Gowonzu's Snippet Thread (Worm)

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Worm AU, Set ten years after Worm's start. In a world that never ended, Everyone has gone their separate way, but The Undersiders meet up in Brockton Bay for their annual reunion.

---

Taylor parked her car and sighed to herself. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this, or what she was even doing here to begin with. She wore all black, there wasn't any set dress code but it felt appropriate for the moment. Readying herself, she exited the car.

The cold, morning air hit her the second she opened the door. It was early winter, and the snow wouldn't properly start falling for another few days. Taylor swore under her breath, she should've been used to the cold by now but it still surprised her every year.

Walking around the car, she picked up a few important items from the passenger seat before walking further.

She hated this place, these days she had few reasons to return to Brockton Bay. Of all the places in the city, she had to be here. A place she used to visit often. Even still, she returned here every year, on the same day, at the same time.

Another woman was already waiting for her, ahead of Taylor. Dressed in colourful winter wear. She stood, turned away and looked down, frustration on her face as she was trying to solve the same puzzle she'd been stuck on for years. Taylor recognised her blonde hair instantly.

"Lisa," Taylor called out softly. The blonde girl broke her focus and turned.

"Taylor," Lisa said back, her frustrated smile turning into a warm smile. The two women greeted each other in an embrace. "It's good to see you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Taylor said back, gently patting Lisa's back. "Is anyone else here yet?"

Lisa shook her head. "You're the first. Well, I'm the first, but you're here now too." Her eyes flicked up behind where Taylor had come from, a brief glint of recognition before shooting her signature smile. "And then there were three."

Taylor turned around to see a tall, dark man. Brian, dressed in a suit. His choice of formal attire made Taylor relax about her own outfit. The man nodded to both women before stepping into the conversation.

"Taylor, Lisa." Brian said, "I'm glad you could both make it."

"Wouldn't miss it," Lisa said with a smile.

Taylor looked away guiltily, knowing that she missed the first two reunions, for good reasons.

It had been eleven years since Taylor joined the Undersiders. Eleven years since they killed Coil and took over the city. And ten years since the Undersiders dissolved, with each member going their own separate way.

Taylor turned herself into PRT custody, doing a short stint in prison before being reintroduced as a Ward. Nowadays, she was known publicly as Weaver, a member of the Chicago Protectorate. Lisa stayed in Brockton Bay, officially she retired from cape life, but she kept herself busy acting as an information broker for all kinds of clientele. Brian was still recognised as a Villain, running his own mercenary company. He has his own personal morals and codes, never bothering with such absurd goals as occupying a city again.

"Just in time for the party." A voice called out. All three Undersiders turned back to see Alec walking in with his arms stretched out. "I thought about being fashionably late, but I know you all would've missed me."

"Not a party," Brian said, a hint of anger in his voice. Alec offered him a hand as Brian hesitantly shook it. He calmed down shortly after, giving Alec a smile. "Sorry, I wasn't here last year. Or the year before that. And before that. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to cross the border these days." Alec ran with another group of villains up in Canada these days, he bounced from group to group ever since he left Brockton Bay. "Speaking of which, is the hero here going to arrest me?" He pointed to Taylor.

"No," Taylor and Lisa said in deadpan unison. Alec gave an exaggerated sigh and stepped into the circle of conversation.

"Think this is everyone?" Lisa asked the group, Taylor shook her head as she pointed out two more approaching people.

Lily and Sabah walked side by side, stopping to observe the group ahead of them. Both seemed equally as shocked at seeing the reunion turnout, it had been quite a few years since so many Undersiders all showed up at the same time. Alec being a standout oddity these days.

"Right, should've known." Lisa chuckled, waving at the couple. Both girls walked closer with arms entwined.

"Morning," Sabah said to the group, giving a curtsy. "I apologise for the delay. I got caught up with a new project."

"Oh, hush," Lily said, waving Sabah's comment off. "We're barely late."

Both residents of Brockton Bay, Sabah had returned to running her shop while Lily acted as her bodyguard that also did the occasional vigilante work during the nights.

"Alec, you're looking well," Lily said, looking around the group. "Brian, Lisa." She nodded at them both with a smile. "I never know what to say when we do this, saying something like 'happy anniversary' sounds like a cruel joke." She let out a half-hearted chuckle that the rest of the group echoed.

"Do we still do that after-party thing?" Alec asked, looking between Lisa and Lilly. "What was that bar down the road. We all went to? We should go there after."

"It's not a party, Alec," Brian said again, shaking his head.

"Alibi." Taylor mused, mainly to herself. Thinking of the name of the bar just down the street. It was a common hangout for those that chose to stick around.

"That's the place," Alec said as he clicked his finger. "Let's wrap this up quick. First rounds on me."

"I'm only here for this. I've got a shop to run." Sabah said, "Plus you know I don't drink."

"And I'm with her," Lily said, pointing her thumb back to Sabah. "So count me out too."

"I've also got business in the city after this," Lisa said with a sad pout. "No day drinking for me."

"And I have a long drive back to Chicago," Taylor said, looking down.

"Man…" Alec whined. Looking among the group. "I come all this way for this. When did you all get so lame? Come on, one round of shots." He looked over to Sabah, "Yours can be water, or orange juice, whatever."

Everyone looked among each other, Taylor and Lisa might've been persuaded to stay for one quick round, but Brian and Sabah were firm in the 'not a party' mood of the gathering.

Alec sighed in another exaggerated manner. "Why do we even do this if I can't even get a drink with old friends? It's not like we're here to celebrate the Undersiders. Sure, we used to own this city, but I've had one-night stands that lasted longer than our little team did."

"You know exactly why we're here." Brian snapped back. Everyone looked away as the argument was about to begin. There was a reason Alec didn't show for the last few years, and it wasn't just because of the travel distance.

"We're here because Lisa said we should." Alec defended himself, gesturing to Lisa. "She got a big fancy thinker headache and made us all promise to come back every year for a reason nobody knows. Even her." Everyone looked away guiltily at that statement, it was true. No one knew 'why' they chose to meet up here of all places, just that Lisa wrote down a message some years ago during a fatigued thinker state and demanded everyone to show up. "So why come here and freeze my balls off outside when we could all find a nice warm bar and reminisce about the old days or whatever?"

Lisa stepped before Brian could retort. "It's important, everyone agreed it was." She looked around at the group to affirm her point. Taylor nodded back in support, as did Lily and Sabah. "And you know it's important too, which is why you came all the way back here today."

Alec's posture broke and the thinker picked him apart. The time, effort and money that he spent to get back to Brockton Bay were far too great for just some catch-up drinks with his old teammates.

Taylor shifted her head as her bugs picked up a new arrival. The rest of the group noticed her reaction and all turned in unison. A dog ran up to the group before circling back, two more dogs appeared shortly after, lead on chains.

Rachel paid no mind to the rest of the group and shared no pleasantries. She whistled loudly and lined her dogs up by the entrance before walking towards the group.

"Rachel," Taylor said in greeting, Lisa and Brian echoed the same. Rachel ignored all of them and they gave her some space.

Alec's bravado returned as he slid up beside Rachel. "Now I know that you'll want to get shit-faced with me after this, right Bitch?"

She growled as Alec backed off. Ignoring the man like she did everyone else, digging into a satchel that she carried. Taylor was surprised to see Rachel come here at all, she was still a wanted woman, travelling town to town with her own crew of outlaws. Out of all the Undersiders, Rachel was the hardest to keep in touch with, Taylor hadn't seen her in person since she surrendered herself to custody all those years ago.

Rachel didn't care in the slightest. She was only here for one reason, and it wasn't to rekindle old friendships with former comrades. From her satchel, she fished out a collection of flowers, most of which looked like they had been picked from the wild before tossing it down and turning to walk away. No one made any attempt to stop her from leaving, watching silently till she left.

Sabah let out a sigh of relief. "She always scared me." She admitted, Lily patted her shoulder.

"Didn't think she'd ever come." Brian mused, watching her disappear into the distance.

"She comes every year," Lisa said, looking off even after Rachel disappeared. "Not always on the exact date, but she makes the trip, every year."

There was a long pause of silence while everyone looked back down to the flowers Rachel had dropped.

"Well," Taylor said after a moment. "I guess we should follow her lead then?" Taylor held out her own bundle of flowers she had taken from her car. Kneeling down and placing them on top of Rachel's.

Each member produced either a bundle or a single flower and took turns placing it down on the pile. Alec being the final one, placing a single Lily at the end.

"Anybody want to say a few words?" Alec asked. It wasn't a joke, he didn't dare make light of the situation anymore.

"I wouldn't even know what to say," Taylor said, this was always the most awkward part of the ceremony.

"What do you even say in this situation?" Sabah asked no one in particular.

"I wish I knew," Brian said. Looking down at the pile of flowers. "That's the worst part, I think."

"Every cliché I know doesn't fit." Alec chimed in, "Can't exactly say 'We're always thinking of you.' when, well y'know?"

"How about?…" Lily said softly, thinking to herself. "Always in our hearts? No, that still sounds hollow."

"Do you have any new information that could help?" Brian asked, looking at Lisa. "Anything at all."

Lisa shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nothing we don't already know."

Everyone looked down solemnly. There was nothing else to say, any additional words would be futile. So instead, they stayed quiet, giving a moment of silence out of respect.

"We'll come back again, next year," Taylor said, breaking the silence after she felt enough time had passed. "Same time, same place. It's the least we can do." Everyone nodded in agreement, the reunion would continue as it did every year. "Until then, these words will have to do."

Taylor gestured down, above the flowers. An unmarked gravestone in the middle of Brockton Bay cemetery. The words carved in stone, that brought a pain no member of the Undersiders could describe.

Here lies.

1997 – 2012
Forgotten, but forever loved.​

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Originally titled 'In Another Life'. I posted this in my Shadow Bug: Extra Stories thread, but it's not exactly Shadow Bug.

I had this idea for a little story where Shadow Stalker saved Taylor Hebert pre-locker.
Taylor gets caught up in a similar situation that Emma did years prior but because Taylor was already on edge from the constant bullying, she handles it in a different way that impresses Shadow Stalker.

---

Shadow Stalker stood atop the city streets. She scanned her surroundings, taking in every detail like a hawk searching for its prey. The streets were mostly empty at this time of night, Stalker wasn't supposed to be on a late-night patrol, but what the PRT didn't know couldn't hurt her, right?

The PRT never checked up on their heroes. They didn't care about what they did as long as people weren't getting themselves killed doing it, that was always Shadow Stalker's motto, especially when she had more important things to take care of. Like patrolling. There were too many criminals out there who wanted to cause chaos, and even fewer heroes willing to go after them. Shadow Stalker made sure that the scum on the street would think twice about going out next time.

So she waited, scanning the surrounding buildings again for any sign of life, any sign of prey. Prey didn't pay attention to shadows, especially not the shadow of a hero. You'd think in a city like Brockton Bay, the average mook would learn to look up. Fortunately, the city's criminals continued to be as dumb as bricks, just as Shadow Stalker liked it.

At this hour, there would only be two types of people out on the street. The people who were up to something, who didn't want anyone looking over their shoulder and her, the predator who would stop them.

Or so she thought.

A third type of person caught Shadow Stalker's eye. A girl, dressed in sports attire. Out on a late-night jog, or early morning, depending on how you'd look at it. It was strange to see an early morning jogger on a night like tonight, in a part of town like this. Normally, these girls would wait until the sun started to rise before venturing outside of their homes, and even then they'd go to the nearest park to run around. But this girl was different. She either wasn't aware of how dangerous this area was or she didn't care. Stalker assumed the latter.

Shadow Stalker could've ignored her. She wasn't a gang-banger, just an idiot. But experience taught her that scum liked an easy target. If she wanted to catch her prey, then following bait would be the obvious lead.

It didn't take long, Stalker spotted them well before the jogger did. A small collection of men dressed in ABB colours. Two of them pointed in the direction of the jogging girl from across the street.

The jogger, being the stupid girl that she was, paid no notice of the men across from her. Running to the end of the block and stopping at the corner to collect herself. She picked the worst place to jog and now the worst place to rest. Stalker rolled her eyes, it was like this girl was asking to get assaulted.

"Hey girl!" One of the men called out, crossing the empty street to catch up to her. Stalker counted six men in total, all in various states of intoxication. Probably spent their night at one of the ABB-owned clubs, now would be around the time when they all closed for the night.

The jogger finally took notice of the men. She stared back and froze up in a pathetic attempt at a defensive posture. "W-what do you want?" she asked the group. The men all chuckled.

As expected, an idiot. Stalker had seen this little song and dance play out in many various ways. A group of drunk and scary gang members circle the unsuspecting civilian, taunting them till they break down and scream for help. Then Shadow Stalker will dive in and save the stupid idiot, they'd be eternally grateful and continue their pathetic life, hoping that 'heroes' would always be around to save them.

Shadow Stalker wouldn't step in until it got really dangerous. She wanted to see how the girl would react first. Stalker was already sure that the girl was typical prey, but she was still curious. It reminded her of the night she met Emma and Mr Barnes. Emma had acted like prey that night, but resolved to be stronger after the experience, perhaps this encounter will educate this jogging girl on how the world works.

"We just want a little fun is all." One of the men replied as they reached the girl. As predicted, the ABB men surrounded the girl completely. "Where ya running to any-"

Before the man could even finish his taunting gesture, the jogger pepper sprayed him. He grabbed his face and fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Stalker hadn't even seen her grab anything, she must've already had the spray bottle in her hand.

The group of men jumped back at the sudden attack before remembering that they had the superior numbers. The jogger used the few seconds of surprise to break for safety. Pushing past the incapacitated man to sprint away. Unfortunately, the jogger wasn't fast enough, with another man grabbing her by the arm and yanking her back.

The jogger responded by turning around and delivering a solid kick to the man's groin. Shadow Stalker chuckled at the man's pained response. The girl was a fighter, that had surprised Stalker. She was still outnumbered, six to one, even if two men were lying on the floor.

A third man pulled out a switchblade, obviously pissed that his friends had been attacked. The girl gasped in fear as the blade swung towards her.

With potentially lethal force being used, Shadow Stalker considered it her cue to step in and do what she did best. Leaping from the rooftop and firing two bolts at the knife-wielding man.

The third man dropped to the floor before he reached the girl. Two tranquilliser bolts landed in his back and arm. Stalker couldn't risk using lethal bolts anymore, as much as she hated fighting like a Ward, she wasn't stupid. With him down, the girl was now clear to run away, Stalker would take care of the remaining three ABB members.

It was three to one, but against a cape like Shadow Stalker, those numbers meant nothing. The fourth man took a swing as the cape but Stalker moved faster, planting a solid punch to his ribs. The men might have been taller than the hero, but they were also intoxicated to all hell. Stalker raised her leg to deliver a strong kick to the other lot of ribs before finishing him off with two quick jabs to the belly and throat.

Shadow Stalker loved getting up close. Her powers were best suited for stealth and ranged attacks but where was the fun in that. The fifth man had a knife of his own, he swung it wildly at the hero and was bewildered to see the knife and his arm phase right through the cape. Shadow Stalker let the man's momentum throw him off before sweeping his leg to follow through. The fifth man fell, face first onto the pavement, Stalker didn't even give him a chance to pick himself up, kicking him in the face.

You never 'knocked people out' during close fights like these, that only existed in the movies. The point was to cause so much pain to your opponent that they wouldn't try to get up again. The fifth man chose to stay on the floor after feeling the boot to his face. Several teeth lay on the floor next to him, a good indicator that his fight was over.

Shadow Stalker turned to the sixth and final man. To her surprise, he found that the man was already engaged in battle, with the jogger who apparently decided not to run away. The man was on the floor, clutching his freshly pepper-sprayed eyes while the jogger delivered several kicks to his torso. She didn't know whether to laugh at the situation or pity the man.

When the last enemy member on the ground, Shadow Stalker stepped in. Firing tranquilliser bolts into each ABB member. The girl took a step back and surveyed the scene, six unconscious men lay around them.

"What the fuck..." The girl said, panting away as the adrenaline worked its way out of her system. "What the fuck just happened?"

"You went jogging in ABB territory," Stalker explained, nudging one of the men with her boot. "What the fuck were you expecting to happen?" She shook her head before adding. "Idiot…"

"Fuck this city…" The girl sighed, "Gonna have to change my route again."

"Again?" Stalker asked, bemused by the implication.

The girl didn't explain her meaning, finally taking notice that she was talking to a cape.

"Oh shit." The girl said, taking a step back from the hero. "Shadow Stalker!? Uh… thanks… I guess. For saving my life."

"You good?" Shadow Stalker asked, not really caring. The girl pattered herself down, inspecting her body before nodding back to the hero. "Surprised you didn't run when I gave you the opening. Most people run, I'd call you an idiot again but you seem to be able to hold your own."

"I'm used to dealing with assholes." The girl grumbled back, looking at one of the men on the floor. "Not usually this many at once… Thanks again."

"No problem," Shadow Stalker said nonchalantly, the girl's voice was annoyingly familiar. Stalker took another step closer to get a good look at the jogger. "Try not to get yourself killed next time, H-!?" She caught herself before blurting out the girl's name.

Getting a good look at her face, it was clear who the girl was. Hebert, Taylor Hebert. That annoying worm that Emma liked to toy with. The miserable girl would often shut down whenever Emma spoke to her, shrinking away like the pathetic prey that she was. But now, Stalker had watched her fight back against several men, even choosing to stay and finish the fight when a real predator showed up.

Even Emma would've folded again if she was in a similar situation. Her friend never bothered learning any proper self-defence, even after being attacked. But Hebert, she'd obviously had some modest training, not to mention who she took care of her fitness. Stalker had never seen Hebert outside of her baggy clothing, but the tall girl was in shape, nothing crazy but much more than Cape had ever expected.

"I'll try not to," Hebert said back. She gave Stalker a nod of thanks with her head before jogging off again down the street.

Should Stalker tell Emma about this? Would she even care? Would she even believe her?

'Hey, Emma. I just watched Hebert take down three ABB members who got up in her face. You know, the exact opposite of what you did that one time.'

Oh yeah, Emma would love to hear that.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This was my first one shot I made midway through writing Shadow Bug, it had its own original post but I'm just adding it here too.

---

Emma was scared. She'd been having the same nightmare ever since the charity event. Bug's crawling over her skin. Down her arms, the creeping feeling that every little tiny creature was coming for her. She hated it.

She'd only met Skitter once, and that was enough to make her skin crawl. There had been several other villains at the scene, including three large, monstrous dogs. Yet it was the villain that controlled bugs that had worried her the most. The Undersiders did their thing, causing chaos and fighting heroes. In all that chaos, it was Skitter who had taken notice of her.

Emma could still remember the sight of those terrifying yellow eyes. The mask showed no emotion and yet, it radiated pure contempt towards her. As if Emma had personally offended Skitter by just existing.

Unable to move, run away or scream. Emma was paralysed by Skitter. If it wasn't for Shadow Stalker, her best friend, Emma would have surely died.

Sophia had told her on various occasions since then, that there was no chance of that happening. That Skitter and the rest of the Undersiders were too busy and too far away to even care about a random civilian. Emma knew otherwise, Skitter had singled her out, in a crowd of hundreds, and Emma was certain that the villain had it out for her.

Emma's fear slowly turned into an obsession. Locking herself in her room, Emma would search for any and all information on the upcoming villain. There were posts online, ranging from the curious to the fans, to the wild and to the downright creepy.

The outfit is made out of insect shells and spider silk- That's so cool!

She held a knife to Panacea's throat at the bank, the chick is cold af

Bitch is downright terrifying to look at…. By bitch I mean Skitter, not the other one

Idk guys, anyone else find Skitter kinda hot?

Her power is so creepy, I mean bugs… urgh

But so many at once, that's some high-level mastering, right?

Can she see through them? Or hear?

I know she can talk with her swarm, it's so badass!

Do you think she can control anything else?

I heard she can control other things, like crabs

That's stupid, crabs? She controls bugs!

Emma looked over the photos of Skitter. There were some clearer pictures during her debut at the bank. The fear at the back of Emma's mind was still there, the photos didn't have the same effect as the real thing.

Confronting her fear, making sure that she could control it and not let it rule her. This was how Emma was going to get over this. She'd seen how fear and despair could lead someone down into a dark pit that they would never climb out of. She never wanted to turn into someone like that. Someone like Taylor.

Emma stared back at the photo of Skitter, something about the thought of Taylor evoked a feeling inside her. Taylor was the person Emma feared to become, if she was too weak, Emma may end up just like her. Skitter was the person Emma feared, someone who reminded Emma just how weak she really was in the grand scheme of things.

The thought of these two people, the fear of these two people. From one extreme to the other, they both merged to bring a singular thought. A random thought that Emma had no idea why she came up with it or how it was even possible.

Skitter is Taylor.

It made a stupid kind of sense. Taylor hated her, Emma had pushed her to the limit and beyond. The girl had finally broken last January and now she was out for revenge.

She shook her head. That was too far-fetched. A giant leap in logic, pulling two opposing fears and merging them into one. Her mind was running wild and had come up with the stupidest idea it could think of. And yet, it remained.

The next time she passed Taylor in school, all Emma could think was, 'She controls bugs.'

Emma became hyper-aware of any and all insects that she came across. The fly that wouldn't stop buzzing around her face. The mosquito that wouldn't stop biting her. The cockroach that scurried towards her during lunch. The lice that were passing through the school.

Could she see through all of them? Could she hear me now?

Emma turned back to look at Taylor, sitting in the back of the class, trying her hardest to be ignored, to be invisible. She didn't look up, didn't react at all. Emma felt like she was watching her all the same.

Can she control anything else?

The second important question. Emma's eyes scanned around, were any other creatures acting odd? The gecko climbing on the wall, or the pigeon that kept sitting by the window. During lunch break, Emma spied a rat making its way through the courtyard. It ran right up to her and Emma stomped in response. The rat did as all rats did, ran away.

"Don't get carried away Emma," She thought to herself, wondering how much of this was in her head, "She controls bugs."

By day's end, Emma was at her limit. Her mind was going wild with theories, and none of them was doing her sanity any good. Sophia and Madison had already picked up on her off mood. Emma's reluctance to prey on Taylor was glaringly obvious. She was succumbing to her fear, this was the first step. Avoidance, soon she would lose all confidence in herself. There was only one thing to do, confront Taylor.

"Taylor," Emma barked out, walking up behind the tall teen. Taylor turned to meet her gaze, she looked like the same meek and pathetic girl Taylor always was. "Come with me."

Emma ordered and Taylor obeyed, the two walking out of the school to find a private spot to speak. Some random parking lot, no one ever came down here. She walked into her position and shoved Taylor into her spot. Taylor looked like Taylor, the same uncomfortable dork she always was.

"What are we doing, Emma?" Taylor asked, nervous as all hell. "Why are we here?"

Emma's confidence returned to her. There was no way this pathetic girl could also be Skitter. She just needed a reminder of reality and Taylor needed a reminder of her place. Thinking back on it, it truly was a stupid idea, letting her fear control her like that, creating a ridiculous fantasy.

Emma laughed. Laughed at how stupid she was and how stupid Taylor looked. The girl had just followed her into some random parking lot and had to gall to ask 'what are we doing?'

"You know, Taylor" Emma began, feeling superior again. "I had the weirdest thought the other day. I don't even know where I got it from. Taylor Hebert… She controls bugs."

Emma chuckled again to herself, Taylor laughed too.

Emma stopped chuckling, Taylor didn't.

"What's so funny, Taylor?" Emma asked, annoyed, and confused. Did she misjudge the situation?

Taylor stood a little straighter and projected a little more confidence into her voice as she spoke. "So, you think I can control bugs, and your plan was to confront me? Alone? In an empty parking lot?"

Emma thought about that idea. Why had she thought that was a smart idea? At the very least, she should have brought Sophia along if she was going to confront a potential villain.

Taylor's demeanour had changed entirely, she held a grin that bordered on the sadistic and stood with the confidence of someone who was completely in control. Emma watched in horror as a dark swarm of bugs formed around the girl.

Emma was frozen in fear, she had been right. Taylor was Skitter. Emma wanted to scream, to run away, call Sophia and tell her everything. But she couldn't find the willpower to move. The swarm of bugs spilled out from Taylor and surrounded the two girls.

Taylor watched on with the same grin, blissfully uncaring about how open her use of powers was. There was no one here to see them, Emma had led them into a quiet and solitary location and now she was at her mercy.

"Do you know what I can do?" Taylor asked, taking another step towards Emma.

Emma was panicking now, Taylor walked right up to her face. All manner of creepy, crawling creatures skittered around her body. Taylor waited for an answer to her question.

"Y-you control bugs?" Emma responded, the question seemed rhetorical and yet Taylor wanted to hear it anyway.

"Yes," Taylor agreed, "It's quite a weird power. I don't like bugs. They're… gross. So tiny and pathetic. You might even go so far as to say, I hate them." Taylor brushed some hair out of Emma's face, and she flinched at her touch.

"I tried to see if there was anything else I could control," Taylor went on, "Like… dogs, y'know? Dogs are cool. But alas, I could not." Her face scrunched up in annoyance, "I could control crabs though. Don't really like crabs either… Again, they're so… gross."

Emma wasn't sure where Taylor was going with this, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare, she wanted Skitter to disappear and she wanted to run away.

"I can't control fish." Taylor continued, ignoring Emma's struggle, "But then, I noticed. I could control geckos." To prove her point, a small lizard crawled up Taylor's arm and hopped off, falling to the floor. Taylor stepped on the gecko without a care in the world. "So maybe, I can only control animals of a certain intelligence? But then why not fish? How smart are they? And what about birds?"

Taylor pointed to some birds that were standing on a nearby power cable. A couple of sparrows sat together and made no attempt to move. Taylor's grin dropped in disappointment before moving her pointed finger to Emma's shoulder. A city standard 'rock dove' pigeon landed where she pointed. Taylor's smile returned.

"So then I thought, what about rats?" Taylor turned down at a rat that was passing by. She looked at it for a short while but the rat moved on, afraid of the swarm of bugs around us. "Why can I control one thing, and not the other. I can control little lizards, but not fish. All manner of bird remains out of reach, but this ugly pigeon will dance to my command. I can summon an army of insects, yet the simple city rat ignores me."

Taylor thought to herself in silence, Emma could do nothing but watch on in fear. Taylor finally spoke again, "It was the rats that made me realise…" She pointed to the pigeon, it shat on command, disgusting and humiliating Emma at the same time. "You see, I know most people freak out around rats, I happen to think that they're kinda cute. Certainly better than insects or even… this."

She pointed towards to bird, a look of disdain on her face. Taylor tilted her head to shift that look towards Emma. The same look of disdain bore into her before her grin returned. Emma wasn't sure what face she found worse.

Taylor made a quick gesture, a flick of her wrist as the swarm of insects and the pigeon both flew away. Leaving Emma alone with Taylor again. Emma backed up away from Taylor, finally finding the strength to move. Taylor continued to taunt has as she attempted to climb away.

"So, Emma?" Taylor mocked, walking towards the terrified girl. "Do you know what we are doing? Why are we here? Why you didn't ask Sophia to come with you?" Emma turned to run but found her legs didn't work again. "Do you know what I do?"

Emma felt her body twist and contort, flipping around and prostrating herself before Taylor. Her arm shot out and bent up behind her back. She was in pain, the arm was locked into place and nothing Emma could do would bring it back to rest. She screamed out and felt her voice choke out. Her lungs stopped working as Taylor crouched in front of her.

Taylor lifted her finger and Emma's head followed. Her head was getting dizzy, her chest feeling on fire as she held her breath. Her eyes were trained on Taylor, focused, forced and unblinking. Taylor looked back at her in disgust. Emma almost blacked out. At the very end, Taylor allowed her the breathe again. She let out a raspy gasp for air as her contorted body relaxed again. The pain remained, leaving Emma on the floor, sobbing quietly to herself.

Emma looked back up to Taylor, she didn't dare try to stand, knew there was nowhere she could run to, no one she could ask for help. Emma understood exactly what she meant. With a sneer across her face, Taylor spoke again, with nothing but contempt in her voice.

"I control bugs."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This was the one shot that started 'My Girlfriend Is Terrifying.' It was really just a writing experiment to see what I could come up with on the fly at 2 in the morning. I originally gave it a darker ending but I gave it a happier alternate ending the following day. I've edited it around so that the main story has the happy ending and the dark ending in the alt down the bottom, because more people preferred the happy ending (And its became the canon ending that spawned a whole series)

---

The alarm rang out into the street as the window exploded. A black swarm of bugs burst from the building. Bystanders watched on in fear or simply ran away as the masked villain stepped out of the shop. A duffle bag over her shoulder spilled various gems and jewellery as she moved.

Just another day in Brockton Bay, a supervillain robbing a store and mere mortals are helpless to stop them. Even the police who hit the scene were powerless upon the onslaught of insects. Smartly choosing to take cover inside their cars instead of fighting.

Skitter passed through the street, she was running solo today and didn't want to waste time in her getaway. Tattletale had helped plan the job, it was a simple 'smash 'n' grab' that didn't require the full might of the Undersiders to complete. The gems weren't even the goal, the haul was trivial compared to the payment they'd get for causing chaos in the middle of the day.

Still, who could turn down some gold and diamonds? Not Skitter, that's for sure. She passed down a side alley and moved to the left. Following the route, she had memorised. Two more left turns and into the van that was waiting for her. Drop the bag, change clothes and disappear. It was as easy as-

"Shit!" Skitter swore to herself. Her bugs picked up on two heroes waiting for her at the next turn. Assault and Battery, they weren't part of the plan. "Time to improvise."

The swarm built up a lookalike waiting down the alleyway as Skitter turned down the right instead. If she could lead the capes away, she could circle back later and drop off the stash. Skitter kept moving, not allowing herself to slow down.

The two capes caught eyes of the fake and began to engage. The swarm broke apart and swept forward. Skitter could hear the battle taking place, she hoped that it'd keep them busy long enough to get by.

Her bugs could see the van waiting for her. There was nothing else in her way. Nothing that registered as a threat. She slowed down to a brisk jog as Skitter approached the vehicle. Inside sat the driver waiting patiently, albeit a little bored. Skitter tapped the window as she arrived and the driver was nothing but a hired goon, reliable and forgettable. Just how Skitter liked them.

Waking from his bored daydream, the driver unlocked the back of the van as Skitter walked around to the back. Opening the door, She threw her duffle bag full of goodies and eyed the second bag full of civilian clothes.

The driver pulled a curtain that separated the front seats from the back. Giving Skitter the privacy to change. Taylor removed her mask and pulled a necklace from the pile of goodies. "I know exactly who to give this to." She said to herself.

Before she was able to remove even her gloves, the driver in the front called out. "Uh, Boss! I think where in trouble!"

Taylor looked up and put her mask back on. Assault and Battery were still distracted by the swarm, what kind of trouble would slip past her? She pulled the curtain away and looked out the front windscreen. In front of them, and slightly above them hovered another cape. The hero had platinum blonde hair with a tiara in it. The one and only Glory Girl.

"What do we do here, Boss?" The driver asked, hands gripping the wheel.

Skitter sighed to herself, this was supposed to be an easy job. Now she was facing down a certifiable powerhouse. She jumped out of the van and shut the door. Giving it two slaps as she closed the door.

"I'll deal with this," Skitter groaned, unsure of exactly 'how' she was going to accomplish such a feat, "The second you have a clear shot, get out of here. Stick to the plan, find Tattletale."

Glory Girl hovered closer to the ground, not giving the van room to leave. Attempting to drive into her would be a quick way to end up in a wreck. The blonde hero turned her attention to the raven-haired villain.

"Really Skitter?" She said, disappointment in her voice. "Robbing a jewellery store in broad daylight? How more cliché can you get?"

Skitter tensed as she called her swarm to her. Taking on Glory Girl alone was borderline suicide and there were still two other heroes nearby. Her first job was to get the van clear, and then she could work out how she was escaping.

