My Girlfriend Is Terrifying [Worm Au][Taylor x Victoria x Lisa]

[Dradel]

Time for the ''who the hell is Lisa's ''uncle'' game!
Usually, the assumption would be Coil, but they just killed him and sent his body double to the Birdcage, so I doubt it.
I don't think it's a real uncle of hers either. If Carol somehow reached out to her original family, it would just be her parents here.
This might be Brian's dad, covering for her as thanks for handling the Aisha situation, but I doubt it.
I think the question is ''who would have something to gain pretending to be her uncle, while she's here and could expose him''.
Spitballing here, worst case scenario Jack Slash is doing a little trolling. Slightly less worse, a Heartbreaker child have come for Alec and intend to use their powers to engrain themselves with his teammates. Alternatively, a Cauldron plants for some bullshit Path or another.
Maybe Danny came with a friend and Carol just assumed?

 

[Radek]

"Her what" indeed. Who the hell introduced themselves as Lisa's uncle and why did they do it?

 

[kazan sork]

lisa`s uncle = alec wearing a mustache, sunglasses and bowler hat.

 

[Gowonzu]

Undersider's Base – 'Early' Morning

An annoying buzzing sound woke Alec from his sleep. He groaned as he rolled over to check the clock on his phone. It was far too early in the morning for him to deal with this nonsense. He was in the middle of a particularly interesting dream that he was already forgetting, so he rolled over on his pillow and tried his damnedest to fall back to sleep.

The buzzing continued.

A repetitive hum coming from the other side of his wall. The sound wasn't that loud, but the continual nature of it drowned out all other sounds. It reminded Alec of all the times Rachel wouldn't turn the shower faucet all the way closed and he'd have to get up in the middle of the night just to stop that damn dripping.

With a tired huff, Alec pushed himself from the covers of his comfortable bed and stumbled like a zombie out of his room. He already identified the buzzing coming from the room next to his, but hearing the ringing from the door next to him confirmed it.

"Brian…" Alec yawned as his head slumped on the door. "Pick up your phone… Some of us are-" He yawned again and wobbled on his feet. "-Trying to sleep."

The ringing continued. The annoying buzz seemed even more grating the closer he was to Brian's room.

"For fuck's sake, Brian," Alec knocked on the door. "Why do you even set an alarm if you're going to sleep through it?"

Alec knocked on the door a little harder and watched as it opened slightly/ He hadn't knocked it that hard, indicating that the door was already ajar. He pushed two fingers onto the door, opening it the whole way to find an empty bedroom.

"Brian?" Alec called out, sticking his head inside. It was clear that Brian wasn't home. The boy must've already woken up and gone off to run some errand. "Morning people…" Alec grumbled.

He couldn't understand what kind of psycho would choose to wake up early, especially on days when they had nothing important that needed doing. The world would be a better place if everyone woke up at midday, like nature intended.

Brian's phone kept ringing and buzzing. Whoever was trying to call him wasn't giving up so easily. With a sigh, Alec took a step into Brian's room, whispering an apology under his breath. The team had a handful of rules between each other to prevent chaos among the Undersiders. One of the big ones was 'Don't go through anyone's shit' which also translated to 'Stay out of each other's rooms.'

But it wasn't Alec's fault that he needed to walk into Brian's room and find his stupid phone. It was Brian's. What kind of idiot left the house without their mobile phone anyway? Brian was the one who drilled in the 'Always be reachable on your phone' mentality. He could be getting mobbed by the Empire and the Undersiders would have no idea.

"Tsk, tsk." Alec thought to himself.

He stepped inside and ignored most of the useless crap that was thrown about his room. He only needed his ears to guide him to the prize. Brian's desk, some basic ass computer desk that he got off IKEA, Alec remembered helping him build the damn thing when they first moved into the base.

He scoured over the top of the desk, looking for the phone. The ringing still sounded muffled, so it was either under all the random paperwork Brian had or inside the desk itself. After pushing all the paper to the floor, the answer was clear, it was inside the desk.

Opening the desk drawer, Alec was more than a little confused. There wasn't one phone in there, but several. All cheap flip phones that were plugged into some inbuilt charging station, a real fire hazard worth of cables running to the same point. He counted about twelve phones, all of them charging and all of them labelled.

The labels all had random names written on them. James, Anthony, Kyle, Nick, the list went on. Alec finally saw the phone that was ringing, it was labelled as 'David'.

Alec's first assumption in his sleep-deprived state was that Brian was the dumbest person on the planet and had come to the conclusion that he bought a phone for every contact that he knew. Alec would have to explain to Brian how phones worked because this level of technological ineptitude with phones made Taylor look like a rocket scientist.

Amused but still mostly annoyed, Alec picked up the ringing phone and prepared to tell 'David' that Brian wasn't available right now and would call him back at a sensible hour… like four in the afternoon or something. He unplugged the phone from the charger and pulled it to his ear.

"Yeeelow," Alec spoke into the receiver with a tired and croaky voice.

"Is this David Wilbourn?" The voice asked. Alec was surprised when he heard the caller on the other end sounding more like a middle-aged woman.

"No, I thought you were Da-" Alex began before halting himself. his sleep-addled mind caught up with itself as he realised what he'd done. This was obviously a phone set up by Brian so that he could manage whatever business aliases he had behind the scenes and Alec just answered one of his phones with no idea what they're used for. "Uh, I mean… Speaking."

Alec silently cursed himself for not immediately ending the call. He'd dug himself into this mess and was going to try and wing it. He hoped that whoever this woman was would simply leave a message that he could relay to Brian and that would be the end of it.

"Wonderful," The woman said. "I hope you don't mind. I found your phone number through your company's website. I've been meaning to speak to you for a while now. I wanted to talk to you about your niece?"

"My niece?" Alec balked. What kind of cover story is Brian running where one of them has a niece?

Looking back down into the drawer of phones, he found a sheet of paper. It was under all the phones and it had the names listed out along, with any relevant information. Alec's eyes trailed down to the name of the phone he was on. He found it at the bottom of the page.

David Wilbourn – Lisa's civilian cover. Local, Construction, 078-05-1120

Right, David Wilbourn, Lisa Wilbourn. Alec should've made that connection. There were a handful of random digits and an address written alongside the name, but Alec had no clue what they represented.

"Ah, right," Alec said, clearing his throat. "My niece. Lisa…"

"Yes," The voice said, obviously confused on the other end. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time? My name's Carol Dallon, I'm Victoria's mother."

"No, not at all," Alec said, deepening his voice as best he could to not sound like a teenager. "What can I, uh, do for you today?… Mrs Dallon."

Alec silently screamed into the void. He was on a phone call with goddamn Brandish. On one hand, Alec could relax knowing that he wasn't screwing up some underworld connection Brian had made. On the other hand, a superhero was digging into Lisa's civilian cover and Alec had no idea what lies he was supposed to spin to protect Tattletale's identity.

"I'm assuming that Lisa has already told you about the photoshoot the girls are having later today?" Carol said.

Alec had no fucking clue about any photoshoot but if David Wilbourn should've known then Alec was going to pretend to.

"Of course, Of course," Alex lied. "Lisa told me all about it. She's very… uh, excited? Yes."

"That's good to hear," Carol said. "I know it can be concerning having your ward thrown into the public spotlight, but rest assured Mr Wilbourn, that Lisa will be under New Wave's protection. I've been managing publicity for years."

"I see?" Alec said, still having no clue what exactly she was talking about. "Thank you for all your help?"

"Which leads me to why I called today," Carol continued. "My husband pointed out that I just threw this whole photoshoot on the kids without consulting their parents, or in your case, their guardian. While I do stand by my position to take control of the media perception of the girl's relationship, I understand that it could be seen as a hasty decision to make from the outside. And I hope you didn't see this as taking control away from you."

"Oh, no worries about that," Alec said, keeping vague about how 'David' felt about the photoshoot. "Lisa's a pretty independent girl. Honestly, some days she bosses me around." Alec chuckled before rolling his eyes at how stupid he sounded.

"Indeed," Carol said. "Mr Hebert mentioned the same thing about Taylor. In any case, I wanted to invite you to the photoshoot today. We could have an official introduction with all parties involved. I already spoke to Mr Hebert, and he agreed to join us. It starts at one today, down on Carlisle Lane. I'd be delighted if you could make an appearance too?"

Alec's eyes flicked back to the cheat sheet of names written for the phones. Some of them had very specific instructions,

'James – Only meet in West End Fuglys'
'Anthony -Tuesday' and Thursdays only'
'Nick – Call Allen if requests face 2 face meet.'
'Kyle – Do not agree to any deals'

There was no special instruction about what to do if someone wanted to meet David Wilbourn. But there also wasn't any instruction saying not to meet.

"Sure?" Alec agreed. He figured that Brian and Lisa must have some kind of system set up for 'David.' If he had an actual phone number on a real website that could be reached, then there'd have to be a person assigned to play him when needed. That'd make sense, Brian and Lisa were always prepared like that. "I'll see you there."

"Great!" Carol said, "I look forward to meeting you. I'll text you the details."

She hung up and a text message buzzed through a minute later. Alec pocketed the phone as a reminder to tell Brian and Lisa what happened as he left Brian's bedroom. He debated heading back to bed himself but figured that he should at least text Brian about what happened.

Brian walked through the front door before Alec could finish typing out his explanation and excuses.

"Oh, now you're home," Alec whined sarcastically. "Where were you ten minutes ago?"

"Out," Brian replied, raising an eyebrow at Alec's sass. "We were getting breakfast. Why are you so moody? And awake?"

"Bagel?" Aisha offered, holding out a bag as she appeared beside Brian.

Alec stared at the bag and then moved to grab it. Brian snatched it out of Aisha's hand first.

"That's mine," Brian grumbled to his sister. "Offer your own food."

"But I already ate mine," Aisha chuckled. "Besides, who orders a second bagel after they finish breakfast?"

"It's my lunch," Brian said back, already making his way to put his bagel in the fridge.

"Can you believe this guy?" Aisha said to Alec. "Rob's banks and gang hideouts for a living, and has a bagel for breakfast and lunch."

"What's wrong with a bagel?" Brian defended himself. "I like bagels."

"What's wrong, is that we should be having lobster or some gourmet shit on the daily," Aisha said as she threw her hands up in the air. "Yet this dork still eats like we're poor."

"Hey, a twelve-dollar bagel is not cheap," Brian playfully snapped back. Aisha simply shook her head and disappeared from both boy's perceptions. Brian's smile dropped as he forgot what he was doing, turning to Alec. "So, did you need me or something?"

"Oh, right," Alec said, pointing to his bedroom. "You're phone woke me up. Uh, one of your phones. At the desk. I might've… accidentally answered it…"

Brian's face fell from a neutral position to a grimace. "Which one?" He asked. Alec could feel the disapproval radiate off Brian.

"The-the David one," Alec explained. "Lisa's cover one. Her uncle? I think. I didn't even know she had an uncle. But that one."

"Shit," Brian swore under his breath, he took two steps towards his room before Alec pulled out the phone. "Who was it?" Brian asked, looking at the phone and moving to grab it from the boy. "What did they want?"

"Carol Dallon," Alec said with a guilty expression. "Lisa's hero girlfriend's Mom. Wanted to invite David to some photoshoot thing Lisa is doing today? Did you know about this?"

"No," Brian shook his head. "Well, Lisa gave me the cliff notes but I didn't ask much into it. What did you tell her?"

"I said that I'd be there and she told me to meet her at one," Alec explained.

Brian looked up at him with dumbfounded shock. "Why would you tell her that!?"

Alec shrugged. "I panicked. And it gave you options. I didn't know if you would've agreed or not, but I didn't want to say no and have you yell at me later for it."

"What options?" Brian groaned. "You just agreed to send a man who doesn't exist to meet a superhero lawyer. Why the hell did you think I'd say yes to that?"

"I thought you had a guy or something?" Alec explained.

"What guy!?" Brian gasped.

"You know, a guy. A guy to play David Wilbourn. An actor or some shit." Alec said, matching Brian's panicked energy.

"You think that Lisa would pay some random to act as her Uncle?" Brian sighed. "And here's an idea. If this hypothetical guy did exist, then wouldn't they have the phone labelled as David?"

"Well that's stupid," Alec retorted. "Brandish found the number online, she's obviously looking into Lisa's cover. You should have a guy play as him. What if she showed up on Lisa's door, huh? What then?"

Brian rubbed his temple. "David Wilbourn is simply a cover to pay for Lisa's apartment, car and taxes. David Wilbourn is a hardworking Brocktonite who takes long work trips across New Hampshire doing contract work. He's only home two days a week and those days are whenever the fuck someone isn't looking for him."

"Well that would've been helpful information to know," Alec sighed. "Maybe write that shit down instead of just 'Lisa's civilian cover' and a bunch of numbers."

"First of all," Brian growled. "You didn't need to know because you shouldn't be in my room answering my phones. And secondly, I did write it down, it was on the back page!"

"Oh…" Alec said quietly. There was a short pause where neither of them looked at each other. Finally, Alec spoke up again. "I'll just call her back, call the meeting off."

"No, no no no," Brian said, pulling the phone away from him. "You've done enough damage. No more talking to Carol Dallon. I'll… Brandish will probably call back once David doesn't show up. I'll send a text that he got called into work, hopefully, she'll drop the whole meeting thing. Fuck, I need to tell Lisa. See what she thinks we should do."

Brian pulled out his own phone and quickly dialled Lisa. After a few tense seconds of waiting for the call, he growled and looked back to Alec. "Went to voice mail, dammit Lise," He pulled the phone back up to his mouth. "Lime, L. Hey, we might have a problem. Alec went through my stuff and now David has agreed to meet Carol Dallon at your photoshoot thing. Call me when you get this. We'll sort this out… somehow."
"Can't we just hire someone to be David for a day?" Alec suggested. "Oh, what about that Merc Lisa works with. Dimitri? He could do it?"

