Earth Bets That Weren't (Kylia Quilor's Worm Oneshot/Snippet Thread)

[Kylia Quilor]

Before you read anything I write ficwise for Worm, a few things to bear in mind:

While I don't intend to (and won't) write stories where everything is nice and easy and simple, nothing I write will be as prone to bleakness or 'things getting regularly worse' as Worm. Things will, in the long run, tend to be better though of course bad things will happen. I am neither capable of nor interested in matching Wildbow's penchant for (well written) bleak and 'it gets worse'-ness in his stories. It is not fair to say that's all Worm is, but it is a large part of it.

For the purposes of my fics, the text of Ward, and Wildbow's many WoGs are only as canon as I want them to be (and I will be picking and choosing from both as I desire). I will be treating the full text of Worm as canon - allowing for differences as appropriate if the fic is an AU. That said, my interpretation of the canon and the characters therein (including personality, motivations, how they'd react in situations they didn't face in canon, etc) may not line up with yours. If you are someone who has a very rigid 'this is the only single acceptable interpretation of <character>' view, and my interpretation doesn't line up with yours, you may end up having a bad time with my stuff. Back button is right there.

Likewise, some people have very narrow views of what is acceptable expansions to canon (i.e. information that isn't in the text, but the text doesn't contradict either). I don't tend to have such a view, so again if you have such a rigid view, you may not enjoy my fic. Back button remains there.

All that said, no one is perfect, and I may get things wrong, or fail to adequately develop my points, etc, so polite critique or the like, even if your critique rooted in details from the WoGs or Ward, will always be listened to, though I may not ultimately agree with you. It's not as if I'm aware of every WoG Wildbow ever spun.

People who try to give me grief over writing choices rooted in the points above, decide to act as the 'Fanfic Police' over my interpretations, or who just declare that I'm just 'writing TINO' or 'Woobie Amy' or the like, without consideration that maybe my interpretation just isn't the same as yours shall be ruthlessly mocked or ignored, per my discretion and mood.

If you want to discuss my views re: Ward and the WoGs as related to my fic-writing, etc, feel free to DM me here on this site, or hit me up on my tumblr(s): Here or Here. I don't want to excessively clutter this thread with those discussions.

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Summaries of The Oneshots​

The Consequences of Forced Honesty -
What do you do when your deepest, darkest secret has been revealed, laid bare? To the most important person in your life, the one person you wanted most to never know? Amy hoped she'd never have to find out. Unfortunately, Tattletale took that choice away from her.

Fortunately, Amy's worst fears and nightmares turn out to have ignored one very important thing: Victoria Dallon loves her sister.

Her Words Burned Into My Skin -
-What the Fuck did you do?

-You don't need to know that.

As far as first words to say to your soulmate, neither are particularly good, but when a trip to the bank goes wrong for Amy Dallon, she finds out that fate doesn't really care about that sort of thing.

Ties of Blood, Ties of Family -
Celia Quiston cut her sister out of her life when Siobhan took up with Marquis. She was out of the country when Siobhan died, and only found out years later Siobhan tried to reconcile when she was near death, tried to ask her to take her daughter Amelia in. Eventually, she tracked her niece down, finding her in Amy Dallon, daughter of Brandish and Flashbang of New Wave.

Carol Dallon didn't think she'd ever grow to love Amelia when she took her in. But when the prospect of losing her adopted daughter hits her head on, she realizes that whatever else, she does indeed love and care about that little girl.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: There's probably many fanfics that I can point to as influential here, but probably the most notable is Crayshack's Family Therapy, which is just, a really wonderful oneshot, highly recommend.

Please see the end of the work for additional author's notes.

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There were many things Amy loved about her sister. Her smile, her smarts, the way she could just light a room by walking into it. How much Victoria cared. The list went on.

As she watched the figure in white flying down towards her, she was reminded that at the top of the short list of things she didn't love about her sister was Victoria's dogged, stubborn persistence. At least when it came to her.

If it wasn't for the curfew there'd be too many people for her to find me so easily. Not with how dark it was. But Amy was a lone girl on the empty streets of a half-destroyed city and she was limited to those streets and alleys - even at her fastest she could only go three, four miles an hour and - and -

Victoria could fly at fifty.

I should have - I should have hid, I should have tried to - why did I think I could outrun her? She felt her heart, pounding in her throat, breasting faster, but it felt like less air was actually making it in - she couldn't -

I assumed - I don't - I didn't think I - she shouldn't be here she shouldn't - she shouldn't - I can't - she knows why I had to run! She knows! She fucking knows!

Her sister stopped, mid flight, floating five or six feet up in the air, just ahead of her.

"Amy." Vicky said, voice softer, quieter than Amy usually heard it. In the stillness of the street, it was still - still too much. "I was just at the house. I don't - I don't even know what to say."

What was there to say? What could there be to say? Amy shrugged, wishing she could - trying to - trying to feel some semblance of the... the apathy the gesture implied. Or just feel less. Her brain felt like it was - too many thoughts, too many things, she -

"I - I mean, it's obvious. Bonesaw - Bonesaw showed up. Her - her... creations trashed the place. I healed Mark. I ran."

Not enough. Not far enough. Not fast enough. She should have found a place to hide. There were empty houses all over, places she could have -

She hadn't expected Victoria to - her sister wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't supposed to chase after her. Not after - not after how long she -

"You could have healed Dad weeks ago! I - I know why you don't want to do brains, I - I-" Vicky cut herself off. "I - I didn't say anything before, never asked-"

"Almost never," Amy cut in. Her sister hadn't pressured her to heal Mark. Not in so many words. Not more than once. Not as much as Amy had been afraid she would have. But that made sense. That - Vicky knew. Victoria knew why. So she had to know why she couldn't be here. Why it wasn't safe to be around her right now. Or ever. Never again.

"Fine. Almost never." Victoria agreed. "Why - why did you do it now?"

Is she - is she really asking -

"Because he would have died if I hadn't! I -" She couldn't let that happen. Not to him. Not to Vicky. Not - not even to Carol. She - she should have healed him, wouldn't have, no matter what, not - not without Bonesaw, if she hadn't -

"So what, if I'd hurt him you'd have healed him!? You would have done it weeks ago if I'd forced the issue like that?! Is that what it would have taken for you to give a damn?!" Victoria demanded, all but snarling the words out. Amy stared, recoiling from the sudden anger on her face, in her voice, the -

Her sister shrank in on herself, arms around her midsection for a moment. "I'm sorry I - didn't mean that. I shouldn't have said that."

Amy swallowed, shaking her head. "No - I - I should have - you're right to hate me for not healing him sooner." Amy looked down, away from Victoria. There were capes that could create earthquakes, right? One of them could be in town? Maybe? They could - they could make the Earth swallow her up!

Victoria let out a long, ragged breath. "Amy, you're my sister. I'm never going to hate you. I can't hate you. And - you did heal Dad. He's not mad at you. I'm not mad at you. Please, come home."

"I can't," Amy said softly.

"Please, Ames." Victoria said just as softly. She opened her arms, flew closer, as if to hug her, and Amy recoiled, stepping back so quickly she stumbled, nearly fell over.

"Don't touch me!" Her sister pulled up short, so close Amy could reach out - she could...

She looked at her sister's arms, spread wide. So close. She almost reached out, almost took a step. Her whole world was crumbling around her, and her sister was here, not hating her, still here, wanting to help her, support her...

She wanted nothing more than to hug her sister and let Victoria take her back home and pretend everything was going to be fine. To go back to pretending in general. But she couldn't. Not now. Not -

"Amy!" Victoria looked hurt, letting her arms fall to her side, brows furrowed, lips a thin line. "Why- you can't just - For fuck's sake, Amy! The Nine are in town, one just tried to kill you! And that's - that's on top of everything else! It's not safe! And - damnit, Amy, I need you! Uncle Neil and Eric and Dean are dead, New Wave is crumbling, and the whole city is falling apart!" She lowered her voice, barely above a murmur. "I need you. I need my sister. Why - why are you running away? From home? From me?!"

Amy forced herself to take several more steps away from Victoria, she looked away, away from her sister, not wanting to see the hint of tears in the corners of Vicky's eyes...

I can't - I can't...

"You know why! You know why I can't stay home!" Amy pleaded with her. "I - I broke my most important rule!"

"To save Dad's life!"

"And what if that's all it takes? For me to - I can't - I can't slip! I can't let myself slip, or lose control or-" Her breath caught, feeling dampness in her own eyes now. Her throat was tight, her breathing felt... thick. She screwed her eyes shut, trying, desperately trying to control herself. She had to make Vicky see. Her sister always insisted on seeing the best in her, believing in her...

She'd never deserved Victoria's faith. Not now.

Not ever.

"Ames! You won't. I know you. I know you won't do anything like that! You're a good person! A hero!" Her sister raised her voice now.

"Am I?" Amy opened her eyes. "Bonesaw wasn't there to kill me, Vicky! She was there to recruit me! She thought I was Slaughterhouse Nine material!"

Victoria's breath caught for a moment, and she said nothing at first, just staring at Amy. She understands? She needs to understand... Her biological father had been a villain. One of the most infamous in the Bay. She'd broken her most important rule, the rule she'd promised herself she'd never break, the rule she couldn't break... what if that was all it took? What if Bonesaw was right, and she was -

I can't take the chance. I can't let Vicky take the chance. Her eyes darted around. There was nowhere she could run to. She couldn't get to a building before Vicky caught her, and even if she did, her sister would just come in after her -

"That's - she's Bonesaw! She's a crazy mass murderer! She doesn't know anything. She doesn't know you! You would never do anything like that! You're a hero!" Victoria repeated, insisting, asserting something as if that made it true.

...she is crazy though... The way she was so sure all Amy needed to do was kill that hybrid, that... Pagoda and then she had the gall to be shocked Amy wasn't ready to join the Nine...

"You've saved - God, Amy, you've saved more lives, helped more people than all of the rest of New Wave put together!" Victoria went on. She always loved saying that. As if that - as if it was that simple. As if it was enough. All the people she didn't, couldn't heal. And she hated it. Hated every second of it. What kind of hero hated saving lives?

Victoria loved her powers. Loved getting to help people.

What does it say about me that I don't? Amy knew. She'd always known.

"...I hate healing," Amy said. "I hate going to the hospital and -" her breath caught, but she forced herself to keep going, pushing ahead. "One person, after another, after another... it's..." she blinked, more tears in her eyes. "I - you do know how many times I've wished something would just... take my powers away. Or - or I'd screw up, somehow, someone would die and they'd... they'd forgive me but they wouldn't - they'd stop letting me heal." She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, yet another secret she'd tried to keep from her sister coming out.

"I'm not a hero."

"...God, Amy why... why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Because you'd try to make me stop. You already try."

"I try to get you to cut back, to stop sneaking out at night, yeah! I knew - I knew you felt guilty about all the people you can't heal, but..." Victoria trailed off, shaking her head, at a loss for words.

"I'm not a-" Amy started to repeat again. She had - she had to convince her. She had to convince her sister that she wasn't a hero, so Victoria could realize she wasn't safe to be around.

"Stop that! Amy! Stop saying that!" Victoria let out a breath. "Please, Amy you need - I just fucking managed to convince you to let me help you find a therapist, someone to talk to, someone to help you the ways I can't - and then Leviathan attacked and everything went to hell, but we - we can still do that! Maybe - I mean, maybe not with the Nine in town, but... as soon as they're gone! Especially now that Dad's better. Mom was setting money aside for Dad's care so we could afford-"

Amy licked her lower lip, swallowed again. Victoria had painted a wonderful picture, the idea that someone, anyone might be able to help her, help her be normal and not a fucking freak and keep her from becoming like her father and -

"We'd have to tell Carol why I - we can't tell her about- she would never-" Amy's words tripped over themselves. Everything her sister said was so tempting... she wanted it all. But... what if - what if it wasn't enough? It didn't matter what happened to her, as long as -

As long as she didn't hurt Victoria.

"For fuck's sake Amy! I know you don't think Mom loves you and- yes, she sucks, as much as I keep trying to - as much as I wish she didn't, but you're still her daughter. You're right, we can't tell her why you're so afraid, about how you... about how you feel about me." Her sister tried to hide the grimace that passed across her face for a moment, but Amy caught it. Her stomach churned.

Victoria hadn't judged her, when her secret had come out. Hadn't hated her. Had... had still loved her, as a sister. It was more than her wildest dreams had ever imagined was possible. But, even if she never said it, tried to never show it around her, Amy knew it made her sister... uncomfortable, to know how Amy felt. How she felt about her.

"But a member of Slaughterhouse Nine broke into the house, forced you to kill someone and was insane enough to think you would make a good member! Anyone would need a therapist after that!" Her sister lowered her voice, "I need one just knowing it happened at all."

Another time, another place, the way her sister said that would have made Amy smile, laugh, shake her head and remember why she loved her sister so much.

"Carol never wanted me, Vicky." Amy shook her head.

"You've been saying that for years but-"

"My father is Marquis!" Amy blurted out, dragging her last secret squirming out into the light, a last desperate attempt to... keep Victoria away, to force her to leave her, to keep her sister safe, she had to keep her safe.

"Marquis?" Victoria inhaled. "How - how do you know? I know you never wanted to find out - you told me not to try to figure it out."

"I didn't want to know! I - Mom got a letter. I read it. It's - it's under my pillow. My father's a villain." And she - she - she could turn out just like him? What if - what if that was how it had started? Breaking rules. Compromises. Wanting to let people get hurt, die... just because she was selfish?

"You figured that out years ago. Fine, you have his genes," Victoria shook her head. "But Carol and Mark Dallon are your parents. I'm your sister. You're not him. I know you don't believe it, but at least believe me: You're a hero."

Before Amy could step back or try to get away or - or - anything - Victoria had closed the distance between them again, feet settling on the ground, arms around her, pulling her into a painfully tight hug.