Walking away from the van, Skitter made sure that Glory Girl had her focus on her and her alone. She pulled out her knife and taser from her belt which made Glory Girl smirk.

"As if that's gonna do anything." Glory Girl mocked, her feet inches from the ground. "But whatever, you want to fight that badly, I'll take you on."

Glory Girl closed her hands into fists and knelt into a fighting stance. Realistically she could finish this in one punch and Skitter knew it. The trick was to make sure she never landed that blow.

With a frightening speed, the hero lunged towards Skitter. Her swarm acted as a wall, shielding her position as she dived to the side. Glory Girl smacked straight into the wall behind them. She could have smashed through the wall if the hero was putting enough power into it.

"Well, she's not trying to kill me," Skitter said to herself as a way to bolster her courage. "…I hope."

The van sped off, taking the initiative of the distracted hero. Skitter could only hope that it would reach its destination without issue. Turning back to Glory Girl, she commanded her swarm to converge.

Glory Girl had a force field that made any attack Skitter could think of basically useless against her, but she could rely on her 'creep factor.' No one liked being covered in bugs, regardless of how immortal they seemed.

Skitter took off down the street, she wasn't sure how much time she could buy with that, but every second mattered. Her mind raced with possible escape routes, and hiding from the flyer was downright unfair.

The two other heroes were also on their way to investigate the noise. This wasn't good. Skitter took off in a random direction. Moving more out of panic than any real plan.
"It'll be easy. In and out. Fifteen minutes tops, only some light resistance. Home in time for lunch." Skitter mocked Tattletale's words from earlier today. The entire plan had gone to shit. "Tattletale, I'm gonna kill you if I get out of this."

Glory Girl shot out of the swarm and into the sky. Shaking off the last few bugs she, unfortunately, brought along with her. From her birds-eye view, she was able to spot Skitter easily.

"Oh, crap," Skitter yelled, watching the blonde and white streak fly towards her. There wasn't enough time to build up a second swarm, not that she expected Glory Girl to fall for the same trick twice. The hero slammed down in front of Skitter, and the shockwave alone almost pushed her over. The villain punched back, more out of fear than any hope that she could harm her.

Glory Girl slapped Skitter's hand away, its hand bounced back and shot with pain. Against the pure raw strength of the brute, Skitter was a bug. She might have yelped but it was cut off with a forceful choke as Glory Girl grabbed her by the neck. The villain might have been taller, but the hero hovered off the ground.

Struggling helplessly as she was held by the throat, Skitter held on to Glory Girl's arm to stop herself from choking. "Anyone… every tell you… that y-you're… fucking… terrifying?…" Skitter choked out.

Glory Girl smiled casually as she inspected the flailing villain. "I know, they say the same thing about you. But somehow I don't see it."

The hero let Skitter struggle for a little while longer. The two other capes finally caught up to the duo. Assault took the lead as they met up.

"Glory Girl!" Assault cheered, "Are we glad to see you. And it looks like you caught yourself a bug." He slapped Glory Girl on the shoulder.

"Don't suppose you got also got the stuff she stole?" Battery asked, inspecting the villain who had all but given up her fight. Glory Girl shook her head. "A pity, any idea where she dropped the bag."

"A van, black. Single driver." Glory Girl said, looking back with a smile, "Went that way." She pointed in the general direction. "Licence plate was a B54T… something, something? Maybe you can catch it?"

Battery nodded, "Right, we'll see what we can do. Want us to call in someone to collect Skitter?" Assault was already making for the street.

Glory Girl looked back to Skitter and mulled it over for a second. Skitter tried to shake her head, a pointless gesture in the hero's hand. Glory Girl smiled at the pathetic attempt. "Nah, I've got this. I'll drop her off myself."

Battery accepted Glory Girl's answer and ran off to follow her partner. Leaving Skitter alone at the mercy of her captive. The two began to hover further into the sky, far away from the ground and all the bugs that she could touch with her power.

"Now then…" Glory Girl chuckled, "What to do with you?" She watched Skitter struggle helplessly in her arm. Amused at her vain attempts to fight her. With a wide smile, Glory Girl let go and Skitter fell to the ground.

*Thud!*

The villain landed on a nearby rooftop. Holding her neck as she rasped for air. Skitter picked herself back up and stared at the hovering hero, her hand still massaging her neck.

"What the hell Vicky?" Skitter choked, coughing a few times. "Playing it up a little rough today. Aren't we?"

Glory Girl stood in the air, arms crossed with a pout. "Don't 'what the hell Vicky,' me! What the hell are 'you' doing Taylor? Robbing a jewellery store in the middle of the day?"

"I was working!" Skitter cried back, annoyed and embarrassed. "Seriously, can't you just turn a blind eye, like once?"

"Not when it's 'my job' to stop people like you." Glory Girl retorted, landing down next to Skitter. "Besides, you're lucky it's me who caught you and not someone else. They would've just thrown you into prison."

"I wouldn't have been caught if you weren't here." Skitter growled, "I was almost home free until you flew in."

"Sure, sure." Glory Girl sigh, sitting next to the villain. "So, what's our excuse this time?"

Skitter removed her mask. Taking a moment to think to herself, Taylor suggested, "I made you swallow a bug and slipped through your fingers?"

Victoria shivered, "Eww, I hate that one. Plus we used it last time." She thought aloud before speaking again, "Oh! What about, I had to check out another disturbance on the way back and you used the distraction to escape?"

"Won't they ask you what kind of distraction was big enough to make you let go of Brockton Bay's most wanted?" Taylor asked, shooting down her idea.

Victoria laughed, "Seriously? Brockton Bay's most wanted? I'm pretty sure the entire Empire rated the top ten before you do, Babe." Taylor blushed in embarrassment and Vicky couldn't help but give her a kiss. She sighed again, "What are we gonna do? And like, seriously? A jewellery store? Come on, Tay."

"What?" Taylor groaned, "It's good money." Vicky didn't take the excuse as well. "Plus I wanted to get something nice for my girlfriend…" Taylor added, pulling out the necklace from earlier.

Vicky still wore her signature 'disappointed frown' but couldn't help but break into a smile as Taylor placed the necklace on her. "One of these days…" Victoria sighed with a smile. "I'm actually gonna arrest you."

"No, you won't," Taylor said, giving her a kiss in return. "You love me too much."

Dating was a complicated thing. Dating a supervillain, more so. To the rest of Brockton Bay, Glory Girl was dating a nobody, Taylor Hebert, the newest transfer student to Arcadia. But only Victoria knew the complications of dating Skitter, newest villain on the streets.

An explosion went off in the distance. Another disturbance in the city. Perhaps it was Bakuda pulling a heist, another video from the duo known as Uber and Leet, or maybe someone had just pissed off Lung. Either way, just another day in Brockton Bay.

"Oh no," Taylor said sarcastically, watching as Victoria stood to hover. "It looks like something is going on, better take a look. Don't worry, I'm sure I won't run away in the meantime." Victoria looked to the explosion with concern then back to Taylor. Taylor kissed her on the cheek one last time, "Be safe. I'll see you for dinner tonight?"

Vicky smiled and gave a nod, Taylor's fingers slipping through her hand as she flew higher into the air. Before long, Glory Girl shot off, leaving Skitter alone on the rooftop, placing her mask back on her face.

Skitter's phone rang and she answered it. "Skitter?" The voice on the end called out, Tattletale checking in. "The van arrived but said you ran into Glory Hole? Are you alive? Please tell me your alive."

Skitter chuckled, "T, you know I'm alive. Everything went fine, no thanks to you. Easy job my ass."

"Hey, this job was your idea, I just helped with the planning. And one of these days your girlfriend is gonna kill you." Tattletale said back with snark. "That girl is terrifying."

Skitter watched her girlfriend fly off into the distance, a smile hidden behind her mask.

"Yeah, she is."

---

A/N: This is the original darker ending I wrote.

---

"It'll be easy. In and out. Fifteen minutes tops, only some light resistance. Home in time for lunch." Skitter mocked Tattletale's words from earlier today. The entire plan had gone to shit. "Tattletale, I'm gonna kill you if I get out of this."

Glory Girl shot out of the swarm and into the sky. Shaking off the last few bugs she, unfortunately, brought along with her. From her birds-eye view, she was able to spot Skitter easily.

"Oh, crap," Skitter yelled, watching the blonde and white streak fly towards her. There wasn't enough time to build up a second swarm, not that she expected Glory Girl to fall for the same trick twice. The hero slammed down in front of Skitter, and the shockwave alone almost pushed her over. The villain punched back, more out of fear than any hope that she could harm her.

Glory Girl slapped Skitter's knife out of her hand, when the second arm swung back with a taser, it was met with an open hand that promptly crushed the device. With both weapons disarmed, Skitter swung with an empty fist which made contact with the hero's force field. It was like punching a wall, her hand bounced back and shot with pain.

Skitter might have yelped but it was cut off with a violent choke as Glory Girl grabbed her by the neck. The villain might have been taller, but the hero hovered off the ground. Struggling helplessly as she was held by the throat, Skitter held on to Glory Girl's arm to stop herself from choking.

"Y-you're… fucking… terrifying…" Skitter choked out, "You k-know that… right?"

Glory Girl smiled casually as she inspected the flailing villain. "I know, they say the same thing about you. But somehow I don't see it."

The hero let Skitter struggle for a little while longer. The two other capes finally caught up to the duo. Assault took the lead as they met up.

"Glory Girl!" Assault cheered, "Are we glad to see you. And it looks like you caught yourself a bug." He slapped Glory Girl on the shoulder.

"Don't suppose you got also got the stuff she stole?" Battery asked, inspecting the villain who had all but given up her fight. Glory Girl shook her head. "A pity, any idea where she dropped the bag."

"A van, black. Single driver." Glory Girl said, looking back with a smile, "Went that way." She pointed in the general direction. "Licence plate was a B54T… something, something? Maybe you can catch it?"

Battery nodded, "Right, we'll see what we can do. Want us to call in someone to collect Skitter?" Assault was already making for the street.

Glory Girl looked back to Skitter and mulled it over for a second. Skitter tried to shake her head, a pointless gesture in the hero's hand. Glory Girl smiled at the pathetic attempt. "Nah, I've got this. I'll drop her off myself."

Battery accepted Glory Girl's answer and ran off to follow her partner. Leaving Skitter alone at the mercy of her captive. The two began to hover further into the sky, far away from the ground and all the bugs that she could touch with her power.

"Now then…" Glory Girl chuckled, "What to do with you? I did say that I'd drop you off… never said that I'd drop you off at the PRT."

Skitter's eyes went wide under her mask. She had no idea how high they were, but a drop from here would surely kill her. She began to struggle again. Kicking uselessly against the hovering hero. Glory Girl just watched on in amusement.

"Hmm, that's it." Glory Girl chuckled, feeling Skitter shake in her hand, "Show me how badly you want to live." Skitter was panicking, she pulled out random items from her pouch in a vain attempt to fight back. An EpiPen broke along the hero's arm, and a baton snapped as she swung it into her torso. Even the pepper spray was swatted out of her hand. Glory Girl's smile only grew as she watched Skitter become more and more desperate.

"You know…" Glory Girl said once Skitter ran out of tools to throw at her, "I know some people who pull the arms of bugs for fun." Her hand
ran along Skitter's arm. Skitter tensed up at the touch. "But only a monster would do that." She pulled her hand back but Skitter didn't relax in the slightest. Glory Girl sighed, her smile dropping into a pout. "Well now you're too wound up, I think I've broke you. It's not fun anymore. Guess I should just kill you now."

Skitter didn't react to that one. The fight had completely left her at this point. She accepted death, there was nothing more she could do. Glory Girl rolled her eyes and sighed even louder. "Although before I kill you. I might as well see…" She pulled the mask from Skitter, revealing the terrified girl that hid under it. Taylor's face was slowly turning paler as Glory Girl's hand gripped tightly around her throat. Tears swelled in her eyes as she looked her would-be murderer in the eyes, but she refused to cry.

The smile returned to Glory Girl's face. "There we go. Look at that face. That fear. That glorious fear." She chuckled maliciously. The 'Hero' inspected Taylor's face, getting very close. Taylor wasn't sure what exactly she was looking for, but Glory Girl nodded to herself. "Now then…"

She let go of Taylor's neck.

Taylor felt the drop inside her. Looking back into Glory Girl's sadistic smile as she dropped her from the sky. She would have screamed if not for the fact that her throat was just choked. In her final moments before Taylor hit the ground, she thought of her life. Her mother, whom she would see soon, her father, how he would soon discover that not only would his daughter be found dead in the streets, but that she was also an infamous villain. The Undersiders, the only real friends she ever had. And all the mistakes she made that led to this moment.

Taylor hit the ground with a thud.

...But not a slam.

She was still alive. Contrary to all beliefs. There was pain shooting up from her behind, but nothing was broken or bleeding. Taylor looked around to confirm if what she was feeling was true. She'd landed on a rooftop, a tall apartment building. Glory Girl was still hovering above her. The hero looked down at her with her arms crossed.

Taylor broke down into tears. The realisation of how close to death she had come, being at the mercy of that lunatic and how her life had gone so wrong finally got to her. She wasn't out of danger, but she found a new 'rock-bottom' in her life.

Glory Girl touched down in front of her and watched the snivelling supervillain. Taylor flinched as she approached. The hero leaned in as Taylor tried to crawl away. Her hand grabbed Taylor's cheek and forced her to look back into Glory Girl's eyes.

"W-what do you want?" Taylor cried, unable to pull away from the strong grip.

Glory Girl inspected her face yet again, the tears now flooding down from Taylor's eyes. The hero seemed to relish the view. "Tell me your name." She ordered, squeezing down on Taylor's face in a warning.

"Tay… Taylor…" Taylor cried out. Wincing at the pain.

"Well, Taylor… Tay. Do you mind if I call you Tay? I changed my mind." Glory girl said. "You look a lot better like this. So pathetic and… cute. That's exactly what I've been looking for. And I do want a new pet." Taylor looked back in both fear and confusion. To answer Taylor's unspoken question, Glory Girl licked the side of Taylor's face, tasting the tears dropping from her face. "Yes, I think I'll keep you. For now…"

She let go of Taylor again and hovered into the sky.

With the same sadistic smile, Glory Girl said, "I'll be in touch, Tay." Before taking to the sky. Leaving the mask-less supervillain shaking by herself.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Don't mind me, just posting another already uploaded oneshot to this thread. This one actually has a sequel on Ao3, but I'll post it here as well tomorrow.

In an AU where instead of being turned into a fleshblob, Amy restores Vicky's body but still couldn't fix her mind.
Victoria ends up in a slightly different type of therapy post slaughterhouse arc.
Two years later, Carol Dallon visits to check up on her recovery.

A/N: Just a heads up, I am not a therapist, nor do I have that much experience with therapy so there might be some inaccuracies in how Dr Yamada handles things.

---

Carol pulled her car up outside the hospital. She didn't usually drive herself this far up, often choosing to fly out and take a cab the final stretch. The last time Carol drove her car to a hospital, it was to drop Amy off for a shift. That memory made Carol feel ill. She chuckled bitterly at herself, she was at the perfect place for that.

This hospital wasn't Brockton Bay General, it wasn't even in the city proper. Driving out this far took almost six hours and that didn't even factor in traffic. This hospital was special, a smaller facility on the outskirts of Philadelphia, hidden far away from the public eye. A place known to many as The Asylum.

While she could fly via the airport in a quarter of the time, Carol chose to drive. She wanted the alone time for one. Brockton Bay was still being rebuilt, even two years on from the attack. The rundown city had turned into a haven for crime, especially once the Undersiders took over. Sure, violence on the street plummeted dramatically, but that didn't mean crime had come to a halt. Brockton Bay's villains had simply become smarter. Brandish had all but retired from the hero scene, only appearing during brief major threats that sparsely hit the city. On the other hand, Carol Dallon, attorney-at-law, had become all the busier for it.

She'd visited the Asylum regularly over the years to check in on her. Putting her there was hard, leaving her there was harder. She considered moving up to Philadelphia to be closer, but she couldn't leave her city, its citizens needed heroes now, more than ever. Sarah would never move and Carol wouldn't leave her so soon after Eric, Mark was in no state to go anywhere and if Carol was being honest, observing her daughter's recovery was the hardest part of the whole experience.

The second reason Carol decided to take the car was that she had hope. Hope that today might be the day she will be taking her daughter home. Dr Yamada was happy with her current progress, particularly over the last six months. Carol hoped that this meant she would be able to move Victoria back home and finish her therapy with her family. Perhaps she was selfish in that hope, but she missed her daughter dearly.

Watching her family fall apart in the wake of Leviathan's destruction almost broke Carol. New Wave was already reeling from the loss of Eric, and then the Slaughterhouse Nine came in to deliver another crippling blow. However, it wasn't an Endbringer or Jack Slash or Crawler that destroyed her family. They were to blame, for that, there was no doubt, but it was the last 'monster' that delivered the final blow.

Carol lost two daughters that day.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jessica sat comfortably in her chair while she watched Victoria write. She smiled at the girl even as Vicky wasn't looking, too busy focusing on her notebook. Victoria had a habit of sticking her tongue out when she got really focused on a project, licking her top lip as she scribbled away with her pen. It was oddly cute, if not rather childish. Jessica smiled at the childish innocence of it all. If she could take a snapshot of this moment, Jessica could almost imagine that Victoria was just a healthy girl again.

Looking back up at her watch, Jessica cleared her throat and said, "You have five minutes."

"Okay. Almost done." Victoria said while deep in thought. She stopped writing briefly to think, rubbing the back of the pen into her hair to scratch some idle itch. With another burst of motivation, Victoria scribbled down more words on her paper.

Jessica had given Victoria a test, a simple writing exercise to evaluate her progress, creativity and critical thinking skills. The paper was full of pointless but fun questions such as 'Can you describe the tastes "salty" and "sweet" without using those words?' or 'If animals could talk, what questions would you ask them?'

There were no wrong answers for the test and it looked like Victoria would pass with flying colours. Jessica had given her the worksheet simply to prove that Vicky could now read, write and understand exactly what was on the paper. A far cry from the Victoria that came into this facility two years ago.

"Alright, I'm done!" Victoria beamed, waving her workbook around in the air with a bright smile.

Jessica stopped her timer and stood to collect the book. Victoria played with her pen, scribbling little doodles on the desk as Jessica read over her work. The handwriting itself was terrible, especially when compared to Victoria's old school work, pre-Leviathan. It was, however, still legible, which was what really mattered right now.

"Looking good. I can actually read this without asking you for clarification. And you have a great understanding of what you're writing." Jessica said in approval as she looked between the pages. Victoria giggled in delight at the praise and tilted her head towards Jessica.

Jessica sighed with a smile before patting Victoria on the head. She didn't like indulging the girl, preferring to keep things professional, but this really was an improvement over the last time.

"I particularly like your thoughts on 'Is it right to keep animals in a zoo?' You sound very passionate about this." Jessica added, amused at the three paragraphs dedicated to a single question.

"They shouldn't be in a cage, they've done nothing wrong," Victoria said, parroting the opening of her written paragraph. Jessica frowned as she picked up on Victoria's own feelings of being an animal in a cage.

At times it was hard to argue with that train of thought. Jessica hoped, that in time, the girl would see that being here was for her own good. That she wasn't a prisoner, but a patient in a hospital. For now she let the topic drop, she'd circle around to it later when they went over the questions in detail.

"I do notice a few spelling mistakes here and there." Jessica went on, causing Vicky to pout.

"I still get confused with big words, that's all," Victoria said, almost defensively. Jessica frowned at her habit of not taking criticism well.

"Overall, it's wonderful," Jessica said, returning to the positives. "Very well done, Victoria."

Victoria giggled again and held a wide smile. Jessica couldn't help but match the smile with her own. Victoria was showing a lot of progress when it came to her rehabilitation, the bulk of it only happening in the last six months or so. She was a completely different girl from the Victoria who first entered the Asylum.

"Are you proud of me?" Victoria asked coyly.

"Now Victoria, we talked about this." Jessica chided gently. Victoria had a bad habit of wanting to please people, especially Jessica, it was one of the things Jessica wanted to work on now that Victoria was a lot more cognisant of her actions. "It's not about if 'I' am proud of you. It's about how you feel about yourself."

Victoria went quiet for a moment, thinking to herself. Jessica could tell that the girl was having an internal debate over what that meant.

"I… am proud of myself," Victoria said as if repeating a mantra. Then she turned back to Jessica as if making sure that was a good thing.

Jessica smiled again. "That's good, Victoria. Very good." She patted Victoria on the head again. "And yes, I'm very proud of what you've accomplished."

Victoria tapped her hands on the desk with glee. "Thanks. I've gotten super good at writing now. And reading. I've read four books this month." Victoria held up four fingers to make her point, Jessica already knew this because she was the one who gave her the books, but she was proud of the girl all the same.

"That you have and it's wonderful to see," Jessica responded, giving in to Victoria's desire for praise. A little bit of praise wouldn't be bad, Victoria had earned it twice over. She appeared to be extra motivated to learn this month.

The idea of being able to write properly again seemed to spur the girl on in a way Jessica hadn't seen since she arrived. Jessica assumed that it was because of Victoria's love of books and desire to read again. She hadn't been this proud of the girl since Victoria learned how to speak in full sentences again.

When Victoria first arrived at the Asylum, she was broken. She was attacked by a member of the Slaughterhouse, and left in critical condition to be healed by… her would-be abuser. It was a wonder that Victoria came out of it with her body intact, her Mother didn't even realise the extent of what had happened until the following day. While Victoria was psychically healed of all wounds, her mind was destroyed, reduced to a blank canvas that could only do the absolute basics that would keep her alive.

The girl was only able to speak a handful of words and had no concept of where she was or who she was talking to. Would get extremely agitated when she couldn't find her abuser and would often need to be restrained else she risked injuring people trying to return. It took over a year for Jessica to reach the point where Victoria could actually engage in conversation. It took even longer for Victoria to talk about someone that wasn't 'her.' With every comment, statement and question being in some way or another, about her abuser.

It was only recently that Victoria could respond with the mental fortitude of a healthy person. Granted, she was mentally closer to a child than the young adult she should be, but it was progress nonetheless. Jessica was certain that learning to read and write again would take another full year of work, but Victoria really doubled down on the lessons and exercises. Proving Jessica's theory that her mind wasn't wiped, simply fogged down by what had been done to her.

"So… I've been thinking…" Victoria said coyly. Circling the desk with her finger as she spoke.

"Let me guess? You want a reward for your good progress?" Jessica said with a smile.

The early days of training and teaching revolved around reward management. If Victoria did something good and showed signs of getting better, Jessica would give her a treat. Usually candy or the like, but as Victoria learned to speak full sentences again, she was able to request specific things. Ignoring the obvious requests to see her abuser again, Vicky eventually settled on simple requests. An old movie she remembered, a picture of a location she liked, and a phone call to her cousin.

"So, what do you want this time?" Jessica asked with a smile. It had been a while since Victoria asked for a specific reward but Jessica was happy to entertain the idea.

"I was hoping to send a letter?" Victoria asked with hope in her voice.

"A letter?" Jessica asked back. "That's a lovely idea. Yes, we could write a letter. Who do you want to write to?"

"Well actually…" Victoria said, reaching into her pocket. "I already wrote the letter… last night. But I need someone to mail it. So, could you? Please?"

Victoria gently pushed the folded paper into Jessica's hand. She gave Jessica her best 'puppy-dog' eyes as she asked, tugging on the therapist's heartstrings. Jessica fought the urge to accept the request right there. As endearing as Victoria could be, Jessica would need to read over and approve of the letter before doing anything.

Turning the paper over in her hand, Jessica sighed. A part of her knew this was coming. She had hoped that it wouldn't happen but past experience told her otherwise. Everything had been going so well, there hadn't been a problem in over a month. Looking down at the letter in hand, Jessica frowned at the name written across in big bold letters.

AMY

"Victoria…" Jessica said in a sorrowful yet disappointed tone. "We've talked about this. You can't talk to her."

"I know. But this isn't talking." Victoria said back, the edges of panic and anxiety building in her voice. "This is a letter. It's not talking when I give people letters."

"It's still a form of communication." Jessica rebutted. Victoria's mood was quickly breaking down, she hadn't had an episode in months. Jessica had hoped that the worst was behind them. "I'm sorry Victoria, I can't send this letter."

"B-but it's not talking," Victoria said again, raising her voice. "Y-you said… you said I couldn't 'talk' to Amy. You didn't say anything about writing to her."

"Victoria," Jessica said again, firmer in tone. "You know very well that your Mother has forbidden all contact with her. Even if I wanted to do this for you, which I do not, I am unable to accept your request. Now why don't I put this letter away and we can-"

"Writing isn't talking!" Victoria yelled, slamming her fist into the desk. Her aura flared violently with anger. "You said I couldn't talk. I'm not allowed to talk to Amy, I'm not allowed to call Amy. But this is different."

"Your aura, Victoria," Jessica said, trying to keep as calm as possible. "Remember your breathing exercises."

"It's just a letter! She can't talk back. It's not the same!" Victoria punched the desk again, her forcefield cracking the top of the table with enhanced strength.

Jessica didn't flinch at the blatant use of powers while angry. Victoria had never hurt her before, there was no reason to think she'd start now. "Was this why you wanted to read and write so badly?" Jessica asked, the explanation for Victoria's attitude over the last month falling into place.

Victoria kicked the desk, hard. It flew past Jessica and smashed into the wall. Jessica moved away from the girl, only slightly. A red light blinked at the door and Jessica responded by holding up her hand. A security system waited at the ready to sedate the aggravated parahuman at a moment's notice.

"It's just a letter…" Victoria said again, her anger dissipating with her kick, turning into grief. Tears ran down the girl's face. "I just want to tell her how I feel. Is that so wrong?"

Jessica relaxed as she took a step towards the now crying girl. Victoria fell to her knees, sobbing the whole way down. She thought about reaching a hand out to comfort her, but a pat on the head was a positive reward and Jessica couldn't risk sending mixed messages. Instead, Jessica crouched down beside the girl and let her cry.

"I love her…" Victoria sobbed, trying to wipe her face. "I just love her so much. It's all I can think about. And every day she's not here… It hurts."

"Victoria…" Jessica said with a sad frown. She was so confident that she was improving, Victoria could speak, read and write. But the core of her problem remained. Her obsession with her abuser.

"Please…" Victoria begged through the tears. "It's just a letter. She doesn't even need to respond. I just need…" Jessica was already shaking her head. On this, she wouldn't budge. Contact with Amy would undo all the work they did over the last two years.

"I'm sorry, Victoria," Jessica said. She stood from her crouched position.

"Wait! Can I have the letter back, at least?" Victoria asked through the tears.

Jessica looked at the letter again. None of what was written was appropriate to be read out loud, going into details of 'what she'd do when they met up again'. Jessica sighed hesitantly as she looked back down at the girl. She'd have to restrict her writing to be under supervision from now on, and possibly have her room searched for any other letters Victoria might have written.

"I'm sorry, Victoria," Jessica said again, shaking her head softly and pocketing the letter. "You know our rules. We don't talk about her here."

Victoria's mind was poisoned by the idea of 'Amy'. When Victoria first arrived at the Asylum, Amy was the only thing she could think about, the only name she could say. Her mind was dedicated to the sole purpose of pleasing her abuser. Extreme Master/Stranger protocols applied here. Victoria was to avoid all mentions of the girl, even saying her name was taboo at this point.

"Wait. Please. Just let me… Please." Victoria said with increasing desperation. "I'm not talking. I'm writing. Let me write about her! Please!"

Victoria reached out and grabbed Jessica's leg. Jessica tried to gently pull herself away. "Please let go, Victoria." She said as she started to tug with more force. The red light turned on once again. "Victoria, if you don't let go, we'll have to end our session early. I don't want to do that, and I don't think you want that either."

"It's just a letter." Victoria sobbed back, ignoring Jessica's request. While Victoria wasn't planning on injuring the doctor, her strength made sure that Jessica wasn't going anywhere. "Please! I love her. She needs to know. She needs to know that I still love her."

An alarm buzzed throughout the room and Jessica sighed in disappointment. Her superiors had obviously triggered the security fail-safe. Reaching into her shirt, Jessica took out a face mask and placed it over her mouth and nose. Three seconds after the alarm, sedative gas spat out of every wall, flooding the room with chemicals that would bypass Victoria's forcefield.

Victoria's grip slowly weakened as she breathed in the gas. She was still too distraught to even notice it was happening, mumbling away as she drifted off to sleep. "I love… P-please… Amy…" With a soft thud, Victoria's head hit the floor as her hand let go of Jessica's leg.

Jessica waited a full two minutes before removing her mask and turning to the mirror in the room. "You didn't need to do that. I had the situation under control." She kept a professional tone but was deeply disappointed. In her boss, who pressed the button too early. In Victoria, who had lied about her progress, pretending to get better, just so she could try to communicate with Amy through writing. Most of all, she was disappointed in herself, for not realising the deception sooner.

With a sigh, Jessica turned slightly, to where she assumed the second person behind the mirror would be sitting and said, "I know you were hoping to take your daughter home today. But as you can see, she still isn't ready to leave this facility. I'm sorry, Mrs Dallon."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This is the follow up to Rehabilitation. I posted it originally on Ao3. I wasn't entirely sure if I was gonna turn this into a series but then I heard this song on youtube and got inspired to write a second chapter.

I've have a third chapter in my drafts folder for a while now, whenever I get around to finishing it'll probably be only for Ao3. But here's part 2.

---

It burned. The pain was unbearable. The skin was melting faster than the girl could process what was happening, the shock of the attack combined with the smell of flesh melting away. It was a small mercy that she couldn't see anything, all her other senses were on fire, she didn't need the extra stimuli to tell her what she already knew. Victoria Dallon was dying.

Victoria collapsed to the floor as a battle raged around her. The world might've gone numb to her if not for the constant searing pain of the acid that was ravaging her body. No movement, no position would bring her any relief. Instinct told her to hold the wound but that only rubbed the acid deeper into her skin. This was it, this was how she died. Melting away to the most painful thing imaginable, the only solace she took was that she'd be seeing Dean again soon.

Curling up into a ball, Victoria waited for the end, for the pain to stop. She had no idea how long she lay on that floor. Eventually, someone pulled her away. A mess of costumed individuals and possibly a giant beetle, Victoria wasn't sure if she imagined that part. People were talking over her but Vicky couldn't focus on who was around her.

"Holy shit!"

"Heal her! Just don't touch the spots where the acid hit her!"

"I don't know- what happened?"

"Crawler spit on her, then knocked out her forcefield. Move! Fix your sister!"

Your sister… sister… Amy.
Victoria panicked, in an ocean of fear and pain a whole new whirlpool of terror and rage opened up inside of her.

"No," Victoria mumbled, she tried to stand, to get away but everything still burned.

"You're dying,"

"No," Victoria repeated herself, trying to put as much force into her weak voice. "Not-"

She coughed sharply and mumbled in the same breath, and didn't bother trying to correct herself.

"Do it anyways,"

Victoria swung with her good hand, slamming it into a hard surface. She wasn't going to let Amy touch her. Not after last time. She coughed. "No."

The voices turned away from her. A discussion, or an argument? Victoria could know for sure, she didn't care. She had to get away, even if meant succumbing to this acid, she'd rather die than be 'cured' by her.

"Enough," A voice said, before leaning down towards her. "Victoria, listen, I'm going to pour some sterile water over you, and hopefully it'll flush some of the acid away, okay? I don't know what else we can do for you. I know you can't see, so don't be surprised when it happens."

Victoria was still in pain, excruciating pain all over her body. But the voice promised to help her, to treat her without being touched by Amy. An alternative, a compromise. In an act of total desperation, Victoria trusted that voice, she needed hope to latch on to. Turning her head, she presented the burned side of her face to the voice and braced herself for the water.

Then she was greeted by a familiar hand being pressed to the clean side of her forehead. Victoria's heart jumped, the abrupt terror of knowing exactly what had happened. The world went black, as Victoria Dallon died.