Brian's stare told Alec how stupid of a plan that was, but Brian explained anyway. "David Wilbourn is an American, and Dimitri has a very Russian accent. Also, there's a chance that Dimitri has fought Brandish before. I don't know what Coil made him do. I ain't risking getting him near her. And I doubt he'd do it anyway."

Alec thought again. "What about… Faultline?"

"What about her?"

"We could pay her to… I don't know. Impersonate David."

"Okay, ignoring the fact that Faultline is both a woman and hates Tattletales's guts," Brian said dismissively. "She doesn't know Lisa's identity and we're not revealing that."

"Well, what about you?" Alec suggested. "You can look… mature at times. And you know Lisa, just be Uncle David for a day."

"Do I look like I could be Lisa's Uncle?" Brian said sarcastically.

"Oh, what about Alec then?" Aisha chimed in, reappearing between the two. "I got one of those fake glasses and moustache things, slap that on and call him David." She chuckled at her stupidly unhelpful suggestion.

"Look, just… forget it. Alright?" Brian said, putting his foot down on the conversation. "I'll wait for Lisa to get back to me. Otherwise, we'll just ignore this and hope that Carol Dallon doesn't chase us up." He shook his head and grabbed his keys before moving the leave the apartment. "I'm going out again. Aisha, stay here. Alec… don't touch anything."

"Where are you going?" Aisha asked.

"I gotta sort some shit out," Brian grumbled. "And buy a lock for my desk apparently." He slammed the door as he left, leaving Alec and Aisha to responsibly wait for everything to work itself out.

"So…" Aisha said, sliding up to Alec. "Wanna try my moustache idea?"

"Hmm…" Alec thought aloud. "Tempting, but I don't feel like getting skewered by Brandish today. What we need is a man who knows enough about Lisa to lie for her, isn't at risk for knowing her true identity and can't be traced back by a super lawyer after the meeting is done."

"What are you thinking?" Aisha asked.

Alec held up his arms and shrugged. "Honestly, I thought I could just pay some homeless bum fifty bucks to let me puppet him around for the day. But they could just go running to the cops after the fact. People are so unreliable that way." The idea was entirely a joke on Alec's part. He'd accepted that he'd fucked up. He'd let Brian fix it and expected to be yelled at by everyone later.

But then Aisha jumped up with a gasp of excitement.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Aisha said as she shook Alec. "That just gave me a really great idea!"

-----------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Hospital – An hour or so later

Aisha and Alec wandered through the hallways of the hospital, ignoring the odd side glances the staff gave them. Aisha hadn't explained her 'great idea' for the entire duration of the trip, as she wanted to leave it as a surprise. When the bus pulled up at the hospital, Aisha led the way down the halls.

While Alec was somewhat hesitant to sneak into a hospital in the middle of the morning, Aisha had this theory that as long as you look like you should be there, no one will question what you're doing. They were just two teens walking through and no one stopped to ask them what they were doing or who they were here to see.

"Okay, seriously?" Alec said as he was practically being dragged by the hand. "What are we doing here?"

"Almost there," Aisha said back. "Trust me."

They moved past several rooms of beds filled with patients and families. They were all larger rooms for the public, usually three or more families per room. Aisha ignored them all as she walked up to the main desk, ignoring the receptionist in favour of a chartboard hanging on the wall.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Alec asked, he'd gotten lost after the third completely identical hallway he was dragged down.

"Okay, so," Aisha began to explain, ignoring Alec's complaint. "Start of the year, my Mom OD'd. Called an ambulance, pumped her stomach, gave her a bed for a week or two and kicked us out with a giant 'fuck you' bill at the end of it. Standard stuff," Alec nodded his head to the grim story and how casually Aisha told it. "Spent a lot of time here with her 'cause Brian was busy. Got to know this place pretty well. Used to explore up and down here cause I was bored out of my fucking mind. On day three, I got a little stir-crazy and made a friend."

Her eyes lit up as she spotted a particular name in the chart. Tapping on the room number and moving to find it. They stood out in front of room 134, Aisha strolled inside without so much as knocking as Alec followed quietly behind.

"And your friend is?" Alec said, just along for the ride at this point.

"Meet John," Aisha said proudly, pointing to the only bed in the room.

A man lay in the bed. With dirty blonde hair and an unkempt beard, he looked sickly thin and had all kinds of drips and machines hooked into his arm. He didn't react at all to the intrusion into his room, and Alec was beginning to suspect why.

"Alright, I'll bite," Alec sighed. "Who the hell is John?"

Aisha shrugged. "I don't know. No one knows. He's just marked as John Doe. Found at the scene or some cape skirmish last year, no identity, no next of kin, no nothing. At least that's what the doctor told me when I asked. The dude's in a freaking coma, probably never gonna wake up again. But the hospital can't pull the plug on him without permission from family. So… here he lays." Aisha took a seat next to the bed and sighed nostalgically. "I used to just sit here and talk. Johns a great listener."

"You do know how insane you sound right now?" Alec said with a smirk.

Aisha huffed. "Like I said, I was bored and went a little stir-crazy. Besides, ranting all your problems to some lifeless husk is oddly therapeutic." Aisha's smile wavered at her memory but quickly returned as she looked at Alec. "So I was thinking-"

"That I should puppet John and have him act as Lisa's uncle?" Alec finished her batshit idea for her.

"Could it work?" Aisha asked.

"Do you mean, can I puppet a coma patient? Or will Carol Dallon actually believe it's Lisa's Uncle?" Alec asked.

"Both?" Aisha grinned back.

"Ehh, what the hell." Alec huffed. "It's worth a shot," He stood in front of the man and loosened his body, focusing his power to feel out the man's nervous system. The John Doe twitched violently as Alec ran through all the limbs. "Well… usually when I do this, people fight me on it. Either subconsciously or physically. Him being in a coma actually makes this rather easy." John Doe twitched some more, his arm lifting briefly before collapsing, a leg kicking out from the bed. "On the other hand…"

John Doe made a strange gurgling noise as Alec tried and failed to speak out of him. Both arms shot up, pulling his torso forward and out of the bed.

"It's alive!" Aisha cackled. Raising her arms in the air like a mad scientist bringing a zombie to life.

"Barely," Alec wheezed, trying to force the puppet to sit up. "His muscles are fucked. How long has he been in the bed?"

"Like, six months at least," Aisha said. "I mean, they move him from bed to bed. Think they massage him once a week too."

"Well he's weak as hell," Alec sighed. "The dude really needs to do some push-ups for once in his life."

"Ha ha," Aisha said sarcastically. "Can you make it work?"

"Yea-fmp," The puppet said through Alec's control. "Just givmph me a secomph to lossmph him up."

John Doe went through a handful of basic movement exercises, constricting and releasing his hands, rotating his head, readjusting his jaw, wiggling his toes and a handful of similar things.

"How are we going to get this guy out of here?" Alec asked as the puppet slowly got used to standing on his own two feet again. "Won't the hospital notice that their mystery man has gone missing?"

"According to the chart, the only person who checks on him is the night staff," Aisha explained. "Doubt anyone expects him to just get up and walk away, so as long as we have him back before late, they might not even notice."

The puppet was still walking slowly, but Alec could have plenty of time to increase his control on the move. Inspecting him closer, both Aisha and Alec agreed on two things.

"He needs a haircut," Aisha said first.

"And clothes," Alec added, noting his state of undress in hospital garments.

"He should probably have a shower," Aisha thought aloud. "Quick, go wash and shave him. I'll find some pants."

"Urgh," Alec sighed. "Do you have any idea how gross it is to shower a puppet? Oh, and he's starving. Get some food."

"How much time have we got till he's gotta meet Brandish?" Aisha asked as Alec shuffled the puppet towards the bathroom.

"Three hours, ish," Alec replied, looking at his phone. "Why?"

"Cause he needs a haircut, food and whatever pants I steal for him ain't gonna cut it," Aisha stated. "After we clean him up, let's get him a suit. And take him out to lunch."

Alec chuckled. "What? Is he going to chaperone our date or something?"

"Yes," Aisha smiled back. "Suit him up. Personal butler for the day. Minus that whole Lisa's Uncle business."

"As you wish," Alec laughed. "What do you want to do for lunch."

Aisha grinned devilishly as she made her choice. "Lobster!"

--------------------------------------------------
The Photo Studio – Ten minutes past One o'clock

Carol Dallon smiled in that professional lawyer way that made it seem like she couldn't be less thrilled about whatever happened today. It made Alec feel incredibly unnerved, it was also incredibly ironic. Of the two people putting on fake smiles and shaking hands, only one of them felt dead inside, and it wasn't the coma patient who was being puppeted by a supervillain.

"Carol Dallon, a pleasure to meet you," Carol said as she shook the man's hand.

"David Wilbourn, likewise." The puppet, David said back. "Sorry, I'm late. Got uh… held up at lunch."

"Oh, I didn't know we were supposed to dress up," Another man said beside him. "I feel ill-prepared for today." He shot a hand up towards David. "Danny Hebert, nice to meet you."

"Oh, this old thing?" David said after shaking the man's hand. "I'm not usually one for a monkey suit. But I decided to throw this old thing on, y'know. To support my Lisa." He chuckled to which Danny joined in with. Carol added a polite 'ha ha' but it was obvious she didn't mean it.

"Where are the girls anyway?" Danny asked, looking towards Carol.

"They're just getting ready in the back," Carol said, leading the two men back into the main studio. "I already told them you'd be coming. I'm sure there overjoyed that you both came."

Danny Hebert gave a genuine smile at the thought while David Wilbourn struggled to keep a straight face.

"What's going on?" Aisha asked Alec. The two were seated in the building over from the studio, sitting. "Have you met Brandish yet?"

"Yes, just met her," Alec said, trying to keep focus on his puppet. "Taylor's Dad too. But fuck… I need to move this puppet over to the first seat I find and collapse into it. My control had improved over the last three hours, but this body was still terribly weak. It needs to rest after the most basic of walking."

Carol sat down next to him as Danny joined the two. An assistant to the photography studio rushed over and poured all three of them a glass of wine.

"What are you doing?" Aisha asked, obviously bored without the commentary.

Alec had never been a wine drinker as he never enjoyed the taste of it. The fact that his puppet was not the healthiest person at the table might have made the thought that drinking might not be the best idea. But, he was also here to give a good impression for Lisa and make up for his earlier mistake so… bottoms up. Besides, Alex wasn't drinking. Alec was sitting in a building over with Aisha having ice cream.

He clinked his wine glass with the other two as they got down to adult conversations.

"Not adult as in saucy, mind you," Alec said as he narrated what he did to Aisha, "Adult as in I lost interest the second Carol Dallon opened her mouth. She mentioned something about the 'schedule of today's events' and then some shit about media. PR talk for New Wave and some other stuff I completely zoned out of."

"Yikes, sounds dull," Aisha chuckled. "Why are we doing this again?"

"It was your idea," Alec whined back. "Oh great. Now Danny started talking about his job and life. He does something at the docks, not entirely sure what he said. He mentioned Taylor's mother once and quickly changed the topic and now the topic is… Oh god, they're both looking at me. I have to talk about something. Quick, think about something sophisticated and boring. What's David's backstory again!?"

"Yeah, I'm a… construction person," Alec said through David, very unconfidently. "I drive all over the state doing work out in the country."

"Oh, like a carpenter?" Danny asked, "What's that like? I work with a couple of them at the docks, but I imagine it must be completely different in rural areas."

"Well yeah," David said back. "But like, I do more than carpets. I build… houses and stuff."

"Yes?" Danny nodded, looking confused. "Do you enjoy it?"

His question felt painfully awkward. It reminded Alec of Taylor when she acted like a nerd. Like Father, like daughter, he assumed.

"Yeash, it's great," David said, slightly slurring his words. "I get to travel all over the world, uh, I mean state." He gestured with his hands while talking, but Alec forgot how weak the arms were and almost succeeded in spilling his drink. After a few stumbles, he caught the glass and returned an apologetic grin. "It's nice. Good time, my job is."

Carol silently grabbed the bottle of wine and placed it away from the table. She kept glancing at David with a concerned look as he continued to ramble on about his travels. Danny quickly interjected and steered the conversation back to just the two actual adults talking while David enjoyed the scenery.

Just when it became unbearably awkward and obvious that David had no idea what the hell he was doing here, a door opened up and three girls came walking out.

"There's our girls," Danny cheered happily. "Don't you all look beautiful."

"Somethings happened," Aisha said, nudging Alec. "Can see it on your face, what's going on."

"Quiet," Alec whispered. "The throuple arrived. All dressed up and shit."

"Oh, dressed up?" Aisha asked, her voice going up an octave. "All of them? Taylor too? What are they wearing, what are they wearing?"

"I don't know, dresses?" Alec sighed. "Taylor is green, Lisa is purple, Victoria is blue. And they have… hair and I think they have lipstick on."

"Wow, you're descriptive," Aisha said sarcastically. "Do they at least look hot?"

"Yeah, they're hot," Alec said back, not really paying attention to her.

Aisha leaned over and smacked Alec on the arm. Hard enough to make his puppet react with a small shoulder spasm. Everyone looked at David oddly before turning back to the approaching girls.

"What was that for?" Alec hissed.

"For checking out other women on our date." Aisha huffed as she crossed her arms.

"I wasn't… you asked me…" Alec said back. Aisha sighed dramatically and continued to act upset.

"You're gross, you know that," Aisha added with a mischievous smile. "She's your niece's girlfriend. Too young for you. And one of them is your actual niece."

"Oh shut up," Alec sighed. "Oh, now their all looking at me again."