"Don't-" Amy started, terror gripping her, desperately trying to reign her power in before she could - before she could do anything to -

Her thoughts short-circuited for a moment.

Victoria's arms were around her, holding her tight, her face buried in her sister's shoulder like so many hugs before, but -

But her hands weren't touching Vicky. Her forcefield was blocking her, holding her back, she couldn't - her power couldn't work through Victoria's forcefield. They'd tested, years ago, when she'd first gotten her power...

"I trust you, Ames." Vicky said softly. "Even if you're an idiot and don't trust yourself. But since you don't... if it will make you come home, then I'll keep my forcefield up around you. Please, come home. We'll - we'll get you somewhere safe. I can't - I can't do this alone, and neither can you."

It was all too much. Everything Amy had tried to hold back, every secret, every disgusting part of herself that she hated, that Vicky should hate too, the terror of Bonesaw's visit, the fear that the psychotic little child could be right, the display of trust and love from her sister -

Her legs buckled under her and she dropped onto her knees, Vicky kneeling down with her. She clung to her sister for dear life, sobs wracking her body.

I shouldn't... I shouldn't be doing this but... but I can't... and -

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She repeated it, over and over again, a prayer and a mantra.

She was - she was too weak to do the right thing, the thing that was best for everyone, but somehow Victoria still loved her, and - and maybe... maybe Victoria could still be safe from her.

She has to be. I can't - I won't let myself hurt her...

---

One And A Half Months Earlier​

You and your sister love each other. It's very sweet and all, but the truth is, you'll never be able to love her the way she really wants you to.

Tattletale's words and her cruel, mocking tone rang in her ears as Victoria zoomed out of the bank through the hole she'd made in the wall when coming in.

She'd barely had a chance to do more than realize the shape of what the Thinker had been saying when the bullet took her by surprise, shattering her forcefield and letting the bugs the bug Master had set to crawling all over her -

The feeling of hundreds, thousands, fuck, maybe tens of thousands of the things crawling, squirming, all over her body - only a few of them actually biting her, but -

How did she figure out - The timing was too perfect. Tattletale had somehow figured out what took down her forcefield and had her teammate set the bugs on her right in time with that.

By the time Victoria had gotten them off, gotten her forcefield back up - there'd been no yelps or screams, none at all, thank you very much - and could fly again, the Undersiders were gone, fled through an even bigger hole in the back wall of the bank, Grue's darkness blocking any clear idea of where they'd gone.

But chasing them was the last thing on Victoria's mind.

She'd heard it, as the bugs had swarmed her, Amy's choked sob as that bug bitch let her go, the sound of Amy dropping to the ground, then getting up and running away -

Tattletale is a villain. Villains lie. She repeated the mantra in her head as she zoomed up, trying to get a look at the streets. Amy couldn't be far - she wasn't much of a runner, and -

She could see the Wards, including Dean, spread out in front of the Bank, some of them looking worse for the wear. The sight of her boyfriend - did he know? Had he -

Victoria shook her head. Villains lie. And what she'd said - it could mean anything, right? Right?

She looked back down again, eyes searching - there! She dove, flying into the alleyway ahead of Amy.

"Amy!" Her sister was crying - Amy saw Victoria, pulled up short, tried to look away so she wouldn't see the tears streaming down her face. She started to turn away. "Amy - don't -" Victoria flew closer to her, and Amy let out another choked sob and dropped to her knees, covering her face.

"Go away." Victoria had heard her sister be grumpy, bitchy, snarky, sad, angry, and all too rarely, happy. But she'd never - she'd never heard her sound so... broken. So despairing. Amy hunched her shoulders, as if trying to make herself as small as she could, as if she was trying to hide.

If - if that Thinker bitch was a liar then... Then Amy wouldn't be like this, would she?

So she'd told the truth, the -

Amy -

Her sister was -

"Tattletale wasn't lying, was she?" It was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Amy just sobbed again, shaking. "Amy... I -" How could she help Amy when her sister wouldn't talk to her? Wouldn't look at her?

She didn't want me to know this. Which made sense. Victoria didn't even know how she was supposed to feel about finding out that her sister was - that her sister was -

In love with her? Not - not in the way she'd always said 'I love you' to her sister, but -

I guess that explains why she hated all the double dates so much.

A villain had just held her sister at knifepoint while robbing a bank and she was thinking about the fact that the reason Amy had hated all the double dates she'd taken her sister on had failed because...

The person Amy wanted to be on a date with was her? Victoria had wondered, suspected if Amy was jealous of her, that she'd secretly liked Dean - Dean who had to know something because when she'd suggested the possibility, he'd changed topics really quickly after dismissing the idea - but... Dean had been the one she was jealous of the whole time, wasn't he?

Victoria didn't even know where to start when it came to grasping how she felt about that. And -

She had bigger problems. She - she could worry about how she felt about this later.

Amy probably thinks I hate her. Tattletale said this would tear my family apart but -

Victoria looked at her sister, crying, hunched, broken.

Victoria didn't know how she felt about Amy loving her like that. But she knew that Amy was her sister, and she loved her - as a sister. Had basically from the moment her Mom and Dad had brought Amy home with them one day and told her that Amy was her new sister.

So whatever else she knew, she knew that she wanted to - had to - help her sister.

She reached out and put a hand on Amy's shoulder. Amy flinched, pulling away, and Victoria bit her lip, letting her hand fall to her side. "Amy - I - we need to talk about... about what Tattletale said."

Amy lowered her hands a little, looking at her. Her sister's eyes were red, her face blotchy, sniffling. "I - I never wanted you to know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she sobbed again, looking back down at the ground. "...please don't hate me." She wrapped her arms around her midsection, hugging herself.

"Amy, you've known me for eleven years. You're one of the most important people in my life. I could never hate you." Be frustrated by her, angry with her sometimes, sure, but - how could she hate her? "I don't - why would you think I could?"

"Because - because I'm a disgusting freak in love with her sister." Amy whimpered. Victoria blinked. Was that really how Amy thought of herself? It - it fit. Her sister was... prone to blaming herself for things that weren't her fault or acting like she'd ruined everything when she made a mistake. Victoria sometimes thought Amy was an unintentional drama queen about things sometimes but...

I mean, this isn't normal - like, it's not but...

"Amy, you're - you're not a fucking freak! Or disgusting." She looked around. There was no one in the alley, but there was every chance that Dean would come looking for her, or someone else might see this, overhear them.

She wanted to go find her boyfriend, grab him - gently - and shake him - gently - until he told her everything he'd known, or suspected. Dean had always told her Amy didn't enjoy the Double Dates they'd gone on. Victoria had always assumed it was just... the wrong guy. That she just needed to find her someone else.

Is - is it just me? Is she gay? Bi? How does - How did any of this happen? It couldn't be normal, but - not normal wasn't the same as a freak. But... there had to be a reason. Victoria knew she was attractive, she knew there were guys - and girls - at Arcadia who had crushes on her and... then there were the gross people online. She really had to be careful about searching her own name - cape or otherwise - online sometimes.

Amy wasn't like any of those people. Amy was her sister. A good person. A hero. So how had this happened? Why? And - and what could Victoria do about it?

She needed to understand what was going on with her sister to help her, but even if she wanted, needed to find out what exactly Dean knew and why he didn't tell her anything about this...

They really shouldn't be having this conversation here.

"I won't - I have so many questions, Ames." Victoria said quietly. "But we really should - we should find a rooftop or something or go home, somewhere we can talk, privately." She gestured to the alleyway. There was a dumpster ten feet away, garbage cans further down, open exits into streets at either end. "Somewhere not here. In the middle of downtown."

Amy swallowed, tried to wipe at her face. "I...you -" she cut herself off, trying - and failing - to take a deep breath. "You can't tell Carol. She can't - she'll - I don't even - I can't even imagine what she'd - she'd throw me out of the house, she-"

"Mom won't throw you out of the house." Victoria interrupted. Amy and their mother were... Their mother was... a lot, in general, and with Amy she could be...

More? Their mother meant well, but she was - she - she was intense, and Amy just had a hard time handling that. Hard time handling her.

"But I won't tell her." Victoria promised. Victoria had no idea what their mom would say or do, but... it couldn't possibly be a good idea for Amy to deal with this when she was like this. She grabbed at Amy's arms, pulling her up to her feet. "Come on. We really shouldn't be talking about this here."

Amy managed a deep breath this time, though it was shaky. She wrapped her arms around herself tighter, pulling her sleeves over her hands. She swallowed, and nodded slowly. "You're right."

Picking her sister up to fly her somewhere was routine by now, but there was nothing routine about the way she held herself this time - still tense, still hunched, hugging herself. Usually Amy held on, but - she almost seemed afraid to touch Victoria now... lifting her up into a princess carry and hovering up slowly.

"This would be a lot easier if you held on," Victoria pointed out. Amy hesitated for a moment, then, hands still hidden inside her sleeves, she nodded, holding on. She started moving faster, getting above the alleyway and looking for a convenient, empty rooftop. Seconds later, she found one, flying over to it quickly.

They didn't usually talk when she flew Amy somewhere, but especially right now, the silence hung between them. Victoria tried to use the brief time it took to reach the rooftop to try to figure out where to start. What to ask.

How to make sure she didn't break Amy worse than she already had? How to help her sister get better?

Setting Amy down once they reached the rooftop, Amy pulled away, taking several steps, wrapping her arms around herself again as she stood there.

Victoria landed lightly on her feet, looking at her sister. "So. You're - you're in love with me."

Amy swallowed, looked away. "I don't want to be."

Well, I mean, they say you can't really control who you love... unless someone like Heartbreaker comes along... Victoria blinked as the second thought occurred to her.

"Wait - I - does my aura have-" Her aura shouldn't have any sort of long-term effects, but it did affect brain chemistry - it usually produced awe or fear, but sometimes for people with weird brain chemistry or who were on a lot of drugs, it could have other impacts...

That one Merchant who got really horny and begged me to step on him... She held back a shudder at the remembrance.

Could - could that somehow -

Was this her fault?

Amy cut her off, shaking her head, "Your aura doesn't have anything to do with it, Vicky." Amy said firmly. "I used to think... maybe it was... a factor. When I first realized how I felt, and I wanted to believe this wasn't because I'm messed up." She exhaled slowly and set down, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's not. I'm just-"

"You're not a freak," Victoria cut her sister off in turn. Okay good. I - I mean - I was pretty sure, but -

None of this made any sense. How had she missed it? Amy wasn't exactly a good liar, and here she was, finding out Amy had kept a secret like this for - for God knew how long?

"I... I'm trying to understand this, Amy." Victoria said after a long, silent moment. "How - how does it - I mean, are you gay? Bi? Is it just... just me?"

Amy said nothing, looking out over the city, then she closed her eyes, taking a breath. "I'm a lesbian. It's... it's not that I - I have found other girls..." She swallowed. "I've found other girls pretty it's just... none of them are you."

Fuck! Forget not noticing that her sister was in love with her - Amy was actively trying to hide that. How had she missed that her sister was -

Her sister was gay, and she hadn't even picked up on it.

"So all of those double dates-?"

"Torture. For lots of reasons." Reasons more than just 'date with a guy she could never possibly be into'.

Seeing her with Dean? Wishing she was the one on the date with her?

I mean, she said she doesn't want to feel like this but - she does, so... Victoria shook her head, trying to push those thoughts aside.

Her sister had been gay this whole time and Victoria - who had gay and bi friends for fuck's sake! - hadn't noticed! Even a little!

What kind of sister am I? If she'd known, or even had the slightest idea she could have - she could have helped, at least a little!

"God, Amy... why didn't you ever tell me?" Victoria shook her head and kept going when Amy started to open her mouth. "I mean - about being gay? I - I do wish you'd told me how you felt sooner," she could have helped her sooner, "but... for fuck's sake. You remember my friend Kelly?"

Amy blinked, confused, "The one with red hair, taller than you? Still plays basketball?"

"Yeah. She's gay. Out and everything, even in Nazi Town, USA. She asked me once, last year, if there was even a chance you were into girls, if I could put in a good word or something. I mean - I said there wasn't - I figured you'd have told me if - I mean, I tell you everything!"

This one hurt. Not being told. Her sister keeping this from her.

Victoria closed her eyes. This isn't about me. It was - but -

She could get angry with Amy about this later.

She looked back at her sister, who had hunched over, into herself a bit more.

Damnit.

"I'm sorry." Victoria let out a long breath. "I just - I wish you'd told me about being gay, at least. I could have at least tried... to-"

"It wouldn't have mattered," Amy countered quietly. "Kelly - she's - I mean, she's pretty and... tall and she has - she has a nice chest..." She saw the faintest hint of a flush on her sister's face, but it passed quickly.

So - she's into tall girls with nice boobs? Victoria tried not to think about how that did technically describe her.

"But she's not - she's not - I wouldn't have been able to date her."

"...Because she's not me?" Victoria asked. Amy let out a low groan, covering her face as she nodded. She moved over towards her sister - not getting too close, in case Amy recoiled from her again - and sat down, facing her. "I mean, I - I know I'm attractive," she felt no shame in admitting it. She did work hard to look this good...

Not that genetics didn't help, but still.

"But - I mean... am I that pretty?"

"It's not that simple." She inhaled another slow breath, letting out just as slowly before continuing, "I - I don't remember much, about when Carol first took me from... wherever I was when I lived with... with him," Amy rarely said 'my biological father', when talking about the man. Her sister didn't have a lot of memories from before she'd become her sister. She remembered a mother, vaguely, and then just as vaguely a father. Her biological mother was dead, she was pretty sure, but -

She'd asked their parents, Aunt Sara, Uncle Neil - she'd asked them about her father, a few times, though not in years. They'd always been evasive, and Mom especially hated it when Amy had asked, being more stern than usual. None of them had given Victoria answers when she'd asked either. After being given the runaround a few times, it hadn't been hard for the two of them to figure out that had to mean Amy's biological father had been a villain, of some sort. Birdcaged, presumably.