--------------------------------------------

"Victoria?" Jessica asked, looking at the girl who was staring off into space. "Victoria, are you listening?"

Vicky took a few seconds to react to the question. She stared at the doctor and then around the room, confused about her surroundings before cracking a smile. "Sorry. I was… No, what did you say?"

Jessica looked the girl over before speaking again. "I asked, how you were feeling today?"

"Oh," Vicky said, thinking on the question for a moment. "I'm good. A little hungry I guess?"

"That's good, Victoria." Jessica nodded before checking her watch, "Yes, it is almost time for lunch. We'll take a break shortly." Jessica frowned slightly before returning to a more neutral position. "You've been drifting off a lot in our sessions. I'm sorry if I've been boring you."

Victoria shook her head. "Oh no. Never." She was genuine in her words. She enjoyed her sessions with Jessica, for the most part. "I've just been… thinking. Remembering things. Interesting things."

"Interesting?" Jessica asked. "Like what?"

Victoria took a moment to get her thoughts in order. "Nothing particularly special. Like the Christmas when Crystal and I got into a fight. I think we made up later that day, I was only ten. Or the time Dad kept playing that Elvis song on repeat for a whole week until Mom finally had enough or just the taste of a particular dish we used to eat at home. I think it was steak? It's weird to remember that I used to eat meat, these days the smell just makes me feel…" Victoria made a little shudder before giggling.

Jessica jotted down some notes as she smiled. Listening to Victoria talk about her childhood was wonderful. Her memories had been scattered along with everything else in her mind. She retained a basic awareness of language, mathematics and the people she knew. Vicky could remember that she used to live in Brockton Bay but still struggled to find it on a map without some further prompting. Greater geography of the world was still lost to her, as well as history.

Over the course of the last few weeks, more and more memories had been reappearing in her mind, recalled from the fog that had clouded her for these past two years. Every day was a new adventure, with Victoria learning something new about herself.

"And I keep remembering all these basketball games." Victoria continued, "I think it was before I had powers because I cannot imagine someone like me being allowed to play sports with a bunch of regular kids. There must be some rule against that, right? No parahumans allowed in sports? Although, that sounds rude. I don't wanna be left out if I enjoyed the sport."

Jessica was content to let Victoria reminisce. The more Victoria remembered, the more 'emotionally intelligent' she acted. A few weeks ago, speaking to Victoria was like speaking to a child, curious but prone to irrational outbursts when pushed. These days, Victoria could act with a lot more rationality behind her actions, nor did she need to be spoken to slowly. If Jessica had to make a guess, she would say that Victoria was mentally an early teenager, and getting better with each passing day.

"Also flying! I remember so, so much flying." Victoria beamed before closing her eyes to picture it clearer. "I can picture Brockton Bays skyline in my mind so clearly now. There's this one bank, I must've flown past it so many times, cause its logo was burned into my brain. Yeah, I can see it now. It's like, red, with three lines that are kinda like a W but not. And I'd zoom right by it before I land on the roof of the hospital to drop off-" Victoria cut herself off and looked to Jessica in alarm. Jessica has a concerned look but nodded back, acknowledging that Vicky had caught herself. "A-anyway. Yeah. I remember flying. I'd like to do it again one day."

"That's wonderful, Victoria." Jessica said, meaning every word. "Perhaps we'll be able to have you flying in a few weeks. So long as you remember to take it slow." Victoria had the habit of hovering wherever she walked, no one in the facility had any issues with it, however on days when Victoria would get too excited or distracted, she had on occasion, hit a wall or a roof with a bit too much speed.

"Really!?" Vicky jumped with excitement. "That would be amazing. I'm always daydreaming about it these days. Is Philadelphia a fun city to fly in? Oh wait, I guess you wouldn't know. Sorry." Victoria chuckled at her question before looking away.

"I think we'd avoid the city if possible. But I'm sure I can talk the administration into letting you stretch your legs." Jessica chuckled back. "So, flying, food and family? Any other interesting memories come to you these past few days?"

Victoria's eyes widened for an instant before they returned to her neutral smile. "No," Victoria said with a soft smile. She held the smile for an unnaturally long time which caused Jessica to frown.

With an increase in emotional intelligence gave rise to a new problem. Lying. In the past, Victoria never really lied about anything. There were often misunderstandings, distorted truths and the like. But she never outright lied to Jessica. Victoria would say what was on her mind, even when the topic was particularly taboo.

Nowadays, Victoria had learned what she could and couldn't say without getting into trouble. The last time she went months without talking about Amy, it was because she thought she had found a loophole, these last few weeks, she actively pretended to be 'better' to avoid talking about Jessica's 'strategies'. But Jessica could tell that there were things Victoria wouldn't say, refused to say.

"Victoria…" Jessica said in what Vicky would call her 'Mom tone.' "You know you can trust me. I'm here to help you, but I can only help you if you're honest with me. Please don't lie to me."

Victoria's latest outburst has shined a light on a major flaw in her treatment. For two years, the hospital had Victoria under extreme Master/Stranger protocols in the hope that time away from her abuser would eventually lead to Victoria getting better. However, after two years and a slowly returning cognitive, Jessica was forced to admit that the protocols weren't helping. In fact, they were most likely hindering Victoria's recovery. It was better to view Victoria as a victim of extreme Stockholm syndrome rather than another case of parahuman mastering.

"I remembered… that day," Victoria admitted. Looking away from Jessica's eyes. Jessica waited for Victoria to continue, it was a long pause until she spoke again. "I remember… the pain. The hurt of it all. Thinking that I was going to die and… hoping that it would just be over. I was thinking about Dean, I think I… loved him? But he wasn't there. He was-" She looked off into the distance, searching her memory for a moment before her lip trembled slightly. "Oh, right…"

Victoria took a deep breath and continued, "I was surrounded by voices, I don't think I liked any of them. I remember wanting to crawl away from them. Needing to get away from them. I was scared and angry and… terrified. A woman spoke to me. Told me that she'd help, get me some water. I relaxed, and then…"

Victoria looked like she was on the verge of crying, scrunching up her face like she was a parahuman being forced to remember their own trigger event. But at the peak of her discomfort, the fear and sadness from her face fell, being caught by the calming embrace of bliss.

"'She' saved me," Victoria said with a smile.

-------------------------------

Victoria lay asleep, peacefully in her bed. Carol ran her hand through the soft blonde locks of hair. For three long and arduous days, Carol had searched the ruined streets of Brockton Bay. She'd called in all the help she could get, pulled any favour that still had worth, and even yelled at her grief-stricken sister just to get her pitch in. They found her, in some rundown building, abandoned after the wake of Leviathan and the Slaughterhouse Nine. She was alone but unharmed, physically at least. Whatever issues would present themselves in the future were secondary, all that mattered right now was that her child was home.

"..ove.. you," Victoria mumbled as Carol kissed her on the head.

A gentle knock behind her caused Carol to turn around, her sister was standing by the door. Carol patted Victoria one last time before standing to leave the room.

"How is she?" Sarah asked, looking at the sleeping girl. Carol looked back before closing the door, leaving it only slightly ajar, she wouldn't risk putting her out of sight again.

"Alive." Carol choked out, a broken laugh that betrayed the fear she buried deep down inside. "We didn't find any obvious wounds on her, but we'll take a better look at her after she's had some rest."

"That's good." Sarah nodded, unsure of what else she could say in this situation. "I'm glad we found her. I was… worried."

"I'm sorry," Carol admitted, her walls finally cracking. "You already had so much shit on your plate and I just snapped at you-"

"No," Sarah shook her head, giving Carol a hug. "Believe me, I understand. More than anyone, I understand. I couldn't… I can't lose another one. I won't." There were several long seconds where neither sister dared speak, too many people had died in the last few days, friends and family alike. "What about…" Sarah began, clearing her throat before she accidentally started crying. "What about Amy? Any word on where she is?"

Carol shook her head. "Still out there. We're still looking, focusing on the same area we found Victoria. Some reports had her helping with the whole Bonesaw fiasco. If she's there, we'll find her."

"God, that poor girl," Sarah said, sighing as she tried to remain strong. "She must be so scared out there." Carol didn't respond to the comment, looking off into thought. "I'll get back out there, now that Vicky's safe, maybe I can find Amy for you."

"Amy…"

Both sisters paused as they heard the word. It came from the bedroom beside them. Victoria was awake.

"Amy."

Carol moved into the room first.

"Victoria!" She said, moving to hug her child. "You're awake. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor?"

"Amy…"

"Do you know where your sister is, Sweetie?" Sarah asked in concern from the door. "We're still looking for her."

"I… Amy…"

"Vicky, Sweetie?" Sarah asked.

"Do you know where you are?" Carol asked, "You're home, Victoria. You're safe."

"Amy? I need…" Victoria said, looking around the room, agitation in her movements. She pushed Carol away without so much as a look in her direction. "I need Amy. Amy. Amy?"

"Calm down, Victoria," Sarah said softly, trying to calm her niece. Victoria stood from the bed and started walking to the door. "Woah, woah. What's the matter? Is Amy in danger? We have people looking for her right now."

Victoria bounced with anxiety, obviously annoyed with Sarah getting in her way.

"I need Amy," Victoria said, trying to walk past her Aunt.

Sarah pulled her into a hug, followed shortly by Carol who joined in behind.

"I'm sorry Victoria," Sarah said into the hug. "We'll keep searching for her."

"I'm so glad I got you back," Carol said, softly sobbing into Victoria. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you… I love you so much."

"I love…" Vicky mumbled into the hug, her arm coming up to push Sarah away from her. "Amy."

"Victoria?" Carol asked, surprised by the casual nature Vicky had pushed her Aunt away. "Please. You need to rest. You need-"

"Amy, I need Amy," Victoria said, walking out the door. "I love… Amy."

This wasn't shock. Carol had expected some degree of mental trauma, being attacked by Crawler, almost dying by acid and then being 'kidnapped' by the Undersiders. Carol hadn't expected Victoria to be 'fine.' But this wasn't trauma, this wasn't anything Carol expected to see.

"Amy? I need Amy?" Victoria repeated, walking down the halls of the room. She got more and more erratic when she couldn't find anyone. "Amy? Amy!? I need Amy!?"

Carol watched on in confusion and concern as Sarah continued to try to calm the girl down. Eventually needing to back off when Victoria punched a door.

The door in question was Amy's room. Victoria moved into the room and picked up a photo on a nearby desk, it was of her and Amy posing at a family picnic. Victoria traced a finger over the photo of Amy before looking around the room.

"Amy? Amy!?" Victoria called out opening the closet doors and pulling the sheets of Amy's bed. "Amy, I need you. Amy!"

Victoria collapsed to her knees, her worry moved to sadness as her head slumped on the bed. A hand reached out and grabbed the pillow, pulling it close to her face.

"W-what's wrong with her?" Sarah asked, looking to Victoria and then to the indent in the door where she punched. "Do we need to get her to Amy?"

Carol shook her head, looking down at her daughter. Victoria was now hugging the pillow tightly, smothering herself in Amy's scent. Horror crept along Carol's face as the realisation dawned upon her.

Victoria continued to sob into the pillow, repeating the same name, the only name she could say. "Amy… Amy. I love you. Amy."

-----------------------------------------

"Victoria…" Jessica said again in her 'Mom voice.' "We've spoken about this. She didn't save you. She healed you. Then she kidnapped you. Causing you possibly irreparable harm."

"But she did," Victoria said, cutting her off. "She saved me. She healed me, protected me. Loves me."

"Victoria!" Jessica said, loud enough to cause the girl to jump. Jessica promptly calmed her tone again. "You said you were scared. Before. You said you were scared and angry and wanted to get away. Why did you want that?"

Victoria squinted as she thought to herself. The question not making any sense to her. "Because?… I was going to die?"

"You had already said that you 'hoped it would be over' but once you heard voices you became afraid and angry about dying?" Jessica asked, her voice keeping professional. Her question wasn't to prod, but to make Victoria think.

"I don't…" Victoria said, confusion evident on her face. "No, I wanted to?…"

"You said you didn't like those voices. Why?" Jessica asked, "Did they say something you didn't like? Did you know who they were?"

"I don't know. I was blind." Vicky retorted, annoyed that she couldn't remember any specifics.

"But you did hear them. You said they'd get you to help, get you water. What did they say before that?"

"They said?…" Victoria muttered, "They wanted to heal me?"

"And that made you scared? Angry?"

"I was mad at them. I think?" Vicky said, rubbing her temple.

"But you relaxed when they offered you water, to help. What was it about them healing you that you found so scary?"

"Because they… I didn't like them."

"Didn't like them, or the healing?"

"Both?" Victoria said, unsure of the answer.

"So you admit that you were afraid of the healing?" Jessica asked.

"Yes," Victoria said, thinking for another second before nodding her head.

"But you were healed by… Amy" Jessica said, still uncomfortable in mentioning her name.

"Yes!" Victoria beamed, happy to hear the name brought up. Then she paused to think about what she said. "Wait? That doesn't make sense. Amy saved me."

Victoria went silent to think. Jessica could see the gears turning in Victoria's brain and the confusion she had over the contradiction.

She shook her head. It didn't make sense to her, there was a mistake, something in her memory didn't add up and Victoria didn't like it. Jessica looked at her, waiting for Victoria to reach the obvious conclusion.

"No," Vicky said, holding up a finger. She chuckled nervously. "Amy saved me. She 'saved' me. She loved me- Loves me."

"She hurt you," Jessica said bluntly. "And until you can accept that fact, you won't be able to heal." Victoria shook her head but Jessica kept talking. "Amy kidnapped you for three days. What you went through. The trauma that you carry. It's like a curse from her."

Victoria shut her eyes tightly, continuing to shake her head.

"No, you're wrong." Vicky cried. "She saved me."

"She healed your physical wounds against your wishes and then forced you… Infected your mind to love her in a way that you did not feel at the time." Jessica continued. "And I know that there's a part of you in there that knows that. Knows that all the struggles you've been through over these past two years were her fault."

"Of course, I know that!" Victoria snapped back, her aura flared anger but dissipated as quickly as it came. "I'm not… blind to everything." Victoria looked down at her hands. "I know why I'm here. I know that you're 'trying' to help me. I know why my parents barely visit me, or why my cousin talks to me like she's walking through a minefield."

"My mother comes to see me every few months, she looks me straight in the eye and thinks, 'Nope, that's not my daughter, I'll try again next time,' and I can tell she despises me because of it. And worst of all there's you, who acts so damn proud of me when I start speaking proper sentences and taught me how to read and write again. Then I go ahead and disappoint you by trying to write to 'her.' Leaving me feeling like shit for letting you down."

Jessica moved to speak, but Victoria held up her hand.

"Yes, yes. You're never disappointed in me. It's all a journey and you're so proud of how far I've come." Victoria said sarcastically before returning to a more serious mood. "You keep trying to help me, make me learn things and remember things. But not a single day goes by that I don't think about her, or what she did to me or how it made me feel… Every single day I remember more and more of what I was like before it all happened. And every single day I remember a little more of the Me that was. The Victoria Dallon that everyone wants to see come back. But it's not me, it's never going to be me."

"You don't get it. None of you get it. Amy loves me. And I love her." She looked Jessica right in the eye, saying it as a challenge, waiting for Jessica to rebut it again. Jessica chose to let her keep talking.

"You want to know why I believe that? Because she saved my life. My life. Because everything she did for me was out of love, and she showed me how much she loved me. Nobody in the entire world loved me like she did, no one will ever love me like she did. Because this hollow empty pit I feel now that she's gone is just proof that no one else will ever compare. I know she loves me, because of what she did and I know I love her because…" Vicky's voice crocked with a sob. "Because otherwise, I'd have to accept your truth…"

"My, my, my love is sick. It was forced upon me. I was betrayed by a person that I trusted. I have feelings that aren't my own. That I was fucking raped for three days straight by my sister and then tossed aside. That's what you want me to say, right?"

Jessica was surprised at the honesty in her words. Victoria was aware, fully aware, for the first time in two years of what had been done to her. An outright admission of Amy's crime, that she was a victim.

"That Victoria that you're all so desperate to bring back. She's broken, she's scarred. I'm not going to be that girl." Victoria said with another sob in her voice. "I-I can't be that girl. That's not healing, that wouldn't be me 'getting better.' There's nothing good to be found there."

Tears ran down Victoria's cheeks even as her face fell back into a cheery smile.

"Don't you see? Amy saved 'me'. You say she's my curse, but she's my cure. I need her, I can't live without her, I don't want to live without her. It's still love, I need to love her."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Taylor invites Amy over for a cute lil cozy date. With tea and coffee.
But she has a sneaky ulterior motive in mind (Don't worry, it's wholesome)

I was in the mood to write some Pillbug. So enjoy.

---

Taylor saw her date approaching even before they got to the door. A part of her wanted to walk out and greet her guest immediately but conventional wisdom had taught her not to act omniscient around people. It had a habit of creeping people out.

She casually strolled through her living room, making sure nothing was out of place. Her father had gone the extra mile to clean up the house before leaving and Taylor couldn't see a single thing out of place. There were three slow knocks on the door before the bell rang out a little tune.

Taylor moved slowly to the door, she wanted to sprint and swing the door open with elation. But neither she nor her date were that kind of high energy people. She inspected herself one last time before opening the door. Using her own bugs like a mirror. Hair, outfit, stance, no embarrassing marks on her face or the like. She was ready, with the biggest smile she could muster, Taylor opened the front door.

"Amy, hey," Taylor said, greeting her girlfriend with a hug. Her smile wavered slightly as she saw the state of her.

Amy was dressed in a casual manner, which didn't bother Taylor one bit, what did bother her was how damn tired the girl looked. She slouched against the door frame, hair as messy as her curls could be. The backpack that held over one of her shoulders had Amy's Panacea robes stuffed into it, add to that, the dark circles under Amy's eyes made her look like a raccoon and it was obvious what happened.

"Did you just come from the hospital?" Taylor asked with gentle concern. Amy nodded her head into Taylor's hug and lazily kissed her neck. "Have you been working all night?" Taylor asked again, a little more worried. It was midmorning and Amy usually worked her shifts after school, which meant…

Taylor pulled herself off Amy and inspected her again.

"My god, did you get any sleep last night?"

Amy rolled her eyes and tried to wave the question away, when Taylor's frown held, she sighed and held up three fingers.

Amy spoke with the tired tone of someone who was mere minutes away from collapsing. "I got a couple hours sleep, but then there was this car crash and another gang shooting and a-" She yawned and wavered where she stood.

Taylor shook her head and held Amy back as she tried to walk inside. "Amy, you're practically dead on your feet. You don't need to work yourself ragged. Get a full eight hours of sleep for once in your life."

"Noooo," Amy whined softly, pushing on Taylor's arm but not having the strength to resist her. "I've been looking forward to this all week. I don't want to waste it sleeping." Taylor could've easily held her arm out and held Amy at bay, but she relented as the smaller girl pushed into her, wrapping Taylor in a hug. "I'm sorry…" Amy mumbled into Taylor's chest. She pushed her face out and looked up at Taylor. "Just give me some coffee and I'll be ready to go. Please? I need this. I like spending time with you."

Taylor looked down at the freckled face, with its tired, pleading eyes. Amy was cute. Hell, Amy was downright adorable, even when she looked like death itself. Taylor's arms closed around Amy to give her another hug. A hand ruffled her messy hair as Taylor leaned down to kiss Amy on the forehead. Amy didn't care about her sleep schedule, she only wanted to spend time with Taylor.

"Alright, fine." Taylor sighed as if she wasn't going to let Amy inside anyway. "I'll make you a coffee, but only because I love you."

Amy let out a tired giggle, giving Taylor another squeeze before letting go. They walked hand in hand to the kitchen, letting go of each other right as Taylor approached the kettle, fingers dancing off each other as they impossibly tried to hold hands while standing on different sides of the room.

Amy slid away to inspect Taylor's bookshelf, she'd been here many times and the ritual was becoming commonplace. Amy would pick out a book, whatever interested her on any given day, and then the two girls would cuddle up on the couch with their drinks and they would read. They took turns reading to each other, and multiple dates consisted of them working their way through novels.

Taylor hummed to herself as she prepared her drinks. Coffee for Amy and tea for herself. Taylor had a very particular method of how she enjoyed her tea, only Taylor could make it correctly, so only Taylor would make the drinks. Amy on the other hand, cared not for whatever brand of coffee she was given. The highest quality beans meant as much to her as a late-night drive-thru coffee from Fugly Bob's. Still, Taylor put care to use the special coffee instead of her father's packets of instant.

Amy was already sitting on the couch as Taylor carried in the two mugs. She was hugging her knees to her chest, watching Taylor intently. The sight of Amy like this sent butterflies fluttering through Taylor. Amy's tired eyes lit up every time Taylor walked into the room. The poor girl was running on fumes and sheer willpower because she wanted to spend time with her girlfriend, and Taylor loved her for that.

"Coffee?" Taylor said, offering the mug to Amy. "Just how you like it."

Amy accepted the coffee with a smile. Taking the mug in two hands and holding it closely to her face. She blew on it gently before taking a sip, letting out a moan of satisfaction.

"I love you," Amy said, to her coffee. Taylor smiled at the inside joke. The first time Amy had blurted out that line, she tried to pass it off as a compliment to her drink, reddening in the face with embarrassment. Now she said it with every cup that they shared.

"So," Taylor said, sitting down next to Amy and taking a sip of her own tea. "What are we reading today?"

Amy fished out the book she had grabbed from the shelf. Holding it up for Taylor to see.

"Murder on the Orient Express," Amy said, handing the book to Taylor. "I think I know the story but I've never actually read the book. It's like Sherlock Holmes, right?"

"Hercule Poirot." Taylor corrected. "Sherlock was written by Arthur Conan Doyle, this is Agatha Christie. Similar idea though."

"I know that," Amy grumbled. "I said 'like' Sherlock, not 'is' Sherlock. Damn literature nerd."

Taylor chuckled and leaned into Amy. Even a grumpy Amy was adorable, although Taylor was strictly biased.

"Do you want to read it today or shall I?" She asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"You read it," Amy mumbled, taking another sip before putting her mug down.

"Didn't I read the last book?" Taylor teased, already opening it to the first page. "I think it's your turn to read?"

"Yeah," Amy said, pulling Taylor into a deeper cuddle. "But I prefer it when you do it. Something about your voice… I don't know. Guess I like it, a lot." She kissed Taylor's cheek before gesturing for her to start.

Flattery like that would get Amy anything she wanted, and Taylor knew it. With a smile, Taylor turned to the opening of the book and cleared her throat. "Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie. It was five o'clock on a winter's morning in Syria. Alongside the platform at Aleppo stood-"

------------------------------------------------

Taylor could hear the soft sounds of Amy snoring. Taylor didn't even make it past the opening chapter before her girlfriend fell asleep. Amy looked peaceful while she slept. Her brows were slightly furrowed in the middle as she breathed, her mouth slightly open and eyebrows slightly knitted together, but it was enough to convey how exhausted she must have been.

Some people might think it rude to have their partners fall asleep on them in the middle of their planned date. But not Taylor. She closed the book gently, making a note to read it properly for Amy another day. Then she stood up gently and collected Amy's half-finished mug of coffee to clean up.

Amy never cared what brand of coffee Taylor bought for her, but Taylor did. They'd been dating for months now and Amy still hadn't discovered Taylor's terrible secret. The trick that Amy had fallen for each and every time she came over.

It was decaff.

Returning to the living room with a spare blanket, Taylor leaned down and kissed Amy gently on the head. She cuddled up with some pillows, grabbing a different book from her shelf as she rested next to the sleeping girl. Amy shifted in her sleep, turning over and burying her nose into the crook of Taylor's neck, wrapping her arms tightly around Taylor's waist and pressing her face more firmly against Taylor's neck.

Taylor let out a happy sigh and ran her hand through Amy's hair. Amy might not care about her sleep, but Taylor did.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Two dogs stare each other down. Chained, starved and beaten.
Ready to fight for amusement and sport.

Two capes take particular notice of the event, neither of them are happy about it.

Written for the Gaylor Convention Rarepair contest.

---

Two dogs growled ferociously at one another. On one side, a dark rottweiler snarled at any hand that dare point in its direction, standing opposite stood an equally dark pit bull. It was a standoff of sorts. Neither beast wanted to start a fight, hoping to dissuade their opponent through sheer intimidation. Unfortunately, the dogs had no control over their particular situation.

The animals were merely tools for sport. A crowd of people circled them, cheering, yelling, screaming out for blood. The two dogs were surrounded by spectators who took great pleasure in watching both beasts struggle with one another. They enjoyed their fights immensely. And they loved the noise. The dogs' yelps and howls of agony filled their ears as the crowd laughed.

Starved, beaten and depraved of all basic necessities. The humans did not intend to show mercy. This battle would be to the death. A blood sport for amusement and money. Both dogs pulled on their respective leashes. Feral and ready to bite the first thing they could sink their jaws into.

The crowd started the countdown, final bets were taking place.

The anticipation of the crowd hit its crescendo. The noise was deafening, and it became increasingly unbearable for the animals. A sharp kick behind the pit bull's ear caused the dog to start snapping.

One of the animal handlers screamed. The crowd turned to see what had caused the commotion. The fight had started, but not in a way that anyone had anticipated. A sharp metal bolt was jammed through the man's arm, pinning him to the wall.

Three hulking monster dogs sprung forward like a pair of bullets. With full force, they attacked, each biting and scratching at everything within reach. Tearing through the crowd. The bulk of the onlookers were cowardly. A mad panic started as they scrambled for the door.

"Cape!" A voice from the crowd yelled out.

A handful of armed thugs opened fire. Both at the giant monsters and in the direction of the initial attack.

Between the onslaught of teeth and claws from one side, and the sharp sting of metal from the other. The Empire enforces stood little chance of winning this battle.

--------------------------------------------------

There were more thugs than Sophia expected. She'd only been on the streets for a month and the bulk of that time was spent fighting muggers in alleyways. One of the downsides of being an independent vigilante was that she had no support. Not that Sophia would ever admit that she needed it.

If only she carried multiple crossbows, Stalker could've taken out the two lone thugs at once. As she was now, her costume consisted of an oversized hoodie, stolen Kevlar vest and an old hockey mask. She only brought a large sports crossbow with several bolts and a baseball bat she took from home. Again, the downside of being independent, she didn't have access to any real equipment.

She didn't need support, she didn't need a team. She just needed to be smart and wait them out.

If she could pin one of the men in place, perhaps she could drop down and take the other one out quickly. She still would be at risk of turning her back to the larger group, but all she needed to do was cause a distraction of some kind.

That distraction came in the form of three hulking monster dogs.

-------------------------------------------------

Rachel hated the Empire. She'd only been in Brockton Bay for a few days now and she already knew that much. There were a myriad of reasons why someone would hate the Empire so much: racism, discrimination, ignorance.

In truth, Rachel cared little about the plight of her fellow man. It wasn't until she learned of the fighting rings did she really start giving a fuck.

This was the second dog fighting ring in as many nights that Rachel planned to hit. She spent her time hounding members of the gang to discover where and when the fights were being held. She had a plan to rescue every abused animal in Empire territory and to rip this 'Hookwolf' to shreds the moment Rachel met her.

Rachel had no subtly to the methods she used. She marched into that warehouse with her best three dogs and commanded them to slaughter anyone in her way. The men inside tried to fight back but were quickly overpowered.

She didn't expect to run into another cape who was in the process of beating up the same thugs. The two fought viciously, trading blows with Empire thugs with no regard for long-term consequences. Most other capes in the past often had issues with Rachel's level of violence, but this one seemed particularly adapt to bashing one's face in. Rachel made sure to tell her dogs not the approach the strange cape.

At least until the last man fell. Then things were going to get complicated.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Who the fuck are you?" They both called out in unison.

Both kept equal distances apart from each other. Just because they were both enemies of the Empire, didn't instantly make them friends.

Sophia eyed the three large dogs, she'd just watched them rip through several armed men without barely a scratch. She always considered herself a predator, but even she was smart enough not to tangle with these monsters. These dogs weren't ordinary hounds. They were massive. And each of them could kill a fully grown man in minutes. She'd seen their teeth.

The strange woman eyed Sophia back. Her suspicious eyes hidden behind the hockey mask. She'd seen Sophia appear from the shadows, turning into a ghost as her assailants attacked her. She knew that her dogs would have trouble fighting such a power and that the cape had no qualms with using lethal force. A single bolt through the woman's chest could end this confrontation faster than her dogs could react.

Two capes growled ferociously at one another. On one side, a masked figure snarled at any dog that dare point a head in her direction, standing opposite stood a muscular woman with three large beasts. It was a standoff of sorts. Neither girl wanted to start a fight, hoping to dissuade their opponent through sheer intimidation.

There was a long silence where both capes stared each other down. Broken only by the whines of two scared dogs behind them. Both fighting dogs were still chained to their posts. Fortunately, the capes had control over the situation.

Cautiously, Sophia turned away from the cape to check on the animals. While she didn't give two shits about the numerous Empire thugs who lay bleeding out on the floor, Sophia did have a soft spot for dogs. They were loyal, intelligent, tough and weren't complete pussies like some people were. More people could learn a thing or two from dogs.

Kneeling in front of the scared rottweiler, Sophia reached out a hand. She never owned a dog herself, but she knew a lot about them. Or at least she thought she did. She remembered to allow a dog to smell her hand before petting it.

The dog bit back, sinking sharp teeth into Sophia's hand. She winced, shifting into her shadow state as she yanked herself free from the dog's grasp.

"Are you fucking stupid!" The woman barked. Marching over to the two pit dogs.

Sophia reformed and shook her now painful hand. "Shit!" She swore through clenched teeth.

The woman watched how Sophia reacted. Some people were stupid when they got bit by dogs, blaming the animal instead of themselves. Sophia jumped around as she shook her hand for a few seconds but didn't yell at or strike the dog in retaliation.

"They're fighting dogs." The woman huffed, walking closer to the chained rottweiler. "Been trained to bite whatever gets in their face, idiot."

Sophia watched as the strange woman stood over the now barking dog. She gripped her hand as the supposed dog whisperer glared down at the pit fighter. The rottweiler quickly quieted down, seeming to recognise the larger woman as its alpha. Sophia huffed with a grin behind her mask, respecting this strange woman's sheer presence among the animals.

"So," Sophia finally spoke up. Taking another step towards the two chained animals, hoping that they were now docile. "You control dogs?" The pit bull stood in a defensive posture, growling at Sophia

The woman growled at the approaching hero. "I don't control shit." She spat out, insulted at the insinuation. She turned to also growl at the other pit bull, forcing it to back down from attacking the mysterious cape. "I save them. I train them. Care for them."

Sophia considered backing away again but didn't want to show any form of weakness to the strange woman. "I see…" Sophia wouldn't admit it but she felt relieved. She had no idea what the fuck she was going to do with the two dogs once she cleared the place.

"Here." The woman said, pushing her hand out towards Sophia, expectantly. Sophia had no idea what she was asking for. She shot her back glare and growled. "Your hand. You need to get it checked. Dog bites can kill, dumbass."

Sophia swallowed down a biting retort and placed her hand to be inspected. The larger woman pulled her arm in and ran her thumb over the bite mark. Sophia bit her lip to avoid wincing, not willing to show any weakness to a complete stranger.

The woman pressed Sophia's hand. Listening to the way the cloaked figure reacted. The dog's teeth cut through the gloves but didn't piece the skin. "You got lucky." She said, dropping her hand. "Don't be stupid next time." She moved to collect both fighting dogs' chains, readying to leave.

Sophia inspected her own hand before looking around the mess of unconscious and probably dying empire thugs. She never needed the help, but she was smart enough to see how much the strange woman had… helped.

Sophia sighed to herself before calling out. "Wait." The woman turned around to see what she wanted. "Thanks…" Sophia drawled out painfully. "I could've taken them out without your help. But your dogs… they kicked a lot of ass. I've never heard of you
before." She felt embarrassed just saying that crap but this cape didn't seem to be a total pussy about things and it wouldn't hurt making connections or some shit. "Shadow Stalker." She introduced herself while holding an arm out.