Taylor and Victoria were giving David Wilbourn a confused and cautious glance. Neither of them said anything beyond general pleasantries, but there was definitely some tension in the meeting.

"You know," Alec said to himself. "It suddenly occurs to me that Lisa and Taylor have no idea about this plan. I'm just some random who's showed up, claiming to be Lisa's uncle. All she has to do is scream stranger danger and Brandish would gut me like a pig… Or shit, maybe T and Skitter plan to deal with me personally." There was a small window of panic where Alec might experience Skitter's wraith through the perception of a puppet, but thankfully that threat died down quickly. "Oh, never mind," Alec added. "I think Lisa's powers kicked in. She knows what's going on."

"She's smart like that," Aisha nodded. "Although, you are sure, right?"

Alec was watching through David's eyes. At first, a very confused, then shocked and horrified, then simmering angry Lisa work through her emotions. Finally, Lisa returned to her neutral smile and welcomed her 'Uncle' with a hug.

"Oh my gosh, Uncle David. What are you doing here? I thought you had work?" Lisa said, acting like the professional she was. "You really, really didn't have to come."

"Oh, I wanted to… support you," David said, welcoming the hug.

"Thanks, David," Lisa said in a very charming way before squeezing him in for a tighter hug. As she did, Lisa whispered into his ear, her tone switching to deadly serious. "Alec, I don't know why you're here. But if you screw this up, I am going to fucking murder you."

"Oh yes," Alec chuckled nervously as he replied to Aisha's question. "Pretty sure…"

 

[space turtle]

It's fine.
David's just a lightweight. No biggie.

Of course, a tradesperson who's dangerously underweight and can't hold his booze. Makes total sense. I've met loads of them….

 

[Gowonzu]

Brockton Bay Photo Studio

"So, do you actually have an Uncle?" Victoria asked as the girls walked into the dressing room.

The confused and concerned look across Lisa's face told her enough. All three girls had been walking in a cautious daze ever since Victoria's mother mentioned that Lisa's Uncle was attending their photoshoot.

"Nope." Lisa shook her head anyway.

"So who did my mom call?"

"No idea," Lisa said, trying to ignore the problem. "There's always a chance that Bri- uh, Grue sent someone to act in my Uncle's place. Though the idea is so fucking stupid that I know he wouldn't do that," Lisa stopped to think to herself. "There's always a chance…"

"A chance?" Taylor asked, looking at Lisa with concern.

"It's probably nothing, but…" Lisa said. "There's a chance that Coil has some kind of contingency and has sent someone as my Uncle…" Victoria gasped at that. "Like an… assassin or the like."

Taylor froze at that suggestion. Victoria just looked around nervously, unsure of what to say.

"B-but, I doubt he'd go that far," Lisa tried to laugh the comment off. "Either way, no one is stupid enough to try anything at a New Wave photo shoot. Whoever this guy is, I can deal with him. Trust me, I got this."

Victoria could tell that she was simply saying this to relax the girls, Lisa had no idea how she would deal with her 'Uncle' but she also had a point. No one would try anything during the actual photoshoot, not with Brandish watching from the side. At worst, this was some elaborate form of mind games targeted at Lisa, and only an idiot played mind games with a Thinker.

"Right then," Victoria said, taking a cue from Lisa. "In that case, let's try not to worry about it and have fun with this. Who wants to try out some outfits?"

The three girls entered the large dressing room and dispersed around the room as they inspected all the available clothes on offer. Victoria ignored the white and gold dress that was sitting in the center of the room, no doubt that it was the dress her mother had picked out. While Vicky could admit that she liked the colour, it brought far too much resemblance to her Glory Girl costume.

This photoshoot wasn't about 'Glory Girl and her pals' and was about Victoria Dallon and her two girlfriends, Taylor Hebert and Lisa Wilbourn. She wanted to dress that wouldn't make her stand out among the other two girls, and there were plenty of dresses to choose from.

Lisa had already picked out a small selection of clothes for herself and was busy comparing sizes. Victoria noted that they all followed the same Tattletale purple colour scheme. Victoria had to remind herself that the connection was only obvious to people who knew who Lisa was and that she shouldn't worry so much.

Lisa eventually settled on three different styles of dresses, ranging from a casual sundress to a much more formal cut.

"What do you think?" Lisa asked, mulling over her selection. "Are we dressing up like this is a day at the park? Or am I taking you out to high dining?"

Victoria looked over Lisa's shoulder, trying to imagine Lisa in all three of the dresses she'd picked, and on the types of dates they evoked. Somehow, the idea of all three girls showing up to the fanciest restaurant in Brockton Bay while flaunting their good looks was particularly appealing to her.

"You're right," Lisa said before Victoria could voice her opinion. She pulled up the very formal-looking dress and held it to her body. "If we're going so far as to get professional photos done of us, we should look like the bunch of rich, fancy bitches we are." She chuckled, giving Victoria her usual, 'Yes I just read your mind again' smirk.

"You know I'm not actually rich, right? My family is well off because my Mom's a lawyer but I'm-" Victoria began, explaining the same story she told Taylor once upon a time.

"Oh hush," Lisa said, waving Victoria's comment away. "Doesn't mean like we can't dress up like we're millionaires. Besides, one of us here is," She jokingly looked to Taylor, trying to imply that she was the secret millionaire of the group, but Taylor's confused frown back at Lisa ruined that joke before Victoria had time to fall for it. "Okay, fine. It's me."

"Seriously!?" Victoria balked. "What? How? You're fucking with me, right? I've seen your apartment, it's nice, but it's not millionaire nice."

"Ehh, I don't like to brag," Lisa said with a shrug. "But y'know how the saying goes. Crime always pays."

Victoria couldn't if Lisa was joking or not, or to what degree she was. Lisa playfully tapped Vicky on the nose and skipped off with her dress to try it on. Leaving Victoria and Taylor alone with their selection.

Taylor looked to be deep in thought on what to wear, Victoria wanted to pick her brain on what Lisa said but instead turned back to the racks of dresses. Now that formal attire had been decided on, it focused her selection dramatically. She spied a particularly pretty blue dress that stood out to Victoria.

Taking it off the rack, she pulled it to her body and looked at Taylor. "What do you think, Tay?" She asked, smiling at the girl.

"Pretty," Taylor said back in her usual monotone way. Taylor didn't even turn to look at her.

"Taylor…" Victoria whined. "Don't use your bugs, what do your eyes think of this dress?"

Taylor sighed apologetically and turned to face Victoria. A small smile formed on her face as she looked the dress over properly.

"It's pretty," Taylor said again. "I like it. I… I'm not good at explaining why dresses and stuff look good. But it does. The colour matches your eyes, and you have pretty eyes so the dress is… pretty."

Victoria spotted a small blush forming on Taylor's face. She chuckled as she watched Taylor grow warm from embarrassment. Vicky knew that Taylor didn't enjoy people laughing while she felt like that, so she forced her joy into a smile instead of another fit of giggles.

"Thank you," She said with a loving smile. Taylor shrunk into herself. "I'm gonna try this one on, okay? Though I already know it's the winner." She moved to a hover and glided into the nearest changing rooms.

A few minutes later Victoria returned. Her dress was long and flowing, so it had an almost ghostly vibe when she hovered around the room. Lisa was already back in the main room, showing off her dress to Taylor, she was spinning her cocktail dress around, and her hands were on her hips as she ran through some exaggerated model poses.

"That's not how you do that," Victoria laughed, watching as Lisa pulled the most overdone duck-face imaginable. "Don't try to pull any silly faces, or get into your head on how to look exceptionally pretty. All you gotta do is tilt your head slightly to the side, smile as genuinely as you can and have fun with it."

Victoria made a simple pose to the girls, smiling cheerfully in their direction. Lisa clapped and made several overly dramatic gasps as she pretended to be awed by Victoria's beauty. Victoria chuckled and then made several other poses in a row.

"Look at you go!" Lisa cheered. She whistled as Vicky stuck out her leg from the slit in her dress. Victoria broke her pose with a laugh and gestured for Lisa to give it another try, Lisa copied Victoria's original pose as Victoria took her turn to hype up her girlfriend, cheering and whistling while Lisa moved about.

Both girls broke into a fit of giggles before turning to the third girl in the room. Taylor was watching the girls with a smile while still picking through potential outfits. She still hadn't picked out a single dress from the pile, scrolling through the racks of clothes without actually paying any attention to it.

"Having trouble picking something out?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah, I'm just… not feeling these…" Taylor mumbled, her hand tugging on a random dress and then dropping. "Maybe I should wear something else? Like a jacket? Or a suit? That'd stick with the formal vibe, right?"

The suggestion felt very shaky coming from Taylor's unconfident lips. The idea of seeing Taylor in a suit was appealing to Victoria, she had never considered it before. Now Victoria was visualising the tall brunette in a sleek black suit, with Her and Lisa on either side of Taylor's arms. She was about to call out what a fun idea that was but Lisa stepped in first.

"Why don't you wait in the dressing room and we'll pick out something for you?" Lisa asked, motioning to the room. "Between Vicky and me, we'll find something great!"

Taylor nodded to that suggestion, seeing the cold logic in having the girls pick out something for her over her making the decision. She moved towards the dressing room with an anxious speed. Victoria watched as Taylor left the room, Lisa held her arm out to Victoria, silently telling her not to call out to her in concern.

"What was that about?" Victoria grumbled to Lisa once they were alone. "I think a suit would look great on her."

"Yes, yes. Taylor would look very cute and dapper," Lisa sighed in agreement. "But that wasn't why she suggested the suit. And she doesn't actually want to wear a suit."

Lisa moved back over to the selection of dresses that Taylor had idly looked through earlier. Pulling out a few dresses from the rack and holding them up to Victoria.

"These are the three dresses that caught Taylor's eyes," Lisa explained. Victoria moved to ask the obvious question, even if she knew the answer already, but Lisa answered it anyway. "She didn't say anything about them because she's self-conscious and thinks she won't look pretty in them. She wants to be the type of girl who looks pretty in a dress but thinks she's not. Which is bullshit. So help me pick the best one and then let's go hype up our girlfriend."

Victoria picked the middle green dress, to which Lisa agreed with a smile. The two girls moved into the dressing room and presented the dress to Taylor. Taylor tried to argue, mumbling some silly excuses on how the dress wouldn't fit her right but the girls ignored her and told her to change. Waiting by the door for Taylor to emerge.

The girl shyly opened the door a few minutes later. First peaking her head out the door before finally giving in and walking out to present herself. Even as she walked out, Taylor tried to hide herself from view by awkwardly holding her shoulder and arm.

"You look so good!" Victoria squealed, hovering towards Taylor before she had the chance to turn around.

"Drop-dead gorgeous, I'd say," Lisa nodded in agreement. "That colour is perfect on you."

"Are you sure?" Taylor mumbled, looking down at herself. "It feels a bit too much…"

"Are you kidding!?" Victoria cheered as she picked Taylor up into her hover. "It suits you so well. You're so pretty, Taylor!"

Taylor couldn't help but blush as Victoria held her by the waist and spun her around slowly. Even with her offloading emotions to her nearby bugs, Victoria's infectious smile found its way lifting the edges of Taylor's lips.

"Makes us the three hottest girls in Brockton Bay," Lisa said with an exaggerated hair flick. "And we haven't even done our makeup yet."

"Oh, I don't think I need to do that-" Taylor tried to protest as the three girls were already moving towards the mirrors and chairs.

Victoria put Taylor down and moved to invite in the studio stylists who would help prepare them for the photoshoot. Half an hour or so later, the girls were gussied up and ready for their photoshoot. Lisa was admiring herself in the mirror one last time before turning to Victoria with a smile, Taylor was nervously fiddling with a curl in her hair, stopping herself briefly only to do it again once she got distracted with her thoughts.

"Hey," Victoria said, taking Taylor's hand in her own and stealing her attention. "You really do look beautiful, Taylor," She leaned up to kiss her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "And thank you, for going through with this, I know how nervous you've been about it, I promise you, we'll all have fun."

Victoria turned away only to be met by Lisa who was looking expectantly back at her. It only took Vicky a few seconds to realise what she wanted.

"Yes, yes, Lisa," Victoria sighed with a chuckle before also giving her a kiss. "You're very beautiful too." Lisa giggled proudly like the excitable fox she was before marching towards the door.

"What are we going to do about your Uncle?" Taylor asked as the three of them walked out of the room.

"I honestly forgot about him," Victoria said. "Should we just shout that we don't know the man and have him kicked out?"

"No, that'll cause more trouble than it's worth," Lisa waved the suggestion off. "Let me handle him, I'll suss out his motives and make a plan from there. Trust me, got it all under control."

She chuckled nervously in a way that told Victoria she was lying through her teeth, but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it until Lisa decided to. Between the three of them, Victoria was confident that they could handle anything, in a way she felt sorry for whatever idiot claimed to be Lisa's Uncle.

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

"There's our girls," Taylor's Dad cheered happily. "Don't you all look beautiful."

Taylor was already a bundle of nerves as she stepped out behind the rest of her girlfriends, hearing her father call them beautiful simply added to her anxiety. Thankfully she had perfected the art of the poker face, and while there were several hundred bugs currently shaking in fear and embarrassment, Taylor herself managed to walk out confidently on her own two feet.

"Victoria, Lisa, Taylor," Mrs Dallon nodded politely as the girls walked in. "Well, don't you all look pretty… Victoria, I see you picked a different dress."

"I wasn't feeling the white and gold," Vicky said casually, as casually as she could manage around her mother. "Besides, this matches my eyes, I'm told there very pretty." She turned to Taylor and smiled.

"Yes, of course." Mrs Dallon said with a smile. Taylor could tell that Mrs Dallon was annoyed that her selection was ignored but hid it much like Taylor's poker face. "Well, I've been chatting to Danny and David here," She motioned to the two men, "We're all very proud of you girls."

