Free The Indestructibles by Matthew Phillion

seemed a little accusatory. Kate wasn't above harsh tones, but everything was too new and she understood she needed him on her side, at least for now. She needed all of them on her side temporarily. Whether that was something she'd always require was still debatable, though.
          Doc gestured around the table.
          Emblems were affixed on the different chairs in the debriefing room — memories of the costumes and symbols of his old teammates. He lingered longer on the one shaped like an hourglass.
          "You're wondering why I chose you?"
          "Yeah. I can't fly. Can't lift a car over my head."
          "But you were a hero before anyone else here even knew they could be one," Doc said.
          "I wasn't a hero. Technically, I was assaulting people without the sanction of law enforcement."
          "You put on a mask and went out to try to improve things, Kate. Doesn't matter if you can lift a car over your head. All that matters is you wanted to make the world a better place than it was yesterday."
          "That's debatable."
          "Debatable or not, how could I ignore that kind of initiative? Self-taught, self-motivated . . . It's the ones who do it on their own who make the biggest difference. They appreciate the work more," Doc said. "Not that there's anything wrong with those who are born into something special, or come into accidental powers. But there you were, playing the hero all alone out there. I knew I could help you, and knew you could help the others here."
          "Maybe I was better off on my own," Kate said.
          Doc shrugged.
          "Maybe you were. Maybe someone would have gotten the drop on you in some liquor store robbery and you'd have been dead by twenty. Who knows? That's not the timeline we're following right now. We're stuck with the one we're in."
          "The timeline?"
          Doc waved her off.
          "Stuff for later. Let's focus on this reality first."
          Kate sent him her most intense stare, then shrugged.
          He looked at his hands for a moment, self-consciously, then back at Kate.
          "There's something else, isn't there?" Kate said.
          Doc nodded.
          "Back in the old days, when we — my teammates and I — when we were young, something very bad almost happened, and we realized that we needed a plan. A failsafe."
          "A failsafe?"
          "If we ever lost control. Someone who knew how to shut us down. Who could be trusted with our weaknesses in case — "
          "In case you ever had to kill one of your own," Kate said.
          He shook his head.
          "We hoped it wouldn't come to that. But we knew how to incapacitate each other. One of us always did, in any event."
          Kate rubbed her eyes.
          "And you want me to be the failsafe."
          "Yes," Doc said. "You're the most logical of the group. You assess everyone. Predict their behaviors. Analyze their quirks. You are — whether you know it or not — deeply aware of the human condition. You'd be the first to pick up on it if one of the others went off the rails."
          "What if I'm the one to go off the rails."
          "You couldn't stand up to the others combined. That's your failsafe."
          Kate thought about it for a moment. How do you stop the solar-powered girl? Were those werewolf myths about silver bullets true? Did she really want to know any of this?
          Doc sensed her hesitation.
          Of course he did. He seemed to know everything, most times.
          "You can say no," he said. "The information can be a burden. Wouldn't blame you if you turned it down. But if you think you're up to the task, it's yours."
          A soft alarm chirped, alerting them know to activity on the rooftop — Jane and the others returning, most likely. Doc turned to leave.
          "Think it over. Plenty of time to decide later," he