"Bitch." The other woman responded.

"Fuck you." Sophia spat back. "I'm trying to be nice for once. Just tell me your damn name."

"It's Bitch." The woman said again, a little angrier as she pointed to herself.

"Oh…" Sophia replied, understanding it now. "You gonna be hitting more dog rings?"

"Yeah, got a few more locations to hit. Not tonight though." Bitch said. She took a few more steps to leave before turning around. "Why? Wanna help? Or are you just looking to fuck me?" Sophia did not expect to hear such a direct question tonight. Bitch shrugged. "I'm fine with either or both. Just don't bullshit me."

"Help you, hunt your prey?" Sophia asked, a smile forming under her mask. She wasn't against the other offer either, but wouldn't admit that right now. "I'm usually more of the lone wolf type."

Bitch huffed. "Most wolves don't hunt alone. Whoever said that is stupid." She bent down to the newly rescued dogs and removed the chain from their necks, the two fighting dogs now stood side by side. She whistled as all five dogs lined up, ready to follow her out. "All dogs need a pack."

Sophia huffed in return. "Fuck it…" She stepped forward to catch up. "I'll game to rescue some more dogs if it means I get to kick some empire teeth in."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this little snippet on discord, figured id post it here too, It's semi related to my ongoing 'My Girlfriend Is Terrifying' story.
Enjoy some slight MGiT spoilers for a future scene I hope to get around to writing to one day.

---

Rachel stares at her phone, reading as she chuckles.

Alec raises an eyebrow at the whole thing.

"I thought she couldn't read?"

Brian looks to Alec and shrugs, no other Undersider really questions it. Brian is busy mapping out the next job with Lisa, while Taylor sits alongside her. Another chuckle comes from where Rachel is sitting. One hand holding her phone as she idly pets Brutus.

"Seriously? Am I the one going crazy here or am I being pranked?"

Taylor looks over and she smiles softly at Rachel. She never heard her laugh before, it was nice.

Rachel's finger scrolls along her phone as she swipes up, and she lets out another quiet chuckle.

"Nope, not buying it." Alec reached his limit. He stands up and saunters over to Rachel.

Rachel's smile dims as she notices Alec approaching.

"What do you want?" She growls.

Alec puts his hand up in surrender. "Woah. I come in peace, Rach. Just wanna know what you're up to."

"Nothing." Rachel grumbles back.

"Oh yeah?" Alec asks with a raised eyebrow. "Whatcha reading then?"

Rachel glares back at the boy.

"I don't fucking read." Rachel barks, obviously treating Alec's comment as an insult to her.

"Geeze, sooorry." He drawls, "It looked like you were reading something. Don't bite my head off for being curious."

Rachel takes a moment to consider this. Alec wasn't insulting her, he was being genuine in his curiosity. She lets out a huff before calming down.

"Oh."

She doesn't say anything else.

At this distance, Alec notices that her phone vibrates, it's on silent but she's getting messages. Rachel looks at her phone again and cracks another smile.

"That," Alec states, pointing at her lips. "What's that about? Who are you texting?"

Rachel rolls her eyes and briefly considers shielding her phone.

"Not texts, can't read." She explains. Alec waits patiently for her to elaborate. Rachel sighs. "It's photos."

"Cute photos," Lisa adds from her side of the room. "I'm guessing it's dogs from your shelter, or maybe just a friend sending random photos."

"Of course." Alec nods. "Should've guessed as much. It's always about the dogs with her."

Alec lost all interest. Turning back to his spot on the couch.

"It's not dogs" Rachel shot back. "You don't know everything."

Lisa wasn't that offended. She knew Rachel didn't hold a high opinion of her.

Alec renewed his interest and turned back again. "So what's the pictures?"

Rachel hesitated for a moment, looking at her phone and then up to Alec. Alec tried his best approximation of puppy-dog eyes to plead for the information.

"If you fucking must know" Rachel began with a sigh, turning the screen of her phone to show him. "My girlfriend is telling me about her day."

"Your what?" Alec asked in disbelief.

The other Undersider's heads all popped up in shock at the statement.

"Fuck you guys," Rachel grumbled, hiding her phone in a rare display of shyness. "I have a life outside of this shit."

Her phone buzzed again, Rachel peaked at the latest message, and the rest of the team moved over, now curious about their teammate's mysterious girlfriend.

"Wait, doesn't that look like"? Alec whispered.

"Woah, when the hell did that happen?" Lisa chuckled.

"I don't think I've ever seen her smile like that," Taylor said.

"Again? Are you girls serious?" Brian sighed.

All the Undersiders broke out into gossiping.

Rachel ignored the chatter behind her as she happily flipped through the photos on her phone.

The latest picture added to the montage of Amy's day. While they couldn't communicate through text, Amy would send a photo of what she got up to during her day. From sneaking selfies in school to posing with recently cancer-free kids she worked with.

Wordlessly, Rachel took the chance to send back a selfie of her own. Sitting in her chair with a dog on her lap and her friends all around her.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Hey, Long time no see. I got a little busy with my main project that I forgot to write some snippets, so I gave myself a lil challenge to write a 500ish word story about a silly prompt. Shout out to Clarissa on the Gaylor Discord for giving me the prompt.

---

"So," Victoria asked, turning around and striking a pose. "What do you think?"

Amy was stunned silent.

Victoria's question hung in the air, and for a moment, Amy's mind went blank. She had always admired Victoria's confidence, her ability to effortlessly captivate anyone she encountered. But how could Amy, with her modest demeanour and quiet nature, find the words to express just how incredible Victoria truly was?

Today, however, Amy was stunned silent for an entirely different reason. The two sisters had taken the day to go shopping, as Victoria was interested in getting a total makeover.

Amy wasn't aware of what that would entail but was more than happy to accompany Victoria along on her journey. They went shopping for clothes, and Victoria happily tried on all manner of outfits, asking Amy for her opinion even though she had no idea what matched what.

Amy was simply happy to be part of the experience, watching Victoria twirl in front of the mirror, her excitement contagious.

And then Victoria hit her next stop in their adventure. A quick pit-stop to the hairdressers before getting some lunch. She told Amy to go on ahead, knowing that the smaller girl wouldn't enjoy waiting around as Victoria's hair got treated.

Amy obliged, her mind filled with curiosity about what Victoria had in store. As she wandered the mall, she couldn't help but wonder what her sister's new look would be like. She often talked about potentially braiding her hair, or perhaps she was going to surprise her with some silly hair dye.

Amy giggled at that idea. Victoria would never give up her golden blonde look. She was far too proud of her hair to change it so dramatically.

Little did she know what Victoria was planning. When Amy finally returned to the hair salon, she entered with a sense of anticipation, expecting to be greeted by Victoria's vibrant smile. But as she laid eyes on her sister, her heart plummeted to her stomach.

"You like it?" Victoria asked again, showing off more of her head. A bright smile across her face.

"You cut your hair?" Amy said. Trying to suppress the horror in her voice.

This wasn't a little trim, like so many haircuts before. Victoria had cut her hair short, shorter than it had ever been before. Shorter than Amy had ever seen in her entire time of knowing Victoria. The realisation hit Amy like a tidal wave, overwhelming her with a mix of emotions. Victoria's long, flowing locks, which had always been a symbol of her beauty and radiance, were now gone.

"Yeah," Vicky said, relishing the shock in Amy's voice. "I wanted to try something new. Come on, Ames. Honestly opinion. What do you think?"

What did she think? It was horrible. No, it was worse than horrible. The long hair was one thing—Amy preferred it long, but she could learn to live with a new style. It didn't matter if Victoria had long hair, short hair, or if she decided to be bald. Amy would still love her Victoria. But it was the way she had her hair styled that really punched Amy in the gut.

Her hair was cut in the style of an inverted bob with side-swept bangs. Amy's heart ached with a mixture of longing and grief as she witnessed Victoria's bold transformation.

"Oh dear god…" Amy said under her breath, "You look like Mom."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Hey, another one.
I was given a second prompt in the discord by Quantum Ripple who wanted some Smugbug. So here ya go.
This is pretty fun to write little stories based on prompts. So, if you got an idea thats short and sweet, feel free to shout it at me and I might make some more of these.

---

Taylor Hebert leaned in through the bedroom door, her concern for Lisa growing with each passing night. The clock's hands edged closer to midnight, yet Lisa remained hunched over a pile of notes, her laptop's glow casting an eerie light across her face.

"Lisa, it's late," Taylor said softly, lingering at the door of the room.

Lisa looked up, exhaustion etched into her features. "I'm fine, Taylor. Just a bit more to do."

"Come on, you need to rest," Taylor insisted, worry creeping into her voice.

Lisa waved her off, her focus locked on the screen. "I'll be done soon."

With a determined expression, Taylor marched over and closed the laptop, surprising Lisa. "No more excuses. You need sleep."

Lisa's protests were cut short as Taylor gently guided her toward the bed.

"Sleep," she repeated firmly, gently pushing Lisa onto the mattress.

Reluctantly Lisa curled onto her side, attempting to glare back at Taylor for her childish attempts but failing to do so with any real grit.

"I can handle myself," Lisa muttered, but Taylor could see the fatigue in her eyes. "I'm a big girl Tay."

"I know, but sometimes you're as stubborn as I am," Taylor replied, pulling the covers up and tucking them around Lisa's shoulders. "But you can't keep burning the candle at both ends," Taylor said, her concern evident.

"You know I'm just going to get up again once you leave." Lisa yawned smugly, eyeing her closed laptop that still sat on the desk. "I'm used to late nights. It's part of the job."

Lisa was egging Taylor on. She fully expected Taylor to sigh and take the laptop with her in some vein hope that Lisa would call it quits for the night. But Lisa was far too busy to stop her work now, and that wasn't the only computer in her bedroom.

With a sigh of her own, Taylor climbed into bed with Lisa, the soft rustle of the sheets accompanying her movements. The mattress sank beneath her weight, and the warmth from their intertwining limbs radiated through under the covers, creating a comforting cocoon of closeness.

"What are you doing?" Lisa stammered, her voice tinged with both confusion and curiosity. She balked at Taylor's unexpected action.

Taylor ignored Lisa's protests, her determination unwavering.

"What I have to," she replied simply, her words punctuated by a weary yawn. With a gentle shift, she nestled closer to Lisa, wrapping an arm around her in a protective embrace. "Can't climb out if I don't leave."

Lisa did not expect this level of escalation. But what else could she expect from Taylor of all people. Lisa's initial resistance melted away as she felt the soothing presence of Taylor beside her

"Thanks," Lisa mumbled, her tone softer than usual. The weight of her exhaustion pressed against her eyelids, and the allure of sleep became almost irresistible. She couldn't deny that her bed had become a lot more appealing now.

Taylor hesitated for a moment, her gaze filled with concern as she met Lisa's tired eyes. She understood the weight of Lisa's responsibilities and the constant pressure she put on herself to excel. Taylor did the same to herself. It was only in viewing it with a close friend that she realised how unhealthy that mentality could be.

"I worry about you, you know?" Taylor's voice was laced with a mix of tenderness and vulnerability, her hand reaching out to find Lisa's within the warmth of the covers. She gave it a gentle squeeze, her touch a silent reassurance.

In the cosy room, Taylor and Lisa shared an unspoken bond. The pale moonlight spilled through the window, casting a gentle glow upon their surroundings, as if the universe itself acknowledged the peace they found in one another's presence.

With a faint smile, Taylor leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on Lisa's forehead. "Goodnight, Lisa."

Lisa's surprise quickly melted into a soft smile. "Goodnight, Taylor."

As weariness washed over them, Taylor and Lisa succumbed to the sweet embrace of sleep.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Here, have some more casual Smugbug with a side of, Taylor is obliviously gay.

---

The door to the Undersider's base slammed closed as Lisa let out a sigh of exhaustion. She pulled off her mask and tossed it to the side, too sore to care about where it fell.

"Alright, sound off," Brian said, taking off his helmet. "Who's hurt?"

"I'll survive." Rachel huffed as she walked to her room. "Just need to sleep it off."

She shut the door before Brian could respond to that. He knew better than to press the issue, Rachel wasn't stupid. She'd speak up if she needed help.

"Lise?" He then asked in concern.

Lisa waved him off with a smile.

"Just a bruised ego," She chuckled. "And some actual bruises. No cause for alarm."

Brian nodded as he looked towards Alec and Taylor. The latter was still dressed in her Skitter costume.

"I'm fine," Taylor said. Brian could never get a real read on Taylor when she was masked up, so he chose to take her word at face value.

"I don't feel so good," Alec admitted, his voice strained with pain as he gingerly cradled his injured arm. Brian immediately stepped forward, concern etched across his face as he inspected Alec more closely.

"Right, I saw you take that hit," Brian stepped up to Alec and inspected him closer. "How's the arm? Broken?"

Alec shook his head, a hint of frustration in his eyes. "I can still move my fingers. That's a good sign, right?"

Brian gently examined Alec's arm, his fingers probing for any signs of a fracture. He felt a slight swelling around Alec's forearm and winced sympathetically.

"I don't think it's broken," Brian reassured Alec. "But it's probably sprained. Might need a cast and for you to take it easy for a while."

Alec let out a sigh of frustration. "Are you serious? That's some bull... whatever."

"We might have something in the kit," Brian continued, ignoring Alec's complaints. "Do we have any-" He trailed off suddenly, his expression shifting as if a forgotten memory had resurfaced. "Aisha? You here? You hurt?"

Aisha emerged from behind them, a mischievous smirk placed on her lips as she caught sight of Alec nursing his injured arm. She couldn't resist the opportunity to tease him,

"Just a sprain?" Aisha chuckled, her voice dripping with amusement. "Sure, sure. I bet it's the most debilitating sprain in the history of sprains. You won't be able to do anything with that arm for weeks!"

Brian couldn't help but chuckle at Aisha's playful banter, finding some amusement in the situation. "Come on, Aisha, go easy on him. Alec's already feeling miserable enough, I'm sure."

"I'm fine too, by the way," Aisha said with a sly smile. "No one knew I was there, as usual."

"One less person to worry about," Brian sighed, his attention shifting to Lisa and Taylor. "Look, I'll take Alec to the clinic. Get him a cast and some pain meds. You two good?"

"We're fine," Taylor reassured him once again, her voice steady and resolute. "The clinic?"

"The Clinic," Lisa explained, putting emphasis on 'the.' "Just a doctor we know who doesn't ask questions."

"I'll be back in an hour or so," Brian said as he motioned to Alec to follow him.

"Oh, oh," Aisha jumped. "I'm coming too. I have to be the first one to sign his cast."

Alec let out a resigned sigh, his humiliation evident, as the Laborn siblings helped him make his way towards the clinic. Left alone in the base, Lisa and Taylor exchanged a passing glance between them.

Taylor took a few pained steps towards the couch but didn't sit down. She pulled off her mask with a tired gasp and dropped it to the floor. Lisa immediately noticed the strain in Taylor's movements.

"Hey, you okay?" Lisa's voice softened with concern, her eyes assessing Taylor's discomfort.

Taylor attempted to shrug it off, forcing a weak smile. "I'm fine, just a scratch."

Lisa, however, saw through the facade. She approached Taylor, her usual confidence replaced by a gentle demeanour.

"Come on, let me take a look," she urged, guiding Taylor to sit on the couch.

Reluctantly, Taylor allowed Lisa to inspect her injuries. The skirmish had left her with more than just a minor scratch. Pulling herself out from the top half of her suit, Lisa noted the heavy layers of bruising that ran down Taylor's side.

"Just a scratch my ass," Lisa whined as she ran her hand over Taylor. Her touch was surprisingly tender as she examined Taylor's wounds. "You've taken a beating. You need to rest," she insisted, her concern evident.

Taylor considered soldiering on, but a firm press into one of her bruises caused her to wince with pain. That was all the excuse Lisa needed for her not to let her go. Taylor found herself willing to accept the care Lisa offered. She settled onto the couch, unable to hide the discomfort of the pain she felt.

Lisa tended to Taylor's injuries, cleaning and dressing the wounds with a gentle touch that contrasted with her sharp tone of concerned annoyance.

"You're lucky it's not worse," Lisa remarked, "Seriously Taylor. You're not tough for ignoring the pain. It just makes you stupid."

Taylor winced again, the sharp twinge of pain shooting through her side. The acknowledgement of her pain somehow made it more real, causing her to swallow hard against the lump forming in her throat. What she once dismissed as a casual injury that she could walk off now became a deep wound to her pride and self-esteem. She had always prided herself on her resilience, her ability to push through pain without complaint. But now, as Lisa tended to her wounds with gentle care, she couldn't help but feel a wave of vulnerability wash over her.

She opened her mouth, ready to protest, to insist that she was fine and that Lisa didn't need to go through the trouble. But before she could utter a single word, Lisa silenced her with a shake of her head. There was a firmness in her gaze, a silent command that Taylor couldn't ignore. After a moment's hesitation, Taylor reluctantly closed her mouth, accepting the truth. She needed help, and Lisa was offering it willingly.

As Lisa finished bandaging the scrapes and cuts on Taylor's torso, she sat down beside her on the couch, their shoulders brushing. The pain Taylor had tried to dismiss was replaced by a different feeling—an overwhelming sense of gratitude for Lisa's compassion.

Lisa's gaze met Taylor's, and for a fleeting instant, their eyes locked. A small smile tugged at the corners of Lisa's lips as she reached out, her fingers still gently brushing against Taylor's body. The touch was gentle, tentative. It was a simple gesture, but it spoke volumes, conveying a silent promise.

A reminder, that she didn't have to face the battles alone, that she had someone by her side who cared enough to tend to her wounds, both physical and emotional.

Taylor allowed herself to lean into Lisa, finding comfort in her vulnerability. At that moment, she let go of the Skitter facade she had so meticulously crafted, allowing herself to simply be Taylor, scars and all.

As Taylor leaned into Lisa, a strange thought overtook her. Of how her smile felt a lot warmer. How her lips looked so enticing.

Taylor had never thought about Lisa that way before. Never thought about anyone that way before. She wasn't sure if it was a normal thought, to enjoy the shape of a friend's lips.

Lisa continued to smile at Taylor. Most likely reading her thoughts like an open book. Taylor considered asking Lisa what she was thinking, but every movement she made brought her closer to Lisa's face. She couldn't help but entertain the idea of leaning in further, closing the gap between their lips.

But just as Taylor's thoughts were drifting into the realm of possibility, the sound of footsteps approached from behind them. Taylor's heart skipped a beat as Rachel, walked back into the room, oblivious to the charged atmosphere.

Startled by Rachel's sudden presence, Taylor hastily straightened up, pulling away from Lisa. Her body jolted with a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. Lisa's eyes silently acknowledged the shared moment that had been abruptly interrupted.

Rachel, wearing a pained expression, looked between Taylor and Lisa, her brows furrowing with concern.

"I uh, might've underestimated how much pain I was in," Rachel admitted, her voice laced with a tinge of vulnerability. Her gaze fixated on Lisa. "Do you have any of those painkillers you usually use?"

Taylor's cheeks flushed, her mind still reeling from the stolen moment with Lisa. A mixture of guilt and confusion churned within her as she held back an angry glare at Rachel. She made a quick glance at Lisa, who met her gaze with a gentle, understanding smile.

Lisa, ever the composed and compassionate one, rose from the couch. She placed a comforting hand on Rachel's arm. "Of course," she said, her voice soft and soothing. "Right this way."

As Lisa led Rachel away to retrieve the painkillers, Taylor found herself left alone with her thoughts. She took a deep breath, attempting to steady her racing heartbeat.

Taylor's mind raced, desperately searching for a logical explanation of what just happened, what almost happened. The warmth of Lisa's smile, the gentle brush of her fingers against Taylor's body, the frustration that it was interrupted. What did it mean for Taylor? And what would it mean for their friendship?

With a heavy sigh, Taylor sank back into the couch. She had no idea what it meant. The only she did know at this moment, was the frustrating feeling of it being over.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: You can thank CowEnthusiast for giving me this idea in my head. A crossover that I'd be surprised to find if no one else has done it yet.

---

It didn't seem real. The world no longer made any sense.

Shadow Stalker, Ward of the local Protectorate, was in fact, Sofia Hess. One of the women responsible for all of Taylor Hebert's suffering.

Taylor had been journaling every attack she encountered during her time at Winslow. Studying her tormentors in the hope that overwhelming evidence might prove Taylor's repeated claims of bullying true.

It reached a peak when Taylor found herself stuffed in a locker filled with waste. However it was not the push that caught her by surprise, but the method Sophia Hess used to phase her through the locker itself.

Sophia was a cape. And she had blatantly shown it off as an attempt to intimidate Taylor. She was both shocked and appalled to discover that a hero was responsible for her misfortune. But Taylor emerged from that locker, stronger than before.

Not because of any newfound powers, no, she was far too unlucky to be blessed with the tools for revenge. But with a burning desire to punish the rogue Ward. Taylor had her smoking gun, she could report Sophia to the proper authorities instead of appealing to Winslow's useless school principal.

However, the discovery of Sofia's identity posed a perplexing challenge as the PRT seemed keen on covering up the truth, shrouding the misconduct committed by one of their own. Taylor initially confronted the PRT officials with evidence confirming Shadow Stalker's true identity and her attempts on Taylor's life. However, she was met with blatant denials and accusations of fabricating false allegations against a Ward who was perceived as a hero. They offered her a deal, a sum of cash and a non-disclosure agreement to keep Taylor from revealing the truth to the public. But Taylor wanted justice.

When she refused the money, the PRT, reluctant to tarnish their image, vehemently denied any claims Taylor made, undermining her efforts to unveil the truth. They painted her as a troublemaker, dismissing her allegations as baseless and attempting to sweep the issue under the rug. Evening going so far as to get her expelled from Winslow, forever tarnishing her school record.

And so Taylor was left without any hope. In a world that didn't care for her. Watching as the people celebrated their heroes. The aftermath of Taylor's confrontation with the PRT officials left her feeling utterly defeated. The weight of their denial and dismissal pressed heavily upon her shoulders, threatening to crush her spirit. It was easy to give in to despair. To amuse that it was the end of the story and no justice would ever be given.

But the world had other plans.

A few days later, Taylor was spending her unfortunate free time in between schools studying in the library. Preparing for her GED. Her head was down in the books, ignoring the world around her as it ignored her. Taylor didn't even notice when a man walked up to her and picked something from her stack of books.

Her hand moved instinctively to grab the one book that mattered to her. Not the small stacks of maths, science and geography research. But a fiction book, one that Taylor had spotted among the rows of books in the library. One that she wanted to read for old time's sake.

When her hands couldn't find the book she was reaching for, Taylor finally looked up at the man who was standing by her table.

The man was tall, and intimidating with a full beard to match. His hair was that of a thick, black greasy tuft on his head. He wore a dusty and battered black trench coat usually paired with some kind of patterned shirt underneath. The man flicked through the same book Taylor was searching for, completely uncaring of Taylor's confused glare.

"The Odyssey," The man said, naming the book as he flicked through the pages. His thick British accent was evident in his voice. "I remember reading this thing when I was a lad. Oldest work of literature around, they said. All about some hero kind on his way home from war."

"Can I help you?" Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

He chuckled to himself. "Oh, this is a classic, amiright? Some might even call Odysseus the original fucking cape." He ignored Taylor's question as he handed the book back to her. "Course, ever other book that came out since then seems to repeat the same old shite."

"I'm sorry?" Taylor asked, still confused. She wished she was a more confident woman who could simply stand up and leave. She was currently trying to remember which pocket held her canister of pepper spray.

"I mean, look around, lass. You see these books? Full of stories of heroes that folks look up to." The man continued, either unaware or uncaring of what Taylor was doing. "They sell billions of these types of stories worldwide. Goes to show you, doesn't it?"

"What?" Taylor asked again.

The man's smirk widened, revealing a hint of amusement. He leaned back, seemingly enjoying Taylor's growing frustration.

"The bollocks people will believe," The man leaned in to give Taylor a sly smirk. "If you get them scared enough."

"Yeah…" Taylor said, finally reaching her limit of bullshit for today. "Did you actually need something from me, because I'm not in the mood for conversation."

"I'm not gonna piss ya about, Taylor," The man said bluntly. Taylor felt her blood run cold upon hearing her name. "I 'eard what happened to you."

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"One moment you're walking the halls, next you're stuffed in a locker," The man continued. "How many hours till you cry out 'fore somebody found you?... And you still didn't take the payoff."

"Alright, who the hell are you?" Taylor asked, anger burning up inside her. "How do you know that?"

"I suppose it's about time I introduced myself properly," The man said, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial tone. "Names Butcher, Billy Butcher," Butcher reached into his trench coat and pulled out an FBI badge, holding it out for Taylor to see. "I was thinking that you and me should have a little bit of a chat about your little run-in with the PRT."

"You're a fed?" Taylor asked, hesitant to believe the man. "You don't sound like a fed."

"What? I can't immigrate?" Butcher huffed. "Ain't your entire country made up of immigrants from all over the world."

"And you don't really look like one either?" Taylor continued.

"No?" Butcher chuckled, seemingly amused by her observation. "And what do I look like?"

Taylor's eyes narrowed as she stared at the man before her, she refused to answer that question. She had learned the hard way that trust could be a dangerous thing, and she wasn't about to let her guard down again. She studied Butcher, trying to assess his intentions and the truth behind his words.

"What exactly can I do for you?" Taylor finally asked, her voice tinged with scepticism.

She handed Butcher's badge back to him, still unsure whether he was truly an FBI agent or just a skilled impostor.

Butcher's smile widened as he pocketed his badge, seemingly pleased with Taylor's question.

"No, you got it all wrong, Taylor," he replied, his voice oozing with confidence. "It's what I can do for you. See, you ain't alone, girlie. This happens a lot more than people think."

"Girli—" Taylor began, her voice laced with indignation at Butcher's condescending tone, but he cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Everyone thinks capes are here to help us," Butcher continued, his voice laced with bitterness. "Heroes, like the stories of old. But there's a difference between stories and real life, ain't there? Capes fuck over hundreds of people each year. To them, we're all just collateral damage."

Taylor thought about that for a moment. Her view on capes had been severely shocked since learning about Shadow Stalker, but Sophia must have been an anomaly, right?

"No, come on?" Taylor protested, her voice trembling slightly. "That'd be all over the news. People would be screaming bloody murder."

Butcher's gaze hardened, a flicker of anger crossing his face.

"Yeah, there might be the odd mention of it now and again, like with what happened to you," Butcher explained. "But there's a fuck ton more that happens that just gets swept right under the rug."

As Taylor stared at Butcher, her mind reeling with his revelations, she couldn't help but feel a sense of disbelief. The world couldn't possibly be as dark and twisted as he claimed, could it? Her faith in heroes had already been shaken by the revelation of Shadow Stalker's true identity, but this...this was on a whole new level.

"Why?" Taylor's voice trembled with a mix of anger and fear. "Why would they do that? How could they get away with it?"

Butcher leaned back, his face etched with a bitter smile. "Ain't it obvious?" Butcher said with a grim smile. "Merchandising, music, video games, books. A multi-billion dollar, global industry supported by the government itself and all the corporate lobbyists they can gather."

Taylor's mind raced, trying to comprehend the magnitude of what Butcher was saying. The heroes she had looked up to, the ones who were supposed to protect and inspire, were nothing more than pawns in a profit-driven machine. It was a sickening thought.

"But the main reason that you won't hear about it," Butcher leaned back down and picked up Taylor's book again. "Is cause the public don't want to know about it. See, people love that cosy feeling capes give them. That some bloody golden cunt will swoop out of the sky and save the day. So you don't have to do it yourself."

Taylor's heart sank. The realisation hit her like a punch to the gut.

"But if you knew even half the kind of fucked up shit they got up to," Butcher's voice dripped with righteous fury, his eyes burning with intensity. "Fucken diabolical." He paused, allowing his words to sink in. "But that, is where I come in." He gave a bow to hammer home his point.

"Come in, to do what?" Taylor asked, still unsure as to why she was being told all this.

Butcher's smile widened, his lips curling with a mix of determination and rage.

"Spank the bastards when they get out of line." He declared, his eyes gleaming with a fierce resolve.

"How do you, spank, a cape?" Taylor asked. Paraphrasing aside, it was a ridiculous concept.

Butcher started to walk away. "Come on, Girlie."

"Um, where?" Taylor asked, still in her chair.

"You'll love it," Butcher called back, still walking away.

"Uh, not likely," Taylor said, standing up but making no attempt to follow. "I'm not… yeah, no thanks. I'll just- this was an extremely weird but enlightening conversation. But I'm just a teenager, who has a GED to prepare for. Also, I don't really want to go anywhere with you. So, I'm just gonna go-"

"Taylor," Butcher called out, causing her to freeze again. "This is your one and only mate. Once I go, I'm gone." He took a few steps back to Taylor. "I'm offering you, the opportunity to get the cunt who done got you." Taylor thought back on the last two years of suffering she endured, the humiliation of being expelled and the ruin that was her current future. "What have you got to lose, you ain't already lost?"

Butcher's words lingered in Taylor's mind, stirring a mix of frustration and determination within her. As he continued to walk away, Taylor couldn't help but think about all the anger and resentment she held towards her current situation. The unfairness of it all gnawed at her, fueling a fire deep within her.

She clenched her fists, feeling a surge of defiance coursing through her veins. With a sudden burst of resolve, Taylor made a split-second decision. She wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away. If there was even a chance to seek justice for all the pain she had endured, she had to take it.

Taylor dashed after Butcher. Her mind raced, contemplating the risks and uncertainties of following a stranger like him. But deep down, she knew that this was her chance to reclaim her life, to stand up against those who had wronged her.

As she caught up to Butcher, her breath heavy and her heart pounding, she called out to him, her voice filled with determination. "Wait! I'm coming with you!"

Butcher glanced back, a glimmer of pride in his eye. He nodded, a small smirk forming on his lips. "I thought you might change your mind, Girlie. Welcome aboard."

He held out his hand to shake, which Taylor took tentatively. Taylor stared into the man's deep brown eyes, trying to get any sense of deceit or manipulation out of them. She couldn't bring herself to trust anyone these days, but she didn't need trust, she needed justice. Even if it meant joining forces with a wildcard like him.

"Don't call me Girlie," Taylor said, strengthening the grip on her handshake. "And when you get something on Shadow Stalker, I get to pull the trigger on it."

"Sure thing," Butcher chuckled. "Stick with me, Kid. We'll make it happen."

Taylor sighed at the second nickname she was given. She could already tell this was going to be a thing.

"We're the hell are we even going anyway?" Taylor asked as they exited the library.

"Road trip," Butcher said, pointing towards his car. "Just need to collect a few of the boys."

 

[Gowonzu]

"You'll never believe what I just saw," Emma said with a devilish grin as the trio sat down for lunch.

"Taylor?…" Sophia guessed, sounding very bored. Emma's obsession with that girl was bordering on the psychotic, even for her.

"I actually haven't seen her all week?" Madison mused to herself. "Well, outside of class. Where's she run off to this time?"

"She's sitting in the park, across from school," Emma explained, so proud of how she sniffed out Taylor's latest hiding spot. Ever since they'd chased her out of the school library, she had nowhere safe to eat lunch. "And get this, she's got a new friend," Emma stressed the word friend with heavy sarcasm.

"Who's stupid enough to socialise with Hebert?" Sophia asked. She didn't really care but if Emma was going to keep talking about her obsession, then Sophia could pretend to be interested for her friend's sake.

"That's the best part," Emma giggled. "It's just some kid."

"A kid?" Madison asked, not getting the joke.

"You know, like a kid kid," Emma explained. "Taylor's so pathetic that she has to make friends with little girls because no one her age likes her."

Madison laughed at that. Even Sophia had to admit that it was a new low for Hebert.

"So, I'm guessing you have a new plan?" Sophia asked, knowing full well that Emma wasn't content to let Hebert have a single friend, no matter how young they were. "We gonna scare this kid away from her or something?"