"It's nice to see you again, Mr Hebert," Vicky said with a wave before turning to the man claiming to be Lisa's Uncle. "And uh, it's a pleasure to meet you? Mr Wilbourn…"

Taylor gave a polite wave to the man, who by all rights, looked to be completely spaced out from the conversation at hand. Taylor had expected this infiltrator to have a keen eye and a smug attitude, but so far David Wilbourn gave off the vibe that he was, not all there.

"Oh my gosh, Uncle David. What are you doing here? I thought you had work?" Lisa said in an overly cheery tone. "You really, really didn't have to come."

She powerwalked over to her Uncle and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Oh, I wanted to… support you," David said, welcoming the hug. He seemed almost surprised to be hugging Lisa, not expecting that reaction from her.

"Thanks, David," Lisa said in a very charming way before squeezing him in for a tighter hug. Then she whispered something into the man's ear. Taylor couldn't hear what she said and appeared to be the only person who even noticed it happened. But as she pulled away from the man, he gave a nervous smile and reached to gulp down the remainder of the wine that was in his hand.

Lisa turned around briefly and flashed an 'okay' hand gesture at the girls, letting them know that the Uncle situation was handled for now. Taylor was interested to know what Lisa said or who the man actually was, but she'd have to wait until after it was over to find out.

Taylor moved to chat with her father, the two didn't really have much to discuss beyond how Mrs Dallon invited him this morning. Between the two socially inept Heberts, Mrs Dallon's passive aggression towards Victoria's interdependent choices and whatever the hell was going on with the Wilbourns, it looked like everyone was having a very awkward conversation.

Thankfully, before too much time passed, another woman walked into the room. The assistants who helped with the girl's hair and makeup followed behind as she set up her camera and turned to address the room.

"Hello Mrs Dallon, and good afternoon to you all," The woman spoke with an air of professionalism but none of the pompous attitude. "My name is Rose, I'll be your photographer for the next hour or so," Victoria waved with a smile, the two obviously knew each other. "Hello, Victoria. It's always a pleasure working with you. And I assume these are the two lovely ladies that I'll be working with?" She looked towards Lisa and Taylor, extending a hand towards the former.

"Lisa Wilbourn," Lisa introduced herself with a smile. "I've never had my photo taken professionally before." Rose used the handshake to pull Lisa up onto the main set where the photos would be taken. It was an empty black section with three chairs, a spotlight shone down onto them.

"Oh, look at that smile," Rose said as she inspected Lisa closer under the light. "Truly, a photogenic subject if I ever saw one."

"Thank you," Lisa said with a chuckle. She blushed under the face of the genuine compliment but quickly composed herself again.

Rose turned around as Victoria floated up and onto the set and gave Rose a quick hug. Rose happily returned the hug with the same excited energy. "Victoria! You're looking radiant as always. Always a good day when I get to capture your aura on film."

"Always a pleasure to be here, Miss Rose," Victoria smiled, she landed back down next to Lisa as Mrs Dallon let out a disapproving cough. She looked to Lisa to explain. "Rose has been New Wave's photographer for years now. She's the best! Works with a lot of models in Brockton Bay and always helps cover my charity work," She thought to herself and looked back to Rose. "Think the last time I saw you was at the Ward's Charity Gala?"

"Professionally, yes." Rose nodded. "But we did run into each other back at Brockton General a few months back."

"Right, I totally forgot," Vicky said with a playful head smack. "I was in a rush picking up Amy."

"Don't suppose your sister has decided to join us today?" Rose said with a coy smile. Victoria shook her head. "Damn. One day she'll stop being so camera shy. Such a shame, I'd kill to have freckles like hers." She sighed melodramatically, causing the two girls to chuckle. Then Rose turned to Taylor, who was doing her best impression of an invisible statue.

"And you must be Taylor," Rose said, extending an arm, ready to pull her up onto the set as well.

Taylor nodded and chose to step onto the set herself rather than being pulled up. While she didn't want to seem rude, she also didn't feel the need to be lifted up which was barely a single step. Between her anxiety from everything else going on in her life compounded with the anxiety she already had wearing the dress her girlfriends picked out, Taylor decided to treat this like another job with the Undersiders. Taking a page from Skitter's book, she refused to show fear to any enemy and walked like she knew what the fuck she was doing.

Rose let out an audible gasp as Taylor stepped up to meet her, she panicked briefly, thinking that she had just offended the woman terribly by not accepting her hand in that moment. Rose however was not shocked in offence but in awe. She looked Taylor up and down as she inspected the girl.

"My word, you are tall for your age, aren't you?" Rose asked. Taylor never considered herself particularly tall, she was a lanky, awkward girl who might've been the tallest out of her girlfriends, but only by a hair compared to Lisa. "Yes, I see it now. You carry yourself strongly, standing tall against new situations, walking with an almost… cold confidence. And your stance! I've seen professional models struggle to move with the fluidity I just saw. Neither too soft or too firm."

Taylor had no idea what this woman was talking about, but she shook her hand nonetheless and forced a smile at her strange compliments.

"And such luxurious hair, I could do a lot with that. The glasses get in the way, but I suppose everyone has their own style. You definitely have the figure of a model…" Rose continued to gush about Taylor's posture, figure and attitude. Each remark was a stab at Taylor's psyche, it didn't hurt like the years of bullying at Winslow and personal self-hatred, but her mind couldn't work out how to feel about it, so Taylor shunted it all onto her bugs, which only caused Rose to gush even harder. "I have to give you my card," Rose said with a bright smile as she fished one from her pocket.

Taylor felt the card get thrust into her hand with an overly enthusiastic handshake. She looked over to Lisa and Vicky who were smiling at the entire exchange, Vicky was particularly happy with Rose's comments.

"Usually I only work with proven talent but I'm sure I can find an exception in my schedule," Rose continued, pulling out of her phone and scrolling through it. "In fact… there was that one slot," She spun around to one of her assistants. "Who was that girl who stopped turning up to my three O'clock's? The redhead? Oh, never mind," She turned back to Taylor again. "Just say the word, and I can get you-"

Taylor shook her head. An instant gut reaction to being asked if she wanted to have more photos taken of her. Rose looked almost crestfallen at the response but quickly sighed and bounced back.

"Really? Oh well. Such a shame," Rose sighed as she shuffled Taylor next to the other two girls. "Well, if you ever change your mind, you have my card," She turned around briefly to the parents and flicked out another card to Taylor's father.

Danny sheepishly walked over and took the card, trying to ignore Taylor's emotionless glare that probably translated to something along the lines of 'Don't you dare.' Lisa's Uncle had a stupid-looking grin on his face at the entire exchange, something about him was extra punchable but Taylor didn't know why. She flung more emotions into her swarm to deal with later.

Rose walked over to her camera which was set up and ready to go. "Alright ladies, we're gonna run through a few basic photos to get you warmed up, and then we're gonna have some fun with it. We want this to feel real, and relatable. Picture yourselves… on a date, out on the boardwalk. The public sees you, what do they see? Three happy girls living their best life. So big smiles for me. Three… two… one…"

All three girls posed for the first shot. Taylor didn't consider herself much of an actor, she could easily imagine being out on a date with Lisa and Victoria but having her Father and Mrs Dallon sitting to the side would've made for a spectacularly awkward date. Even still, the first few photos were just a warm-up, getting the girls used to the bright flashes and loosening up their nerves.

Between Taylor's false confidence, Lisa's photogenic smile and Vicky's radiant aura, the three girls quickly relaxed into a more carefree, almost candid level of posing with each other. Taylor could eventually ignore all the anxieties in her life, at least for a moment. Letting up from the reliance on her swarm. They ran through a handful of poses, both standing and sitting, even a handful of silly ones where Victoria lifted both girls in her arms or had Taylor sit on Lisa's lap. The vast majority of the photographs wouldn't be used for the public announcement, but would still make a nice collection for the girls to keep.

By the time they were taking the actual photos that were being shown to the public, Taylor was thinking how ridiculous it was to be afraid of a camera even to begin with. The whole experience turned out to be far more enjoyable than she had pictured in her mind. They did a few photos where Taylor had to look off into the distance instead of at the camera, her eyes naturally drew close to the only other source of movement in the room, the three adults who were silently watching from the side. David Wilbourn held two thumbs up, looking nervously at Lisa. Mrs Dallon was mouthing tips to Victoria, something about tilting to show a particular angle of her cheek.

Taylor's dad however was just enjoying the show, watching Taylor proudly with a smile on his face. Taylor noted how rare it was to see the man smile like that. His eyes didn't look quite so tired as they did the other day. She tilted her head ever so slightly, to ask her father what had caused this miraculous change in facial expressions. Taylor doubted that her dad would understand the meaning and yet, he replied. Pointing towards his smiling lips and then back at hers.

Taylor hadn't realised when she had formed a smile on her face, but it was as big and as bright as the two girls she stood next to.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[Crazael]

"Usually I only work with proven talent but I'm sure I can find an exception in my schedule," Rose continued, pulling out of her phone and scrolling through it. "In fact… there was that one slot," She spun around to one of her assistants. "Who was that girl who stopped turning up to my three O'clock's? The redhead? Oh, never mind," She turned back to Taylor again. "Just say the word, and I can get you-"

Click to shrink...

Well, this was amusing. Seeing Taylor take Emma's modeling slot would be interesting to see.

 

[KatzenFrau]

Might have taken a while to re-read this, but I absolutely loved all the lead up, and super mature talking the throuple had with each other. Am waiting for more!

 

[Gowonzu]

Brockton Bay Photo Studio

"And that's a wrap." Rose cheered after the final photo was taken. "These look wonderful, I can't wait to see how these turn out."

The girls all relaxed from their current pose, cheering and giggling amongst themselves as they celebrated a job well done. Victoria hovered up to give Rose a high-five to which Lisa joined in. Taylor's hand hovered slightly before settling in for a more professional handshake with the woman.

"That was so much fun!" Victoria cheered.

"I can't believe it's over already," Lisa chuckled. "Where did the time go?"

"Yeah, it was nice," Taylor added with a smile.

The three adults clapped as well as the girls moved off the stage. Rose gave a few hand gestures to her staff as the assistants got to work disassembling the lighting rigs and packing up the equipment. They all moved with the practice unison that impressed even Taylor.

"Alright, ladies," Rose said cheerfully as she packed up her camera. "I'll edit these as quickly as I can. Don't worry, just some light post-editing, nothing drastic. Victoria, I'll send the copies to your mother and you can pass them on from there." Victoria hummed in the affirmative. "Mrs Dallon," Rose said, turning to the woman. "I'll have the best five photos in your email by day's end. Ready for your announcement."

Carol nodded her thanks, standing to shake Rose's hand.

"Wait," Taylor asked, looking between the two women. "By day's end? The announcement is so soon?"

"The sooner the better, Ms Hebert," Carol said with a professional smile. "We'll discuss the details with the rest of New Wave tonight. Write up a draft statement. But the official announcement will go live sometime tomorrow."

"Oh shoot," Victoria whined, looking at her girlfriends. "I never even told Aunt Sarah about you two." She looked guilty to herself. "Hell, I only told Crystal by phone the other day. My life's been so busy since we started dating."

"I've always wanted to meet Laserdream," Taylor said, stepping forward into the conversation.

"You're a Laserdream fan, Tay?" Lisa chuckled. "Since when?"

Taylor shrugged, reddening in embarrassment. "Since always, I guess."

Lisa's smug grin grew wider. Taylor definitely had a type when it came to superheroes. Even if she wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Maybe she'll give you her autograph," Lisa added. "A signed poster for your room."

"You've never asked me for an autograph," Victoria grumbled to herself.

"Don't be jealous," Lisa chuckled, throwing an arm around Victoria. "You're still our favourite superhero."

"I think that's a legal requirement if you're dating her," Taylor added as a joke. Victoria hummed an agreement to that.

"Oooh, it's a legal thing." Lisa joked, "Well, in that case. I think… Alexandria is my favourite hero."

Victoria gasped in mock offence as Lisa started laughing. "You villain," Victoria said, melodramatically, there was a split second or two where she panicked at the admission, but everyone was aware that it was a joke.

"Anyway…" Carol butt back into the conversation. "We have a dinner to prepare for and our time in the studio is up," She turned to the two girls. "Lisa, Taylor. Thank you for this, I promise you that New Wave will handle everything from here. There won't be any invasive paparazzi or… other nuisances bothering you from this," Carol looked up to the parents behind them. "Mr Hebert, it was lovely to meet you. Thank you for your time. Mr Wilbourn… It was interesting to meet you."

---------------------------------------------------------------
A few minutes later – Outside the Photo studio

The girls had returned to the dressing room and changed back into their casual clothes. With Victoria going to a family dinner and Lisa having to take care of her Uncle's situation. The three girls agreed to go home with their respective parents.

Victoria watched her girlfriend leave as Carol stood out in the parking lot. Once they were alone, Victoria moved in to get a read on her mother.

"So, first impressions on Taylor and Lisa's family?" Victoria asked, hoping to gauge how well the parental meeting went while they were backstage. "Taylor's Father is very polite." She started on the safe option first.

"Danny Hebert seemed like a fine man," Carol agreed. "I can see the family resemblance. Although…"

"Although?" Victoria asked, worried about whatever thing Carol had picked up.

"I don't think he's aware that Taylor is a parahuman," Carol mused to herself. Victoria looked back at Carol in surprise, she had completely forgotten to mention that Taylor's Father didn't know. Now all kinds of worries came out, had Carol said anything to tip the man off? "He kept asking the odd question about what being a hero was like, and cape life and parahumans in general. Like most public who never meet us."

"Yeah…" Victoria said, "I don't think Taylor has said anything to him… You didn't say anything about her to him, did you?"

Carol frowned at that statement.