Victoria had wanted to look it up immediately - still wanted to. It wouldn't have been hard to figure out who the Brigade had taken down around the time Amy came to live with them and work from there. Amy had always said no.

And thanks to Tattletale, Victoria knew why.

I almost want to thank that smug bitch. Punch her in the face too, but...

"But I do remember - I remember you." Amy continued, bringing Victoria's focus back to her sister's explanation. "You just needed to be told that I was your sister now and you... you accepted me immediately. Loved me. Meanwhile, Mark was... he tried, but..." she shook her head, trailing off.

"And Carol," Amy continued. "She was... she was never comfortable around me. Always watched me like... watched me to see if I was going to screw up. She's still not comfortable around me. I can feel it, anytime I touch her, even by accident. Anytime I heal her."

"That's just Mom." Victoria said, the words sounding weak, pathetic. "She's never relaxed."

"...That's not it. I - Vicky, I can't remember the last time she ever hugged me, or said she was proud of me. When I first got my powers, I thought... I thought that finally, she'd say it."

Like with you. The last three words were unsaid, but Victoria didn't need to hear it. She tensed, remembering what that moment had felt like. The basketball game, the foul - realizing her parents would never really... never really have time for her, unless she had powers.

It had worked, sort of. Mom had said she was proud of her, more often, after she'd gotten her powers. But she also got lectures and direction and Mom got even more controlling, in a lot of ways.

It was one of the things that had always kept her coming back to Dean - he understood it, the weight of expectation from a parent who cared about the 'role' a child played more than the child themselves.

"And then... and then I thought if I..." Amy trailed off, shook her head. "This isn't about Carol. This is... you were the only person in my life who accepted me. Loved me unconditionally. You were always there for me." She blinked repeatedly, tears gathering in her eyes again. "On Mark's bad days, you were the only thing that made living in that house bearable." She shook her head. "Not were. Are."

Victoria swallowed. "Amy... You can't -" she cut herself off. Amy could. She could mean that. She did.

"I don't know... I don't know when a wire got crossed, or... or when I realized. There was no... single moment when I woke up and realized - realized how I felt about you." Amy explained. She wiped at her eyes, but more tears continued to gather, trail down her cheeks. "I used to think if I... If I understood it enough, if I could figure out the how, I could... undo it."

"Stop loving me?"

"Stop loving you... like this." Amy nodded. "You're my sister, Vicky. That's... that's all I've ever wanted to be, your sister." She sounded choked, voice thick, her throat probably tight from the crying.

"There's... there's a psychological theory, called the Westermark Effect." Amy said quietly. Victoria didn't recognize the name, and Amy went on after a moment. "It was proposed to explain why almost every human culture has an incest taboo. Or - or how it emerges, anyway." She took a shuddering breath, then went on. "The theory goes that children raised around each other as siblings, or close, before the age of six sort of... develop an aversion to the idea of romantic of sexual attraction to one another."

Despite her reputation on PHO, Victoria was not an idiot. "And you were six when you came to live with us." Amy nodded. "So being gay and me being attractive were just... icing on the cake?" Amy nodded again.

Somehow it was... almost a bit a relief to know that Amy's feelings for her weren't just because of her looks? That it was something deeper?

Victoria swallowed, as she considered that thought, and that relief. Why -

Why should she feel better about it being because... because Amy never felt like she belonged? Because Mom had really -

Victoria couldn't believe Mom didn't care about Amy. Why would she have adopted her, villain's daughter or not, if she didn't care about her? Didn't want her? Amy had to be wrong about that.

But... none of that changed how it had to feel. She was wracking her own brain, trying to think of the last time Mom had hugged Amy. It had to have happened. Mom wasn't - she wasn't much of a hugger, but she did do it sometimes. Aunt Sarah. Dad. Uncle Neil. Their cousins, a few times.

Me.

So she had to have hugged Amy sometimes. But the fact that Victoria couldn't think of when... it was pretty damning.

"Amy," Victoria closed the distance between her and her sister, pulling her in for a hug before Amy could recoil. "I'm sorry you've been dealing with... I'm sorry you've been hurting like this, and I never noticed."

Her sister tried to squirm away, didn't return the hug. "You shouldn't - you shouldn't touch me," Amy whimpered.

"Why? Because of how you feel about me? Amy, this... you're still my sister. I don't love you like that, but I do love you, and you've been suffering in silence for... years. You don't have to do that anymore. You'll... You'll get through this, and I'll help you." Victoria blinked repeatedly, feeling a bit of wetness in her own eyes. "You said I've always been there for you, but you've always been there for me. Even when I'm bitching about Dean or when - when you bail me out because I let my anger get the better of me."

Victoria knew it stressed her sister out, that Amy didn't like it, when she asked her to do that. Even if she did sometimes enjoy playing mind games on the assholes she healed for her. Like that Nazi the other day, implying she'd given him erectile dysfunction.

I really need to stop doing that. Stop letting them make me lose - She cut that thought off. That wasn't right.

I need to stop letting myself lose control like that. She'd said it before. Every time, even. Just like she'd promised Amy it wouldn't happen again, every time.

But this time she would make it work. The last thing her sister needed was more stress. More things to deal with.

She pulled back, one hand on Amy's shoulder, "I don't hate you. You're not a freak."

Amy swallowed, meeting her gaze for a moment, then looking down and away. She didn't believe her.

Victoria would just have to keep saying it, keep beating Amy over the head with it until she did.

Her sister really could be stubborn sometimes.

She wasn't sure how she could help Amy. Her first thought - finding Amy a girlfriend - was... probably not going to be as easy as she'd like. In theory though, if she could -

Amy doesn't have a lot of friends. Doesn't go anywhere. Pushes people away. Just goes to school and heals and that's about it. Put it like that... no wonder her sister had latched onto her the way she had?

In theory, then... if she could just convince Amy to give someone a chance... that might help? Probably the easiest way to get Amy over her, right?

Just have to find someone right for her that I can convince her to consider.

But... as obvious a solution as it seemed to Victoria... she doubted her sister would be convinced so easily.

Definitely no suggesting double dates for... a month, at least.

Victoria let her hand fall to her side.

"You still shouldn't-" Amy started. She choked off her words, then she started to speak again, stopped, closed her mouth.

"The only reason you don't hate me is because you don't - you don't realize what I can do." Amy said, sounding certain.

"Amy, I don't hate you because there's nothing you'd actually be capable of doing that could make me hate you." Victoria countered, trying not to snap at her. It's like talking to a brick wall! Amy had probably been convincing herself that Victoria would hate her if she found out for years, but how long would it take for her sister to get it!?

"Do you understand what my power can do? I- I'm not just a healer, Vicky. I can change anything about someone's body, as long as I have biomass to work with. I could make someone grow a third eye or make their blood carry less oxygen or - I mean, I threatened to fuck up that bug girl's taste buds so everything tasted like bile. I could... I could make a plant that made kudzu look like child's play!"

Victoria blinked. She'd known Amy's power could do more, but - she could just... make a plant? That was... bad idea to make super kudzu, but that meant she could probably make something really cool too, right?

"Okay. That's not - Amy, help me out here, why is any of this a bad thing? I mean, I'm sure the PRT wouldn't like it if you made super kudzu, but..." She shook her head, not seeing the problem.

"Do you realize what it means that I can do brains, when I have that sort of power? When I can do that much?" She stood up, starting to pace, refusing to look at her. "Your entire personality... everything that makes you you is there, in the brain. And I could change any of it! A single mistake in healing brain damage could change everything about a person! And that's only if I make a mistake?" Amy pressed her palms against her temples, tangling her fingers in her frizzy hair. "What if I changed something on purpose?!"

Victoria stared at Amy. What did this have to do with what they'd just been talking about? Or was her sister just taking the chance to talk about something else that was bothering her? Explaining why she had such a hard rule about brains? Victoria felt like she was missing something obvious, some... thing that would explain why Amy was bringing this up now.

"Okay? But I mean, you wouldn't change something on purpose. You're a good person, Amy. You've saved so many lives, healing. More lives than the rest of New Wave put together. So what if you could do worse? Threatening to fuck with the taste buds of a villain holding a knife to you is hardly that big a deal. Nothing against - nothing against the stuff I've done! And I could do a lot worse too, and I don't!"

Not that the prospect of actually doing that worse didn't come to mind. She tried not to linger on those thoughts, when she had them. What she had done those six times she'd needed to call in Amy to bail her out was bad enough.

Amy let out an inarticulate sound of frustration. "You don't - you don't get it! With my power, if - if I lost control or if I slipped, or if I - if I ended up like him, like my father - you don't love me like that, but if - but if it all became too much, I could - I could make you." Amy looked at her, eyes wide, pleading, "I don't want to, I'm not - but it would be so easy. So easy to slip. So easy to lose control. So easy to change you. That's why I don't touch brains. So I don't slip. So I don't... so I can't do anything. So I don't... go down that slope. So I don't start making excuses, and then one day, when it's too late for me to stop it, I've just... I've become a villain, I've become just like my father and then I stop caring and I just... I just reach out -"

She hugged herself again. "I'm so afraid, one mistake, and... I'll be a monster worse than Heartbreaker." She looked down at the ground again, voice small, quiet, terrified. "I don't want to."

Victoria felt like her brain was screeching to a halt at her sister's confession. She couldn't think of anything for a long moment, no words, no ideas, no - anything.

She knew a lot about how powers worked. And she'd thought a lot about what powers could do, how they could be applied. She'd... somehow manage to miss the sheer breadth of what Amy could do, but she was so used to thinking of her sister as a healer, and nothing but... but this...

This was even more than that.

Her sister had the power to do something so... so monstrous. To change something about a person like that. Victoria wasn't sure she'd say it was worse than Heartbreaker - sounded about the same really - but...

Amy wouldn't actually do that? Obviously. If nothing else - her sister had had her powers for two years and change. She'd had the ability to do that to her this whole time, to make Victoria love her - and Amy had been in love with her that whole time. But obviously it hadn't happened, given that...

Given that I'm not in love with her.

But for some reason, her sister was afraid she'd - she'd do it?

Amy was a hero. A good person. And even if she was... a little messed up (and who wasn't?), she wouldn't, couldn't do that. Mom had the ability to hurt a lot of people, if she wanted. Aunt Sarah or Crystal could wreck all kinds of destruction. God only knew what Dragon could do if she decided to turn villain.

None of them would. None of them could. Because they were heroes.

Just like her sister.

"For fuck's-" Victoria started, raising her voice, then she cut herself off. "Amy, you're not your biological father. You're a hero, not a villain. Villainy isn't genetic. Kaiser isn't a racist piece of shit because of Allfather's DNA, he's a racist piece of shit because he's a racist piece of shit! Your parents are Carol and Mark Dallon. Heroes. Just like you. Our whole family is heroes. You're not capable of doing something so evil."

"What if - what if that's what he thought? If he started out justifying, assuming he couldn't do something bad, and kept - and - and then one day he -" Amy cut herself off again, gasping a little, screwing her eyes shut to hold back tears. "I'm just so afraid. That I'll turn out like him. Or that I'll lose control, just for a moment, and destroy everything."

Victoria stepped closer to her sister. "Ames. I've known you for eleven years. Whoever the fuck your sperm donor is, he's not your dad. I'm going to keep saying it until you believe it, but you're a hero. A good person. And you're not - you're not fucking capable of doing something like that. To anyone! Least of all me." She reached out, and grabbed her sister's shoulder again, holding tight without actually pressing down enough to hurt her.

"Amy, look at me, please." She said it again, when Amy didn't look, and then her sister opened her eyes and looked at her. "I know you'd never do anything like that on purpose. And if - if you do slip, or lose control, which I also don't think would happen, then just tell me. Tell me, and then fix it." A thought occurred, and she laughed softly. "As long as you do that, I promise I won't hate you if you accidentally brainwash me. Deal?"

"Vicky! How can you just -"

"Trust you? Why not? I know you, Amy." She said again. She pulled her hand off Amy's shoulder and held them open, inviting Amy in for a hug. "I know you, I trust you, and I love you. You've been keeping this all bottled up, so convinced I'd hate you if I found out. Well I don't. And I won't. So please, let me help you, just like you've always helped me."

Amy looked at her spread arms, biting her lower lip for a moment, hesitating, warring with herself. Then she nodded, and came in close. Victoria closed her arms around her sister, holding her tight, feeling Amy do the same for her.

Victoria knew she'd have a lot to unpack later, when it was just her, when she wasn't at risk of making things worse for Amy. But that was for later.

For right now...

"I promise, we'll get through this."

"How?" Amy asked, plaintive, desperate, all fight gone from her now.

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out together, alright?"

"Together." Amy replied.

"Good."

Victoria had always known her sister wasn't happy that often, not for years. She'd tried to help her, and nothing had really worked. But, now that she understood what was going on with her sister, Victoria could help her. She'd figure it out. She was Glory Girl. There wasn't anything she couldn't do if she worked at it. Now that she knew.

Still want to punch Tattletale though.

---

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So, a lot of concluding thoughts.

Amy's depiction of Carol is not entirely fair. I do actually think Carol loves Amy. She just sucks at showing it and it's hidden behind layers of reflexive suspicion and hostility. On the other hand, Vicky is a little too rose-tinted about her family, or at least, she wants to be. She tries to be. She does know her Mom kinda sucks, that is a big part of why she triggered. But I do firmly believe that Victoria Dallon tries really hard to pretend that the family is more hunky-dory than it is.

Not everyone might believe that Victoria would be so chill upon leaning about all this, especially the brains thing. I tend to think that Victoria 1.) Considers Amy her favorite person in the whole world right now (and did up until that critical moment in 11h), and 2.) Is so sure that her sister is a good person (because Vicky did get some of Carol's black/white moral thinking too, after all) that the idea of Amy doing what actually happened in Canon in 11h is unthinkable to her. Hopefully I sold it for this depiction of Victoria, at least.