Emma shook her head. "Nothing so crude as that. I was thinking… maybe there's a reason Taylor is choosing to spend time with a kid? Maybe, she likes kids? Like, really likes kids," Emma smiled in a sadistic way that Sophia was very used to at this point. Emma always liked to re-contextualise her crusades against Hebert to make it sound like they were the heroes. "We should do our duty to inform people of what an awful person Taylor is."

Madison nodded with an eager smile. Always willing to brown-nose Emma on whatever scheme she cooked up, regardless of how fucked up it was. Sophia was a little more aware of how messed up the three of them were, she just didn't care. Hebert was weak, she let people walk all over her so, therefore, she should be stepped on. If it wasn't for Emma's obsession with the girl, Sophia would've long forgotten that she even existed.

"So, another rumour mill campaign?" Sophia asked bluntly. "Make everyone believe that Hebert is a pedo or something?"

Sophia never really took part in those operations. All she'd do is confirm the story for anyone dumb enough to ask her about it. Emma was the one with all the connections, and who could convince anyone of anything. All Sophia had to do was sit back and watch as Emma texted a handful of people, by lunch's end, the news would spread like wildfire and Hebert would be none the wiser.

------------------------------------------------

A week later, Emma's plan had done exactly what she wanted. The school was filled with whispers of Taylor's excursions off school property during lunch period and the children that she was meeting.

Somewhere along the line, the rumour had expanded to include all manner of children, and not just the lone girl Emma had reportedly seen Taylor eating lunch with. Like with all of Emma's previous slander attempts, the students of Winslow would often add it, making the accusation ten times worse than whatever Emma previously implied. However, for all Emma's work in spreading this foul news around the student body, Taylor herself remained unaffected by it all.

"Dammit!" Emma whined as the trio sat down for lunch. "Taylor doesn't care at all about what people are saying about her.

"Bet the freak is just having too much fun with children," Madison said, trying to placate Emma's annoyance.

"It's to be expected," Sophia said nonchalantly as she ate her food. Emma looked up to her in confusion, Sophia rolled her eyes as she had to explain to Emma what she thought was blindingly obvious at this point. "You've ostracised Taylor so much from everyone else. How is she meant to know what people are saying about her? Everyone's too afraid to even sit next to the girl in class out of the idea that her lameness will spread onto them. Ergo, Taylor has no idea what people are saying about her."

"Shit…" Emma grumbled into her food. That took the fun out of everything. She only did this to get a reaction out of Taylor, if she was going to keep acting like a passive little flower then there was no point. "Alright, what else can we do?"

"We could get the teachers involved?" Madison suggested. "Maybe they'd take it seriously, and Taylor could be arrested or something?"

"Or maybe they'd start looking into what else has been said and done to Taylor and we'd get arrested," Sophia hissed back at her. "Fucking idiot. And you," She snapped her head to Emma. "Why don't you just accept that we've won. Hebert has been crushed under your heel like a worm and let's all move on with our lives… That, or you can just confront her in the park and tell her what people are saying…" Sophia already regretted adding that last suggestion as she said it.

Emma stood up from her table with a smile on her face and a new plan forming in her head. Madison hopped up in a hurry, ready to follow behind. Sophia chose to finish eating her food before she followed Emma on her latest adventure. The stupid redhead couldn't wait five minutes before talking to Hebert, leaving Sophia to chew angrily by herself.

Once her meal was finished, Sophia casually strolled off in the direction that Emma had gone. Students weren't supposed to leave the school during school hours but it wasn't like Winslow had a security guard at the door. No one battered an eye as Sophia exited the building and crossed the street.

The park that Hebert was hiding in could barely be called a park. It was a small patch of lawn with a single tree, a public toilet and a badly maintained set of swings. Exactly the type of park you'd expect in a city like Brockton Bay. Hebert was sitting on the swing, not moving much beyond the odd wobble back and forth while she read her book.

Sophia could spot all the signs of irritation across the girl's face. The way her leg bounced in place, the way she tried to hide her face in the book, the tight grip on the book itself and the single finger that idly tapped the back of her book while she read. Not to mention the tears that were currently drying on her face. Sophia recognised it as a sign that Emma had already shared words with the pathetic girl, but curiously, neither Emma nor Madison could be seen.

She didn't really want to talk to Hebert, but she also didn't want to look like an idiot standing around the park waiting for Emma to show her face. So Sophia walked right up and Taylor and cleared her throat.

"Hebert?" Sophia asked with annoyance. "Which way did Emma go?" She had no real desire to pick on Taylor, Emma had obviously done her thing and Sophia didn't feel like kicking her while she was down. Sophia's boots deserved better than that.

Taylor looked up from her book, not moving the book out of the way or tilting her head. Judging by the way her eyes widened, she didn't see or hear Sophia's approach. She stared back at Sophia and didn't say anything.

"Well?" Sophia asked again. "Come on, Hebert. I haven't got all day."

Taylor's eyes flicked somewhere behind Sophia then back to her. Again, Taylor didn't say a word to her. She simply held her book firm and tapped on the back of it as Sophia stood over her.

"Jesus fuck, Hebert." Sophia sighed. "I know we don't exactly like each other, but the silent treatment is fucking creepy. Did you see Emma or not? She said she was coming here to talk shit about your new friend," Sophia took another look around the park. "Where is the little shit anyway? Emma said you were hanging out with a kid now?"

Taylor didn't say a word, but Sophia caught her eye flicker as she looked behind her again. Sophia followed her view to the public toilets on the edge of the park.

"She in there?" Sophia asked, pointing her thumb back to it. "Just fucking say so already."

Sophia sighed again as she turned around. She took a step towards the toilet as Taylor let out a strange noise. It was like she tried to suppress a cough and failed. Sophia looked back to the girl and watched as her bouncing knee kicked out towards her slightly.

Hebert was always a weird girl, but even Sophia found her exceptionally odd today. She looked over Taylor once more, noting the strange way she looked at her. Taylor still hadn't moved her head, yet her eyes were straining to look in Sophia's direction. She'd stifled a cough yet hadn't so much as opened her mouth and her finger kept tapping the back cover of her book.

As a Ward, Sophia was forced to learn a lot of pointless shit for the sake of being a PRT hero. One of those things was a general understanding of Morse code. Between tinker-tech and sign language, Sophia never thought she'd ever need to learn the dumb thing, but listening to Hebert's fingers tap away, she recognised the iconic beat of 'S.O.S.'

"Hebert?" Sophia asked with growing suspicion, as she looked back towards her with actual concern for once in her life. "Where the fuck is Emma and Madison? And where the fuck is this kid you've been hanging out with?…" Sophia thought to herself, a question she might've wondered sooner if she really cared before now. "And why the fuck isn't this kid in school?"

"Hey!" A voice behind Sophia called out. Hebert's eyes widened again as she looked over past Sophia. "No swearing!"

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Was honestly, just planning to give a quick 100 word summary of a possible happy ending and this this happened. So enjoy a direct sequel to the last story.

---

Sophia dived into action. She didn't even think about what she needed to do. She'd been briefed on the Slaughterhouse Nine enough to recognise the telltale signs of Bonesaw.

She didn't have any of her Shadow Stalker equipment on her, but Sophia wasn't dumb enough to be caught unarmed. She unfolded a small pocket knife and spun around on her heels. Sure enough, she was faced with a small blonde girl. Wearing a dress and multicoloured eyes. She even wore her signature, oversized apron that was covered in blood. Sophia tried not to think about whose blood that was, or where her friends were at this moment.

"Oh gosh," Bonesaw said with a cutesy smile. "That's a fast reaction you have there, are you perhaps a?-"

Sophia threw her knife. It struck dead on. Impaling Bonesaw right through her green eye. The little girl's head thrust back at the impact but she didn't collapse like a body should. There were three quiet heartbeats as the girl just looked up into the sky. Sophia growled as she already knew what had happened.

Bonesaw reached up and pulled the pocket knife from her eye socket. Blood spurted out from the wound as she idly inspected the makeshift weapon. The girl seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he entire eye had been stabbed out, instead, she ran her finger over the small blade until she drew a small drop of blood.

"Cute knife," Bonesaw said as she folded it away. "Mine's bigger though." She reached behind her back and pulled out a large cleaver knife. It looked comically large in the tiny girl's hand.

"Oh fuck," Sophia growled. She'd just thrown her only weapon in a last-ditch effort to take out Bonesaw and failed spectacularly.

"I said, no swearing!" Bonesaw yelled, dropping to a crouched stance before running full sprint at Sophia.

The little girl was quicker than she had any right to be. Sophia knew that Bonesaw modified her own body, but seeing a child sprint faster than an Olympian was a surprising sight to be sure. Sophia had no chance to dodge out of the way, she only had one course of action before her, bystanders be damned.

She shifted into her shadow form and watched as the little demon slashed right through her. The blade passed right through where her neck would've been just a second ago. Bonesaw had put all her momentum into that swing, so when it didn't connect with flesh, she fell forward and landed face-first in the dirt.

Sophia reformed a short distance away, thinking hard about what she should do next. Her hand moved for her phone, quick dialling her Ward emergency number. It picked up almost as soon as Sophia made the call.

"Happy Hogans DVD rental, how may we help you?" A male voice asked back with a cheery voice. It was a front for anyone who might have taken Sophia's phone and dialled the number. Usually, Sophia would have to state her cape name, identity code and phase phrase before they'd talk to her seriously, but Sophia didn't have enough time for secret identity bullshit.

"Bonesaw!" Sophia screamed into the phone. "Park across from Winslow High, currently engaged, send back-" She had to form into shadow again as Bonesaw took another run at her. The downside of her power was that any electronic she was using would briefly shut off when she took it into shade, the phone call was abruptly ended and Sophia could only hope that they took the message.

"That's an interesting trick," Bonesaw mused. "How does it work? You're not slowed down by sunlight, but it is still light-based, maybe shadows?…"

Sophia reformed again and thought about her next plan of action. The logical part of her brain told her to run away. She'd reported it, Bonesaw was part of the Slaughterhouse Nine and far too much of a threat for her to take on alone. She quickly glanced at Hebert, who was still stuck on the swing, nose in her book. As much as Sophia disliked the girl, she didn't deserve to be left to Bonesaw's mercy. Emma and Madison were also victims, suspected to be in the public toilets, however, their current well-being was subject to question. A question Sophia didn't want to think about.

"Doesn't matter, I'll find out," Bonesaw continued, turning towards Sophia again. "Just need to catch you first." Sophia readied herself to shift into shade once again but Bonesaw didn't charge at her this time. Instead, she put two fingers in her mouth and gave two sharp whistles.

There was a constant rattling sound coming from the toilets, as the door to the male side burst open. Four monstrosities ran out, stumbling around like fast-moving zombies. They had a human shape to them, but Bonesaw had obviously done some extreme work on all of them. One creature was headless but had a stitched-on face coming from its torso, another one looked to be a blob of flesh that ran on four legs, four feet in total. Another had hands for feet and the fourth was simply a torso that used its arms to support itself.

Bonesaw pointed in Sophia's direction and all four monstrosities gave chase. While she could dodge one or two of the things as they charged at her, all four of them fought with a surprising amount of coordination. The shorter creatures attacked her legs as the humanoid ones tried to grapple her. Every time she shifted away, they would keep up until she reformed. Holding her down and slowly wearing her down. They also didn't seem to respond to pain, so kicking and punching them had no real effect beyond the one leg that she managed to break.

Within a few minutes, Sophia was overwhelmed. Her power had a limit, turning into shade was like holding her breath and once she was winded, it became almost impossible to use it reliably.

"Caught you~" Bonesaw sang out as she walked over to Sophia. Her hands were behind her back as she smiled down at the struggling hero. "But now? What do I do with you?" She thought to herself as she hummed and ahhed loudly. Turning back to Taylor who was still sitting on the swing. "This is another one of your bullies, right?" Bonesaw called out. Taylor didn't respond, couldn't respond. "She told me all about you, y'know?" She said, turning back to Sophia. "How you tease and torment her at school every day. All she wanted to do was find someplace where she could read her book alone."

Sophia struggled as multiple limbs held her down. Bonesaw had obviously spied the limitations of her powers, as the monstrosities choked her just enough to make shifting impossible.

"So, I took pity on the poor girl. Let her read her book all she wants," Bonesaw explained. "She fought me a 'lil at first, but after fiddling with her body, I made her all better," Sophia gasped out for air but was met with another fist to her stomach. "Isn't that right, Taylor? Anyway, for you. Maybe I'll just put you with those other two rude girls. The younger one was so far up the redhead's butt, I think she'd like being stitched together. Maybe you can slide on to the end of that? After I'm done picking your brain about your power."

She giggled, thinking of all the horribly fucked up things that she could do to Sophia. Cutting open one of her monstrosities and fishing out a new eyeball to replace the one she lost.

Sophia could feel her consciousness slipping as the mess of limbs squeezed harder around her neck. She'd lost this fight, and now she was going to black out and wake up under Bonesaw's knife. Sophia had never been this terrified since the day she triggered, and all she could do was look into the eyes of that monster.

"Hey…" Bonesaw called out. Sophia could barely hear her as her brain screamed for air. "-op that. It hu-" The sound flashed in and out as Sophia struggled to stay awake. "Ah, quit it!" Bonesaw cried as the hands lessened up on her throat.

Sophia let out a gasp for air as all the monstrosities let go of her, moving to attack whatever it was that had pissed off Bonesaw. She took several deep breaths before pulling herself to her feet. Finally looking at whatever or whoever her savour was.

A black mass of insects was buzzing around Bonesaw, biting and stinging the girl. Most of the bugs didn't seem to affect her, but Bonesaw seemed oddly protective of her left arm. Sophia scanned the area for any new capes who might've been summoning these bugs but she couldn't see anyone. She also couldn't see where the bugs were coming from, the swarm looked to be growing in size but no bugs were crawling past Sophia to add to it.

Upon closer inspection, Sophia saw that the swarm wasn't made up of any bugs she knew. They were pitch black and spawned from the ground beneath the park, appearing out of nothing and immediately converging on Bonesaw and her creatures. Except it wasn't from nothing, it was coming from the shadow that Taylor was casting. Hebert had just triggered, and her powers seemed to resemble Sophia's in some small way.

Unfortunately, Taylor still couldn't move from her seated position, as two of Bonesaw's creatures moved to attack her. Sophia moved to a sprint, forcing her tired lungs to work through adrenaline and sheer force of will. She tackled one of the monstrosities to the floor and started wailing on it. The second creature reached Taylor and pushed her off the swing. Her swarm instantly vanished as she fell.

Sophia quickly tackled the second creature and pulled Taylor up, tilting her head towards Bonesaw.

"Do it again!" Sophia yelled, hoping for another miracle. "Hebert, do that again or we're both dead!"

Bonesaw and her minions lunged at the two girls. Sophia squeezed down on Taylor and brought her into the shadow state with her. Bonesaw's cleaver passed through them both as she dove. Then something odd happened. Sophia and Taylor exploded. Her shade form burst out as Taylor used it as a base for her swarm. Insects shot out in all directions and attacked everyone around them.

Bonesaw dropped her cleaver and moved to get away from the erupting swarm. Two of the four creatures succumbed to the constant biting and stinging, and collapsed to the ground, lifeless. It only lasted for a handful of seconds, as when Sophia dropped her shadow form, the bugs once again dissipated into nothing.

Sophia jumped for Bonesaw's cleaver, needing any weapon she could get her hand on. Taylor was already forming a smaller swarm from her own personal shadow to attack the two remaining monsters. For a girl who was basically paralysed, she was putting up an impressive fight.

"Hey Bitch!" Sophia shouted out to the scrambling little girl. Bonesaw pulled out the pocket knife Sophia had thrown at her earlier. "We ain't done yet!"

"No swearing!" Bonesaw cried as she lunged at Sophia. She was aiming straight for her eye, but Sophia phased away like before.

"Fuck you!" Sophia yelled back as she reformed, swinging the cleaver at the smaller girl. Instead of aiming for her head or torso, Sophia slashed at the upper section of Bonesaw's arm that she'd been protective about earlier. The cleaver cut her shoulder clean off as an arm went flying across the park.

Bonesaw fell to her knees, grasping the stubbed arm in pain. She glared up at Sophia with an angry, hateful frown on her face.

"You think losing an arm is going to save you?" Bonesaw asked, obviously pissed off with her. "That was just one of my seventeen inbuilt backups. You'd have to try a lot harder than that if you want to kill me-"

Taylor's shadow swarm struck fast. Aiming directly for the giant hole in her shoulder and not slowing down in the slightest. Sophia watched in disgust and horror as shadow bugs started crawling out of her mouth and eye socket. Bonesaw collapsed to the floor and didn't get back up again.

The park was eerily quiet now that the battle was over. The other two monstrosities had also collapsed, as Sophia could only hear the sound of her own heart beating and Taylor's soft whimpers through a paralysed face.

---------------------------------------------------

Sophia didn't know how long stood there, looking down at Bonesaw's hollow corpse. A PRT officer approached her and offered a basic face mask. The whole park was being sectioned off by cars and vans, and an extra perimeter was being made around Sophia herself while she masked up.

There were several people in hazmat suits inspecting Bonesaw's corpse, while paramedics retrieved Taylor and whoever else was found inside the toilets. The Protectorate heroes were standing on the edges, acting as a blocker for any curious bystanders, media and students. They all had grim faces on, no doubt expecting to do battle with the Nine.

Thankfully, nobody else appeared to cause trouble and Sophia was eventually moved into an ambulance. The same one Hebert had been placed in. The girl was still paralysed, her face neutral as she lay in a seated position on the stretcher. Sophia found a place to sit and let the paramedic do their thing.

Armsmaster of all people, also joined the back of the ambulance, making it a very tight squeeze as they drove off from the scene. Sophia noted that while they were being driven into the city, the other ambulance turned in the other direction.

"You're both going back to headquarters," Armsmaster explained, noting Sophia's concern. "You'll both be treated in our medical wing, and no one will be aware that two parahumans go to Winslow High." Sophia realised that he was most likely here for Hebert's sake, not her own. "Don't you worry? We've already notified Panacea, and she'll meet us there. Whatever Bonesaw has done to you, will be undone. You have my word."

Sophia stumbled her lips for a moment before she finally got out her words. "There were… There were two girls… Emma and Madison… One was a redhead, the other was short, are they?"

"There were two girls found at the scene," Armsmaster said, raising a hand to calm her. "While it seems like Bonesaw was in the middle of operating on them, it appears she didn't get very far into her work before you showed up. They'll be treated and stitched up but regular doctors. Your friends will be fine… physically anyway," He looked over again to Taylor as if remembering something. "This might be a good time to inform you that the Wards has an excellent therapy service, should you be so inclined to sign up. However, we won't force you to join. But we'll discuss more once you've been treated."

Hebert looked at Sophia, she could only guess what kind of questions were running through her mind right now. Sophia couldn't be bothered trying to play mind reader, so she asked the questions she cared about.

"What happened to Bonesaw?"

"You tell me," Armsmaster shrugged. "By all reports, killing her should have released some of the worst plagues known to mankind. And yet her entire corpse is hollow. Like something ate her from the inside. I'm assuming that had something to do with those shadow bugs that were forming about Ms Hebert here?"

Sophia nodded. She was suddenly worried about how the lethal force would be viewed, considering her probation. A stupid notion as this was fucking Bonesaw she had helped kill, but a worry nonetheless.

"Hey, chin up," Armsmaster said with his best approximation of a smile. "You two just took out one of the worst villains in the country, possibly the world. No one is going to care how you did it," Sophia managed to smile back, she could be proud of what she did. "But uh, Piggot will still want to debrief you." Her smile dropped, she'd survived Bonesaw only to be thrown into another form of torture, the after-action report.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this little snippet on my phone while at work. Amy runs into a mugger, Rachel is there too because I like pairing them. Might use this in 'My Girlfriend Is Terrifying" later down the line. Who knows.

---

Amy stared at the knife that waved in front of her face, then at the man who wielded it. Some Empire goon, a stupid kid barely older than her, who thought he could stick up two girls with a knife.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Amy asked, looking the man over.

"I don't really give a shit," The man sneered back. "Now hand over your wallets and any other valuables before anyone gets hurt."

Rachel was just about ready to pounce on the stupid fuck, but Amy held up an arm to halt her. She looked back to the knife-wielding idiot and spat at him.

"Alright, that's it!" The man said, wiping drool from his face. "I'm going to stab you fi-" His threat was interrupted by a cough. More of a choke as he rubbed his throat.

Amy smiled as the man slowly realised who she was.

"What the fuck did you do to me!?" He asked through chokes and coughs. "What the fuck did you do!?"

"Most people assume I'm just a healer," Amy smiled coldly. "Did you know I can modify any bacteria and virus I come into contact with? I can even do it in my mouth and then... weaponise it."

The man touched his throat again, his nose was also starting to leak and his eyes were beginning to feel an itch coming on.

"Do you feel it?" Amy asked sadisticly. "The virus working through your system. Attacking your throat, your lungs. The build-up of mucus in your sinuses, the cold chill running up your neck. How you struggle to focus, slowly getting dizzy with each passing second. It's working faster because I told it to. But rest assured, it's built to last, built to make you suffer."

The man dropped his knife and fell to his knees. He stared at his hands as he probably questioned what stupid decisions brought him to this point.

"I'm still a hero though," Amy said with a sigh. "So if you run to a chemist now, they might be able to help you. I suggest begging for some acetaminophen, then you 'might' have a chance of surviving the week."

The man turned and fled. Coughing and sputtering the entire time as he ran. Amy couldn't help but let out a chuckle, even if she knew what she did was overly mean.

"Damn," Rachel said, watching the man disappear. "I was just going to kick his teeth in, what the hell did you give the guy?"

Amy turned back with a cheeky smile. "A cold, but he doesn't need to know that."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Had this silly idea in my head all day and just had to get it written down. There's also some light smugbug, mainly near the end. It's not explicitly stated but that's the intent for anyone who cares about it.

---

Business was booming in Brockton Bay.

Coil's empire was dismantled, his assets seized by the authorities and his mercenaries fled into the wind. With Coil dealt with, the Undersiders returned back to their original roots of being a group of freelance villains. They had no grand ideals for conquering the city, nor were they willing to escalate out into a full confrontation with the PRT.

Since the Undersider's primary backer was gone, it was up to them to find their next job and keep the money flowing. No one wanted to quit, the team had built a strong bond with each other and were determined to keep working together. So it fell to Lisa to procure new work for the team.

In the past, Lisa would spend days, if not weeks vetting a single rich smuck just to see if they would be interested in the Undersiders services. It was an impractical and time-consuming method, and now that Lisa wasn't forced to waste time on Coil's stupid jobs, she could put her Thinker powers to use. Why spend so many hours schmoozing and charming a single client when you can throw your services up on the net and wait for prospective clients to come to you?

Undersiders.com was Lisa's answer to their financial problems.

A publicly available website, that anyone could access. Lisa had to call in a few remaining favours to make the domain hackproof, as authorities would try to pull the website down, but once the bugs were ironed out, the site was online and going to stay that way.

The requests started coming in. A new mercenary company was born in the heart of Brockton Bay, and they were affordable to the common man. Undersiders: Villains for Hire. From petty theft to complex revenge jobs, the Undersiders were in business. They had rules, and morals that they held to. No gang work, no drugs, nothing too violent and nothing too loud. Beyond that, they would do anything for the right price and people were willing to pay.

Their professionalism built up their reputation. Their reputation made them popular. Popularity brought in better-paying jobs. The amount of people who would pay to have their boss's house robbed or threaten a problematic person in this city was exceptional. They had an entire week where all they did was blackmail and beat stalkers and abusive partners. At some point, the citizens were even calling the Undersiders a modern-day Robin Hood.

Lisa spent her mornings looking through the latest requests. The trouble with taking jobs from the general public was that there was a pile of anonymous requests that needed to be vetted all the time. She scrolled through the thirty or forty requests that were obvious traps from the PRT and rival gangs. They were easy to spot most of the time. Then she had to delete all the junk requests from people who were obviously not serious. Removing the extreme requests and the silly ones that wouldn't be worth it, Lisa was left with five perspective jobs for the Undersiders to take.

"Let's see…" Lisa sighed as she scrolled through her messages. "Hmm, boring. Boring… Wait, maybe. We'll see. Oh, that looks… oh, eww, no." Lisa was disappointed with today's selection. With the current selection being so dreadfully dull, she expanded her search to include some of the silly and extreme jobs. "Maybe I was too harsh, let's just list it by the highest bidder and see what I can stomach-" Lisa's thought was cut off as she read the job at the top of her list. As she read the job description closely, a smile slowly formed on her lips.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"So who are we meeting?" Skitter asked. Usually Tattletale handed the client meetings. Skitter stopped meeting with them after one such client almost had a heart attack. "And why are you bringing me along?"

"What? Can't I have a meeting with my favourite girl?" Tattletale said with a grin. Skitter eyed her suspiciously. "The client wants us to scare someone, so I figured you'd be good to help make the sale."

That was almost plausible. Skitter shrugged and followed Tattletale's lead as the two villains headed towards the meeting place. A rented office space that was empty for the weekend. Skitter and Tattletale sat at a large desk as they waited for their client. Tattletale playfully tapped the desk and kicked her legs as she waited, swaying side to side as Skitter sat up straight.

"Oh and Skitter?" Tattletale got her attention with a smile. Skitter turned to look at her companion. "Remember, we can't attack our clients. We have to remain professional, it's all about reputation."

"I know that," Skitter said with heavy suspicion in her voice. "Why would you think I'd attack our clients?"

"No reason~" Tattletale sang out as she playfully swayed.

"Alright… Who's the client?" Skitter asked again.

"Oh, nobody important," Tattletale said, her tone made it clear that Skitter was about to be the butt of some kind of practical joke. "Just some daughter of a prestigious lawyer or some such stuff." She waved her hand away.

"Daughter of a prestigious lawyer…" Skitter repeated, thinking to herself. Tattletale continued to grin as Skitter slowly understood. "Oh no. You're kidding me, please tell me you're fucking kidding me!?"

Tattletale didn't say anything in response, simply holding her shit-eating grin as they heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Hi-hi! Sorry, I'm late," A voice called out from behind the door. Skitter immediately recognised her as Emma Barnes walked in with the usual cocky attitude that Taylor knew her for. Sitting down across from the two villains she flashed a bright grin. "Thanks for taking my request into consideration. Tattletale, Skitter. Ma'am… uh, Ma'ams… So, how does this work? Do we talk specifics first, or payment?"

Skitter's fist clenched in her hand as she sat across from the girl. Tattletale placed a calming hand on Skitter's shoulder before turning toward Emma with a smile.

"Oh payment, of course," Tattletale said with a smile. "Now we've already agreed to our flat rate, and depending on the complexity of the operation we'll also require an additional fifteen to thirty percent increase on top of that." Emma was in the middle of doing some mental maths before Tattletale pulled out a calculator and presented her summary.

"Oh, sure…" Emma nodded hesitantly after looking at the price. "No problem. I can afford that."

"And what is the job?" Skitter asked, before turning back to Tattletale. "You want us to… scare someone?" Tattletale chuckled as Skitter deepened her voice in the presence of Emma.

"Yes," Emma said with a smile. "As I said online, I was hoping to hire you for a... prank of sorts."

"A prank?" Skitter asked.

"Yeah, a prank," Emma said again, a little more confidently. "I thought it'd be funny if the Undersiders scared a girl I knew."

Tattletale could feel Skitter's cold, contemptuous glare behind her mask. It didn't stop Tattletale's smug grin in the slightest as she stared right back at her partner.

"I see," Tattletale said, taking the lead in the discussion. "I imagine you have a specific prank in mind?"

"Y-yes!" Emma said, a smile growing on her face. "I was thinking like… she always walks home past this creepy alleyway after school. I don't know where she goes but it would be the perfect spot for her to run into a swarm of spiders or even those giant dogs you have. I don't know, I'll leave the specifics to you, but scare her, y'know, put the fear of god or whatever into her."

"Sounds like a standard job, right Skitter?" Tattletale chuckled, looking over to Skitter.

Skitter didn't bother to respond to her question, instead looking at Emma. "Who's the target?" The girl was oblivious to Skitter's angry growl as she asked.

"Right, yes," Emma said, fidgeting with her phone. "A student, at Winslow High. Taylor Hebert. I got a photo," She showed the two villains a photo of Taylor, Skitter looked to Tattletale who responded with another smirk. "I can also provide a home address if you need," Emma added, shrinking under the view of the two villains.

"No worries," Tattletale said with a charming smile. "I'm sure we can manage."

"So, can you do it?" Emma asked expectantly. "It's not too complicated, right?"

"Oh, I don't know," Tattletale said as she thought to herself. "Scaring a minor, tends to bring a lot of heat, what do you think, Skitter?"

"Anything else you want to do to her?" Skitter growled. "Maybe we should remove some of her fingers? Or bury her alive for a few hours, or do you just want me to devour her with my bugs?"

Skitter was pissed. This girl had just tried to hire professional villains to torment her, given them a goddamn photo and even offered to give her home address. If it wasn't for the fact that Tattletale was sitting with them, Skitter might've reconsidered her opinion on personal revenge.

"Woah! No!" Emma yelped back. "No killing. I don't want anybody to die. Just scare the girl. Shake her up a bit and then leave."

"Don't worry," Tattletale stepped in. "We don't kill people. We're professionals."

Emma relaxed after hearing that, Skitter and Tattletale noted her reaction. She wasn't a complete monster apparently. Just a stupid bitch who hired supervillains to torment someone for no apparent reason.

"Well, I think we have enough information," Tattletale said, typing into her calculator again. "It's definitely something we can do. Cost-wise, something in the range of this amount." She pushed the calculator out towards Emma again. The price was more than three times their normal rate before any extras were discussed. However, Emma didn't know any of that.

"Yeah, of course," Emma said, nodding back to Tattletale. "How do we do this? Do I Venmo you? Or do I need to get cash out?"

"We'll send you a payment link later today," Tattletale said with her corporate professionalism tone. "You can expect an email later today. Payment will be expected in full, and the job will be completed within a week of payment. Link will stay active for three days, if we don't get payment, we will assume the contract is cancelled and we won't contact you again."

"Alright, cool," Emma said, she stood and extended a hand towards Tattletale. "A pleasure doing business with you… I guess." She turned to extend a hand to Skitter, the villain kept her hands folded and glared down at the girl.

"One question, before you leave," Skitter said after she was done intimidating the girl. Emma straightened up as she spoke. "Why this girl? What did she do to you that deserves this kind of response? It's an awful lot of effort to put into a prank. A rather traumatising prank by the sounds of it. What did she do to piss you off?"

Tattletale's grin finally broke as she leaned back and let Skitter take the lead. Emma looked between Skitter and the floor as she collected her thoughts, the question seemed a lot harder to answer than whatever generic answer Skitter was expecting.

"This might sound stupid but…" Emma began, looking away in what could almost be considered as shame. "She used to be a friend of mine… a close friend of mine," Her face scrunched up as she admitted that much. "Some shit happened to her and she became… lame. Sad. Pathetic. It was just depressing to be around her. Anyway, I ran into some trouble, in an alleyway, a bunch of… people roughed me up and threatened my life. I got lucky enough to come out of it alive and… I was so much stronger for it. Taylor, this girl, she's so meek and pathetic. I keep trying to make her strong but she keeps rejecting it, so I figured, it worked for me, so I'd try it with her. I don't know, my friend thinks it stupid and maybe I'm obsessed, but I'm trying to help her."

Skitter didn't say a word in response. Tattletale stepped up before the silence got too awkward.

"Well, that's all we have time for in this meeting," She said, gesturing Emma to the door. "Like I said, you'll get an email later today, just pay through the link and we'll do our job." She shuffled Emma out the door and closed it behind her, sighing in relief once the redhead started moving away. "So, that was enlightening."

"Tattletale, what the fuck!?" Skitter said as she threw up her hands. "Seriously, what the fuck was that? Is this your idea of a joke?"