"Fortunately not," Carol said, pulling out her phone and inspecting it for messages. "Though I do suggest that Taylor informs him sooner rather than later. But that's none of my business."

The two stood alone on the street outside the Photo studio. The Hebert's had already driven off in their car and the Wilbourn's had walked off somewhere else.

"Mr Wilbourn though…" Carol grumbled as she typed on her phone. Victoria felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "He was a strange man. I mean, honestly. Who shows up to their own Niece's photoshoot drunk?"

"What?" Victoria asked.

"The man was a drunkard," Carol huffed again, shaking her head. "Could barely keep his head up straight, slurred his words, couldn't hold a conversation if his life depended on it. And did you see how thin he was? I had a mind to call your sister to check him for narcotics."

Victoria cringed at the thought. She had no idea who the man was, but if his goal was to make Lisa look as bad as possible, he succeeded today. Victoria didn't even know what to say, she could try to defend the man but Victoria had no idea how Lisa planned to handle the situation. If it wasn't for Lisa assuring that she had it under control, Victoria would've flown after the man herself.

"I felt so bad for poor Lisa," Carol continued, shaking her head. "Especially since her other family problem. I hope she isn't too embarrassed. Please let her know that her uncle's actions have no bearing on my opinion of her. If anything, I see her as all the stronger," She thought quietly to herself for a moment. "Perhaps I could talk to some people down at the CPP?"

"No!" Victoria yelped. "Uh, I mean. Please don't. Lisa's only a year or so away from becoming a legal adult. She's smart enough to ask for help if she needs it, don't complicate her life, please."

"Alright…" Carol said, backing down from her statement. "But let her know she can come to me anytime. The same goes for Taylor, of course." She tapped her phone again and tried calling a number, turning from Victoria.

"Of course," Victoria chuckled before looking around the street. "Where's the car?" She asked, moving up to her mother.

Carol was listening to her phone, getting frustrated with the ringing tone. She huffed in annoyance before turning towards Victoria.

"Apparently, still at home." Carol sighed. "You're Father dropped me off while doing the shopping. But I think he's having one of his naps," Victoria frowned at the implication. She knew what her Father's depression naps entailed. "Dammit, well there's no other way. Victoria, be a dear and give your Mother a lift home."

"What?" Victoria balked.

"Chop chop," Carol said, standing further into the street. "Sooner we get home, the sooner I can wake your Father. We have a dinner to get to after all."

Victoria hesitated for a moment before walking up behind her Mother. Carol did something of a trust fall into her daughter as Vicky caught her. Victoria would often joke that she was 'Air Vicky' the best taxi service in Brockton Bay, but being treated like a personal taxi for her Mother made her grumble under her breath.

With a gentle heave, Victoria floated into the air with her Mother in tow. The two Dallons took to the sky in the direction of their house.

--------------------------------------------
A few more minutes later, Brockton Bay Skies

Victoria had flown many people ever since she got her powers. Between all her friends, other heroes at work, civilians in need and the constant trips to the hospital with Amy, she was pretty used to flying people around. That still didn't make carrying her own Mother any less awkward for her.

Her Mom hardly ever asked Victoria to fly her anywhere. Vicky wasn't sure if it was a pride thing or a control thing. Carol would often insist on driving for all but the most time-sensitive situations. There was a time when Victoria would've jumped at the chance to show her Mother the joy of flying, but nowadays, they simply flew through the sky in total silence.

It didn't take long to spot the house, Victoria knew this particular space like the back of her hand and could land perfectly in their yard with her eyes closed. Of course, she didn't close her eyes this time, knowing what kind of scolding her Mother would give her if she did.

They dropped down to a foot and a half off the ground before stopping completely. Gently tipping her mother so that she could comfortably climb out of Victoria's arms and stand up straight. Carol brushed herself off and straightened her outfit before nodding in thanks to Victoria.

"Well, can't complain about the flight when it saves so much time," Carol said as she moved towards the house. Victoria wasn't sure if that was an attempt at a joke or a backhanded compliment, so she took it as the former. "Now, dinner will start at six. I'll try to see if I can wake for Father in time. Also, I'll need you to pick up your sister from the hospital."

"Mom, Amy's not working today, remember?" Victoria said as she followed Carol behind. "It's her day off, she's probably with the dogs again."

"Oh, right," Carol nodded, remembering to herself that Amy's days off were now a thing. Neither Dallon actually knew which dogs Amy spent time with or who they belonged to. Amy had assured that she was safe and far away from any gang activities and Carol had accepted that the girl needed a hobby outside of home and work. "Well, be sure to collect her in time for dinner."

"Yes, Mom," Victoria said with a monotone. She quickly returned to her cheery self as they moved further inside. Carol was one foot on the steps before Victoria spoke up again. "So, what exactly will we be discussing at dinner tonight?"

"Just specifics of our announcement," Carol hummed. "Your Aunt and I will write up an article, we'll need your input for some things. Get everything set up for when those photos come through. Plus, it'll give us a chance to explain to the rest of New Wave about the two new women we'll be protecting."

Victoria felt a little guilty at that. Not for any specific reason, however, she'd been so busy these last few weeks, that she hadn't had time to sit down with her extended family and inform them of her new relationship. She'd called Crystal shortly after telling her parents but hadn't taken the time to really gossip and gush about her girlfriends with her cousin.

"Now, you know once this announcement goes live, things will change around here?" Carol said, giving Victoria a serious stare.

"Change how?" Victoria asked. "It's not the first time we've announced our relationship status to our fans."

"Yes, but it is the first time anyone in New Wave is coming out as publicly gay," Carol huffed, taking steps toward Vicky again and caressing her cheek. "We'll have our PR people working overtime, but it is the internet. So expect… comments."

"Mom, I've been ignoring those comments for years," Victoria chuckled awkwardly. "I know how to handle negative spaces. Besides, it's not like I'm the first publicly gay superhero."

"No," Carol agreed. "But you're also not Legend, so… just be careful."

"Right," Victoria smirked. "I'm just… what do they call me online again? Alexandria Jr?"

Carol frowned at her. "You know what I mean. No more solo adventures… At least for the first month. Actually, Piggot wanted your help with the Wards again, maybe we'll keep you with them, at least until the initial wave of reactions blows over."

"The Wards?" Victoria asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a suggestion," Carol huffed. "We'll talk about it over dinner. Now, go get your sister, I'll get your father. Meet back at Aunt Sarah's okay?"

-------------------------------------------
At the same time, Brockton Bay Highway

"So…" Danny said as the car slowly made its way through the Brockton Bay traffic.

"So?" Taylor asked, perking up a little at his voice.

"You really had fun today," Danny said. Taylor wasn't sure if he meant it as a question but she responded anyway.

"Y-yeah. It was, nice." Taylor admitted, still looking out the car window as they sped by.

"That's… nice." Danny smiled. His smile was cut off as the car came to another halt, they were caught in the end-of-day rush.

"There's an accident a little way up ahead," Taylor said. "Best take the next turn-off. It'll be quicker."

Danny wasn't sure how Taylor knew that, but he assumed that she had seen something on her phone. A part of him wanted to complain about the blatant use of the machine in the car, but Taylor wasn't driving and she didn't even have it in her hand currently.

Turning into the off-lane, they took a detour through the city. Sure enough, Taylor was right, they were moving faster than the main highway.

"So…" Danny said again. He was working his way up to actually saying something. Yet it seemed harder and harder to say it as the drive went on. Did Taylor know how intimidating she could be when she did absolutely nothing?

"So?" Taylor asked again, still looking out the window.

"Do you think you're ready for all the hubbub that will come once this photoshoot, article thing is posted?" Danny said, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

"I guess," Taylor admitted. "I try not to think about it. Most people in school left me alone enough even though I was hanging out with Victoria. I can't imagine too much of a change now. I haven't seen her get swarmed by paparazzi… much. Why?"

"Oh, I just worry," Danny said with a slight smile. "It's my job to worry, y'know. I just… I know Carol said that they'd keep you safe. And I want you to be happy. But celebrities, and fame and all that… They'll speculate and dig up our past and post it to their blogs and gossip. I just want you to be safe. Just, tell me you'll keep out of trouble, okay? Promise me that much."

Taylor hesitated for a moment before giving her best, Hebert smile.

"I'll stay out of trouble, Dad. I promise."

"Good," Danny nodded. "That's all I need to hear."

"Carol, huh?" Taylor mused, possibly changing the subject.

"What?"

"Carol. Not Mrs Dallon, or Brandish." Taylor said again. "Already on a first-name basis with her?"

Danny chuckled. "Just keeping it casual. She seems like a nice lady. A little bit grumpy, I wonder if that's just her, or if all superheroes are secretly grumpy. Wait, no. Victoria is all smiles. I apologise."

"Vicky can be grumpy when she needs to be," Taylor joked. "And as for other heroes. I have inside information that Armsmaster is a terrible human being."

"Is that right?" Danny chuckled.

The conversation died down again as they turned into more streets. Danny wouldn't normally drive this route, had the highway been working as intended, they would've almost been home by now. But the detour gave Danny more chances to work towards what he actually wanted to say.

"So…" Danny said for a third time.

"So?" Taylor asked back.

"That Rose seemed to think you had a real talent for-"

"No." Taylor shut him down, fast.

"And you were pretty happy up there today."

"No," Taylor said again, a little softer this time.

"I just think, considering your about to become a minor celebrity and all-"

"Didn't you just say you were worried about all that?" Taylor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because it's my job to worry," Danny defended himself. "But if its something you really wanted to do-"

"Who said I wanted to do it?" Taylor asked.

"I just noticed how happy you were up there," Danny said again. "How… confident you seemed. It was nice."

"I don't think I'm… I'm not model material." Taylor mumbled into her window.

"Rose begs to differ," Danny shrugged with a smile. "Just… give it some thought. If you want to pursue it, we'll make time for it. That's all."

"Yeah… okay," Taylor said. Neither committing to or rejecting the offer.

They drove in silence for another few streets. They were coming up to their neighbourhood, just a few more minutes of awkward silence.

"So…" Danny said again. This time just wanted to fill the space with some noise.

"So?" Taylor asked again, a wry smile on her face.

"Lisa's uncle…" Danny chuckled. "He's a weird guy."

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

At the same time, across from the Photoshoot.

Lisa didn't say a word as she walked off with David. Her cheerful smile dropped the second the two of them were alone. David for his part, didn't try to fill the silence with awkward small talk. The man looked almost afraid of his Niece and for good reason.

Lisa didn't need to ask 'David' where Alec was hiding. She already knew that Alec had a specific range and that his powers worked better the closer he was to his victim. The local Ice cream parlour across from the studio would be the perfect place for someone to sit quietly and master a comatose man.

"I think she found where we're hiding…" A familiar voice said at the back of the parlour. Lisa zeroed in to spot Alec sitting on a window bench table. He had a milkshake with two straws in it. Alec sighed, looking in Lisa's direction.

"Should we leave now?" Alec asked sarcastically to no one in particular. "Yeah, a little late for that. Hey, where are you?-" Alec growled to himself before turning to Lisa. He tried his best to smile at the girl. "Hey hey, Lise. Had a fun day? I think that all went pretty well, right? …Please don't be mad at me."

"Oh no, I'm not mad," Lisa said as she approached the table. Lisa looked back down at Alec with a disappointed grimace. "I'm fucking furious…"

Alec raised a shy finger and said. "Now I know what you might be thinking-"

"What the fuck are you doing, Alec!?" Lisa hissed as she leaned in closer to the boy.

"Um, just… y'know…" Alec chuckled nervously. "Helping?"

"Oh, you're helping?" Lisa asked sarcastically. "And whose bright idea was it to help me?"

"Mine?…" Alec asked, confused in his answer.

Alec notoriously lazy. Doesn't care enough about Lisa Wilbourns life to get involved. Alec was pressured into helping Lisa? Sabotage? Unlikely.

Lisa looked from Alec to the table where he was sitting.

Rubbish on table indicates two people were seated here. Two straws in milkshake confirms this. Two straws indicate closeness of people. Alec was with a friend, close friend. Close friend he can't remember. Close friend who was here a minute ago. Alec was here with Stranger, Imp. Aisha. Resident Undersider. Most likely suspect. Her idea. Why? Unknown. How did she get Alec to join? Close friends, very close. Romantic intentions? On a date? Dating?

"You're dating Aisha?" Lisa said in surprise.

"No, he's not!" Cried out Aisha from behind her. Lisa flinched slightly before locking eyes with the second Undersider. To Lisa's surprise, she already had Aisha's arm in a vice grip.

"What the fuck, Aisha?" Lisa asked. She now remembered seeing Aisha as she walked into the ice cream parlour. Lisa had caught the two whispering to themselves and Aisha had tried to run the second she saw Lisa.

"Right," Alec said as he snapped his fingers. "It was her idea. That makes sense."

Lisa threw Aisha back onto the bench and sat down at the table, blocking the stranger's escape.

"Dude," Aisha whined. "Don't throw me under the bus."

"What?" Alec shrugged. "You were about to leave me for dead."

"I was not." Aisha gasped.

"You literally said, Oh shit, Lisa is here, every woman for themselves," Lisa added with an unimpressed tone. "And then tried to run from me."

"Well… you weren't meant to remember that," Aisha whined again, a little softer to herself.

Lisa let out a sigh as she rubbed her temple. David, the puppet, sat down opposite her in the booth, looking very out of place with a bunch of kids.

"Alright, spill it," Lisa said, looking at the human puppet. "Why the hell did you bring this guy to my photoshoot and who the hell is this guy?"

There was a short silence where neither of the two wanted to be the one to talk, but after some mental urging from Aisha, Alec started to tell the story.

