“What are you doing here?” Tom whispered to himself.

  He should’ve been in San Diego, knocking on his brother’s front door. With a ten-year age difference, they were never that close, and they went on completely different paths. Jason became a successful software engineer, then quickly settled down and had three kids. Whereas Tom first went into the military, and after that found his calling in the Omega Knights.

  But the more he thought about it as he’d been packing, Tom questioned whether or not going to Jason was the best option. He felt he owed something to the team, at the very least. Like the others, Tom also believed the threat wasn’t gone and Sylva’s master would want to take this further. How he could continue to serve after being used and after his own mistakes proved a mystery to him. But leaving the team down a man wasn’t right, either.

  And that was how Tom found himself once more in front of the gate to the New Horizon Psychiatric Home. Just as before, Tom activated the intercom and spoke with the receptionist. The image that appeared was the same receptionist as before, and she sighed once she saw Tom’s face.

  “I’d like to speak to Caleb Pierce,” he said.

  “You again? Doesn’t Pierce have his own phone?”

  “Please, just tell him it’s Tom Stone and that it’s urgent,” said Tom. “I don’t even have to come inside, he can just meet me here at the gate.”

  The receptionist groaned. “Hold, please.”

  The video disconnected. Tom grabbed hold of the gate’s bars and leaned against it, pushing his forehead against the cold metal. He felt stupid for coming back here. What would he say? Would Caleb even be willing to speak to him again?

  Tom wondered how much time had passed. He looked down at his wrist to check his watch, but saw nothing but bare skin. A reminder that the “smartwatch” he’d grown so accustomed to was actually his Omega Gauntlet. He went back to the intercom, but saw no image on the screen. Once more, Tom pushed the call button. Except this time, no answer came. He wondered if the receptionist had just decided to blow him off.

  “Tom?”

  Caleb’s voice caused Tom to turn to the gate. A look of a concern married with confusion covered his face. Caleb walked up to the gate and gripped the bars, staring at Tom through the gap between them.

  “What’s going on?” asked Caleb. “This have something to do with Barnes?”

  “No, it’s not about that. How is he?”

  Caleb shrugged. “Fine, I guess. He pretty much went back to giving everyone the silent treatment after you and Rachel left. But if this isn’t about Barnes, then why are you here?”

  “I had to talk to you about…well, about Knight business.”

  Caleb’s eyes flicked up to the surveillance camera. Tom noticed the look and wondered whether or not he should be so candid. What did he care anymore? Not like he owned anything to the Tribunal after they’d used him and lied to him.

  “What sort of business?” asked Caleb.

  “Something happened after we left…”

  Tom then proceeded to cover the events. He told Caleb all about the breach that served as a distraction. How Sylva’s allies attacked Sanctuary and then, Marcus’s murder at Sylva’s own hands.

  Caleb looked ready to fall to the ground. If not for his grip on the bars, Tom thought he might have. He stared at his feet for what felt like a long while, then audibly sniffled and looked up.

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  “How’s everyone holding up?”

  “Not that good, especially considering what came next.”

  Caleb didn’t look ready to hear what more there was, but Tom told him of Sylva’s claims. How she said the Quantum Group had destroyed her world, and she’d allied with other refugees to get revenge. And how the Tribunal somewhat confirmed that version of events.

  “Have you ever heard of anything like that?” asked Tom.

  “Of course not!” said Caleb. “Do you honestly think I would’ve given so many years of my life to an organization responsible for something like that?”

  Tom shook his head. “No, I didn’t think so. I just wanted to be sure.”

  “Is that why you came here? Just to ask me if I knew about any of this?”

  Tom shook his head and leaned his back against the gate. “No, not the only reason.”

  “Then what?”

  “Whatever that bitch Sylva is part of, it’s not over. None of us think they’ll be satisfied just by severing our connection to the Tribunal.”

  “Agreed, but what’s any of that got to do with me?” asked Caleb.

  “I want you to go back to the team. Become a Knight again,” said Tom. “Even if it’s just to stop this threat.”

  “And how exactly would that work?” asked Caleb. “There are five Knights—no more, no less. How am I supposed to become the sixth?”

  “I’m not asking you to become a new Knight, I’m asking you to take back what’s yours.”

  Caleb sighed. “You’re asking me to become the Red Knight again.”

  Tom nodded.

  “I can’t do that. Even if I wanted to,” said Caleb. “And there’s a part of me that really wants to. But it’s not an option.”

  Tom turned toward the gate and Caleb. “Why not?”

  “Because it almost killed me. The Omega Force, it takes a toll after a while. This is a young man’s game, and I’m too old to play,” said Caleb. “But more than that, Phoenix chose you. You’re the Red Knight now. You’re their leader.”

  Tom shook his head. “Not anymore. I quit.”

  “What?” asked Caleb.

  “I can’t do it. I was never the right choice for this job. There’s no way I can possibly live up to the example set by you or Scott.”

  Caleb shrugged. “Then don’t.”

  Tom straightened up and raised his eyebrows.

  “Who ever said you had to be me? Or Scott? No two leaders are ever going to be the same, and no leader has ever been perfect right out the gate,” said Caleb. “There’s a reason why the Tribunal picked you.”

  “It was a binary choice, and the other was eminently more qualified than me,” said Tom. “It should’ve been Rachel.”

  “Maybe that’s true, and we can Monday-morning quarterback this thing until the sun burns out.” Caleb fixed his stare on Tom. “Problem with that is it won’t change anything.”

  “I know, but—”

  “No, there’s no ‘but’ here. I wasn’t ready for leadership when I was tapped, either. I was a rebellious little punk who always gave my leader shit. But when he retired, he specifically told the Tribunal that he wanted me as his successor,” said Caleb. “No one’s ready when the call comes. The mark of a true leader is whether or not you can step up and accept that responsibility.”

  Tom sighed. “And if I can’t?”

  “That’s not relevant. There’s a job to be done, one way or the other. You can’t be a leader? Okay, fine. That doesn’t mean you just throw in the towel,” said Caleb.

  “How am I supposed to keep on fighting then if I can’t do it?”

  Caleb shook his head and then said, “Say you’re right about everything—Rachel was the better choice, the Tribunal is completely fucked up, the Quantum Group has a lot of reckoning to go through. We’ll stipulate all that, okay?”

  “Okay…”

  “How is any of that going to get fixed if you just walk away?” asked Caleb. “If this threat is as bad as you’re suggesting, then you’ll probably need the Titans to fuse at some point, right? But that can’t happen with only four. You need all five Knights present and accounted for, or fusion is impossible. That’s just a fact.”

  Tom offered nothing in response, just listened as Caleb continued. Though already, Tom knew the soundness of the argument.

  With no rebuttal from Tom, Caleb continued. “Before you can address any of the mistakes that happened in the past, before you can start fixing things to improve the situation in the future, you have to deal with the problem in the present. And that problem is these bad guys.”

  “What if they’ve got a point?” asked Tom.

  “Maybe they do. That doesn’t give them the right to destroy this world. You can’t let them win just because you’re angry,” said Caleb. “The Omega Knights are the only ones with the power to protect this world, and without you, they’ll be at a significant disadvantage. You matter, Tom. So suit up, beat the bad guys, and then we can work on changing things once the dust clears.”

  Caleb’s words meant a lot to Tom. Most of what Tom learned about being the Red Knight, he learned from his predecessor.

  “Wow…this seems a bit awkward.”

  A third voice broke through. Tom turned away from Caleb and the gate to see Rachel walking towards the pair of them. She offered a half-hearted smile.

  “Something tells me that Tom and I had the same idea,” said Rachel.