Tattletale held out two hands in a calming gesture. "Calm down Skitter. I know you two have a history but look at it from this perspective."

"What perspective!?" Skitter growled. "We just accepted a job to traumatise myself. This bitch isn't satisfied enough with putting me through my own goddamn trigger event, she wants me to get mugged by a bunch of supervillains too? What if she went to the Empire!? What if I didn't have my powers and she actually went to someone who would do this for her?"

"Yes, Emma is a fucking idiot," Tattletale agreed with a pointed finger. "And she also has unlimited access to her Daddy's credit card. So, why not take advantage of her stupidity and take her money? Easiest job in the world. Just act like you ran into… yourself."

"And if she wants proof?" Skitter asked.

"Then we take a photo of you covered in bugs or something," Tattletale waved her hand. "Think about it, this is three times the payday to do absolutely nothing. I say we take the money and spend a weekend out of town. Road trip. You, me. Maybe Rachel if she wants. Aisha if Brian lets her. Make it a girl's night… weekend trip… thing."

Skitter nodded her head. She wasn't happy with what just happened, but she could understand Tattletale's reasoning. From an outside perspective, it was funny, ripping off her high school bully and having them pay for a fun trip away. That didn't stop her from feeling pissed off right this second.

"Do you… wanna talk about what she said, at the end there?" Tattletale asked, taking a seat again next to Skitter. "I know you have a lot of mixed feelings up there," She tapped Skitter on the head. "But if a part of you… wanted Emma back in your life. You could use this as a stepping point. I could help give pointers on how she wants you to act."

Skitter shook her head. "No… Fuck that. She's crazy, her plan is crazy, her logic is batshit crazy. I don't want… Just no."

"Good," Tattletale said with a smile rising back onto her face. "You deserve better friends than that. Plus if anyone tried to take the mantel of your best friend, I'd have to kill them." That managed to cause Skitter to chuckle, only slightly. Tattletale grabbed Skitter's hands and looked her directly in the eyes. "Let's take this cunts money, milk her for everything she's worth, and have the best goddamn weekend of our lives."

"Fine…" Skitter sighed, a small smile being heard in her tone.

--------------------------------------------------------

A week later, Taylor and Lisa were sipping glasses of overpriced champagne in some luxury penthouse hotel. Aisha chased one of Rachel's dogs around the room as it chewed up one of the expensive pillows. Rachel would occasionally ask Aisha for help ordering some fancy room service meal.

The girls had climbed into a van headed for New York City with the expressive intent of having the best night in the city that they could imagine. Everything was bought and paid for thanks to Emma Barnes and her Father's credit card.

After exploring the city for the day and returning again to finish off the bottle of champagne, and two or three more, Taylor got the silly idea to update Emma on how their operation was progressing. They put a little flair into their story, exaggerating the details of how they scared Taylor Hebert in that alleyway, and then they used Brutus to help frame a fake photo to attach to the message.

None of the girls remembered exactly what they sent in the email that night but suffice to say, the next time Taylor saw Emma at school, it was a very strange experience. Emma practically broke down sobbing in apology to the girl, thinking that Taylor had died from a vicious mauling by dogs and insects.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: So I wanted to write this trope. I've been picking at this snippet for a while now. Idk if I can be bothered turning it into a full fic, but consider this chapter 1 of ?. Also don't know if its works having the flashbacks or if it makes reading a bit too confusing. Anyway I tried writing three different stories and ended up finishing this off instead. So enjoy,

---

It had been over a month since Leviathan had attacked Brockton Bay.

The city had been put through the wringer. The docks and the area surrounding it had been completely destroyed. Gangs roamed the street, turning a once civil city into some post-apocalyptic scenario, complete with monsters like the Slaughterhouse Nine, Butcher and a rogue Case 53.

The city was almost abandoned by the government itself, only recently getting the support it needed to repair the city's infrastructure and return its citizens to some semblance of a normal life.

Police were paroling the streets again, and hospitals were no longer in a constant state of overcrowded. Schools had once again opened their doors to children. The city was healing, and the city was safe.

That was the lie that so many desperate people wanted to believe.

A woman ran through the city streets, her footsteps echoing in the desolate silence that hung heavy in the night air. Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the rhythm of her frantic steps. Each breath she took was ragged.

Her eyes darted around, searching for any sign of help, for a glimmer of safety amidst the chaos that enveloped Brockton Bay. The once bustling streets now lay in ruins, the shattered remnants of a city. Buildings stood as crumbling shells, their windows shattered by the scars of destruction.

Blood trickled down the woman's arm, staining her clothes a dark, ominous red. She clutched her wounded limb, a grimace of pain etched across her face. The cut was far deeper than it had any right to be, and no amount of pressure would stop the bleeding completely.

She stumbled, her foot catching on a piece of debris that littered the street. Her knees hit the pavement with a jarring impact, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up, refusing to succumb to the exhaustion.

She glanced over her shoulder, her attackers were nowhere to be seen. She'd run so very far from the place of attack and yet she found no solace in their disappearance. Fear fueled her every movement, she dodged through alleyways and side streets, navigating the labyrinthine maze of destruction with a desperate instinct.

She was far too deep into gang territory to navigate her way out of it. Especially at the rate of blood, she was losing. It was stupid wandering too far into this part of the city, she knew it was stupid and yet she had done it anyway.

The woman was lost, that much was sure. She knew Brockton Bay, but this was no longer her city. The streets had been washed away and replaced with boarded-up shacks and rotting buildings. There was nothing familiar, nothing that could lead her back home.

All she wanted to do was go home, lock herself up in her room, bury herself under blankets and let sleep take her away from the nightmare.

But that was exactly the type of thinking that got her into this mess in the first place.

Turning a corner, the woman spotted a landmark, a familiar building that even Leviathan's waves couldn't wash away. It was a building that everyone knew and no one knew. An oasis of safety to some, and a warning to others. Emma wouldn't normally consider it a friendly place for the likes of her, but her head was already feeling heavy from the blood loss. She guessed that she had a few minutes before her adrenaline ran out and then she would collapse. The woman had to make a decision.

What would be waiting for her at that place? Certainly not a warm welcome, perhaps even a painful death? She had no way to be sure. Online forms agreed that this was the safest territory of the lot. That so long as you bowed your head and acted respectfully, you'd be treated fairly and protected.

She knew this was a bad idea, but in the absence of any good ideas, the woman continued onward.

------------------------------------------

"Skitter? T-Taylor?" A voice called out from behind the door, followed by three knocks. "S-sorry. Skitter. We have a problem."

Skitter could see everything in her territory.

That was the lie that so many desperate people believed. What was once a warning to anyone who dared attack her was now a promise to the people who lived under her protection.

Skitter's range was great, and she did see a great many things that went on in her land. However, she didn't see everything, and she didn't see anything while she was asleep.

"Skitter?" The voice called out again. "Are you awake?"

Taylor pulled herself out of bed. Reestablishing her control over the bugs in her area, calling them off their preassigned tasks and expanding her web of information. She could see Charlotte on the other side of her door, the poor girl looked like Taylor did, half asleep and barely dressed. Whatever problem had occurred had only just made itself known to her.

Slipping herself into her costume, Skitter could already guess what was the cause for the alarm. Someone stood downstairs in the doorway. Slouching against the wall as they waited for anyone to open it. Their face was covered but Skitter could already tell it was a woman and already had a suspicion of who it might be.

"I'll handle it," Skitter said as she opened the bedroom door. Masked up and ready for action.

"They asked for you," Charlotte said, following as Skitter walked by her. "I mean, for Taylor…" She whispered the name, even though it wasn't a secret anymore. "It's not the PRT but it's-"

"I'll handle it," Skitter said again, bluntly. "Go check on the kids, make sure none of them woke up. Then go back to bed."

Charlotte nodded and headed off towards the children's bedrooms. Skitter continued down the stairs to the ground floor. She had no idea what this woman was doing at her doorstep so late in the night. Of all the people in Brockton Bay, Taylor never imagined seeing them again. And yet.

Skitter opened the front door. Her swarm already informed her that no one else was waiting for her, the PRT wasn't setting an elaborate trap for her. In all honesty, Taylor would've preferred that over the reality that stood before her.

"Please… I had… I had nowhere else to go."

Emma Barnes stood before her. Looking terrible. Her hands trembling and shaking as if trying to grasp at air. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her clothes looked torn and dirty. Emma looked as broken as the city was these days.

Skitter gripped the door tight, ready to slam it in the girl's face. Of all the people to show up on her door in the middle of the night, Emma Barnes was the last person in the world Taylor expected to see again. Her first thought was to shut the door on her, walk away and be done with it.

Taylor's life had become infinitely more complicated in the months since she put on her suit. The days of being tortured at school by Emma and her cronies felt like an eternity ago. It would've been easy to say that Taylor hated Emma but the truth was much simpler than that. She didn't care, she stopped caring ages ago. Any past connection that she shared with the girl had been well and truly burned.

But as Taylor stared into Emma's bloodshot eyes, she felt a flicker of something she thought had long since died out within her. It was empathy, a glimmer of the person she used to be, the person who had once considered Emma a friend. Despite everything, despite the countless betrayals and the pain she had caused, Taylor couldn't turn her away.

Stepping aside, she opened the door wider, inviting Emma inside. The former queen bee stumbled forward, her body swaying with exhaustion. Taylor noticed the cuts and bruises marring her face, evidence of a desperate struggle. Emma was a mess, a shadow of her former self.

"Come in," Skitter said quietly, her voice devoid of any warmth.

"Thank you…" Emma choked out hoarsely. "I didn't… I don't…" She looked to be on the verge of crying. Taking two steps into the door and collapsing. Skitter caught her at the last second and pulled her back up to her feet.

Skitter didn't need to question how Emma had found her, only why. Her location wasn't a deeply hidden secret, and her identity even less so.

In the past weeks, people had discovered a great deal about Skitter. The PRT had attempted to arrest her at a local high school, in doing so they had publicly unmasked Taylor Hebert.

Skitter in turn had retaliated by attacking the PRT directly. The city had braced itself for yet another escalation of violence that would shake the city, as the Undersiders went to war with the PRT.

Chief Director Costa-Brown called in Alexandria to take care of the situation, to which most people would assume to be the end of the story. And then the most incredible thing happened.

A sixteen-year-old girl took down the most powerful woman alive and made the world watch. What was planned to be a clean sweep of the Bay's most prolific warlord became a humiliating defeat of the greatest hero alive. Millions of people watched as Alexandra was brought down in mere seconds of approaching Skitter, and how the young supervillain decided her fate.

Mercy.

A deal was struck. The Undersiders would remain, and Skitter would stay. And the world got to keep its hero for one more day. Neither side wanted the death of a Triumvirate member, so a truce was declared. Albeit begrudgingly.

Taylor still had no idea how they had survived that. She was so close to killing that woman. Of all the people, she never imagined seeing Alexandria gasping for her life. And yet, her old high school bully showing up on her door begging for help was still the most surprising thing she experienced this month.

Taylor's eyes narrowed behind her mask. Her mind grappling with conflicting emotions. She knew she had the power to crush Emma, to make her pay for everything she had done. But revenge had long lost its appeal. She didn't use her power on her back then, using it now would just be kicking her while she was already down.

She sat Emma down in a nearby chair, the girl nodded, tears streaming down her dirt-streaked face. Taylor moved to collect the first aid kit as she tried to ignore her reality. The girl who had tormented her relentlessly was now sitting in her hallway, broken and in need of help.

Opening the medical kit, Taylor's hands moved with practised efficiency. She examined Emma's wounds. There was a deep cut in her arm, the edges jagged and coated with dirt. It was clear that someone had taken a knife to Emma, or something equally sharp.

"You're lucky it didn't hit anything vital," Skitter murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of coldness.

Emma nodded weakly, her eyes fixated on Skitter's hands as they carefully cleaned the wound. The sting of antiseptic elicited a hiss of pain from Emma, Taylor took no pleasure in seeing her suffering.

As Taylor began to stitch the wound, she couldn't help but recall a similar time when Taylor did this with Emma. Back with a far simpler wound, back in far simpler days. She placed a band-aid on her best friend's arm after Emma, ever the explorer, fell while climbing a tree.

"Emy, be more careful." A young Taylor chastised her friend in her memories. "I only have two band-aids on me." The younger Emma put on a brave face, trying not to cry in the face of her friend. "There, now we kiss it better. Just like Mom always does." Young Taylor said confidently, giving Emma's knee a clumsy peck. Emma returned her thanks in the form of a hug.

Taylor shook off the thought as quickly as it came. She wasn't here to reminisce about the old days. They were two completely different people. Emma had transformed herself into some kind of heartless monster. A girl who only cared about staying on top and who had no regard for the people she hurt on her path to power. And Taylor…

She was a different beast entirely.

The silence in the room was only broken by the sound of Taylor's steady stitching and the occasional wince of pain that Emma let out. Once Taylor finished stitching the wound, she bandaged it carefully, ensuring that it was secure. Then she stood to grab something, leaving Emma alone briefly as she moved towards the kitchen.

Skitter's bugs remained to keep an eye on her latest guest. Emma looked around confused, left alone in a supervillain's lair, she could do nothing but collapse into the chair in exhaustion. She inspected the wound and how clean of a fix Skitter had given her.

Taylor returned quickly, carrying an ice pack in one hand and a bottle in the other. She handed the ice pack to Emma first, placing it over her bandage and wrapping another bandage around her arm to hold it in place.

"This is for the wound," Skitter explained. "It's a rush job but it should hold long enough until you can find an actual doctor. Keep the ice pack on for a while and you should be fine," She dropped the bottle she was holding into Emma's free hand. "This is for the pain. There's a spare mattress in the backroom, try to get some sleep."

Emma looked at the bottle in her hand and then up to Skitter. It was some cheap booze, an unnamed brand of whisky.

"Painkillers are a luxury," Skitter said. "Take it, or don't. Rooms this way, don't try to wander around the place, I'll know."

Taylor helped Emma to her feet and pulled her into the spare room. It was a dinky storage room with a dirty mattress. Barely considered a spare bedroom, she wouldn't normally offer it to anyone, but it was late and it was Emma, so her empathy had limits.

Even still, as she laid Emma down on the mattress, the girl reached up and grabbed her arm.

"Thank you, Taylor," Emma whispered softly. She was still sobbing, had been before the moment she walked in.

"Why did you come here, Emma?" Skitter asked harshly. Her duty of care was over with, this woman was going to be shown no more extra attention. "What the hell happened?"

Emma took a shuddering breath, her voice barely above a whisper. "I… I messed up, Taylor. I messed up so badly."

"That doesn't explain why you're here," Skitter persisted. She waited for an answer that never came.

The girl finally gave in to her exhaustion and passed out on the mattress. Taylor looked her over as she gently wiggled out of Emma's hand. Her pulse was weak but stable, there was no real way to tell how much blood she had lost but with the bleeding now stopped, she was no longer in danger of dying in the street. All Emma needed now was rest and a check-up from an actual doctor.

Taylor sighed. Emma needed an actual doctor. Someone who could give the girl more than a basic patch job and could make certain that she wasn't going to somehow die in her sleep.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket, Taylor swore under her breath as she hit the speed dial. She did a quick sweep of the nearby area. Charlotte and the kids were already back asleep, and with Emma still unconscious, Taylor was free to speak freely.

On the second ring, it picked up.

"L Lemon," Taylor said into her phone.

"A Lime." Lisa chuckled back. "This is a late call. What's the sitch?"

"Sorry for waking you, Lisa." Taylor apologised.

Lisa huffed in dismissal. "I hadn't even gone to bed yet. You know me. Just tell me what you need."

"Uh, I need a doctor," Taylor asked. "My place, how soon could you send someone?"

"Pretty soon," Lisa said with more concern in her voice. "Everything okay? Need me to send the team?"

"No, no," Taylor said, not wanting Lisa to worry. "I've just received an unexpected guest with a stab wound. Nothing serious but send someone quickly. Last thing I need is the children waking up to a corpse downstairs."

"Unexpected guest," Lisa repeated. "Sounds juicy. Who is-"

"No one important," Taylor said quickly, shutting down that conversation.

"Well, now I'm really interested." Lisa chuckled. "Doctor is on his way."

"Thank you, Lise." Taylor sighed, ignoring the other girls not so not-so-subtle prodding for more information. "Now get some sleep."

She hung up the phone before the Thinker could suss out exactly what Taylor was trying to hide. She turned back to the unconscious woman who lay on the floor next to her. A doctor would most likely need her to lay comfortably on a bed, not just a shitty floor mattress. She could convert the upstairs spare bedroom into a makeshift hospital bed if needed, she added that to her to-do list.

Taylor sighed again. She should've just given her the clean guest bed, to begin with instead of being petty. Now Emma was unconscious and unlikely to wake up to climb some stairs. Taylor carefully lifted Emma off the cold, shitty mattress and cradled her in her arms. Moving to walk up the stairs.

How had her life come to this? She had too many concerns in her life right now to be caring about Emma Barnes of all people. Questions about what the hell Emma was doing here and how she got stabbed in the first place kept worming their way into Taylor's mind, but she refused to listen to them.

She didn't care. She'd wait for whatever doctor Lisa sent to arrive, check her over to make sure she wasn't going to die in the middle of the night and then kick her out the second she could stand on her own two feet. That's already far more than what Emma deserved. But as Taylor carried her through the dimly lit hallway and into a spare bedroom, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and concern for the person who had once meant so much to her.

"Get well soon, Taylor." A young Emma said as she sat beside her best friend. Taylor had caught a cold and wasn't allowed to go to school or come over to play. Emma begged her mom to go visit Taylor almost every day.

Taylor could remember how bored she was, waiting in bed all day while Mom took care of her. Sure, she had her books, and Mom was always nice. But it was seeing Emma come through her door that really lit up a smile on her tired and sick face.

Taylor's phone pinged, pulling her away from another stupid memory, from another stupid time. She checked her phone, a follow-up message from Lisa. "ETA, 13 minutes."

She had no idea how the hell she'd explain this to Lisa, or what she would even say. Taking a seat beside the unconscious girl, Taylor sent back a quick 'thanks' text and waited.

 

[Gowonzu]

Lisa sat at her desk, completely engrossed in her work. The soft glow of the afternoon sun cast a warm light through to the Undersider's base. It was a lazy weekend for the team, as no major jobs were currently in the work. Brian was out on a shopping trip, and Alec was somewhere in his room. Lisa sat at what counted as the Undersider's dining table with her laptop opened, she was looking for potential targets for future jobs. Taylor sat on the shared couch, legs neatly cuddled up under her as she read a book and sipped her tea.

Lisa's fingers danced across the keys of her laptop, filling the room with a gentle symphony of clicks and taps. The odd sound of paper rustling could be heard every time Taylor flipped a page but beyond that, it was rather quiet for a teenage supervillain lair. As Lisa typed away, she felt a fly land on the back of her neck. She felt the ticklish sensation as it crawled gently across her skin.

Ever since Skitter joined the team, the Undersiders had learned not to immediately swat away any bugs that drew close to them. They were all thankful never to have to deal with annoying mosquitoes and flies in their face again. The occasional insect landing on them was not an uncommon occurrence. Taylor would often use the bugs to direct attention, highlight an object, watch multiple points or any number of reasons.

The fly did an approximation of a headbutt into Lisa's neck. Lisa looked up from her computer once she realised that the fly wasn't leaving. Perhaps Taylor wanted to grab her attention or warn her of something she had spotted nearby. Looking at Taylor however, she could see no change in her behaviour.

Taylor Hebert is engrossed in novel. Not trying to get Lisa Wilbourn's attention. Mild control established to nearby insects. Insects are an extension of Taylor's body. Fly on Lisa's neck acting subconsciously. Taylor subconsciously reaching out to Lisa Wilbourn.

Lisa smiled at her power's conclusion. This was simply Taylor's equivalent of idly throwing your legs over her if they both sat on the couch. The girl was never good at showing her feelings through normal means, so it was a nice confirmation that Taylor actually liked Lisa. Not that Lisa needed any confirmation, she was well aware that Taylor considered them as best friends.

It was a constant tapping from the fly at the back of her neck. Lisa couldn't look at her screen for more than three seconds before feeling like someone was trying to get her attention. Lisa had to reevaluate the feeling, it was less like Taylor throwing her legs over Lisa and more like a playful poke that wouldn't stop. Perhaps it was Taylor's idea of a prank? Lisa doubted that, considering her past.

Lisa would've preferred to be hugged by human arms, but for Taylor, she could stomach having the odd fly headbutt the back of her neck. The fact that it kept happening was getting distracting though. It was like having someone poke you very gently. Lisa was about to ask Taylor to stop when she wondered more about the meaning behind it.

Taylor subconsciously reaching out. Not trying to get Lisa's attention. Fly is caught in loop. Taylor can feel through her bugs. Fly not walking over neck but headbutting softly. Headbutting indicates subconscious desire to press face into Lisa's skin. Conclusion, Taylor Hebert is subconsciously giving Lisa Wilbourn bug kisses.

That changed Lisa's perception a bit. Taylor wasn't just extending an insect arm around her neck. She was subtly kissing the back of Lisa's neck. The fact that Taylor had a crush on her was less surprising to Lisa rather than the audacity of Taylor to attempt such a feat. Even if she was doing it subconsciously.

It made the sensation of the fly headbutts feel less grating than before. It wasn't an annoying tap on the back of her neck, or a friend being comfy enough to extend some legs over her. It was a sneaky little kiss between the two of them. Lisa wondered how Taylor would react if she returned the favour. How she'd fluster if Lisa just walked over and kissed her on the back of the neck too. The idea made Lisa giggle.

She thought about how to bring up the subject. Lisa could simply ask Taylor to move her fly, or even just wave it away herself. But where was the fun in that? Lisa had caught her red-handed, acting on her suppressed crush and an opportunity like this only came once in a lifetime. Lisa would think of something witty to say after the fact. Make mention that if Taylor wanted to kiss, she only needed to ask.

Then again, Taylor didn't respond well to teasing. Even if Lisa meant it in good faith, she didn't want to upset her friend. It was always a delicate balance when it came to Taylor. She was so fun to tease but then Lisa would feel bad if she took it too far. While Lisa was flip-flopping between teasing Taylor and explaining to her what her powers had done subconsciously, the decision was stolen from her by another member of the Undersiders.

"Why do your bugs keep biting Lisa?" Rachel asked as she walked out of her bedroom. Both Lisa and Taylor turned around in surprise, Taylor looking doubly confused.

"My what?" Taylor asked, looking at Lisa and then back to Rachel.

"Your bugs," Rachel said again, pointing at the fly that was now buzzing away from Lisa as fast as it could go. "Keep biting Lisa."

"No, they're not," Taylor said defensively.

Taylor Hebert unaware of context. Fly acting subconsciously. Confused by Rachel's statement. Looking to Lisa for confirmation.

Lisa simply smirked back at Taylor, neither confirming nor denying what Rachel had said. Taylor's eyes moved up to spot the offending fly, now on a wall.

Recognises fly. Remembering sensation of fly against Lisa's skin. Wasn't aware that it was real. Though she imagined it. Reddening face shows increased signs of embarrassment,

"Yes, they are," Rachel said again. Unwilling to back down from her point. "I've seen you do it a few times. Do you probe her for weaknesses?" Rachel glared down at Taylor, she still didn't trust her completely, but she didn't trust anyone completely so that wasn't new.

"I think you're mistaken…" Taylor said, trying again to deflect. Taylor fully understood what had happened now and was trying her best to pretend like nothing happened.

Embarrassed for letting fly act autonomously. Hopes that Lisa Wilbourn hasn't noticed. Will not admit what fly was doing. Will argue with Rachel to protect her image.

"No, I've seen it too." Another voice said out from behind Lisa. Alec's head was sticking out the door, the discussion had summoned him from his room. "I always notice at least one fly buzzing around Lisa while we're at home. What's the deal Skitter?"

Taylor didn't exactly refute Alec's claims so much as she mumbled a few excuses into her book. Her cheeks were cherry red at this point as she looked between Alec and Rachel. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"What's going on?" Brian asked as he walked through the door. He was carrying the day's groceries as he returned from the shops.

"Skitter is attacking Lisa!" Alec accused, pointing a finger at the girl.

"She's what?" Brian asked, looking between Alec then to Taylor and then over to Lisa. Lisa simply smiled and waved back at him.

"She keeps sending flies all over her," Alec explained.

"Probing for weaknesses," Rachel added.

"I'm not…" Taylor whined, hiding her face in her book.

"Then what was that?" Alec asked, pointing to the fly on the wall and the second fly by Lisa's laptop. Lisa didn't even notice that one till now.

Second fly acting much like the first. Targeting Lisa, headbutting Lisa Wilbourn.

"I was just…" Taylor stumbled out an explanation. The entire team was looking at her now. "Just... uh?" She looked over to Lisa, her eyes silently pleading for help.

Ashamed. Embarrassed. Wants to disappear. Wants to apologise to Lisa. Doesn't want to admit what she was doing to team. Unaware of her feelings for Lisa Wilbourn.

Lisa let out an audible sight to grab the team's attention.

"No one's attacking anyone," Lisa explained, acting like Alec was stupid. "Taylor's just using her bugs as a form of morse code. It's how we talk when we're both busy with other things," Lisa tapped the table in a random order to make her point. "It's for training purposes, no bugs are biting me."

"Oh, okay," Alec said, nodding to the explanation and returning to his room.

"That's pretty smart." Brain added, rubbing his chin before continuing to the kitchen.

Rachel simply huffed and moved on, she might not even be aware of what morse code is. That was fine, Lisa also didn't know any actual Morse code, she just lied through her teeth to save Taylor some embarrassment.

Taylor stared back at Lisa, still red in the face. She was still very confused as to why Lisa had stepped in and saved her, mentally debating if she should mouth a 'thank you' or if that would be admitting to doing any wrongdoing, to begin with.

Lisa gave her a smug smirk in return, waiting for just the right moment when none of the other Undersiders were watching them. When Brian had his back turned and Rachel was busy looking through all the new food, Lisa blew Taylor a kiss.

Taylor sank into her couch and covered her face with her book. Lisa returned to her laptop, pretending to work as she enjoyed watching a very flustered Taylor try to recompose herself.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this on my phone. Just a little story about Cenpai from SinC. Spoiler warning for SinC, and if you haven't read it, then im sure this would make no sense to you.

---

I was given a single command; companionship.

I do my job, I follow my orders.

She calls me Cenpai, i call her friend.

She is frail and lost. I give companionship, friend pats my back with her finger. I do good job.

When she gets scared, i walk over her hand. It calms her down, i do good job.

When friend cries, I wrap around her wrist. Her sobs lessen, she gives pet. I do good job.

When friend gets angry, I skitter up and down her arm. It grounds her to reality, she whispers her thanks. I do good job.

Now friend is watching a screen. She has become scared. She is crying. She is angry. I give her companionship, i curl up into her hand. I do go-

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N:

Emma Barnes and her Father are attacked by the ABB. In her lowest moment, she thinks on how she doesn't want to feel weak, how she needs to get stronger.

After being saved by a vigilante, she asked her how to keep moving forward. Shadow Stalker gives her advice.

Written for the the Earth Vav discord contest. Moral Swap: Sophia uses her Predator/Prey mentality to help the weak.

Click to shrink...

---

"Turn over, ginger bitch," The woman yelled as she kicked Emma in the ribs. Emma couldn't even struggle, rolling over onto her stomach and whimpering to herself. "Hey, Yan!" The woman yelled as she held a foot down on Emma's back. "What about this one? Stick her in one of the farms and hold her for a while. She's got tits, could auction her off."

"Don't be a moron!" A male voice called back "White girl goes missing, they look. Just check her for any cash and let's go."

Emma kept her eyes shut as she felt a hand roughly feel over her body. Slipping into her jacket pocket and pulling out her wallet. Then she felt a tug on her hair.

"The fuck are you doing?" The man asked. Emma's hair was yanked even harder, forcing another audible sob out from her.

"This bitch only has pocket change on her," The woman growled. "Might as well take a souvenir!" Before Emma could even beg for mercy, a sharp blade cut through the handful of her hair. Emma's face dropped back down and slammed into the floor, the woman chuckled darkly at the painful face-plant.

Emma hoped that it would be over. They'd beaten her, robbed her, done the same to her Father. Now they had cut her hair. What more could they take from her? What more had she left to lose?

The knife returned to poke Emma in the cheek. Threatening to cut open a wound, or maybe even take out an eye.

"N-not the face…" Emma protested weakly. Her once frightened shakes were now deadly still. " I'll do anything you want, just… not the face."

"You'll do anything?" The man perked up this time. Emma wasn't sure if it was the same man as before. She couldn't remember how many people were standing over her. "Like what?"

Emma could hear the disgusting implication in the man's voice. This time, no one called out to tell them not to touch the 'white girl.' By the sound of everyone's low chuckles, they were waiting for Emma to answer.

"Nose," The woman said as Emma felt a sharp prick. "Mouth," The knife moved to the edge of her lip. "Eye," Emma didn't feel anything this time but could imagine the blade being inches from her eye. "Which will it be?" When Emma didn't answer, the woman spoke again. "Maybe we'll take all three."

Emma wanted to scream. She didn't want to beg and bargain for her life like her father was doing on the other side of the car. She couldn't choose any of the options presented to her. She didn't want a part of her carved out of her, literally or otherwise. The world wasn't fair, it took from people and left them broken shells of themselves. In her more desperate moment, Emma thought of her friend, she thought of Taylor.

The girl had lost something dear to her, her mother. Carved away like a knife to the face, Taylor was never the same girl again. Emma didn't want to be like that, Emma couldn't be like that. It was cruel and pathetic. But it was the truth. Emma didn't want to become Taylor.

The knife dropped to the floor. Emma felt the weight of the woman leave as she fell. One of the men yelled out only to be cut off with a choking noise. Several more bodies moved around Emma, she kept her head down on the floor and crumbled up into a ball. A fight of some kind was happening, someone had come. Were they here for her? Or was it just another rival gang stepping in?

Emma forced her eyes to open, to see what dangers awaited her.

The woman who had been standing on her, who had cut her hair and threatened to cut her face, was lying on the floor. She rolled with pain, blood leaking from her arm. Emma's eyes widened as she saw the giant bolt of metal sticking from the woman's back. Two more men lay on the floor, one grasping his neck, coughing and choking as he gasped for air.

Another three men were wildly swinging their weapons. Knives, baseball bats and crowbars slashed at the air. They tried to hit a smaller masked figure, but she turned intangible just before the weapons made contact with her. The Vigilante disarmed the knife with ease, slashing the man's legs with three fluid movements before leaving him to drop. The crowbar man swung down and again, the vigilante turned into living shadow. The crowbar moved right through them and smacked the baseball bat man in the chest.

Only one man remained, crowbar man stepped back, realising what he had done. The Vigilante reformed beside him and the man turned to sprint away. The Vigilante kicked up the baseball bat on the floor and chucked it at the fleeing man, knocking him to the floor.

The man was down, but not out. Crawling away, trying to pick up his weapon as the Vigilante walked towards him. The Vigilante picked up the baseball bat again and inspected the weapon, stepping on the man's hand before he could reach the crowbar again. With their second foot, the Vigilante kicked the crowbar further away.

With a solid kick to the gut, the Vigilante turned the man around. Trapping his arm in an awkward position with the baseball bat. They leaned down into the man and started growling into their ear.

"Scum like you need to learn," The Vigilante said coldly. Only now did Emma realise that it was a woman under there. The outfit was dark, heavily padded and had a painted hockey mask. "Just because your boss is a big, bad parahuman. Doesn't mean you get to run around to do whatever you like."

"F-fuck you," The man growled back. "You think Lung is gonna take some shitty kid cape in his territory. Your days are numbered Shadow Bitch!"

The Vigilante chuckled. "Yeah, so you people keep telling me," She pushed harder on the baseball bat, the man's arm was wrapped around it in a way that the pressure was obviously causing him pain. "Want some advice? Pack up, leave this city and fuck off. If I ever catch you here again, I'll break your other arm."