But Victoria's not actually chill about all this. She's very much trying hard to suppress working through how she feels about this right now, because she doesn't want to make things worse for Amy.

If this was eventually turned into a longer fic, a significant part of the story would be focusing on Victoria dealing with how she feels about all this - and she doesn't like it. And as much as neither she nor Amy want it to, it will make her rethink past interactions with her sister, future interactions... things aren't exactly going to just go back to normal. And as much as Victoria wants to help Amy, she's going to realize there's a limit to how much she can do on her own, and as the first part shows, she's going to try to get Amy to talk to a therapist.

Amy's path to better, in any universe that is close to or diverges from canon, is a long and hard one. But the crucial first steps have been taken. The simple act of knowing Victoria knows and doesn't hate her would be a huge weight off of Amy's shoulders. I firmly believe that as of Interlude 3, Amy had largely given up. Just given up in general. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.

Now? Now there is. Obviously, Mark getting brain damage set things back a lot for her, and Bonesaw's visit saw her in nearly the same place she was in canon, but because Vicky knows what Amy is afraid of now, that crucial final nail in the coffin of Amy's psyche is never hammered in. And, spoiler alert, it's never going to get hammered in. S9 trying to recruit her will not be fun for Amy, at all, but the first scene of this oneshot would, in the notional longer fic, be rock bottom for her. She won't get worse than that.

The longer fic would start with this - first scene and all - and then pick up with Amy's POV after the second scene and through her and Victoria dealing with all this, and what it means, and how to try to get better. Long-term, I'm not really sure how much it really diverges, beyond what happens with Vicky and Amy. They're still in the bay after 15.x, but what does that do? What are their experiences during the S9 arcs, and how do those impact them?

Does Victoria get to punch Tattletale? Can I find a way to somehow make Taylor/Amy happen by the end of the fic, because I'm a diehard, hopeless shipper? Honestly, no idea. If the longer fic does someday happen, I guess we'll find out together, eh?

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: This is actually one of my earliest Wormfic ideas, though not the earliest, and it is also the only snippet you'll see for a while that has an extensive outline written for the associated notional fic. My original plan was to have this be the first long Wormfic I actually wrote and posted, but then other ideas took hold and those ones will be my first long Wormfics. But I still had a very strong idea of this scene in particular, so I still wanted to write it.

In the notional long fic of this idea, this would probably be the second chapter, rather than the first, but this scene is the first one I imagined for the idea, and the notional first chapter doesn't really work as a standalone bit. Some of the exposition herein would be cut and moved to chapter 1, in the longer version.

---

---

What the fuck did you do?

As far as sentences to tattoo themselves on her left shoulder, Amy Dallon could think of much better.

But then... you never did get to choose what your soulmate first said to you, did you?

She let her hand drop from the collar of her shirt, her arm falling to her side as she stared at her reflection in the mirror on her closet door, her shirt collar partially slipping back into place, half-covering her soulmate tattoo, soulmate mark, whatever you wanted to call it.

Amy pulled away from the mirror, looking away. She hated looking at her reflection. At her plain, brown, frizzy, uncontrollable hair. At her stupid freckles. Her brown eyes. At everything that reminded her - as if she even needed a reminder - that she didn't belong in her family.

That she wasn't really a Dallon.

"Can't even manage having a soulmate right, can you Amy?" Amy muttered to herself, dropping down onto her bed. She didn't want to think about the fact that the bug-controlling villain that had held a knife to her throat just hours before was apparently her goddamn soulmate. But given that the only other thoughts she could force her mind to focus on right now were what Tattletale had - and hadn't -said, or her conversation with Dean...

Amy had never imagined she'd have a soulmate. She'd never been one of those kids dreaming of the idea. Vicky had, for a while, before she met Dean and decided she didn't like soulmates anymore.

Given that only one, maybe two percent of the population had a soulmate, it hadn't been like there was much danger of her having one. Or having to think about what she'd do if she met hers. Or what the fuck it meant that a thief who thought it was a good idea to sick black widow spiders on innocent people was apparently her 'perfect match'.

Is this how it happens? Another way it happens? Another way I end up being like him? She screwed her eyes shut, trying to hold back tears.

If it had been almost anyone else, Amy might actually have... have been... happy to find out she had a soulmate? Maybe?

That there was someone in the world she was at least theoretically capable of loving, of being happy with, that wasn't her fucking sister? That maybe she wasn't so completely fucked up and broken and disgusting that someone might actually be capable of loving her?

Two years ago, a year ago - that would have been amazing news. Even now... maybe it would count for something.

If it wasn't a villain.

At least it's not Tattletale. Amy might have just let the bug bitch slit her throat then.

Amy focused on that... that anger. It was better than dwelling on the rest of it. She didn't know what or who or how decided soulmates. No one did. But whatever it was, what have it the fucking right to decide she was matched with that... that -

Okay, so she had no idea what the girl actually looked like under her creepy mask. She had nice hair though, and she was tall....

Amy clawed at her bedsheets as she registered what had just passed through her mind. Nope. No. No. Fuck - fuck this. She sat up, hands on the sides of her head, fingers tangling in her hair.

"It doesn't fucking matter if she's my fucking soulmate," Amy muttered. "She's a villain. She's evil. She has power and she's using it to hurt people and steal from a goddamn bank!"

Not every pair of soulmates worked out. Amy didn't know how common it was, she'd never looked it up, but you heard stories about it.

But a lot of them do.

Amy pressed her palms against her temples harder, trying to push that thought, all its implications out of her head.

It painted a terrifyingly tempting idea. If her soulmate was a villain, it wouldn't matter if she turned out like her father, right? And - and it was someone who could love her. Someone she could love, could maybe be happy with, that wasn't Vicky.

It would be a way to feel free of - of her worst fears.

It was a way out. Something to grab onto. Something to keep her from drowning. Something, someone, some way she could...

"No." Amy bit the inside of her cheek, almost drawing blood. Her breathing was ragged, shaky.

She couldn't - she couldn't just -

The sound of a knock on her door forced her out of her head.

"Amy?"

Amy pulled her hands away from her temples, covering her eyes a moment, forcing herself to take a deeper breath. There was only one person it could be. Her sister. Here to check on her now that she was done sulking over getting bitten by Skitter's bugs.

My soulmate's bugs. God, this just kept getting better and better.

"I'm fine!" Amy let out with a groan.

And now she's even less likely to believe you.

"Amy, you're a terrible liar," Vicky said before opening the door anyway, slipping in and closing it behind her. "I'm sorry I was... I'm not used to being vulnerable, in a fight. I kinda snapped at you after you took care of all those bites. I shouldn't have."

"It's fine." Amy said, lowering her hands, looking at her sister.

Looking at her sister, and comparing what little she knew of Skitter's appearance, Amy couldn't even begin to understand how... how was the other girl her soulmate? As horrifying as Tattletale ending up as her soulmate would have been, at least the other girl seemed to be closer to her type.

Assuming Vicky is my type, and not just me being a broken, messed up freak.

"Apology accepted," she added, so her sister wouldn't misinterpret, wouldn't think she was still mad at her.

"Okay, that's good." Victoria sat down on the edge of her bed, reaching a hand out, taking hers. Amy felt everything about her sister's body 'appear' in her mind. It was impossible to describe to anyone else (and she'd tried, at Victoria's urging) what she actually 'saw', when her power read biology. At least it wasn't - it would have been even worse if what she 'saw' turned her on, but she wasn't so gross as to respond to reading her sister's biology like that.

"But you're not fine. I saw how you were when Tattletale started talking about... whatever secret you think you need to hide from me."

Humiliation. Shame. Heartbreak.

"You don't need to tell me." Victoria said, holding up a hand quickly. She felt the truth in Victoria's biology. She meant it. Amy's newly tense shoulders relaxed, just a little, she loosened the grip her free hand had had on her sheets. "I - I want to ask, but I won't. I meant what I said - I trust you."

You shouldn't. If Amy really was a hero, she'd tell Victoria, tell her sister, so that she knew what kind of danger she could be in. But she'd lose her sister forever, even if Victoria would be safer and...

Amy couldn't do that. Couldn't lose the only thing she had.

She was too selfish to even let go of Victoria's hand, the comfort of her reassuring her, of knowing that Victoria meant what she was saying.

"But I just... I just wanted to tell you that. That I do trust you, I wasn't just - performing for the villain or whatever." She squeezed Amy's hand. "You know I love you, and whatever it is, I'm still going to be your sister. Nothing changes that."

It's not that simple. It'll change everything. You'll hate me. Victoria meant it now, but she couldn't know how bad Amy's secret was.

"Aaaand you don't believe me." Victoria said. Amy blinked. "It's all over your face. You think I'm going to... what, judge you or something? Maybe I should ask."

"No!" Amy raised her voice, responding maybe too quickly, but she - she couldn't let Victoria get hung up on this issue. When her sister got an idea in her head, she could - she sometimes refused to let it go. Hence all those godawful double dates. This was one thing Amy couldn't let Vicky decide to not let go. "I - I don't want to talk about it." She said, quieter, looking down at her lap.

"Okay... I won't push, I promise. Not right now." Victoria let go of Amy's hand, her biology fading from her 'view' just as quickly as it had formed. "Just... really, no lying that you're fine, are you okay?"

Amy said nothing for a long moment, swallowing, biting the inside of her cheek again. Was that going to be enough? Victoria said she wouldn't push 'right now', but if she -

How can I make sure she doesn't linger on this at all?

"No. Not really." Amy admitted, since her sister already knew she wasn't. She swallowed again, bringing her hand up to her shoulder without even thinking about what she was doing, slipping under her shirt collar to press against the little raised lines.

I... I could -

If nothing else, maybe this would convince Vicky to stop arranging double dates? It would definitely distract her from that fucking Thinker's taunts, right?

"I - I'm more bothered by this, than anything," Amy lied. Victoria said she was a terrible liar, but Amy had gotten away with telling her she wasn't going to sneak out to the hospital again over a dozen times. Her sister wasn't as good at telling if she was lying as she liked to think.

Victoria stared at the words on her skin. "You got a tattoo? Mom is going to freak out!" She giggled for a moment, then her brow furrowed, eyes narrowing. "Wait, why would you get those..." Victoria's words came slower with each one, and she looked up, meeting Amy's eyes.

"You have a soulmate tattoo!" She spread her arms wide, letting out a high-pitched sound of delight that Amy didn't have the words to describe further. The force of Vicky's hug crashing into her was almost a tackle, and she only didn't fall over onto the bed because her sister's arms around her shoulders were keeping her up.

Amy didn't return the hug, struck dumb by the suddenness of it all. It took several seconds for her brain to reboot, while Victoria kept talking.

"You met your soulmate - holy shit Amy! You - I'm so happy for you! That - that's why none of the double dates worked out, because you had a soulmate and you just hadn't met them yet!"

As Amy's brain started working again, her sister pulled back, hands still on her shoulders, meeting her gaze again.

Well, I wanted a distraction. I guess this works.

"Who is it? Do we know them? No, I mean, of course not, if we knew them you'd have met them already and this - this is new. Right?" Victoria narrowed her eyes. "You weren't keeping this hidden for a long time so you could break it out to distract me sometime, right?"

Fuck. Vicky knowing it was a distraction didn't stop it from being one though?

"No! It happened today. And... you have met them. Sorta. Seen them and know a name for them, anyway." She exhaled, moving her hands to her lap, looking down at them.

"That narrows it down. It's one of the Undersiders, isn't it?" Amy nodded. "Please tell me it isn't Regent. Dean says he's probably Hijack. You know, one of Heartbreaker's kids."

"Why - why do you leap straight to him?" Did Victoria think Regent was her type? Why would she think that?

"Well, I mean, Grue's pretty muscular, and that's never really seemed your type-"

"I like muscles just fine!" Amy snapped defensively, raising her voice a touch. "Just because I've never been interested in any of the brainless meathead jocks-"

"Oh, come on Amy, give me more credit than that." Vicky threw up a hand in protest, "Fine, you've never liked any of the guys I've tried to set you up with, but I wouldn't pick some random brainless meathead jock for you. So between Grue and Regent I just sort of figured it would-" Victoria cut herself off.

Amy tensed, but before she could brace herself for the worst, Victoria was smacking the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"Fuck! I'm an idiot! Of course you didn't like any of those guys! You're gay aren't you!? God, I'm a shitty sister. How the fuck did I not notice?"

"...because I was trying to hide it?" Amy offered, shrinking in on herself. This was - this was inevitable, since she was revealing that her soulmate was a woman, but - there were reasons why she hadn't wanted Victoria to know she was gay, and as the months and years of keeping it in had piled up, the reasons to not tell her had just piled up too.

The betrayed look on her sister's face, mouth open a little, eyebrows drawn together.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? I mean, I - you didn't think I'd have an issue with it, right?"

"No! No! Not at all, Vicky. I don't think you're - I don't think you're homophobic! And you're not a shitty sister!" Victoria was the best sister Amy could have ever asked for. From the first moment she'd been told Amy was her sister, that's all Victoria had ever been.

The one thing about her life that -

Amy closed her eyes, trying to clamp down on that train of thought.

"Then why didn't you want to tell me?" Victoria's still sounded hurt, but maybe a little less, at least. That was good. She hated it when Vicky was upset. Which her sister knew, and used against her all the damn time...

"I wasn't - I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to come out." I wasn't ready to risk you having one more piece of the puzzle and figuring it out. "I tell you, you'd keep it secret, but you'd start suggesting girls I can do double dates with you and Dean and I'd say no, and you'd keep at it and then next thing you know all we're at Massimo's and - and then the the tabloids are taking pictures and Panacea is out as a gay cape. In Nazi Capital, USA."

