel better off knowing that I'll be a part of it. Trust me, you could have drawn a shorter straw out of the DiSantiago ethics pool."

Nemesis snorted. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” He sighed and shook his head as he turned away from her. He took a step towards the balcony and stared out into the evening.

“You’ll no doubt be wanting everyone’s real identity, won’t you,” he said over his shoulder.

It took Ophilia a few moments to respond to his question. It was something that she had thought a lot about and it was an issue that she knew would come up. As a general rule Ophilia tended towards honesty; it worked well for her. In this case, however, she didn't think it would be a good idea to tell him that her family would find out one way or another if they wanted to know.

"I would prefer it that way. I think that if we don't really know each other, it will get in the way of the trust that we need to build as a team. Ultimately though, I don't think it would exclude me from taking a really good candidate." She found herself staring at his broad back with conflicted feelings, knowing that whatever happened next was out of her control. A part of her wanted him to stay and agree to sign on, but there was another part of her, the one that found his spontaneous manner unnerving, that wasn't so sure that it was a good idea.

“That’ll limit your takers,” he said distractedly. He was back to staring off into the night. He took another step towards the balcony, taking in the city.

“You know, I used to hate this city. I hated everything about it, even the good stuff. It made all the rotten crap down there that much more rotten. I wasn’t born here, and for a long time there didn’t seem to be a reason to stay. At first it was the job. After that…” he trailed off with a slight shrug. “I don’t know. I guess it gets to you after a while. You want to see how it ends, you know? You want to keep trying.”

Ophilia tilted her head and wrapped her arms around her middle as a cool breeze swept in through the balcony door. His candid moment was as unexpected as his visit and for the first time that night she got a glimpse at the man behind the mask. She watched him intently as he lost himself in his thoughts. She fought the temptation to reach out to him with her powers, so that she could peek into his mind and see what he was thinking. As tempting as it was, she wasn't willing to violate his privacy and her ethical code to do it.

He was silent for nearly a minute before suddenly turning around. “I should be going. I have a lot to think about.”

Ophilia nodded her head quietly and from the soft expression on her face, he could tell that she had dropped her guard again. "Of course you do." She closed the distance between them and offered him her hand. "I really hope that you decide to take me up on the offer. I could really use someone, during the infancy of the team, to help make sure I don't forget something. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know either way."

“I will.” Nemesis smiled. “I know where to find you.”

She paused for a heartbeat, and her small smile grew into a daring grin. "Let me fix that for you?" She reached up slowly, intending to pull his mask back down over his face.

The vigilante tensed, then gave an almost-imperceptible nod. He let the woman roll the mask back down his face, felt her touch against his cheek and neck as she ensured it fully covered his skin once more. His hand twitched, almost rose, but he left it at his side.

Ophilia gave it one last, very unnecessary tug, before letting her hands fall. The smile had fallen off of her face and she swallowed hard, suddenly uncomfortable with her proximity to him. It had been a while since she had been so overtly flirtatious.

“I’ll see you.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Soon.”

A small smile played at Ophilia's lips as she gave him a slight nod of her head. "Until next time."

With sudden alacrity Nemesis turned and leapt off the balcony in a near-perfect swan dive. Ophilia DiSantiago might have thought she heard mumbling right before he disappeared over the encasement. Had she been closer she might’ve even heard what he said.

“Pops is going to kill me.”

Fini