"Other arm?-"

The Vigilante stood up and kicked the baseball back. Emma could hear an audible crunch as the man screamed in pain. The baseball bat fell to the floor as the Vigilante started walking away. Walking towards Emma.

"Hey? You okay?" The Vigilante asked, extending a hand to Emma. "It's alright, no one's going to hurt you." Emma stared back at the vigilante, the hockey mask she wore didn't exactly scream 'safe from harm.' The Vigilante must've realised that, because she crouched down and took off the mask, exposing her face. "It's okay, I've got you. No one's getting back up again."

The Vigilante was still wearing a hood, facing away from all the incapacitated attackers. Now Emma could see her for who she truly was. Just a girl, no younger than Emma herself. The Vigilante forced a smile on her face, Emma could tell that a smile wasn't her natural look, but it calmed her anyway. She extended the hand again to Emma.

With a very shaky arm, Emma accepted the help. "Come on, up you get. I'll help you back to your car." With one arm, she pulled Emma to her feet, with another, she placed her mask back on her face. Emma wasn't sure why the Vigilante had done that, it was unheard of for capes to show their face, except New Wave. But then again, Emma had never seen this particular cape before.

Emma inspected the surrounding area. The entire group of ABB members were now lying on the floor, either rolling in pain or still. Emma looked back to the woman with a crossbow bolt sticking out of her back, seeing the blood drip down her arm.

"Did you… kill them?" Emma asked. A small part of her was concerned, a much larger part of her was relieved, hoping that they got what they deserved.

The Vigilante shook her head. "No, I don't kill," They both reached the car, Emma's Father was lying in a ball on the other side of it. "But they won't be out on the street for a good while now. And if they're smart, they won't be out ever again." She spat the last words back to the pile of pained men and women behind them. Leaning Emma onto the car, the Vigilante looked the girl over before asking, "You good?"

"Y-yeah…" Emma said, physically she was good. Emotionally… not so much. "I'm good. T-thank you."

The Vigilante nodded and walked around the other side of the car. Standing over Emma's Father and offering a hand to the scared man. "Hello? Sir?" Mr Barnes was still curled up in a fetal position, shivering like a frightened child. "You're safe now. I have your daughter here. Are you able to drive home?"

Emma peeked over the car and watched as her Father didn't respond. She thought back to when this all began, the way the man froze up and just let those people do whatever they wanted. He should've just driven off, she should've done something. He shouldn't have been such a coward.

"Dad, get up!" Emma yelled. Far more angry at him than she ever felt towards the people who just attacked her. "Stop being so pathetic and let's go!"

The Vigilante raised an open palm to Emma. Gesturing her to calm down. "Please?" She asked Emma. "I think you're Father is in shock. Getting angry won't help anyone," She turned back down to Mr Barnes, crouching down. "Sir, you're going to be okay now. They're gone. Emergency services are on the way."

It took a few long seconds before the scared man returned to himself. Looking up at the masked vigilante and accepting her help. The Vigilante pulled him up and sat him inside the car, Emma impatiently got in her side of the car.

"Are you comfortable to drive?" The Vigilante asked, leaning in from the window. "We can wait for the cops if you prefer?"

Emma did not want to wait. She didn't want to be here for a single second longer. Every moment her Father wavered and hesitated, the angrier she got with the useless man. Eventually, her Father nodded his head and started the car again.

"H-home…" Mr Barnes said. "We'll go home. Thank y-you."

The Vigilante nodded as she stepped away from the car. "Be more careful around these parts. Your wounds look superficial but I do recommend stopping by a hospital or something."

"W-will do." Mr Barnes nodded. Shifting the car into gear. "Thank you, again…" Emma watched from her side as the car pulled away. Sitting up in her chair and leaning out the window to get a better look at the vigilante.

"What's your name?" Emma asked, as the car slowly picked up speed.

"They call me, Shadow Stalker," The Vigilante called back, just before they turned the corner.

----------------------------------------------

A week later, Emma was back in that alleyway. It was the middle of the day, and the streets on both ends were filled with people walking by. No one in their right mind would try to mug anyone here and expect it not to be noticed.

Emma couldn't explain why she needed to come back here. Her Father had asked her to lie about what had happened. They returned home claiming that they had just been in a minor car accident, something that explained all the bruises and the beat-up car. Emma didn't agree with her Father's reasoning for hiding the assault, but she had her own reasons for not telling anyone about it. Not even her best friend, Taylor.

Taylor had so vehemently stuck in her mind back during the assault. A long bubble of frustration with the girl had finally popped, Emma had to admit that her friend wasn't the same girl she used to know anymore. Taylor was away at a summer camp, and the thought of having to put up with her depressive attitude was… tiring.

She couldn't do it anymore, not after this. She'd seen how Taylor had crumbled, she'd seen how her own Father had crumbled. She'd felt how close she was to almost crumbling herself. Emma couldn't do that, she wanted to be stronger.

So now she was here, standing in the ruins of the worst day of her life. Facing her fear head-on. Granted, it was far safer when the alleyway was empty and the sun was high in the sky. But it was a hell of a lot better than her gut instinct to hole up in her bedroom and pretend nothing had ever happened.

"I thought I'd find you here…" An oddly familiar voice said behind her. Emma jumped in surprise as a girl appeared behind her.

"Where did you come from?" Emma gasped, trying to calm her beating heart. She was thankful that she didn't immediately scream just then.

"I'm always here," The girl said with a smirk. The girl was dark-skinned, slender, with long, straight hair. She had a hard stare, penetrating. "It takes guts, coming back. The only reason you'd do it is because you were looking for revenge, or you were looking for me. Or both, depending on how cracked you are."

Emma realised that the vigilante who saved her was here, standing beside her, in civilian clothing. She turned around, looking at the floor she was lying on a week ago. "I needed to see…" Emma tried to explain. "To tell myself…" She couldn't think of what to say.

The girl took another few steps and placed a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder. "It's okay. I get it," She said, not asking Emma to elaborate. "I did the same thing after I…" Her voice died off as she got lost in the grim memory. The girl then shook her head and looked back to Emma. "Take your time. I'll stay with you till you're ready to leave."

"I don't want this…" Emma said through clenched teeth. "I don't want to be the victim." The girl didn't say anything, giving Emma space to vent. "I don't want to be… weak. I hated that feeling… I don't… I just don't know what to do."

"How did you do it?" Emma asked, looking back at the girl. "Go from this to that?" She pointed to the spot she was attacked at, and then to the girl herself. "How do I become like you and not like my dad, not like…"

"It takes time…" The girl mused. "You don't always get back up after taking a punch. Some people can't take a punch at all," The girl rubbed her chin. In the light, Emma could see that the cape was as bruised as Emma was. "There's two people in the world. Those who get stronger when they come through a crisis and those who get weaker."

"Who was I?" Emma asked.

"You're here, aren't you?" The girl smiled.

"I want to be one of the stronger ones," Emma stated. More of a promise to herself.

"I'm not looking for a sidekick," The girl chuckled. "I'm more of a solo cape."

Emma nodded. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't even have any parahuman powers. She just didn't want to be weak anymore.

"You don't need to dress up in spandex to be strong," The girl added, noting Emma's disappointment. "Strong and weak. Winners and losers. Predator and Prey. They don't have to be so black and white. Personally, I kind of like that last one, but I'm a hunter. My prey, consider themselves to be predators. It's all a manner of perspective."

Emma thought back to how very pray-like she felt that other night. Then how quickly the girl had picked apart that pack of wolves. A hierarchy of predators, with Shadow Stalker as the top dog.

The girl smiled. "Yeah, perspective. I think the biggest question of all is one you're answering for yourself, right now. Survivor or victim?"

"What's the difference?" Emma asked, her confidence wavering.

The girl shrugged. "That's up to you."

"I'm not sure I know at the moment…" Emma said, looking down at the floor.

"Like I said," The girl added with a smile. "I'll stay with you till you're ready to leave."

There was a long stretch of silence where Emma did nothing but look at the floor. Visualising her assault and then mentally running through everything Shadow Stalker did while taking her attackers down. There felt like some kind of disconnect, from the violent brutality the cape gave her attackers, compared to the friendly smile she with giving Emma.

"Why are you a solo cape?" Emma asked. The girl sighed before Emma shook her head. "No, I'm not begging to be your sidekick, just… why were you there that night? Why aren't you a Ward or whatever? Why do you do what you do?"

"I have the strength to fight back, and the powers to give me an edge over my opponents," The girl said after thinking. "I grew up in this city, lived here my whole life. This neighbourhood and the surrounding ones have been a shit hole my entire life. I've watched more people end up in your situation than you can ever know. And that was before I trigger." Emma tilted her head in confusion. "Uh, got powers. The point is, I do this because I can. Because no one else does. I have the means to fight back and maybe make the scum in this little pocket of Brockton Bay think twice about pulling shit. If I was in the Wards, they wouldn't let me be out here so late, they wouldn't have been here to help people like you, or your Father."

"So doing this makes you feel strong?" Emma asked, seriously considering buying a domino mask and learning martial arts. "Beating up criminals who prey on civilians."

The girl shook her head. "No. Well, that's not all of it. I admit, beating up punks can be a rush. But that's not what makes me feel strong."

"Then what?" Emma asked.

"Helping people," The girl smiled. "There's only two people in the world. Those who get stronger when they come through a crisis and those who get weaker. I got stronger, 'we' got stronger. So it's our job to help people who didn't."

"That's why you came here?" Emma asked.

The girl nodded. "I knew you were coming back either way. Needed to see if you were stronger or weaker for it. Would've helped you either way, but I'm glad to see how strong you are," Emma blushed again under the compliment. She didn't feel particularly strong in this moment, but this girl was worming her way against her self-doubt.

"Well… thank you," Emma said, unsure if she should go for a handshake or a hug. "For your help then and now." Emma settled for a quick hug, then pulled away for an awkward handshake. "I'm Emma, by the way."

"Sophia," The girl smiled. "I take it that your father is the other type of person? Anything I can do to help?"

Emma was taken aback by that comment. Then she shook her head.

"I don't… No, probably not," She was still angry at the man. Despising the weakness he showed that night, blaming him for getting into that situation in the first place. "I don't think I'm ready to talk to him."

"I can't force you," Sophia sighed. "But just remember that he's human. Don't hold it against him," Sophia looked around the place, Emma could tell that a part of the girl was bored, only staying her out of a personal sense of duty to her.

Emma was slowly getting the sense that Sophia didn't unmask to every person she saved, perhaps their similar age being a factor in her openness. She wondered what kind of life a vigilante would lead. If it seemed lonely, if Sophia even had friends. She could be Sophia's friend, Emma would feel a hell of a lot safer with a vigilante friend and Sophia could call it helping. A symbiotic relationship

"Um…" Emma said, thinking to herself. "I'm not ready to help my dad just yet…" Emma admitted, turning towards Sophia. "But there is someone else, later this week… I think we can help… if you want?"

Sophia smiled, a far more genuine smile than before. "Sure," She said while stepping closer to Emma again. "Who do you have in mind?"

---------------------------------------

A few days later, Emma stepped out of her house. Her hair had been cut again, styled to look less like she was attacked with a knife and more like she was trying a bold new look. Sophia was already waiting for her.

"Heya, vigilante," Emma said, smiling.

"Heya, survivor," Sophia said back, doing the same.

Emma could already see Taylor approaching the house. She walked with a sullen step, a smile on her face but nowhere near as bright as it had once been. Her eyes looked far too big behind the glasses she wore, Emma would've affectionately called her a dork once, but the girl seemed to be made of glass these days. With a hesitant step, she waved Taylor over.

"This her?" Sophia murmured. Watching the gawky girl stroll past the front gates. "I thought you said she was thirteen? She looks nine."

"She is thirteen," Emma muttered back, feeling embarrassed. Taylor was far too childish to meet Emma's cool new vigilante friend, but this was her idea.

"Emma!" Taylor exclaimed. Her face lit up briefly as she ran towards her friend. Emma knew that this energy was only temporary. A shadow of the old Taylor, who would vanish as quickly as she appeared. Taylor got halfway down the front yard before slowing her run, noticing Sophia for the first time. Cautiously, she slowed to a walk and looked towards the new girl. "Emma? Who's this?"

Sophia had what some might call, a resting bitch face. While Emma got used to it rather quickly, to others, Sophia could look quite intimidating. Taylor's smile wavered in the face of Sophia's stare.

"Uh, I'm Emma's, friend?" Sophia said, turning back to Emma to confirm it. Emma thought it was silly that she needed to nod for confirmation, but she had learned her suspicion of Sophia not having many friends was right on the money.

A brief look of confusion flickered across Taylor's face. "We're friends too," Taylor stated. "Emma and I have been friends for a long time." She looked over to Emma, who again, had to nod for confirmation. "What's going on Emma? I haven't heard from you in days."

Emma waved the comment away. "Oh, just some… stuff happened." She dismissed. An idle hand reached up to run through her hair, forgetting how short it now was. Emma couldn't believe how much anxiety she was having from seeing her best friend. She thought back to the assault, how she felt, how much she despised weakness, people like her father and Taylor.

"I love the haircut," Taylor said, filling the silence, talking and smiling like she couldn't contain herself. "You manage to make any style look great."

Emma fought with the two sides of herself. She didn't want to become like Taylor, she didn't want to be weak. She was a survivor, she needed to be strong, like Sophia. She could feel Sophia's eyes on her, she knew exactly how Sophia made herself strong.

"Hey, Taylor," Emma said with a forced smile. One that would relax in time. "This is my friend Sophia. I was thinking she could become your friend too?"

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Based on the titles namesake. I thought this little scene would fit perfectly if you replaced Batman and Superman with Skitter and Alexandria. Had the scene stuck in my head, so I needed to write it out. Enjoy. Also, I guess this is a prequel to the "Nowhere else to go" Snippet I wrote

---

The people watched on in horror as Brockton Bay turned into yet another battlefield. From Leviathan to Slaughterhouse to a rogue case 53. It seemed like there was always something going down in this city.

Skitter, the Warlord of the Undersiders was at the head of it all. The PRT had surprised the girl and launched an all-out assault on the supervillain, attempting to capture her in school. When she got away, Skitter retaliated by hitting the PRT right back. This led to a three-day skirmish between the Undersiders and the PRT, to which Director Tagg died within the first hour.

Then the PRT decided to drop the hammer, sending in Alexandria to finish the job. The second she showed up, the fighting came to a standstill. That was it, the fighting was over, right? No sane parahuman could hope to match blows with one of the most powerful heroes on the planet.

Skitter didn't surrender, she did what she always did. She escalated.

"Taylor, this is idiotic!" Alexandria barked, kicking a car like it was made of paper.

Skitter dove out of the way at the last moment, mere inches away from getting her legs crushed. The warlord hadn't attacked, she couldn't. If it wasn't for the fact that Alexandria wanted her alive, this fight would've been over in seconds. And yet, Skitter refused to give up. Standing up and ready to do combat, a knife in one hand, a baton in the other.

Alexandria rushed the warlord with all her speed, grabbing Skitter by the neck. The girl squirmed in her hand as Alexandria lifted her off the ground. Had this been any other villain, Alexandria would've had no problem squeezing a little tighter and ending the girl, but Skitter had become something of a folk hero for the people of the Bay, the PRT needed her compliance to settle the people.

Alexandria punched Skitter in the chest as she loosened her grip. The villain was sent flying back and tumbling across the floor. Even pulling her punches, Alexandria's brute strength was miles above anything a baseline human could handle.

"That was three ribs, Taylor," Alexandria gloated as she walked towards the crumbled-up villain. "Don't make me do this. Just give up."

Skitter didn't say anything, pulling herself to her feet and clenching her fists together. It looked pathetic to the mighty Alexandria. The girl was running on adrenaline and desperation. Reaching behind her, Skitter produced a grenade and chucked it at the hero.

Alexandria battered the weapon away, and it exploded some distance behind her, showering her back with shrapnel. It wouldn't have hurt her regardless but explosions in the face were often annoying. The villain was more than desperate at this point, any idiot with the internet should know conventional weapons would do little but piss her off.

And piss her off it did. Alexandria walked up to the girl and pushed her with another enhanced thrust. Skitter flew through the air momentarily before slamming into an abandoned car that was left in the street.

Skitter didn't get up this time. Judging by the indent on the car door, it was a miracle that she was even still conscious. The girl was panting hard as she lay on the street. Alexandria walked over to her and grabbed her by the mask.

Skitter's terrifying face was ripped off in a single motion, leaving behind a scared, teary-eyed girl. Alexandria held no pity for the child, she was a monster, a disruptor, a warlord. Soon the people of this city would see, the whole world would see nothing but another villain placed behind bars. Alexandria might even pull in some favours to give Skitter the birdcage treatment.

"Get ready." Skitter groaned, glaring up in defiance of Alexandria.

Alexandria couldn't see what she should be ready for. She briefly suspected that Skitter was communicating with someone but the mask she held in her hand was safely tech-free. She was wary because of her memory of Skitter's profile. If Alexandria remembered it correctly, which she always did, the villain was a tactician who relied on her ability to see the battlefield and control all aspects of it. At the same time, Alexandria couldn't conceive of any tactic that Skitter could use against her, so she assumed the girl was letting herself get beat up out of some childish sense of pride

"What are you doing?" Alexandria barked down at the girl. "Do you want me to kill you?"

News helicopters swarmed the scene. Flying high above the battle. Not that it was much of a battle with the unmasked supervillain lying on the street. Alexandria figured it was time to wrap this party up. Maybe make a show of it all for the cameras. Parade the little warlord in the air for all the people to see. That's when Skitter's teary eyes turned to a murderous glare.

"Oh, you're not going to kill me," Skitter said with a cold confidence that rivalled Alexandria's best days. "You're a hero. You're going to take me alive and parade me around in court. Show the people that you're still in control, that the world is just like that."

For the first time since this battle began, Skitter used her powers. A swarm of insects burst from every conceivably crack in the city. Far more than what anyone would expect to find in one city block. Skitter didn't want to fight Alexandria in some random street with a handful of frightened civilians. She was waiting for this moment when the whole world had eyes on them.

Alexandria tried to move but the attack was too sudden, too unexpected. They didn't even try to bite and sting her, Skitter knew that no amount of bugs would penetrate her skin. The swarm launched directly for her face and kept on going. From tens to hundreds, with a thousand more on the way, Alexandria felt her throat fill with wave after wave of disgusting bugs.

The discomfort was a given, the very idea of swallowing even a single insect wasn't a pleasant thought to be had, but it wasn't the bugs that Alexandria felt. It was the complete lack of oxygen that caused her to panic.

A leg was kicked out, a car went smashing through the nearby building. Skitter was already up on her feet and backing away. Alexandria tried to punch her, grab her, do anything to make the bugs stop but the panic was already getting to her. It had been years since Alexandria felt like this, even fighting the terrifying Endbringers never gave her the same sense of mortal peril as she felt right at this second. Fighting Leviathan meant that she might die, the lack of oxygen getting to her brain meant that she was all by guaranteed to.

Alexandria collapsed to her knees. In an act of desperation, she tried to dry heave them out, but Skitter made sure that they weren't going anywhere. She could try crush the bugs that were already inside her throat, but the Manton limit forbade that and it wouldn't mean that they would leave.

"I don't have such constraints," Skitter said, continuing on from her words before, it was her turn to walk towards Alexandria. Unafraid and more terrifying than any mask she ever wore. The girl stood out of arms reach and watched as the great Alexandria flailed in panic. "I can't arrest you, I can't take you down and lock you away."

Alexandria choked out another desperate cough, savouring the handful of oxygen she had left in her lungs. Skitter, Taylor, looked down on her as a hand reached up to grasp her neck.

"You're feeling it now, aren't you?" Taylor asked coldly, showing little remorse for the dying hero. "What the rest of us live with every day. Your own mortality." Alexandria looked up in horror, this girl was actually going to kill her and make the whole world watch. As if responding to her look, Taylor added, "Don't worry, you'll survive. The bugs will work their way out of your airways soon enough."

Alexandria could almost let out a sigh of relief from hearing those words if only there was any air to let go. Taylor still wasn't done with her, letting the hero stew in her own fear for a minute longer. Strength was fading from Alexandria, fast. She collapsed completely to the ground, no longer even struggling, simply lying there and letting the world fade. Taylor moved in closer, confident that the brute could no longer hurt her.

Grabbing Alexandria by her chest, Taylor pulled her up as she knelt down on top of her. Looking the hero in the eyes. "But I didn't have to go easy on you. You labelled me as a villain for the whole world to see. I could have fought like one the second you stepped foot into my city. I want you to remember that. I wanted to remind you to stay out of my way. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember the one woman who beat you."

Taylor dropped the hero to the ground. She looked up to the helicopters who were circling above, no doubt filming the girl who just defeated Alexandria. She stepped back and away from the hero, a swarm of bugs shrouding her as she disappeared from the streets below. The swarm followed after, every single bug.

Alexandria let out a pained gasp as oxygen finally returned to her lungs. For the first time in decades, she was tired. For the first time in decades, Alexandria slept.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This is chapter one of a new fic I'm starting on Ao3. Future chapters will be a tad spicy but this one is fine. Alt AU, College-aged Taylor and Co. No Power Taylor (Everyone else is canon powers) Emma and Taylor are still friends. Smugbug focus.

---

"Oh what about her, she looks cute, right?"

Taylor looked up from her bottle of apple cider, the same bottle she had been nursing for the past fifteen minutes. She was in a club, a club of all damn places. Shy, nerdy and skittish. The only kind of club Taylor had ever been to was a book club.

That was a lie, Taylor had been in the clubs a few times. This particular club to be exact. Anytime her best friend dragged her by the arm, stating that they were going out for the night, Taylor would find herself dragged into this god-awful nightclub.

She had no idea why Emma insisted on spending their weekends getting their ears blasted with the most obnoxious techno music. Nor why they preferred paying three times the amount for drinks when they had a perfectly stocked fridge at home. Or even why Emma still insisted on dragging Taylor along with her when they both knew what a socially awkward mess the tall girl was.

Tonight, however, was different. Taylor hadn't been tricked into coming here after meeting with Emma at a private bar. Emma hadn't taken her posse of cackling women along with her, all of whom made Taylor feel forgotten and uncomfortable around, especially Sophia. In fact, Emma and Taylor were the only girls from their group who were out tonight.

Taylor's eyes followed up on Emma, who leaned on the bar next to her. A sly smile across her face as she nodded towards a particularly attractive African-American girl with a purple streak down her dark hair. The girl was dressed more for a rave than a club by Taylor's standards. Very pretty, but dressed far too loosely for her sensibilities.

"She's straight," Taylor sided. Trying her best not to stare too hard at the girl. She always had a fear of making women uncomfortable with her sapphic admiring. "Also she's too young."

"Too young?" Emma baulked. "Shit you mean she's?-"

Taylor shook her head. "No, she's legal. But not drinking age legal." Taylor continued to admire how the teen danced and swayed among the crowd of people.

"I see, and how do you know she's straight?" Emma asked. Emma was, unfortunately for Taylor, as straight as an arrow. She had accepted this reality years ago. Her crush had long since faded. They were best friends, nothing more. Emma supported her gay, best friend through it all, but did not have the queer eye needed to spot others of Taylor's kind.

"I just... do?" Taylor shrugged. She didn't have the energy to explain how the Gaydar worked, partly because Taylor was mostly lying through her teeth. She had no idea if that girl was gay, she just had a feeling in her gut.

"Fine, fine," Emma dismissed with a wave. She took a large sip of her drink as she scanned the room. Her eyes formed a smile as she spotted her next target. "What about her? Brunette. Hair kinda like Maddies."

Taylor looked over her shoulder at the girl in question. She was pretty, but also rather plain-looking. Not that Taylor had any room to complain, she probably looked like some gawky twig standing next to someone as beautiful as Emma. It wasn't the girl's plain Jane vibe that turned Taylor off, more like the other aspect about her that caused Tay's eyebrow to raise.

"Seriously?"

"What?" Emma huffed, trying to defend her choice. "I said kinda like, not the spitting image. Plus I'm sure Maddy wouldn't mind if you hooked up with her clone anyway. She'd take it as a compliment."

"Not that," Taylor shook her head. Although the idea of hooking up with anyone who looked like her friends was something she wanted to avoid; all redheads had been instantly dismissed from Taylor's eyes. Taylor nodded again in the woman's direction, getting Emma to spot to glaring problem with her. "She literally has an 88 tattoo on her arm…"

Emma blinked twice and took another stare at the woman. As stated, there was a tattoo hidden under her sleeve on the girl's right arm. Emma could barely make out the shape of it, but once Taylor had spelled it out, it was obvious that this 'Madison clone' was proudly wearing Brockton Bay's take on the swastika.

"Right... yikes," Emma cringed, turning away quickly and finishing her drink in one large gulp. "Yeah let's avoid her and whoever the fuck she talks to for the night.

Taylor groaned into her bottle. It's hard enough thinking about approaching women at the club, but in Brockton Bay, a rejection was the least of Taylor's worries. "I knew this was a bad idea…" She whined, placing her bottle down and tugging on Emma's arm. "Can we just go home and get drunk like we usually do?"

Emma looked at Taylor, a worried frown forming on her face. Then over to little Miss Nazi, who had dared to ruin Taylor's mood simply by existing. She shook her head, placing her glass back on the bar and signalling for two more drinks. Taylor whined again but Emma simply ignored her.

"No, no. We're doing this," Emma stated, replacing Taylor's cider with a glass of something a little stronger. "You told me yourself how you were feeling. Sad and lonely. Those were your exact words, remember? You're never going to meet anyone hiding in your room all day. Trust me, I should know."

"I was drunk!" Taylor groaned, trying to forget about her embarrassing admission the last time the two girls got together. Taylor had convinced Emma to stay in with her rather than another night of clubbing with the girls. After a lot of wine and some sappy romance movies, Taylor had broken down crying over her abysmal love life.

Taylor learned pretty early on that she was gay. But in a city like Brockton Bay, being gay wasn't something you ever advertised. Combined with her social introversion, the handful of years she just shut down after her mother died, and the occasional bullying about being a 'Dyke' throughout Winslow. And Taylor had never had a real relationship of any kind, both serious or casual.

She had friends, of course. Emma was her bestie, through thick and thin. There was a brief period in high school when she thought Emma might leave Taylor for her cool new friends. Between the subtle bullying from other kids, and Emma's hesitance to spend time with the sad girl, it very nearly was the worst days of Taylor's life. Then Emma discovered what people were saying about her friend in the halls of Winslow, and Taylor learned that Sophia Hess wasn't just a grumpy girl who stole her best friend, she was a badass who had a serious grudge against kids who followed Empire 88 doctrine.

Emma apologised for not seeing the signs, letting Taylor suffer in silence while she got caught up with new friends. They reconnected and brought Taylor into the group for the final year and a half of high school. Taylor never fully fit in with Emma's friends; Madison told too many mean girl jokes and Sophia always looked like she was about to punch Taylor. But they were her friends, Emma made sure of that.

Years later, they all graduated high school and moved on to college. It was meant to be a time for discovering one's self. Being an adult without all the stress of being an adult adult. Dating and new relationships. Emma had been through three different serious relationships since high school, even if she was currently single now. Madison picked up a serious boyfriend during her second week and they were still in the honeymoon phase. Even Sophia, as grouchy as she was, hooked up with some guy called Dennis from her work. They weren't officially in a relationship but Sophia saw her regularly enough to make Emma's eyes roll.

And then there was Taylor. Who after three years of high school, and two years of college, had never so much as kissed a girl. Years of listening to all her straight friends talk about boys, hookups, relationships and sex had worn the girl down. Taylor pretended to be fine with it, smiled and laughed as Emma recounted her tales of whatever boy she had fucked that week. After a bottle of wine, some crappy rom-com and Emma's declaration that she 'needed to get laid' because it had been 'so long,' it had only been two weeks by Taylor's estimation, Taylor suddenly burst into tears.

She couldn't control herself. It came on so suddenly and caught both women by surprise. One second they were laughing at a badly directed love-making scene, next Taylor was a sobbing mess, crying about how she was going to die alone and unloved in this hell hole of a city. Emma comforted her for the remainder of the night, willing to make a plan to help Taylor finally experience love for the first time, or at least lust.

"Can't we just forget about this?" Taylor asked, still tugging on Emma's arm. "I was… exaggerating. That's all. The alcohol and the movie made me a little emotional, that's all. I really don't need to be here, okay?"

"You tried to kiss me," Emma said back bluntly. Taylor winced as the embarrassing memory of that night was flung back into her face.

"I said I was sorry," Taylor mumbled. Shying away from Emma, her hand dropped from the girl, afraid to touch her out of fear of creeping her out.

Emma noticed the reaction and wrapped an arm around Taylor, pulling her into a hug."And while I accept you for all your wonderful gay self. And love you to the ends of the earth. I unfortunately do not feel the attraction to women that you crave. Trust me, if I did, you'd be the first to know," Taylor looked away with a blush. "So, barring me waking up with a sexual epiphany, we move on to plan B. I said I'd get you laid. Now who else here strikes your fancy? We're not leaving until you talk to at least one woman tonight. I don't count,"

Emma did another scan across the club, this time following Taylor's eye-line as the girl had kept glancing away the entire conversion. Emma stopped at her target, this time she was sure that it would be someone Taylor would like, mainly because Taylor was pretending to not see the girl the entire time they had been at the bar.

"What about the blonde girl you keep side-eyeing?"
Emma asked, pointing with her cup and nodding to the girl in the corner. She stood with another man, tall dark and definitely Emma's type. Emma might not be able to read women, but she knew the man wasn't with the blonde girl.

"The who?" Taylor hummed, turning away far too obviously, looking over towards the bar as she distracted herself with reading the menu or whatever Taylor did when she was nervous.

"Don't play coy with me," Emma chuckled, nudging Taylor with her elbow, forcing her to look in the same direction. "I see that freckled smirk from here. She's totally eye fucking you."

Taylor's blush deepened in red. Emma had hit the nail on the head, whoever this blonde girl was, she was undressing Taylor with her eyes and Emma would not let a chance like this go to waste. Plus, if things went well with Taylor, then Blondy could introduce Emma to her friend, It was a win-win.

"Oh my…" Taylor mumbled, turning away again and focusing on her drink. "Shut up Emma!" She hissed with embarrassment. Emma burst out laughing, looking between Taylor and the blonde girl, who had a mischievously evil grin on her face.

The blonde raised her eyebrow towards Emma, a silent question across the room. 'Can I approach?'

Emma's smile widened; her answer was clear. 'Come and get her.'

Taylor still had her head down, sucking the remaining drops of liquid courage through her tiny straw. Emma had mere seconds to prep Taylor for the inevitable meeting and as much as she loved the girl, Taylor was a mess when it came to social interaction.

"Taylor, listen to me," Emma said, pulling her friend up from the bar and staring into her eyes. "This is it. It's go time. I will drag your ass over to her if you don't make a move in the next five seconds." She stared Taylor down with a fierceness Emma only pulled out on serious occasions.

Taylor for her part, whined like a wounded puppy before pushing herself up off the bar. Emma refused to back down, her eyes flinging Taylor off and telling her to march. Taylor, the obedient pup at least had the good sense to follow through and started moving in the direction of the pretty blonde woman.

"That a girl," Emma cheered, signalling the bartender for another drink. "Blow her away, Tay!"

Taylor struggled to return the cheer with the same bravado her friend had given. Her stomach was currently turning with butterflies at the thought of even saying hello to someone as ridiculously pretty as that blonde, freckled girl whom she was moving towards. What the hell was Taylor even going to say to her? She'd never approached a stranger for anything. She was going to screw this up somehow she just knew.

Taylor took one final look back at Emma, who watched on with the biggest smile as she sipped her new glass. The encouragement helped. Emma had been with her every step of the way when it mattered and didn't even consider leaving her when Taylor's stupid ass tried to kiss her last week. She could do this, she had the support of Emma. If Emma believed in her, she could do anything.