It wasn't the biggest reason she'd kept things hidden, but it was part of it. Especially with what had happened to Aunt Jess...

Empire Eighty-Eight might have had another 'rogue element' decide to shoot her one day. And if she got seriously hurt, or worse... Victoria would get herself a Birdcage sentence or die trying, plowing through the gang. Leaving aside that she didn't want to get hurt or killed, she didn't want Vicky to do that out of revenge...

"I wouldn't have pressured you to come out like that!"

"Tell me you wouldn't have kept suggesting it. Talking up the merits of any gay or bi girls you knew, or that Dean knew. Wheedling." Amy muttered, not meeting her sister's eyes.

Victoria started to reply, then cut herself off, paused, then nodded. "Okay... I probably would have. A little. But I - we wouldn't have to go anywhere public! There's places the tabloids can't get to and - I just want you to be happy Amy, right? You know that's why I kept proposing the double dates."

She paused, and muttered another curse. "Dean knew, didn't he? He was always telling me to ease off on the double dates, that you weren't liking any of them, that he knew you wouldn't like any of the guys I was ever thinking of... he'd never tell me why because of course he'd never out someone." She grumbled as she went on: "I really respect his insistence on keeping what he picks up from people private but it's annoying sometimes."

"I... it wouldn't surprise me if Dean knew." Amy said after hesitating. Of course the only thing she actually appreciated about her sister's boyfriend would be the thing Vicky disliked the most about him. "He never said anything about it to me." Not about her being gay anyway.

She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. "Even if we tried keeping it under the radar, it would get out. Carol would find out eventually, and if Carol finds out, then Aunt Sarah finds out, and then the next thing you know they're making me the face of a New Wave pride merch campaign or something like that. Having me to outreach events with gay and trans kids and -" Amy's rambling, increasing in anxious speed with every word, was cut off by her sister taking her hand and squeezing it.

"Ames, breathe." Amy forced herself to close her eyes and inhale, centering herself, looking over her sister's biology again. Feeling how much Vicky cared about her, and meant what she started to say next as Amy let the breath out.

"I... I hate to admit it, but you're probably right about what Aunt Sarah would do too. And... I mean, outreach events are important, especially with gay and trans kids and stuff, but... you'd be absolutely miserable with all of it."

"Yeah." Amy nodded, looking back down at her lap, at her hand in Vicky's.

Victoria let go of Amy's hand and then clapped her hands together. "Okay, so keep it under wraps for now, but I mean, you have a soulmate now, you can't keep that hidden forever."

"She's a villain."

"Details, details. Which one is it? Hellhound? Tattletale? The bug girl?"

"Skitter." At Victoria's raised eyebrow, she added, "That's the name the Wards settled on for her, since she didn't have one."

"Creepy name to go with her creepy-ass outfit." Victoria mused. Then she inclined her head to the side. "She did have nice hair though."

Of course Victoria would notice that. Amy conveniently ignoring that she had noticed it too. "I guess..." She looked away.

"Ooooh, have a thing for girls with long hair?" Victoria smirked. "Good to know."

"Doesn't matter. Soulmate or not, she's a villain. A thief. And- creepy. And held a knife to my throat. And sicked Black Widow spiders on people, and had her bugs bite Clockblocker - you don't even want to know where."

"I mean, I had her bugs biting me all over too, so... no, I really don't want to know." Victoria agreed. "It's a sucky power for her to have, but not everyone can be Alexandria Packages or the most amazing healer in the entire goddamn world you know." She gave Amy a very gentle fist-bump against her shoulder. Amy felt her cheeks get hot and she looked down.

I'm not - I'm not the - I'm not that. An amazing healer wouldn't hate every minute of it. Wouldn't let people suffer from brain injuries they could treat in a minute just because they're too much of a coward. Too pathetic to -

Victoria snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Hey, Amy, Earth to Amy." Amy jolted, startled, lurching back a second. "We're not done talking about this. I want to know everything that happened."

"I told you. I hit her with a fire extinguisher after messing with her bugs, then she hit me with her baton, and then smashed my phone, you burst in, and she held a knife to my throat."

"Yeah, but you didn't mention she was your soulmate! Fuck, why did she do all that if-"

"Because she was in the middle of robbing the bank? Still processing it? I'm sure it's bad for her villainous reputation to have a hero as her soulmate." That thought was giving her a little satisfaction. The idea that Tattletale or one of the other Undersiders was giving Skitter shit, or would, if they found out.

Let her feel what it's like to be subjected to that bitch.

And it wasn't like Amy hadn't threatened to give her cancer back. Way to fucking go Amy. She really couldn't even do having a soulmate right.

"Yes, yes, yes, fine, whatever." Victoria waved a hand to the side dismissively. "I guess you messing with her bugs explains why her first words were to you were 'What the fuck did you do?' But what did you say to her? What's her tattoo?"

"You don't need to know that." Amy said quietly.

"Oh, come on! Amy!" Victoria stretched out the word 'on', pleading, exasperated, hands raised. "You can't leave me hanging like this, I'm dying of curiosity here! I wanna know what the first thing said to your soulmate was!"

How can you be the smartest person I know and also be so stupid sometimes, Vicky?

"No, I mean... that's what I said to her."

Victoria's mouth shut with an audible click of her teeth and she dropped her hands. "Oh. Right." She managed a rueful expression after a second. "That makes sense." She stood up, off the bed, floating a little into the air. With the door closed, Carol couldn't tell her 'no flying in the house'. "Okay, so, you're gay. I wish I'd known sooner, but I get why you didn't want to come out yet. Your soulmate is Skitter, and you guys probably at least make the top one percent for worst soulmate meetings ever, but I mean -" Victoria grinned, "You have a soulmate! You met her! You should be like - this is a good thing Ames! You should be happier about this!"

Right. Because it's not a sign from the universe that Carol's right. Her 'mother' didn't need to say it - and hadn't - but Amy knew she was just waiting for her to turn out like her father, whoever she was.

"Soulmate or not, she's a villain. She hurt people."

"I checked PHO, you know. This was her first outing, as far as anyone can tell, apart from maybe a tangle with the ABB a couple days ago. It's not like she has a whole rap sheet," Victoria said, not sounding like she was trying to convince herself - which she should, because the rationalizations were paper thin. She paused for a long moment, and actually stroked her chin, clearly thinking.

God, you're such a fucking nerd Vicky. Despite her mood, she couldn't help thinking of that time Victoria had gone as Sherlock Holmes for Halloween, complete with the pipe and everything. She'd used it any time she wanted to make a show of thinking for like, a month after.

"Assault and Battery are married, you know."

The complete non sequitur made Amy stare at her sister, eyebrows raised.

"I know. You told me that one last year." She'd picked it up from Dean, or maybe one of the other Wards.

"Right, I'm not - there's a rumor they're not just married, but soulmates. I don't know if that one is true but there's a separate and better supported rumor that Assault used to be a villain."

Amy blinked. Then opened her mouth. Then blinked again. "One of the Protectorate heroes used to be a villain?"

"Yeah. It happens. Not all the time, but there's some that even we even know it's true for sure like, confirmed and everything." Victoria shook her head, "They haven't done that with Assault, but there was this guy, Madcap, specialized in breaking people out of transport when they were destined for the Birdcage. Exactly the same powers as Assault, or close enough, and he went up against Battery a bunch of times. And then he's captured - and boom, Battery is here in the Bay and Assault shows up out of nowhere."

Okay that...it wasn't proof, maybe Assault just had similar powers, but her sister knew a hell of a lot more about powers than she did, so she'd know if they were the same, or just similar, right?

Why would they take someone who broke out people being sent to the Birdcage? She'd never really interacted with Assault outside of a handful of PR events, so she didn't know him, but that -

They couldn't just take a villain and let him pretend to be a hero!

"Why would they - why do that? Are you - what, are you saying that he switched sides because they were soulmates and... what, the PRT just let him?"

"I mean, there's usually some sort of parole thing going on, from what they say." Victoria shrugged. "Madcap never actually killed anyone or even close."

"Just broke killers out before they could go to prison."

Victoria grimaced, "Yeah, that's pretty messed up, but that's not the point. The point is that yeah, there's a theory that if they really are soulmates, that's why Madcap decided to change sides. And maybe part of why they let him, I don't know."

"...and you think I... can... do that with Skitter?"

"Why not? She's our age. She hasn't done that much. Maybe she just thought her power meant she had to be a villain. Some people kinda get screwed like that."

"That's not how it works! You don't - you don't just... she's a villain!"

"Yeah, but she's also your soulmate, and you are the greatest hero in the city, so she can't be all bad. Creepy powers and creepy costume and creepy name or not, she can't be all bad if she's your soulmate."

Or she can be and I'm just as bad.

"I'm not-"

"Yes, yes you are." Victoria cut off. She floated over to the side of the bed, next to Amy. "You've saved more lives than the rest of New Wave put together. You're an amazing hero, deal with it Amy. You're never going to convince me otherwise. Period. End of story."

Amy shook her head. There was no - there was no point in arguing with her sister when she got like this. She'd said this before. It wasn't true, it would never be true, but... there was no convincing her sister when she decided she was right about something like this.

"...fine."

"We'll have to keep working on that." Victoria said, patting her cheek.

"Just because Skitter is my soulmate doesn't mean we have to get together, you know." You heard stories - all thirdhand or passed around a million times or whatever - of people finding out they had a soulmate years after getting married and having kids. Sometimes they broke things off with their spouse, but not always. And even without that... not every soulmate pair worked out.

This was clearly one of them.

"No, but I mean... Amy. The fact that she's your soulmate means that you could be happy with her. Don't you want to at least try?" Victoria's voice was lower. She shook her head. "If anyone deserves a chance to be happy, it's you."

"...I don't need a girlfriend to be happy." I just need you.

All she needed was Vicky as a sister. It was all she should even want.

"Okay, I didn't think a lesbian could pull the 'I don't need a man to be fulfilled' card," Victoria mused, "But no, you don't need a girlfriend to be happy. I don't need Dean to be happy, but I'm happier that I have him."

Amy inhaled. And don't I know it. She hated it. And she hated that she hated it. And at the same time, she was glad for Vicky. Glad that Dean did make her happy. It was his only real redeeming feature.

Why couldn't she just be fucking normal about anything?

"I just... this is your soulmate, Amy. I don't - I don't want you to like... regret not reaching out to her or something."

Amy looked back at her lap, as if her hands would somehow provide magical insights.

"All this assumes she even wants to try anything with me."

"You won't know until you try!"

"How would I even reach out to her? I - I can't tell everyone that Panacea's soulmate is a villain. And - and if she did switch sides and then we ever went out in public together, not in costume-"

"People would figure it out. Yeah, true." Victoria sighed, stroking her chin again. Amy thought of Vicky with the pipe again, managing a small chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Just... remembering that time you dressed as Sherlock Holmes for Halloween, complete with the pipe and everything."

Victoria smiled, "Oh yeah. I kept using that thing for ages until Mom made me stop." She paused, "I wonder where I ended up putting it. Maybe somewhere in my closet..." She trailed off and shook her head. "Okay, so yeah, you can't just make a big announcement on PHO that Skitter is your soulmate, can she please reach out to you." Her eyes widened. "Connections! You can make a throwaway account and do the 'Connections' section on PHO. Something vague, but that she'd get, and... if she's interested, she can reach out."

Amy opened her mouth to reject the idea, but...

It is a chance. Could she really turn down the possibility of a chance to be happy? Could she really be happy with Skitter?

Is Vicky right? Could - could she stop being a villain? Is that - that's not a thing, but - the Protectorate does it? Doesn't that mean it's...?

Amy didn't want to be miserable. She didn't want to keep being this pathetic freak in love with her sister, too selfish to admit it to her (so she knew how dangerous Amy could be to her) because she knew it would alienate the only good thing she had in her life.

But...

If things worked out with Skitter, if she could... if she could somehow get the bug girl to switch sides, and - and maybe have a less creepy costume... then she'd have another good thing in her life? And then - maybe it would keep her from being a threat to Vicky? If she had something else, something other than her sister to hold onto, then maybe -

Just maybe she wouldn't - there'd be less chance - less chance she'd slip? That she'd cross that line?

It was a faint hope, but Amy hated how tantalizing the idea was. How much she wanted to reach out and take it. She could at least try it.

Victoria thought it was a good idea. That it was worth trying. So her sister wouldn't hate her for trying it. And -

If her sister thought maybe there was a chance Skitter wasn't all that bad, or at least... didn't have to be that bad...

"I... okay. Okay. I'll give it a try."

"Yes!" Victoria flew over and hugged her tight, letting out another high pitched, happy sound. "This is gonna be good Ames, I can just feel it!" Amy returned the hug this time, trying to let her sister's happiness be infectious. She forced herself to smile a little, and...

Maybe it's a little infectious? Just a tiny bit? Wishful thinking probably but...

"Alright, let's get you set up with a throwaway account - that's not hard, I've made a few - and then I'll help you figure out what to post." Victoria said eagerly, pulling back from the hug and tugging Amy to her feet. "Up, up, up, your laptop's over at the desk. I'm going to grab the chair from my room, be right back."

She was still flying when she left Amy's room.

Carol yelled 'no flying in the House!' up from the living room as Victoria returned with her chair.

---

Connections ► Brockton Bay

Subject: Your Words Burned Into My Skin

-What the Fuck did you do?

-You don't need to know that.

Not the greatest things to say for a first meeting, but no one chooses when these things will happen. We can't pretend it didn't happen, and maybe we shouldn't? If you agree, and want to at least talk over PHO, you know my main.

-A

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Author's Note: So, as I noted, I have this outlined quite a bit, all the way out to the equivalent of the end of Arc 16, and then a few notes for after. The notional fic would fairly close divergence at first and then things would start to split away roundabout Leviathan.