"Brian's stupid phone woke me up, so I answered it," Alec explained. "Brandish was asking to see a David Wilbourn, so I said that I'd be there. Then Brian yelled at me because apparently, you two don't even have an actor to play as your Uncle, which is stupid by the way, you really need to hire an actor for your cover sto-" He noticed Lisa's growing glare and returned to his story. "Then Brian tried to call you, and you wouldn't pick up. And he said not to do anything, but then Brandish was expecting someone and Aisha knew someone we could use and now we're here."

Lisa checked her phone. Only now realised that she had turned it off completely. She had turned it off during her early morning jog with Taylor and had completely forgotten about it since then. Lisa swore under her breath as she saw the influx of messages come.

"Uhuh…" Lisa said, looking between her phone and the two idiots from her team. "So you're both stupid and completely ignored Brian's instructions to do absolutely nothing."

Alec and Aisha looked at each other for a moment, having a silent conversation of their own with their eyes before turning back to Lisa. Aisha then spoke up.

"Well, when you think about it, it's really Brian's fault." She said with no real proof.

"He should've kept a closer eye on his phones," Alec added with a head nod.

"And then doing absolutely nothing about it," Aisha nodded back. "It's like he pretended not to know just so it wouldn't be his problem."

"And who tells us not to do anything?" Alec asked. "Brian knows what Aisha is like, he should've seen this coming."

Aisha gasped. "I bet this was actually his idea all along. Like, he played some mind games with us to help solve his mistake."

Lisa started blankly at the two of them as they continued to finger-point Brian out as the evil mastermind of their not-so-cunning plan. In response, Lisa showed the handful of messages that she had now received from Brian.

"Brian has been out all day, trying to solve your mess," Lisa explained, scrolling through the text. "Creating a solid alibi for why David Wilbourn couldn't appear for today's photoshoot. Including receipts for a plane ticket to Kentucky for some last minute, emergency work," She pointed out Brian's text that listed a quick rundown of what happened, the alibi idea and the approximate cost, to which Brian had offered to pay. "An alibi, that is now fucking useless, thanks to the two of you, and that thing." Lisa pointed to the human puppet.

Both Aisha and Alec gulped.

"Now, not only will you both be paying back whatever Brian has spent on trying to fix your mess," Lisa continued. "You've now permanently volunteered to play the role of my Uncle, till the end of fucking time. Because you can be sure as shit, that Carol Dallon will want to meet this… thing again," She glared at the puppet, which was now acting in an unnerving standby mode. Lisa sighed again and ran another few fingers over her temple. "Please tell me you found this guy on the black market, or in the freezer of Coil's base, or some other fucked up black site that no one knows about?"

"Uh, well," Aisha hesitated while looking at the roof. "No one knows his real name, at least."

"You got him from the hospital…" Lisa sighed, moving from temple rubbing to a full-on facepalm.

"Uh…" Alec stuttered, looking over to Aisha, who had conveniently chosen this moment not to exist. "Yes?"

"The hospital?" Lisa asked again, already knowing the answer. "Brockton Bay General Hospital?"

"Y-yes…" Alec said again, still looking for Aisha. "W-we were going to return him before anyone noticed…"

"Oh really? You were going to return him? Return a man you paraded around to Brandish as my Uncle. Just walk him back into the hospital? The hospital, might I add, where Panacea fucking works at?" Lisa asked, she spat angrily between her hands. "The hospital that New Wave publicly endorsed? That Hospital!?"

Alec shrunk down into his seat. Lisa let out a silent scream into her hands before wiping her face and fixing her hair.

"Alright, okay. Let's solve this problem," Lisa said to herself. Alec raised a finger, about to suggest an idea. "Nope, you shut up. I have to work now. What do I need? I need to access medical records, we need to bribe hospital staff, we need to delete CCTV footage, we need to create two cover stories for the same face, we need to match Brian's alibi to your fuck up. And we need a place to store the puppet when you're not using him."

Lisa went quiet as she ran through her plan in her head. Alec chose to wait in silence as she did it, awkwardly sipping on his milkshake while Tattletale did her thing.

"Alright, looks like I have some phone calls to make," Lisa said, pulling out her phone again and dialling for Brian. "And I'm not getting a weekend off. So an extra fuck you to the both of you."

"Lisa!" Brian said as he picked up the phone. "Where have you been? Did you get my messages? I've already bought plane tickets for David, he should be returning in three weeks, but we can change the dates if needed-"

"Yeah, that plan is ruined," Lisa said, cutting him off.

"What?" Brian asked. "Dammit, why? What happened? Shit, what did Alec do now?"

"Ask your sister when you see her," Lisa growled out. "Look, I need you to reach out to that contact of ours at Brockton General. I'll send you a list of instructions."

"Right…" Brian said, thinking quickly to himself. "Yeah, no worries. I'll get it done. I'm sorry Lise, I really fucked this one up, I should've locked my damn desk. Then I had Alec talking about having a 'Guy' to play as your Uncle. It was a whole stupid thing."

"Oh no, it wasn't you at all. Don't worry, I'm with Alec now." Lisa glared back at the boy who was obnoxiously sucking away at an empty milkshake straw. "He's actually volunteered to become my 'Guy' for all future David Wilbourn needs. Don't even need to pay him or anything."

"Some days I wanna strangle that kid," Brian sighed.

"You and me both," Lisa said, standing from the table. "Well, it looks like I have a busy night ahead of me. I'll send you detailed instructions as soon as I have a full plan together."

"Sure, I'll meet you back at base," Brian said. "And I'll talk to Alec again. Make sure he understands exactly what he did wrong."

"Oh, on that note," Lisa said, her frown turning around to her classic Tattletale smirk. Alec and Aisha looked worriedly at Lisa's change in attitude.

"Yes?" Brian asked, expecting new instructions.

"Did you know that Alec is dating your sister?" Lisa said with a razor-blade smile. "For a few weeks at least by my powers estimation. Still in the honeymoon phase by the looks of it, the boy could not keep his hands off her."

Brian didn't respond. Growing silent from the new information. Aisha looked mildly worried about having her relationship out to her brother, but it was Alec himself who truly understood the implications of Brian finding out.

"Just remember..." Tattletale chuckled. "I'll still need him alive to pilot my Uncle from time to time."

 

[KatzenFrau]

Always good to see another chapter up!
keep it up!

 

[space turtle]

Translated to big brother speak.
"kill him just enough that he survives"
Fortunately that leaves a lot of wiggle room.

For the love of Scion, someone put Taylor up on stage in a long slinky black dress.
And pre warn the janitors to bring a bucket and a mop for Lisa and Vicky.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[Radek]

Alec is in for a bad time sounds like, ditto for Aisha. Big Brother is Not Happy.

 

[Kehsem]

It's incredibly refreshing to read a Worm fic with (or at least appearing to have) relatively healthy relationships. I, of course, am waiting for the Nazis to fuck everything up.

I am loving your Worm spoof of 'Weekend at Bernie's.' You realize, of course, that Alec is going to have to wheel Coma Man to a bar and liquor his ass up to maintain cover, right? I want this man getting into a fist fight with at LEAST three other people.

 

[Gowonzu]

Spoiler: Nazi's are bad people. Mmmkay

A/N: Mild trigger warning for Nazi's, specifically near the end. Nothing horrendously nasty as I do not feel comfortable/ nor want to write how they might actually write, but the Empire 88 gonna do what they do.

---

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♦Topic: Glory Girl's New Relationship(s)!!!
In: Boards ► Capes ► Heroes ► New Wave

PodNotice (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie) (Glory Fan Girl)
Posted on May 30, 2011:

Our (Glory) Girl has got herself not one, but TWO (2) new girlfriends!

This isn't no rumour mill, this was confirmed by New Wave themselves. (See link)

Paraphrasing from the article:

"New Wave is proud to stand with Victoria Dallon (Glory Girl) as she announces her current relationships with Taylor Hebert and Lisa Wilbourn"

It even comes with a handful of cute pics of the happy couple (Throuple???)

[Here] [Here] and [Here]

Look at them, So happy, I wanna cry!!!

Obviously there's a ton of things I want to talk about her, Glory Girl being gay! The rumors were true! Who the hell are Taylor Hebert and Lisa Wilbourn? Wasn't she dating Gallant? Who knows!?

The article was quite sparse on details beyond giving the New Wave thumb of approval. So consider this the Master Thread for whatever the hell is going on, because I NEED to know more!!!

(Showing Page 1 of 37)

► FlyingHigh (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
What!!!? I'm shocked! I didn't even know Glory Girl was gay!?

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
I knew it! Victoria has been all over that new girl in school recently! I told you they were dating in that other thread but noooooo. You all said I was projecting! Well, suck it!

► Raida (Glory Fan Boy)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Wait, Victoria was single? Dammit, I missed my chance!

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Raida
Ha! Like you even had a chance with her.

► Moohcow (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Still, two girls at once. Vicky doesn't do anything by half measures, hey? XD

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Moohcow
I know right, think she'll accept one more?
...asking for a friend XD

► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Woah, Taylor Hebert!? I had to do a double take when I saw that photo. She used to go to my school.

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ XxVoid_CowboyxX

You know her!?
Spill, give us the goss!!!

► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ PodNotice
Not really much to say. She used to be a student at Winslow. Till January, We spoke occasionally but I haven't seen her since. She looks so different in this. Never seen her smile before. It's nice.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 35 , 36, 37

■​

(Showing Page 2 of 37)

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ PodNotice

Taylor's in my grade. She's been at Arcadia for half a year, but only recently started hanging out with Victoria for the last month or so. Quiet girl, never really spoke to anyone before then.

► Tarian (Panacea Paparazzi)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Isn't that the same girl that was seen arguing with Amy Dallon at the mall? I remember there was a thread about a week ago. Someone claimed that she said, "Stay away from my sister you… cheating bitch."

► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Tarian
Um, wot? 0.o

► ForestDoe (Cape Groupie)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Tarian
OOOOooooh! Sounds like Drama!
Is this Taylor (Two Timing) Hebert trying to woo both Dallon sisters?

► Gort (Temp-banned)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ ForestDoe
Who can blame her? Going in for the Dallon Sandwich. I know I've fantasied about it before.
[User was infracted for this post]


► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Tarian
You know that thread was entirely built on baseless rumors. Anyone can claim they overheard a celebraty say something in the mall. Nobody can prove that.

@ ForestDoe
Eww, They're sisters you weirdo. Don't be gross.
Mods! This guy right here! Do your thing.

► Mani (Cape Groupie)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Glory Girl is in a lesbian threeway...
Nice.

► Jenya (Cape Groupie)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
In Brockton Bay no less. Little concern how some people might react to this...

► StrongBow_88 (Banned)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
[User was banned for this post]

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 35 , 36, 37

■​

(Showing Page 3 of 37)

► Jenya (Cape Groupie)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Exactly like that...
Boy, that was fast.

► Raida (Glory Fan Boy)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Tin_Mother
Pinging Momma Mod, We have Nazi's in the thread. Get the hammer.

► Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ StrongBow_88
Consider this a permanent ban. Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences.

Thread will be filtered for similar messages from now on. No hate speech, No sexulisation of minors. No doxing Glory Girl's girlfriends.

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Tin_Mother

Thanks! Glad you got on this quickly.

Obviously certain people might have opinions on this, But this thread is only to celebrate and speculate. Now, who the hell is Lisa Wilbourn?

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ PodNotice

Haven't a clue. She doesn't look like anyone from Arcadia. Friend of Taylor's perhaps? @ XxVoid_CowboyxX Does she look familiar to you?

► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 30, 2011:
No. Taylor didn't really have friends. None that I knew off anyway. Girl's a complete mystery to me.

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Seriously? No one? I tried googling her and got nothing. Who's the blonde? I wanna knooooow :'(

► Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
About time this got announced! Way to go @ Glory_Girl

► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
GG!!!! Why did no one tell me about this!? Aaaaah, I wanna meet them! Bring them to the Protectorate HQ right now!!!!

► Aegis (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Already told you in person but, Congrats @ Glory_Girl And as @ Vista said, we'd be more than happy if Taylor and Lisa wanted to meet some of the Wards. (Seriously, Vista keeps punching my back, bring the girls before she explodes)

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 35 , 36, 37

■​

(Showing Page 4 of 37)

► Moohcow (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
And now we get the Wards public endorsement, as well as New Wave. Isn't that lovely.

► GstringGirl
Replied on May 30, 2011:
This is so cute! I love those photos. <3
Those girls look so pretty, especially the tall one!

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Aegis
Well since you're all here, I have to ask. What's Gallant's opinion on all this?

► Aegis (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Daisy4Days
Ignoring the obvious attempt to stir up drama...
Gallant and Glory Girl ended their relationship on good terms some time ago. He, like all of us, is happy for Glory Girl's new relationship and wish her well.

► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Daisy4Days
He's jealous as fuuuuck!
The dudes been moping around for weeks. It's actually a little sad to see.
[User was infracted for this post]

► Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Vista
Wow...
Just roast him in front of his ex's fans why don't you. XD

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Guess that answers that.

► Glitzglam (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Way to go Cuz!
I still need to meet the girls BTW! *Hint* *Hint* *Nudge* *Nudge*

► Glory_Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
OMG, it's live!
Thank you for all the well wishes.

@ Vista
How can I turn down an invitation like that. I'll work out something with the girls.

@ Glitzglam
I know, I know. I've been so busy. But we'll do a double date sometime. Or a... quintuple(?) date.

I know that a lot of you wish to know more about the relationship, and Taylor and Lisa specifically. Obviously we wish to protect their privacy and keep them safe, but for the next hour or so. I'd like to introduce my girlfriends!

@ AllSeeingEye (Lisa Wilbourn) and @ LittleOwl (Taylor Hebert)

► PodNotice (Original Poster) (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Glory_Girl
OMG! I don't even know what to ask right now.
Uh, uh...