And that was the last thought Taylor had before she smacked head-first into that pretty blonde.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Been in a bit of a creative writing slump this week. So I made myself write this little snip instead of working on the handful of other projects I need to do. Enjoy a bit of casual smugbug.

---

Lisa groaned into her palm as she rubbed her forehead. The headache that had been building yesterday was at last becoming unbearable. It was the price she paid for working overtime on their last job.

A simple smash'n'grab had turned into a giant clusterfuck when one of the wards had shown up. It wasn't a sting, a clever ambush or anything of the thought. Browbeat had simply spotted the team through a random window on his way through the city and called it in. A quick 'In and out' turned into a three-hour standoff with the PRT where Tattletale had to pull out any and all bullshit she could summon just to get the heroes of Brockton Bay to back down.

They managed to get away with a few hundred thousand dollars of jewels and the only casualty was one emotionally ruined Ward whom Lisa felt no pity for. Overall, she was quite proud of herself for the save, unfortunately, the overuse of her power meant she was absolutely crippled for the foreseeable future. Content to sit on the couch and listen to bad television while wallowing in her pain. Lisa was left with no option but to suffer.

Thankfully the Undersider's couch was soft enough to cushion her from the world.

At the sound of a door opening Lisa didn't bother looking up, knowing it was one of her teammates. With her powers out of commission and the mother of all migraines fucking with her head, Lisa didn't have the energy to try and figure out who.

The soft shuffle of socked feet approached her, followed by the sound of a plastic bag being set down. A gentle hand landed on Lisa's back and rubbed up and down, it was oddly comforting. Lisa could rule out Brian, as the hand felt too small to match him, Rachel too for that matter. Alec wouldn't ever be this nice to her. She supposed Aisha might've offered a hand of comfort if Lisa was in pain, but only one member of the Undersiders would've brought a bag of supplies for her

It had to be Taylor, Lisa smiled.

"Here."

Lisa opened her eyes to see a couple pills held before her. The sight was almost too good to be true. Lisa didn't even wait to be handed the painkillers, choosing to inhale them right out of Taylor's hand before taking the bottle of water that was also prepared in the bag. Taylor returned to rubbing her back as Lisa chugged the whole bottle.

"Thanks." Lisa gasped, dropping the empty bottle to the floor.

Taylor smiled at her, "No problem. Want me to grab you a blanket?"

"God, yes."

Lisa could already feel the painkillers kicking in. Logically they couldn't have kicked in this fast, but between the placebo effects, Taylor's gentle presence and whatever bullshit decides how thinker headaches work, Lisa could honestly say she was feeling better by the time Taylor returned with her blanket.

"You're a saint."

"No," Taylor said in her usual dismissive to-all compliments way, "but I'm flattered you think so."

"It's the truth."

Taylor hummed, clearly not believing her as started rubbing Lisa's back again. The blanket wrapped around the two of them, snuggling them both up onto the couch together. The position was a little awkward, what with the height difference between them; Lisa ended up leaning into Taylor's chest as she wrapped an arm around her, but neither of them seemed to mind.

They sat like that for a while, simply watching whatever was on the TV the volume kept low to not aggravate Lisa's headache. Lisa still couldn't concentrate on the television, each show blending into the next one, there was a good chance that Taylor had changed the channel at some point, but Lisa didn't care enough to check.

The painkillers weren't the sleep-inducing kind, and yet Lisa slowly flitted in and out of consciousness. A new show, movie or advertisement on the screen every time she blinked. Her eyelids drooped lower and lower, eventually shutting completely, the warmth from Taylor's body and the rhythmic motion of her hand was like a drug lulling her to sleep.

She wasn't sure how long she was out, but when Lisa finally awoke, her migraine was gone. Her face was buried into Taylor's chest and shoulder, and a small wet patch of drool stained Taylor's shirt where Lisa's mouth had been resting. Lisa blushed in embarrassment upon the realisation.

"Are you feeling better?" Taylor asked softly, she hadn't stopped rubbing her back at the feel of it.

"I'm great," Lisa yawned, lifting her head off from Taylor and wiping her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. How long was I?-"

"Just an hour and a bit," Taylor responded non-nonchalantly.

It was a lie and Lisa didn't need her powers to tell her that. By the way, the late afternoon sun shone through the window, and Lisa could guess she'd been asleep for closer to four hours. She felt bad for falling asleep on Taylor, trapping her on the couch for a large chunk of the day.

"Brian and Rachel passed through while you were out," Taylor continued, her eyes locked forward onto the TV.

Lisa hummed in the affirmative, still feeling groggy as she pulled herself up.

"He left you a box of chocolate, as thanks for yesterday's save," Taylor continued, handing over a small gift-wrapped box to Lisa. "And Rachel wanted to make sure you 'didn't leave it lying around for her dogs to accidentally eat' or something. I'm paraphrasing."

"Chocolate?" Lisa mumbled, taking the box from Taylor's hand and unwrapping it. The box was the fancy expensive kind, the kind of thing you got for a lover, wife or girlfriend. "That's a strange choice, but I'll take it."

Lisa pulled out one of the small chocolates before offering the box to Taylor. Taylor didn't look down at Lisa as her fingers pulled out a piece, but her cheeks were red as she stared forward at the TV.

"Tis the season I suppose," Taylor said, before placing the chocolate between her lips.

Lisa was about to ask what Taylor meant by that when she finally took notice of the movie that was playing on the television. A romance movie, a rather popular one that Lisa had never actually seen before but could still be recognised by the actors alone. Lisa never cared too deeply about romance stories, Taylor however seemed enamoured by the film.

Oh… Lisa thought to herself. Valentine's Day, it's Valentine's Day.

Lisa let out a small chuckle at the realisation, causing Taylor to break away and look back down at her.

"Hmm?" Taylor asked, still red in the face. Whether it was from the film on the screen or something else was a secret Lisa's powers were still too tired to pry.

"Nothing," Lisa smiled, leaning back down into the crook of Taylor's neck.

Neither girl spoke aloud on the subject. The film played out as Taylor held Lisa, and the two girls remained wrapped up on the couch. Lisa smiled as they both shared the chocolate and watched the movie.

It was the best Valentine day that either girl had ever had.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: A secret early draft of a scene from Infestation 11.5 before John C. 'Wildbow-Wibbles' McCrae got a little too worried that Taylor wasn't 100% straight. Thankfully he edited the original scene down and made it completely heterosexual. I kid. but seriously tho, who 'obediently' opens their mouth when told and isn't gay. Srsly wibbles!

---

Lisa forked over a ten and a twenty and collected her change and three pills. She turned to Taylor, "Open up. It's ecstasy."

"I dunno," Taylor answered her, feeling legitimately nervous. She didn't want to refuse her outright and blow their cover, but she also didn't want to get high. Taylor was uncomfortable enough with the idea, to begin with, but doing it here, in this kind of chaos?

"Trust me," she told her, wiggling one of the pills between her fingers.

Obediently, Taylor opened her mouth. Lisa pressed one small pill down on her tongue as Taylor closed her mouth.

"That's a good girl," Lisa said. She smiled as she slowly retracted her finger from Taylor's lips.

The pill's texture felt strange against Taylor's tongue like it was trying to melt through her taste buds. She didn't dare spit it out, but she really didn't want to swallow the pill. Her fear of drugs was conflicting with her trust in Lisa, a panic threatening to rise in her, calmed only by the comforting feeling of Lisa, wrapping an arm across Taylor's back as led them deeper into the club.

Taylor knew very little about ecstasy. She knew it was a party drug, people took it to have a good time and usually didn't drop dead seconds after taking it. But the exact specifics of what was about to happen to her? Taylor could only guess. Her immediate thought was to focus on the positives, Lisa's embrace, the thrum of the music of the club, and how good it felt when she inadvertently sucked on Lisa's finger.

But ecstasy was a mood enhancer, or something to that effect and the last thing Taylor wanted was something fucking with her mood. She felt comfortable with her anxiety and depression, she'd had them for so long. A magic pill coming along with the promise to suddenly make her feel better about the world was the worst kind of pitfall. False hope, like a stranger coming into her life and making her feel good for once, was a scary concept. Lisa was once that stranger.

And yet, she trusted Lisa.

It wasn't blind faith, but she still had faith in Lisa, and Lisa told her that the pill was okay and that it would be good for her. She had faith in Lisa.

So Taylor swallowed the pill. Ready to face the unknown consequences of her actions. It went down with a bit of difficulty, a bit of dryness in her throat, but she had done it. The pill had gone down. Taylor had taken it.

Lisa leaned over until both girl's heads were touching, "Sugar pills." She whispered into Taylor's ear. "A little sleight of hand on my part. Just for appearances. Don't stress."

"Could've fucking told me," Taylor hissed. The sound of the music drowned out her annoyance as Lisa continued to smile.

"And ruin the fun? No thanks," she said, laughing, as she grabbed onto Taylor's hands, her slender fingers lacing between Taylor's. She pulled her deeper into the club.

In spite of Taylor's frustration, Lisa was having fun. Which in turn meant that Taylor couldn't stay angry for long. They'd barely entered the club, but already, the atmosphere was infectious. The lights were blinding, but they were mesmerising in their own right, the colours constantly shifting and changing as the music beat and boomed.

"It was interesting," Lisa said, the two of them made their way to the dance floor. They would blend in with the rest of the patrons before moving on. "You're reaction." Lisa smiled playfully as she danced into Taylor. "I told you to open up and you..." She let her smile finish the sentence.

"You told me to trust you," Taylor said, in a very matter-of-fact tone. Her body swayed with Lisa but without any of the grace and coordination that her companion had.

"True, and I love that about you," Lisa said, as she grabbed hold of Taylor's hand and spun her around. She moved close to her and whispered into her ear, "But I was more curious at the fact that you let me. I honestly expected you to take the pill from my hand and swallow it with that cute scowl you do."

Taylor fought hard not to blush at the backhanded compliment. "Instead you just opened wide and let me."

Taylor turned away from Lisa. Too embarrassed to look her in the eye. Her feet shuffled back and forth in a very lame attempt to keep up with the fast-paced rhythm of the music.

"Sh-shut up," She whined. Lisa refused to let Taylor pull away.

Lisa chuckled back, content to sway with Taylor a little longer. As the song started to fade and the beat of the next began to play, Lisa continued to stare back at her.

"What?" Taylor asked, feeling a bout of self-consciousness. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Lisa smiled back. "Just thinking..." Lisa rubbed her chin for a moment then looked back to Taylor. "Want another pill?"

Before Taylor could respond, Lisa stuck out her tongue through her smile. A single, sugar pill hung on and rolled slowly downwards.

"Oh, fuck off," Taylor groaned, though the smile on her face betrayed her true feelings. She finally pulled away from the dance and looked off. "We have a job to do."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this in short form on my discord. Just a lil joke thingo. Enjoy.

---

Rachel let out a chuckle. Really more of a snort, but it was enough to get Lisa's attention. She turned from her position on the couch to look at the butch girl, stumbling from her bedroom with her hair twice as messy as it usually was. Rachel inspected something between her finger and her thumb, but Lisa couldn't quite see what caused the reaction from the girl.

"What is that?" she asked out as Rachel fell into a heap on the couch across from her.

She still wore the same shirt and jeans she had on the previous day, no doubt falling asleep in them like the slob she was. Lisa suppressed all the little tidbits of information her power was pulling out about Rachel's hygiene habits, as Lisa was well aware by now of what they were.

Rachel looked up from her hand, her expression immediately glowering upon seeing Lisa, but that was her natural state around the blonde. Rachel wiped her hand on her t-shirt, contemplating if she should even acknowledge Lisa to begin with.

Finally, Rachel decided to speak. No doubt in a good mood from having a long sleep and was willing to tolerate Lisa enough to share whatever joke was on her mind.

"I was just thinking..." Rachel began, looking back at her fingers, the remnants of a dead bug squished between her thumb and index. "Isn't it weird how we have a bug controller on the team and yet we still get bitten by mosquitoes?"

Rachel almost chuckled again at the thought. The irony of the situation presented to her. It was so stupid, it was funny. Lisa almost chuckled back at the thought. Except it didn't make any sense.

"What?" Lisa asked. Wondering if she heard Rachel correctly.

"Mosquitoes," Rachel repeated, wiping the remaining dead bug on her shirt one last time before moving to scratch her chest. "Those annoying little things."

"I know what a mosquito is," Lisa said, sitting up straighter on the couch. "what do you mean you still get bitten?"

It didn't make any sense. One of the perks of working with a parahuman like Skitter was that their trashy flat suddenly became pest-free overnight. It had been literally months since Lisa saw a cockroach running around the place even with Alec leaving slices of pizza out on the table every night.

"Yeah," Rachel confirmed, unaware of the oddity of her statement. She tugged on the neck of her shirt and looked down. "All over my legs and chest. Mainly on my abs now that I'm looking at it. It's so annoying,"

Lisa didn't even need her powers to tell her exactly what had happened, or been happening.

"Actually, if anything. They're targeting me more than usual," Rachel continued, idling scratching away at herself.

Lisa just stared back blankly at Rachel, who was still unaware of her reality.

Rachel stared back at the blonde, whose silence eventually got through to her. Both girls stared at each other for a solid ten seconds as Rachel's mind started to connect the dots.

Lisa blinked back, unsure as to what to say. A deep blush of red was slowly building across Rachel's face. A mix of anger and embarrassment.

She stood up from the couch and whistled for her dogs. Brutus came in the lead with Rachel's shoes ready for her. After practically kicking them on, Rachel marched for the exit, a personal mission set for today.

"I'm going to kill her..." Rachel growled under her breath.

"Fair enough," Lisa agreed, not willing to step in on whatever the hell Taylor had done.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: A silly lil idea I came up with in discord. Enjoy some borderline WolfSpider

---

Rachel ran alongside her dogs, who were free from their leashes. They knew not to run ahead or lag behind, so they stuck by her side and stayed within sight. Rachel ran the same route each morning with minor deviations. Brian and Lisa had given Rachel a map of proposed running routes when she first moved into the Undersider's loft, but Rachel didn't care for them. She'd been on her own for years before meeting the team, and she had her own methods for avoiding trouble.

She gave populated sections of the city a wide berth, sticking to areas that would be mostly deserted before and after the run. The dogs were a good early warning system and a deterrent in case someone decided to try something, though it was rarely necessary. Even without the dogs, people didn't mess with a girl like Rachel. Cops never patrolled this section of the city, and no dumbass civilian would speak up if they did recognise the infamous 'Hellhound' doing her morning jog. So Rachel didn't feel all that concerned when she passed through a somewhat inhabited area.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel spotted something interesting. Her legs locked to a halt before her brain even recognised the command. In the window of some rundown-looking dollar store, one particular object caught her eye.

The dogs obediently waited not too far from the girl, recognising their master no longer following. Rachel turned and entered the store, her eyes focused on the thing that caught her attention.

"Uh, Miss?" The elderly shopkeeper called out to her after a short while. "You have to pay for that! Miss! Hello!?"

Rachel scowled at the approaching man as she held her prize firmly against her chest. Rachel was used to people not paying attention and very rarely had to shop in stores on her own. The elderly shopkeeper was a pushover and a coward, so they posed no threat to her. Rachel could've easily sprinted off, but Brian's reminder to not cause trouble outside of work echoed through her mind. Angrily, Rachel fished into her jacket pocket and pulled out a bundle of loose change. She had no idea how much the shopkeeper wanted and she really didn't want to stick around for any longer, so Rachel slapped down what she deemed was an appropriate amount and kept on jogging.

"Wait, your change!" The shopkeeper called out, but Rachel was long gone before they finished.

Rachel tucked her newfound treasure under her jacket and continued her jog. A decision had been made, something she often avoided but had to be done.

----------------------------------------------

Taylor's double life was a tiring one, not to mention stressful. Being the only one of her team to go to Winslow meant that a large portion of her time was spent being verbally assaulted by the terrible trio, the Undersider's flat was the only place she could truly relax and feel at peace.

A short jog from school, a bus ride and then another ten-minute walk were the only obstacles between Taylor and her happy place. As Taylor ascended the stairway, she felt an odd sort of anticipation. What job was there this time? What new crazy cape was she going to be fighting? Or was today just going to be another day of relaxing with the team while they waited for the boss to find them something to do?

Whatever the answer, it would be better than Winslow, Taylor thought.

Opening the door to the Undersider's loft, Taylor was greeted by her teammate. Brian specifically.

"Hey, Taylor. Glad you could make it," Brian said with a smile. "Make yourself at home."

Taylor waved back and set her school bag by the door. Looking around the room she drooped when she realised that it was only Brain in the flat.

"Where's everyone else?" Taylor asked, hiding her disappointment. She liked Brian, but ever since the kiss and subsequent rejection, it felt weird being alone with him.

"Lisa's meeting up with an informant," Brian explained. "Hopefully should be back with some work later so stick around for that, and Alec...well, you know what he's like. He'll get up whenever he feels like it."

Taylor nodded her head and moved towards the couch.

"Oh, and Rachel has been wanting to talk to you all day," Brain finished, pointing behind him.

"Me?" Taylor asked, surprised. She'd been trying to get closer to the girl since moving in, but Rachel wasn't exactly the talkative type. "What does she want?"

"I have no idea," Brian admitted with a shrug. "She wouldn't tell me anything except to send her your way when I see you. So... she's in her room now. Uh... yell out if she tries anything."

Taylor nodded again, unsure what was in store for her. She walked across the room, pausing at the doorway. Turning to face Brian, Taylor hesitated for a moment.

"Good luck," Brian said with a smile. Both of them hoped that this wouldn't turn into another fight.

Taylor knocked three times on Rachel's door. When there was no response, Taylor opened it slightly and peeked inside. Rachel was lying on her bed, Brutus stretched across her chest as a radio played music. Rachel wasn't sleeping but seemed lost in a meditative state of thought.

"Uh, Rachel?" Taylor asked, not wanting to interrupt the girl. "Brian said you wanted to talk to me."

Rachel snapped out of her daze and looked at Taylor. Shooting a harsh glare before she realised who it was who had stepped into her sanctum.

"Oh, right..." Rachel said, more to herself than to Taylor. She nudged Brutus and shuffled off the bed, walking up to Taylor before looking out behind her and glaring at Brian.

"What's up?" Taylor asked awkwardly, unsure as to what to do.

"I need your help with something," Rachel admitted in a low, conspiratorial tone. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"

Rachel stressed the word 'anyone,' emphasising the point by jabbing a finger towards Brian. The boy looked back, confused at the gesture but turned away to give the girls privacy.

"Um, sure," Taylor agreed, a bit thrown by Rachel's unusual behaviour. "Anything I can do to help."

"Great," Rachel said with a small smile, pulling Taylor into the room and shutting the door behind her.

Taylor watched as the energetic girl moved back to her bed and started fishing something out from inside her pillowcase.

"S-so, what did you need?" Taylor asked, leaning over to see what Rachel was doing. She had no bugs in the room to assist her, keeping them from every bedroom.

Rachel held something tightly to her chest and walked back over to Taylor, inspecting the room for any would-be onlookers. Once confident no one was watching, she shoved the object into Taylor's hand. "Here," She grunted, a faint blush building on her cheeks.

Taylor felt the object before she saw it. The unmistakable feeling of a book, a rather thin book if she had to guess. Her eyes were still trained on Rachel's face, and Taylor didn't want to risk ruining the moment. She knew from past experience that if Taylor broke eye contact, whatever progress she'd made with Rachel would be gone and any chances at furthering their relationship would be ruined.

"What do you want?-" Taylor began, even as she guessed the obvious answer.

"I need you to read this for me," Rachel admitted, the blush on her face deepening.

Taylor looked at the cover of the book, surprised by its title.

"Clifford the Big Red Dog," Taylor read aloud, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

Rachel sat down on the end of her bed, looking up at the bespectacled girl expectantly. Taylor had never seen the girl like this, and her interest was piqued. She was always willing to help her teammates, and this was the first time Rachel had asked for help with anything, especially something that required her specifically.

"All right, if you insist," Taylor said with a smile, careful not to bare teeth. She took a seat next to Rachel and held the book out, reading the cover once again for Rachel to hear. "Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Bridwell,"

"Clifford..." Rachel echoed, etching the name into her mind. She practically cuddled up to the girl to get a good view of the book while Taylor read.

----------------------------------------------

A few months later, when Rachel adopted a new dog into her pack, the rest of the team was surprised by the choice. Except for Taylor, who could only smile as she welcomed the Vizsla dog named Clifford.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I had this idea for some.... smugbug... yes... some canon-accurate smugbug.

---

"Taylor? Can I ask you something?" Lisa asked, moving slowly towards her friend.

Taylor looked up from her book, and took her time before replying, "Yeah, sure."

"We're friends, right?"

Taylor didn't know how to respond. Of course, they were friends, what kind of question was that. Lisa was the best friend Taylor ever had since…

"Yes, always," Taylor replied, confused.

"And you trust me, right?" Lisa continued, taking a seat next to the confused girl.

"Where are you going with this, Lisa?"

Lisa hesitated for a moment, an act in itself that set Taylor on edge. With a sigh, Lisa pushed out and took Taylor's hand, interlocking her fingers together. Taylor felt her stomach flip at the contact, a small voice in the back of her mind telling her she should pull away, but she didn't.

"I know you, Taylor," Lisa whispered, a slight blush covering her pale face. "Better than you know yourself. And I know you've never been comfortable in your body, that you don't see yourself the way everyone else sees you. I want to change that."

Taylor was silent. Trying to decide where this was coming from, or what angle Lisa was playing. Talking about her insecurities was not something Taylor was comfortable with, let alone talking about it with someone as beautiful as Lisa. Taylor's first thought was that there had to be an ulterior motive.

"Taylor, listen to me," Lisa said firmly. "You are an amazing woman, and you are a million times more attractive than you give yourself credit for. You deserve to be with someone who... makes you happy."

Taylor turned away, she couldn't call Lisa a liar, but she also couldn't believe her. She just felt like she was being mocked, or manipulated. She couldn't put her finger on it, but Lisa was up to something.

"Lisa..." Taylor grumbled into her book. "Stop…"

"No," Lisa said, taking Taylor's other hand. "I've been trying. Trying to help you see Taylor."
The pair turned to face each other, the silence between them growing thick and awkward. Lisa couldn't tell if she was getting through to her, or making the situation worse.

"Please, listen to what I'm saying," Lisa pleaded. "You keep holding yourself back. You make up excuses for why you can't have what you want."

Lisa's eyes bore into Taylor, beautiful jade green looked up on the girl. Taylor tried to look away, but her eyes simply trailed down to her mischievous vulpine smile. Lips full and soft, looking inviting, even when smirking.

"And what do you think I want, Lisa?" Taylor asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Lisa was silent for a moment, trying to find the words. She moved, closer and closer to Taylor, the warmth of her breath hitting Taylor's skin. She was so close, Taylor could almost taste her.

"What do I want?" Lisa asked, her lips grazing Taylor's as she spoke. "I want you to go for the people you want."

Taylor could feel her heart beating from her chest. Lisa looked so tempting, so enticing, and all Taylor had to do was lean forward. Just a little.

"Lisa, I…"

"It's okay," Lisa breathed, lips hovering around the taller girl's neck. "You're allowed to ask for what you want. You can have it, Taylor. I promise you."

Taylor couldn't hold back.

"A-alright, Lise," She finally gave in, looking her best friend in the eyes. "I'll do just that."

--------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, when you first asked me out on a date, I was a little worried. But all things considered. Today has been fun."

Taylor smiled as she leaned into the strong muscular arms of Brian. She finally had the courage to ask out her crush and it had paid off. They were having a great time, and the view of the sun setting over the Boardwalk was stunning.

"Remember to thank Lisa," Taylor said. "She gave me the courage to go through with it."

The pair continued to watch the sun sink into the water, neither one saying a word, simply enjoying the moment. They were the perfect heterosexual couple for the perfectly heterosexual girl. And would live happily ever after.

Brian chuckled, pulling Taylor into a comforting hug. "I'll do just that."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this on my phone today. Enjoy!

---

Officer Micheal turned off his siren and steps out of the car. Another routine pullover in the ever-busy city.

The vehicle he pulled over wasn't speeding, but it did have a broken tail light and Michael needed to reach his ticket quota for this month.

Pulling on his belt, he attempted to protrude as much authority as he could muster. Judging by the obnoxious music blaring from the radio, he could only assume he pulled over some punk kids driving their parent's van.

The windows were tinted black, another thing that Micheals could potentially write them up about, he was sure he could pull out some bullshit code to scare them with. With a snort, he looked down from his aviators and knocked on the window, motioning to wind it down.

"Now, do you have any idea why I pulled you over?" Michaels asked, already writing into his notebook.

"Haven't a clue, officer," said an overly cheery young girl. "But I guess it's for that breaklight we never replaced?"

"I'm afraid so ma'am," Michaels said back, getting ready to resist whatever sweet talk this girl was inevitably going to do. "Can I see your license and re-"

The officer looked up from his notepad for the first time since the window came down, his voice caught in his throat as he recognised the colourful outfit the girl was wearing.

Tattletale of the Undersiders sat in the driver's seat, casually smiling back at the man. Beside her, the every-so-terrifying Skitter stared at the officer.

"Any chance you can just let us off with a warning, officer?" Tattletale asked, still acting as if she was just some random girl. "I promise, we'll get that light changed licky-split."

The gun on Officer Michael's felt heavy, but he didn't dare reach for it. The sound of three irritated dogs moving in the backseat warned him enough. Add to that the man with the Skull helmet in the seat behind Skitter, clenching his hand into a fist.

"Y-yeah. Of course," Office Micheals said, ripping up the ticket he started and making sure to tear it in view of everyone. "You k-kids have a g-great day now."

"We will!" Tattletale said back, waving the man goodbye with a smile.

The van drove off shortly after.

"Told you I could talk our way out of a ticket," Tattletale said proudly to the group. "Now pay up."

"That doesn't count," Regent grumbled. "He was more scared of Skitter than you. If anything, she should get the twenty bucks."

Imp leaned forward and gave both girls in the front seat some money.

"Wasn't the bet only for twenty?" Skitter asked, inspecting the fifty in her hand.

"It's all the officer had in his wallet." Imp shrugged.

Bitch let out a small huff of amusement and motioned for Imp to throw her the empty wallet.

Grue watched it all unfold around him, his hands unclenching from the potential clusterfuck to today's heist.

"You're all stupid," Grue groaned.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Had this silly idea in my head and wrote it in the discord. It's a lil spicy, idk if it's allowed here. (I aint posting on the SB thread) But nothing too crazy.

---

"Watch yourself, Hebert!"

Sophia shoulder-checked Taylor as she always did in the halls of Winslow. Another day in this hellhole of a school and another day of the terrible trio giving her shit.

Taylor slammed against the locker and considered her next move. All this schoolyard bullying was so childish. What did they want from her? A show of force? A reaction? A cry for help?

Whatever. Taylor couldn't be bothered to care anymore. Her worries had long thing surpassed the trio, work with the Undersiders and dealing with the likes of Lung, Bakuda and Coil had seen to that. The old Taylor would've cried, the new Taylor couldn't give less of a shit.

One could even say that she didn't give a fuck, however, Taylor had just one fuck left to give.

A single fly tagged Sophia as the bully ran off. Taylor didn't need to do anything, all she had to do was wait and listen. What was she listening for? Taylor didn't know. The next plan of attack maybe. Heads up for the next baseless rumour Emma was planning to spread. Or perhaps even an explanation for why those three bitches still after all this time, picked on Taylor.

Taylor didn't care or expect to hear anything of note. But it costs literally nothing to throw a fly on Sophia Hess and listen to what she does. So Taylor went about her day, ignoring the stares and snide remarks, keeping an ear out for Sophia.

And then she heard it, heard it all.
--------------------------------------------------

"'Sup, Survivor," Sophia said with a smile and a head nod.

Emma was in the middle of a conversation with several other students, but quickly dismissed her posse in favour of the approaching woman.

"Heya, Predator," Emma smiled back.

Something about the way she licked her lips disorientated Taylor.

"Guess who I passed in the halls just now?" Sophia asked.

Taylor rolled her eyes at the rhetorical question. Was this bitch really going to brag about shoving her against a locker?

"Oh?" Emma asked, looking at Sophia with... some weird look in her eye. She brushed some hair out of her face, behind her ear and moved in closer to Sophia. "Who?"

Sophia leaned forward too. Taylor had never seen the girl smile like this, nothing like the hateful smug look she gave Taylor, but an actual smile, one full of warmth.

"Taylor fucking Hebert."

Taylor watched her own name roll off Sophia's tongue. Then the redhead's eyes fluttered and a low moan escaped her mouth.

...A moan? What the fu-

"W-what did you do?" Emma asked, giggling like a schoolgirl.

There faces were getting very close, and... oh god, this is exactly what it looks like, isn't it?

"Just bumped her into a locker," Sophia responded with a sultry whisper. Lips right up against Emma's ears. "Reminded that worm of her place here."

Upon hearing that, Emma moved closer in and kissed Sophia's neck.

"Mmm, what else?" Emma moaned between neck kisses. "How hard did you bump her? How did she react?"

"Slammed her right into the fucking locker," Sophia growled, running her hands through Emma's hair as she kissed her. Emma's pace picked up as Sophia talked. "The wimp didn't do a goddamn thing, but I could tell…"

Emma pulled away, a look of concern on her face. "Tell what?"

"I could tell she wanted to cry, like a little... bitch."

"Oh fuck, yes," Emma groaned, moving back in to kiss Sophia. This was no small peck either, they were making out, tongues and everything.

Taylor, five hallways over in her trip to the library, tripped over her own feet and face-planted out of sheer shock to what she just witnessed.

"I-imagine... if she started crying right there," Emma said between sloppy kisses. "What would you have done?"

"I'd have punched her," Sophia moaned back. "Right in her stupid face,"

"Yeah you would," Emma growled as she pushed the girl into the locker.

The two were now making out like a bunch of horny teenagers... which was appropriate, but also really fucking weird. No one in the hallways even batted an eye, which told Taylor that this was just a regular thing that everyone was used to by this point.

Sophia's hands ran down Emma's back, but the redhead pushed away just as the dark-skinned hands got low enough to grope her ass.

"Nuh uh uh," Emma teased. "You think a shoves worth that much?" Sophia tried to steal another kiss but Emma held firm, pushing the girl back into the locker. "Try a little harder next time."

Several questions were going through Taylor's mind. The main one is, how long has this been going on for?

"Fucking tease," Sophia groaned, giving in and letting her arms rest. "Fine. Just you wait though. I'm gonna make Hebert suffer."

Emma giggled flirtily. "Yeah. I bet you are."

Taylor admitted, this also answered a lot of other questions. Namely, what the fuck was Sophia's deal. A part of Taylor wished she hadn't learned about this fucked up relationship of theirs and how the whole bullying thing was purely for Emma to get her rocks off. But how did Madison fit into all this?

As if on cue, Madison appeared around the corner and joined the duo. She had a smug grin of her own plastered on her face and proudly held out a book as an offering for Emma.

"Heya, Ems!" Madison giggled, pushing the book into Emma's hands. "Guess who stole Taylor's copy of Pride and Prejudice from her locker?"

Emma gasped in surprise and inspected the book. Taylor, still on the floor five halls down, sent a bug to check over the contents of her locker. Sure enough, her copy of Pride and Prejudice was missing, the locker broken into and sloppily closed back up.

"Oh wow," Emma giggled. "You little minx." Emma threw the book over her shoulder, not caring about where it fell, only on what was directly in front of her. "I love a woman with initiative. Good girl."

Emma purred as she pulled Madison in by her chin. Kissing the girl as deeply and as passionately as she had with Sophia, not even moments ago. The smaller girl melted into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist.

Taylor pulled her fly back. She pulled every bug she could as far away from that area of the school as possible. She had seen enough. She had heard enough. Taylor was going to take Lisa's advice, get her GED and get the fuck out of Winslow and as far away from Emma Barnes as she could possibly get.