Amy does agree with Vicky a little fast here, but for one, soulmates are a known quantity in this version of Earth-Bet, and while there are cases of them not working out, they are less common then them working out. Amy, I firmly believe, really sees no real way out of her situation in canon (she was wrong in canon, but that's Amy for you), but her soulmate represents something. A chance.

And of course, Victoria is pushing her to do it, and as Amy's track record of just giving in when Victoria pushes suggests, that counts for a lot. Hopefully I made it at least feel believable here that she would take the opportunity presented. Plus, it's not as if she's agreeing to date the girl just yet. She's barely agreeing to take a chance and reach out, to maybe talk to her.

The early bits of the fic would focus on Taylor and Amy talking online. If I wrote this fic, hopefully I would sell Taylor giving this a shot convincingly, but she would have her own reasons to be hesitant and not want to try it. This would not be a fic where 'soulmates instantly get together, them against the world'. Those stories can be fun, but that's what I wanted to do with the trope. I've always liked taking slightly different tacks with the soulmate trope.

This would fundamentally be a fic where they get together and ultimately are happier together (and of course, the things Amy did to Vicky wouldn't happen in this story, though the reasons why would be a little more complex than 'having a girlfriend makes Amy magically better and she's suddenly out of love with Vicky'), and would make for a slightly better wormverse, or at least a slightly better Brockton Bay. Certainly a better Taylor and Amy. Both girls are fucked up and a mess, and need more than just a relationship to get better, but together, they would be able to have a foundation stone laid, as it were, that could lead to them getting better, together and separately.

Chronologically, things would move quickly because well - a lot is going to happen and keep happening to the Bay, this fic wouldn't derail those things. And to be fair, Taylor changes a lot in the like, four or five months before the timeskip. The story wouldn't just have it be like, two chapters and boom, they're making out, but the time compression of Worm does force certain things for fanfics that operate within the space of canon events. Hopefully, if I do write this notional fic, it would all be believable.

Also, it's worth noting that while Victoria raises the prospect of Assault and Battery being soulmates, as that is a rumor in-universe, it is not in fact true.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Author's Note: This takes place in 2003, when Amy and Victoria are around 9 years old, give or take.

As far as I know, there's nothing in the text of Worm that establishes the exact legalities of Amy's adoption. Tattletale says the adoption records are falsified in 3.11, and while 'Tattletale Lies and/or Misrepresents the Truth' is a good rule of thumb, and it's not established what she's even saying is falsified (all of it could be falsified, just some of it, just the details regarding Amy's parentage, etc), it's also not impossible that she's telling something true or approaching it, and the records are entirely or largely falsified.

I don't speak Portuguese, any translation issues are entirely down to my using Google Translate. It's usually okay for short bits, so hopefully there's no glaring issues.

Finally, thanks to Mamba King Gidorah for beta-reading this and giving some very useful suggestions to improve it. All mistakes are mine.

---

---

Carol Dallon looked up at the sound of her secretary's voice on the other end of her phone.

"Mrs. Dallon, your 3:15 appointment is here."

Carol frowned. She knew she had the appointment, but she didn't know what it was about. Someone wanting a consult, but her schedule said nothing about any details. Just that she'd specifically requested Carol as the 'perfect' lawyer for whatever her issue was.

The firm had generally been good at weeding out the people who just wanted to meet with Brandish and had no real reason to need her as their lawyer - her specialties were in property law, and by necessity, parahuman related civil matters.

The door to her office opened, and a short, stocky woman with brown hair, tanned, freckled skin and wearing a suit and tie walked in. Carol stood, holding out a hand.

"Mrs. Quiston? Pleasure to meet you, I'm Carol Dallon. I understand you requested me specifically?"

"Please, call me Celia," Mrs. Quiston requested, taking Carol's hand and shaking it firmly. The other woman's grip was firm, and reasonably strong. Carol gestured to the chair across from her desk. Celia nodded and sat down. "And yes, I did. I appreciate you're a busy woman, both as a lawyer and as a cape, but I think you're the perfect lawyer to handle a legal matter that's risen up for me."

"Well, I'm certainly willing to hear you out, and if I think I'm not the right associate at this firm to handle it, I can direct you to whoever is." Carol agreed. She sat down herself, grabbing a legal pad to start taking notes. Celia crossed one leg over the other and laced her hands together, resting them on her knee as she started talking.

"It's a bit complicated, so if I can explain everything before you tell me if you can help me, I'd appreciate it." Carol nodded, and Celia went on. "I had a sister, Siobhan. We used to be quite close, as kids, but things happened, we grew apart, that sort of thing. Eleven ... no, ten and a half years ago, she took up with a criminal. He was a perfect gentleman, never hurt her as far as I know, but I didn't approve of her sleeping with a man that, while he couldn't be convicted of murder, was undoubtedly guilty."

Carol jotted that down, wondering where this was going. People being guilty of crimes but being unable to be brought in was one of things she hated most as a lawyer, and as cape. This firm, at least, tended not to provide criminal defense to the worst of the worst, but it was the worst part of her profession, as far as she was concerned.

"We argued, harsh words were exchanged, and in the end, we cut contact with each other. I moved across the country and then ultimately ended up going to South America for business, where I've been living for most of the last five years. When I came back to the States a few months ago, I found a letter that had been waiting for me. As it turns out, my sister had broken things off with her criminal beau about a year after our argument but then turned out to be pregnant. She raised her daughter on her own for five years. I found all of this out from a letter that I missed while out of the country. She sent it to me a few months before her death due to cancer. She was hoping that we could reconcile and that I'd agree to take in her daughter."

Celia frowned, looking down at her hands for a moment. "Obviously, we didn't get the chance to reconcile, and she died, though not before deciding that my niece's father was an acceptable option to raise her, lacking any better alternative."

Carol couldn't imagine what that would be like, to find out your sister died and you weren't there to be with them. She'd had arguments with Sarah and Mike, but nothing so serious that it would end their relationship entirely. And if Crystal or Eric had ended up in the custody of a criminal...

Wait.

Carol tensed, schooling her expression. The timelines... the meeting with her specifically. Criminal father, died of cancer, raised her for five years? It could just be a coincidence, but her career as Brandish had taught her that coincidences didn't happen as much as you thought they did.

Still. She needed to know for sure before she reacted.

"All I want is to honor Siobhan's last wishes and take care of my niece. I tracked down her father, but unfortunately, he was finally arrested and imprisoned after only having her for about a year. Took me a while longer to track her down, but I did manage it."

Carol stood up, fingers twisting, resisting the urge to use her power, to form one of her swords. There was no way this woman wasn't -

She was talking about Amelia. About Marquis.

"Ah, so you do know what I'm talking about. Excellent. I was hoping you'd put the pieces together." Celia stood up and reached inside her suit jacket. Carol braced herself - there were metal detectors at the entrances to the building, but the cleverness of criminals was not something she was prepared to underestimate.

"Get out of my office." Carol snapped. "I can't represent you."

"Well, of course not, given that you're the problem here, Brandish." Celia pulled folded papers out of her suit jacket, tossing them onto the desk. "It took me a while to confirm that you had to be the ones to take my niece. And then a while to arrange testing to prove it."

"Prove?" Carol looked at the papers and unfolded them. DNA test results. Comparing 'Celia Quiston' and 'Unknown Female Child'.

The test results suggested a 97% chance that Celia was an aunt to the child.

"You took Amy's DNA without permission?!" Carol raised her voice, holding back a snarl. When could she have done it? At school? I'm going to have words with the principal about this. Unlike her sister, Amy wasn't prone to going over to friend's houses, or going to the park to play (not that Carol would let Victoria or her sister go to the park without supervision), not unless she was going somewhere because Victoria was going.

The two were inseparable. The way her daughter had embraced her sister so completely, and vice-versa, was a good thing, but it didn't make it any easier to stop seeing him when she looked at her. And every time she did that...

"Sue me, charge me, go for it. But when you're doing that, I'm going to be suing for custody of my niece and ruining New Wave's good name. The adoption records for Amelia Claire Dallon are good forgeries, but they're forgeries nonetheless." Celia leaned forward, putting her hands on Carol's desk, meeting her gaze. "I am taking my niece back from the people who kidnapped her: You and the rest of your family."

"Kidnapped?" Carol pulled her hand back as a blade of light formed in her hand. How dare this woman - she took his child into her home, fed her, housed her, cared for her, kept her safe, and this - this woman just came in and tried to act like what Carol had done was even close to - "Marquis begged us to take her in, to protect her!"

Celia jumped back, producing no weapon, staring her down regardless. She didn't look remotely afraid to be facing an angry cape. "Somehow, I suspect you won't attack an unarmed civilian in your own office." The smug, satisfied smirk on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her almost made Carol want to prove her wrong. "Now, will you give me my niece, or do we have to do this the hard way?"

Celia cleared her throat, "The 'I take this to court and the press' way, I mean." She clarified. "You forging the records for Amelia's adoption aside, I actually approve of New Wave's work, so I'd really rather not air this out publicly, if it's avoidable. But," she paused after emphasizing the word, "one way or another, I am not leaving this godforsaken shithole of a city without my niece."

Carol dismissed her blade, forcing herself to take a slow breath.

Was this his whole plan? Trick one of us into adopting her, into forging the paperwork to hide her from his enemies, and then someone would come looking, find out, use it against us?

The legalities of the forged adoption papers were pretty clear. And even if she could convince a judge or a jury that it was for the best, it was to keep Amy safe; it would undermine everything New Wave was about. Accountability.

Purely on the level of taking Amy in, taking a villain's child in and protecting her, caring for her, letting her close to her daughter - Carol had to assume Sarah could make that work for New Wave. But it would be a hit. And their lives were under a microscope. Capes across the country were finally giving New Wave a real chance, listening.

There'd only been a few unmaskings, minor capes mostly, but if things could keep going... accountability, real accountability for heroes could be in reach. Something better than 'unwritten rules' and the PRT and Protectorate layering everything behind red tape.

Anything that undermined that, anything that gave the press vultures an opening had to be avoided.

"So, easy way or hard way?" Celia asked again.

"Get out of my office," Carol demanded.

"I'll give you a few days to decide, but just that, Mrs. Dallon." She grabbed Carol's pen off the legal pad and scrawled a phone number along the side of it. "You can reach me at this number if you decide to see sense."

"Sense? You'd rip Amy away from the only home she's known!" Carol snapped.

"You had no right to take her, and that bastard Marquis had no right to give her to you." Celia countered. "Three days. 72 hours. Make up your mind." Celia turned on her heel, stalking out of Carol's office, and Carol dropped down into her chair, breathing heavily, hand twitching.

If she wants Amy so badly... a member of the family couldn't just vanish without explanation, not with how many eyes were on New Wave, but it would get that child out of her home, away from her daughter.

Away from her.

She wouldn't have to worry about her turning into her father, about watching her. Controlling her. Making sure that whenever she inevitably triggered, she didn't hurt anyone.

Victoria would be devastated... her daughter adored Amy, and Amy adored Victoria. The two were inseparable, and if she even hinted at the idea of Amy leaving their home...

But Victoria could get over it. Her daughter was still young. Resilient. She'd managed six years without Amy; she could manage without her.

It would be simple enough. Even if the idea of just... letting that woman win by leveling threats...

New Wave was more important, wasn't it? And she - she would be free of having to deal with Amy. Worry about her. Watch her.

So why does it feel like I'm trying to convince myself? Amy wasn't her daughter. She was an obligation. An obligation she'd cared for and dealt with, but just an obligation. Carol wasn't so heartless as to leave a child in danger, even Marquis's child. That's why she'd taken the girl in at all.

The biggest stumbling block was just Victoria. Just her. And how to explain Amy vanishing. And the fact that letting Celia win was bowing to blackmail. And...

That was it. Nothing else.

Sarah had said she'd grow to love Amy, but -

She hadn't.

She hadn't.

Carol closed her eyes, took another slow breath. And Celia dared to act like they'd 'kidnapped' Amy? Where was she when Amy's biological mother was dying? And she wants to come back now, years later, rip Amy away from Victoria, away from her home, away from her family-

Away from me.

Carol blinked as the words rose unbidden in her mind. As she realized what they meant.

And...

That they were true.

She stared at her desk blankly for a long moment as it sank in. All of it.

Paging her secretary, Carol spoke as soon as the woman picked up: "Maria, cancel my four o'clock." She paused, "No. Have James handle it. He's familiar with the case. Tell him I'll owe him one, but something's come up - a family issue."

"Of course."

"Good." Carol hung up, then dialed another number. She waited until she heard her sister's voice on the other end of the line, answering. "Sarah? Something - something's come up. I'm on my way over." She tried to keep her voice level, but her sister could always pick up when -

"What's wrong? Should I get everyone else?"

"N-Not yet. Mark needs to stay with Victoria and Amy and -" She swallowed. "I think we should ask Mike and Jess to head over there too." Celia claimed she meant 'the press and the courts' as her 'hard way', but that could have just been a lie to lure her into a false sense of security while she tried to grab Amy somehow by force. Did she have friends? Could she hire someone?

"Carol? You're worrying me."

"It's about - it's about Amy. She has - she has living family, and they want her back." Carol said, voice feeling fragile, like glass. She choked a little as the words refused to come out for a moment: "They want to take my daughter."

She heard her sister start to swear and then cut herself off. "I'll call Mike and Jess. And - I'll get out the good bourbon."

---

"I'm a terrible mother," Carol said quietly, staring ahead, past Sarah. Sarah looked at the half-empty glass of bourbon in her sister's hand. She'd detailed her meeting with 'Celia Quiston' - was that even the woman's actual name? - and the threats she'd leveled against Carol, against New Wave.

"Because you don't want to give her up?" Sarah's eyes flicked to Carol's face, the distant, sunken expression there something she'd but rarely seen on her sister. "Even if this really is Amy's aunt, that doesn't mean she just gets to take her."