Are you gay gay? Or like bi gay?
How did you all meet? Who asked out who? How long have you been dating?

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ... 35 , 36, 37

■​

(Showing Page 4 of 37)

► Daisy4Days (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@Glory_Girl

When did you break up with Gallant?

► Jenya (Cape Groupie)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ Glory_Girl
Are you worried about the Empire?

► AllSeeingEye
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Hello y'all!
I'm Lisa, (The other blonde)
I know you all have some questions. Long story short, I do kinda prefer my privacy, but I understand what it's like to want to uncover a mystery, so I'll give out a few tidbits of information.

I'm younger than @Glory_Girl

I neither go to Arcadia, nor Winslow (That place is a hell hole anyway)

I met Vicky through @ LittleOwl

The throuple was my idea. These two cowards would've still been 'just friends' if it wasn't for me ¬‿¬

► Moohcow (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Huh, I would've put money on Glory Girl being the instigator.

► Glory_Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ PodNotice

I'm bi.
Met Taylor at school, bumped into her on the street and decided that we needed to become friends.

Met Lisa shortly after, we didn't have the best start, both of us asked out Taylor at the same time. You can imagine how awkward that was. XD

It's been a few weeks now, I think? It's hard to keep track of time these days.

@ Daisy4Days

We mutually decided to stop seeing each other near the start of the year. Never felt the need to make an official announcement. We're still friends, and I'll be working with him soon in the coming days.

@ Jenya

I tend not to think much about Nazis, but if our website announcement didn't make it crystal clear. Taylor and Lisa are under New Wave protection.

► LittleOwl (Glory Fan Girl)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
Hello.

My name is Taylor Hebert.
I'm a junior at Arcadia High. I'm currently dating Victoria Dallon and Lisa Wilbourn. Like Lisa, I would prefer to remain as anonymous as I can for the most part.

Not too sure what else to add here. I don't often use PHO.
To answer some of the questions:

I met Victoria at school. She was kind enough to invite me to her table when I didn't have anywhere else to go. She asked me out, they both did. I still don't know how it happened, but I'm glad that it did.

Honestly, I'm just a normal girl. I don't expect many of you to find me that interesting, but I'll take the time to answer any questions that you have.

► Glory_Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ LittleOwl

What are you talking about Tay!?!
You're plenty interesting!!!
Did you guys see those photos!? Watch out Brockton Bay, a new model about to hit the scene!

► AllSeeingEye
Replied on May 30, 2011:
@ LittleOwl

Yeah, what Vicky said!
You're amazing Tay, don't settle for less! <3 <3

She's just acting coy everyone. You're looking at the girl who seduced @ Glory_Girl with her bookish charms. Not to mention, me. The rest of you should be lucky that Taylor only has two hands.

\( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) /

► SpecificProtagonist (Fan Fiction Writer)
Replied on May 30, 2011:
What the fuck!?
[User was infracted for this post]

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ... 35 , 36, 37

■​

♦ Private message from Victor:

Scribe: Did you see the New Wave announcement?
Victor: Yeah, and?
Scribe: What are we going to do?
Victor: Nothing.
Scribe: What do you mean nothing? Their flaunting their disgusting shit in our city!
Victor: And Kaiser told us not to touch New Wave unless they mess with us.
Scribe: And this doesn't count as messing with us!?
Victor: It's fucking weird. But no. I'm not getting into a fight over a bunch of lesbos
Scribe: Fine! So we don't touch the blonde bitch or her family. That still leaves us with the other two. And hey, if we bait her into hitting us, maybe we can consider that 'messing with us.'
Victor: You know Kaiser wouldn't see it that way...
Scribe: Come on, stop being a pussy!
Victor: What the fuck is your plan anyway? And don't just say attacking them, cause that's stupid as fuck.
Scribe: That's what I wanted to ask you. We gotta be smart about this. We don't have to start a big scrap with New Wave. But maybe... have a chat with one of these new girls. Remind them what fucking city they live in.
Victor: Uhuh, and if you were going to have a hypothetical chat with one of them. Which one would it be?...
Scribe: Well the other blonde girl did admit to creating the fucking 'throuple' (Fucking stupid made up word)
But then again, I cant find shit about her online. This other girl, Taylor Hebert. Sounds Jewish but she's not, I checked.
Anyway, before today, she was the most forgettable fucking girl in the world. Doubt anyone important would care if she went missing... I'm just saying.
Victor: No one except New Wave...
Scribe: Its just one girl. Girls go missing in this city all the time. She said it herself.
"Honestly, I'm just a normal girl. I don't expect many of you to find me that interesting,"
Come on, a little message for the girl. Maybe some shattered knees. Trust me, this will be easy. She won't even see us coming.

 

[ProxxyLord]

Scribe: Its just one girl. Girls go missing in this city all the time. She said it herself.
"Honestly, I'm just a normal girl. I don't expect many of you to find me that interesting,"
Come on, a little message for the girl. Maybe some shattered knees. Trust me, this will be easy. She won't even see us coming.

Click to shrink...

HAHAHAHA!

Rune, this can only end in horror and escalation you fool

 

[DasFalle]

Whoo0 Egyptian plague!!!

 

[Vhalidictes]

Hopefully New Wave is able to intervene before Rune's plan gets Skittered.

 

[KatzenFrau]

I like this chapter it's good, please keep them coming!

 

[space turtle]

Trust me, this will be easy. She won't even see us coming.

Click to shrink...

That sounds remarkably like "meh I can take her"!

Lemme grab my popcorn.

Now the questions isn't whether they could beat Taylor.
(They can't)
The question is if Taylor can stop them without having to drop the masquerade.

If she can do a Neo fight style scene of knowing where they are and what they're doing at all times she might be able to play it off as just being good at martial arts.

I don't know what would be more fun.

"Glory girl is dating Jackie Chan!"
or
"Glory girl is dating Skitter?!! 0.o"

Both would blow up PHO.

But the second one would launch a shipping war to make the Portuguese and Spanish blush.

 

[Dradel]

The empire about to bite off something they can't chew. Well, most people can chew insects, but they'd rather not. Taylor won't give them this choice.

 

[Subby]

Come on, a little message for the girl. Maybe some shattered knees. Trust me, this will be easy. She won't even see us coming.

Click to shrink...

Ah yes, of course the Girl with two blocks reach omnisience won't "see" you coming

 

[Radek]

Here's something to consider: Taylor has already proven willing to kill for her loved ones, so Rune and co going through with this might well see her decide they cannot be allowed to walk away. Would they go for her dad next? Or Lisa?

Unacceptable. The Swarm Shall Feed.

 

[Assembler Maniac]

The oh so very much "the world is black and white" Glory girl is dating TattleTale? A villian?
The internet would melt from the flames and conspiracy theories. Void would have a field day, or a brain crash, either is equally possible.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Oh now this is going to be good. Rune is about to piss of the Queen of Escalation, the Negotiator, and Glory Girl. Two of which have already proven to be willing to kill for their loved ones and one of whome already has.

This is going to be great, so many people are going to die.

 

[M.Hatter]

Scribe: Its just one girl. Girls go missing in this city all the time. She said it herself.
"Honestly, I'm just a normal girl. I don't expect many of you to find me that interesting,"
Come on, a little message for the girl. Maybe some shattered knees. Trust me, this will be easy. She won't even see us coming.

Click to shrink...

Rune that's some 'normal girl who went missing' talk there.

 

[Kehsem]

No sexulisation of minors

Click to shrink...

A good idea. Will also inspire creeps to create 'Now Legal' countdown timers. Make of this sad information what you will.

Taylor and Lisa are under New Wave protection.

Click to shrink...

Given their previous failures, I imagine this will need to be notarized in some dipshits blood at some point in the near future.

Recommendation 1: Nightmare-inducing creepy crawly apocalypse that goes to war against the Nazis 'Starship Troopers'-style (the movie, not the book).

Recommendation 2: Financial warfare from Lisa. A handful of names and addresses should be enough to really fuck someone's day up. Maybe she could find a way to give ownership of Medhall to a shadowy cabal of Jews she creates for just this purpose / to fuck with them?

 

[Crazael]

Well, it looks like Tammi won't be around for much longer... I wonder who else is going to get caught up in her plan...

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Didn't expect to finish this chapter so soon. It is kinda another Interlude chapter as the main trio don't really feature in it. But it's a chapter I've been wanting to write for aaaages. So enjoy!

---

The Dallon Household – Early Morning

Amy stared at the calendar that sat on her desk. It was one of those tear of the paper each day calendars, that had little motivational quotes on them for each day. Vicky had given it to her recently, in lieu of going to therapy.

She didn't know why Victoria was all gung-ho about Amy's mental health, but she appreciated the effort or the attention at least. Still, it was weird receiving the calendar in the middle of the year. Half of the quotes were already in the bin.

As Amy peeled off yesterday's date, she sarcastically read today's generic motivational message. "Gratitude. Take today to remember the people who helped you. Consider telling them how you feel." Amy rolled her eyes at that. "Oh yeah, that'll go down well. Hey Vicky, thanks for all the help. Also, I'm completely in love with you and have been for years."

She scrunched the paper in her hand into a ball and flung it at the bin in the corner of the room. She missed by a wide margin. With a sigh, Amy fell backwards into her chair. She was supposed to be getting ready for school, but since it was the final week, nothing important was happening. All the assignments had been handed in, no more homework was to be given. She was just waiting down the clock.

The clock to Vicky's graduation. Soon, very soon, Victoria would be done with high school and Amy would still have to suffer one full year of the damn thing without her. Everyone she knew and hung out with would be gone, leaving Amy to fend for herself, alone.

"Ah well," Amy thought to herself. "It's not like Vicky's moving out anytime soon. And I'm not completely alone. Taylor would be there too." Amy scrunched up her face to that thought. Taylor, her sister's girlfriend. Is that all she had? It was a small mercy that she didn't have to see them act all lovey-dovey at school anymore, but still. Victoria was right, she needed more friends.

"What are you talking about?" Another thought popped into her head. "You have friends. What about that weird chick? Cassie? And Rachel. Rachel likes you. She's your friend, right?"

Rachel. Or Bitch as she apparently liked to be called. That thought still made Amy giggle. It wasn't every day that Amy could call someone a Bitch and no one would bat an eye. The girl was weird, not Cassie weird but still weird. Some strange breed of parahuman induced autism that made the girl more dog-like than she even realised.

A lot of people called Rachel scary, but she wasn't. She was just different, and different was a hell of a lot better than the majority of people in Brockton Bay. Amy liked Rachel, she liked working with Rachel, she liked the dogs, she… tolerated the other people. Some of them realised who Amy was but no one had called her Panacea out loud just yet, and none of them had asked her to heal anything. It was a strange feeling, but one Amy cherished. Having a job that she actually enjoyed. She was rather thankful for it.

Gratitude. Take today to remember the people who helped you. Consider telling them how you feel.

Amy looked at the quote on her desk. There was another person who helped her, who maybe deserved to know how Amy felt. One that didn't make Amy feel like a complete piece of shit for thinking about. Rachel.

Nothing romantic or the like. Just thankful. She had to drag Amy kicking and screaming into her dog shelter, but all things considered, it turned out pretty well. Amy had never once thanked her for the job, for being patient with her, for not expecting her to fix the world like so many other people did.

Amy pulled out her phone and scrolled down to Rachel's number. The two had never shared a single message, only using the phone so that Rachel could bark orders at her from across the building. Amy's finger hesitated over the call button. Would Rachel even care? Did she consider Amy a friend, or just another employee? Maybe Amy was wildly overthinking this.

Cassie mentioned something about Rachel and texting. It was either, she always responds to my text, or she never responds to them. Amy couldn't remember. A phone call seemed too strong, especially for something so mushy as a freaking calendar quote, so Amy elected to type out a polite, professionally worded letter of thanks. Something that Rachel would find nice but not weird. Just something simple and to the point.

"Hey, Rachel. Thanks for giving me the job, it really means a lot to me. From Amy." Amy said as she typed.

Somehow, it didn't feel right. That wasn't telling Rachel how she felt, that was just implying that there were feelings somewhere. Amy needed to write more, to explain a little about how much this meant to her. She added another sentence, then another. Soon enough Amy had constructed a long wall of text. It got more and more embarrassing the larger it got, but Amy had written it. In times like these, she imagined what Vicky would do. She wouldn't shy away after putting in all the effort. Imagining Victoria's ghostly hands closing over Amy's, she hit send.

--------------------------------------------
Undersiders Base – A Few Minutes Later

Rachel furrowed her brow as she stared at her phone. She didn't often get texts, but when she did, she would elect to ignore them. Only a handful of people had her number and most of them were smart enough to know not to text her. A phone was for calling people, any other function on the device was lost to Rachel, that included texting.

Rachel scrolled through the massive wall of text on her phone, trying to decide how she should reply. Not because the message was particularly deep and meaningful to her, but because Rachel couldn't read a word of it. The English lexicon was a mystery to her, a trivial matter that she never had a chance to learn much of in her youth, and didn't bother learning these days.

That wasn't to say that Rachel was completely illiterate. She knew the odd word here and there. But the message on the whole was still lost on the girl. On occasions, Rachel would receive photos through her phone from Lisa or Brian, and sometimes Cassie. Lisa had once tried to communicate entirely through emojis but Rachel quickly got fed up trying to decipher some of her more nuanced messages. Still, Lisa gave her one good idea from the experience, not that Rachel would ever admit that.

All her important contacts were signalled by an emoji. Brian was the skull, Taylor was a ladybug, Lisa was a teeth-baring smile, Aisha was a ghost and Alec was the clown. Adding to that, she had a handful of phone numbers from her shelter that Rachel had reasons to call or take phone calls from. Cassie being at the top of her list with a small chihuahua emoji. This particular message wasn't sent by any of her usual contacts, it took Rachel a few moments to remember who she had assigned this particular emoji, a black cat. Amy.

