Luke unlocked the door, and the familiar bell rang above them. Lauren’s breath caught at the sound.

The café smelled faintly of wood polish, coffee, and the pastries that had remained inside the display before the attack.

The hero had done far more than repair the structure. The counters were intact, the lights worked, and every overturned piece of furniture had been returned to its proper place.

Luke walked farther inside and slowly looked around. "Wow. They really did fix everything."

Before Lauren moved behind the counter, he glanced toward the staircase.

She followed his gaze and immediately understood.

"The other two?" she whispered.

Luke nodded.

They went upstairs long enough to check the storage closet. The sealed Powerforge boxes remained hidden beneath the folded blankets and an old winter coat, exactly where Luke had left them.

Lauren rested her fingers against one of the boxes before looking at him.

Neither of them mentioned the lie he had told the police, but the secret between them felt more real now that they were home.

They returned downstairs feeling lighter.

Lauren moved behind the counter and began checking whatever she could reach. She opened the register, ran her fingers along the espresso machine, examined the cabinets, and crouched to inspect the shelves beneath the counter.

"The cups are back," she said.

Luke joined her. "Were they broken?"

"Most of them."

Now they sat in neat rows, untouched.

She opened another cabinet. "The plates too."

Lauren sounded more delighted with each discovery. The exhaustion of the day gradually faded as she moved from one familiar object to another.

Watching her inspect the café reminded Luke of someone checking an injured family member for wounds.

Lauren had built her life inside these walls. She had raised her daughters in the apartment above it, worked behind the counter for years, and created a place where lonely people could walk in without feeling unwelcome.

It had been the first place Luke could sit for hours without someone asking him to leave. Seeing her smile among the restored tables filled him with quiet relief.

After checking the last cabinet, she stood and brushed her hands against her skirt. "What an incredible ability."

"It looks exactly the same."

"Not exactly."

She pointed toward a section of the wall near the counter. "That mark used to be there."

Luke leaned closer. "What mark?"

"A coffee stain. During your first week here, you tried carrying four cups at once and dropped one."

"I remember."

"You stared at the wall as though you expected me to throw you outside."

"I thought you would make me pay for it."

"You barely had enough money for a sandwich."

"That usually doesn’t stop people."

The amusement left her face, and she reached up to brush a loose strand of hair away from his forehead.

"Well, the stain is gone now."

Luke looked at the flawless wall. A small piece of the café’s history had disappeared along with the damage.

Lauren continued staring at the spot long enough for him to suspect she felt the same way.

"I could spill another coffee there," he offered.

She laughed. "Please don’t."

The sound filled the empty café, warm and familiar.

Luke and Lauren had no way of knowing that the restoration had been motivated by strategy more than generosity.

The authorities had no established procedure for ordinary citizens who awakened through Powerforge Online, and the government still had no idea whether the two of them were dangerous, valuable, or both.

Until officials understood more, they wanted Luke and Lauren cooperative and comfortable. Sending an expensive restoration hero and paying for the damage was a small price for their goodwill.

None of that mattered to Lauren as she walked between the tables and adjusted one chair by less than an inch.

Luke smiled, and she caught him watching.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That smile isn’t nothing."

"You look happy."

"I am."

With both hands resting on the back of the chair, Lauren took in the restored café. After a moment, some of the happiness left her face.

"We could reopen tomorrow," she said.

"That’s good, right?"

"It should be."

Luke waited instead of answering for her.

"Three days ago, reopening would have been the most important thing in the world to me." Her fingers tightened slightly around the chair. "I would have stayed up all night checking supplies, calling the employees, and making sure everything was ready."

"You still could."

"I know."

Her gaze moved toward the staircase leading to the apartment. "But everything is different now."

Luke understood what she meant.

They had awakened abilities that should not have existed outside the game. A criminal had nearly killed them, and heroes, police officers, doctors, and government officials suddenly knew their names.

Powerforge had already changed their lives once by bringing them together inside the Dungeon of Truth. Now it had changed the real world too.

Lauren approached him slowly. "Luke..."

Something in her voice tightened his shoulders. "Yes?"

She stopped a few feet away. "Do you want to become a hero?"

All his nervous thoughts about Yvonne disappeared.

The awakening response officers had asked him the same question inside a private examination room. They explained that he would need training, psychological evaluations, combat instruction, and a provisional license.

Nothing had been promised, but the government was clearly interested in turning his new abilities into something useful.

Luke had not given them an answer.

He had spent most of his childhood admiring heroes. He watched them fly across television screens and believed they always arrived when someone needed them.

Then he had lain blind in an alley and called for one, only to be ignored.

No hero came, and his idea of heroism had never been the same after that.

Looking down at his hands, Luke said, "I’m already your hero, right?"

The words escaped before he had time to think about them, and both of them went still.

Luke had not been trying to impress her, and the answer was not a joke. The truth had simply come out before fear or embarrassment could stop it.

It reminded him of the Dungeon of Truth, though no notification appeared to confirm what he had said. He did not need one.

Color slowly rose into Lauren’s cheeks.

This was nothing like the playful blush Yvonne wore when teasing him. Lauren looked genuinely embarrassed, almost girlish.

Her lips parted before curving into a warm smile, and she closed the remaining distance between them.

"Silly boy," she whispered.

Taking both of his hands, she added, "I meant becoming a professional hero."

Luke was still embarrassed, but having her hold him made it easier to endure.

"In Canada too?" he asked.