Carol had always had doubts in her abilities as a mother - both to Victoria, and then Amy. But she couldn't understand what was giving rise to them now, of all times?

"Because for a moment, just for a moment, I considered letting her take Amy," Carol admitted, even quieter.

Did I- her sister's words were barely above a whisper, and Sarah allowed herself a brief second to entertain the idea she hadn't heard her say that she'd considered giving up one of her daughters.

"God... Carol. Why?! I know - I know you had issues taking her in at first, but I thought you were past all that. Within a few months, all you could talk about was how close Victoria was with her. You said it reminded you of us."

As kids, Carol had always been the more introverted, withdrawn, and serious of the two of them. Sarah was always the one tugging her into the limelight, making her meet people, getting her to relax when school or college threatened to overwhelm her. Even before they'd triggered, they'd been close. After... they'd been inseparable for a long time.

Their parents hadn't understood. Had refused to understand, really.

One of many reasons they didn't talk to their parents, one of many reasons why their children had never met their grandparents.

"It does. They do." Carol nodded. "You said I'd grow to love her, and... God help me, I did. But I can't trust her. Every time I look at her, I see him. I wonder what game he was playing, asking us to take her in." She swallowed, voice thick as she kept going: "I keep waiting for the trap, I keep watching, for any sign she'll end up like her father. Having Victoria was hard enough, always second-guessing myself, Mark having his bad days more and more often... worrying about her, and now Amy."

She blinked repeatedly, taking another sip of her bourbon before going on.

"I don't - I don't remember the last time I hugged her."

"You're not much of a hugger in general," Sarah said, trying to find something she could say to keep Carol from dwelling, spiraling downwards as she berated herself.

"But I at least remember the last time I hugged Victoria. I don't - I barely call Amy 'my daughter', I - I worry for her safety, but I worry about my safety around her." She let out a half-choked laugh, dark and bitter. "I'm afraid of a nine-year-old child. And she has to have picked up on something"

Sarah opened her mouth to protest that last bit, but then closed it. Even when it had just been Victoria, Carol had always been a stricter parent than Sarah. Part of that was compensating for Mark - when he had his good days, Mark preferred to be the 'fun parent', and part of that was just her sister.

But Sarah had seen that much, that Carol was never quite as affectionate with Amy. She had just never realized things were as bad as Carol was describing them.

"You're still not a terrible mother, Carol," Sarah said. "I wish you'd told me about this sooner, so I could help you with it, but you know it's happening, that it's an issue, and you do love her. So you can try to be better." She put her hand on her sister's arm. "That's all we can do, isn't it? Try to be better."

Damnit, Carol, would it have been so hard to tell me any of this sooner? She should have seen it, she knew how hard Carol found it to trust. She'd been almost amazed when she realized Carol trusted Mark enough to marry him, have a child with him. It had seemed... like a sign Carol was doing better.

And she was.

But maybe not as well as Sarah had thought.

"I want to try, but... what if I can't? Doesn't Amy deserve someone who can be a better-"

"Okay, Carol, just - stop. You love that girl. You care about her. You take care of her. You took her in when you didn't want to because you were too good a person to let her be left at risk in the foster care system." Sarah said firmly.

That train of thought needed to be shut down. What Celia Quiston was threatening to do could hurt New Wave, yes. As much as she hated that fact, respecting secret identities was the norm. That said, convincing people that breaking them with Marquis was doable, given how dangerous he really was - especially since New Wave wasn't being hypocritical about it all. Taking in his child was justifiable, he'd asked them to, it was for her safety. But the fact that they'd forged the adoption paperwork, that they hadn't tried to find a living relative, all because Marquis had said there was no one - why had they taken him at his word? - would hurt them. And a custody battle, just by having it, could kill their momentum entirely.

Even if it didn't, there'd be a hit, the cape tabloids would go rabid with it. But even if their momentum stalled or slowed, New Wave could survive it, if it all came out into the open.

But if Amy Dallon just... disappeared one day, then there'd be enough people tugging on that thread for it to all come out, and the damage to New Wave would be worse, because it wouldn't come out in a controlled way.

They were just starting to get somewhere, being taken seriously.

Realities of New Wave aside, Amy was her niece. She cared about the girl as much as she did Victoria. She was part of the family. Losing her would hurt.

"We don't know anything about this 'Aunt'. We don't know how she'd raise her. What I know is that Amy would be shattered if she got taken away from Victoria, and Victoria would be the same. I know you love her, and she is your daughter. Your family, our family, is the only family she knows. It's the best place for her. Here, with you."

She exhaled, "You know you have work to do. That puts you leagues ahead of Mom and Dad."

Carol coughed a moment before barking a single bitter laugh. "That's a low bar to clear." Carol took a long breath, swallowed, and then took one more sip of the bourbon. "I don't want to give her up."

"Then don't." Sarah pressed. "Now, let's figure out how we're going to protect our family."

---

Carol didn't want to be here.

It was only at Sarah's urging that she'd agreed to come.

"What if this is just a distraction to make sure we're out of the way, and someone can -" Carol cut herself off. They'd prepared for the possibility anyway - Mark, Neil, Jess and Mike were with all four children at a cabin not too far from the city that Neil had inherited from his father. They'd tried very hard to keep the location secret, so...

There was no reason to believe that Celia Quiston would do anything or had... friends or allies or anything that would try to grab Amy by force.

She was Amelia's aunt, by all available evidence. Marquis had had Amelia's birth certificate, and though his own name hadn't been on it, her mother's had. Carol hadn't ever looked at the thing, shoving it into a safe with other important documents and mostly forgetting about it.

But it did say 'Siobhan Quiston' as the girl's mother's name. That had been Amelia's original last name too, before Marquis had taken her in and changed it.

Of course, he would. She couldn't imagine his sensibilities would have allowed a child of his to not have his last name, at least if he was raising them. And checking records on Siobhan Quiston had turned up an obituary of the woman's mother - Amelia Quiston, the namesake of Amy, presumably - a few years before Amelia's birth, killed at the hands of the Teeth. She had been survived by two daughters, Celia and Siobhan. The picture of the mother with the obituary did resemble Celia, especially the freckles.

Marquis hadn't had freckles, so perhaps she'd gotten them from Siobhan. Carol didn't know enough to say. Amy looked like her father - too much, but... apparently she did have something from her mother..

"Even if it is, the others are more than capable," Sarah said quietly.

The two of them were at a coffee shop on the Boardwalk, waiting. It was two days since Celia Quiston had accosted her at her office and a day since Celia had reached out to Sarah through New Wave's public line, asking for a face-to-face meeting in a public venue.

She had claimed she wanted to apologize for letting her temper get the better of her. The only apology she wanted was the woman staying far, far from her family. But, though she hadn't made her threats again if they didn't agree to the meeting, if they didn't agree, Celia might still go public.

Carol was worried about what it would do to New Wave, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized the greatest problem was that if word got out that Amy was Marquis's daughter, any of his enemies who wanted to hurt her would know exactly where she was. And how they might be able to get to her...

Would they let fear of reprisal New Wave stop them? Carol could hope, but...

Marquis had fought the Teeth, Empire Eighty-Eight, and even Slaughterhouse Nine. Had had to have other enemies Carol didn't know about. The Teeth and the Nine were long gone from the city, but Carol would never credit E88 with an abundance of caution or brains.

The idea of her daughters being in even more danger... Carol couldn't accept that. She had to at least try to head it off, and if that meant meeting with that - with that woman again, then she would do it.

The door to the shop opened, the bell ringing and two people came in - Celia Quiston and another woman with black hair and olive skin sitting in a wheelchair. Celia guided the woman through the door, then let go of the chair, letting her wheel herself. Celia looked around, her eyes falling on Sarah and then her.

Carol tensed, and she thought she saw Celia doing the same from across the distance, but before Celia could come closer, the woman in the wheelchair reached up and grabbed Celia's wrist. She couldn't catch the words the woman said to her, but then Celia nodded and made her way to the counter while the woman in the wheelchair made her way to their table.

The Coffee shop did have a pretty open layout, which might be why Celia had agreed to this particular location once Sarah suggested it - they'd traded options back and forth.

"She did say she was going to bring someone," Sarah murmured, as the woman reached their table.

"Mrs. Dallon, Mrs. Pelham?" The woman asked. Her accent was hard to place - it almost sounded hispanic, but... not. But definitely not someone from Spain, one of her instructors at Law School had been an immigrant from Spain and he'd sounded nothing like this woman. Portuguese? Brazilian?

Celia did say she'd been in South America...

"Please, call me Sarah." Sarah held out a hand. "You're with Celia Quiston? Are you her lawyer?"

"Ah, Deus não," She shook her head. "I'm Gabriela Almedia, Celia's girlfriend." She shook Sarah's hand. Carol hesitated for a long moment, then forced herself to offer her own hand, which Gabriela accepted and shook. "I'd like to apologize for her being a complete idiot in your office two days ago, Mrs. Dallon," she added.

"I can accept your apology, but you weren't the one who threatened my family." Carol finally said. "I'd like to hear it from Celia."

"And you will." Gabriela pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a breath. "But I figured I might help try to reduce some tensions now, by coming over while she ordered drinks." She gestured to Sarah's half-finished latte and Carol's forgotten, barely touched coffee.

"And where do you stand on all this?" Carol asked, words coming out flatly. "Do you want to take-"

"I don't want to take your daughter from you," Gabriela said quickly.

"Then what exactly is the point of this meeting? Is she just giving up? Dropping her threat?"

"As much as I would like her to, not unless we can come to an agreement." Gabriela admitted. "But after I yelled at her for a long time, she got it through her very thick skull that taking Amy away from the only family she knows, the family that has loved and taken care of her for the last three years, is not the best choice for her."

Carol looked over towards the counter as she felt herself release a small breath. Celia was accepting two cups from the barista, and she made her way towards the table, setting a cup of tea down in front of Gabriela, and a coffee in front of an empty chair, before sitting down.

"Mrs. Quiston," Sarah nodded.

"Mrs. Pelham."

"Please, call me Sarah." Sarah held out a hand, and Celia accepted it, shaking. Celia looked over at her, her hand closing tight around her coffee cup, clenching her jaw for a moment. Gabriella cleared her throat, and Celia gave her a quick look - her expression softened for a moment, then she looked back at Carol.

"Mrs. Dallon." She swallowed, "I haven't been handling the fact that my sister died, wanting to reconcile and thinking I wanted nothing to do with her, thinking I'd abandon her daughter, while I was too far away to be of any use." The words sounded rehearsed, practiced, and the way she was maintaining eye contact with Carol made her think the other woman had said this in front of a mirror. "And I took that out on you, in your office. I'm sorry for that."

Carol inhaled sharply, taking a sip of her coffee for a moment to take a moment to consider. It was... understandable, as far as excuses went, and being practiced didn't mean it wasn't genuine, but that didn't mean it was either. Carol couldn't tell one way or the other as she searched Celia's expression.

"I'd have an easier time accepting your apology if you dropped your threats against my family." Carol pointed out. "Did you even think about the danger that would put Amy in?"

"Her name is-" Celia started to counter, but Gabriela put a hand on Celia's arm and Celia took a breath. "Our mother never liked the diminutive 'Amy'," Celia offered as an explanation.

"Well, Amy doesn't like Amelia," Carol countered. The adoption paperwork was for 'Amy', she was Amy in all public records now, enrolled in school as Amy. Her second grade teacher had tried to call her 'Amelia', out of an apparent hatred for diminutives, even if they were the child's actual name. Amy had gotten in quite a bit of trouble for refusing to answer to Amelia until the teacher had been forced to call her by her name after Carol had met with the principal.

If Amy had just told me what was going on sooner... She'd had to find out the details from Victoria, when the punishments had escalated from timeouts to detention.

"Then I'll try not to call her Amelia to her face." Celia promised, running her free hand through her hair.

You're not going to be seeing her again, so why would that matter? Carol held that back. This was a negotiation. She knew what her reputation at the firm was, and she was often brought in when hardball was required, but she was capable of being diplomatic, if she had to.

And as long as Celia was threatening to go to the courts, the press...

"Anyway, no, when I said I'd go to the press or the courts, I didn't think about how it might put her in danger. Until you said otherwise, I just sort of assumed you just... took Amel- Amy. That is why I used the term 'kidnapped." Carol's other hand grabbed onto the armrest of her chair as she reigned in her power.

"Marquis was quite clear that he had enemies that might try to get to him through her," Sarah offered, cutting in to try and defuse things. "Carol took her in for her safety, but she's part of our family now."

"I'm not giving my daughter up."

The words 'my daughter' referring to Amy still felt... strange to her ears, and yet... they remained true. She'd tried to do better for Amy in the last two days, but it was hard, when she was actually seeing her, to forget Marquis. But she needed to keep trying.

"I get that. And as much as part of me would like to push on that, I'm - I just want to be part of her life. I'm not asking you to give her to me."

Carol kept control of her expression, not letting anything show. That was too easy. Just wanted to be part of her life? Wanted a chance to get close, to - convince Amy to choose her? To talk Amy into letting her take her away?

Amy wouldn't do that. Not to Victoria.

...not as long as Carol didn't chase her away.

"That's quite a change from what you were saying in my office," Carol said slowly.

"Yeah. Well, like I said, I let my temper get the best of me. I - I may have cut contact with Siobhan over her taking up with Marquis but she's still my sister. I missed her, I always wanted to reach out but..." Celia shook her head, "Siobhan's taste in men was never good, Marquis was just the final crowning choice."

Carol held back a grimace. Had Amy inherited her mother's taste in men? She'd always worried about what the girl had inherited from Marquis - and what the shape of whatever power she'd eventually get would be - but it had never occurred to her to worry about what she might have inherited from her birth mother.