She hadn't told Amy about her no-texting rule yet. Rachel hadn't thought about it. Amy wasn't the most talkative girl at work, which probably was the reason why Rachel was okay with handing her personal number out rather than delegating it to Cassie as usual. She liked Amy, she did her job well, didn't complain after the first few days, the dogs got along with her and she doesn't constantly smile teeth first at Rachel like every other one of her employees. The ideal person to hire if Rachel was honest.

This made Rachel not immediately dismiss the message like so many other texts she received. Cassie would often send a text every morning, no matter how much Rachel ignored them. She knew enough words to recognise 'Good Morning Rachel!' but still couldn't understand the need to send it every single day. If Amy, the quiet and dutiful girl had chosen to send Rachel a message, and one this long, it was probably important.

Rachel could simply call her back, Amy should've just called in the first place. But she hesitated on the redial. There could be many reasons why Amy didn't just talk with words, and until Rachel understood the context, it was safer to move to plan B.

Plan B was getting someone to read for her. It was embarrassing to ask for help, so Rachel tended to avoid that route unless she absolutely needed to. There was only a handful of people that she trusted enough to ask for this kind of help, with a sigh and heave from her bed, Rachel went in search of one of them.

"Good Morning, Rachel," Lisa said in her usually chirpy mood. Baring her teeth first thing in the morning. "Want some cereal?" She offered the box while showing off her own bowl.

Lisa could read. She was the Thinker of the group and Brian seemed to trust her. But god did Rachel hate her. Not hate in any real sense, she was a valued member of the team and Rachel trusted her to be around the dogs and to watch her back, and so on and so forth. But the idea of asking Lisa for help, with a personal problem no less. Rachel couldn't stomach that.

"Where's Brian?" Rachel asked while ignoring Lisa's offer for food.

Lisa closed her smile as if remembering who she was speaking to. "Out, at the gym," She said while moving from the kitchen. "He got bored of watching over Alec, needed to cool his head or something." She added with a chuckle.

Rachel was missing the context but didn't bother to question it. She was about to ask where Taylor was but she already knew the answer to that. She'd be a home, and then be at her school all day. Rachel could wait for Taylor to swing by, but Rachel was impatient.

"Did you need something?" Lisa asked. A lot more neutral, using her 'Talk to Rachel like she's a fucking child' voice that Rachel found really irritating.

"No," Rachel said, brushing past Lisa and picking up some slices of bread to snack on. The dogs wouldn't eat till later today, but she made a point of checking their food supply as she ate.

Lisa took her response at face value, shrugging and taking her breakfast into her room. She knelt down to gently pat Brutus on the head before she left. Rachel watched as the dog leaned into the pat, urging Lisa to give him a few extra scratches behind the ear. Rachel's feelings for Lisa were complicated, but so long as Brutus acted like that around her, Rachel could never truly hate the girl, she was just incredibly annoying.

"You looking for my Bro?" Aisha asked, appearing beside Rachel. Rachel didn't flinch at her appearance, she'd grown used to the mysterious Imp who ghosted through their base.

Rachel made a noise, something of a hum that implied the affirmative but also dismissed the girl's question. Aisha was a strange and annoying girl for all different reasons from Lisa. She was childish and bared her teeth as much as the blonde did, but she didn't talk down to Rachel, or treat her like she was an alien or something weird. Aisha was just a yapping puppy, someone Rachel put up with out of respect for Brian.

Yes, Aisha could read. And Rachel had no real issue with the girl. But her power made everything around her concerning. Rachel didn't know exactly how Imp's powers worked. If she read the message and then disappeared, would Rachel remember what she said? Could Rachel even know if she was forgetting something? Would Aisha even read it right? Or turn it into a joke?

Aisha could read, but Rachel didn't want to ask her to do it. She sighed again, wishing that Brian or Taylor were here. They knew how to read, Taylor specifically seemed to take enjoyment out of it. If Rachel could present the message to her, then it would be like doing a favour for both of them, giving Taylor something new to read, and giving Rachel her answers.

Unfortunately, Taylor wasn't here, and Rachel didn't feel like waiting for hours. That left one final Undersider that Rachel could ask. Alec.

The boy wasn't at his usual spot, elongated over the couch. Nor was he in his bedroom, which usually would be closed at this hour in the day. Instead, Alec sat at the small dining table in the main living space, hunched over a laptop, tiredly reading the screen.

Rachel didn't entirely understand what had caused Alec's sudden change in sleep habits, but she knew that it wasn't voluntary. Brain and Lisa had all but pulled the boy out of bed and forced him to sit at the computer to do… something. He had to research some dude named David? Rachel didn't really know, or care. She only chuckled at the sound of how rough Brian was treating him while she was getting out of bed.

Every time Alec would get bored, or distracted, Lisa would cough, or flick something at him and the boy would return to reading the screen. Rachel didn't know what he did to deserve this new punishment, but if the team was forcing him to read, then why not throw an extra message into the pile?

Rachel walked over to Alec, glowering at the boy while he struggled to keep his eyes open. He slowly looked back up at her and the two simply stared for a while.

"Can I… help you?" Alec asked with a yawn. "Cause I'm in the middle of a thing and I really want to finish it so I can get back to bed."

Rachel pulled her phone from her pocket and held it in Alec's face. The boy flinched back, expecting her to punch him in the face or something similar. Rachel rolled her eyes. She hadn't punched anyone on the team in weeks. The last Undersider she actively attacked was Taylor and that was months ago now.

"Read this for me." Rachel barked, waving the phone in his face.

Once Alec realised that he wasn't about to eat a knuckle sandwich, his face flicked from fear to confusion. "What's this?" He asked, taking the phone from her hand.

"I don't know," Rachel growled back. "That's why I want you to read it, idiot."

"Okay, okay," Alec said, holding out a hand to stop the punch that never came. "Geeze, everyone's on my back this week," He looked at the message probably and skimmed it with his eyes. "Who's this from? Your boyfriend?"

"Not important," Rachel growled. "Just tell me what it says. What do they want? In trouble? Do they need anything? Hurry up."

"Alright, alright," Alec said, feeling rushed. "Uh, Dear Rachel… Thanks for picking me up in the park that day. Glad that Angelica and Judas singled me out that day… Blah, blah, blah. Thankful for dogs, and thankful for meeting Cassie? Who's Cassie?"

Rachel glared down at him. "Not important," Rachel hissed. "Keep reading. What are they saying?"

"Right, well," Alec said with a gulp. "Whoever this person is. They seem really thankful for you and your dogs. Like they say thankful a hundred times, it's weird. But…" He scrolled through the message.

"Less chatting more reading!" Lisa called out from her bedroom. "I'll be quizzing you. Better get full marks or Brian's in charge of this week's combat training."

Alec pushed the phone back into Rachel's hand. "Look, this is some love letter shit. Dude's down bad for you. Probably wants to take you out on a date," He said, opening his laptop again. "Either take him out on a date or tell him to fuck off. Can I get back to my own shit now? I really don't want to see what Brian will do to me in combat practice."

That caught Rachel by surprise. She hadn't considered that this was some romantic courting gesture. The idea was new to her, she wasn't entirely opposed to it. Amy was a cute enough girl, a little small for her taste but plenty feisty to make up for it. Rachel didn't think that Amy was interested in her in that way, but now that the offer was out there. Given the two options presented to her, Rachel didn't want to tell Amy to fuck off…

A date. Rachel preferred to be more direct when it came to interest in people, but at the same time, no one had ever asked her on a date before. Rachel had never been on a date. What did people even do on dates? She'd seen the odd movie or TV show, but all the crappy romantic shit never appealed to her.

Taylor had been on dates, Taylor was dating. Lisa was too, but again, Rachel didn't want to go to her for help. She'd wait till Taylor got in and ask her for some advice. Then she'd take Amy out on one of these dates and see where things went from there.

"And now she's smiling…" Alec muttered to himself. "Seems like everyone's getting into a relationship around here."

"You're one to talk," Aisha giggled, appearing on the chair opposite him. "I take it that we're still going steady then?" She asked with a smile.

"Well Brian didn't strangle me in my sleep," Alec said. "I guess that's the most approval I'll get out of him."

"Hmm, I wouldn't say approval," Aisha smirked. "Think we spent three hours arguing about why you're one of the worst choices of boyfriend in this city." Alec rolled his eyes at that. "But don't worry. We at least agreed that you're better than anyone from the E88. So that's like… a couple hundred men from the bottom."

"Gee, thanks," Alec said sarcastically. Lisa let out an obnoxiously loud cough in Alec's direction. "I'm reading, I'm reading… Gonna be on my ass all day about it." Aisha giggled at his suffering. "At least Lisa's too busy floating on cloud nine to care about watching over my shoulder. Not looking forward to when Brian gets back. Now that dude really needs a girlfriend or something."

"Oh, that's a fun idea!" Aisha said. "We should totes set him up with someone. Oh, oh! I know just the girl."

"Yeah, no," Alec said, shutting down her excitement. "This is exactly the talk that got me into this situation to begin with. I'm choosing the path of least resistance this time and doing nothing."

"Boring…" Aisha sighed. "Guess I'll just have to wait for Brian to have a meet cute… but knowing how stiff and dull he is. That'll never happen."

"A man can dream," Alec said with a monotone, focusing on his work.

"Less chit-chat and more tap tap!" Lisa called out again.

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

A Gym With No Name – Early Morning

Brian did what he always did when he was upset. He worked out. He also did the same thing when he was frustrated, annoyed, mildly annoyed or just bored.

He struck the bag with as much force as the man could muster behind his fist. A follow-up swing struck soon after. Over and over again, Brian punched and kicked at the hanging bag. Ignoring the way his body screamed for a break.

His leg faltered after a particularly hard kick, making his next punch glance off the bag. Brian wobbled on his one foot and fell to the side, looking to face plant into the floor mat.

"Woah there!" A voice called out, catching Brian as he tumbled. A firm hand caught him by the chest and helped support him back to his feet. "Careful man, don't hurt yourself."

Brain took a moment to stabilise, still panting from his violent exertion. He calmed his breathing and focused on the hand that was still trying to support him.

"Sorry…" He grumbled under a tired breath. "Got too into my head for a second. Thank you for the save." He looked down at the hand that was retreating from his chest to the owner, a boy who looked to be around the same age as him.

"Don't worry about it," The boy said back with a friendly smile. Brian had never seen him in the gym before, he looked far too comfortable to go to a gym in this part of town. Brian would've written him off as someone who got lost in the wrong neighbourhood, but something told him that this boy could hold his own in a place like this. "You were hitting the bag pretty hard. Training for a fight? Or just working off stress?"

It took Brian a few seconds to realise he was asked a question. "Uh, stress. I guess," He looked back to the worn punching bag. He'd given it a solid beating, far more than what he usually did on any given day. "Like I said, got a little too into my own head."

The boy inspected the bag and then looked back to Brian. Brian almost felt embarrassed under the kid's stare. "I'm sensing a lot of anger here," The boy gestured to the bag with a smile. "I'd hate to be the person who's on your mind right now." He chuckled as he placed a small backpack down near some equipment across from the punching bags.

Brian chuckled back, unbinding his hand wraps and grabbing the bottle of water near his feet. "That obvious, huh?" The boy shrugged with a coy smile. Brian sighed and took a swig of water. "My little sister got herself a new boyfriend. Of all the boys in Brockton Bay…" He shook his head.

"Ah," The boy said with a smirk. "The protective older sibling. I know them well," Brian took a seat on a nearby bench, willing to continue the conversation with this random boy. "Well, I'm an only child myself. But I know someone who is fiercely protective of their little sister." The boy's smile broke for a moment, lost in a sad memory before forcing the smile back on his face.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Brian said, wiping himself down with a small towel. "But you don't seem the type to come to a gym like this. You know where you are, right?"

The boy chuckled softly to himself. "Ah, that obvious, huh?" It was Brian's turn to shrug with a coy smile. "Yeah, this isn't my usual gym. My workplace has its own gym, but lately…" The boy's smile wavered again. "Stuff happened. Used to work out a lot with my girlfriend but ever since we broke up, the place felt… wrong." He looked around the gym, it was a shabby little gym that was deep in the South Docks. "This place doesn't seem too bad. I looked at another place the other day, somewhere a little closer to home. But it was filled with…" He stopped himself, looking at Brian's skin and wincing.

"Nazis?" Brian asked with a hollow chuckle. The boy nodded almost guiltily. "Yeah, this fucking city."

"Like I said," The boy continued. "This place doesn't seem too bad, right?"

"Yeah, I doubt anyone will bother you in here," Brain said. "Haven't seen anyone wearing ABB colours in weeks and no one starts shit in the gym. Still want to be careful walking home."

"That's okay," The boy smiled. "My car is nearby."

Brian looked the boy over. He was wearing exercise gear, but all of the brands he wore were known to be rather upmarket. Brian could only imagine what type of car this guy drove, and parking on the street in a neighbourhood like this… It was like the boy was screaming, I've got loads of money, mug me!

"I'm sure it'll be fine…" Brian said with a worried smile. "Though maybe consider taking a bus next time?" The boy looked back out to the street and then nodded to himself. Brian was at the tail end of his workout for the day, but the idea of leaving this boy alone didn't sit right with him. The ABB might be gone, but the assholes who worked for them still lived on these streets. It only took one to ruin someone's day. "Did you need a spotter?" Brian asked, pointing towards the weights.

The boy looked at the weights and then back to Brian. He smiled warmly and nodded his head. "Yeah, actually. That would be great," The two picked up their things and started walking. "Oh, I didn't catch your name?"

"Brian," Brian said, extending a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Brian," The boy said, taking his hand and shaking it with vigour. "Call me Dean."