"So I didn't. I kept putting it off. But I still loved her. And now Amy's all that's left of her in this world." Her voice came a little thick. "And then Siobhan died still thinking I hated or... something." She reached into a pocket and took out a folded piece of paper, and a photo. It was an old photo, maybe from a disposable camera, a little faded, but it was of a woman who looked like a thinner, taller version of Celia at a park, holding onto the hand of a little girl who could only be Amy, wearing a little dress with flowers on it.

So this is her birth mother. Carol picked up the photo for a moment. Amy didn't remember much about her life before coming into her home. Not even about Marquis now. Which was for the best overall, but...

Did she deserve to know more about her birth mother? Or was it best to leave all that in the past?

She looked at the folded paper - a letter, written to Celia. The very letter that Celia hadn't received until years later.

It was as Celia had described it originally - an appeal to their sisterhood, a desire to reconcile, saying that her relationship with 'Patrick' was long over... and that she was dying. That she had a daughter, Amelia...

Carol clenched her jaw, putting the letter down. It felt vaguely... voyeuristic to read it, given how it wasn't meant for her.

"I think you're insane for wanting to live in this shithole of a city, but you guys are doing good work, so maybe it won't be a shithole forever. And... taking Amy away from the only family she knows is..." she inhaled slowly, taking a sip from her coffee.

"There's a part of me, the part of me that hates this city the most, that wants to just demand you let me take her... anywhere. Anywhere else." She let out a long sigh. "But... you are her family too. And you are the ones who housed, cared for her, protected her and loved her for three years. And this is her home."

Carol stared at Celia, watching her.

She said she just wanted to be part of Amy's life. Would that really just be until she decided to try to force the issue again? Or was she sincere?

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Sarah asked. "For being in her life."

"Talking to her. Telling her I'm her Aunt. Maybe telling her about her birth mother, if she wants to know." She sighed.

"And, if it proves to be practical and possible, moving to this city for good." Gabriela cut in. She reached over and took Celia's hand, squeezing it. "Celia's distaste for this city aside, this is where Amy lives, so..." She shrugged.

Planning to stay, then. Being right there, always in reach.

"If you promise to not take this to the courts, or the press, then... we can..." Carol hated the idea of letting this stranger get close to her family. But it would keep Amy safe... and -

It was the best available option, right now. Long term... maybe something could be done. "We can arrange for something. For you to meet Amy - at my home - and introduce yourself as her Aunt. But whatever happens, you need to remember Amy is my daughter."

Celia bit her lower lip, sucking it a little like she'd bit a lemon, then nodded. "She's your daughter."

"Which means there are some ground rules to bear in mind. First and foremost, keep all details about her birth father to a minimum. She's not ready to know about Marquis." The longer Amy went before learning about him, the better.

Ideally, she'd never learn, but... that probably wasn't possible now. She'd just - she'd just have to make sure there was no chance Amy would follow in his footsteps. One way or another.

At the end of the day, as much as Amy was his daughter, she was also hers. She was Mark's. And she was Victoria's sister.

That mattered. It really did.

---

Letting Celia Quiston into her home felt... she hated it.

But it was also the place where she was in control of the situation the most. Her ground. Her space. If this meeting was going to happen, and it had to, then this was the best place for it now.

Victoria was sitting at the kitchen table, doing math homework. Celia would be here soon...

"Victoria," she walked into the kitchen, her daughter looking up at the mention of her name. "Is Amy up in her room?" Her daughter nodded. "Go get her, bring her down to the living room. We have some guests that will be arriving soon."

"Sure Mom!" Probably happy for the excuse to abandon the homework, Victoria hurried out of the kitchen:

"No running in the house!" she called after Victoria, who managed to slow herself down as she went up the stairs. Carol shook her head, moving back into the living room.

"We can always call this off, if you aren't ready for it," Mark murmured behind her. Carol turned - her husband was having one of his good days today, thank God - and faced him. She shook her head.

"I'm never going to be ready, but this... this has to happen. It's the best way to keep our family safe, and protect New Wave." Carol said quietly. She pressed her forehead against Mark's for a moment, then pulled back as Victoria started coming down the stairs, Amy behind her.

Victoria was talking animatedly about... something. A movie she'd seen? She was coming in halfway into the story and her daughter was talking a mile a minute.

Amy reached the bottom of the stairs after her sister, hooked on Victoria's every word, holding onto her hand as Victoria tugged her along.

"Who's coming over, Mom?" Victoria asked once they entered the living room. Amy stood behind Victoria, her daughter bowing her head a little, not quite meeting Carol's gaze.

Carol tried to ignore the tightness in her chest at that.

"Amy, could you look at me please?" She forced herself to use a softer tone than she usually did with her children. Amy looked up at her, swallowing. "I know you don't remember much about before you became part of this family. But do you remember much of your birth mother?"

"Mom?" Victoria asked, Carol quickly gestured for her to quiet, and Amy licked her lips a moment, before answering.

"I... just... bits and pieces? I think maybe I remember a face... a home - it smelled like strawberries a lot?" Amy answered. "I remember - I remember missing her, after - after I went to-"

"Your biological father is a different discussion, for another time," Carol cut in. Amy's jaw snapped shut and she nodded, looking away again. Carol took a breath and went on. "The reason I asked is because - your mother has a sister. She never knew about you until recently, but now that she does, she would like to meet you."

Amy's eyes widened, "I...I have an Aunt?"

"You already have Aunts, silly! Aunt Sarah and Aunt Jess!" Victoria teased, then she frowned. "Why - she's not - she's not going to come to take Amy, right?" Victoria grabbed Amy's hand and tugged her close, Amy yelping in surprise. Victoria wrapped her arms around Amy in a tight, possessive hug. "She can't take her. You're not going to let anyone take Amy, right?"

"No, never," Carol said firmly, more tightness in her chest. Whatever else, she'd raised a daughter that had so much love in her heart to give for Amy, from the moment she'd been told Amy was her sister now. "No one is going to take you away, Amy. You're my daughter," she swallowed, bracing herself a little, then crouched down a bit and wrapped her arms around both her daughters. Victoria pulled one arm off of Amy and put it around her.

Amy, for her part, stiffened, tensed, unsure, but after a long moment, mimicked Victoria's action and tentatively put it up and onto Carol, around her shoulder.

Carol pulled back after a moment. Before she could say anything else, there was a sound of a ringing doorbell.

"Is that her?" Amy asked softly, something Carol couldn't place in her tone. Apprehension? Longing? Anxiety? All three?

"It should be." Carol stood up, nodding to Mark and made her way back to the front door, looking through the peephole. Celia and Gabriela. No one else. No extra cars out front, just the one van she could assume was Celia's. Better to transport someone in a wheelchair with? There could be people in it, but...

She opened the door.

"Mrs. Dallon," Celia said, the forced politeness obvious in the strain in her voice.

"If we're going to do this, you may as well call me Carol," Carol said after a moment, then stepped aside.

Celia nodded, "Carol then." She moved behind Gabriela, the other woman leaning back in her chair as Celia tilted it back to get up and over the one front step, then lifting the back of the chair up and then repeating it to get the chair through the front door entirely.

"Thank you for inviting us into your home," Gabriela said, her politeness sounding much more genuine.

"Amy's just in the living room." She gestured. Mark was coming towards them. "This is Mark, my husband."

"Pleasure to meet you," Gabriela held out a hand first, and Mark shook it. "Gabriela,"

"Likewise," Mark agreed, then shook Celia's hand. "And you must be Celia then."

"I am." She nodded, returning the handshake, then letting her hands fall by her sides, Gabriela wheeling herself forward. All four of them returned to the living room. Victoria was standing half in-front of Amy, crossing her arms in front of her chest, glaring at Celia.

"You have freckles, like Amy. You're her aunt?"

Celia chuckled, "I am. You're Victoria then?" Victoria nodded. Amy hesitantly looked at her Aunt, hands clasped, twisting them back and forth. "Amy. I'm glad I finally get to meet you. I'm your Aunt Celia."

Amy bit her lip, then after a moment, held out one hand. Celia accepted it, shaking it. She opened her mouth to say something, but then Victoria interrupted, stepping between them again.

"Why are you here!?" She demanded. "Mom said you aren't allowed to take Amy, so why are you here?!"

"Victoria!" Carol snapped at her daughter, "Be polite!"

"Not if she wants to take Amy away!" Victoria raised her voice back, one hand closing into a fist.

"I promise I'm not here to take your sister away from you," Celia said quickly, calmly. She inhaled. "Why would you-"

"In all the movies and books when the adopted kid's family finds them they always take them away from their families!" Victoria said, voice lower. "But - you're not going to?"

"No. This isn't a story, and this is Amy's home. I won't rip her away from it, or from you."

"Good." Victoria nodded, then stepped aside, looking at Amy. "She's okay then."

"...I don't want to leave." Amy said quietly, looking at Victoria. She dropped her hands by her sides. "I..." she closed her mouth, licked her lips, started again. "Where - I don't... I don't remember having an Aunt - I mean..." she cut herself off, flushing. "I mean, an Aunt that -"

"I understand what you mean. I'm not sure how much you remember of your birth mother - Siobhan was her name - but we... we had a fight, before you were born, and I went away. Far away. I never knew you existed until a few months ago, when I found an old letter." She reached into her pocket and took out the photo of a younger Amy and Siobhan at the park. "She'd sent me this." She held it out to Amy.

Amelia took the picture, looking at her, blinking repeatedly. "Is this -"

"Yes, it's her. And you."

"I barely remember her." Amy said quietly, one hand trailing over Siohban's face. "...she smelled like strawberries?"

Celia laughed, "Siobhan found this strawberry scented shampoo when we were teenagers, and fell in love with it. Used it all the da- darn time," Celia corrected herself mid-word. "I guess she never stopped. They were her favorite food in general." She crouched, putting a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Tell you what, why don't we sit on the couch here, and I can tell you about her, and you can tell me about you. What you like to do? Favorite foods? I want to know everything."

Amy considered for a moment, then nodded slowly. She held the picture back out to Celia, but Celia shook her hand. "Keep it, so you always remember what she looked like. Your adoptive mother loves you very much, but so did Siobhan. Remember that." Amy blinked repeatedly, and Carol could see a bit of wetness in her eyes. She looked past Celia to Gabriela, who'd watched the whole scene quietly.

"This is Gabriela, my girlfriend," Celia introduced.

"Girlfriend? But - you're a girl?" She said it without any real emotion beyond a bit of confusion. Carol resisted the urge to let out a sigh.

"You know how Legend has a husband, even though he's a man?" Carol asked. Amy nodded slowly, then.

"Oh." she said, following the logic. "Okay."

"You're probably still at the age where you both think boys are stupid and icky, right?" Celia asked, chuckling.

Victoria nodded, "Most of them are! Eric's okay, but Crystal says he's annoying."

"She has to live with him all the time," Amy said, smiling just a little.

"Well, some people never stop thinking boys are icky, even when they grow up." Celia stood up and moved over to the couch, and Amy hesitated a moment, then moved to sit next to her. Victoria, unsurprisingly, sat down on Amy's other side.

"So, like I said, tell me about yourself," Celia said. "I want to know everything."

Carol heard Gabriela wheeling over next to her and Mark, as Amy started hesitantly talking - Victoria occasionally chiming in.

"I'm sure it wasn't easy to agree to this, so thank you." Gabriela murmured. Then she chuckled softly, "Victoria seems to be quite attached to Amy."

"She was from pretty much the moment we told her Amy was her sister," Mark offered. "They're pretty inseparable."

"I can tell. You've raised lovely daughters," Gabriela complimented.

"Thank you," Carol let out a breath, feeling her shoulders relax just a little. So far... there wasn't a trap. And Amy... Amy was her daughter, and didn't want to leave. She didn't think she would, but...

Being animated like this, talking, actually genuinely smiling a little - this was when she reminded Carol of her father the least.

Amy wasn't just his child. She was hers.

She just needed to make sure she reminded herself of that, when it got too hard to remember.

---

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Author's Note: This didn't entirely go the way I thought it would, and I also cut a few bits for space and time - I had a whole scene where Gabriela talked Celia down, but it was starting to stretch. There's also certain character beats around Gabriela that I realized were just extraneous to the oneshot.

I don't really have much of a firm notion as to where exactly this would go. Long-term, with Carol trying to be a little better (though she can only be so much better - Carol is just not a great mom, to either of her kids, though that's not entirely her fault), and with Celia as a presence in her life, Amy would grow up with... better mental health than she has in canon, with Victoria no longer quite the sole source of consistent affection. Also, I imagine having a gay Aunt to confide in as she's realizing she's gay would also be of help.

Whether or not Amy develops her feelings for Victoria or not in this AU, hard to say, I'd say that at the very least it would be less severe, and easier to get over, if it does happen. If I extended this outward into a longer story, I might even contemplate giving Amy a different power from a different sort of trigger event. We'd get more exploration of Gabriela, and her and Celia's relationship with Amy.

As for Carol - in canon, she was only able to let down all her guard and hostility towards Amy when she finally saw herself in Amy. The timing of which is... well, we've all read canon. 15.x is what it is.

But I do believe Carol did actually love Amy before, she just had so much paranoia and baggage that she couldn't really show it very well, and that left her showing the suspicion and hostility and - she's not a great parent to Vicky either, so Amy got it from both ends there, not even getting the good parts of what Victoria got, minimal as it seems to have been sometimes.

But basically, the prospect of losing Amy, and that momentary thought she had of 'if she wants her so bad, she can have her' and so on forced Carol to have a bit of self-reflection and realize that she does care about this little girl, and does see her as a daughter. She's not going to magically be a great parent after this, she's not going to magically get over all her weird projecting baggage with regards to Amy and Marquis. But she is going to try, and she is going to make a better effort and do a little better than she did in canon.

Amy's still going to have a complicated relationship with Carol, but growing up, it will be a little better.

Carol's complicated as hell. I don't particularly like her, but I try to be fair to her, and hopefully I succeeded here, without going too far in the other direction.